24: Brittany House/Jake Hannigan, stages of a relationship: touch
Title: Eve
Fandom: 24
Pairing: Brittany House/Jake Hannigan
Prompt: #2 -- touch
Word Count: 1,525
Rating: PG
Summary: So we whisper a dream, here in the darkness; listen now, you can hear a heartbeat. -- Vanessa Williams, "The Sweetest Days"
Jake Hannigan had always had expensive tastes. He shopped only in department stores, preferred the luxury of fine dining over takeout if he could help it, and attended not one but two of the best schools in the country. He had come from considerable money, though he never discussed and rarely acknowledged it, and he had always managed it well. Thirty-seven years old now, he still had the money to do pretty much what he wanted, and he still had the attitude that said it had not ever mattered what he had in the bank.
The money had never been important to him. It had merely been a resource to help him achieve what was: success in the things he knew he was talented at. He knew what his goals were. Underneath the cavalier exterior, Jake Hannigan was still a good guy. He still believed in saving the day. Even if his ways of getting it done were different, even if he wasn't the poster boy for the job. The money had paid for the education, paid for the training, and it was there if he needed it. He hardly thought of it, and he didn't mention it, because he didn't want to be adding "spoiled rich kid" to the list of epithets already associated with his name.
Sometimes, however, he made exceptions.
He was spending the weekend in Columbus, Ohio. Brittany was making her coaching debut as an associate with the Princeton Tigers, who were playing in a tournament hosted at Ohio State. For Jake, the idea was bittersweet. He had molded her for this moment she had wanted so badly, but this meant she was truly not coming back to CTU, and he was cynical about their friendship -- if he would call it that -- surviving beyond the world he still lived in. But her husband and son and even Kyle were all going to be there, and he couldn't quite talk himself out of making the trip.
This was two days later. Jake had watched Princeton lose its first game of the new season to Loyola of Chicago yesterday. But then this afternoon, he had watched them learn from their mistakes and take down Virginia Military. It was their first win. It was her first win.
There had been a celebration, of course. There had been a dinner where they'd all enjoyed the victory. Jake had not been in any of those moments. He had kept to himself, the only thought on his mind that he was now the one in control, and he had taught her well. He doubted she even remembered he was there.
At least, until he turned up outside her hotel room that night. She came up the stairs and there he was, leaning on the railing, twirling a cigarette between his fingertips and looking out at the pool. Their eyes met, and he could see the flicker of surprise in her look. He was too busy looking at how much younger she seemed to be with the weight of the world off her shoulders. He envied her that youth.
"You'd better not be smoking that," she said half-sternly, as she crossed the distance between them.
"I'm not." He pointed it at her to prove that it wasn't lit, then tucked it back into the pocket of his black leather jacket. "I haven't smoked in three years, I just wanted to see your reaction." A small smile, not quite a smirk.
She just shook her head. "How'd you find me here?"
"I thought you'd take a walk around, let it all sink in. Keep it from going to your head." The look he gave her said that he'd known her for almost a year and a half now, which in CTU made it feel like four years, and he knew the way that she thought, even now. "I wanted to come by. Say congratulations."
Brittany swallowed a slight lump in her throat. "Thanks," she said softly, looking out at the pool below them both, and the rapidly setting sun. She was quiet for a moment before she said, "It really was the right thing to do."
Jake looked down at his hands, at the silver band ring on his left ring finger. That hurt, in some sense, but in another sense he felt validated. She had told him, time and time again, that this would not have been possible without his experience and constant motivation to do her best. The man who was no longer trusted to be a leader had managed to find her the direction she'd been searching for. He was not done yet, not by a long shot. That had been a lesson he'd had to learn the hard way.
That was what he owed her. He supposed they were even now, as even as they'd ever be, in a relationship as tempestuous as it was deep. He didn't suppose it mattered whether they were even or not.
"You looked scared out there," he told her honestly, resting his forearms on the railing. "You looked whipped. You have to go out there and fight for this, if it's what you really want." A slight smirk. "I know that might be difficult, seeing as how you never managed to beat me."
"I beg to differ." She smiled, just a little. "I beat your ass good a couple of times."
"Not before I got a piece of you first."
The strangeness of his words struck him as they rolled off his tongue. Wasn't that what they had ended up with? After all the blood, sweat, tears, epithets, knock-down, drag-out fights, they had ended up with a piece of each other lodged somewhere that they didn't know what the hell to do with?
He dug into the other pocket of his jacket. "I want to give you something," he said softly.
