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Language:
English
Collections:
Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
Stats:
Published:
2020-11-05
Words:
704
Chapters:
1/1
Kudos:
16
Hits:
707

Pharos

Summary:

FANDOM: Jake 2.0
CHARACTERS: Jake Foley, Kyle Duarte, Louise Beckett, Diane Hughes
PROMPT: 051. Water
WORD COUNT: 699
RATING: PG-13
SUMMARY: The boy hasn’t got a clue.
AUTHOR’S NOTES: From the Book Challenge:
Quotation from Homer’s Odyssey:
There is an island called Pharos in the rolling seas off the mouth of the Nile, a day’s sailing for a ship with a roaring wind astern.
Submitted through the Jake2-0_Slash mailing list.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Pharos
by demonfaith

"Like navigating a ship across the ocean - easy once you know what you're doing..."

 

He's cocky and arrogant. Kyle hates that about him. Sitting at that desk, interfacing with the computer as if it's just an everyday thing, as if he's a superhero to be lauded, Jake couldn't be further from the geek Kyle had shaped into a spy.

"Thank you, Karen. See you at dinner?"

Picking up women and then putting them down when he felt like it - some kind of James Bond figure who was slowing conquering every woman in the operations, and a few of the men. Super stamina, apparently.

"Oh, look, he's not even trying!"

Kyle lurks in the background, watching. Lou is standing over his shoulder, not saying a word because he always gets results, but Kyle knows that she feels the pain of this as acutely as he does. Another knife through the heart.

"And we're done!"

Jake punches the air and there is applause. Kyle doesn't join in. He leaves within moments, wondering if he can find some doorway to the past.

~

"You see, Pharos was an island. Once you understand the working of the criminal mind, it's not much of a leap to figure out their intentions."

Jake's entertaining at lunch, a gaggle of eager women hanging off his every word. Kyle sees Diane grab a sandwich and leave - another casualty in Jake's irresistible war. He tries to smile at her but she doesn't see him; Jake has cut them both off from the world.

Kyle wants nothing more than to shake him and tell him to grow up, but Jake would probably just laugh in his face. He can only see this ending in tears and that scares him more than anything. He can't lose Jake, despite all the changes and pushing away.

He worries that it's already too late.

~

"Sandra! You're looking great in that skirt! Catch you at lunch?"

Karen is yesterday's news, but she seems perfectly accepting, smiling with the rest. Jake is a cad and everyone applauds him for it, as if it's only fair that they all share him around like some kind of community resource. Kyle struggles with his jealousy, his selfish desire to reclaim Jake and keep him all for himself.

Not that he has that option anymore. Jake barely even acknowledges his existence anymore - he's also yesterday's news, another vat of rubbish from Planet Jake that no one cares for.

He doesn't know how much longer he can stand this.

~

Lou sends him when Jake doesn't turn up for work. She's obviously missed the memo. Kyle is not looking forward to breaking in to this world of decadence that he knows Jake is occupying, disturbing him and another conquest, upsetting his memories that should stay soiled in dust.

"I had a dream last night."

Kyle shuts the door quietly and kneels beside the figure huddled in the middle of the floor. Without thought, he places his hand on Jake's shoulder and Jake leans into his embrace.

"I was on a ship, a ship that was faltering, sinking. I couldn't...I couldn't do anything. And you were stood there, pulling on ropes and handling the wheel and everything, but we were still going down. I just...I just knew it was my fault - we were both going to die and it was my fault. And you'd been...fighting all this time and I'd been in...a world of my own, and it was...all...my..."

He hasn't seen Jake cry for years and he holds him tightly to him, letting him weep and shake in his arms. Suddenly, it was as if neither of them had left, that they were right back in their places - Jake was back by his side.

"Kyle? I'm sorry."

The kiss was enough.

~

Jake politely fends off his fans and apologises to Lou, to Diane. He tries to be calm, to keep his work to himself and to push himself back into the realms of humanity. It's difficult at first and he struggles, but Kyle lurks by his side and makes the problems disappear.

And when they go home, Jake lies in his embrace and doesn't dream. Kyle simply hopes.

Notes:

This orphaned work was originally on Pejas WWOMB posted by author demonfaith.
If this work is yours and you would like to reclaim ownership, you can click on the Technical Support and Feedback link at the bottom fo the page.