Fic: "Scars" (Jack/Nathan; NC-17)
Fandom:EUReKA
Title: Scars
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Jack and Nathan make a few discoveries about each other via marks of their past.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Property of SciFi/SyFy, Andrew Cosby and Jamie Paglia.
Pairing/Characters: Jack Carter/Nathan Stark
Warnings, etc: Essentially AU, assumes Season 3 & beyond never happened. Established relationship, but for an unknown amount of time. Written for rounds_of_kink with the prompt "Because if Nathan Stark has been living and working in Eureka for years, he's bound to have his fair share of them." and kink of 'scars'. It's not graphic at all, but some may consider it a kink.
A/N: Major appreciation for my beta serene_quill, who went over drafts twice despite RL getting in the way! She is made of awesome and win.
Jack sighs and shifts, turning over toward Nathan’s warm body, smiling at the low rumbling purr he gets in response.
Jack knows he relishes these lazy mornings more than he should, but he can’t help it anymore. He knows Zoe would wake him up if it was truly necessary- then again, so would the phone if GD exploded again. It’s just hard to not take the few minutes when he can since the town always seems to be coming apart at the seams every couple days.
Jack traces his fingers along the slightly raised hatching along Nathan’s elbow, surprised at the smoothness as well as its presence on his arm
“I never thought I’d see stuff like this,” Jack says, slowly feeling out the contours of the scar.
“What, did you not think you’d get this close or some disgustingly romantic thing like that?” Jack hears the smile in his voice. “Think we’ve gotten closer than that already a couple times.”
“No, I was thinking about those nanothingys, since they fix everything without a trace.”
Nathan rolls his eyes in typical fashion. “The nanoids do heal wounds, but we have other cellular regeneration techniques to do the same thing. And yes, I’ve used them before, but not every time.” Nathan gets quieter, somber. “Sometimes…. you need to remember, be reminded that every choice has consequences.” Jack watches his eyes quietly, sensing the sudden change in tone. Jack knows the feeling all too well, but doesn’t think he’d make the choice to purposefully leave scars as a reminder of his failures. They’d be an excuse to hate himself more for his failures.
“Plus, I wasn’t raised here, and as you well know, the rest of the world doesn’t have nanoids.”
“You weren’t raised here?” Jack’s a little surprised at this, although he’s not sure why. Maybe he expected Nathan to be raised here, leave, and then come back like Taggart’s weird mechano-geese.
“No. Nor contrary to popular belief was I hatched in an egg fully formed,” Nathan says with a smile and Jack rolls his eyes.
“It would have to be a really, really big egg,” Jack says with a smile, laughing when Nathan swats him on the ass with a frown.
“What’s this one?” Jack asks, fingers still toying with Nathan’s elbow. “Feels like road rash.”
“If you get to play 20 Questions, so do I.” Nathan’s expression is cross, but it’s also guarded.
Jack considers this for a moment. There’s plenty that he’s done in his life he doesn’t want dredged up again, but Nathan probably feels the same way. Give a little to get a little, he thinks.
“Fine.” Nathan smiles a little deviously and Jack begins to worry what exactly he’s gotten himself into.
“So?” he says, running a fingertip gently over the mess of hatch marks. Road rash, he’s almost sure, but how?
“Yeah, road rash. Bad crash on my bike during a race and I didn’t have the right equipment.”
“Bike? Race?” Jack’s heart starts to pound in his chest. “Unless you’re referring to a bicycle, you’re not letting Zoe near it. Ever. Or getting back on it yourself.” Deep breaths, he tells himself, gripping Nathan a little tighter. “Promise me.”
Sometimes the mere thought of the possibility of a collision is enough to get his adrenaline going, blurring his mind with panic for a few critical moments until he can calm himself down. Not the best thing for a town sheriff, where minor traffic accidents between absent-minded scientists are almost as common as the fights between them.
Nathan watches him with a strange expression and lays a comforting hand on the back of Jack’s neck. “Oh, she won’t. I’ll make sure of that.” The protective, lower pitch in Nathan’s voice comforts him. He’s pretty confident that Nathan’s looking out for her too, but the protective dad side of him always needs that extra reassurance. “If hair boy even entertains the idea, I’ll destroy it and him myself.” Nathan smiles deviously. Jack gives him a quick kiss.
