Hidey Ho! Thank you thank you thank you thank you and thank you some more to all my wonderful reviewers! smooches to all

This chapter was REALLY hard for me to write, since so much of it is based on the things inside Riddick's head. REVIEW PLEASE and lemme know if I got any of it right. The end is a little fluffier than I would have normally done it, but I'm PMSing so … yeah. ANYHOO let me know if I should redo this or what.

Disclaimer: Standard, I only own the plot and the shit you don't recognize. Everything else is someone else's.


The three booked passage on a ferry called the Vesper that ran between Ramistad and various cities and small towns along the Kadiok River. After being crammed together on the Gash for so long the spacious first class cabin was a welcomed change. There were two bedrooms, each about the size of the Gash's interior, a large den-like common area with a small coffee table, plush couch and vid screen. Normally they would have chosen a lesser cabin to lay low in, but the general consensus between them this time was comfort over camouflage. They were in no immediate danger, and having bought themselves some time the space was greatly appreciated. The Vesper wasn't a cruise liner by any stretch of the imagination, but it had it's own restaurant, lounge, gym and temple for those with religious inclinations. Kyra and Jonas decided to go out and explore and invited Riddick to come with them to the lounge, or the gym, anything to get him up and out. He seemed so… so dismal, even for him. He'd gone so far as to lock himself in his room shortly after arriving at their cabin. Kyra tried begging, pleading, yelling and threatening through his door and finally had to give up before her head exploded out of frustration with him.

"Fine you… you big stupid baby! Just stay in there and fucking ROT!" She yelled kicking the door and frowning deeply. Jonas could have sworn he saw a deep despair flit across her face, but it was gone before he could tell for sure. He and Kyra left Riddick lying in his room in the dark, awake but deep in thought.

The days since he'd awoken from cryosleep had been uneasy at best, mostly around Kyra. In fact, he had been avoiding her like a plague because of it. He knew it was bothering her, but he also knew it was for the best. 'It's always best to stay away,' he thought bitterly.

There was this wretched feeling in the pit of his stomach every time he looked at her. Something about her in what he saw while he was under was eating away at his insides, something that unsettled his inner animal. It really pissed him off because he didn't know what it was, and he didn't want to take his anger out on Kyra because that would only drive the wedge further in between them. Deep down, whether he would admit it or not, that was the last thing he wanted. If he could only remember what he had seen that had to do with her. Almost everything else about the dreams had come back to him slowly bit by bit. As much as it hurt, he would replay them over and over again one at a time in his mind, trying to recall some other little detail that would trigger the rest of it to come forth, to no avail.

Things were just so complicated, so conflicted. He knew he shouldn't dodge her, but he did. He knew he should go to her about this feeling he had, but he didn't. He hoped it would all resolve itself eventually, but it wouldn't. As it always seemed to be, force would be necessary. He would rather just leave, in all honesty. Find the next shuttle off this rock and get the fuck out of here, before bad things happened to good people. He couldn't bring himself to do that either. He hated himself for hesitating when it came to her, one of these days it would get him killed. He knew if it were anyone else, anyone at all, he would hold no qualms about fleeing. There would never be a second thought. But this was Jack, even if she wasn't Jack anymore. He hadn't been able to leave her on that God forsaken planet five years ago, he couldn't leave her in New Mecca after she found out he was "dead", and he sure as hell couldn't leave her now.

After mulling for what seemed like hours, he was pretty pissed at himself for being such a puss. He felt like yelling, thrashing and breaking things. He sat up, looking for something to throw, or smash, anything to get rid of this . He looked around and however elaborately decorated the room was, everything that wasn't his was bolted down, frustrating him further.

'Maybe I should get out after all,' he thought with a wicked grin, grabbing a small towel and heading for the gym.


Kyra and Jonas sat in comfortable silence at a small table in the lounge, nursing drinks and listening to the music that was being generated by a man sitting at a small, piano looking device on stage. The melody was low and slow and Kyra imagined if there had been words to it they would be about confusion or longing or unrequited love. Ironic really.

