Captain Jack Harkness

"It all makes me a little sorry we set most of our money on fire," said Dale, though he wasn't sure they would've had any of it on them, even if they hadn't. He wouldn't say he had let down his guard, but he'd heard tales of other people's off-island adventures, and maybe they were just here for some fish and chips.

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"It'll be fine. Really. I've done this more times than you can imagine," Jack assured them, flagging over a waitress and getting them set for food and drinks. All he wanted was water, which was...strange.

"So!" he exclaimed when she'd gone. "What do you guys want to do? There's no war on, no real alien presence yet, and no reason to worry. Torchwood is in Cardiff, miles off that way, and the Doctor won't be here for a few more years. The town is ours."

And then, from the strap on his wrist, a shrill beep began. Jack looked down at it and his carefree smile faded immediately.

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Logan had been eying the waitress, but Jack had his full attention the moment he heard the beep.

Peering over, Logan eyed the device curiously.

"Why's it beeping?" he asked curiously. "That like a pager or something?"

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Joe had laughed when Dale had made the comment about the money, but he grin faded when he heard the beeping and saw Jack's expression. Lifting his eyebrows, he glanced at Dale, then at Logan, as if expecting them to know what was going on.

"What is it?" he asked, mostly just echoing Logan.

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"I think it goes without saying that I hope to be briefed about every change to our situation, no matter how small," said Dale, smoothly and efficiently. "Jack?"

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"It's...a lot of things," Jack replied, distracted as he opened the strap and pressed a few buttons. He knew exactly why it was beeping and who it must be. It had only beeped once while he was on the island, and not at all since he'd left the Time Agency. He retro plotted the coordinates and then looked up and out the window at the man standing there in the red coat.

"Okay, fast and dirty. I don't know if any of you met John Hart when he was on the island, but he's my former partner and he's not to be trusted," Jack said quietly. He looked from Dale to Joe to Logan, then forced a smile that almost looked pained. "Don't believe anything he says, and for the love of things precious, don't antagonize him. He's dangerous."

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John moved closer when Jack finally noticed him, and he pressed his palm flat against the glass as he took in the other agent's companions. Unimpressed, he quirked a brow at his fellow Captain, and took a step back before walking around to the door and heading inside.

Swaggering past all the regular customers he dragged a chair over from an empty table, letting the legs scrape against the floor before swinging it around gently and taking a seat.

"Your other team was better looking," he said, rather than say hello, grinning at a barmaid and gesturing for her to bring him a beer. "Except that one," he said, nodding at Dale. "Who's eye candy more worried about then? Tall dark and handsome over here, or the jailbait on the end? Not that it matters, I'm sure you've already screwed them both."

His tone was flippant, and it was clear he was trying to chase them off. He wasn't interested in Jack's newest wonder team, he was only interested in Jack.

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Logan bristled visibly at the jailbait comment, but he was just interested enough in the man who had once been Jack's partner that he stayed silent.

Peeking around Jack for a better look, he took in the stranger with a long hard look before glancing over at Dale and Joe.

He didn't like this, and his hand moved to rest possessively on Jack's knee.

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At the same time, without even knowing it, Joe's hand went to Dale's knee, fingers pressing into his skin. It was both a possessive gesture and a way to express to Dale just how fucking uncomfortable he suddenly was with some dangerous asshole appearing.

Don't antagonize him. The one thing Jack had said not to do.

"Scary," Joe said dryly. "Biting words."

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Dale put his hand on top of Joe's, not even possessively (though it would not be wrong to take it that way) but calmingly. Joe was capable of antagonizing him, which meant that getting under anyone else's skin wouldn't even make him break a sweat.

"I don't believe we've been introduced," he said, with a pleasant and non-committal smile.

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"We used to be partners," Jack repeated, his eyes locked on John as if he expected the man to draw his weapons at any moment.

"Captain John Hart, right? Still wearing that, I hope. These are my friends. Not a new team. Civilians." It was obvious that it was a carefully pointed explanation. The last thing he wanted was for John to think they were fair game like Torchwood.

"In fact, funny story...there's been a little mix up in the timeline. We haven't met in Cardiff yet. But we've talked since...you know what? Too much knowledge will just rip things apart. Everyone, this is John."

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"Civilians," John repeated, practically purring as he looked over the new faces again, his gaze settling on Joe's face as he flashed a grin.

The comments about time went by with a simple shrug. After all, it wasn't completely unusual.

"I see. Well, let's see wot kind of civilians we're talking about then. Let's start with... The cop," John said, reading Dale easily and looking him over. "Make that the cop and his boyfriend," he added, his gaze moving to Joe as he leaned forward a little. "And no, my words don't bite. They don't have to."

Confidently, he smiled before moving on down the table to Logan.

"Ah, and jailbait. Or former jailbait, anyway. This your new toy?" he asked Jack. "Fascinating. Now let's say goodbye and go have some real fun. I've got an artifact from 8302819 that's somehow found it's way to London - In 1867. I'm about to go get it. Don't tell me you don't want in, I know you do."

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Logan bristled even more, his fingers digging into Jack's knee as he practically growled.

