AN: The Empire is a reference to the human, Earth based empire that has overtaken most of the galaxy and for the most part is the sole government that all humans, subspecies humans, and non-humans alike must answer to. However, it does tend to unfairly favor classic humans. The reach of this central government, as well as the power it holds, is incredible. Making it, in many ways, an unbelievably corrupt system.

AN2: I had to go back and put in italics when characters were thinking:-) Sorry! Don't know quite what happened, but they should be fixed now. Thanks so so so much for all the great reviews! I love it!


"Dom? What fuck are you doing here?" she whispered, her anger and tension quickly draining away upon seeing that cocky smirk she was beginning to recognize and appreciate.

Conte shrugged. "I missed you. Besides, I've never been in a high school before and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I gotta say, so far I'm not impressed."

That made her grin. He'd come to her school and found which class she was in just to see her? Amazing. No one had ever done anything like that for her before. Never the less because they'd actually missed her!

"How did you find me?" she asked excitedly, turning to sit sideways in her desk so it would be less obvious she wasn't paying attention to the teacher.

They were sitting in the back, but it didn't hurt to be cautious. This way she'd be able to turn her head at less of an angle to appear to be looking intently at the front of the room.

"Broke into the guidance counselor's office," he whispered back, leaning forward a bit and resting his jaw on one fist as he looked at her from behind his sunglasses.

Jack wished he would take them off, she so badly wanted to see his eyes. She realized she didn't even know what color they were. Then at that moment her stomach growled, and she crossed her arms over it, wincing a little cause she was positive everyone in the room probably heard it.

"Jack," Dom whispered, again pulling her attention to him.

"What?" she whispered back, her hunger fading a bit as her giddiness increased in magnitude within her chest, almost overwhelming her for a moment.

"Meet me by the girl's bathroom at the end of the hall in three minutes," he said, before slipping out of his desk and rising to tower above her.

Jack snapped around in her chair, not wanting to get caught facing in the wrong direction. She'd had enough public humiliation for one day, and didn't want to be in the market for more.

She watched as Dom approached the front of the classroom, his hands seeming strangely empty of school necessities such as pencils and books. To hide the fact he shoved them deep in the pockets of his cargos. Jack smothered a snicker. He sure didn't look like a high school student. Not to her anyway.

He told the teacher something about thinking he might be in the wrong class and, being that it was the first day, she excused him without question. And then he was off, swaggered towards the door, glancing back at her briefly with that crazy smug look still on his face, before he finally made his exit.

If she hadn't known better she would've thought that Dom was under the impression that he ruled the world. Jack sighed an uncharacteristically dreamy sigh. Maybe he did...after all, it was starting to look like he might one day own more than a small piece of her heart.

It wasn't until then that she looked down and realized that while she'd been so busy staring at his face he'd managed to slip a pack of gummy worms onto her desk without her noticing.

Jack grinned. It was starting to look like she wasn't the only one who had quick hands. Good thing she was sitting on her wallet at the moment, eh?


She met him, in front of the girl's restroom. She'd told the teacher she was going to the bathroom, and in a sense, she did. She went there, met a big guy gushing predator vibes, and then went and found second base in a janitor's closet with him until the last bell rang. That part wasn't exactly planned... It just sort of happened, and Jack figured it was simply the natural progression of things. That's what she kept telling herself, anyway.

She didn't tell him that it was her first real make-out session. She figured he'd figure it out on his own if he was really as experienced as he seemed. And oh boy, was he ever experienced! Dom Conte could do things in her mouth with his tongue that Jack had never imagined could be done. At first she found the kissing-continuously thing more than a little odd. For some strange reason it reminded her of sucking on a peeled grape. She was glad when the two of them soon found a slow rhythm that she could relax into. Without her having to say a word he seemed to know what she needed, and Jack was unbelievably grateful for that.

After the bell rang she came up for air, almost gasping because he'd absolutely taken her breath away. "I can't believe we're doing this," she giggled, suddenly finding herself as carefree as a bird on a calm day.

She couldn't imagine there being anything better than having this guy holding her so tightly to his chest, both his arms wrapped around her, making her laugh and giggle without actually saying anything.

He smirked at her, clearly amused by how fascinating she found such a simple thing as kissing in a closet during school. "Why not? Didn't you make out with all the elementary drop outs at your old high school?" he asked softly.

Jack's eyes widened a bit, and once again she wished she could see his eyes in the darkness. He'd taken off his shades after closing the door behind him, and she still had yet to see them. He was starting to make her curious, but she suspected that it might be on purpose. Dom probably wished to remain mysterious, alluring. And damn it, it was working like a charm on her!

