literature

The Tempering Outline..Part two

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He eases out of the bushes as he pushes against the small of his back with one hand. The trek over has aggravated it, and it's a very sore Jake that now steals uneasily out in the open.

Scoping out a likely escape route, he nears her porch, and is then stopped short by a sudden commotion up over his head.
Several birds are now frantically swooping below a birdhouse set in a tree, chattering in a panic. Figuring theyre just fighting over the seed, he's about to move on, when, he sees a small form fluttering on the ground, attempting to fly. Two larger birds, the parents no doubt, were in a complete tizzy.

Jake watched and saw how young the baby was. He'd have no chance if left alone, knowing the creatures that stalked through the grounds, especially in the early morning hours.

He had to do something.

Glancing again quickly at Holly's cottage, and seeing no sign of life, he went as quickly as he could over to the little bird, and stooped down, hitching his back in the process, and with some effort he stood again with difficulty, the little bird now safely in his hands.

The parent birds are now going ballistic, swooping and pecking at his head and shoulders. He didn't fend them off, only dodging, as his back would allow.

Reaching up slowly, he's just tall enough to place one hand under birdhouse and nudge the little bird gently in with the other.

The parent birds still dive and swoop as backs away, not satisfied till he's made it to the far end of the cottage.
He waits a moment, as a pleased look settles on his face as he watches the little one settle back in, then makes his way to the front steps.

Unbeknownst to him, the ruckus from the birds had woken Holly early on, and, at first is extremely distressed to see him so close, wondering why he was there. Knowing her saved her, but, still, seeing a 6 foot monstrous creature approaching your place of residence, is still unnerving. But, then, she watches as the tender scene with the bird's plays out, and she's genuinely touched when she sees the concerned expression on its face melt into pleased relief as the baby stepped off his hand to flutter back into his nest.

Then it turned toward her cottage, and she ducked away from her window, having NO idea what it was up to, but sure it wouldn't be there to hurt her,  but very curious nonetheless. Her reporter instincts kicking, she rushes for her camera, intent on getting some pictures, kicking her self for not acting sooner and getting sucked up into the sweet little scene. There was no time for such sentimentality when solid proof of the creature was right there!!

She rushes to the kitchen, and poises the camera out the window and waits…She knows she saw him heading in this direction, but where was he?

A sudden sound at from the porch makes her jump, and she whirls around to see through the door window his figure stooping, then standing painfully. He had somehow snuck around to the front of the house without her seeing.
She curses her bad luck as she dives silently behind the cabinet, and waits, praying he didn't see her.

He stands there a moment, regarding the door thoughtfully, he then turns to leave…a sad look clearly in his expression as his shoulders hunched and it trudged down the two steps dejectedly.

Holly sat breathlessly, as she listened to his steps fall away, then rushed to the window, but he was already gone.

Turning to race to the back windows, a glint of something shiny catches her eyes as the first rays of morning sun peaks through the trees.

She stops, and double takes. It looks like a bracelet.

She reaches to her wrist, and realizes her bracelet is gone, and she knows it wasn't there the night before, having crossed those steps many times before retiring to bed, she knows she would have seen it.

She rushes outside, snatching the bracelet as she runs down stairs, hoping to intercept the creature, but as she rounds the edge of the house, she finds nothing. Hes seemingly just disappeared.

She stands in bewilderment as she stares down at the bracelet in her hand as the realization that he had brought it back to her hits her.
He hadn't been snooping, or stealing. He knew to return something sentimental, and the pang of guilt welled up in her again. This was obviously an intelligent, feeling creature…but..CREATURE it was…even dogs showed sentimentality at times…

Angry now, she stuffed the bracelet in her pajama pants pocket, and ran to the front of the house.

STILL nothing to be seen. She stomps in a huff, about to turn back to the house, when she does another double take.

There, in the field that leads from her cottage to the surrounding jungle, in full glaring view, is a clear cut path thru the tall grass. The morning dew still lay heavy on everything, and, with the sun hitting it in such a way, she could see the path the creature had taken to and from her cottage.

Seeing the camera still around her neck, she throws caution to the wind, and still in her pajamas, she takes off down the path, slowly at first, then with earnestness, knowing she'd lose the trail once the sun came full up and burned off all the dew.

As she picks out the trail, she is amazed that something that was obviously hurt could get away so quickly.

She follows the short trail til it meets up with the dense jungle.

She cries out in frustration under her breath, seeing how dense the jungle is. Shes never going to find him now!

She then hears a sound like a muffled cry of pain, and she turns towards the sound and gasps as she ducks behind a tree.
There, not 50 or so feet up a meandering trail is the creature, leaning against a tree. Hes holding his lower back with both hands, and his face is a mask of pain. He has not seen her.

Holly holds her breathe, and watches. This is her chance to see where he goes. She lays low and waits.

