3 - RETURN TO DARKNESS

Riddick woke the next morning to the sound and smell of smokey bacon sizzling in the kitchen. He swung his legs out of bed, having all but forgotten the visions plaguing the prior day. For the moment, he was content in knowing Dahl was safe and nearby.

Pegreno 3 was a rural farming planet, owned and operated by the company. For the most part, each farm was maintained by a fleet of automated mechs and servo droids. The farmers were only there to make repairs on the mechs and machines as needed, and ensure the crops found their way onto the right transports as 99.6% of all crops were sent off world to feed other less hospitable settlements.

"Are you awake?" Dahl called in from the tiny kitchen. The apartment John's had secured them was small, but livable. Dahl had decorated it with a variety of hanging tapestries that concealed all manner of weapons, both edged and firearms.

Riddick smiled at the wide reflection in the mirror, a practice he had just returned to. Before Pegreno 3, he hadn't smiled in what felt like years. That wasn't true of course. He always smiled when facing down an enemy. But that was to get in an adversaries head, not for pleasure. He had not smiled for the pleasure of it in longer than he could remember. But his time with Dahl made him feel almost normal again. He stretched his arms to the sides as wide as possible, it felt as though his skin sucked in the fresh morning air,.and he called back, "Yes, and while I'm thinking of it, thanks. I needed a good night's sleep."

Dahl poked her head through the half open bedroom door and said, "Oh, you're quite welcome. It was my pleasure." Then she disappeared, leaving him to finish dressing and come out into the outer rooms.

The bedroom was spacious and bright with stark white walls and a few framed pictures hanging in strategic locations to maximize their soothing effect. Long sage curtains ruffled in the gentle warm breeze blowing in through the partially open windows. Blue filled the sky, green covered the land, and birds whistled in the billowing trees. It almost feels like Earth, he thought. The day smelled of warm sunshine, the fragrant flowers Dahl planted around their home a year earlier and the freshly mown grass of the nearby ball field. Life was, in a word, serene. At first, he had felt out of place there, as if he were a voyeur spying on someone else's life. But now, being there felt right. He was good at being a couch, he thought. The kids loved him and he they. God. He couldn't believe it. He had actually begun to fit in somewhere. He didn't want it to end.

Riddick sat on the edge of the bed studying the room thinking about how everything screamed woman's touch. Dahl had labored to create a picturesque home. A home like he thought would never be his again. But it was, and here he was sitting in it. He laughed and shook his head in disbelief, and thought, and I have a bunch of mercs who wanted me dead to thank for this.

His folded clothes hung draped neatly over the back of the small chair beside the left window, the way they always were. Because Dahl carried as much for him as he did her. They were good together; they just fit. Taking the clothes off the back, he saw an ornate wooden box on the table between the two windows and called out, "Where did this box come from?"

"What box?" she called back. "I didn't see any box."

He looked around the room, checking for signs of forced entry or a convenient way for an intruder to get in. There were a million ways someone could have entered the room, but no signs anyone had. The only thing out of place was a box that didn't belong there.

He opened it, forehead furrowing at the contents carefully preserved inside. He knew it well and knew who left it there. The knife he killed Zhylaw with years earlier stared out at him and a tiny voice in his mind said, "I'll leave you proof you cannot deny." It was the knife from the alley and the undeniable proof his vision presented. It was all real. His stomach tightened, a knot grew in his throat and he closed the lid, setting it roughly on its stand. The darkness had finally shown itself.

After dressing, he went out to their modest kitchen where Dahl was standing in front of the small 4 burner stove wearing the suit of armor she'd worn the first time they'd met. He stood watching her for a moment. The way a man watches a woman he finds attractive.

"What's with the matchy-matchy get up?" He asked, studying Dahl from behind with a raised brow. "I haven't seen you wear that get up since the day we arrived. Although," he added playfully. "skin tight armor does suit you."

She flipped two eggs onto a plate of bacon and toast. "Didn't you get enough last night?." she asked, shooting him a playful grin.

"Of you?" he replied. "Not possible." He sat down at the tiny round table next to the wall adjacent to the stove and watched as Dahl placed the plate of food on the table. "Aren't you eating?" he asked, gesturing for her to sit with him.

