Morph

Chapter 24: Trust

Sound asleep, Jack lies on the bed in a sweet slumber. Riddick walks in the room, pauses to look at her small frame and can’t help but smile. Jack makes him feel things he never thought he could possibly feel. They’ve been through so much together and after he’d left her on Nayarit, he thought he lost her forever. Jack surprised him once again by forgiving him. She’s smart, tough, kind and beautiful. What more could he possibly ask for?
Nobody has ever been this good to him. No one had ever trusted him so fully. When he found out about his long lost brother Riddick tried looking for him, but by the time he tracked him down, Ryan was dead. If it hadn’t been for everything he’d learned from Jack he wouldn’t have been able to look after Saia and Jason.

Riddick climbs in the bed next to her, leaving all his worries behind. Jack snuggles against his chest in her sleep.

‘She trusts me, even when she’s asleep’ Riddick thinks contently.

A while later, after unsuccessfully trying to keep his hands off of Jack, Riddick can’t resist any longer, he wakes her up and makes love to her, over and over again.

Hours later Jack wakes up to the smell of food. Her stomach growls and she yawns lazily. Looking over to the crono within the wall, she realizes she’s slept for 6 hours. She must have been exhausted. Riddick had worn her out. She gets up and pulls a robe over her; barefooted she pats down the corridor into the eating area of the ship. The table is set up and she takes a seat, watching him serve her. Riddick sits next to her and kisses her gently.

“Sleep well?” he asks, with a raspy sensual voice. Jack feels her cheeks redden and she smiles. It’s taking a while for her to get used to the idea that they’d finally gotten together. Although she’s not uncomfortable at all with it, on the contrary, when she’s with Riddick she feels safe, comforted and loved. Riddick just has that quality of making her feel like she’s twelve again.

“Like a baby” she answers. They eat and Riddick remains suspiciously silent. Jack notices. Walking to dispose of her leftovers, Jack turns to him and cocks her head. Much like Riddick does when he was trying to read her mind.

He looks up from his plate and smiles, “What?” and goes back to eating.

“What’s on your mind?” she asks drinking her orange juice. Riddick stops eating and leans back on his chair.

He takes a deep breath before speaking, “Deacon is aboard the ship” he says wearily.

Jack focuses on the floor and speaks aloud, “He’s on the ship? So he’s OK?” she asks feeling relieved. Riddick is wearing is famous dead pan face. He debates weather or not to tell her about Deacons plans to betray her. “Where is he?” she asks eager to see her friend.

“Cryolocker with the others” he stands up and clears the table heading toward the Nav bay. Jack can feel the tension. She’d have to keep those two away from each other.

Quickly she heads towards the cryolockers and spots Deacon. With a sigh of relief she inspects him making sure he isn’t hurt. How could she had lived with herself is Deacon had been hurt or even worse... killed. He’d risked so much for her and she would definitely thank him for it.
Riddick sits in the pilots chair and senses Jack standing behind him. Slowly he turns around in the chair and faces her.

“Back in Remora, that Officer that attacked you, believe it or not he wasn’t sent by Carmine.” He says with meaning.

“Really? Could’ve fooled me.” Jack steps to the side and sits.

“The Corporation wants me dead and everyone who’s associated with me. Now that they’ve discovered Jason’s gift they don’t need me anymore. I’m disposable.” He remains silent for a moment letting the words sink in.

“So they want Jason to be their guinea-pig, now that you’ve become unruly,” she says nodding to her question.

“I’m sorry I got you involved in this Jack” he leans forward so that she can see in his eyes.

“Don’t be Riddick. I have no regrets” his smile is weak. He knows the extent the Corporation will go to get what they want. They are all in danger, even after they reach the Clarendon System, he’s not sure just how safe they will be. They can always hire assassins.

After an intense search they agree to dock on a small planet called Oujda about an hour away. This planet inhabits mostly settlers and miners. They would be able to blend in perfectly.
Riddick makes a mental note to sit with Jack and tell her about Deacon, but not now. After they dock they wake Saia, Jason and Deacon, so they can stretch, take a shower and eat. The next trip will be even longer.

Riddick insists that Jack stay aboard the ship. The last time, he’d hadn’t sensed her in danger quick enough although he did get to her just in time. Jack of course refuses, she wants to see the planet. Much to Riddick’s dislike Jack invites Deacon along.

The three of them make they’re way to town and find the parts to patch up the ship. They head back to the ship and Deacon asks Riddick if he can help to which Riddick responds “You’ve done enough” Jack thought of this to be odd.

Clearly Riddick still doesn’t trust Deacon, but Jack sure does.

To be continued...