False Dawn

Chapter 6

As Riddick dropped down beside Jack's exposed and battered body he had to fight the surge of rage within him. He wanted to kill again. Torture and destroy those who had done this to her. That his hands and arms were still wet with their blood helped to soothe the beast and allowed him some control.

"Jackie? Jack, can you hear me?" His hands reached out to her tentatively, not wanting to touch her, to cause her further pain. He could see the dark swelling along the left side of her face. The guy that had done this must have been right handed because her flesh was so abused it was splitting in places. Her eye was already starting to swell shut and he could see that her lips were split and bleeding in several places, as well as a discoloration of her jaw and cheek.

Several bite marks bled on her small breasts, bruising was forming around her neck, and there were numerous shallow cuts everywhere. He didn't want to look but couldn't help seeing the blood that stained her inner thighs. Her abused body was nearly covered in her blood.

He brushed at the hair falling across her forehead, almost smiling at the thick tresses of honey brown. She had refused to cut it, cursing it for not growing faster. It seemed that once she was safe enough to allow herself to be a girl, she couldn't wait to be just that. And look where it had gotten her.

Her clothes were cut off of her and thrown about the little alcove. He pulled his own shirt off, giving her what little cover it provided. It was wet with his sweat and their blood, but it was all he had. She whimpered softly when he picked her up but otherwise didn't react.

Why had she come out? What had she been doing? He didn't know and hated himself for not being there with her. He could only think that she had been coming to find him. And why? Because he didn't want to be alone with her so much? How stupid. If he'd been with her she would have never left the house, it would have never happened. His mind refused to go near the thought of what would have happened if he'd come by any later.

As he nearly sprinted for their small house he whispered to her, telling her that he had her now, that she was going to be okay. He knew the terror she had gone through for weeks after Johns had had at her, and he didn't want her to fight him with the way she was injured. He didn't want her to cause herself further pain.

Just a block or so from their house she started to revive, moaning softly, and then jerking into consciousness. He slowed enough to look down at her and could see the tears running down her face.

"Riddick?"

"Yeah, baby, I got ya now. It's okay," he whispered, shocked at the waver in his own voice. But for the first time he didn't berate himself for going soft. He just accepted it.

"God, Riddick, I'm so sorry," she whispered and commenced to burst into tears.

He just held her as tightly as he dared and rushed the last half-block to their door. Once having nearly kicked down the door and then kicking it shut even harder, he quickly moved to the bathroom.

Thankfully the lights were all out so that he didn't have to stop and put on his goggles. He gently set her on the stool in the bathroom and then turned to fill the tub.

"I'm sorry, Riddick. I can't believe I was so stupid to leave the house." She was sobbing softly, her words nearly incoherent.

He kneeled before her, seeing her perfectly in the near dark. Warily he pulled her into his arms, expecting her to fight him, but she just collapsed against him, her face wetting the skin of his collarbone with blood and tears.

"Jackie, you didn't do anything wrong, baby. It wasn't your fault." The rush of water practically drowned out his low words. He gently held her, his large hands nearly spanning her slender back.

She just cried in his arms for several long minutes, her hands holding onto his sides, her stained tears tracking down his skin. He could see the tub was almost full, and he hated to have to move her.

"Jackie, let's get you in the bath. Everything's okay." He didn't know what he was saying. He couldn't imagine things being okay for her after this, but he didn't know what else to say.

"Let me turn on the light, baby. You need—." He'd started to stand as he spoke but she grabbed his arm in a surprisingly strong grip.

"No!! No, Riddick, don't turn on the light." She clung to his arm, tears still running down her face. She was looking up at him, though he knew she couldn't see him.

"Jack, you need to—"

"No, Riddick. You can see. Just help me. I don't want to see what they did to me. It hurts too bad, I don't want to see it too." She was sobbing again, and he wondered how bad they really had torn her up. A flash of guilt shot through him, making his stomach knot strangely. If only he'd been there for her.

