Ghost

Tomoe - *Grins* Hope it's worth the wait. ;)

7. Riddick.

After that first confrontation with Kain, I sent Vaako back to the surface to watch for incoming flights. I stayed within the prison, and hated every single moment of it. It had been bad enough the first time around, but now, waiting for Jack to wake up, it was pure torture. Not knowing what had happened... not wanting to ask. All I could do was speculate, and I hated where my mind took me. Rape. Torture. Fuck that - heads were gonna fuckin' roll.

I spent that time watching Kain - the boy with the mouth, the attitude, and an animal side that looked as dark as my own. Seems that Jack had found herself a pit-bull whose bite would rival his bark; it was the only reason he wasn't in pieces. He barely slept - instead, he spent his time watching over Jack. I watched him as he forced water down her throat, and rubbed wet fingers over her lips as she healed from the inside out once more.

Kain steadily grew paler as the hours went by; I could smell his fear - smell it curling around him like a living entity. His temper knew no bounds, and I smiled despite myself when he threw a shiv at an inmate who kept walking past the cell. The shiv ended up embedded in the inmate's groin, and he bled out within minutes. My type of kill. Come my second night in here, Kain crashed and burned at Jack's side. And as he slept, Jack woke up.

I was sitting on the outcrop of rock above her cell when I heard her murmuring to the huge man she called Dog. Smoke and whiskey - husky - not the voice of a child. They continued to talk down at the basin. I watched them in silence; listened to them talk as Dog washed Jack’s hair. Watched as he washed her back - and I was faced with the realization that Jack had indeed, grown up.

It’s not only her body that had changed - she’d changed. The way she described what happened to her… she was cool, calm and collected as she spoke. It was almost like she was describing it happening to someone else. I saw the rage that Dog felt, and knew it well. Saw the bruises and cuts that littered her slim lines. Slim lines - they had strength though - I could see that too.

As I watched them, Dog looked up. I knew the exact moment he saw me in the shadows - saw my eyes flash. He asked Jack who Rick was, all the while staring at me. And I heard first hand how Jack thought of me now. A ghost… a memory. Maybe a dream. She wondered if she’d meant something to me… once.

I stared at her as she stepped out of the water and started to get dressed. Jack headed for another cell, and Dog watched her pick her way slowly up the walkway that ran both sides of the prison. When she disappeared, he turned around. His face was impassive as he stared at me within the shadows.

“She’s like a daughter to me…” he said slowly, and I raised an eyebrow as he took a step towards me so that his voice wouldn’t carry.

“I’m not gonna ask you about your past with her,” he said quietly, and I eyed him coldly.

“Good… 'cause that’s between me and Jack. Put her mutt on a leash… or I will,” I said, and Dog grinned.

“Animal to animal, huh?’ he asked, and then chuckled.

“Knowing that you’re Rick… you and Kain are gonna clash time and time again. You’re part of her past; he’s been her past and her future for a long time. He’d die for her… that should mean somethin’… even to you."

Dog glanced at the cell Jack had entered, and then blew out a harsh breath.

“Be careful, Riddick… 'cause it ain’t the size of the dog in the fight you gotta worry about… it’s the size of the fight in the dog… and she’s got a lot of fight left in her.”

“I ain’t spending another night in this shithole,” I growled, and he raised an eyebrow slightly.

"She might make you rethink that. Time will tell," he murmured as he headed back to the hole in the wall he shared with Jack.

I saw Jack moving again. Saw her sudden flash of temper, before she turned around and headed further up into the prison. Her steps were slow and sure as she walked; I follow her as she entered a new cell, and I had to stop for a moment. Stop and stand within the shadows as I stared at the cell. This was Kyra’s cell… I know it is. I’d killed a guard in here for her… and she’d fucked me over in return.

Jack was kneeling by a bundle of clothes, and she swore as she dragged a length of chain out. I recognized it not only from personal experience, but from the memory of watching Jack use it to protect Kyra. It’s the knowledge of those memories, knowing that she thought of me as a ghost, and Dog's warning ringing in my ears, that made me pause rather than announce myself.

