First Impressions
Title: First Impressions
Rating: PG
Characters: Jack, Kate, Charlie
Summary: Set during Pilot Part II, the original A-team head back to camp with the transceiver and muse on their new counterparts. Won third place in charliepacefic challenge #1: the original A-team and Best Gen Fic at lost_fic_awards, March 2008
Disclaimer: I don’t deign to own Jack or Kate but I certainly think I can lay some claim to Charlie after all these years of ficcing him =P
Authors Note: there is a sequel to this to come that is set in TTLG.
~*~
There’s something desperate in both of his companion’s eyes that Jack finds more than a little unsettling. They’re both searching for something - and he’s not really sure that either of them really wanted to be out here to try to find the cockpit at all, or if they were just using it as an excuse for their own means.
Kate seems to be a sturdy character, incredibly focussed on whatever task is at hand. If somebody asks her to do something then she jumps into it, no questions asked. Until of course she realises that she doesn’t really know what she’s doing and then she has to be brought back down to earth before she begins to panic.
He admires her courage - it’s not every person who would insist so vehemently on going on a hike through this jungle after hearing the noises that they did last night. It’s also not every girl who would sew up the shallow gash on his back without being ill. As long as she has something to focus on, to work on, she seems content to stand still - at least for a while. If there wasn’t something to hold her attention however he’s certain that she would turn and run the other way.
Charlie is just as flighty as Kate but not in the same way. Where she can focus, he seems constantly distracted. He keeps staring off into space or muttering to himself about this, that or the other. He twitches too, almost constantly, and Jack wonders if he has tourettes, a collection of nervous tics or a more serious problem that has yet to reveal himself.
Jack’s been finding himself mainly ignoring Charlie’s comments and humorous insights - not because he doesn’t like Charlie or his sense of humour, he’s just too focussed and grim at the moment to allow himself to start laughing or he’ll go hysterical and never stop. He’s glad for the small reprieve from all the doom and gloom talk of the past twenty four hours though. There’s something endearing about the clumsiness and youthful naïveté of the man and despite himself Jack finds himself smiling a little as Charlie rambles aloud about the rain and the monster and why it’s so bloody hot and humid here.
“We’ll be back at the beach soon,” he calls over his shoulder, checking the transceiver again automatically as he speaks. “Hopefully there’ll be someone there who has experience with electronic stuff who can help us.”
“Are we gonna tell them about the pilot?” Kate calls back, wondering, and Jack answers her instantly.
“No,” he says simply. “We don’t want to make them any more worried about that...thing than they already are.”
“Well I think we should tell them,” Charlie says matter-of-factly. He’s lagging behind Jack and Kate, tripping over roots and fallen branches, hissing obscenities under his breath with every stumble he makes. “What if somebody goes into the jungle to take a leak and gets eaten? Then it’ll be on our heads and…”
“They’ll hear it coming,” Jack points out and Charlie falls silent for a moment before beginning to mutter a lengthy diatribe about his clothes being too wet.
Kate, he thinks, will last better than Charlie here. She seems almost eager for a rough and ready lifestyle -and if her arms are as strong as they look (she’s got very impressive deltoids for a woman) then she’s going to be able to protect herself, that’s for sure. Charlie on the other hand is thin and pale, prone to complaining. He’s probably never even gone camping before Jack muses.
Not that he himself ever did much camping or fishing when he was a kid (his father didn’t really go in for the whole father-son bonding thing) but he’s had a gym membership, on and off, for a fair few years now. Charlie probably wouldn’t know a dumbbell from a barbell - even if it fell on his foot.
Jack has to pause himself then and stop himself from smiling at the mental picture he suddenly has of Charlie standing in the corner of a gym in his ripped jeans, eyeing the usual bodybuilding meatheads with incredulity. He just wouldn’t fit in there - and he doesn’t really look like he’ll fit into this environment either.
“Bollocks!”
Jack turns quickly, alarmed at the tone in his voice but Charlie has only tripped again and is busily picking himself up from the damp ground.
“You okay?” Kate asks, reaching out a hand to help pull him to his feet again but Charlie just smiles grimly at her and ignores her help with as much dignity as he can muster.
“I’m fine but thank you for expressing your concern for my wellbeing,” he wipes his hands clean on his jeans as they continue on. “I’m just more used to footpaths than overgrown jungle tracks is all.”
“Try picking your feet up when you walk,” Jack suggests.
