Disclaimer: I don't any of these character or Jericho, just borrowing them for a bit

Characters: Jake and Johnston Green, but its a Jake/Heather story

Time: During the episode of Black Jack

Description: The conversation in the car after Heather leaves for New Bern

Rating: PG

"Just For A Few Days"

As the taillights of the big truck Russell and his crew from New Bern had been riding in disappeared in the distance, Johnston Green stared out the front window of the car at his eldest son sitting on the hood. The slump of the young man's shoulders was unmistakable. He had overheard the conversation between Jake and Heather and had watched the emotionally charged encounter on both sides as she had told Jake she was heading to New Bern.

Johnston had been keeping an eye on his son and Heather throughout this road trip to Black Jack. Ever since the conversation between Jake and Heather back in Jericho, his attention had ratcheted up a notch regarding his son and Miss Heather Lisinski. The girl had wisely put Jake on the spot without making him defensive. Johnston had enjoyed Heather's company during their trip, though Jake had been silent for most of it. But he would have had to have been blind to not have noticed the frequent glances Jake had made in the rear view mirror throughout the long drive to the fairgrounds. As they hadn't seen a single other vehicle during the journey, Johnston knew that Jake was looking more at who was in the back seat of the car than out the rear window. And it sure wasn't at Dale.

Now, Heather had left and Jake wasn't very happy about it.

At last, Jake stood up and climbed back into the driver's seat of the car, slamming the door shut beside him. With a flick of a wrist, his son started the car and the old car roared to life.

"Must have been one helluva kiss." Johnston stated. The dim lights from the dashboard of the car couldn't hide the forlorn expression on his son's face. Gail had mentioned that Jake had taken an interest in the attractive schoolteacher and they both had wondered what had happened between the two when they had not seen much of Heather lately. When Heather had said she had previously kissed Jake this morning, it explained a lot, probably more than Jake realized himself by Johnson's best guess. He knew how his son operated and guessed he had probably been spooked at the thought of having to deal with romantic emotions, especially right now.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Jake replied. He shifted the Plymouth Roadrunner into gear and pressed his foot. on the gas a bit too hard. The engine roared and tires squealed on the pavement as the car took off down the road. The car seemed empty without Heather. He missed her already. Jake reached out to turn on the heat then stopped, reminding himself that they needed to conserve gas. The coldness in his body had little to do with the temperature. The dark emptiness of the road they were driving down now reflected the somber mood that was settling inside him.

Heather had barely spoken to him at all the entire time in the car. But she had engaged in a a few road trip games with Dale during the long drive to Black Jack and then a lengthy discussion about U.S. History and Kansas with his dad. They had avoided talking about the obvious, such has how much their state was changed by the bombs. Heather appeared to have enjoyed the old stories Johnston Green had told, ones Jake had heard from his grandfather. Even Dale seemed interested and had asked questions. The only time Jake had spoken was when his dad asked him to 'remember that story'. Jake had been too busy keeping an eye on the road and looking out for trouble. Yeah, that was his excuse.

"Smart, good looking, resourceful, brave, saved my life..." Johnston's voice intruded into Jake's thoughts. "I wouldn't have left that alone for a month."

"Dad!" Jake yelled. He glanced in the rear view mirror and saw that in the backseat, Dale was grinning, which only made him want to sulk more.

"I know you probably have your reasons, son, but after what I saw today, I don't think it's a lack of interest on your part, so what is it?" Johnston couldn't remember ever seeing Jake this worked up about a girl before. He was intrigued and couldn't wait to tell Gail. "Or are you just running away as usual?" The elder Green knew he probably nailed it right there. Jake often had difficulty dealing with his emotions. He had seen his son step up to the plate a lot during the past several months, but he knew the young man still had a long way to go on the road to maturity. Settling down with a woman would be a huge step in his son's life, one that would make Gail happy.

Jake glanced over at his father, feeling the rising anger at being lectured at once again. But he backed down and sighed instead. "There's been too much going on and I didn't want her to get hurt," he answered after a long pause but cringed inwardly, knowing that sounded bad.

"You just let her go off with complete strangers and you're worried about her getting hurt?" Johnston said loudly. He had seen his share of Jake's mistakes in his life and this could be one of them. But even he had to admit that if there was a chance that her idea could work, that Heather and her friend Ted could design a working wind turbine, it would be to the benefit of both Jericho and New Bern. He just wasn't sure how safe it was for a woman out here, not after what they saw today.

Jake slammed the palm of his hand against the steering wheel in frustration. How could he explain his mixed up feelings when he didn't understand them himself? He wanted to chase that truck down and pull Heather out and take her back home to Jericho. But there had been a determined look in Heather's eyes, a strong belief in what she was doing. He had to honor that, even though his gut was telling him not to let her go. He tried to not think it was because of her friend Ted, who had known Heather much longer than he had. This whole trip had re-awakened feelings he had tried to bury, feelings that made him look at Heather in a new light and wish he hadn't let things drop between them. She was a fighter, willing to do what she could to help others even if it was risky, just like himself. No, better than himself. She hadn't been a screw up her entire life like he had.

"In case you haven't noticed, the apocalypse happened, son," Johnston began in his fatherly tone, something Jake was very used to hearing.

Here it comes. Jake thought to himself, bracing himself for the advice that always shot his way. He usually ignored it in the past, but the past couple of months, he found himself listening more to his father and mother, noticing that they usually made sense. He wondered when that had changed and why.

Johnston continued. "Things are no longer the same. We might not have the luxury of sitting around waiting for the right time and place to find someone to care about We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow or even next week. I think you need to stop and think about things sometimes instead of always out running around looking for the next fire to be put out. Your mom taught me that years ago and is still trying beat it in to my skull." At that, Johnston was reminded of how much Jake was like him. Both of his sons had stepped up to take care of Jericho while he had been sick but Jake had been the one taking the chances, risking his life and safety to protect Jericho and its people. That boy was going to end up alone or dead if he kept it up.

"I know, Dad. I have been trying to think about things." Jake answered honestly. He had been thinking more about his life and how he had changed since his return to Jericho and since the bombs went off. With out the distraction of tv and radio, there wasn't a lot of time to do much else other than think, no matter how he tried to bury himself in work of training the border patrol force to protect Jericho.

"Obviously, not enough." Johnston said softly. "And now she's gone." The way his father said it, it sounded like it was for good.

"It's just for a few days." Jake repeated absently, but he wasn't sure if he was saying that to his dad or himself.

-- end --