(no subject)

[slybrunette]

Title: You Can Say What You Mean But It Won't Change A Thing
Fandom: Lost
Characters/Pairings: Jack, Kate
Word Count: 872
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: #11 - Questions for 12_stories
Summary: "We crashed; eight people survived that, and two died right afterwards. We got off when a passing ship found us." Her voice is less confrontational now that he's stopped fighting her. "Anybody asks questions we stick to our story and hope we don't get caught."

 

 

He can’t stay in that room with them any longer. Kate only succeeds in reminding him of how much a liar she is, was, and has always been. Sayid just chimes in that it’s the only way, and Sun and Hurley nod their heads in agreement, because no one is going to disagree with Kate and Sayid at this point. Jack has done this before, over the caves, and he knows he’s going to lose in the end, knows that they’re so much better at convincing people than he is nowadays.

 

So he doesn’t bother. He leaves out the door the second he can, pack of smokes in his hand. He quit before the island, now that he’s back he finds himself wanting them more and more. The smoke reminds him of Sawyer and he can deal with cravings in order to avoid thinking about these people he left behind. It’s too late for precautions like that now – they’re all he can think about.

 

He barely gets the cigarette between his lips and lit before he hears the door he exited from open again behind him, someone stepping out and exhaling deeply.

 

Kate comes to stand next to him, takes one long look at him, before asking, “When did you start smoking?”

 

Jack just wanted to be alone; go figure, that’s always the time she chooses to come see him. “Why aren’t you in there with the others?”

 

“You can’t answer a question with a question.” It’s a weird battle for her to pick. It doesn’t really mean much in the end.

 

“You do.”

 

She looks down, shakes her head, “Point taken.”

 

He’s quiet for a long while, just standing in the chilled air, until the cigarette burns down and he stomps it out with the heel of his shoe. She still doesn’t leave. Can’t take the hint, and so he says, “I don’t think this is the right thing to do.”

 

“I didn’t think you would.” She admits, not seeming too bothered by that fact. “What happened in that – place – it isn’t anyone else’s business.”

 

“We’re lying to all those families about what happened. We’re telling people their loved ones are dead when they aren’t.” Jack can’t fathom any of this. “How is that not anyone else’s business?”

 

“Your mom thought you were dead. And Hurley’s family. All of ours did.” Kate has that look, the one she gets when she has decided that she’s right and no one else is going to change her mind. “This isn’t our cover-up Jack; this isn’t our fault. And why should we cause them any more pain then they’ve already gone through? Why reopen old wounds when there’s nothing we can do about it?”

 

“There is something we can do about it.”

 

“You want to go back there? You want to take that risk?” He looks away from her. “This is for the better.”

 

He bites back the rest of his argument, in favor of asking, “So what’s the story?”

 

“We crashed; eight people survived that, and two died right afterwards. We got off when a passing ship found us.” Her voice is less confrontational, now that he’s stopped fighting it. “Anybody asks questions we stick to that and hope we don’t get caught in a lie. Sayid wants to iron out the finer details but he didn’t want to do it without you.”

 

“I don’t want to go back in there.”

 

“You really don’t have much of a choice. With or without you we’re going to do this.” Jack’s not so sure he likes this side of her very much. He’s always known she had it in her but he never had to acknowledge it until it was staring him dead in the face.

 

He’s thought about getting off the island before. They all have. Never did he imagine that the first thing they would do was try and sync up their stories. Never did he imagine it would be like this.

 

The first time he’s been alone with her since they got off the island and they’re fighting and discussing morals and right and wrong. There are so many other things he’d like to be saying right now but she won’t let him and they wouldn’t come out right if he tried.

 

Now is not the time.

 

He’s not sure there ever will be a time.

 

He gives up, this time for good. He’s going to end up going back in there, no matter what he wants. He knows that all his protests aren’t going to get him anything but lectured.

 

“Alright?” She finally says, as if checking to see if he’s still in there, he’s been quiet for so long. There’s so many ways that question could be interpreted and the answer is kind of the same for all of them. No, not really, but I’m getting used to it. None of them have really been alright for awhile now.

 

And this isn’t what he wants, but it’s what he’s got, and he’s getting used to that disappoint too.

 

“Yeah. It’s fine.”

 

She nods and walks back into the building and he stands there with the sensation that he just let a lot of last chances slip right through his fingers. 

Comments

[space-dementia6.livejournal.com]

Beautiful as I totally knew it would be. I love how you make the plot so central and obvious to your story and that improves everything about it. I love this one especially. Brilliant, sweetie.!:D

[slybrunette.livejournal.com]

I hate writing just purely shippery pieces. It needs plot. And like I said to you, this is plot based with undertones.

