skycloud86

Child
By skycloud86

Summary: Oneshot. Prompt was "child".
Rated: PG-13
Characters: Jack/Driscoll/Jamey/Carla/David
Status: Complete

Parents are a special group. They understand things that noone else does, they have a common and often invisible bond with their children. So many emotions caused by such bonds, and so many situations dreaded by parents arise from the weakening or the ending of that bond.

Jack Bauer is a parent, to a young woman who has grown distant, traumatised by events that were out of their control. He wishes that he could be closer to Kim, wishes that he could just walk back in time to when he was younger and make some drsatically different choices. His dreams are now affected by this loss of the bond between parent and child, and it has taken its toll.

Erin Driscoll was a parent, to a girl who suffered from a mental illness, who needer her so badly. She had had to put her work before the bond and tragically lost it forever. As she saw Maya's body swimming in a puddle of her own blood, tears fall from her eyes and dilute the blood. Stroking her daughter's pale cheek, she hates the choice she made, she hates the fact that her work cost her her daughter. It is in his moment in time that she creates a new bond, not between parent and child, but between those who regret the consequences of their choices. Now she knows how Jack felt, and she thinks of him.

Jamey Farrell was a parent, to a young boy who had only his mother and grandmother. Struggling to make ends meet, she had taken a chance, but it was a fatal choice. Only wanting the best for Kyle, she had helped a terrorist. Dirty money or not, it would feed her child, and that was enough for her. As her life drained out of her, she felt so far from her son and, if she could, she would have cried for him.

Carla Matheson was a parent, to a small girl with an infectious smile. Violence was always the elephant in the room, and she suffered badly at the hands of her husband, as did her daughter, Megan. Even so, the bond between her and her child was strong, no matter what Gary did to her. All she ever wanted for her child was for her to be healthy and safe, but her own husband threatened to take both away. As he rained fatal blows down on her, her last thoughts were of Megan, and she thanked God that Megan was with Kim and not in Gary's hands.

David Palmer was a parent, to two young people, Keith and Nicole. Ghosts from the past haunted them on what should have been a day of celebration, but he stood his ground for his children, and regretted not spending more time with them. His career often came first, and he hoped that his child loved him as much as he loved them, and that the bond would never break. After his time in the White House was over, he had plans to spend more time with them, but a sniper's bullet stole that from him, and his plans crumbled into dust.