Summary: David knows he used to be a fool. Is he still a fool? What happens after David jumped Roland to the Grand Canyon.

Warnings: Some language. The first part could be traumatic to devoted slashers.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Jumper, characters or anything else associated.

A/N: Response to the 100 Fic Ultimate Challenge at jumperslash. The prompts I used - #25 fear and #34 disappointed girlfriends face. In this fic is my first attempt at writing an erotic scene - consider yourselves warned. Also - this fic can be viewed as a sequel to Aftermath.

Nothing Else Matters

He jumped. He stumbled and he fell. David fell on his face in the mess that once was a rather respectable library floor. He tried to push himself up but his strength was failing and he fell once again face down hitting his nose against the floor. He grunted but the sound was muffled by his unmoving lips and water.

"David?" Millie tentatively called out. She was cowering between bookshelves further down what was once an aisle. "David is that you?"

"Yeah," he said along with outgoing breath. He gathered what he had left of his strength and turned over so that he wouldn't be lying with a half of his face down in the water. After all that had happened he didn't fancy drowning.

Millie was by his side in less than a minute. "What happened? Are you alright?" she fired the questions rather rapidly. She looked him over, her gaze full of worry and took his hand into her own patiently waiting for an answer.

She was always like that. She always let people speak and spoke only when they had finished. She respected their thoughts. She was always unfailingly polite even when others were not. She had fierce sense of right and wrong even if she lacked the courage to stand up for what she believed in. She was a hometown girl. Millie was sweet, polite, warm hearted and compassionate young woman. Once upon a time she had seemed perfect.

David couldn't help but wonder if the worry she showed was out of politeness rather than because he meant something to her. They had had no contact for over eight years. The last time they had met they'd been teenagers and, yes, he had loved her. At least, he thought he had – he had been fifteen at the time, a lot of things had seemed different then. To be honest, David hadn't thought of Millie for years.

When shit had hit the fan – when Roland had turned up to serve just rewards his instinct had been to go home. And home he had went. Although his father had never been much of a father and the house was nothing fancy; it stirred the memories in him. The memories he had once gladly shoved in the furthest place of his skull. He had remembered Millie. He had remembered his love for her, if one can forget love in the first place. Before he had known that he could jump, she had been his vision of future. Now she was his vision of safety. Of a normal life. He supposed that somewhere deep inside he had thought that if he'd be with her, if he'd return to Anne Arbour - Roland wouldn't bother. That if he did that – Roland would forget it all and leave him alone.

He had been a fool. "It's okay. I'm alright," he said smiling up at her. "I just need a moment to catch my breath." As he gazed into the ceiling which was the only undamaged part of the library, he wondered if he still was a fool.

"Oh, okay," she quietly replied. Her gaze scanned the surroundings and a little frown settled between her eyebrows. "It would be better if we left before anyone comes in and finds out about this," her lips curved into a light smile as she looked down at him.

"Yeah," he took a moment before agreeing. While he just lay there, practically unharmed he couldn't help but feel as if he had forgotten something. There was this feeling of uneasiness in his stomach that had nothing to do with his last night's dinner. He didn't understand it. He had saved the girl, after all. Like a true Marvel hero. David sat up abruptly. He still was a fool. An irresponsible, reckless idiotic fool not a hero. Heroes rarely leave their enemies to die, much less …

"David!" Millie exclaimed. "Is something wrong?" she asked reaching to cup his face in her hand.

Her tone seemed so warm, so friendly, so earnest and polite that the very sound of her voice seemed to make him sick for the moment. He didn't need her gentle ministrations. He didn't want them. He had to find Griffin. He had to save him! Involuntary David moved away from Millie and stood. "Is it okay for me to drop you at your mom's place?" he asked pacing forth and back.

Millie frowned. "Is something wrong?" it was obvious that she was suspicious.

"I don't have the time to explain!" David barked stopping and turning to face her. His eyes widened in shock. He hadn't meant to yell at her. "Millie, I'm sorry…," he pleaded with her.

She took a step back when he yelled. Millie slowly shook her head. "You always are," she quietly responded. She licked her bottom lip and seemed to contemplate for a moment. "At my mom's is fine," she said quietly but strongly although it was visible that she was upset.

David nodded and spread his arms welcoming her to his embrace. She hesitated for a moment before tentatively hugging him back. In a flash they were at her mother's porch. "I promise we'll talk later," he said, his face full of guilt and remorse. He didn't wait for her answer, jumping away a second later.

"Okay," she whispered to the empty air before ringing the doorbell.

NEMNEMNEM

David shivered. He had intended to jump to Chechnya, to the exact place where he had left Griffin yet he had ended up in the Arctic. They'd been here before the Chechnya. He gritted his teeth and tried again. He jumped a few steps ahead and stumbled on a block of ice. His breath started to come out in short gasps. How come this wasn't working? He tried again and this time he ended up in the Atlantic Ocean a few steps off of the iceberg.

