{"id":1008,"date":"2022-03-10T11:42:28","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T16:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/?page_id=1008"},"modified":"2024-03-24T11:28:56","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T15:28:56","slug":"riddick-jack-and-louise","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/read-online\/riddick-jack-and-louise\/","title":{"rendered":"Riddick, Jack\u2026 and Louise"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 768px) {\r\n  .su-tabs-nav {\r\n    display: flex;\r\n  }\r\n  .su-tabs-nav span {\r\n    flex-basis: 100%;\r\n    text-align: center;\r\n  }\r\n  .su-tabs-nav span:last-child {\r\n    margin-right: 0;\r\n  }\r\n}\r\n<\/style>\r\n\r\n<input type='hidden' bg_collapse_expand='6a3e6aae542401077504616' value='6a3e6aae542401077504616'><input type='hidden' id='bg-show-more-text-6a3e6aae542401077504616' value='WARNING: Stories rated \u201cM\u201d are not intended for younger teens or those who are easily offended. 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If such content is objectionable for you or inappropriate to you, please hit your browser\u2019s Back button now, or close this window or tab. By clicking on this link to access the story, you are declaring that you are 16 years of age or older, and that this content is not illegal in your place of residence.<\/button><div id='bg-showmore-hidden-6a3e6aae542401077504616' >\r\n\r\n<div class=\"su-tabs su-tabs-style-default su-tabs-mobile-scroll\" data-active=\"1\" data-scroll-offset=\"0\" data-anchor-in-url=\"yes\"><div class=\"su-tabs-nav\"><span class=\" tabmoji-cover\" data-anchor=\"cover\" data-url=\"\" data-target=\"blank\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Cover<\/span><span class=\" tabmoji-pubdata\" data-anchor=\"pubdata\" data-url=\"\" data-target=\"blank\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Publication Data<\/span><span class=\" tabmoji-story\" data-anchor=\"the-story\" data-url=\"\" data-target=\"blank\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">&nbsp;&nbsp;The Story<\/span><span class=\" tabmoji-song\" data-anchor=\"the-song\" data-url=\"\" data-target=\"blank\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">&nbsp;&nbsp;The Song<\/span><\/div><div class=\"su-tabs-panes\"><div class=\"su-tabs-pane su-u-clearfix su-u-trim tabmoji-cover\" data-title=\"&nbsp;&nbsp;Cover\">\r\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:20px\">\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><span data-post-id=\"4127\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4127 \"><p style=\"text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0;\">&nbsp;<\/p><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><span data-post-id=\"4059\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4059 \"><p style=\"text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#pubdata\">Publication Data \u00bb<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Riddick-Jack-and-Louise.png\" alt=\"Cover art for \u201cRiddick, Jack\u2026 and Louise\u201d by Ardath Rekha\" align=\"center\" style=\"width:100%\" \/>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div style=\"margin-top: 20px\">\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><span data-post-id=\"4127\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4127 \"><p style=\"text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0;\">&nbsp;<\/p><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><span data-post-id=\"4059\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4059 \"><p style=\"text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#pubdata\">Publication Data \u00bb<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-tabs-pane su-u-clearfix su-u-trim tabmoji-pubdata\" data-title=\"&nbsp;&nbsp;Publication Data\">\r\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:20px\">\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><span data-post-id=\"3995\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-3995 \"><p style=\"text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#cover\">\u00ab Cover&nbsp;<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><span data-post-id=\"4062\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4062 \"><p style=\"text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#the-story\">The Story \u00bb<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<span data-post-id=\"1260\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-1260 \">  <h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><u>Riddick, Jack\u2026 and Louise<\/u><\/b><\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <h4 style=\"text-align: center; margin-bottom: 30px;\">By Ardath Rekha<\/h4>\r\n\r\n<span data-post-id=\"4502\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4502 \"><p><b>Synopsis:<\/b> On Jack\u2019s 14th birthday, she and Riddick watch <i>Thelma and Louise.<\/i>  Riddick discovers that this \u201cchick flick\u201d actually has bearing on his life and his feelings, and contemplates the difficult future ahead of him.<\/p><\/span>\r\n\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><p><b>Category:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/browse-by-genre\/#fiction\">Fan Fiction<\/a><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><p><b>Fandom:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/browse-by-fandom\/#pitch-black\"><i>Pitch Black<\/i> (2000)<\/a><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><p><b>Series:<\/b> None<\/div>\r\n\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><p><b>Challenge:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/browse-by-challenge\/#lyric-wheel\">Lyric Wheel #6:  \u201cFirst Times\u201d<\/a><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><p><b>Rating:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/browse-by-rating\/#rated-m\">M<\/a><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><p><b>Orientation:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/browse-by-orientation\/#het-plot\">Het (Plot)<\/a><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p><b>Pairings:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/browse-by-pairing\/#riddick-jack\">Riddick\/Jack<\/a>\r\n\r\n<p><b>Warnings:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/the-content-warning-system\/#adult-situations\">Adult Situations<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/the-content-warning-system\/#controversial-subject-matter\">Controversial Subject Matter<\/a> (An underage crush and its subject), and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/the-content-warning-system\/#harsh-language\">Harsh Language<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><p><b>Number of Chapters:<\/b> 1 \r\n\r\n<p><b>Net Word Count:<\/b><span id=\"su_tooltip_6a3e6aae69e3d_button\" class=\"su-tooltip-button su-tooltip-button-outline-yes\" aria-describedby=\"su_tooltip_6a3e6aae69e3d\" data-settings='{\"position\":\"top\",\"behavior\":\"hover\",\"hideDelay\":0}' tabindex=\"0\"><sup><i class=\"fas fa-question-circle\" style=\"color:#243a68;\"><\/i><\/sup><\/span><span style=\"display:none;z-index:100\" id=\"su_tooltip_6a3e6aae69e3d\" class=\"su-tooltip\" role=\"tooltip\"><span class=\"su-tooltip-inner su-tooltip-shadow-yes\" style=\"z-index:100;background:linear-gradient(to bottom, #4474BE 0%, #243a68 100%);color:#D9ECFB;font-size:16px;border-radius:5px;text-align:left;max-width:300px;line-height:1.25\"><span class=\"su-tooltip-title\"><\/span><span class=\"su-tooltip-content su-u-trim\">In the Read Online section, net word counts exclude cover pages, publication data pages, tables of contents, chapter titles, page links, original post date medatata, and \u2014 in the case of Lyric Wheel stories \u2014 song information and lyrics. In the case of articles, contextual notations are also omitted. Afterwords and chapter notes are treated as part of a text\u2019s overall body.<\/span><\/span><span id=\"su_tooltip_6a3e6aae69e3d_arrow\" class=\"su-tooltip-arrow\" style=\"z-index:100;background:linear-gradient(to bottom, #4474BE 0%, #243a68 100%)\" data-popper-arrow><\/span><\/span> 3,897\r\n\r\n<p><b>Total Word Count:<\/b><span id=\"su_tooltip_6a3e6aae6a369_button\" class=\"su-tooltip-button su-tooltip-button-outline-yes\" aria-describedby=\"su_tooltip_6a3e6aae6a369\" data-settings='{\"position\":\"top\",\"behavior\":\"hover\",\"hideDelay\":0}' tabindex=\"0\"><sup><i class=\"fas fa-question-circle\" style=\"color:#243a68;\"><\/i><\/sup><\/span><span style=\"display:none;z-index:100\" id=\"su_tooltip_6a3e6aae6a369\" class=\"su-tooltip\" role=\"tooltip\"><span class=\"su-tooltip-inner su-tooltip-shadow-yes\" style=\"z-index:100;background:linear-gradient(to bottom, #4474BE 0%, #243a68 100%);color:#D9ECFB;font-size:16px;border-radius:5px;text-align:left;max-width:300px;line-height:1.25\"><span class=\"su-tooltip-title\"><\/span><span class=\"su-tooltip-content su-u-trim\">In the Read Online section, total word counts include all text present in the story tabs, excluding forward\/back page links and tooltips. This count tends to be slightly different from the eBook Total Word Count reported on the title page.<\/span><\/span><span id=\"su_tooltip_6a3e6aae6a369_arrow\" class=\"su-tooltip-arrow\" style=\"z-index:100;background:linear-gradient(to bottom, #4474BE 0%, #243a68 100%)\" data-popper-arrow><\/span><\/span> 4,449\r\n\r\n<p><b>Story Length:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/browse-by-story-length\/#flash-fiction\">Flash Fiction<\/a><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><p><b>First Posted:<\/b> August 3, 2002\r\n\r\n<p><b>Last Updated:<\/b> August 3, 2002\r\n\r\n<p><b>Status:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/browse-by-status\/#complete\">Complete<\/a><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n\r\n<span data-post-id=\"4455\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4455 \"><p><small>The characters and events of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0134847\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>Pitch Black<\/i><\/a> are &copy; 2000 USA Films, Gramercy Pictures, and Interscope Communications; Directed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0878638\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">David Twohy<\/a>; Screenplay by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0003117\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ken and<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0923646\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim Wheat<\/a> and David Twohy; Story by Ken and Jim Wheat; Produced by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0257259\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tom Engelman<\/a>. The characters and events of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0103074\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>Thelma &amp; Louise<\/i><\/a> are &copy; 1991 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Path\u00e9 Entertainment, Percy Main Productions, and Star Partners III Ltd.; Directed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0000631\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ridley Scott<\/a>; Written by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0451884\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Callie Khouri<\/a>; Produced by Ridley Scott and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0689316\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mimi Polk Gitlin<\/a>. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hold_On_to_the_Nights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hold On to the Nights<\/a>\u201d is &copy; 1987 <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richard_Marx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Richard Marx<\/a>; Written by Richard Marx; Produced by Richard Marx and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/David_N._Cole\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">David Cole<\/a>; From the 1987 album <i><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richard_Marx_(album)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Richard Marx<\/a><\/i>. This work of fan fiction is a transformative work for entertainment purposes only, with no claims on, nor intent to infringe upon, the rights of the parties listed above. All additional characters and situations are the creation of, and remain the property of, Ardath Rekha. eBook design and cover art by <a href=\"https:\/\/laraklaber.