Jonas too was quietly contemplating, lost in thoughts of Sariah and others in his past. What was he getting himself into? What the fuck was he going to do?

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kyra asked offhandedly, bringing Jonas out of his reverie. She had noticed the distance in his bright blue eyes and was curious as to what brought it on.

"Huh?"

"Penny for your thoughts?" He only looked at her puzzled, "What? You've never heard that before?"

"No actually, I haven't, what does it mean?" Jonas asked. Kyra chuckled at him.

"Basically it means what are you thinking. I'm not exactly sure where it came from, but it's an Old Earth saying."

"Ahh. I get it… I think." Jonas looked a bit thrown off by the comment, but he recovered quickly, "Well, to answer your question, I'm thinking about my friend, Sariah, and some things Soli told me about her that are bothering me a lot." Jonas looked down.

"What did he say?"

"He said that she basically turned into this cold hearted power monger, and she's supposed to marry this man that is stopping at nothing to take control of the whole government. There must be something wrong with her because she was never like that when I knew her. I'm just wondering what could've happened after I left to make her that way." Jonas took a big swallow of his screwdriver and grimaced a little, "What are you thinking about?" Kyra drank a bit of her rum and cola before answering.

"Ten guesses, and the first nine don't count," she said darkly. Jonas nodded, really not even needing one guess. Riddick. "I'm worried about him. Ever since he woke up he's been … I don't know… different. He's always been … unsociable is the nicest way I can put it I guess." Jonas raised his eyebrows as if to say 'you must be joking' and Kyra smiled, "I know, that's the understatement of the millennium, right? But now it's like he's totally shutting me out, and it's kind of scary. We were getting closer, but now…" Kyra trailed off.

"I see. You know, he could be trying to protect you from something." Jonas pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't want to be protected." Kyra replied bluntly.

"Then what do you want?" Jonas asked. He'd meant the question as a rhetorical one, but it got Kyra thinking. What did she want? The silence between them resumed as they finished their drinks. After a moment Kyra looked up as though she'd had an epiphany. The look in her eyes was one Jonas had never seen there before, one of mischief.

"You know what we need to do? We need to get so smashed that we don't give a rat's ass about anything. I'm talking totally, utterly hammered. Completely under the influence. Sound good to you?"

"I guess," Jonas replied, slightly taken aback by her suggestion. He'd never pegged Kyra as much of the drinking sort. He wasn't sure it was such a good idea, but how could he say no when she put it like that? Kyra hollered at the bartender.

"Hey! Surprise shots for me and my good friend here, and keep 'em coming until we hit the floor!"


Some time later, after scaring a few people and very nearly breaking several pieces of equipment, Riddick returned to the cabin, sweaty and a little tired, but otherwise still in his unpleasant state of mind. The nagging feeling he had wouldn't go away. No matter how hard he'd punched, it kept returning on the windup, so he gave up. He stripped and hit the shower, making sure to lock the door this time. He tried thinking of other things now, like the water flowing over him… or the kiss he and Kyra had shared before the dogfight with the merc ship. 'Yeah, think about that for a while,' he thought to himself with a wicked grin. He closed his eyes and imagined her body pressed up against his, her mouth devouring his own, her scent and heat enveloping him. He felt his body responding to his thoughts of her and leaned back against the shower wall to let them take over completely. He reached down as though his hands had their own plans for his body, but his thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash from the den area. He growled and turned off the water, wrapping a towel around his waist and poked his head out the door to see the cabin door wide open, and Jonas and Kyra sitting on top of the now broken coffee table in the center of the room, laughing hysterically.

"What the fuck?" he asked, but he got only odd looks from the two and more laughter in return. Then the scent of alcohol flooded his nostrils. They were both shit-faced drunk!

