REVELATIONS
THIRTY
"Are you gonna fire me?" Wil asked Jack as he sat across from her at his desk.
"Ach, I dinnae ken, lassie. Do ye wanna be fired?" The Captain replied in an exaggerated Scottish brogue.
Taken aback, she peered at him curiously.
"What are you playing at?"
Jack laughed, his eyes sparkling. "That was such a totally absurd question I thought it deserved an equally ridiculous answer. But more to the point, of course not. What made you think I would?"
"Well, for starters, I went AWOL with The Doctor."
"He came back, didn't he?"
Wil nodded mutely.
"And he was okay, wasn't he?"
Again, she nodded.
"In my book, that qualifies as 'good news'. I don't know about your book, but we have far too little of the good stuff around here to take any for granted."
He gazed at her levelly, waiting.
"And then I didn't come back with him."
"That was your choice. I figure you must've had a good reason to stay behind. I trust your judgment and respect your intelligence." He smiled, "But don't expect any back pay."
She picked up a large piece of coral from his desk and examined it intently. She wasn't sure she could bear to look at him during the next bit.
"And I hurt you."
He stood up, slowly walked over to her, reclaimed his objet d'art, and placed it carefully back on his desk.
"Yes, you did. Don't ever do it again."
"I won't. I promise." She looked into his eyes and held her breath without realizing it.
"Okay then!" Jack smiled reassuringly. "Seems to me you have a very long mission report to write, I suggest you get to it."
"Yes, sir!" she saluted him, and he winked as he returned the salute.