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LaraRebooted<\/a>, utilizing a <i>Pitch Black<\/i> publicity still of Jack\u2019s goggles, a photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@socialcut\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">S O C I A L . C U T<\/a> licensed via <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unsplash<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/fontmeme.com\/fonts\/girly-almarkhatype-studio-font\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cgirly\u201d<\/a> font from <a href=\"https:\/\/fontmeme.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Font Meme<\/a>, and background graphics &copy; 1998 Noel Mollon, adapted and licensed via Teri Williams Carnright from the now-retired Fantasyland Graphics site (c. 2003). This eBook may not be sold or advertised for sale. If you are a copyright holder of any of the referenced works, and believe that part or all of this eBook exceeds fair use practices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/contact-me\/\">please contact Ardath Rekha<\/a>.<\/small><\/p><p style=\"text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0;\"><small><i>Rev. 2022.10.09<\/i><\/small><\/p><\/span><\/span>\r\n<div style=\"margin-top: 20px\">\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><span data-post-id=\"3995\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-3995 \"><p style=\"text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#cover\">\u00ab Cover&nbsp;<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><span data-post-id=\"4062\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4062 \"><p style=\"text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#the-story\">The Story \u00bb<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-tabs-pane su-u-clearfix su-u-trim tabmoji-story\" data-title=\"&nbsp;&nbsp;The Story\">\r\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:20px\">\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><span data-post-id=\"3996\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-3996 \"><p style=\"text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#pubdata\">\u00ab Publication Data<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><span data-post-id=\"4063\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4063 \"><p style=\"text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#the-song\">The Song \u00bb<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<span data-post-id=\"1467\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-1467 \">  <h2 style=\"text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px;\"><u><b>Riddick, <nobr>Jack\u2026<\/nobr> and Louise<\/b><\/u><\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">The birthday party, such as it was, had ended and the handful of kids Jack had invited from her school had gone home.  Imam had cleared the dishes, smiled at Riddick and the Birthday Girl, and wished them good-night.  Now it was just the two of them.  The Escaped Convict and his \u201ckid sister,\u201d newly fourteen.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cOkay, which vid do you want to watch?\u201d she asked, bouncing into the room with unrestrained exuberance.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Riddick chuckled and leaned back against the couch, the handful of new movie cards arrayed like a poker hand.  <i>I was never this young,<\/i> he told himself.  Of course he knew that wasn\u2019t really true, even if sometimes it felt like it was.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cYour pick, they\u2019re your vids.  But we ain\u2019t watching cartoons.\u201d  He set the card labeled <i>The Iron Giant<\/i> down on the coffee table, declaring it out of the running.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cAww, come on, it\u2019s a classic!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cPick again, kid.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">The couch shook as she landed next to him and leaned over, her shoulder pressed to his.  He lifted his arm and looped it around her, his hand ruffling her short, fluffy blonde hair in passing.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cOkay\u2026 what do we have here?  How about <i>Thelma and Louise?<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cWhat\u2019s it about?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cUm\u2026\u201d Jack flipped the card over, reading the back.  \u201cTwo women on a road-trip of self-<nobr>discov\u2014\u201d<\/nobr><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cChick flick.  Moving on.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cIt\u2019s not a chick flick!  Jeez!  I\u2019m never watching a buddy movie with you again, you sexist toad!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Riddick glanced at Jack in horror, only to meet her smile. \u201cOkay, okay, fine, we\u2019ll watch <i>Thelma and Louise.<\/i>  You sure you don\u2019t wanna watch <i>The Terminator?<\/i>  It\u2019s a <nobr>classic\u2026\u201d<\/nobr><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cBleah.  Arnold Shwarzenegger.  \u2019Roid Muscle Man.  If I wanna see muscles I can sneak into the bathroom when you\u2019re showering and at least they\u2019ll be <nobr>natural\u2014\u201d<\/nobr><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201c<i>Holy shit,<\/i> Jack!\u201d  He had to resist the sudden urge to cross his legs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">The girl <i>laughed!<\/i>  After a moment, Riddick felt his heart climb back into its proper spot and he managed to chuckle himself.  