Fic: Two Little Boys, Jack Harkness, Crystal Heart Series
Title: Two Little Boys
Series: Crystal Heart
Rating: pg
Character: Jack Harkness
Genre: General
Warnings: AU
Summary: Sometimes it's our earliest friendships that affect us the most...
Length: +1300
Status: Complete
Two Little Boys
Bright eyes sparkle with mischief as they stare ahead. A wide grin reveals a smile of brilliant white, broken only by the gaps of missing teeth. Dimpled cheeks that have yet to be outgrown are flushed red from the brisk winter air. A little boy, no older than six, but his eyes reveal something more, an age not reached. And then he pounces, thin arms strike out, grasping a second boy by the waist and the two fall to the ground with a dull thud. The other boy twists around in the embrace his face a reflection of the other’s laughter as they role together down the green hill.
Two boys, so very different but who refuse to be separated for more than a few hours each day. One green-eyed and innocent, the other with eyes like the sky that reflect but don’t reveal. One raised in the warmth of a loving family, the other dragging himself through childhood. One named for a grandfather, the other with no name but for the one he was born to.
They reach the bottom of the hill, and the loss of momentum brings them to a slow stop. They lay on the ground for a few seconds, regaining their breath and watching the clouds as they float across the two suns. A ship flies past, the black undercarriage glistening in the light, and then it is gone as though it never existed at all.
“James?” The first boy speaks, his eyes fixed on where the aircraft once was.
“Yeah?” The second boy doesn’t share the same fascination as his friend, and his eyes move to follow a butterfly as it brushes by him, gently touching his nose before flying off.
“We’re going to fly.” It is said with such conviction, such belief that as with every time before, James believes him.
“Yup, we are.” As though it were already written somewhere, their lives already played out.
And then the moment has passed and they’re both on their feet, arms swinging, bodies twisting and laughter rings across the park. They run off, back to the other children, but they don’t move far from each other, keeping themselves in sight at all times, without even the smallest of effort.
The children rarely call the first boy by name. His carers call him B14593Y when they tell him its time for bed. His friends call him Blue after his eyes. The Wardens call him Trouble because he always causes it. When they’re alone, James calls him Brother.
He doesn’t want for friends, his glittering smile and perchance for fun make him easy to like. Even when their parents tell them they shouldn’t spend time with the “odd little orphan boy”, they always come back, because he’s fun, and he fights for them when they get into trouble.
They don’t understand what an orphan is; they can’t see why he shouldn’t be allowed to exist any more than they do. They tell their parents so, and are given only a pat on the head and told that they will understand one day.
They’re happy enough with that, and until that day comes they think that playing with Blue is the best fun they can have. He’s always the first one in the park, and always the last one out, so they never have to wait for him. He must be clumsy though, they think, because he is constantly sporting new bruises. They don’t ask about them though, because when they get to the park Blue is always waiting for them with a new game to play and they quickly forget that blue isn’t only the colour of his eyes.
Only James knows what an Orphan is. That his best friend doesn’t have parents like everyone else. That he still lives in the Hospice under the not so careful watch of the nurses and doctors. The first time his Mother saw them together she smiled sadly but said nothing to break them apart. Now when she sends him to the park with a small snack to keep him going, she gives him two and tells him to share with his friend.
He was four when he first called his friend Brother. The other boy had grinned so widely he had worried his face would split. He calls him Brother quite a lot now, because he knows his friend doesn’t like being called B14593Y, and because Blue isn’t personal enough. Not for best friends.
He doesn’t call him that in front of other people though, because his Mother told him that it wasn’t right, that he could get his friend into trouble, and he doesn’t want that.
The sky starts to get darker as the first sun sets, and he remembers that he promised to be home before the second one left the sky. He looks over and catches Blue’s eyes. An instant later and they’re looking at him from only steps away, because the other boy has already bounded over before he can call him.
“I have to go home.” James speaks low, not pausing on the last word but not emphasising it either. His Mother tells him that he is far too perceptive for his age, he doesn’t know what that means, but he always knows quickly what people try to hide.
He knows that his friend doesn’t like the word ‘home’, that the something that flashes in his eyes when someone says it is hurt. His friend never says that he is going home, only back to the Hospice, and he thinks he might understand what that means.
“Okay.” He says it with a pout. He tried to pout himself once, but it didn’t make him look like his friend. It did get him an extra treat before bed though. His friend never gets anything when he pouts, and James thinks he should, because his friend’s pout is much better than his own.
“You could come with me.” His friend can’t really, and James knows that, but he still asks, because he always has, and it always earns him a grin when his friend tells him;
“Your parents would like me more.” He sticks his tongue out between his lips, and his friend does the same back. Then they’re hugging and laughing and saying goodbye until tomorrow.
“Night Brother.”
“Night James.” He runs off towards the path leading away from the park, and he doesn’t look back at his friend, because it’s getting a lot darker now, and the second sun has almost left the sky, and his Mother will be so upset with him if he’s late again.
The rest of the children leave the park around the same time, all returning to their Parents, and one lone boy sits on a swing and watches them leave, one by one. When he is all alone he slides off the swing and moves to sit beneath the big oak tree. Pulling his knees up, he wraps his arms around them and rests his head on them. He should leave too, because the nurses won’t be happy if they have to come and get him. But he doesn’t care, because he doesn’t want to go to bed right now. Doesn’t want to look at his room with no windows and no colour.
Breathing deeply he tips his head back and looks up at the darkened sky. Watching as it changes through every shade of blue he has ever seen, until it settles on the darkest navy, sprinkled with golden stars.
He’s going to go out there one day. He knows he will, because he told James they would. He’s going to be a Captain, and he’s going to fly among the stars and visit other planets, and James is going to go too, because he wouldn’t do anything that exciting without his best friend.
: fini :
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