Age of Nox
Chapter 5
His eyes snapped open.
He didn't know what was wrong, but he knew something definitely wasn't right. Growling, he checked his distance from New Mecca and with brief argumentation with himself, he linked through to the comm system.
"Allah be praised!" Imam's voice crackled in through the link when it was made.
"What is it, holy man?" He growled.
"I prayed to Allah he would set me on the right path and he has. Oh Mr. Riddick, there is trouble afoot." His voice trembled with a fear.
"Save the literature for someone else. What the fuck is goin' on?"
"It is young Jack. She is gone. Escaped through a most genius matter, though. Mr. Riddick, she is very angry with you. And me, undoubtedly."
"She's gone?" His voice tightened. That scrape of a kid he saved had disappeared. "Still on New Mecca?"
"Jack? I know not, but while I was searching for her I heard that someone of her description was recently caught up for the slave trade. Mr. Riddick, I fear for the worse." His voice sounded sad, but Riddick didn't quite care.
"Look holy man, I can't drag my ass back there. She's gotta deal with it herself anyway, what the hell is she gonna learn by having me save her hide every time she gets into shit?" Riddick sat back in the seat, furious. He knew he should have brought her with him, she was a time bomb that could create some serious damage. But he would be running from mercs, so she'd get into serious shit by hanging with him.
"Mr. Riddick!" He glanced up, he had never heard anger in Imam's voice before. "She would learn that she was not alone! Have you no idea of her past? Yes, I have not the smallest fear that she is able to survive alone, but that was all she had before Hunter-Gratzner! When she met us, no, when she met you she thought she was no longer alone. She was safe."
"Well times change and so do people. I won't be the protector of her, she's got to grow up and it's happening now. I am not going back there. I get the longest time alone while the mercs still think I'm dead. I want to use that for myself, not for chasing after some kid who can't sit still!" He was nearly yelling now.
"Your selfishness will cause you pain later in life!" Imam shot back, his voice solid with faith.
"What's the worse she can do?" Riddick asked.
"So you're going to let me stay?" Jack asked, watching Toombs paw through the bare supplies of meds. He squinted at one bottle before tossing it back into the cabinet.
"You can bet on it." He mumbled, cursing the hell the empty bottle of painkillers. "You're a smart kid, how the fuck do I get rid of this headache?"
"It isn't a headache," she grabbed his hand and dragged him to a seat, forcing him to sit. "It's a hangover and those are wildly different."
"That ain't fixin' my headache, sweetheart." Toombs nearly snarled back. He was in pain.
"Just shut up for a few minutes." She replied, then added, "close your eyes."
He didn't care what happened, just as long as the damned pain in his head went away. But he was surprised when he felt her fingers begin to apply pressure to the sides of his head. Toombs knew that the pressure should've made it hurt more, but instead it made the headache go away. She slowly worked her way to applying pressure in different places and shook her head when she saw Toombs was near asleep.
As his eyes drooped, he remembered waking up earlier.
He had fallen asleep sitting on the floor. Why the fuck wasn't he in his bed? Then again, he couldn't even remember how or when he got home from drinking. A voice that had been quiet all his life was speaking in his head again, and he knew it was the voice of morality and shit, but it just bugged the hell outta him. But the voice had nagged at him that his drinking would probably bother Jack, but she wouldn't show it.
Jack. She was in his bed. That's why he was on the floor.
He stood, groaning as joints popped. Toombs walked to his bedroom door, making sure it slid open quietly. Standing in the door, he watched Jack sleep.
The sheets and blankets were all over the place, but she managed to keep all of herself on the bed. He wondered if she knew that the position she was sleeping in was the one he slept in, too. The only difference was that she held onto the pillow, holding it like a stuffed animal or something. She looked peaceful.
Pushing himself off the frame of the door, he walked to the side of the bed and wondered how and if he should wake her up. Probably.
"Wake up, Jack. I ain't gonna tiptoe around this ship all day. Wake the hell up." He snorted when she flipped around, facing her back towards him.
"Lemme alone, Tums." She was clearly too tired to even speak properly.
"It's Toombs, not Tums!" He exclaimed and she finally sat up, sending him a not so nice glare.
"Christ almighty, you shit. What time is it?" She rubbed her eyes and he raised an eyebrow.
"Think that you're pickin' up bad language from me." He moved aside to let her stand, grabbing her elbow to steady her when she wobbled. Looking up at him, she smiled tiredly. Toombs tried not to tell himself he would never get tired of seeing her smile.
"Aren't you just a bundle of intelligence?" She quipped, walking out of the room.
But he sure as hell wouldn't mind getting tired of that mouth of hers.
"Hey, Toombs, wake up!" She smacked his head and he startled awake, snarling at her. His headache was gone, but he had been enjoying his rest.
He turned around, meaning to snap at her but chuckled instead. She looked ridiculous.
The slave-house had taken her clothes, she was forced to wear his. Everything was too big for her, from the black pants to the long-sleeved shirt he had tossed her at head this morning. Jack scowled at him, but then realized how funny she must've looked to him.
"Toombs, I wanna get outta here." She suddenly said, standing next to him.
"You gettin' sick of New Mecca, too?" Toombs looked up at her and was inwardly surprised at her cold look.
"Yeah, and the fact that there's a group of angry looking guys carrying guns headed our way. Look like the slave traders." She motioned out the window and Toombs cursed.
"Strap in, we're dustin' this place." He quickly started up the systems. "Screw askin' for permission. Hold on." He pulled out the small ship, cursing the men who were firing at it. But nothing short of a laser would hurt his ship, so he wasn't too concerned.
A few rocky minutes later found them outside of the Helion Prime atmosphere. Jack looked white as a sheet, but Toombs was laughing. He had escaped another unpleasant situation and with a flare of style. When they had lifted off and were high enough, he turned the ship with a 360 that looked beautiful. Jack had nearly gotten sick, though.
"Jackie! How cool was that?" He was still very pleased with himself.
"Never," she wheezed, "do that again."
Time to vote again!
a) Jack and Toombs bonding time that could involve training, learning or just chatting
b) Toombs gets into some serious trouble at their next stop
c) Imam gets wind of who it is that Jack is with and sends a message to Jack
Hope you all are enjoying the story.
-Shamrock