Title: I'll Be There - Chapter 2
Rating: PG-13 for language
Pairing: Ennis/Jack
Summary: This is not an AU exactly in that it takes place after the end of the original story. In this, everything that happened in the M/SS did happen, and Jack did die… but… he is being given a chance to let Ennis know how he feels and ease his overwhelming grief.

Disclaimer: Although they are not mine... they will live in my heart forever...
Feedback: Yes, please... let me know whatcha think.
Author's Note: This story is inspired by the song 'I'll Be There' by 'The Escape Club." Because of this, I am taking a verse from the song as a header for each chapter. However, due to the way the story will be played out, the verses may not be in the order they appear in the original song. Thanks for reading! I have to admit… I am not entirely happy with this chapter… but I have rewritten it numerous times, and this is the best version, so here it is!

Chapter 2

On the Edge of a Waking Dream,
Over Rivers,
Over Streams,
Through Wind and Rain,
I'll be there

"Ennis… can ya hear me?" Jack's voice muttered near his ear and Ennis felt his warm hand on his arm.

Ennis replied slowly, his voice laced with uncertainty, "can hear ya… but I can't see ya, bud… where're ya…"

Ennis reached out with his hands, trying desperately to touch Jack in the inky blackness.

"Jack… please… I miss ya, where are ya…?" he continued, his voice now more desperate and pleading as he swept the darkness around him quickly, feeling as Jack were right there, just beyond his fingertips.

"I know, Cowboy…I'm right here… but ya need ta listen to me fer a minute…"

"What, Jack?" Ennis replied, his voice low and gravelly, sounding as though he is about to cry.

"Ennis… I have ta tell ya that I lo…"

Ennis' eyes snapped open. For a moment he lay there in his bedroll, sweat pouring off him and anxiety coursing through him.

"Shit!" He muttered crossly, and sat up rubbing his face roughly with his palms.

His dreams had been the same for the last two nights. Ever since he had gotten so drunk and broken down. He didn't know what happened; he only remembered lying there sobbing, when suddenly he heard a noise in the wind that sounded almost like Jack's voice.

Sacred half to death, he had determined that too much whiskey was the cause, and had limited himself on how much he drank since. Now, however, he was beginning to wonder if that were the case. Each night, Jack was coming to him in his dreams. Not a new thing, Jack had been coming to him in his dreams for months. Dreams that had mostly included he and Jack having sex in a variety of different places and ways… sometimes hard and fast, sometimes slow and sweet, sometimes standing, sometimes lying down, sometimes using mouths, hands, fingers and tongues to pleasure each other.

Not all of his dreams had been about sex though, his favorite dreams were of simply lying in each others arms, bodies pressed so close together that they were almost one and just looking into each others eyes, something that Ennis would never have admitted to swelling up in him and making him ache with feelings he had never felt any other time in his life… with any other person. When he woke from each of these dreams, they left him aching for something he knew he would never again have, aching for Jack, for the chance to hold him one last time, look into those intoxicating blue eyes and finally say the words that had been there on his tongue for twenty years but had never found a way out of his mouth.

The last two nights, his dreams had been very different. Instead of dreaming about Jack naked and moaning, he had dreamt that he and Jack were in a pitch black room! He was reaching out blindly in the dark, and Jack was trying to tell him something, but each time he woke up just as Jack was saying what he seemed so desperate to say.

Ennis flopped back into the bedroll, and covered his face with his arm.

"What is it Jack… whatdaya wanna tell me so bad?" Ennis muttered his voice, hoarse and scratchy, muffled behind his arm.

Sitting up abruptly, he jammed his feet into his boots, and stormed out of the tent, grabbed the bucket from beside the fire pit, walked down to the creek bank and stood in the moonlight gazing out at the dark water.

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Jack sat beside Ennis in the tent, watching the emotions on his face.

Shit, was so damn close that time! This ain't never gonna work… time's almost up, and I still can't get him to listen.

He had tried. Each of the last two nights he had crept into the tent and whispered in Ennis' ear, trying over and over, and each time Ennis had woken just as he was about to say the words.

The daylight hours had been no less frustrating. He had followed Ennis all over the place, trying several times to make himself heard, but either Ennis could not hear him when awake and sober, or he was ignoring him… pretending he didn't hear Jack's voice pleading with him to listen.

Several times, Ennis had stopped dead in his steps and cocked his head as though he did hear something, but each time, when Jack had begun talking to him, thinking that he had finally gotten through to him, Ennis had shaken his head vigorously and walked away.

Now his time was almost up. Three days had passed, and his time was now down to less than an hour with no progress at all.

Following Ennis out of the tent, he stood a few feet away and watched Ennis

"Dammit, Ennis Del Mar…" Jack muttered suddenly in a low voice, kicking a rock, and stomping his foot with frustration "damn stubborn jackass…"

Jack continued raging away for a few moments and then suddenly stopped when he turned around to shake his fist at Ennis and spotted him, standing there, a curious and alert look on his face.

Jack looked around, trying to figure out what Ennis was looking at. Several moments passed before Ennis shrugged and started to turn back toward the creek.

