[two years]

[more_flexible]

Two years. He was two years old. Sure, he was a lot older than that, but dying and coming back to life sort of threw a wrench into things. He wasn't certain how old he really was. Maybe...thirty one? A non-linear life spent trying not to die in some random era or on some alien world sort of made aging the least a person's worries.

But he'd been here two years. On this island, no way to leave. So much of who he had been had slipped away and he knew about the man he would become. Immortal. A leader. A man with a mission. A fixed point in Time and Space. He certainly wasn't any of that here. Here he was...shit, he didn't even know what he was. Just a guy. Just a guy trying to do the right thing, and succeeding some of the time.

Last year there had been a party. This year, most of the people he had known were gone. This year, Jack grabbed a bottle of the most caustic poison the Hub had on the shelf and he wandered down to the beach. He hadn't said much to anyone, just told House he would be back later. By the time he'd gotten to the big, flat rock that looked out over the ocean, he was drunk. Not terribly drunk. Just drunk enough that he could pretend that two years of his life hadn't been stolen from him. Just drunk enough to pretend he'd been granted two years to replace them.

Jack raised the bottle to the ocean, the island, and the sunset. "Happy birthday to me," he said dryly, then tipped the bottle back and drank until he choked.

Comments

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

One more gentle kiss against the softness of her cheek and he pulled back and took another long drink from the bottle. One swallow, and a second, then a third. He drank it like it was water, because it may as well have been, by now. He hardly felt the burn, and only knew he'd drank because his stomach protested the assault.

Jack wiped his lower lip and leaned against Tosh more heavily.

"It's my birthday," he repeated. "Not really, but here. I've been here for two years." Had he already said that? Who cares, he thought, before continuing. "When I was a kid, all my birthdays were on the beach. We'd bring all the food and a ball, and when it got dark, my brother and I would get wood and dad would build a fire." That was a great idea, actually. "Wanna build a fire?"

[toshiko-san.livejournal.com]

It was a horrible idea, of that Tosh was sure. She was also fairly sure that if she said no he would find a way to do it without her. She almost asked him if he really wanted a fire when she realised that she'd never heard him talk about his childhood.

"If you'd like." She just hoped he left the lighting of it to her.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

His smile grew until he was beaming. "Cool. Stay here and I'll go find something to burn," he said, shifting to get off the rock and stand up. He made it to his feet and stood up for a second, getting his balance...then the bottle fell from his hand and landed in the sand with a soft thump.

And then Jack followed it.

[toshiko-san.livejournal.com]

"Oh, Jack," Tosh sank down in the sand beside him, moving him into a sitting position, "You are drunk, aren't you?"

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

The laugh started low and soft in his throat, shoulders shaking as it built up enough momentum to spill from his lips.

"Nah, I'm just...drunk," he laughed. Yeah, mission accomplished. "Mighta been drunk before you got here."

[toshiko-san.livejournal.com]

"Let me walk you home?" It was the least she could do. That and she wasn't sure that she trusted him in this condition to leave him alone on the beach.

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"No stealing my lines," he slurred, looking over at her. "I'll walk you home, 'kay? M'fine. Really."

[toshiko-san.livejournal.com]

"Alright," Tosh stood, holding a hand out for him. It was good enough, she suspected he was drunk enough she might be able to have him pass out in her hut. 'of course you can walk me home."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Means I have to walk, huh?" he grinned, then tried to get up. He made it to his knees, and as he rose from there, he grasped the bottle to bring it along.

"Y'know, Tosh...you're a helluva woman."