Not being able to bear the cold anymore he jumped to his apartment. He threw the wet coat off of himself and started pacing around ignoring all the stuff that still lay on the floor. A CD cracked under his boot but he didn't pause. He couldn't understand why he couldn't jump. He couldn't understand why he couldn't jump to that particular place.

"Think, David, think!" he muttered to himself. Suddenly he stopped and drew a long breath. He needed to calm down. He walked to the coach and lay down. What was he worrying about anyway? About Griffin?! If there was somebody in the world who could take care of themselves it was Griffin. Griffin killed paladins. Griffin drove at high speed in the opposite lane and jumped a two tons heavy car at his convenience. Surely there was no reason to worry.

But had he been left trapped between transformers at a heavy war zone before? David's hands clenched into fists. Even if electricity wouldn't off Griffin a stray bullet could do that perfectly well too. David couldn't believe himself. He had been so absorbed in himself and 'saving Millie' that he hadn't even thought about what he did. And then he had the gall to even forget what he'd done.

Any minute could cost Griffin's life. David didn't know why it mattered to him so much yet he knew that if Griffin died tonight. If Griffin died because of his, David's fault – he would never forgive himself. David had pulled Griffin into this all. Sure, Griffin fought paladins but it was David that brought them on his neck so suddenly, unexpectedly. David was the one who had asked for help. For a superhero team up. And what had he done? He knew that he had used Griffin. He knew that now. If it was any excuse at all – David could say that then it had felt like the right thing to do.

David let out a shuddering breath. He needed to think for a moment. In the past few days he had gotten a lot of lessons. A lesson that there always were consequences. A lesson that he wasn't the only one. A lesson that you have to make most of the time you have. A lesson that … David closed his eyes for a moment. He didn't want Griffin to become his next lesson.

There was nothing special about the place Griffin had jumped them to. It was Chechnya. It was a war zone. It was not enough for David to jump. He tried to concentrate on Griffin trapped between the transformers but the image kept slipping. The truck… He hadn't really looked at the truckr. It had been something rather random and South American. That wasn't helpful. The tank. To David all tanks were pretty much the same – that was most unhelpful. He leaned back into the couch and massaged his temples. He wasn't going to get up until he jumped.

It took him a couple of hours but in the end he managed it. David wasn't sure what exactly had triggered the jump. He had been going through the memory for what felt like millionth time and then – here he was. Stumbling over rubble in the middle of a war zone under chilling morning sun looking for a broken electricity line and Griffin. "Griffin!" he called out. "Griffin!"

Soon he saw the pillars and the transformers but no Griffin. It could indicate a hundred of different things but there was only one at the forefront of David's mind. "Oh no," he gasped. He rushed forward but there was no way he could have overlooked it – Griffin wasn't there. He was late.

David couldn't stop staring. Either Griffin was taken down and was dead or… David wasn't an electrician but he was pretty sure that the current that went through lines such as these was too strong for Griffin to jump away. After all, David had seen him try and fail with his own eyes. So either Griffin was … gone which was unlikely or taken to some local hospital. David had to find him. He couldn't leave not knowing. He had to find out what happened to Griffin. He. He just had to. He had to find Griffin.

It was evening in Chechnya when David just couldn't do it anymore. He had scoured the surroundings, the makeshift hospitals and camps. He had interrogated people asking for Griffin although he didn't speak the language. He was tired, desperate and losing hope. He was sad and angry. He didn't know what to do to make this better. When he stole he always left some kind of 'I'm sorry' note, which made him feel better. Now there was nothing he could do to stop his conscience from eating at him. Anyway he wasn't sure he deserved any discounts.

He had been up and running for almost two days now, he needed some rest. He didn't want to go home. He didn't think he would feel safe there nor could he bear the sight of his trashed apartment should he really look at it finally. He didn't want to go to Millie's. She would want to talk and David didn't feel like telling her anything just now, besides she was at her mom's now. That would be awkward. He turned and jumped to the lair.

The lair had been a rather cozy place but now it was a mess. Still, David supposed that he could rest here for a while. It was in the middle of a rather nondescript desert and he figured that it would take quite a time for paladins to find it - now that they didn't have the machine. Besides – if Griffin truly was alive, he'd come here – sooner or later. David smiled lightly imagining how pissed Griffin would be at seeing his place so demolished. He decided that he'll clean it up a little bit later. Now that he was at Griffin's place he simply refused to believe that the owner had passed away. The place seemed inhabited; surely, it would look gloomier if Griffin wasn't coming back.