I wasn’t sure what to say, and when she stood up and dusted her hands off, I moved in behind her silently. Jack turned towards Kyra’s bed, and I stepped up behind her, grabbed her around the waist, and pushed her against the wall. I remembered the blades in her shoes, and kicked her feet apart and stood with my own feet between hers, so she couldn’t lash out at me.

Slipping my hand under her chin, I forced her head back as carefully as I could, until it rested on my shoulder. She was only slightly taller than I remembered, but the body squirming against mine had curves that were new. All grown up and packaged like a lethal weapon - it was that momentary lapse in concentration that had me relaxing slightly, and she took complete advantage of it.

She braced both hands against the wall and shoved backwards against me, and I reflexively tightened my hand on her throat in warning. She stilled under that move, and I deliberately relaxed my hand - I didn’t want to scare her. I could smell her fear, but under that fear, I could smell her anger. It was a heady combination, and I licked the corner of my mouth as she panted almost silently in front of me.

I wasn't sure why I had done this - why I hadn't just said her name. Even as I went to speak, her anger spiked, and I smelled that too. It was then that her elbow flew back and hit me in the jaw. I grunted as I grabbed her arm as it swung back towards me again. I shoved that arm against the wall, and dragged her other hand up to meet it as I leaned my weight against her body to keep her still.

Jack really fought against me then - squirming and bucking against me. I gripped her wrists in my hand tightly and the animal in me purred happily as her ass pressed back against me. All new curves... Jack... I shook my head slightly, and instantly relaxed my grip on her wrists when she cried out in pain. Shit... don't want to scare her... can't hurt her.

“Stay…still… I’m not gonna hurt ya… Jack…” I murmured, and she slowly stopped fighting against me.

She shuddered as I slowly let her hands go and rested my hand against her neck again. Her hands remained braced against the wall in front of her as I carefully tilted her chin back up. Her head came to rest against the hollow of my shoulder. I moved my thumb along her jaw slightly but stopped when she flinched and just looked down at her as my other hand rose to settle against her hip.

I could see the bruises clearly on her face - the way they stood out as a dark purple against the pink of her skin. I wasn’t wearing my goggles - they hung around my neck as I stared at Jack with the only eyes I had - eyes that always showed me the truth. I dropped my hand from her jaw to the hollow of her throat and felt her swallow against my palm. She started to lift her head from my shoulder, and I pressed my hand against her neck; her head fell back against my shoulder again.

Closing my eyes, I leaned forward and breathed in deeply; her scent flooded my nose - that unique scent… all Jack… all grown up. But under the scent of spice and warmth, was a scent I didn't recognize. Tangy. Salty. Male. It not only lingered on her skin - it went deeper than that. Kain. His blood had mixed with hers. Sunk into her skin... marked her.

I tilted her head back towards me again, and I could see her blinking in the darkness. Wide eyed innocence.... She’d always liked my eyes; it was what had bought us together, and I finally knew what to say. My mouth touched her ear when I spoke, and I felt the shiver that ran down her spine.

“Where can I get eyes like that?”

Jack closed her eyes, and a small frown crossed her face as she swallowed.

“Did you kill a few people, Jack?” I asked when she remained silent, and she nodded slowly.

“Got yourself sent to slam?” I asked, and she nodded again as I pulled back slightly and moved my face to her other ear.

“Me too… but my eyes? They don’t show what yours do, Jack… so tell me… where can I get eyes like yours?”

She swallowed again, and when she finally spoke, the pain in her voice came through loud and clear.

“You have to watch people you’re travelin’ wit’ get picked off one at a time by somethin’ in the dark.”

“Did that… did a lot of that,” I said, unwillingly using Kyra’s words, and moved back to the other side of her head.

“You have to show trust to someone - trust that they’ll keep you alive.”

