[for Dale]

[more_flexible]

Sunday morning dawned clear and hot. The temperature crept higher and finally Jack made his way to the beach. Everyone was so concerned, but he couldn't assure them he was okay, or that he'd be okay. He just knew Ace had helped, as had the Doctor and House, and now it was in his hands. He just had to come to terms with who he was and would be, and who he is here and now.

He sat on his favorite rock tossing pebbles and watching the ripples in the water be swallowed by the waves and thinking, although his thoughts were scattered and jumped from one problem to another at random. For every problem, he tossed another pebble.

He was pretty sure he'd run out of those before he ran out of problems.

Comments

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I don't if the person would even believe me if I said I would stop fucking around, Dale," he sighed, tossing another pebble. "And I'm terrified to make the first move and have it not work. It'd be a first, you know?"

[dale-cooper-fbi.livejournal.com]

"Well, do you mean it?" Dale asked him. "Is that a step you're prepared to make, Jack? Because it's a big one."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"I do," he replied quietly. "In fact, if I work up to asking and it doesn't pan out, I might just take a break from all of it. Love. Sex. People."

[dale-cooper-fbi.livejournal.com]

"Well, I can't tell you if it'll work or not," said Dale, certain he wasn't telling Jack anything he didn't already know. "Your situation is a complicated one and I'm not intimately familiar with all parties involved. But it's been my experience that it's always worth trying."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

"Even if it doesn't work?" he asked, looking over at Dale and resting his chin on his shoulder.

[dale-cooper-fbi.livejournal.com]

"Even then," said Dale. "Even then. Because that's just life, Jack: sometimes things work out the way you want them to, and sometimes they don't, but you'll never know which is which until you try."

[captainjack.livejournal.com]

Jack sighed softly and nodded. He knew Dale was right.

"Yeah. Okay," he said softly before squeezing Dale's hand and sliding off the rock. "Better now than later. I'll see you around, Dale. Thanks."

[dale-cooper-fbi.livejournal.com]

"Good luck, Jack," said Dale, giving him a wave as he started to go. No matter how you looked at it, it was a difficult situation, and Dale feared Jack was going to need all the luck he could give him.