False Dawn

Jack nodded at Chip's instructions, breathing hard, her knuckles white on the controls. They had to get through the atmosphere channels. It was going to be close. Chip had set the programs running from the now disabling system in Chem Industries to allow emergency security passage to a particular company ship. It was a gamble, but it was their only chance. Mars had no atmosphere of it's own so they had to go out through the pressurized channels.

Four minutes later, Jack's heart beating out of her chest, sweat dripping from her, Chip's voice came again. "Now, Jack. Channel 39, it's open and waiting."

The channels were like huge tubes, one end down, one end up, and only one side could be opened at a time. They were sized for type of ship, and the ship would fly in one end and slowly move towards the other. Unless a catastrophe happened, and it had happened before, the other portal was open when you got to it and you just shot right out into space.

Jack held her breath the whole way through the channel. When she saw the opposite portal opening, black space greeting her, she released her breath, and increased her speed. They'd made it!

Once free from Mars' atmosphere containment she blasted through the last of the gravitational pull and then hurriedly set the ship to auto. She had no idea how bad Riddick was hurt, but she knew it was severe. Even then, she stopped and ran her hands over the baby.

His green eyes stared up at her with curiosity, his thin dark hair mussed adorably. She unhooked him, releasing the snaps that held the sling, to run her hands over him. No injuries. Well, no new ones. He was fine.

"Stars," the baby said, pointing out through the windshield.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, those are stars, baby. Now sit still. Don't move."

His wide eyes followed her as she moved away from him.

Jack walked uncertainly towards Riddick. She was shocked to see that he had moved. He was now sitting up against the closed hatch, the look on his face making her frown in concern. Never had she seen such a . . . blank look on his face. He looked like he was in shock, or just knocked stupid. She was half expecting drool to run from his slightly open mouth.

"Riddick?" she whispered as she moved cautiously closer, feeling unnerved for some nameless reason. "Are you okay?"

His head slowly lifted to look at her, his goggles gone now, his eyes only half open, then he slowly opened them. Jack pulled back at the look shining there, or more aptly, not shining there. His eyes looked hazy, clouded, not the brilliant gleam she was used to, and then he smiled lazily at her, his eyes again barely halfway open.

"Jaaaack," he slurred, that smile staying in place.

She just stared, an eerie feeling crawling along her spine, demanding attention. "Riddick?" she whispered.

His hand slowly reached out to close on her arm, his fingers biting in. She gasped not so much at the strength, but at the way his fingertips dug in. He pulled her toward him, until she was forced to go to her knees beside him. "Jaaaack." The way he drew out her name was really starting to get creepy.

"Riddick, what's wrong?" she whispered, not understanding his strange behavior. It didn't appear to be shock, but what else could it be?

He slowly leaned forward, his hand still clamped painfully on her lower arm. She lifted her other arm, thinking that he must just want to hug her, which seemed horribly strange for Riddick. He must be hurt worse than she'd thought. But then as he came closer she gasped as he started to lift her arm.

She felt the heat of his mouth against her skin, wet, his teeth scraping. And then she screamed as his teeth sank into the muscle there, pain exploding through her arm.

The pain was incredible. Jack could literally feel the way his teeth sank through her flesh to meet his other teeth, and then Riddick pulled back, ripping the bite of flesh and muscle away. She hadn't been able to scream after the first initial shock, her mouth just falling open. The entire incident took only a second, and then she watched him sit back. The silver of his eyes was still muted somehow as he looked blankly at her. Blood now ran down his chin and stained his lips. But what horrified her most was watching him start to chew.

Mouth open wide in shock, Jack just stared at him as he chewed the chunk of her arm that he had just bitten away. And then he swallowed, his tongue sliding between his lips to lick the blood glistening there. Her blood! He smiled in that unnaturally relaxed way again, his teeth now showing bloody between grotesquely stained lips.

"Jaaaack," he crooned. He started to lean forward again, already lifting her arm as if to do it again and she snapped out of the daze she was in. Seeing Riddick chewing on her flesh had been the most gruesome thing she'd ever seen, not to mention the pain. There was no way she was just going to allow him to do it again, to treat her arm like a damn chicken leg!

"Riddick, what the fuck?!" She shoved against him, pushing herself away from him at the same time. He didn't react at all. He just fell awkwardly backwards against the hatch. His head hit the unforgiving metal with a sickening clunk, but he never blinked, never flinched. He just continued to stare at her, no emotion whatsoever, and then he started to come forward again.

Jack scrambled to her feet, backing away from him, unable to take her eyes from him. He fell forward onto his hands and knees, pausing there as if he didn't know what to do next. His movements were sluggish and uncoordinated, but he was slowly managing to drag himself to his feet.

