Title: Why the Caged Bird Sings
Pairings: Skate, Juliet/Jack
Disclaimer: Don't sue me, I own no one. If it were legal, I'd have Josh Holloway in my closet right now. And maybe a polar bear.
Notes: Welcome to my first new fic in AGES. I was inspired by "A Tale of Two Cities" and my new pairing love, Jack & Juliet, but mainly the SWEET Skate scene. Oh, Fish biscuit of love! Begins after "A Tale of Two Cities" and will intertwine my own ideas and actual scenes from the episodes, as always review and let me know what you think!
Just a short chapter to get things going, Skate primarily in this chapter but Jack/Juliet in the end.
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A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.
Maya Angelou
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He couldn't sleep. It wasn't the moist ground or the cool nights breeze, it was her. He couldn't stop watching her. Watching to make sure her chest still fell and rose again, hoping she'd stir a little so he'd know she was alright. She shivered in the moonlight as he sat bare chested against the steel bars of his cage. He had thrown her his shirt as soon and the sun began to set and she didn't accept at first, but he demanded. She didn't deserved to freeze, and he cou;dn't get over how gorgeous she looked in that dress.
Freckles, in a dress. Now I've seen it all, he kept thinking to himself. That didn't give his body as stir as much as seeing her body shake with sobs did. She tried to hid it, curled up on the concrete towards the back of her cell, pretending like she was tired, but he watched her body shake as she cried.
"Freckles?' He called out in the darkness. The lights had faded and now the moon was all that guided his eyes to her figure across the way.
He figured she wouldn't answer but she sat up and wrapped her hands around the bars, staring at him through the beams of moonlight.
She didn't say anything, her eyes just trying to focus on his figure.
"How you doin'?" He asked.
She swallowed hard, holding back the tears she wanted to cry in his arms.
"I'm surviving," she softly said.
"I could try and get you another fish biscuit," he laughed.
"Don't want you to overload your brain, Sawyer," she replied with a laugh.
He had served his purpose, getting her mind off the horrors of their world for a moment and getting a tiny bit of laughter from her throat.
"You feelin' any warmer?" Sawyer asked.
"Not much but thanks," she replied.
"Aww, well, you know if I could I'd squeeze my ass through these bars and fix that," he laughed.
"I don't need to ask, how do I? I'm pretty sure I know how your mind works," she stated.
"Do I look like a cuddler?" He asked.
Kate wiped the tears that rested in the corners of her eyes and sighed, "I just hate waiting, waiting to find out what we're in for."
"Thanks Freckles, just killed my purpose in life," Sawyer groaned.
"What?" she asked.
"My purpose, keepin' your mind of the daily dilemma, you killed it," he answered.
She felt comforted by his words and southern drawl in the darkness, warmed by what she felt deep inside.
"Didn't know you had a purpose, Tex," she said, trying not to sound too touched, she didn't want to embarrass herself, as if she could do so anymore.
"Yeah well, gotta find somethin' when you're stuck in a cage eatin' bear food, Sassafras."
Kate lets go of the bars, her hands smelling of rusty metal, squiggly lines from the rough bars pressed into her palms. She rubbed her arms, hoping to warm her hands and she sighed, trying to place the moon in the sky.
"I'm glad...I'm glad you're over there, Sawyer," Kate said softly, her voice carrying on the wind.
Sawyer laid himself back on his elbows and pictured her bright face in the sunlight. He smiled to himself and spoke up, "Yeah, I'm glad you're over there, Freckles."
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She couldn't get him out of her mind if she tried. His pained face and sorrow filled eyes haunted her. He was just supposed to be a file, a specimen, she was just supposed to be a voice in the dark and he's answer her pained and she's carry in. Shoot him down with a taser if he got rowdy and leave his food behind the door. In his eyes she saw much more then she wanted and it made her stomach flitter and flip.
Her fingers traced the countless words in his file, as she read up on his family. Sarah, the name alone hurt him like a thousand firey knives through his heart, and she told herself to be careful and never say the name again.
Why be careful? Why worry if he were pained or hurt, it wasn't her concern. Keep him fed, monitor him, Ben ordered.
She locked eyes with Ben and her glared at her with a fury. He saw it, he saw what she felt and he could see she was going soft. He closed the door behind him and left her to fend for herself.
Jack's emotional pain had finally brought him to the point where he couldn't fight any longer. He laid on the examining table and she watched his chest rise, his eyes straing up at the chains above him. He didn't even move when she left the water bottle and peanut butter sandwich behind the the door.
She urged him with her mind to drink, to eat, to speak again but he said nothing.
So she sat in the silence, drowning in her thoughts.