Author's Note: Here you get a little insight into where Jack was before she found herself on T2. And for all of you who love a good fight, never fear, Riddick is going to lay it down in chapter 10. That's when the real fun begins.

Chapter Nine


Ms. Rhiannon's diagnosis was quick. Hero worship, she decided... she hoped. Clean, simple.

She had been housing Jack in her own private wing and returned her there not long after the youth's bold declaration. When she turned her back on her to leave, Jack smoothly flipped her off, a gesture she was becoming fastly familiar with. Then she jumped onto the bed, 'forgetting' to remove her boots like she promised she would.

"Ah, you shoulda seen me, Riddick," she gushed to the white washed walls. She continued to hop up and down, having found a sufficient out let for her nervous energy. "It was great. She never saw me coming," she laughed, "She really does think you're Big Evil. She thought I was some battered kid. Yep, she thought you'd knocked me round a good one." She flipped over and fell to her stomach, still grinning from ear to ear. "I think I creeped her out. I could get used to this," she stifled her last few words in a pillow.

After a moment she was still and sat up, realizing she'd lost her cool facade. She still smiled though, she couldn't help herself. Bouncing off the bed, she strode to Kali's vanity. She pulled her goggles up and scrutinized her eyes. She imagined what she'd look like with a shine. I could do it, she thought, as if she were trying to convince the emptiness around her, I could. Babies, opting out at the last minute. You gotta go all the way. Don't start if you don't intend to finish, you idiots. Even I could do it. With a contented sigh, she replaced the goggles.

Eventually, a knock came at the door. "Yeah, what?" she asked, snotty.

"Jack?" questioned a muffled voice from the other side.

"Oh, Imam," she hurried over. Upon opening the door, her face fell. Ms. Rhiannon was there as well. "In or out," she stated, as bratty as possible, and started back to the bed.

Imam put out his hand, grasping onto her shoulder to stop her. "Please, Jack."

"What?" She demanded, brushing him off.

"The animals from your ship have started growing, and they certainly aren't maggots any more," said Ms. Rhiannon to both of them. "Riddick seemed to find this troublesome."

"Then it is," Jack said firmly.

"Where are they from?" Neither of them answered. Jack glared at her coldly.

"This," she punctuated, "Is your final chance. Tell me now."

"Or what?" spat Jack.

"Or I'll send Riddick right back where he came from."

"You're gonna do it any way! The sooner you find out where the worms came from the sooner you take him!"

"Jack," he chided softly.

"It's true, Imam. You know it is."

"I can see we're talking our selves in circles," Kali admitted. "So it's time for action." She lifted a walkie-talkie from a side holster, "Mitch? Secretary Rhiannon."

"Yes ma'am," replied a scratchy voice.

"Take the man in suite four to cell six, please. I'll meet you down there in ten minutes."

"Copy."

"He'll never get there," Jack sneered with minimal satisfaction.

"Careful, young man. I'm not above locking you away as well."

Sean was right, she thought, It is better to be a boy. She never would have been that brash with a girl.

Sean was a boy she had run around with back at Philanthropy Children's Hospital. They hadn't known each other too well since he'd only been there for little less than three months before they ran away.

It may have been called a hospital, but the locals pinned it as a run down boarding house for little street bastards. In truth, that was pretty much what it was. The managers had slapped 'hospital' over the front door to earn themselves a pat on the back and a few more government creds. One didn't find themselves a resident of their own accord, no, they were rounded up and hog tied. It was a good way to keep the dirty urchins off the sidewalks at night, made The City feel cleaner.

Sean had been places. He'd hitch hiked across seven systems, supposedly, and seen things she could hardly imagine. He was fifteen, so she was inclined to believe him. He wouldn't shut up about those damn planets whizzing by, and the stars. He even described cryo-sleep to her. After that she was hooked. Anything that trippy had to be experienced for ones self.

He planned it all. He said he knew where all of the off world hangers were in The City and could get them there easy. There were two rules: stick together, and don't let any one know you're a girl. "You'll be safer that way," he told her, "Bad things happen to girls with no mothers around." Besides, boys had more fun. They could climb things and hit people. Sure, why not? she'd thought, Any thing to get the hell out of here. She wasn't much of a dress wearing girly girl any way. If Sean said she should be a boy, then she'd be a boy.

But, stick together was a little more difficult to manage.

On the night they agreed upon she snuck up to the older boys bunk room on the second floor at two. Sean distracted his room mates with the promise of free candy and dirty magazines if they snuck down to the dinning hall and brought his stash back to him. The ploy had worked like a charm. The two of them tied bed sheets together, like Sean had seen in the movies once, and shimmied down into the ally way below.

There he handed her a hand full of universal credit notes. Then they ran. Jack had brought up the memory of their frantic dash when she found herself in the dark on T2. As they scuttled along, draped in coils of light, she could feel her heart doing jumping jacks in her throat. It had beat the same way, playing to the same tempo, when she and he had been sprinting for their freedom. That was exhilaration like she'd never felt before. She felt light, like she was part of the wind streaking along. They had broken out into high pitched giggles of triumph once they had put a substantial distance between themselves and that dingy frat house for orphans. It was wanton liberation like she'd never felt before.

By six they were there. He hadn't picked the closest hanger. Said that would be the first place they'd look. But he had picked the largest hanger. More places to hide. There they could disappear into a crowd with no problem.

"We have to get on the first available flight, got me?" He said, taking her hand as they weaved through the throngs of early morning galactic commuters. "Else we'll be hangin' around here too long. They'll catch us if we do."

He spoke with such expertise, she only nodded.

The man in the ticket booth didn't seem to be surprised by the two minors at his window. In fact, Jack didn't think he'd ever even glanced up from his compute screen to lay his beady black eyes on them. Heck, Sean's voice was so deep he could have been in his mind twenties.

"Two tickets? I'm sorry sir, but if you want the earliest flight I can't do that. It's a Company flight, and I'm afraid there is only room for one more, then it's at its max. capacity for civilian passengers. The Hunter Grazer- sorry, Gratzner."

Sean considered this for a moment, "What's the next flight?"

"Um, cleaner craft. The Melody Snow... cute name," he grumbled, then sighed, "It only has one free seat as well. Look, sir. We don't have any open flights after that until near noon."

"We'll take them. One for the Company ship, and one for the cleaner."

The tickets were spit out at them, Sean ripped them free and they rushed off. "Look, A. We can't go together."

"Yeah, I get it," she nodded, laughing at the worried frown that was making his face droop.

"It's not funny, Audry," he said. He put the tickets behind his back and mixed them up. Holding both hands out with a one grasped in each he said, "Pick one. It could decide the rest of your life, so chose well."

"Oh, shut up," she said, snatching the one out of his left, "It's not that big of a deal."

"A, I don't know if we'll ever see each other again, understand?"

"Hey, if we do we do, if we don't we don't," she said, trying to still sound like she didn't mind. His down trodden features were making it hard.

"Yeah, okay." He hugged her and she returned it tentatively. Stepping back, "Remember, boys are safer out there."

"I'll be a good boy," she nodded.

"Do me a favor. Find someone and stick to them. Someone to show you the ropes. Someone who can be a front for you. Someone who no one will mess with and who wont mess with you."

"Ease up, okay?" she requested, punching him lightly in the arm. She was free, they both were. He should be happy. So what if they weren't together? They hadn't been together for the majority of their lives. But she did feel funny. It was a feeling she'd never experienced before. A pit had settled some where in her gut, making it uncomfortable to move.

"We're friends, right?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she said with a nod. Maybe that was it. She's never had a friend before. And now, she realized, she was losing him. "Yeah, we're friends."

"We better go find out flights," he said, shuffling, "Bye Audry. Don't get hurt. Have fun. Bye," he bent and brushed a light kiss against her cheek. She recoiled a little, but eased up as soon as he touched her. "Now," he said, pretending to be business like, "What is you're name, sir?"

"Um... Jack."

He held out his hand for her to shake, "Nice to meet you, Jack." He turned and took a step, but revolved again quickly and gave her another hug, "Jack," he said quietly, "Don't be bad."

"Maybe I want to be bad," she returned jokingly.

"Don't be," and with that he assimilated himself into the roving swarms.

x.X.x

Bang! Bang!

Riddick's eyes lazily swept across the suite to the door. They've come for me, he thought slyly.

A large man slammed through and pointed an over sized blaster at him.

"I wanna know one thing," he said lowly, rising to face the intruder, "What time is it?"

"Nearly sun down," the man said contemptibly.

"Perfect timing."