Nothing to Lose, Chapter 14
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it ain't mine.
Title: Nothing to Lose
Chapter: Comfortably Numb, 14/?
Rating: NC-17 for language.
Fandom: Riddick
Summary: Jack has a nightmare and Riddick helps.
“What did you just say?” I must have heard him wrong. I had to have.
“He said that his name was Toombs and that he wanted to pick up where you left off.”
Jack slid back in her seat and felt Riddick become impossibly still beside her. “That can’t be right, Durjaya. Toombs is dead.”
“Jack, you can’t know that for sure…”
“Yes I can, D. I killed him.”
“Well maybe you didn’t do as good a job as you thought.” Riddick was surprised to see her jump slightly when he spoke; but then he saw the fire come back in her eyes and knew his words had the desired affect.
Jack shot him a glare before she turned back to the console, “What did he look like, D?”
“White guy, average height, average build, dirty blond hair that looked like a mop, mutton chops…”
“Sure sounds like him, chief.” Riddick glanced at Jack out of the corner of his eye. Her skin was absent of any color and her muscles were so tense, it was a miracle they weren’t spasming. She swallowed.
“Did he tell you anything else, Durjaya?”
Durjaya licked his lips nervously then looked turned his attention to Riddick. “Would you mind giving us some privacy, please?”
Riddick’s answer was practically a growl. “Yeah, I do.”
“Look, whatever he said about her is none of your business.”
“Bullshit, chief. While she’s with me, her business is my business. So I got every fuckin’ right in the world to hear what you gotta say.”
Durjaya was bout to try again when Jack stepped in. “It’s okay, D. He’s got a point. What else did he say?”
“He said he was looking for Riddick and a girl who was with him named Jack. Is that you, B?”
Jack gave him a weak smile. “In another life it was, but not anymore.”
Durjaya seemed to understand what she meant, and gave her a short nod before he continued. “He also said that a few years ago you were ‘playing’ with some of his men, then had a change of heart and took them out.”
Jack stared him down through the vid screen. “And what do you think, D?”
His gaze was intense as he looked at her. “I think that they were terrible men who took something from you they had no right to take. And that they deserved whatever fate the got.”
Jack didn’t know what to say. She was sure that Durjaya was giving her the watered down version of whatever Toombs had said, but he still didn’t think any worse of her. She gave him a watery smile, an unspoken ‘thank you’ between them. “Any of the other guys hear him?”
”Bhuvan and Nachiketa, but they’re of the same mind as I am. And don’t worry, they won’t tell the rest of…” whatever Durjaya was going to say, dissolved into peals of laughter.
Jack and Riddick exchanged looks thinking he had finally lost it. “What’s so fuckin’ funny, chief?” Riddick snarled.
It took a few seconds for Durjaya to get his laughter under control enough to answer. “It’s, it’s just, you know how you, I, and the guys were sometimes referred to as ‘the pack’? It just hit me…” he paused, and then at Jack’s quizzical look continued. “Jack’s pack!”
Jack let a small chortle of laughter escape her lips, but then quickly stopped herself. Only to burst out laughing at the look on Riddick’s face. She’d never seen such a severe scowl before.
“You’re taking this all awfully well, Jack, considering your life as you knew it just ended,” Riddick told her. He needed her to focus, not laugh like an idiot with the chief.
Jack turned to him and wiped a tear from her eye. “It had to end some time.” She watched as Riddick’s face softened ever so slightly, and it was that, more than anything that brought her back to reality. She turned to face Durjaya once more. “How ‘bout Mags? The mercs find out about him?”
“Nah, I had Kaushal bring him back to his garage and keep him occupied. The old man about drove him nuts, he said. The whole time he was there he kept singing, “You are my Sunshine” and trying to pocket Kaushal’s tools. He said to tell you, you owe him big.”
“I’m sure he did. Well, thanks for running interference and the update, Durjaya.”
“Of course Bhakti, anything for you, so what’s the plan?”
“D…” she trailed off and gave him a pleading look.
