Chapter Fourteen

Kyra's POV

Moving my feet, I put as much distance between the Baldy and me. What the fuck was I thinking, asking that question? I can't make out your response as you as you mumble something with that deep voice of yours. I'm not ready to know who you would rather be around, Jack or Kyra. I'm not ready. Not yet, anyway. I haven't decided who I want to be. Maybe I can be both. I know I'll have to choose eventually. Kyra's strong. Jack is weak. But it's Jack's weakness that brought Riddick's human side out. Maybe it's not a weakness after all. Maybe. I'm not convinced, and I know I have the habit of forcing myself to forget certain issues that need to be dealt with. I bury them deep inside, where Jack keeps them company and worries over them for me, and than I don't have deal with anything I don't want too.

I can't hear you, Big Guy, but I know you can still hear me. "Something's beeping incessantly up front, Riddick. Thought you'd like to know–"

"Move woman. Move now."

You push past me at a dead run. Shit, I'm in awe. I didn't even hear you as you came close to me. Crap, you're really silent, considering how big you are. Learn to be like you, I repeat over and over in my head. I can learn so much from you, and it'll only make me stronger.

I run after you. I'm not gonna ask questions. Whatever is up, you'll explain soon enough.

You sit in your seat, me in mine. I stare into space. All the stars seem to burn even brighter than I remembered. Guess that's what slam does to you, makes you forget the little things. I like the stars, they remain constant. Well, until they get to the end of their life and die in one big –

"Star jump." You say it while strapping yourself in. I notice and do the same. Shit.

Star jumping. How fun. Guess we had to find that one star that was dying so we could –

"Fuck. Hold on woman, thirty seconds." You pause. "Ship's going to be a mess."

"No shit, Baldy."

"Twenty seconds, woman." You growl to indicate your dislike to the name…again.

"Riddick, you do know what you're do –"

"Ten seconds."

I close my eyes for impact.

My flesh feels as if it's being torn away from my bones. I can feel a great pressure on my chest, shoulders and stomach. It's no wonder, I'm strapped to my chair. I'm fucking disorientated and can't move. That's what star jumping will do to you when you're not prepared. Using the energy of a dying star to transport your ship a great distance in the blink of an eye…what a way to travel. Of course, you're supposed to be in a sealed chamber when your ship does this, otherwise your body feels as if you're waking up with a massive hangover. Not to mention you're supposed to tie down all lose articles that aren't fucking bolted to the floor. Ship's going to be a mess, what an understatement.

The ship has stopped moving. At least it feels like that. It's probably still moving, but for some reason I can't feel it. My head hurts. I close my eyes tight and let my head drop a little to my chin. There's a rhythmic pounding in my head. I don't even have enough energy to lift my arms to cradle my head. Glad we have the chair harness, it kept me in place.

I hear you unbuckle yourself. Your feet are heavy as they cross the short distance to my chair. You have long strides, I only heard two thuds. My head drops lower towards my chin. I can feel the caress of your hands touching my face. They're soft, tracing my cheek. You cradle my head between those killer hands of yours.

"I feel…disorientated." It's an understatement for sure, but right now my brain feels a little frozen so thoughts are – .

"You will for some time yet. Woman?"

"What?" It comes out barely a whisper. What the hell is wrong with me? I've star jumped before. When I was, like, five.

"Open your eyes for me."

I'd do anything for you Riddick. I try open them, but they want to remain closed. The best I can do is blink, a lot.

"Riddick, what happened?" It's not supposed to feel like this. That much I know. Did he fuck up?

"The star wasn't completely burned out before I – shit Kyra, stay awake." I can hear your voice, but it seems really far away now.

I can't help it. I can't stop it. "Riddick, something's wrong." Everything suddenly goes black.

Riddick's POV

I fucked up. I wasn't concentrating fully on the task at hand, I was fucking concentrating on you. Now look at you. You're hurt. I hurt you.

Did you like it?

NO! I let out a low growl. You flinch. Can you still hear me Kyra?

I pick you up and take you to the med room. It's the small room right next to the kitchen. I snort to myself as a see the kitchen chairs stacked neatly in one corner. You're not good at hide and seek, Kyra.

I can fix that.

Fix her. Now. Play later.

The animal recedes, for now. I put you on the hard metal table that's placed in the middle of the room. I'm surprised the Necro's had a medical lab on the ship. They didn't even feel pain. It comes in handy for you, Kyra. I hate you God, but right now, make her better. Make Kyra better. I hope Kyra's fighting whatever the hell is wrong with her. I know it's Kyra I'm staring at. Kyra is strong, but Jack, well, Jack's equally as strong. I want this woman in front of me to decide who to be. I want her to be able to live with both of her sides. Live the way I live. Shit. You're twitching a little. That must be from star jumping.

I look at the computer closest to me, just off to my right. It's easy enough to figure out. I scroll down to run a full body scan. This will tell me everything. Well, almost everything. My hand stops just before I press the button to initiate the scan. Of course, your blood. I grab a small scalpel. Sorry Kyra, I don't know a better way to do this. I make a small incision on the inside of you elbow joint, right where the blood can flow easily. I grab some glass slides and smear some blood on it. I grab a needle and jar. I can see a vein now. I put the needle in, draw some blood in the jar, and patch you up. I look down at the scar I've just given you, and shrug it off. It'll heal. You'll understand.

I look away from you and press the button. I head over to the desk in the far left corner. I place the blood in the jar into the wall unit there. Your blood will tell me what the body scan won't. The blood on the slide I put under the microscope that's sitting on the table. I bring it into focus.

Interesting. It looks like mine. Well, almost like mine. I sterilize the scalpel with the liquid found on the desk. I press it to my skin and run the small worthless blade over a small skin area. There's blood now. Not enough to cause any concern though. I place a small amount over another slide. I take a closer look at my blood. Yours and mine are alike. Similar, but different. I don't know what that means. It could mean a lot. I'll wait for the body scan to finish.

Kyra's POV.

I wake up, slowly. I'm in slam. I push off the ground and land in a crouching position, posed with my hands in front of me.

"Relax."

That voice. "Riddick?"

"Star jumped. You fainted."

"Oh great man of so many words, no shit," I mumble as I remember everything.

I can see you better now. My eyes have adjusted to the dark making it easier to look around. We're in the med room.

"Kyra, we need to talk." That tone of voice. This must be serious.

"About what?"

You hold up some papers. "Body scan."