Nathan’s expression turns neutral, and Jack doesn’t like this. “As for me, I make no promises, other than I haven’t entered a GP race in years.”
The fear sneaks into his chest again, and he scowls at Nathan. “The chances of you getting hurt or killed on motorcycles are way higher than in any other accident, except maybe working at GD. Doing both just makes it worse!” He doesn’t like those odds. Not at all. He squeezes himself tighter against Nathan.
“Did your brain hurt with that one?” Nathan smiles, teasing, and Jack frowns. “I don’t go that often- it seems it’s collecting more dust than miles nowadays. Besides, we’re in the best place on the planet for injury treatment if anything does happen.”
Jack frowns, looking away. He’s seen the result of accidents and can’t stop his mind from putting Nathan there instead, bloodied and broken on dark pavement. Nathan grabs his face and kisses him slowly and thoroughly, stroking up and down his back. Jack can feel himself relaxing into the embrace, tension leaving him as Nathan caresses him slow and possessive.
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, alright?” Nathan’s expression is soft but serious, all the layers of his expressions something Jack’s learning to figure out over time.
“Yeah, okay, I guess,” he mumbles, resting his head against Nathan’s shoulder, as Nathan pulls Jack in tighter against him.
Jack breathes a little easier as Nathan’s focus seems to shift to an old wound stretched across his shoulder blade.
“This?” Nathan rumbles quietly, fingers still slowly stroking along the jagged line.
“Ah, yeah, that one. Pissed off suspect with a beer bottle. He got the drop on me and got me pretty good. It never quite healed right.”
“Looks like someone didn’t do a good job of putting you back together.”
“More like I popped a couple stitches the next day. We were in the middle of bumfuck, Arizona, and I was needed the next day for the raid. Just never got around to getting them to stitch it back up.”
Nathan grunts in agreement. “That sounds like you, avoidance of all medical personnel at all costs. “
“I don’t…” he sighs and shifts. Another failure, another moment where he wasn’t prepared. “It’s no big deal, really, just a scar. My arm works just fine.”
Nathan trails a hand around front, and Jack arches into the touch.
“Other things do too,” Nathan says, giving him a gentle squeeze. Much to his surprise, Nathan stops there.
Jack curls back against Nathan’s solid form again, ignoring the part of his brain that tells him he’s breaking every guy rule there is. Guys aren’t supposed to be content to cuddle. Or even think of the word. And yet, he can’t bring himself to care. It feels too good right now.
His eyes focus on a thin little line splitting Nathan’s chin, faint between the dark hairs of his closely trimmed beard. He traces a finger across it gently, and Nathan tips up his chin, giving Jack room to scratch his fingers through the course hair.
“This one’s faint, must be old,” Jack says, continuing to slowly scratch through Nathan’s beard while he rumbles in contentment.
“I was 7, split my chin open on some rocks at the beach. I remember being most annoyed that my surfing weekend was over after that.”
Jack laughs. “You were 7 once?”
Nathan swats him again. “Shut it. No egg theory bull,” he grumbles, but there’s no menace behind it. “So were you.”
“Yeah, but I just can’t imagine a little version of you. Little Nathan Stark, plotting to take over the world as soon as he knew what a world was.” Jack can feel the grin splitting his face, but he can’t help it. “Were you always the bossy one?” Jack considers this for a moment. “I bet, considering how bossy Zoe was from an early age. I knew from about age 3 it was going to be her way or the highway with her. I can’t imagine you’d be any better.” He smiles as he remembers Zoe’s antics, always managing to get her way eventually.
“You’d be surprised then. I remember being told I had a stubborn streak sometimes, but most of the time I tried to focus on being normal, not the anomaly.” He doesn’t quite understand Nathan’s expression, but it’s not upset.
“So you waited until your size matched your ego to start throwing it around.” Jack grins, unrepentant.
Nathan growls. “You like it… Power and adrenaline turn you on, even if you don’t want to admit it.” Nathan pushes him away, pulling Jack onto his back and straddling him, kissing hard. And, of course, he reacts. Stupid body.
