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𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝟎𝟎𝟗: 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊

jack doesn’t have summers. refer to strud’s epic post for strike team shenanigans. 

Jack wasn’t a sentimental person, Cora knew that and she didn’t expect him to be just because their time at Gallagher was coming to an end. So his toast only brought an amused smirk to her lips. “To not killing each other,” she echoed before clinking their glasses together and taking a drink. “So any plans for the summer?”

looking around their shared quarters feeling defeated, lisanna reaches over and touches his hand. if not just to feel some semblance of life, contact; that it really wasn’t just her in there. not in that room, but in that situation. she remembers irene and her twins. perhaps countless other parents who were in this situation and she heaves a heavy sigh. “i hope so. i just..i’ve never been in this kind of situation where i don’t know what to do.” after a few seconds, she takes another sip of her wine, slowly turning to jack. “i don’t like feeling like this. i wasn’t raised to know nothing. but..i wasn’t raised to do a lot of things i ended up doing anyway.” she pats his hand, “i’ll give it time. i just hope i have the luxury of having as much time as she needs to process and think it through. we don’t all hold the same dibs on the thread of time, after all.”

       BASH LAUGHS AT THAT,  fingers running through his dark, messy hair.   “ yeah, i do. “   obviously it goes without saying, especially considering he had told nudge he’s deepest, darkest secret, but bash is glad jack is finally starting to catch on.   “ what did you and her talk about ?   um, when you met. “   RELIEF washes through him at his uncle’s words, nodding slightly.  there’s no way he’ll ever use his phone number – probably not even for emergencies – but knowing there’s a way to reach him will provide comfort until they see each other next.  it means holding onto a piece of his old life, even if it’s just barely grasping it.   “ i’ll be fine, “   bash assures him, because he will be.  there’s no room for doubting that at this point.   “ be safe, yeah ? “ 

– “UH, JUST ABOUT? YOU’VE GOT TO BE CLOSE, RIGHT?” SHE ASKS, although she’s pretty sure he’s mentioned his real age before, she just hasn’t retained it, “ anywhere past forty is all the same anyways. or really past thirty-five, maybe. ” allie shoves her hands back into her pockets, but she doesn’t really think she’ll ever take the watch off. not even for sentimental reasons, but she can’t imagine herself ever really feeling safe again, not after all this. there’s always this slight, underlying feeling of anxiety that she can’t shake, and she thinks she’ll just live with it forever. but the watch helps. “ good, me too, ” she agrees, because there was a small part of her that wondered if he wouldn’t want her. she isn’t sure her own parents do. “ i’d definitely stay for monopoly. AND i’d kick your butt, i play the long game. and i’m a pretty lucky dice-roller, i think, ” after all, jack isn’t like any parent she’s ever had – hers would never say ‘shit.’ allie thinks about what it’d be like to have him over for christmas dinner or something, with her family since he doesn’t have one, and she wishes that jeremy was around, because he probably would’ve thought jack was really cool. anyways, that’s a question for later, but she thinks that maybe if she can reach him around the holidays, she’d want to give him a call. “ bye, jack. or, you know, see you later. because goodbyes suck and all. ” 

sometimes  maddox  just  wants  to  crack  open  people  like  a  toy  or  a  glow  stick  -  just  to  see  what’s  inside,  you  know?  that  sounds  weirdly  strange  and  morbid,  but  it’s  the  truth.  jack  is  one  of  those  people.  “dunno.  i  kinda  like the  attention,  you  know?”

– “IN SOME WAYS,” SHE SMILES SLIGHTLY, although she would probably say quite the opposite. coming back to being irene has been jarring, but she thinks after it all, she likes being alive more than she likes being dead, despite the ghosts of her past that have resurfaced. “ you’re never going to let that go, are you, jack ? ” she teases, tilting her head up slightly to meet his gaze. she lets herself look at him for a moment because she assumes that it might be one of the last times anyway, and even with a remarkable amount of self-control, it seems worth it to indulge, to think that this is how she’ll remember him: tired, incorrigible, and…well, still the same. there’s maybe another life, another version of herself that would call, after a couple glasses of wine when she’s weak and missing him, but she’s not that sort of woman. they both know she won’t call and that this is it. 

“ yeah, ” she sighs, “ wish i had the chance to discourage mine. ” because she really does, there’s something so unsettling about seeing her daughter hold a gun, and irene SHOULD be desensitized to most things by now. “ i just…i don’t really know if they want me to have that chance, ” she admits, “ but i’ll be around for a bit, at least. i’m staying with laura, and…i’m going to let them know the door’s open. that’s all i can really do at this point. ” 

jack wonders whether they’d be having the same conversation had irene not taken the job which spread the news of her death. would their first interaction have been the same had he not mourned her? a part of him doesn’t think so. in fact, he thinks it’s possible they might not have spoken at all. which is why: “ harder than i thought, ” he replies, blunt as always. it’s the last thing of hers he’ll allow himself to hold onto. she’s not the kind of person you let go of. if he’d been smarter then he would’ve fought for her all those years ago. 

