Into the Dark.
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"Tony...Tony!" Jack called through his wired piece that connected him to CTU. Tony was running the operation back at CTU. More static entered his ear. He hissed in frustration, taking the connection piece off and throwing it on the ground.
It was raining. Hard. It had been all day. Jack looked around hastily catching his breathe and searching for the suspect on the harbor he supposably had cornered him into. It was dark out, so much so that Jack had to use his flashlight to look where he was going. He scanned the harbor intentively looking at all the boats there.
Finally he reached the last boat, which was a small speed boat he assumed. As soon as he reached it the motor started on it, he jerked the flashlight over to where the motor was, and sure enough there was his suspect. The suspect hadnt seen Jack yet, at least Jack didnt think he did, he was just trying to get away quickly. The boat started moving away from the docks. Jack huffed under his breathe, he hated boats. He then ran towards the edge of the docks and jumped towards the boat. Just barely making it and toppling all over the suspect.
Jack hadnt realized that the suspect was armed with a hunting knife. The suspect was on top of him now, readying to stab Jack. Jack struggled from underneath, but the day was starting to ware on him now, between all the chases. It all had exhausted him more then he cared to admit. The suspect then pushed the knife into Jacks' lower back, just left of his spinal cord, making Jack yelp in agony. He struggled more, just enough for the wound to make itself worse because the knife was still embedded in him, as he threw the suspect off him finally.
The suspect edged backwards towards the steering wheel then. Jack slowly stumbled to his feet, gasping in agony as he searched for the knife in his back. Finally he grabbed it, and in another agonized shreak he pulled it out of himself with blunt force. He dropped the knife to the ground, and looked around through the heavy rain. He could barely see his hand infront of him, let alone the suspect. He moved forward in attempt to look for the suspect when a roar of thunder erupted from the sky. Jack got a quick glance at the suspect, he was pulling something out by the steering wheel. Jack pulled out his other and last gun he had on him and pointed it at where the suspect was, though he couldnt really see through the darkness and the haze of the storm. He waited then for another flash of lightning so he could have the final position of the suspect before he fired.
Finally after several seconds the thunder roared from the sky, as the lightning flashed from the sky. The suspect was also waiting for this moment as they were staring at each other with a cold stare without even realizing they were right infront of each other. Jack fired instantly as the suspect did. Jack emptied the whole clip into the suspects' body with deadly accuracy. The suspect was only able to get one bullet to pierce Jacks' right shoulder joint, but that was after all the bullets had entered the suspects' body. Jack hissed in pain, letting his gun drop, but keeping his eyes on the suspect or where he had been, it had gone dark again. Another flash of lightning appeared followed by a thunder clap, which Jack watched in satisfication as the suspect had dropped like a fly, dead.
Jack then fell to his knees, unable to keep standing. He crawled to the end of the boat where the motor was. He fingered it trying to turn it off, but he knew nothing about boats. After a few minutes in frustration and the waves getting increasingly more violent, making him slide around a bit. He finally resorted to kicking and punching the dam motor, he was to exhausted and in too much pain to think rationally anymore.
The motor finally stopped, but the waves of the ocean were crashing into the small speed boat repeatively, a few times knocking Jack off his feet, but he regained just as quickly in sear determination. He scanned the small area of which he could walk for somewhere to take cover, but there was none, it was just a speed boat. He was hit with another large wave, which sent him reeling back onto his back. He yelped in pain as he aggravated his stab wound again, as the boat rocked and he slide to the other end. Hitting his head hard on the slide and almost flipping over the edge but he managed to get a decent enough grip on the ledge to keep him from falling overboard. He coughed up more water as he just clung to the side, looking down at himself which was drenched in watered down blood, coming from the stab wound in his lower back, and the few scratchs from the knife that the suspect had handled expertly. He looked out as another large wave crashed into the boat, making more water hit him with full force. He saw a clearing after that wave, or a clearer view of where he was, the storm was still strong as ever, but he got a decent look at the area around him with a clap of thunder then through the darkness, to see he was in the middle of no where. He was alone and worst of all lost at sea.