"I ate hours ago." she said, turning back to the stove and starting to clean up.

His head teetered on his broad shoulders. "Sorry. Haven't been sleeping well." He said, holding out the note he'd taken off the front door the afternoon before, "Here. If you're worried about this note, don't."

He listened as she stood reading it aloud: "Riddick, if you want a chance at a normal life, meet me at the following coordinates. I have the answers you have been searching for. Come alone. Kearyn."

"The note came scrawled over a star chart with a set of rendezvous coordinates marked on the back." He handed Dahl the map and waited for her to inspect it. DahI's mouth dropped wide. She let it fall to the table. "You know where that map is sending you. You're not actually considering meeting this Kearyn person way out there, are you? It'll take months in stasis to get there. And that's if you push the ship to its breaking point."

"Yep." Riddick replied, layering his bacon and eggs on the toast. He took a bite and his eyes rolled in satisfaction. "God, you make the best breakfast." he said, purposely being evasive.

"You're welcome." She replied, grateful for the compliment. "But can we get back to the note; it screams, come out to the middle of nowhere, so I can kill you."

He stood up, walked to her side and said, "It's not a trap. I can't say I know who this Kearyn person is." He handed her the paper, adding, "Because I don't. But I'm certain it's not a trap. There is..." His words faded away. He had concealed the true extent of his visions and what had happened in bed last night.

Dahl stood in the kitchen bathed in the sun shining through the small window over the sink and replied, "I knew it. You've been lying to me this whole time. You've been seeing her all along." She saw the blue energy flare behind his eyes and immediately wished her tone hadn't been so harsh. "I'm not going to Iose you like this." Dahl warned, ignoring his neon mood swing.

His stiff expression softened, and he reassured her, "You will not lose me..." he paused just long enough to caress her arm and stressed his last word, "ever."

"Fine," she conceded. "Tell me how you know this isn't a trap?"

Riddick gestured for her to turn the note over and when she did, her mouth fell open. A cold chill ran up her spine. She recognized the hand drawn picture on the back. It was the crayon drawing of a mother, a father and two children holding hands, he described.

"They're real" he said, staring at the drawing. "The little girl and the missing boy from my visions. They're real. And he knows who they are. He may even know where they are. I can find them."

"Real." Dahl said to herself as if in disbelief. "Find them."

"Yes. I don't know how I know it, but I'm certain I need to find them." he said, peering out the window with a worried scowl. If the drawing was real then the little girl had to be real too. " I need to save them. Whatever happened to them..." he paused, momentarily overcome by a growing sense of guilt. "it's my fault."

"Your fault?" she said, with a frown. "Until you found this note tacked to out front door, you had no idea they were even real. " She heard the words pass her lips and added, "This is nuts. You don't owe those kids anything."

"I think I do. I they're mine."

"YOURS!" she blared at him face turning red. "Did you forget to tell me you had kids?"

"I don't have kids."

Dahl stared at him. Arm. Fists on her hips. She shook her head half in disgust and half in disbelief. 'Either you have kids or you don't. Most parents don't tend to forget their kids. So, what is it. Do or don't."

He shrugged. "Don't. But it feels like I may."

Dahl mimicked his shrug, glared at him angrily and turned back to the kitchen sink. She grabbed the soggy dishcloth, and immediately began fighting with the dirty dishes, hoping that doing something normal would chase away the inevitable. But in her heart, she already knew he was going to leave the life they had struggled to build. A life neither of them wanted to give up. What made her maddest was the fact they had both known their separation was inevitable. She had always known this fragile life was temporary, but that didn't mean losing it didn't hurt.

Riddick walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. He whispered in her ear, "If this Kearyn knows the visions in my head, then maybe, he knows what's happening to me. I have to meet him. I can't wait until they come after us. A lot of people, including you, could get hurt in the cross fire. I can't keep losing everyone. I don't want to be alone anymore."

"It's obvious he knows something. That's what makes this shit dangerous." Dahl replied, slamming a plate into the sink with enough force to shatter it into a shower of tiny shards that went everywhere. She reeled around, tears streaming down her cheeks, pounded her fists against his broad chest and half cried, "Nothing is wrong with you. Don't you realize I love you just the way you are?"

