TITLE: And Forgive Us Our Trespasses...
AUTHOR: Mira Westing
FANDOM: Pitch Black
PAIRING: Riddick/ofc
RATING: R for sexual depictions
DISCLAIMER: The Characters of Pitch Black are copyright to USA Films. There is no infringment intended by the use of them in this story. I claim none of those characters.
SUMMARY: A peek into Riddick past. This fic assumes that Riddick was not moved to max security until a few years before his escape. I know he says he spent half his life in a slam but he doesn't ever say max security. And this is MY world.
Notes: *** - marks flashbacks
Chapter 4
Six months before he had put the shine job on his eyes, Riddick had paid twice as much as he later would for the surgery to find out the name of a little girl born in the Prixus Prison for Expectant and Nursing mothers. Now that he was face to face with the child, he had no idea why. Moira kissed her daughter's forehead and motioned impatiently at the trio still poised uncertainly on her landing.
"In or out. I don't have all day. Alexis is getting cold standing here."
Alexis. His information had been right. He had wondered later if, even at the price he had put down, he actually knew the name of his daughter or if it was just something that he held onto because he had nothing else. Riddick entered the apartment first and the others followed.
"Miss me?" He stepped too close to her, closer than was healthy for either of them.
"Careful, Rick," she whispered so that only he could hear, "there's no stronger force than a mother protecting her young."
He reconsidered his impulse to reach out and touch the little girl's round cheek. She had his coloring not her mother's lighter tone.
"Momma?"
Moira broke eye contact. "Yes, Doll?"
"Are you mad?"
"No, why would I be mad?"
Despite her resemblance to him otherwise, Riddick could not deny that the girl had inherited Moira's size - small, delicate boned. She snuggled her head into her mother's neck, a sleepy kind of affection that Riddick had never seen a child display. "I was asleep, promise."
"I know." There was a smile in Moira's voice. "And we'll put you back to bed soon. Do you want a drink first?"
"Yes."
Riddick watched Moira's back as she flitted about the small kitchen, one arm firmly supporting Alexis, the other pouring a glass of milk and warming it slightly on the range.
"How old is she?"
"Math never was your greatest strength." There was no humor in her voice as she spoke to Riddick. "Two weeks shy of three years."
Alexis glanced at the large man over Moira's shoulder. "I'm two." She held out the appropriate number of fingers to illustrate her point. Jack and Imam had joined Riddick in the kitchen but neither of them looked happy to be there.
"Allow me to introduce myself. Rick isn't big on pleasantries. I'm Moira. And you are..."
"Imam. It is a pleasure to meet you." Although his lips said the words, there was no actual sentiment in his tone.
"Jack."
This brought a smile to Moira's face. "No, really?"
"Really."
"Your parents had a sick sense of humor."
Jack actually smiled back at Moira at this point. "I'm a girl."
"Of course you are. Anyone who doesn't know that instantly is an idiot."
Jack glanced furtively at Riddick but his face was as stony as ever. Before the two could exchange another word, a key sounded in the ancient lock. Only Moira failed to become tense. "Down boy," she quipped in Riddick's direction. Raising her voice a bit she called, "We're back here."
Gary's form filled the doorway almost as fully as Riddick's had only a few minutes earlier. "This is my husband, Gary," was all she gave as explanation.
"We're up late. Not waiting for me, I hope."
"Nope, had some visitors as you can see."
Alexis finished her milk and waved happily at Gary. The huge man waved back, an almost parody of the motion.
Introductions started again but stopped when they came to Riddick. "No, let me guess: Riddick, right?"
There was no reaction from the man himself but Moira nodded. "I heard you were dead."
"Sorry to disappoint."
Gary shrugged. "I don't have any personal stock in the matter."
"How long you two been married?" Riddick did not sound happy but it was impossible to tell how angry he was.
"Six years."
"I told you about him, Rick." He remembered vaguely something about a marriage of convenience. Someone to take care of her ailing mother if she was sent to prison.
"Did you tell him about me?" The implications were clear but obviously not clear enough to satisfy Riddick. "She didn't sleep alone in prison."
