random fic based on a Jate thought
this story idea came from me rewatching the episodes where Jack is doing surgery and Kate is invariably attempting to help in some way. It isn't my prettiest fic ever but I wanted to share. I'm a glutton for criticism as well I should be.
Title: He always tells her twice
Author: hubschrauber
Pairings: Jack/Kate with hints of Sun/Jin
Genre: angst
Rating: G
Summary: Jack's thoughts
Warning: based upon the promos for the last aired episode but not the episode itself...if that makes sense
Disclaimer: I do not own anything not even my mind.
Author's Notes: I think too much. Trying to work on my Jack characterization because Season two Jack has been uneven as of late... so has Sayid. How the hell do they keep the fanatical Locke on an even keel but not the doctor and communications agent?!
Drenched from the downpour only minutes before, Jack is not cold. The swift spiral into despair as Sun is carefully placed on the makeshift gurney fades as Jack controls his fears with the medical language he knows by rote. Procedures witnessed then performed just like he was taught. This is who he is, despite two months on a Pacific shore. His mind tells him... Sun is hurt, injured, lacerations to head and arm... as his fingers quickly execute the routine of a doctor grown accustomed to adrenaline. He catalogues what he needs as Kate stands helpless, feet shifting in the sand. Jack tells her to go get bandages as the breeze off the ocean kicks salt into his eyes. "Kate," he says swiftly, the gasp of a man moving faster than his body should allow. He turns his head, eyes staring into her green gaze of sheer horror. "Kate! Go!" he orders and Jack watches as the realization hits her. Watches as she goes bounding off to the hatch, feet kicking up the sand in her haste. He tells her, because she’s the fastest runner.
A smell like copper pennies fills his nostrils, blood seeping through the cloth he presses to Sun’s forehead. He tries to ignore the growing crowd, yells that she needs space to breathe. Jack checks her pulse when her breathing slows far too much for his liking. Weak but steady, he is reminded of her presence when he operated on Boone. For all Kate’s physical strength she would not hold a candle to Sun in a hospital room. Jack remembers the way Sun knew, even before him, that there was nothing they could do. Her calm so unnerving as he tried over and over again. Jin sits beside her now, as is his right and Jack does not dissuade him. The wood between Boone’s teeth, the hollow needle she culled from a sea urchin. He wonders brieftly if things would have been different if she had sewed him up with needle and thread, not Kate. If he would still feel that irresistible tug at the pivot of his spine to the girl he will never know. He assumes that the answer is probably yes, but then, if he had heard the marshal’s words before he met her... Jack stops.
Kate is not the best nurse. He mutters softly as he inspects Sun’s wounds carefully, sand and dirt caked along the jagged line the laceration leaves on her left arm. Jack’s not sure he minds Kate being so bad at it. It means she cares, cannot separate the current trauma from the coming tragedy. It means, Jack thinks as he cleans the cut with some water, that for a moment she is so frozen with feeling and sheer visceral imagery, Kate cannot run. She can’t run. He imagines he is horrible for liking this, but it was even worse with Sawyer. He made her run for supplies, then she made him obsolete with whispered words and water. He left her alone with the man who loved her and she went running into the woods at the first sign of fever. Sometimes he thinks he has her all wrong. That unlike that first day, her breath so warm on his back as she made stitches along his skin, Kate will always run. Sun groans in her sleep and Jin bolts into action, clutching her hand tightly as he whispers in soft Korean. Jack never thought he would see this from Jin, but then, he does not know him either.