"You never even made it out of elementary school?" she asked, hardly able to absorb the fact.

How had he managed to escape the Empire's government long enough to do that? Jack had tried on numerous occasions to escape, and she'd never managed to get very far until she was at least twelve going on thirteen.

"Well, technically I did. I actually think I was in junior high when I dropped out. It's hard to tell. At the school I attended they didn't keep track of grades by year, you know? It was a year-round setup. I was twelve when I quit, so who knows, right?"

You think she'd want to know that you attended school in the Slammer for four years? Might want to save that bit for the honeymoon, Conte...

She smiled in the darkness, and he could see that much of the tension that had built on her during the day had faded, the furrow in her brow had smoothed. All his doing. And he was only trying to get her to trust him.

Well, not entirely. All work and no play makes Conte a very sick and twisted boy.

Wasn't that the truth.

"Dom?"

"I know, Jack, you've got to go now. So do I, unfortunately. So, wanna make this a weekly thing? Same time, same closet?" he asked teasingly, and he would've waggled his eyebrows suggestively if he thought she'd be able to see it in the dark. But of course, she couldn't. He didn't think she could probably see anything in there, that was why he'd been able to take his shades off. Besides the fact that he'd wanted to look at her without them.

Her face lit up again, but not quite with as much surprise and brightness as it had before. She was getting so she wasn't positively stunned by everything he did anymore. That would probably have to change, eventually.

She stood on tiptoe once again, kissing him softly on the lips a final time. "Sounds great, Dominic. See ya next week." She opened the closet door, looking back to see him quickly replacing his shades, pushing them into place with one finger.

"Dom, what color are your eyes?"

"Dark blue, why?" he asked, hoping she wasn't just now becoming suspicious.

Jack smiled a little bit. "Can I see them next week?"

Conte chuckled, becoming suddenly more at ease. "Anything for you, Jack. I just wear these stupid shades cause I have this weird idea in my head that they make me look cool."

Her smile broadened a bit as she left him there alone, dreamily making her way back to her locker.

Conte paused a minute, needing a little time to regain his strength after such a hard battle with the Beast.

Getting harder to keep you caged around her. I'm almost starting to think YOU'RE getting attached.

The Beast growled at the accusation, roaring its displeasure upon being denied YET AGAIN. Conte only smirked, still well in control, for the moment.

So tell me the truth, do YOU think she's getting suspicious? Maybe shouldn't have told her the eyes are blue. She might start thinking of me like Riddick thought of Johns.

The Blue Eyed Devil.

She'd be wrong, but close...


Her day COULD'VE turned out alright. It MIGHT'VE been not so bad...but for some reason that Monday just wouldn't quit until it turned out to be one of the worst days of Jack's life.

Walking alone over to Riddick's office with her head stuck on cloud nine was a mistake. Taking a back alley shortcut was just downright naïve. She should've been alert, should've seen it coming, should've noticed them following her.

She didn't.

There were three of them. Well, two and a half. Big Red just sort of sat back and watched while Johnny "Johns" Matthews and a blonde haired boy beat the snot out of her, taking his shots only when she was particularly beaten down. The fucking coward.

Jack didn't think she fared too bad considering. She got in a couple good shots, and most importantly she never quit fighting till the end. Sometimes the tide of a fight would turn, as long as she never gave up. Not that time. In the end, she was the one on the ground, chest heaving, body battered and exhausted.

"Kick her again, Steve," Red ordered the blonde boy. He did it without hesitation, clocking her hard and completely knocking the air out of her lungs. She gasped, fighting to keep her stomach in place, rolling away in agony.

Jack ordered herself to get up, to turn over and bite one of them on the leg. Anything so she wouldn't quit, anything. It just wasn't her day, hadn't started out her day, and wasn't ending her day. The only point that had been good was while she was in Riddick's...Dom's arms. Dom, where was he now? If ever she'd needed a protector, this was that time. Just this once...

Lying on the ground on her side, facing away from them, blood and spit dripping from her mouth onto the street, Jack felt a single tear roll from the corner of her eye back into her ear.

Keep me safe, Riddick? Oh God, why the fuck couldn't you have just kept that one fucking promise? All The King's Horses, And All The King's Men...

It took her a long time to realize that the three boys had gone, leaving her there, broken and without anyone to help her pick herself up off the ground.

That much she was used to.

Don't worry about this one Jack. Think about tomorrow. You're going to live to fight again tomorrow. That's all that really matters. Cause tomorrow, Jackie girl, you're going to be packing your shiv. Tomorrow, you'll show them how to tango for real.