Moira's eyes flashed in something more than anger. She lifted her daughter off of her lap and gave the child a soft push towards the door. "Get in bed, Lex. Daddy and I will come tuck you in, in just a moment."
After a quick kiss on the cheek, Alexis did as her mother said. "Don't you ever talk like that in front of my kid." The words were so slow, so quiet that Riddick wondered if she would get them all out. The fury was tangible.
"You don't tell her the truth?" He had not missed Moira calling Gary Alexis' 'Daddy'. The word angered him for reasons unexplainable.
"You were never 'the truth', Riddick."
They glared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Moira was keenly aware that it would not matter how many people were in the room with them, when Riddick was near she would always feel only him. "We have a guest room and a couch. Sleep. We'll discuss how to get you the hell out of here tomorrow."
Moira strode off, shaking and close to tears. Oh God, her mind cried. This can't happen. Not now. Please. Fuck, she just pulled it all back together, how could Riddick come back into her life and unravel it again. Gary stayed on her heels all down the hall, talking about something to which Moira did not even pretend to listen.
Chapter 5
In her tiny bedroom, Moira savagely tore her robe of and threw it at the door. Gary caught it as he walked slowly into the room. He watched her pace furiously for a few minutes, noting that she had unconsciously started twirling her hair, a habit he had not seen since they were children. When she finally flopped heavily onto the bed, he spoke, "I put the little girl in the 'extra' room and the others in the living room."
"Whatever." Dismissively Moira waved her hand.
"You never told me how much Lex resembles her father." It was one of very few subjects that he knew would set her blood to boil. He knew it well. Almost as well as she knew that he was goading her.
"I didn't remember."
"Did you know he was coming?"
"No."
"But you let them in." There was no emotion in the words, mild curiosity maybe, but nothing that would indicate that he was a jealous husband.
"Yes." She grimaced and closed her eyes against what she was afraid she would see in his face.
"Do you remember him now?"
Moira peeked at him through narrowed eyes. He was smiling mischievously.
"Shut up."
"Come ON. You don't remember that big, hulking testimony to power and grace currently sleeping on our couch?" His tone was playful. "The couch, Misha, the couch." He laughed.
He only called her 'Misha' when he was at his most amused. Moira did not appreciate the humor. "Where should I have put him?"
Gary's eyes told her plainly what his suggestion would have been. Moira threw a pillow at her husband in exasperation. He caught it and grabbed a blanket from the end of the bed. "I guess I get the floor?"
"You're perfectly welcome to sleep up here with me." Moira invited easily.
"No thank you. When you're angry, you kick in your sleep. Last time it took me weeks to recover."
"I was eight," Moira rolled her eyes.
"Yes, and almost 15 years later I'm still wary."
Moira shrugged. "Suit yourself. I am sorry you had to give up your bed to the girl but ... appearances, you know."
"Is her name really Jack?"
"I guess. Do you need another pillow?"
"No." Gary had slept on this floor before. It was important to maintain the illusion of a happily married couple for his business - or rather because of his business. Family men caught a lot less flack from law enforcement. "The truth - this is about jealously not appearances, isn't it?"
"Are you jealous?" Moira asked innocently.
He laughed heartily. "You know what I mean. You want him simmering all night long." Gary laid back not eager to catch Moira's reaction to his next words. "But you can't convince me you wouldn't rather he were in bed with you."
"You're projecting your own fantasy life onto me." It would be Moira's last words on the subject.
"He IS cute," Gary conceded. "All the good ones are straight."
She awoke with a start, disremembering for a moment where she was. The
clock beside the bed read 4am. Richard B. Riddick had been her house
guest for a little over three hours already. Shit. She eased herself
out of bed, careful to avoid Gary's sleeping form. She did not have
the heart to deflect his protective tendencies tonight.
The room that Moira's late night ramblings always took her to was warm and cozy. In the two years that she had spent growing attached to the little alcove, the lamp beside the bed had burnt continually. Perhaps, before they had inhabited the apartment on Missa Street, the room had known darkness but never since. At first the decision had been Moira's - a half- logical way for her to reign in the terror of losing Alexis; the fear she had harbored since the girl's birth. But Moira had gradually overcome that apprehension and found comfort in her own abilities. It was Alexis who kept the light burning now.
