Part Eighteen of the Inverted AU
A JSE Fanfic
[This is part of a fic series I wrote from December 2018 to August 2021. Attempting to move on, Jack finds that he isn't as okay as he thought he was. Meanwhile, the others still continue to search for him, though Jackie is just as reluctant.]
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“You’re not allowed to come.”
“W͡h͏y ̡n͠ǫt?”
Jack sighed and looked up at Anti, who was standing near the hotel room’s window and twitching sporadically. He looked calm, but Jack could tell he was upset by the way the static in his voice crackled. “Because…” Jack mulled over his thoughts, trying to find the right words as he gathered his phone and the room key together. “This is…my thing, you know? My friend, my hanging out with him. I just…need some time that can be my time.”
Anti relaxed, just barely. “Okay. That makes sense.”
“Besides, you didn’t really seem to like him that much anyway.” Jack laughed under his breath.
“It’s not that I didn’t like him. It’s that you need to be safe.” Anti looked out the window to the street below. “And you never know. Mark seems to be a decent guy, though.”
“He’s really nice. And he’s dedicated, and funny, and he’s really talented. God, I wish I could do some of the things he does on his channel.” Making friends wasn’t easy when you lived with a bunch of criminals intent on controlling your life. But Jack had made do.
“Yeah. He seems like it,” Anti repeated absentmindedly. “If anything goes wrong, if anything happens, you text me, okay? You know the number I’m using?”
“Mm-hmm.” Jack tucked his phone and the room key in his hoodie pocket. “But what could happen?”
“L.A. is a dangerous city. I was checking out the local news and events yesterday and today, and though it’s not n͞e͞arl͝y͢ as bad as Mirygale”—Anti was referring to the city Jack had lived in before, the one where the others were still based—“it still has problems. I swear, there’s a shop on the edge of the city that’s run by a pair of demons.”
“Demons exist?” Jack couldn’t hide the shock in his voice.
Anti rolled his eye. “Not the sort of demons you’re thinking about. It’s just a certain type of being, not religious in any way. Though they can steal your soul if you’re not careful. Those two seemed mostly passive if they’re even demons, but avoid it just in case.”
“Uh…okay then.” Jack didn’t know why he was surprised. His two best friends were a living glitch and a sentient eyeball, and he personally knew a magician and a telepath. Anything was a possibility. “Anyway, I’m leaving now. I’ll text you if I see demons or anything.”
“Great. I’m going to stay here with Sam and keep an…eye on things.” Anti chuckled.
Jack groaned. “Oh you did not.”
“I did.”
“Great, now I HAVE to leave. See you tonight, Anti, Sam.”
“Goodbye, Jack,” Anti called. Sam said goodbye too.
“Bye, guys.” Jack left, closing the hotel door behind him with a gentle click.
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Mark opened the door soon after Jack knocked. “Oh hey, Jack!” He initially went in for a hug, but stopped when he saw Jack leaning back. “So, you found the place okay?”
“Yeah, uh, Google Maps was very helpful.” Jack switched off his phone and put it back in his pocket.
“Google is always helpful. Oh, come in.” Mark stood aside and let Jack come into his house.
Jack looked around. “Wow. Bigger than I expected. A bit more modern than hom—than the one I’ve been staying in for a while. Anyone else live with you?”
“Just Amy. She’s out now, though, so we have the whole house to ourselves. What d’you want to do?”
“Uhh…” Jack’s mind went blank at the question. It’s not that he wasn’t used to wanting things, it was that he wasn’t used to people asking. He had to take a moment to regain his footing. “Is it weird that my mind first went to playing video games?”
“Nah, man, not at all.” Mark shrugged. Then he looked excited. “Oh hey, we could record a video together while you’re in the—”
“NO!”
Mark jumped. “Oh jesus, dude.”
Jack bit his lip hard enough to make it bleed a bit. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. Guess I really am loud, huh?” He laughed, the sound a bit wobbly and nervous. “If…if it’s okay, I don’t really…I’m not really up for videos. And I probably won’t be for a while. I’d rather just do something for fun. If it’s okay with you.”
“Well, you could’ve said that without blowing out my eardrums, my god.” Mark laughed, sounding a lot more carefree and confidently than Jack had. “It’s okay, dude. Burnout is real, and it’s kinda nice to do something for yourself. C’mon, we can hook up the PlayStation or something in the other room.”
