*Author's notes: well, this story has been left unattended for.. 4.5 years! In the mean time I've finished uni, am now almost 5 yrs older, and am now working with children from traumatic home-lives. So my views on this story have changed. But I have been VERY thankful of the reviews and Fave-story alerts that have kept on coming to my inbox over the years! With the new Riddick movie coming out, I thought I would re-visit this story and Bloody Finish It! Haaha so this is my apology for if my writing style has changed. For my loyal readers, thanks for sticking with me all these years. Fingers crossed this story finally comes to an end soon eh?! –Virg

Ch6: And here ends my life. Goodbye Jack.

"Gimme your gun," Jack ordered, holding her hand out towards Riddick.

Riddick complied and removed his handgun from its holder on his right thigh. He held it out for Jack. Just before the gun was within Jack's reach, Riddick pulled the gun back and put it back. Jack looked up at him in confusion. "I have a better idea.." Riddick explained. He then reached into a holster on his left thigh and pulled out a shiv. "You're a more hands-on person.." He said, holding it out for Jack.

"I bet you say that to all the girls.." Jack blurted out, figuring that if it meant seducing Riddick to convince him to take her with him, then by golly, she was going to do it.

Riddick snorted in reply, "Runt.." He then turned and walked back into the darkness behind the merchant's ship.

"Where you going?" Jack called out.

"Sun's coming up," He replied, not turning to look at her. He continued to walk away, "I need my beauty sleep."

Jack rolled her eyes. Reflexively she began to run after him but then stopped after a couple of steps. The sound of boots running then stopping made Riddick turn to see why she'd stopped. He watched on as Jack paused, as if she'd been frozen in place. He tried to read it in her eyes. He could see was thinking about something. Thinking hard. Jack stared at the ground at Riddick's feet. After a few seconds, she looked up at him, then turned to look down at the dead merchant's body.

Riddick had no idea what she was doing so he continued to stand in the darkness, arms crossed as he watched Jack. She at first she took a single, slow step towards the merchant. Then after that first step, she seemed to quicken her pace until she was standing over the still body. She stared down at it in total silence. Riddick had no idea what she was doing. He thought he himself to be extremely tactful at reading emotions on people's faces. It was how he survived for so long- picking out lies, fear, anger and lust. But he couldn't read Jack's face right now. She was concentrating on the merchant's dead body, but he couldn't figure out why. Jack then fell to her knees, looking down at the stomach of the merchant. When the shivs reflected the light into Riddick's eyes, he realised what she planned to do.

Jack needed to practice on the dead merchant, before she could slash Tombs.

"You really think you're cut out for this?" Riddick asked, watching Jack move the merchant's robes so that his stomach was exposed. Stabbing someone in the heat of battle was one thing. Slicing up the dead was another.

Jack didn't look at him. She kept her eyes firmly on the dead body in front of her. "I have to be."

Riddick walked over, wanting to get a good view of what was about to be Jack's first time at stabbing flesh (that he knew of). "You ever done this before, squirt?" Riddick stood on the other side of the merchant's body, staring down at Jack. She looked so small and petite. Her legs were crossed under her as she knelt by the cooling body. She held the shiv over the merchant's body.

Jack looked up at Riddick with a look he'd never seen her give him before. It was a smile that reeked of confidence, her eyes blank and secretive at the same time. It was a look Riddick saw in himself in the mirror once before. "You remember asking me what happened to my dad?" Jack asked. She stared up at Riddick. Her eyes cold. Riddick couldn't help but feel for the girl at that moment. At least, feel for her in the way a cold-hearted killer could. She was definitely hiding something.

"You kill him?" Riddick asked.

Jack looked back down at the body before her. She didn't answer Riddick's question. She kept the shiv hovering millimetres above the stomach of the merchant. Riddick could see she was hesitating. It pissed him off. He was pissed off that she didn't answer his question about her father, and then she was now hesitating with a dead body! She wanted to be a bad-ass and now she was too chicken to stab a dead body. At the same time, Riddick wondered why he cared so much if Jack had killed before. He knew her life was at a crossroads, and if she continued on with their deal of her killing Tombs, there was no going back. And Riddick didn't want her to be like him. She had a chance to live like a normal teenager. But at the same time, it was appealing to Riddick to meet someone not unlike himself.