Jake is in more pain than he had anticipated. It hadn't felt too bad when he woke up, but now, it just plain hurt, and it was going to take all he had to get back to the cave.

He breathes a sigh of relief as he looks down the trail though. At least he got away with it, and saved a little bird to boot. In spite of his pain, he smiles, feeling pleased and strangely at ease. For once he gave something back, and didn't steal, and in the process, he hopes, it will give her some joy to have it back, even though he doesn't think she knows who returned it. It also had been wonderful to hold something that was hers. Even though he knows NOTHING about her, theres just something about her looks, and her demeanor that are sending him through the roof with emotions.

So…he limps home, all unknowing that Holly is silently following him, and she sees where he enters the cave. She waits a few moments, and then slinks back to her cottage, planning to return later that day, with full investigative gear. Kindly creature or not, shes not giving up this opportunity, and plans to go to any length to get this story, if it means befriending it somehow, to gain its trust.

But first, she has to make contact with it, and she reasons if its in pain, she can offer it succor. She grabs her med kit along with her other supplies..and heads back towards its lair a few hours later..grimly determined to not let it get away this time.

At first, shes not sure what to do, but shes fairly certain it wont hurt her, so, she decides to go thru the way she saw it enter.

Expecting anything, its almost a let down to not find him right off. She was hoping hed be in such pain, the medical supplies she offered would instantly gain his trust.

But, he was nowhere to be seen. She begins to explore, and finds various items of interest. A pile of semi neatly stacked shorts, a bare mattress with blankets strewn upon it, a few odds and ends placed in the crevices of rocks, shiny, things of interest, and definitely not placed at random.

Something else catches her eye in the glint of her flashlight, just under the mattress. She goes to investigate, and pulls out a triangular piece of smooth metal, but before she can read the lettering, she hears a sound behind her. She drops it as she whirls around.

There before her, is the creature. Hes standing with a look of bewildered terror on his face, before he reacts.

He at first he is stunned to just see her, then, he is mortified that she is seeing how he is living in practical squalor, then sudden anger takes over. Hes still in a lot of pain, having gone out to find something to eat, he was angry that his reserves were low, and being the end of the season, he might have to steal more food to get by, so, going out and searching for some had hurt. He had ripped the shorts he was in, and that would mean stealing another pair soon, and, the turmoil he was in over her rushed to the surface, and as anger does, he reacted angrily towards her, yelling hoarsely, "WHY are you IN HERE??" as he rushed towards her.
He suddenly felt betrayed. He hadn't going into HER house, he wouldn't dream of it. What then gave her the right to go into his?

She backed violently away from him, coming up against the wall hard, sudden fear etching her face, thinking he was rushing at her to hurt her. Seems she had misjudged him, and would now pay the price.

But, he never touched her. He only went over to the corner where his bed was, and began attempting to tidy things up, but making more of a mess in his haste.

In frustration, he turns to her again, and despondently asks, "What…what,,WHAT do you want?"

His back cinches again, and he closes his eyes and grits his teeth against it, expecting to hear her run for the exit.

But nothing. He looks back up to her, and sees her staring in disbelief.

He edges back away from her, and sits painfully, still watching her as he asks dejectedly, "WHAT??"

Holly stares a moment longer, before she asks in amazement, "YOU can talk?"


Jake looks away in embarrassment as he mumbles, "Of course I can….what did you expect?" The realizing, really, what was she to expect? She had no reason to think a monster could talk

The rest of the sentence trailing off as he grunts from another wave of pain.

Holly then remembers her med kit, and, girding all her courage, slides to the floor and kneels, pulling open the bag and showing it to him.

"I..when…you saved me…I…I saw you got hurt…I wanted to thank you..and..to help.."

She looked to him in what she hoped was a compassionate expression. She really did want to help him, he had saved her life after all, but, still, there was that gleam of investigative reporter in her, and this was the perfect way to get into his life.

Jake peered into the bag she offered, then looked tentatively into her eyes, and saw no ulterior motives in them, or so he hoped. He was so in need of any type of human interaction, and the pain was such, that, he was ready to give in and let her help him, whatever the costs, even if it was a trap. He suddenly realized he was tired of all this fighting and hiding, and if this was the beginning of the end, then so be it.

He sighed heavily and looked to her again, asking thru gritted teeth, "You're not afraid of me? Everyone else is."

She smiled her bravest smile as she scootched a bit closer to him, "I am…a little, but.." She looked again into those blue green eyes, and her heart leapt, their humanness was uncanny. She felt a bit braver as she finished, "I don't think you'll hurt me….most times you don't go to such great lengths to save someone, if youre just planning on eating them for later…would have been easier to just let me fall, and let gravity to its job, if that had been the case." She cast a rougish glance to him and smiled, surprised at herself, but actually feeling comfortable joking like that with him.
Jake felt a grin tug at the corners of his mouth and a slight chuckle sounded in his throat, and he was amazed at the flood of emotions that suddenly surged forth. How long had it been since he had actually laughed? Or had felt happy? He couldn't recall, probably back before Elsbeth thrust him here.

