Father Time

Rating: T

Summary: [After the main plot] Frozen in time

December 2035

Flurries of snow gently fell to earth, and just like that time last year Jackson could have made for an idyllic postcard - the wooden houses coated a glimmering white, children seemingly frozen in time as they chased each other down the powdered street. The town was indeed beautiful, and its people happy and content.

None of that mattered to Joel, and a slight panic seemed to grip him as he turned his room upside-down. His mind raced quickly, the thoughts slight and rushed. No, it can't be gone. He pushed against his bed, the mental feet grating across the wooden floor as it was shoved across the room. The mattress was pulled off, and tossed against the far wall. Nothing – it wasn't there. He wheeled back to his nightstand, opening the small drawers in hopes that his treasured watch would simply reappear. But it was nowhere to be seen. The watch had been sitting on the dresser two nights ago – the night before he headed up to the dam like he tended to once a month. Now it was gone.

A shadow appeared in the doorway, and he looked over his shoulder to see Ellie standing in the threshold, he hands pressed against either side of the entrance as she surveyed the mess he had been making. He quickly stood up, turning to face her. Her eyes widened at the expression of loss that burned in his irises. Despite the bubbling soup of emotions that churned in him he forced his voice to remain even.

"Ellie…my watch is gone. You take it?"

Her eyes darted nervously from the nightstand to him, and she straightened up, her jaw clenching and unclenching as she searched for words.

"I…might have. But I can –"

He was in front of her in an instant, and she blinked at how quickly he had closed the gap. His voice was a shade rougher, but still he contained himself.

"You know you ain't supposed to touch that. It's fragile. The hell possessed you to take it?"

Part of him wanted to say steal. But by the look of freight in the girls eyes she hadn't intended to get caught, which means she hadn't intended to keep it.

His mind searched and searched for why she might have taken it. Just because he didn't wear it anymore didn't mean he didn't want it. That was the last trinket from the old world he had any attachment to. He didn't need it on his person anymore, but it was an anchor he wasn't ready to completely let go of yet.

The girl seemed to tremble before him. She took a step back, her words stammered and unsure.

"I, well I just wanted to look at it. You know, child-like curiosity and all…"

He relaxed a fraction, letting out a deep breath. It would have been easier to just ask him to see it.

"Okay…okay. Then give it back Ellie. You've seen it."

She bit her lip, eyes trailing down to the ground. Her voice was meek.

"I uh, can't. Right now. A friend has it. I'm gonna get it back tonight. You weren't supposed to know it was even gone…"

"A…friend. A friend has my watch. Ellie…Ellie you know how important that is to me. And you what, traded it? Leant it out? What the fuck has gotten in to you?"

His voice began to rise, and she backed away more, biting her tongue and letting her view become well acquainted with the floor. He really wasn't supposed to know it was gone.

The grizzled man wrestled with his anger, his jaw clenched and teeth pushing together so hard his head began to pound. Of everyone he had expected to betray his trust, it wasn't her. He couldn't look at her, and as she pushed herself against the wall of the hallway he took a large step back, the door to his room slamming shut and blocking her view of him. She was left in the cool hallway, staring at the floor, blinking back tears of frustration. He really, really wasn't supposed to know it was gone.

Later that day

The room began to darken as the sun set, and Joel pushed his head back, feeling the cold of the wall edge through his hair to chill his scalp. He hadn't left his room, hadn't even moved, since he had slammed the door on his daughter. Thousands of angry thoughts swarmed his mind like wasps, and he bit his tongue for the umpteenth time, locking down the urge to growl in frustration. He knew Sarah would only chide him for getting so angry.

He had heard Ellie choke back a sob hours earlier, before her footsteps had quietly trailed down the stairs and out the front door. The girl was tough, but did not weather his disappointment well. He was one of the only people who could hurt her like that, and she was one of the only people who could hurt him. And out of all the ways she could have chose to hurt him, this one seemed to cut the deepest.

