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Kayla

Chapter 8: New Arrangements.

"How do you want to do this?" Jack looked at Riddick uncertainly as The Chancer clamped down in docking bay four and they waited for the docking bay to re-pressurise and make it safe for them to leave. She hadn't exactly told Captain Manor to be expecting another body besides her own when she got back, she had left that out to tell him face to face.

"Like I told you before when I agreed to this fucked up mess, I'm not letting you outta my fucking sight." Riddick placed his goggles over his eyes and let his hand wonder to the place where his shiv was kept. Her eyes followed his hand and she let herself smile. The look on his face told her clearly enough that shit was going to get near her.

"Welcome back Jack." Sam greeted her as The Chancer's boarding ramp was lowered and the younger of the two females walked down the ramp smiling her own greeting. A frown appeared on the officer's face however as she watched Riddick walk down after Jack, his big boots making hollow noises on the metal of the ramp.

The man was big, an imposing sight. He could have easily passed as one of those body builder types except he seemed like he knew what to do with the muscles he had. Sam didn't know if it was deliberate or not but the minute he saw her looking at him, he flexed a couple like he was a cat that had just woken up from a nap. It was like a lazy warning or something like that.

He was dressed completely in black. He had on a pair of black combat style army type pants, a black wife beater and the same sort of heavy black boots that Jack liked to wear. In fact, Jack wasn't dressed a lot differently from him at that moment, only her top was kaki and she was wearing her usual zip-up vest jacket, that and she wasn't wearing dark welding goggles.

It wasn't hard to work out that the man that had taken up a somewhat defensive stance behind Jack was none other then Richard B. Riddick and Jack wasn't all that surprised that Sam knew who he was. She was surprised however at the look of curiosity in her friend's eyes rather then fear, suspicion or loathing.

"So he wasn't dead after all?" The older women said.

"I'm pretty damn hard to kill." Riddick looked at her.

"Sam this is Riddick. Riddick, this I my friend and The Aurora's security officer Samantha." Jack said. Sam nodded to him and Riddick just looked at her.

"Anyone calls me Samantha and I cut their balls off." Sam grinned almost evilly before turning her attention back to Jack. As far as she was concerned, one warning was always countered by another, that and it was suddenly important to her that Riddick didn't think that she wasn't intimidated by him. "You get that technically your friend there is a wanted killer? That he's killed hellova lot of people and that you're damn crazy bring him here?" Sam watched as Jack's hesitant smile turned to a frown, her eyes growing cold and the muscles along her jaw tightening.

"I'm not an idiot Sam." She said in a low voice as a teenage girl walking through the docking bay doors interrupting them and from the look of it she hadn't meant to. She looked like she was running from something or someone.

The girl's dark brown eyes looked at the two women and then settled on Riddick. There was no fear on her face, just a nasty bruise on her cheekbone and hostility written in her eyes. She hadn't meant to walk in on anyone, let alone the ship's security officer but all of her ideas about solitude were shattered.

No one moved after Sam turned around to see what both Riddick and Jack were focusing on. She just stood there, her eyes quietly watching them. Jack was waiting for Sam to say something to her about where passengers should and should not be and Riddick recognised the teenager as the one he had seen a few days earlier, right before he had left to find Jack.

"I thought all of the passengers would be in cryo sleep by now." Jack said but even still the teen didn't move. She just watched as if spell bound.

"Not all of them this time around. Three don't feel comfortable in cryo sleep apparently. The kid and her mom are two of them." Sam answered.

"That whore isn't my mother." The teenager snapped her eyes flashing her anger.

"This deck is off limits to passengers Candace." Sam said evenly.

"I know. That's why I like it." And then as suddenly as she had arrived in the docking bay, she left it and them staring after her.

"What the heck?" Jack looked a little taken back.

"Lippy little shit. Breaks the rules all over the place but she's slippery. We haven't been able to actually catch the kid yet when she's doing something wrong and her mom seems pretty rough on her anyway so we haven't had the heart to grab her when she's not doing anything wrong." Sam shrugged almost thankful that Candace had chosen that moment to arrive and therefore distracted Jack from what she was going to say.

"Reminds me of you." Riddick said to Jack.

"Hell, I was more of a monster and you never hit me." Jack answered him back. "You had better take us to see Manor Sam."

"You sure he shouldn't stay behind for the moment. Until you break the news to the Captain?" Sam asked.

"Is the merc gone?" Riddick asked and Sam nodded. "Then I'm not staying behind."

"I'm not going to argue with you." Sam said pretty sure that the only way she'd win was if she put a bullet through his head. And she didn't even want to think about the reaction that that would get from Jack.