Nathan moves down to his neck, licking and biting slowly. Oh yeah… if this is losing…
He then notices that Nathan’s fixating on a small raised line toward the inside of his neck, licking and sucking. He lets a little noise of contentment escape.
“This better not be what I think it is,” Nathan says, voice lower than before.
“What do you think it is?”
“That some psycho had you by the neck with a knife, and got pretty close.” He can feel Nathan shiver slightly at the thought and wedges himself closer without consciously thinking about it.
“Well, you’re close enough. Hostage negotiation situation where I traded myself for civilians and got a knife blade to the neck for my troubles.”
Nathan shivers again and this time starts to lay into his neck, clearly intent on leaving a mark over the scar. Jack inhales sharply.
“Never again... Never….Mine…” Nathan mumbles this repeatedly, just barely loud enough for Jack to make it out. He tightens his hold around Jack, pinning them together as tight as humanly possible while still having access to his neck.
Jack’s not sure exactly where this sudden freak out of Nathan’s came from, since all of this happened long ago and they can’t change it now. What’s done is done. He can sympathize though, always wanting to be the one to keep Nathan safe from his idiotic scientists.
Jack strokes his hand through Nathan’s hair, letting him ride out whatever had overtaken him. “Are you done now?” He smiles softly, trying not to sound accusatory in any way.
Nathan grunts in response and pulls him tighter. Jack drops a kiss on the side of Nathan’s head, stroking him slowly. Neither of them does well with emotional stuff, much less want to talk about them, or even acknowledge them. It’s too messy.
Nathan sighs, still clearly unsettled. “Why does everything you do have to turn in to you defying death? Is there even a single scar on you that isn’t from some stupid criminal or GD experiment gone wrong?” Nathan huffs.
“A couple normal ones. Kitchen knives, power tools, slide bite as a rookie.” Jack shrugs. “It’s just how it is, how it’s always been. The danger’s there. I deal with it so everyone else is safe.”
“It shouldn’t have to be that way.” Nathan growls.
“It is.” Jack holds firm. Protecting people, his loved ones, is what he does. What he was meant to do.
“What happens when luck doesn’t go your way?” Nathan pushes away and looks into his eyes, all serious business and ruining the bliss.
Jack shrugs. “I don’t think about it. I just do what I know needs to be done.”
Nathan makes a noise of frustration and kisses him again.
“You’re just as dismissive of the risks you scientists take-hell, the ones we all take just living here.” There are things about this town, this job, that still bother him. Just the threat of danger by just living here has always been something that he can’t get out of the back of his mind. Especially with Zoe.
Nathan pushes him away slightly, and Jack tenses, ready for the argument to start. “Bull. They’re all extremely analyzed and weighed, and you know it. You have to help orchestrate half of the required ‘health and safety meetings’ anyway.”
Jack snorts. “Just about anything in GD, especially in Section 5, is more dangerous than anything I’d encounter if I was back with the Marshal’s service.” There are days he wishes for a simple B&E, or a gambling ring bust. Not robotic geese gone haywire, psychotropic pollen from mutant flowers making people go crazy, or high school science projects almost obliterating the west coast of the United States. Simple, normal criminals.
“Our science is sound. The potential benefits outweigh any associated risks.” Nathan’s frown is growing deeper, and Jack doesn’t like this at all.
“Same as mine. The safety of us all is dependent on law enforcement.”
Nathan sighs and shifts, moving slightly back towards him. “But I… it shouldn’t have to be you, your life.”
Jack sighs. “It’s just how it is, how it’s always going to be. Even here. Difference is that you have just about the same risk, and you’re not the one carrying a gun. You’re the one I should be worrying about.”
Exploding chemistry experiments, crazy scientists upset with their lack of funding, Fargo leaking another pheromone into the GD ventilation system… Nathan’s job is just as dangerous as his, and not because most of the time they’re walking into the same situations together.
Nathan’s eyes narrow as he grabs hold of him loosely. “I don’t need weapons, I can handle things on my own. Wasn’t made head of R&D for my good looks.” He gives Jack a dark smile.