I'm glad you liked this! Thanks for reading!

[lenina20.livejournal.com]

Why? Why? Why? Why can't be Kate the evil uncaring mind after the big cover up, instead of the stupid mommy forgiven because you know, she was always good. Agh! This fic of yours make so much more sense. Because, as far as we know, maybe they are not forcing them to tell the tale. Maybe that's what all the guilt is about, I really liked this. I think the whole situation and the conversation is a perfect metaphor of who Jack and Kate are, together and apart. I loved Jack in here. If I weren't in love enough with future!Jack already... ;) This was great.

[slybrunette.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I like the dark Kate, not this bullshit they are putting on the show. She is manipulative; she is not a damsel. I don't think that they are being forced to do it, I think they are doing it because they want to. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

I'm glad you liked this hun! Thanks for reading!

[october-sky815.livejournal.com]

*sighs because I wants a Jack episode soooo badly!!!!* (and Jate...)

I agree, beautiful. So heartbreaking and real. It's interesting to think of how they came up with these plans, and I loved your interpretation of it; who would be okay with it, who wouldn't. This builds towards where we are in the show and I love how you wrote it. The referances to the island were great and I love this part:

"Jack’s not so sure he likes this side of her very much. He’s always known she had it in her but he never had to acknowledge it until it was staring him dead in the face."

Everything's so different now, unlike they thought it would be, and you represented that fantastically in this. Great job!

[slybrunette.livejournal.com]

Things never turn out the way that you think they will. That's life and unfortunately that carries over to the show. This is definitely not where we all imagined things going in Season One.

I'm glad you liked this! Thanks for reading!

[tv-junk-ie.livejournal.com]

great fic we need a jack episode

[slybrunette.livejournal.com]

We so do.

Glad you liked this! Thanks for reading!

[jenthegypsy.livejournal.com]

*applause* Kate got her spine back :) - Kate's still leading men around by the nose :( Great ficlet, as always.

[slybrunette.livejournal.com]

It would be nice for her to get that back yeah, she's been...pretty spineless. And brainless.

I'm glad you liked this! Thanks for reading!

[luna481516.livejournal.com]

This could indeed be the way it goes. Nice presentation. And Jack would of course go off to think by himself, because that's the only way he can think, and Kate of course would follow him and steer him.

There are so many other things he’d like to be saying right now but she won’t let him and they wouldn’t come out right if he tried.

Now is not the time.

He’s not sure there ever will be a time.

That's how I envision the time off the island in between the scenes we've seen so far, and it's depressing. That means you wrote it really true to character, if it managed to evoke that! So compliments to you. :)

[slybrunette.livejournal.com]

It could and I don't know if that's good or bad.

And thank you, I aspire to stick to character, so that means a lot :)

I'm glad you liked this! Thanks for reading!

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

all of this cover up story BS still bugs me, I am happy to see that at least your Jack is not happy with it. can't wait to know the reason behind it.

the interaction between kate and Jack sounds so real, I could see it all :)

[slybrunette.livejournal.com]

I don't know how he could be happy with it, at least at first. It goes against a lot of what we know about him. He's not down with the large scale lying I don't think.

I'm glad you thought it was good, and that you can imagine their conversation. Thanks for reading!

[aboutbunnies.livejournal.com]

Everything about the coverup story in canon bothers me so much, but this scenario makes so much sense, and of course it'd be Kate and Sayid pushing for the story instead of the truth. And great observations on Jack, always caving in the end. Great fic!

[slybrunette.livejournal.com]

The coverup bothers me...and somehow I know it's all Kate. This is just so her.

Jack is a bit of a pushover sometimes ain't he? Still love him.

I'm glad you liked this! Thanks for reading!

[elise-509.livejournal.com]

This is especially interesting because I feel like it could so easily play out like this with Kate being more cold and calculated about the whole cover-up, more matter-of-fact and accepting of what has to be done to get on with life, while Jack would be unsure and feeling the doubt and guilt already - yet being pulled into it by Kate's pressure. It's something I don't see acknowledged in fic very much, but Kate does have a certain amount of control over Jack and he seems especially susceptible to that element when he's already down.

Loved this fic!

[slybrunette.livejournal.com]

Kate has that side to her. She can be cold and act unfeeling if it benefits her. Sometimes I wonder if that's an act. But Jack, he's the good guy, he's not cut out for these kind of lies and of course he'd pitch a fit...at first.

She does have a lot of control over him, Jack the control freak, and I think it drives him a little crazy sometimes. Other times he's vulnerable to it. Like here.

I'm glad you liked this! Thanks for reading!