“I know, you can’t tell me. I get it.” Jack noticed he sounded slightly annoyed, but what did he expect? She never told him any of her plans. She trusted Durjaya, but on the off chance someone came looking for her, she didn’t want to put him-or anyone-in danger. Durjaya wouldn’t willingly give anything away, but he could be made to talk, and she couldn’t risk it. This latest development with Toombs only proved it.
“I’ll give you a call as soon as I can, D. Keep an eye on Mags for me, okay?”
“Sure thing Bhakti, take care of yourself, and remember,” he glanced towards Riddick for a moment. “You’ll always have friends here.”
Jack gave him a grateful smile. “I know, thanks, Durjaya.” She moved closer to the console and was about to cut the transmission when Durjaya called out to her.
“And B.”
“Yeah?”
With a mischievous smile he said, “My shirt looks good on you.”
“G’bye Durjaya,” she told him with a laugh as she flipped the switch.
Jack turned to face Riddick only to find him regarding her with his infamous deadpan expression. “So what is the plan?” his voice rumbled in the cockpit.
“As for right now, head to Fuistis to stock the ship. I’ve got enough supplies to get us there, but I don’t have enough for two people, and I have no idea how long this is gonna take.”
Riddick nodded his head in approval. “And after that, what do you wanna do?”
“Find out how much Toombs knows. Then I’ll find a way to deal with the bastard.” Jack turned towards the console to change the ship’s information again when he spoke.
“We.”
Jack didn’t look up from her work. “What?”
“I said we.”
She finished entering the last bits of detail on the new ship’s register and turned to face him. He looked so calm and controlled lounging in the co-pilot’s chair; it belied the intensity of his words.
“I still don’t follow you Riddick.”
“We will think of a way to deal with Toombs. He’s hunting me too, Jack.”
Her shock must have showed on her face, because he continued. “What,” he leaned in closer towards her. “You didn’t expect me t stick around?”
She leaned back and ran her eyes over him, from his shaved head to his ugly black boots. “I don’t know what to expect from you anymore, Riddick.”
Jack got up from the pilot’s chair and made her way towards the entrance of the cockpit. “I only have the one bedroom, so you’re gonna have to bunk on the couch. I’d give you the grand tour of the ship, but there’s not much else to see.”
She stopped by the utility closet on her way to the den and grabbed some extra blankets and a pillow. “You’ve already seen the galley, the cockpit, the engine room, and my room.” Jack glanced over her shoulder to make sure Riddick was following her, and then carried on into the den, nodding her head towards each room as she spoke.
“There’s a small gym towards the back of the ship, and the bathroom is right next to my room.” She threw the pillow and the blankets on the couch, then turned around, only to find Riddick right behind her, mere inches away.
He glanced down at the blankets, then back to her. “Expecting company, Jack?”
She hoped she didn’t look as flustered as she felt, “No. I just believe in being prepared.” She stepped around him and slowly let out the breath she’d been holding. “I’m gonna take a quick shower, then try to get some sleep.” She paused at the edge of the room and raised her arms to her sides. “Welcome to my home.”
Riddick laid the blankets out on the couch. “What did you name her this time?”
Jack gave him a knowing smile. “The Al Aaraaf.”
He raised one eyebrow. “The what.”
She turned and walked out of the room, calling over her shoulder, “Look it up.”
Riddick chuckled. Look it up. Yeah right, kid. He took a seat on the couch and started the movie up again. When he heard the water come on in the bathroom, he started to relax. She really was taking this better than he expected…
--------------------------------------------
Jack turned on the water in her shower, then quickly sank to her knees on front of the toilet and tossed up the beer and whatever else she had eaten that day. After her stomach was emptied (and after a few bouts of dry heaves) she brushed her teeth for a good five minutes and got in the shower.
Her mind was on autopilot and she was just going through the motions at this point. The scent of her shampoo and soap helped to calm her down some; they were a familiar and comforting constant amidst the whirlwind that was now her life. She turned the water on as hot as it could go, then sank down into a corner of her too small shower, hugging her knees to her chest.
