his life was a fleeting flash of lightening, a drop in the bucket, a blink of the eye. perhaps this was why jack felt insignificant when standing beside someone like her. pandora had seen so much, lived so much, and yet she was still so bright and vibrant. he wondered what his life must look like through her eyes. like the lifespan of a fruit fly maybe? in truth, she had meant a great deal to him. those tender days that they had spent in each other’s company, in which she nursed him to health and taught him the ins and outs of this new world that he’d happened upon, had meant the world to him. that kindness was what he’d missed throughout his childhood and was what he’d longed for as a teenager, and he’d found it in her. stranger still, pandora hadn’t wanted anything from him. therefore, when he had stopped hearing from her after she had left atlanta, he figured that she had likely helped dozens before him and would go on to help many, many more. jack thought that he was forgettable. he was a single drop in the bucket, not the first or the last, so who could distinguish one from the other?
despite those years that he’d spent trying to push her out of his head, trying to convince himself that she hadn’t wasted a moment of her long life pining for him. that part of him that clung to hope, that thought of her as family, had been right all along. they had been pulled apart, but she had been asking for him. that had to count for something, didn’t it?
their reunion wasn’t entirely sweet though. they had both been brought to london for a reason, and no matter how he’d have liked to spend time rekindling their friendship, jack realized that there was work to be done. “are they?” he asked, frowning slightly in response to what she’d said. how could that be? jack had never seen the inside of an institute before, but even he realized that the reinforcements here had to be more than what one would usually see. after all, the london institute now housed shadowhunters as well as seelies, vampires, werewolves, warlocks and even mundanes. how could there still be more attacks? squinting slightly, he considered the rumor that she heard. though he hated to admit it, that certainly made sense. “the demons must be here for a reason. a more powerful force seems as good a reason as any…” he confessed. power beget power.
jack was still frowning when she had complimented him. thoughts of something more powerful lurking around london, putting innocent lives at risk, worried him. it took a moment, but as always pandora’s words touched something gentle in him and he smiled despite himself. it was a small smile, but it was present all the same. “dunno about that…” he mumbled, a bit embarrassed. jack ran a hand through his hair, as if trying to soothe himself or look relaxed, but he looked quite the opposite. he felt like a gawky teenager around her, just the way he’d been when they’d first met, and he hated himself for it. get it together, he scolded himself. “nothing new there,” he managed a little laugh. “still the same old demons hanging around oakland cemetary. and luther is still scaring the pants off of people at the center for puppetry arts… some of you warlocks have a real strange sense of humor.” the thought, of these people that they shared, made him smile faintly. “the pack is holding their own. they don’t need me around and it’s nice to see somewhere new.” especially if she was here. “… where have you been, pandora?” he asked, meeting her eye for just a moment before he averted his gaze. it was a question that had been pulling on him, nagging him, and he couldn’t help but ask. better now than later.
she was not afraid to admit how she admired the passion and loyalty that shone behind jack’s eyes whenever he spoke. he was truly a man now, but she saw it in him all those years ago as well, and if she looked deep enough she could see the same young boy that she had met back then. but it seemed he wasn’t going to meet her gaze long enough for her to try. in a way she couldn’t blame him -- she knew the age difference between them was probably hitting him, as it was her. she had started getting used to the abnormality of her immortality and constant youthful appearance a few decades ago, but she couldn’t say that it didn’t bother her more and more as every year passed, her face remaining the same mirror image as before. the more she looked at jack the more started to notice the roughness of his skin, the feint lines of expression between his brows, the years of experience dancing in his eyes from his short life.
she decided that she liked it. she liked how real it made him.
it was true that the demon attacks were becoming more intense around london specifically, and as well-versed in demonolgy pandora was, she was having just as much trouble as everyone else deciphering all that was going on. if only she had more of a connection with her father, she may have more luck with helping fight the invasions ... but she doubted it. she doubted he even had anything to do with it, or she hoped he didn’t. she did not reject her demonic half ( in fact, she embraced the power it gave her ), but she knew how dangerous things in this world could become if the barriers keeping out those otherworldly were weakened. maybe that was part of the reason she felt so nervous about jack travelling here all the way from atlanta, where she knew he would be safer with his pack despite being as powerful as he was. he was strong enough to fight here, yes, but pandora hated the fact that he would be more exposed to the possible apocalypse that could happen at any moment outside of the institute walls. “whatever reason they have for coming, it must be valid to them. even i haven’t seen this many demons so focused on one cause...”
she started to smile at the mention of home, the oakland cemetery, the center for puppetry arts -- a sense of nostalgia came with the reassurance that it was all still the same, still as wild and eccentric as ever. “careful, some of us warlocks will hex you blind for saying that.” however, her expression faltered when he asked the question she knew was coming: where have you been? why did you leave, pandora? why didn’t you tell anyone you were going? why didn’t you come back? she looked at him, hesitated -- oh, how she wished she could have told him before being sent off by the spiral labyrinth, or been able to tell him not to worry about her when there were more important things to focus on. she had so much to tell him, so many explanations that she owed him, that he deserved to hear. she decided to hold back, though. save it for another time. she sighed lightly, a bittersweet smile gracing her lips as she fretted at with the tear in his sleeve idly. “its a long story. the labyrinth needed me, so i had no choice but leave when i did... i’m glad you stayed safe while i was gone, though. i’ll have to catch you up on everything that has happened.”
she knew that was only partly true; she couldn’t tell him everything, for his sake.
