chapter word count: 281

noir heart: seventeen

"What do you mean by that?" Aster asks in complete incomprehension as he passes the notepad to Captain Moors' waiting hands. Jack rolls his eyes, and finds he's completely unable to bite back a sarcastic jab.

"What do I mean by that? What, you can't read English, ya freaking wombat?" he quips, gesturing lamely between his ex-partner and the pad in Captain Moors' hand.

"Of course I can read English, you bloody idiot!"

"Great! I wasn't sure 'cause, you know, you're asking me what I meant by 'she did it'". Jack continues, and there's the ghost of a smirk that lights up his face as a result of the sudden wave of nostalgia.

"Were you always so offensive, Detective Frost?" Captain Moors asks, her brow high with…is that amusement in her normally intimidatingly striking visage?

"Oh, this is nothing," Aster drawls, grinning proudly, "Back in the day, Jack and I used to bicker like an old married couple all the time."

"Yeah, and you're the one who got married first, you bastard, you were supposed to propose to me." Jack grunts with feigned bitterness.

"…and he's back." Aster chuckles.

"From outer space." Jack deadpans.

For a few fleeting moments, Jack almost believes him. The repartee, the snark-infested waters…it's just like old times. Trading barbs in the Impala.

But the darkness, the cold in his heart reminds him that it's all ancient history, buried under case reports of still-missing children, court hearings, divorce papers and heartache.

He knows there's almost no laughter, no joy, no fight in him anymore.

Everything else is just…putting on a show.

jpbake: For some reason, when I read your review, it was perfectly timed with when I was watching Age of Ultron, when Captain America said "Language!"
Guest: Mmmhm. Next update explains his reasoning (hopefully).
heartonfire: Haha, well we'll see what you think over the next few chapters. Hope you liked this one.
stefalove: I admit it, I'm an evil teaser.
wahness: It's not going to be simple, hopefully the next few updates will reinforce that. This isn't a normal Jelsa story (hopefully).
fantasy oh yea: Well, we'll see what happens when Jack talks to her again.
k j mcdaniel: I suppose it was fairly obvious. You did indeed call it, however!
vichidalgo: You're breaking the first rule of Fight Club, by the way. And no, this isn't a Tyler Durden scenario.
e-teens: like I said to wahness, this isn't a normal Jelsa story. All will be explained (hopefully satisfactorily) in time.