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janie_tangerineTitle: Let Time Stand Still
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Jacob/Richard
Words: 1138
Spoilers: heavy for the season five finale. Probably also in the summary.
Summary: After all, it's all about the island; it's about who gets to stay and who has to leave because it's too big for the two of them. For Richard, well, for Richard it's all about who stands in the end. In one case, things go on, in the other, not so much. After all, his destiny became Jacob's the day he woke on a beach after a shipwreck; there's no backing out now, and he doesn't even want to.
Disclaimer: nope, Lost isn't mine. NEWS!
A/N: for the most lovely Queen![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
emiliglia at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
lostsquee who wanted S6 speculation. Er. I really wish I could have given you some nice reset scenario which I hadn't already written, but it didn't want to happen and, er, considering that what interested me most about Lost S5 were those two and it happened. I hope you like it! ♥ Using for 10_shakespeare, 'I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.' Title stolen from a random Jeff Buckley song which doesn't have a thing to do with this otherwise.
Richard tries not to hurry; that wouldn't really do. Not now.
He takes a breath, hoping that people don't notice his absence long enough for him to reach his destination; that's why he wants to run, but it really wouldn't do, not now, not when if someone discovers him (John Locke especially, or what is pretending to be John Locke) there would really be some trouble. He shakes his head, then speeds up just a bit. When he casts glances behind him, the path he came from is empty. Good. He's far enough now; people probably already noticed that he sneaked away in the confusion, but no one will reach him before he arrives.
He gets to what the crash survivors referred to as the caves in another twenty minutes, more or less; they're abandoned, but there's still some trace of their passage. Some clothes, plastic bottles, a random bag, a diary. Any other day he'd have picked them up; not this one. He quickly gets into one specific cave, walks for maybe twenty second and reaches an inside waterfall; then goes forward, gets through the cascade and finds himself in another cave, separated from the rest.
There's a fire in a corner, and Jacob is sitting near there. There's a noticeable spot of blood on his shirt, but it's dried and he doesn't movie like he's wounded. Richard knows there should be a rip too, but as far as he sees the cloth is in perfect conditions, blood excluded. Richard wordlessly comes forward and sits in front of him, hoping that the fire helps drying him soon.
"Did it work?" Jacob asks, calmly, like it was just common business. Richard shrugs and raises his head.
"If you mean, does everyone think you're dead, then it did. Did you really need to go through... that, though? Didn't it hurt?"
"That was a projection. It might have, but nothing I can't bear. He should know better than thinking it'd be so easy, but let him believe what he wants for now. They need to believe I'm dead, for now."
"Well, I won't be the one questioning your decisions," Richard says, feeling slightly warmer and way less drenched. "It's not my place to."
"You know you're welcome to share doubts, if you have them. No one wants an advisor who doesn't speak his mind."
It isn't the first time Richard hears this and it probably won't be the last, and he keeps his face as neutral as possible.
"You know I never said I was one. And since I've known you, there never was a decision you took which wasn't the right one, in the short run or long one. I can't see why I should start questioning now. If you believe that this is the right course of action, then... then I will follow it."
As always, is unsaid. Jacob nods, but he still doesn't look satisfied and Richard doesn't drop his stare just on principle.
"There's something on your mind, though."
"No. I just... I'm glad I didn't have to see it. I might have blown the cover up."
It's a lie, and Richard knows that Jacob knows. He's thankful when Jacob lets it drop, though.
"Anyway. Before I left, Ben said you said something about them coming. You mean that..."
"The people you helped with the bomb thirty years ago, yes."
"They're... they survived?"
No answer. Just a tiny smile and a hand reaching closer to the flames. Richard is about to ask why didn't he ever tell when he realizes he should have known. After all, if he brought Juliet Burke to the island in 2001, she can't have died in 1977. And if everyone else was from the plane crash they couldn't have possibly died thirty years before.
"Right. And then?"
"And then it'll be time to end things once and for all."
