Who's writing for who:
Jack and other Jack's: Cam
Ryan, other Ryan, and Adam: me
(It'll be like this for the whole fic)
Ryan couldn't believe his eyes, there were five Jack's in front of him each of them in their own style, "Uh...what the fuck is happening?" He asked in a confused tone. Last he checked, there was only one Jack this morning.
The Jack he knew stood amongst the group, just as confused as Ryan was, with a hand in his pocket. His eyes darted anxiously around the room. "Um...yeah. This is...a thing now..."
One of the other Jacks looked at him oddly. He wore a baseball cap and a Letterman jacket.
"This is weird as fuck," he whispered to himself, eying up the others.
Ryan rubbed his eyes, "How..how does this even happen?" He took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh, "Okay..do you guys even know how you got here?" He asked the other Jack's.
A Jack clone with suspenders and round-rimmed glasses purses his lips. "I was...hoping someone here could answer that..."
He seems...emotional. In fact, all of them do. Except for Ryan's Jack...it looks like something is up with him.
Ryan frowned, he noticed something was up with the Jack he knew. "Jack..my Jack. Can you come with me for a second." He said as he walked to the other room.
Jack tensed, he could feel butterflies in his stomach. He glanced at the others briefly, then took a step forward to follow Ryan.
"Excuse me-" He heard his own voice behind him, stopping him.
"...Yeah?" He responded.
He turned around to see a clone of himself, dressed in a dark red velveteen suit. "Is...Is that actually Ryan? My-- Er, our brother?"
Jack narrowed his eyes. "...Yes?"
The other Jack nodded, a sad look spread across his face. "...I was just...curious. Carry on."
Jack turned around slowly and kept walking, gripping the button in his pocket gently, yet tightly.
Ryan waited for Jack, he tapped his foot. He saw Jack walk through the door, "Okay..you know something. Tell me what's wrong." He said in a stern voice. Ryan knows he might be being too upfront but there are five Jack's in the living room right now and he is starting to get a headache.
Ryan raised an eyebrow as he saw Jack's hand in his pocket, "I would love to believe you but I know when you're lying..Why can't you just tell me what's wrong? You've had your hand in your pocket this whole time. What's in it?"
"Nothing," Jack nearly cut Ryan off, smiling almost hysterically. "It's nothing, I promise." He let go of the button and ran his shaking hand through his hair. "Wh-Why don't we both just take a breath and figure this out together? We...We can call Adam. Yeah, he might have some insight."
Ryan shook his head, "Okay..okay." He took a breath, he knew that he won't get through to Jack now.. he'll try again later. "I can call Adam tomorrow, it's late." He walked back into the living room where the Jacks are.
Jack, himself, stayed in the room for a moment. Once he knew Ryan was far enough away, he took the button out of his pocket. The bold, white 'DO NOT PUSH' was tempting him yet again. His hand hovered over the letters, inching closer and closer...until it was touching...
What if. Just what if.
He sat with the thought for a moment. Maybe if he just pressed it once more he could get away with it-
"...No...no more..." He whispered.
He gently placed the button back in his pocket and walked out into the living room.
As soon as Ryan walked in all of the Jacks eyes were on him, he felt a little awkward, "Since it's late..we can talk about this more tomorrow." He looked at all the Jacks, they all looked at him with..sad eyes? "I can grab some blankets and pillows for you guys."
Jack traipsed into the living room and looked at the group of Jacks. He noticed one who looked almost exactly like him, but with clothes of an opposing color scheme. This Jack sat on the couch, away from everyone else, staring at the wall. Jack frowned slightly.
Ryan came back with 5 blankets and pillows, he handed them out to each Jack and stopped at the Jack who was starting at the wall. "Here you go." He said in a nice tone as he held out the pillow and blanket.
Jack hadn't noticed it before; this Jack was...shaking, ever so slightly. He turned his head and looked at the pillow and blanket in Ryan's hand, then looked up at Ryan with a haunting glare.
"...Get away from me," He muttered quietly.