David started looking around – searching for something that he could use as a bed. Rounding what looked like a rather random wall in a lair under a rock he found what he had looked for on all accounts. David didn't know whether to laugh in relief or grunt in anger. There was Griffin – sleeping soundly without a care in the world while David had spent hours jumping all around Chechnya looking for him.

He stood there for a moment in amazed silence before jumping to Griffin's bedside. He wasn't sure whether he could trust his eyes. He needed touch him, to feel him – he needed to know that this wasn't a mirage which is often occurrence in the deserts. David tentatively reached out to feel the pulse on Griffin's neck. There it was. Steady flow of pulsing blood. David let out the breath he had involuntarily held.

As tired as he was Griffin still was a light sleeper. He lay still for a moment, not betraying the fact that he had awakened and then suddenly reached out to grab the hand on his neck before opening his eyes. He blinked. "What the hell are you doing here?"

David was surprised by Griffin although not afraid. "You're alive," he breathed out with a grin on his face.

Griffin frowned while slowly sitting up in the bed. David's mug certainly wasn't something he fancied seeing so soon after waking up. He still wanted to deck the kid but if he did that now it wouldn't be half as effective as he wanted it to be. "Yeah, lucky me," he grunted back releasing David's hand. He rubbed his face with his palm. "So, what are you …" Griffin was interrupted when David's arms suddenly went around him and David murmured against his lips something akin to 'Thank God you're alive.'

In between of trying to claim Griffin's unmoving lips and breathing - words out of David's mouth came mumbled and jumbled. The meaning was all the same – he thanked the powers that be for sparing Griffin's life. He held Griffin against him with his left hand while with the other he cradled Griffin's head. He hadn't planned on this. He had never even thought of any man that way but when he came in and saw Griffin… After all he had lived through and all the horrible scenarios his mind had run through in the last few hours – he needed Griffin.

It wasn't just because he needed somebody. It wasn't because Griffin was a jumper. It wasn't even to silence his conscience and make him feel better. It was simply because he thought he had lost Griffin. It was because he had missed him so much during the hours he thought him dead that now he needed him equally as much.

He kissed Griffin's face. His cheeks, the tip of his nose, his eyelids. "Please, say something." He pulled back a little but didn't let go. He wanted Griffin to react in any way – to say something, to return the affection, to hit him if that's what Griffin wanted just so that he would do something.

He wasn't sure why and he could think of a hundred reasons 'why not' but he found himself wanting and if they both were willing then – wasn't that all that mattered? He didn't say anything; Griffin just grabbed David by his hair and pulled him into another kiss. He wasn't gentle, he wasn't accepting – he was demanding. He was telling with his kiss that he wanted this.

David smiled against Griffin's lips. Griffin rarely did what David asked him to do. He pushed Griffin back, pinning him to the bed with his body. Now that David's hands were free to roam the body under him, he seized the chance.

Griffin was faster. As soon as his back hit the bed he pulled, jerked until finally he ripped David's shirt off of him. David bit Griffin's bottom lip when he felt the fabric tearing. It used to be a good shirt. He moved so that he was straddling Griffin and tugged at Griffin's jacket. Somehow David was sure that should he try to imitate what Griffin did to his shirt – it wouldn't be appreciated.

Griffin was too busy with exploring the skin on David's back and reciprocating to his kiss to notice the tug on his jacket. Now David was growing impatient. He pulled off of Griffin gaining his unlimited attention. He tugged harder at the jacket, "Either you pull it off or I'll rip it off."

Griffin smirked and flipped them over pinning David's hands over his head. Now he was between David's legs, still fully dressed. He leaned down and in the manner their faces almost touched but he did not kiss him Griffin's amusement at the situation became apparent. David frowned, "What's so funny?"

"You," Griffin answered before kissing him. There's hardly a way to describe how Griffin kisses. He can tell more of himself in a kiss than he ever would with words. It's intense, overwhelming and it scares David a little. He isn't sure he can take it. He isn't sure that he deserves it. "But don't worry," Griffin whispers in his ear before pulling back. "You'll do just fine," he says taking off his jacket and shirt.

David doesn't waste time, as soon as the shirt is off his hands are on Griffin and he caresses and scratches and pulls him closer because it seems that Griffin is never close enough. He kisses him and he bites him because he is excited and scared and still a little bit angry for all the hours he searched for him, but mostly – because he needs him and he has no other idea how to get what he wants.

When Griffin's hand slip into David's jeans there are no thoughts about stopping, about making a mistake, about being afraid or something equally silly. All David can think about in that moment is that he wants something that he has never had before and that he wants it more than anything he has ever wanted in his life. There are no doubts just – 'fuck the belt, rip it off' and 'don't stop' and the fact that this feels so good and for once everything seems to be right in the world.