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"I don't understand. Why are you here?"
Jack looked up through heavy lidded, sleep deprived eyes. He had to still be sleeping. Reaching his hand to the nightstand, the doctor pulled the string on a nearby lamp, filling the nearby area with light.
"Always the wordsmith. Nice to see you too, Jack."
There was no way this could be possible. Jack pushed himself up from the bed by his elbows and stared. "You're dead, I'm dreaming." He closed his eyes tightly, trying to force the image out of his head. When he opened his eyes again, there stood his father, face stoic as it always was in life. His arms crossed over his chest as he stood at the foot of Jack's bed.
Christian's voice sounded calm as it broke the silence that had fallen between them. "You know why I'm here. You have to bring the family back together."
"No..." A weight filled Jack's head as he shook it from side to side in another manner of affirming the negative. "I can't. You know why I can't."
The answer came almost immediately. "You don't get to say I can't."
"That's what Mom said."
"I know."
"How could you - " he was quickly cut off.
"I know a lot more than you think." There was a pause. "I know about Claire. And I know that you know."
A hand reached forward and flicked back and forth as if attempting to wave away an unwelcome image. "How do I know what to believe? How do I even know that you're here?"
"If you won't believe me, will you believe her?" Without another word Christian stepped aside, revealing a woman seated behind him. Her hair hung limply at either side of her face. Her sunken eyes blinked slowly. They were the only indication that a person lay behind the pale, lifeless skin.
"Hi Jack," she greeted. Claire's voice cracked when she said his name, as if she had fallen out of practice of using it. "He's right. You need to reunite the family."
"Is this about Aaron?"
What life seemed to have left her suddenly came flooding back. She stood up from her chair to stand alongside Christian, thrusting a finger toward Jack as her eyes flashed with anger. "Don't you assume that this is all because of him. He doesn't deserve what happened and you know what you have to do, so don't play dumb."
"I'm not - " once again Jack was silenced by whatever it was that seemed to be his father.
"We're done here. I hope to see you soon. You have work to do."
"Wait!" Jack leaped from his bed to get a better look, but as soon as his feet hit the floor there was nothing to be seen. He stumbled backwards and fell back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had no way of explaining what happened, whether he was dreaming or hallucinating, but whatever it was that he saw, it was right. Ben was right.
He had to go back.
OOC: This is kind of my segue post from season four going into new season five canon. (In just a few hours! EE! I'm so excited!) I have been trying to build up a growing sense of restlessness in Jack as he moves toward a new stage in his life. We'll see exactly what happens soon and how he reacts soon. I hope I've done a decent job of bridging the gap between seasons and I may have to do a bit more after the premiere. Please bear with me as I work with integrating new canon into rp. Looks like it's going to be a lot of fun!