(Lost/OUaT) When You Try Your Best, But You Don’t Succeed for ciaimpala
Title: When You Try Your Best, But You Don’t Succeed
Author: tellshannon815
Fandoms: Lost, Once Upon A Time
Characters Jack, Sawyer; August, Emma, Ruby, Granny, Dr Whale, Henry Mills. Mentions of Neal Cassidy and other Storybrooke residents.
Pairings: Jack/Sawyer, August/Emma
Rating: PG
Word count: 5057
Spoilers: Up to the finale of Lost generally but specifically Stranger In A Strange Land and A Tale of Two Cities. Up to 2x06 for OUAT.
Warnings: None apart from being slightly AU.
Disclaimer: Lost and Once Upon A Time belong to their respective creators
A/N: Thanks to aurilly for the beta! Also, I hope you don’t mind that August is the main OUAT character here. I know you didn’t mention him in your sign up but this idea’s appealed to me for a while - he was kind of the obvious person for a reunion with Jack.
Summary: Jack is surprised to receive a letter from an old friend summoning him to his sickbed. He hasn’t seen August Booth since they spent a few days together in Phuket, and can’t understand why he’s contacting him now. But he wouldn’t believe August even if he told him. Desperate to convince Emma to believe in the curse, August needs help from the one person he knows who’s always determined to fix things: Jack Shephard.
“Bills, more bills, junk mail...” Sawyer tossed the mail down in disgust. “Your spinal surgery periodical, another bill...” He picked up the last letter and frowned at it. “Who the hell is August W. Booth?”
“He’s a guy I knew in Phuket, a long time ago,” Jack said as he reached out for the letter. “I don’t think I’ve heard from him since I left. He said he was from Maine, and it looks like he’s back there,” Jack said as he read the return address in the envelope. “Somewhere called Storybrooke. You might like him, actually. He was a writer, I don’t know if he still is.”
“So why’s he writin’ you?” Sawyer asked.
“He says he’s sick, and that he needs to see me.” Which seemed a little strange to Jack - while he and August had been in Phuket together the entire time, they hadn’t really gotten to know one another until a few days before Jack flew back home. But either way, he had to admit he was curious to see the guy again.
Eight Years Earlier:
“Hey, are you okay?”
Jack struggled to his feet, taking in the man who stood before him. He’d seen him around from time to time whilst out with Achara, but hadn’t paid too much attention to him before. Which seemed kind of strange, now that Jack thought about it, considering that the guy was one of the only other Americans here.
“I’ll be fine, just need to fix myself up.” Jack winced as he spoke.
“Here, let me.” The man reached for Jack’s hand, and led him away from the beach in the direction of a hotel that Jack had noticed before but thought looked like a dive. “I’m August, by the way. August W. Booth.”
Jack shook his hand. “Jack Shephard.”
“So what did you do to upset those guys?” August asked.
Jack shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. They saw my tattoo, and, well, you saw what happened.”
August looked at Jack’s tattoo. “Achara did it, huh?”
“You know her?” Jack asked as they stumbled into the lobby.
“We’ve met,” August admitted. “She said she had a gift, that she could see who people are, but I didn’t want her to go any further. Guess I was scared of what she might tell me. From the way those guys reacted to you just now, I’m guessing I was right.”
“She wouldn’t have tattooed you anyway,” Jack pointed out. “They’d see you as an outsider.”
“They always seemed to accept you before that,” August mused. “I saw that kid offering you sodas all the time. This is gonna sting, by the way,” he went on, dabbing at Jack’s face with some liquor he’d requested from the guy behind the desk.
“I’m not used to being on the receiving end of this,” Jack grimaced. “I’m a doctor, I’m used to being the one fixing people.”
“Really? Well, so far you’ve disproved the old saying about doctors making the worst patients,” August replied, to which Jack laughed. “Try telling that to my best friend Marc. He was the one who had to take care of me when I got sick right before my finals, and he could tell you about the crap I gave him at the time. My father’s pretty bad as a patient, though. He would never let anyone help him.”
“Your dad, huh? Is that what inspired you to become a doctor?” August asked.
Jack flinched again, and this time he knew it had nothing to do with his injuries. “You could say that. I’m thinking now that maybe working in the same hospital as him was a mistake, though.”
August smiled. “Is that how come you ended up out here? Trying to get away from your father?”
Even though Jack had been secretly relieved the day Achara had stopped him from talking about his father, there was a part of him that instinctively knew August might understand in some way that she never could have, and that wanted to talk about Christian with him. “Sort of. It’s a long story.”
“In that case, how about we take this to the bar?” August suggested.
Jack smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”
“So what brings you to Phuket?” Jack asked when they were settled at the bar.
“Well, I’m a writer, and I’d been hoping for some inspiration,” August replied. “Plus, there were a few things I kind of wanted to escape from myself.”
“Your father as well, huh?” Jack asked.
August paused before replying. “I haven’t seen him in several years now. It’s a really long story. Let’s just say that he had very high expectations of me, expectations that at the time, I didn’t feel able to fulfil.” He took a long drink of his beer before turning back to Jack. “And I tried, you know? Even after I lost track for a while, I tried to go back to what he wanted me to do, but I screwed up. It all went wrong, and I thought, I can’t do this. Even then, I still couldn’t do what he asked of me. That’s why I’m really here. I came straight here, and I’ve never left. I needed to escape from all the reminders of that.” He finished the last of his bottle before buying two more, although Jack had barely started his. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have burdened you with all that. Tell me about you, about why you wanted to escape from your father.”
“The last time I saw my father, I punched him in the face,” Jack admitted. “I thought he’d been having an affair with my wife, because I’d found his number on her phone.”
“And was he?” August asked.
“They said not. I never did find out who the guy was. They said she was calling Dad because she wanted him to help me. I still don’t know if that’s true. I’d been trying to fix our marriage. And when I last saw Sarah, she said that now I had something to fix again, my relationship with my dad.” Jack snorted. “But I haven’t. I ran away.”
“Just like I did.” August admitted. “Do you think it’s possible to fix things with him?”
Jack sighed. “I know that I should. And Sarah’s right; I do need to try. For years I’d wanted him to stop drinking, and now it’s my fault that he’s at it again. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing Achara’s brother just acted the way he did. He’s given me the encouragement I needed to get back home and face my dad.”
“Well, you’re not gonna get off this island tomorrow,” August pointed out. “Whatever those guys might think, even if you manage to find a flight, you’re gonna be in no fit state to fly.”
Jack might have been inclined to argue with that, but given that for a minute there he’d thought he could see two Augusts, he had to concede his point.