Richard nods, knowing what it means. After all, it's all about the island; it's about who gets to stay and who has to leave because it's too big for the two of them. For Richard, well, for Richard it's all about who stands in the end. In one case, things go on, in the other, not so much. After all, his destiny became Jacob's the day he woke on a beach after a shipwreck; there's no backing out now, and he doesn't even want to. If it implies a cheat like this one was, so it shall be.
"Will you stay here?" Richard asks, his hands and clothes dried by this point. Jacob nods, his hand retreating. Richard unconsciously breathes out in relief. Too close to the fire, and he hasn't even witnessed it. But he can't help it; even if he hasn't been human (or at least not completely, in some ways he still is) for almost two centuries, he hasn't lost all of his humanity and, to be honest, he hopes he never does lose it. That's what makes Richard different from Jacob and him, but he wouldn't ever renounce it, inconvenient as it might be. He raises his head again, looking straight in front of him; Jacob's eyes are blue and clear and shine with something inhuman, but it's alright; it's the way it is. Richard wordlessly stands up and goes to sit next to Jacob on the opposite site of the fire; a hand which was still over Jacob's knee suddenly places itself over Richard's and Richard breathes out, his face not showing a reaction on the outside. It doesn't matter; he thinks that Jacob can actually feel how grateful he feels right now.
"I will until it becomes dangerous. In case, you will know where I am. Remember, not a word until it's time."
Richard nods and turns his attention from the fire. Jacob's lips are turned into the barest hint of a smile and Richard just waits.
"They'll be here soon."
"Alright."
"You will meet them before they can."
"And then it starts?"
"Then it starts. But don't go just now. There's still some time to spare."
Yes, Richard mouths, and then lips press against his and a hand grips the back of his neck; Richard shivers, reminders of a first time doing this floating through his head, a first time when the kiss had been a mean and maybe nothing more, or maybe not. There's something unique about this, about the taste and how it feels and about Jacob as a whole, but that's just the point. After all, Richard did lose himself to this too much time ago to count. There's time, he thinks as his hands' grip on the white cloth of Jacob's shirt gets a bit too tight, and he doesn't pay a thought to the blood staining it. There's time, and if it ends the right way, there always will be.
End.
Rating: PG13
Pairing: Jacob/Richard
Words: 1138
Spoilers: heavy for the season five finale. Probably also in the summary.
Summary: After all, it's all about the island; it's about who gets to stay and who has to leave because it's too big for the two of them. For Richard, well, for Richard it's all about who stands in the end. In one case, things go on, in the other, not so much. After all, his destiny became Jacob's the day he woke on a beach after a shipwreck; there's no backing out now, and he doesn't even want to.
Disclaimer: nope, Lost isn't mine. NEWS!
A/N: for the most lovely Queen
emiliglia at lostsquee who wanted S6 speculation. Er. I really wish I could have given you some nice reset scenario which I hadn't already written, but it didn't want to happen and, er, considering that what interested me most about Lost S5 were those two and it happened. I hope you like it! ♥ Using for 10_shakespeare, 'I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.' Title stolen from a random Jeff Buckley song which doesn't have a thing to do with this otherwise.Richard tries not to hurry; that wouldn't really do. Not now.
He takes a breath, hoping that people don't notice his absence long enough for him to reach his destination; that's why he wants to run, but it really wouldn't do, not now, not when if someone discovers him (John Locke especially, or what is pretending to be John Locke) there would really be some trouble. He shakes his head, then speeds up just a bit. When he casts glances behind him, the path he came from is empty. Good. He's far enough now; people probably already noticed that he sneaked away in the confusion, but no one will reach him before he arrives.
He gets to what the crash survivors referred to as the caves in another twenty minutes, more or less; they're abandoned, but there's still some trace of their passage. Some clothes, plastic bottles, a random bag, a diary. Any other day he'd have picked them up; not this one. He quickly gets into one specific cave, walks for maybe twenty second and reaches an inside waterfall; then goes forward, gets through the cascade and finds himself in another cave, separated from the rest.
There's a fire in a corner, and Jacob is sitting near there. There's a noticeable spot of blood on his shirt, but it's dried and he doesn't movie like he's wounded. Richard knows there should be a rip too, but as far as he sees the cloth is in perfect conditions, blood excluded. Richard wordlessly comes forward and sits in front of him, hoping that the fire helps drying him soon.