Jack sighed under his breath as he followed Mark. Yes, burnout was real, but Jack was more concerned with the fact that if he did a video with Mark, it wouldn’t take too much digging for people to find out where he was. They’d have a city right away. And then they could come, they could find him, he didn’t want to go back, he just wanted to be safe—
He noticed he was starting to breathe quickly, almost hyperventilating, and he took a moment to control it. This wasn’t the time. He was going to have a good, fun time here, and nobody was going to find him. He realized he’d suddenly stopped walking, and that Mark was looking at him peculiarly. “You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, just…felt a little dizzy for a moment. Is there an altitude difference here?”
“I dunno. Maybe. Did you get enough sleep last night? I sometimes get dizzy if I don’t sleep well.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” The response was automatic, and Jack hated it the moment it came out. “No, I mean, I slept pretty good. I woke up once for a phone call, but that was it, slept like a log for the rest of it. Actually, maybe I’m having jet lag and that’s making me tired. Yeah, that’s probably it. I’m good.”
“Uh…okay, if you’re sure.” Mark looked a bit off-balance after that rush of rambling words. “Just…tell me if something…I dunno, happens, okay? If I need to give you a ride to your hotel. Or I have a first aid kit in the bathroom.”
“I don’t need first aid,” Jack said, maybe a bit too quickly. “But…thanks. I just want to have fun and play games.”
“Well, I can help with that. And, uh, anything else you need. Now, let’s actually get the games out, why the fuck don’t we?”
Not a lot of co-op games were coming out with split-screen recently, so the two of them ended up mostly playing just a couple small games, then taking turns playing a single-player game. Even though they weren’t doing much, really, Jack was enjoying himself. Mark was just as giggly and random as he’d always been, and the minutes flew by with both of them laughing their faces off.
But even now, there were moments when everything became very cold and still. When Jack would think idly about how much this reminded him of the game nights they had back home—and then remember that the house had never really been a home at all. Home was a place of warmth and trust, of comforting memories and knowing you were always safe. And all those feeling had been a lie, back in that house. He tried to snap out of those moments quickly, to keep Mark from worrying, from asking questions that were well-meaning, but that Jack couldn’t answer right now, not when it was all so new in his mind.
After a while, they somehow ended up in the kitchen. Mark had vaguely mentioned a couple fun videos he’d done with some friends of his, and next thing they knew they were standing at the counter, which was covered in flour and batter, and the two of them were breathless from laughing. “This is ridiculous,” Mark wheezed. “This is stupid, we’re so stupid.”
“Yes, yes we are,” Jack agreed, wiping his floury hands on his jeans. He glanced toward the glass doors. “Oh, wow, it’s getting dark. Hey, what time is it?”
“I dunno, check your phone.” Mark was busy trying to brush the flour into a pile that could be easily swept up. “Or there’s a clock on that wall there.” He pointed.
Jack opted to look for the clock, not wanting to get more white powder on his black pants. He expected one with a digital readout, it would match the modern feel of the rest of the house. Which is why he was sort of surprised to see an analog clock, with the hands and everything. Was it just him, or was their something weird about said hands? The second hand wasn’t ticking along, it was moving steadily, continuously. A constant red line spinning and spinning and…spinning…and…spiraling…the movement was sort of…relaxing…he was starting to feel kinda sleepy…
“Jack, are you okay? Jack? Jack!”
A hand came out of nowhere, snapping fingers in front of his face. Jack was immediately jolted out of his relaxed state. He startled…and then he screamed.
“Jack!”
He stumbled backwards, running into the counter. His hands were covering his eyes, pressing down. “No. No no no no, please, don’t, I don’t want to, no no no, please, PLEASE—”
“Jack! Jack, it’s alright, it’s okay.” The voice was there. The voice was there, it wasn’t in his head. Someone’s hands were on his shoulders, steadying. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Jack stopped trying to backpedal further, only to realize that he was shaking. Just a little bit. His breathing was shaky too, and he decided to start with that, in…out. Again and again. “…I’m fine,” he said quietly. “I’m good now.”
“Are you SURE?” When Jack nodded, Mark asked, “Are you ready to open your eyes now?”
And with that, Jack realized he was still covering his eyes. “Just…give me a moment.” He had to calm his thoughts down. He was in Mark’s kitchen, on the other side of the world. None of them were here. It was okay to look, nothing would happen. He repeated this to himself a couple more times before he finally peered out from between his fingers.
