Well, I know it's been a while since I last posted but am feeling much relaxed and inspired after a nice long trip around the USA and seeing friends and family. Have a number of chapters written that are just going through a little editing.

Anyway, here is chapter 11. Hope you enjoy.

Kayla

Chapter 11: Back To Hell.

"Jack?" There was a knock on her door and Capitan Manor's voice could be heard clearly on the other side. Jack brushed a strand of hair out of the sleeping Candace's face and stood up, walking to the door.

"Yes sir?" She said opening the door, her voice quite conscious of the fact that her newest charge was sleeping.

"It's time to start the landing procedures." Captain Manor looked past her into the dimly lit room, his eyes passing over the sleeping form of the teenager and the still, quiet form of Riddick who looked back at him a small frown on his face. It seemed that even the man who appeared to be afraid of nothing didn't like that planet any more then his pilot did.

"I'll be right up." Jack nodded her acknowledgement of his statement.

"You'll be glad to hear that Danny won't be joining you in the cockpit. He's going to have to help John load our new cargo when we get down there." Captain Manor said. "We're going to be on that planet for between eight and twelve hours, be prepared."

"I already am." Jack tried to sound confident but was sure that she had failed miserably. Her voice sounded fake to her own ears, she didn't see how it could be anything but fake to anyone else's. It didn't help when the time they would be down their kept on creeping longer and longer.

"Good. When we get there, it's up to you if you want to leave the ship and take a look around or you can just sit tight and wait."

"Thanks sir. I'll let you know when I take my chair." Jack nodded and shut the door as the Captain left. She tried to ignore Riddick as she leaned against the door for a minute, feeling quite weak and more then a little afraid. Fear, she knew would be her worst enemy while she was on that planet and in the hours immediately after they left.

Jack grabbed her vest jacket and put it on, the zip catching slightly in her nervous hurry to do it up and she didn't seem to be able to get the stupid zip unstuck again. "Damn it!" She swore softly in her frustration and suddenly Riddick's hands had pushed hers aside and fixed the problem. Unlike her hands, she noticed, his were steady. But then, he was always steady, cool and calm.

"Take a deep breath Jack and pull yourself together. You're not going to be able to fly this ship if you're a nervous wreak." Riddick said as he laid a hand on the small of her back for the moment, the contact was meant to be reassuring before he stepped away and stretched. In his own strange way, Riddick was trying to make her feel better and she was silently thankful that he cared enough to try. "Leave her to sleep through the landing."

Jack nodded as she put on her headset. She set her jaw and threw him a spare headset as she reached for the door handle. "Answer me this time if I call? I might need a little bit of moral support."

"I'll be right next to you. Sounded like your Captain was hinting at seat availability when he stopped by. I think I might take him up on his offer." Riddick gave her a reassuring smile and put on the headset.

"Then Candace'll be alone when she does wake up. I'm not sure that's a good idea, leaving her I mean. Not after the shit she's been though over the past few hours." Jack looked down at Candace a frown passing across her face. She knew what it was like to wake up alone when you expected others to be around. It left you feeling empty and nervous and as much as she was worried about the girl's parentage, she didn't want her to feel like that.

"She's not you Jack. She gets no comfort from me being around, you on the other hand might need an unofficial co-pilot or as you put it, a little bit of moral support." He raised an eyebrow, as she seemed to think for a moment. If only he knew just how much his offer meant to her, but then he probably wouldn't be much impressed by her sentimentalities.

Jack nodded her consent and quickly scribbled a note before grabbing a couple of food bars out of her bag. She laid them on the table but didn't say anything as she left the room, her boots making thudding noises against the floor that were accompanied by the sound of Riddick's footsteps. Once she had been his shadow and now he was hers, a different sort of shadow but still a shadow.

"Starting pre-landing procedures." Jack said clearly as she pulled up her view screen but she could clearly see the desert planet through her window. "Planet Hell locked into the heading and all too clearly in sight sir. Standing by for further instructions."

"Continue on the present course and start landing. I will inform Dr. Johnston of our immanent arrival." Captain Manor's voice said.

