Five days passed uneventfully, Jack had started acting relatively normal again. He managed to talk his way out of the hostipal by the third day of being awake and not having any complications, and Skyelark took him home. She knew full well that he wasnt right though, something was still off, his 'normal' act was paying off on everyone else, throwing them off for the most part, but not Skyelark, nor Tony. Tony could see right through him as well.
Skyelark had literally moved into Jacks' house once he awoke, knowing that he would want to leave the hostipal soon, and that he should definitly not be alone by the first impression of when he woke up. She was determined to figure out why he was so off now and what had happened on that boat, and the 2 days that he was out at sea.
She opened the passenger door of her car for him. He quietly got in. He had gone quiet for the last hour or so after the doctors left him. Skyelark got into the drivers' seat and they were off.
"What do you want for dinner tonight?" Skyelark started off with a non-envasive question to get the conversation going. She glanced over to him. He was zoned out staring out of the window, obviously not paying attention to her.
"Jack?" She called out his name a little louder, attempting to snap him out of it while she was driving. No response. There was a silence then.
"Okay fine be that way..." She huffed in fake irritation, hoping maybe he would snap out of it seeing her 'angry', which she wasnt really. Still no response. The rest of the drive back to the house was quiet.
She pulled into the driveway and got out. She got to the door, to realize Jack hadnt even exited the car yet. She looked back at the car, to see his head leaning against the window, he had fallen asleep. She smiled, 'maybe i should leave him...' a cruel-joke thought passed through her head. She quickly shook that thought away, half laughing at it, then walking back to the passenger side of the car. She smiled kneeling down to see into the window at eye-level and tapped on the window softly, just loud enough though.
Jack jerk awake, almost as if he were to stand, slammed his head into the roof of the car. He huffed in pain closing his eyes to block the pain out and grabbing his head with his hands. Skyelark slowly opened the door, trying not to startle him more.
"Sorry" She apologized softly, wrapping her arms around him as his hands dropped from his head. She heard him sniffle, he was crying. She sighed in concern pushing him forward so she could see his face and he could she hers. Tears ran slowly down his cheeks. Mixed emotions ran through his eyes; sorrow, anger, pain, and most of all Fear.
"Whats wrong?" She asked, caringly taking her hand and wiping the tears from his face.
He looked at her, searching her face in search of something almost. There was a few moments of silence, then he moved closer to her face, slowly. He then moved in fully, kissing her softly on the lips. She was suprised at first, but kissed back eventually after a few seconds. He wrapped his arms around her and held her while they kissed. Finally after a few moments, Skyelark unwillingly pulled back. Jack sighed heavily at the seize of the action. She smiled at his disappointment.
"We can do that later" She said, grabbing his hand and helping him out of the car.
"Alright..." He smiled at her as she lead him into his house.
"Ha finally! The silent one speaks!" Skyelark laughed as she pulled him inside to the living room. He sat down on the couch as she closed the front door.
"When did you move in?" He asked her, looking at all the random cardboard boxs about.
"Yesterday Tony helped me bring stuff over here while you were sleeping" Skyelark stated as she sat down next to him. "So what do you want for supper?" She asked him. There was a silence, as he contemplated the question.
"Suprise me..." He smiled, kissing her on the cheek. She giggled.
"Alright mate" She said standing up and heading off into the kitchen, leaving Jack alone to his thoughts.
He sat there in silence, thinking. He then heard a noise from the hallway that went down to his bedroom. He looked down the dark hallway, raising an eyebrow. He then slowly stood up, being a bit stiff still from sitting in the hostipal bed for so long. He sauntered down into his bedroom to stop in the doorframe, gapping in awement.
There he was again. His other self, sitting on the bed, staring back at him. Jack shook his head closing his eyes and rubbing them, 'thats not possible, im awake!' he thought to himself, blinking his eyes a few times and then looking at himself again. 'shit...' he then thought as his eyes centered on what his other self was holding. It was the pocket knife that Jack had always kept in the top drawer of his night stand. Jack slowly came into the door, shutting it behind him as he stared at the other self.
"Tried to run from me, Jack?" The other one stood up and walked towards him tauntingly. A cold shudder ran down Jacks' spine.
"Your not real..." Jack huffed, not realizing he had stopped breathing when he had saw what he saw. The one with the knife came closer, smiling evilly.
"Lets see about that" The one hissed as he drove the knife quickly into Jacks' stomach, just below anything vital. He gasped in pain, staring in fear at the one infront of him holding the knifes' handle as the rest of the blade disappeared into Jacks' abdomen.
"This is just a warning" The one with the knife twisted it in Jacks' body, making Jack yelp in pain, then slide to the floor with the knife still with him.
