The Things That Happen

Author's Note: I'm apologizing right now for the cliff-hanger ending. The next chapter will be worth it, I promise. (At least, I hope I promise...0.0) Now, here is the next chapter for your reading enjoyment. Review if you so choose, but more than anything, enjoy.

Disclaimer: Wow...I'm running out of ways to make these creative...I don't own anything, I just write this stuff for my own, twisted pleasure.

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Mangate was a secluded planet, deep in the Pletran system. What few colonies there were, were still rough-and-tumble, and they didn’t ask questions. Riddick landed the ship in the spaceport without any difficulties, and Kyra was thankful. She hadn’t had another nightmare since waking to find herself curled in the corner, but she still hadn’t been sleeping well. She and Riddick still had a sort of truce, but it was strained. Sexual tension, Kyra thought, shaking her head. Running a hand through her hair, she squinted into the light pouring in the big front windows.

Riddick had gotten up as soon as they had docked. Kyra hadn’t really paid attention to where he went. Now, he stood behind her and tossed something into her lap. Her goggles. “You’ll need those,” he said.

“I did fine without them on Helion Prime,” she retorted, eyeing the goggles warily.

“Just put the damn things on.” Kyra felt Riddick move away. She heard him key in the code and open the main hatch; then he was gone. She was still staring at the goggles in her lap when the door hissed shut behind him.

Finally, she twisted up her hair and picked up the goggles. Settling them over her eyes, she stood. She blinked a few times – adjusting to the tinted lenses, then carefully made her way to the door. Punching in the code, she raced out the hatch and down the ramp, trying to catch up to Riddick’s long strides.

Riddick caught sight of Kyra just as she pulled even with him. Glancing down at her, he grinned. He knew she’d put them on.

“So, where exactly are we?” she asked, after taking a moment to catch her breath.

“Settlement called New Moscow.” He grinned. “The locals call it AFH.”

“‘AFH’?”

“A Frozen Hell.” Kyra looked around, squinting at the bright sunlight, even through the goggles.

“Oh.” Riddick raised an eyebrow and kept grinning. The kid had a lot to learn.

The two left the spaceport and moved down a sidewalk toward what appeared to be the – very crowded – center of town. It was a beautiful day – bright and warm, with a light breeze. Kyra allowed herself to relax as they walked, enjoying the feeling of Mangate’s two suns on her face. Suddenly, Riddick grabbed her elbow and pulled her into a small shop. Looking around her, she waited, puzzled. Riddick was glancing around, looking for something. When he found it, he smiled and started to the other side of the store.

“Wait,” Kyra muttered, trailing along in his wake. “What the hell are we doing here?” Riddick didn’t answer. Digging around in a small bin, he grabbed something then handed it to her.

“Here,” he said. Reaching into a pants pocket, he produced a chip and gave her that as well. “Go pay, I’ll meet you outside.” He brushed past her, lingering a bit longer than he should have, and left the store. Kyra stared after him. It wasn’t until the jingling of the small bell over the door startled her that she realized she was still holding whatever Riddick had placed in her hand. Looking down, she saw a pair of black goggles, similar to his, but smaller. But…? Kyra didn’t even bother with the thought. Quickly, she paid the cashier and left the shop.

Riddick was standing outside, as he’d said, an unlit cigarette held between two fingers. He’d grabbed it out of her pack back on the ship, when he’d gotten her goggles. Now, he alternated watching the cigarette as he twirled it over the backs of his knuckles and scanning the crowd of passers-by for any danger. When the door opened behind him, he sighed. At least Kyra had enough sense not to argue about the goggles. Tucking the cigarette behind his ear, he waited for her to speak. Right on cue, he heard a quiet, “Thank you.” She sounded surprised. Glancing up, Riddick caught the glint of the new tinted lenses over her eyes.

“Don’t sound so shocked, kid. Ain’t anyone ever done anything nice for you before?” She smiled at that.

“Not in a long time,” she replied. Not in a very long time. “Where to now?” she asked, tucking her old goggles in her back pocket. Riddick didn’t answer. Levering himself away from the wall, he started down the sidewalk again, scanning the storefronts as he went. Kyra sighed and tried to keep right on his heels; she didn’t want to get lost in the crowd.

After a few blocks – or what passed for blocks in AFH – Riddick stopped. Glancing both ways, he quickly crossed the hard packed dirt street and stepped into the shadow of a building on the other side. Kyra followed. As soon as she set foot on the sidewalk, Riddick dragged her into the shop.

“How can I help you?” A voice with a thick Slavic accent spoke from across the store’s single room. Glancing in that direction, Riddick saw an old man, standing behind a long counter.