"Formal eh?" Riddick said sounding amused as Jack quickly settled to her work.

"Only when he's in 'Captain' mode." Jack barely paused to looked at him as she worked, barely seeming to stop moving and her hands were flying around at some speed, it almost looked like instinct. "There's a green switch on your left to the right of two gray buttons, flick it will you, then press the two buttons simultaneously." She said sounding distracted. There wasn't a lot that could distract her when she was intent on her work, not even him, and this time she seemed to have a desperate need to get lost in that same work. It was as if her life depended on it.

"I don't see in color Jack."

"They're right below the third large leaver to your left." She pointed and he did as she asked. No, it wasn't her life that depended on it, it was her sanity.

Candace woke up to find herself quite alone in the room that Jack shared with Riddick. There was a red light flashing above the door, which she was sure, didn't mean that anything good was happening, that or they were landing but when she tired to open the door she found it was locked. She was a fucking prisoner so it seemed. She gave the door one more, sharp tug before gritting her teeth and stamping her foot hard against the floor much like a young child out of temper.

"Fuck you!" She yelled at the top of her lungs and then slumped down into a chair at the table feeling slightly defeated. Why the hell did people think that they could just leave her all the time? God she was sick of it, always being the one that was left behind or forgotten about.

There were two bars laying on what looked like a note. One bar was a protein and vitamin bar and the other a chocolate bar, the note advised eating the protein bar first and also explained that her new guardians were off landing the ship. So that was what the red light was about. She was just surprised that she hadn't woken up earlier.

"Some people have all the fun." She muttered as she took a bite of the protein bar, it tasted like moist cardboard. She made a face and then took a careful look at the wrapping knowing that she had to somehow force the rest of the bar down her throat because she might not get to eat again for a while. That wasn't to say that she thought that Jack was going to starve her, she was pretty sure that the pilot wouldn't do that but she wasn't going to risk it anyway.

At least the note said that one of them would get her after The Aurora had landed. That at least was something; she only hoped that it was Jack and not the big convict. She had heard far too much about him from her father, her father had never chased him but he had spoken about him and none of it was particularly comforting stuff. She was sure that her father would have loved a shot at catching Richard B. Riddick but because of her and her safety he never had.

That wasn't to say that part of her wasn't very grateful that Riddick had saved her from one of her mother's rages, she was, but that didn't mean that she could trust him. She knew how he killed, she had been told that he didn't understand mercy and she wasn't sure that she would be allowed to ever try and find her father again, especially after she had told Jack that her father was a merc.

Gods, she could be stupid sometimes!

Candace looked at the floor, her toes tracing imaginary patterns on the floor as she thought about her father. She missed him badly. But then her mother always had complained that she was her father's daughter more then she was hers. To be honest that thought had always made Candace proud. She could think of far worse things to be then her father's daughter.

He had let her be athletic and supported her as she jumped between sports trying to work out which sports were the best for her. He had taught her how to protect herself, when to hide or when to run or fight back. He made her feel safe and loved, protected. It didn't matter anymore, he wasn't there, she had only herself to count on.

She popped the last of the protein bar into her mouth and chewed it as best as she could. She turned on the sink and got herself a glass of water, which she nearly spilt on her top as the ship lurched obviously, hitting the atmosphere of a planet. Whatever the hell was going on it was not going smoothly and that did little to make her feel better.

Whatever this planet was, it scared the hell out of her newest guardian, Jack that was. Candace smiled, she had heard a lot when they thought she had fallen asleep, before real sleep took her. She had even heard the disgruntled conversation with the ship's security officer and Captain after Jack had found them to talk about her. At the moment, she was in Jack's care and custody, which was until the reached the planet that the ship would end up docking at; at that point things would be re-evaluated.

If they couldn't or wouldn't let her find her father then she would probably be put into care and that was not a thought that she relished much. She almost would have rather had a job working with the rather loose C named woman onboard the fucking ship then go into care.

