AN: Eee, sorry it took so long! Work and summer classes have had me running around like crazy. I've also been spending some time on a couple of other projects that have sprung up lately. Anyways, please review and thanks for being so patient with me!


"What is it?" he asked, poking at the thing on his plate with a fork.

Jack could barely keep herself from snickering as she sat down across from him, picking up her cloth napkin and smoothing it over her lap as an excuse to keep her eyes off of him. She just knew that if she caught even a glimpse of the look on his face she'd probably burst into hysterics.

"Well, in most places, they call it a cheeseburger. Seriously, don't tell me you've never heard of a hamburger before, Riddick," she teased, glad to see him at least putting on the face of a good humor.

"Sure I've heard of them, I just don't remember if I've ever had one. At least not one that looked like that. Wait a minute...don't burgers have pork in them or something?" he asked, raising one eyebrow at her with semi-serious suspicion etched on his face.

"Cow, actually," she responded after clearing her throat and in as dignified a tone as she could manage after recovering from a short laughing fit.

He shrugged. "Cow, whatever. Sorry, Jack. It looks good, but I just don't think I can eat it," he said, pushing his plate away as a sign of rejection.

Jack merely shrugged, her left shoulder rising slightly and falling in devil-may-care style. "All right, then I'll eat it," she said, scooping up his burger and placing it next to her own on her plate.

She'd very deliberately been sure to only make two hamburgers for them to eat for dinner. When Rick refused to eat his, that left him with nothing, no backup plan. He just had to sit there in his two hundred twenty plus pound glory with his arms crossed over his chest and watch as she began to take large, exaggerated bites out of her sandwich, clearly enjoying each and every one.

She paused, putting the burger down to take a drink of water to wash down her last oversized bite. "Usually, I hate my own cooking. But I gotta say, I do make one damn fine burger. So tasty, so juicy..." she trailed off, grinning stupidly.

Riddick merely shook his head. "You're not fooling me, Jack. I know what you're trying to do."

"I never said you were stupid, Ricky. I just was hoping it would sink in at some point that I'm sitting here chomping on this delicious piece of meat and your ex isn't around to cuss me out over it because she's gone," Jack said pointedly, again picking up her sandwich and taking a large bite out of it. "What good do you think it'll do you to stay loyal to the lifestyle she imposed on you, anyway? I knew you before she got her claws in you and there was nothing you loved more than a half-raw steak. So dig in. If she's going to make you miserable, you might as well enjoy what little you can for the time being."

He shrugged, and after another moment or two of attempting to sit there and look like he didn't have a care in the world, Riddick rather suddenly reached over and snatched back his sandwich, taking a large bite out of it and then setting it down on his plate.

"Happy?" he asked, a slight bulge in one cheek.

Jack shrugged, trying to keep her almost-overwhelming glee under wraps. "I will be once you admit that it's the best burger you've ever tasted," she prodded, a grin slowly spreading across her face.

Riddick snorted. "You've got ketchup on your face," he replied nonchalantly. He burst out laughing when a look of horror flashed in her eyes and she scrambled to grab the napkin still sitting in her lap.


The recovery progressed slowly, but with each day that passed things seemed to improve. On Tuesday night they practiced some of Riddick's old favorite swearing combos so he could use them on his pushy coworkers and slave driver of a supervisor. Rather suddenly he'd begun to inform Jack that he couldn't stand their company, and she quickly began to gather that he couldn't for the figure out for the life of him why he'd put up with them for so long. No salary was worth so much hassle.

Jack found it incredibly interesting that he seemed oblivious to the fact that he'd been drugged for years. She wondered often if he was purposely denying the fact to himself, or if he was trying not to dwell on it.

Wednesday morning Jack found Rick in the basement, working out on a punching bag that didn't look like it had seen use in ages. It had made her smile. On more than one occasion when she was younger she'd forced herself to get up early enough to work out with Riddick. She'd learned a lot, and she hoped that soon they could perhaps take up right where they'd left off, and not just when it came to exercise.

On Thursday morning she forced herself out of bed an hour early so she could join in on his freshly reacquired routine. They did sit ups, pushups, some cardio work. Getting her blood pumping and good company made an excellent combination for a workout. They were horsing around with each other and joking freely by the time they made their way out of the basement and got started on breakfast. Jack couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun.

She requested the traditional sausage and eggs for breakfast, and Riddick obliged, taking his turn at cooking since she'd prepared dinner the night before. After setting the table, Jack sat down, stretching her arms far above her head and yawning a bit before pulling the morning paper toward her so she could skim the front page.

She blinked hard at the top headline, hardly able to believe what it said.

Con-X MO Used in High School Slayings

"Uh, Riddick..." she said nervously. "You'd better come look at this."