He lifted his gaze, his eyes fixated on the two pictures of his daughters. His mind continued to whirl, and he stared long and hard at the two faces, both pairs of eyes full of life.

A sharp knock at his door brought him back to reality, and he stood up, hearing the door to Ellie's room close as he opened his. There was no one there, and he let his gaze fall to a piece of folded paper on the ground. He picked it up, and feeling the unusual heft slid a hand under it as he stepped back inside and closed the door. Something was in it.

Joel slid back down the wall, angling the folded up page to read what was scrawled on the surface. It was certainly Ellie's handwriting. The letters were neat, as always, each line carefully measured out. The message was short and simple.

Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I only wanted to help. Don't hate me. Please.

The please was scribbled and misshapen, and he ran his finger over the word, the messiness unusual for anything Ellie wrote. His finger came away moist, and his heart sunk a little further as he realized why.

He opened the paper, and shook his head as he saw his watch sitting in it. It was pulled out, and the cool metal quickly began to warm to his touch, the surface of the links as worn as always. A long breath seemed to hiss out, his anger and frustration slowly bubbling away as he turned the watch over in his hand. Joel's eyes screwed shut, and he pushed his head back against the wall, hoping the silence of the room would further calm him down. It was only then that he realized it wasn't silent. A soft clicking noise seemed to echo through the room, an unfamiliar mechanical precision dancing in his eardrums. He looked down. The watch was…working?

He froze, holding his breath as he heard the soft ticks, each one striking as the seconds counted away. Had she really…

His eyes opened, and the watch was lifted into view. The body was still scuffed and worn, but inside the face of the watch small hands ticked away, the second hand bouncing closer and closer to the twelve with each tick. It passed the mark, and with another click he saw the minute hand slide up a notch, settling into place as the second hand continued its journey.

Without a pause he stood up, setting the watch on his dresser, and walked out of his room towards Ellie's. The door was unlocked, and he pushed it open, walking into the gloom. She had drawn her curtains tight, blocking out as much of the light as she could. He made out a lumped form on the bed, her figure slowly coming into view as his eyes adjusted. Her head was buried in the pillow, and she shook softly in the chill. He sat next to her, the springs crunching down, and gently laid a hand on her back. Her voice was muffled through the pillow.

"I only wanted to surprise you."

Joel let out a deep sigh, rubbing her back as he spoke.

"I know baby girl. I know."

"I didn't mean to upset you like that."

Again, his voice was hushed.

"I know. It's okay."

"I'm sorry."

Joel couldn't help but shake his head. She was seventeen, but crumbled like an eight year old when the right people hurt her.

"I'd never hate you Ellie. You know that."

She shook her head, keeping her face buried in the pillow.

"It's just…I've never seen you that mad at me. I know how important that watch is. That's why I wanted to give you more of a reason to hang on to it. You said you stopped wearing it because she was in your head, and a broken watch wasn't doing anyone any good. So I got it fixed so you could wear it…"

"Well I sure as hell ain't going to wear it now."

That got the young girl to jerk her head up, staring at him in the darkness with wide eyes, her voice dying in her throat when she saw him smiling at her. She only managed to choke out a few words.

"Wha…why not?"

"You got it working again. You think I'm going to risk breaking it? Ellie that watch ain't just a present from Sarah anymore. Now it's from both of you. I wouldn't risk it for the world."

Without a word she shifted on the bed, scooting her form closer to Joel, her unspoken request obvious. Joel let out a single laugh, all the tension draining with the short bark, before gently moving her head from the pillow to his lap, closing his eyes and letting a quiet song trail off his lips. His baby girl curled up to his leg, and the notes of the song faltered as he laughed while he sang. He didn't know when she fell asleep. He didn't even know when he fell asleep.

Across the hall the watch rested on a nightstand, nestled between two pictures of two smiling girls. The hands of the watch continued to tick away, second after second, minute after minute, hour after hour.

A/N:

Well, I figured that would be a nice way to wrap up the little watch theme I've had going on in a few other shorts, plus I'm a damn sucker for father/daughter moments like that.