Eureka ficlet: "Message in a Bottle" (Jack Carter, implied others; PG-13)
Fandom: EUReKA
Title: Message in a Bottle
Rating: PG-13 for language
Summary: Inside Jack's head when he sees Nathan one last time.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Property of SciFi, Andrew Cosby and Jamie Paglia.
Pairing/Characters: Jack Carter; implied Nathan Stark/Allison Blake, unrequited Jack Carter/Nathan Stark
Spoilers: Spoilers for 3x05 - 'Show Me the Mummy'
A/N: Written for Week 5 of the challenge at eureka_tag, Missing Scene for 3x05 - 'Show Me the Mummy'. (Over halfway there. YAY!)
A/N #2: Portions in bolditalic are Jack's internal thought process.
A/N #3: Credit for the lookover goes to evila_elf.






Nathan.

He swears his heart is in his throat and his stomach at the same time, and if Allison’s cracking up then so is he, because he sees Nathan right there in front of them too.


Please don’t do this, Nathan. Please.


His stomach churns sickeningly, and his knees threaten to buckle, because it just can’t be real. Nathan’s dead, gone, disintegrated right before his eyes.


Don’t hurt me, her, like this. We don’t need one more act of cruelty wrapped in love.


They just almost lost Fargo and that was enough to nearly tear him apart, not even realizing himself how much he was attached to the little trouble magnet. How much all of them, everyone in this town, have become a part of him now. Now, just even seeing Nathan there in front of him threatens to pull his guts out in glistening strings.


I just started getting over you and now you tear me down one last time.


His heart breaks a little more, and he thought it couldn’t be broken any more than it already is.

“Ali, I will always love you.”


God dammit Nathan I loved you too— I don’t know why, how, but I know now that I did. Do.


He’s frozen in place, but his arm twitches and he wants to reach out and touch Ali’s back, reassure her that he’s here for her now, that he’ll always be here for her.


Let her be, let her move on. Let us heal, you bastard. None of us will ever be the same.


They’re all going to need each other now-- him, Ali, Henry, Fargo. Even the rest of the town. Keeping everyone together, keeping the town moving, that’s his job, his place in life. It’s what he knows how to do, and what he’ll continue to do, with or without either of them.