Sam led them along the corridors of The Aurora to the control room, passing the cockpit where Danny was checking on the autopilot's course and tinkering with things. "Don't touch the fucking thing!" Jack thought as Danny looked at them as they passed by. He didn't look all that happy to see her again, let alone the man with her but was wise enough to say in his seat and say nothing.

"So you've come back." Captain Manor said before anyone was able to announce their presence in the doorway of the room that he was occupying.

"Yes sir." Jack said entering the room.

"Why?"

"Because all I was doing was running away. You can't find peace while running away sir." She answered. "So I'm back to ask for my job back."

"You turned your back on this crew."

"I made a mistake. I was afraid."

"Give me a good reason why I should let you take the pilot's chair again."

"You probably shouldn't." She shrugged. "But you're risking hell of a lot of lives with Danny in the chair. He's already tampering with shit that he doesn't understand. He's a rookie, green as heck and he doesn't know how to handle a ship this big. I can handle her, The Aurora and I are used to each other, that's why I'm good in the pilot's chair. But apart from that, I have no good reason why you should let me back in that chair."

"And if I say yes? If I give you back your job, what then?" Manor looked passed her to the two figures hovering in the doorway listening.

"Then I'll ask you a favour and take this ship to whatever hell you want me to after I fix the mess that Danny is making of the autopilot and whatever other systems he's tampered with." Jack said. "You gotta put him on a course or send him to the academy before you let him tamper with that shit."

"And if a say I don't agree to your favor?"

"I don't know. Hadn't thought about it." She looked at the ground and licked her lips.

"If I say a flat out no?"

"I leave this ship and trail your ass to make sure that none of those fucking creatures leave that planet and kill the human race." She answered coldly.

"What's the favour?"

"To be able to face that planet, I need the help of one of my very old friends. But as far as the law is concerned, he's not exactly good company to keep but he'll keep me safe and sane. The favour is for you to let him stay on board the ship with me." She looked over her shoulder or a moment nervously.

"I take it he's the one in the doorway with Sam?" Manor looked past her again and Riddick walked into the room, a strange sort of half smile on his face, it was almost threatening and Jack clenched her jaw. Riddick was going to mess it all up before Manor had the chance to think about it. "Who are you exactly?" He asked.

"Richard B. Riddick." Riddick answered.

"Captain Tex Manor." Captain Manor introduced himself and Riddick raised an eyebrow as if to ask if he should be impressed by that fact or not. Jack looked over at him and gave him a pleading look. "I thought you said that he was dead." Manor said to Jack.

"I thought he was dead, I told everyone he was dead, not just you. I only found out a the day that I left when he thought it would be smart to wake me up in the middle of one of my nightmares and tell me he wasn't." She shrugged. "There's a good chance that I couldn't do this run without him. I need him along this time and I know that I'm asking a lot. I really do understand that sir but I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't think that I needed him."

"How do I know that he's not going to murder people while they are sleeping?"

"Because he's won't." She shrugged, "He never hurt anyone but Johns while we were down on that planet, though everyone was tripping about it. I told you that. Johns was going to have me killed. Even ask him. He's not stupid enough to get his ass caught and hauled back to Slam. I'm told it's not all that homey a place."

"You're not going to kill anyone if I let you stay here?" Tex Manor addressed the escaped convict.

"It's not in the master plan." Riddick growled and smirked.

"Then I'll assign you quarters and fill the crew in on who you are." The Captain shrugged. "Danny's not going to like this a bit but Sam's always wanted another person on security, though, I take it, he's here for one person only."

"One less person for anyone else to worry about." Riddick said. "And make sure the quarters are big enough for two. She," He pointed at Jack and she glared at him. "Doesn't leave my sight."

"What the hell was that little display of aggression in the aid of?" Jack spun on him the minute that Sam had left them alone in their new quarters to settle in and unpack. Riddick certainly hadn't expected her to fly off the handle like that. It had obviously pissed her off and she was glaring rather openly at him. "You don't mouth off at the fucking Captain! God you'd really think that you're an idiot sometimes with your mad testosterone filled actions."

"The Captain deserved to know how things stood."

"I can't believe you fuckin' did that." Jack shook her head as she unzipped her bag and started taking things out and putting them away in an almost temperamental fashion. She realised that she had hell of a lot to worry about if he was going to keep up the aggressiveness.

"I told you how things were going to be if we came back here and I meant it. You can play hero all you want to Jack, I'm here to make sure your ass is still alive when we leave that planet." He shrugged and sat down in a chair. She shook her head and made sure that the safeties were all still on her weapons before pushing them under the double bed.

"I'm going to go fix the autopilot!" She said almost in exasperation and left their quarters but she hadn't taken five steps down the corridor when his footsteps behind her became audible. "Now, you're just trying to piss me off aren't you?" He didn't say a word so she just kept walking until she reached the cockpit where she was to start her work.

