No person left behind ((tag fractured_agent))

[slayers_desire]

April was a little nervous, truth be told. She wasn't nervous about spending time with Jack Harkness again, as she considered him a good friend.

She was more nervous about bringing him to the Vampire Village to talk to Spike.

So much time had passed for Jack, since he last saw Spike. But it was a completely different story for Spike. And so much could go wrong.

April just hoped that things worked out...

Comments

[vampire_village]

"Evening Shasta..." April greets the other vampire with a friendly hug.

Shasta wraps her hands around her, smiling brightly. "April! What a pleasure to see you again. Is this your guest? Jack?"

[fractured_agent]

"Captain Jack Harkness, ma'am," he says with a flirtatious grin. Even after almost a century and a half of living in Earth's past, he still hasn't gotten out of the habit of using his charm to gain people's trust.

[vampire_village]

"No wonder you stole William's heart." Shasta laughs, standing to hug Jack next. "I'm Shasta. Nice to meet you."

[fractured_agent]

Jack is a very hug-loving kind of guy, and gladly reciprocates. "And you, gorgeous."

[vampire_village]

"Welcome to my house. Do come in..." Shasta walks them up the stairs, and opens the front door. Her house has a more antique-style than anything.

"Where is father?"

"In the serenity garden. For Solace I made a wolf statue to stand guard at the north. In memory of Jash."

[fractured_agent]

Jack makes mental notes of everything he sees and hears out of habit, in case it's useful later. So he wonders what the connection is between Jash and wolves. Maybe some kind of totem spirit or something.

"April told me a bit about what happened. I'm sorry for your loss."

[vampire_village]

"Thank you. Jash died how he would have wished... fighting for someone he loved. It is a shame he couldn't have been with Kat. She is a wonderful woman."

[fractured_agent]

"As reasons to die go, that one ranks pretty high." He's made the sacrifice himself over and over again, but it hurts worse to see others doing it, knowing that they won't come back.

[slayers_desire]

"Would it be okay to go disturb Father at this time?" April doesn't want to interrupt his meditation.

"He could use the distraction. He is not finding peace easily."

[fractured_agent]

"Then let's go see him." It's been a long, long time since Jack has seen Spike, or anyone else with his ex-partner's face.

[slayers_desire]

They enter the serenity garden. It looks like something out of a storybook, with the gazebo and exotic flowers.

The weaving walkway leads them to the gazebo itself, where Spike is sitting on the ledge, looking out to the river below.

[fractured_agent]

Jack doesn't want to startle him, so he just walks up and takes a seat next to him.

[buffyverse_npcs]

Spike has his eyes closed, but his senses still alert him to the presence of others here. He can smell the perfume worn by his daughter, that slight smell of a pregnant woman too.

And another scent that jolts his memory.

"...'Ello Jack."

[fractured_agent]

"Hey there, Willy-boy." Jack can see him react when he realizes who's here, but plays it off casually, following Spike's lead. And, of course, keeping in mind that it's only been about a month for him.

[buffyverse_npcs]

Spike flinches, he glares over at April. "Shasta called you William." He growls softly, but lets it drop.

"Pet says you been through an ordeal?"

((last post for a few hours))

[fractured_agent]

Okay, so apparently he doesn't like that name. Jack just shrugs and makes a mental note to call him Spike from now on. "Yeah, it's sort of been almost a century and a half since I saw you last, but it's no big deal. You're dealing with your own problems right now. Thought you might want somebody to talk to."

[buffyverse_npcs]

He doesn't have a problem, but Willy-boy reminds him of another past lover - Angelus. And that is the last thing he needs right.

"A century and a half..." He glances at Jack, seeing only slight changes in his age. He still looks good.

"Mourning a lost love."

[fractured_agent]

It must be strange for him, Jack thinks, to be dealing with someone who is should be mortal by all accounts and yet he isn't, for some unknown reason.

"Tale as old as time," he says, more seriously. "April told me a bit about it. How're you holding up?"

[buffyverse_npcs]

"Three times I have loved. Three women. Three men."

"It doesn't sit well that I couldn't do anything to stop him from dying."

[fractured_agent]

"It never does." He speaks from his own personal experience, and he knows Spike will be able to tell he's not just making sympathetic noises to make him feel better.

[buffyverse_npcs]

"I didn't even realize anything was wrong, until I fell again..." Spike rolled his eyes. "I felt like I was betraying him."

[fractured_agent]

Jack's no therapist himself, but he's talked his fair share of people through dealing with loss, both at Torchwood and during his service in the World Wars. "Why's that?"

[buffyverse_npcs]

Spike knows that April has spoken to Jack about his feelings. And he sort of chuckles. Amused. "You are nothing like Jash. So different. And yet..."

"Passion is my vice..."

[fractured_agent]

"It's always been one of my favorites too." He takes a chance and puts his hand on Spike's. "I've come to understand a lot about how you people think about this sort of thing. Didn't realize at the time how deep it would be for you."

[buffyverse_npcs]

"Passionate moments always ran deep for me." Spike runs his thumb over Jack's hand that lays on his.