Fic: The Promise of Progress (Lost/Other, PG-13)
Title: The Promise of Progress.
Author: Prochytes.
Fandom: Lost/Other.
Rating: PG-13. Dark themes.
Characters/Pairing: Jack Shephard.
Disclaimer: Not mine, any of it.
Summary: It only ends once. Everything that comes before is just progress.
Word Count: 225.
A/N: Spoilers to 6x05 “Lighthouse”.
In Jacob’s room, beneath the Statue, there had been a hole in the ceiling. When you looked up from it at night, you could see the stars. It has been a long time since Jack saw the stars - or anything else, come to that. Ironic, as these days he owns pretty much all of them.
Jacob, of course, never needed to rule. Jack has been less fortunate. The enemies of the Island do exist. Once a species starts walking those stars, it really doesn’t have to walk far to find them. That knowledge is almost enough to make Jack share his predecessor’s distaste for tech. A loom instead of data-banks. A wheel instead of warp-drive.
A wooden chair, instead of a Golden Throne.
This is not to say that Jack has not made improvements. The Lighthouse functions infinitely better than before. The upgrade has a price-tag, of course. Jack grieves for the daily sacrifices that stoke the beams of its beacon now, flung so far into the void from Holy Terra. But that’s why they call it sacrifice, and Jack’s people bear it without complaint. Humanity has such a flair for faith.
One day the Lighthouse will deliver him a Candidate, as it did for Jacob before him. One day Jack will finally be able to die.
One day, Jack is going to fix this.
FINIS