By: MataruDoukotsu

Taming the Beast

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Riddick universe, no matter how sad it is. One thing is for sure, Riddick is hot. The one man who can pull off buff and bald is Vin Diesel and the character he plays in this series.

Now on to the story.

Jack slipped out of the store with a satisfied grin on her face, and six bags in tow. She was happy and content. Of course she had a couple of priceless moments when Imam had walked into the female stores with her. The saleswomen had looked at Jack and Imam as if they were crazy bringing a boy into a girl's outfitter's compartment swearing that she was indeed a female. Jack wasn't stupid; she knew that every one of those women had thought them to be mentally addled. Snickering, she followed behind Imam; they still had one more thing to do: Find Riddick.

I bet it's actually like 'Stand out in the open so Riddick can find us' type deal, she thought with a snort, and without much surprise did she look over to her right and found the big guy walking lazily beside her, as if he had always been there and belonged.

"Yeah, thanks for scaring the shit outta me." She replied sarcastically, looking up into his face, knowing that those silver eyes were gazing intently at her from behind those goggles. Snapping her head forward slightly, she let dark reflecting sun shades fall over her eyes from where they had been stuck on top of her head. Cracking a grin she continued, "But seriously, can we speed it up a bit, Imam? I gotta piss like a race horse, and those damned women didn't help me much in the sense of showing me the nearest bathroom. Too interested in what kind of shirt they thought looked 'cute' on me, keh."

The comment earned her two things. One, a rewarding bark of laughter erupting from Riddick's delightful lips, and two, a pointed look from Imam. Carefully, Jack prodded Imam with one of her bags, trying to make him walk faster, "C'mon, Hoodoo holy man, I told ja I gotta piss! And don't tell me that you don't have to either!"

"She's right, ya know. We've been here almost six hours; I know you gotta piss too, Holy Man." Riddick smirked as Imam tossed that same look he had given to Jack right at him. He lifted his goggles to rest on his brow, and gave the older man a hard playful stare. "C'mon, the kid's gotta fuckin' piss, and she just might as well as piss her fuckin' pants. For all I know, she just might have a gun tucked into her cargos and she just might pop a cap in ya ass fer being slow. I know I would." He watched as a playful glint appeared into the gentle man's dark brown eyes, and he looked forward and sniffed; nose held up high.

"And Allah knows that I would blame you, Mr. Riddick, for teaching her such mannerisms and the ways of the streets."

"Oh, he's not the one who taught me the ways of the streets, Imam," Jack smirked, her eyes glinting wickedly behind the reflective lenses of the shades unknowingly, "I was a street urchin from the beginning of my days. All good ole Riddick taught me was to further my chances of survival with the biggest bad boys in the underbelly of the Universes. And Allah ain't got shit on me; compared to Riddick, who is a muther fuckin' slick shit Merc killer, I'm a saint!" She gave grinned looking at the ex-con.

"Jacquelyn, mind your manners. How many times must I tell you…" He began, before both took over, looking at each other behind his back.

"We may curse the government, animals, Mercs, the silver ware, the ship, the food processor, the computer, telemarketers, other random people and even Allah himself, but we may not curse each other because it shows how much respect we have for one another." They both recited perfectly and in sync with each other with a dull note in their voices; sounding much like children who had just been scolded by their parents.

"Very good children." Imam laughed, amused that they both sounded so…domesticated in that one sentence.

Riddick wrinkled his nose as he heard the cleric call him a child; but he only let it slide because the man was his senior by a good couple of decades. He settled into the comfortable companionable silence, but kept on edge as they walked back to their ship. He gazed unnoticeably to his side at the girl who was masquerading as a boy. It looked as if she were studying the stars that hung in the inky blackness far above them; but he couldn't be too sure for her sun-shades were much like his own goggles. He nearly reached over to lift the black framed lenses so he could see her emerald gaze. But he found he was slightly surprised when she sprouted her next question.

"Riddick, how old are you?"

Smirking lightly he now knew why he liked this girl; she kept him on his toes with her constant questions; not only her questions but her open mind when they trained. She could really catch him off guard sometimes and cause him to improvise. "Twenty-two. You?"

"Sixteen." She answered with as much simplicity, as she brushed some dirt or whatnot from her shoulder. He was slightly surprised. He would have thought her to maybe be thirteen or preteens; but nothing so close to maturity. It really did answer why she was so…different and open to new ideas.

Riddick watched as the young woman returned her gaze to the stars. Any time she wasn't training with him or praying with Imam, he always found her staring into the dark abyss of the universe, silent as the thing she was gazing at. It made him think about what went on in that head of hers. What made her tick? What made her scared? Because obviously he didn't. It was one of the things that made Riddick question about her; why wasn't she scared of him? Unless she too was just as much psycho fucked in the head like him; or maybe she found comfort in knowing that there was someone who had the strength to protect her?

He didn't doubt it.

As much as he had heard about her past, she needed someone to protect her. But certainly not him, right? He was on the run; he would always have Mercs on his neck. That was not something that she would need if he let her tag along. Though from conversations they had had previously, it sounded as if she were trying to find someone.

One thing he was sure of: she was an enigma. One that he could not find all the answers to; which made Riddick tick. Only God himself would actually fuck with him a little and not let him have all the answers of that which he wanted. Riddick knew that he was a greedy bastard, but when it came to knowledge, Riddick would get what Riddick wanted. As well as some other things too... he chuckled silently at that thought.

"Riddick, how the hell did you get a rap sheet like the one you've got if your only twenty-two?" the sudden question filled the area between the younger two of the trio.

