3. Fate

Two Years Earlier

"Maybe it's fate."

Jack shook her head. "I don't believe in fate," she replied.

"Ah, c'mon, kid. Be a little more open minded." Jack shook her head again. "Okay then. How 'bout this? Why don't you believe in fate?"

"That's easy. I don't like thinking anyone or anything else is in control of my life. I'll make my own destiny, so thanks but no thanks."

"You're sure? Because, if there is fate, then everything is much simpler than we think. That means, whatever the hell we do, we're going to go through the same old shit and end up in the same place in the end anyway. I'm at a point in my life where I'm starting to find that idea rather appealing."

"Why?"

"Because whatever I do, my life still sucks. But don't dodge the subject. Don't you think that would make fate worth it? Sometimes?"

"Nope. If I'm on the road to hell, I want to be driving the bus," Jack answered, smirking.

"Smart ass. Good answer, though."

"No one likes a dumb ass," she murmured. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I told you, I'm a-"

"Don't shit me with the bounty hunter bit again. Bounty hunters grab their prey, their cash, and split. You've been here for three months and you still won't tell me anything."

"Don't be a wise ass, kid. Maybe I'm staking out something bigger."

"Nope. You've got the 'waiting look' about you."

"The 'waiting look'?"

"Yeah. It's the same look my mo-" Jack looked down at her hands, the fingers of her right hand still curled around her fork. She swallowed and started again, forcing her smirk back into place. "It's the same look my mom would get on her face when she was waiting for my dad. But not impatiently, ya know? Just... waiting, because she wanted to see him."

Jack looked up at her companion. "So what are you waiting for, Gin?"

Gin shook her head and took a bite of her sandwich. "Don't call me that out here, Jack. That person's dead, remember?"

"Right, right. Reese. Sorry, Reese.

"Who're you waiting for?"

"Persistent, aren't you."

"So, you're not going to tell me?"

Gin shook her head and looked down, smiling slightly. "No, Jack. I'm not. Because if I say it out loud, it just might ruin it."

"Or make what you really think more real." Jack smiled wryly into Gin's slightly startled eyes. "Yeah. I know. You can't say it out loud."

"Sometimes you're wiser than you look, Jack," Gin said. "Don't push no more?"

"Naw. I won't push no more. You want to tell me, you will."

"Thanks, kid."

They ate in silence for a while, neither of them feeling the need to speak.

Jack started slightly when Gin started to speak again.

"You know, where I'm from, no one believes in fate neither. They all think like you. 'If I'm on the road to hell, I want to be drivin' the bus.'" She smirked and Jack drew her brows together. "No one wants to think they can't control where they're going. When they threw me in the slam, I thought my last chance had came and went."

"You escaped, though. They think you're dead."

"Yeah. They think I'm dead. Everyone thinks I'm dead. It wasn't so hard, to crack the files, switch thing around. Swap dental, tissue, DNA, and blood records with some Jane Doe about the same height and build as me. Like hacking government files is hard." She laughed humorously. "But everyone thinks I'm dead."

Reaching across the table, Jack covered Gin's hand with her own. "Not me."

"Naw, Jack. Not you." Gin shrugged and chuckled quietly, then pulled her hand away to pick up her sandwich again. "You know why I told you who I really am, Jack?"

"Is this another trick question?" Gin loved asking her questions that had no right answer. Or that had an answer that would make her look stupid so she could be subject to more sisterly teasing.

"Nope. No tricks. Now c'mon. Guess."

"You were taken in by my boyish good looks?" Jack joked, running a hand through her short hair and then tugging proudly at her baggy t-shirt.

Gin laughed loud and grinned. "Right. Exactly." She laughed a little again, quieter. "No, but seriously. Something in your eyes kid. When you slipped those sly fingers of yours into my jacket pocket, and I caught you, you still didn't flinch. You just seemed to take it. Waiting for something." Gin smirked. "You had the 'waiting look'."

"And that made you trust me?" Jack said incredulously.

"I saw someone that was used to hidin' and takin' shit. That's how I knew I could trust you. That, and a warm meal usually makes quick friends between two hungry people."

Jack looked down at the table and into her bowl of stew. "And here we are, eating again. So maybe it was fate."