The bathroom quickly filled up with steam, making it difficult for Jack to breathe. She cautiously edged her toes towards the blistering water and sucked a breath through her teeth as it touched her skin, but she didn’t move them away. Since Durjaya had told her about Toombs, she felt like she had died a little on the inside. It was like there was a constant ache inside of her, it wasn’t painful, it was just…there.
Jack counted the seconds her toes could stay under the scalding spray before she pulled them out and started the whole process over again. The times progressively got longer each time she did it. First it was ten seconds, then fourteen, then seventeen; she made it all the way to thirty-two before the adrenaline kicked in and she started to feel numb. Blessedly numb.
She stayed huddled up in the corner of her shower for a few more minutes before she got out and got dressed. She decided to leave her hair down for the time being and after turning out the lights went into her room.
Riddick hadn’t moved from his position on the couch, but she knew he wasn’t asleep. Even though he hid his eyes behind his glasses, she could feel him watching her. But if he wanted to pretend he was asleep, she’d let him. It had been a long day, and the last thing she wanted was a fight with the big bad himself.
She turned down the covers of her bed, grabbed her headphones and a book, and stretched out under the covers. Jack put in only one of the earbuds for her music, she wanted to be able to hear Riddick if he moved at all, and put on some blues. After she was settled and her pillows were fluffed out to her liking, she dimmed the lights in her room and called out, “G’night Riddick.”
----------------------------------------------
He’d heard her say good night, but didn’t answer her back. He’d felt the heat and the moisture escape from the confines of her bathroom when she came out from her shower. She’d been in there a long time, and he was about to go in and check on her when she came out. He feigned sleep so he could keep an eye on Jack, maybe she was more shaken up than she had let on. She had every right o be, after all.
He listened to her as she got ready for bed, and heard the soft sounds of her music and the faint rustling of the book as she turned the pages. Riddick waited until the pages stopped turning before he let himself fall off to sleep. This couch ain’t half bad. I’ve definitely slept on worse…
----------------------------------------------------
Riddick woke to the smell of fear and the sound of muffled whimpers coming from Jack’s room. He hurriedly tossed off the blankets and stormed into her room only to find her missing from her bed. He looked around and found her tucked into a ball on the floor between her bed and the wall rocking back and forth. The white from the long sleeves of were a stark contrast to darkness of her room, and he saw that she had a knife clutched in one of her hands.
Jack didn’t look up at him as he approached her. He moved as if he was confronting an abused animal, with slow steady movements. “Jack,” he called out to her. No response. “Jack,” he called out a little more forcefully.
Her voice quivered and she didn’t look up from the floor as she spoke. “I keep seeing it over, and over in my head.” He frowned as he looked at her, unsure of what to do.
“They’re in my head Riddick, and they won’t let me sleep. And when I do sleep they’re there haunting me.” Jack looked up at him, her bottle green eyes filled with sorrow and leaking the tears they’d been holding for so long. “I’m tired of being tired, Riddick. So tired…” she stopped abruptly as silent sobs wracked her body.
Riddick moved to her side and slid down the wall so that he was next to her on the floor. He cautiously took the knife from her hand and placed it on the nightstand next to her, still within reach. Then he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.
As soon as his arm was around her, Jack turned towards him and buried herself in his warmth. She kept trying to get closer, it was as if she was trying to burrow under his skin and make a home for herself. With him. Always.
Riddick didn’t say anything, what could he say? He sat there and just held her, letting her know that she wasn’t alone. His arm started to go numb after a while, so he lifted her up and sat her on his lap facing him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck as his arms went around her waist and pulled her close. He could feel her breath coming in shallow gasps, hot against his neck.
Riddick ran his hands up and down her back in what he hoped were soothing gestures. He could feel the ridges of her scars through the material of her shirt, which only angered the beast within. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm it down. It sort of worked. But each pass of his hand only further reminded him of what that cocksucker Toombs had done to her.
“Talk to me Riddick,” her muffled request brought him back to the present.
He paused before answering, wondering what the best way to handle this was. “What, you want a bed time story now, Jack?”
