Age of Nox

Chapter 9

Note: The bold text is Jack's inner 'voice', as the italicized is Toombs and the asterisks indicates memory.

She let out a shaky breath, pulling her legs down with her as she lay down on the bench. What was she looking for? Why did it matter so much that Toombs tell her who the information was about?

You know why. You want to confirm who you think it is.

Sure, fine. Maybe it was Riddick but that wasn't the issue. Jack knew the real issue beneath everything was that she was subconsciously trying to place Toombs at an importance level that was significantly lower than that of Riddick's. She wanted Riddick to be more important because she wanted to be him.

Do you still?

Jack ignored the voice and continued thinking. She didn't want to be Toombs; he was just a way of staying safe and off the radar for a little while.

Are you so sure? Has Toombs not replaced Riddick?

She growled.

He has grown on you, but you do not want to be him. Yet you are still traveling with him and it isn't just a way of keeping safe and hidden from the universe. You enjoy his company on some level.

Jack didn't want to think about that. With a snort she also realized that a bigger problem at hand was why the hell did she have this voice?

You answered that a while ago.

Did she? She thought back to when it had first appeared, when she was saving Toombs. Then she had decided it was a beast of her own.

Ah, your intelligence is astounding.

A very sarcastic and annoyingly eloquent beast as well.

At least one of us is.

"Shut up," she grumbled. At least the stupid voice could tell her what the hell was happening and how to sort out her thoughts. The voice was silent.

"Fucking shit. It's getting dark out and she better bring back her scrawny ass. I can't go out and sure as hell can't call the cops to go looking for the kid." Toombs gritted his teeth and growled.

She puts you through all this trouble and you can't even get rid of her.

"Damn straight I won't." He replied, checking the locking systems.

You won't? I said can't.

Toombs looked up at this.

"Can't, won't, same friggin' thing." He finally replied, glancing at the ramp. Any minute now it would lower and Jack would come walking up it. A few silent minutes passed and he smashes his fist on the control panel.

Toombs wondered what the hell was the voice anyway. He sure as hell wasn't crazy, but the excessive amounts of helkin he drank could've addled his mind a bit. It always popped up when something important was going on and it pissed him off. It had this presence that he mostly stamped out, ignoring it. It was there when he saved Jack from the slave traders and there when she slept in his bed.

Speaking of women sleeping in beds, Toombs wondered if there were any nearby brothels he could check out.

That is, after Jack returns and is safe and sound.

"Fuck you." Toombs snarled, not wanting to admit that it was right.

Jack stood, her joints and muscles stiff from not moving for so long. She slowly exited the park, looking up and down the street. Completely unsure of which direction to be heading in, she did what felt right and turned left. It only took a few turns to find a semi-familiar area. Then it was only a few minutes before she found the hangar. Proud of her navigating skills, but weary of the sinking feeling of having to go back into the ship, Jack cautiously approached the ship.

No yelling, that's good.

She didn't hear any glass bottles being tossed about. That's a good sign too.

Using gathered knowledge of drinkers from her childhood, Jack assumed that Toombs was already passed out from drinking, asleep normally, or brooding in the cockpit. She hoped for the first two, not wanting to deal with an awake Toombs.

The ramp opened before she was even five feet away from it.

No such luck apparently.

"Jack! Get in here!"

He didn't sound drunk at all, not even tipsy. Just angry.

I'm here, remember.

Jack wasn't too comforted.

Toombs had seen her approach from a security camera installed on the outside of the ship. Let her know he wasn't totally unaware. He had set down the ramp and yelled for her, but he couldn't tell if she had stopped or run away or kept going. For some really annoying reason, in boots or bare feet, Jack walked with complete silence.

But he did hear the entry of the closing and locking code for the ramp from the cockpit.

She didn't say a word, but sat down on the floor. Was the co-pilot's seat too close for comfort?

Understandable.

He growled.

To his surprise, Jack growled back.

There, there, pup, no need to get angry.

"Jack, where the fuck…no, why the fuck do you think you can get up and walk off like that? I run this piece of shit and you just work for me! You don't get to do that, kid!" Toombs yelled at her, leaning forward in his chair. Her head was dropped, so he couldn't see her face.

Well, now he asked for it.

Jack couldn't agree more. As much as she hated the term 'kid', it was not his to use.

"And you know what you don't get to do, Toombs?" She stood and snarled deep in her throat.

He almost wished she had kept her head down. Those eyes pierced him hard and strong.

"Do you! Here, let me tell you. When you are working with someone who has saved your worthless ass, you do not get to be such an arrogant son of a bitch about it! You could tell me what the information is they were looking for. I killed them for you, Toombs! To save your miserable life I killed them!"

