Title: Closure

Author: Mindy35

Rating: T, some adult themes

Disclaimer: Characters are property of NBC and a whole bunch of idiots.

Spoilers: "Black Tie", "Mrs Donaghy".

Pairing(s): Jack/Liz, Jack/Avery

Summary: Post-ep. Jack seeks closure on his marriage to Liz.

A/N: Does not take into account anything after "Mrs Donaghy".

I.

"Divorce papers." Jack held up a small wad of papers. "Thought we should get this over with."

Liz nodded, opening the door wider for him to enter. "Come on in." She led the way into her apartment, gestured at a platter of cheese on the coffee table. "Want some cheese?"

Jack glanced at the half-consumed platter. "No, thank you, I ate earlier."

"So did I, never stops me." She faced him, dusting her hands off, ridding them of any cheese residue. "Okay, so…we should probably just do this, huh?"

Jack held the papers back from her outstretched hand. "Ah. There is one extra stipulation, which we did not discuss with the attorney."

"Is this about your-" she waved her hand vaguely at his below-the-waist area, "seed? Because I told you you didn't have to do that if you didn't feel comfortable. We can totally take that off the table."

"No, Lemon," he shook his head. "You could have taken me for all I'm worth if you'd so chosen."

"I could?"

"If a little assistance in the reproductive area is all you want out of this-"

"It is."

"-then I am quite content to contribute in such a way. Particularly if it will make you happy."

"It will. So…" She took the papers from him, began to leaf through them. "What's this extra stipulation then?"

"You won't find it in the papers," Jack told her, eyes on her face. He cleared his throat, then said, "I would like to kiss the future ex-Mrs Donaghy. Once, before our marriage is terminated."

Liz looked up, her expression a mixture of baffled, amused and disconcerted. "What? Why?

Jack shuffled on his feet, hands spread at his sides. "To be honest, Lemon, I'm not sure. Perhaps just to…mark the occasion."

"Mark the occasion of our wedding or the occasion of our divorce?" she asked, eyeing him sideways.

"Both, I suppose. After all, marriage does imply certain acts, certain…intimacies."

"Uh huh. I'm aware of that. Isn't it half the reason we're divorcing? Because we don't-" she turned away, dropping the papers on the coffee table with the cheese and general mess. "Well…that and you meant to marry your pregnant girlfriend, who incidentally would probably not love this new stipulation."

"This is between you and me," he murmured. "And it's just a kiss."

Liz grabbed a piece of cheese while she was at it. "Is there really such a thing as just a kiss?"

"Please don't try to tell me that our friendship couldn't survive such a simple act because I think we both know it's survived far worse."

"Our marriage, for instance?"

"Exactly. And call me old-fashioned-"

"That's not what I'd call this actually."

"But I would like to, in some small way, legitimize this union-"

"Opportunistic, I might call it."

"-however accidental or odd, it may have been-"

"Odd, another word that'd apply here."

"-before we dissolve it entirely." Jack paused, then concluded with: "I think we owe it to the institution."

"We owe an institution?" she muttered, chewing on her cheese.

"And each other, yes."

She swallowed her mouthful, raised a brow. "…Each other?"

Jack tipped his head to one side. "Lemon, did you not just recently call me your work husband?"

"I did do that, that is true."

"Which could conceivably make you my work wife."

She took in a breath, looking thoughtful, looking trapped. "I suppose that…makes sense."

"My literal wife, at this very moment. Legally, you are my other half, my mate, my-"

She held up a hand. "Yeah, I get the point."

"And really, I think this is a very small ask in comparison to the fruitful juice of my loins."

Liz rolled her eyes and went for more cheese. "Yikes. That's going to be your go-to argument for everything now, isn't it? 'Change the sketch, Lemon, I gave you my seed.' 'Do as I say, Lemon. Pick up the check, Lemon. Wear a dress, Lemon. After all, I gave you some spluge in a cup.'"

Jack took a small step closer. "I promise never to mention it again if you do this thing for me. For us."

She frowned, shaking her head dubiously. "I…I don't know, Jack. Seems very unnecessary to me. Not to mention weird."

"It's weird to want to kiss the bride? To want to just once experience the kiss of my own wife?"

"In this scenario, yes. This-" she waved a hand between them, "is not real, I'm not …what you said. And anyway, I'm pretty sure that's something that's done at the wedding, the whole kissing the bride thing, so."

"Well, I was busy kissing the woman I thought I married."

She tapped her nose with one finger. "Exactly, Jack, exactly."

"Also, circumstances have changed."

"How've they changed?"

"I didn't want to then," he replied, voice going husky. "I want to now."

"Right, I see, okay. But why?" she asked, eyes narrowed. "I'm still not real clear on the why part, Jack."