She sniffed. “No. Just talk to me, Riddick.”
“About what?”
“I don’t care. I just really wanna hear your voice right now.” She held on tighter. “Please Riddick.”
You’re headin’ into dangerous territory now. “This doesn’t change anything you know?” his gruff voice vibrated through her. “I’m only doing this so your fear doesn’t stink up the place.
Her breath shuddered. “I know Riddick,” her voice was small as she spoke. “Just please talk to me.”
Riddick let out a long sigh and brought one of his hands to the back of her neck. What the hell do I talk about? “Hammurabi was the sixth king of Babylon on ancient earth. He’s best known for his set of laws, ‘The Code of Hammurabi.” He felt Jack shiver against him and paused. “You cold?” Riddick felt her nod against his shoulder and reached a hand out to her bed to grab her blanket. In one fluid movement he pulled it from her bed and wrapped it around her.
“Better?” he asked. She nodded again and he wrapped his arms around her once more, continuing his story. “Each crime in his code had a specific punishment, most of ‘em ended in death or dismemberment. He was a real ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ kinda guy.”
“Explains why you like him so much,” came her subdued reply.
His silent laughter made both of them shake. “Yeah, kid. He was my kinda guy.” Her breathing was becoming deeper and more even. Good. Maybe she’ll fall asleep soon. “As I was saying, there were 282 laws, and each one of them had their own specific punishment. His first rule said that if a man started a rumor about another person and couldn’t prove it, then the man who did the accusing would die.”
Riddick went on to tell Jack all 282 laws of Hammurabi’s Code, and although he was pretty sure she’d fallen asleep by number thirty-three, he finished them all just to make sure. But now what was he supposed to do? Did he put her back in her bed? Should he stay with her? Did he take them both to the couch? He tried to get up, but given their current position, he couldn’t without dropping Jack onto the floor. Looks like I don’t have to worry about that now do I?
He carefully shuffled Jack around in his arms so he could grab a pillow from her bed and set it behind him. Then he settled back against the wall and quickly fell asleep, his senses filled with Jack.
Chapter 15
Title: Nothing to Lose
Chapter: Comfortably Numb, 14/?
Rating: NC-17 for language.
Fandom: Riddick
Summary: Jack has a nightmare and Riddick helps.
“What did you just say?” I must have heard him wrong. I had to have.
“He said that his name was Toombs and that he wanted to pick up where you left off.”
Jack slid back in her seat and felt Riddick become impossibly still beside her. “That can’t be right, Durjaya. Toombs is dead.”
“Jack, you can’t know that for sure…”
“Yes I can, D. I killed him.”
“Well maybe you didn’t do as good a job as you thought.” Riddick was surprised to see her jump slightly when he spoke; but then he saw the fire come back in her eyes and knew his words had the desired affect.
Jack shot him a glare before she turned back to the console, “What did he look like, D?”
“White guy, average height, average build, dirty blond hair that looked like a mop, mutton chops…”
“Sure sounds like him, chief.” Riddick glanced at Jack out of the corner of his eye. Her skin was absent of any color and her muscles were so tense, it was a miracle they weren’t spasming. She swallowed.
“Did he tell you anything else, Durjaya?”
Durjaya licked his lips nervously then looked turned his attention to Riddick. “Would you mind giving us some privacy, please?”
Riddick’s answer was practically a growl. “Yeah, I do.”
“Look, whatever he said about her is none of your business.”
“Bullshit, chief. While she’s with me, her business is my business. So I got every fuckin’ right in the world to hear what you gotta say.”
Durjaya was bout to try again when Jack stepped in. “It’s okay, D. He’s got a point. What else did he say?”
“He said he was looking for Riddick and a girl who was with him named Jack. Is that you, B?”
Jack gave him a weak smile. “In another life it was, but not anymore.”
Durjaya seemed to understand what she meant, and gave her a short nod before he continued. “He also said that a few years ago you were ‘playing’ with some of his men, then had a change of heart and took them out.”
Jack stared him down through the vid screen. “And what do you think, D?”