Riddick huffed and uncrossed his arms. Jack was still hesitating. Riddick needed to show Jack what it meant to be like him. Maybe he could scare her away.

Jack didn't realise she had been staring at the body for so long. After Riddick asked her about her father, her mind was suddenly filled with anger, the sound of screaming and the sight of blood. She didn't want to think about that day. She didn't like to think about her dad all together.

Suddenly, the feel of Riddick's boot on her hands broke Jack out of her stupor. She looked at her hands, clasping over the shiv handle, with Riddick's foot atop her hands. She had no control as she felt her hands being pushed down. The shiv touched the merchant's skin, and Jack could feel the shiv stop momentarily, meeting with resistance as the tip pressed down on the merchant's skin. She felt the pressure of Riddick's boot push down harder on her hands and she felt the shiv press harder into the skin. Suddenly, she felt the shiv pierce the merchant's skin and the shiv were met with no resistance as Riddick pushed Jack's hands, and the shiv, down into the still-warm bowels of the merchant.

Riddick then lifted his boot off Jack's hands and stood up straight. Jack removed her hands from the shiv. Her hands were covered in blood, but blood didn't spill out onto the ground. The merchant's heart had stopped minutes ago, so there was no blood being pumped throughout the cooling corpse. Jack looked hard at the blood on her hands. It felt sticky and she was mesmerised by the colour.

"Tombs would have snapped your neck already."

Jack looked up from her bloodied hands and into Riddick's silver eyes. "What?"

"Hesitate like that again, and I guarantee he won't wait for you to decide if you can do it or not." Riddick then took steps around Jack and began to walk back into the darkness. The sky had already begun to lighten and the sun would surely be up before they reached Imam's house if Jack didn't follow him soon. She pulled the shiv out of the merchant, not wanting to leave any evidence behind. She then stood up and began running after Riddick.

When they got back, Jack gave Riddick his shiv back, and ran straight to her room without saying a word to Imam. The Arabic man was not happy that Jack had what appeared to be blood on her hands. Jack decided at the last minute that she'd go to the bathroom and wash her hands first. Once she'd done that, she took herself to her room and slammed the door behind her. She could hear Imam say something to Riddick, but she couldn't hear exactly what was said because the door muffled the sounds from outside her room.

Jack looked back down at her hands. This wasn't the first, or even the second time that Jack had blood on her hands.

Imam whispered to Riddick, as he didn't want Jack hearing him. "What happened?"

Riddick waited until he heard Jack slam her bedroom door and then replied "I was about to leave this rock but she followed me. She got into trouble and I had to stop it before people realised who I was."

Imam rubbed his forehead. He wanted to do whatever it took to make sure Jack wasn't going to end up like Riddick. "Well you obviously didn't leave, so that means you're not taking her with you, yes?"

Riddick didn't respond, standing there and stoically staring at the holy man. Riddick had had a similar conversation with Imam yesterday. At the time, Riddick was 100% sure he was going to ditch Jack and leave her behind. Riddick didn't need a scrawny teenager following him across the galaxy. Especially one with daddy issues, is utterly useless with a gun, and gutless with a shiv. But now, Riddick didn't respond because he really didn't know the answer himself. He was weighing up what life would mean for him if she went with him. The cons would be that she would slow him down, and probably be killed by a Merc after a day on the run with Riddick. He'd have to keep protecting her and saving her, and it'd probably mean that he too would be killed. The pros would be that he can train her to be as lethal has he, and it might be good to have company, with to someone to cover his back. Riddick had spent a life alone, and he was used to it. But since Carolyn died, and since he brought Jack and Imam with him from that fuck'n planet, something in Riddick was making him question his usual slefish and cold-hearted actions. His instinct for self-preservation had begun to skew.

Imam wasn't sure to make of Riddick standing there silently. "Jack has a chance at a normal childhood," he began.

But then Riddick cut him off, with "she clearly isn't normal, Holy Man".

