He Didn't Come

Jack heard a heavy pounding on the entrance ramp. “Anthony—" she was about to tell him to get out of the bridge, but suddenly she heard Riddick’s voice. “Jack, it’s me. Let me in.”

As she turned the dial, she heard the mechanical clicking noises that indicated a lock being released. The sound was replaced with smooth hydraulics as the ramp was lowered. As the interior of the station came into view, it was blocked as Riddick leapt onto the smooth metal even before it touched the ground. She hardly waited for him to step onto the ship proper before she threw herself at him.

Riddick caught her easily in his arms. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m okay,” he assured her, stroking her hair.

“I was so scared, Riddick….”

“I know. I know, baby.”

There was that word again! Baby? Since when was Riddick emotional? Jack shook her head and rubbed the sleeve of her shirt across her face. The material scratched at her skin, and she latched onto the discomfort to get a handle on herself.

“We’ve got to talk,” Riddick murmured to her.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Riddick didn’t answer her, and she frowned. This wasn’t doing much to calm her fear. He walked into the hallway just outside the bridge, taking her hand and saying, “Okay, Jack. Come here. Anthony, watch Nat for me some more?”

Jack followed Riddick out of the bridge and into a main thoroughfare of the ship. He drew her close to him and said, “The Alliance troops have been here. Jack… everyone on the station is dead.”

The news was like someone pummeling a leaden fist into her gut. Everyone… but there were so many people! “That’s impossible,” she blustered. “The station was fully populated, right? How could some troops wipe out everyone?”

Riddick shrugged. “You’ve never seen what they can do, have you?”

Jack shook her head. She didn’t know what to think. “But there’s got to be somebody…” she insisted, heading for the bridge.

Riddick caught her hand and pulled her back to him. “No, Jack. Trust me. They’re all dead. You don’t want to go out there.”

She frowned. “I’m a big girl, Riddick. I can see for myself if I want.”

He shook his head slowly, and Jack studied him. How could this happen? The pirates had to be there. She had to get Anthony and Nat home. She had to wait for Libbie. Riddick had never lied to her, but….

“You’re serious,” she whispered. “You’re dead serious, aren’t you?”

Riddick nodded once.

“But… we can wait here until Libbie comes back, right?”

Riddick sighed, and Jack almost wished she hadn’t spoken. It would just mean more bad news that she didn’t want to hear.

“Jack… do you think, if the Alliance can to this, that those troops they sent to New Germany would let any rebel live?”

“But maybe she did make it. You don’t know for sure, Riddick.” Jack shook her head and stepped away from him. Leaning against the cool wall, she crossed her arms in front of her, holding herself tight. “Riddick, I don’t want to lose her again,” she whimpered.

Riddick said, “I know, Jack. But it is what it is. You can’t change the likelihood of that being the outcome.”

Jack cast about wildly in her head, looking for a way to fight the reality that loomed in her face. “Maybe we should go to New Germany and look for her! We could do that, couldn’t we, Riddick?”

“I thought you didn’t ever want to go back to New Germany for any reason.” Riddick’s customary smart-assed attitude was back, all right, and it did nothing but piss her off.

“This is different, and you know it.” Jack shook her head. “Libbie can’t be dead.”

“Jack—“ Riddick sighed again. Jack turned her face away. She didn’t want to accept this. “Jack, it’s not safe. I’m still a fugitive, remember? The troops will still probably be there. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if they came back to the station for some reason or another. I can’t take that risk. Do you want to take that risk, Jack? I’m not asking if you want to risk losing me, even though it’s what is most likely to happen. I’m not that arrogant. I’m just saying that there are consequences for this kind of thing. You’re connected with me. If we’re caught, you’d get sent to slam, too. I guarantee it. ”

Jack couldn’t even begin to wrap her brain around that one. Too much. Too much shit. I can’t take this, Jack thought desperately. I can’t.

All of her rage and fear finally found a voice, and it burst out of her in a raging denial. “Libbie’s not dead!” she screamed at him, taking herself by surprise. Her whole world felt like it was crumbling again, and it was all rushing out through the tears that were cascading down like a deluge of pain from her eyes. “She’s not! She can’t be!”

She hardly felt it when Riddick pulled her to him. She rested her head against his chest mindlessly. A sweet sensation of emptiness was beginning to lurk in her mind. A detachment… so much like when she was a girl….

She pulled away from Riddick again and shook her head rigidly, as though she lost half of her range of motion in her neck. The gesture was tense and muted, like a robot. “No, no, no, no. Not again,” she moaned. Riddick reached for her, but she turned away. She put her forehead against the wall and tried to settle herself. She had to calm down.

Riddick came up behind her and rubbed her back gently. “It’ll be okay, Jack. It’ll work out. I promise.”

“How do you know?” Jack said, turning her head to peer out at him through her bangs. “I don’t know anything. What am I going to tell the boys?”

