The Hunter

[donutsweeper]

Title: The Hunter
Pairing/Warning/Rating: none, rated G
Word Count: 255
Summary: Jack is on a hunt
Author's Note: Written for aeron_lanart. Now with commentary.

Jack stands alone in the darkness, looking up at the silhouetted figure.  Waiting.  Watching.  The nightly ritual he observes is a familiar dance by now.  The minutes count down in his head; he knows instinctively when the sleep will have taken the man he seeks.  The man he hunts. 

When enough time passes he surreptitiously sneaks inside, noiselessly making his way past the building’s defenses, down the corridors, up the stairs, and through locked doors with ridiculous ease.  Carefully avoiding the creaky floor board he creeps into the bedroom.  The revolver glistens in his fist.  One bullet, that’s all it will take, only the truly weak need three, and he is not the weak one here.  He will never be the weak one again. 

The sleeping form mumbles, shifting slightly on the bed.  In the moonlight Owen looks younger, more vulnerable, less like a threat and more like prey.  With a small shake of the head Jack reminds himself that this is necessary.  The man had defied him, claiming he was relieving him of command before killing him and nearly destroying the world in the process.  How could he ever truly trust him again?  He raises the gun and in a rush of anger and determination pulls the trigger.  But all that happens is the soft click as the hammer falls on the empty chamber.

Next time will be different.  Next time he’ll actually have a bullet in the gun.  Next time, he tells himself as he slips out, like a thief in the night.
 

Comments

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

Ouch! (that's the good ouch that I wanted btw). Yup, that is definitely dark and nasty. I particularly like the reference to the weak needing 3 bullets. Thank You.

[kensieg.livejournal.com]

I like the he'll never be weak again. I really think Jack needs to have a conversation w/Owen. This ritual can't be good for him. I really really like this story, especially since it's Jack and Owen, a pairing I really like.

When did Jack make Owen 2IC?

Aeron I love your Methos icon (it is Methos?)

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Owen mentions he's the second in command during "Captain Jack Harkness" so since Jack introduced Susie to Gwen as 2IC in "Everything Changes" presumedly shortly after her death Owen was promoted, we just never knew that.

Glad you liked the story

and isn't aeron_lanart's Methos icon amazing?

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

YAY!! Glad you liked it!

[eumenidis.livejournal.com]

Downright creepy. If Jack isn't going to retcon Owen's sad & sorry ass, he needs to either beat the crap out of him or find some other way to relieve his resentment, otherwise he'll very shortly be useless as a commander.

& yes, her Methos icon is amazing.

[rustydog.livejournal.com]

Wow. Very dark. Very effective.

I see this as an AU where there wasn't that scene at the end of "End of Days"? That may just be dependent on my interpretation of the episode, though. I hope Jack would never allow things/himself to get to this point, but if he did, it would be very creepy, and you painted it well.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

it is sort of AU since Jack "forgave" and hugged Owen at the end of the episode... and I don't really see the Jack-of-today doing this, but the snapshot of this was in my head and wouldn't leave me alone. Glad you liked it

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I do wonder about Jack's decision to forgive them all so easily at the end of "EoD" and if there would have been more discussion about what happened had the Doctor not shown up then. Creepy and uncomfortable was what I was going for, glad it worked for you!

[smithy161.livejournal.com]

Woah *brain falls out*

I can really, REALLY see this happening. I wasn't too happy with the instant, unconditional forgiveness he gave the team at the end, and this just works.

SO good.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

*picks up brain and hands it back* then *hurriedly washes hands*

I'm not sure Jack would ever go THIS far, but his insta-acceptance of Owen just seemed a bit off to me. Glad you liked!

[unfeathered]

I don't really remember enough about EoD for a proper, informed comment, but...

This is very dark. Me likes. :-)

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Well... it probably reads better if you don't remember EoD that well since Jack forgives Owen at the end of it.. but glad you liked it! :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medley_/]

Yikes, that's effective. And very well-written. It's just deliciously creepy, that idea that he's done this over and over, without bullets in the gun, but maybe one day... ::shivers::

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

deliciously creepy

excellent, just what I was going for, thanks!

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

It's Peter Wingfield, but as a character in an episode of Andromeda, where he gets to bite Kevin Sorbo...

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I forgot all about him being on Andromeda!

[amythest-n-ice.livejournal.com]

*Open mouthed*

This needs only one thing, MORE!!!

IT'S BRILLIANT

[kensieg.livejournal.com]

which episode? what was the name of the character?


PW makes a wonderful guest character. I'm surprised that he hasn't appeared on Atlantis yet.

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

Season 4, ep 14 'The Others'. He played a character called Lach. imdb synopsis says "The Andromeda encounter 2 ships with depleted engines and weapons. They come from a planet, where the two sides have been fighting for as long as anyone can remember. One side is suffering from a disease, they claim the other side is using biological weapons, but the other side says they didn't do it. When Dylan becomes infected, the crew must figure out the source of the virus to save the captain."

As for being in SGA, I'm not sure they could; he's already been in SG1 as Tanith in 3 eps of season 4/5.

[eumenidis.livejournal.com]

You hit what you aimed for. Jack's leniency was something I wondered about all through TW, & forgiving the team for their general mutiny in EoD was just the last, most extreme example. Thing is, when we first saw Jack, he was scamming the Time Agency at least partly for revenge for them taking his memories, which suggests to me a pretty strong inclination toward vindictiveness. OK, character development between "Empty Child" & PotW, but still...

Anyway, I do appreciate the harsher, edgier, & more realistic version of Jack.

[idontlikegravy.livejournal.com]

cor blimey

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! :)

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

cor blimey in a good way I hope?

[secbeth.livejournal.com]

very dark!!

[riftugee.livejournal.com]

Holy crap! THAT'S more like it!!!

Agreeing with others that this seems more likely to me than "i forgive you" Jack and sobbing Owen.

Well done.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

ooh, and that's the perfect icon for this fic!

[riftugee.livejournal.com]

strangely enough, i'd just finished making this icon when i read your fic. talk about serendipity!

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

prefect timing then!

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

Oooooooh. Wicked. I like it.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

thank you

[karaokegal.livejournal.com]

Interesting. And makes me want a little more to explain the canon we did see. Was the forgiveness real or just to throw Owen off-guard so Jack could some day see revenge? Because that moment was to me the most powerful of the series (aside from some of the CJH bits) and I do believe it, but I'm willing to look at an interpretation where Jack didn't mean it. Or even meant it personally, but still feels a duty to carry out his mission on some other level. So if you ever feel like expanding on this...I'm there.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't know if Jack meant it or not (the forgiveness) but even if he did mean it that doesn't necessarily mean he forgot about it, or would treat Owen the same after it. I just had a compulsion to write this

[karaokegal.livejournal.com]

I'll buy that...because it suits my agenda about forgiving/forgetting in other relationships.

[idontlikegravy.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I was rendered temporarily incoherent. That is a really great, really dark piece of writing.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

oh excellent, glad you liked it!

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

Oh Dark Jack... *nice*

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

thank you!