He pulled her close, hugged her in his arms as she sobbed against his chest. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "You've seen it take me and still you stayed at my side when you didn't have to. I can't see her in your eyes, again. I can't lose you the way I have lost so many before you."

Dahl gazed up at him through squinting bitter regret and asked, "You saw her who? Did you see someone last night?" Her face turned red, eyes narrowed and she asked, "Was it when we were in bed together? She was in bed with you?"

He stood there nodding, knowing he couldn't keep lying; knowing he loved her too much for that. "Yes," he replied, not wanting to meet her eyes. "In the beginning, I thought it was another vision. But now, I think we share a connection that lets her get in my head."

"Don't we share a connection?" she asked, stepping back and jabbing him in the chest with her finger. "Don't my feelings matter?"

"You're the only thing that does matter." Hee said, smelling the scent of lavender and vanilla in her hair. It made him feel normal and he found himself wishing he could be normal like everyone else. But if he stayed with Dahl, that would never happen. The visions would never stop and someone would come for him. Their time together was over. The darkness growing inside him would take him completely if he stayed any longer. And if that happened, she would die like all the others. So he reached out, wrapped her in his arms as if holding his most precious gift ever and said, "Of course they do; I would never minimize your feelings. But you know something is trying to claw its ways out of me." He turned his face away, ashamed of who he was becoming. "I know you've seen glimpses of what's inside me and I know it frightens you too. And now, the darkness has found us again. So, I have to figure this out before we lose this chance forever."

Dahl reached up, gently turned his face back to hers and said, "The only thing I am afraid of... is losing you."

He wiped the tears from her cheek, kissed her on the forehead, "I never believed I could find happiness again. But if we are to remain together, I need to learn how to control this thing." he said, gesturing at his chest. "Besides, we both know I will have to face him someday."

"And then," she replied.

"We can come home."

"To hell with them all. We can stay here." She blurted, knowing that was not possible. They had already been discovered. Their time together was up.

"Hold on," he said, walking back into the bedroom and returning with the wooden box. "I need to show you something." He held it out for Dahl to take and gestured for her to open it.

She removed the dagger, inspected it with a foreboding look and asked, "Where did this come from?"

"That's the knife I ended Zhylaw with. I destroyed it during the battle and never saw it again until the alley on Helios 4." He took the knife, slid it into the empty sheath on his side "I asked for proof and here it is."

Dahl's jaw dropped, and she murmured to herself in a half frightened, half disappointed tone, "The visions were real."

"We're not safe here anymore." Riddick warned, placing the empty box on the refrigerator. "You're not safe here."

Dahl exhaled sharply, "I guess it's settled then, you'll head out soon."

"Suppose so." he replied, staring into the bedroom at the sage curtains wishing this day had never come.

"You still haven't told me about the mystery hottie in your visions."

"Really," Riddick said, smiling at Dahl's palpable tone of jealousy. "You're jealous of a vision?" He didn't think it wise to inform her there were two women now.

She turned her back on him, began picking up the remnants of plate littering the bottom of the sink and replied with a faint tone of disdain in her voice. "No... just tell me what she said."

He went back to the table, sat down and replied, "She said if I wanted answers, then I should go when he summons me."

"SERIOUSLY!" Dahl screamed. "Now the bitch in your vision is sending you into a trap." Dahl stood frozen, staring out the window over the sink and asked the one question she knew would hurt the most, "When are you leaving?"

"Late tonight. I just want a little more time with you before I have to go back to the darkness," He finished his sandwich with gusto and then added, "God, this is good."

His fervent desire to stay with her just a little while longer filled her heart with a needed sense of warmth. But the feeling faded quickly when she turned around, avoiding his gaze. Dahl walked to the table, sat down across from Riddick hesitating for a moment before saying, "Well, then I guess the time has come for me to tell you something, as well."

"Go ahead." he replied in a tone suggesting he suspected bad news was on the way.

She could tell by the grin on his face he already knew what she was about to say. "How could you possibly know?" she stammered angrily across the table. "Dammit," she blurted, "I wish you couldn't read me so well."