His gaze was intense as he looked at her. “I think that they were terrible men who took something from you they had no right to take. And that they deserved whatever fate the got.”
Jack didn’t know what to say. She was sure that Durjaya was giving her the watered down version of whatever Toombs had said, but he still didn’t think any worse of her. She gave him a watery smile, an unspoken ‘thank you’ between them. “Any of the other guys hear him?”
”Bhuvan and Nachiketa, but they’re of the same mind as I am. And don’t worry, they won’t tell the rest of…” whatever Durjaya was going to say, dissolved into peals of laughter.
Jack and Riddick exchanged looks thinking he had finally lost it. “What’s so fuckin’ funny, chief?” Riddick snarled.
It took a few seconds for Durjaya to get his laughter under control enough to answer. “It’s, it’s just, you know how you, I, and the guys were sometimes referred to as ‘the pack’? It just hit me…” he paused, and then at Jack’s quizzical look continued. “Jack’s pack!”
Jack let a small chortle of laughter escape her lips, but then quickly stopped herself. Only to burst out laughing at the look on Riddick’s face. She’d never seen such a severe scowl before.
“You’re taking this all awfully well, Jack, considering your life as you knew it just ended,” Riddick told her. He needed her to focus, not laugh like an idiot with the chief.
Jack turned to him and wiped a tear from her eye. “It had to end some time.” She watched as Riddick’s face softened ever so slightly, and it was that, more than anything that brought her back to reality. She turned to face Durjaya once more. “How ‘bout Mags? The mercs find out about him?”
“Nah, I had Kaushal bring him back to his garage and keep him occupied. The old man about drove him nuts, he said. The whole time he was there he kept singing, “You are my Sunshine” and trying to pocket Kaushal’s tools. He said to tell you, you owe him big.”
“I’m sure he did. Well, thanks for running interference and the update, Durjaya.”
“Of course Bhakti, anything for you, so what’s the plan?”
“D…” she trailed off and gave him a pleading look.
“I know, you can’t tell me. I get it.” Jack noticed he sounded slightly annoyed, but what did he expect? She never told him any of her plans. She trusted Durjaya, but on the off chance someone came looking for her, she didn’t want to put him-or anyone-in danger. Durjaya wouldn’t willingly give anything away, but he could be made to talk, and she couldn’t risk it. This latest development with Toombs only proved it.
“I’ll give you a call as soon as I can, D. Keep an eye on Mags for me, okay?”
“Sure thing Bhakti, take care of yourself, and remember,” he glanced towards Riddick for a moment. “You’ll always have friends here.”
Jack gave him a grateful smile. “I know, thanks, Durjaya.” She moved closer to the console and was about to cut the transmission when Durjaya called out to her.
“And B.”
“Yeah?”
With a mischievous smile he said, “My shirt looks good on you.”
“G’bye Durjaya,” she told him with a laugh as she flipped the switch.
Jack turned to face Riddick only to find him regarding her with his infamous deadpan expression. “So what is the plan?” his voice rumbled in the cockpit.
“As for right now, head to Fuistis to stock the ship. I’ve got enough supplies to get us there, but I don’t have enough for two people, and I have no idea how long this is gonna take.”
Riddick nodded his head in approval. “And after that, what do you wanna do?”
“Find out how much Toombs knows. Then I’ll find a way to deal with the bastard.” Jack turned towards the console to change the ship’s information again when he spoke.
“We.”
Jack didn’t look up from her work. “What?”
“I said we.”
She finished entering the last bits of detail on the new ship’s register and turned to face him. He looked so calm and controlled lounging in the co-pilot’s chair; it belied the intensity of his words.
“I still don’t follow you Riddick.”
“We will think of a way to deal with Toombs. He’s hunting me too, Jack.”
Her shock must have showed on her face, because he continued. “What,” he leaned in closer towards her. “You didn’t expect me t stick around?”
She leaned back and ran her eyes over him, from his shaved head to his ugly black boots. “I don’t know what to expect from you anymore, Riddick.”