She backed further away, the closed space not giving her far to go, and she stopped when she bumped into the back of the pilot's seat. Her head turned wildly as she suddenly thought of the baby, but he was still sitting in the copilot's seat, simply looking up at her. When she turned back to Riddick he was taking a step toward her, a move more like shuffling than his normal walking. Thoughts flew through her head, trying to understand why he would act like this. He'd fucking bitten her! Was he sick? Was he just out of it? What the fuck!? He'd bitten her!

"Jaaaaaaa...." Her name wasn't even full as he smiled at her, blood still dripping from his lips and chin. And he kept coming forward. What was wrong with him?

"Riddick," she whispered, feeling the shock make her eyes sting with the need to cry. She could only think that she couldn't let him come any closer. He stumbled forward again, his hands reaching out to her, and she did start crying as she reluctantly punched him, rocking his head back. Then she knocked his feet out from under him, sending him down like a falling tree. He never flinched, never tried to defend himself or even catch himself.

Jack gripped the chair behind her, her now bloody arm stretched out to the other seat to make sure the baby stayed behind her. When Riddick singsonged her name again and started to lift himself she truly did start crying. The idea of hurting or killing him to protect herself tore at her. She'd never thought she'd have to protect herself FROM HIM!

But he was rising slowly again, nearly dragging himself to his feet like it was an unwilling response. And those eyes. The eyes that she had once thought were beautiful, an indicator of his presence and the security of knowing he was there, were dark and dull. The flash of his eyes that had once held her spellbound in awe, and others in fear, was no longer there. It was like they had died, turned off, the light gone.

And he was still getting up! What the hell was wrong with him?! His mouth spread in a bloody smile that had her heart clenching in fear. It was an evil look, and for the first time in her life she was afraid of him.

"Riddick, what's wrong with you?" she whispered, but the words were nearly incomprehensible. Tears flowed down her face, her hands shaking, as she fought the urge to just curl up and not have to deal with this . . . whatever it was. She hated knowing that she had to do something, restrain him somehow. No matter what the fuck was wrong with him, she didn't want to really hurt him. It was Riddick!

Reaching behind her she pulled the cable ties she had carried for their mission. She hadn't thought to need them, just one of the extras to carry 'just in case'. And now she needed them for him!

He was coming forward again, his steps slow, only half of what he would normally step. She hated having to knock him down again. Though he seemed to want to BITE her, he otherwise seemed completely unaware of what he was even doing. It just didn't seem right to hit someone that was making no attempt to defend themself. It had always been a challenge for her to even make contact when they practiced, and now he was lumbering at her like a moving punching bag.

"Peek-a-boo."

Jack's heart lurched at the child's voice. Her head jerked around to see that the baby had pulled himself up to standing in the chair and was grinning up at her over the back.

Riddick made a sort of groaning noise and she turned wide eyes on him to find him staring at the little boy. She nearly shuddered at the way he was staring. The soft look from earlier was gone. The look on his face now was like a wolf looking at a juicy steak. He looked excited.

Jack reacted without thinking. She stepped forward, drawing Riddick's attention, and putting herself between them. He smiled slowly at her and licked his lips as if he was noting that it was her that he could still taste.

She gripped the ties in her fist, reluctantly stepping toward him, wanting to keep this as far from the baby as possible. Grudgingly she prepared to send him down again, hating having to hurt him at all. His hands were reaching out to her again, that ghoulish smile still in place. "Jaaaaa...ck!" He lunged forward suddenly, catching her off guard,

Hands closed around her throat, forcing a startled yelp out of her. His fingers were digging in more than squeezing like he didn't really intend to choke her. She stared up with wide eyes as he started to pull her toward him.

"Riddick! Stop it!" She kicked him, barely able to breath now as his hands dragged her forward, closing tighter. She shoved at his chest, still as rock solid as ever. "Fuckin' let go!" she cried as she brought her knee up. For just one moment his grip eased and she shoved at him hard, pushing him off balance.

He fell over, again doing nothing to cushion the fall. Jack didn't wait for him to move. She kicked him, pushing him the rest of the way over onto his stomach. Then she jumped onto his back, yanking up on his tree trunk like arms.

That she could pull his arms together behind his back at all seemed strange to her. If he were in his right mind he would've thrown her off for even attempting such a detestable thing. But his thick arms easily met in the back and she quickly strung the tie around his wrists.

"Jaaaaaaaaacck," he singsonged in a crooning voice. She looked up to see his head was turned to the side. His eyes weren't looking at her, just staring straight ahead. And his expression hadn't changed a bit, still that awful bloody smile. He didn't even seem to be aware that he was no longer moving.