The idea of Jack spying on him in the <nobr>shower\u2026<\/nobr> <i>shit<\/i>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cOkay, that\u2019s it.  You got your popcorn, kid?  We\u2019re starting this show.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Grinning, Jack rattled the large bag of popcorn and set it on the coffee table in front of them.  She settled back on the couch while he walked over to the vidscreen and slid the card into the entertainment console\u2019s slot.  The movie began as he sat back down beside the girl, putting his arm around her once more.  Jack yawned.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cYou sure you\u2019re up to this?  Been a busy day.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cI\u2019m good,\u201d she managed through her yawn.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He chuckled silently to himself.  He knew <i>exactly<\/i> what was going to happen, and Jack was going to be fast asleep in under ten minutes.  He adjusted his position a little, so that when she did fall asleep he could hold her in comfort.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\"><i>She\u2019s never made it to the halfway mark in a movie yet with me,<\/i> he thought in amusement.  But the movie was only half the point, and the less important half at that.  It was the sanctuary.  Getting to be held by the one man in the universe she implicitly trusted.  That was the real driving force, the real point.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Jack yawned again and Riddick had to stifle one of his own.  <i>This <b>is<\/b> a chick flick.  Kid, you owe me.  I\u2019m gonna make you watch a western as payback.  Look out, little girl, you\u2019re watching <b>Shane.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Another five minutes and she was fast asleep.  He chuckled, grabbing another handful of popcorn and munching it quietly, careful not to get any in her hair.  She\u2019d settled halfway onto his lap <nobr>and\u2014<\/nobr><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\"><i>Holy shit,<\/i> Riddick thought.  His hand tightened on Jack\u2019s shoulder just a little as he watched the scene unfolding on the vidscreen.  <i>That man\u2019s about <nobr>to\u2014<\/nobr><\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He suddenly thought it was probably a good thing that Jack had dozed off.  If this did turn into a rape sequence, she might find that a little traumatic to watch.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\"><i>Excellent, Louise to the rescue.  Good move, lady.  Still, it might be a bit much for Jack.  I dunno as much about her past as I\u2019d like, but I know enough to know she\u2019s been through some harrowing shit just <nobr>like\u2014<\/nobr> <b>HOLY FUCK!<\/b> She <b>shot<\/b> him!<\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">This, Riddick suddenly decided, was no chick flick; this was <i>his<\/i> kind of movie.  He watched, enrapt, as the scene unfolded, feeling his heart race.  He felt <i>connected<\/i> to this woman, Louise.  The horror in her eyes, the cold terror filling her veins as the realization hit her, <i>I just killed a <nobr>man\u2014<\/nobr><\/i> he knew it intimately.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He still remembered his own first kill vividly, with heart-twisting clarity.  His insides still knotted when he thought about it.  Fourteen years old.  Jack\u2019s age.  He\u2019d been through a string of foster homes and detention centers, already, but his sense of powerlessness over his life had faded when he\u2019d bought the gun.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">It was some cheap-shit piece, but it had made him feel like he ruled the streets.  The next time some big fuckhead had come at him, he\u2019d pulled it, assuming he had the decisive edge.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">The man had laughed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Things got chaotic at that point.  His recollections were a jumble.  The man rushing <nobr>him\u2026<\/nobr> a spike of fear through his heart followed by a hard jolt along his arm and <nobr>then\u2026<\/nobr> the man\u2019s eyes had widened and glazed over as he collapsed to the ground.  Terror, then.  Pure terror.  Fourteen-year-old Richard B. Riddick had fled five blocks before collapsing against a wall and puking his guts out, partly from exertion but mostly from fear and horror.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He watched as, on the screen, Louise did the same thing, staggering out of the car to throw up beside it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\"><i>Know what you\u2019re going through, there, lady,<\/i> he thought.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Horrific as it had been, Riddick hadn\u2019t had it in him to confess.  He\u2019d fled.  He\u2019d hidden.  He\u2019d gotten some of his friends to alibi him.  And he\u2019d gotten away with it.  The sick horror had slowly faded and been replaced by a strange detachment, a sense of invulnerability.  He\u2019d killed a man and nobody had cared.  There had been no consequences.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">The next time he pulled the trigger on a guy, he\u2019d meant to.  That time, he didn\u2019t get sick.  It was frightening, in retrospect, how <i>easy<\/i> it had become.  How addictive.  Some of his friends had gotten into drugs, but for him nothing had compared to that power over life and death.  It was the ultimate rush.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Finally there began to be consequences.  At first, since he was still so young, prosecutors had a hard time getting <b>Murder<\/b> to stick.  He did time for manslaughter.  More than once.  He came face to face with the bigger sharks.  It put no fear into him, though \u2014 he just worked at outgrowing them so he could be the biggest, baddest shark in any tank.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">And he learned to hate.  Every time he pulled the trigger on someone, or drew his knife, he hated his victim.  