“I need something that will help my wife sleep better,” he said, moving toward the man and pulling Kyra with him. Did I just say “wife”?

“Do you haf a prescription?” Well, shit. Riddick didn’t have an answer for that.

Kyra jumped in, smiling at the small man as she leaned into Riddick and wrapped an arm around his waist. “No. We’re honeymooning, and the long flights don’t seem to agree with me.” This was just getting better and better.

The man behind the counter smiled. “Ahh. I sink ve haf ze perfect somethink for you.” He disappeared behind a curtain and Riddick heard him moving around, muttering to himself in some other language. Russian, probably.

“Bet you money he’s speaking Russian,” Kyra whispered in his ear. Riddick raised an eyebrow and glanced down at her, surprised. She shrugged. “Just a guess,” she added, sheepishly. Interesting, Riddick thought as the man stepped out from behind the curtain.

“Here you go,” he said, holding a bottle out to Kyra. “I sink zeese vill help.”

Releasing her hold on Riddick, Kyra moved toward the counter, pulling her credit chip out of her pocket. “Thank you so much,” she said as she paid. The man smiled again, handed her a bag with the bottle and receipt. Kyra returned the smile, grabbed Riddick’s hand, and led him out of the store.

Back in the sunlight, Riddick blinked. That could have gone very badly. Flexing his hand in Kyra’s, he pulled her to a stop in a narrow alley out of the crush of people. She glanced up at him, one eyebrow raised.

“Yes?” she asked. Riddick didn’t say anything. Instead, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and closed his eyes. He could sense her grin and sighed. Opening his eyes again, he let go of her hand and started back up the sidewalk, toward the spaceport.

“We’ll stay here a day or so – let the ship take on more fuel and water. If there’s anything else you need, make a list and I’ll get it.” Kyra nodded, trying to match her strides to his as they made their way back to the ship.

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Riddick was sitting at the small table in the galley, nursing a beer and pouring over charts when Kyra stepped out of the bathroom. He looked up as she wandered into the kitchen and boosted herself onto one of the counters.

“Alright,” she said. “This is enough.” Riddick raised an eyebrow and waited. “About the other night…” She stopped. He could smell her nervousness.

“What night?”

“In the gym. I…I’m sorry. I freaked.” Oh. That. Taking a sip of his beer, Riddick watched her.

“It’s okay,” he said, his voice a low purr.

“No, it’s not. I just…lost it. I shouldn’t have. I mean, I’m not some stupid kid, right?” She was babbling. Suddenly, she stopped. Running a hand over her face and into her damp hair, she sighed. “I’m sorry.” Kyra pushed herself off the counter and walked out of the room. Riddick watched her go, noting the sexy sway of her hips and how nice her butt looked in those pants. Taking a last drink of his beer, he tossed the bottle in the trash and followed her.

Kyra was sitting on the bridge when she heard Riddick come up behind her. She didn’t say anything; nothing needed to be said. Holding an unlit cigarette in one hand, she stared idly out the big front window at AFH’s spaceport.

“This ship needs a name,” she blurted out, suddenly. “It’s bad luck to have a ship without a name.”

Riddick moved to sit in the chair next to Kyra. “Okay.”

“It should be something interesting,” she continued, not looking at him. “Something significant.” She thought. “Hero? No. Mercy? Jester?” Shaking her head she muttered to herself, “Still not right. Runaway? Haven? Or maybe Darkness? That’s closer.” She sighed. “I can’t think of anything that seems right.”

“What about Jack’s Darkness?” Riddick’s voice startled her and she turned to look at him. She paused, thinking of the meaning behind those words…T2…

“‘Jack’s Darkness’? Are you sure?” He quirked an eyebrow and glanced back at her. She shrugged. “Jack’s Darkness it is then.” Leaning forward she keyed something into the com panel. A program flashed onto the screen and Kyra entered the ship’s new name. “It’s a good name,” Kyra said, her fingers flying over the keys. Riddick silently agreed.

He stayed staring at the name Kyra had entered into the ships com systems for a long time. He could hear her moving around – eating and getting ready for sleep – but he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the screen. Jack’s Darkness. It had seemed right. It was right.

Finally, when the light of the com screen started to bother his eyes, Riddick turned toward the interior of the ship. The spaceport was dark; he’d had some vague idea of the suns going down a little while ago. Now he allowed that darkness to wash over him. He could hear Kyra’s deep, even breathing from the cabin. He wondered idly if she’d taken one of the pills they’d bought form the old Russian man. Standing, he moved silently to the room and cracked the door. The bag with the pill jar in it was sitting, unopened, on the night table. Frowning slightly, Riddick noticed the small bedside lamp was on. He stepped into the room, meaning to turn it off, when he glanced at Kyra’s sleeping form. She was lying on her side, an open paperback trapped under her hand and her new goggles protecting her eyes.