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Skyelark had just started making some supper for them when she heard Jack move about to the bedroom. She thought maybe he just went to lay down, and shrugged it off. After a few minutes there was a yelp of pain, clearly his voice. She was instantly and deeply concerned as she dropped everything and ran to the bedroom, to see the door shut. She pushed on the door to find that she couldnt open it.
"Open the door Jack!" She cried, pounding on the door. No Response. Her concern only heightened as she pushed on the door more. Something was in its way, blocking her from getting in.
"Jack If You Can Here Me, Step away from the door if your near it! Im Kicking it in!" She yelled, hoping he heard her. She then waited a minute stepping backwards.
"1...2...3!" She counted to herself then she forcefully kicked the door open. Whatever was in its way slide to the wall, letting the door open fully. Skyelark literally sprinted in glancing around for Jack. She didnt see him. She ran into the bedroom, hoping to find him there but nothing still. She stopped in the doorframe after turning around as her eyes fell apon his prone form. Blood leaking out from his waistline, and a knife in there. His hands loosely wrapped around the handle. She ignored that fact at the moment and ran to him, kneeling down to him. He was still awake, fading into unconciousness though. He was trembling slightly, from shock.
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"Jack!" She cried looking at the handle of the knife embedded in his stomach. She wrapped her fingers around it, knowing it had to come out, Jack gasped in pain as she fiddled with it. Without much hesitation she pulled it out swiftly making Jack grunt in pain again. She then looked to him again, he was still shaking, almost more then before now.
"We need to get you back to the hospital" Skyelark said, looking at the wound which was now being overflown by what seemed like alot of blood but really wasnt.
"No..." Jack huffed, trying to get his own mind under control, he slowly got onto his elbows, glancing down at the wound.
"Jack!" Skyelark hissed in concern. 'he needs to go to the hospital' she thought to herself with urgency.
"No!" Jack hissed in frustration. "Its not that bad...I dont need to go to the hospital" He laid down his foot on that subject. Skyelark looked at him for a second, before backing down from her position. Rarely did she win an arguement with him, especially with that expression he was giving her at the moment.
"Fine..." She sighed heavily, standing up. "Let me get some stuff for it at least..." She stormed off into the bathroom.
Jack sighed heavily, calming his trembling even more so it stopped, he winced as he stood up and shuffled over to the bed. He sat down on it closing his eyes, and putting his head into his hands. The wound wasnt his concern, it was the other version of himself that was his concern. How was this even possible? Was he losing it? Questions formed and ran around through his head at insane speeds.
Skyelark returned silently and repaired the physical damaged, and forced him to lay down.
"If you need anything, just yell alright? Dont scare me like that Again" She said to him, kissing his forehead then leaving him alone, to sleep.
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The room was dark. He was tied up to the cieling by his wrists, and his feet were no longer touching the ground. There was a dim light showing above his head, shadowing his face which was looking down at his now bare chest. 'am i dreaming now?' He thought to himself, wincing slightly as the other self approached him.
"You still have a chance to stop this, Jack, just answer my question" He said as he went back into the darkness and lit a fire that was near by. He picked up a metallic item then and held the end over the flame, letting it get nice and hot. Jack watched him intentively.
"Do you care to tell me now?" He said as the metal got bright orange then he moved towards Jack's form again, the metal item was a crowbar.
"I cant!" Jack said fearfully as the crowbar got closer to him. The other jack sighed heavily, then brought the crowbar up above his head. And closed his eyes in almost pity, he then forcefully slammed the orange end of the crowbar down onto Jacks' shoulder. Making Jack scream in agony as the hot metal pressed hard and fast into his skin instantly creating 3rd degree burns on his shoulder and destroying alot of the muscle there as well. The one holding it held it there for a second, half enjoying the agony that he was putting his 'weaker', as he saw it, through.
Jack gasped in agony, trying to keep breathing through his gasps of breathe.
"Tell me Jack and this can stop!" The one with the crowbar was re-heating it to bright orange, almost pleading with his other self. No response from Jack though, he was too emgulped with his own anguish right now to answer anything.
After a minute the other one returned with the re-heated crowbar. Jack looked up at him sobbing, as he broke out into a cold sweat, staring fearfully at him.
"I will force the information out of you the easy way or the hard way jack, what do you want?" The one said, holding the crowbar up, preparing to strike again. Jack had actually stopped breathing in knowing he was in the wake of something truely painful that awaited him. The one with the crowbar waited a second for Jacks' answer, but it didnt come.