Her mind wondered back to the planet, wondering what it would be like, not wanting to have to wait to set foot on real ground again but there was something not right about that place, something had happened there, death and monsters had been mentioned and both Jack and Riddick had been there. As they had spoken Cadence almost liked the man she feared. Jack talked quickly with a nervous quality to her voice that didn't seem in character and he just interceded with clam quite words of comfort, protection and reassurance.

What, that was if he had changed, changed the heartless monster into the man who seemed to care so much about the pilot? And why couldn't Jack see what she saw?

She took a bite of the chocolate bar, thankful that it took away the taste of mushy cardboard in her mouth. Could a man like that change? Her father had told her that it was possible, not probable but possible none the less, for anyone who wanted to change to change but that there was always a reason why.

Was Jack Riddick's reason why or was there more to it?

The pilot had been so adamant that she had nothing but platonic feelings for the big man but Candace still wasn't convinced. After all what had that touch of his arm been about if not an expression of that feeling that she was denying? Why was Jack living in an en-suite room with only a double bed if she wasn't in the least attracted to the dude?

It wasn't like she saw Riddick giving up the chance to sleep in a bed just because Jack only thought of him as a friend or protector. That and there was no way at all that she could think of that Richard B. Riddick would hang around to protect a girl that he didn't have an interest in right? Or did she have them totally wrong?

Candace shook her head to clear it of her own thoughts as the ship lurched for a second time and it hit solid ground. There were too many questions where these people were concerned and not enough answers and it was enough to drive her crazy. She knew she couldn't even trust her judgement of character at that moment in time, at least not with Riddick. Her father had once called him a master of disguise and she was more then sure that he had been speaking about more then just the man's physical appearance.

She read the note that had been left for her again and then looked thoughtfully at Jack's duffle bag. If she was going to go up top, maybe get to explore a little bit of the surface then she figured that she had better change, only thing was she didn't have any of her clothes yet so instead she decided to rummage through Jack's things and found not only a change of clothes that fit alright but also an armoury that she hadn't been expecting.

What was Jack? She found herself asking herself as she looked at the arrangement of weapons. Was she a killer too?

"That was not what I call a smooth landing hotshot." Captain Manor's voice said over the headsets and Jack almost let herself laugh because of all the pent up nerves and the sheer irony. Compared with the last landing she had experienced on her first visit to the planet, her landing had been like landing on a feather bed. So she just let herself laugh silently for a moment, wondering if Riddick was remembering it too.

"You couldn't have done better yourself! My hands are shaking so badly right now..." Jack answered him as she looked over at Riddick for some form of reassurance. He gave her a fleeting but rare smile and she nodded, it had been what she was looking for. He knew what she was thinking about.

"Knew you could do it Jackie. The Captain would be criminal if he didn't give you a raise after that" Sam's voice said from behind her. "What do you say Captain sir? A raise for the pilot?"

"He gave me my job back, I'm not about to push it again, yet." Jack said but a laugh did escape from her lips before she seemed to be able to stop it. This was part of working with these particular people that she liked the most, even in the face of a very bad situation they could laugh. It was rare that there wasn't some sort of good-natured banter going on between members of the crew and the Captain seemed to have no trouble joining in.

"Good choice Jack." Manor's amused voice chuckled. "Don't want to push your luck too soon."

"No sir, my luck is fast running out, remember I'm back on planet hell when I'd rather not be." She shook her head, the joke hidden in reality but at least she could joke about it, they had to give that much to her didn't they?

"We've got a nice blue sun up and I was wondering if you wanna come outside with me for a small look around." Sam said, leaning on the back of Jack's chair and looking out of the main cockpit window.

"I've got to go check in on the kid. Make sure she hasn't got into any trouble cause I'll be surprised if that landing didn't wake her up." Jack said paling, she wasn't quite ready to face the surface yet though she could quite clearly see it through the blue haze outside of the cockpit window.

"Hotshot's punking out." She heard Danny's voice mocking her over the headset and she bristled, what was it with that guy, he was just asking for her to prove him wrong. With the rest of the crew the banter was good-natured, why did it always have to be different with Becker? Damn him, when it came down to it, she really didn't care.