Jack rolls his eyes. “Not for your shining personality either.” Nathan pinches him, and he grimaces.
Nathan huffs, annoyed. “Someone has to keep order, and sometimes order means a firm hand.”
“And this is different from my job how?”
Nathan’s silent, and not smiling anymore. A small part of Jack is pleased.
“Talked yourself into a corner with that one, huh?” he says with a smile.
Nathan frowns. “Don’t think you’ve won just because you’ve managed to articulate a valid point.”
“I make points all the time!” Jack huffs.
Nathan smiles deviously at him, and Jack can just hear the retort he’s dying to make.
Jack groans, but leans back in to kiss Nathan lightly, a silent truce. Nathan kisses him back, hard, pulling them tight together again, consuming everything he can get his mouth on or around. He rolls on top of Jack, caging him in against the bed so tightly that can barely manage to put his arms around Nathan’s torso, sliding them up his back slowly as Nathan makes his way downward.
Nathan’s determined, and fuck, does it feel good. There are advantages to Nathan’s single-minded focus at times, his annoying ability to tune out everything but the task at hand. Especially when that focus keeps steadily moving downward until Nathan comes across the scar on Jack’s side, teeth practically gnashing at the raised flesh.
Jeez, he thinks. It’s like I got infected by those super spores again. He should have known that arguing would be a turn on to Nathan, but the fixation on his scars is something completely beyond what he expected. It’s almost as if Nathan’s attempting to remove them by consuming them- that he could make them disappear just by sheer will.
Jack doesn’t want to think about the bigger implications of that-and then, when Nathan moves even lower, he isn’t thinking about anything anymore.
Oh, fuck yes, is all he can manage as Nathan’s mouth curls deliciously around his hardening cock. Nathan’s sucking him down with a strength and voracity he didn’t even think Nathan had in him. It’s too much too fast, and Jack can’t think of anything but fuckfuckfuckfuck as his orgasm takes him by surprise a lot faster than he expected and curls his toes with its strength.
When he manages to open his eyes, he finds Nathan staring at him smugly, a self assured look that Jack recognizes instantly. From finding the right equation to blowing off the top of Jack’s head, Nathan’s always touting that smile when he’s done something he’s happy with.
Jack reaches for him, relatively sure that Nathan’s still hard and ready to go. He reaches over toward Nathan and Nathan edges away, sliding Jack’s hand back gently. He leans in and gives Jack a sloppy kiss as he adjusts his position on the bed, curling around Jack slightly while lying propped up on his side.
Nathan’s cock brushes against his leg, so he grabs it and strokes slowly. Nathan shudders and adds his hand, nudging Jack’s out of the way. Jack caves, and Nathan leans in and kisses him again as he strokes himself. Jack rests his hand on Nathan’s stomach, fingers splayed wide, dipping close to the base of his cock and stroking slowly. Nathan’s muscles twitch and contract under the movement.
He can feel Nathan’s abs tighten, knowing he’s about ready to blow, and he nips at Nathan’s lip. “Come on,” he mumbles, just loud enough for Nathan to hear. Nathan makes a rumbling sound and comes hard on top of Jack’s stomach, gasping breaths rattling in Jack’s ear.
Jack dimly realizes that by doing that, once again, Nathan just not-so-subtly marked Jack as his own. Part of Jack wants to get annoyed at the blatant possessiveness, but most of him is too blissed out to care that much, with the exception of the little part of him that kind of likes it. It’s nice to be something so precious to Nathan that he feels the need to declare it boldly to the world, given his usual secretive nature. It’s when he gets overbearing that the problems start up.
Nathan rolls over, half laying on top of Jack in a warm, boneless mass. “My Sheriff,” he mumbles, nuzzling against Jack’s face and kissing it softly as he gets his breath back. Jack strokes up and down Nathan’s back softly, leaning into him.
“Bossy Scientist,” he says with a light kiss to Nathan’s nose.
“Yours,” Nathan mumbles into his skin, and Jack’s pleasantly surprised as the contentment that filters through him at that simple word.
“Yeah,” he says softly back to Nathan as he settles in to join Nathan for a nap. He’d think about the bigger picture later.