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It had been about 2 days since the storm had stopped. The waves had gone from dangerous down to a calm rocking. The speed boat was barely holding together, the floor of the boat was covered in a thin layer of water. It was surrounded by miles and miles of water. It had drifted further and further away from the coast line, and was in international waters by now.
Jack was laying half in and half out of the boat, bent over the side. He had been unconcious since the storm, and hasnt awaken yet. His head and upper torso hanged limply over the boat to the point where the top of his head was hitting the water, at least the tips of his hair, and his shoulder with the bullet wound, the arm hang over the edge of the boat as well, the hand half in the water, and watered down blood running slowly down his arm. The other arm was bent backwards in a non-breaking way, laying in an uncomfortable position against the side of the boat, the palm facing outwards towards the other edge of the boat. His legs were stretched out slightly along the floor of the boat. Watered down blood dripped around the area of which he was laying, and along his body. His skin was ghostly pale, and his still form, most would think he was dead.
A coast guard boat was passing by on its routine route when it came apon the speed boat, once they had gotten a decent look at it they saw Jack. They had realized who it was and that CTU was looking for him. They hulled him on board immediatly, and did what they could on the boat with the tools they had whilst the boat was redirected for the coast and headed back as fast as they could.
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"Theyve found him" Chloe said through the phone to Skyelark, the CTU director.
"And!" Skyelark was impatiently waiting for her to give him the rest of the messenge, knowing there was more. She had been basically pacing the CTU building for the last 2 days waiting for any word of Jack. Though she didnt want to reveal her feelings about him to her collegues, or the fact that they had been going out for the last 6 months. She knew at some level they all knew, the whole building was so gossip filled. Though her and Jack had both been trying to keep it a low profile. The cover was blown when Jack had gone missing with the suspect as well.
"The ambulence just took him from the coast guard to St. Marys' hostipal" Chloe continued.
"Okay, um. Im gonna take off for a few hours..." She said quietly then hung up the phone, heading out of her office and down the steps. Her worry hadnt subsided, though it was slightly comforting to know that he was AT LEAST alive. She hadnt noticed on her way to the exit Tony and Michelle had both meet up with her.
"Chloe told us the Coast Guard found Jack" Tony said.
"Yea, Im going to the hostipal now" She said, moving into the parking lot.
"Were coming with you" Michelle informed her.
"No...You guys should stay here, its bad enough that the director is going. Someone will have to make sure the others do their work" Skyelark said looking at them.
"Chloe's still there, she can make sure they do the reports. Plus its been quiet there anyways" Tony smirked.
"Alright..." She sighed heavily, knowing full well she wouldnt be able to continue this arguement and win.
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Jack clung to the edge of the boat for dear life as the waves crashed over and over on him, during the breaks between the waves he would cough some water out, gasping for air, and shiver. Thunder roared through the area, and lightning clapped every few seconds bringing some light into his dark world.
Finally a monsterous wave, tidal wave, hit him hard enough for him to loose his grip, he was pushed deep under water by the wave. He half gasped letting in alot of water into his lungs then struggled to find the surface again. For a minute or so he didnt think he would reach the surface again, then finally his hand pushed out from the water, into the air as he got his head above water, coughing alot and gasping for air. Pain sizzled through out his body as he treaded water, looking for the boat. It was no where to be seen, even when the lightning lighted the area it was no where to be seen. He looked for something to grab out of fear.
"Come back to me jack" Skyelarks' voice could be heard, coming from where he didnt know, but she was near by.
"Skyelark! Where are you!" He tried to call out but the yell was cut short by another wave, pushing his head and body under water.
"Jack please...I need you" He heard again once he resurfaced again.
"Where are you! Its too dark here!" Jack called out trying to keep his head above water, part of his mind said to just let it go, let everything go, go to the darkness, the pain will go away, and another part of his head screamed in protest, he needed to get to Skyelark, she needed him, and he needed her. And that side was overpowering the other right now.
