Jakki One Shots

OTP Writing Challenge- Day Nine

Day Nine Prompt

If

Hypotheticals, uncertainties, worst and best case scenarios, you name it!

I had two ideas for this and I really didn't know which one to go for!! But I went with this one, as I've always asked myself... what if David Bloody Cannon had left Jack and Nikki to argue a split second longer :)

Nikki hated this. She hated the way Jack was acting, ignoring her, making her feel uncomfortable. She'd done absolutely nothing wrong, and neither had he, but there was still an awkwardness between them.

She walked behind him down the stairs, staring at the back of his head. He'd missed out a detail on the case, something he would've spotted easily any other day. And now he was beating himself up about it.

Normally, her first instinct would be to tell him it didn't matter, and he'd be fine after a conversation. But this time it wasn't the same. Nikki knew if she tried to talk to him, it would go one of two ways. Either she would receive a selection of grunts and one word answers, or the unresolved tension would bubble up to the surface.

And still, she opened her mouth.

"He's right."

"Huh?" The response she'd expected.

"It's no big deal you missed the gate. Out of character though."

Jack still didn't look at her. He carried on walking, Nikki struggling to keep up with his long strides.

"I was distracted," he said.

"That's what I mean, out of character."

It really wasn't like him. He was so intricate when he was at work, so careful. And suddenly his mind was elsewhere.

"What do you want, Nikki?"

"I want to know why you missed the gate," Nikki pressed.

Nikki had sensed it was to do with her. She could just tell. The way Jack's body was tensing up each time she spoke, like he just wanted her to stop taking

"I told you," he replied.

"The real reason."

Jack whirled around then, unable to meet her eyes. Nikki tried to find something in them, but every time she caught a glimpse, he looked away.

"I missed it, cos I was thinking, why is Nikki back when she's clearly not ready?"

Nikki felt her hands beginning to shake. He knew nothing of her recovery, absolutely nothing. He'd barely spoken a word to her since the events in Mexico, and now he was trying to tell her how she was supposed to deal with her trauma. That angered her

"How would you know?You haven't seen me in months!" she fired back.

Jack's eyes fell to the ground, an air of guilt seeming to overcome him.

"Sorry," he murmured.

"I don't want an apology. I want to understand why, why you haven't seen me." There was desperation in Nikki's voice now. She wanted answers from him so badly. She'd wanted answers for months.

"Why do you think?"

"I don't know. It's a genuine question-'

"I was supposed to..." he interrupted, trying to find the right words. A shaky breath fell from his lips as he carried on, "I went out there to find you, to bring you home. I failed."

Again, he refused to look her in the eye. Nikki could feel the tears forming in her own. She tried to blink them back, the task proving to be impossible. But, now she knew why Jack had been avoiding her. And it pained her. She knew that he'd gone through just as much trying to find her all those months ago, but yet the reason he was so frustrated was that he hadn't saved her himself.