“What happened, man?” Mark’s face was drawn with concern. “I’ve never…you’ve never freaked out like that before, at least not that I’ve seen.”
“It…I’m fine—I’m okay.” Because he was okay now. Not fine. ‘Fine’ was a bad word, it was a mask for when things were not okay but you hoped they would be. “I just—your clock reminded me of something.”
After a tense moment, Mark nodded. “Okay. Wait right here, I’m gonna go get something.”
Jack fully lowered his hands, watching as Mark walked around the counter and started raiding the random papers stacked on the table in the dining room joined to the kitchen. After a moment, Mark found what he was looking for, and returned. “I knew I left one in here,” he muttered. “Here.”
Mark was holding out a small rectangular piece of paper. Jack stared at it for a moment, then reached out and took it, snatching it away like he was scared he’d try to take it back again. It was plain white on one side, but on the other there was an address, typed on the card in a goofy pink font. “What is this?” he asked.
“It’s uhhh…” Mark ran his hand through his hair, looking for the right words. “Look, I can tell you’re going through something. Or maybe you WENT through something, and you’re still trying to adjust to it. That’s the address for…a place that could maybe help you out. You don’t have to check it out, but just in case. I know the guys who run it, they’re very nice, a little weird, but pretty good people. And if there’s…I dunno, someone out there who…I-I dunno, but you can’t find the house without the address.”
Jack stared at him for a moment, then looked back at the card and reread the address. He wasn’t the best with directions, especially not in this new and strange city in this new and strange country, but he was 70% sure this was some ways out of Los Angeles. “Guess it…can’t hurt to keep it in mind,” he said slowly. He looked back up at Mark. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” Mark smiled. “You’re my friend, I’m here for you if you ever need to talk or anything.”
“Well…I could use a ride back to the hotel?” Jack said hesitantly, turning the statement into a question.
Mark laughed. “Of course, dude. It’s getting dark anyway. Things get weird in the city after dark.”
“Yeah, I heard it was dangerous?” Jack asked, following Mark out of the room.
“I guess kinda. But I mean weird. Like, WEIRD. And I know, because I know some of the people causing the weird.”
“That’s stopped sounding like a real word now,” Jack said, smiling.
“ ‘Weird’? Yeah, isn’t it…weird?” Mark burst out into a fit of giggles at that. “That’s not funny, I don’t know why I’m laughing.”
“No, don’t worry about it, it just means you’re a happy person.”
“I prefer giggly bitch, but same thing.” Mark grabbed his car keys. “Same hotel I dropped you off at yesterday, right?”
“Yep.”
“Let’s go, then.”
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Sam immediately attached themself to Jack the moment he walked in the door, bopping around his head before settling on top. “Hey buddy,” Jack laughed. “You’re excited.” Sam told him that they were just glad he got home safe and sound, and that it was good to see him. “Aw, good to see you too. I missed you.”
Anti materialized on the couch, laying down, distorting the air around him. “So, how was it?”
“It was…fun,” Jack said, sitting on the couch near Anti’s feet. “And…helpful.”
“Helpful?”
“Yeah, uh, Mark gave me this.” Jack took the card out of his hoodie, tossing it over to Anti, who caught it effortlessly. “I…started freaking out at one point, and he got that out, and he said it was a place that could help me. With that whole…freak-out thing.”
“Huh.” Anti squinted at the address, then tossed it back over to Jack, who fumbled before catching it. For a moment, he became a static shadow, the air tasting metallic. Then he was mostly solid once again. “They have a website.”
“Of course they do, everyone has a website.” Jack set the card on the nearby table while Sam slunk down from their perch on his head to settle against his neck, nerve-tail curling up.
“They’re called The House. Your friend Mark has done some charity streams to help raise money for them, in fact. They’re pretty vague about what exactly it is they do, but you can either go there for a visit, or stay there for an extended period of time if you, and I quote, ‘are trying to get away from something or someone.’” Anti scowled. “I tried to hack into the site for more info, but they have…a re̸a̷ll̷y good firewall.”
Jack fake-gasped. “Has the great Antisepticeye finally met his match?”
“Oh, shut up. You didn’t feel this, it was almost like it was alive.” The two of them sat in silence for a moment, Anti staring at the ceiling while Jack patted Sam. “Are you…going to go check it out?” Anti asked after a while.
Jack thought about it. “I…don’t know. Maybe. If…they ever catch up with us, it would be good to have a second place to go to. Or if something else bad happens.”
“You think they’ll find us?”