“Did that too,” I murmured, and she licked her lips as I breathed in against the side of her throat again.

“You have to let that person in…” she muttered as I stared down at her.

“Did that… first time ever,” I said quietly, and felt her shake her head.

“Then you have to have that person show you why you can't let people in when they leave without sayin’ good-bye,” she hissed, and I felt my gut clench at the spike in her anger.

“How ‘bout havin' no choice in leavin’ the only person you’d ever let in. Would that count?” I asked, and she shrugged slightly.

“What else, Jack… how do I get your green eyes?” I asked quietly, and she shuddered before she spoke.

“You spend five years wonderin’ if that person’s alive… dead… if you’ll see them in this life time again. You can’t talk ‘bout ‘em - that’s a big no no - so they exist in your dreams; in your nightmares. And when the darkness rises up to choke you, you wish that you’d died on that planet all those years ago. Death would be better than the reality of what you are facin'. That’s how you get eyes like mine. How do you get eyes like yours?” she spat.

I tilted her jaw within my hand, and then leaned forward so that she could see me when she turned her head. I waited silently, and when she finally looked at me, I saw the tears she was fighting swimming in those dark green eyes.

“I had mercs on my neck, Jack. The ones who have no respect for the code, and who would have hunted me no matter what. Who would have cut you up and used you as bait… I couldn’t bring you into that world,” I said quietly, and she turned her eyes away from me. I slowly lifted my hand from her throat and turned her around to face me. She looked fragile and bruised, and as she stared up at me, I reached out to touch her jaw again. My hand froze mid air when she held a hand up, and I watched as she closed her eyes for a moment.

“That’s why you left?” she asked, and I nodded as I dropped my hand.

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me that?” she asked, opening her eyes to stare up at me again.

I frowned in confusion as I thought about it, but Jack beat me to the punch.

“You thought I’d cry and beat against you and beg you to stay, didn’t you?” she murmured, and I bit my lip and finally nodded.

Jack laughed softly, but it wasn’t a happy sound.

“You arrogant son of a bitch… I knew that night. I knew before that night - and you said nothin’. I knew you had to go… but you didn’t trust me enough, to tell me why… or tell me where you were goin'… just in case.”

“I left to keep you safe from the mercs who hunted me, Jack,” I said quietly, and she shook her head.

“You tryin’ to tell me that you had my ass covered from half-way across the universe? No… you had your ass covered, Riddick - not mine.”

I jerked my head back as Jack tilted her chin up; it was a combination of things - Kyra’s words mixed with Jack’s words, and the anger behind them. Jack smirked at me, and shook her head slowly as she leaned back against the rock wall behind her, waiting for me to speak.

“Jack… I didn’t know what would happen. I thought you’d be safe,” I said, and she laughed dryly.

“Safe? What did Imam say? Did he tell you that he was ashamed of me, because I had formed a friendship with a boy who was… what did he call Kain? Ah… unsavory. That it was sinful… yeah… I was real fuckin’ safe,” she drawled.

“I came back for you,” I muttered, slightly thrown that she hadn't tried selling me a sob story like Kyra had, and Jack laughed softly.

“Why? To save me? You can’t save me, Riddick… not anymore,” she said quietly.

“Jack, I didn’t want you to end up like me.”

She laughed softly, and tilted her head as she narrowed her eyes slightly.

“You wanna know somethin’, Riddick? I didn't end up like you - I have a conscience. Even with what I've done, I can still close my eyes at night and see only me lookin' back. Who do you see? Me? Or Carolyn? Because that's why you left. You were gonna leave me to die on T2 - you only came back because of her. So why are you here now? I thought you were all about self preservation. That’s the ‘Riddick way’… isn't it?”

She was pushing my buttons - building my anger. I stared at her as she glared at me. How had she known I was going to leave her behind on T2? And how the hell had she come to the conclusion, that everything I had done had been for a dead woman, whose face, I barely remembered? Jack shook her head silently and then stepped around me. I watched as she headed for the cell door in disbelief.