“So, uh, how about you?” he asked. “Do you think you’ll ever make it up with your father?”
August’s face froze. “I shouldn’t have told you all that.” He turned away from Jack, ordered them another two drinks each. “Forget about my father. Forget I ever said anything.”
Jack, startled, nodded. Although he had initially welcomed the conversation, there was a small part of him that was relieved not to have to talk about Christian any more now that he had finally bitten the bullet and decided to return to Los Angeles and patch it up with him.
“Have you ever played poker?” August asked.
Jack shook his head. “No.”
“Tell you what,” August suggested. “I’ll teach you. That way, you get to take something more positive out of your Phuket experience than a tattoo and a beating.”
Jack shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
*****
“So he’s the guy everyone on the island had to thank for you winnin’ the meds off me that time?” Sawyer laughed. “Can’t wait to meet him.”
“So you want to come to Storybrooke with me?” Jack asked.
“Why not?” Sawyer shrugged.
“I’m not sure how long we’ll be there,” Jack warned him. “August’s letter didn’t say what was wrong with him. I don’t even know why he wrote me. But I do feel like I ought to go.”
“Then I’m comin’ with you,” Sawyer replied.
*****
“Talk about the town that time forgot,” Sawyer began as they approached Storybrooke. “Looks like the kinda towns I visited when I left DHARMA on the sub.”
Jack hadn’t been in 1977 long enough to have ever taken any of those trips with Sawyer, but he could see what he meant. “August said to make for somewhere called Granny’s B & B. That’s where he’s staying right now.”
“Over there, on the left.” Jack made his way in the direction that Sawyer had indicated.
“We’re here to book a room,” Jack began when they were greeted by a woman he assumed was Granny.
“One room? For the two of you?” Granny asked.
“Yes, Granny.” A girl with red hair extensions standing behind her rolled her eyes. “For the two of them. It’s not the dark ages now, you know.”
“Thank you, Ruby. Of course,” Granny muttered, flustered. “Here’s your key.”
Jack took it from her. “Thanks. Actually, you have a friend of mine staying here.”
“That would be August Booth?” Granny asked.
“He told you we were comin’?” Sawyer asked.
Ruby rolled her eyes again. “August’s the only other person staying here. So how do you know him?”
“He’s an old friend of mine from Phuket,” Jack explained.
“Really? He was telling me all about his time in Nepal a couple of days ago, and he mentioned to Emma, our sheriff, that he’d been to Pamplona, Spain.” Ruby smiled. “But he’s never mentioned Phuket. You guys will have to tell me all about it while you’re here.”
“Have you travelled anywhere much?” Jack asked.
Ruby shook her head. “I’ve never been out of Storybrooke. I’ve always wanted to travel, though, and even more so after hearing some of August’s stories. I was planning to move to Boston at one time, but...”
“Well, I’m sorry that my heart attack was such an inconvenience to you,” Granny snapped.
“Uh, do you think you could call up to August and let him know we’re here?” Jack asked.
“Subtle,” Sawyer sniggered.
“Sure, I’ll go get him,” Ruby turned and walked up the stairs.
“Flirting.” Granny muttered. “That’s what she’ll be doing up there. I have warned her.” She caught herself then, realising she was talking to two people she barely knew. “Sorry.”
Jack and Sawyer ignored her.
“Jack!” came a voice from the direction of the stairs.
“Hey, August.” Jack glanced at his old friend as he walked down the stairs. August looked a little pale, and seemed to be moving slightly more stiffly than Jack remembered from Thailand, but Jack saw no other signs of the illness he had referred to in his letter.
“So, you’re the guy responsible for teaching him how to kick my ass at poker.” Sawyer held out his hand.
“Sorry, I should have introduced you. This is Sawyer, my husband, and this is August Booth.”
August raised his eyebrows. “Husband?”
Jack felt irrationally annoyed by this, although he didn’t know why. The last time he’d seen August he’d talked him to death about his ex-wife, after all. Sawyer, thankfully, took it in his stride.
“Yeah, I kinda snuck up on him. Doc couldn’t believe it either.”
They laughed, which broke the tension. “Great to meet you. So, shall I give you the guided tour of Storybrooke, show you all the sights?”
“That’ll take half an hour,” Ruby snorted.
“It’s not quite that bad,” August explained. “But we’d best get started.”
As they walked away from Granny’s, they passed a young blonde woman looking as though she were in a hurry.
“Emma!” August exclaimed. “This is Jack Shephard, my friend from Phuket, and his husband, Sawyer.”
“Great to meet you.” Emma said. “Sorry, haven’t really got time to chat. Little matter of Mary Margaret’s innocence to prove.”
“Mary Margaret’s her roommate,” August explained. “One of our residents, Kathryn, has gone missing, and Mary Margaret’s been arrested. Emma is our sheriff, and she’s trying to clear her name.”
“Son of a bitch,” Sawyer whistled.
“Wait a minute, don’t I know you?” Emma asked. “That’s right. I busted you in Tallahassee. Except you weren’t calling yourself Sawyer then. You were William something. Is Sawyer your real name, or is William?”
“Actually, neither. Kinda long story.”
“Yeah, well, you can tell me all about it later.” Emma said. “Right now I gotta go to the sheriff’s station.”
“Ruby used to be her deputy, but she just quit,” August explained. “Right in the middle of this disappearance enquiry. It’s not a good time for Emma right now.”
“Sawyer’s got some experience in law enforcement,” Jack replied. “Maybe Emma ought to give him a call.”
“You heard her,” Sawyer began. “She busted me once. She’s not gonna work with me.”
“You never know,” August shrugged. “Give her a call. I’m sure she’ll give you a second chance. Jack, I’ll take you by the hospital in the morning. Dr. Whale says they need someone to give them a hand.”
“Sure.” He still didn’t really understand why August had summoned him, but there was plenty of time to talk about that.
*****
“Hi, I’m Henry.”
Jack glanced over his shoulder to see the ten-year-old boy whom August had pointed out as being Emma’s son. August had organised a get-together to introduce Jack to his friends in Storybrooke, and so far he had been introduced to the infamous Mary Margaret, now exonerated after Kathryn had turned up alive after all (and whom Jack had last left at the hospital with her rescuer, Jim the gym teacher), a man named Leroy (the town drunk, August had whispered), handyman Marco, Mr. Gold, who Ruby said owned the whole town, and lots of people whose names Jack couldn’t remember. Dr. Whale, Jack’s co-worker from the hospital, was also there. Jack hadn’t been sure if he was going to like the guy at first, especially when he’d seen him hitting on the nurses, but as they’d worked on patients together, Jack started seeing something in him that reminded him of himself, although he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Hey, I’m Jack.”