Fin
8/09
Feedback always welcome.
Link to all of my stories
Title: Scars
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Jack and Nathan make a few discoveries about each other via marks of their past.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Property of SciFi/SyFy, Andrew Cosby and Jamie Paglia.
Pairing/Characters: Jack Carter/Nathan Stark
Warnings, etc: Essentially AU, assumes Season 3 & beyond never happened. Established relationship, but for an unknown amount of time. Written for rounds_of_kink with the prompt "Because if Nathan Stark has been living and working in Eureka for years, he's bound to have his fair share of them." and kink of 'scars'. It's not graphic at all, but some may consider it a kink.
A/N: Major appreciation for my beta serene_quill, who went over drafts twice despite RL getting in the way! She is made of awesome and win.
Jack sighs and shifts, turning over toward Nathan’s warm body, smiling at the low rumbling purr he gets in response.
Jack knows he relishes these lazy mornings more than he should, but he can’t help it anymore. He knows Zoe would wake him up if it was truly necessary- then again, so would the phone if GD exploded again. It’s just hard to not take the few minutes when he can since the town always seems to be coming apart at the seams every couple days.
Jack traces his fingers along the slightly raised hatching along Nathan’s elbow, surprised at the smoothness as well as its presence on his arm
“I never thought I’d see stuff like this,” Jack says, slowly feeling out the contours of the scar.
“What, did you not think you’d get this close or some disgustingly romantic thing like that?” Jack hears the smile in his voice. “Think we’ve gotten closer than that already a couple times.”
“No, I was thinking about those nanothingys, since they fix everything without a trace.”
Nathan rolls his eyes in typical fashion. “The nanoids do heal wounds, but we have other cellular regeneration techniques to do the same thing. And yes, I’ve used them before, but not every time.” Nathan gets quieter, somber. “Sometimes…. you need to remember, be reminded that every choice has consequences.” Jack watches his eyes quietly, sensing the sudden change in tone. Jack knows the feeling all too well, but doesn’t think he’d make the choice to purposefully leave scars as a reminder of his failures. They’d be an excuse to hate himself more for his failures.
“Plus, I wasn’t raised here, and as you well know, the rest of the world doesn’t have nanoids.”
“You weren’t raised here?” Jack’s a little surprised at this, although he’s not sure why. Maybe he expected Nathan to be raised here, leave, and then come back like Taggart’s weird mechano-geese.
“No. Nor contrary to popular belief was I hatched in an egg fully formed,” Nathan says with a smile and Jack rolls his eyes.
“It would have to be a really, really big egg,” Jack says with a smile, laughing when Nathan swats him on the ass with a frown.
“What’s this one?” Jack asks, fingers still toying with Nathan’s elbow. “Feels like road rash.”
“If you get to play 20 Questions, so do I.” Nathan’s expression is cross, but it’s also guarded.
Jack considers this for a moment. There’s plenty that he’s done in his life he doesn’t want dredged up again, but Nathan probably feels the same way. Give a little to get a little, he thinks.
“Fine.” Nathan smiles a little deviously and Jack begins to worry what exactly he’s gotten himself into.
“So?” he says, running a fingertip gently over the mess of hatch marks. Road rash, he’s almost sure, but how?
“Yeah, road rash. Bad crash on my bike during a race and I didn’t have the right equipment.”
“Bike? Race?” Jack’s heart starts to pound in his chest. “Unless you’re referring to a bicycle, you’re not letting Zoe near it. Ever. Or getting back on it yourself.” Deep breaths, he tells himself, gripping Nathan a little tighter. “Promise me.”
Sometimes the mere thought of the possibility of a collision is enough to get his adrenaline going, blurring his mind with panic for a few critical moments until he can calm himself down. Not the best thing for a town sheriff, where minor traffic accidents between absent-minded scientists are almost as common as the fights between them.
Nathan watches him with a strange expression and lays a comforting hand on the back of Jack’s neck. “Oh, she won’t. I’ll make sure of that.” The protective, lower pitch in Nathan’s voice comforts him. He’s pretty confident that Nathan’s looking out for her too, but the protective dad side of him always needs that extra reassurance. “If hair boy even entertains the idea, I’ll destroy it and him myself.” Nathan smiles deviously. Jack gives him a quick kiss.