“Where the hell do ya think you’re goin’?” I spat, and Jack looked over her shoulder at me and raised an eyebrow.

“You should recognize it, Riddick… it’s what you do best. I’m walkin’ away.”

“Jack!” I growled, and she laughed softly as she turned to face me.

“Don’t worry; a lesson learned well, Riddick. No such word as ‘friend.’ Because that would mean you feel human emotion after all.... and we both know that you don’t.”

Even as she turned away, I was reaching out and grabbing her arm. In the back of my mind, I could remember doing this exact same thing with Kyra as I pulled Jack back towards me. A picture of her torn back flashed behind my eyes as she collided with me, and I gripped her wrists tightly in one hand and wrapped my other arm around the middle of her back.

I physically muscled her backwards, with her trying to wrench away from me the entire time. My arm hit the side of the cage a moment later, and I pulled my arm free and pushed her back that final step. I wrenched her hands together and back up above her head. Her knee came up in retaliation, and I glared at her as I slapped my palm down across her thighs, and then shoved her legs apart as I stood between her feet, and kept them apart with my own.

“We’re not finished,” I snarled, and Jack pressed her lips together and glared up at me.

“You wanna know how you get eyes like mine, Jack?” I ground out, and she raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve heard this story, Riddick… don’t need to hear it again,” she spat, and pushed up against me as she tried to wrench her hands from under mine.

I laughed softly, to which she narrowed her eyes. I saw the glint of metal in her mouth, and felt the ghostly sting that Kyra had inflicted. Jack had taught her how to do it, and I knew if she swung out at me with that blade, she’d blind me, not scratch me like Kyra had.

I crowded in on her, and slapped my right palm over her mouth, keeping the blade inside and her lips together as she bucked against me. Even if she managed to get the blade out, the leather across my palm would deflect any damage she could inflict. I stared down at her, and when I spoke, it was more growl than anything else.

“You wanted to know how I got my eyes, Jack… now you’ll listen, 'cause I’m only sayin’ it once.”

She glared at me, and when her hips bucked against mine again, I gritted my teeth and pressed the full weight of my body against her. She froze for a moment, and then went very still as I lowered my head and looked into her eyes - I began to speak quietly, and as she shifted, my eyes were drawn to the drop of sweat that was slowly traveling down the long line of her throat.

“I met a kid, who crawled so far inside of me, that I was left wonderin’ what the hell had happened. This kid filled up every part of me… made me feel human. This scrawny scrap of a kid, who I could easily break in half, turned her back on me every night as she slept so trustingly at my side."

Jack muttered something softly, and I tilted my head as I glared down at her. She fell silent - not that she had a choice with my hand over her mouth - and I gritted my teeth and spoke again.

“She knew what I was… and she felt safer with me, than with anyone else on the ship. I wondered at that… wondered what she saw, other than a monster. Other than a notorious killer. This kid silenced what was ragin’ on the inside. She trusted me… and she showed me time and time again that I could trust her.

"I’d never had that with another person before; never had to worry about another person. This girl… I knew things about her that no one else did, and in the months we spent together, she became so entangled within me, that I could pick her out of a crowd with my eyes shut, just by her scent alone."

Another buck of those slim hips, and I bit back a snarl as I pressed my body tightly against hers. Turning my head, I felt the shudder she couldn't suppress when my mouth touched her cheekbone as I began to talk again.

“I walked away when I reach our destination…exiled myself… hid myself away on a planet made of ice and snow. And the thing on the inside was ragin’ as much as the man on the outside. I hid, in the hopes that the kid would have a good chance at life - that, she’d make somethin’ of herself. That she wouldn't turn out like me… that she wouldn't have to run from mercs everyday of her life, like she would if she was with me."

I pulled back slightly and looked down at her again. Her eyes had settled on my throat, and she refused to look at me as I spoke again.