He surprised himself by responding, "Heh..yah..letting you fall would have helped with the tenderizing.." as he in return responded with a gleam in his eyes.

She stared in incomprehension, before she suddenly realized he had responded with a return joke, and a snarky one at that. Not only was this creature intelligent, but, it seemed to have a sense of humor. This simple cut and dry investigation was becoming very interesting indeed.

She was about to answer in turn, when the creature suddenly winced sharply in pain, its laughter seeming to cause it great pain.

She reached for the bag as she inched closer on her knees, "Here, let's see what we have here..where does it hurt the most?'

Jake hesitates at first, still of the mind that he can deal with everything himself then gives in and allows her to help, gesturing to the small of his back.

She eases closer, still a bit terrified, but, knowing this is her one chance to earn its trust completely.

He allows her to touch him, feeling along his back until he winces. Shes surprised how warm his skin is, expecting it to be cold like a reptiles. She suspects hes pulled a muscle, as, she cant see any outward appearance of his back that would make her suspect otherwise, but, not being a doctor, she hopes he hasn't hurt himself more. All she has are some muscle relaxers and heat pads, they'll have to do.

She offers them to him, and, at first he hesitates at the pills, not sure what type reaction he will have, but, when another wave of pain hits, he figures he cant be any worse, and takes them, feeling relief almost instantly. He sank back slowly against the wall as he looked to her, feeling subconscious of her eyes on him, only imagining what she could possibly be thinking of him?
She only smiled and asked if he felt better. Jake nodded sleepily in affirmation, as the pain subsided into a warm glow in the small of his back. The pills must have been of some high caliber stuff, because he was soon barely conscious of her questions.
Holly, realizing what was happening, watched him fall into something that appeared to be a comfortable doze. Asking if she could come back, Jake nods drowsily, and after making sure all was well, she finds a blanket and covers him with it. And leaves..a plan forming in her mind to completely ingratiate herself to this creature, and win it completely. Even with these coniving thoughts in her mind, she cant help but feel a bit sorry for it.

((OK…gonna leave off the extreme details, and just give the basic outline…iffens ya don't mind :P ))

So…will be playing out the details of Jake and Holly's developing friendship in RP.

But, the long and short of it¸is.,..Holly goes into this fully intending to "befriend" this creature, earn its trust, and get her story.
She doesn't EVER anticipate finding him extremely interesting, and actually finds herself enjoying getting to know him, and eventually gives up on the idea of reporting on him completely, putting away her journals and recordings, and just allowing herself to have fun with all this, not thinking of any consequences yet.
Jake of course is just overjoyed to have someone take interest in him, and not be afraid of him, and he begins to feel more and more like his old self in attitude and personality.

He worries though, because he can feel himself falling for her, and he knows theres NOTHING he can do about it or any way for him to show his feelings to her, but he feels so good around her, that he pushes the worries away.

Along with this, God has started to whisper in his ear again, quietly at first, then louder. He wants to push that away also, still thinking he doesn't deserve God to care for him anymore..but, in he and Holly's talks, spirituality is brought up, and she and Jake have many conversations about their beliefs, Holly realizing her failing faith thru these, she actually tries to encourage Jake. In a round about way, hes allocated to his faith, but never telling her hes human, but, many aliens have faith in the all encompassing God, so, its not so far fetched to hear from Jake was hes believed in. But, some things don't add up. Jake says conflicting things about his childhood, or about where hes from, and her suspicions are up, but not enough to not trust him. She just figures hes stuck here for a reason, and hes not ready to share why yet.

So, Hollys long lost faith begins to surface again..with Jake still not thinking he deserves Gods grace anymore, but wishing he cold have it back, and Hollys coming to realize all shes given up, she finds new faith, along with the knowledge that she CANNOT report on Jake, theres too much of Jake she likes, and disturbingly, she finds her self falling for him, but not realizing it.

Her time is almost up on the planet, and shes more worried now about leaving him then not having the story, She has no idea why shes suddenly so willing to give up this prime story to not hurt this creature, but everyday she finds herself liking him more and more, to the point where she goes out of her way to see him and visit him, and Jake takes her on many a sight seeing trek. On one occasion, theres a terrible storm that catches them far up on a mountain side. They are forced to take shelter in an rock over hang, but it doesn't quite protect them completely, and Jake pulls her to him in a desperate embrace as he wraps his wings around her, protecting her from the sudden onslaught of heavy hail and wind. Holly clings desperately back, both of them completely terrified.
Jake takes a terrific beating from the storm, but he endures it all for her, knowing shes safe wrapped in his wings, the pain nothing to him.