“No!” Jack took a deep breath. There was no need to be so snappish. “I mean…I hope not. But there’s a…possibility. And I want to ignore it, but I don’t think I should. I just—look at these guys. Jackie’s admitted to hacking into things before, Schneep’s smarter than he seems at first, Marvin has fucking magic, and Jameson—” Jack swallowed nervously. “I don’t know, I don’t trust a guy with telepathy and a-a bleeding watch that hypno—that…you know.”
Anti had perked up near the end there, and was now sitting up. “Say that again? A blee̷d̕i̢n͟g̨ watch? What do you mean?”
“I didn’t tell you about that?” Jack shrugged, nearly dislodging Sam. “I mean, I was probably seeing things. I was scared and paralyzed, and the room was dark.” Anti stared at him intently, and Jack sighed. “Well, I told you about when I shot him, right? I thought…for a minute, it looked like the blood was coming from the watch. But it was probably just splashed on…it…” he trailed off. “Except I didn’t actually hit him. I only hit the watch.”
Anti was buzzing with excitement, literally, pixels and white noise breaking away. “I need to check something for a minute. Be right back.” And he glitched away completely.
Jack stared at the spot where he had been for a moment, then looked down at Sam. “You wouldn’t happen to know what that was about, would you?”
Sam swished their tail. They told Jack that they had something of an idea, but they weren’t completely sure. Still, they felt uneasy.
“Yeah…me too.” Jack frowned, thinking. Then he shook his head. “Well, we can ask him about it when he gets back. Meanwhile, while he’s gone, the TV can work properly. Want to see what’s on?”
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Jackie was upset.
It wasn’t too hard to tell. Jackie was the sort of person who was always very vocal about their feelings. Schneep had long ago noted the signs of an upset Jackie. But this was like everything had been ramped up. Practically every remark had a bitter bite behind it, a snapping always a pin drop away. He ran through the house without even bothering to look for others in his way, stomping up and down the stairs. Occasional fights with Marvin had escalated to a full-time battle, at best fought with fiery words and at worst fought with actual fire.
No, on second thought, Jackie wasn’t upset. He was pissed.
Schneep was sitting in the living room, listening to the fight that was floating down the staircase. He couldn’t tell what had started it, hadn’t been paying attention at that point. But now, he was already massaging his temple where a headache was starting to blossom.
{Do you want to break that up, or shall I?}
It took Schneep a moment to realize that voice was one of the important ones. He twisted around, peering over into the kitchen where Jameson was busy making tea. “You sound like you would rather not,” he called.
{Well, truth be told, yes,} Jameson admitted. {Jackie’s not too fond of me right now, but he still likes you. And you get on with Marvin, too, so it seems to work out.}
Schneep groaned, resting his head against the couch cushions. “I do not even understand why he is so angry. And the good doctor does not like to not understand.”
{I doubt anybody does. Do you want some ginger tea? It’s supposed to help with headaches.}
“That would be nice, yes.” Schneep didn’t ask how Jameson knew his head was hurting. At this point, he expected Jameson to know a lot of things about him.
Jameson entered the living room, carefully balancing a tray with two teacups in one hand and holding a teapot in the other. He slowly set both on the coffee table and poured the tea before settling down on the other half of the couch. {I can try to explain to you why Jackie’s mad, if you would like.}
“I would like that very much.” Schneep took one of the cups and sipped. The headache didn’t immediately go away, but at least it tasted good.
Jameson glanced up the stairs, as if he could see Jackie and Marvin bickering at the top. {Well, you see, Jackie doesn’t want Jack to come back.}
“What? That does not make sense, they are friends, are they not?”
{Well, Jackie certainly likes Jack. He wants what’s best for him. And he thinks that Jack is happier by himself, so he doesn’t like that the rest of us are trying to get him to come back.} Jameson carefully sipped his tea. It was a bit strange, to hear a voice talk while the person was drinking, but by now everyone in the house was used to it.
“Ah. I see.” Schneep stared down at his cup. “IS Jack happier away?”
{Well, let’s look at the facts. He certainly…ah, freaked out on us just before he left.} Jameson unconsciously reached over to his vest, where the watch was tucked inside. {But he left in the company of the glitch, who we all know is not the best person to be alone with. So perhaps he is, but I think his perception is at least slightly clouded.}
“I see, I see. Maybe then we should focus more on getting Jack away from that creature, then, and then he can decide what to do next.” Schneep started. “Oh! Jameson, this cup was full! What happened?”