"Okay.." He sighed then in one swift movement brought the crowbar hard into the side of Jacks' head, hitting his left eye almost directly on its side. He let out a torturious scream of extreme agunish as he literally felt his eyeball and side of his face burn be on recognizableness, as his head jerked violently to the left. Thankfully for him the darkness took him after a few everlasting seconds of this agony.
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Jack woke up on the floor by his bed, in a cold sweat. He managed not to make a sound as he slowly stumbled to his feet in the darkness. He saw Skyelark's prone sleeping form on the other side of the bed, seemingly not noticing he was awake. He then made his way to the bathroom, flipping the light on and closing the door behind him, so he wouldnt wake Skyelark. He turned on the water in the sink and let it run cold water as he rested his elbows on the counter, rubbing his forehead slightly, not looking at the mirror. He put his hands under the cold water and splashed some water on his face. The water felt good and painful at the same time. The side of his face throbbed from where he remembered the crowbar had hit him, but he figured that was a dream of which he was awake now. And this pain was in his head.
Finally he glanced up, to see that the left upper portion of his face was black and blue, purple as well. It was bruised badly, and his eye was almost swollen shut. He looked in awement, then he remembered about his shoulder, that was the other target area which was hit with the crowbar. He lowered the one side of his shirt enough to see the same hellish looking bruises on his shoulder. He sighed heavily.
'im losing it...how is that possible?...I Was dreaming!' He thought to himself, looking at the mirror again. He then saw the other version of himself behind him, just staring. Jack said nothing just stood up a little more, glaring into the mirror back at the other version of himself.
"You think you were dreaming?" The other one smirked.
"I was dreaming" Jack hissed.
"How do you explain those bruises then?" The other one asked, knowing full well that Jack couldnt answer. There was a silence.
"Leave me alone" Jack whispered in a low tone.
"Not until I get what I want" The other one answered.
"I cant give you what you want" Jack answered back making his anger cover the cowering fear that is rising quicker then ever now.
"Your Smart, You can Find a way" The other one said, resting his hands on Jacks' shoulders, making Jack wince a bit by the touching of the bruise on the one shoulder.
"You cant get away from me" The other one whispered in his ear. He then pushed Jack forward hard enough for his head to collide with the mirror, and shatter it. Jack cried in pain letting his head drop willingly as the glass fell as well. Jack laid his head gently as he could on the counter, letting his knees buckle from under him. Blood leaked from his cuts on his forehead from colliding with the mirror.
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Skyelark jerked awake hearing the yelp of pain coming from the bathroom companied by the sound of shattering glass. She looked around to see, the bathroom door was shut, but the light was on in there. She walked up to it cautiously in the dark, and knocked on the door.
"Jack? Sweetie, what was that?" She called through the door slightly concerned. "Are you alright?" She added.
"Yes, Skyelark Im fine, the mirror dropped and broke when i was trying to clean it" Jack lied.
Skyelark didnt really buy his answer and put her hand on the door to open it. "Im coming in" She announced to him.
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"No Dont, Skye, I dont want you to cut yourself on the glass" Jack tried to stop her, but she twisted the door knob and opened it anyways. He turned around, seeing the other one was watching with amusement at his sudden movements. Jack ignored him for the time being and took a towel, pressing it to his face, to take off some of the extra blood that was flowing slowly down his face.
"O my god!" She said seeing his blood smeared all over the counter, and some of the glass shards.
"Its not that bad" Jack said, turning to face her.
"What the Fuck! Jack, look at yourself, and tell me its not that bad. It is that bad!" Skyelark lashed out.
"What the fuck are you doing to yourself! and why!" She asked in hysterical concern for him. No Response from Jack.
"Answer me Jack! And it better be a fucking good answer!" She hissed at him, now angered by his lack of response.
"You wouldn't believe me.." Jack whispered silently. The other one standing behind him was whispering in his ear, 'go on tell her, tell her and go to the psyche ward. Thats were youll end up, then youll be all mine...' The other was saying.
"Try me Jack!" She yelled at him, dragging him out of the bathroom and turning on the bedroom light as well. She was determined to get answers from him. No response from Jack.
"Fucking Hell Jack! Why arent you talking to me anymore!" She yelled at him more. He just stood there silenced. 'are you going to let her keep talking to you like that...' The other jack whispered into his ear.
"Why arent you talking to me anymore?" Skye was so angry and concerned about the lack of response she was getting from him that she started to cry.
'ive had enough of this...' The other one whispered into his ear, then moved infront of him. Preparing to strike her. He got about a few inchs away from her face when Jack stopped him, grabbing his wrists and holding him back as long as he could.