Smiling, Riddick moved to the bunk. He turned out the light and gently tugged the book away from Kyra. She didn’t move. Carefully, he removed her goggles, then pulled the blankets up around her shoulders and stood. Sleep well, he thought.

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Kyra stretched languidly, enjoying the feel of warm sheets cocooning her. Opening her eyes, she spied Riddick sleeping on the floor. It was the first time in weeks he’d settled down in the cabin for the night – as far as Kyra knew, anyway. She’d wonder about it later. Silently, she crept out of bed and over Riddick’s sleeping body. Grabbing some clothes, she opened the door and slipped out into the hall.

The bathroom was cold; the steel of the ship’s floor freezing her feet. Truly, Kyra wished for nothing more than to be able to crawl back in bed and sleep for another couple hours. But she wanted to be up and dressed before Riddick needed the bathroom – it was part of their system.

Turning on the water, she cranked the dial over to hot and let the room warm some before stripping off her clothes and stepping into the shower. She tilted her head back, letting the spray wet her skin. Working the soap into a lather, she washed her hair and body, tensing her muscles to keep from shivering in the luke-warm water. As she rinsed, she turned her face into the spray and let it drip off the end of her nose. Finally, she reached down and shut off the shower. Cold assaulted her instantly. Kyra wondered idly if the ship even had heaters as she wrapped a towel around her body, tucking one end between her breasts. Using a second towel, she dried herself enough to hastily pull on her clothes. She combed her hair, then twisted the wet mass up on top of her head as she opened the bathroom door. Leaning against the doorframe, she had just started brushing her teeth when she heard Riddick.

“You didn’t take your pills last night.”

Turning around to spit in the small sink, she replied, “I slept well enough without them.” Looking back, what she saw made her mouth go dry. He was shirtless, leaning against the wall on the other side of the corridor. He held a mug in one hand, sipping from it occasionally. Kyra swallowed hard, grimacing at the taste of her teeth cleaner.

Riddick watched her brush her teeth, grinning as she tried to talk around a mouthful of toothpaste. “No more nightmares,” he said, finally. “They keep me awake.” Turning on his heel, he strode to the galley. He set his mug down and waited as Kyra finished in the bathroom. While he listened to her footfalls coming toward the galley, he pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. He set them on the table as Kyra stepped through the door. “Make your list. We’ll do a run into AFH today,” he said, brushing past her.

She paused. “What list?”

“Things you didn’t get in New Mecca,” he replied, turning to face her. Her expression turned mutinous. Uh-oh – you pissed her off.

“Like what, Big Evil?” she demanded. Riddick raised an eyebrow at the nickname.

“Like new clothes for yourself, Jack,” he shot back. Sauntering down the corridor, he left Kyra standing in the galley, glaring at the back of his head.

“Of all the inconsiderate-” she started. Shaking her head as Riddick stepped into the bathroom and shut the door, she glared at the paper he’d set on the table for good measure. “Things I forgot in New Mecca,” she muttered. Pursing her lips and making a rude noise, she moved to the counter. “Maybe I didn’t want new clothes – did he ever think of that?” Kyra retrieved a mug and poured herself some coffee. “Probably not,” she answered her own question. Sighing, she opened the cooling unit, looking for breakfast. She grabbed an apple and let the unit’s door swing shut. Perching on the counter, her eyes landed on the table – and the paper.

Kyra bit into her apple as she considered the paper. It was mocking her. She turned away, glancing into the muddy contents of her coffee cup. As she watched the brown liquid, she unconsciously began taking an inventory in her head. She probably could use a few things…

Sliding off the counter, Kyra crossed to the table and set down her apple. “Lights twenty percent,” she muttered, as her fingers closed around the pencil. She started making a list. Fresh fruit, vegetables, sweets, soap… She paused, thinking, then quickly added pants, shirt, light shoes, jacket at the bottom of the paper. Scowling, she picked up her apple and took big bite, turning away from the table.

Riddick was standing in the doorway. He’d watched her write a few things on the list and had seen her frown. Chuckling, he crossed to the table, brushing against Kyra as he passed her. Glancing over the list, he nodded in approval at the things she’d added for herself. Looking up, he caught her defiant glare. “I’ll be back,” he said shortly. Tucking the list into a pocket, he settled his goggles over his eyes and left the room.