"I dunno Sam." She tried to ignore his comment but she knew it wasn't working all that well, Danny knew how to get her riled up.

"Take a gun and a blaster, bring the kid with you." Sam smiled. "Call it facing your fears and then you can meet the dumb fucks that have been living here. See the crash sight again, get over the past, it got over you, you know."

"You beginning to sound like a fucking psychoanalyst or therapist." Riddick interjected and Jack silently thanked him, she hadn't been able to come up with a come back for that one.

"I'll see you outside in fifteen." Sam ignored Riddick's comments but there was a smile on her face when she left the cockpit. Sam knew she had won. There was something in the way that the security officer challenged Jack that made it nearly impossible for her not to accept it.

Jack closed her eyes after she had finished turning off the things that needed to be turned off and leaned back in her chair. She concentrated on her breathing for a while, a steady in and out, in and out. She knew she was panicking but couldn't seem to get herself in line so she just stopped fighting it and made herself be still. If her head wanted to blow off then it could, it just meant that she didn't have to deal with shit anymore.

She knew what was outside all to well. She could picture the terrain in her minds eye without needing to leave the safety of the ship. She knew the heat, knew how hard it could be to breath at times, knew what lay beneath the surface. She could see the crashed ship as she had seen it last time, she could see the canyon where she had nearly lost her life, she could even see the map of the small settlement in her head if she thought closely about it. She shuddered and opened her eyes, knowing that Riddick was watching her carefully.

"I guess..." She said but her voice trailed off to nothing.

"If you want to or feel you should look around, then do it." Riddick said pealing off his headset and watching her closely for a reaction. She nodded and stood up.

"Will you come?" She asked when she reached the doorway.

"I'll come." He answered.

Less then five minutes later Jack had placed her weapons on the table and was faced with a much irritated Candace. The girl watched her pick out a gun and an energy blaster before picking up Jack's favorite handgun and testing it's weight much like an expert would.

"You're not coming." Jack said flatly and she sounded strained.

"Why the bloody hell not? I can handle myself better then you think." Candace snapped and glared at Jack who glared right back. Riddick looked between the two and shook his head; besides the difference in looks Candace could have been Jack at a younger age. They were both stubborn and hot-headed but Candace was just plain angry at the world unlike Jack who had just been a survivalist from the start, she had seemed to have gotten over her anger a while before he had ever met her.

"Can you handle that gun?" Riddick's voice stopped Jack from snapping back at the girl.

"Of course I can. Dad taught me to shoot when I was twelve. Said I had to know encase anyone with a grudge came after us." She nodded at him but put the semi-automatic handgun back down on the table. She didn't want to make him nervous and she was sure that Jack had told him about her father being a merc.

"I take it you've come across a lot of people with a grudge on you?" He gave her a look that she couldn't interpret and she scowled at him.

"None of them had a grudge against me and I've never had to shoot anyone." She snapped. "Dad got to them first I was just a target because of who he was. You know how that goes, the whole point was that I was prepared."

"You stay close and shoot if we tell you to shoot got it?" He growled at her and Jack opened her mouth to protest but he gave her a look that stopped her. "I've got it covered Jack." Was all he said and though Jack didn't look happy, she didn't look like she was about to try and contradict Riddick, for better or worse, Jack trusted Riddick though the teenager obviously didn't get it.

"Do you understand what he just said Candace?" Jack said looking more worried then she did angry.

"I got it. I'm not thick you know, I have a brain." The kid said sarcastically.

"Don't get lippy Candace." Jack snapped.

The teenager shrugged and looked at Riddick. "What's out there so bad that it's got you so spooked anyway?"

"You wouldn't understand kid, you weren't there when it was dark." Jack shrugged, she didn't exactly want to have to explain the whole stupid thing to the kid.

"And the dark has what to do with it?"

"Hell of a lot." Jack answered back.

"There are monsters out there with less of a conscience then I've got. They're what you have to worry about now kid." Riddick looked straight at the teenager, his mercury eyes deadly serious and it sent chills up and down Jack's spine.