Tru Calling: A Fine Line
Written for my hc_bingo prompt "drowning." A bit of a different take on it, so I hope I do the prompt justice! Dedicated to my friend Liz who encouraged me and told me not to give up on this fic, providing some much-needed guidance when I got stuck.
Richard Davies sits behind his mahogany desk dressed in lawyer-appropriate attire as he addresses the man opposite him.
"I told you this would be a complicated job, Jack," Richard says, turning in his black swivel chair as he studies the younger man with keen interest. "And despite giving you such a delicate responsibility, I expect results. Plain and simple."
Jack Harper, the man in question, takes in his mentor's words. He tries to keep his voice from wavering, from sounding uncertain when he speaks.
His voice is clipped, short. "I understand, Richard."
When the older man leans forward, his chair squeaks slightly to accommodate his shifting weight. "Then as smart and resourceful as you are, you should know the difference between "fall in love with" and "seduce" or do I have to explain it to you?"
Jack pales, palms sweating as they press harder and harder against the handles of the desk chair.
Shit.
"Sir, I-…" he begins.
Suddenly, he's interrupted by the abrupt sound of a desk drawer being opened and slammed shut as various pictures in full color fall across Richard's desk in messy disarray. The revealing photos show Tru and Jack in various locations around the city enjoying themselves. Smiling. Laughing. Jack leaning in to whisper a secret in Tru's ear, the two walking side-by-side with steaming cups of coffee in their hands.
Richard's voice reverberates in Jack's ears, brimming with disapproval.
"I'm not a very patient man, Jack," he says firmly, pulling out a gun from the same drawer and pointing it at his protégé. Momentarily, he glances at the large doors past Jack, gesturing to the burly man who guards them. "Bring her in."
The doors open and two tall, burly men who look twice Tru's size step forward with a frightened Tru in tow. Her eyes are wide with terror and she's gagged, black and blue bruises and blood smeared on her rosy cheeks. Disorientation and confusion are etched in her terrified eyes and as Jack looks at Tru with disbelief, he wonders if she'd been drugged hours earlier.
Guilt, rage and a thousand other emotions he cannot process flood through him simultaneously as Jack looks to Richard, utterly speechless.
With the gun still aimed at Jack, Richard speaks with authority. "Now," he says. "I'm only going to give you one chance to explain yourself… Are you in love with my daughter?"
When Jack's eyes open, the first image he sees is Tru's naked back, her brown curls cascading a few inches beyond her shoulders. She doesn't move and he breathes a silent sigh of relief that she still remains fast asleep after being torn from slumber by some kind of horrific nightmare only hours earlier.
She doesn't tell him what it's about and he doesn't question her. He lets her come to her senses and as her breathing evens out to a manageable level, she buries herself against his shoulder as warm tears leave indelible reminders of pain on his skin.
He just holds her, lets her cry, murmuring a gentle "shhh" into her hair. Her pain absorbs into his skin and he takes it all in regardless of the emotional implications or the consequences that may follow later. It isn't until she's starts to quiet down, her cries tapering off, that he realizes exactly how much of her pain he's absorbing inside of him. It doesn't hit him like a surge of electricity; instead, invisible flames of fire course their way through his nervous system and he fights the scream aching to erupt from the back of his throat, from the depths of his soul. As if he's literally drowning in her pain.
The pain subsides when she's completely unconscious minutes later, sensations of being literally burned alive dissolve into nothingness. He wonders if the dream is about Jensen and how he tied her up inside a burning cabin, black plumes of smoke emanating from within alerting Jack and Harrison where she'd been taken captive almost a year earlier.
Later, Jack had put an end to the soulless man as he shot a bullet directly into his heart.
Or was the dream about something else entirely?
He'll never really know.
At some point after that, she moves away from him, rolling over.
Now, in the early hours of the morning, she begins to stir, shifting slightly. He places a gentle kiss on the back of her shoulder and she moans softly, eyes fluttering open.
She rolls over once more, dappled brown eyes meeting his crystalline blues.
"Morning," he says, barely audible, as he brushes an errant lock of hair out of her eyes.
"Is it?" Confusion creases her face as faint whispers of a difficult night pull her back into a jarring reality.
"Yes."
The expression on her face falls, morphing into one of alarm.
"I have to go," she tells him. "I promised Avery I'd meet her at the café downtown, so we could cram for the Physiology exam we have tomorrow."
Why do Jack's once seemingly warm and comforting bed sheets suddenly feel so suffocating?
"Tru." He wraps a hand gently around one of her wrists. "Relax. It's still early."
"It would be nice to show up somewhere early for once in my life," she muses as she attempts to pull back.
Instead, he draws her closer, pulling her towards him and pressing his lips against hers in a soft yet passionate kiss.
"I love you," he whispers and she knows he means it, a heartfelt declaration against her skin.
Yet she can't bring herself to tell him those same words, repeat the phrase like a mantra, repeat the words like a promise.
She falters, tears forming along the rims of her eyes. His hand reaches up and wipes away the tears that begin to fall before he lets his hand linger and rest against her wet cheek.
He finds himself drowning in anticipation, drowning in the words she holds back, drowning in the declaration of feelings she withholds from him, burying them deep inside the recesses of her body and mind.
Once again, Jack is reminded of the fine line he tethers between. Seduction and falling in love? When do the boundary lines dissolve?
Why can't he just… why can't she just…
"I have to go," she says again, more firmly this time. She pulls away from the warmth, the comfort of his strong yet delicate embrace, the reassurance of his presence that guided her through an unspeakable nightmare.
Once she gathers her clothes, she's gone before Jack has a chance to sit up.
Now, as Jack lies alone on his enormous bed and an endless barrage of thoughts begin to assault his mind, he feels as though he's drowning.
Jack's resolve does not break when he finally answers.
"No," he firmly declares despite feeling the exact opposite. "I don't."
"Good."
Tru lets out a muffled scream once she realizes her father's gun is aimed at her heart. Before Jack has a chance to react or say otherwise, the unbearably painful sound of a gunshot pierces through Jack's consciousness as the bullet meant for him kills Tru instead.
Jack leaps out of his chair and pulls Tru's lifeless body away from the guards.
"You killed her! You fucking bastard. You killed your own daughter!"
"I told you about the fine line, Jack. The consequences," Richard says, gun aimed at Jack once more. "With you and her both gone, the delicate balance is no longer in limbo. This war ends with both of your deaths."
"Go to hell," Jack snaps.
"I'm sorry it has to end this way," is the last sentence Richard says to him before a bullet barrels toward Jack, but in slow-motion.
Suddenly, the unmistakable voice of the woman he loves fills his ears, an echoing reverberation around him as her words propel him – them – back through time.
"Make everything right for us, Jack."
Two pairs of eyes suddenly snap open, both gasping for breath.
Eyes locking, Tru barely manages to choke out the words. "Did I-…"
"You're alive," Jack interrupts her, pulling her into another strong embrace and whispering words of reassurance into her hair. "You're okay now. That's all that matters. I'm not letting you out of my sight today."
Silence envelops them as an interminable amount of time passes and Tru remains in Jack's embrace, realizing how much they have to rely on each other now.
And not just for survival.
Eventually, she pulls back slightly, her eyes flickering to his.
"Jack… I love you, too."
Fin