Brittany's eyes widened, and she looked at him with a certain amount of surprise. He almost thought he saw her blushing. "That's not necessary," she protested. In her eyes, the gift she'd gotten had been winning that game. That was what she'd been praying for.
But for Jake Hannigan, that wasn't good enough. "Shut up," he told her, and the serious yet contemplative look in his eyes backed that up.
He pulled out the slim box which contained the pendant he'd purchased while she'd been off ordering a round of celebratory dessert with her team members. Without saying a word, he opened the box, and held it between the two of them. He wasn't going to tell her that it had cost him two thousand dollars outright. That didn't matter.
Not that he had to tell her. Brittany was one of those people who had picked up on the hint that Jake probably came from a good deal of money. She'd figured that out from the way he'd always looked good, wearing clothes with brands she knew had to be costing him more than she made in weeks or a month. The way he carried himself. She knew he had something up his sleeve. This only proved it, as she stared at the gold and the five diamonds, honestly awestruck. She had never expected something like this from a man who had once hated her so much.
"I have no idea what to say," she finally whispered.
"I don't care what you say." His eyes met hers, and the gratitude and honest respect he saw there made it all worth it. He had chosen a piece that was meant to last, something that would endure no matter what happened. Something that was supposed to represent the strengthening of love over time. Both things that he wanted this relationship to be, and she would understand that, in time. The things he couldn't say.
He chose not to say anything else as he lifted the necklace out of the box and carefully moved to stand behind her, sweeping her hair out of the way before he draped it around her neck and clasped it in place. He stood there for another long moment, watching her as she watched the diamonds sparkle in the glow from the hotel lights around them. The only reason she wasn't crying was because she didn't want him to see her cry.
Jake settled his hands on her hips. Then slowly, gingerly, he drew his arms around her. He settled his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. He could breathe in the scent of her. Feel the strength of steel in her veins, yet that human heart inside of her, the one that was scared to death of the rest of her life. Yet the one that had always cared and would never stop feeling. This was what being alive was supposed to be about, and he never understood that more than in stolen moments like these, in the silence, with someone who was willing to listen.
He kissed her shoulder gently. "I'm proud of you," he told her, and he had never meant anything so sincerely, and it was the first time he wanted the whole world to hear it.
Fandom: 24
Pairing: Brittany House/Jake Hannigan
Prompt: #2 -- touch
Word Count: 1,525
Rating: PG
Summary: So we whisper a dream, here in the darkness; listen now, you can hear a heartbeat. -- Vanessa Williams, "The Sweetest Days"
Jake Hannigan had always had expensive tastes. He shopped only in department stores, preferred the luxury of fine dining over takeout if he could help it, and attended not one but two of the best schools in the country. He had come from considerable money, though he never discussed and rarely acknowledged it, and he had always managed it well. Thirty-seven years old now, he still had the money to do pretty much what he wanted, and he still had the attitude that said it had not ever mattered what he had in the bank.
The money had never been important to him. It had merely been a resource to help him achieve what was: success in the things he knew he was talented at. He knew what his goals were. Underneath the cavalier exterior, Jake Hannigan was still a good guy. He still believed in saving the day. Even if his ways of getting it done were different, even if he wasn't the poster boy for the job. The money had paid for the education, paid for the training, and it was there if he needed it. He hardly thought of it, and he didn't mention it, because he didn't want to be adding "spoiled rich kid" to the list of epithets already associated with his name.
Sometimes, however, he made exceptions.
He was spending the weekend in Columbus, Ohio. Brittany was making her coaching debut as an associate with the Princeton Tigers, who were playing in a tournament hosted at Ohio State. For Jake, the idea was bittersweet. He had molded her for this moment she had wanted so badly, but this meant she was truly not coming back to CTU, and he was cynical about their friendship -- if he would call it that -- surviving beyond the world he still lived in. But her husband and son and even Kyle were all going to be there, and he couldn't quite talk himself out of making the trip.
This was two days later. Jake had watched Princeton lose its first game of the new season to Loyola of Chicago yesterday. But then this afternoon, he had watched them learn from their mistakes and take down Virginia Military. It was their first win. It was her first win.
There had been a celebration, of course. There had been a dinner where they'd all enjoyed the victory. Jake had not been in any of those moments. He had kept to himself, the only thought on his mind that he was now the one in control, and he had taught her well. He doubted she even remembered he was there.