"Jack, maybe we should take you to a doctor," he whispered, hating the fear in his own voice.

"No, please." She stopped and took a deep breath, her fingers still digging into his arm. "No. I don't want to go through that. Just help me."

Her pleas made him frown down at her. Go through what? What was she talking about? "Let me at least turn the lights on. I don't want you to get scared."

She shocked him by actually smiling up at him. It was a small sort of secretive smile. "I'm not afraid of the dark, Riddick. You're here."

It took him a minute to digest her meaning. For most people that was the very reason TO fear the dark, because he was in it. That she was telling him that it comforted her to know he was there went against what he'd learned to trust. But he quickly stepped forward to help her when she tried to stand and then virtually lifted her into the tub.

She gasped and cried out as the hot water closed over her. Then she was crying softly again. "Oh, God, Riddick, I'm so sorry."

He knelt beside the tub, as wet as she was from the water overflowing the side. "Jack, shut up. This wasn't your fault." He used a washcloth to dab gently at her face, avoiding the cuts in the swelling skin.

"You told me to never leave without you, but I did anyway. I'm so stupid. I didn't even have a shiv. God, how stupid."

He let her vent for several minutes. He could hear the difference in her words; the hopeless sobbing was gone, though it was all rather slurred from the swelling around her mouth. She was starting to get angry, and he let her. Getting mad seemed like a damn good idea. This blaming herself for being attacked was ridiculous, when she should just get good and mad so she could deal with it.

"You're not stupid, Jack," he finally said after her words had trailed off a bit. "You managed to draw blood on every one of them. There were four, Jack. That's damn incredible."

She just sat silently, hugging her knees to her chest. After a minute she looked up in his direction, her left eye almost completely swelled shut now. "How did you find me?"

"I was coming home when I saw the guy at the end of the alley. It didn't take much to figure out what was going on."

"Are they dead?" she whispered.

He didn't know if the truth would help her at this point. But even considering lying made the decision for him. After all, she knew what he was. "Yeah, Jack."

She smiled a bit and then leaned her head against his chest. "Thank you."

Riddick almost had to laugh at himself for how nervous he felt to lift his hands and just hold her. He'd wanted to hold her for so long, he hated that something bad had to happen for him to get what he wanted.

They sat for several long minutes in silence. The humid warm air in the room helping Jack, and him, to relax. She sighed softly and leaned into him more.

"Jack, we need to get you cleaned up. That cut above your eye looks pretty bad," he whispered, worried that she might be going to sleep on him. Should he be worried about a concussion?

When he started to rise she grabbed his arm again, bringing him inelegantly back down. "Jack!"

"Please, Riddick, no light. I don't want to see it."

He tried to keep his deadpan in place, though she was confusing the shit outta him. It came to him that she couldn't see him anyway, and he let his brow crinkle in concern. "Honey, we have to get you clean."

"You do it," she whispered. "Please, Riddick. I'm sorry, but I don't want to see it. I hurt so bad, I know there's a lot of blood." She looked like she might start crying again, though the tears hadn't started again, yet.

Riddick took a moment, his jaw clamped hard as he cursed his body. How could he react to this girl when she was in this state? He hated not wanting to touch her just to save himself discomfort. Dicky, you're going soft.

Luckily most of her was beneath the water. He started to gently wash her, using the washcloth to wipe at the blood drying on her skin. There was a bloody bite mark on her collarbone and she hissed in pain as he wiped at it.

"I'm sorry."

He saw her shoulders square, so her jaw tighten. "Just do it."

He had to admire her. Not wanting to see the blood-tainted water was minor compared to what she had just gone through.

"Stand," he ordered. He quickly removed his boots, but left his pants on before climbing into the water with her. The shower spraying her made her gasp and he quickly moved so that his body blocked her. He let the water they were standing in start to drain, and then turned them so that he could wash her hair.

He'd been fantasizing about taking a shower with her for months, but he had hoped they would both be undressed.

As he was finishing she stumbled towards him slightly and her hand came down on his side. He couldn't believe it when he actually heard her chuckle.