"Why, Lemon, why…" He took a breath and released it, wandering towards the windows a moment before turning back to face her. "Because five years ago, I stood on this exact same spot with you. I stood right here, looking at you, wanting to kiss you, wondering if you'd let me, imagining falling for you, knowing I was already falling for you, knowing I could. Knowing I could love again was a revelation, Lemon. You were a revelation in my life and for a short time, the only woman I wanted, the most incredible woman I'd ever known." He stopped, stepped closer, familiar eyes running over her familiar face. "And in that moment, I didn't want to take my eyes off you. Not for a second. I could barely keep my hands off you. But I did. For whatever reason, I did. And now-" He stalled again, unable to maintain eye contact. "Now, we are married. Through some incongruous twist of fate, you and I have been conjoined in a mistake marriage that makes us both utterly laughable, makes everything we've been to each other an awful joke. So…before we do this, before we end this, Lemon, and never speak of it again, I feel…I need this. We need it. For…closure."

Liz blinked at him for a long moment, breath held. "Closure?"

Jack nodded. "Closure."

She grabbed some more cheese and nibbled on it, regarding him with a cautious gaze and furrowed brow. Finally, she took a breath. "So…one…one married-peoplekiss. One. And then…?"

"Then we are done," he finished with a definitive swipe of one hand. "Over."

"We divorce? We sign those babies. We forget any of it ever happened."

"We move on with our lives, Lemon. As friends."

"Friends."

"And nothing more."

"But friends who…kiss each other?"

"Friends who kissed once. Closing a chapter. For good." He waited, watching her face, then lent in. "You can't say you've never thought about it."

"Well, I can," Liz mumbled, eyes downcast.

"But it wouldn't be true. Would it?"

She looked up but didn't answer.

Jack cocked his head, raised his brows. "Would it, Lemon?"

Liz opened her mouth but didn't find words immediately. She gave an uneasy laugh then a shrug. "I dunno, I mean…I guess it really shouldn't be that big a deal. One tiny, little, meaningless kiss between buddies. Right?"

"Right," Jack agreed.

"Just to, sort of…yeah, mark the occasion. Or…whatever."

"Precisely. That's all this is."

"And, hey, if it's that important to you-"

"I think it's for the best, for us both."

"Well then…" Her head bobbed a few times, though her face still looked uncertain. "Sure, alright, sure. I mean, I still think it's kinda weird-"

"I understand."

"But…I guess…I guess it couldn't hurt."

"No," Jack murmured, shifting in closer. "No, it won't hurt. One kiss…never hurt anyone."

"'Course not, no. So…?"

He gave her a small smile. "So."

Liz's eyes flitted over him warily as he placed his hands on her shoulders and drew her a little closer. The silence in the room stretched, outside noises penetrating the walls as they each waited for something to begin. Something that began a long time ago. Something they both thought ended a long time ago. Then Jack leaned in, tilting his head and putting his lips against hers, his touch light, testing, tentative. Liz sucked in some air, eyes closing on instinct. Her lips parted slightly, finding a better fit with his and when he began to kiss her, she kissed him back. It wasn't a hard kiss, it wasn't a hasty, passionate kiss. It was slow, it was sweet, it was strange. It tasted of loss and longing and regret. Yet, it tasted too of affection and mutual knowing and more than a little curiosity. It ebbed and flowed like a live force, it tingled and jolted like electricity. Or like a wild thing about to die that never got to truly live, that wanted to hang onto and savor the very last strains of its wonderful, heart-wrenching existence. It brought heat and revelation and a crashing chemistry flaring back to life, a chemistry that had been suppressed almost into oblivion.

Almost.

As Jack pressed a little closer, clasped a little tighter, delved just a little deeper, a tiny noise emanated from Liz's throat. One of pained pleasure. It was quickly followed by one of just pain, of resistance, of denial. Her hands raised in the space that still separated their bodies. They hovered, hesitating a fraction of a second before lifting to his hands on her shoulders and plying him free, pushing him back and away.

"Okay-!" she gasped, retreating swiftly, head bowed. "Okay, I…I think that's probably enough closure."

Her face pink and her chest heaving slightly, she rounded the coffee table to the couch and sat. She took a breath before pulling the divorce papers towards her and digging out a pen from the chaos there. Liz signed them with one swift, messy dash of her pen. Then she refolded them and held them up to him, meeting his gaze.

Jack took them slowly.

"I think you should probably go," she said after another silent, strained moment, her voice sounding hoarse and foreign. "I think…probably, it's good if you go now."

Jack nodded a few times then walked a little way to the door. But he stopped, turning towards her. "What happened to us, Lemon? I don't know what happened to us. I…can't seem to figure it out."

Liz rose from the couch, heading for the door. "I got old and you got mean," she muttered over her shoulder. "Isn't that what happens to all married couples eventually?" She opened the door wide, waiting for him to take the less than subtle hint. "Better luck with your next one."

Jack moved towards it, his footsteps slow, the papers clasped in his hands. He stopped opposite her, facing her on the threshold. He opened his mouth to speak. But Liz looked down and away, biting down hard on her lip, determinedly disengaged. Jack leant in, laid a soft kiss on her cheek. Then left.

TBC...