“So are you really August’s friend from Phuket?” Henry asked.
Jack nodded. “That’s right.”
“I wondered. No one ever comes to Storybrooke, not from outside. I wondered if you might be from here.” Henry held out a book to Jack.
“This is a book of fairy tales.” Jack frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It’s true. Most people here are in it. Emma is, and her parents. Mary Margaret’s Snow White, and she’s Emma’s mom. David’s Prince Charming, and he’s her dad. And my mom Regina, she’s the Evil Queen.”
Emma approached before Jack had chance to formulate some kind of response to that, followed by a man whose name Jack thought he remembered as being Archie. “Come here, kid. Don’t bother August’s friend. I’m sorry about that,” she said to Jack.
“I’ll talk to him,” Archie offered. “Henry, uh, he thinks we’re all characters in his book. Apparently, I’m Jiminy Cricket.” He laughed, and Jack laughed along with him. The idea of Archie as Jiminy Cricket was ridiculous. At least he was helping Henry through whatever issues he had.
Then Ruby walked up to him and asked how he was liking Storybrooke so far, and as Jack answered her, he forgot all about Henry.
*****
“So, you’re probably wondering why I called you here,” August said when they were alone at last.
Jack nodded. “Is it some kind of problem with your spine? I noticed you were having a few problems walking when I first got here.”
August laughed bitterly. “I wish it were as simple as that. I didn’t call you here because you’re a spinal surgeon, Jack. I called you here because I have something that needs fixing. Well, I almost told you back in Phuket, then realised it would have been a bad idea so I stopped. My father gave me a job to do, to help fix this, and that was what I meant in Phuket when I said I couldn’t live up to his expectations.”
“What are you talking about, August?” Jack asked, frustrated.
“You know the book that Henry showed you earlier?” August asked. “It’s true what he was saying. All the characters in the book - they’re here, in Storybrooke. They’re trapped under a curse. Emma’s the one who has to break it. And I have to help her to do that, only I haven’t been able to make her believe me. You asked me if I had a problem with my spine, well, I guess I was kind of spineless back then. I walked away from Emma when she needed me most. And now I’m back to fix it.”
“That’s crazy.” Jack shook his head. “There’s no such thing as curses. It’s just some strange thing Henry’s got in his head. Mary Margaret and Emma - they look about the same age, there’s no way Mary Margaret’s Emma’s mom. And everyone knows those stories, we all heard them as kids. Why would you even take that seriously?”
“Because I’m a character, too. My name was Pinocchio.”
“You’re Pinocchio. Right.” Jack shook his head and snorted. “Look, I don’t think it’s me you need to be talking to here. Everyone says Archie Hopper’s a good psychiatrist. Ever thought about talking to him? Or I had a friend who was in this place back home, it was called Santa Rosa...”
“You think I’m crazy.” August shook his head sadly.
“You seriously expect me to believe that you are a fairytale character?” Jack shook his head again. “Pinocchio was a liar, but that’s taking it to extremes. Look, you can be fixed, but I’m not the person who can do it.”
“Look at this, Jack,” August began, rolling up the leg of his jeans. “Now do you believe me?”
“It’s just a leg,” Jack snapped. “What the hell am I supposed to be seeing here?”
“You can’t see it.” August shook his head. “Guess I made a mistake calling you. This is something you can’t fix. I have to make Emma believe myself. This is her destiny. But it’s my path too, and I’m the one who’s supposed to get her there.”
For a moment, Jack was reminded of Locke, and the way he’d rambled on about destiny when they were talking about opening the hatch. But even Locke had never sounded quite as crazy as this.
“Look, I’ll have a word with Archie, see if I can get him to help you.” Jack offered. “Or if you’d rather talk to someone you don’t know, I’ll try the place in L.A. Or my friend Daniel mentioned a place in Massachusetts, St. Claire’s I think it was called...”
“I don’t need a mental hospital, Jack,” August snapped. “I need Emma to believe. Don’t try to follow me, Jack. I have to do this alone.”
*****
“What the hell is your friend’s problem?” Emma stormed into Granny’s Diner and flung herself into the seat opposite Jack without so much of a greeting.
Jack shook his head. “Has he been trying to talk to you about the fairy tales again?”
“He just told me he was Pinocchio. Did he ever say anything like that to you when you knew him before?”
“I really didn’t know him for that long. We only talked properly right before I left Phuket. The only thing I remember him really saying at all was something about issues with his father.”
Emma snorted. “Don’t tell me. Geppetto.”
Jack shook his head. “It was strange, actually. He said something about not being able to live up to his father’s expectations, but then he clammed up and wouldn’t talk about it again. What else did he say to you?”
“That I’m the saviour. That I’m supposed to break this curse that the town’s under. He just showed me his leg, and tried to tell me it was turning back to wood. I just saw an ordinary leg, one as normal as yours or mine. You’re a doctor, do you think that’s normal behaviour?”
“I’m a spinal surgeon,” Jack explained. “This sounds more like something in Archie Hopper’s line. Maybe August should talk to him.”
“It’s insane,” Emma continued as though she hadn’t heard him. “I’m not a saviour, a hero or anything like that. How can I be responsible for everyone else’s lives and happiness? I couldn’t even manage to be responsible for my son back when he was born, and I’m trying to handle fighting for him right now, but I’m not even doing a good job of that! I just want to take Henry now and run like hell from Storybrooke. That’s what I used to do before, you know? Storybrooke’s the only place I’ve ever even tried to settle down, and I’m making a crap job of it now. I’d run, from one city to the next, somewhere I could get lost in the crowd.”
“Sounds a lot like someone I used to know, back on the island.” Jack mused.
“The island.” Emma pounced on the only part of Jack’s sentence she seemed to have taken in. “Wasn’t that how things were for you back then? In the original story you all told after you first got back, and then the other version you told afterwards when you brought your husband and your sister back, weren’t people looking to you then to lead them?”
“I still don’t know why.” Jack snorted. “But yeah, what you just said, does kind of remind me of me back then. I remember when Hurley and Charlie were looking to me to make a decision about water rationing, and I couldn’t understand why they were expecting me to be their leader. Why me? I wasn’t a hero. I was a survivor just like anyone else there. That same day, Boone asked me who elected me saviour, and that made more sense to me than anyone looking to me for leadership.”