"Skyelark!" He called again, but there was no answer, just crying. He could hear her crying.
"Skyelark!" He yelled again, as another wave pushed him underneath. He sprang back up to the surface, gasping more, pain fizzling steady and heavily through his whole body, but he wasnt going to let his physical limitations get in the way of finding skyelark.
"Jack? You need to come back now" Another voice was now talking to him. He recognized this voice, and looked around in horror almost, he was there too.
"Tony! Where are you!" He yelled out to him, looking for his best friend.
"Please Jack, Your worrying us" It was michelle this time. What do they mean that I was worrying them? Jack thought to himself, as another tidal wave crashed down on him, keeping him down.
"Skyelark..." He mumbled through the water, as his body started to go limp, the darkness and pressure was finally beating him.
"No jack...pleaseee" Skyelark called out. Jack tried to fight against the darkness but it had him trapped, he couldnt move, he wasnt dead yet, no, there was more, he was just trapped in the darkness.
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Skyelark had been sitting by Jacks' side for the last 2 days, holding his hand. There had been no change yet in his condition, which was good and bad at the same time. He started to show some distress on his face by her talking.
"Relax" She said soothingly putting her other hand on his head, stroking his hair. This seemed to help a little, as his unconcious form relaxed again. Tony and Michelle were standing behind them, all 3 of them were talking to him, coaching him to wake up.
"You should just talk to him as if he were awake...he will wake up in his own good time" Dr. Peterson said behind them, startling them slightly.
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Jack was laying on the beach, stillness was the word to describe his form. His chest rose and fell slowly, as he started to come around. His slow steady breathing radically changed from that to harsh and quick. He coughed some water out as he winced in pain, feeling the sand on the side of his face. He slowly got his bearings and pushed himself up into a crawling up position, coughing more water up violently. The moon light shone on his back, making his skin even more pale then it already was, the pain jolted through his body with every breathe, he could barely stay on his hands and knees.
He then saw a pair of feet step to infront of him. He got a very unnerved feeling about the presense infront of him, sensing who it was but not wanting to look up. It wasnt possible, or maybe it was and he was dead or something. Finally he glanced up, just staring at the face, glaring down at him with a metal bat in his hands. He tried to calm his breathing down to hide the evident fear that emgulped him at the very moment.
"Look at yourself...Pitiful" The voice hissed bringing the bat up and swinging it down, hitting him in the back, forcing Jack to collide with the ground again, which a painful gasp.
"You dont deserve Skyelark..." The voice hissed again, jamming his foot into Jacks' ribs, making him yelp and roll over defensively covering his ribs with his hands, coughing violently as well.
"Stand up and Face me!" The voice yelled warningly bringing the metal bat up again. Jack looked at him in utter fear. He slowly scrambled to his knees but couldnt reach his feet.
"You cant stand up?" The voice asked. He then swung the bat straight into the side of Jacks' head, splattering blood everywhere at contact as well as making Jack fall over instantly, gasping in the intensity of the pain.
"You have done so much" The voice continued on with his anger. "Too Much, How many have you killed Jack? How many!" He yelled as he kicked Jack in the face, making him yelp again and rolling him onto his back.
"You Dont Deserve To Live after you have killed all those people!" The voice hissed bringing the bat down apon Jacks' adobmen, making Jack gag, slowly rolling onto his back, and vomitting onto the cool sand. Once he was done he shakingly wiped his mouth wincing in incredible pain.
"I...I...sssavvveedd...morreee..." Jack couldnt even finish his defense, as the tears from the sobs of the physical pain and the pain itself was too much.
"Some of them didnt deserve to die Though! What about them? Werent you suppose to save them!" The voice yelled leaning down and grabbing Jacks' chin and hoisting him up onto his feet roughly so they could look eye to eye. Jack stared into his own eyes, as pain filtered through his body.
