DISCLAIMER: I do not own the story of Jericho or any of its characters. Sure would be nice to though. So I settle for tinkering with them.
I always liked the scene in the pilot episode where Jake watches the little girl stop breathing, pulls it together (gets his head out of the past--good foreshadowing) and saves her. Skeet Ulrich's facial expressions, those eyes and the moment he told the kid he was a screw up solidified my interest in Jake Green as a reluctant hero. I believe that moment on the bus with that little girl (and meeting Heather) marked a turning point for Jake, a path of redemption he continues to follow now.
Hope ya like the one shot. Changed a couple little things in the dialogue and action for the scene in town. Thanks for reading.
I'M A SCREW-UP.
By Ann Pendragon
He told the kid he was a screw-up, he had years of proof and a string of witnesses to attest to the fact, but not today -- not yet. God he hoped not yet.
The young man closed his weary eyes one more time before looking back to the little girl 'breathing' before him. He could still feel the burning pressure at the back of his throat and the tightness in his chest that for a while had pushed away the returning pain in his leg and head.
'I saved the little girl. I saved her.'
He gave his head a painful shake that brought him back to the present. Looking past all the small scared faces to the teachers, he hoped like hell he didn't look as afraid as he knew they all felt. Emotion had never been useful to him, if anything it had helped him keep his running tab as a screw-up.
Painfully he stood from the bus seat and pushed away feelings that were of no use and once again allowed instinct to take the wheel—literally.
With the last blare of the horn, he felt the bus stall out just as they made it to the crowd at the center of town.
"Help them! Help em!"
Relief flooded over him in waves as the emergency workers streamed onto the bus and began to tend to the children and the driver.
'Karma: 0, Screw-up: 1, they did it.
Turning to the seats behind him, the action almost exhausting, he met the blue eyes that had been watching him steadily since they got back on the road to Jericho.
"What's your name?" She felt familiar.
"Heather." She smiled easily, even through her injury.
"Jake." He could find his own smile.
"Nice to meet you Jake." She thanked him.
"You too." And he believes it is.
He makes them take her off the bus first. Those eyes argue but she does not.
"Jake!"
"Mom."
It's when the adrenaline he had been running on finally leaves his system. Within a couple steps he's in his mothers embrace.
"Oh, Honey…"
The world spins as he makes it from his mothers' arms to his brothers. He can see his Dad and sees the look on his face but doesn't recognize the sentiment. The town around him becomes a blur of similar expressions and he can't help but feel the surreality of the moment.
He's Jake Green. He left this town behind – again. To the town of Jericho, that was never going to be any great loss. His shoulder jerked when another hand reached out to pat his back.
'The prison bus.'
He snaps out of his haze long enough to tell Eric about the derelict bus, unsure of the ramifications but sure of the importance. He watches his little brother rush away with the information and is left in his mothers care.
"Oh, Honey. I was so worried…"
"Did ya think I was going to let dad have the last word?" He tried to grin while half heartedly fending off his mothers prying hands and good intentions. She only stopped when they both heard the voice of their Mayor.
"You better not be talking about me."
Jakes eyes rose cautiously to meet his fathers. The old man could still make him feel like a guilty thirteen year old.
"You did a great thing out there."
'That must have hurt.' Jake sensed his fathers discomfort, he shared it.
"Thanks." He numbly answered.
"Your Grandfather would have been proud."
'What about you?'
Jake could feel his mothers hand grip his tighter as they both watched Johnston Green take his leave. He understood that his injuries were the only reason his mother wasn't attempting to mend the broken bridge between him and the old man at that moment. Thank God for small miracles.
"I leave a few years and the whole town goes to hell." Jake forced a withered smile at his own joke in an attempt to change the subject.
"I'm just glad your back." Gail Green kissed the bloodied hand of her prodigal son with compassion and relief.
Jake flinched from the action and remembered the blood, his blood, the little girls and felt ice begin to gather in his stomach.
"We'll see."
THE BEGINING