“The difference was, back there with you, people actually needed saving,” Emma pointed out. “But they don’t need saving here. This is just a normal town. There’s no curse. The people of Storybrooke don’t need me. This idea of me being responsible for everyone - it’s crazy. I don’t want this. I’m not cut out for it.”
“I thought I wasn’t cut out for it either,” Jack admitted. “My father even told me once that I didn’t have what it took. And there was a part of me that felt like I was showing him when I tried to be the leader on the island. I was scared to lead them, because I believed what my father told me. But when the other survivors wanted me for their leader, I felt I was proving him wrong.”
“I didn’t think I had what it took to raise Henry,” Emma replied. “But August got something right. I’m determined to fight like hell for him.”
“Then do it,” Jack encouraged. “Fight for him. And if that means leaving Storybrooke with him, then that’s what you should do.”
*****
“I’m thinking we get out of here, head back to LA,” Jack said as he flung his jacket on the bed after leaving Emma. “There’s nothing I can do for August, apart from pull a few strings in Santa Rosa, where Hurley was. He’s crazy. It’s Dr. Hopper he needs, but he won’t see him. There’s nothing I can do. I can’t convince Emma she has to be the saviour of the whole town when I don’t believe it myself. Even Locke never came out with anything as crazy as this.”
“You thought Locke was crazy at the time, too,” Sawyer pointed out, “but turned out he got it right. And before we all went back to 1977, you wouldn’t have believed that was possible either.”
“I admit both of those. But August thinks he’s Pinocchio, Sawyer,” Jack sighed. “I kind of don’t think that’s true.”
Sawyer shrugged. “Sure, what the hell. Let’s get outta here, spend some time with Clementine, maybe go meet up with Miles again.”
“Damn it,” Jack muttered as his pager bleeped. “Gotta take this.” He hastily punched in a number.
“Whale?” he asked. “What’s the matter?”
“Henry Mills has just been brought in,” Dr. Whale explained. “Emma thinks he’s been poisoned. But this doesn’t look like any kind of poisoning I’ve ever seen. I can’t figure out a diagnosis for this. I need your help.”
*****
“Jack!” Emma cried as soon as Jack walked into the room.
“Let me have a look at him,” Jack began, dashing over to Henry’s bedside.
“Miss Swan, as I said, I understand that you’re frustrated, but what you’re saying isn’t possible!” Dr. Whale said, but Emma ignored him, picking up Henry’s storybook and waving it in Jack’s face.
“I saw it. I opened this book and I saw myself being taken to the wardrobe. Henry was right all along. This is magic.”
“You’re saying August was telling the truth?” The whole thing still seemed crazy to Jack, but he had to admit that there did seem to be no logical explanation for Henry’s illness. And Sawyer had had a point as well - Jack was trying so hard to find a rational explanation for everything, but who knew better than him and the other Flight 815 survivors that sometimes there wasn’t one?
“August.” Emma repeated. “Damn it. You’re right. I have to see him, to find out what I need to do.”
“I’ll go to him,” Jack promised. “Your place is with your son right now.”
*****
“August?” Jack couldn’t believe he was doing this, even as he banged on August’s door. He still wasn’t entirely sure he believed, even as he watched Emma standing at Henry’s bedside saying that she believed. “Damn it, August, open up!”
“It’s open,” croaked a voice from inside. Jack pushed the door open, not quite knowing what he would find.
“What the hell?” Jack exclaimed as he caught sight of August’s arms, which were now turning visibly to wood.
“You saw it,” August choked out. “You believe. But you can’t fix this. Only one person can. Emma has to break the curse. Without that, I’ll turn back to wood completely. But there’s nothing more you can do. I’m letting you off the hook, Jack.”
Jack swallowed hard, remembering another time in his life when someone had said those words to him. “I just saw Emma, at the hospital with Henry. I think she is starting to believe now. If there’s anything I can do to convince her, to help her, tell me and I’ll do it.”
“There is one thing...that you can do for her,” August began.
“Name it,” Jack replied, struggling to tear his gaze from the truly horrific sight of August’s arms.
“Go over to my dresser, open the top drawer, and take out the postcard in there,” August croaked. Jack did as he said, read the word “Broken” and a man’s name and address.
“Who’s Neal Cassidy?” Jack asked.
“He’s Henry’s father,” August explained. “I promised him that when the curse was broken, I’d send him a postcard. I need you to do it for me now.”
“I will,” Jack promised.
“There’s something you can fix,” August joked weakly. “You can help me put the family back together.”
“And I’m gonna do what I can to help Emma fix you too,” Jack promised.
*****
In all the chaos that ensued when the curse was broken and everyone began remembering who they were, no one noticed Jack and Sawyer slip away. Sawyer kept asking him questions, asking what was happening, whether he was starting to believe now, but Jack ignored him. There would be time later for explanations, and he wasn’t really the person to be giving them anyway. As he pushed the card into the postbox, he wondered if Neal Cassidy would really come for Emma, and he wondered whether August really wanted him to. But that wasn’t what Jack had to think about now. He had to get back to Granny’s B & B, to see if August was still there, to find out what had happened to him. If there was still a way of fixing August, Jack was determined he’d do it.
“August?” he called out as he tapped on the door, pushing it open and peering around.
“Here,” August croaked once more.
“Son of a bitch!” Sawyer whispered. Jack ignored him.
“But I don’t understand,” Jack began as he took in the sight before him. “Emma broke the curse. How come you’re still wood?”
“I broke my word,” August admitted. “The Blue Fairy always said it could happen.”
“But magic’s back now,” Jack informed him. “Mr. Gold brought it back. There must be a way to fix you. I’ll take you to this Blue Fairy.”
“You know her as the Mother Superior,” August explained. “If there’s anyone who can fix me, she’s the one to do it.”
“I’ll find her,” Jack promised. “And I’ll make sure you’re fixed. For Emma’s sake.”
“What do you mean?” August asked.
“Come on,” Jack laughed. “You may have been turning to wood, but I could still see the look on your face. You’re in love with Emma.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” August replied.
“Sure you don’t.” Sawyer snorted. “It’s been written all over your face.”
“She and Neal,” August began. “I promised him. That’s why I had Jack send the postcard.”
Sawyer brushed that off. “I don’t know this Neal guy, but I’ve seen the way you look at her. And I heard the way she was talkin’ about Henry’s daddy. If I were a bettin’ man, I think I’d be bettin’ on you.”
“Me too.” Jack smiled. “So come on. We’ll take you to her, and we’ll get you fixed. Then we’ll go find Emma.”
“Is there anything you don’t try and fix?” August asked.
“Nothin’.” Sawyer smirked. “But that’s why you needed him. And this time, I’m bettin’ on him, too.”