As Kate collapses beside Jack with more bandages than he needs and starts dabbing alcohol along the wound silently, he forgot about Claire. He was not there, but Charlie was giddy with assurances that she had performed admirably. She coaxed the younger woman out of her alarm and into the reality that she had come too far to stop now. He had heard about the moment when Claire refused to push but it had not registered how frightening that must have been. He was still too focused on what Locke might have done to Boone. Jack watches as Kate begins to wind gauze around Sun’s arm with a gentlenes he finds so rare in her. Sun has become her confidante, her friend. Jack checks Sun’s eyes and the whole camp watches as he and Kate refocus their attention without a word. She reacts instinctivley as he cleans the wound on Sun’s forehead, taking the bloodied cloth and folding it into a small square at the foot of the cot. Who knew she could be anal. "Is she okay?" Kate finally asks as he leans back and stares down at Sun. He looks up at her cautiously, Jin to her right and grimaces. "I’ll stay with her until she wakes up," he replies softly and Kate nods, pulls back as Jin begins to ask the questions he cannot answer, regardless of any language barrier.
Jack breathes a sigh of relief when Sun awakes. He listens to her story, pain evident in the way she tries to explain but cannot. Jin is no help at all, his role as protector so fierce in his features no translation is necessary. Jack understands Jin’s frightened anger far too well. He knows what he would do in the same situation. Jack scans the crowd for Locke his concern etched along the lines of his mouth. They stare for mere seconds before Locke gives his assent with a nod and suddenly Jack is in motion again, yelling at Hurley to tell Sayid where he’s going and Jin is quick beside him. Kate too. No. He allows himself to touch her, one hand on her shoulder, sweat warm on her skin. "I need you to stay and take care of Sun," Jack says firmly. She splutters indelicately, anger evident in her gaze. "Kate." Jack says her name with the bone-weariness of a man who is sick of games. She tries again, pushing his hand off her shoulder but he pulls her close instead. His hand grasps her cheek, presses it to his own, mouth mere inches from her ear. "Kate...just... please stay," Jack whispers this into the tangled coil of her hair. You are not the best nurse but you cannot be my patient. He needs her safe, as absurd as that sounds given where they are but he hopes she understands as her mouth becomes a mutinous pink line. She turns her head to brush a kiss unseen into his palm as she walks away. He smiles with relief as Locke and Jin begin their trek to the hatch for guns. "Be careful Jack," Kate says grimly, Sun’s blood on her fingers as he turns towards her with a nod. She only has to tell him once.
Title: He always tells her twice
Author: hubschrauber
Pairings: Jack/Kate with hints of Sun/Jin
Genre: angst
Rating: G
Summary: Jack's thoughts
Warning: based upon the promos for the last aired episode but not the episode itself...if that makes sense
Disclaimer: I do not own anything not even my mind.
Author's Notes: I think too much. Trying to work on my Jack characterization because Season two Jack has been uneven as of late... so has Sayid. How the hell do they keep the fanatical Locke on an even keel but not the doctor and communications agent?!
Drenched from the downpour only minutes before, Jack is not cold. The swift spiral into despair as Sun is carefully placed on the makeshift gurney fades as Jack controls his fears with the medical language he knows by rote. Procedures witnessed then performed just like he was taught. This is who he is, despite two months on a Pacific shore. His mind tells him... Sun is hurt, injured, lacerations to head and arm... as his fingers quickly execute the routine of a doctor grown accustomed to adrenaline. He catalogues what he needs as Kate stands helpless, feet shifting in the sand. Jack tells her to go get bandages as the breeze off the ocean kicks salt into his eyes. "Kate," he says swiftly, the gasp of a man moving faster than his body should allow. He turns his head, eyes staring into her green gaze of sheer horror. "Kate! Go!" he orders and Jack watches as the realization hits her. Watches as she goes bounding off to the hatch, feet kicking up the sand in her haste. He tells her, because she’s the fastest runner.
