Love Bites

Jack: Two

 "No.", Santos declared, arms crossed over his chest to show that his decision was final.

"No? What do you mean by 'no?", Jack asked curiously.

"I mean no. Want me to spell it? We're not doing this.", the man growled before walking out of the cabin to go back on the deck.

Jack looked at Jolene and Billy who didn't dare to say a word.

"He doesn't mean it. Well... not..Just give me five minutes.", he told them before following Santos.

The guy was outside, checking on the diver's cage.

Jack cautiously came closer and leaned against the side of the boat.

"Did I mention how much money they offered? Pretty sure I did but maybe you didn't hear that part, being all pissy and such.", he began.

Santos glared at him and Jack winced. Maybe he'd need more than five minutes to convince his old friend on this one.

"It could finance our own research for five years. Five years, man. Four if I let Billy order all the technology he's been dreaming about for a while and he kinda deserved it. Do you know how many tourists we'd have to put in that cage to earn that much money?", Jack pleaded.

"No. How many?", Santos asked as if the answer would make a difference.

Jack scrunched his nose. "I...I didn't do the math because the question was rhetorical but " shit load' is the closest answer I can give you right now. Come on. You were on board when I first told you."

He got a call early this morning and had gathered the crew in the cabin to tell them about the offer he just got for all of them. A fully financed expedition on a brand new boat, paying enough to make sure they could pick up their own research where they left it and be able to finance it for a while. Billy, sold at the simple mention of a new boat full of the technology he loved but didn't get to use on their boat due to a lack of funds, showed enthusiasm right away. Jolene had no objection.

Santos on the other side...

"I was okay with it because you didn't mention he'd be a part of the deal. Since he is, the answer is no.".

Jack chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment. He had known the man wouldn't be happy to hear Jae was involved. But Jae was /his/ problem, not Santos's.

"I'm over him. It's been three years. Who cares? He's the best at what he does. We're the best in the field. We knew we'd cross his path again eventually. But we can't afford not to seize this opportunity. Santos, I.... ".

He rubbed his face with both hands before continuing.

"I know we love what we do. But we're depending on our sponsors to pay for the fuel, the equipment, the analysis of the data and information we collect, the trackers... Billy is good but he can't patch up our material forever, we'll need new stuff soon and I'm running out of options here. I refuse to see all the work we accomplished go to waste. We made it that far. This is our chance to go further.", he sighed.

Santos grabbed a rope and started to roll it over his arm as he looked at Jack.

"I know that. But this is not the way. I was there, remember? I was there when he left and you turned into a hot mess. You wanted to quit. To settle and buy a fucking house just to show him you could. Like he'd come back if you did. You think I'm stupid? I know part of you believes you want to do this because of what you just said. /I/ know part of you wants it because of him.", he growled.

Jack winced lightly and reached to his side to place his hand over his broken ribs. The price of his 15 minutes of glory on the internet.

"That was three years ago. I moved on. And so did he, I'm sure. He probably found himself quiet, nerdy and organized to keep his bed warm. Not that I checked. Or that I care. Like...at all.", he lied with a smile. "All I have to do is to stay myself. That's exactly what got him to run the last time. I think it's safe to say that boat sailed and sank. "

Santos stared at him for a moment.

"We're still not going.", he finally said.

Jack rolled his eyes and groaned. "Don't be that stubborn. I promise you, if you see me stare at his ass, you can throw me overboard. Besides, they want to build our platform on their boat. Since it's our design, you'll get to supervise them. Yell at them they suck. Tell them how to do their job. You like that, I know you do.", he grinned before standing up.

"A few months of sucking up and we'll be on our way with enough money to continue here. They want to go after the lineage of the Megalodon, Santos. We're the only ones out there who know how to handle the bigger sharks. The only crew who managed to get a 31 feet long white shark out of the water without damage. That happened right there.", he said, pointing at the back of the boat. "On /our/ boat. We're the best, they know it. We get the chance to prove to them we're not just internet sensations. So....that being said, are we going?".

Santos sighed and came to stand before him. Even if Jack was taller than him, he couldn't hide Santos was the only person in the world able to make him feel like a little boy outside his mother.

While Santos stared at him, Jack didn't move a muscle. But when the man's shoulders dropped, he grinned.

"We're going.", Santos finally answered....before pushing Jack over the edge. Jack flailed for a few seconds before he hit the water. But when he did, he was laughing too hard to care.

It took a few weeks before all crews got ready to go. Jack's, the team lead by Jae, and the team in charge of filming and putting together the documentary. All contacts between them all happened via mail and Jack could feel Santos's eyes on him every time Jae came into the conversation. Luckily, Billy and Jolene knew nothing about that and Jack wanted to keep it that way.

He insisted they'd be the first to get on the new boat to be able to run a check on the equipment without getting interrupted.

A slow whistle escaped him when they finally reached the vessel.

"Damn. They're not kidding.", he commented. Santos was the only one who saw the boat before as he supervised the building of the hydraulic platform. The one they would work on this boat was larger and more powerful than the one they used at home and it meant they'd get to bring bigger sharks in. That idea alone got Jack more excited than he could describe.

"I want one like that when I grow up.", he chuckled.

Billy disappeared into the boat, Santos and Jolene headed to the platform and Jack climbed on the upper deck to enjoy the feeling of having such a nice boat under his feet.

It was the boat of his dreams and for a few minutes, he could pretend it was his and his alone.

Someone cleared their throat behind him and he was so caught in his daydream he jumped and turned around.

"Oh...Hi. I was just...', he started, too surprised to see Jae to find his words.

Why was he feeling like he was trespassing? He was actually supposed to be there.

Fortunately, a fur ball rushed to him with an enthusiastic bark and he grinned before crouching to pet the dog.

"Bo! Hey, boy! Did you miss me?", he chuckled. As an answer, the dog barked again, clearly excited, and rolled on his back to be cuddled. That was just adorable.

Jack laughed, let himself roll on the floor and leaned over the dog to cuddle the animal as so obviously requested before remembering he was not alone.

He froze, sat up and looked up at Jae before snickering. "I guess you won't roll on your back to greet me too, huh?", he joked before mentally punching himself in the face. A face Bo decided to lick with adoration since he felt Jack's attention was shifting somewhere else.