Their death threatened his freedom and he wanted them to suffer for putting him at such risk.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Pure sociopathic reasoning, he reflected now.  The crash, and the ensuing year of peace in Imam\u2019s house, had changed him.  He was <i>connected<\/i> again, to other people.  Especially to the girl snoring quietly in his arms.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He smirked a little.  He would <i>never<\/i> tell her she snored.  She\u2019d be way too embarrassed.  Teenage girls \u2014 even \u201cchronic disciplinary cases\u201d like Jack \u2014 were extraordinarily self-conscious creatures, and she\u2019d be mortified if she realized.  The fact that he found it adorable wouldn\u2019t make any difference to her.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Turning his attention back to the movie, he listened wryly as Louise and Thelma argued over how to get to Mexico without going through Texas.  <i>Maybe if I knew my Earth geography better, I\u2019d know why this is supposed to be funny.<\/i>  He\u2019d have to dig out Imam\u2019s almanac later.  Not now, though.  Jack was sleeping too comfortably for him to move.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Louise, he decided, didn\u2019t just remind him of himself.  She reminded him of Jack.  That stuff about her past in <nobr>Texas\u2026<\/nobr> yeah.  There was Jack, peeking out of him through the actress\u2019s face.  The same haunted knowledge of past pain.  The same determination never to be exposed to it again.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">And like the women in the film, it fueled her into acts of aggression and even violence at times.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">She\u2019d fought from the moment they settled on the planet, and that was part of why, initially, he hadn\u2019t left.  When she woke in the middle of the night, screaming, from a nightmare either of the planet they\u2019d met on or some other aspect of her unspoken past, he was the only one who could calm her and comfort her.  He\u2019d decided to stay until she began to learn to sleep again.  By the time she did, though, he had new reasons for not leaving, which centered still around her.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">The fights were the reasons he could admit to.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Kids in her new school had teased her about her haircut and her deliberately masculine mannerisms.  New to the area, with no base of friends and too many things she wouldn\u2019t or couldn\u2019t confide in others, she\u2019d been isolated and increasingly angry.  The detention notices she began to bring home hadn\u2019t surprised Riddick, although they\u2019d upset Imam a great deal.  At first she was just getting into bitch-slapping contests with the other girls.  Then she began fighting the boys as well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">The day she came home with a black eye, a chipped tooth, and a suspension notice, Riddick had taken her aside and begun training her to box.  It was something that had helped him find discipline and peace, after all; he hoped it would do the same to her.  And maybe keep her from needing any more expensive dental work, which he\u2019d quietly arranged and paid for.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Imam had been furious.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">It was a subtle power struggle between them, but a growing one.  Imam Abu al-Walid had very clear ideas about how a young woman should comport herself, most of which seemed silly to Riddick and irritated Jack.  The Holy Man was <i>never<\/i> happy when Riddick took the girl\u2019s side.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cYou are encouraging her delinquency, Richard,\u201d he would say with a frown.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\"><i>Fuck that.<\/i>  Jack was no delinquent.  She was a good kid.  Hot-tempered at times, but what teenager wasn\u2019t?  He\u2019d seen a hell of a lot worse.  Shit, he\u2019d <i>done<\/i> a hell of a lot worse at her age.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Which, he conceded, was why his influence worried the Holy Man so much.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Of course, Riddick had no intention of allowing his history to repeat itself with the girl.  He\u2019d gotten pretty good, lately, at scoping her moods, learning how to defuse her anger, and getting her to react with a level head rather than a hot one.  She <i>listened<\/i> to him, in a way she didn\u2019t with Imam, because both of them knew that he\u2019d been there.  Both of them also knew that, to butcher a line from another classic movie, his \u201cteen angst bullshit\u201d really <i>had<\/i> garnered a body count.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">They\u2019d had a screaming match over it, two months ago, when she was suspended from school for breaking Jason Greenleigh\u2019s nose.  Imam hadn\u2019t gotten home yet to weigh in at that point.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cYou know the rules, Jack,\u201d he\u2019d shouted at her.  It was one of the rare times he\u2019d been angry enough to raise his voice.  \u201cYou\u2019re training now, you can\u2019t just go around <i>hitting<\/i> people who can\u2019t match you!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cFuck that!\u201d she\u2019d screamed back, from the other side of the punching bag.  \u201cI\u2019m supposed to just sit back and let some needle-dick call me a lesbian?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cYeah!  You are!  Who the hell <i>cares<\/i> what he thinks about you?\u201d  But he could see in her eyes that she did.  That she cared a lot about what people thought and said.  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">A year, almost, had passed since they had left the planet.  Her hair had grown out enough that people were no longer tagging her with nicknames like \u201cCue-ball\u201d and \u201cBaby Warbucks.