Jake 2.0. Kyle Duarte/Jake Foley. 030. Death.
TITLE: Saltwater offering
FANDOM: Jake 2.0
CHARACTERS: Jake Foley, Kyle Duarte
PROMPT: 030. Death
WORD COUNT: 484
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: Jake has nothing else to give.
AUTHOR’S NOTES: From the Book Challenge.
Quotation from Homer’s Odyssey:
In this way Eurycleia hushed Penelope’s sobs and cleared her eyes of tears.
Table
He stood at the graveside, numb. There was nobody there except a priest and him, a lonely figure in a woollen cloak, staring.
Soon, he was alone, staring, wishing this could all have ended differently. Yet that was impossible, wasn’t it? He had started them down this path and now here they were, dead and dying.
Lou was thrown out first and their protests were unheard. She disappeared instantly and there was no sign that she had ever existed. They knew they had to run.
Diane was next. Gunned down in Normandy, in the village where her cousin said she’d be safe. Gone was their hope of a normal life. The two of them, together, went underground.
They were not without friends, however - anonymous information finding them and helping them track down the perpetrators of the crime. He had told Kyle that they had a duty, that Lou and Diane deserved their last breath if it meant revenge.
And Kyle had believed him.
Eventually, they had brought them down - ugly stories in the media, exposed for the criminals they were but still too powerful, too protected. They had fought their way into private houses and they had blown each and every one of them apart. No mercy. Nothing but justice.
They were free. They could be happy. They laughed in the face of their last kill, the end of all their suffering, the honour that Lou and Diane deserved. And the victim, half-dead, rose up and shot Kyle in the head.
It was all for nothing after all.
“Jake?”
He didn’t turn, just shut his eyes against the wind and inhaled the spicy scent of the man he loved.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, feeling warm arms encircle him and hot breath on his neck.
“Mexico’s nice.”
Jake choked out a laugh and then stopped, taking a deep breath and holding it in. He would be strong. He had to be strong.
“You know you don’t have to be brave for me, Jake…”
His chest heaved and then his control was gone, sobs exploding from his chest until he had sunk to the cold ground in a cocoon of warmth. He had nothing left to give except this saltwater offering, the tears from his eyes falling on the freshly dug earth. His best friend deserved better.
“Don’t give up, Jake. Keep fighting. You have to keep fighting.”
The words were simple, the message pure. Jake struggled with the last of his tears and then he stood and turned.
Kyle smiled.
“For me?” he said and Jake nodded, eyes clearing of tears at the sight of this man.
“I won’t forget you,” Jake vowed and Kyle laughed, wavering in the breeze.
“I’ll hold you to that,” he chuckled.
The dream faded away. He was just a lonely man in a cloak once more.
But he would keep fighting.
FANDOM: Jake 2.0
CHARACTERS: Jake Foley, Kyle Duarte
PROMPT: 030. Death
WORD COUNT: 484
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: Jake has nothing else to give.
AUTHOR’S NOTES: From the Book Challenge.
Quotation from Homer’s Odyssey:
In this way Eurycleia hushed Penelope’s sobs and cleared her eyes of tears.
Table
He stood at the graveside, numb. There was nobody there except a priest and him, a lonely figure in a woollen cloak, staring.
Soon, he was alone, staring, wishing this could all have ended differently. Yet that was impossible, wasn’t it? He had started them down this path and now here they were, dead and dying.
Lou was thrown out first and their protests were unheard. She disappeared instantly and there was no sign that she had ever existed. They knew they had to run.
Diane was next. Gunned down in Normandy, in the village where her cousin said she’d be safe. Gone was their hope of a normal life. The two of them, together, went underground.
They were not without friends, however - anonymous information finding them and helping them track down the perpetrators of the crime. He had told Kyle that they had a duty, that Lou and Diane deserved their last breath if it meant revenge.
And Kyle had believed him.
Eventually, they had brought them down - ugly stories in the media, exposed for the criminals they were but still too powerful, too protected. They had fought their way into private houses and they had blown each and every one of them apart. No mercy. Nothing but justice.
They were free. They could be happy. They laughed in the face of their last kill, the end of all their suffering, the honour that Lou and Diane deserved. And the victim, half-dead, rose up and shot Kyle in the head.
It was all for nothing after all.
“Jake?”
He didn’t turn, just shut his eyes against the wind and inhaled the spicy scent of the man he loved.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, feeling warm arms encircle him and hot breath on his neck.
“Mexico’s nice.”
Jake choked out a laugh and then stopped, taking a deep breath and holding it in. He would be strong. He had to be strong.
“You know you don’t have to be brave for me, Jake…”
His chest heaved and then his control was gone, sobs exploding from his chest until he had sunk to the cold ground in a cocoon of warmth. He had nothing left to give except this saltwater offering, the tears from his eyes falling on the freshly dug earth. His best friend deserved better.
“Don’t give up, Jake. Keep fighting. You have to keep fighting.”
The words were simple, the message pure. Jake struggled with the last of his tears and then he stood and turned.
Kyle smiled.
“For me?” he said and Jake nodded, eyes clearing of tears at the sight of this man.
“I won’t forget you,” Jake vowed and Kyle laughed, wavering in the breeze.
“I’ll hold you to that,” he chuckled.
The dream faded away. He was just a lonely man in a cloak once more.
But he would keep fighting.