-END-
Prompt: Reunions
Author: tellshannon815
Fandoms: Lost, Once Upon A Time
Characters Jack, Sawyer; August, Emma, Ruby, Granny, Dr Whale, Henry Mills. Mentions of Neal Cassidy and other Storybrooke residents.
Pairings: Jack/Sawyer, August/Emma
Rating: PG
Word count: 5057
Spoilers: Up to the finale of Lost generally but specifically Stranger In A Strange Land and A Tale of Two Cities. Up to 2x06 for OUAT.
Warnings: None apart from being slightly AU.
Disclaimer: Lost and Once Upon A Time belong to their respective creators
A/N: Thanks to aurilly for the beta! Also, I hope you don’t mind that August is the main OUAT character here. I know you didn’t mention him in your sign up but this idea’s appealed to me for a while - he was kind of the obvious person for a reunion with Jack.
Summary: Jack is surprised to receive a letter from an old friend summoning him to his sickbed. He hasn’t seen August Booth since they spent a few days together in Phuket, and can’t understand why he’s contacting him now. But he wouldn’t believe August even if he told him. Desperate to convince Emma to believe in the curse, August needs help from the one person he knows who’s always determined to fix things: Jack Shephard.
“Bills, more bills, junk mail...” Sawyer tossed the mail down in disgust. “Your spinal surgery periodical, another bill...” He picked up the last letter and frowned at it. “Who the hell is August W. Booth?”
“He’s a guy I knew in Phuket, a long time ago,” Jack said as he reached out for the letter. “I don’t think I’ve heard from him since I left. He said he was from Maine, and it looks like he’s back there,” Jack said as he read the return address in the envelope. “Somewhere called Storybrooke. You might like him, actually. He was a writer, I don’t know if he still is.”
“So why’s he writin’ you?” Sawyer asked.
“He says he’s sick, and that he needs to see me.” Which seemed a little strange to Jack - while he and August had been in Phuket together the entire time, they hadn’t really gotten to know one another until a few days before Jack flew back home. But either way, he had to admit he was curious to see the guy again.
Eight Years Earlier:
“Hey, are you okay?”
Jack struggled to his feet, taking in the man who stood before him. He’d seen him around from time to time whilst out with Achara, but hadn’t paid too much attention to him before. Which seemed kind of strange, now that Jack thought about it, considering that the guy was one of the only other Americans here.
“I’ll be fine, just need to fix myself up.” Jack winced as he spoke.
“Here, let me.” The man reached for Jack’s hand, and led him away from the beach in the direction of a hotel that Jack had noticed before but thought looked like a dive. “I’m August, by the way. August W. Booth.”
Jack shook his hand. “Jack Shephard.”
“So what did you do to upset those guys?” August asked.
Jack shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. They saw my tattoo, and, well, you saw what happened.”
August looked at Jack’s tattoo. “Achara did it, huh?”
“You know her?” Jack asked as they stumbled into the lobby.
“We’ve met,” August admitted. “She said she had a gift, that she could see who people are, but I didn’t want her to go any further. Guess I was scared of what she might tell me. From the way those guys reacted to you just now, I’m guessing I was right.”
“She wouldn’t have tattooed you anyway,” Jack pointed out. “They’d see you as an outsider.”
“They always seemed to accept you before that,” August mused. “I saw that kid offering you sodas all the time. This is gonna sting, by the way,” he went on, dabbing at Jack’s face with some liquor he’d requested from the guy behind the desk.
“I’m not used to being on the receiving end of this,” Jack grimaced. “I’m a doctor, I’m used to being the one fixing people.”
“Really? Well, so far you’ve disproved the old saying about doctors making the worst patients,” August replied, to which Jack laughed. “Try telling that to my best friend Marc. He was the one who had to take care of me when I got sick right before my finals, and he could tell you about the crap I gave him at the time. My father’s pretty bad as a patient, though. He would never let anyone help him.”
“Your dad, huh? Is that what inspired you to become a doctor?” August asked.
Jack flinched again, and this time he knew it had nothing to do with his injuries. “You could say that. I’m thinking now that maybe working in the same hospital as him was a mistake, though.”
August smiled. “Is that how come you ended up out here? Trying to get away from your father?”
Even though Jack had been secretly relieved the day Achara had stopped him from talking about his father, there was a part of him that instinctively knew August might understand in some way that she never could have, and that wanted to talk about Christian with him. “Sort of. It’s a long story.”
“In that case, how about we take this to the bar?” August suggested.
Jack smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”
“So what brings you to Phuket?” Jack asked when they were settled at the bar.
“Well, I’m a writer, and I’d been hoping for some inspiration,” August replied. “Plus, there were a few things I kind of wanted to escape from myself.”
“Your father as well, huh?” Jack asked.
August paused before replying. “I haven’t seen him in several years now. It’s a really long story. Let’s just say that he had very high expectations of me, expectations that at the time, I didn’t feel able to fulfil.” He took a long drink of his beer before turning back to Jack. “And I tried, you know? Even after I lost track for a while, I tried to go back to what he wanted me to do, but I screwed up. It all went wrong, and I thought, I can’t do this. Even then, I still couldn’t do what he asked of me. That’s why I’m really here. I came straight here, and I’ve never left. I needed to escape from all the reminders of that.” He finished the last of his bottle before buying two more, although Jack had barely started his. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have burdened you with all that. Tell me about you, about why you wanted to escape from your father.”
“The last time I saw my father, I punched him in the face,” Jack admitted. “I thought he’d been having an affair with my wife, because I’d found his number on her phone.”
“And was he?” August asked.
“They said not. I never did find out who the guy was. They said she was calling Dad because she wanted him to help me. I still don’t know if that’s true. I’d been trying to fix our marriage. And when I last saw Sarah, she said that now I had something to fix again, my relationship with my dad.” Jack snorted. “But I haven’t. I ran away.”
“Just like I did.” August admitted. “Do you think it’s possible to fix things with him?”
Jack sighed. “I know that I should. And Sarah’s right; I do need to try. For years I’d wanted him to stop drinking, and now it’s my fault that he’s at it again. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing Achara’s brother just acted the way he did. He’s given me the encouragement I needed to get back home and face my dad.”
“Well, you’re not gonna get off this island tomorrow,” August pointed out. “Whatever those guys might think, even if you manage to find a flight, you’re gonna be in no fit state to fly.”
Jack might have been inclined to argue with that, but given that for a minute there he’d thought he could see two Augusts, he had to concede his point.
