Challenge 774 - Unshakeable
Aug. 21st, 2023 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
m_findlowTitle: Unshakeable
Character: Jack, Gwen
Author: m_findlow
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 300 words
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Summary: Gwen needs to know Jack will be okay. A triple drabble.
Gwen knocked tentatively at Jack’s door. He broke away from his screen. ‘What’s up?’
Gwen moved slowly across the space, still keeping a few feet between her and the desk. ‘I just wanted to see how you were doing.’
He pushed away from the desk slightly, forced to remember the catastrophic events of yesterday, unable to spare the alien whale from suffering; unable to forget how close his team had come to death; unable to stop blaming himself for all of it. ‘I’m fine,’ he said, forcing the words out with a plastered-on smile.
She fidgeted. ‘I can't shake the feeling that I've done something wrong.’
The fake smile dropped from his face. ‘You haven't,’ he said, albeit far too quickly.
He couldn't explain why seeing Gwen always run to her boyfriend – no, fiancé – bothered him so much. I wasn't like he and Gwen… No, that was never going to happen. He didn't even think he wanted it to. He had Ianto, and he adored Ianto, so why did Gwen’s open devotion to him trouble him so much? Because one day she was going to leave Torchwood; leave him. Wasn't that that heart of the matter? She was going to pick Rhys over Torchwood, every single time. She was going to pick Rhys over Jack every single time. That was the reality that Jack couldn’t shake. Where once he'd told her to hold onto her life and not let it slip, now he was paying the price of that excellent advice.
‘Be happy, Gwen. Love your fiancé. Remember that we're always second to that. Always.’ Gwen had a chance at something he himself would never have.
She gave a little smile, buoyed by his words. ‘And what about you? Are you happy?’
‘Always. I’ve got nothing to be unhappy about.’
Gwen knocked tentatively at Jack’s door. He broke away from his screen. ‘What’s up?’
Gwen moved slowly across the space, still keeping a few feet between her and the desk. ‘I just wanted to see how you were doing.’
He pushed away from the desk slightly, forced to remember the catastrophic events of yesterday, unable to spare the alien whale from suffering; unable to forget how close his team had come to death; unable to stop blaming himself for all of it. ‘I’m fine,’ he said, forcing the words out with a plastered-on smile.
She fidgeted. ‘I can't shake the feeling that I've done something wrong.’
The fake smile dropped from his face. ‘You haven't,’ he said, albeit far too quickly.
He couldn't explain why seeing Gwen always run to her boyfriend – no, fiancé – bothered him so much. I wasn't like he and Gwen… No, that was never going to happen. He didn't even think he wanted it to. He had Ianto, and he adored Ianto, so why did Gwen’s open devotion to him trouble him so much? Because one day she was going to leave Torchwood; leave him. Wasn't that that heart of the matter? She was going to pick Rhys over Torchwood, every single time. She was going to pick Rhys over Jack every single time. That was the reality that Jack couldn’t shake. Where once he'd told her to hold onto her life and not let it slip, now he was paying the price of that excellent advice.
‘Be happy, Gwen. Love your fiancé. Remember that we're always second to that. Always.’ Gwen had a chance at something he himself would never have.
She gave a little smile, buoyed by his words. ‘And what about you? Are you happy?’
‘Always. I’ve got nothing to be unhappy about.’
no subject
Date: 2023-08-21 10:24 am (UTC)