\u201d  She was, in fact, becoming an obvious beauty.  She even had a small handful of friends she hung out with, most of them other misfits \u2014 the Loser Squad, she\u2019d told him, was what the rest of their class called them.  And as much as she liked to pretend that moniker didn\u2019t hurt, he knew that it cut deep.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cHow about when he grabbed my tits?  Was I supposed to let <i>that<\/i> happen?\u201d  She was angry enough now that his own fury didn\u2019t faze her, and she came out from behind the bag, stomping over and glaring up at him from inches away.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">His rage changed directions fast in that moment and he felt like breaking the boy\u2019s nose himself.  He could see it in his head, what had happened.  Jack had probably been walking down the hall between classes, when Jason has passed her and made his grab.  She\u2019d have turned around and knocked his hands away from her.  <i>Keep your fucking hands to yourself, dickhead!<\/i>  He could hear her saying it.  And things had gone downhill fast from there.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Like the guy in the movie, he reflected now, Jason hadn\u2019t known when he was outgunned, hadn\u2019t known when he should have shut up.  Like the guy in the movie, he\u2019d tried to reassert his power over the situation, as if he had <nobr>any\u2026<\/nobr> and had been taken down.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cNo,\u201d he\u2019d answered her, his voice softening.  \u201cYou weren\u2019t supposed to let that happen.  But you ain\u2019t gonna change people\u2019s opinions by breaking their bones.  Those assholes already have their image of you all worked out.  Anyway, nothing wrong with <nobr>lesbians\u2014\u201d<\/nobr><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\"><i>\u201cI\u2019m not a lesbian!\u201d<\/i>  For a second he thought she was going to take a crack at <i>his<\/i> nose.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cJack, honey, I didn\u2019t say you <nobr>were\u2014\u201d<\/nobr><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">\u201cHow can I be a lesbian <nobr>when\u2014\u201d<\/nobr>  She stopped suddenly, her mouth closing with a snap and her face paling.  \u201cNever mind.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Riddick took a deep breath, almost asking, but forced himself to shrug it off.  He <i>knew<\/i> what she\u2019d almost told him, after all.  He knew it entirely too well.  How could she be a lesbian when all of her sexual fantasies were about <i>him?<\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">It was a good thing she didn\u2019t say it aloud.  He\u2019d have been forced to say something he really did <i>not<\/i> want to in response if she had.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He\u2019d have had to tell her that she was too young.  He\u2019d have had to say that that kind of talk made him uncomfortable.  Both of those, at least, were true, but he\u2019d have had to pretend, above all, that the attraction was <i>not<\/i> mutual.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\"><i>She\u2019s thirteen years old, for god\u2019s sake!<\/i> he\u2019d told himself then, and now told himself yet again.  <i>Fourteen today, but shit!  Of all <nobr>people\u2026<\/nobr> why the hell her?<\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He knew why, though.  He knew exactly why, every time he looked into her eyes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He\u2019d never believed in True Love.  He\u2019d never believed in Soul Mates.  He sure as hell had never believed that he, of all people, had been searching for a special Someone.  All of that romantic crap, he\u2019d told himself, was for men whose pressing concerns didn\u2019t include dodging bullets.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">But he <i>had<\/i> been searching for Someone, even if he hadn\u2019t known it.  And he\u2019d found her.  She was right here, curled against him.  He knew it again, with heart-wrenching certainty, every time he looked into her beautiful eyes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">And she was far too damned young.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">The animal within didn\u2019t agree.  It looked at her and saw Female.  It knew exactly where she was in her fertility cycle on any given day, and seemed to consider that fertility all the logic it would need.  And maybe, when he\u2019d been younger and more callow \u2014 and less <i>human<\/i> \u2014 he would have listened.  After all, what was one more broken rule when you were already condemned to life in prison on four worlds, and had an outstanding death sentence on a fifth?<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Everything.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">This was <i>love,<\/i> not just animal lust.  So he had to stand back, pretend he didn\u2019t dream about her every night, keep the first real love he\u2019d felt for anyone disguised.  He had to \u2014 <i>had to<\/i> \u2014 let her finish growing up.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">There was, after all, so much of the Child still within her.  And that child needed to be respected, still.  And comforted.  And kept safe.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\"><i>Even from me.  <b>Especially<\/b> from me.<\/i>  He was the only one she had on her side, after all.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Imam had come home later that night, while he and Jack were pretending that she hadn\u2019t almost admitted her true feelings.  They\u2019d been sparring in the workout room when the Holy Man found the suspension notice, reading about the fight with Greenleigh and its outcome.  His response, immediately barging into the room and taking Jack to task for her behavior, had been disastrous.