Chapter 3; The In-Between
She was supposed to be paying attention to the history lecture, 'supposed to be' being the key phrase, but she wasn't. Jack, as she'd decided to remain named, was too busy watching the clock. In half an hour, Riddick was going to call.
"Psst!"
Jack glanced to one side. Her only real friend in school, Alexa, was trying to get her attention. "What?" She whispered back, idly sketching one of the creatures from T2 on a blank page in her notebook. She only had Riddick's descriptions as to what one looked like up close, so each drawing was slightly different.
"Wanna come to my house? My brother'll be back from training."
Jack shook her head. "Rick's calling today." She put aside her pencil, gathered her books and waited. Two minutes and counting. She could almost see Riddick's face.
"Rick, Rick, Rick. Am I ever going to meet this guy, Jack?"
"Ladies!"
Jack and Alexa both looked up, but the bell rang, cutting off whatever the teacher had been going to say. The girls hurried from the room and out into the outside.
"I can't wait to get home and get into some real clothes." Alexa plucked at the robe-like dress that girls were required to wear to school, nose wrinkling in disgust.
"No shit." Jack loosed her shoulder length hair from it's braid, waves still slightly damp. She'd grown it out when Riddick had mentioned he'd like to see her looking like a girl for once, and she'd come to like the longer length.
They walked in silence until they reached the corner, and their building.
"So, are you ever going to tell me anything about this guy except his name?"
"Okay." Jack thought a moment, calling up his image from memory. "He's so cool, Alexa, even cooler than your brother. Rid...Rick's got this body that's amazing; tight muscles, wow, his ass is so very fine. He moves quickly...Bam! He can strike before you even see him."
"Oh really?" Alexa smiled, green eyes bright. "Cooler than Marc? Details, Jack, what's he look like? Eyes, mouth, tell, tell!"
"Don't be impatient. His eyes are shined; you know what that is?"
"Yeah, means he can see in the dark, right?"
"Uh-huh. His eyes are silvery because of that, but he told me that they were brown before he had that done. Rick's mouth...God, Alexa, it's so kissable, and his voice...kind of deep and a little gravelly, it's so sexy!"
"I guess." Alexa laughed, pushing her red curls from her face. "Call me later if you change your mind; Marc'll be here all weekend."
Jack waited until Alexa was gone before letting herself into the apartment she shared with Imam and his new wife, Skye. Neither was home. They always left so she'd have privacy to talk with Riddick. Glancing at the clock, she saw she had ten minutes to wait, so she hurried into her room and changed into pants and a tight shirt. The shirt didn't look right, so she tried five more before going back to that one.
She wasn't nervous. Really.
There was no reason to be nervous.
Was there?
At least the vid screen wouldn't show the flush that colored her cheeks or her hands that shook or even the fact that she was sweating like a pig just thinking about him. Jack sighed. Try as she might, she simply couldn't get interested in any of the guys she'd met in New Mecca. They all paled in comparison to Richard B. Riddick.
A beeping signaled the call was coming through and Jack hurried to answer.
Riddick placed his monthly call to Jack with some apprehension. There were only a two months left until the five years was up and for four months, the vid screen connection had been piss-poor. He'd barely been able to see her.
However, the cause for his apprehension was the fact that a man had come forward as her legal guardian. Imam, ever conscientious, had placed a report saying Jack, AKA Audrey Holmes, was alive and well and being taken care of. It was a stupid idea and one Imam had regretted long before the man had stepped forward. By this time, the man would have made his case before the courts and Imam would have to tell Jack. She'd gotten settled, made friends, and was living a normal life, but the age for acceptance was now twenty in many provinces and settlements. The court could well rule that she be sent to the man. Imam, of course, had a plan, but was being close-mouthed until the last moment.
Jack's face filled the screen, her smile radiant.
"Hey there. How you been?" Riddick settled into his chair.
"When are you coming back?"
She asked that every month.
"Soon." He smiled back at her. "How are the dreams?"
"Almost gone. And you?"
"They don't bother me much anymore" A lie, but then why tell her that in his latest nightmare he was unable to save her while one of those creatures tore her apart. "How's school?"
"Fine. I hate it though. Alexa and I are so much smarter than the rest; we're in the special class." She rolled her eyes, indicating she thought it was a joke.
"You mean the advanced class." He corrected. Imam had sent him regular messages on her progress. Jack was smart, extremely so, and picked up information as fast as he himself did. It made sense to him that she'd be bored.
"Like there's a difference."
Riddick smiled a little at that. "Anything new?"