At least, until he turned up outside her hotel room that night. She came up the stairs and there he was, leaning on the railing, twirling a cigarette between his fingertips and looking out at the pool. Their eyes met, and he could see the flicker of surprise in her look. He was too busy looking at how much younger she seemed to be with the weight of the world off her shoulders. He envied her that youth.
"You'd better not be smoking that," she said half-sternly, as she crossed the distance between them.
"I'm not." He pointed it at her to prove that it wasn't lit, then tucked it back into the pocket of his black leather jacket. "I haven't smoked in three years, I just wanted to see your reaction." A small smile, not quite a smirk.
She just shook her head. "How'd you find me here?"
"I thought you'd take a walk around, let it all sink in. Keep it from going to your head." The look he gave her said that he'd known her for almost a year and a half now, which in CTU made it feel like four years, and he knew the way that she thought, even now. "I wanted to come by. Say congratulations."
Brittany swallowed a slight lump in her throat. "Thanks," she said softly, looking out at the pool below them both, and the rapidly setting sun. She was quiet for a moment before she said, "It really was the right thing to do."
Jake looked down at his hands, at the silver band ring on his left ring finger. That hurt, in some sense, but in another sense he felt validated. She had told him, time and time again, that this would not have been possible without his experience and constant motivation to do her best. The man who was no longer trusted to be a leader had managed to find her the direction she'd been searching for. He was not done yet, not by a long shot. That had been a lesson he'd had to learn the hard way.
That was what he owed her. He supposed they were even now, as even as they'd ever be, in a relationship as tempestuous as it was deep. He didn't suppose it mattered whether they were even or not.
"You looked scared out there," he told her honestly, resting his forearms on the railing. "You looked whipped. You have to go out there and fight for this, if it's what you really want." A slight smirk. "I know that might be difficult, seeing as how you never managed to beat me."
"I beg to differ." She smiled, just a little. "I beat your ass good a couple of times."
"Not before I got a piece of you first."
The strangeness of his words struck him as they rolled off his tongue. Wasn't that what they had ended up with? After all the blood, sweat, tears, epithets, knock-down, drag-out fights, they had ended up with a piece of each other lodged somewhere that they didn't know what the hell to do with?
He dug into the other pocket of his jacket. "I want to give you something," he said softly.
Brittany's eyes widened, and she looked at him with a certain amount of surprise. He almost thought he saw her blushing. "That's not necessary," she protested. In her eyes, the gift she'd gotten had been winning that game. That was what she'd been praying for.
But for Jake Hannigan, that wasn't good enough. "Shut up," he told her, and the serious yet contemplative look in his eyes backed that up.
He pulled out the slim box which contained the pendant he'd purchased while she'd been off ordering a round of celebratory dessert with her team members. Without saying a word, he opened the box, and held it between the two of them. He wasn't going to tell her that it had cost him two thousand dollars outright. That didn't matter.
Not that he had to tell her. Brittany was one of those people who had picked up on the hint that Jake probably came from a good deal of money. She'd figured that out from the way he'd always looked good, wearing clothes with brands she knew had to be costing him more than she made in weeks or a month. The way he carried himself. She knew he had something up his sleeve. This only proved it, as she stared at the gold and the five diamonds, honestly awestruck. She had never expected something like this from a man who had once hated her so much.
"I have no idea what to say," she finally whispered.
"I don't care what you say." His eyes met hers, and the gratitude and honest respect he saw there made it all worth it. He had chosen a piece that was meant to last, something that would endure no matter what happened. Something that was supposed to represent the strengthening of love over time. Both things that he wanted this relationship to be, and she would understand that, in time. The things he couldn't say.
He chose not to say anything else as he lifted the necklace out of the box and carefully moved to stand behind her, sweeping her hair out of the way before he draped it around her neck and clasped it in place. He stood there for another long moment, watching her as she watched the diamonds sparkle in the glow from the hotel lights around them. The only reason she wasn't crying was because she didn't want him to see her cry.
Jake settled his hands on her hips. Then slowly, gingerly, he drew his arms around her. He settled his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. He could breathe in the scent of her. Feel the strength of steel in her veins, yet that human heart inside of her, the one that was scared to death of the rest of her life. Yet the one that had always cared and would never stop feeling. This was what being alive was supposed to be about, and he never understood that more than in stolen moments like these, in the silence, with someone who was willing to listen.
He kissed her shoulder gently. "I'm proud of you," he told her, and he had never meant anything so sincerely, and it was the first time he wanted the whole world to hear it.