The storm finally abates; both are exhausted, and very confused. Jake knows now how much he loves her, theres no more denying it. Holly is awash with emotions she doesn't understand. She feels so safe with him, so comforted. What is going on with her? Hearing his heartbeat brings her almost to tears, such are her feelings towards him.

Its so dark, and with the wind still blowing around them, they stay wrapped in each others arms, and Holly eventually falls into a fretful sleep, and Jake spends a tortured night wishing he could act on his emotions, but knowing its impossible.

He takes this as a gift, and takes it for what he perceives it to be. At least he"ll have warm memories to keep him when she leaves, a thing he does NOT want to think about now.

So, they go on like this for the few weeks Holly is there, being there, enjoying each others company, with Jake falling harder and harder for her, and Holly doing the same, but not realizing what these feelings are.

((Some story add ins as the story is written. One instance Jake gets a hold of Hollys phone, and calls his mother, just to hear her voice, very emotional outcome on that one. ))

The end of the story comes about with Jake suggesting a special early morning trek into the mountains, he wants to show her the sun rising from a certain point, and is most excited about it all.
Holly awakens, and goes to the meeting place, only to not have Jake show up.

Long minutes go by, and Holly begins to suspect hes overslept. So, taking a bucket, she proceeds to his lair, intending to "wake" him with a nice dunking, but finds poor Jake hunkered far into darkest part of his cave, in excruciating pain from a blinding headache.

She rushes to him, asking whats wrong. He can only give a brief response, enough to let her know whats hurting. Theres nothing she can do for him to alleviate the pain, so, she opts to stay with him and comfort him, her hand on his back and her soft voice, telling stories and talking gently to him is more comfort than she could ever know.
The pain finally abates some, and she helps him lie down, and he falls asleep. She doesn't leave. She stays to keep an eye on him, wondering on all that's happened so far as the night draws in. She listens to his breathing go from unsteady and erratic, to deep and rhythmic.

She sits with him awhile, getting tired herself, but not wanting to leave him. She begins to doze, and thinks to dim the lights. Reaching for one, she sees a glint from under his mattress..and pulls it out, remembering she had seen this before, but now she has time to read it.

It appears to be some sort of military badge, but one she wasn't completely familiar with. She reads the words "Hope, Faith and Honor" on the front, and then turns it over to read…Commander Jacob William McCormick.

The name rings a bell..but she not sure why. This time she slips the badge into her pocket, feeling guilty, but, her reporting radar is sounding loudly, and something tells her to investigate this a bit further, pulling out electronic journal..and doing a little investigative work…finding out lots on this Commander,  and she begins to wonder how Jake would have come into owner ship of this badge.

Reading on, she vaguely remembers hearing about someone by that name disappearing a year or so ago, and for a moment she wonders if Jake had anything to do with his disappearance, but she pushes the idea away.

He couldn't be capable of something like that.

But, perhaps that's why hes been so cryptic and avoiding her answers about his past, and why he was here.

She fully intends to find out why, but right now shes more worried about the state he is in, and sits with him throughout the night.
He awakens to find her still there, and is genuinely touched. Watching her sleep, he reaches for her, hand poised to touch the hair that is shining in the soft early morning light, but he restrains himself, and is filled with a sorrowful yearning. If only he could let her know how he feels. He toys with the idea she might like him as he does her, but banishes the thought. How foolish.

She soon wakens, and after some small talk and queries to how hes feeling, Jake promises to make it up to her, and take her the next morning. Holly agrees, and leaves him to sleep. His headaches wipe him out for the day after usually, but it is with much excitement that he wakes up and finds her ready and waiting outside the cave at the allotted time.

She has spent most of the night reading up on this Jake McCormick and the Crusade, and as far as she can tell, there's no evidence to suggest "Hurley" had anything to do with this, yet, he was in possession of the badge, and the Commander was still missing, assumed dead by now among some. Perhaps he knew something as to his disappearance, give her some leads, but then, how to ask, he would know she stole the badge. If he had anything to do with it..it might anger him to know she was on to him..yet..she couldn't believe this gentle giant had a cruel bone in its body, but, she couldn't sit on this forever. Her reporter instincts were screaming at her, but, not in a dangerous sense. She figured shed let it go for now, and bring it up…maybe in a casual way. As for now, she was actually looking forward to this little excursion. Being with "Hurley" was fun, and she found herself growing fonder of him every day.

So, they proceed to Jakes "special" spot, a place high on a hill that over looks a deep valley. Jake is beside himself with happiness, he feels different today, almost normal, as their conversation while headed here felt so natural.

He sits her down on a rock by a tree, and points to an area far off in the distance, and tells her to watch there.
Crouching by her, he alternately watches the point hes shown her and her face.

Holly watches intently, as at first all she can see is a suggestion of a glow. Then, from one second to the next, the sun pushes up along the horizon.

She gasps at the utterly amazing sight, completely enthralled.

