Chapter XV

To Catch and Win

Jack's coat whipped around a snow-banked corner as she silently sped through the streets of Tykron. She could sense Riddick wasn't far behind but he hadn't quite locked in on her current position. Glancing behind her, she released her bugnucks and jumped up on the wall next to her, sliding them into the building easily. Jack took the bottom of her coat and hid her tracks in the snow from the corner to the point where she was going to climb the wall. Doing this, she scaled the vertical surface without trouble, looking down to make sure no one was nearby. Minutes passed as she clung to the cold wall, cursing it for taking away all of her body heat, leaving her shivering. But she didn't have to wait long; she heard him running towards her, his signature so unique that it could've only been him.

Clenching her teeth, she saw through her darkened lenses that Riddick had cut off from the rest of them and was heading down the alley she had not so long ago. Jack could hear him sniffing as he approached right beneath her and she contemplated jumping him. Yet as she watched him prowl below, she didn't see the muzzle of the rifle from the rooftop across from her quite fast enough. The old concrete started to crumble beneath her claws and immediately Riddick noticed and looked up, finding his target.

"Hiding, Jack?" His deep voice growled out, even with the wind.

"From you? Never. Just-"

"JACK!" He shouted, seeing the rifle pointed at her. "JUMP!"

"What? Are you fucking-" her words were cut off as a bullet tore through her left arm, leave a ragged trail of coat, shirt, skin and blood behind, the bullet ending its trail in the building. The pain was unbearable and she could only grit her teeth, pulling herself up and harder against the cold building. But soon she couldn't handle the pain and just as she let go with her left claw and swung to the side, another bullet shattered the concrete inches away from her face.

"Jump!" She heard his voice from below, but it sounded distant. Barely holding on with her right claw, Jack braced her feet against the wall and tried climbing up, but her feet slid from beneath her, making her fall hard into the wall. "Let go!" His voice again, ordering her this time.

Looking up, she saw the rifle aimed right at her heart and closing her eyes, she released the claw and didn't even try to land her fall, but just limply sped through the air. But just as she expected to hit the ground, Riddick caught her and ran into the nearest building, holding her close to him. They both heard the clatter of the rifleman as he began to move, but neither paid much attention to it. His goggles and her sunglasses prevented any visual communication, but just being near each other was enough.

"Some chase." She mumbled, but she made no move to leave his arms.

"Can you stand?" He asked, shifting slightly. Before she could reply, two men came running into the building, guns directly pointed at her head. If she wasn't in pain, she might've blushed, realizing that one of the men was Rex. "If you don't put down those weapons right now I will break your fingers." Riddick growled out, subconsciously tightening his hold on Jack. The shorter one had a momentary hesitation, but Rex put his down, following Riddick's orders by automatic default.

"Riddick, we should get out of here." She mumbled, pulling herself up on him, trying to stand. He slowly stood with her, guiding her with one of his hands spanning her lower back, giving her support. "Who the fuck was that anyway?"

"Christ, Jack. Where are you?" He asked, checking the entrance to make sure it was clear. Ignoring the pain shooting through her arm, Jack released her claws and walked forward, barely giving a glance to anything. She was confident and if she died, she died.

"Tykron." She answered smartly, beginning to jog across the snowy ground. He followed and Rex and the other man were not far behind, checking to make sure no other riflemen were sneaking around on the tops of the roofs.

"Bellger territory." Rex grunted, keeping in easy step with Riddick and Jack. "You've killed enough of them to really piss them off and then you waltz into their territory and bring an entire hunting ring in tow."

"Like I didn't figure that out." Jack hissed, wincing as she moved her arm. "I need to get back to my ship." She said, taking a different turn and Riddick stopped her. "He's alone, I need to check, and I'm fine."

"Your arm is bleeding and open to the wind." The shorter hunter observed.