Jack got up from the pilot’s chair and made her way towards the entrance of the cockpit. “I only have the one bedroom, so you’re gonna have to bunk on the couch. I’d give you the grand tour of the ship, but there’s not much else to see.”
She stopped by the utility closet on her way to the den and grabbed some extra blankets and a pillow. “You’ve already seen the galley, the cockpit, the engine room, and my room.” Jack glanced over her shoulder to make sure Riddick was following her, and then carried on into the den, nodding her head towards each room as she spoke.
“There’s a small gym towards the back of the ship, and the bathroom is right next to my room.” She threw the pillow and the blankets on the couch, then turned around, only to find Riddick right behind her, mere inches away.
He glanced down at the blankets, then back to her. “Expecting company, Jack?”
She hoped she didn’t look as flustered as she felt, “No. I just believe in being prepared.” She stepped around him and slowly let out the breath she’d been holding. “I’m gonna take a quick shower, then try to get some sleep.” She paused at the edge of the room and raised her arms to her sides. “Welcome to my home.”
Riddick laid the blankets out on the couch. “What did you name her this time?”
Jack gave him a knowing smile. “The Al Aaraaf.”
He raised one eyebrow. “The what.”
She turned and walked out of the room, calling over her shoulder, “Look it up.”
Riddick chuckled. Look it up. Yeah right, kid. He took a seat on the couch and started the movie up again. When he heard the water come on in the bathroom, he started to relax. She really was taking this better than he expected…
--------------------------------------------
Jack turned on the water in her shower, then quickly sank to her knees on front of the toilet and tossed up the beer and whatever else she had eaten that day. After her stomach was emptied (and after a few bouts of dry heaves) she brushed her teeth for a good five minutes and got in the shower.
Her mind was on autopilot and she was just going through the motions at this point. The scent of her shampoo and soap helped to calm her down some; they were a familiar and comforting constant amidst the whirlwind that was now her life. She turned the water on as hot as it could go, then sank down into a corner of her too small shower, hugging her knees to her chest.
The bathroom quickly filled up with steam, making it difficult for Jack to breathe. She cautiously edged her toes towards the blistering water and sucked a breath through her teeth as it touched her skin, but she didn’t move them away. Since Durjaya had told her about Toombs, she felt like she had died a little on the inside. It was like there was a constant ache inside of her, it wasn’t painful, it was just…there.
Jack counted the seconds her toes could stay under the scalding spray before she pulled them out and started the whole process over again. The times progressively got longer each time she did it. First it was ten seconds, then fourteen, then seventeen; she made it all the way to thirty-two before the adrenaline kicked in and she started to feel numb. Blessedly numb.
She stayed huddled up in the corner of her shower for a few more minutes before she got out and got dressed. She decided to leave her hair down for the time being and after turning out the lights went into her room.
Riddick hadn’t moved from his position on the couch, but she knew he wasn’t asleep. Even though he hid his eyes behind his glasses, she could feel him watching her. But if he wanted to pretend he was asleep, she’d let him. It had been a long day, and the last thing she wanted was a fight with the big bad himself.
She turned down the covers of her bed, grabbed her headphones and a book, and stretched out under the covers. Jack put in only one of the earbuds for her music, she wanted to be able to hear Riddick if he moved at all, and put on some blues. After she was settled and her pillows were fluffed out to her liking, she dimmed the lights in her room and called out, “G’night Riddick.”
----------------------------------------------
He’d heard her say good night, but didn’t answer her back. He’d felt the heat and the moisture escape from the confines of her bathroom when she came out from her shower. She’d been in there a long time, and he was about to go in and check on her when she came out. He feigned sleep so he could keep an eye on Jack, maybe she was more shaken up than she had let on. She had every right o be, after all.
He listened to her as she got ready for bed, and heard the soft sounds of her music and the faint rustling of the book as she turned the pages. Riddick waited until the pages stopped turning before he let himself fall off to sleep. This couch ain’t half bad. I’ve definitely slept on worse…
----------------------------------------------------
Riddick woke to the smell of fear and the sound of muffled whimpers coming from Jack’s room. He hurriedly tossed off the blankets and stormed into her room only to find her missing from her bed. He looked around and found her tucked into a ball on the floor between her bed and the wall rocking back and forth. The white from the long sleeves of were a stark contrast to darkness of her room, and he saw that she had a knife clutched in one of her hands.