“I spent five years on that frozen heap just to keep 'em away from her. I still thought about her - wondered what she was doin’. And when the mercs finally came lookin’ for me, I went back to that planet made of light. On the way there, all I could think about was the person I hid away for… would she be there? And when I got there, I found out she’s leadin’ the life I didn’t want for her.

“I found out she’d been sent to a Level Three Maximum Security Slam. No way was I leavin’ her in there to rot… so I let myself get caught for the first time in five years… let myself get taken to that same slam. And once there? I met a kid who said Jack was dead. Said she goes by Kyra now… and that she’s a new animal."

Jack's eyes snapped to mine, and for a moment, she went very still. Then she bucked and fought against me violently as her eyes flashed with utter fury; I hadn’t been with a woman in far too long, and I cursed viciously each time her hips brushed against mine when she moved, and those stirrings bit in deep. I gripped her hip tightly to stop her movements after I removed my hand from her mouth, and she called me several creative names in a seething voice as she pushed forward, and I pushed back.

My temper was fraying before me rapidly, and she winced when I wrenched her hands further up the cage door. It was dangle in the air or lock her legs around my hips - she did the later, and we stared at each other silently as I braced her against the wall with my hips. All I could scent was anger on her, and I smirked at her with a feral glint in my eyes as she tightened her legs around me.

"She knew things… things I’d only spoken about with the kid… and it wasn’t until she bled that I realized what she’d done… she had successfully skull-fucked me," I continued a moment later, and Jack snarled but stayed silent.

"So I hauled ass back to that prison, only to find that the real kid had been hurt so bad, that she slept for the first two days. I learned that she’d been cut up… stitched up… fucked up… and I saw her scars with my own eyes. So here we are; I’ve got the right girl this time - and I ain’t leavin’ this shithole without her. She can spit and snarl all she wants, but when I leave here, she’s comin’ with me. That’s how you get eyes like mine, Jack.”

Jack blinked rapidly, and tried tugging her hands out from under mine again. I went to speak, but Jack shook her head, and glared at me.

“Let me go.”

I shook my head, and cursed softly when she wiggled against me. I tightened my hand around hers, and only just dodged the blade that flashed in her mouth. She moved quicker than Kyra had been, and her hair wiped across my face with her movement. I slapped my palm back over her mouth, and I heard her muffled cry of rage as she twisted once more.

“Jack… don’t fuckin’ push me,” I warned, and she stilled, cocked an eyebrow, and the look on her face was as clear as day; ‘what are you gonna do about it?’

I just smirked at her.

"It's called kinetics, Jack - you don't have enough weight behind you, to make me let you go... so you're stayin' right where you are, until we've sorted some shit out."

Jack glared at me, tilted her head, tightened her legs around my waist, and it was my turn to freeze in place when I felt the cold press of metal against my lower back. Twin spurs… pressed right against my spine, and Jack wiggled her eyebrows at me.

I lifted my hand from her mouth slowly, but the pressure against my spine didn’t leave - if anything she pressed those spikes in her shoe tighter against me. I felt her body vibrating with anger against my own, and returned her glare as she kept up the pressure against my back.

“What a gusher,” she whispered mockingly, even as a small smile flashed across her face.

“Now…I’m gonna let go and so are you… and maybe you’ll walk out of here, without me spillin’ a drop of your blood,” she murmured, and when I glared at her, it was almost like she’d read my mind.

“What? You don’t think I'd try to take you down, Riddick? I got over my hero worship a long time ago. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep myself safe… safe from anyone who wants to try and push me around... and that includes you,” she finished softly, and I caught a glimpse of the old Jack just under the surface.

I let her hands go slowly as her legs tensed around my waist. She wrapped her hands around the bars behind her head, and when her legs slipped away, she supported her own weight on those bars until her feet touched the ground.

“Back up,” she hissed, and I took a step away from her as she maintained eye contact with me.

“Don’t do this, Jack,” I muttered. She stepped to the side and kept her eyes on me the entire time as she took a step towards the cell door.

