Hey all and welcome to chapter 13. Thank you all so much for the reviews, it's always nice to get them and see what you all think. Thanks for the positive comments and praise, it always helps to know that people are enjoying what you write, it makes it easier to write it. A big thanks and shout out to Pendragon4 who not only has been a very faithful reviewer but has also helped me out with my spelling, grammar and other little bits and pieces on this chapter and other. Thanks so much!

Anyway, on to chapter 13, drop me a line and tell me what you think.

Kayla

Chapter 13: Because Of Doctor Johnston.

Dr. Johnston was sitting in the ship's main meeting room after he had supervised the transportation of the creature from the lab to one of the ship's cargo bays and the Captain and his crew, bar of course their informant, were still none the wiser to Beau's presence. The Aurora's Captain seemed to him like a nice enough man, cordial and vaguely interested in what they had found on that planet but not overly demanding when it came to information.

Dr. Johnston however was more interested in the ship's pilot. From what his informant had told him, she was an original survivor of The Hunter-Gratzner crash. That she had encountered the beasts when the planet had been covered in darkness, when creatures like Beau were free to roam and to kill. If the girl would let herself be questioned without force, he was sure that she would be a wealth of information but his informant had warned him that she now had fear of the creatures that went far beyond sense. To be honest, he didn't blame her for it either.

"So tell me about your pilot. Who is she?" Dr. Johnston asked after the pleasantries were over, folding his hands and looking intently at the Captain. Captain Manor frowned and for a minute Dr. Johnston was sure that he was going to refuse to talk about the girl. Maybe the Captain didn't even know who she was.

"I take it that you know that she's not a stranger to this planet?" The Captain probed, Dr. Johnston nodded and wondered how much information that Captain Manor would give him. "Then you'll know that she's already given a statement to the proper authorities." So that was how it was going to be. He could read the statements but not ask questions.

"Yes I read it. It was quite interesting really." He saw Captain Manor frown again; obviously the other man had read the file and wouldn't have agreed with his assessment. All he had to do was push a little more and maybe the result would be what he wanted. "The descriptions that she gave of the creatures was spot on, I was really very impressed." He smiled. "I should greatly like the chance to talk to her before the flight has ended, I would like to see if she could give me any behavioral insights into the beast. She's the only one who has seen them in their natural environment of darkness. The holy man wouldn't talk to us and well, Riddick isn't exactly someone that I would like to meet, let alone try and dig up."

"That's entirely up to Jack." The Captain said firmly but a quiet and knowledgeable smile appeared on the older man's face that made the scientist wonder what he knew that he wasn't about to tell him.

"Where is she now?" He inquired wondering if he could find some way to corner her and question her sooner rather then later. Corner her before the word went out that he was searching for her and why.

"As far as I know she's at the crash site of The Hunter-Gratzner." Captain Manor said. "There's one more thing that you need to know when it comes to Jack. She has a friend who has presumed the role of protector in her life and who is also aboard my ship with my expressed permission but he is not on the ship's roles as by her own request. I would advise that you do not distress her in his presence or cross him, he's not known to be passive, especially when it comes to her."

"A man who takes his job seriously or a lover?" Dr. Johnston frowned and looked over his shoulder as his assistant walked into the room. The thought of using force to make her talk to them had already crossed his mind but he knew that if she had a 'friend' with her then it was unlikely that force could be used.

"The first or both, I'm not sure."

"A paid thug?" He couldn't help but be angered by the woman next to him. She had no right to open her mouth and the look he shot her told her so in no uncertain terms.

"Not this man." The Captain shook his head.

"Kirsten Leal, Captain Tex Manor. Captain Manor, Kirsten Leal, my research assistant." The Doctor made introductions and Kirsten smiled politely at the Captain but it was obvious that she had something more on her mind then introductions.

"Everything alright?" Captain Manor asked.