"Did it work?" Jacob asks, calmly, like it was just common business. Richard shrugs and raises his head.
"If you mean, does everyone think you're dead, then it did. Did you really need to go through... that, though? Didn't it hurt?"
"That was a projection. It might have, but nothing I can't bear. He should know better than thinking it'd be so easy, but let him believe what he wants for now. They need to believe I'm dead, for now."
"Well, I won't be the one questioning your decisions," Richard says, feeling slightly warmer and way less drenched. "It's not my place to."
"You know you're welcome to share doubts, if you have them. No one wants an advisor who doesn't speak his mind."
It isn't the first time Richard hears this and it probably won't be the last, and he keeps his face as neutral as possible.
"You know I never said I was one. And since I've known you, there never was a decision you took which wasn't the right one, in the short run or long one. I can't see why I should start questioning now. If you believe that this is the right course of action, then... then I will follow it."
As always, is unsaid. Jacob nods, but he still doesn't look satisfied and Richard doesn't drop his stare just on principle.
"There's something on your mind, though."
"No. I just... I'm glad I didn't have to see it. I might have blown the cover up."
It's a lie, and Richard knows that Jacob knows. He's thankful when Jacob lets it drop, though.
"Anyway. Before I left, Ben said you said something about them coming. You mean that..."
"The people you helped with the bomb thirty years ago, yes."
"They're... they survived?"
No answer. Just a tiny smile and a hand reaching closer to the flames. Richard is about to ask why didn't he ever tell when he realizes he should have known. After all, if he brought Juliet Burke to the island in 2001, she can't have died in 1977. And if everyone else was from the plane crash they couldn't have possibly died thirty years before.
"Right. And then?"
"And then it'll be time to end things once and for all."
Richard nods, knowing what it means. After all, it's all about the island; it's about who gets to stay and who has to leave because it's too big for the two of them. For Richard, well, for Richard it's all about who stands in the end. In one case, things go on, in the other, not so much. After all, his destiny became Jacob's the day he woke on a beach after a shipwreck; there's no backing out now, and he doesn't even want to. If it implies a cheat like this one was, so it shall be.
"Will you stay here?" Richard asks, his hands and clothes dried by this point. Jacob nods, his hand retreating. Richard unconsciously breathes out in relief. Too close to the fire, and he hasn't even witnessed it. But he can't help it; even if he hasn't been human (or at least not completely, in some ways he still is) for almost two centuries, he hasn't lost all of his humanity and, to be honest, he hopes he never does lose it. That's what makes Richard different from Jacob and him, but he wouldn't ever renounce it, inconvenient as it might be. He raises his head again, looking straight in front of him; Jacob's eyes are blue and clear and shine with something inhuman, but it's alright; it's the way it is. Richard wordlessly stands up and goes to sit next to Jacob on the opposite site of the fire; a hand which was still over Jacob's knee suddenly places itself over Richard's and Richard breathes out, his face not showing a reaction on the outside. It doesn't matter; he thinks that Jacob can actually feel how grateful he feels right now.
"I will until it becomes dangerous. In case, you will know where I am. Remember, not a word until it's time."
Richard nods and turns his attention from the fire. Jacob's lips are turned into the barest hint of a smile and Richard just waits.
"They'll be here soon."
"Alright."
"You will meet them before they can."
"And then it starts?"
"Then it starts. But don't go just now. There's still some time to spare."
Yes, Richard mouths, and then lips press against his and a hand grips the back of his neck; Richard shivers, reminders of a first time doing this floating through his head, a first time when the kiss had been a mean and maybe nothing more, or maybe not. There's something unique about this, about the taste and how it feels and about Jacob as a whole, but that's just the point. After all, Richard did lose himself to this too much time ago to count. There's time, he thinks as his hands' grip on the white cloth of Jacob's shirt gets a bit too tight, and he doesn't pay a thought to the blood staining it. There's time, and if it ends the right way, there always will be.
End.