Nathan’s expression turns neutral, and Jack doesn’t like this. “As for me, I make no promises, other than I haven’t entered a GP race in years.”
The fear sneaks into his chest again, and he scowls at Nathan. “The chances of you getting hurt or killed on motorcycles are way higher than in any other accident, except maybe working at GD. Doing both just makes it worse!” He doesn’t like those odds. Not at all. He squeezes himself tighter against Nathan.
“Did your brain hurt with that one?” Nathan smiles, teasing, and Jack frowns. “I don’t go that often- it seems it’s collecting more dust than miles nowadays. Besides, we’re in the best place on the planet for injury treatment if anything does happen.”
Jack frowns, looking away. He’s seen the result of accidents and can’t stop his mind from putting Nathan there instead, bloodied and broken on dark pavement. Nathan grabs his face and kisses him slowly and thoroughly, stroking up and down his back. Jack can feel himself relaxing into the embrace, tension leaving him as Nathan caresses him slow and possessive.
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, alright?” Nathan’s expression is soft but serious, all the layers of his expressions something Jack’s learning to figure out over time.
“Yeah, okay, I guess,” he mumbles, resting his head against Nathan’s shoulder, as Nathan pulls Jack in tighter against him.
Jack breathes a little easier as Nathan’s focus seems to shift to an old wound stretched across his shoulder blade.
“This?” Nathan rumbles quietly, fingers still slowly stroking along the jagged line.
“Ah, yeah, that one. Pissed off suspect with a beer bottle. He got the drop on me and got me pretty good. It never quite healed right.”
“Looks like someone didn’t do a good job of putting you back together.”
“More like I popped a couple stitches the next day. We were in the middle of bumfuck, Arizona, and I was needed the next day for the raid. Just never got around to getting them to stitch it back up.”
Nathan grunts in agreement. “That sounds like you, avoidance of all medical personnel at all costs. “
“I don’t…” he sighs and shifts. Another failure, another moment where he wasn’t prepared. “It’s no big deal, really, just a scar. My arm works just fine.”
Nathan trails a hand around front, and Jack arches into the touch.
“Other things do too,” Nathan says, giving him a gentle squeeze. Much to his surprise, Nathan stops there.
Jack curls back against Nathan’s solid form again, ignoring the part of his brain that tells him he’s breaking every guy rule there is. Guys aren’t supposed to be content to cuddle. Or even think of the word. And yet, he can’t bring himself to care. It feels too good right now.
His eyes focus on a thin little line splitting Nathan’s chin, faint between the dark hairs of his closely trimmed beard. He traces a finger across it gently, and Nathan tips up his chin, giving Jack room to scratch his fingers through the course hair.
“This one’s faint, must be old,” Jack says, continuing to slowly scratch through Nathan’s beard while he rumbles in contentment.
“I was 7, split my chin open on some rocks at the beach. I remember being most annoyed that my surfing weekend was over after that.”
Jack laughs. “You were 7 once?”
Nathan swats him again. “Shut it. No egg theory bull,” he grumbles, but there’s no menace behind it. “So were you.”
“Yeah, but I just can’t imagine a little version of you. Little Nathan Stark, plotting to take over the world as soon as he knew what a world was.” Jack can feel the grin splitting his face, but he can’t help it. “Were you always the bossy one?” Jack considers this for a moment. “I bet, considering how bossy Zoe was from an early age. I knew from about age 3 it was going to be her way or the highway with her. I can’t imagine you’d be any better.” He smiles as he remembers Zoe’s antics, always managing to get her way eventually.
“You’d be surprised then. I remember being told I had a stubborn streak sometimes, but most of the time I tried to focus on being normal, not the anomaly.” He doesn’t quite understand Nathan’s expression, but it’s not upset.
“So you waited until your size matched your ego to start throwing it around.” Jack grins, unrepentant.
Nathan growls. “You like it… Power and adrenaline turn you on, even if you don’t want to admit it.” Nathan pushes him away, pulling Jack onto his back and straddling him, kissing hard. And, of course, he reacts. Stupid body.