Thus, Moira was more than surprised to not see the familiar stream of soft light arching across the door to her daughter's room. The bulb must have burnt out, she concluded. The damn things never lasted the full twenty years that they were guaranteed.
But the moonlight was enough to illuminate the room. Moira entered and approached the bed, gazing at the little girl burrowed under the covers. Nothing more beautiful had ever existed, she was sure. Sometimes it made her want to weep. Her daughter. The birth certificate had said "Father: Unknown" but there was no unknown in Moira's life. Unwanted, maybe. Unforgettable, certainly. But not unknown.
Moira knelt beside the low bed and listened to the deep even breaths. Salvation was snuggled there - her salvation. The one who had kept Moira on the hard path, the path towards the truth, the light. I must be good, she had thought the first time Alexis was laid in her arms, or nothing this pure cold come from me.
"She's mine?"
Moira jumped, catching her knee on the side of the bed. Alexis stirred but did not wake. He was sitting in a chair on two feet behind her and, she realized, had been since before she came in. The goggles he'd worn before were hanging around his neck and Moira noticed, for the first time, the unusual shine that reflected from his eyes. "You turned off the light," she concluded.
"It was too bright."
Moira nodded. She understood. You did not live the prison life as long as she had without knowing about your options. "Lex is afraid of the dark."
Riddick did not miss the irony. His child - if she was his - hated the very thing that brought him the most comfort. There was nothing that connected them other than the obvious. "She's mine?"
"Of course." Moira turned and faced him, sitting with her legs crossed at his feet.
"You didn't know?"
"I knew." But he'd had to hear it from her. Moira had never lied to him. Her words were worth the asking.
"How long have you been here?"
"An hour."
Again the understanding. He needed the time to come to terms with this. Moira had been given a nine month grace period. Riddick was not so lucky. "She walked before any of the other babies. She started singing almost before she could talk. She's allergic to nuts. Once, when she was about twelve months old, she wandered away from me in while we were moving into this place. She was only gone for about a minute and a half, we found her under the sink in the bathroom but I died a hundred times while I didn't know."
"She's happy."
"More than most." Moira looked away from him. Having him in the house was a bad idea. Alexis was her only concern now. "I have to turn the light on."
Riddick saw her slip away from him although she hadn't moved an inch. He felt her withdraw. He stood. "Your husband probably wouldn't like you alone with a murderer anyway." The words were snide, sharp.
Moira just turned away. "Probably
not."
Chapter 6
The night was long but the morning came too fast. Moira rose early, happy for a few moments alone before she had to face her past again. But she had no more than begun breakfast when the little girl, Jack, stumbled into the kitchen. Moira motioned to a seat at the table and the girl sat obediently. Someone had given the girl orders before and she was used to following them. Moira studied the dirty face with the eyes of a mother.
"How old are you? Thirteen?"
"Fourteen."
"Runaway?"
Jack paused for a moment, unsure of the correct response. Something about this woman told her that Moira would know if she lied. "No, orphan."
"Sorry." And Jack believed that she was. "How'd you end up with this crowd?"
"We were on a passenger liner together. Crashed."
"The three of you?" Moira asked questions that she already knew the answer to in order to put Jack at ease. Of course there had been other passengers. At least a few - not to mention crew members and the merc or law officer that had undoubtedly been with Riddick.
It took a full half hour for Moira to
slowly coax the story out of Jack. She rewarded the girl with a healthy
breakfast and a shoulder that had held the grief of others before.
When the tears had subsided, Moira it was Jack's turn to ask questions.
"Your daughter...she looks a lot like-"
Moira did not force her to finish the inquiry. "She looks a lot like her father."
"So Riddick...?"
"Yes. I wasn't so much older than you. I guess you've noticed that he can, when he wishes, be a great protector." If Moira's guess was correct about why Riddick was here, she might as well be honest with Jack from the start.
"He doesn't like to be," Jack muttered sullenly.
Moira shrugged. "He's a product of the institutions from which he came. He never learned anything but self-preservation. Not exactly charming but the truth."