"Thank you. Like I didn't notice that." Jack snapped, walking again, but Riddick's massive form stopped her from moving. "Get out of my way." She ordered, not touching him but barely containing her rage. Jack just wanted to rip off his goggles and let all that reflected light from the white snow blind him. Marius was alone and she needed to be there, what if Bellger's men tried to find her ship?

"Jack, get back to my ship. I can stitch you up and then you can check on your…" Riddick trailed off and Jack could only feel the jealousy rolling off of him.

"Charge. And no," she responded, bringing up an unsheathed claw to his chest. "I can do that later."

"I asked you nicely, but-" He started, but Jack cut him off.

"You didn't ask at all. Now get the fuck outta my way, you bastard."

"Asking never worked for you anyway, kid." Riddick shot back and Jack almost tore his throat out with her claws. Although she was smaller, her body shot at him like a missile and they fell to the ground. Snow flew up around them as they landed hard onto the pavement and something in Jack broke and sheathing her claw, slipped that hand behind Riddick's head, knowing it could get seriously injured if he cracked it on the pavement. Rex and the other man didn't see it, she took her hand away as soon as she deemed it safe, but she knew and Riddick knew. Before either of them spoke, Jack took the opportunity to jump up and race away, feeling that Riddick was still in shock of being bodily forced to the ground and then protected.

Slipping on a patch of packed snow, Jack scrambled to regain balance and ended up slamming herself against a nearby building. Growling out against the pain, she forced herself off and kept running, unknowingly leaving a trail of blood on the grey concrete. Jack knew she had lost quite a bit of blood from her arm and cursed herself for not doing something about it. It was too late now; her body was torn between supporting her taxing pace and doing something, if anything about her wound. She had run at least eight blocks by now and her trail couldn't be followed by footprints, the wind was too strong and kept blowing the imprinted snow away.

Panting, Jack slid down to the ground and leaned against a wall, closing her eyes behind her sunglasses. From afar it seemed that her tired body had stopped breathing completely in a few minutes, but suddenly she was on her feet again, propping herself up against the wall. Pushing off, she left another smear of blood and kept running, her only thoughts of getting back to Marius.

But she stopped short when she reached the port. Jack could see from far away the men wrenching open the door to her ship. Creeping forward, she slid open her claws, her entire being aflame with anger. How dare they even go near Marius? It was her they wanted, not him. Soon she was a ship away, hiding behind one of its wheels. Turning her head as she leaned against the structure, she saw them taking Marius, him kicking, biting and fighting the whole way. Her heart clenched as they knocked him unconscious and dropped his body to the ground. She had had enough. Turning, she opened her mouth to yell but a hand covered it and she was pulled back into the shadows of the hull.

Jack immediately recognized the feel, smell and strength of the man behind her. Nonetheless, she struggled to get free, tears unknowingly sliding down her face as she watched them roughly bind Marius, tossing him into what looked like a body bag. But the one arm around her waist held her securely, no matter what she did. Finally when she saw them disappear into the white swirling mass of the snow storm, she stopped and fell limp. The hand was removed from her mouth and she looked up and saw Riddick looking down at her.

"You save me, I save you." He rumbled, pulling her against him, sitting on the cold ground beneath the ship.

"They've got him." Jack said, her entire body suddenly frozen with that realization. If only she had let him tag along, even if it was in a nearby building. "Riddick, they've-"

"Got him, I know." He ended the sentence, picking Jack up as he stood. "We're getting out of here."

"No! I've got to get him back!" She yelled, trying to pull back from him. "Riddick! We aren't leaving!" He remained oblivious to her shouts as he carried her away from her ship, ducking a few times to make sure she wouldn't smack the side of his head with her bugnucks. Sheathed or not, they still hurt.

"Jack." His deep voice made her look up from the bed she was resting on, now showered, stitched and dry. He stood in front of her at the end of the bed, the door locking closed behind him, leaving them in a dim light. "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" She asked, turning on her side. She couldn't believe she was resting on his bed as Marius was stowed away in some ice-cold corner of a basement in the city, praying that she would walk in and rescue him.