Nathan moves down to his neck, licking and biting slowly. Oh yeah… if this is losing…
He then notices that Nathan’s fixating on a small raised line toward the inside of his neck, licking and sucking. He lets a little noise of contentment escape.
“This better not be what I think it is,” Nathan says, voice lower than before.
“What do you think it is?”
“That some psycho had you by the neck with a knife, and got pretty close.” He can feel Nathan shiver slightly at the thought and wedges himself closer without consciously thinking about it.
“Well, you’re close enough. Hostage negotiation situation where I traded myself for civilians and got a knife blade to the neck for my troubles.”
Nathan shivers again and this time starts to lay into his neck, clearly intent on leaving a mark over the scar. Jack inhales sharply.
“Never again... Never….Mine…” Nathan mumbles this repeatedly, just barely loud enough for Jack to make it out. He tightens his hold around Jack, pinning them together as tight as humanly possible while still having access to his neck.
Jack’s not sure exactly where this sudden freak out of Nathan’s came from, since all of this happened long ago and they can’t change it now. What’s done is done. He can sympathize though, always wanting to be the one to keep Nathan safe from his idiotic scientists.
Jack strokes his hand through Nathan’s hair, letting him ride out whatever had overtaken him. “Are you done now?” He smiles softly, trying not to sound accusatory in any way.
Nathan grunts in response and pulls him tighter. Jack drops a kiss on the side of Nathan’s head, stroking him slowly. Neither of them does well with emotional stuff, much less want to talk about them, or even acknowledge them. It’s too messy.
Nathan sighs, still clearly unsettled. “Why does everything you do have to turn in to you defying death? Is there even a single scar on you that isn’t from some stupid criminal or GD experiment gone wrong?” Nathan huffs.
“A couple normal ones. Kitchen knives, power tools, slide bite as a rookie.” Jack shrugs. “It’s just how it is, how it’s always been. The danger’s there. I deal with it so everyone else is safe.”
“It shouldn’t have to be that way.” Nathan growls.
“It is.” Jack holds firm. Protecting people, his loved ones, is what he does. What he was meant to do.
“What happens when luck doesn’t go your way?” Nathan pushes away and looks into his eyes, all serious business and ruining the bliss.
Jack shrugs. “I don’t think about it. I just do what I know needs to be done.”
Nathan makes a noise of frustration and kisses him again.
“You’re just as dismissive of the risks you scientists take-hell, the ones we all take just living here.” There are things about this town, this job, that still bother him. Just the threat of danger by just living here has always been something that he can’t get out of the back of his mind. Especially with Zoe.
Nathan pushes him away slightly, and Jack tenses, ready for the argument to start. “Bull. They’re all extremely analyzed and weighed, and you know it. You have to help orchestrate half of the required ‘health and safety meetings’ anyway.”
Jack snorts. “Just about anything in GD, especially in Section 5, is more dangerous than anything I’d encounter if I was back with the Marshal’s service.” There are days he wishes for a simple B&E, or a gambling ring bust. Not robotic geese gone haywire, psychotropic pollen from mutant flowers making people go crazy, or high school science projects almost obliterating the west coast of the United States. Simple, normal criminals.
“Our science is sound. The potential benefits outweigh any associated risks.” Nathan’s frown is growing deeper, and Jack doesn’t like this at all.
“Same as mine. The safety of us all is dependent on law enforcement.”
Nathan sighs and shifts, moving slightly back towards him. “But I… it shouldn’t have to be you, your life.”
Jack sighs. “It’s just how it is, how it’s always going to be. Even here. Difference is that you have just about the same risk, and you’re not the one carrying a gun. You’re the one I should be worrying about.”
Exploding chemistry experiments, crazy scientists upset with their lack of funding, Fargo leaking another pheromone into the GD ventilation system… Nathan’s job is just as dangerous as his, and not because most of the time they’re walking into the same situations together.
Nathan’s eyes narrow as he grabs hold of him loosely. “I don’t need weapons, I can handle things on my own. Wasn’t made head of R&D for my good looks.” He gives Jack a dark smile.