"Just fine thank you Captain." Kirsten answered him. "Your crew really has been quite helpful, a little nosey but helpful. I'm just here to deliver a file. The file you wanted Dr. Johnston." She was blunt as she handed her team leader a plain looking file marked in inverted commas 'Beau' and made to leave the room.

"Would you care to join us Miss Leal?" Captain Manor said as she reached the doorway and smiled at the Doctor.

"I'm afraid that I have other responsibilities to tend to before The Aurora departs sir but thank you for your kind offer. It was nice to make your acquaintance. Dr. Johnston do I have your leave to go sir?" The 'sir' on the end felt forced, as if she was making some sort of point and he bristled.

"I'll call if I need anything else." He said not bothering to look at her again, and she left the room as two women and a man walked into the meeting room, all of them covered in the dust characteristic of the conditions outside. One of the women he had already met and had been told at the time that she was the ship's security officer, the other two he hadn't met yet though he didn't like the look of the big man at all let alone the way he seemed to hover over the other women, eyes shielded by dark goggles, muscles bulging, face serious.

"Candace had better stay in that room or I'll skin her alive! Why can't she do anything but cause trouble?" The woman he hadn't met said to the man with them in low tones that obviously weren't meant to be over heard by anyone else.

"That's what she was born to do. That's all she's done since she's been since she's been onboard." The security officer shook her head.

"She's just like you were at her age. Always causing trouble." The man said with a shrug as she turned her back on the scientist with barely a thought to him at all.

"Oh shut up!" The girl said but there was affection in her voice. It was like the outline tattooed in black on her shoulder jumped out and smacked him on the face. Beau was clearly that creature. Before he could stop himself he had jumped to his feet and pointed at her, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"It's you!"

"It's you!" It sounded almost like an accusation and before Jack knew what was happening, she had been spun around by strong, firm hands and was facing a well dressed man with Riddick's arm crossing her stomach and Riddick himself in a somewhat defensive stance.

Jack looked at the strange man; her green eyes taking in his mousy colored hair and full beard, his clean cut clothing and alert light brown eyes. He was a man that instantly made Jack put her guard up. There was something about the tone that he used that scared her, that set her on edge and she didn't like it. Then there was Riddick's obvious distrust, not that he trusted many people, but when he could barely tolerate someone he had only just met, then she had a hard time dealing with them either.

"It's you!" He said it again, the same tone, the same look on his face that Jack just couldn't trust. Next to her Riddick growled, the kind of growl that was more animal then human, that came from deep down in the throat and that reverberated through the air. She could see the 'Dangerous Riddick' start to emerge, the Riddick that was totally cold, a merciless killing machine that seemed to have very little reason.

It had been a long time since she had seen that Riddick. The day of her nineteenth birthday, a day she would rather forget then remember but as she stood there looking at the look on his face it all came back to her. The damned apartment in the rough side of town they had been living in, how he had left her on her own only to come back twenty minutes later to find her with her back up against a wall, a gun pressed against her forehead, two men sacking the apartment and the third man with his hand pressed against her breast.

"Put that away!" Captain Manor snapped, as Riddick's other hand appeared from behind his back, sharp shiv in his hand ready to use. This was the Riddick that Jack both feared and felt safe because of but none of the rest of them could understand why, they hadn't experienced the things that she had been through with him. Even in her fear, this was a Riddick that Jack clung to.

Riddick just glared at the man, his eyes daring him to take a step closer to them.

"Jack, you had better do something." Sam whispered at her as the well-dressed man took a step back and Riddick's whole body tensed. He reminded her of a big cat getting ready to pounce and kill. Jack looked over at Sam for a moment, communicating her possible helplessness before laying a gentile hand on her big protector's arm, the muscles tightened slightly in response but otherwise his posture didn't chance, he didn't even look away from his quarry.