"Pants in the shower, Riddick?"

He smiled at her, more because she had laughed, rather than her making fun of him. "They needed to be cleaned."

She sobered immediately, obviously assuming the worst, which was true actually. He had been covered in blood and needed to rinse it off.

He carefully lifted her out, always conscious of where his hands were touching. Wrapping her in two big towels, he lifted her and carried her to her room, dripping the whole way.

"Lights low," he said as he settled her into the bed.

"No," she whispered, not opening the one eye that she could still open.

He just shook his head, still amazed that she'd prefer to be in the dark. "Lights off." He pulled the blankets up over her, towels and all, and then stepped back. "I'll be right back. I have to get something for that cut."

As he headed for the door her whispered words, rough from her crying and slurred from her swollen face, brought him to a stop so he could hear her. "You should change too, Riddick. You're making a mess."

He couldn't help laughing at her. When he turned back to look at her he saw that she was just lying there with a small abused smile.

Damn girl just didn't quit, he thought as he left her.

Grabbing a towel from the bathroom to towel off a bit he had to roll his eyes at the mess they had made. "Lights low," he whispered and saw that the water that was nearly standing on the floor was tinted a bit red. He quickly used his towel and several others to wipe up the mess. Jack did not need to see that.

In his room he peeled off his wet pants with a bit of difficulty, and then dressed in clean shorts and a sleeveless shirt. He had loved having her touch his bare skin, but for his own sanity he needed a protective layer of clothing on.

He actually checked over his shoulder as he reached into his closet for his first aid kit. He'd been a lot of places and seen and done a lot of things, and he hated to not be prepared. It had taken a bit of shopping around to get all the things he felt he needed to cover his ass when he would need it. When he'd been filling the box he'd unfortunately thought of every possible hazard for both him and Jack.

He sat the box on the bed and opened it. Mostly Jack would just need some steri-strips and a bit of antibiotic, but there was one other thing weighing on his mind.

The inside of the box lid had a pouch with all the how-to manuals and a few other things. A catch at the edge showed it was false and he pulled it open to reveal a very nice array of drugs. Most were painkillers, and some were just straight knockout. There were several syringes pre-filled with different medicines as well. But what he wanted was the one thing he hadn't wanted to buy. It had nearly turned his stomach to ask the supplier for it, hating that he might ever need it.

The small bottle dumped into his hand showed four tiny pills. He put two back and then got her some mild painkillers to help her sleep. After setting out the other things he would need, he carefully put the box back into the top of the closet.

Jack looked to be asleep when he entered her room with the things he had gathered and a glass of water. Even with total darkness and him being careful to not make a sound she turned her head in his direction with a soft groan.

"Okay?" he whispered as he set everything down.

"Everything's starting to hurt." Her voice was barely a whisper of sound.

"Did they hit you in the head?" he asked softly, not wanting to upset her, but needing to know if he should be watching for a concussion.

She frowned as if remembering, "Knocked me against the wall once, but I never blacked out from it. Mostly just my face."

He nodded and sat beside her. With a practiced ease he applied the steri-strips to the cut above her eye and then gave it a coating of antibiotic. He hadn't seen any others that needed stitching. The man with the knife had obviously been an expert, for all the cuts were shallow, intended to only cause plain and blood flow. If any of them were still bleeding in the morning he'd cover them, but right now she just needed to rest.

"Do you want some ice for your eye?"

She looked up at him with her one good eye. "No, I just want to forget."

He nodded and reached for the glass and the small pile of pills. "Here."

She slowly eased up to sitting to take the pills. He was thankful she used her other hand to keep the blanket in place. "What is this?"

He didn't answer, not wanting to tell her. Not wanting her to know he had such things in the house.

"Riddick?"

"Just take it, Jack," he told her softly.

He could see her frown, what little bit she could. "What is it?"

He held the glass of water out so that it brushed her fingers and she'd be able to take it. "Just take them, Jack. Trust me."