"He didn't come here to...he just wants to dump me off." When she did not get an immediate answer, Jack cringed inwardly. Ooops. Not a good way to make friends. She'd spoken without thought - of course that would upset Moira. She had a daughter by the man and he'd crossed the known galaxy to further burden her. "I'm sorry."
Again the shrug. "Don't be. That's what I assumed. I knew him for a long time, Jack, I didn't think he was going to reform, become a loving, moral man. He doesn't work that way. He couldn't."
Moira pulled out a chair and sat across the table from Jack. Both leaned in closer to each other.
"It's not about you, Jack. He doesn't know how to function with another person relying on him. He brought you here to protect you best he can. If that doesn't tell you he cares than the fact that he came back for you on that planet should. Riddick never risked anything for anybody in his life. He never came back for me; he wouldn't have."
The older woman stood and returned to the comforting morning ritual she performed everyday. Jack watched her wondering if she, too, had felt Riddick's presence just outside the kitchen door throughout the conversation. Probably not. Moira seemed more direct than that. "So - can I stay?"
The smile was genuine and the words without regret. "Of course. I always wanted a big family."
Jack smiled back. "If Riddick has anything to do with it, you'll get one."
Moira's laughter filled the room as Riddick slowly backed away from his spot in the shadows outside the door.
***
Johns stood over him as the Company men put the finishing touches on
Riddick's restraints. The two men had goaded each other in every possible
way since Johns had found Riddick in the backwater sleazy hotel three
days before. But the best Johns had saved for when the bit was finally
in place. Once his prisoner could not talk, Johns left him with something
to ponder, play over in him mind the entire trip. Cryosleep was hell
on the average man's dreams, turning them to nightmares; Riddick was
not the average man.
"Looked for you a long time, Big Evil. A long time. I'm gonna enjoy collecting that money."
It could have been his last words. He turned his back to Riddick as if to walk away. But Johns would never leave it so civil. He swiveled his head over one shoulder and smile at his paycheck, a wicked smile.
"'Course wasn't all bad. There was that sweet piece with the little girl. Moira. You weren't there but, damn, she was a fuckable package. Did ya' ever make her bleed? I bet you liked it when she struggled. Makes it better doesn't it?" He took another step. "She tasted good. Thanks for introducing us."
***
It was midday but, so far, Moira had managed to avoid contact with him completely. Riddick had gone so far as to set out in search of her but she'd left the little apartment with Alexis and no one knew where she'd gone. Her absence put him in a foul mood. There were things that they had to talk about alone and the previous night's visit had taken him too off-guard to bring them up. Moira's anger he could stomach, but he had to know if Johns had touched her. The merc's words had never left his mind for a moment and Riddick would be damned if he would leave Moira again without knowing for sure.
Moira.
She was much the same as he remembered. A bit taller, maybe, not so skinny. Having a baby had rounded her figure - she looked better than he had remembered.
He had not expected that; the memory usually made women seem more desirable than they had actually been at the time. Not Moira, if anything he had lessened her in his recollections. Probably that famous survival instinct of his in action - if he'd stopped to think about what he'd lost, moving on would not have been so easy. Screwing the next woman would have been nearly impossible, if he'd dwelt on what Moira had felt like under him.
So he pushed her aside. She was just a woman - barely that, really. More like a kid. And they'd had a longer time together than he'd thought they would. Her usefulness had run its course, he'd told himself, and he'd never even spoken her name again.
Until now.
But he'd thought about her, from time to time. He'd learned their daughter's name. Upon her release, he'd even celebrated her freedom with a bottle of tequila he'd been saving for years. Whatever Moira had been to him, it was not easily forgettable. Shit, he'd even been headed to Prixus when Johns picked him up. The long route, sure, but the destination had been clear.
Jack and Imam skirted their de facto leader all day and the husband had gone to work so Moira's absence was a keen ache in his idle mind. But he'd waited over three years, another few hours would not kill him - or dissuade him.
She walked through the door at dusk, red hair a halo on fire, framing her face, neck, shoulders, arms. The light danced across her face as she caught sight on him, sitting calmly in a chair, watching the door. She looked down at Alexis holding her hand. "Go wash up for dinner, Doll."