He smirked at her, finished the last bite of his sandwich and said in a purposely reserved tone, "Honey, I didn't think you donned that tight little outfit just to highlight your assets." Dahl's right eyebrow raised, she looked over her shoulder and replied with a coquettish smile, "You think my tosh looks good in these pants?" Then she turned back towards him, cupped her breasts with a smile and said, "I always liked the way the back brace makes the girls look great. You know, lift and separate."

Riddick's eyes flashed to her chest and then back to her face. "Don't change the subject," he said, sliding his empty plate into the middle of the table. Then he took a drink of the hot cup of coffee sitting in front of him.

"Excuse me," Dahl protested coyly. "I believe it was you who brought up the relationship between my assets and this getup."

Riddick nodded an admission of guilt and replied, "You promised you'd never go back to that kind of work again."

Dahl's expression hardened as she reached out, took his hand and explained, "I did, and that is a promise I intend to keep. However, my family is in a crisis and I will do as asked."

"What kind of family crisis needs body armor?" he replied, not realizing his tone was coming off a bit too forcefully. He never considered the fact that when he left, Dahl's assignment ended and she would rejoin John's.

"I don't know. I received a message from John's about some kind of trouble at home. He needs me to come home immediately." She answered, looking out the window above the kitchen sink as if she was trying to see home.

Riddick jerked his hand away, leaving Dahl halfway over the table wearing a look of disbelief and gestured towards the front of the house blaring at her like a lunatic, "How is your message any different from the note I found tacked to our front door?"

"Really," she barked, sitting back and rubbing the stinging sensation from the top of her hand. "It's completely different. I know the person who sent my message and would also add, I trust him with my life. Can you say the same?"

Riddick rose, moved to her side and knelt down. He reached for her hand, but to his shame, Dahl flinched from his advance. He took her hand awkwardly, rubbing the pain from her bruised skin in order to quell the sense of guilt welling up inside his tightening chest. "No," he admitted, staring down at her feet as if unable to look her in the eyes.

"Hey," Dahl said, raising his eyes to hers. "You know, he'd never let anything happen to me. You know the risks he took to find this place."

"I do." Riddick replied. "But I know if you stay here, you'll be safe when I'm gone."

She squeezed his hand and said, "I'll be fine there, too." She knew Johns would protect her the same way Riddick had. Although, she thought, I'm sick of men thinking they need to protect me, when they're the ones always getting into trouble.

Riddick said nothing. He just stared out the window over the sink wanting to take her with him and knowing it would place her in more danger.

"I'd like to ask you something?" Dahl said, trying to.

"Sure." He replied with a nod. "Anything."

"You never told me what Vaako's inner face looked like." Dahl asked, already suspecting she knew the answer. "What did you see?"

Riddick turned her chair out, curled his fingers through her belt loops and pulled her close to him. Dahl smiled reassuringly, wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders as the sun shining through the kitchen window bathed them in the warming light of day. After a long while, Riddick released her and finally answered, "It was me. His inner face was mine. I'm the monster."

Even though Riddick's answer made Dahl uneasy, she feigned a reassuring smile and kissed him on the cheek. "I wouldn't worry about it. It was just fucking with you."

"Maybe," he said, remembering his own bloody bluish face staring back at him. The sight of his own face made him feel nothing.

"The only thing we need to worry about is how we're going to spend our last day together." Dahl said, standing up and walking back to the sink.

Riddick walked to the refrigerator, removed a chilled bottle of wine and showed it to Dahl. She seemed pleased by his choice of vintage and watched as he retrieved a package of moldy cheese off the top shelf. He held it out so Dahl could give her approval, then went over to the cupboard beside the window and pulled out a loaf of freshly baked french bread. He took two glasses off the top of the refrigerator, got a sharp knife and a corkscrew from a nearby drawer. Dahl waited patiently when he left the room to retrieve a blanket from the bedroom.

He returned holding out a picnic basket and said, "Before we part ways, I'd like to spend one more day in the sun with you."

Dahl beamed a glorious smile at him, took him by the hand and led Riddick out the front door in the hopes they could love a lifetime in a single afternoon.