Jack doesn't know what made him come here of all places.
Ok, now that's a lie.
He knows exactly why he is standing in front of her door of all people but it is still like his feet have a mind of their own and carried him here. He knows he should turn around, that his visit at 2 in the morning could cause trouble for her but he can't leave. He is desperate and this is his last resort. With his mind set he takes a deep breath and knocks.
###
The knock is faint but he is a fairly light sleeper and easily hears it. "I think someone's at your door." Lucas states and Vic wiggles in his arms pretending not to hear him. She is way too comfortable in his arms to get up and deal with whatever idiot decided to knock on her door at this hour.
"Babe, I would get up myself and open it but you know I can't," she groans, knows that he is right and finally gets up. She grabs her robe while mumbling, "Whoever it is, he better be bleeding or he will be by the time I am done with him."
Lucas only chuckles at that. He knows how cranky his girlfriend can be when someone interrupts her sleep. Had to learn it the hard way himself when he did it once at the beginning of their relationship and it made her so angry that he spent the rest of the night on the couch. He watches her as she exits the bedroom still mumbling insults at the person at the door. He himself is curious as to who is waking them at this hour.
###
"Gibson? What the hell are you doing here? It's 2am." Jack can tell that he is the last person she expected to see at her door. He hopes it wasn't a mistake to come here. She looks rather annoyed that her sleep was interrupted but then again he know that this is a Vic thing. She gets like this at the station when people wake her up.
"I'm really sorry. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't an emergency. I need to speak to Chief Ripley. Is he here?" he asks. He hasn't mentioned anything about Ripley to her since the storm and that had been 6 weeks ago. He can tell that Vic is trying to decide what to do whether to send him home or let him in. A moment later, she just steps aside so Jack can come in. She leads him to her living room and instructs him to wait there for her.
###
When she walks back into the bedroom Lucas is already sitting at the edge of the bed, curiosity all over his handsome face.
"Who was it?" he asks thinking the person had left.
"Gibson! He is in the living room. He wants to talk to you." Lucas looks up at her with shock, disbelief and a bit of anger - or was it betrayal - in his eyes.
"He knows about us?" Lucas can't wrap his mind around that. Why would she keep something like that from him? Why would she share this with anyone? Doesn't she know how much trouble they both could get in if their relationship became public?
"I'm sorry. I know I should have told you sooner. He found out the day after our first night together. You called and he handed me the phone and saw your name on it. And before you say anything I know I should have saved your number under a different name. That was not very smart on my part."
"That aside why didn't you tell me?" she breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't sound angry anymore. She couldn't handle him being upset with her. This relationship meant so much to her already and they have only been together for a few months.
"I wanted to tell you but I was just scared,"
He looks at her confused seeing the uncertainty and fear in her eyes.
"Scared of what?" he wonders.
"That you would break it off if you knew that someone else knew about us. I'm really sorry for not telling you."
His face softens and he waves her over to where he is sitting, she goes willingly and makes herself comfortable between his legs. He puts his arms around her waist hugging her to him his head on her chest listening to the steady beating of her heart while she threads her fingers through his hair and massages his scalp. They stay like this for a moment just enjoying the feel of each other. Almost forgetting that Jack is waiting in the living room.
He finally looks up at her with a fond smile on his lips. "I wouldn't have broken it off but it would have been nice to know that someone knows. I guess this also explains that painfully awkward moment during the storm?" he jokes.
He is enjoying this way too much. Vic can tell. She just laughs and bends down to kiss him on the lips, both hands holding his face while his arms are still wrapped around her waist.
She then tells him how Jack has been acting weird for the past few weeks and how he seems to always be on edge. She thinks it's still about the skyscraper and Lucas is surprised. That incident happened a few months ago. Enough time for Gibson to get back to normal. It must be pretty serious if he still experienced PTSD. Lucas knows that he has to help. Gibson not being fit for duty could result in mistakes that could cost other people their lives, that could endanger Vic and he is not going to lose her especially not when he can actually do something to help.
"Let me put on a shirt and I will be out in a minute," he tells her and finally lets go of her. Vic smiles at him and gives him another quick kiss on the lips before she leaves the room.
