Honey76: Thanks for the review, and the patience. I'm glad that someone figured out that I really fucked Riddick and Jack up on purpose. We've all seen the stories where they get together too quickly and everything's too 'happily-ever-after'. Didn't want that to happen in my story, no matter how tempting. LOL! And, yeah, this is what happens when men think, God love 'em.

PagingDrHouse-Furyan Goddess: Yes, Jackie girl got knocked up, but she didn't do it by herself, silly! And you'll find out if she kept it or not. She was just 16, y'know.

And, yes, they both think that the other hates them. I mean, she was an innocent, of course the first time wasn't going to be perfect, right? And then Riddick has this whole super-guilty complex that makes you wanna smack him!

But, don't think that just because Jack killed off Audrey Richards that she isn't still a badass. She's still hard on the outside and softly Riddick's on the inside. LOL!

Age check: Riddick is thirty-eight, and Jack (Victoria Blanchett) is twenty-four.

Chapter Five: Never Forget The Sight

Frontier Augustus

"Survivor!" Jack screamed, thrusting her fist into the sky and jumping up and down. "Survivor!"

The crowd automatically came to attention and began shouting with her, the mosh pit already well formed and wild. They hopped up and down in waves and she automatically tuned the movements of her body to those waves.

One more goddamn day when I know what I want
And my want will be considered tonight, considered tonight
Just another day when all that I want
Will mark me as a sinner tonight, I'm a sinner tonight, yeah

People can no longer cover their eyes
If this disturbs you then walk away
You will remember the night you were struck by the sight of
Ten thousand fists in the air

She loved this song, the power of the music, the screamed lyrics. She could picture herself screaming it at Riddick, because, for one small space of time, her want had been considered.

She wondered what he would think of her becoming a rock star. She was sure that Riddick had expected her to wait for him to return to New Mecca after their completely fucked up tryst. When she had discovered that she was expecting, she knew that she had to run.

Richard Riddick was not father material. She could trust him to watch her back, to die for her, but she didn't think she could trust him with her child. He would have freaked, said she did it on purpose.

Power un-restrained dead on the mark
Is what we will deliver tonight, deliver tonight
Pleasure fused with pain this triumph of the soul
will make you shiver tonight, will make you shiver tonight, yeah

She had sinned greatly the day that she allowed Riddick to possess her. He reshaped her world, giving her the greatest pleasure, the greatest pain, the greatest denial. He had given her a taste of heaven, only to condemn her back to the darkness. No other had shared her body since that day, because she was afraid that her love for him would overwhelm her common sense and her safety as Victoria Blanchett would be ruined, making the mercs come after her again. She couldn't risk it. Not when there was Alexander to consider in this disaster.

x-x-x-x-x-x-

He watched her body move, faintly sexual in the violence of the music. This song, or parts of it, was highly personal to her. She wanted someone to see her, to cease denying her. She was addressing someone. Someone she missed and, from the scent in the air, desired highly.

Could she have missed me after all?

A tiny hand slipped into his. He jerked away and stared. A little boy, maybe six or seven, looked up at him. His eyes were silver, shining in the dark of backstage.

"Yo, kid, where'd ya get eyes like 'em?" he asked, curious. If he didn't know better, he'd swear that he was looking at himself, thirty years ago. The boy's skin was like milk with a drop of coffee dumped in, his posture erect and perfect. Tiny muscles threaded through his arms and legs, shown off by the black tank top and tan cargo shorts. Someone had dressed him with care. He wasn't a street urchin.

"My dad had 'em," the kid replied. "Mama says that I'm blessed because most people only get 'em after they've killed a few people, and mercs don't count. Then-"

"You get sent to a slam where they tell you you'll never see the light of day again."

"You pay a slam quack twenty menthol Kools to shine your eyes so no one'll ever get the slip on you again. Hey, mister, how'd you know?"

"Who's your ma?"

"My mama's Victoria Blanchett, the lead singer of Stellar."

Jack. This kid is Jack's. But… No. It's not possible. She wouldn't have done that. She was on birth control, wasn't she?

Why couldn't he remember that important detail? Was she, at sixteen, on some form of birth control? Had he asked? He didn't know, but he was afraid that he hadn't and she wasn't. It could be that… He had to know, even if the knowledge would forever change his life, he had to know. He took a calming breath, for once actually afraid. What if Jack hadn't done the predictable and had given him a different last name? "What's your name, Kid?"

"I'm Alex. Alexander Riddick. Mama says that the stork meant to deliver me to Riddick to give him hell, but his nav comp got messed up, so he brought me to Mama. She loves him, you know?" Alex whispered in a confidential tone. "She cries for him in her sleep in this funny voice."

My son. I… have a son.

"What kind of funny voice, Alex?"

Riddick choked on his whisky when the boy did a fair imitation of a breathless, panting Jack. The kind of Jack that he'd only held once. And.. she loved him, still? How? He'd done something unbelievably awful to her.

Then again, she'd kept his son from him. Maybe two awful things could cancel each other out.

"Do you know what happened to your dad?"

"He's not my dad!" Alex snapped, silver eyes narrowing in familiar fury. "Ken's my dad! Riddick is just a part of my biology. He didn't want me, so Mama ran away from home. She was sixteen when he fucked-"

"Watch your mouth, kid." Where the fuck did a seven-year-old learn the word 'fuck' and what it meant? Damn precocious little brat, Riddick thought, already fond of the kid.

"Fine. When he bungled the attempt to make love to her. Is that better? Damn, I thought you security guards had heard it all. Never thought I'd have one telling me to watch my mouth."

"Where did you learn this story?"

"Ken told me. He says that Mama told him."

Riddick growled. Someone was gonna be hurting by the time this was through. He couldn't believe that Jack would tell her son- their son- a lie such as that. Which meant that Ken knew the truth and had embellished it in order to hurt an innocent seven-year-old. Ken wanted something, possibly wanted Jack, and that was something that Riddick could never permit.

Yet, how was he going to be father to a boy that had been programmed to hate him?

"So, what happened to Riddick, kid?"

"Mama says he's in hiding. That he's not really dead."

Damn, Jack. You still know my ways.

"Would you like to meet Riddick?"

The kid bristled, the fury returning. "I see that man and I'm killing him. He hurt Mama. Broke her heart."

She broke what I knew of mine, too, kid. Took everything that was remotely human with her.

"That's fair. But you wouldn't give him a chance?"

"Only if Mama asked me to."

He half-smiled, which looked more like a facial twitch. "Then, we need to wait on your ma."

Alex gasped, eyes going wide. "You're-"

"Shut up, kid."

Alex did as Riddick asked, but in an unusual fashion. Alexander Gabriel Riddick fainted.