Resolve

Chapter 9: Warmth

An: If you read Jack's wiki page, it says his mother gave him to his grandmother after a tragedy so that's what I'm going with.

     Your eyes opened slowly to hazy vision. You were surrounded by soft white edges. Thin silk sheets were pulled up to your chin. You couldn't move the lower half of your body. Worry set in. Had you been paralyzed when the bullet was removed?

Movement made you blink, bringing clarity to what you saw. Jack sat beside your bed, leaning back and forth on the back legs of his chair in a balancing act. His young features struck a chord of silence in you. He had called himself your brother. Was... It an alternate request reality entirely? Unlikely. You dealt with time, not space. You supposed it could be true. You had no memories of anything before the age of eighteen. Not even of receiving your siren tattoos and powers.

Your mind spun. Had you vanished because of your powers manifesting at a young, uncontrollable age? Your heart settled on the idea he was telling nothing but truth, and inside you accepted it. The question was how? Jack's chair settled on the floor and he leaned forward, catching you in his sights. "You're awake." His small face held an immesurable guilt in it."Im sorry I said those things about you being a freak. You're my sister. But you shouldn't have run away- I mean someone shot you!"

Tears sprang to your eyes. Jack was so tender, caring. Sincere. It almost upset you. Like a pretty lie. "I think I sprang forward in time." You blinked the tears away. "I...it would explain some things. But it... Such a big gap." It would also explain your inability to reset without massive amounts of eridium, the idea you burned them out making a massive jump so immediately.

Jack was smart, even as a young boy. He leaned forward, chin resting atop his hands. "What did you see that upset you so much? Did they shoot you? Why?" Tears freely spilled down your cheeks. You'd finally done it. It was finally over. You...had achieved what you felt impossible. If...if it was all true, no way you could tell him who injured you. "Hey, I'm sorry. Don't cry. Mom will be back soon. Dad...well dad's busy with Hyperion work."

"I'm just so glad to be back where I belong, Jack. Words can't describe-" He hugged you gently.

"It's over. Whatever happened to you when you made that leap, it's done and over." Your soul sang with the truth. You could finally explain your inability to move on from Jack. Your determination and resolve to keep trying against every odd that told you otherwise. He was your own blood made flesh. Your sibling. Big brother Jack. You cried for so long your eyes grew puffy and you felt light headed. He got in your hospital bed and curled up lightly next to you. "I'm not going anywhere. Whoever hurt you is going to pay." He gently brushed through your hair with two fingers.

"Jack I love you. You're...you've no idea the things-" He shushed you. You quieted, sensing he wished to prevent you from getting worked up again. It hit you. Mordecai! He would remember everything. Be waiting. But...he would also be a child at this point, albeit a little older than you.

You relaxed. Whatever happened next would happen next. You had pushed it just getting here, and figured you could never replicate these results, no matter how you tried. You had to make this work out. Jack could never take Hyperion when- You couldn't remember when he took over for your dad. A frown came to your face. "Sleep." Jack cracked his knuckles. "You're safer with me than anywhere else."

     You let sleep take you once more. Jack was right. You were exhausted. Just so tired...

X

     Life with Jack and your mother was great. It had been so long since you truly let yourself relax that it was hard to not second guess everything you were told or handed. Breakfast was hot every morning. You spent afternoons with your brother playing in the yard. You were the princess and he was the dragon, protecting you from any unwanted knights. You began to let go of everything. You were with Jack now. No way were you going to let anything happen to spoil what you had attained.

     You finally knew happiness. True, blissful peace. Every day was a day that you spent with Jack lovingly watching over you, protecting you from all threats percieved or otherwise. He was a model brother. One day, your mother was in the kitchen cooking in your expensive house on Eden 3, and you and your brother were enjoying a movie about vault hunters saving the day. "They're just glorified bandits." Jack crossed his arms at you.

     You chewed your lip, reminded of the Jack you knew. You finally answered. "Yeah there's a lot of collateral death, but they still help at least one person in the end. And if you never try, you'll never be able to help even one." Your brother blinked at you before breaking out in a grin.

     "Look at you with all those big words." You huffed in your eight year old body. Just because Jack was a teen, he thought he had to be so much smarter. The truth was you were very even intelligence wise. That just meant everyone assumed you were a child genius. It made you laugh. It had taken thousands of resets to accumulate all this knowledge. But you kept that to yourself. The last thing you needed was for Jack to start asking questions.

     You were about to physically respond when the sound of shattering glass in the kitchen drew your attention. Jack was up first, bursting in just ahead of you. Your mother sobbed on the floor clutching the phone in a puddle of broken glass and blood. She had dropped a plate of raw steak. "Its your father. " She hiccuped. "Someone threw him out the airlock. He's dead."