###
She comes back into the living room telling Jack that Lucas will be out in a minute or so and that she is making them some tea. Jack just nods watching her disappear into the kitchen. She appears to be fine so it doesn't look like him being here caused her any problems. At least he hopes so. It's the last thing he would want.
Chief Ripley comes out of the bedroom a minute later and Jack feels weird again. It's awkward to know that your boss is sleeping with one of your colleagues and that you are the only person that knows about it. He can tell that the Chief isn't happy about that fact. Nonetheless, he is still offering Jack to sit down and talk and listen to him. Jack finds it admirable that he is doing this when he could have just sent him away telling him that he should make an appointment at his office and they would deal with this there. Instead, he is here listening.
And that's all Jack needs to let it all out.
He doesn't leave anything out. He tells Ripley about the incident and how he felt being buried there listening to his device beep but not being able to do anything and wondering whether or not someone would come and find him. Ripley listens attentively.
Jack can hear footsteps coming from the kitchen and watches Ripley getting up from the couch, walking towards Vic, taking the tray with tea from her hands and setting it on the table. And they say chivalry is dead. It's a nice moment between them and he feels like an intruder but at the same time it puts his mind at ease. Ripley seems to be treating his friend right and that's important to him.
Vic sits down beside Ripley and asks Jack if he is fine with her staying. Jack doesn't have a problem with it. He believes that it might be helpful to have Vic there with them. She knows him after all.
He continues to share and both Lucas and Vic listen. They share their own stories and Vic's confession surprises Jack.
"Remember the blue fire?" Jack nods. It was an incident hard to forget. How many times does one experience blue fire?
"That one left me terrified. All I wanted to do was run from the fire. I mean, how ridiculous it that? We are supposed to be the ones running towards it." Jack can tell that this was not news to Ripley by the way he is rubbing her back to give her support and comfort. He assumes that they must have shared stories of close calls and fears somewhere along the course of their relationship.
When Jack asks her how she got over it she tells him that it happened during the skyscraper incident. Jack can't help but laugh at the irony of it.
One of Ripley's stories is similar to his own and Jack knows it, has heard about it before and it's one of the reasons he wanted to talk to Ripley. He figured the Chief would understand better than anyone else.
Talking about it definitely helps. He already feels a little bit better. They talk a little while longer while Vic has surrendered to sleep with her feet propped up on Ripley's lap who is massaging them. It looks like the most natural thing in the world.
"I suggest group therapy and either putting you on leave for a while so you can get your head on straight or not be on any calls for the time being." The Chief makes it clear that Jack needs help and that acknowledging it is the first step to getting healthy again but there is still so much more that needs to be done.
"And Gibson, should something like that happen again I expect you to come to me sooner. You are a Lieutenant and have a responsibility towards your team. Hiding something like this can get people hurt." he knows that Ripley is talking about Vic. He can tell that she has wormed her way into his heart and that the Chief was scared of losing her.
Jack wants to say goodbye when they are done talking and there is nothing left to say but Ripley stops him, tells him that he would feel better if he just slept on the couch instead of being out on the street at this time. Jack nods and watches him as he picks up Vic bridal style like she weighs nothing and carries her into her bedroom.
When he first found out about them he was worried that the Chief was taking advantage or that this was some kind of midlife crisis BS that would only end up hurting Vic but after everything that he has seen and heard tonight he knows that the Chief is head over heels in love with Vic and she feels the same way about him whether or not they knew it themselves was a whole other question.
Ripley comes out a few minutes later with a blanket and pillow which he hands to Jack who thanks him again for listening and apologizes for intruding. He knows that he should have made an appointment with him in his office but he was afraid he would bail last minute. Ripley tells him he understands and that he doesn't have to worry about it. Ripley himself apologizes that Jack has to keep a secret like theirs with everything that is going on but Jack reassures him that it's not a burden and that he won't tell anyone, that it's none of his business and that he is happy Vic has found a guy who treats her with respect. Ripley smiles and nods at that, wishes him a good night and disappears into the bedroom.
Jack goes to bed with his mind at ease and falls asleep almost immediately and peacefully for the first time in months.