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Nobody in Statesmen thought Jack had it in him to move on after his wife died with his unborn son. He was devastated and it didn’t seem like he was going to. Then one day, (Y/n) came into his life. She worked at Statesmen in their new psych division and Champ ordered him to go see her for long overdue grief counseling.
At first, he didn’t like going to these appointments. Why is he wasting time on the past, something that he can’t fix, when he could be out there in the field protecting the future? That was until (Y/n) said something in one of their meetings that changed his outlook on them.
She was standing behind her desk as she started. “Jack,I know that you don’t like coming here. I know that you probably want to be out there saving the world, not stuck on a couch talking about your problems. The thing is, this stuff, these ‘god awful meetings’ that you have to keep going to, actually help. I mean, other agents come in here talking to me about how before I came here, after you lost your wife you vanished. The Jack Daniels they knew was gone. They kept telling me about this witty, charming, smooth talking, kick-ass agent that would go and get drinks with anybody on any day after work. But after your wife died, they said that you completely changed. You kept to yourself, you took more solo ops, and if you did go out for drinks, it was alone.” As she continued Jack slowly felt something building up inside him, a burning feeling, deep in his stomach. “Now that I’ve been here for a couple of weeks, I’ve had agents coming in saying that they get to see glimpses of the old you again! That’s what this is for Jack. It’s not to keep you thinking about the past, but to help you get past it. I know that it’s hard and that it may seem pointless, but I’ve been in your place before and I know-”
That was it for him. Weeks of her trying to get him to open up and talk about what happened to him and she has the audacity to say that she’s been in a similar situation? He would not stand for it. Jack stormed over to the desk and slammed his hands on the desk, “You know what I’ve been through? You think you know what I’ve been through? My wife was killed by two crazy meth-heads who thought it was a good idea to rob a fucking convenience store! I was going to have a family but that was torn away from me in one god damn moment, and you have the fucking nerve to say you know what I’ve been through?!” Jack was staring at her, rage in his eyes and his breathing heavy.
She didn’t flinch when his hands slammed on the table. She didn’t shrink away when he started yelling. She stood there and listened. She listened to him shout and screaming and rage about what had happened. When he finished she stayed quiet for a few moments, letting him settle for a bit before speaking again. He watched her as she straightened a stack of papers on her desk, but was frustrated by her seeming lack of response. “Well? Aren’t you going to say something? You’ve been trying to get me to open up about this shit for weeks and you’re just standing there fiddling with your damn papers?” She finished organizing the stack and finally addressed him.
“You think you’re the only person to lose their spouse?” She looked at him with eyes that he recognized. Eyes that he saw everyday in the mirror since his wife died. “I’ve been working as a psychiatrist in places like this for ages. My last job was in D.C working with agents and veterans that had mental problems from the job. My spouse they... They traveled a lot for their job. For one trip they had to fly out to California and their last job had them in Boston. The last time I saw them was two days before their flight on United Airlines flight 175.” Jack’s face changed from anger to shock. “I was on my way to work when I saw a television playing the news in the window saying that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. And I’m glad I did or I might not be here today because I was supposed to meet with somebody in the pentagon that day.” She walked out from behind her desk and stood in front of him. “So maybe I didn’t have my spouse and unborn child killed like you did Jack, but my spouse was killed and I didn’t even have a body to bury.” She took a deep breath and turned away from him. “I think we’re done here for the day. You can go now.”
He stood there for a moment, stunned. He never expected something like that to come from (Y/n). She was always so well composed and her she was almost crying. He slowly walked toward the door and reached out for the handle, but turned around to ask her one thing before going. “(Y/n). What, uh, what helped you after they left?”
She looked up from her papers and gave a small smile. “This. I was assigned a grief counselor and just like you I hated it. But I came to realize that if I never move past it, it’s going to control me for the rest of my life and make me do something stupid.”
He looked down at the floor as she contemplated what she said. After a few moments he looked up and said, “Same time next week then?”
“What?” She replied.
“My next appointment with you, this time next week. Does that work for you?”
She gave a small smile and said, “Yeah, that’ll work Jack. I’ll see you then.”
He tipped his hat and finally exited the room. As he walked down the hall he thought to himself that maybe these appointments won’t be so bad anymore.