Disclaimer: Don't own TCOR – but Merrick, Marcus, Jonesy and the guards are products of my own imagination so if you want to borrow them, lemme know first.

Summary: Six years can be a long time. A long time away from him. A long time for something to go wrong. AU that picks up right after Dark Fury - some TCOR spoilers.

Pairings: R/J

Warnings: Language, mild violence…

Authors Notes: Good grief – one year, five months and five days later, this story was finally brought to an end. I'd like to both apologize to and thank my loyal readers who've been here since the start… and I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to review the story! As for this conclusion – I still have a few ideas as to where I would have liked this story to go (and there's a good chance I'll be writing a sequel someday soon), but after a year and a half, it was begging to be given an ending… so here it is. The conclusion to Just Like You…

Chapter Ten: Never Had a Doubt

Drip…

Riddick looked past the sleeping figure of Toombs and towards Jack. She fidgeted restlessly in the co-pilots seat, unable to decide upon a satisfactory position.

Funny to think how much she'd changed. When he left her, she was just a kid. Awkward and lanky, a tomboy through and through.

And now…

She'd become as deadly as she had beautiful.

Drip…

He continued sifting through the contents of the locker, looking for the food packs he'd come across when he first took inventory of the ship on UV.

Something was nagging at him. He'd kept the promise he made to himself. He'd gotten her off that rock.

Now what? He had planned to drop her back with Imam, or somewhere else she might be safe. But he'd also been picturing a 13 year old Jack. A Jack that didn't exist anymore.

He looked towards her again. She was still awake, staring at the starry expanse that stretched out before them.

Drip…

The sound finally registered. The cut on Jack's arm was gradually dripping blood onto the floor.

He abandoned the search for food and looked for the gauze that they used to tape up Toombs earlier. Finding it, he walked towards her and knelt at her side. She didn't respond as he started wrapping the wound, just continued to stare out the window.

"Why did you leave, Riddick?"

He paused mid-wrap and looked up.

"Leave?"

"Yeah, leave. Go, run, depart, disappear… why'd you leave?"

"You needed a chance at a normal life, Jack. I couldn't give that to you, Imam could."

She snorted. "I've never led a normal life, Riddick. Even before the crash."

Unable to find the right words, Riddick stayed silent, choosing instead to focus intently on her bandage.

"So where do we go from here?" she asked, her voice breaking through the dead air between them.

"That," chimed Toombs, "is a damn good question."

They turned to see Toombs drag himself into a sitting position, attempting a stretch before the pain in his side stopped him short.

"Great," she said, her tone morose. "It's still alive."

"Who you callin' an 'it'?" he mumbled, staggering to his feet. "What happened? And where the hell are we?"

Riddick tied off the bandage and stood up. "You passed out a minute or so after I shot you. As for where we are now, we're about an hour closer to our destination and that's all you need to know."

"Hey now," he said, defensive. "I'm in this just as much as you are. I killed two guards! I'm a wanted man!"

"Not by us," she said, giving a slight tug on her bandage and raising an eyebrow. "Now if you don't shut up, I'll be kicking your ass out of the shuttle the second we hit atmo …. If not before."

Riddick grabbed Toombs roughly by the shoulder and threw him back into the chair, prepping the cryo-link.

"But Kyra – " Toombs started.

"The name's Jack," she corrected.

The corners of Riddick's mouth turned upwards into a faint smile.

As the fog of cryo-sleep began to weigh on his mind, Toombs could only manage a confused look before slipping into unconsciousness.

"So where are we headed?" she asked again.

"Nowhere in particular."

He settled back into the pilots chair and began programming a new set of course directions into the computer. He glanced at Jack out of the corner of his eye. She was staring out the window again.

"You ready for this?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. Her expression grew distant as she softly added, "… and I never had a doubt…"

He'd never asked for her loyalty. She'd given it to him without question.

He'd spent the last six years betraying that trust.

Now it was time to make up for it.

Fin