In Consequence

SEVEN


Jack curled up in a tight ball on her joke of a bed. Her leash was clenched in one hand so tightly that if the lights were on, she just knew that her knuckles would have been white. Riddick wanted her to give herself to him, did he?

She cried quietly, knowing that she had finally lost. She couldn’t stand up to him any longer.

It could have been much, much worse, and she knew it. He promised not to rape her, at least, not right away. He swore that he wouldn’t harm her at all, in fact. Just because he liked to inflict psychological torture didn’t mean anything. She’d be fine.

She felt the contours of the leash in her hand. It was smoothly metallic, with near-seamless links to the chain itself. The clasp was small, yet surprisingly sturdy. The whole contraption gave an aura of fine, dainty strength. The metal was cold, making Jack shiver as she ran her hands up and down its length.

Fumbling for the small loop on her collar, she winced as she locked the leash in place. This was it. She was giving herself to him now. She could no longer say that she was held against her will, at least, not completely. By locking herself to this leash, Jack acknowledged that this was a two-way street. This fucked-up relationship of theirs was taking a new turn, starting today. If she had to give a little bit, she could do it. It wasn’t like he was leaving her much choice, after all.

The weight of the leash dragged uncomfortably on her collar, and so she held the end up and away from her body. Sitting cross-legged for she didn’t know how long, her fear slowly faded as it was replaced with a new kind of emotion, strange to her—resigned acceptance.

Riddick’s voice made her tense up as he chuckled from the direction of the doorway. “Even holding the leash out for me, hmm?”

Jack could feel herself flush under his invisible gaze. She began to lower her arm, but Riddick said, “No, leave it. I like the way it looks.”

Uncertainly, Jack did as she was told. She didn’t know what to expect now. She heard Riddick walking toward her, and knew that he was being intentionally noisy for her benefit. If he could spend a whole week being utterly silent around her to the point where she had no clue where he was, then this loudness, surely, was deliberate.

Riddick placed a coarse palm against her cheek and lifted her face. She glanced around rapidly in the darkness, looking for some kind of shadow to signify where he was. There was nothing.

“What do you want now, Riddick?” she asked. “You have me. I’m right here.”

Riddick growled as his face was suddenly buried in her hair. She couldn’t do a thing about the goose bumps that broke out over her entire body, but she turned her head away even so. It was fruitless, but this sudden intimacy left her feeling confused and puzzled.

Riddick placed a restraining hand on her shoulder before gently shoving her down onto her back. “Relax, Jackie,” he murmured, moving his head up and down her torso, inhaling her scent.

Jack’s cynical smile slid into place. “How am I supposed to do that?” she asked, mostly to herself.

Riddick replied softly, “By trusting that I’m not going to hurt you.”

~*~

As they approached Juanil station, Riddick debated on whether or not to restrain her, or just let her have the run of the ship. It wasn’t like there was much damage she could do.

Instinct won out over reason. Two days before they were set to dock, he surprised her by tossing some shackles at her feet. “Put these on,” he ordered.

“What? No way,” she responded, looking at them with an interesting mix of disdain and fear.

“Yes way. Now. I want to make sure they fit.”

“Why do they need to fit?” Yes, fear was definitely winning out over disdain.

“Because you’ll be wearing them. Now put them on.” His voice was a steely monotone, just as he intended. Whenever he spoke that way to her, she seemed to really take to heart what he was saying.

“Like hell I will,” she said, before clapping a hand over her mouth with widened eyes.

Riddick chuckled. “Want to try that one again?”

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

Riddick sat down next to her and said, “The problem is that you thought it at all. Who’s in charge here, girl?”

Looking slightly ashamed, she said with a bowed head, “You are.”

Lifting her face to his with a finger under her chin, he said, “That’s right. I am. And what are you?”

Her face twisted with a grimace. “Your….”

“Come on, you can say it. Just admit it,” he coaxed. “What are you?”

She sighed. Through gritted teeth she said, “Your… slave.”

Inside, he fairly crowed in triumph. “That’s right. My slave. Now, are you a good slave or a bad slave?”

“Depends on the circumstances,” she muttered.

Getting close to her, so close that he could feel her hot breath on his face, he growled, “And in this situation…?” As he spoke, he took the shackles in hand and slipped his arms around her waist. Keeping his eyes trained on hers, he grabbed a wrist and quickly, so quickly that she didn’t even have time to react, snapped one restraint on.

“Hey!” she yelped.

“Shut up,” he said nonchalantly, picking her up with ease and turning her around so that he could see what he was doing. After her other wrist was set in place, he lifted her arms up from the small of her back. He ignored her gasp of pain as he stretched her arms up and away from her body in an unnatural position. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew just how far to push her body without damaging it.

She struggled, but she wasn’t in any danger. The fact that she didn’t know it was actually rather amusing to him. He enjoyed her little curses in a detached way. The majority of his attention was focused on her shackles around her wrists.

They were a bit too big. He was afraid they might be, but it was better than the alternative. It was a simple enough matter to shorten the circumference by half-an-inch, but to widen it was another issue entirely. It weakened the structure of the shackle itself, and that was never a good thing as far as he was concerned.

