When Jack came out of her coma, she was all healed but sore from laying in the bed for three months. The bar owner had heard her heartbeat pick up speed and woke up from his chair. He carefully removed her breathing tube and got her some fresh water.
"Hi Jack." a voice ranging out in her ears, she turned her head in the direction of the voice,
"Damien." Jack sounding disappointed,
"Yeah, expecting someone else?" Damien asked, she felt the bed dip a little,
"What happened to me? Where am I?" Jack's voice all raspy and scratchy.
"Necros hit us pretty hard. Don't know who cut you up but they did a number on you. You're on my ship, I got ya here just in time too." Damien seriously,
"How long have I been out?" Jack still disoriented and confused, Damien sat on the edge of her bed, he rubbed his face,
"How long?" Jack growled,
"Roughly three months." Damien turning his head to look at her,
"Damien, what aren't you telling me?" Jack knowing just by the sound of his voice that he was keeping something from her.
"You're not ready for it." Damien seriously,
"You fuckin' tell me right now." Jack fighting to sit up.
"Jack, you have been blinded." Damien seriously,
"I don't care about that, tell me everything." Jack growled out.
"The holy man, his wife and kid, they…" Damien being interrupted,
"No, they can't be. They hid, Imam would have hidden them, they can't be!?" Jack freaking out. Damien held her,
"I'm sorry Jack." Damien holding her rather tight so she wouldn't fight him.
"Not Ziza." Jack cried out,
"Shh, Jack you have to calm down. Breathe." Damien petting her hair, she cried her heart out and screamed, it felt as if she was being torn into all over again.
"No!?" Jack screamed out like a dying animal, Damien knew she wasn't ready for this bombshell to be dropped on her, he had been ready for it, he hugged her and injected her with morphine to knock her out. She fell limp in his arms,
"I'll take care of you kid." Damien carefully laying her back onto the bed.
Days Later
Jack woke up with Damien coming out of the bathroom,
"Hey." Damien softly,
"Don't do that." Jack growled out,
"Don't do what?" Damien confused,
"Don't pity me. I don't do handouts." Jack grumbled.
"Right. Well you'll have to accept my help for a little while Jack." Damien explained,
"Come on, I'm giving you a good bath, I've been sponge bathing you this entire time." Damien getting her in his arms. Jack was quiet,
"Why did you do this?" Jack asked,
"Because you were a survivor, you fought to survive." Damien explained as he sat her in the tub. He adjusted the water, then plugged the tub.
"So how bad of scars do I have?" Jack asked,
"Considering the damage, they don't stand out much. I took your DNA and had synthetic skin made and did skin grafts on ya." Damien explained.
"So, I was pretty messed up huh?" Jack softly,
"Yeah Jack." Damien whispered, he took a rag and started soaping her up.
"Who you surviving for?" Damien asked,
"You would laugh at me for having a childish crush." Jack grumbled,
"I would never laugh at you." Damien explained.
"He was a con. Riddick. I know he is supposed to be this real dangerous guy but he cared about me. He cared enough to save me from a merc and those hammerhead beasts. I always thought he saw me as a little kid playing dress up. I had to survive to see him again. He promised me he would come back and see how well I grew up. I'm still waiting for him." Jack explained.
"I let down my family. I couldn't save them from the new threat." Jack whispered,
"Jack, there were too many, no one could fight those things." Damien explained,
"I could have gotten them to the vault at least, instead of chasing ghosts. I thought I could get Riddick to help us, I knew something big was coming, I could feel it in my bones. I couldn't find him, and I couldn't do anything for my family." Jack grumbled,
"How about we focus on getting you back some strength and then we'll do something about giving you some fighting skills." Damien seriously as he had finished washing her body and now washing her hair.
"You mean it?" Jack asked,
"Sure, I'm ex-military, though you being blind, well it will be slow going but not impossible. You will have to reign in the rage and anger though cause we will get frustrated so, just warning you ahead of time." Damien explained as he rinsed her hair with a picture of water.
"You'll have to work at it, and you aren't getting any handouts." Damien seriously.
"I can do it!" Jack's voice filled with determination.
"We will start exercising your legs. You have been asleep for three months so you have to be able to bathe, eat, and walk without stumbling before we start the hard stuff." Damien unplugging the tub and getting her out. He had a towel covering the toilet seat cover and sat her down as he dried her completely.
"Why help me Serge?" Jack asked, he hesitated for a split second,
"I watched enough of my brothers die in wars we fought. You could have easily laid in that alley and died and no one would have held it against you. I've seen solders die from less. You are still alive, you have two choices, live life in a bed and be looked upon with pity and given handouts or you can work hard and get back on your feet and one day be able to protect your family from other monsters that come your way, but you cant go it alone, you will need help. I am willing to help you." Damien seriously.