He took the pillow and blanket aggressively and adjusted so he was lying down, facing away from Ryan and Jack. Jack could've sworn he heard a very soft "Please don't hurt me."
Ryan's eyes widened and when the other Jack grabbed the blanket and pillow from him, he took a step back. The haunting glare he got from him made his heart break, "Okay.." He turned to his Jack with a sad look.
He looked at the other Jacks and saw that they were settled in at any spot they could grab.
Jack took one last glance around the room, then peeked out the window. It was past sunset now, the stars were out and glittered amongst the nighttime skyline.
He started walking back to his own bedroom. As he walked, he heard a quiet “Goodnight, Jack.” He didn’t see who it was from, but he smiled.
Ryan said his goodnights to the Jacks and made his way to his own room, he passed by Jack and said a goodnight. Once he was in his room, he collapsed onto his bed with a groan. He got under the covers and took off his glasses, this whole situation made his brain hurt. He sighed and closed his eyes as he tried to sleep.
Back in the living room, each of the Jacks adjusted to their new surroundings, tried to relax, and, eventually, drifted off to sleep.
All except one.
He sat awake on the couch, knees against his chest, holding the pillow Ryan had given him.
Tears hung around his eyes.
Ryan didn't know what time it was when he woke up to his door opening, he looked toward his door and he raised an eyebrow. "Jack?.." He put on his glasses and noticed that it wasn't his Jack it was one of the others. He had on round rimmed glasses and he had on suspenders. "Are you okay?" He asked seeing tears in the other Jack's eyes.
The other Jack stood in the doorway hesitantly for a moment. He sniffled before cautiously coming closer.
“You…” He stuttered. “You are Ryan, right?”
Ryan blinked slowly, "Yes I am." He said confused. "Why wouldn't I be me?" He asked.
Jack chuckled, fidgeting with one of his suspenders. “I guess that’s true…” He sat on the end of Ryan’s bed and took his glasses off to dry his eyes.
“Funny, none of the others have glasses…just me.”
Ryan chuckled softly, "That is pretty funny." He sat in silence for awhile before he had a question, "I have a question..do you have a Ryan from where you're...from."
Jack’s eyes locked with Ryan’s. He stayed silent. The tears from his eyes trickled down his face. He tried desperately to keep a serious face, but he was failing. The corners of his lips curled and he sobbed into his arm.
“I…I’m sorry…”
Ryan's eyes widened and he went to the end of his bed and sat next to him. He hesitantly reached a hand out and placed it on the other Jack's shoulder, "It's okay.. no need to be sorry bud." He said in a soft voice.
Jack took a shaky breath and stuck his hands into his hair. He hoped this wouldn’t come up. As soon as he saw Ryan, he was filled with nostalgia. Back where he came from…there wasn’t any of that.
“No…I am sorry. You’re already dealing with all of us, you don’t need…me adding to it.”
Ryan frowned, "You're not adding to it..trust me. You may be a different Jack but you're still Jack, I care about you. I care about all of you, I'm still your guy's brother." Ryan said with a soft smile.
Jack’s palms were sweating. He knew that what he was going to say wasn’t going to be good, but Ryan was going to find out one way or another most likely. It was better this way than some other inconvenience. He braced himself.
“Ryan…where I come from…” He paused, his voice on the verge of breaking.
“…You died…trying to protect me.”
Ryan's eyes widened and he tried to say something but nothing would come out. The other Ryan died.. trying to protect Jack. He took a breath trying to take in the information.
After a minute of processing he finally finds the words, "Ryan..died protecting you...if I may ask. What was he.. protecting you from?"
It was painful for Jack to remember. He’d blocked a lot of it out of his memory, and now it was all flooding back to him.
“It…” He started. “It’s not…easy to talk about…” He closed his eyes tightly.
Ryan frowned, "You don't need to tell me, it's okay." He said in a comforting voice. He put his hand on the other Jack's back, he started to rub his back softly.
