Have I mentioned that I love my lovely reviewers? Well I do! Hugs
Jack smiled in his sleep, pulling the dream girl in his arms closer still, a thrill passing through him as her leg automatically entwined with his own at his small movement. It was a simple dream, yet filled him with so great a contentment as he wished it would never end. He couldn't think of a time he'd ever felt such tranquil pleasures in reality; he was so used to sleeping alone. He'd had plenty of lovers over the years of course, but so rarely would any of them stay after the deed was done, nor would he stay with them. If they had both got what they wanted, what was the point in lingering?
But in this dream he savoured the feel of her soft, warm body spooned with his. She turned in his arms, resting her cheek against the crook of his shoulder, and the soft sound of her breath against his chest was music to his ears. The cherry and cinnamon scent of her hair was just…
Wait a second…scent?
Since when could you smell in a dream?
His eyes snapped open with such suddenness as he felt dizzy for several seconds afterwards, and he blinked as the harsh midmorning sun assaulted his senses. Taking a calming breath, he looked down, and then back up at the ceiling above him, then he looked down once more. Nope, he wasn't imagining this. She was still there. Tru Davies, the one girl who was supposed to hate his guts was fast asleep on his chest, her arms wrapped securely around his waist and her leg draped over his. If it were possible to move, he would have pinched himself just to make doubly sure, but as it was he stayed perfectly still, too afraid of waking her to do anything else.
As if feeling his eyes on her, she slowly awoke, mumbling incoherent noises as she did so. He tried so hard to tell himself that she didn't look adorable, but it didn't work – especially since she was still wearing his shirt…what was it about seeing the girl in his clothes that drove him nuts? She looked up at him, blinking confusedly for a whole minute, then offered a tentative smile.
"Erm…hey," she whispered shyly. "Sleep well?"
Jack nodded. "You?" he desperately wanted to ask why the hell he had woken up like this when he was fairly certain he had been alone when he fell asleep, but he didn't dare.
"Eventually." She admitted. "I kept having nightmares so I tried to stay awake, but then I just couldn't stop thinking about…"
She trailed off, but Jack knew what she meant and unconsciously, he tightened his arms around her. Tru noticed his actions, though he did not, and she took some solace in his silent show of support. When it was such a natural, instinctive reaction, she couldn't doubt its sincerity. "I guess I thought if I wasn't alone the dreams wouldn't bother me."
"Did it work?"
"Yeah," Tru nodded, the gratitude in her eyes clear "thank you."
"I didn't even know I was doing anything," Jack shrugged, both touched and a little uncomfortable at hearing the first ever genuine thanks she had given him, "but you still owe me one."
"Typical Jack," she noted wryly "always thinking of yourself."
"Wouldn't want you thinking I'd been replaced by some alien impostor now, would I?" He grinned in return. It was nice, this easy banter without any of their usual malice and subtext, and he ached to think it wouldn't last.
They stayed in comfortable silence for a while, over two hours in fact, neither willing to break the air of peace that was surrounding them, each knowing that such a moment might never be theirs again. Unfortunately, reality intruded much too soon, the sudden ringing of the phone reminding them of the outside world that demanded their attention. Neither acknowledged the cold that seeped into their limbs as Tru reluctantly, wordlessly withdrew from his embrace and padded over to the phone in her bedroom, Jack sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, mostly to prevent his hands from reaching out and pulling her back to him as they itched to do.
He leaned back against the cushions once she was safely out of sight, silently contemplating the fact that last night had been the best sleep he'd had in longer than he could remember, and he had a feeling that it had nothing to do with Tru's couch being so comfortable.
He had however, been afflicted by the strangest dreams.
He had found himself on top of the Edison tower, a place he had actually vowed to himself never to return to, and he had once more had Megan within his grasp, begging him to pull her to safety. At some point however, the image of her face had wavered, only to be replaced by that of Tru. It was had become she who grasped his hand so tightly, pleading for his help.