"Stop it!" She hissed at him not daring to use his name encase the man in front of them had less of a brain then it looked. Her hand gripped the arm that was wrapped around her defensively, trying to get his attention to focus back on her. "Look at me!" The tone of her voice must have penetrated because suddenly he was looking at her and she was seeing her startled and slightly fearful reflection looking back at her in his goggles. "Stop it now, please!"

"Damn it!" He swore loudly before he gave her one more look that told her she had better say quickly if she wanted him to stay and when she said nothing he stalked out of the control room, leaving everyone looking at the door he had just exited from in shock. Jack suddenly felt very vulnerable and part of her wished that she had asked him to stay.

"I should really..." Jack started, looking for an excuse to get away as quickly as possible but Captain Manor's hand on her shoulder stopped her from rushing out of the door after Riddick. "But sir..." With a shake of his head he stopped her from going forward again.

"Calm down for me, for a just moment Jack. I need to introduce you to someone but I want you to take a breath first and realize that no one is going to hurt you or him. Are you hearing me?"

"Yes sir, I understand that sir." Jack said but looked anxiously at the door again. "Really sir, I should go and see if..."

"Relax."

"I am relaxed sir, it's just that I really think that I should go make sure that he..."

"Later Jack."

"But sir, you don't get it I need to get..."

"Jack!"

"Sorry sir. Can we hurry this up please?" She gave him a pleading look before looking at the door again.

"Jackie Stewart, I need to introduce you to Dr. Johnston. He has headed up the research on this planet for the past number of years." The Captain said drawing her attention to the well dressed stranger again.

"So you're the dumb fuck who has been messing around down here." Jack looked at him with disgust and contempt. "Maybe we shouldn't have called him off so quickly. Maybe he would have done the world a small favor getting rid of this one." She glared at him, daring Captain Manor to disagree openly with her. At least now she knew why he had given her the creeps. Anyone who willingly worked on that planet gave her the creeps, working there went against what she believed in; people who worked there had a death wish.

"So you're the girl who survived the long night." The Doctor was still pointing at her, seeming unperturbed now that Riddick was gone. Shit, she wished he hadn't left! She should have made him stay.

"What gave it away? The smile? The cheerfulness?" She growled at him, her own self-protective walls jumping up as she stared him down. She could tell that he was suddenly unsure of her but it didn't seem to affect his confidence, which was still unwavering even if he realized that she didn't relish him being there. Riddick's dangerousness tended to be obvious, hers was subtler, after all, she was only female, and she had none of the imposing bulk that Riddick had. It was safer to be underestimated then overestimated; it gave her a small advantage.

"You have one of this planet's only living creatures tattooed in black ink on your shoulder blade actually Miss Stewart." He said with a shrug and a victorious smile. "That is what gave your identity away."

"Well done Sherlock." She growled at him as recognition dawned on her. "You've seen them?" Jack's even stair turned to a murderous glare. He didn't say anything, just starred right back at her almost in fascination. "Answer me you damn fuck!" She yelled, not caring suddenly that her employer was in the room or that she was way over stepping the mark.

"Jack calm down and I would appreciate it if you don't talk to the passengers in that tone of voice." Captain Manor interjected.

"Yes sir. Sorry sir." Jack answered him but didn't look away from Dr. Johnston, the look on her face never changed. "Answer the fucking question please." She said again but this time her voice was soft, almost too soft. She smiled threateningly at him as Sam tugged on her arm but she snatched it away. She was going to get an answer if it was the last thing she did and then she was going to lay into the stupid scientist.

"I've studied the creatures extensively over the past five years. They are extremely fascinating wouldn't you say? I was hoping that you would be willing to help me in my stu..."

"Help you!" She said through clenched teeth.

"A greater understanding of them could be helpful in understanding what happened when your ship crashed."

"They killed people, that's clear enough understanding for me." Jack growled.

"I'm a persistent man Miss Stewart, I don't often take no for an answer. You may find that it's better just to answer my questions then refuse me."

"Is that a threat?"

"No. Just a promise."

