Tru Calling: Long Way Down

"Your love is better than ice cream, better than anything else I've tried… And it's a long way down, it's a long way down, a long way down to the place where we started from…"

– Sarah McLachlan, "Ice Cream"

Written as a fill for my hc_bingo prompt "side effects."

Happy Belated Birthday, Liz! Thank you for being an amazing friend. Funny enough, this isn't exactly the story I wanted to write for you, but it's another idea I had and it still works, so I hope you enjoy it. Parts of this story are not explained, but I hope it makes sense anyway.

"Davis?" Jack Harper's panicked voice and ragged breathing cuts through the eerily quiet space.

Then again, he's standing at the foot of a decrepit warehouse in the middle of nowhere, so what else should he be expecting?

"Davis!" Jack's voice rises an octave, rich in urgency and timbre. Though his adrenaline hasn't dissipated, he starts to become acutely aware of the unconscious young woman he's carrying.

He had, of course, been aware of holding Tru Davies in his arms before, but he'd been too focused on getting to his destination.

Shifting his weight, he moves inside, door creaking as he crosses the threshold.

"Jack? Is that you?"

Davis emerges from a small room inside the warehouse, concern etched in his features. His eyes fall on the unconscious woman nestled in Jack's arms.

"Is she-…"

Jack interrupts immediately. "She's breathing, Davis. But dehydrated. Is the room ready?"

Stepping aside, Davis gestures to the room. "It's the best I can do right now with what I have. Only so many favors I can call in without seeming suspicious."

Jack nods in acknowledgement and brushes past Davis, entering the cramped space. Harrison sits beside the makeshift bed, basic equipment for an IV infusion set up a few feet behind him.

As soon as Harrison sees Jack, he stands, furious. "What did you do to her, you bastard?! Davis!"

"No time for quarreling, Harrison. We're on the same page. I'm trying to save your sister's life, so if you'll excuse me."

Jack concentrates, placing Tru on the bed. He breathes a sigh of relief when he sees that her lips are no longer blue and color is slowly returning to her cheeks.

Davis walks in as Jack tends to Tru.

"Okay, what are you not telling me, D-man?" Harrison asks, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because the last thing I expected was for this scumbag to-…"

"Harrison, don't," Davis replies curtly.

Jack and Davis get to work setting up the IV line for Tru, ensuring that she's stabilized and hydrated.

The worry that's etched in Jack's features isn't lost on Harrison. Neither is the brief, flickering moment where Jack brushes an errant lock of hair away from Tru's eyes and squeezes her hand.

"You can't leave us, okay, Tru?" Jack begs. "Or else I'll be subjected to an endless round of tormenting from your little brother."

He gives Harrison a knowing smirk. Harrison glowers at him.

Only a few seconds later, realization dawns on the younger man's face. Color drains from his cheeks. He looks at Jack, suddenly horrified.

"Oh, my God, have you been banging my sister?"

"Harrison!" Davis reprimands.

"Relax, Davis, it's a legitimate question. It explains why he's here and showing an interest in her." Eying a tight-lipped Jack, Harrison presses further. "Well, have you?"

Taking a step away from the bed, the man that is Tru's polar opposite, holds up his hands in defense. "I told you, Harrison. I'm trying to save your sister's life. Things between me and her are… complicated at best."

"Complicated? You've been fucking my sister! What are you looking for now, huh? Forgiveness? Salvation? Because you aren't getting any of that from me."

"Harrison!" Davis intones. "That's enough."

Harrison's eyes snap to Davis suddenly, eyes widening with another realization. "You've known about this, haven't you?"

"It was an accident. I wasn't supposed to find out."

"Tru didn't want to tell anyone," Jack interjects, hoping to be helpful. "She was afraid Richard would find out and-…"

"I don't believe this!" Harrison snaps.

"Harrison," Jack says, trying his best to placate the younger man. "Just let me explain, okay?"

An indiscernible, inaudible response tumbles from Harrison's lips as he sits back down in the chair beside Tru's makeshift bed.

"You seemed to find out on your own that I worked for Tru's father. But what you don't know is that once he found out that Tru and I were seeing each other, he wanted Tru dead," Jack speaks slowly, calmly. "When I found out that he wanted to kill her, I suggested that we run. I told her we should run far, far away. Stay hidden if we had to."

Davis speaks up. "This was around the time I discovered that Tru and Jack were together. She really didn't want to tell me, but when I found out, she made me pinky swear not to tell you, Harrison. She wanted to tell you herself."

"But that never happened. Now look where we are," Harrison murmurs.

"We were trying to get away," Jack continues. "But in that process, it turns out Richard had hired someone to follow us and he kidnapped Tru. Where I found her isn't important, but it seems Richard had been planning this for awhile and rescuing Tru was a risky endeavor. He drugged her with something. Hard to say what it is. Thinking quickly, I called in a few favors, hence this hidden warehouse, and Davis was able to get the proper medical equipment here. I didn't know what we would need, but…"

Jack's voice trails off.

Harrison pales, his gaze landing on Davis. "How… how did you get this stuff here?"

"Don't ask," Davis replies. "It was complicated."

Shifting his unsteady gaze from Davis to Jack, Harrison stares at Tru's nemesis-turned-lover with skepticism. "You love Tru, don't you? I mean, you really love her."

"Yes, I do."

Harrison grumbles with obvious disapproval. "This is going to take some getting used to."

"It's not your decision to make, Harrison," Jack reminds him. "It's ours."

As if confirming his words, Jack steps forward and takes Tru's hand in his own, eyes never leaving her unconscious form.

This isn't the first time he notices her beauty. He vividly remembers the way her hands clenched his broad shoulders tightly when they made love, the way her thick brown curls tickled the crease of his neck when she slept soundly against his bare chest.

Come back to me, he prays silently.

Their clandestine trysts, now no longer secret, had gone through many twists and turns. The journey had been complicated and obstacles still lay ahead of them. It's a long way down, a long way from where they started from, but together…

Brown eyes flutter open and slowly take in the surroundings. Three people, all with equally worried expressions on their faces, stare at her as she shifts on the makeshift bed, trying to acclimate herself.

"Tru," Jack's tone infuses with warmth as he squeezes her hand. "How are you feeling?"

Heart pounding, her mind goes into overdrive as she tries to connect pieces of a puzzle that don't quite seem to fit.

Her throat is parched, dry, when she finally asks, "Who are you, people?"

Fin.

Author's Note: Ending with a cliffhanger on purpose because I thought it was a creative way to answer the prompt. Thank you for reading! This also marks my 90th fic here at this site! YAY!