“So, uh, how about you?” he asked. “Do you think you’ll ever make it up with your father?”
August’s face froze. “I shouldn’t have told you all that.” He turned away from Jack, ordered them another two drinks each. “Forget about my father. Forget I ever said anything.”
Jack, startled, nodded. Although he had initially welcomed the conversation, there was a small part of him that was relieved not to have to talk about Christian any more now that he had finally bitten the bullet and decided to return to Los Angeles and patch it up with him.
“Have you ever played poker?” August asked.
Jack shook his head. “No.”
“Tell you what,” August suggested. “I’ll teach you. That way, you get to take something more positive out of your Phuket experience than a tattoo and a beating.”
Jack shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
*****
“So he’s the guy everyone on the island had to thank for you winnin’ the meds off me that time?” Sawyer laughed. “Can’t wait to meet him.”
“So you want to come to Storybrooke with me?” Jack asked.
“Why not?” Sawyer shrugged.
“I’m not sure how long we’ll be there,” Jack warned him. “August’s letter didn’t say what was wrong with him. I don’t even know why he wrote me. But I do feel like I ought to go.”
“Then I’m comin’ with you,” Sawyer replied.
*****
“Talk about the town that time forgot,” Sawyer began as they approached Storybrooke. “Looks like the kinda towns I visited when I left DHARMA on the sub.”
Jack hadn’t been in 1977 long enough to have ever taken any of those trips with Sawyer, but he could see what he meant. “August said to make for somewhere called Granny’s B & B. That’s where he’s staying right now.”
“Over there, on the left.” Jack made his way in the direction that Sawyer had indicated.
“We’re here to book a room,” Jack began when they were greeted by a woman he assumed was Granny.
“One room? For the two of you?” Granny asked.
“Yes, Granny.” A girl with red hair extensions standing behind her rolled her eyes. “For the two of them. It’s not the dark ages now, you know.”
“Thank you, Ruby. Of course,” Granny muttered, flustered. “Here’s your key.”
Jack took it from her. “Thanks. Actually, you have a friend of mine staying here.”
“That would be August Booth?” Granny asked.
“He told you we were comin’?” Sawyer asked.
Ruby rolled her eyes again. “August’s the only other person staying here. So how do you know him?”
“He’s an old friend of mine from Phuket,” Jack explained.
“Really? He was telling me all about his time in Nepal a couple of days ago, and he mentioned to Emma, our sheriff, that he’d been to Pamplona, Spain.” Ruby smiled. “But he’s never mentioned Phuket. You guys will have to tell me all about it while you’re here.”
“Have you travelled anywhere much?” Jack asked.
Ruby shook her head. “I’ve never been out of Storybrooke. I’ve always wanted to travel, though, and even more so after hearing some of August’s stories. I was planning to move to Boston at one time, but...”
“Well, I’m sorry that my heart attack was such an inconvenience to you,” Granny snapped.
“Uh, do you think you could call up to August and let him know we’re here?” Jack asked.
“Subtle,” Sawyer sniggered.
“Sure, I’ll go get him,” Ruby turned and walked up the stairs.
“Flirting.” Granny muttered. “That’s what she’ll be doing up there. I have warned her.” She caught herself then, realising she was talking to two people she barely knew. “Sorry.”
Jack and Sawyer ignored her.
“Jack!” came a voice from the direction of the stairs.
“Hey, August.” Jack glanced at his old friend as he walked down the stairs. August looked a little pale, and seemed to be moving slightly more stiffly than Jack remembered from Thailand, but Jack saw no other signs of the illness he had referred to in his letter.
“So, you’re the guy responsible for teaching him how to kick my ass at poker.” Sawyer held out his hand.
“Sorry, I should have introduced you. This is Sawyer, my husband, and this is August Booth.”
August raised his eyebrows. “Husband?”
Jack felt irrationally annoyed by this, although he didn’t know why. The last time he’d seen August he’d talked him to death about his ex-wife, after all. Sawyer, thankfully, took it in his stride.
“Yeah, I kinda snuck up on him. Doc couldn’t believe it either.”
They laughed, which broke the tension. “Great to meet you. So, shall I give you the guided tour of Storybrooke, show you all the sights?”
“That’ll take half an hour,” Ruby snorted.
“It’s not quite that bad,” August explained. “But we’d best get started.”
As they walked away from Granny’s, they passed a young blonde woman looking as though she were in a hurry.
“Emma!” August exclaimed. “This is Jack Shephard, my friend from Phuket, and his husband, Sawyer.”
“Great to meet you.” Emma said. “Sorry, haven’t really got time to chat. Little matter of Mary Margaret’s innocence to prove.”
“Mary Margaret’s her roommate,” August explained. “One of our residents, Kathryn, has gone missing, and Mary Margaret’s been arrested. Emma is our sheriff, and she’s trying to clear her name.”
“Son of a bitch,” Sawyer whistled.
“Wait a minute, don’t I know you?” Emma asked. “That’s right. I busted you in Tallahassee. Except you weren’t calling yourself Sawyer then. You were William something. Is Sawyer your real name, or is William?”
“Actually, neither. Kinda long story.”
“Yeah, well, you can tell me all about it later.” Emma said. “Right now I gotta go to the sheriff’s station.”
“Ruby used to be her deputy, but she just quit,” August explained. “Right in the middle of this disappearance enquiry. It’s not a good time for Emma right now.”
“Sawyer’s got some experience in law enforcement,” Jack replied. “Maybe Emma ought to give him a call.”
“You heard her,” Sawyer began. “She busted me once. She’s not gonna work with me.”
“You never know,” August shrugged. “Give her a call. I’m sure she’ll give you a second chance. Jack, I’ll take you by the hospital in the morning. Dr. Whale says they need someone to give them a hand.”
“Sure.” He still didn’t really understand why August had summoned him, but there was plenty of time to talk about that.
*****
“Hi, I’m Henry.”
Jack glanced over his shoulder to see the ten-year-old boy whom August had pointed out as being Emma’s son. August had organised a get-together to introduce Jack to his friends in Storybrooke, and so far he had been introduced to the infamous Mary Margaret, now exonerated after Kathryn had turned up alive after all (and whom Jack had last left at the hospital with her rescuer, Jim the gym teacher), a man named Leroy (the town drunk, August had whispered), handyman Marco, Mr. Gold, who Ruby said owned the whole town, and lots of people whose names Jack couldn’t remember. Dr. Whale, Jack’s co-worker from the hospital, was also there. Jack hadn’t been sure if he was going to like the guy at first, especially when he’d seen him hitting on the nurses, but as they’d worked on patients together, Jack started seeing something in him that reminded him of himself, although he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Hey, I’m Jack.”
