Fic: The Third One Between (Jack/Sawyer/Claire)
Title: The Third One Between
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jack’s gone. He always thought that bastard was too stubborn to die. Turns out, heroes die too. Everyone dies. Everyone goes. He’s shocked that he’s shocked. Shouldn’t he know that by now?
Disclaimer: I do not own Lost. At all. I wish but alas...
Author's Note: Used for dayln03. This was as close as I could get. Merry Christmas!
Jack:
Life with Kate is simple. That’s why he stays, because that’s what he needs. It’s the opposite of the island - he has stability and order. His world is longer in chaos and he finally feels like he can breathe again.
On the outside. On the outside, he works to maintain the façade, because on the inside, he’s crumbling fast. The foundation of the lies he created are splintering, cracking into deep fissures inside of him. He has a good life here, with Kate, and sometimes he’s happy. But the other times…the other times he knows that this is a good life, but not the life he wants.
Not the person he wants. Because that’s really what this is about, what it’s all about. He has what we needs, but not what he wants. Try as he might to cram himself inside this life, he knows he doesn’t fit, and he never will.
Because he loves her, but not the way he should. Because she’s not him. And that’s really all there is.
Claire:
He doesn’t tell her much beyond that Aaron is safe and that he is where he’s meant to be. She asks about Jack, but he doesn’t say anything at first. His usual self-assured presence falters, as if his control slips for a moment and his mind is in another place.
It’s not time for him yet, he said once, and only once. Yet, she thinks it’s odd. Aaron, she believes is safe, knows instinctively somehow. But Jack…Jack, she believes, is in more danger now than he has ever been. She feels it and it chills her to her core. He is in a bad place now, and she worries for him nearly constantly.
And Sawyer? He is in more control then. His confidence returns, it seems. He tells her there’s a plan for him, and not to worry, he is where he must be as well.
It’s a wonder to her that she can be so certain that Aaron - her only son - is and will be safe where he is, and yet she fears that is far from the truth for both Jack and Sawyer.
There are things that he says he cannot tell her - “it isn’t time” - and she believes it is no coincidence that the things he cannot tell her are the very things that she wants to know the most.
Jack and Sawyer are not safe where they are. She knows this. His assurances of all things in time do little to appease her. Time, she thinks. There is too much of it, and still never enough.
Sawyer:
Everything is so damn close to chaos it’s almost a wonder he has the time to think about this kind of crap. Everyone is freaking out, screaming for Jack, and he and Juliet can’t bring themselves to tell everyone the Doc ain’t comin’ back. So all of the sudden, they’re made the de-facto leaders. The former camp outcast and Miss Otherville 2004. Don’t that beat all.
So between people coming up to him for damn near every little thing and actually trying to do something with all of this responsibility that got dropped in his lap, it’s damn near amazing he finds his heart seizes in his chest when thoughts like “how the hell did Jack do this as long as he did without having a damn heart attack” and “Claire’s Mary Sunshine routine sure would be a refreshing change right about now” run across his mind.
Jack’s gone. He always thought that bastard was too stubborn to die. Turns out, heroes die too. Everyone dies. Everyone goes. He’s shocked that he’s shocked. Shouldn’t he know that by now?
And Claire…who knows where she is now, or what happened to her out there. It’s the last time all over again, and after seeing first-hand what those crazy sons of bitches are capable of, whoever found her will probably make Ethan seem like Mr. Rodgers.
The more he thinks about it, the more pissed off he gets. Fuck his “responsibilities” and all of the crap people expect from him now. Jack is gone, he can’t get him back, and that burns like hell, but he’d be damned if he was just gonna sit around and let Claire get lost to this crazy place and all the freaks in it.
He didn’t keep her safe, so he’s gonna find her and he’s gonna bring her back. Everyone leaves, but he wasn’t gonna let go one the one he could get back. She was damn near all he had left now.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jack’s gone. He always thought that bastard was too stubborn to die. Turns out, heroes die too. Everyone dies. Everyone goes. He’s shocked that he’s shocked. Shouldn’t he know that by now?
Disclaimer: I do not own Lost. At all. I wish but alas...
Author's Note: Used for dayln03. This was as close as I could get. Merry Christmas!
Jack:
Life with Kate is simple. That’s why he stays, because that’s what he needs. It’s the opposite of the island - he has stability and order. His world is longer in chaos and he finally feels like he can breathe again.
On the outside. On the outside, he works to maintain the façade, because on the inside, he’s crumbling fast. The foundation of the lies he created are splintering, cracking into deep fissures inside of him. He has a good life here, with Kate, and sometimes he’s happy. But the other times…the other times he knows that this is a good life, but not the life he wants.
Not the person he wants. Because that’s really what this is about, what it’s all about. He has what we needs, but not what he wants. Try as he might to cram himself inside this life, he knows he doesn’t fit, and he never will.
Because he loves her, but not the way he should. Because she’s not him. And that’s really all there is.
Claire:
He doesn’t tell her much beyond that Aaron is safe and that he is where he’s meant to be. She asks about Jack, but he doesn’t say anything at first. His usual self-assured presence falters, as if his control slips for a moment and his mind is in another place.
It’s not time for him yet, he said once, and only once. Yet, she thinks it’s odd. Aaron, she believes is safe, knows instinctively somehow. But Jack…Jack, she believes, is in more danger now than he has ever been. She feels it and it chills her to her core. He is in a bad place now, and she worries for him nearly constantly.
And Sawyer? He is in more control then. His confidence returns, it seems. He tells her there’s a plan for him, and not to worry, he is where he must be as well.
It’s a wonder to her that she can be so certain that Aaron - her only son - is and will be safe where he is, and yet she fears that is far from the truth for both Jack and Sawyer.
There are things that he says he cannot tell her - “it isn’t time” - and she believes it is no coincidence that the things he cannot tell her are the very things that she wants to know the most.
Jack and Sawyer are not safe where they are. She knows this. His assurances of all things in time do little to appease her. Time, she thinks. There is too much of it, and still never enough.
Sawyer:
Everything is so damn close to chaos it’s almost a wonder he has the time to think about this kind of crap. Everyone is freaking out, screaming for Jack, and he and Juliet can’t bring themselves to tell everyone the Doc ain’t comin’ back. So all of the sudden, they’re made the de-facto leaders. The former camp outcast and Miss Otherville 2004. Don’t that beat all.
So between people coming up to him for damn near every little thing and actually trying to do something with all of this responsibility that got dropped in his lap, it’s damn near amazing he finds his heart seizes in his chest when thoughts like “how the hell did Jack do this as long as he did without having a damn heart attack” and “Claire’s Mary Sunshine routine sure would be a refreshing change right about now” run across his mind.
Jack’s gone. He always thought that bastard was too stubborn to die. Turns out, heroes die too. Everyone dies. Everyone goes. He’s shocked that he’s shocked. Shouldn’t he know that by now?
And Claire…who knows where she is now, or what happened to her out there. It’s the last time all over again, and after seeing first-hand what those crazy sons of bitches are capable of, whoever found her will probably make Ethan seem like Mr. Rodgers.
The more he thinks about it, the more pissed off he gets. Fuck his “responsibilities” and all of the crap people expect from him now. Jack is gone, he can’t get him back, and that burns like hell, but he’d be damned if he was just gonna sit around and let Claire get lost to this crazy place and all the freaks in it.
He didn’t keep her safe, so he’s gonna find her and he’s gonna bring her back. Everyone leaves, but he wasn’t gonna let go one the one he could get back. She was damn near all he had left now.