“Do what?” she bit out as she stepped away slowly.

“Don’t force my hand in this,” I hissed, and she glared at me.

“We don’t always get what we want, Riddick,” she muttered, and I laughed when I realized that Dog had been right.

She froze at my laughter, and I lifted an eyebrow.

“I do, Jack. I might have to go about it differently, but I always get what I want.”

Her eyes widened for a moment, and then she smirked slowly. Raised an eyebrow, and tilted her head as that cocky smirk spread across her face.

“You keep tellin’ yourself that, Riddick. I’m sure it’ll keep you warm at night. Me? I’m a realist; life has a habit of fuckin’ me over, and I don’t want any part of it.”

“You’d rather stay here?” I asked, glancing around the cell we were standing in, and Jack laughed softly.

“At least in here, Riddick, I know what’s huntin’ me in the dark.”

I laughed softly at that, and Jack narrowed her eyes again as I took a step towards her. I couldn’t help but feel a small thread of pride that she stood her ground. I gripped the cell door either side of her face and lowered my head so that we were nose to nose.

“You’ve never had me hunt you down before, Jack,” I murmured, and she smiled coldly.

“No, I haven’t. But I’ve been hunted by bigger animals than you, Riddick. I survived them… I’ll survive you.”

I chucked softly, and tilted my head as I stared down at her calm face.

“Do you mean the predators on T2?” I asked finally, and Jack laughed softly.

“No. I’ve faced worse predators since then; I know how to deal with them, no matter how big they are… or how hard they bite.”

“Really?” I asked, and then went very still when I felt the sharp sting of a shiv bite into the inside of my inner thigh.

Jack smiled slowly as I glanced down at the shiv she had so neatly slid between my legs and had pressed against my inner groin.

“You think I survived my time in here, without learnin’ a few tricks?” she whispered, and slowly pulled the shiv away as I lifted my eyes to hers.

“I’ve got tits and an ass, Riddick - you get locked away without the pleasure of female company for long enough, and it makes you…. twitchy. Those things on T2 were driven by instinct - the animals that hunt me now? They walk on two legs, and they're driven by a hunger more powerful than the need to feed.”

I stared down at Jack silently as she slid the shiv back into the back of her pants. When she looked back up at me, a small frown crossed her face as she returned my gaze.

“I grew up, Riddick. I learned how to survive. I learned… that no matter the face they wear, people always want something that you have." Jack tilted her head, and a strange look flashed across her face. "Give my regards to Kyra,” she said softly.

Jack turned away slowly, but she stopped when I carefully closed my hand around her elbow.

“I didn’t know, Jack. Not until it was too late,” I muttered, and she shrugged slightly, even as she continued to stare out over the pit.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said quietly.

“She’s dead, Jack,” I muttered, and she turned her face towards me slowly.

“By your hand?” she questioned, and I shook my head.

“No. She died savin’ my life.”

Jack stiffened under my hand, and when she finally spoke again, her voice was so low, that I had to strain to hear her.

“So… while she was savin’ you… she was killin’ me. I guess it balances out in the end.”

“What?”

I spun her back to face me, even as she continued to speak.

“Oh, come on, Riddick… you know what life in slam’s like. It’s a dog eat dog world - I almost killed her, and the Boss man bit back. Can’t have his little princess scarred up like that, can we?”

Jack chuckled bitterly even as I tilted my head to try and decipher her meaning.

“She was a merc’s whore, Riddick… you do the math. She took something of mine… I took it out on her ass in retribution. And he took it out of me in retaliation, for scarring his personal fuck toy. And while I hung from the roof, she broke out with you.”

I shook my head in denial even as Jack pulled away from me and started to walk back down to her cell.

“Jack…”

She shook her head and kept walking, even as her voice drifted back up to me as she vanished into the night.

“Kyra was right, Riddick - the Jack you knew? She's dead. She died the first time she pulled the trigger. You're talkin' wit' a ghost.”