Jack rolls his eyes. “Not for your shining personality either.” Nathan pinches him, and he grimaces.
Nathan huffs, annoyed. “Someone has to keep order, and sometimes order means a firm hand.”
“And this is different from my job how?”
Nathan’s silent, and not smiling anymore. A small part of Jack is pleased.
“Talked yourself into a corner with that one, huh?” he says with a smile.
Nathan frowns. “Don’t think you’ve won just because you’ve managed to articulate a valid point.”
“I make points all the time!” Jack huffs.
Nathan smiles deviously at him, and Jack can just hear the retort he’s dying to make.
Jack groans, but leans back in to kiss Nathan lightly, a silent truce. Nathan kisses him back, hard, pulling them tight together again, consuming everything he can get his mouth on or around. He rolls on top of Jack, caging him in against the bed so tightly that can barely manage to put his arms around Nathan’s torso, sliding them up his back slowly as Nathan makes his way downward.
Nathan’s determined, and fuck, does it feel good. There are advantages to Nathan’s single-minded focus at times, his annoying ability to tune out everything but the task at hand. Especially when that focus keeps steadily moving downward until Nathan comes across the scar on Jack’s side, teeth practically gnashing at the raised flesh.
Jeez, he thinks. It’s like I got infected by those super spores again. He should have known that arguing would be a turn on to Nathan, but the fixation on his scars is something completely beyond what he expected. It’s almost as if Nathan’s attempting to remove them by consuming them- that he could make them disappear just by sheer will.
Jack doesn’t want to think about the bigger implications of that-and then, when Nathan moves even lower, he isn’t thinking about anything anymore.
Oh, fuck yes, is all he can manage as Nathan’s mouth curls deliciously around his hardening cock. Nathan’s sucking him down with a strength and voracity he didn’t even think Nathan had in him. It’s too much too fast, and Jack can’t think of anything but fuckfuckfuckfuck as his orgasm takes him by surprise a lot faster than he expected and curls his toes with its strength.
When he manages to open his eyes, he finds Nathan staring at him smugly, a self assured look that Jack recognizes instantly. From finding the right equation to blowing off the top of Jack’s head, Nathan’s always touting that smile when he’s done something he’s happy with.
Jack reaches for him, relatively sure that Nathan’s still hard and ready to go. He reaches over toward Nathan and Nathan edges away, sliding Jack’s hand back gently. He leans in and gives Jack a sloppy kiss as he adjusts his position on the bed, curling around Jack slightly while lying propped up on his side.
Nathan’s cock brushes against his leg, so he grabs it and strokes slowly. Nathan shudders and adds his hand, nudging Jack’s out of the way. Jack caves, and Nathan leans in and kisses him again as he strokes himself. Jack rests his hand on Nathan’s stomach, fingers splayed wide, dipping close to the base of his cock and stroking slowly. Nathan’s muscles twitch and contract under the movement.
He can feel Nathan’s abs tighten, knowing he’s about ready to blow, and he nips at Nathan’s lip. “Come on,” he mumbles, just loud enough for Nathan to hear. Nathan makes a rumbling sound and comes hard on top of Jack’s stomach, gasping breaths rattling in Jack’s ear.
Jack dimly realizes that by doing that, once again, Nathan just not-so-subtly marked Jack as his own. Part of Jack wants to get annoyed at the blatant possessiveness, but most of him is too blissed out to care that much, with the exception of the little part of him that kind of likes it. It’s nice to be something so precious to Nathan that he feels the need to declare it boldly to the world, given his usual secretive nature. It’s when he gets overbearing that the problems start up.
Nathan rolls over, half laying on top of Jack in a warm, boneless mass. “My Sheriff,” he mumbles, nuzzling against Jack’s face and kissing it softly as he gets his breath back. Jack strokes up and down Nathan’s back softly, leaning into him.
“Bossy Scientist,” he says with a light kiss to Nathan’s nose.
“Yours,” Nathan mumbles into his skin, and Jack’s pleasantly surprised as the contentment that filters through him at that simple word.
“Yeah,” he says softly back to Nathan as he settles in to join Nathan for a nap. He’d think about the bigger picture later.
Fin
8/09
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