"What about them..." Himself infront of Jack whispered quietly in disgust. Jack did nothing but show the tears running fluently down his battered cheeks. The one with the bat, let go of the injuried Jack, stepping back a inch, then swung the bat hard into the other side of Jacks' head, a sickening crunch was heard as the bat connected with the injured Jacks' skull, making him turn around fully as he fell into the sand. It all went dark then.
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It had been nearly 2 full weeks now, and Jacks' condition hadnt changed. He was still in this 'comatose' state as the doctors had explained to Skyelark, and basically they were forcing his body to keep doing enough activity to keep living. Skyelark had sat in his room for nearly a week straight, barely getting any sleep nor eating much.
It finally took both Michelle and Tony to drag her away from the room and made her stay with them until she started eating and sleeping properly again. This plan still slightly backfired on Tony and Michelle. They had brought Skye to their house, to make her get some rest, but she refused. Some how she still managed to keep this insomnia act up, but they didnt want to make her take sleeping pills. That was their last resort. They finally managed to get her to sleep after making a deal that 1 of them would check on Jacks' condition a few times each day and she would stay away for awhile.
The doctors even found it odd that Jack hadnt regained conciousness yet though. By the end of the second week they had began to become much more concerned. They started to run brain function tests on his head, every now and then. His brain activity was of a person sleeping, having a nightmare. This had been the same result after periodic tests, the doctors were determined now to figure out what was going on with him. And to find an explanation of this strange case.
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"He was only 20!" Jack slowly risen to his hands and knees again, coughing out blood.
"He was a father!" The other version of him slammed the sledge hammer onto his shoulder again, making him fall to the ground, screaming in agony.
"That child is now an orphan because of YOU!" The one with the sledgehammer continued to yell at him. Jack was sobbing as blood dripped off his broken body onto the sand, wishing for this hell to stop. He didnt know how to stop it. Between the physical and emotional pain that the one with the sledge hammer was inflicting, he was starting to slip away quickly.
"Iiii...mmm...sorryy..." Jack choked out, struggling to get on his hands again.
"Sorrys' not fucking good enough!" The sledge hammer slammed down on the same shoulder again, another agonized scream escaped Jacks' mouth as he went face first into the sand, gasping for air through the pain again.
"You dont deserve to live, Jack, you know it, I know it, so give up!" The one with the sledge hammer cursed in a softer tone again, then kicked Jack in the side, making Jack turn onto his side, moaning in pain.
"I...canttt..." Jack whimpered softly.
"Why not!" The one with the sledge hammer knelt down to face his brutalized self in the face. Darkness took Jack then.
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Jack came around to find himself on soft grass, it was still dark out and he was slowly glancing around knowing the other one would not be far away.
"Welcome back" The one said nonchalantly as he approached the battered Jack laying out on the grass. The demented one had no weapons on him this time, Jack realized, as he moved towards him and knelt down to his face.
"We shall try this again now" He continued to talk calmly.
"All you have to do is tell me why you cant give up, thats all" The one had a hint of 'nice' in his tone now. Jack just stared at him, to weak to do anything else.
"Just tell me why, and the pain will stop!" The one continued, getting impatient quickly.
"You deserve death, why cant you accept that?" The other one wrapped both his hands tightly around the battered Jacks' neck.
"This is your last chance" He hissed, pulling Jack forcefully to his feet, and off them. Jack shakingly moved his arms up to the other pair of hands around his throat, wrapping them around them, trying to loosen them in a patheic attempt.
"Answer me Jack" The one that kept Jack just slightly above the ground, just to the point where his toes were just barely touching the ground and starting to put more pressure, a more lethal pressure on Jacks' neck. Jack started to choke.
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Skyelark had made it back to the hostipal after a week of staying at Tony and Michelles' house. They finally let her go back. She had just sat down there when Jack started to show signs of movement. She was excited, thinking he was coming around. She gripped his hand in a soft grip hovering over his face. His expression went from peaceful to one that contorted immense pain.