Charlie snorts at this. “Yeah because my legs aren’t sore enough already. If I try to pick my feet up they might just drop off…”
Jack tunes out a little, letting Charlie’s complaints wash over him but not permeate his thoughts fully. He’s a little worried about him to be honest - after what the pilot said, they could be here a while yet and Jack doesn’t know how they can possibly survive unless they all look out for each other.
He’ll have to keep a particularly close eye on Charlie while they’re here, to make sure that the younger man is taking proper care of himself. The last thing he needs is another dead body on his hands - especially if it can be prevented.
Kate, he thinks, can take care of herself.
~*~
She hasn’t felt a connection this strong with another person for a very long time. Kate doesn’t let herself get close to anyone anymore - or them to her for that matter. Which is why she’s so amazed when she realises that she feels strangely comfortable in the company of Jack and Charlie both.
She surprised even herself when she told Jack her real name and not one of her many aliases. Maybe it’s because she’s anonymous here - nobody has to know what she did, wipe the slate clean. Maybe it’s because she trusts him not to judge her even if he did know. Maybe it’s just that there’s something in his eyes that makes her feel safe, even in a place like this where anything could be lurking in the dark.
She’s amazed at his genuine lack of fear - not borne out of any sort of recklessness but rather the knowledge that it’s possible to rise above your fear for the pursuit of something worthwhile. It reminds her a little of her father, of Sam. She’s finding herself more drawn to Jack the longer she spends with him, drawn towards the strength he exudes. It makes her feel stronger too, like his courage is rubbing off onto her.
Charlie is the complete polar opposite to Jack - and not just in his personality. He’s short and slight and blonde and scruffy and Kate keeps having this absurd desire to sling an arm around his shoulder and ruffle his hair. If she’d had a brother, she’d have wanted them to be like him. Despite his overlying sarcasm she can see that he means well, that he loves to make people smile. He seems eager to prove himself too, almost over eager. He’s perfected the hangdog expression with those big blue eyes he’s got - and he seems to get genuinely offended when he’s ignored or forgotten.
He’s certainly a welcome breath of fresh air after the serious manner of the plane crash and the terrible loss of life. Kate has a feeling that they’re going to need somebody to keep them smiling whilst they’re here. The fact that he always seems to have a funny story, a joke to tell, an impersonation of someone to ham up just because he can...well he’s the obvious candidate to add a bit of lightness to the world.
“Hey Kate,” he calls out as they struggle back to the beach from the cockpit. She jumps in surprise at the sound of him saying her name. He’s been muttering to himself for awhile about how sore his legs are and the sudden address startles her out of her thoughts. “Did you ever hear the one about the American and the Englishman who walk into a bar together?”
“I’m Canadian actually,” she says vaguely and then has to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing at the crestfallen expression on his face.
“Well it’s just not as funny now,” Charlie pouts unhappily but then his face sets determinedly and he picks his pace up to a trot so he can yell out to Jack who is striding ahead of them both, transceiver in hand. “Hey - hey Jack! You’re American right?”
Jack glances back at him with a bemused expression on his face. “Yeah…”
Charlie grins evilly then, and Kate almost expects him to rub his hands together gleefully as he hisses a triumphant, “Excellent!” under his breath.
She laughs a little and shakes her head at him as he embarks upon the joke, gesticulating enthusiastically with his hands as he talks his way through to the punch line. She’s pretty sure that Jack isn’t going to laugh. After his befuddlement with Charlie’s singing earlier when he was talking about his band, she’s not entirely sure that the two of them have really gelled all that well. Maybe they’re just a little bit too different?
To her intense surprise however, the doctor actually manages a grin and a small chuckle at the terrible joke. Charlie seems encouraged by this and he starts chatting away, Jack listening intently and even smiling every so often. Kate lags behind, watching them both interestedly. It’s an odd match, the dashingly heroic doctor and the skinny little rock star, but strangely enough they finally seem to be bonding now.
With a quirk of her lips that could almost be a smile, she feels what might just be a fond sort of affection for them both.
She’s glad to have found friends here.
~*~
Charlie feels incredibly displaced here, tromping out and about in the jungle like he’s some sort of Scout or Cub or Guide or…something. He’s never really been one for the great outdoors - he spent most of his early childhood inside avoiding bullies and playing his piano. It’s half the reason he’s so bloody skinny - even now at twenty five.