"OOOh, lookie lookie, it's the b-big b-bad wollfff. OH no hiccup fleeeee!" Kyra slurred and fell over holding her gut and laughing harder. Riddick growled and stepped into his bedroom to dress.

"Seee J-Jonas? He even gggrowls like the bbig bbad wooolf!" He heard her taunting him from the other room. This was not going to help his mood at all he had a feeling. As he slipped his pants on he heard Kyra in the den trying to talk to Jonas, but he could tell the conversation was all one-sided. Jonas hadn't seemed like the type that could hold his liquor. Riddick's suspicions were confirmed as he peeked out and saw Jonas flopped on the couch fast asleep and Kyra teetering in the center of the room looking at him crossly. Riddick rolled his eyes and turned back into his room to throw a shirt on. Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he didn't have to turn to know that Kyra was standing in the doorway watching him, studying him. He'd had the same feeling in the showers that day four months ago.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked curtly.

"Mmm, how could I not? You're just so damn sexy," she said, her voice dripping with drunken desire. This was going to be a test. She swaggered into the door and moved closer to him, nearly falling over when she stopped short behind him. He went to put his shirt on, but she put a hand on his shoulder and he stopped and turned to look at her. The lust was oozing from her eyes, and Riddick groaned as he could once again feel his body responding to her. Her scent mixed with the liquor and amplified by her warmth was intoxicating. He shook his head to clear his mind.

"Let's get you to bed huh?" He kept his voice as even as he could, but she was making it hard for him (no pun intended).

"Hmmm, as long as it's your bed." She replied as seductively as she could manage in her current state. She slid her arms around his neck and stared up at him, licking her lips. She went to kiss him but he turned his head. Although part of him screamed to just take her and ravage her like she obviously wanted, the rest of him knew it wasn't right. This was Jack, and if and when that did happen, he wanted them both sober for it. He did have scruples, at least when it came to her. He took her arms from around his neck.

"Kyra, you're drunk. Really, really drunk. So let's get you into your bed so you can sleep this off and we'll talk in the morning, alright?" He was amazed at how collected he sounded. She backed away and started to waver to the right, but when he went to put hands on her shoulders to steady her she jumped away as though he'd tried to attack her.

"Don't you fucking touch me!" She yelled, glaring at him fiercely. 'This is a switch,' he thought with minor annoyance.

"Hey, don't be like that. I just wanted to help; you need to go to bed. I don't know how much you drank, but it was obviously too much." He took a step toward her, and she jumped back again, catching herself on the doorframe as she almost tripped.

"You're not my dad. In fact, you're not anything, you're just like the rest of them." She spat at him, missing his foot my mere inches. He looked at the small puddle next to his foot wide eyed and then back up at her, baffled by her actions.

"Oooh woman, if you were anyone else…" He growled. She only looked at him wildly. Her balls were getting a little too big for his liking tonight. "Kyra goddammit, you need to stop this crap before you really piss me off. Go to bed!" He felt like he was yelling at a child now, when only moments ago she'd made it painfully clear she was all woman.

"Fuck off, you'll have to catch me first!" She sprang out the bedroom door, and ran for the front door and almost got it open, but Riddick managed to jump in front of her and hold it shut. They locked eyes and he wasn't sure he recognized hers now. It was strange, but the shining green orbs he was seeing now didn't look at all like the one's he knew. These were full of rage and distrust.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" he yelled at her, but she didn't break his stare, didn't flinch or even blink. She moved, this time rolling backwards, grabbing a chunk of coffee table leg, arming herself and crouching on the floor ready to pounce.

"You're just like all the others!" she said darkly. "You don't give a damn about me, you'd probably kill me if you had the chance."

"You must have me confused with someone else, I've never…" He was going to say he'd never done anything to hurt her, but that would have been a lie. He changed the subject, "Just who the fuck are they anyway?"

"They are everyone I've ever known!" She yelled and came at him.