"With soap?"
"With soap." Moira wriggled her fingers at the little girl who giggled and made a break for the bathroom. "You just don't give up, Rick." She turned back to face him, carelessly tossing her groceries on the table beside the door.
"Did a merc come by here looking for me about six months ago?"
Moira rolled her eyes. "You'll have to be more specific. A lot of mercs came here after you escaped."
"Johns."
"Doesn't ring a bell. What'd he look like?"
"Blonde, blue eyes. Pretty blue uniform."
She paused in her motions, cocked her head to one side and nodded slowly. "He must have been watching the apartment. He came when Gary wasn't here which was rare right after your little break out. Didn't even knock, just walked in acting like I was still a convict."
"He hurt you?"
"Why? Did he say he did?"
"Mentioned something about it."
She shook her head. "He got a little fresh, tried to rough me up, threatened Lex. So I cut him up a little. Not bad, I don't want to go back to prison but no one around here is too fond of mercs so...What'd he say he did?"
"Said he raped you."
"Nope. Might have tried but it didn't go that far." She risked a few steps closer to him. His eyes had never been telling but the goggles were driving her mad. "Did it bother you?"
He stood up, dwarfing her with his bulk, and narrowed the distance between them. "What do you think?"
She averted her eyes. "I don't think you even care about yourself that much."
"You're wrong. I care about me a lot more than that." His hands found their place on her hips easily, pulling her nearer. Then, his arms had her captured, a familiar and oft-missed feeling. She did not fight him as he'd thought she might, she just looked up at him, eyes narrowed, lips parted. He slid his cheek across hers and whispered in her ear, "Doesn't your husband care that you were mine first?"
There was no answer just the slight shaking on her head. He pulled her even closer. "I would care, Moira. I would care if anyone ever gave it to you better than I did."
"How do you know he doesn't?"
"Because you're here now when he could walk through the door anytime. You're going to let me fuck you in his house, his bed."
Moira laughed and pushed gently at his shoulders. "I sincerely doubt that," she quipped.
Chapter 7
Riddick listened carefully to Moira's denial of his statement...and ignored it. She was not struggling in his arms, her face was serene -- obviously she was not concerned with her situation. She might have said that he was not going to have her but she did not seem to believe it.
He smiled. He did not believe it either. Slowly he ran one sure hand up her back, almost laughing when she pressed closer to him. His fingers twisted in her hair, pulling her head back just enough that she was in the perfect position to receive his lips. For a long moment, he simply watched her, the brightness of her big eyes, the soft full curve of her lips. She'd been his once and he had no doubt in his ability to make her his again. Without further discussion he closed his eyes and dipped his head down to meet...her temple.
His eyes snapped open as Moira dislodged from his embrace. "Let me see those hands," she demanded and Riddick crinkled his brow.
Alexis emerged from the space behind him and lifted her tiny hands above her head. Moira studied her daughters fingers with faux sterness. "Okay, you pass," she declared.
"Help Momma carry the groceries into the kitchen."
Moira handed the girl a small bag and hefted the others herself. When she reached the door between the entryway and the hall, she was confronted by Riddick's huge frame lounged lazily against the door jamb. She raised an eyebrow at him, waited a moment and when he did not move handed him a bag.
"Come on, Rick, you help cook if you want to eat."
He followed her with a slowness and distance that spoke volumes. Great, she thought, just what I needed - a mad Riddick staring holes in my back. In the kitchen, Alexis watched the large man. Large men did not scare her, her father was a large man, most of the men he worked with were large. But this man was not happy and she could tell that his unhappiness was aimed at her mother. It was unusual. Alexis' father never got mad at her mother. Men in general treated Moira with a great deal of respect and affection. In her short life, Alexis did not have a substantial memory of anyone being less than pleased to be in her mother's presence. The big man sat at the table and glared at her mother with a vengeance. Even with the funny goggles, Alexis could distinguish a glare. And she did not like it. There were very few ways for a little girl to cheer adults but Alexis knew them all.