Imam didn't want to get into an argument with Riddick. "Please just promise me that you're not taking her with you".

Riddick remained calm, not feeling threatened at all by Imam. He understood what was happening. Imam was a man who wanted to take Jack under his wing, and lived a life free of crime. Of course he wanted that for Jack. Imam wasn't stupid. They could both see Jack was falling in love with Riddick's lifestyle

Jack tried to sleep. She had gotten a decent sleep before she ran out to follow Tombs in the early hours of the morning. Now her mind was racing and she couldn't relax. Regardless, Jack's adrenaline was leaving her body and she was feeling her body trying to calm down from the morning's events. Jack got into bed and lay on her side. She faced the cream wall that the bed rested against.

Jack fell asleep without even realising it, as her dreams were that of vivid memories. Jack felt as though she were transported back to her family home. She was in her bedroom reading. Her mother had died 2 years before, and her dad became angrier every day after Jack's mother's death. Jack was at school when she got the news that her mother was killed in a mugging, but her father was the one who had to go and confirm the identity of her mother's body. He changed that day after seeing the stab wounds and bruising on her mother. Since then, her father drank more, left Jack home alone more, and would come back home angry and violent.

That particular night, Jack's father came home, slamming the door behind him. Jack flinched at the sound, knowing that meant her father had his fill of alcohol, and was likely to begin screaming at her for something.. anything that allowed him to let his frustrations out. Sometimes when she pretended to be asleep, he'd give up yelling and go pass out on the couch.

Tonight Jack heard him stomp into the kitchen and stop. He then stomped towards her bedroom. She heard him coming and prayed that he detoured to his room or the couch. Jack cringed when the door to her room opened. She had her back to the door and so she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Her father stomped to her bed and grabbed the back of Jack's Tshirt.

"Get up! I know you're awake!" he yelled, pulling her out of the bed. Jack was forced onto the floor, then her feet, and pulled into the kitchen by her T-shirt. She didn't say anything, for fear of making him angrier. He pulled her to the sink and made her look into it. "What's this shit?!" He yelled. "I asked you to clean up while I'm gone! I've got people coming over tomorrow and you've left this mess?!" he yelled, tilting his head to the two ceramic plates in the sink.

Jack didn't reply, because she knew that no matter how she answered, nothing would make the situation better. In this case, not replying and not looking at him made him angrier. He threw Jack towards the floor, sending Jack sideways onto the tiles. Before she could pick herself up, her father picked up the two dirty plates from the sink and smashed them on the floor in between them. Jack brought her hands up to her face, and knees as close to her shoulders as possible to protect herself from the broken pieces of the ceramic plates as they shattered.

"Clean this shit up, you little bitch", he yelled at her. Jack stared at the shards, sitting as still as possible. "Are you listening to me?!" he yelled, slapping his hand across her head. Jack's ear stung from the impact, but she tried not to make a sound. She tried to sit up again and looked at the floor. "I clothe you!" he said, hitting her again on the side of her head. "I feed you!" he said louder, hitting her with his hand again. "You're useless!" he yelled.

This time he kicked Jack in the stomach. Jack groaned and doubled over, her palms hitting the tiles to stop her from hitting the tiles head first. Jack's right hand landed on a large shard of broken ceramic plate, and she could feel it had cut her hand. Her dad took another kick to her ribs, and she was sure something was broken with that blow.

Jack felt adrenalin pumping through her system. She was sick of the shit her father put her through. She was sick of the constant abuse, hiding bruises, and being treated like a slave. A rage began to build within Jack. Two years of hurt, anger and sadness building up every day. Jack felt like she had taken a step back in her own mind, as though she had begun watching her life from someone else's eyes. She watched herself wrap her hand around the long ceramic shard. Her father took another kick at Jack's stomach. She felt like she was going to throw up, but the adrenalin in her system had begun working overtime.

Jack watched her hand tighten around the ceramic shard. She had cut her hand in doing so, but she didn't care. She'd had enough. "Stop!" she yelled back at her father. He hadn't noticed what Jack had in her hand. But he also didn't listen.