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He\u2019d tried to head the Holy man off, to tell him that Jack had already heard it all from him and was contrite, but it hadn\u2019t worked.  Another argument over her violent outburst had hit, and this time, Jack didn\u2019t get a single bone thrown her way.  She\u2019d ultimately fled to her room, furious and upset.  Riddick had gone after her, holding her while she cried.  Someone, after all, had to be on her side, or at least acknowledge that her genuine pain had led up to her violent explosion.  Someone had to give her comfort.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\"><i>And there\u2019s only one person she\u2019ll accept it from, anyway,<\/i> he thought with a wince.  <i>Me.<\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">That was the worst part, in a way.  He knew he could have whatever he wanted, any time he wanted it.  She trusted him on a level that she trusted no other man, not even Imam.  He saw it when they were out and about constantly.  She shied away from physical contact with strangers to an almost pathological degree.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">They\u2019d been walking through a book store, browsing the shelves, when he\u2019d noticed and identified it for the first time.  Jack had wanted to look in the Arts and Entertainment section, but several people were already browsing in the aisle leading into it.  She could have maneuvered around them, perhaps brushing up against them, but instead she\u2019d changed course and headed for another part of the store altogether.  Rather than risk contact, rather than whisper <i>excuse me<\/i> and pass between <nobr>them\u2026<\/nobr> she\u2019d avoided them altogether.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">It was a pattern, one that the hunter within him had quickly picked out.  He\u2019d observed it many times since then and it was consistent.  She went out of her way to avoid contact with strangers, especially strange men.  Even men she knew, she avoided touching.  Even Imam, who, he suspected, would have liked to lavish a greater degree of fatherly affection upon her.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He didn\u2019t know what, exactly, had happened to her to make her this way.  She refused to talk about it, clamming up the same way <i>he<\/i> did when she asked him about his experiences in Slam.  All he knew was what he deduced.  She\u2019d said, back on the planet, that she\u2019d disguised herself as a boy so people would \u201cleave me alone instead of always messing with me.\u201d  Sometime in her past someone, or several someones, had done just that to her.  She had been hurt, terribly, in a way that had left her unable to be at ease around men.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">There was only one exception; him.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">When he was near her, rather than tensing up the way she did when others approached, her body would visibly relax.  If he stood beside her, she would subtly sway closer as if drawn by a gravitational pull.  And if he put his arm around her, he could <i>feel<\/i> the tension <i>leaving<\/i> her body.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He had an \u201call access pass.\u201d  He was the only man in the universe she was actually comfortable <nobr>with\u2026<\/nobr> and that made things harder than ever.  If he made a <nobr>move\u2026<\/nobr> she would <i>let<\/i> him.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He couldn\u2019t betray her like that.  He couldn\u2019t.  It would destroy her.  It would destroy the woman she was <nobr>becoming\u2026<\/nobr> the woman he was in love with.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He already knew that the woman she would one day become would hold him in complete awe.  He caught glimpses of that woman-to-come on a regular basis, although the child was still alive and fiercely kicking within Jack as well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">And that was why he would <i>not<\/i> take advantage.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">In prison he\u2019d read a book about scientific observation, and about how no observer could truly be detached from their subjects because the mere act of observation <i>changed<\/i> the observed.  It was kind of like that, he told himself.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">The woman who held him enthralled did not yet exist.  She <i>would,<\/i> but not if he tried to jump the gun.  Any attempt to bring her into being prematurely would, in fact, block her way, leaving the <i>child<\/i> in place.  And while he loved the child, it was the coming woman who held his heart in the one prison he <i>didn\u2019t<\/i> long to be freed from.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">His own attempts, at a teen, to become a Man early were what had left him in a state of arrested development for years and years.  In some ways he, himself, was only just finally becoming a true adult.  Just as he didn\u2019t want Jack to do something that ruined her <nobr>future\u2026<\/nobr> he didn\u2019t want to do anything <i>to<\/i> her that would do the same.  She needed to grow up slowly, at her own pace, with no pressure on her.  All he could give her was friendship and support.  And that was all he could ask for in return.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\"><i>I wish I could give you more, kid.  Maybe <nobr>someday\u2026<\/nobr><\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He didn\u2019t know if he\u2019d make it.  She had four years until she was eighteen.  At any time, a merc might come gunning for him.  At any time, he might have to leave her.  Part of him knew that he should leave her now, move on, not stay in one place.  Part of him knew he should have left her long before now.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">But he couldn\u2019t go.  She needed him.  Someday he might be forced to leave, but until <nobr>then\u2026<\/nobr><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Until then, he\u2019d give her what he could.  