Thursday, August 21, 2008
On my watch - Part 2
1:53 PM | Posted by
Warwriter Widow
Powerhouse Jack stared at the bottle before him. It would soon join the four or five bottles littering the floor next to him.
It was Friday night at the D, and no one else seemed to notice the man in the corner of the Tiki bar, where the mask floated over to him and unemotionally asked if he wanted another. Jack could only nod, knowing that if he got off the stool, he would fall down after his feet hit the floor.
It was also three days after Pen had died, and he couldn't get the weight of the man off his shoulders. Men had died in front of him before - while he was in Korea, he wouldn't forget the refugee who stood in line like the rest of them, then suddenly exploded as he approached. He got bits and pieces of the man - and the women and children next to him - landing all around him.
He didn't drink then.
He didn't drink when his wife of twenty years died after a bout with cancer in the 1980's, a wife that he no longer loved.
He didn't drink when he saw another hero friend get paralyzed from the waist down after fighting far too much with the Fifth Column.
Age.
He perked up his head, looking bleary-eyed at the Tiki mask that hovered before him. "What did you say?""Nothing."
He felt someone looking at him and turned around to face nothing. He felt someone very close to him, standing almost on top of him, and he looked in the mirror to see who it was.
His eyes glowed a fiery white, something that hadn't happened in a long, long, time.
"Lodestar," he whispered.
He was filled with a sense of someone hugging him. Jack sunk his head down onto the bar and let his forehead rest on his folded forearms. The sense of the hug slowly filled his entire body, bringing him on the brink of tears. Lodestar had done this a few times before, but never with this much intensity, this much...love.
Soon it ends: you know it, I know it.
"Yeah," Jack said, realizing what Pen had meant to him. An old adversary from an old war, the two had made peace with each other and fought crime together. Pen's death struck him because they were both old war horses, and their end time was getting near. Even though Jack knew his body was being kept alive and strong by his Kheldian bond-mate, he also knew that the body itself was getting old and his Kheldian would need to move on, to find another host soon.
"What will you do, Lodestar?" Jack asked gently.
Die with you.
Jack looked up, facing himself in the mirror, white eyes aflame. "What?"
We are both old.
"Die? We'll both die?" He looked away from the mirror, looking at the Tiki mask but not seeing it.
Age and die together.
He stared at the air. Die? He would die too, go into that final moment, when his life would slip away and...what would happen to him?
Suddenly sober, he raised the bottle and poured another shot. "I'm not ready to die yet," he said, and bolted it back. No, he had too much to do - and the first thing to do was finish this bottle.
It was Friday night at the D, and no one else seemed to notice the man in the corner of the Tiki bar, where the mask floated over to him and unemotionally asked if he wanted another. Jack could only nod, knowing that if he got off the stool, he would fall down after his feet hit the floor.
It was also three days after Pen had died, and he couldn't get the weight of the man off his shoulders. Men had died in front of him before - while he was in Korea, he wouldn't forget the refugee who stood in line like the rest of them, then suddenly exploded as he approached. He got bits and pieces of the man - and the women and children next to him - landing all around him.
He didn't drink then.
He didn't drink when his wife of twenty years died after a bout with cancer in the 1980's, a wife that he no longer loved.
He didn't drink when he saw another hero friend get paralyzed from the waist down after fighting far too much with the Fifth Column.
Age.
He perked up his head, looking bleary-eyed at the Tiki mask that hovered before him. "What did you say?""Nothing."
He felt someone looking at him and turned around to face nothing. He felt someone very close to him, standing almost on top of him, and he looked in the mirror to see who it was.
His eyes glowed a fiery white, something that hadn't happened in a long, long, time.
"Lodestar," he whispered.
He was filled with a sense of someone hugging him. Jack sunk his head down onto the bar and let his forehead rest on his folded forearms. The sense of the hug slowly filled his entire body, bringing him on the brink of tears. Lodestar had done this a few times before, but never with this much intensity, this much...love.
Soon it ends: you know it, I know it.
"Yeah," Jack said, realizing what Pen had meant to him. An old adversary from an old war, the two had made peace with each other and fought crime together. Pen's death struck him because they were both old war horses, and their end time was getting near. Even though Jack knew his body was being kept alive and strong by his Kheldian bond-mate, he also knew that the body itself was getting old and his Kheldian would need to move on, to find another host soon.
"What will you do, Lodestar?" Jack asked gently.
Die with you.
Jack looked up, facing himself in the mirror, white eyes aflame. "What?"
We are both old.
"Die? We'll both die?" He looked away from the mirror, looking at the Tiki mask but not seeing it.
Age and die together.
He stared at the air. Die? He would die too, go into that final moment, when his life would slip away and...what would happen to him?
Suddenly sober, he raised the bottle and poured another shot. "I'm not ready to die yet," he said, and bolted it back. No, he had too much to do - and the first thing to do was finish this bottle.
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