"Those things have killed people, I've watched them and you want me to fucking help you? You don't have the right to ask me to help you with any of your fucking research until you've lived through what I've lived through and then, I can guarantee you, that you would want no more to do with it then I do."

"Jack, you should leave." Captain Manor ordered as she tried to launch herself across the distance between her and the Doctor but Sam had already wrapped her arms around the girl's waist. "Get her out of here Sam and to him. I'll deal with this." Captain Manor said as Jack tried to lunge at the man again. This time Dr. Johnston wisely moved quickly away from her and toward Captain Manor, the large meeting table keeping them apart. "I told you not to distress her. You're just lucky that he wasn't here, that he had already left before you started."

"Who exactly is he? Captain Manor?" Was the last thing that Jack heard before she was dragged out of the door by Sam.

Jack had a thousand things going through her head as Sam skillfully guided her along the hallways that led back to the room that she shared with Riddick. She hated that man more then she could understand and it was only because of his associations with the planet and the beasts that roamed on it.

"He called them extremely fascinating Sam! He called them fascinating." She said numbly, her voice sounding much like that of a person who was in shock. Sam looked at her with pity on her face, pity and understanding and Jack didn't know which she thought was worse. They reached the shut door of her room a few moments later.

Sam knocked lightly.

The door opened slowly and a pale looking Candace stepped out into the corridor, shutting the door firmly behind her again once she was safely on the other side of it. She looked between the two women and the door as there was a decisive slam of a door opening and shutting. The teenager flinched and smiled nervously at them as if she had to be worried about something.

"Candace?" Sam asked the girl, not letting Jack go into the room until she found out what the hell was going on inside it.

"I dunno what happened. He just came back a little after you guys dropped me back off and stalked around the room for a bit before telling me that I had better stay away from him and shutting himself in the bathroom. He's been in there ever since. I swear I didn't do anything. Really, I didn't!" Candace looked out of big blue eyes at them, eyes that held a little bit of pleading in them. "Can I say out here for a while?"

"We already know that it wasn't your fault. Trust me I know who the fucking problem was." Jack nodded looking at the door with a frown. "I should have gotten here sooner. I have to learn to disobey orders."

"Did he hurt you?" Sam asked ignoring Jack's glare that turned quickly to her.

"Sam!" Jack said in protest, not being able to believe that Riddick would hurt the kid or any kid for that matter. He was a killer, sure, but he did not kill children or women, he never had.

"He didn't touch me, just muttered some seriously scary shit and told me to stay away from him." She took a couple of deep breaths as the security officer gave her a scrutinizing look as if she was trying to see if there was even a hair split on the teenager's head. "Look, I'm telling the truth Sam. He didn't hurt me. I'm not so scared of him that I won't tell you the truth."

"Stay with Sam as long as you want to Candace, just stay onboard this ship and stay armed." Jack said as she made a move toward the door again, her arm extended so that her hand could grasp the door handle. Sam stopped her again. "What now, Sam? Haven't we covered everything we need to for now?"

"I'm not sure that you should go in there either Jack. Maybe you should give him a little while to cool off." Sam suggested.

"What do you think he's going to do to me Sam?"

"I dunno, but it doesn't sound like he's being very gentile with the things around him at the minute." Sam gave her a look that communicated her mistrust clearly. "I'm your friend, I don't want to see you getting hurt by him, especially not with you're never failing trust."

"Let go of me Sam. Riddick's not going to hurt me. And you're right, my trust in him is pretty solid, you just can't see past what he's done." She gave her friend an even stare.

"It's hard to get past some of the things that he's done Jack. He's killed people and a lot of those killings have not been all that nice to even think about." Sam shook her head almost mad at Jack because half the time it seemed that Jack couldn't see what was in front of her. "You trust him totally?"

"With my life, Sam. He's given me no reason not to. He stuck with me when everyone that you would look at as responsible left me, he won't hurt me." Jack nodded as she pushed open the door, leaving the security officer and the teenager outside and walked inside the darkened room, closing the door behind her and swiveled the lock.

