Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Tina's.
Spoilers: "Anna Howard Shaw Day".
Pairing: Jack/Liz, Jack/Avery.
Summary: Post-ep for "Anna Howard Shaw Day". Jack gets Liz into bed (after her oral surgery).
"My bed!" Liz exclaimed, suddenly awake again. She flung open her arms, falling from Jack's grasp onto the bed in a graceless face-plant. "I love my bed," she mumbled into the comforter, "It's my favorite place…"
Jack stood, head tipped to one side, eying her prostrate and prattling form as he called out to Avery, "I'll just be a minute!" Then he squatted down to remove her shoes. Liz's foot kicked sharply in his hands though, almost scoring him on the chin.
"Hey-" she muttered, twisting on the bed to frown at him. "The feet are off-limits, Jack. You know that."
"Lemon, I've already seen your feet," he reminded her.
She pouted. "When?"
"It doesn't matter." He made a grab for the other foot, keeping his voice as reassuring as possible. "I'm only going to remove your shoes. You can keep your socks on, okay?"
Liz turned, moving into an upright position on the edge of the bed and obediently lifting each foot to allow him to remove and discard her boots. Then she watched his hands move to the belt on her jacket and begin to undo it. She sighed contentedly, ripping off her scarf and flinging it away, then letting her head loll on her neck. "I can't believe this is finally happening…I've waited so long for this…"
Jack looked up at her from beneath his brows but said nothing.
"My bra unclasps in front, you know," she told him conversationally, pointing to the middle of her chest.
Jack's fingers started to unbutton her. "Is that right?"
"With sticky tape," she added, a little lilt in her tone. "You like that? Huh?"
"That sounds…very intriguing," he murmured, opening her jacket.
As soon as he did, Liz fell back on the bed as if released, her arms spread and eyes closed. "Take me," she sighed before delivering a few random snores.
From the corner of his eye, Jack saw Avery's figure hovering in the doorway. He turned to look at her and she raised a brow at him, a small smile on her lips. He stood quickly, grabbed one of Liz's arms and hauled her to the head of the bed where he'd already turned down the bedclothes. Her head landed on the pillow with a light thud as he flung the covers over her body and tucked her in. This movement seemed to rouse her slightly.
"Oh…" she lifted her head, attempting to orient herself, "is it over already? I didn't feel a thing..." Her eyes landed on him, focused on him - sort of. "I knew you'd be gentle," she whispered, one palm flailing in mid-air then slapping sloppily against his cheek. "I just knew."
Jack pulled her hand away from his cheek and sat on the edge of the bed, acutely aware of his date, watching from the threshold. "Shh, Lemon, shh."
Liz smiled up at him benignly. "But you really shouldn't have brought your doggie, Jackie. I'm not into that." She struggled upright suddenly, leaning over his shoulder and growling at Avery, bloody teeth bared.
"Good Lord," he muttered, eyes wide as he grasped her shoulders with both hands, holding her back. Liz continued to growl as he glanced back at Avery, quickly motioning her away from the door. She went. And Liz instantly relaxed, slumping in place, her eyes returning to half-mast.
"She's too blonde for you," she mumbled. "She's too blonde to even be real. That thing's gotta be a wig."
Jack stroked her shoulders a few times before releasing her entirely. "Okay…I think it might be time to sleep now."
"Okay," she agreed, her voice suddenly small, her head bowed. "I'm sorry I scared her. I didn't mean to scare her."
"It's fine, Lemon," he assured her, rising from the bed. "She knows you're not yourself."
Her head hung further, it wagged back and forth a few times. "I'm not myself, Jack. Thas whas wrong with me. I'm not myself. It's why they aaaall left. Cos I'm not who I am, not who I'm s'posed to be. That's why you-" she cut herself off, lifting her head, "Oh boy, I'm kinda tripping out…"
"Yes, you are." He put a hand on her shoulder. "You need to relax-"
"Hey…" she glanced about her bedroom, blinking through her drug haze, "I'm home. You brought me home..."
"That's right," he nodded, starting to back away. "You're home now, Lemon. You can rest, watch your cyber-husband movie."
Liz looked up at him, her misery all dissipated and warmth filling her eyes. "Hey, Jackie! Wait, I wanna give you something." She captured his hand with both of hers and tugged on it, making him sit again. Then she leant over, nearly toppling out of bed as she opened a drawer. Jack held onto her slack body as she rummaged inside the bedside table, making sure she stayed in the bed until she straightened, holding a half-eaten baggie of heart cookies under her chin. "I want you to have these," she told him with a magnanimous grin. "I can't eat 'em. Cos of my surgery. And you-" she picked up his hand and placed the cookies in them, "are the closest I've got. The closest I've ever gotten." She smiled at him loopily. "You're not just my bestest friend. You're my Annie Showered-" she blinked, shook her head, "nope, not right. Try again. My Hannah Bowered- uh-uh. Still not right. You're my…well, my Valentime." She half leant, half collapsed against his chest, head on his shoulder as she rambled on, voice full of groggy affection. "Cos even though you have your doggies, at least you take care of me. You brought me to my home and you always take care of me so good. And you might not love me, but I think you're funny so I love you…most of the time." Liz paused, sniffed once, then added in a rush, "Even though I also think you should cut your hair and not dye it anymore." She drew back to look at him, wincing ruefully, "Is it okay that I said that about your hair?"
Jack smiled, whisking some stray hair out of her eyes. "It's okay, Lemon."
"Good." She put her hand over his, closed his fist around the cookies and patted it, her tone turning tearful. "These are really, really good."
"Well, thank you, Lemon." He looked down at the red and white hearts, at her hand covering his. "That's…very touching."
She gave an exaggerated eye-roll, her mood swinging again. "Jeez, Jack! What is it with you? Always with the 'yes Lemon', 'no Lemon', 'thank you, Lemon', 'I've seen your feet, Lemon'. So freeking civil I wanna strangle you sometimes. I just hate it, I really hate you sometimes, you know that?"
"I apologize," he murmured, baffled but amused. "A second ago you loved me."
She shrugged one shoulder. "I'm a flop-flipper."
"I see." He nodded slowly, looking at her a moment in silence.
Liz's eyelids began to droop heavily. "Alrighty…goin' to sleep now, I think. Say byebye to Bonbon Jovi for me. Tell him I love him too…"
Jack chuckled quietly. "I will. Sweet dreams, Lemon."
"Sweet dreams, Lemon," she slurred, dropping back on the bed and snuggling into her pillow. "YesLemonNoLemonSweetFeetLemon…"
Jack rose, careful not to disturb her, and was about to turn to go when her eyes cracked open again.
Liz let out a sleepy, sad sigh, reaching for his hand but not finding it. "You know, it sucks, Jack. We could be so happy if both of us weren't such idiots." She rolled onto her side, eyes closing over and arms cuddled to her chest. "Especially you," she muttered before beginning to snore.
Jack turned away. And hesitated. He glanced about the room, brow creased. Then he buttoned his jacket and returned to his blonde, beautiful date, waiting patiently in the adjacent room and utterly enamored with his faithful best friend routine.
END.