She was yelling now.

"I know there isn't a right or something that gives me the power to know what was the factor of your abduction, but as a decent human being you could put my self at peace by telling me that I killed them for a good reason. Because no, Toombs, as of right now, your life is not a good reason!"

You're getting there.

"Why!" Jack screamed, her voice hoarse. "Why did I kill them?" She turned away, feeling her throat tighten with the oncoming of tears.

Toombs was sitting, speechless. He had known Jack had a firecracker personality of sorts, but never something like this. He knew though that beneath every tough exterior, there was always something. Didn't matter how abusive parents were, how painful a past had been or how strong the streets had made someone. There was that human center that felt for other's people pain. Many people judged another's character by how strong they could contain emotion or pain. Regardless, it was always there.

Pulling himself back to the present situation, he watched her for a few minutes. Was it safe to approach her?

You've seen she isn't just a street rat, but it is your choice.

"Jack." He stated, simple and clean. He winced to himself. What was about to come was far from his strong point. "Jack," he stood and took a few steps, reaching the silent figure. Using his uninjured hand, he touched her shoulder and was inwardly relieved that she didn't flinch away.

"I'm sorry, Jack."

That was all it took for her to turn around and wrap her arms around his waist, burying her face into him. It took a second to kick in as to what he was supposed to do, but he eventually slipped his arms around her while she silently cried.

And to think he had just believed he had been taking on a mechanic.

"So the infamous duo believe it fit to bestow a visit on this quiet happy home, eh?" The gritty voice was interrupted with a hacking cough.

"Pay up, bitch, we got your prisoner, you got our bounty. Let's switch it up." Toombs regarded the man before him and glanced at Jack, who stood silent beside him.

She had a to-be prisoner at her feet, curled up and afraid to glance up at her. It only took a glance or growl and he would be still as ice. Toombs inwardly nodded with pride; Jack was his best. Not to mention his only. After her, there wasn't a reason to take on any more of a crew.

"But what about your entrancing…partner. She speaks, no?" The prisoner boss asked, raking his eyes on her form that spoke power.

"She ain't much of a chitchatter, trust me." Toombs replied, wanting to get out of the prison fast. He didn't like it and from the body language of Jack, she wasn't feeling too good there either. "So, you gonna pay up?"

"It's all business now, isn't it? Oy! You! Start the transfer!" The boss yelled at an armed guard who sat down at a computer and started it.

"You get the prisoner when we get the bounty." Toombs grinned cruelly, pulling out a remote for a bank account. Sure enough, the creds were there in a few seconds. "Alright, take 'em."

An airtight seal on the edge of the room that formed into a tube hissed open. Jack leaned down and taking the collar of the shirt, easily shoved him across the floor and into the open tube. She watched it close, the steel and other doors sealing it.

"It's been nice doing business. Come again!" The boss shouted behind Jack and Toombs as they left the room and walked towards the small hangar.

"You can let go of the trigger, Jack, we're outta there." Toombs wanted to rest a hand on her shoulder or arm, but he could still sense the jerks that were prison guards watching him and Jack.

When the finally got back in the ship, Jack went straight for the co-pilot's chair, adjusting the hanging waist-straps that holstered her weapons. Toombs watched her slowly relax before turning around to kick all the prisoner's restraints back into one of the closets. She was always jumpy after a drop off and he knew it had to do with something about her life before she teamed up with him. But every time he asked she clammed up.

Quite a few years had passed and she had grown up, but grown up strong and as good as it could be, under Toombs' constant teaching. When he wasn't drunk or spending the night out that is. He felt like an older brother, always keeping an eye out for any other male who decided that it would be appropriate to be within five feet of her.

Her hair had grown out, it was longer but she kept it in a braid, the soft chestnut rope swinging when she moved quickly. Green eyes danced in both joy and warpaths. Toombs saw both, but preferred to stay away from the latter.

They had become the strongest pair of mercs in the known systems, but to everyone else but Toombs, Jack was known as Caliber, nothing more. She had decided on changing it, saying that she was moving into a new part of her life and that 'Jack' wasn't her true name to start with. He doubted it but never asked, it was better to keep off her bad side.

"Hey, Jack, can you start it up?" She was still looking away but a long second later, her head swiveled in his direction. With a deep breath, she pushed herself off the chair and began to flip the switches.

"Toombs?" Jack called, walking out the small bathroom, freshly showered. She was wearing a clean pair of work pants and an old shirt of Toombs' that she had kept. Instead of two slings only one hung off the side of her hip, the blaster barrel gently hitting her leg.