"You don't have long to do this Jack. You need sleep." Riddick said sitting in the seat that belonged to Danny.

"You're not my fucking mother Riddick." She growled.

"You had better watch your mouth. I told you not to get lippy." He shrugged and she looked away from her work to give him an even stair before turning back and starting again.

"I've lived without a regular sleeping pattern for this long." She shrugged and started undoing what Danny had done but was surprised to find that he had actually made a couple of improvements to the system that could possibly be useful at a later date. For the first time Danny had actually impressed her but most of that shock was wiped away as she realised how much she had to fix.

"Doesn't mean you don't need one."

"Well what about you then? You never seem to sleep. I mean, the slightest movement wakes you up and then you're totally alert like you had never closed your eyes." She looked over at him. "Don't preach at me. I got enough of that from Imam while he was with us."

"I'm not preaching. Slam does that to you and I've spent enough time in the slam systems to get good at sleeping with one eye open. It doesn't mean that I don't sleep, I do, just a different kind of sleep." He leaned back in his chair while he explained.

"Is it really better to die then go to slam though?" She asked reached over him and flicking a couple of switches while bringing up a side monitor. She was almost done with the autopilot; all she had to really do now was re-key in the course.

"You're a walking corpse the minute you enter one."

The subject of the slam systems immediately brought to mind Kelly Marks. What the hell was it with death and murder that Jack seemed to attract? Yes, since the date that Kelly had been convicted of the murder of a man called Lang, she had killed but her original conviction was a farce, she was innocent of the crime, though she often said that she would have killed Lang if she had gotten to him first. But she hadn't, she was taking the rap for a crime she hadn't committed.

Bret's sister was the sweetest, most caring woman that Jack had ever come across since the death of her mother. From the minute that Jack had stepped into Kelly's life as Kit O'Donnell, Kelly had gone out of her way to be kind and caring. It was just the way she was, although, it had been no secret at the beginning that Kelly really hadn't thought that Jack was good enough for her brother. To the woman's credit however, she hadn't let those feelings affect the way she treated Jack. She had often left her mystified, even keeping Jack's identity secret from everyone when she found out who she really was.

But if Kelly ever got caught, it would be the slam she was headed to.

Jack shook her head, trying to clear the thoughts of her friend from her mind as she deleted Danny's shoddy programming job. "Damn fool made a heap of stupid mistakes. I'm going to have to teach him how to use this thing if Manor won't send him somewhere to learn." Jack started re-keying the course.

"Who?"

"My co-pilot, Danny, he's a spaz." She shrugged trying not to think of home or the place where they were heading. One meant being safe, the other...she didn't even want to think about it. Planet hell hadn't exactly been at the top of her, 'places to visit before she died' list.

"If I'm a spaz O'Donnell, then you're a liar and a deserter." Danny said from behind her. She turned around and glared at him. He always managed to say the right thing to get her pissed off but at that moment he was eyeing Riddick with a mixed look of suspicion and annoyance.

"I'm a survivor Danny." She said coldly.

"And in league with murderers." Danny said. "Wasn't your fiancé's sister convicted of killing that merc that killed her brother? Isn't it true that they haven't been able to find her either because you've been hiding her?"

That comment was enough to make Jack snap. Before Riddick could even have grabbed her, she had leapt out of her seat and tackled Danny. He wasn't even given time to react before she had thrown her first punch, a hit that landed squarely on his jaw, snapping his head around as they fell to the floor together in a tangle of limbs that left him underneath her and getting a beating.

They tumbled around the cockpit floor, Danny trying to get her off him, landing hits here and there and Jack on top of him like a fury trying to pound him into the floor. It was only when Sam arrived that Riddick moved to grab Jack around the middle and pulled her off Danny whom Sam was helping Danny to his feet.

"You fucking bastard!" Jack yelled at Danny, struggling against Riddick's hands and when she found out she couldn't get loose she used his strength as leverage to land a couple of good kicks on Danny's upper body.

"You're a psycho bitch O'Donnell." Danny shrugged Sam off as Jack lunged for him again. "A fucking psycho bitch whore!" He wiped the blood dribbling down his nose off with the back of his hand and glared at her. His pride smarting as much as the places where she had hit him.

"Ahhhh!" She yelled and tried to reach the retreating co-pilot as he walked out of the room.

"Sit!" Riddick growled and practically tossed her into a chair as Sam stalked out after Danny. Jack made to follow but Riddick pushed her back into her chair and gave her a stare that made her want to scream again.

"Damn you!" She glared up at him, licking her spilt lip.

"You can't beat everyone up Jack."