"Shit…" Jack muttered, kicked another rock, and jumped a little when Ennis spun around and said in a deep warning voice, "sumbody out there...?"

Throwing up his arms, Jack swore and smacked his forehead, God am I a dumbass!

Looking again at Ennis, he took in his demeanor, his face pale in the moonlight and slack hand, bucket handle barely remaining in his grip. He had his attention at last!

Deliberately, Jack kicked another rock, this time aiming it right at Ennis. He watched as Ennis stood frozen watching the rock roll toward him and bump into the toe of his boot.

"Who's there?" Ennis yelled again, a tinge of fear lacing his gruff, stern voice.

Jack took a deep breath, and cleared his throat.

Here goes nothing!

"It's me…" he said, his voice a little shaky.

"Ya… and who's that?" Ennis said his voice a little lower, the fear replaced by anger at the thought that there really was someone there.

"Ennis… It's me… Jack." Jack replied, trying to keep his voice as level and reassuring as possible.

Ennis stumbled backward a step and shook his head wildly, "no…no, no, no… I'm just hearin' thin's ag'in…"

"No, cowboy… it really is me… please, don't be scared… I…"

"Shut up!" Ennis yelled suddenly, covering his ears with his hands, "just shut the fuck up… you ain' here Jack… I can't be hearin' ya talkin' ta me cause you're… you're dead!" He choked out this last word, and closed his eyes, squeezing them shut tight to hold back the tears that were threatening to start.

"Dammit Ennis!" Jack suddenly yelled, "I am here, and ya need ta listen ta me… I ain' got much time!" Stooping down, Jack scooped up a handful of rocks and flung them hard into the creek, listening and grinning when he heard the satisfying 'plop, plop, plop" as they hit the water.

Ennis stood stock still barely daring to blink his brain numb from the sight of a knot of rocks rising up and flying into the creek on their own. If not for that telltale sound of them hitting the water, he would have believed that he had imagined it.

"Please, Ennis… ya gotta listen ta me!" Jack pleaded, knowing his time was running out.

Something in the tone of Jack's voice made the fear in Ennis' face change to grief, and bringing his arms down to his sides, Ennis whispered, "Jack… no… it can't be…damn… is it really… no it can' be… it ain' possible!"

"It's true Ennis… I'm here, and I need ta talk ta ya…" Jack started, relief coursing through him… he had finally gotten Ennis to hear him.

In a quavering voice, Ennis interrupted, "Where are ya, Jack… I can't see ya…"

Jack gulped and said in a voice full of sadness, "Ya can't see me cowboy… that's the rules. I can talk ta ya but ya can't see me."

"Oh…" Ennis whispered, his disappointment and sadness replacing some of the disbelief that was still thick in his voice and the way his body slumped.

Suddenly, Jack turned when he heard a familiar voice speaking behind him. Standing on the bank of the creek was his grandmother.

"It's time, John." she said sadly.

"NO!" Jack shouted, shaking his head and taking a step closer to Ennis, "not yet… please Grammie… not yet, I finally got through to him… he's finally hearin' me… please, just a few more minutes!"

"What is it Jack… who… who're ya talkin' to?" Ennis asked.

"Come'on, John… it's time ta go, honey… I'm sorry." Grammie Turner said, and stepped forward, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder.

"WAIT!" Jack yelled, stepping toward Ennis again and talking quickly and frantically,

"Ennis… I gotta go… ain' much time…" Looking behind him, Jack saw that same blinding light starting to build up on the other shore of the creek.

"Shit! Ennis… listen… I…" suddenly the light around him was so bright it hurt his eyes, and he once again felt himself floating weightless, drifting away, Ennis' voice calling his name, echoing behind him.

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When he woke, Jack was in that same white room. His grandmother was sitting at his side, her head bowed. He sat bolt upright and looked around, his stomach churning with a mixture of anger and sadness.

Bringing his knees up, he dropped his forehead to rest on them. "I'm sorry, Grammie," he said quietly, his voice filled with tears, "I let ya down…let Ennis down… let everyone down. I had a chance ta tell Ennis how I feel and help 'em to stop hurtin' and I…"

"Enough!"

Jack jumped at the sound of the loud gruff voice that seemed to echo through the small room. He glanced quickly at his grandmother, and wondered at the smile that spread across her face.

"The job must be finished," the voice continued, "if he cannot do it then we will find someone who can!"

The smile grew wider, and Jack's grandmother spoke in a loud clear voice that sounded almost angry, "he can do it… was almost there… he just needs a little more time!"

"Three hours! He has three hours to finish the task. If he does not succeed, we will send someone who can!"

"Sir, it may be best fer him ta return completely… might make it easier…"

"Fine… three hours and not a moment more!"

Jack sat and listened to the conversation, too shocked and startled to speak. Finally, his grandmother turned to him with a smile, "Ok, John… this is yer last chance… ya got three hours… make the most a them."

"I don' understand…" Jack began as the light once again began to engulf him and the weightlessness pulled him along once again.

Suddenly he was standing on the creek bank again. Looking around, he saw Ennis, still standing in the same spot, a confused and stricken look on his face.

"Ennis!" He said loudly, his voice surprised and choked. They sent me back… they're givin' me another chance!

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