"Weight of a Shadow" by mor_tru (PG)

[fhartman.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Angst
Pairing: None
Category: Angst, Jack
Warning: None
Author on LJ: None that I know of
Author's Website:

http://www.geocities.com/mor_ag2001/

Link:

http://www.geocities.com/mor_ag2001/Weight_of_A_Shadow_Gen.htm

Why This Must Be Read: This story evidently comes in two versions, both slash and gen, but I confess to being partial to the gen version, because this is All About Jack. I'm fascinated by glimpses into Jack's time with Special Ops, and this little vignette just twists my heart. We all know Jack was quite the hard-ass from his Special Ops days - he had to be - but the fact that he survived with so much of his humanity intact has to mean that there were moments when, well, being in the moment must have damn near torn him apart. To say that he could just "shut it off" and do his job is the easy and somewhat simplistic answer, and this piece shows us a bit of how Jack managed to do that when he had to. More than that, it shows us a bit of the burden that it forces him to carry every day. Told in the second person (usually my least favorite voice, but done beautifully here), it's matter-of-fact, understated, and simply gut-wrenching.

Comments

[paian]

Excellent rec. Am exploring the rest of the site now. I agree about the versions -- I found the gen version to be more powerful standing on its own. But I liked the slash version too. Thanks for the pointer to the site.