Jack didn’t look up at him as he approached her. He moved as if he was confronting an abused animal, with slow steady movements. “Jack,” he called out to her. No response. “Jack,” he called out a little more forcefully.
Her voice quivered and she didn’t look up from the floor as she spoke. “I keep seeing it over, and over in my head.” He frowned as he looked at her, unsure of what to do.
“They’re in my head Riddick, and they won’t let me sleep. And when I do sleep they’re there haunting me.” Jack looked up at him, her bottle green eyes filled with sorrow and leaking the tears they’d been holding for so long. “I’m tired of being tired, Riddick. So tired…” she stopped abruptly as silent sobs wracked her body.
Riddick moved to her side and slid down the wall so that he was next to her on the floor. He cautiously took the knife from her hand and placed it on the nightstand next to her, still within reach. Then he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.
As soon as his arm was around her, Jack turned towards him and buried herself in his warmth. She kept trying to get closer, it was as if she was trying to burrow under his skin and make a home for herself. With him. Always.
Riddick didn’t say anything, what could he say? He sat there and just held her, letting her know that she wasn’t alone. His arm started to go numb after a while, so he lifted her up and sat her on his lap facing him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck as his arms went around her waist and pulled her close. He could feel her breath coming in shallow gasps, hot against his neck.
Riddick ran his hands up and down her back in what he hoped were soothing gestures. He could feel the ridges of her scars through the material of her shirt, which only angered the beast within. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm it down. It sort of worked. But each pass of his hand only further reminded him of what that cocksucker Toombs had done to her.
“Talk to me Riddick,” her muffled request brought him back to the present.
He paused before answering, wondering what the best way to handle this was. “What, you want a bed time story now, Jack?”
She sniffed. “No. Just talk to me, Riddick.”
“About what?”
“I don’t care. I just really wanna hear your voice right now.” She held on tighter. “Please Riddick.”
You’re headin’ into dangerous territory now. “This doesn’t change anything you know?” his gruff voice vibrated through her. “I’m only doing this so your fear doesn’t stink up the place.
Her breath shuddered. “I know Riddick,” her voice was small as she spoke. “Just please talk to me.”
Riddick let out a long sigh and brought one of his hands to the back of her neck. What the hell do I talk about? “Hammurabi was the sixth king of Babylon on ancient earth. He’s best known for his set of laws, ‘The Code of Hammurabi.” He felt Jack shiver against him and paused. “You cold?” Riddick felt her nod against his shoulder and reached a hand out to her bed to grab her blanket. In one fluid movement he pulled it from her bed and wrapped it around her.
“Better?” he asked. She nodded again and he wrapped his arms around her once more, continuing his story. “Each crime in his code had a specific punishment, most of ‘em ended in death or dismemberment. He was a real ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ kinda guy.”
“Explains why you like him so much,” came her subdued reply.
His silent laughter made both of them shake. “Yeah, kid. He was my kinda guy.” Her breathing was becoming deeper and more even. Good. Maybe she’ll fall asleep soon. “As I was saying, there were 282 laws, and each one of them had their own specific punishment. His first rule said that if a man started a rumor about another person and couldn’t prove it, then the man who did the accusing would die.”
Riddick went on to tell Jack all 282 laws of Hammurabi’s Code, and although he was pretty sure she’d fallen asleep by number thirty-three, he finished them all just to make sure. But now what was he supposed to do? Did he put her back in her bed? Should he stay with her? Did he take them both to the couch? He tried to get up, but given their current position, he couldn’t without dropping Jack onto the floor. Looks like I don’t have to worry about that now do I?
He carefully shuffled Jack around in his arms so he could grab a pillow from her bed and set it behind him. Then he settled back against the wall and quickly fell asleep, his senses filled with Jack.
Chapter 15