Jake gazes at her lovely face in and revels at her reaction. She looks down to him, exclaiming her awe at the beauty of the sun as it spreads along the valley floor.

Jake is filled love for her, and for a moment, he totally forgets what he is. He reaches down for a flower by his feet, and at her announcement at how lovely the sunrise is, he responds with "Heres another lovely thing, for a lovely girl."

Shes taken slightly aback by this, but allows him to reach for her, as he makes to put the flower behind her ear. They both gaze into eachothers eyes, and Jake sees something in hers, that flames his feelings for her, overcoming him for a moment, but he blinks bashfully, as he smiles crookedly at her.

The flower still in his hand, he attempts to place it behind her ear, but, hes clumsy, and hurts her as the claws on his hand graze the back of her ear.

She cries out in pain, and pulls away, the moment destroyed.

Jake pulls back in embarrassment and loathing of himself, as he realizes what he is again. He fumbles with an apology, and is mortified to see hes drawn blood.

Completely drawing into himself, he lets the flower drop, as he mumbles, "I'm so sorry…I…"And Holly returns with "its ok ..you didn't mean it,,Im ok..really, see, its just a little scratch..no harm done."
She reaches for him, smiling a bit but Jake is sickened that he was capable of that and pulls away, saying in a horrified voice, "Its not ok..I hurt you…I never would do that…"

Looking down at his hands, he balls them up angrily, as he turns away from her, saying in a whisper, "Cmon, Ill take you home…" Holly hesitates, a whirlwind of emotions swirling in her. She picks up the flower and cradles it carefully as she follows him.

The walk is nothing like the joyful one headed there. Jake is quiet and dejected, and after Hollys few attempts at conversation, she gives up.

He leaves her at her cabin. She tries to thank him. Jake only nods with a pained expression as he says dejectedly, "Well..Ill see ya latah.." as he waves in a noncommittal way.

She watches him go, he heart tearing at her to see him so upset..

Going into the cabin, her eyes light on the badge she left on her bedside table. And in a sudden fury of emotions, she resolves to get to the bottom of what this creature is, and what is affectind her badly about him.
Curiosity getting the better of her, she resigns herself to finding out just what is going on here. Theres too many unanswered questions with this creature, to many cryptic answers to her questions, to many holes in his stories, to much humanness in the way he is….doing this will block out the confusing feelings shes having for him, and she pushes them away and delves into this with all her might.

She never sleeps that night as she pores over every bit of info she can find on this Commander, and in the morning, she fully intends to confront him, if only to ask how he came about the badge. But, she hesitates.

Perhaps he is hiding out here, if she reported on him, hed be found out, and she cares to much to hurt him, but what if he had something to do with this Commander being missing, he had friends and crew members that cared about him, his mother was distraught over his loss, what about them? If Hurley had any knowledge of this…they should know.

For the first time in her literary career, she found herself at a total loss at what to do.

A sudden blast from her phone nearly sends her through the roof. Its her publisher, wanting to know how shes doing. The owners of the planet haven't heard from you, were making sure youre still alive, hows the story going.

Suddenly, she realizes, she cant go through with it, She cant turn him in, no matter what. Not this way, not for glory or recognition or for the huge sum of money the resort owners were offering her.
She would have to deal with Jake herself and find out what was going on, but she wasn't going to just feed him to the wolves.
So, she makes up a story of finding nothing worth reporting on. If there had been a monster here, he wasn't here now, and either the kid was imagining, or she just wasn't good enough to find anything.

Unbeknownst to her ..Jake had returned just as the phone rang. He has bringing a bouquet of flowers, wanting to apoligize. He had made it to her door step, and was about to knock on the screen door, when he over heard the voice of her publisher asking how the story of the monster was going.
His blood froze as his world fell apart again. Suddenly it all clicked, why she was here on the off season, just as the storms were beginning. She hadn't won any contest, she was here because of him saving the boy, and now she was investigating him.

He staggers away as he drops the bouquet, not hearing the rest of the conversation. Anger and hurt build up in him as he paces outside her door yard. Hes hurt, but hes no coward, and in final rush of anguish, he rushes up the stairs, and makes to pound on the door.

Holly has just hung up the phone. Theres a pleased smile on her face, and idea forming in her head as to how to confront Hurley, but not to give him away. She doesn't realize hes on her porch till theyre almost face to face thru the screen.

She jumps visibly as she cries out, "HURLEY..how long have you been standing there??"

Jakes fury breaks, "LONG enough!!"

He pulls the door open with a bang and thrusts an angry finger at her as he yells out, "YOURE a REPORTER??  Holly shakes her head helplessly as she tries to explain. Jake cuts her off yelling, "I..I thought you were my friend?? I TRUSTED YOU…I.."

His anger gets the better of him and he thrusts a fist out at her, not aiming for her, but at the door jam, effectively smashing it in.