He removed them quickly enough, and Jack threw herself away from him, shaking. Riddick reached a hand to her and stroked her hair and face. She kept her jaw clenched and her eyes shut tight.

“Hey, relax,” he murmured. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Eyes still closed, she shook her head mechanically.

“Well, then. Relax, all right?”

~*~

He didn’t leave the lights off, as much as he’d have liked to. No point in terrifying her. He’d already won.

She glared at him with baleful eyes as he finished securing her to the wall. She wasn’t gagged, but she knew that if she made too much fuss, she would be.

“It’s not so bad,” he told her, stepping back and admiring his handiwork. Her arms were pinned behind her, not uncomfortably, but enough to limit her range of motion. The shackles, as he’d predicted, were easy enough to make smaller, and each one now encircled a thin wrist. Each wrist was held together by a length of chain that ran from the shackles to the wall. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Shutting the door behind him, he could hear her start to swear. He smiled to himself as he exited the ship.

~*~

She was allowed to put some clothes on for the trip to the station. When he returned and unshackled her, she’d been almost pathetically grateful to him. Wonder of wonders, he’d bought her clothes.

“What’re these for?” she asked, alternately pawing through the bag and rubbing each wrist and strained shoulder. She nearly dropped in shock when he took her wrist and rubbed it gently, working the circulation back into top performance.

At her look, he explained, “Said I wouldn’t hurt you. Most mercs I run into aren’t exactly the gentle type. Never learned how to tie someone up without hurting ‘em.”

Jack was incredulous. It must have shown on her face, because Riddick laughed with light mockery. “I’m not as bad as all that. Just needed to make sure you didn’t go anywhere while I handled some business. Now, come on, get dressed.”

To her surprise, Riddick didn’t even keep the leash on her. “Too conspicuous,” he’d grunted.

She saw his point. Slaves weren’t exactly common anymore, and a man as distinctive as Riddick walking around with one would be the same as pointing a giant blinking arrow straight at him and saying, “Hey, you mercs! He’s right here! Come and get ‘em!”

The thought of making a scene crossed her mind. Technically she did belong to him, but he was a wanted man. What would happen to her if he were picked up? Somehow she doubted that she’d be set free.

On the whole, staying with Riddick was a much better alternative than working in a mine or a brothel for the rest of her life.

~*~

Riddick knew he was taking a big, even foolish, risk. Taking Jackie out in public, especially with no restraints, was practically begging for disaster. But she needed this implant. There was no choice.

“So why, exactly, are we docking?” Jack asked as Riddick began the pre-docking procedure.

He didn’t answer. It wouldn’t have taken much to explain, but he didn’t want to go through the headache of calming her down. He’d wait until they were at the clinic. He knew her. She’d keep quiet there. She’d be too ashamed to draw any more attention to herself.

Once they had docked, Riddick took her by the elbow. He tried not to squeeze too hard, but he was uncharacteristically nervous. She was his, and his only. Taking her out in public like this… he could lose her. It made him want to… he didn’t know. Sequester her in his ship and never let her out of sight.

Well, that’s about what’s gonna happen, once we get this implant in.

She didn’t argue as he steered her down the boarding ramp. He looked around, checking the entire area and assessing the situation in a few brief seconds. Nobody who looked like a merc. A few rent-a-cops, but they weren’t even worth sparing a second thought.

Jack, herself, was the deciding factor. Would she run? Would she make a scene? He had false IDs for both of them and forged papers claiming Jack as his property, just in case, but still….

She seemed pretty calm, and he loosened his hold on her elbow. He could hear her gears turning, but there was no indication in her body language of any intention to make a fast move. He allowed himself to relax a fraction more.

The clinic wasn’t that far from the docking bay. He’d already contacted the office and made an appointment for his ‘sister.’ Walking through the open door, he was gratified to see that it was clean and cheerful. The artificial lighting was bright, and though it hurt his eyes, he knew that it would help Jack feel more at ease. He didn’t want her afraid of anything but him. Anything out of his control to cause her fear or pain would be short-lived, to say the least.

“We’ve got an appointment here for you,” he murmured to her in an undertone, trying not to let the five or so people in the waiting room hear.

“Why?” she asked aloud, sounding surprised.

“Keep your voice down. Now listen, I don’t want you to say a fucking word while we’re in here, you hear me? Don’t draw any attention to yourself. You’re my sister Janine. Remember that.”

Jack nodded. Satisfied, he led her over to the front counter and signed them in.

“It will be about twenty minutes,” the bored, vacant-looking receptionist said in a rehearsed monotone.

Still holding onto her elbow, Riddick guided Jack to some chairs and sat down.

“Riddick—” Jack began, but he cut her off.

“Shut up. Remember what I told you. Mouth stays shut.”

“But—”

Riddick dug his fingers into her arm. She squeaked and was silent. He growled, “My name is Richard Grey. Your name is Janine and you’re my little sister. That’s all you need to know. This is your last opportunity to obey me. What happens when we get back to the ship is entirely up to you.”

The silence that ensued lasted about five minutes. In a small, frightened whisper, she said, “But Rid— er, Richard, what are they going to do to me?”

Riddick didn’t answer. At least she remembered his ‘name.’ She’d gone and done it now. She was not going to like what happened when they got back onboard.