"Alexa's brother just got home from Ranger training." Jack shrugged. "Skye lost fifteen pounds and gained ten back."
"Big news, Jack. I mean new with you. Got a boyfriend?"
"You actually expect me to socialize with these rejects? I showed a couple of the guys that move you taught me and they freaked out. Now none of them'll even look at me."
She sounded so proud of herself that he laughed, a harsh bark that showed he'd had little practice laughing in his life. "No one at all? Pretty girl like yourself without male attention?" He was prodding, but, dammit, he was curious. She was a pretty young woman; she should have men panting after her.
"Well..." Jack glanced to the left, then looked back at him. "There is this one guy...."
"Tell me about him."
"Riddick."
"Come on."
"He's a little older than I am, sort of a loner type and...I can't tell you."
Was she embarrassed? "Why not?"
"He's a badass."
"Like me?"
She paused. "Yeah."
"Is he good to you, Jack, or do I need to introduce the fucker to the edge of my shiv?"
Jack giggled, a sound he'd come to love. When she caught her breath again, she shook her head. "You don't need to get shiv-happy, Riddick, he's been very good to me."
"Tell him he'd better, or I'll be there waiting for him some night."
Again, she paused, and he wondered what she was trying to hide. "I will. You don't have to worry you know; he hasn't even kissed me. I doubt he ever will."
"Then you kiss him."
"I can't do that."
Now she was embarrassed for certain. "Why not? Only a stupid guy would ignore a pretty girl who's kissed him. Is he stupid?"
"No, he's very intelligent, but..."
"No buts, Jack. Next time you see him, kiss him. If he ignores you after that, he's an idiot and not worth your time." It was his turn to pause. “Hey, about your birthday gift..."
Jack blinked, then smiled a little. “I love it. I still haven’t figured out how to open it though. I will figure it out."
“No rush."
“Well, I wanna know what’s inside, unless you’re gonna tell me?"
“Now I couldn’t do that." Not when he wasn’t exactly sure what was inside. His beeper went off. "Aww, hell, I gotta get to work. Same time, same date next month?"
"Yeah."
He saw her bite her lip.
"Riddick?"
"Yeah?"
"Come back soon."
"I will."
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart and hope a merc doesn't kill me."
"That's not funny."
"I promise, Jack. Take care of yourself." He switched off the screen. Riddick stared at the blankness for a few moments before heading for the door and to his latest job.
Jack waited until the screen went blank, then kissed her fingertips and touched the screen where his face had been. She got up from her chair and went into her bedroom, lying on her stomach on her bed.
He thinks I'm pretty!
She allowed herself to grin, imagining how he'd react if she took his advice and kissed him.
"Man," She whispered, "he'd freak. There is no possible way he even knows I was talking about him. No way."
Rolling onto her side, she picked up the box he'd sent her the previous week. It was a puzzle box; one where the receiver had to solve the puzzle to open it and reveal what was inside. She knew there was something inside, could hear it rattle when she shook it, but couldn't seem to solve the puzzle. Touching the letters of her name carved in the top, she decided to wait until later to try opening it.
The bright golden rays of the setting sun filtered in through the curtains and she turned back onto her back, letting the warmth caress her face.
He will come back.
He promised.
Soon.
Chapter 4; Distress Call
After a long night of assholes and dickheads doing their best to start fights and him breaking them up, all Riddick wanted to do was have a shower, a meal and a whiskey and then go to bed. That wasn't going to happen, he found.
He'd just dried off from a wonderfully hot shower and slipped into loose pants, when a call came through on the vid screen.
"Mr. Riddick? Are you there? Mr. Riddick?"
It was Imam. Something in the man's voice prickled Riddick's senses and he moved to the screen to answer.
"I'm here. What's happened? Jack okay?"
"Oh, thank Allah you are there!"
"What's wrong?" He repeated. The holy man seemed extremely upset over something, almost distraught.
"The man, the guardian, he is on his way. The court says we have to hand Jack...Audrey over to him. We may be able to keep him back for a few days, but not long enough...she is only considered adult here, on New Mecca. If she leaves, she is under his guardianship. The courts here, I am sure they will cave in to him..."
"Calm down. Let's not panic just yet. What's his ETA?"
"Four days."
"I'll be there in two."
He broke the connection and started packing. All of his belongings fit in one bag. Riddick sent a notice to the bar where he'd been working, cleaned out his account and booked passage on the passenger ship New Freedom.
He hoped the name was an omen.
Riddick left the apartment and didn't look back.