Riddick watched the child - his daughter - approach him with caution. Well, at least she was a smart little thing. She looked at him as if she were sizing him up. Couldn't be, he decided, children were not that intelligent no matter who their parents were. But then she did something most unexpected: she walked right up to him and pulled herself onto his lap. He almost jumped up. Instead every muscle in his body grew tense and rigid as the child settled herself into him. He'd never held a child and had never intended to do so. She turned her head around and gazed into his face.
"What's your name? I'm Alexis."
Although he could not be sure, Riddick thought her heard a stifled giggle from Moira's general direction. "I'm...Johns. Rick Johns."
"Hi Rick John."
"Johns. With an 'S'."
Alexis grinned. "I know the letters. Momma taught me."
Riddick's entire face held an expression of utter discomfort. For the first time since she'd known him, Moira could read his countenance exactly. It surprised her that he had yet to just plunk Alexis back on the ground. Probably had not occurred to him yet.
She watched them: her captivating murderer
and guileless little girl. The state of affairs initially amused her
but that blossom of humor eventually gave away to something deeper,
more profound -- the cutting awareness of loss. The pain stabbed her
sharply in the belly. Alexis was Richard's daughter, as much his as
Moira's, and he had never even held her until this moment. He had never
known the sweetness of her sticky kisses.
It was not something that he even wanted.
The slow throbbing agony that she usually keep in check welled up in Moira. Alexis was enough for her to build a life on. It was not often that she wished for more. Gary was good to her and women had lived without sex for longer than she but...Watching Richard Riddick's first unsure steps with his daughter made Moira realize how much of life she had missed. She turned away from the sight that threatened to reduce her to tears.
He can't stay, she told herself, he wouldn't even if he could.
Moira squared her shoulders. Alexis was her family now, her all. She simply could not let Riddick close enough to touch her again. Dangerous games had no place in her life any more.
Gary had said that he could arrange a new identity for Riddick, Moira had told him to wait. Bad idea. Let Gary get the new ID, Moira would gratefully send Riddick on his way. People had to save their own souls. For Moira that meant getting the devil out of her house before he found his way into her bed. Again.
Gary called after the evening meal to tell Moira that he would not be
home until the morning. He sometimes conducted business far out of the
main town, Moira had gotten used to his comings and goings. She did
not even mind the company of her new house-guests, for the most part.
Jack was a delightful girl, if a bit rough around the edges.
Imam was little more than quiet but Moira appreciated his presence as another distraction to keep her thoughts from Riddick. Even Alexis did her part by entertaining the group with songs and finger plays during the meal.
But, in the end, after the dishes were cleared and Alexis was in bed Moira knew that it would only be a matter of time before Riddick made his move. She was correct. An hour after she climbed into bed, he crept soundlessly into the room. The only reason she even noticed his entrance was that she had been waiting for him nervously since Gary's call.
"Turn around and leave, Riddick." She did not use his first name, it was too familiar, too intimate.
He looked at her and continued forward. When he reached the edge of the double bed, he sat and leaned his upper body towards Moira. "Tell me, Moira, did you miss me? You never answered when I asked before."
Moira turned her face away from him. But it was no good. Riddick had always seen straight through her. "At first," she admitted. But it was not all that she had to say to him. "I'm not the girl you thought you'd find. Not any more."
No - that girl had died the day she realized that Richard B. Riddick would never come for her, save her from the life she had fallen into. "I can get you a new identity. I'll do it because you gave me Alexis. That's all. I don't have anything else for you."
"Seemed different this afternoon."
She blushed. Her reaction to him had not embarrassed her at the time but when she had some time to think about it...."I'm a married woman. A mother."
"Happily married?" He looked to her and she nodded. "He doesn't sleep here, Moira. His clothes are in Jack's room."
Good detective, good deductions. Moira would have expected no less. She focused her eyes on him, taking in the sight that she knew she would live a lifetime without. "I'll never give anyone the right to take my freedom away again . You know how it is, you hated it as much as I did. What wouldn't you give to have the chance to be truly free, Rick? No one will ever hunt me down, no one will ever take me back. It's not a perfect life but it's mine and....I'd die if I lost it."
