MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! =P
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Title: My Immortal
Author: Glissoning Raven
Genre: Hurt Comfort/Tragedy
Song: My Immortal
Artist: Evanescence
Note: This is a companion piece to No Easy Way Out.
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It was 4:30 in the afternoon and Jack was scrubbing the kitchen counters for the fifteenth time. It had been two days since Alex had disappeared. There had been no warning. He simply didn't come home from school one day. She had called his school, his friends, and even the bank, but no one knew where he was. The bank had told her that they would look into it. The next day, when she had called again, they had said that they were doing everything they could, that everything would be alright.
She tried not to worry. He would make it back, he always did. But she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was terribly wrong.
I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
So many times she had sat here at home wondering if her boy was okay. So many times she had waited anxiously for that dreaded call that never came. So many times she had paced this kitchen waiting and worrying, not knowing where he was. But this time, this time seemed different. This time it wasn't a mission. This time he wasn't supposed to be gone. This time something was very wrong.
She tried to tell herself that everything would be okay, that this was all just a misunderstanding. She imagined him walking through the front door, a carefree smile on his face, unhurt, and so wonderfully alive. But, every time she stopped to glance hopefully at the front door, it stayed stubbornly closed
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
The silence of the house was shattered by the shrill ringing of the phone. She froze for a moment, staring at the phone in disbelief. They had never called her. She had always called them. This must mean there was news. A sense of dread washed over her. A hundred different scenarios flashed through her head, but ninety-nine of them all ended in one horrifying thought; Alex was dead.
She slowly reached out with a shaking hand to pick up the phone.
"Hello?" she said softly.
"Miss Starbright, this is Mrs. Jones from the Royal and General Bank."
"Have you found Alex? Where is he? What…"
"Miss Starbright," interrupted Mrs. Jones.
Jack immediately quieted.
"We found Alex. But…" the woman paused.
"But, what?" Jack demanded.
"When we got there he was in very bad shape. We did everything we could for him, but he was just too far gone. I'm sorry."
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
"No." Jack whispered, stumbling backwards and grabbing the edge of the counter for support.
"No…"
She felt her grip loosen on the phone as she slid down to the floor with her back against the cabinets. It felt like her entire world had gone spinning out of control.
She had never been one to cry at the least little thing. But she cried now. A tidal wave of tears streamed freely down her cheeks as her shoulders shook with heart-breaking sobs.
"No…" she gasped. "No…"
He couldn't be gone. This was just a sick joke, a misunderstanding. He wasn't dead, he couldn't be. Her Alex couldn't be dead.
You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me
Why? That was the one thought pounding through her head. Why him? Why now? It was probably revenge for a past mission. This was all MI6's fault. If they had protected him properly, if they hadn't even used him in the first place, none of this would have happened. It was all their fault. Everything that had happened in the past five years was their fault. The pain, the disappearances, that injuries, the bad grades in school, it was all their fault. But they didn't care. Alex had only ever been a tool to them, not another human being, not a child, just a tool.
They didn't care about him, they never had. They only ever cared about how they could use him. He had never wanted to work for them, but they had used Jack against him, used her to blackmail him into doing what they wanted him to do.
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
She remembered the first day she had spent in the Rider household. She had loved little Alex immediately. He had only been seven at the time. He had been mature beyond his years even then, but he had still been so innocent and sweet. They had had seven years of happy memories together after that.
Even though Ian had never been around for important events like birthdays and Christmas, Jack had always tried to make it so that Alex had had as normal a life as possible. She had practically raised the boy, desperately trying to make up for everything Ian wasn't. It had still hurt Alex when Ian broke his promises and disappeared for weeks on end, but she had seen in his eyes that he was grateful to her for trying to make up for it.
But that had all come to a screeching halt after Ian was killed and Alex was recruited into MI6. That innocent light in his serious brown eyes had quickly disappeared.
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
After the first mission, the nightmares had started. He would wake up screaming at night. She didn't know what he saw that scared him so much, but she had tried to comfort him all the same.
He had always been so strong. He never talked about what he had seen on all those horrible missions. When she asked him how he was holding up, he would always tell her that he was fine. He had tried so hard not to worry her. He had been so much more concerned about her than he had ever been about himself.
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along
He had tried so hard to protect her from his world. But it should have been the other way around. She was his guardian. She was supposed to protect him fro the world, but she couldn't. She felt like she had failed him. Maybe, if she had just protected him better, if she had just done something to stop this, maybe then he would still be alive, living a normal life. Maybe, if she had just done her job, none of this would have ever happened.
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
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A/N: I am taking requests for songs at the moment. I will try to fulfill all requests if possible.