– “YEAH, BUT WHAT DO YOU KNOW? YOU’RE OLD. you probably had, like, a mullet or something back in the day, or platform boots, ” she remarks, but then it kind of makes her wonder what jack did look like when he was her age, and if he’s always looked as tired as he does now. it’s hard to imagine jack as anything but the way he is now. “ i won’t, i’m gonna take extra good care of it, ” she promises, flashing her wrist yet again and shaking it, like she’s daring it to come loose, “ it’s on extra tight, too. ” jack’s response makes her heart sink, because she takes it to mean that he doesn’t have a family at all, and her expression falls considerably. she liked the idea of jack having a nice wife at home who’ll put dinner on the table for him after he gets back from a busy day of killing people, 2.5 kids that run and cling to his ankles the second he walks in the door. but he doesn’t smile enough for something like that to be true. “ i won’t. or, i mean, i’m not trying to marry any of them. it’s not my fault if spies-in-training are charming and dangerous, ” she jokes. “ but, um. i know we’re going far away and probably won’t really see each other again, but…i could be your family, sort of. like an estranged cousin or something, who only shows up at random holidays and eats the food and leaves, i don’t know. but if you need anything or…you want someone to talk to, you can always beep me. ” 

 SHE ROLLS HER eyes playfully at his words before looking down at her feet. willow’s dad wasn’t a good man, in fact, he really was the scum of the earth and while she felt relief the day he finally left their lives for good, deep down she still felt the sting of losing the man that was supposed to be her father. asher did the best he could and took on that parental figure but she always felt that piece missing within her. maybe that was what was making saying goodbye so hard to jack because he had become not only her mentor but someone to fill that void for a little bit. his words make her light hues tears up, wrapping her arms around her small frame. “I better or I’ll kick your ass”, she says softly finally looking up at him, “I’m going to miss you here, you’re a really great teacher and thanks uh, for you know being here.” 

“Well don’t you know how to act a woman feel special,” Cora chuckled as she walked over to her bar cart. Most of it had been packed away but she still had a couple glasses out and she used them to pour the two of them a drink from her gift. “Should we cheers to something?” she asked as she handed him his glass.

       HE ISN’T EXPECTING JACKSON TO MENTION HIS PARENTS,  because well, sometimes it feels like everyone else around him has forgotten about them.  not in a bad way, because with the brotherhood making themselves front and center this semester, it seemed like that’s all everyone was focusing on.  bash assumes SOMEONE is searching for his parent’s killers, but knowing jackson hasn’t forgotten does make him relax slightly.  “ yeah, i will.  i’m trying not to be nervous, “   he admits with a small laugh, arms folding over his chest. the words settling down makes hie eyebrows raise, high.   “ really ?   like… retirement ? “   that’s not a word he hears used very often.   “ i haven’t been fishing in ages, but.  that sounds like fun.  i’ll hold you to that, “   bash smiles slightly.   “ is there a way to keep in touch ?   i get it if there’s not. “   he’s praying there is.

“I would,” she said, her fingers going to twirl a strand of her hair. “Not sure how she’ll react to any of it, I mean, I told her that this place was the safest schools out there and tried to push her to attend. Imagine having to hear that students died while here…” The two Powell-King girls were already aware of the dangers of the spy route, you get that after losing your parents. It was because of the death of their parents that pushed Wren away, the younger sister not wanting anything to do with the world. And to learn about what happened this semester? Yeah, good luck with getting her to attend, Naomi. “Somewhere quiet… Like a farm? I can see you running your own one, taking care of chickens and cows. Away from the city and spy life.”

– “WELL, IF I SAID TACKY AGAIN, I THOUGHT YOU’D GET UPSET,” SHE LAUGHS SOFTLY, finding it hard to be sad anyway, because even though she’ll miss him, saying goodbye is a testament to the fact that this hellish semester is over. “ i am pretty good at crosswords, ” she notes, “ bummer you won’t be able to finish them any more while i’m in arkansas ! or d.c. are you able to call me on this thing ? ” she holds up her watch, “ you know, in case you need me. ” which is an incredibly naive thing to say in retrospect, that a man who has lived a life like jack’s might need help from some bright-eyed college student, but allie’s probably said crazier things. “ yeah, okay. i won’t forget it, gosh, you’re SUCH a softie, you do know that, right ? ” she teases him again. “ do you, um…do you have anyone ? ”