6. Jack: Reconciliation

She woke up with a pounding headache, a very sore arm, and no freedom of movement.

She'd been strapped down in a bed and covered with a blanket. The room was a small one but more spacious than she'd anticipated. There was even a small dresser, and her pack was resting on top of it. Usually apprentice spacers made do with the drawers under their bunks.

The hum of the ship's drive was omnipresent and almost soothing. Turning her head, she could make out the bandages neatly covering her upper arm.

_That son of a bitch,_ she fumed. She wondered how much time had elapsed. Enough, she suddenly realized, for them to leave the spaceport and for the ship's deep-space drive to kick in.

"Riddick?" she called tentatively. No answer.

"RIDDICK!" This time she bellowed his name. After a moment she heard heavy, familiar footsteps outside of her room.

He filled the doorway, huge and laconic. "Yeah, Jack?"

"What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing?" she spat. His casual attitude in the face of her pain was like a knife in her. She'd been dreaming of this moment for years and he had to go and turn it into a nightmare...

He shrugged and entered the room, coming over to sit on her bed beside her. "Right now? I was checking the System news to see if a greatly-exaggerated report of your death had shown up yet."

"You were _what?"_

He leaned over and began undoing the straps that held her down. "I'll show you when I find it. Another day or so and it'll be there. How do you feel?"

"Like a crazy shithead cut me up," she groused.

The bastard actually chuckled. She slapped at his arm with her freed hand.

"It's not fucking funny!"

"Jack, I didn't _want_ to do that," he told her patiently, fixing her with his silvery gaze. "I hoped you'd be clean. But they put a tracer in you because _they_ hoped you'd lead them to me."

"So it _was_ a homing beacon? Because if I go into menopause I _swear_ I'll rip _your_ equipment out and make us a matched set--"

He laughed. "Darlin', we're a perfect match already." His hand came down and rested against her cheek for a moment. "I've missed you."

She hoped the sudden lump in her throat and sting in her eyes didn't show. Why the hell did he have to go and be _nice_ to her now? She'd just been getting used to the idea that he was an asshole and he had to suddenly get sweet...

His voice was very kind when he resumed speaking. "It _was_ a homing beacon. High-tech. Designed to transmit a small signal that would slice into the nearest comm system and take it over, using it to boost its range. Serious black-ops equipment. They want me bad for some reason."

"So where is it?"

"Back at the spaceport. In 'your' corpse."

It was probably the most chilling thing she'd heard him say.

"My corpse?" She couldn't keep the tremor out of her voice.

He nodded. "A body will be found in the next day or so that will be positively identified as yours. There'll be enough evidence to link me to the crime. They're going to come to the conclusion that I thought you were luring me into a trap, and killed you in retaliation. If any of those fucks have consciences, it should eat at them some. Look what they got you, trying to use you like they did."

"Would you have?" she forced herself to ask. Her voice came out as a breathless, tremulous squeak. He looked over at her sharply, then frowned.

"Never, Jack. If you _had_ tried to entrap me, we'd be playing this out much the same way. Except..." he grinned slightly and returned to undoing the straps. "...I probably wouldn't be untying you just yet."

"You didn't... you didn't kill some girl... just to--"

"No, kid, I didn't. Last woman I killed was a merc who came gunning for me eight years ago. I don't kill women if I can help it. Call me a softie... just not to my face." He finished unstrapping her and sat back.

"So how'd she die?" She had to know.

He shrugged. "She turned up in the morgue a few months ago. Strangled, I think. From the coroner's report, I'd say she was probably hustling and hooked up with someone who liked it rougher than she could take it. Happens all the time, you know. Only thing of interest to me was that her body went unclaimed and she had a strong physical resemblance to you."

"So she was..."

"Just another teenage runaway who got eaten alive," he answered levelly, understanding what she needed to hear. "The way I made sure _you'd_ never be."

This time she couldn't keep the tears from filling her eyes. He saw them and drew her into the circle of his arms. Finally he gave her the welcoming hug she'd wanted. She let the tears out and sobbed into his chest, glad to be home again.