“Tell them that we’ll take care of them,” Riddick answered with a firm note to his voice.

Jack hadn’t even considered that possibility. “Keep them? But… what would we do with them?”

Riddick shrugged. “Take care of them. Feed them. Put them to bed at night. All that parental shit.”

Jack blinked. This was a side of Riddick that she had never suspected existed. “You’re saying you actually want to keep the boys? You’re willing to do all that?”

Riddick nodded. “I don’t see where we have much choice. After what happened to you, I definitely don’t want them in foster care. Somehow, I’m guessing you don’t want that for them, either.”

Jack slumped to the floor, ignoring his sarcasm. “Riddick, why can’t my life just be normal?” she moaned. “Why does this shit happen to me? I just got her back.”

“I don’t know,” Riddick answered. His voice held simple acceptance, while Jack was still trying to fight what she already knew.

“Aunt Jackie?”

“Fuck,” Jack muttered under her breath. “Yes, Anthony?” she answered, forcing a small smile as she turned her head to face her nephew.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Anthony walked closer to her on his short, chubby little legs. He looked solemnly at her face. “You were crying,” he observed.

Jack held an arm out to him, and he happily settled down in her lap. “My momma holds me in her lap. Where is she? I miss her.”

Jack’s throat closed up again, and her flood of tears was renewed. She couldn’t speak. All she could do was hold the child close to her with her good arm and try not to cry.
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Riddick wiped his brow with a tired hand. He had been spending the past week trying to get his ship put back together. The hull was intact, but all of the innards that he had spent so much for had been ripped form the interior and packaged for sale on the black market. The pirates were still pirates, even with Brand, he thought bitterly. They just had a purpose with him.

He didn’t know for sure how the sleeping arrangements would work out once he got his ship up and running again. He was hoping, ultimately, that the two boys would share Jack’s old room and she would move in with him. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about the two of them, however. Trying to install a synthesizer equipped to fabricate a baby’s needs out of recycled scraps of food and other materials was no picnic. The rest of the ship hadn’t presented much of a problem, but trying to wire the synthesizer just right was proving to be a bitch.

Jack called his name. He looked up from his work and walked smoothly over to the stairwell to look up. He could see Jack standing there, with Nat in a carry-sling on her back. He gurgled at Riddick, who ignored him as he walked up the stairs to meet Jack. He winced at the light, which was blinding in contrast to the darkness of the mechanics deck. He slipped on his goggles before accepting the glass of water Jack offered.

“Almost done?” she asked.

“I sure as hell hope so. I’m ready to get the fuck out of here,” Riddick answered.

“Me, too,” Jack answered. She still hadn’t left the ship. Riddick knew that she was getting cabin fever. His ship was much smaller, but at least then they would be going somewhere. Jack still had a bit of wanderlust in her, after all. Having her mommy-drive kicked into full gear hadn’t totally warped her personality, thank God.

“Riddick… we need to talk soon,” Jack said. There was a certain tone in her voice that didn’t concern him, exactly. It was just… off-kilter for her.

She looked at him with those eyes, and… fuck, but he wanted her. She spoke to him with those lips, and he wanted her. He needed her. He had her mind, her company—but what about her body? Her heart? She was his friend, his companion. He knew that for a fact. But his lust for her was growing. She was so sexy, the way she moved. Even carrying a baby all day, playing with Anthony, and doing a hundred other ‘Mommy’ things, she was the epitome of sensual desire for him.

“Sure, Jack. What’s wrong?” Riddick answered calmly. He quelled his inner turmoil easily, just enough as to where she couldn’t hear it in his voice. Inside, he was screaming.

“Nothing,” she said. He could tell she was lying. She smoothed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, a gesture that seemed unnatural for her. Her eyes flicked away from him, down toward the floor. Yep, she was lying.
“How about tonight, when the boys are asleep?” he offered. “We won’t be interrupted then.”

Jack nodded pensively. “Yeah… okay,” she said, and turned back to the rest of the ship.

Riddick reached out to catch her arm. “Hey. You okay?”

She nodded again, and offered a wan smile. “Tired. These kids take a lot of work. You sure you’re up for this?”

Riddick nodded. “Yeah. You’ll be doing all the mommy shit, anyway.”

Jack smacked him. “Don’t even think about it. We’re in this together, right? So you’ll be doing your fair share, believe me. The only reason you get a reprieve right now is because you’ve been working on the ship. When do you think you’ll have it ready?”

Riddick chuckled at her indignation. “I was just teasing. And as for the ship, tomorrow. Maybe the next day, but I doubt it. Most things are pretty easy to install. Just time-consuming. The real issue is that synthesizer.”
Jack smiled, and touched his hand. “Good.” Without another word, she walked off.

Riddick’s eyes slid down her waist to her rounded ass. Damn. She was fucking delectable. He shook his head. Get it together, man!

Gulping down the last of the water, he turned back down the stairs.