Jack shook his head. "No...I'd rather you find out now than later..." He tried to soothe himself to the best of his ability, even though he knew it wasn't going to work. He glanced at Ryan, then at the floor.
"It was...probably over ten years ago by now. We were still kids..."
Ryan looked at Jack as he waited patiently to hear the story, he was curious. He knows kids do dumb things but..what made him, well his other kid self, die.
"In our...time, I guess," Jack continued, "there was a group of older kids that used to bully the two of us and Adam. I never knew why...to be honest...I still don't." He shrugged.
Ryan nodded, still slowly rubbing the other Jack's back comfortingly. He remembers how the three of them also got bullied when they were young, it didn't really stop until they were out of high school.
Ryan nodded, still slowly rubbing the other Jack's back comfortingly. He remembers how the three of them also got bullied when they were young, it didn't really stop until they were out of high school.
"We never fought back. We were...afraid to fight back," Jack continued. "And then...something changed. One day, you-- well, my Ryan, and I...we were walking to school together one day. And as expected, they caught up to us. We knew they were coming...they always came. They called our names and threw things at us, teased us...we never did anything about it.
But that day...that day was different..."
Ryan frowned, he did not like where this was going. He can't imagine the trauma other Jack is going through right now.
Jack's breathing began to quicken. "I don't know what happened, but...when one of those three threw his school book at us, my Ryan...something changed in him." His voice started to break. "He normally would just try and ignore it, but he didn't. He turned and...he threw it back. It hit their leader square in his face."
Ryan raised an eyebrow, damn his other child self was kinda badass.
"I wanted to run, but...Ryan wasn't going anywhere. And that urge only got worse when they...they started...hurting him..." Jack was frozen solid, his face wet with tears. "I was too scared to help him, and I hate myself for it. And when one of them pulled out a pocket knife, I..." He broke into messy sobs.
"...I ran. I ran as fast as I could back home. Mom and Dad asked me what was wrong, I...I couldn't answer them...but they found out when their middle son never fucking came home..." He pulled his knees to his chest and buried his head in them.
Ryan's eyes widened, "Oh shit..." He said in a soft voice. He didn't know what to say so he stopped rubbing the other Jack's back and decided to put him in a side hug.
On the other side of the door, Ryan's Jack wandered groggily through the hallway. He couldn't sleep at all. This entire situation was...insane, frankly. And he knew that Ryan was probably pissed at him for not telling the truth. He walked past Ryan's door with a frown...then he stopped.
He thought he heard talking coming from inside.
"...Ry?"
"It's not your fault..you were young and you got scared." Ryan said in a soft tone to the other Jack. He heard his nickname all of a sudden and turned his head toward the still open door, "Jack?"
Jack takes a quick breath. "Hey, Ry, and uh...other Jack."
The other Jack sniffles, only looking up briefly in greeting.
Jack's face turns to concern. "Is...everything okay? Am I interrupting?"
Ryan takes a breath, "No, you're fine. You need something?" He asked with some concern. Ryan may be still a bit mad at Jack for lying to him but he is still his brother.
Jack prepared himself for what was to come. He clenched his fists.
"You were right earlier," He admitted. He stutters a bit with nerves. "...I know something..."
Ryan sighed and stood up, "I knew you were lying, you're horrible at it." He walked to Jack until he was in front of him, "What do you know?" He asked in a patient tone.
Jack looked across the room at the clone of himself, who watched him anxiously. He lowered his head with closed eyes as he gently took the button out of his pocket. He held it at his side for a moment before he began to lift it up toward Ryan...
Clack!
Ryan saw the thing drop and quickly picked it up, "A button? You were lying about a button." He said incredulously. He looked at the button, it was red with big white letters that said 'DO NOT PUSH', he really wanted to push it. His hand that wasn't holding the button twitched.
Jack stared at Ryan with wide eyes. He knew what was about to happen.
"Ryan, I know what you're thinking," He began. "But, whatever you do, you cannot push that, got it?" He glanced at the other Jack. "It's...It's dangerous."