Yet again he had whispered words of apology, though this time he hadn't been apologising for his weakness, for his inability to turn from his calling. This time he had been truly helpless as he struggled vainly to pull her away from danger, his grip simply not solid enough to hold on.
Again and again she would slip from his grasp to plunge into a dark void that had inexplicably replaced the ground, and he would always turn in shock and despair to find himself faced with the accusatory glare of Harrison, or Davis. Once or twice he had come face to face with Richard, or even himself, but not once did he manage to save her.
Though Jack had never really been one to place much faith in the meaning of dreams, he was still somewhat unsettled by the whole thing. It had only been that last dream, which it obviously turned out wasn't a dream at all, that had been in anyway enjoyable or something he particularly wanted to remember. He wasn't entirely sure which was the more screwed up – that he actually wanted to keep the memory of waking up with Tru in arms, or that his subconscious seemed to be telling him that he simply wasn't meant to be her saviour…and that he was in point of fact disturbed by that knowledge. Was this what guilt did to a person? He had very little experience to go on.
He was pulled from his thoughts when Tru emerged from the bedroom, nervously chewing her bottom lip. "That was Davis." Jack nodded, having expected as much. He was actually rather surprised that the man hadn't called earlier, especially after his visit to the crypt yesterday. "He wants me to go into the morgue…he sounded kind of worried."
"You want me to come with you?" Jack winced at the hopeful tone of his voice, but the words had escaped him without his thinking, as if they'd had a will of their own.
"You…you'd do that?" Tru blinked incredulously, too stunned to take in his vaguely disgusted expression – it wasn't aimed at her anyway. She'd actually been half expecting him to be gone by the time she returned, figuring that he had to have reached his 'nice' quota for at least the next year. He had been so…sweet this morning, not being at all coarse or condescending as many men might have been had they woken up in a similar situation. Though it was somewhat scary to admit, she didn't really want this secure bubble of calm they were floating in to pop just yet
"I've got nothing better to do." Jack shrugged nonchalantly, or at least that was what he was going for.
Tru just smiled softly, not fooled for a second. "Thanks," she said "that would be nice."
As they left the apartment building some time later, Tru paused, staring at the spot where Ashworth had met his demise, a look on her face that Jack couldn't identify. She had seemed much better this morning, though Jack didn't kid himself into thinking that the whole incident had been put behind her as she so desperately tried to pretend. He'd suspected that the real tests of her strength were yet to come, and the part of him that was growing increasingly harder to ignore, was hopeful that he would be there to help her through them, like he was now.
"So are we taking one car?" he asked, drawing her attention away from the road, "Or do you still have that thing about getting into a car with a guy who kills people for a living?"
His plan of distraction worked as she visibly gathered herself, though her smile as she replied was shaky at best. "I think I can bend the rules just this once."
Davis was waiting as Tru pushed open the door to the morgue, looking immensely relieved to see her standing before him, apparently alive and well. "Thank God," he breathed, rushing over to her "I was so worried when Harrison didn't call back and-"
Davis abruptly broke off, stopping dead in his tracks when Jack appeared several steps behind her, his gaze flicking between the two and his brow furrowed in confusion. Tru's eyes fell to the floor and she bit her lip; something Jack was beginning to think must be a nervous habit of hers.
"Hey Davis," he greeted when nobody else moved to break the silence, "have we missed the tea party?"
Davis narrowed his eyes while Tru, who understood his jibe, shot him a 'behave' glare, but Jack just smiled sweetly. A tiny voice in the back of his head asked why he was being like this, possibly loosing any ground he might have gained with Tru by reverting to his usual jerk-like self, but it was as if he couldn't help it. It had been surprisingly easy to be a different person when it was just he and Tru, when he could see that she needed him to be that other version of himself. But being in front of people like Davis who he knew would always question his motives, no matter how altruistic they were, brought out the asshole in him.
"Tru, can we talk?" Davis spoke at last, grabbing her arm and dragging her away to his office without waiting for her to reply.
Jack made no move to follow, just muttering about his almost feeling unwanted instead. He knew that his comment had been heard when Tru looked back at him, her eyes burning into his. Davis slammed the door behind them, but not before Jack caught the brief flicker of hurt that passed across her face as she gazed at him, and it hit him far harder than any physical blow might have. He knew he shouldn't care, that he should probably be glad; but instead, that new guilty feeling he had been getting a lot over the last few hours was intensified at the thought that he had somehow let her down…again.
With a muttered curse at his becoming soft, he idly strolled around standards, running his fingers across the equipment he had at one time been used to using. At least, to the casual observer, his movements would have seemed idle. In reality, he was simply trying to find a vantage point that would allow him a glimpse through the gaps in the blinds of the office. Davis might have stopped him from hearing their conversation, but fortunately, Jack prided himself on being quite a proficient lip reader.
"Tru, what are you doing?" Davis demanded the moment the door was closed. "What the hell is Jack doing here?"
"He's…helping me?" Tru offered, though it sounded more like a question than a real answer, despite its truth. How could she explain to Davis something she didn't even understand herself? That despite everything that had happened between them in the past, Jack seemed to be the only person she felt safe with now, the only one with whom she didn't feel the need to always be strong when she just wanted to fall apart.
"I don't get it Tru. After loosing Mr Ashworth to him yesterday I would have thought…" He trailed off when he saw her pale at the mention of yesterday's victim, the look on her face more than just the usual anguish at having lost another round to her nemesis. "Tru…"
"Please don't, D." She whispered, her eyes beseeching. She wasn't ready to do this again so soon, to recount the whole sordid tale to yet another person she was close to. Didn't people understand that she felt humiliated and degraded every time she had to say those words? That all she wanted was to be able to deal with this in her own time, to tell whom she wanted, when she was ready? When she could think, let alone talk about it without dissolving into a blubbering wreck. "I swear one day I'll tell you everything, but right now just please believe me when I say Jack isn't here to cause trouble and that I need him here."
Davis looked torn as he stared at her; half of him wanting to do as she said, while the other half was unable to let go of his suspicion and curiosity. She seemed genuinely convinced of what she was saying, but Jack had never given him a single reason to trust him, and Davis saw it was his job to be objective when Tru couldn't be. "I-"
Whatever Davis was about to say was cut short by an almighty crash from standards, and his head whipped around so fast Tru was sure he must have been dizzy. When he opened the office door, it wasn't much of a shocker for her to peer over his shoulder to see Jack stood amidst the wreckage of what was once very expensive Digital Autopsy Capture equipment.
"Oops." He said simply, wearing an expression so pious it would have befit a choirboy.
The impending inquisition forgotten, Davis rushed out of the office, looking very much like he was about to cry as he dropped to his knees in the vain hope of finding something salvageable. Tru would have joined in with Davis' frantic ranting about the wanton destruction of property were it not for the look Jack directed at her once Davis was fully occupied amongst the debris - a cross between contrite and concerned. Tru understood then, that this was his unique way of making amends for his earlier mildly obnoxious behaviour. Somehow he had known that she had needed a distraction, and he had provided one in the only way he could.
Was it insane that she felt grateful, despite the trouble he had caused for Davis? It was Jack after all, could she really expect him to pass up the chance at making a nuisance of himself?
There was no time for her question to be answered however, as at that moment, she felt a very familiar shiver run up her spine, and from the widening of his eyes, she knew that Jack had felt it too. The young man, laid out and waiting to be scanned with the recently wrecked equipment was the only body visible, but still Tru was only able to get the briefest glimpse of his features as his head turned.
"Save me." The nameless man pleaded.
The last thought in Tru's mind as she felt herself yanked back through the day that had barely begun, was that at least Davis' camera would be okay now.
TBC...