Chapter Text
“Jump, Cole! Jump for it!” Jack called out with desperation.
Cole didn’t jump. Hearing the incoming tide, he turned his head and looked up the tunnel, realizing his time had come to an end. His chest was suddenly heavy, and his hands fell to his side.
To his own surprise, he wasn’t afraid. His heart ached at the knowledge of the pain his friends were going to suffer, but death wasn’t as unwelcome as he thought it would be. Without wasting any more of the precious remaining seconds, he looked up.
“Goodbye…”
The wave hit him with full force, mercilessly swiping him away. Yet despite the physical torment, Cole was at ease. His mind was silent, embracing the end with eerie calm.
The end of his life. His pain. His responsibilities. Everything.
The pressure of the rushing torrent slammed him against walls and squeezed the air out of his lungs. Cole recalled the good things in his life one last time before darkness could take him away. He thought of his girls, Marie, Elsa, resisting the guilt building up again. He thought of the good old days at work, his good friends, good detectives that would surely keep the L.A.P.D on the right track despite everything. He thought of Jack Kelso.
Jack. The man who always saw right through him. The man he had hurt so much. The man who, despite everything, still stuck to his side through thick and thin. The man who had just tried to threaten him to go up first by pointing his gun at him. The man who had just helplessly reached his hand down to him, trying to save Cole from himself even now.
Cole had many regrets. But as his vision went dark and his thoughts drifted away, he realized that he regretted not letting Jack in the most.
The first thing he felt was the raindrops needling his face. The second thing was the strong waves lapping at his hand, which was drifting away from his body with the force of the tide. He opened his eyes, not daring to move, watching the rain that was assaulting him as it poured. A warm drop fell from the corner of his eye, a sharp contrast from the cold water trickling down his skin that made him jolt and draw in a sharp breath, followed by a coughing fit caused by the remaining water in his lunges.
Cole was alive.
Still coughing, he sat up laboriously, looking around in bewilderment. More warm tears mixed with the rainwater, surprising Cole. He was washed up the concrete waterway by the high tide and into an open field with train tracks. No one was working in this storm.
His coughs turned into hiccups, his body refusing to listen to him and stop crying. Cole shakily got up to his feet and, with crushing weight, realized he didn’t want to die.
He hugged himself, stumbling forward with no destination in mind.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to live either.
Jack ran toward the next drain, but it was pointless. Water sprayed high up, as if declaring the demise of one Cole Phelps. He stopped in his tracks, staring at where the eruption had just burst in disbelief and sorrow.
Cole Phelps was gone.
Jack could hear Elsa sobbing from behind, but he was frozen in place. He heard Herschel paging in an ambulance and the cavalry, heard them arrive, watched the bursting water rise and fall, and it wasn’t until Herschel gently put a hand on his shoulder that he finally snapped out of it.
“Come on Jack, let the doctor take a look at that wound.”
The rest of the night was a blur. Jack was patched up and almost taken to the hospital, but he adamantly stated that he was going home. So Herschel dropped him by his car and went to the hospital himself to stay by Elsa’s side. Jack drove home out of habit, his mind unable to form any thought. And even when thoughts were formed, they were only about Cole.
Cole was dead.
Jack slammed the brake at the last moment before he could run over the hedge, scaring a nearby man taking shelter from the rain, but he was too out of it to notice. He sat there, listening to the harsh sound of rain hitting the roof of his car.
Cole was dead. So was Courtney, so were many of his brothers from the 6th Marine Division. Yet this one was hitting him harder than the others.
There was something about Cole that always drew Jack in, even though they couldn’t stand each other from the very first days in the Corps. He was loyal to all his brothers in arms, but the lengths he had gone to for Cole…
His head fell against the steering wheel. How cruel of destiny, to finally let them put their differences aside and form something resembling friendship, only to rip Cole away from him like this.
Jack straightened up with a sudden jerk, turning the engine off. The rain was enough cover from most passerby, but he didn’t want to pique the curiosity of prying eyes. He needed to figure out what the hell this was he felt about Cole. Jack reached for his fedora, only to remember he lost it in the drains while fighting off a fucking army of goons. To think Cole survived them, only to be defeated by nature. Jack slammed his fist on the dashboard. It was gonna be a long night.
Without letting himself fall apart just yet, Jack got out of his car and walked inside. He was already drenched, so there was no point rushing in. The hallway floor was already wet, indicating the presence of another poor bastard who found themself under unfortunate circumstances. Jack dropped his head, not in the mood for any kind of exchange, and found himself following the trail of water. Absently, he wondered what this other person had gone through that night. Maybe they could share a drink in quiet understanding of each other’s burdens.
But those musings came to an abrupt halt as Jack reached his floor and saw the water trail going toward the door of his apartment. He quickly scanned the hallway for any signs of life, before taking out his gun. It was most likely too soaked to be of any use, but the intruder didn’t need to know that.
Quietly, Jack moved forward, inspecting the door. There was no sign of damage, but he could see water drops on the doorknob. If the intruder wanted to take him off guard, they were doing a poor job by not even bothering to conceal the obvious trail they left behind. Jack took out the key to his apartment and opened the door as silently as he could, before pushing it wide open and pointing his gun inside.
No one jumped him. No one said or did anything. Complete silence.
Jack moved quickly, not giving the intruder time to react, but what he saw only baffled him. A man was sitting in the armchair, holding his head in hands and sobbing quietly, his gray coat abandoned on the ground.
Jack’s shoulders slumped. This couldn’t be.
“Cole?”
Cole lifted his head to look at Jack with red eyes, voice shaking.
“Jack, you’re home.”