Authors Note: Ok, well I had to do a one shot involving Jack Skinner from "The Guardian." He was so horribly behaved! Cocky and a smartbutt. It was great. So I wanted to write a little thing that was kinda realistic. Plus I wanted to write something mindless and fluffy. Enjoy and review! Thanks!
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In little more then PT Shorts, a semi-dry t-shirt, and flip-flops Jack Skinner walked through the Super Wal-Mart knowing full well that he was drawing the eyes of most females he passed.
He loved it.
After years of chasing females he never grew tired of their admiration. Though, lately, there just hadn't been much thrill left in one-night stands. Or going home to an empty house.
He had his share of wives. Four, five if you counted the time in Vegas.
Years of being an active duty rescue swimmer had left its mark on his frame. Long gone were those days. Ten years of pulling people from the water and he finally changed assignments and became an instructor at A-School.
He told everyone that it was time. He had served his country and now wanted to advance. He was a lifer and wanted to work on advancing and moving up the chain of command. What he didn't tell people was that he was burning out of that particular job.
The excitement for the job wasn't the same. He still had the ability and edge, just not the passion. At twenty-nine he needed something new to do.
Basket on his arm he wandered down the pain killer section.
He needed Ibuprofen.
Not for a current injury, but cause he ran out.
In ten years he had broken most every bone in his body, a few more then once. He'd been bruised, cut, battered, and hypothermic a few times and had the medical records to prove it.
He rounded the corner and ran into a body.
Just from the sound she made when they connected he knew that he knew her from somewhere. When he saw her unique purple eyes he remembered a three-month fling right before his relocation to Miami five years ago.
She was a fellow Coastie.
At the sight of him a smile grew on her face, "Jack!" The two shared a hug and she then added, "Did you just get out of the pool."
Confidently, Skinner nodded, knowing he had gotten her wet. Her blue uniform was indeed wet in spots. She looked herself over and he noticed her hair was short, really short, short like a pixie which oddly suited her. When she looked back at him he grinned, "Actually yes. What are you doing here? I thought you were in San Diego?"
She shifted in her black boots.
"I was, I just got back from the Gulf."
"Mexico?"
She shook her head and smoothed out the newly damp spots on her shirt, "Iraq. I was doing port security." She then pointed to his shirt, "You're teaching at A-school?"
There was always something about her, about Victoria "Tori" VanBlack that made him feel at ease. Comfortable. He never had to lie or BS around her, he never had to try to impress her, or worry about upsetting her. She got him.
It was after her that he couldn't keep a relationship. Everyone he dated he compared to her and they never matched up.
"Yeah, how long have you been stateside?"
She made a face.
Bumped her basket off her leg, "Maybe a month."
People walked around them, eyeing both Coasties. Skinner because of his obvious state of dress and stature. Tori because of her uniform. Uniforms always drew stares.
Jack glanced down at her basket by chance and saw Children's Motrin and Slim Fast. Plus some other odds and ends. His blue eyes met her purple ones, "You have a kid?"
A glance into her basket and a smile later she nodded, "Yeah. He's four. He's at daycare up the road now, I'll pick him up next."
A broad smile crossed Skinners face. He rubbed his natural bleach blonde hair, "You're a mommy? What's his name?"
She paused, then shook her head, "You'll make fun of me. Look. I gotta go, it was nice seeing you Jack. I'll see you around." At that she strolled out of the aisle and toward the registers.
Jack walked into the aisle and towards the bottles. A huge smile on his face. No matter what she always made him smile. He loved that about her.
A young twenty something female walked by admiring him. He didn't notice as he grabbed a red box labeled Motrin. Thinking back to the last time he had seen her. In the bathroom of the apartment they had shared. She had been too sick with the flu to take him to the airport that morning.
He had almost stayed in Miami. He almost stayed to take her to the doctor later that day for her appointment. But she had insisted. She didn't want him to stay and make it harder when he would finally have to leave.
With a turn on his flip-flops he strolled out of the aisle towards the pet section.
The fish needed food.
He remembered their final minutes vividly. Their last kiss. The last few minutes they had while she was hunched over the toilet sick as a dog.
Jack walked around the display for Dove Soap and past some college students who admired his legs and butt.
Suddenly it came to him as he passed a jewelry counter.
The realization struck.
The light bulb turned on.
The wheels began to turn.
Lightning struck.
The basket fell from his hand and he ran. He bolted. He ran through the Wal-Mart looking for Tori. Looking for her in her blue uniform. He looked at every register and then realized she only had a few things in the basket and was long gone.
He ran through an empty register and out of the store.
Out into the summer rainstorm.
His eyes scanned the parking lot for her and he didn't see her. He didn't know what kind of car she drove. But he knew where the daycare place was. Jack ran across the parking lot for his motorcycle, a Ninja. He pulled his helmet on and started the bike.
Kinder-Care Day Care…
Jack parked his motorcycle on the sidewalk and all but threw his helmet off.
Never in his life had he felt such desperation.
Nor had he ever felt the feelings welling up in his gut as he ran through the warm rain and into the cool air-conditioned building. He pushed his way past parents and children entering and leaving.
Then he spotted the Navy Blue of Tori's uniform.
He had to see the kid.
Something in him knew. But he had to see the little boy. He caught up to Tori and grabbed her shoulder. She spun around and at the sight of him her face fell.
It was then he knew.
The little boy, Tori's son was his son. He had a son. He had fathered a child.
A million things ran through his mind. Thousands of things were on the tip of his tongue.
Instead she spoke up. "Jack…you don't have to be here. I don't need you to be here."
He was stunned too on top of everything else, "What?"
Gently she took his hand off her shoulder and held it, "Jack. I'm releasing you of any responsibility. You are not obligated to us. I am more then capable of taking care of…him."
He couldn't be angry, or get angry.
There were tears brimming in her eyes and he wanted to hug her, hold her, hold her for both of them.
He wanted to say dozens of things. All that came out was, "What's his name?"
She hesitated.
She glanced down the hall and softly told him, "L.J. Little Jack."
It felt like someone had punched him right in the stomach. He stepped back, letting go of her hand and fell back against the brightly colored wall. Unable to speak momentarily. Finally he said, "Let me see him. I need to see him."
With a nod she headed down the busy hall.
Jack followed her, his heart raced.
His palms were sweaty and his mouth was dry.
She wiped her eyes and led him to a room. Jack followed her in and noticed there were pictures painted on all the walls. Inwardly he wondered which one his son had painted. Had she ever told her son, his son, their son about him? Did his son have a father figure?
"Mommy!"
Jack turned and saw a little boy dressed in red shorts and a white shirt with grey crossed anchors on front. The little boy had striking blue eyes and snow-white hair. He ran and jumped into his mother's arms. Tori kissed her son on the cheek and hugged him tightly to her, putting him on her hip while she signed him out and the teacher handed her L.J.'s backpack.
Jack stared at his son.
His mirror image.
L.J. kissed his mother's cheek and looked at Jack curiously.