[ rough morning ]

[fanofthegenre]

[ after this ]

Beckett wakes to an empty side of the bed and a sledgehammer pounding on the inside of her skull.

Slowly, she eases to a sitting position, releasing a groan with the effort, and lifts a hand to her forehead while the other fishes around on the bedside table for that glass of water she clearly remembers being there.

Clumsy fingers unintentionally knock the cup over, the contents splashing onto the carpet as Beckett reels forward onto her feet with a wave of nausea and an "oh, God."

If anyone's looking for her, she'll be in the bathroom praying to the porcelain gods for the next couple minutes or so. After that, she looks in the mirror, sneering at her own reflection.

Comments

[fanofthegenre]

Beckett squares her jaw, biting the inside of her cheek, and glances away.

"No."

It's enough to threaten the rise of memories that are all too recent, and she crosses her arms over her chest.

[trigger_man]

As soon as he sees her expression change, he realizes he probably shouldn't brought it up. Probably should have realized that before he opened his big mouth.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it. I know you're probably not looking forward to that conversation."

[fanofthegenre]

"It's just - how do you tell someone that their wife was murdered on the orders of someone else?"

She has a feeling her dad is going to have about an easy a time taking the news as she did when she first heard it herself.

"I'm worried about him. After my mom died, he went to a really bad place for a while. I wasn't sure he would ever come out of it."

[trigger_man]

"I-- I don't know," he says, staring off into space for a moment. He certainly knows what it's like to hear it from someone else, though it hadn't been delivered with sympathy. His brother had been throwing his involvement in the deaths of Jack's friends in Jack's face at the time.

"How has he been, lately?" Jack asks. That falling apart is something he has experience with, too. Kim would probably be a better person to sympathize with Beckett in that regard, but then he doubts that Kim would want to talk about him to anyone.

[fanofthegenre]

"He's good. Better. A lot better, actually, which is why I'm so worried about breaking the news to him."

It took her father a long time to get sober again and stay sober. The fingers of one hand absently brush against his watch on her arm in thought, the other going to her mother's ring on the strand that dangles underneath her robe.

[trigger_man]

"It's going to be difficult, no matter what. But maybe this time he'll know how to handle it, if he's been able to work through things."

[fanofthegenre]

"Yeah," she says, twining the chain around her fingers.

"You're probably right."

[trigger_man]

"I guess...you just have to trust him, and be there for him if he doesn't deal with it well."

Not that he doesn't feel like a hypocrite telling her this, considering what he'd put Kim through after her mother died.

[fanofthegenre]

"Guess we'll just have to see what happens," she says, shifting her weight to her side.

"I'm glad you stayed."

[trigger_man]

Jack gives her a weak smile. "It was nothing," he says.

[fanofthegenre]

She smirks at the repetition of her earlier words, then slowly rises from the bed with every intention of showering. It'll make her feel a little better.

"Still."

[trigger_man]

"If you're that grateful, you can buy me breakfast."

[fanofthegenre]

That earns him a grin.

"Tell you what. I'll shower, and then you can order up as much gratitude out of me as you'd like."

[trigger_man]

He smiles back. "Sounds good to me."