A New Path (fic; Zack/Garibaldi); Babylon 5
Title: A New Path
Author: northeto
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Zack Allen, unrequited Zack/Garibaldi
Spoilers: Through 5x07 “Secrets of the Soul”
A/N: I reworked a little of Lyta’s line from “Secrets of the Soul” about following Byron into hell with a smile and applied it to Zack.
Disclaimer: JMS owns all. This is a fanwork made out of love of the characters and not for profit.
At one time Zack would have gladly followed Garibaldi into hell if he’d asked. Heck, he’d have even done it with a smile, if Garibaldi had told him to-not that Garibaldi would have. Not the smiling type, really.
Zack will still stand up for the former security chief, but he’s learned a lot in the past year or so that he’s been in charge. He’s learned the value of limits. He can approach Garibaldi as an equal now, no longer the star-struck subordinate. The hero-worship has burned quietly away, and with it the all-consuming need that had been bound up with it. What remains now is a more subtle love. He’s learned to draw the line.
He doesn’t purposefully let Garibaldi get away with things he doesn’t approve of, but he also knows that Garibaldi is very good at figuring out what he wants to know, and that there is little he, Zack can do to stop him. Besides, he trusts Garibaldi, generally, which is why he doesn’t order Garibaldi out of the security office, even after the man has told him he wants Lochley’s personal file.
He certainly doesn’t give Garibaldi implicit permission to use the security office-he means it when he says he doesn’t want Garibaldi to go and get the captain’s file. There is only so much he can do though, and so when Lochley tells him Garibaldi pulled her file he’s disappointed, but not terribly surprised.
At one time Zack would have gladly backed up Garibaldi on anything, but this time he thinks he’ll let Garibaldi deal with this one on his own.