"Jack...come on, dont joke around with me..." Her smile faded by this movement, starting to slightly panic. His body started to tremble softly.
"Please, Jack, Stop" She whispered to him, as tears started to fall from her face. The trembling only increased, within seconds it was now shaking violently. Skyelark let go of his hand and rushed towards the doorframe.
"I Need A Doctor Here!" She yelled down the hall in pure panic and worry.
She then looked to Jack, who was shaking violently, even more so, she thought at least, since she ran from the door. A Doctor and several nurses moved in quickly, pushing Skyelark back towards the edge of the wall, politely as they instantly started to work on Jack.
One of the nurses then stepped back, and went to Skyelark.
"Miss you need to leave now" The nurse said to her, taking her arm and starting to lead her towards the door. Skyelark resisted, her eyes never leaving Jack.
"Whats wrong with him?" She said through her soft sobs.
"We will explain to you later, now please you need to leave, so we can work" The nurse pushed her out basically, and closed the door behind her. Skyelark turned around quickly and slammed her fists on the door of Jacks' room.
"I want to know whats wrong with him!" She screamed angerly through the door. No answer after several minutes. She gasped through her sobs, turning around closing her eyes and fully letting the tears run down her face without a care at the moment. She slammed her fists in anger of not knowing what was going on, on the wall opposite of the door. She felt her legs get weak as she overcome with her emotions, and broke down fully, finally. She slide down to on her knees, leaning against the wall, and crying without a care of who saw.
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"Ms. Sason" One of the doctors' placed his hand on Skyelarks' shoulder. She jerked awake in the waiting room that she found herself in. She looked around quickly then yawned looking at the nurse. She had been sitting there for the last 5 hours straight, after being forced out of Jacks' room.
"How is he?" She mumbled, yawning again.
"Mr. Bauer, has suffered a very violent seizure. We arent sure what has caused it yet, but we were able to stop it. We ran a Cat scan on him that the results will come back for awhile. But oddly enough after we got him stable again, he regained conciousness. I figured you would like to see him now" The doctor smiled weakly.
"O thank god..." Aside from 'he regained conciousness' Skyelark heard nothing else. The doctor held out his hand to help her up. She smiled letting him pull her up slightly onto her feet, she was exhausted and it showed in her facial features. The doctor led her to Jacks' room.
"Just a few changes has happened now though. Since the seizure was so violent we had to restraint his wrists and ankles to the bed, assuming this is propably not the last of the seizures. And the tube in his mouth was removed, hes not talking to us though. He may to you..." The doctor explained as they reached his door.
"Okay..." Skyelark wasnt really paying attention. She just wanted to see him.
The doctor pushed open the door for her, and she walked inside slowly. The doctor closed the door behind her, to leave them alone for awhile. Her eyes instantly fell apon Jacks' face. His eyes were open, staring back at her. Something was off though, she could read his emotions easily, like an open book. He was always able to hide his feelings extremely well, but not now. Also it was unnerving to see fear written all over him, he was afraid of something and it was showing easily. She smiled weakly at him and walked towards the bedside, taking up her former position again.
"Hey Jack..." She said, placing her hand on his hand. He tried to jerk his hand away but the soft restraints held it back, making it jerk backwards slightly. He looked at the restraints on his wrists, and gave them another good tug, but nothing happened. It was like he just noticed them himself. His breathing quickened in fear as he tugged more roughly on the restraints.
"Jack...Stop" Skyelark said in concern. Jack adverted his attention from her completely and was focused on the restraints, and getting them off him.
"Jack Please Stop" Skyelark continued, standing up and grabbing his hands and forcing him to stop. Jack stopped looking at his wrists and looked up to Skyelark with pleading eyes, threatening to spill tears. Skyelark was taken back, she had never seen him so vulnerable, it was heartbreaking. Jack calmed down slightly. Skyelark let go of his hands and sat back down.