"You know what." He sat down heavily on the bed, making it tilt in his direction. She rolled over and lay behind him, her body naturally curling around his seated form. Part of her raged not to, why was she treating him so nicely? Yet the other half of her was rejoicing at his proximity.

"Head concussions are a nasty injury, that's all." She mumbled, folding her arm and tucking it beneath her head. "Riddick…I've got to get him back."

"Face it, if you do, it's going to be a frozen corpse. They hate you; they're not going to keep him alive and kicking." He replied, not looking in her direction, but he felt her sit up and move away from him and the beast inside of him suddenly longed for that warmth.

"Clearly you don't understand. He is my charge, I take care of him, he doesn't physically need to depend on me but he needs someone who cares about him! He needs someone he knows he can turn to and will treat him with respect!" Jack yelled, anger bubbling up inside of her.

"Jack! Listen to yourself! He doesn't need you, he needs a fucking mother!" Riddick yelled back, turning around and standing.

"He didn't even know if he had a name when I first met him! He just needs someone to be there! Shit, Riddick, this situation should sound some-fucking-what familiar to you!" She snapped, getting off the bed. Jack moved towards her folded pile of clothes and began to dress for the outside. She couldn't tune Riddick out as she bent over to fasten the zips and buckles on her boots.

"Situation? Yeah, kid," he hissed, making Jack look up angrily. "I'm not that dense. But anyone would've done for you; you could've stayed with Imam and been fine! Hell, you would be better off if you had stayed with him!" Riddick didn't approach her, especially now that she had her bugnucks tightly strapped to her hands.

"And that is where you are wrong, you bastard! I needed you! And fuck me sideways if I still do!" She snarled, suddenly in front of him. She roughly pushed at him and he was barely fazed, but it was the pained anger and loneliness he felt from Jack that really hurt him.

Jack walked past him and was about to open the door when a thought struck her. She slowly turned around and faced him, her long coat hissing quietly against the steel floor.

"Besides, if it was me out there, kidnapped, alone, being abused, beaten and maybe even raped, you would come after me." Jack spoke silently. "There's no difference in how I feel for him as you once felt for me, Riddick." But she didn't move yet, her eyes were trained on the form in front of her that moved slowly towards her.

"You imply that I feel differently now." His smooth voice moved up from the dark corners of the room like dark smoke. He walked right up to her and stood directly in front of her, looking down at her, waiting for a reaction. "Do I, Jack?"

"How am I to know? It's not like you're going to openly tell the universe." She whispered, her voice unsteady. But from some deep corner of her mind she pulled strength and looked up at him while taking her sunglasses off her head, folding them and slipping them into her coat pocket. Riddick followed suit, tucking in the strap into a back pocket, his shined eyes not moving from hers.

"You're right. I think I've always communicated more strongly through actions then words." Riddick replied slowly, his hands rising slowly and starting to unbuckle the lower straps of Jack's coat. "So bear with me in the silence." He added, stepping closer to Jack, their breath mingling as he craned his head forward, completely serious and studious in his work of unbuckling her coat. Just as he finished the last strap, Jack gripped both of his hands with hers and slowly, yet confidently slid her hands up his arms, finally resting on his shoulders. As she had been doing this, Riddick had snaked his hands between her and her coat, his beast awakening at the warmth felt there. Fully wrapping his arms around her thin waist, he pulled her flush against him, giving her hands a moment to join behind his neck.

It wasn't clear who moved first or if they had moved perfectly in time with each other, but when their lips met, none of that or anything else mattered. Their tongues dueled with passion, flicking over the sharp teeth of the other, their inner beasts connecting and play fighting for victory. When they finally pulled apart, Jack could only rest her head on Riddick's chest, closing her eyes to regain any sort of consciousness.

"So you're going to get him by yourself?" He asked, making her glance up, her mind barley able to grasp her surroundings. Jack could tell he felt the same way too, his silver eyes heated.

"Seems that way." Jack replied, suddenly very grateful for his steely grip on her body.