"You are useless! You're not good for anything!" he yelled

Jack brought herself to her feet, gasping when she felt the sharp pain in her ribs as she stood. She was surprised her dad let her stand. When she stood up, she looked straight into her father's eyes. "Get away from me". She said with all her strength. This is when her father saw the ceramic shiv in her hand.

He smirked. "What are you planning on doing with that?" he asked, looking at her like he cannot take her seriously. "You going to knife me?" he scoffed.

Jack stood still, staring at her father. Staring at his face made her rage burn hotter. She hated her life and how bad he made her feel.

Her father took a step closer to her, the crunch of broken ceramic plate was heard grinding under his shoes as he moved. Her father jabbed Jack in the shoulder with his finger. "I said, are you going to knife me?" he growled.

Jack took a step back as an automatic response to being poked. "Get away from me", she growled back. Jack was at breaking point. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Her father seemed to be amused at her trying to take a stance, but that she began to cry instead. Her father then pushed her, causing Jack to land on the floor and drop the shiv. Her father was only getting started, and Jack's 30-second stance made him angrier. Jack felt like something switched in her brain, like a light switch that turned her conscience off. She'd had enough! She needed to get away from him before he killed her. It was kill or be killed.

Jack found her hand wrap around the shiv again, and she felt her heart pumping faster. "I said get AWAY FROM ME!" Jack yelled as she lunched towards her father with the shiv.

It was then that Jack felt like she was thrown back into reality. Three inches of ceramic plate was wedged into her father's gut. He staggered back and fell to the floor. Jack wasn't sure if he fell because he was in shock or if she'd fatally stabbed him. She didn't wait to find out.

Jack staggered back to her room, gathered whatever she could and left the house. That was the last time Jack saw her father.

Jack found herself sitting up in bed again, sweaty and tangled in the sheets. She found herself sitting with her fist in the air, and semi-remembers yelling as she woke up.

Jack reassessed her situation. She realised she was in her bedroom in the holy man's house. It was a dream; a memory. She was safe now. Her father was on a different planet, if he was still alive.

It was then that Jack realised that Riddick was standing in her doorway, arms crossed and leaning on the doorframe.

Jack lowered her arm, and stared at Riddick. She didn't know what to say, and he didn't appear to say anything. Jack felt embarrassed, and unsure of what Riddick heard and saw. His silver eyes were giving her nothing in return.

After a few moments, Riddick stood up straight and left the room.

Riddick had guessed that Jack had issues at home, which is why she tried to pass as a boy when she ran away from home and onto a ship, which then crash landed on a planet full of man-eating monsters. Riddick had seen it all before. A kid from a broken home, forced to live on the streets. He'd killed a couple of them too. Most of them ended up as Mercs. There was something about violence and control over one's own chaotic life that drew so many of them to that job. Jack was on the cusp of heading into that violent lifestyle, or heading to a life of normalcy, now that she's away from her shitty home life. Riddick didn't want to be responsible for anyone but himself. He didnt want to be responsible for whichever life Jack chose to follow.

As Riddick showered, he thought about this situation and decided that he was going to go ahead with his plan of leaving the planet as soon as possible. If he got the chance to go without Jack, then to hell with her. However if she managed to kill Tombs, then he might actually consider bringing her with him. But there'd be one rule- keep up or be left behind.

Riddick collected his bags and put them by the back door to Imams home. He wasn't planning on leaving again without his rations if there is an opportunity to leave this rock. Riddick then put on his long black cloak and went out the door in search of another 4-wheeler to drive.

Jack knew she wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon. So she got up and gathered what little clothing she had into a bag she found in the closet. Now that shw had the deal with Riddick, she wanted to be prepared to leave at any moment. She tried to tidy up the room, as a thank-you to Imam. After she got all that done, she showered and head to the kitchen to get herself something to eat.

The holy man was there already, eating.

"Good morning, child," Imam greeted. "I left you some lunch on the counter there", he pointed.

Jack went over and picked up the plate of sliced meat and vegetables and went and sat next to Imam. "Thanks" she said as she began eating.

