A/N: 'How evil is your angst streak?' when I told my friend Steph my plan for this one-shot that's how she reacted, how will you react? Is it really evil, or realistic? R&R:
Hate:
Alice hated him. She hated him more than she had ever hated anything or anyone ever before. She hated him more than she thought it was possible for her to hate someone. She hated him with her whole heart and she wanted to hurt him. She wanted to pull away the most important thing in his life just so he could see how she felt. Just so he could know how she felt. Steven had been her life. She had practically raised him single-handedly, his father didn't really care. She loved him, she would've done anything to protect him. She would've given her own life to save his. She just never realised that the person he'd need to be saved from was her Father. Steven's own Grandfather was in the end the biggest danger. Oh Alice wasn't stupid, she knew Jack was dangerous, that was the exact reason she had always asked him to stay away. She just never realised how dangerous. How heartless. What sort of bastard sacrificed his own grandson? What sort of sick person just stood there and let their grandson scream and scream as they died. Not only did Jack not do anything to stop it, but he had been the one to start it. He was the reason Steven was dead. Alice would never forgive him for that. She would never stop hating him.
Apart from when she held Steven's body in her arms Alice hadn't cried. Barely a day had passed, but no more tears had fell down Alice Carters face. She was too angry. She felt empty, waiting for Steven's voice to call out 'Mum' but she was too angry to allow herself to relax and grieve. She needed to do something, something that would give her peace of mind. She needed to see Jack again. Goodness only knew why, but she needed to see him. She couldn't let him simply get away with it. She knew him, he'd probably run away, as though running away from a problem could make it go away. Of course it couldn't. Steven was dead, Alice would always have to live with the fact that her son would never be a teenager. Never get his first girlfriend, never go to high school. Never have the life he could've had. The life he deserved.
'I hate you!' Alice spat, her voice full of venom, when she next saw Jack. He had been stood on the bay, staring out to the water. He turned to face her; he looked tired, lost and broken. Alice barely noticed, she was too angry.
'I know' he replied. He wanted to add I hate me too but he didn't.
'How could you do it?' She asked. 'How could you kill your own grandson? How could you look at a frightened child, a frightened child who is your own grandson and just kill them?' She dug her hand in her pocket and pulled out a gun. She moved it from hand to hand. 'How do you just stand there, knowing someone is going to die? Knowing they're going to die and it'll be your movements which do that? How do you justify that, even to yourself?' She raised the gun in her right hand 'Something like this, perhaps?' she asked and pulled the trigger.
The bullet hit Jack directly in the heart, he didn't even try to dodge it. As he fell to the ground his head hit against the railing separating the bay from the water. Alice gasped. She dropped the gun in shock. She knew Jack was immortal but she'd never seen him die before. She'd certainly never killed him before. She's never even thought about hurting anyone before. Tears finally fell down her face, and they didn't stop. She turned away from Jack's body and sat on the ground, leaning on the railing, only a few metres up from Jack.
He'd killed Steven. She'd killed him. She knew he'd come back, but that hardly made it ok. She never meant to go this far. She had been angry. So angry. She buried her head in her knees and just cried. The image of Steven running into Jack's arms came into her mind; how could they have gotten from there to here in just a few days? She felt herself shiver slightly even though it wasn't that cold.
'Alice' Jack's voice was soft.
She didn't move, she didn't know what to do. She felt like a child again, she wanted Daddy to make it better, but Daddy couldn't make this better. He couldn't undo the past. He couldn't make it all ok. Jack sat directly next to her and when he put his arm around her she didn't pull away. In fact she did the opposite, she moved closer to him. She lifted her head out of her knees and leaned on Jack's shoulder; she was still crying. 'I'm so sorry, Alice.' He was apologising for Steven, but he was also apologising for so much more. Sorry barely seemed adequate but it was the only thing he could say.
'I'm sorry too' Alice managed through her tears.
Jack held her closely. 'Baby girl, you've got nothing be sorry for' he told her. 'Nothing at all.'
Alice didn't say anything, she didn't even move, she barely dared breathe. She wanted to forget about everything and stay in this moment forever, with her Dad. She let him hold her for a few minutes. She knew though, that forever was a long time, and nothing stayed the same, and she couldn't stay in that moment. She couldn't pretend that everything was find. She didn't want to lose her Dad but she couldn't even look at him properly. Whenever she looked at Jack, she saw Steven. She saw Steven screaming and dying. When she looked at Jack she wanted to breakdown.
She shrugged out of his hold and stood up. She avoided eye contact, she couldn't bare to look at him. It was breaking her heart to do this, but she knew she needed to. Tears were still falling freely down her face. 'I--I n-' She stopped, taking a deep breath she tried again. 'I never want to see you again'. She didn't know why but she felt the need to explain. 'You--' She could barely get her words out. 'Steven' she said simply, and attempted in vain to wipe the tears from her eyes.
Jack stood up and nodded sadly. 'I understand' he said. He turned to walk away, only to turn back. 'I love you, Alice' he said, causing a fresh batch of tears to fall down Alice's face. She didn't say anything, she had nothing to say and even if she had she wouldn't have been able to say it. She watched as Jack walked away, even before he got far he was blurry because of her tears. Only when he was completely out of sight did she turn and walk home. She never saw him again.