"Not such a good idea trusting someone like me with your life Jack. Maybe you should listen to your friends a little more often." Riddick growled suddenly from behind her and she was spun around and slammed up against the wall, the cold touch of a sharpened blade at her throat. She could see his rage; the Riddick that she knew was a cold killer, the Riddick that relished in the feeling of blood spilling over his hands and felt no remorse.

The breath caught in her throat but she forced her shock and the momentary fear away. Fear only fueled the beast; she reminded herself as she forced herself to draw a breath and just looked him in the eyes, trying to find the man she knew in the anger. She had done it once before, she could do it again, all she had to do was find the other Riddick.

"I can't help it. Put the shiv down Riddick." She said calmly. She had learned too well how not to betray herself. "You're not going to hurt me and you know it just as well as I do. You've invested too much in me to kill me."

"I can kill you just as easily as the others."

"If you could, you would have done it already." She answered flatly as a bead of sweat trickled down her spine and he pressed the blade a little harder against her throat. She didn't move, just kept eye contact with him. "Riddick put it down." Any harder and the sharp edge would tear through her skin with ease, there would be little help for her then, she knew it.

"Fuck!" He yelled stepping away from her a few long seconds later, throwing the handcrafted weapon out of his hand and across the room. It clattered to the ground as it hit the opposite wall and Riddick's shoulders slumped slightly. She breathed out slowly and then pulled in a breath to stop herself from shaking. She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath.

She had known that he wouldn't hurt her but that didn't exactly stop the fear from cursing through her body when she felt the weapon so close to her throat. She could almost feel the warmth of her own blood as it flowed out of her veins. Jack had felt it before, the loss of blood, the fear that went with it. It wasn't an experience that she wanted to ever go through again. She touched her neck where the blade had been pressed, there was no damage that she could feel so there wasn't much chance of a mark, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Jack slowly crossed the distance between her and Riddick, making sure that her movements were smooth and non-threatening. She reached out her hand and gently touched his arm. He looked down at her, the rage on his face changing to a look of intense disappointment and for once she knew that he wasn't disappointed in her.

"Hi." She said softly and gave him a small smile, holding back other emotions until she was sure that he was back to normal. "Feeling a little more like you now?"

"That is me Jack, that's part of who I am. I still don't get how the hell...?" His voice trailed slightly.

"How the hell what?" She frowned.

"Sometimes I just don't get you Jack. Why you stick around after shit like this I will never know?"

"That's a stupid thought process." She laughed. "You know that I'd rather be with your foul tempered ass then anywhere else and don't you go forgetting it either. I've not been scared of you since I was that stupid fifteen year old who was looking for heroes in escaped convicts and finding them."

"I just put a shiv to your throat Jack. There's nothing heroic about that." He answered her back. She shook her head and gave his arm another squeeze with her hand before looking up at him again.

"So?" She shrugged, her tone asking him if he was trying to make a serious point or not.

"So shivs tend to kill Jack." There was scorn laced in with his comment.

"You could put a gun to my head, doesn't mean that you would actually hurt me. In fact, that might be a good escape tactic sometime, but you would have to take me with you if you did that you realize. I don't think I could be all that convincing at hating you." She said confidently. He managed a small chuckle at her comment but it didn't last for long, that escape tactic might just have to be used one day and both of them knew it, they had spoken about those kinds of things before, years ago.

"You can't know that for sure Jack."

"Yeah I can, this is only the second time you've done this." She moved away from him and shook her head. "I had done a good job forgetting about it until I saw the look on your face in that meeting room."

He just looked at her as if trying to discern something but she wasn't sure what.

"You told me at the time that you might never remember." She turned away from him. It was a memory that was all of a sudden fresher then she had ever thought it would be again. She could see him moving through the main room of that flat like a whirlwind, she watched man after man fall down dead until she was free and it was only her and Riddick in the room.

