Log: Phil & Jack Who: Jack Murdock and Phil McCoy When: A relatively short while after the Phil/Pete/Jack log----long enough for bones to be set, etc. Where: Jack's room What: Jack is angry at Phil, thinking that Phil has caused Pete to go postal on him. Phil is angry because Jack doesn't seem to understand that Pete isn't acting normal and needs help. Phil... chooses Pete over Jack.
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Phil doesn't want to sleep in his room tonight. Frankly, he's scared of Pete. But he can't go to Jack. He's apparently mad at him. He tried his best! He's storming away from his bedroom computer (hoping he doesn't stumble into Pete on the way out). Running across the yard, out of breath when he's banging down Jack's door. "Can I come in??"
The last heartbeat that Jack wants to hear is Phil's right now. He's been thinking about this long and hard, see. And the more time he spends alone, the more he's seething. His hand is in a lot of pain, the bones have been set. He's so tired of hurting. He has his ice pack up against his jaw, he's been close to tears since it happened but he's too angry to actually cry. He's worked all of this out in his head and he's ... oh, fuck, he does not want to deal with Phil.
"What."
Phil rushes inside, slamming the door behind him. "Jack! I'm sorry!" Man up. Er.
"Sorry? You're sorry?" Jack sits up in bed, drags himself up to stand. He's not that impressive, his weight on his good leg, his right hand in a motherfucking cast and all bandaged, a big old bruise on his jaw. "What the fuck did you say to him!"
"I... was looking at the journals and I said you were an idiot." Oops. "That you hurt my feelings. He didn't say anything, just went right over to you and clocked you." Phil is still freaking out about that. He can't breathe, he can feel his heart beating in his throat. "He's never, ever expressed himself like that. After you hit me that one time, he was vaguely interested, but that was about it." This just doesn't make sense!
Phil's heartbeat is crazy, it's all over the place. Jack can't tell if Phil is lying or not. He doesn't know if he cares. "How many times have you told me that Pete doesn't form an opinion until you do?" he asks, incredulous. "That Pete won't take action unless he's somehow inspired by you? Huh?" His voice still sounds hoarse from Pete choking him.
"I'm telling you, something is wrong!" Phil flails, hands up in the air. "Why doesn't anyone believe me?!"
Jack's too wrapped up in his own theories to be understanding. Maybe if he'd just been punched, he'd have been fine and ready to listen. Maybe if he didn't have all these other injuries. But honestly? This is the last straw. Jack is under too much stress and in too much pain and Pete hurting him like this? Too much. It's too much. "You didn't call him off me! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
Yes, Jack knows that Phil tried, but in the world of Phil and Pete, there's no try. Phil says jump and Pete says how high, and then Phil jumps to show him and Pete jumps exactly that high.
This is too much for Phil. His brother has gone insane. And now Jack is telling him he didn't try hard enough. "You don't know us, you don't know what this is like, you're just in a lot of pain and can't think straight." Logic, to the rescue.
Jack's eyes widen a little in shock. "I'm in a lot of pain because your fucking brother stomped on my hand! After clocking me in the jaw and choking me while you did a fucking halfass job of getting him off me! And we both know that Pete never does a damn thing unless you tell him to. I don't even know what the hell I did----I don't even know----!"
"He's a clone, Jack. He's not just a simple person. I can't use my pheromones on him. There's still a lot he doesn't GET!" Phil's angry now. He's really angry now. "I don't think you're ever going to understand that. I don't know how you're going to fit." Into his life? Yeah. "I tried the best I could. I'm trying to do damage control here, but you and May Fucking Parker won't let me! Something is wrong with Pete."
Jack is watching him carefully, and he's not yelling anymore. Did Phil say he didn't know how he thought Jack would fit into his life---? "Now he's a clone? Now he's a clone, like it's some kind of goddamn excuse. And now something is wrong with him, like he's some kind of broken toy that you take back to the lab and fix." That's so harsh. He knows it. But Jack is angry and he doesn't understand that something is really wrong. He knows that all hell is broken loose and if he watched Rosie a little more closely maybe he'd have this figured out.
Phil blurts out, "I can't be with you." There's always something wrong with Jack. There's always something that Jack doesn't get about Phil. He doesn't understand him, he doesn't understand how the McCoys operate. Phil should never have removed himself from the labs. He should have stayed close to his Pride. "At all. I'm going to go now. I'm sorry."
It's like everything was spinning too fast, everything was whirling around in this crazy mess. And now it all stops. "...What?" Jack's voice is quiet, his expression stunned. Everything has stopped.
"What, you didn't hear me now?" Phil's still pretty annoyed, even if this hurts. He grabs the doorknob. Doesn't look at Jack. "I can't be with you anymore. This doesn't feel right. I'm sorry."
"Phil." No. No, no, no. God, no. Please. Jack's angry. Or, he was angry. He was angry before all of this, but now? Now, he's... stunned. He moves forward as quickly as he can----with that limp it's really not easy. "Phil, don't. Phil. We're angry. We're angry, okay? People say stupid shit when they're angry----"
Phil gets the door open and at least gets half his body out the door. He can't look at Jack. "I think this is a lot bigger than that. I'll... see you later." Since they live on the same property. Shit.
"Don't. Don't you----Phil, I'm sorry, don't you fucking walk out of here like this----" Don't break it off. Don't break it off, don't... Jack knows deep down that Phil will always choose Pete. Jack just never thought that there would come a day when that choice actually had to be made. He reaches out with his unbroken hand to grab Phil's arm.
Phil jerks his arm away and squeezes out from between the door and the wall. Out into the hall, he finally looks at Jack. He walks backwards down the hall. "Sorry."
Jack's eyes are stinging with those tears that have been threatening to fall since his hand was broken. He doesn't know what's going on. In one night his world has completely turned upside down and he's left in more pain, but none of that really compares to the pain he feels right now. "Phil." It's one last desperate cry. Come back. Come back, don't end things like this. Don't give up on me, Phil.
That's what Phil does. He gives up, he avoids things. Phil turns his back on Jack and walks normally down the hall. He doesn't answer, just shakes his head.