Disclaimer: Don't own
Pairing: Nathan Stark/Jack Carter
Established Relationship, K, Prompt: Five more minutes to say goodbye. Character Death
Word Count: Approx. 320
There was nothing he could have done. Jack knows this, keeps telling himself this, but he can't shake the guilt, can't shake the bone numbing sadness and grief.
Every time he closes his eyes he sees the man standing there, the blast ripping through him, before he collapsed to the ground in a motionless heap. All to save some device- it was stupid. He blinks, and he sees himself frozen in horror, before running, sliding to his knees next to the man. Pain filled green eyes stared up at him, laced with regret and love.
Jack's hands are stained red from where he had pressed down on the wound, but the crimson had kept spilling through, staining the satin dress shirt and the skin underneath.
Ragged breathing echoes through his ears, bounces around the silent room. Zoe was in LA. His uniform lay crumpled on the floor from where he had begun to shed the confining material before collapsing at the foot of the bed.
They hadn't been fast enough, he had blanked, his medical training flying out the window, and the medics hadn't made it in time. There was nothing he could have done. He's not sure what to believe.
Eventually he makes it up onto the bed, still feeling the way the other man had grasped his hand weakly, hearing the words of love and apology before vibrant green eyes, normally full of passion dulled and his world stopped.
Jack curls up on his side, hand stretching out in the empty space of the bed. If he concentrates hard enough, he can still feel the warmth from where Nathan lay earlier that morning, when Jack had coerced him into staying for five more minutes, then ten, until they were both running late.
Now he wishes for five minutes more because the world has just grown a lot bigger and left him alone.
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