"Fuck you!" She answered as Sam walked back in glaring. Jack looked between the two of them before pushing past the security officer and leaving.

"That's the second time I've pissed her off today." Riddick said as he followed her out of the room past Sam who looked slightly mystified.

Riddick stood with his back up against the wall of the control room, his arms folded across his broad chest and a look that didn't say or mean anything on his face. A rather timid, mouse like young man was standing a short distance from him on his left, his nostrils slightly flared and his hand straying every once and a while to his golden brown hair as his hazel eyes flickered from him to the others in the room and back again. He smelt of fear. He looked afraid.

Sam stood on the other side of him in much the same stance that he was in, with her arms folded across her chest and her feet slightly apart but she had a frown on her face. Unlike the kid on his left, Sam didn't seemed to take any notice of him at all. She seemed to have lost her fear of him after they had left the docking bay. She was a levelheaded woman and seemed to trust Jack. Maybe she even had a little too much trust in Jack, Riddick wasn't sure yet.

Jack was standing side by side with Danny, an unreadable expression on her face that she still hadn't been given much of a chance to clean up since their little brawl. In her right fist, clenched tightly was a cloth she had been given to wipe the blood off her slip lip. To her credit however, Danny did look worse off then she did, one eye black and blue and almost swollen shut and a number of other bruises on his arms and head that she had given him.

"...this is the last thing I expected from you Jack!" He tuned into the lecture that Captain Manor was giving the girl he had set out for some reason to protect. He could tell by the look on the Captain's face that he was almost through with the two crewmates in front of him. "Have you got anything to say for yourselves? Either of you?" Jack's head snapped up when he spoke his final words. They were obviously too much of a challenge for her to ignore as she start speaking a bare moment later.

"I'm sorry for making your day harder sir, but I'm not sorry for what I did. Some people need to learn to keep their mouths shut and not mouth off about other people's families sir." Jack up until that moment had been smart and kept her mouth closed but it seemed that that power had escaped her the minute she was given a chance to let loose. Captain Manor's expression never changed but if it hadn't been such and obvious movement, Riddick would have shook his head and rolled his eyes. The girl should have stayed silent.

Riddick shifted slightly from one foot to the other and the kid to his left nearly jumped out of his skin, which didn't go unnoticed by the one person that shouldn't have cared too much. Jack whipped around, a look of exasperation and pain on her face.

"She's a psycho..." Danny was saying when her words cut through his but not because of their volume.

"He's not going to hurt you John." Her voice was nearly a whisper and caught everyone's attention. Riddick raised both of his eyebrows at her and didn't fail to notice the hurt expression on her face. This was harder for her then he had thought it was. "I wouldn't bring anyone on this ship with me if I thought they were going to hurt you. Yeah, he's," She gestured at him, "Hurt people, killed people. I've seen him but he's not evil, those people were threatening my life, his life, our lives. I would have done the same for him, like I would do the same for you."

"Kit...Jack, I mean...I mean..." John stumbled over his words because of simple nervousness and fright. Jack looked like she had just taking a whipping. She shook her head and spun on her heel, leaving the room at a near run. They were all silent; they seemed almost stunned but the reaction of their pilot. Certainly Riddick hadn't expected her to get all hyped up over him. "I didn't mean anything by it," John looked around at them nervously, his eyes stopping on Riddick. "I didn't, I didn't." He shook his head, his eyes widening slightly in fear as they looked at him.

"Don't worry about it Johnny boy." Sam said soothingly word had obviously gotten around that Riddick was stationed as their pilot's protector.

"She's a psycho bitch!" Danny shook his head violently. "Why the hell you gave her, her job back I have no idea. She's going to rip this whole fucking crew apart. She's already got John shit scared."

"I think it's me that's got the boy spooked." Riddick fixed his eyes on the co-pilot who looked over his shoulder rather suddenly at him.

"I don't know what to call her or who she is or anything. I feel nervous as heck right now." John said ignoring Danny's comments and Riddick's corresponding reply.

"Call her what you're comfortable calling her, if that's Kit, then call her Kit, if that's Jack, then call her Jack." Captain Manor said. "You don't have anything to worry about when it comes to her John. You know Jack and she keeps her word."

"The thing with Jack is that all of her aliases have the same personality." Riddick stopped leaning against the wall and spoke choosing his words carefully. "Jack's hell of a good play actor but only because she holds on to Jack and goes places where no one knows her name or her past. So all she has to do is change her name. You knew her, just not her name." They all looked at him dumbfounded and the Captain gave him a smile. A smile of all things.

"I thought you weren't going to let her out of your sight." Captain Manor was still smiling at him like he would smile at a friend.

"Even I know when she needs some space." Riddick replied and left the room a frown on his face.