#trip!asks

So of course Abbot has his reasons for the way he avoids Dennis’s eyes. The way his fists clench and unclench rhythmically when Dennis goes over patient cases with him. The obvious frustration in his voice when he asks Dennis how much sleep he’s been getting. 

There’s a day when he really thinks he’s fucked it all, not even sure what he did (he swears he hasn’t had a major screw up in the last few days). But the way Abbot keeps grabbing him too hard, speaks clear enough. Every time he goes to skirt around his attending, he ends up with a harsh hand bruising him. Jack growling out orders in his ear, which should not make him as hot under the collar as it does.

He tries his best to be extra on top of all his patients that day, to leave no room for criticism. But it’s been hard, with one of his patients claiming a lot more of his time. 

Some drunk frat bro who keeps requesting Dennis. Leaning in a little too close to explain his issues, overly friendly and touchy. At one point he nearly gropes Dennis’s ass, which he laughs off. Cause really he’s just one of those teasing sports guys, so drunk he thinks they’re still in the locker room.

And Dennis is just happy to be treating a drunk who isn’t angry and violent, but it’s been making it hard to detangle himself and get back to his other work.

So Dr. Abbot’s stern gaze doesn’t let up. Posture rigid and furious as a deep grimace follows Dennis everywhere he goes. And Dennis feels the fear of not doing a good job follow right along with it.

And at the end of shift, when Abbot siddles up beside him, landing a heavy hand on Dennis’s shoulder. He can’t hide the flinch it wrings out of him. Staring up with wide eyes, more than a little scared of his attending. Sure that this is it, this is Abbot telling him to switch back to day shift. That he’s done putting up with Dennis and his incompetence.

“Think it’s about time we quit dancing around this thing. Don’tcha think? You and me, after shift, we can have it out.”

His breath catches in surprise, because that sounded like a threat, right? The way Abbot’s looking at him certainly makes it feel like one. Face tense, dark eyes narrowed down at Dennis.

He’s not- he’s not trying to fight me is he?

“W-what?” He squeaks out, desperately hoping he heard wrong.

“Don’t wimp out on me, c’mon 0800, meet me out in the ambulance bay.”

And he’s gonna do it in front of all their coworkers too?

Dennis feels about ready to cry. But he jerks his head into some approximation of a nod. He’s not a coward.

But he really thought he left getting taught to toughen up through a beating way back in nebraska.

And when Abbot finds him out in the ambulance bay, barely choking back tears, as he shakes so hard his bag keeps slipping off his shoulder. The words tumble out of Jack’s mouth before he can even think them through.

“Shit kid, it’s just a date, not a fuckin’ death march.”

And then Dennis nearly sags to his knees, a great hiccuping sob of relief. “Oh thank god.”

And so Dennis is sleeping rough in some bushes for a few nights in the summer, and Jack's dog manages to get off leash, and fucking beelines it to Dennis, scaring him awake, and he stumbles out of the bush all disheveled, and Jack walks as fast as he can on his prosthetic over to start apologising profusely.

And poor Dennis is babbling about how he lost something in the bush, that's why he was in there, not for anything weird! obviously!

But Jack is just enamoured by this kid and his big wet eyes as Dennis gets flustered trying to convince this guy he isn't homeless or sleeping in the park because he doesn't want the cops getting called on him. And the whole time he's babbling, he's also playing with Jack's dog and like doing that thing where the dog mouths at your hands and you kind of play tug of war with their teeth/fangs.

Like, Jack isn't sure who's more into the kid at first, him or his dog.

And so he offers to take the kid out for coffee or something to apologise for his dog, and Dennis is a little unsure because homeless gay kids from Nebraska getting asked out by random hot men with gentle sweet dogs doesn't really happen, at least not to him, and he's learned to be a bit cautious, but he's hungry, and fucking homeless, so he says yes.

Dis is me to u btw

v

Initially writing this fic, I wasn't sure if Jack would like sharing reader, but first and foremost, I love m+/f noncon too much to have this stay just Jack lol, and then I realized Jack would love the control of deciding for reader who she's being loaned out to/getting to evaluate her training from the cuck chair.

I think the promise of others is gonna stick around for a while, especially as a threat for her misbehaving. Maybe if she really won't settle into her training, he takes her into the ER to strap down somewhere secret for free use staff stress relief (at least for those who Jack knows would keep their mouths shut about it)

My plan for the next chapter is going to roughly be along the lines of Abbot giving reader one last test, leaving her to wake up free in her place to see if she tries to run, which of course she will (silly reader), and Abbot hunts her down, and then reader gets a lovely housewarming (for joining Jack's house) gift from Abbot and Robby as a reminder of her new place in life.