They don't know nothing about redemption

[valhalla37]

Title: They don't know nothing about redemption
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Kate
Rating: PG
Summary: She runs. He follows. Post-The Incident.
Spoilers: Up to end of S5, I guess.
Warnings: Character death.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: Oh hai! Apparently I write angsty Kate/Jack fic now. Title from Against Me!.

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Comments

[angela_weber]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uhm. Am I dead?

No, seriously. Have I died and gone to fic heaven? Because these past few weeks have been simply too good to be true with the abundance of amazing J/K fic popping up everywhere! It's like the universe is finally returning to its proper order! ;D And this . . . I think this has seriously put the nail in my coffin, haha. This is unbelievable--it is everything that a J/K fic should be, ever, beautifully written and wonderfully constructed and heartwrenching and circular and destructive and GUH. Every single moment of this is so incredibly true to character, so compact, so breathtakingly phrased.

First of all--I adore the scenario. As I think I may have told you, Kate on the run and Jack following and the result being all of these strange, screwed-up sporadic hotel room meetings is my ideal situation for these two. It is who they are as characters and it is how they work best, at least off-island. You did it so much better than I ever could. GOD. *cries*

It's like a code, he thinks, the air thick as glass between them; a cipher. A clue. He pushes hard against her, so much smoke in the room it's almost blue and feedback whining from the shitty bar band's broken-down amp. She's wrapped in it -- the smell, this place, desperation clinging tendrils around her wrists (too thin, he considers, is she even eating?), her smile, in between every word and moment and sad, harsh sigh.

Her hands find his shirt and she clutches at the fabric, face turned down and away and stop with the pity, Jack, she'd spat. I don't need it.

This is just . . . beyond perfect. The train of thought is so Jack--the idea of their relationship as a game, as a cipher he can crack if he only tries hard enough. It hurts so much and it is so beautiful. I wish I had some deeper analysis to offer, but I'm too busy flailing to formulate my thoughts properly. ;)

The motel sheets itch, scratch; he counts dim lights from passing cars as they slice across the orange-red walls. Let me, he murmurs to her back, all planes of shadow and light, hair tangled and loose across the pillow (she won't cut it, fingers the curls with childish insolence whenever he asks, insists it's safer; he stops wondering why).

Hollow, heavy breath -- she's awake, he knows -- is all he gets in reply.

AHHHH, this breaks my heart--but so gorgeously that I can't feel bad about it. A major fic kink of mine is conversation in bed, before or after, one of the two pretending to be asleep, and asfjkafjdaa;fja; this just breaks me. The imagery is stunning.

Kate's death--is it wrong to squee over her death? And not in a vengeful way, not at all, but because it is written so perfectly and because I am a sucker for tragedy and this hits all of the right buttons. Weirdly--I can't imagine a better ending for them. One of them is going to die. One of them has to.

And then the last two lines drive the repetition home and have me crying again, haha. The way you get at the cores of who these two are as characters and how they relate to each other is really astounding. This has made my day and I cannot thank you enough for writing it--you deserve a medal, seriously. THANK YOU.

[valhalla37]

*is stunned*

I think I've died and gone to Best Fic Feedback EVER Heaven! Thank you SO MUCH for such incredible, thoughtful, wonderful feedback, especially since I've never, ever tried Jack/Kate before now, and Kate very, very minimally (and in fics I haven't posted, I don't think). This could never match up to your fics, or missy_useless's interpretation -- along with others -- but you guys really inspired me, and I don't know why but this got into my brain and wouldn't let go. ;P

Kate on the run and Jack following and the result being all of these strange, screwed-up sporadic hotel room meetings is my ideal situation for these two. Me too, even though I don't actively 'ship the pairing. There's something about that dynamic that's just so appealing and depressing and fun to explore.

You did it so much better than I ever could. Pffffffft. Whatevs. This is not even close, just my humble contribution. :)

The train of thought is so Jack--the idea of their relationship as a game, as a cipher he can crack if he only tries hard enough. What I was thinking on that is that he's both right and wrong -- like, I think maybe Kate would try to push him away, for his own benefit as well as hers, and that if he does keep at it eventually he'll break through (which is one way to take the fact she was killed just outside L.A. ... ;P), but he also won't recognize the fact that maybe they won't ever work, and he's being willfully ignorant of that.

I can't imagine a better ending for them. One of them is going to die. One of them has to. EXACTLY. My pet theory is that Jack will die by the end of the series, but who knows.

Hun, it's you that deserves a medal for giving such a fantastic response on this. I wrote it and posted it within an hour because I just couldn't not, but I'm always uncertain why tackling new pairings or characters. So thank you, so much again, for that vote of confidence -- it really means the world. :D