Jack gritted her teeth, remembering the look on his face never changing as he turned his shined eyes from the man he had just killed to her. It was like he had forgotten for a moment that she was the reason he had gotten so angry in the first place, that he had only killed to get her out of trouble. She had jumped from trouble to a damn sight worse. She had never wanted him to look at her like that again.

It had always interested her how people could forget; they would get drunk or go into denial and after long enough the event never took place. And other people, they just never remembered, no matter how much they are told about the events or even if they revisit the places. She had always figured that Riddick was one of the later, that something inside him took over. He had once told her that he didn't remember a lot about some of his worst kills, the ones that had happened while he was in a rage.

"The day you turned nineteen you mean?"

"You remember that?" She looked at him sharply.

"Did you expect me to have forgotten?"

"You said that you might and you never exactly mentioned it again."

"Neither did you."

"What? You thought that I had forgotten?" She had to laugh at that moment. The whole thing was just so bloody ridiculous that she had no idea what else to do. "God this whole thing is just bloody stupid! Even then I knew you couldn't hurt me," She shook her head. "I know you can't hurt me but it seems like you like to fucking try anyway."

"Jack-"

"It doesn't matter; I've just had my fill of threatening situations for the day." She turned so she was facing him again. "Thanks, by the way, for saving my ass again out there."

"I'd do it again if I had to Jack." He said and gave her a smile that put her mind slowly to rest before he pulled her in for a quick hug. The gesture made her smile. She couldn't help but like the slightly more emotion friendly Riddick.

"Riddick?" She said after a moment or two of close silence.

"What Jack?"

"I might have gotten myself into a little bit of trouble with these people on the ship. The good Dr. Johnston has whack ideas about me helping him with his research. He did not look like a man who could take no for an answer and he basically said the same but I don't want you getting involved, I can handle it."

"What?" Riddick's voice didn't exactly hold promise of compliance.

"You heard me loud and clear Riddick." She frowned at him.

"Why exactly wouldn't I get involved?"

"Because I've already put you in enough danger. All it would take was for one of the passengers on this ship to recognize you and that would be it, Mr. Bradley would be back and he wouldn't be after me this time." Jack shook her head.

"What exactly happened?"

"He has been studying the creatures for a few years and wants me to rehash my experiences from him so that he can get more behavioral insights but I wasn't just exactly all that charming to him. I would rip his fucking guts out if I could." The look on her face spoke plainly enough about just how willing she was to carry out her threat. It was not a look that Riddick had expected nor relished seeing on her face.

"Did he threaten you?"

"Not in so many words." She shrugged. "I can't help him with his fucking research and I won't."

"I can take care of this Jack."

"No. I don't want you to. I just wanted you to be aware. He was asking questions about you as well. Captain Manor hasn't told him anything as far as I know. I just thought that you had better know." She sighed and looked at the floor. "I...damn that man. If he doesn't stay well enough away from me I'll kill him."

"Kill him?"

"Watch me." She said through clenched teeth and he couldn't help but believe her.

Dr. Johnston paced around the cargo-bay in front of the tranquillized Beau's cage. He was angry and offended and there didn't seem to be a lot he could do about it. Captain Manor had stopped being the charming man that he had met soon after he had upset the pilot and then he had told him that the identity of the girl's violent protector was classified information.

Jack had been extremely offensive and in all honesty he didn't understand why. She already seemed to have made up her mind about him before she had ever met him and it was all because of her preconceptions about the planet, although, perhaps she had a reason for having those.

"Dumb fuck indeed. A dumb fuck with a PHD." He muttered as a young man, a member of The Aurora's crew, walked into the large room.

"Dr. Johnston?" He looked at him and Dr. Johnston turned his full attention to him, thinking that there was something familiar about his voice. "Have you seen a young girl? Around sixteen years old?"

The Doctor looked at him confused and shook his head, "What happened?"

"One of the passengers has disappeared."