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Skyelark was trying to get some answers from him, trying to get him to talk from when out of no where, his eyes changed from fear and sorrow to anger and ... evil. He then almost punched her in the face, he stopped himself with what looked like some resistance a few inches away from her face. She stared at him with wide eyes as more tears fell. She could read his face, the conflict was there. Definitly, alot of conflict. His whole arm was shaking now as the fist of his hand was just staying still.
"Get away!" He huffed in a hoarse voice. Tears running fluently down his bloodied face.
"Now!" He yelled at her now with much urgency.
"Whats wrong Jack?" She said after a momentary silence of shocking awement of the situation.
"Listen to me Now!" He yelled again, as he started to shake more. His knees buckled and his arm dropped away from his face. He dropped to his hands gasping as if he couldnt breathe as he started to shake more.
"Jack..." Skyelark knelt down to him, ignoring his order. She placed her hand on his back, feeling the clammyness and sweat that layered it thickly. He then dropped to the floor, not being able to stay concious anymore, but the shaking continued. It got even more violent. Finally Skyelark scrambled to her feet grabbing the phone, and dialed '911'. She then knelt down to the seizuring Jack, and tried to hold him down so he wouldnt hurt himself further.
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Skyelark sat silently in the waiting room, biting her nails, waiting impatiently for the doctors to come out and tell her what was going on with Jack. She had been sitting there three hours now since they brought Jack in on the ambulence.
'i cant wait any longer...' She thought to herself, standing up and waiting over to the service desk.
"Can I get help here?" She pounded on the desk slightly maniacaly.
"Yes, Ma'am" A old female nurse came into her view.
"My friend was brought in here three hours ago, and I have yet to get any word on his condition yet, are they almost done?" She asked.
"What is the name of your friend ma'am?" She asked.
"Jack Bauer" She answered impatiently.
"One moment ma'am" The old nurse disappeared again. 'Hopefully to get me answers...' Skyelark thought as she stood there. The waiting room and emergency room in general were rather quiet. But then again it was almost 5 am in the morning.
A Male doctor about Skyelarks' age came towards Skyelark and introduced himself.
"Hello, Im Dr. Jackson, I was the doctor working on Mr. Bauer while he was here in the emergency room." Dr. Jackson started.
"'while he was here?' what does that mean? Where have you taken him!" Skyelark was on edge, and it could easily be picked out by anyone.
"Calm Down, Miss. Hes up in the psycheatric, resting" Dr. Jackson replied.
"Okay...Wheres psycheatric?" Skyelark asked quickly.
"A level up, the doctors up there should have his charts" Dr. Jackson said. Before he could finish his sentence, Skyelark had left already, hurrying over to the elevator, pressing the 'up' button several times. It was taking too long for her, when she glanced around and saw the staircase. She totally x-ed out the elevator idea then, and went up the steps.
She got to the next level pretty quickly for her tired state of being, and found the first nurse she saw and stopped her.
"Excuse me, Im looking for the room where Jack Bauer is?" She asked politely.
"Hes in the 3rd room on the right down that hallway" The nurse pointed out.
"Thank you" Skyelark answered and went quickly off in that directly.
She stopped at the door, taking a few deep breathes to catch her own breathe from all that sudden running around. She pushed on the door and opened it slowly, easing inside. She sighed heavily, looking apon Jacks' prone figure. He was sleeping now, and had a some bandages covering his head. There was a blanket covering his chest and down. His wrists though had soft restraints on them, along with his ankles. He had a few machines around him, but not as many as the time before.
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Later that morning Tony and Michelle stopped by. Skyelark had been sitting, off in her own little world, in a chair next to Jack. Who of which was still sleeping. He had awoken an hour after Skyelark at entered the room, but he wasnt right. Skyelark knew this instantly, his voice, tone, and gestures had totally changed. He was aggressive, angered, and if it werent for the restraints he would have hit or even tried to kill Skyelark. The secruity guards and doctors had to come in and sedate him. Skyelark had finally got the full explanation of his condition then from the doctors.
Michelle and Tony knocked on the door, bringing Skyelark back to reality. She stood up shakingly, still in utter shock by what Jack was like before. She opened the door and let herself out and closed it facing Tony and Michelle.
"Hey" Tony said softly, giving her a friendly-comforting hug. When she had called them, only thing she said was that Jack had a seizure, and she sounded very shaken up by it, he didnt know everything else yet.
"How is he?" Michelle asked.
"Good..." Skyelark mumbled quietly as Tony backed up.
"Do they know what caused the seizure?" He asked.
"Yes..." Skyelark started, pausing slightly, not wanting to say it herself, that would make the whole deal even more concrete in her head. She knew if she said it, she would be forced to believe it, though she didnt want to.