"Hey, Toombs!" She tried again and was rewarded with a returned 'yeah' from the cockpit.

"What's up, Calical?" He teased and she swatted his head, leaning over the back of the chair. She hoped to see a different destination than one of the next hit. Jack wasn't surprised that he sensed her disappointment. "Not dangerous enough for ya?"

"Toombs, I wanna take a rest." Jack rested her head on his shoulder, his face level with hers. "We've tossed in ten bounties in the last two months, I'd like to take a break."

"So what, you wanna drift for a few weeks or something?" He sneered and shook his head.

"Toombs, don't be such a whiny bitch. Can we set down on a party port or something so I can just get out?" Jack stood up and waited for him to change the destination. "Toombs. I'm giving you five seconds before I start removing things you'd like to keep."

"No need to start threatnin' me, Jack, chill." He started up on the destination change and a memory kicked in.

Jack sashayed into the club, her dark kohl-rimmed eyes attracting many people with just a glance. But she was looking for the black sheep in the herd and it wasn't hard to find.

A man sitting at one of the booths, with girls fawning over him, their brightly painted nails lightly trailing down his chest. With every move, the shirt was parted a little farther and the nails that Jack saw as claws slipped in the waistband of his pants. He seemed preoccupied by the girls until the crowds parted to let Jack through, who easily caught his eye.

A few minutes later, he had pushed off all the girls and had his attention completely centered on her. He kept one hand on her waist as they talked in each other's ears, Jack convincing him to go out back. Her eyes widened slightly as he smirked and said something back to her.

Toombs was watching this from the shadows and moved out back. Jack would do her job. But what he didn't expect was that five minutes later the back door slammed open and the target came stumbling out, his nose bloodied.

"Girl, I don't know who the fuck you are, but when I-" He began to yell through the blood but Jack's boot smashed into his mouth before he finished.

"It was bad enough you asked for a fucking kiss," she kicked him in the stomach. "But when your hands-" she was cut off by Toombs grabbing her wrist. He pulled her back and without a word, knocked the target out.

Jack opened her mouth to protest but he just grabbed his wrist and tied them, pulling him farther down the alley. He knew she followed behind.

Later that night she wandered out of the bedroom, avoiding the bloodied man who was still unconscious. Jack had cleaned up and was wearing a loose long-sleeved shirt and a pair of athletic shorts. Toombs sat in his seat, programming in the bounty caught and finding the prison that would pay highest for it. She automatically sat down in the seat next to his. Her braid was roughly done and hung down in front of her. It wasn't nearly as long as it would be in the future, but she certainly wasn't a fuzzy-top.

"Toombs, I'm sorry." She spoke softly. He didn't look up or even pay attention to her, but she kept on speaking anyway. "I know I fucked it up, and I'm sorry. But, what he did…I got scared and I was alone." He stopped moving at this. "Ridiculous, I know. In a club full of people and I'm alone. I looked for you and knew you must be out back but I froze. I thought he knew what was happening and I knew it would be best if I knocked him out then. Just…didn't happen as planned. Toombs, I-"

"New rule," he turned his seat and looked at her, his blue eyes not holding a trace of anger. "Don't say sorry. Never ever say it in front of targets and never, if it can be helped, say it here. Unless you're apologizing for sneaking a bottle of helkin."

"You aren't angry?"

"Fuck no. Now get to bed." He turned back and continued his work, only stopping when she didn't move. "Didn't hear me?"

"You gotta sleep, too, Tums." She grinned when he growled at her. "Leave it for tomorrow."

"Never was one to deny an offer not to work," he shut off the systems and stood, glancing at Jack who was watching the unconscious bounty. "He's out, won't be up until fuck knows when. He ain't superhuman and I overdosed him as it is." Jack stood and quickly moved around the body, Toombs behind her, but he stopped to nudge the bounty with a foot.

"Just about as alive and kickin' as a corpse." He grinned at her. She continued her course to the bedroom where she climbed in and snuggled under the blankets.

Just as it was and would be, she slept in between Toombs and wall. It was getting harder for him as she grew up, but he had no idea that every night she was reminded of the few times she had been positioned like this with someone else.

Author note time!

This should've been up long ago but summer is here so I get lazier than usual. Sorry about that. Ok, there has been prodding and asking about what relationship this will be. Please do not snort up a drink, yell at your computer screen or kick something when I say I'm planning for this to be Toombs/Jack. There can be Jack/Riddick interference, but it just depends on what level that will be.

I need feedback for this, because I write this to and for you all.