Imam finished his bite and turned to face Jack. "I need to be honest, and tell you that I am worried about you, Jack," he said.

Jack raised her eyebrows, and 'Huh?'-ed between chewing. Imam clasped his hands and placed them on the counter. "Jack, I figured you have run away from your home for good reason. And you deserve a good life. I'd like you to live here. I've already spoken to the head of the school. You start next week."

Jack couldn't believe what she was hearing. On one hand she should be happy to hear about being given a good life. On the other hand she was utterly offended that Imam had begun making plans, talking to the school, before talking to her about where she's going to live. Plus she fully intended of flying off into the distance with Riddick.

"Thanks for the offer, Imam," Jack began. "But I don't think I can stay here". Jack wanted to be polite, but wanted him to know his offer was not required.

Imam nodded. "I know you want to go with Riddick," Imam said. He wasn't mad, and he kept his deep voice level and calm. "But that life is not a safe or happy one. You don't need to go down that path. Promise me that you'll take my offer if he doesn't take you with him."

Jack finished what she was chewing. He had a fair offer. If Riddick didn't take her, then where would she go? Only thing is Imam had no idea that Jack had made a deal with Riddick; kill Tombs and Jack get's a 1-way ticket onto Riddick's ship. And Jack fully intended on keeping to her end of the deal. Today she was going to kill Tombs.

"If Riddick doesn't take me with him, then I'll stay here".

Imam smiled in response. "Wonderful."

Jack walked into Riddick's room and found that he wasn't there. She checked the rest of the house and couldn't find him. Jack felt a moment of panic, that Riddick had left without her. Jack then suddenly heard the back door open and she found Riddick loading a 4-wheeler with his bags.

"Drive me to the ship", Jack ordered, which seemed as threatening as a fluffy puppy barking at an intruder.

Riddick stopped tying the last bag onto the 4-wheeler and stood up straight. "You bossing me around?"

Jack gave him a half-smile. "I told you I like making escaped convicts into my bitches", she joked as she replayed the line she said to him right after she killed the gun-seller that tried to buy her. "Take me to Tomb's ship so I can get it done", Jack ordered again.

Riddick seemed intrigued by this teenager's sudden burst of confidence. He knew that she was not a cold-hearted killer, and she may not be able to kill Tombs. But he also knew that when she was backed into a corner, she didn't hesitate to defend herself. "You sure you're up for this? Because now is your chance to go be a normal teenager and go out on dates with scrawny teenage boys and forget about this deal".

Jack didn't expect Riddick to say something like this. Did he really care about Jack's wellbeing? Or did he just want out of their deal? Jack held her head proud, walked to the 4-wheeler and sat in the passenger seat. "And while you're at it, I need a shiv" Jack ordered. Riddick scoffed at Jack's demands. He opened one of the bags and pulled out a knife, rather than a shiv. It was in its holder, as he dropped it in Jack's lap. Jack was surprised he didn't give her a crummy shiv. Instead, she was given something that looked like a fancy dagger. Jack felt the smooth black casing with her left hand, and the criss-crossed black wrapping over the handle in her right hand. Jack pulled the dagger out of it's case and she stared at the shiny, sharp, steel knife.

"It's a Tanto," Riddick explained. "It's a relic from Japan, from old Earth. Noble warriors of the emperor used to carry them, along with a sword that looks like a longer version of that."

Jack looked at Riddick, unsure why he's given her such a priceless relic. "Why are you giving me this?" Jack asked. "You've got a bag full of shivs".

Riddick sat down in the 4-wheeler next to her. He started it up and turned to look at her. "If you're going to be riding with me, you need something that's sturdy and sharp". Riddick then put the 4-wheeler into gear and began their drive towards the shipping docks. "And it's very sharp. So if you screw up, your attacker may just kill themselves from running into it."

Jack rolled her eyes at his jab about how useless her killing ability is. Jack re-sheathed the weapon and found herself holding the Tanto tight in her hands. Her first knife. Given to her by one of the most dangerous men in the galaxy, and her idol.

Author's notes: Thanks again for your patience everyone! Please do review! New chapter within the next week or 2.