Ryan looked at Jack and raised an eyebrow, he saw Jack glance at the other Jack..it clicked. "This..this is how the other Jack's came here." He blinked, "You pushed this five times? Shouldn't you have known to not push it anymore after pushing it once." He said in a slightly hushed, raised voice.
Jack looked the other way. "Do you have any better ideas for getting them all home? It was the only thing I could think of, Ryan. I panicked."
Ryan sighed, exasperated, "Jack, I get that you panicked but how do you know this button can even send them home?" He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I will hang onto this until we get it figured out."
"No!" Jack reached for the button, trying to take it from Ryan's hand. "I saw how you were looking at it, you aren't fucking immune."
Ryan held the button up high, "You aren't immune either it seems. I can hold back from pushing it!"
Jack wanted to scream at him. "...You asshole."
On the bed, the other Jack watched them out of the corner of his eye, covering his ears. Why were they fighting? Why couldn't they just get along? He had to do something.
"...I'll hold onto it."
Ryan looked to the other Jack, he honestly forgot he was here. He thought for a second and looked at his Jack then to the Jack on his bed, "Okay.." He walked over to the other Jack and gave it to him. He wanted to keep the button to himself, he blinked the thought away.
"Wh...What?" Jack muttered to himself. "Jack, won't it just do the same thing to you?"
The other Jack shrugged. "If it brought me here, I can only think it won't work on me. I'm like, what's the word...the product, of whatever this thing is." He glanced at the button, then stood up, his face still not dry. "I'm...gonna head back to bed...before you guys start threatening each other again."
Ryan nodded, "Yeah..I'm gonna do the same." He hoped that he can go back to sleep after everything.
Jack's eyes hovered on Ryan for a few moments. He debated if he should say anything more, if he should try and get the last word. But in all honestly...was it really worth it?
He gave Ryan no more acknowledgement before he silently left the room and strode back to his own, with the hopes of getting a good night's sleep.
Ryan saw Jack leave and sighed, he moved back to his bed, sat down and took off his glasses. He ran his hands down his face, he didn't like to argue with Jack but he was scared of what that button can do. Ryan knew that Jack could potentially fight off the call to push it more but...he groaned, "Fucking hell." He mumbled.
Jack…or ‘other Jack’, as he was called now, stood in the doorway. He wasn’t sure if he should say anything, he felt a little out of place right now. He pursed his lips.
“…Um….Goodnight, Ryan. I’ll…talk to you tomorrow…”
Ryan looked up and turned to the other Jack, "You can stay in here, if you want too of course. It's more comfortable than the living room." He said feeling bad that he had to watch all of that. Ryan also felt wrong just kicking the other Jack to the curb, especially after he told him what happened with his Ryan.
Ryan nodded, "Okay." He said with a soft smile.
Jack smiled back, then quietly speed-walked back through the living room to his spot, tip-toeing around the other Jacks and trying not to wake them. He quietly picked up his pillow and blanket and hurried back to the other room, shutting the door behind him.
“Alright…where should I put these?”
Ryan thought for a moment, "You can sleep on my bed, I have enough room. You can sleep on top of the blanket." He didn't want him sleeping on the floor.
Jack’s eyes fell on the button. He could feel himself slowly drifting off, the worries of the day falling away behind him.
Ryan waited to hear the soft snores of the other Jack next to him. He slowly got up, put his glasses on and tiptoed to where the other Jack put the button. Ryan carefully grabbed the button and went to the bathroom with it. He got to the bathroom and closed the door behind him, he looked at the button. It kept calling out to him, he heard a whisper, "Push me, push me." It kinda sounded like his own voice. Ryan tried to shake off the calling but it got to much.
Click
"Fuck." Ryan said. He felt a draft in the bathroom and within moments he saw himself in front of him. The other Ryan looked at him with a curious look, "Why hello there? Have you seen Jack, I've been looking everywhere. I was about to push him down the stairs but he just kinda poofed away before I could." The real Ryan looked at the other with disgust, "No I haven't, now if you'll excuse me I need to tell my Jack that I screwed up."