Jameson laughed silently. {You drank it, doctor. While I was talking, remember?}
“I did? No, I do not think so. Did someone steal it? Someone must have.”
{No, nobody did. There’s nobody in this room but the two of us. Here, you can have more, though.} Jameson grabbed the pot and poured more tea into Schneep’s cup.
“Ah.” Schneep took another small drink. “Maybe it was Chase. He’s very fond of tea.”
Jameson winced, almost imperceptibly. {Henrik, don’t you remember what happened to Chase?} Before he could say anything more, there was a chiming sound. Jameson, startled, reached into one of his vest pockets and pulled out his phone, reading the text that appeared. His brows furrowed. {Doctor, I have to take care of something. You wouldn’t mind if I left now, would you?}
Schneep waved him away. “No, not at all. I understand business calls. Or texts, instead.” He laughed at his own joke, but that was cut off by a sudden crunching sound from upstairs. He sighed. “Meanwhile, I am going to settle that.”
{Capital. Thank you, doctor.} Jameson stood up, walked quickly toward the front door, and was soon gone.
Schneep stood up too, but instead walked over to the base of the stairs. “Jackie! I would want to talk to you!” He yelled.
“Can’t this wait?” Came the shouted reply.
“No, there is tea! It will get cold!”
After a second, the sound of footsteps came rushing downstairs and Jackie showed up, the shoulders of his hoodie dusted with white plaster. Upstairs there were more footsteps, then the sound of a bedroom door slamming closed. “Selfish little—” Jackie was muttering, “bastard bitch evil—fucking…hissy fit cat man only fucking…cares about himself.”
Schneep decided to tune this out. “Jackie, Jameson made tea, but he had to leave, so I thought you would like some!”
Jackie sighed. “You know what? Sure. Tea is calming. I can go for calming.”
“I know, I know!” Schneep smiled, pulling Jackie over to the couch. “You are being very stressed recently, you need to take a moment to breathe. Jameson explained the situation with Jack, and I can now see why you are so angry, my friend. But is not good to hold onto that forever, you need a happy place! Here, I can help you find it.”
Jackie smiled faintly as he watched Schneep pour more tea. “Yeah…that’d be nice.” He pulled the cup toward him and took a deep drink.
“Yes, yes, it would be.” Schneep looked around the room. “I think Chase was just here. He did not ask, if he asked I would have given him some, he did not need to snatch it up.”
Jackie’s smile fell. “Um…Schneep. Henrik. Chase is…” He hesitated. “Chase is…asleep right now. He couldn’t have just been here.”
“Of course he could have! You can be asleep and still talk and move.” Schneep was perfectly oblivious to the sad look Jackie was giving him. “I will have many things to say to him when I next see him.”
“…sure.” Jackie sighed again. “Sure. Anyway, you said Jameson explained the Jack situation to you?”
“Yes, yes, he did. You think Jack is happier away from us, and that is why you are fighting with the others, because they do not think so. But…” Schneep leaned closer to Jackie. “Here is what I think. I think that the creature is making a mess of him. It knows that maybe he wanted to leave, and it is making him stay with it! So I think we have to get Jack away from it, and then he can decide what to do next.”
“I…” Jackie seemed to forget whatever he was about to say next. Or maybe he was reconsidering it. He started playing with the end of his hair, looking at Schneep contemplatively. “So…when we get Jack away from the glitch…what if he decides to leave? How would you feel about that?”
Schneep frowned. “I think I would be sad to see him go, but Jack is a perfectly healthy adult, he is allowed to make his own decisions. Besides, we can always keep in contact.”
Jackie nodded, slowly at first, then increasing in speed. There was a glint in his eye. “Yeah. So, we’ll get him away from the glitch. And we’ll let him choose what to do afterwards. And when he decides to leave, we’ll let him. That sound like a plan to you?”
“Yes, it does!” Then Schneep gasped. “Jackie, I think your drink is getting cold! You need to get it inside you before that happens! It will help clear your head, I promise, I am a doctor.”
The corner of Jackie’s mouth twitched. “Tea has medical properties, then?”
“Of course it does! I would not lie to you, and I cannot, because I am the best doctor.”
“Alright, dude. Here, look.” Jackie drank the tea, setting the cup back down with a grin. “That good for you?”
Schneep nodded, taking a sip of his own.
And as the two of them sat together, the seeds of a plan began to take root in Jackie’s mind.