His gaze a mask of hurt fury as he pushes by her, almost knocking her off her feet. He doesn't look back, as he tears off down the stairs, wanting nothing more to do with her. He seen her true colors, and he cant take it any more. His world, or what he put up with, was completely torn out from under him. He had nothing now. Hed lost God, his family and friends, and now her. He couldn't take this anymore. He had built up too much hope in this friendship, and now he was utterly crushed.

Crashing blindly through the jungle towards his lair, he fought back bitter, angry tears. A storm is brewing, but he doesn't care if hes out it in, he doesn't care about anything anymore..all is destroyed.

He staggers in through his back door, and stands for a moment in his lair, shaking and fuming. His anger cant be held back. He trashes the place, and in the process he upends a gun he forgotten he stole way back when he first started raiding the resort, taking it for protection or for hunting.
Taking it up in his hand…an unwarranted thought rips through him. Why not end it all with this, why go through this all, just get it over with.

For a moment, he almost considers it, looking to the gun in fascinated horror..then he sees the scars…and he drops the gun in sickened horror. The memory of what God did for him still strong enough to breath thru all the walls hes put up after all those years pushing forward in his mind, he tries to push it away..but this time it wont go away…God is screaming to him.

But not before Holly sees him holding it towards his face.

She had followed him up.but was slower, and couldn't catch him. She wanted to explain everything. But as she rushes through from his back door....she sees him with the gun to his face, she panicked..and thought the worse.


"Hurley,..NO..DON'T!!" She cries..rushing to him.

Jake Whirls on her, angry and now mortified she saw him with the gun like that, and his defenses go up. "WHAT are you doing here??" He screams to her. She tries to explain herself, but he has none of it, going into a rant about her being a liar and to get out.

Whereupon..she returns with calling him out on where the badge came from as she throws it at him, all her anger spilling out at being called a liar, when she was coming to apologize.

"I'm a LIAR..well..explain THIS??"

Jake stares dumbly at the badge, listening as she yells to him all the evidence shes found out..and what hes done to this commander…and what he knows about it. The jig is up, so to speak, she knows everything, except whos shes actually yelling at, and he gives in with the retort, "YOU want the truth?? FINE THEN…HES ME!!"

All the anger is drained out of him with that statement. He turns away as he proceeds to explain it all, from Elsbeth..all the way up til now., The hardest part explaining about being seduced and what he did.

She listens with rapt attention.
Everything clicking into place for her, understanding all the cryptic responses shes been getting from him all this time.

((POSSIBLY  FACTOR IN A BIT OF JAKES BELIEFS THROUGHOUT THE STORY..OR AT LEAST HOLLYS..AND HAVE JAKE NOT RESPOND TO THEM..OR IGNORE THEM))

As he finishes, he sinks to the floor with his head in his hands as his wings spread out around him.
Hes got nothing left in him. A sob catches in his throat as he dares to look to her, expecting to see utter disgust, but surprised to see empathy and compassion.

All her anger is spent as she slides to the floor to sit next to him. ((We will expound on their conversation, but, the gist of it will be about her questioning him about his faith, his explaining why hes given up on God, and why he feels he doesn't deserve His help anymore..she will use the phrase, "It doesn't sound like you have a problem with God forgiving you, it sounds like you have a problem forgiving yourself…You say you were trying to save Elsbeth and that God would forgive HER sins, well, why the double standard, why aren't you included in Gods forgiveness?" She'll also include explaining to him that he was seduced under duress, and wasn't in his right mind, being drugged, and this cant all fall on him, he might have made the choice to not listen to anyone, and do it on his own, but, how could he possibly help thinking straight when she had a hold on him through her spell. AND…that sometimes God allows bad things to happen, to get our attention, and strengthen us..and no matter what..as much as Jake screwed up, GOD knew what was happening..and allowed it to happen, for whatever reason..He should take this as a gift somehow.."

Holly will be Christian, but not a majorly practicing one, but she will understand what Jake is going through, and her faith will be reawakened trying to convince him he IS worthy of Gods love, not realizing how far from Him she has gotten also. Seeing how distraught he is over not pleasing God, she realizes how far off the mark she had gotten in her path with God, how she had been living for herself and her career, and she almost was going to sell out this wonderful person trapped inside this monsters body.

Jake listens to her, hope flaring at God forgiveness, but, falling again as he realizes hes still in this horrible body, and what hope did he have with her.

"What difference does it make, if Im forgiven, Im not human anymore. How can I do his work..like THIS?..How can I show my face to my friends, how can I tell them what I did, theyd never take me back as Commander as THIS..how can I show any type of feelings towards anyone, theyd be terrified of me…. Whats the point of having human emotions, if you cant share them with…someone..whats the point if you cant show them how you feel..what the point…I just don't know…I ?