"You, by yourself, attacking an entire base of vengeful ex-Bellger hunters?" He clarified, making her break the tiniest of smiles.

"Got another suggestion?" One of her hands moved and began to softly stroke the back of his neck, Jack knowing that it would send lightning straight down his spine. She was still wearing her bugnucks, one wrong move and there would be claws in the back of his skull. But he knew this and Jack could only feel happiness at that.

"Let me, with my hunters, go with you. All I ask in return is that you wait and stay here." With me, he added silently.

"One psycho killer just isn't as fun as two." Jack teased tiredly, realizing that even without that sudden release of pent up feelings towards each other, she was still exhausted. Riddick felt this too, both in himself and Jack and only slightly releasing his grip on her, guided her towards the bed that he had slept alone in since he became the leader of the hunting ring. As she stood next to it, she fumbled while taking off her coat, her hands just as tired as her body. Riddick helped her and kicked off his boots as Jack un-strapped her bugnucks, setting them down on the bedside table.

Riddick stretched out on the bed, watching the muscles in Jack's body move as she bent over and took off her boots. His breath caught in his throat as she pulled her body back up, her profile just visible from his angle. He knew Jack would never do it, but if she had any desire to be a model, she would blow the competition away. But besides that, her beauty was too unique and superior to be cybergraphed and posted on holographic billboards. Every shadowed curve of her body made his beast whine in lust, leaving Riddick barely able to subdue it.

When Jack turned around, he redirected his line of vision to her face, their eyes meeting and staying connected as she twisted her body and crawled to him. She finally dropped next him, making sure not to drop down on the arm that was injured. At her sudden closeness Riddick was surprised to find that his beast suddenly backed down in physical attraction and stayed alert, as if telling him to guard her and care for her.

"Actions speak louder then words." She mumbled, tucking her head beneath his chin as she pulled her body as close as possible to his. Riddick wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head, closing his eyes in pleasure as she purred at the small affectionate gesture. With a growled out command to shut the lights off, the darkness enveloped them, letting them bask in each other's warmth and stay protected in its shadows.

Thanks to these reviewers:

To all of you: you blew my mind with all these awesome and positive reviews. I can't thank you all enough.

To each of you:

TotallyRiddickObsessed-Yes, there will be a sequel in the making for KF, maybe I'll think about a sequel to Of Schoolgirls and Convicts. Glad you liked it so much, though. Have any ideas for sequel to KF?

ren3017-Damn, you kids are crazy! Yeah, sequel for KF isn't that far

away. Have any ideas? Thanks for reviewing.

XinnLajgin-Not another cup of coffee! I'm so sorry! Coffee is a goddess I worship 24/7, I really do apologize! No problem for the hint dropping, it's sort of fun, actually. Heh, oh Rex and Laiker. If I was making the story longer, I'd probably end up making them a couple. Ha.

njrd-Yes! He finally did, their conversation was…well, you just read it, you tell me. Please. Sorry about the late update, I loved your last update, hope you got my review.

SueBe-Haha, editing for content. Yeah, I don't really want anything terrible to happen to Jack, I'm way too much of a J/R fan. Did you know the original plotline for the story was that Jack would die protecting Marius and then Marius and Riddick would've bonded together. Then I realized I didn't really have a place to take the story to after that, though.

IT-Wondering where you went, glad you're alright though. Ha, computers, evil friends. Quite fickle, too.

NightmareWeaver-I missed you! Woo for short yet lovely review, made me really happy. Can you adopt him? Sure, go ahead.

Tinca-Yay! Giving readers excitement! How…exciting. Haha, thanks for reviewing, I'll reply to the email soon, lots of work this weekend, though.

Nikita1506- Jack is always more fun when she's a little trickster, don't you think? Thanks for reviewing.

Pesty-Well, glad you think it's such a good story. Sorry about the late update.

dog-demon-emiko-WOO! Glad you loved it, in caps too.

TrunksgirlBlaze27-Quite the name. Glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing.