Sometime before the events of Prototypes...
Jack awoke with a start, clutching at his chest to try and stop his own hyperventilating. After a moment, he was calm enough to fully sit up, and rub his eyes. Another nightmare, this one of the war. Of Sarah's end...Of the anger he had felt at his inability to save her. He looked at the framed photo of her on his bedside, the same one he had pulled from that wreckage long ago. He had managed to recover many of Sarah's old pictures by now, but this one had gotten him through so many battles during his Resistance days, that he couldn't bear to part with it.
He looked across the room at Cyber, sleeping in a soft chair. She could never sleep properly in a bed, something about laying down just sent her into a panic. It had taken a while for them to figure this out during the war, and the long nights spent sitting on a beat-up old couch, watching old TV shows while she tried to calm down had been, in hindsight, the start of their relationship...And the start of her love for stupid sci-fi shows, come to think of it.
Speaking of long nights, though, Jack checked the time. 4:25 in the morning. He could probably go back to sleep for a few hours, if he REALLY wanted to...But he felt like he wouldn't be able to sleep for a good while. Probably best to just stay up and take a nap in the afternoon.
On his way to the kitchen, he decided to check in on Raccoon. To no one's surprise, the kid hadn't even touched his bed again and was instead sleeping curled up on the hardwood floor, with his plush, Lady Chao, in his arms, and an open children's book by his side. Jack smiled and shook his head as he picked up the book and put it back up on the shelf. He was proud of how much effort Raccoon had been putting into learning how to read, but the kid was struggling hard. He and Cyber had tried looking into reading disorders that he might have, and what strategies they could try, but nothing matched up so far. Something to look into more later, he supposed.
Walking past the wall adorned with photos of his fallen comrades, Jack finally made it their small kitchen, and began putting together a cup of liquid misery. A bit later, the cheap coffeemaker hissed as it finished his coffee. He took a sip of it, and slightly grimaced. Truth be told, Jack didn't care that much for coffee. He never drank it before the war, and during the war, it was just some bean water that kept him going. Nowadays, he rarely drank it casually, mostly saving it for times like this, when the bitter taste of cheap, black coffee grounds could help him stay sane. In a way, his mixed relationship with the drink was what made it comforting.
Setting down his coffee after a few sips, Jack lit an old candle in their dining room. Next to it was another picture of Sarah, smiling and happy as always. This picture had been taken on their first date, Jack remembered being so nervous back then, but she had shined like a beam of light, radiant as the sun...
It would've been her birthday today.
He sat there for a good few minutes, lost in his thoughts, before some soft, clunky footsteps behind him caught his attention. "-Having another rough night?-" Cyber asked, still somewhat groggy in her nightgown. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Jack said, pulling up a chair for her. "-Please, even I'M able to smell that crappy coffee, Jack.-" Cyber joked as she sat down next to him and clasped his hand in hers. "-Still, you don't mind having a bit of company for this, do you?-"
Jack looked at Cyber, then back at the picture of Sarah. "No. I...I'd like that, actually."
Cyber leaned her head onto his shoulder, and the two merely held each other in silence into the early daylight hours, taking comfort in each other's presence as the first few rays of the sun shone through the cracks in the blinds, giving light to the darkness within.