She pulled a second tie out and doubled the bindings, knowing that he could easily break just the one. Two didn't seem much stronger, but he didn't appear to be wrestling against the restraints at all.

She looked up to check the baby, seeing him almost precariously leaning over the side to stare at them. Though she was completely inexperienced with kids she had the feeling that his behavior wasn't normal. He wasn't upset in the least, not crying or needing to be held. He just looked at them. Between the baby's serene behavior and Riddick's psychotic actions, it just made everything seem surreal.

"It's okay, baby. It's okay," she whispered, not really believing it, her eyes never leaving the squirming Riddick. Not that the baby looked like it needed to be comforted, but it felt right to say something, even if it was more for herself than the baby.

Riddick seemed to be trying to stand again, but wasn't really trying to get free. Pulling two more ties she bound his feet together. She hated to tie him, knowing how much he hated it, knowing he'd spent so much time chained already.

For a few long slow minutes she just sat and stared at him, her mind going over the same thoughts again and again. There was obviously something wrong with him, but what? Nothing made sense. Nothing sounded reasonable.

Not knowing what else to do and knowing that he had been injured, she started feeling him, searching for injuries or answers. She found one small hole in his pants on the back of his thigh, but when she tore it open there was no wound. His skin was bloody, scarred, but whole. Her touch seemed to provoke him somehow, making him call her name out over and over as he tried to turn towards her.

She pulled on his vest so that she could slide her hands underneath. As far up as she could reach she found nothing. His back was rough with scars in places, but otherwise unharmed.

Jack sat back with a frown. That wasn't right. She knew he'd been shot at least, what, twice? He'd grunted the once that she remembered, and then had fallen the last time. Moving up, she searched his chest and upper back, sliding her hand inside his vest and beneath him.

As she bent over him his head literally tried to bend back around to reach her. His lips were pulled back in that bloody grin, his teeth gnashing. She tried to ignore it. She tried to ignore his continuously chanting her name over and over, sounding more demonic with each repeat. But it was impossible and she found that she couldn't stop the tears from running unchecked down her face.

Finally she sat back on her feet and stared at him, face crumpling as she nearly sobbed in fear and frustration. He had no wounds. There was nothing. She'd searched every inch of him and his skin was as smooth and whole as usual. But how could that be? She'd seen him go down! She knew he'd been shot. Of course he'd healed quickly in the past, in just a few short days, but this had only been a half an hour or so. No one could heal that fast!

Looking over her shoulder, she checked to make sure the baby hadn't moved. He had. He was standing between the two cockpit seats watching her.

"Stay there, baby. It's okay. Mama's right here."

Jack looked back at Riddick, not knowing what to do, hating the indecision.

Suddenly she frowned and leaned forward. He'd stopped singing her name in that horrible way and she was extremely thankful for that. He still didn't seem to be struggling against the ties, lying there almost contentedly. But something was wrong. The subtle difference hadn't caught her attention before because she'd never thought to fucking look for it. But as she leaned forward, watching him closely, it was horribly obvious.

He wasn't breathing.

His chest wasn't rising and falling, his mouth wasn't sucking in air. He just wasn't fucking breathing!

As if on cue he started to croon her name. "Jaaaaaacccckk."

Jack jerked back, staring at him in horror. "Oh, my God," she whispered, scrambling back away from him. "What the fuck?" she yelled at no one.

She wiped at her eyes, shaking her head. She had to be wrong! She focused on him again, staring intently at his back, which should have been nearly heaving in his odd position. Nothing. His whole body was moving a bit as he tried to get up, but he was definitely NOT breathing.

"That can't be fuckin' right," she whispered. On her hands and knees she crawled toward him, not wanting to touch him, but needing to know for certain.

His vest and the normal black wifebeater he wore, left his neck and most of his shoulders bare. Using both hands to keep his head from turning towards her, she gripped his neck, feeling for his pulse points. Nothing. She moved her hands, trying to find that steady throb. She'd had her mouth on the damn thing before! She'd watched in the night, shadows falling just right, to where she could see the rhythm gently moving his flesh. But it wasn't there. He had no pulse.

She screamed a little as her slack hands allowed him to move, turning his head towards her apparently offensive touch. She fell back away from him pushing her feet against him, kicking at him to move further away.

Now she was in shock. She had no idea what to think or do. Her eyes remained on his squirming form, the bloody mouth opening to croon her name to her. But he was dead. She almost couldn't move, her lack of understanding cutting off all thought. He was dead! But not.