A smell like copper pennies fills his nostrils, blood seeping through the cloth he presses to Sun’s forehead. He tries to ignore the growing crowd, yells that she needs space to breathe. Jack checks her pulse when her breathing slows far too much for his liking. Weak but steady, he is reminded of her presence when he operated on Boone. For all Kate’s physical strength she would not hold a candle to Sun in a hospital room. Jack remembers the way Sun knew, even before him, that there was nothing they could do. Her calm so unnerving as he tried over and over again. Jin sits beside her now, as is his right and Jack does not dissuade him. The wood between Boone’s teeth, the hollow needle she culled from a sea urchin. He wonders brieftly if things would have been different if she had sewed him up with needle and thread, not Kate. If he would still feel that irresistible tug at the pivot of his spine to the girl he will never know. He assumes that the answer is probably yes, but then, if he had heard the marshal’s words before he met her... Jack stops.
Kate is not the best nurse. He mutters softly as he inspects Sun’s wounds carefully, sand and dirt caked along the jagged line the laceration leaves on her left arm. Jack’s not sure he minds Kate being so bad at it. It means she cares, cannot separate the current trauma from the coming tragedy. It means, Jack thinks as he cleans the cut with some water, that for a moment she is so frozen with feeling and sheer visceral imagery, Kate cannot run. She can’t run. He imagines he is horrible for liking this, but it was even worse with Sawyer. He made her run for supplies, then she made him obsolete with whispered words and water. He left her alone with the man who loved her and she went running into the woods at the first sign of fever. Sometimes he thinks he has her all wrong. That unlike that first day, her breath so warm on his back as she made stitches along his skin, Kate will always run. Sun groans in her sleep and Jin bolts into action, clutching her hand tightly as he whispers in soft Korean. Jack never thought he would see this from Jin, but then, he does not know him either.
As Kate collapses beside Jack with more bandages than he needs and starts dabbing alcohol along the wound silently, he forgot about Claire. He was not there, but Charlie was giddy with assurances that she had performed admirably. She coaxed the younger woman out of her alarm and into the reality that she had come too far to stop now. He had heard about the moment when Claire refused to push but it had not registered how frightening that must have been. He was still too focused on what Locke might have done to Boone. Jack watches as Kate begins to wind gauze around Sun’s arm with a gentlenes he finds so rare in her. Sun has become her confidante, her friend. Jack checks Sun’s eyes and the whole camp watches as he and Kate refocus their attention without a word. She reacts instinctivley as he cleans the wound on Sun’s forehead, taking the bloodied cloth and folding it into a small square at the foot of the cot. Who knew she could be anal. "Is she okay?" Kate finally asks as he leans back and stares down at Sun. He looks up at her cautiously, Jin to her right and grimaces. "I’ll stay with her until she wakes up," he replies softly and Kate nods, pulls back as Jin begins to ask the questions he cannot answer, regardless of any language barrier.
Jack breathes a sigh of relief when Sun awakes. He listens to her story, pain evident in the way she tries to explain but cannot. Jin is no help at all, his role as protector so fierce in his features no translation is necessary. Jack understands Jin’s frightened anger far too well. He knows what he would do in the same situation. Jack scans the crowd for Locke his concern etched along the lines of his mouth. They stare for mere seconds before Locke gives his assent with a nod and suddenly Jack is in motion again, yelling at Hurley to tell Sayid where he’s going and Jin is quick beside him. Kate too. No. He allows himself to touch her, one hand on her shoulder, sweat warm on her skin. "I need you to stay and take care of Sun," Jack says firmly. She splutters indelicately, anger evident in her gaze. "Kate." Jack says her name with the bone-weariness of a man who is sick of games. She tries again, pushing his hand off her shoulder but he pulls her close instead. His hand grasps her cheek, presses it to his own, mouth mere inches from her ear. "Kate...just... please stay," Jack whispers this into the tangled coil of her hair. You are not the best nurse but you cannot be my patient. He needs her safe, as absurd as that sounds given where they are but he hopes she understands as her mouth becomes a mutinous pink line. She turns her head to brush a kiss unseen into his palm as she walks away. He smiles with relief as Locke and Jin begin their trek to the hatch for guns. "Be careful Jack," Kate says grimly, Sun’s blood on her fingers as he turns towards her with a nod. She only has to tell him once.