“So are you really August’s friend from Phuket?” Henry asked.
Jack nodded. “That’s right.”
“I wondered. No one ever comes to Storybrooke, not from outside. I wondered if you might be from here.” Henry held out a book to Jack.
“This is a book of fairy tales.” Jack frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It’s true. Most people here are in it. Emma is, and her parents. Mary Margaret’s Snow White, and she’s Emma’s mom. David’s Prince Charming, and he’s her dad. And my mom Regina, she’s the Evil Queen.”
Emma approached before Jack had chance to formulate some kind of response to that, followed by a man whose name Jack thought he remembered as being Archie. “Come here, kid. Don’t bother August’s friend. I’m sorry about that,” she said to Jack.
“I’ll talk to him,” Archie offered. “Henry, uh, he thinks we’re all characters in his book. Apparently, I’m Jiminy Cricket.” He laughed, and Jack laughed along with him. The idea of Archie as Jiminy Cricket was ridiculous. At least he was helping Henry through whatever issues he had.
Then Ruby walked up to him and asked how he was liking Storybrooke so far, and as Jack answered her, he forgot all about Henry.
*****
“So, you’re probably wondering why I called you here,” August said when they were alone at last.
Jack nodded. “Is it some kind of problem with your spine? I noticed you were having a few problems walking when I first got here.”
August laughed bitterly. “I wish it were as simple as that. I didn’t call you here because you’re a spinal surgeon, Jack. I called you here because I have something that needs fixing. Well, I almost told you back in Phuket, then realised it would have been a bad idea so I stopped. My father gave me a job to do, to help fix this, and that was what I meant in Phuket when I said I couldn’t live up to his expectations.”
“What are you talking about, August?” Jack asked, frustrated.
“You know the book that Henry showed you earlier?” August asked. “It’s true what he was saying. All the characters in the book - they’re here, in Storybrooke. They’re trapped under a curse. Emma’s the one who has to break it. And I have to help her to do that, only I haven’t been able to make her believe me. You asked me if I had a problem with my spine, well, I guess I was kind of spineless back then. I walked away from Emma when she needed me most. And now I’m back to fix it.”
“That’s crazy.” Jack shook his head. “There’s no such thing as curses. It’s just some strange thing Henry’s got in his head. Mary Margaret and Emma - they look about the same age, there’s no way Mary Margaret’s Emma’s mom. And everyone knows those stories, we all heard them as kids. Why would you even take that seriously?”
“Because I’m a character, too. My name was Pinocchio.”
“You’re Pinocchio. Right.” Jack shook his head and snorted. “Look, I don’t think it’s me you need to be talking to here. Everyone says Archie Hopper’s a good psychiatrist. Ever thought about talking to him? Or I had a friend who was in this place back home, it was called Santa Rosa...”
“You think I’m crazy.” August shook his head sadly.
“You seriously expect me to believe that you are a fairytale character?” Jack shook his head again. “Pinocchio was a liar, but that’s taking it to extremes. Look, you can be fixed, but I’m not the person who can do it.”
“Look at this, Jack,” August began, rolling up the leg of his jeans. “Now do you believe me?”
“It’s just a leg,” Jack snapped. “What the hell am I supposed to be seeing here?”
“You can’t see it.” August shook his head. “Guess I made a mistake calling you. This is something you can’t fix. I have to make Emma believe myself. This is her destiny. But it’s my path too, and I’m the one who’s supposed to get her there.”
For a moment, Jack was reminded of Locke, and the way he’d rambled on about destiny when they were talking about opening the hatch. But even Locke had never sounded quite as crazy as this.
“Look, I’ll have a word with Archie, see if I can get him to help you.” Jack offered. “Or if you’d rather talk to someone you don’t know, I’ll try the place in L.A. Or my friend Daniel mentioned a place in Massachusetts, St. Claire’s I think it was called...”
“I don’t need a mental hospital, Jack,” August snapped. “I need Emma to believe. Don’t try to follow me, Jack. I have to do this alone.”
*****
“What the hell is your friend’s problem?” Emma stormed into Granny’s Diner and flung herself into the seat opposite Jack without so much of a greeting.
Jack shook his head. “Has he been trying to talk to you about the fairy tales again?”
“He just told me he was Pinocchio. Did he ever say anything like that to you when you knew him before?”
“I really didn’t know him for that long. We only talked properly right before I left Phuket. The only thing I remember him really saying at all was something about issues with his father.”
Emma snorted. “Don’t tell me. Geppetto.”
Jack shook his head. “It was strange, actually. He said something about not being able to live up to his father’s expectations, but then he clammed up and wouldn’t talk about it again. What else did he say to you?”
“That I’m the saviour. That I’m supposed to break this curse that the town’s under. He just showed me his leg, and tried to tell me it was turning back to wood. I just saw an ordinary leg, one as normal as yours or mine. You’re a doctor, do you think that’s normal behaviour?”
“I’m a spinal surgeon,” Jack explained. “This sounds more like something in Archie Hopper’s line. Maybe August should talk to him.”
“It’s insane,” Emma continued as though she hadn’t heard him. “I’m not a saviour, a hero or anything like that. How can I be responsible for everyone else’s lives and happiness? I couldn’t even manage to be responsible for my son back when he was born, and I’m trying to handle fighting for him right now, but I’m not even doing a good job of that! I just want to take Henry now and run like hell from Storybrooke. That’s what I used to do before, you know? Storybrooke’s the only place I’ve ever even tried to settle down, and I’m making a crap job of it now. I’d run, from one city to the next, somewhere I could get lost in the crowd.”
“Sounds a lot like someone I used to know, back on the island.” Jack mused.
“The island.” Emma pounced on the only part of Jack’s sentence she seemed to have taken in. “Wasn’t that how things were for you back then? In the original story you all told after you first got back, and then the other version you told afterwards when you brought your husband and your sister back, weren’t people looking to you then to lead them?”
“I still don’t know why.” Jack snorted. “But yeah, what you just said, does kind of remind me of me back then. I remember when Hurley and Charlie were looking to me to make a decision about water rationing, and I couldn’t understand why they were expecting me to be their leader. Why me? I wasn’t a hero. I was a survivor just like anyone else there. That same day, Boone asked me who elected me saviour, and that made more sense to me than anyone looking to me for leadership.”
“The difference was, back there with you, people actually needed saving,” Emma pointed out. “But they don’t need saving here. This is just a normal town. There’s no curse. The people of Storybrooke don’t need me. This idea of me being responsible for everyone - it’s crazy. I don’t want this. I’m not cut out for it.”
