TBITC Chp. 30
Jack rubbed his temples in an effort to forestall the headache he felt coming on. He thought he'd foreseen every problem that could arise in relation to getting Sam back.
Except one.
"Not just no, Alexx, Hell No!" Jack said, shaking his head at the absurdity of her request.
"Why not? He's my son, too!" she shouted in exasperation.
They were on the beach behind the house and had been for almost an hour. Alexx's request was simple, at least in her mind. She wanted to go with Jack to get Sam back. But having been to this particular dance more than once, Jack wasn't about to let the woman he now knew without a doubt that he loved participate in the rescue.
He sighed, as he watched tears stream down Alexx's face as she pleaded with him. God help him, this woman in front of him and the child that they both loved…
In the short time that he had known them, Alexx and Sam had opened his heart, and replaced the pain that he felt with a love that no knife could pierce and no bullet shatter. And he'd be damned if he knowingly let anything else happen to them.
Seeing her cry was like a knife to his heart, and knowing he was the cause of it…
Not caring that the team was watching from the kitchen window, not caring that his bad boy image would be forever tarnished, Jack went to Alexx, took her in his arms and held her.
"Shh, please don't cry, babe. It hurts too much." He whispered, rocking her back and forth.
"What does?" she asked, her words were mumbled because she'd buried her head into his chest.
"To see you upset. You and Sam are my world. And when that world hurts, so do I." Jack said, and a sob escaped his lips. "I can't…I can't lose you. Either of you. I love you both too much."
Alexx had been listening, but she wasn't sure she'd heard him. "Did you just say what I think you said?" She asked, looking at him.
He nodded. "Yeah, I did."
"And you mean it?"
"Of course." He said, laughing.
She looked offended. "Hey, don't laugh at me!" she yelled, laughing some herself. It was pretty funny when you thought about it. He wouldn't have said he loved her and Sam if he didn't mean it.
"So, does this mean you'll take me with?"
Jack sighed. "You're not gonna give this up are you, babe?"
She shook her head and he could tell she was fighting to hold it together. "I need to see our son, to know he's ok."
Jack couldn't agree more. "Ok, but there are ground rules. One, you stay behind me, Two, I tell you to get down, you get down no questions asked, three, you learn to use that Glock I gave you."
"If you thought I didn't know how to use it, why'd you give it to me, Jackson?"
He shrugged, "Reflex, I guess. You gonna agree or not?"
She thought about it for a minute, and finally said, "Ok, Jack, you win. But you have to agree to one of my conditions. See there's this thing called give and take in a relationship, I'm sure you've heard of it." She grinned when he flipped her off.
"Yeah, yeah, smart aleck. What's your condition?"
"If you get shot, you have to go to a hospital."
Alexx had no sooner finished speaking when Jack dropped to the ground, scooped up some sand and threw it over his left shoulder, all the while reciting a phrase in Arabic that she didn't understand.
"What are you doing?" she asked, looking at him incredulously.
"Warding off the spirit of Mr. Murphy, of Murphy's Law fame."
"What can go wrong, will go wrong?" Alexx asked.
Jack's eyes bugged. "Shh, you'll bring it back! Don't you know anything about Special Operations Warfare?" Jack hissed.
Alexx shook her head and grinned. "Nope, but apparently, I'm about to get a crash course."