"I am not his toy, I'm his husband, and he's not going anywhere without us."

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It was actually all a little funny. Not that this dickhead was pissing off Logan, but that he was so fucking sure of himself and Joe snorted in amused laughter, leaning back in the booth.

"Scary words and he has us pegged," Joe said, his tone still dry, still not sounding particularly impressed. "Wow. I'm still waiting for the fish and chips."

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"Joe," said Dale, calm but firm, eyes sharp now and back to taking in every detail of the situation. It wasn't dangerous, but it also wasn't comfortable and Dale wanted to be prepared. "Jack?"

The two names alone said everything he needed them to say. "Joe, don't cause trouble unless it's necessary" and "Jack, what's your call?"

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With the ability to travel in time, Jack foud he really wished he could go back a couple seconds and clamp his hand over Logan's mouth. The announcement of marriage was likely to go over poorly with John.

But then there were the magic words. Artifact from 8302819. His mouth practically watered. Jack kept it all in check, though, and shook his head.

"Bad idea," he said, then looked at Logan and Joe and Dale in turn. He knew what he should do- but damned if he didn't crave another trip. John was psychotic, but there was no question that he could be fun when he wanted to be.

"I can't go without them, and they're civilians," he repeated, sounding more than a little disappointed. "Unless..."

He looked at his companions and smiled.

"It's not a good thing that anything from 8302819 is anywhere on Earth before 3476. Do you guys...I mean, we could just stay here and have fish and chips and find a hotel, or we could do another jump and you could see Victoria's London," he said. He'd always been so much better at the whole temptation thing than John.

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Logan's outburst was enough to distract John from Joe's comments, and he eyed the young man before shifting his gaze to Jack.

The boy wasn't lying. If he had been Jack would have been quick to correct him. There was, of course, a chance that the boy was just a mark- But if that had been the case, the other Agent would have put on a show, wrapping an arm around him while he gushed over their vows and honeymoon.

He didn't though. Instead Jack simply moved on, making it clear without words that the boy was, in fact, his husband.

John's face remained blank, but his eyes grew darker and he leaned back casually in his seat. He'd had plans for this trip, but that was alright. He'd always been good at improvising.

"If they want to come, they can come. It'll be better if there are more of us anyway. We can split up and cover more ground. Besides, I'm just dieing to get to know your husband and new friends."

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Logan could see the excitement in Jack's eyes, but he couldn't ignore the sinking feeling that sat in his gut. This wasn't a good idea. Jack had to see that.

"I'll go if you want to go," he told Jack finally. "Joe- if you and Dale want to skip it, you can. You don't have to come with us if you're not okay with it."

Though he really wasn't sure he felt safe going without them.

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Joe just cast a look in Logan's direction, making it pretty fucking clear he wasn't about to let Logan go anywhere alone with this fucker.

"No one's going anywhere until some shit gets explained," he said and that was all there fucking was to it. "You can explain and walk at the same time, if you want, but everything better get fucking explained."

It didn't matter who explained things, but someone had better start making sense soon.

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"If it's all the same," said Dale, giving Joe's wise, if colorfully delivered, words a nod, "I think it would be prudent to stick together, all things considered."

Whether it was all the same or not, in fact, Dale intended for none of them to stray far from the flock.

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"Yeah, you should know what you're signing on for," Jack agreed. "So...what is it, John? Theft? Certain death? I know it's not just a shopping trip. I mean, how do you even know it's there for sure?"

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"...I might have left it there when I couldn't get it myself," John admitted, taking a sip from his beer. "See, I was running this innocent little scam, just for a bit of fun, when I got this signal- It was like something was trying to contact me. I ran a quick scan for tech and it led me to a Cayvalgh Code Stone. That's like a translator," he explained to Jack's companions, his whole attitude changing as he seemed to become more open and friendly. Too focused on his story to be a real threat.

"Except, as Jack here already knows, it's not just any old translator. Anyone within 500 feet of it will suddenly find themselves fluent in over ten thousand languages. In the future they're completely common, fantastic at airports and hotels- but if you introduce something like that to Earth too soon..."

He trailed off and let out a sigh. "I couldn't tell you how it got there, and I couldn't retrieve it on my own. It's turned into a huge tourist attraction. I need someone to help me get it out of there, and set it up so it all looks like a hoax. ...Oh, and, uh, there's one tiny complication. ...Two, actually. The first is that I might have murdered three of the guards the first time I tried to get it, and am now a wanted man. And the second is- well, there are actually two stones. I just can't work out where the other is exactly. I've got a signal, but it leads nowhere."

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"You did what?" Logan asked, staring at the stranger and then looking at Jack, silently begging him to say no.

This was a bad idea, he could feel it.

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"Fuck off," Joe said finally, done with playing around, done with snide remarks and stupid comments. "Just fuck off. Are you fucking serious? This is bullshit and we're not going anywhere with you."

Looking at Jack, meeting his gaze for maybe the first time since he'd punched him in the face, Joe said, "We're not going with him if he's killed three people. That's fucking stupid."

More than that, he wasn't about to let Logan or Dale end up in danger like that. He didn't give a shit about himself, but there were certain people he had to look after.

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