Kyra waited until she heard the main hatch open and close before she dumped her remaining coffee in the sink. Finishing up her apple, she briefly considered following Riddick. Then she shook her head. She’d wanted to look at the ship’s heater anyway. Tossing the apple core in the garbage, Kyra turned off the kitchen lights and made her way to the engine room.

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Riddick could hear someone tinkering in the engine room the second he stepped through the main hatch. Raising an eyebrow, he dropped his packages onto the pilot’s chair and crept into the cargo hold, following the sounds. When he was finally close enough to see Kyra, he grinned. She was on her back, half under the ship’s heating unit – only her legs and bare feet were visible, lying across the access walkway.

“You know, you really need to start wearing shoes,” Riddick said, before he could help himself. He heard Kyra start and curse as she hit her head on the heater.

“That was cruel,” she grumbled, sliding out so she could look up at him.

“It’s true.” Shrugging, Riddick turned back toward the ladder leading to the bridge. “I’ll toss your stuff in the cabin. The food’ll be in the galley.”

Kyra wiggled her toes as she watched Riddick ascend to the rest of the ship. She could hear him moving around, putting things away. Frowning, she slid herself back under the heating unit to finish what she’d been working on. What does it matter about my shoes anyway? she wondered.

Giving the ratchet she’d found one more good turn, she pushed herself onto the access walkway and up into a sitting position. Letting her forearms rest on her knees, with her hands dangling, she closed her eyes and waited for the sound of the heat kicking on. Satisfied with the quiet hum, Kyra rolled to her feet and made her way up to the bridge. She could hear Riddick in the galley, probably looking over charts. Wiping the grease from her hands on her pants, she glanced down the hall before slipping into the cabin.

There were three boxes stacked neatly on the bed. Cautiously, Kyra opened the first package. Clothes. She pulled out two pairs of black pants, two black shirts, and a lightweight black canvas jacket. Obviously the man likes black, she thought. So do I.

The second box held a pair of plain shoes – also black. Nodding, Kyra turned to the last package. She pulled the lid off the reveal a mass of deep green, tucked in black tissue. Sucking in a breath, she gently fingered the silky material. She hadn’t asked for anything like this. What had Riddick done? Reaching carefully into the tissue, she pulled out a deep green bra and let it dangle from her fingers by its straps.

“I had to ask a clerk about the color.” Riddick’s voice came from behind her. Kyra whirled around, clutching the bra tightly to her chest. He was leaning in the doorway, his hands tucked into his pockets.

“You what?” she managed to choke out.

“It should match your eyes,” he continued. Kyra was suddenly struck with an image of Riddick questioning some terrified clerk, then searching a rack of green underwear for just the right size and shade. She closed her eyes tight.

“Oh,” was all she could manage.

He had caught her off guard. Riddick grinned. He liked catching her off guard. Stepping forward, he breathed in her scent – apples mixed with the faint smells of sweat, engine oil, and…excitement. He moved even closer, until his body was inches from hers and he could feel the heat of her skin. When she opened her eyes, he was looking down at her.

Beautiful, he thought, caressing her cheek with a callused hand. Kyra unconsciously tilted her head into his palm, letting out a soft sigh. The underwear had been a joke – kind of. He’d wanted to know that there was something sexy and female under all that black clothing. He hadn’t meant for it to end up like this.

“How did you know my sizes?” Kyra whispered suddenly. Her eyes flashed, and a pretty flush was starting to creep up her throat. Riddick chuckled. His mouth was a breath away from hers.

“I just know,” he replied, his voice a low purr.

The kiss was explosive. Kyra’s lips clung to Riddick’s as her arms wound around his neck, the green bra still dangling from her fingertips. He pressed body against his, needing to feel her flush against him. Without coaxing, she opened her mouth to him, tentatively tracing his lips with her tongue. Riddick growled, and she could feel it vibrating through his chest as he hauled her up on tiptoe, even tighter against him. His fingers played over the small of her back, scorching the skin under her shirt.

“Riddick.” His name was a sigh, barely escaping her lips. He growled again. God, she felt good, pressed against him like this. Meeting her tongue with his, he plundered her mouth. She tasted fruity, with a hint of coffee – unique and addicting. Pulling back, he broke the kiss to pull her shirt over her head. Not giving her time to think, Riddick claimed her lips again, letting his hands slide up the soft skin of her back. He could feel her fingers clutching at his shoulders and he groaned.

“I want you,” he muttered against her lips. He swallowed her soft sigh of pleasure as one of his hands trailed along her ribcage to cup her breast. She didn’t pull away this time. Instead, he felt her fingers exploring his back and he groaned again. “Oh, God. Jack.”