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red_b_rackhamAnyways, so after several weeks of completely struggling to come up with anything and appealing to various other ficcers to help me as sounding boards for ideas, I've finally made a smidgen of progress, and I thought I would share just a tiny little bit - a bit which I will probs end up posting for the next Snippet Sunday at the het_bigbanghelp comm. Vague story summary and snippet under the cut!
Summary(ish): Post-rescue (AU S4), Jack is getting over Kate and realizes he needs a fresh start, so he moves to Seattle. Post Cristina/Burke non-wedding, Addison is getting over Derek, Mark and Alex, and deciding whether or not she needs a fresh start in LA. Then meanwhile, Jack and Addison fall in love...
Tentative Title: Hanging By A Gossamer Thread
BANG.
The door opened with such force that it smashed into the wall, making the pictures on the wall rattle and sway ominously. Jack Shephard was putting on his jacket when it happened, startling him so severely that he stumbled backwards, knocking the vase off the end table in the hallway. It landed with a smash on the hardwood floor, shattering.
"Sorry," Kate Austen said breathlessly.
"Kate," he exhaled but stared at her in shock. "What are - did they let you go?" he asked, knowing it wasn't true but hoping anyways. He’d just been on his way to visit her at the station.
She shook her head. "I had to get away. Look, I don't have much time."
"Kate - " he tried to protest, to maybe talk her down, but she swiftly overrode him.
“They’re right behind me," she said and glanced over her shoulder as if expecting the police to already be driving into the yard. "I'm leaving, Jack, I can't stay there - here - I can't... I can't handle the trial, or j-jail..."
"Kate, wait - "
"I cannot go to jail!" she shouted, tears welling up in her hazel eyes. He was still stunned by her presence and faltered to respond. She didn't wait and continued, "After everything we've been through, I... I just have to disappear. It's too much and I will not go to jail." She shook her head defiantly.
His heart sunk with uneasily. He'd seen that look far too many times before. Fleetingly, he thought of walking through the jungle to find the cockpit, of dynamite in backpacks, of yelling for her to run and never come back for him...
"You're running, aren't you?" he finally said.
She smiled a little. "It's what I do, right?"
He reached for her. "You can't do this - not now. There's still a chance you can get off."
"Come on Jack, be realistic. You and I both know there's no technicality or loophole that's going to get me out of life in prison," she stated flatly. "I've stolen identities, stolen cars, robbed banks - I murdered my step-father. There's no other way out."
He pressed his palm to his forehead, his mind reeling. But there has to be, he thought. "Kate, if you run, it will only make things worse. Give things a chance to work out, just – “
There were sirens in the distance, slowly growing louder. She grabbed his hands when he let them drop to his sides. "Please - come with me."
"What?" He snapped his gaze to her pleading one.
"Come with me."
"And live like a fugitive for the rest of my life? Always looking over my shoulder, moving from place to place like a criminal? Kate, I have a life here!"
"Do you?" her tone was suddenly cold and he knew she was aware of how painfully disconnected he'd felt lately. Some days it seemed like going to see Kate at the station was the only thing he had to look forward to in his day, the only thing that kept him from going crazy. If she disappeared and left him behind, what would he do then?
For a few seconds he seriously entertained the idea of leaving with her. Of walking out the door, never looking back, leaving everything behind. He would be with her and that was something he wanted more than anything - the ring box was in his pocket even then, and he'd simply been waiting for the right moment, almost ever since they landed in LA after being rescued, more than four months ago.
“Jack?" she prompted with another nervous glance over her shoulder at the approaching sirens.
He couldn't. He knew he couldn't. He'd be a criminal for as long as they were running and hiding. And when they finally slipped up, finally made a mistake and got caught? Well then he'd have a cell in prison too. He wouldn't just be walking out the door with Kate - he'd be throwing his entire life away. So he shook his head, unable to trust his voice.
Her eyes were shining but she nodded. She'd been hoping, but she wasn't surprised. She leaned forward and kissed him softly before running out the door without another word.
~That's it, that's all for now. Thanks for reading! Another snippet may come again at some point...
~Red