He looks to her, feeling his said too much, and pulls away from her, standing heading towards the waterfall exit.
He stops and leans heavily against the rock opening, and feels her come up behind him, hands grasping his shoulder. He cant look to her, cant see the look of sickened horror in her eyes at his proclamation of his feelings to her.

Her voice is soft, and full of emotion . "Hurley…Jake…you…I..don't have any type experience in what you could be going through here, I..but…I know what you look like..but..I..Ive never met anyone like you, youre more human like this than most actual people I know, Ive seen the true you, whats in here," She reaches for his heart and lays her hand on it, a thrill running through her as she feels it beating underneath her palm. The feelings shed been fighting suddenly come to realization of what they are.
She grasps both of his shoulders and pulls him to face her, he still cant look to her, afraid of what he'll see "Jake, theres something so special inside of you, something I didn't recognize until I knew everything of what you've gone thru… something..I ..love."

Jakes looks up in startled confusion and their eyes lock. She stares into the blue green depths, and see the true man, the one she cant help but love. She knows shes lost to these feelings, and to him, and is now committed no matter how this pans out. She cant see herself without him. Shes willing to stay with him as he is, not understanding why..only knowing its true, and having no recourse for it. She realizes, she doesn't want one.

Suddenly, Jakes heart unlocks and every emotions hes been holding back pours forth, for her and for God. He can hear God singing in his heart as he accepts God back into his life. If this woman can love him as he is, why couldn't God also.
A great wave of relief sweeps over him and, nothing matters now, but the fact that God loves him, and so does this woman, though he cant believe she does, but her eyes show the truth as she gazes into his eyes.
Jake feels himself breaking down, as his emotions wash over him. He feels himself swaying and Holly pulls him to her in a strong embrace. He allows himself to be held, and in turn, wraps his arms around her, not know what was coming next, but reveling in the now. Burying his head in hair, tears welled up in his eyes and sobs wracked his body, as he proclaimed in soft whispers over and over how much he loved her, never wanting to let her go, afraid he was dreaming, but feeling more alive and hopeful than he had in years.

Holly finally pulls back from his embrace to smile to him, and Jake tentatively makes as if to kiss her, not actually sure how this will work out, but, she seems more than willing.

Their lips touch, and for a brief moment, Jake is filled with the most amazing feeling of love for a woman. So strong and intense is it, that only God could have orchestrated their meeting, and in that brief kiss, Jake knows all he had been through had been an amazing lesson from God, and now this was his reward.

But his revelry is torn asunder by a fierce pain that rips through his body, causing him to pull back from her embrace, and stagger outside.

The waterfall a mere trickle compared to the storm that was now raging outside, he gets instantly soaked as he doubles over from the pain, crying out in agony as he falls back against the rocks by the entrance. Holly rushes to him, trying to help. Jake can only lean against the rocks, a terrible grimace on his face as he cries out to no one, "Ohh..God..whats happening to me NOW..??"
The pain rips through him again, and his instincts push him out into the storm, trying blindly to get away from the cocoon of pain his body has become.

"NO…no..not now, not when everything is going for the better now..no..PLEASE..leave me alone…!

He screams gutturally as a tree stops his backward momentum.

Holly is helpless to help as the storm intensifies around them..

Another wave of pain doubles him, and he pulls back screaming as the skin around his knuckles splits and starts to pour a viscous, black liquid.

Jake feels as if hes going to vomit at the sight, and the wave of nausea drops him to his knees.

Lighting strikes somewhere near, the sound of it splitting their ear drums. Another one, closer. Jake cant move, such is this wave of pain and sickness.

Holly tries to get to him, but another strike hits Jake bodily. Hollys last glimpse of him is of him being silhouetted against the bright lightning strike, his body being split in all directions, then with the sound of the thunder, all goes black as shes thrown against a tree.

How many hours or minutes goes by, she doesn't know. She only knows when she returns to consciousness, that the only sound she can hear is the relentless sound of rain, and the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears.

She tries to sit up, but is slammed by intense dizziness, and for a moment, can only look in desperation for Jake from a prone position.

She sees nothing from where she lays, and it takes a few moment for her to gain any semblance of control of herself. Finally able to gain her knees, she turns in the direction she hopes to find Jake, only to see a smoking, black, boiling puddle where he had been against the now blasted tree.

She screams his name, sending a bolt of pain through her head, but hardly feeling it. Where was Jake?
She crawls toward the spot, her body shaking convulsively now, her thoughts confused. She can center only on one..finding Jake.

But, his body is nowhere to be found near or around the smoking spot. Looking desperately around, she cant see anything, and she breaks down and sobs. She can still see the wonderful soul that looked to her through his eyes, and she beat the ground with her fists that he was ripped from her in this way.

Her despair almost over taking her, when a sudden splashing and coughing  sound is heard from the waters edge.

He head comes up in frantic anticipation, and her view is obscured by a boulder, but she definitely can hear sounds of struggles in the water over the rain, and she makes haste to the shoreline, struggling against her own pain to help him.