Turning his head quickly to look at her, he blinked for a second before the question actually sunk in. Laughing openly, he set a hand on her slim shoulder. Calming slightly, he grinned down at the teenager. "Jack, I was thirteen when I killed my first, and I started with a big bang of twenty guardsmen. Ever since I've been doing what I do best and in the first two years, it was done in group numbers. After my first killing spree I was determined a mentally ill child, and sent to a correctional facility. The fourth time, with already on hundred eighty-eight notches on my belt, they sent me to Slam City at the age of fourteen. At every other Slam they sent me to, I'd kill too many inmates and they would transfer me again. By the time I was eighteen and deemed a psychopathic murderer, I had three hundred eighty-eight on my belt…but there was someone else at that time that was the same age as me who had like five hundred or so…can't remember what his name was…"

At that moment it looked as if the kid wanted to supply a name, but she abruptly bit her bottom lip and hushed up. Interesting. Riddick continued his short life line as they loaded up into his ship; the Killer Eclipse.

"Anyway, by then I decided to calm down a bit. I got my respect and no body tried to fuck with me unless they thought they could live up to the challenge. And there were quite a lot of those in the triple max slams I've been in; especially Butcher Bay."

"So how many notches now?" she asked, her shades resting on the crown of her head as they sat down in the cock pit.

Cocking his head to the side, Riddick studied her face. It didn't look like she was frightened by the number of people he had killed so far. Actually it looked as if she was totally unimpressed…as if she had met someone who had killed more and had lived to get past them. He decided to answer her question as calmly as he had explained his time line, "By now, maybe around five hundred ninety-four…maybe more." Riddick caught the weary glance Imam sent his way before kneeling and beginning his nightly prayers.

Her head bobbed up and down as she nodded, understanding filling her aura. "But you only kill in four major categories? Military, government, law enforcements, and Mercs. No civvies. No women, children and the defenseless. It is all just protection actually, more than killing sprees. It is the thing that you do that makes you feel as if you're not hiding behind a mask of something someone else wants you to be. It is you. You are it."

Riddick blinked at her in surprise. How did a mere slip of a girl put what he felt and did into one explanation and make it seem so damned perfect? She knew exactly his terms; no civvies: women, children and the defenseless; only Mercs, Military, Law enforcement and government. And she made it seem as if his killing was justified and…right.

How did she do that?

"How?" was his only question. It was the only thing he could actually form without seeming so disorganized and so…not him.

Riddick watched as an understanding smile ate at her lips and reached her emerald eyes. For someone to be so young, she sure was wise. "Let's just say that I know someone a lot like you, Riddick. Doing what she does best, taking out those who do bad to those in the universe, then have Mercs and Bounty Hunters coming after her and leaving her so utterly confused and in the dark because to her, she doesn't hurt those that matter." She grinned sheepishly, which ultimately turned into a yawn. "Look at me. Now I'm rambling, and I've probably not only got myself slightly confused but have you thinking, 'what the hell is she talking about?' I think I need to get…to…bed!" she stretched and yawned again. "Ahh…but I don't wanna move."

Riddick watched in slight amusement as her eye lids fluttered over those green gems. He could hear her heart beat start to slow down into a steady pace until she was finally asleep. He wondered briefly if it was good for her to sleep in the copilot chair or not. The convict took the time to notice that all the tension that usually filled the girl dissipated as soon as she drifted off into dreamland. It then occurred to him how strung up and edgy she always was; possibly as much as himself. But the question that presented itself to him was: why would she be so edgy and tense all the time?

Lifting himself from the chair, Riddick bent down, gathered the girl in his arms and made off for their shared bedroom. What ever the answer was, he was sure that it would come to him soon enough; and when it did, it would be the biggest discovery since…

The time I first learned how to effectively kill using the sweet spot, Riddick smirked. Oh yeah, that had been a very big discovery to him, and a very valuable one at that.

After pulling off her boots, he removed her cargos only to find that she was wearing a pair of black silk boxers; a pair of her own. Raising a brow at that, he shook he head before pulling the blankets down and laying her on the inside. Removing his own boots and his tank, he settled down on his back. Turning his head to look at the one who he was sharing the bed with, Riddick noticed her slight form shivering.

Sighing slightly, he turned to face her and threw his arm over her rib cage. She immediately snuggled into his warmth that he offered.

Christ, kid, what in fucks name are you doin' to me? He thought as he set his chin on the crown of her head before letting a light sleep haze his mind.

Imam looked up as he watched the large man who piloted the Killer Eclipse walk into the shared room with the teenage girl in his arms. With a light sigh, his thoughts traveled away from his nightly ritual and to his companions. Imam was not expecting the huge convict to tell Jacquelyn the things he had been through, but the cleric knew that it was only the vaguest and most clean run through that he had told her.

He had no idea how many Riddick had killed. And he had no idea that such a man could actually joke around when a young girl who idolized him and an old man much like himself. Much less care for their needs. It just went to show how much of a man the convict could be.

Imam was surprised, in the least, when he heard Jacquelyn converse with Riddick and express him as if he was not in the wrong. He had been relieved when she had said aloud that Riddick only killed in four categories, minus women, children and the defenseless. The ex-con only killed those who came after him. But just as Imam had been relieved, he was distressed to hear that the girl had known someone just like their companion.

As it seems, the Muslim priest thought, Jack runs right straight into people like Mr. Riddick all the time. And it almost seems as if she is looking for the one that our friend reminds her of.

Vaguely, as his mind began to settle down into sleep, he wondered if she would disappear from them to look for her lost companion by herself.

A/N: Ummm….rrrriiigghhht….yeah, this is longer.

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