Fic: Perfection
Title: Perfection
Rating: PG
Pairing: Carter/Allison
Spoilers: Once in a Lifetime
Summary: It's hardest at night.
Author's Notes: The writers gave me time travel and an alternate reality in the season finale to play with. *g* Let the games begin.
In the light of day, when he has so much on his mind, a part of him can almost believe that it was all a dream. That he only dreamed of having a close and growing family around him, a daughter graduating valedictorian of her class, a stepson who grew more brilliant everyday, a wife who never ceased to amaze him, and another child on the way. It’s easy to think that he had only dreamed about such a perfect life.
But pretending can only go so far. It’s hardest at night to pretend that, somewhere, somehow, once upon a time, Jack Carter had perfection at his fingertips. And now it’s gone, because it was never supposed to happen. In his dreams, he always sees Allison’s tear-streaked face, her hand resting despairingly on her swollen belly as she watches him go to save the world by destroying the lives they had built together. He also hears those words, spoken by both of them.
Have a little faith.
She doesn’t remember the real meaning of those words now, but maybe someday, he’ll tell her. Maybe someday, when they’re together again, he’ll tell her about the baby that would have been either Grace or William Carter. He’ll tell her about how they had found what they’d been looking for.
His own loss isn’t the only thing that haunts him, though. Jack still feels the agony of losing Kim, who had become a friend, and having to stop Henry nearly broke him just as much as it broke the other man. He knows he did the right thing in stopping Henry, but he can’t help but wonder what he would have done if he had been in his position. Faced with the slim chance to save the woman he loved, would he be able to let it pass him by without at least trying, no matter what the consequences were?
Stark said that everyone deserved a second chance. Jack never doubted that the man had been talking about himself, since if he succeeded, Stark would be back in Eureka as head of Global Dynamics. But he wasn’t the only one given a second chance. Henry now has a second chance at living life without the woman he loved. Jack himself has a chance to watch his daughter’s last years of childhood again and woo the woman he loves all over again.
He knows he’ll succeed in his last endeavor, if only to fulfill the promise he made to her. A promise she doesn’t remember, but one he always will.
Jack only hopes the cost of that happiness won’t be so astronomically high again. He doesn’t think he has the strength to let go of perfection again.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Carter/Allison
Spoilers: Once in a Lifetime
Summary: It's hardest at night.
Author's Notes: The writers gave me time travel and an alternate reality in the season finale to play with. *g* Let the games begin.
In the light of day, when he has so much on his mind, a part of him can almost believe that it was all a dream. That he only dreamed of having a close and growing family around him, a daughter graduating valedictorian of her class, a stepson who grew more brilliant everyday, a wife who never ceased to amaze him, and another child on the way. It’s easy to think that he had only dreamed about such a perfect life.
But pretending can only go so far. It’s hardest at night to pretend that, somewhere, somehow, once upon a time, Jack Carter had perfection at his fingertips. And now it’s gone, because it was never supposed to happen. In his dreams, he always sees Allison’s tear-streaked face, her hand resting despairingly on her swollen belly as she watches him go to save the world by destroying the lives they had built together. He also hears those words, spoken by both of them.
Have a little faith.
She doesn’t remember the real meaning of those words now, but maybe someday, he’ll tell her. Maybe someday, when they’re together again, he’ll tell her about the baby that would have been either Grace or William Carter. He’ll tell her about how they had found what they’d been looking for.
His own loss isn’t the only thing that haunts him, though. Jack still feels the agony of losing Kim, who had become a friend, and having to stop Henry nearly broke him just as much as it broke the other man. He knows he did the right thing in stopping Henry, but he can’t help but wonder what he would have done if he had been in his position. Faced with the slim chance to save the woman he loved, would he be able to let it pass him by without at least trying, no matter what the consequences were?
Stark said that everyone deserved a second chance. Jack never doubted that the man had been talking about himself, since if he succeeded, Stark would be back in Eureka as head of Global Dynamics. But he wasn’t the only one given a second chance. Henry now has a second chance at living life without the woman he loved. Jack himself has a chance to watch his daughter’s last years of childhood again and woo the woman he loves all over again.
He knows he’ll succeed in his last endeavor, if only to fulfill the promise he made to her. A promise she doesn’t remember, but one he always will.
Jack only hopes the cost of that happiness won’t be so astronomically high again. He doesn’t think he has the strength to let go of perfection again.