“I thought I wasn’t cut out for it either,” Jack admitted. “My father even told me once that I didn’t have what it took. And there was a part of me that felt like I was showing him when I tried to be the leader on the island. I was scared to lead them, because I believed what my father told me. But when the other survivors wanted me for their leader, I felt I was proving him wrong.”
“I didn’t think I had what it took to raise Henry,” Emma replied. “But August got something right. I’m determined to fight like hell for him.”
“Then do it,” Jack encouraged. “Fight for him. And if that means leaving Storybrooke with him, then that’s what you should do.”
*****
“I’m thinking we get out of here, head back to LA,” Jack said as he flung his jacket on the bed after leaving Emma. “There’s nothing I can do for August, apart from pull a few strings in Santa Rosa, where Hurley was. He’s crazy. It’s Dr. Hopper he needs, but he won’t see him. There’s nothing I can do. I can’t convince Emma she has to be the saviour of the whole town when I don’t believe it myself. Even Locke never came out with anything as crazy as this.”
“You thought Locke was crazy at the time, too,” Sawyer pointed out, “but turned out he got it right. And before we all went back to 1977, you wouldn’t have believed that was possible either.”
“I admit both of those. But August thinks he’s Pinocchio, Sawyer,” Jack sighed. “I kind of don’t think that’s true.”
Sawyer shrugged. “Sure, what the hell. Let’s get outta here, spend some time with Clementine, maybe go meet up with Miles again.”
“Damn it,” Jack muttered as his pager bleeped. “Gotta take this.” He hastily punched in a number.
“Whale?” he asked. “What’s the matter?”
“Henry Mills has just been brought in,” Dr. Whale explained. “Emma thinks he’s been poisoned. But this doesn’t look like any kind of poisoning I’ve ever seen. I can’t figure out a diagnosis for this. I need your help.”
*****
“Jack!” Emma cried as soon as Jack walked into the room.
“Let me have a look at him,” Jack began, dashing over to Henry’s bedside.
“Miss Swan, as I said, I understand that you’re frustrated, but what you’re saying isn’t possible!” Dr. Whale said, but Emma ignored him, picking up Henry’s storybook and waving it in Jack’s face.
“I saw it. I opened this book and I saw myself being taken to the wardrobe. Henry was right all along. This is magic.”
“You’re saying August was telling the truth?” The whole thing still seemed crazy to Jack, but he had to admit that there did seem to be no logical explanation for Henry’s illness. And Sawyer had had a point as well - Jack was trying so hard to find a rational explanation for everything, but who knew better than him and the other Flight 815 survivors that sometimes there wasn’t one?
“August.” Emma repeated. “Damn it. You’re right. I have to see him, to find out what I need to do.”
“I’ll go to him,” Jack promised. “Your place is with your son right now.”
*****
“August?” Jack couldn’t believe he was doing this, even as he banged on August’s door. He still wasn’t entirely sure he believed, even as he watched Emma standing at Henry’s bedside saying that she believed. “Damn it, August, open up!”
“It’s open,” croaked a voice from inside. Jack pushed the door open, not quite knowing what he would find.
“What the hell?” Jack exclaimed as he caught sight of August’s arms, which were now turning visibly to wood.
“You saw it,” August choked out. “You believe. But you can’t fix this. Only one person can. Emma has to break the curse. Without that, I’ll turn back to wood completely. But there’s nothing more you can do. I’m letting you off the hook, Jack.”
Jack swallowed hard, remembering another time in his life when someone had said those words to him. “I just saw Emma, at the hospital with Henry. I think she is starting to believe now. If there’s anything I can do to convince her, to help her, tell me and I’ll do it.”
“There is one thing...that you can do for her,” August began.
“Name it,” Jack replied, struggling to tear his gaze from the truly horrific sight of August’s arms.
“Go over to my dresser, open the top drawer, and take out the postcard in there,” August croaked. Jack did as he said, read the word “Broken” and a man’s name and address.
“Who’s Neal Cassidy?” Jack asked.
“He’s Henry’s father,” August explained. “I promised him that when the curse was broken, I’d send him a postcard. I need you to do it for me now.”
“I will,” Jack promised.
“There’s something you can fix,” August joked weakly. “You can help me put the family back together.”
“And I’m gonna do what I can to help Emma fix you too,” Jack promised.
*****
In all the chaos that ensued when the curse was broken and everyone began remembering who they were, no one noticed Jack and Sawyer slip away. Sawyer kept asking him questions, asking what was happening, whether he was starting to believe now, but Jack ignored him. There would be time later for explanations, and he wasn’t really the person to be giving them anyway. As he pushed the card into the postbox, he wondered if Neal Cassidy would really come for Emma, and he wondered whether August really wanted him to. But that wasn’t what Jack had to think about now. He had to get back to Granny’s B & B, to see if August was still there, to find out what had happened to him. If there was still a way of fixing August, Jack was determined he’d do it.
“August?” he called out as he tapped on the door, pushing it open and peering around.
“Here,” August croaked once more.
“Son of a bitch!” Sawyer whispered. Jack ignored him.
“But I don’t understand,” Jack began as he took in the sight before him. “Emma broke the curse. How come you’re still wood?”
“I broke my word,” August admitted. “The Blue Fairy always said it could happen.”
“But magic’s back now,” Jack informed him. “Mr. Gold brought it back. There must be a way to fix you. I’ll take you to this Blue Fairy.”
“You know her as the Mother Superior,” August explained. “If there’s anyone who can fix me, she’s the one to do it.”
“I’ll find her,” Jack promised. “And I’ll make sure you’re fixed. For Emma’s sake.”
“What do you mean?” August asked.
“Come on,” Jack laughed. “You may have been turning to wood, but I could still see the look on your face. You’re in love with Emma.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” August replied.
“Sure you don’t.” Sawyer snorted. “It’s been written all over your face.”
“She and Neal,” August began. “I promised him. That’s why I had Jack send the postcard.”
Sawyer brushed that off. “I don’t know this Neal guy, but I’ve seen the way you look at her. And I heard the way she was talkin’ about Henry’s daddy. If I were a bettin’ man, I think I’d be bettin’ on you.”
“Me too.” Jack smiled. “So come on. We’ll take you to her, and we’ll get you fixed. Then we’ll go find Emma.”
“Is there anything you don’t try and fix?” August asked.
“Nothin’.” Sawyer smirked. “But that’s why you needed him. And this time, I’m bettin’ on him, too.”
-END-
Prompt: Reunions