"Cause I'm a soldier?" Jack asked, he laughed,
"Yeah, and you impressed me living through what happened to you out there." Damien seriously. He carried her to the bed and got her in some clothes.
"Are there photos of the damage I lived through?" Jack asked, he could hear the fear in her voice.
"Yeah, I've got photos of you Jack. They are in a safe place. When you're ready I will tell you about it. You are far from strong enough to hear about it now." Damien seriously.
"I don't remember anything, all I remember was it was storming. So, it was pretty bad huh?" Jack asked,
"Why do you think I had to make synthetic skin from your DNA?" Damien asked,
"Get me up, I want to try walking with your help." Jack not liking laying on her back and doing nothing. Damien laughed,
"You are a spit fire aren't you? Okay." Damien getting her to the edge of the bed.
"Wrap your arm around my neck and hang on." Damien sternly, Jack did as told, he stood her up on her feet,
"Take your time." Damien seriously. Jack licked her dry lips, her legs felt like heavy weights, she shuffled a foot forward and then the other,
"You're doing great Jack." Damien shocked she could shuffle her feet along. She took another shuffled step,
"You know, you could have been exercising my legs all this time." Jack grumbled.
"I was busy doing other things, not everything is about you, sleeping beauty." Damien chuckled, Jack huffed,
"Like what?" Jack asked,
"Like helping bury the dead." Damien softly.
"Oh." Jack whispered,
"So, I don't have any permanent damage, other than my eyes?" Jack asked as she focused on shuffling her feet.
"Other than your eyes you are good." Damien explained, her legs suddenly went limp,
"Come on, lets get you back in bed. We will exercise those legs." Damien picking her up and putting her back in bed, he started bending her legs, giving her physical therapy on her legs while she laid there in bed.
Three months Later
Jack had gotten the use of her legs back, but she was still having to build back the muscle. They were still staying on Damien's ship until Jack could stabilize herself. She had given Damien money and he had gotten her a top of the line laptop with braille on the keys, so she now had a new identity, Nadia Richardson.
"Well are you ready to greet the outside world again?" Damien asked.
"Bring it on." Nadia smirked,
"So what is the cover story for Jack?" Damien asked as he wrapped her arm around his,
"Jack died trying to save her family. I'm her cousin." Nadia explained sadly.
"Got it. When we get settled I want you running with leg weights attached to those ankles." Damien seriously,
"How much destruction are we talking about with the town?" Nadia asked, he hesitated,
"Its gonna cost, at least half the town crumbled, and the docking station." Damien seriously.
"I'll fix it. What about Imam's place?" Nadia afraid to ask.
"Its caved in on itself. How you gonna fix this Nadia, this is thousands of creds of damage if not more." Damien explained. Nadia gave him a grin,
"I got deep pockets that replenish themselves. What about your place?" Nadia asked as they walked off the ship.
"Trashed but stable." Damien explained as she stopped, she could feel the sun on her face and she stopped to embrace the warmth.
"It's a new day. We better hold a town meeting. See what we got to work with." Nadia starting to walk again. Damien raised a brow at the woman who had defeated Death himself, and she was ready to jump back into the fray, willing to rebuild the destruction.
"We'll hold the town meeting in the bar." Damien clearing his throat.
"No one finds out that I'm funding all this, got it?" Nadia demanded, he was quiet,
"I'm no hero Serge." Nadia seriously.
"You're wrong, you saved yourself, that makes you a hero in my eyes. Don't forget that Nadia." Damien holding her head in his hands.
"I didn't do anything." Nadia seriously,
"You drug yourself from the back of an alley out into the open for someone to find you. If you had laid there, no one would have been able to find you." Damien explained as they made it to his home.
"So you know where the fight took place?" Nadia asked,
"Yeah, a lot of blood and drag marks." Damien sitting her down in a chair. Nadia stared with unseeing eyes in space.
"Don't you do that Jack. You cant focus on what happened." Damien getting in her face, her hand snapped out and had wrapped around his throat in a pretty good grip,
"Don't ever call me that. Jack is dead." Nadia growled out.
"Okay, ease up Nadia." Damien rasped out. Nadia removed her hand, he coughed a little,
"Nadia, listen to your own words, you said Jack is dead, you cant focus on the past. You have to keep moving forward. The quicker you get passed that hurdle the better off you will be." Damien seriously. Nadia nodded,
"I guess you're right but I'm not giving up on him coming back. Go, round everyone up and get them here. I wanna get started." Nadia explained.
"Alright, I'll be back." Damien explained, he left the bar and went to round everyone up. An hour later he made it back to the bar,
"So, you want some food?" Damien asked,
"A sandwich." Nadia grumbled.
"I told them to gather here at six tonight. It should give everyone time to get here." Damien fixing a sandwich for her.