Memories to hold on to, of being loved, in a way that didn\u2019t hurt her, that didn\u2019t demand anything of her, that might even heal her wounds.  A way that he\u2019d never known he was capable of loving or giving, until now.  He owed it to her.  To himself.  To Carolyn.  To the humanity he was trying to rejoin.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">He couldn\u2019t turn away from her, even if staying with her was, at times, mortal agony.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Jack slept on in his arms.  Richard B. Riddick \u2014 escaped convict, murderer, helplessly in love \u2014 sighed, and turned his attention back to the movie.  He watched as, on the screen, Thelma and Louise linked hands one last time and rode their car over the edge of the Grand Canyon.<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-indent:.25in; margin-bottom: 0;\">Four years.  In four years, maybe, there would be a place for them to explore what they both seemed to want.  If they made it there.  Until then, all he could do was shelter her and give her as much of himself as he <nobr>dared\u2026<\/nobr> and hope they made it to that time.<\/p><\/span>\r\n<div style=\"margin-top: 20px\">\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><span data-post-id=\"3996\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-3996 \"><p style=\"text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#pubdata\">\u00ab Publication Data<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><span data-post-id=\"4063\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4063 \"><p style=\"text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#the-song\">The Song \u00bb<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-tabs-pane su-u-clearfix su-u-trim tabmoji-song\" data-title=\"&nbsp;&nbsp;The Song\">\r\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:20px\">\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><span data-post-id=\"3999\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-3999 \"><p style=\"text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#the-story\">\u00ab The Story<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><span data-post-id=\"4127\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4127 \"><p style=\"text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0;\">&nbsp;<\/p><\/span><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<span data-post-id=\"1472\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-1472 \"><div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/6FNXO5yyJF0\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 20px;\"><b>\u201cHold On to the Nights\u201d<br\/>\r\n  written by Richard Marx<\/b><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0;\"><b>from the CD <i>Richard Marx<\/i><\/b><br\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RichardMarxAlbum.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px;\">Just when I believed I couldn\u2019t ever want for more<br\/>\r\n  This ever changing world pushes me through another door<br\/>\r\n  I saw you smile<br\/>\r\n  And my mind could not erase the beauty of your face<br\/>\r\n  Just for awhile<br\/>\r\n  Won\u2019t you let me shelter you<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px;\">Chorus<br\/>\r\n  Hold on to the nights<br\/>\r\n  Hold on to the memories<br\/>\r\n  I wish that I could give you something more<br\/>\r\n  That I could be yours<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px;\">How do we explain something that took us by surprise<br\/>\r\n  Promises in vain, love that is real but in disguise<br\/>\r\n  What happens now<br\/>\r\n  Do we break another rule<br\/>\r\n  Let our lovers play the fool<br\/>\r\n  I don\u2019t know how<br\/>\r\n  To stop feeling this way<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px;\">Repeat chorus<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px;\">Well, I think that I\u2019ve been true to everybody else but me<br\/>\r\n  And the way I feel about you makes my heart long to be free<br\/>\r\n  Everytime I look into your eyes, I\u2019m helplessly aware<br\/>\r\n  That the someone I\u2019ve been searching for is right there<\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0;\">Hold on to the nights <\/p><\/span>\r\n<div style=\"margin-top: 20px\">\r\n<div class='content-column one_half'><span data-post-id=\"3999\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-3999 \"><p style=\"text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0;\"><a href=\"#the-story\">\u00ab The Story<\/a><\/p><\/span><\/div>\r\n<div class='content-column one_half last_column'><span data-post-id=\"4127\" class=\"insert-page insert-page-4127 \"><p style=\"text-align: left; margin-bottom: 0;\">&nbsp;<\/p><\/span><\/div><div class='clear_column'><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<div align=\"center\" class=\"button\" style=\"margin-top: 10px;\">\r\n<a class=\"button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/fan-fiction\/riddick-jack-and-louise\/\">Return to the Title Page<\/a>\r\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Return to the Title Page","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":308,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"bgseo_title":"Read Online: \u201cRiddick, Jack\u2026 and Louise\u201d by Ardath Rekha","bgseo_description":"On Jack\u2019s 14th birthday, she and Riddick watch Thelma and Louise. Riddick discovers that this \u201cchick flick\u201d actually has bearing on his life and his feelings, and contemplates the difficult future ahead of him.","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1008","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","no-wpautop"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1008"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4943,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1008\/revisions\/4943"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ardath-rekha.com\/fanworks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}