Zenith: The Grand Return

Epilogue: Enjoy the Silence (Pt. I)

{Soundtrack:
Into The Black - Chromatics
Twenty Twelve - Matt Maeson
Walking Away - Craig David
Talk - Hozier
If I Go, I'm Goin - Gregory Alan Isakov
Blaze of Glory - Bon Jovi
The Other Side Of Paradise - Glass Animals
Hold On - Chord Overstreet
Hit The Road Jack - 2WE, Job, Bri Bryant
Fallout - Marianas Trench
Haunted - Taylor Swift
Too Good At Goodbyes - Sam Smith}

~

He wasn't doing anything wrong.

Jack Shepard had never been anything but clear about his intentions, every step of the way. He'd been drugged and forced back to the Area 52 Military Base in the middle of nowhere in the Death Valley Desert fully against his will, there was not even a molecule within his being that ever craved such a fate. For the past two decades prior, that place and all of its ghosts and long-buried memoires was among the things that Jack strived to avoid, by all means necessary. The others being human connection, love, and responsibility, which all happened to sit side by side with Area 52, in his convoluted mind. Twenty years of active avoidance, and in the end, it had been all for naught. The higher-ups that once pulled at his strings in his adolescence had never cut him off fully, only given him plenty of slack. Jack would never be truly free until he saw government official signed documents stating so, and he would want a lawyer present.

And after this second stint in hell, he fully intended on getting those papers.

Half a million dollars was what he'd been initially promised in exchange for helping to hand craft a brand new Zenith Team, as well as however long it took to have them fully initiated and trained. Then, he would be free to return to the emptiness of life as he knew it and never look back, even as the new and improved team was flaunted around the country, making headlines and keeping the tabloids busy as the kids were left to navigate the world of fame and world-wide protection without him and his valuable experience. He knew that the fame would be the hardest part, it's what nearly drove him and his own team apart dozens of times over back in the day, the press was ruthless.

But, the promise of freedom was what he'd spent the past two weeks reminding himself of. Halfway through their initiation, when his defenses began to crack in little bits and pieces here and there thanks to the prying of the kids and certain military individuals who seemed hell-bent on preventing him from getting any sort of peace in his new life, he'd allowed himself the tiniest bit of wiggle room, but no real breaking. And sure, everything seemed new to him. He could care for the children, he could invest himself in their success for their sakes, he could be the best instructor that he was capable of being to ensure their prosperity, but that was it. Feeling so strongly for the kids' wellbeing was new to him, and it had been rather forced onto him by a certain someone with piercing blue eyes and the inability to take no for an answer. It certainly did open up a world of possibilities to him, but scared him more than he'd ever like to admit.

And still, he reserved himself. He would not let himself grow fond enough for the team to even consider sticking around for the rest of what was bound to be a disastrous new chapter in the seemingly infinite Zenith story. Once the imminent threat - as Larraby had so delicately put it one day - had been dealt with and the kids were perfectly combat-ready, once new training schedules and instructors were briefed and introduced, Jack was no longer needed. That's what they'd promised, and that was what he told himself.

Even when he risked it all to break them out of the military's strongholds and take down Concussion in their own way, even when he'd gotten to know almost everything about those four kids, even when he snuck them out of their rooms to assign them all official alter egos and solidify their family bond, even when they all helped him get his brother back, even after the dust settled and a quiet peace finally surrounded them. Through it all, Jack never let his intentions waver, even if others may have held onto hope for such a thing. In order to be truly free - which is the only thing in this life that he'd ever truly wanted - he would have to leave this place behind and never dare to look back, once and for all. That included cutting all ties with anyone connected to the facility and the Zenith Program, and anything that reminded him of his time there. It might be tough at first, but sticking around and watching it all go up in smoke would be even toughed. Besides, if there was one thing Jack Shepard was good at, it was saying goodbye. He knew what he wanted, and there was finally nothing standing in the way of achieving that.