"He's ill, the doctors tell me...He has ...schizophrenia. He apparently has had it for awhile now, and been untreated until now. They think he didnt know at all, propably still doesnt, and they will explain it to him when the sedation wears off. They said this was a 'mental' breakdown. They explained it to me as if he just snapped, something pushed him too far, and the 'voices' in his head basically took over his actions...They want to put him in a mental institution until they can gain control of the illness with medication, and teach him how to deal with it properly..." Skyelark explained, with pauses a few times. Shes still settle this, pretty big obstacle, with herself. Wondering if she should stay with him, and if she could handle it. He did try to attack her twice, last night alone. This was going to be a rough ride. She knew in the end she would stay with him, hoping that the real jack would be with her at most times, when they would finally release him from the mental institute, if they do. 'he will get better...' she thought to herself.
"O! my god..." Michelle gasped, putting her hands over her mouth in shock.
"How could they not pick up on this earlier, like years ago!" Tony hissed, angry that they were just finding out this 'small' defect with Jack now.
"I guess...he was good at hiding it?" Skyelark said aloud, not really knowing herself.
"Did they tell you how long he would be at the mental institute?" Michelle asked.
"They told me anywhere from 6 months, to the rest of his life..." She sighed, as silent tears ran down her eyes.
"O my god..." Michelle gasped again.
"Has anyone called Kim yet?" Tony asked then.
"The doctors did for me I guess...She will be here later today with Chase..." Skyelark mumbled, rubbing the tears away from her face again.
"He will get better..." Tony said finally, realizing how much this really was impacting her, and drew her in for another comforting hug.
"Yea, I mean hes Jack, for crying out loud..." Michelle smiled weakly.
"I hope your right..." Skyelark mumbled.
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"Hey Dad" Kim entered the room, followed by Chase and Skyelark. Jack was sitting up in the bed, staring blankly at another wall. Sorrow and guilt was clearly written on his face.
"Dad?" She called out again after no response. Jack slowly turned his head towards her, more sorrow, guilt, and now fear entered his expression.
"Hi..." He mumbled to the group, looking down at the sheet covering his lap. Kim came over and hugged him, only to realize he was trembling.
"Don't touch me..." He hissed quietly pulled away from her grasp.
"Dad?" Kim asked confusingly, pulling back.
"Stay away from me" Jack looked at her in a half glare, trying to scare her away. He didnt want her around when the other tried to appear, god knows what would happen if that.
"But Dad...Im worried about you. They are taking you to a mental institution tomorrow. I want to make sure youll be alright..." Kim sniffled, on the verge of crying.
"I dont want you to see me like this, Kim" He said flat out then. Chase stepped in then, grabbing Kim and pulling her into a hug. Jack sighed heavily, he absolutely hated doing this, but hed hate himself even more if the other hurt her.
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Skyelark had came home that night, crying again. She had been getting sick to her stomach, nearly every day since Jack had vanished. Mainly in the mornings. She hadnt been really paying attention to her own body at the time. And not until now, she realized she had missed her monthly visit. She looked at the calender absentmindedly, she clearly missed it. She then gasped at the realization of what it was. And to make sure, she immediatly got into the car, and went to the nearest conventient store and bought a test.
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She sat there on the toilet, staring at the test. It was positive, she began to cry, thinking about it. How was she going to tell him? How was she going to tell him that he is going to be a father again? Will he be able to be a parent with this illness? All these questions ran through her mind as tears spilled. The road just got ten times tougher.
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She showed up early that morning, hoping that the normal Jack would be awake and ready to talk to her before he was transfered to the facility where he would spend at least the next 6 months at.
"Hey Honey" He smiled as she came into the room, he was still bound to the bed. 'good hes normal today...' She thought to herself as she walked over to him and hugged him, and he kissed her on the neck affectionately.
"I have something to tell you" She whispered in his ear, then pulled back sitting down.
"What?" He asked confusingly. She paused for a second, looking down at her hands.
"What?" He asked again, concern laced his tone this time.
"I am...pregnant" She basically blurted out. She didnt look at his reaction, just stared at her hands. There was a long silence.
"And the father is?" He asked, knowing the answer.
"Its you Jack..." She almost hissed, as if he shouldnt have to ask that question even. There was another long ackward silence.
"Thats...great" He said in a sigh.
"Really?" She looked up reading his reactions now. There was a mix of guilt, sorrow, and happyness there, it was hard to pin point what was
"Yea..." He whispered. She came close again to him and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"This is even more of a motive for you to get better, honey...I love you" She kissed the back of his neck.
THE END...