Like an idiot he lunged at her, thinking she was too drunk to evade him, but she sprang upwards and he crashed into the remains of the coffee table on the floor.

"Ahhh! GODDAMMIT!" He yelled as he landed on the splintered wood. This was getting out of hand. He didn't know what the fuck had gotten into her all of a sudden, but it had to stop. Like now. He rolled to his back as Kyra landed over him, one foot on either side of his ribcage, the chunk of wood held high over her head and ready to come down. She paused for a moment, panting and staring at him wildly. She roared and started to bring the wood down at Riddick's head, but he reached up wrapping both arms around her knees, buckling them and simultaneously sitting up so that she ended up flat on her back on the floor and he was leaning on her. She started thrashing and screaming. Riddick got the wood out of the way and got her arms down, wrapping his own arms around her in an iron grip.

"Knock that shit off!" He yelled at her.

She roared and fought and kicked and yelled with everything in her, struggling to break free of his unyielding grip around her upper torso. Suddenly she went limp under him, and tears filled her emerald eyes. He could see the rage there retreating and being replaced by a deep sorrow. It hit him then. He was causing this. His distance was crushing her.

"Are you back with me?" he asked cautiously. She nodded slightly, now sober for the most part. She looked away not wanting Riddick to see the tears fall. He could still see them trickling across her temple into her hair, and the sight made all his anger dissolve away. 'Pussy,' he thought. He stood, and when she ignored his offered hand, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms. She started to protest, but the look he shot her stopped her. He carried her to her bedroom, laying her on the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed next to her, looking down and folding his hands in his lap like a priest at mass. It almost scared her that he was so calm now after what just happened.

"What did you see while you were down, do you remember any of it?" he asked quietly. She was silent for a bit, he almost thought she hadn't heard him. Then she spoke softly.

"I saw a lot, mostly things about my past. I saw my mother shoot my father in the head and then leave me," her voice wavered, but she went on, "I was all alone on a tiny boat in black water listening to voices I remembered telling me I was worthless, and unloved. I was back on that fucking planet with one of those things trying to eat me, and then… there you were. You killed it, you saved me. That's it."

She looked over at his form sitting silent and unmoving as a statue on the edge of her bed.

"That's it?" he finally asked. She thought for a moment.

"No, I know there's more, more to do with you, but I can't get to it." She paused for a moment, "What did you see?" The question hung for a moment between them. He didn't want to go through it again, not with her. It was his burden and his alone. Always alone.

"You don't want to know," he said quietly.

Kyra felt his walls go up, and as he rose and walked to the door to leave she felt an overwhelming desperation overtake her.

"Don't do this Riddick, I can't stand it anymore, please don't shut me out," he stopped as she started crying all over again, "Whether you like it or not you're stuck with me and I can't stand this cold shoulder anymore and I know it's hard, but let me in, Riddick, please please let me in. It's so cold without you, please please don't leave me alone like they all left me alone. I lied, you're not like the rest of them, and you know it, please."

He turned and the sight before him melted his entire defense. She was sitting up on the bed, hands folded in her lap, face stained with tears and a look of utter anguish scrawled across it.

"You want to know what I saw? I saw my mother dump me in a trash bin, leaving me to die. I was swimming in a sea of blood and I couldn't get it off no matter how hard I tore at myself." Kyra winced a little at the vision he described, "Everything I touched in my life turned into shit and this animal that I am took over." He stepped closer to her staring into her eyes, forest green clashing with mercury. He was shocked at what he saw. There was no fear in her eyes, but something else. It was familiar somehow and that nagging feeling in the pit of his gut returned.

"Say something!" he demanded. He was weary, and he couldn't take her silence much longer. She said nothing, only pulled him down into the bed with her gently and wrapped her arms tightly around him. She moved her lips to his ear and whispered.

"Thank you."

He wasn't sure why, and for years after he would still wonder, but stayed there and let her hold him the whole night and he slept better then than he ever had before.