Slowly, with a grace that was not negated by his size, Riddick reached out a hand and ran one single finger lightly down her face from temple to chin. Even though the dim light of the bedside lamp must burn his eyes, Riddick pulled the goggles down around his neck. He squinted at her, seeing her through eyes as unhindered as he would ever possess. "Did Jack tell you about the crash?"
"Yes." Moira was defenseless against his overt tenderness.
"She told you about Carolyn Fry?" Moira simply nodded. "She died for me. I don't understand it, I never will. But I think you do." He cupped her cheek in his palm, letting the hair above her ear fall across the back of his fingers. "You'd die for our daughter, wouldn't you?"
Her stomach did a liquid kind of flip when he said the words 'our daughter' and her faced blazed with an internal fire. "Gladly."
With only the slightest of tugs, Riddick pulled Moira to her knees in front of him on the bed. The blanket she'd been hiding behind slithered down to pool in the space that separated them. "Was there ever a time that you would have died for me?" His words were less than a whisper, more than a scream.
"Rick-" Her voice caught deep in her throat.
He easily stopped her words with the back of his hand. Delicately he permitted his index finger to press against her lips, increasing the pressure little by little as the moments ticked by. She did not open for him but gradually his finger worked its way into her mouth. "I thought about you sometimes." Moira took a deep breath and he felt her tongue move.
"Not everyday. Not even every week. But sometimes." He increased the force of his finger, sliding it harshly across her teeth. "Mostly I thought about the sex." She tried to turn her head but he would not permit it.
"This is who I am, Moira. I'm being honest with you." After a short moment she again submitted to his attentions. His thumb replaced his finger in her mouth, the rest of his hand spread out in a fan across her cheek. "I never cared about another living person. Did you expect I would change?"
Moira pulled back, Riddick's thumb gliding smoothly out of her mouth. "No. I hoped but I never really expected."
The sadness in her tone sent a sharp cold shooting through his veins. She should never have relied on him, no intelligent woman would have. But Riddick's quota of apathy seemed to have been reached. He could not look at the woman kneeling in front of him, her eyes mired in a grief he could not comprehend, and feel nothing. A sting stabbed into a part of him that he did not recognize. "But you....it was different for you, wasn't it?"
"Love is easy for me. I grew up with it. I just had to learn to use it carefully, discretely."
"I taught you that."
Moira shrugged. This was not a conversation she would have guessed she would ever have at all, much less so calmly. "Someone had to." She slapped his leg playfully. "Don't be so serious, Rick. Makes me feel terrible. We had fun, didn't we?"
He smiled. He truly smiled for the first time in...so long he could not remember. "We did."
"And I know you can't understand it, but I love my kid. She's the best thing that ever happened to me." Despite her good humor, Moira had the feeling that she would not get away from Riddick earlier line of questioning so easily.
"Was it worth it?"
"For Alexis, yes."
From somewhere in the depths of what might have once been his soul, Riddick felt a tugging throbbing familiarity. He could remember her saying words much like those once before in reference to him. Stars burst open inside of him. She had meant that he was worth it; worth the pain, worth the price. Worth her love. "I've felt more for you than anyone else in my life. It isn't what you wanted but it's all I have."
Moira closed her eyes against his words. She'd gotten more than she'd ever envisioned and it hurt more than she could have imagined. "For awhile, Rick, it was enough."
"Do you hate me?"
"No." She did not say that she might even still love him but he did not need the words. Besides she had no reason to turn herself into a wreck before his artificially enhanced eyes.
"Let me kiss you." He'd never asked before but he could not take anything more from her without direct permission. No matter how much he wanted it. She shook her head but leaned forward in a contradiction to her denial. He took her posture as her final answer and closed the gap between them. It was the first kiss all over again. All the innocence and freedom that neither of them had ever known and all the passion that they had. If another human being could offer atonement for sins long overdue for repentance, Riddick knew that Moira was that person to him.
Theirs' was a controlled burn, fueled
by time and desire but tempered by reality. It was slower than any kiss
that they had shared before and stronger. Nothing in the universe could
stop their prolonged seduction. Nothing except the scream of terror
that erupted from the room of their daughter.