Jack is definitely an outdoorsy type of person. Well…at least comparatively. The man practically looks like a tank next to Charlie - he’s got decent sized arms and a solid build. If Charlie is completely honest with himself, Jack could probably just sit on him and break him. Under normal circumstances this might make Charlie a little bit nervous, but aside from the uptight vibes he’s getting from the good doctor he can also sense that the guy is at least genuine.
He seems to be taking all of this in his stride - from the plane crash to the monster to…well everything really. Charlie remembers seeing Jack ducking around looking after people just after the crash, tending to the wounded and the ones in shock like an old pro. Charlie wonders what it’s like to be so in control, to be so utterly calm. He’s certain that if he sits down for too long and starts to think, really think about the levity of the situation then he’ll end up a hysterical babbling mess. He’s doing his best to hold any or all panic attacks in at the moment though - he doesn’t want to be remembered by these people as ‘the hysterical Brit’. How bloody undignified would that be?
Kate is taking all of this in her stride too. She looks like the heroine out of an adventure story - or maybe a buffer, brunette version of the Palaeontologist chick from Jurassic Park…except Charlie is pretty sure that Kate doesn’t care much about dinosaur fossils. She’s got massive biceps for a girl (his eyes nearly fell out of his head when she took off the button down shirt she’d been wearing over her singlet top and wrapped it around her waist) and she’s certainly keeping up easily with Jack’s longer legs quite easily in her big clompy hiking boots while Charlie is practically half-jogging to keep up, tripping over everything.
If she didn’t have the long curly hair and the pert nose she could easily be passed off as butch. For now he’s thinking tomboy - but a hot tomboy at that. And really, he’s not exactly manly with his severe lack of height and penchant for nail polish. They balance each other out quite well. The fact that she knows DriveShaft is just a huge added bonus.
Kate seems to like him - she’s laughing at his stupid jokes in any case - and he’s pleased to find that he can still charm someone should the occasion call for it. It’s been a long while since he’s flirted properly but here there are loads of girls - and all of them absolute stunners! So far he’s spoken to Claire (the gorgeous pregnant girl), the leggy blonde who offered him her sunscreen this morning on the beach (Shannon?) and now Kate, who has come to walk beside him and has taken over his conversation with Jack.
“What do you think the odds are that they’ll be able to find us when we’re so far off course?” she asks presently and Jack shrugs grimly.
“I don’t know Kate. For now we should just concentrate on getting this transceiver working again and then we’ll try to contact whoever we can.”
“Maybe it just needs new batteries?” Charlie suggests, nearly getting smacked in the face by a low hanging branch that the other two had already dodged automatically. “Bollocks! I mean, have you tried just taking the battery out and then sticking it back in again?”
“I’m a spinal surgeon,” Jack points out. “Not an electrician. Knowing my luck I’d probably just break it.”
“I highly doubt that,” Kate raises an eyebrow. “People are a lot more sophisticated than machines…”
“I used to have to do some minor repair work on the amps and stuff for the band,” Charlie interrupts thoughtfully. “Maybe I can try…?”
“Just be careful,” Jack warns and reluctantly hands it over to him. “It’s already not working properly...”
“Don’t worry,” Charlie says cheerfully, turning the transceiver over in his hands and beginning to press on the back panel to try and open it up. “If I can just find the…houha!”
“Careful!” Jack bursts out as Charlie catches the toe of his shoe on an exposed root and stumbles forwards, nearly losing his grip on the transceiver in his shock. All three of them drew in a sharp breath and then Jack held his hand out wordlessly for the phone.
“Maybe Jack should carry it,” Kate said nervously and Charlie relinquished his hold on it with a frustrated sigh.
Nobody really trusted him to take care of things properly. He couldn’t really blame Jack for being so protective of the bloody radio thing but it was still nettling to have it taken off him - like he was just some naughty kid who had deliberately tried to break it.
Charlie dropped back a little and allowed Jack and Kate to converge. They continued on in silence for awhile, Charlie simmering quietly on his own self loathing. He was going to have to prove to those two somehow that he wasn’t completely useless. The next hike that was organised, he’d show them both.
“We’re nearly there,” Jack said suddenly and Charlie was startled out of his thoughts. “The beach should be just through those trees…”
Charlie struggled to catch up to them until he was walking next to Kate and then together, the three of them pressed forward into the jungle, back to the beach.