What meets her eyes as she stands on the boulders edge takes her breath away in shock.

Below her, about 10 feet down a muddy bank, is the body of a man, naked from the waste up, the rest of him convered in what appears to be swim trunks. Hes covered in mud, and his face is turned away from her. Hes coughing and struggling to pull his face away from the water, but he seems too weak to do anything.

Without thought she slips down the bank and comes to his side. Completely confused, there was no one else on the planet with her..no one…could this be….Jake..but how..HOW…?

He begins to cough again as water from the stream splashes up in his face, and he pulls away, this time having enough strength to push himself to his lay on his back.

Her breath sucks in as she sees the pattern of the swim trunks. Theyre huge looking now, but, they were the very ones Hurley had on before…

She reaches tentatively for his face, brushing the mud caked hair from his eyes, and she gasps as she recognizes the features of the man named Jake McCormick…could it be true.?

Cupping her hands around his face, she calls softly to him…, "Hurley…?"

Jake moves against her hands, and his eyes flutter groggily to hers. For a moment he thinks hes seeing an angel, remembering the lighting strike, he must be dead…then recognition filters in, and he knows hes seeing Holly.

Oh God, what has he turned into this time?
He makes as if to sit up, but cant. Holly lays a hand on his shoulder as she speaks softly, "Shh..don't move, you might be hurt…you got thrown like..50 feet…I.."
She cant go on…staring at his face, she cant believe this is Hurley, yet, she knows..somehow, it is.

Jake sees the concern in her face, and asks drowsily, "What..whats wrong?"

"Nothing…n-nothing…its just…"

"Just what…why are you staring at me like that…whats…happened..?"

He pushes up to his elbows, and gains a sitting position. Losing balance suddenly, he thrusts a hand out to catch himself as Holly in turn reaches for him. His hand hits water, and he pulls back before he pitches into the water, grabbing for her hand, and in a flash of wonder, he sees his hands as they grasp hers, and they are HIS hands, as they were almost 2 years ago. Human hands.

He stares incredulously at them and begins to shake uncontrollably.

He looks to her in wonder as his hands reach for his face, feeling the familiar contours of his old face, scruffy and needing a shave. His hands go to his head and are met with thick, wet hair.

He reaches for her as joy overtakes him, grasping her shoulders and laughing, he blurts out, "Holly..Im..ME…its ME..JAKE…I;m ME again…!!

In his excitement, he jumps to his feet and catches her in an exuberant hug, swinging her around in happiness until he notices his swim trunks are beginning to fall down.

In embarrassment he grabs from them, then looks up sheepishly, and grins a lopsided grin to her, and, Holly is completely overwhelmed with love for him.

As hes tightening them, he mumbles, "Well…that would have been a little too much too soon..eh..??"

She laughs, and then both just look to eachother., Jake standing looking unsure of himself as he holds up his shorts, Holly somewhat uncertain.

Holly reaches to caress his face, and Jake does in turn to her. He smiles as their gazes lock, and they both lean in, hesitant at first, both searching the depths of eachother eyes. Then, their lips touch, and they kiss, slowly and gently at first. Jake then pulls her to him, as the kiss intensifies, both holding each other in earnestness//the kiss seems to go on forever, but finally they both pull back in unison to look to each other in love.

Jake smiles to her as he says softly, "Wow…!"

He pulls her into another embrace, as sudden tears prick his eyes as the realization of all that God has given him. He is completely humbled by it all.

((So…the rest of this story is completely up for discussion…The details as of now are…the storm destroyed Holly cabin, and alert distress beacon was activated in its destruction, and within a few hours Holly and Jake are on a ship headed reportedly towards earth, but is intercepted by the Redemption when the other ship has mechanical troubles.

EXTREMELY happy reunion with all on board, but Jake knows there has to be a confession of what happened, and in doing so, is surprised to find out that General Bishop is the leading force in him being made Commander in the first place, and is humbled at his crews acceptance of what happened (the one he needed to accountable to that is..Tristan, Trammel, Phil and Rogers..he even confided in Hamilton)

All is well. Jake and Holly marry, and Jake returns as a more mature, humble, and appreciative Commander.


THE END

WOW!!
PLEASE READ,,I would LOVE FEEDBACK ON THIS!!
© 2012 - 2024 JakeMcCormick
Comments2
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starlight1216's avatar
...wow. I know this is just an outline, so it may be changed and edited some, but this is really, really awesome. I've been eager to read more of this story for a while now, and this is just what I've been wanting. :)
jake and holly, my favorite sweet couple, and their beginnings :love:...and i always wondered how jake would change back into a human, it's kinda like a beauty and the beast thing, because in discovering each other, he changed her, and she changed him. and they both learned something from the experience, and they became better people in the end. wonderful job on this, my friend! and thanks a million for uploading it! :hug: