Captain Jack Harkness

"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?"

From:

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.

From:

got-no-hart.livejournal.com

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."

From:

echolls-cursed.livejournal.com

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.

From:

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.

From:

"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.

From:

"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?"

From:

got-no-hart.livejournal.com

"...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."

From:

echolls-cursed.livejournal.com

"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.

From:

"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.

From:

"I'm certainly not going anywhere unarmed," said Dale. It could be said - and had be said, by him - that he was never truly unarmed when anything was within arm's reach, and Dale was good at using what was at hand, but he felt it was clear what he meant.

His eyes stayed on John, and never strayed.

From:

"Okay, okay, wait," Jack said, holding up his hand. So maybe John had gotten better at the temptation spiel. There were some gaping holes in the story, which just made Jack shake his head.

"You fucking lunatic," he drawled. "You're really trying to run a Butterfly Effect con on me? On me? You've got to be joking. And with a story like that, you can't possibly think I'd bring them along on that sort of a mission. If even half of it is true, you're screwed. I'm assuming they know you're face, since you're...you. You do subtle like a bomb, you always have. No. The answer is no."

With that, Jack pushed his chair back and stood up, gesturing to the door.

"We're leaving. Find another mark, captain," he sneered, then looked at Joe. "We can get food anywhere, Joe. Let's go."

From:

got-no-hart.livejournal.com

John stayed where he was, watching as they filed out of the pub and turned the corner.

He wondered, briefly, if Jack was simply pushing him back so he'd drag him along. Too much of a coward to argue with his companions, but aware that enough shoving would only end with him doing what John wanted. That was just how it went..

He waited just long enough for them to hit the ally before following, his footsteps silent as he drew his gun and aimed.

The bullet hit Jack in the back of the head, and before the body had even dropped, he was behind the boy, his gun against his scalp as he held him tight, appearing oblivious to the boy's struggles and the gore he'd left behind.

"You really should have just agreed to come," he told Joe, pressing the button on his strap and waving goodbye with his gun, before vanishing with Logan in tow.

From:

echolls-cursed.livejournal.com

The sound came out of nowhere, and all Logan saw was blood before the stranger grabbed him and pulled him tight against his chest.

He could feel the cold metal of the gun, but all he could see was Jack laying face down on the ground. Dead. Lifeless.

He shouted and struggled, not to get free, but to get closer to his fallen husband, and he heard nothing John said as he tried to free himself, shouting Jack's name as his world slowly fell apart.

...He hardly even seemed to be aware of his own peril.

And then he was gone. Just... gone.

Edited Date: 2009-09-10 02:33 am (UTC)

From:

Joe wasn't a huge fan of guns. Between his own and the one Logan had had on the island, he'd pretty much had enough of them and when Jack pulled one, the first thing he tried to do was grab Logan. He missed, though, and as he pushed back against Dale, trying to get them both out of the way, Logan was dragged away from them, then just fucking disappeared.

"What the fuck?" he burst out, looking from Jack to where Logan had disappeared, wondering if there was anything he could do about any of it. Jack looked dead, but Logan was with that fucking psycho.

From:

Dale was nothing if not good in a crisis. Everything happened too fast for either him or Joe to do anything about it, but nothing was over yet. He just hoped that this was really Jack's actual world, and not just a facsimile like the island, where the rules of Jack's existence wouldn't hold.

"Check to see if they left anything behind," said Dale, and hoped that even if Joe wasn't good at taking orders, Dale's instruction would give him something constructive to do. "Then help me move Jack out of sight."

From:

There was nothing. He'd been walking with the three men and then he'd heard a pop- a far too familiar sound- and then there was just nothing. No pain, no fear, no sensation of his life draining away. It was just over.

Over for a few minutes, at least. A few very long minutes.

There was a sensation that he'd been stretched, overstretched, and a moment later he was rocketing back to consciousness like a rubber band or a spring. He gasped loudly and lifted up from where he lay, looking at Joe and Dale with wide eyes and and open mouth. He could feel blood on his face still wet from where the wound had been, but that was gone and he was...

He was fine.

"What happened?" he asked, as stunned at the fact that he was alive as he'd been on the satellite when Rose had brought him back. It took a second to register that it was just the three of them, and that was a more pressing issue than what had or hadn't happened. Knowing John, he had a fair idea of why he was on the ground with blood on his face. That didn't matter- he wasn't dead. He wasn't dead, and Logan was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Logan? What happened?"

From:

For a second, Joe thought he was going to be sick. There was nothing on the ground left behind and then Jack was moving. Not only moving, but talking and people who'd been shot in the head didn't fucking move or talk.

Unless they shot themselves in the head and ended up on an island, but that wasn't the fucking point.

"He's gone," he said, because what the fuck else was he going to say?

From:

When Jack began talking and moving under his own power, Dale reached for his next priority: Joe.

"John shot you and then took Logan with him, wherever he went with his device," he said to sum up, at least giving the outward appearance of calm and collected. "If he was telling us the truth earlier, that may give us a place to begin in our search, so to speak. What do you think, Jack?"

From:

Leave it to Dale to be clear and to the point. He couldn't fault Joe for the two word response...he could see on the man's face how he felt. Jack felt just about the same way.

"Yeah," he agreed as he got to his feet and flipped open his wrist strap. A few quick taps of the buttons told him nearly nothing.

"He covered his tracks," he said with a shake of his head. "All we've got to go on is 1867. I...I guess it can't hurt to go see. If the stone is there, the signal will be clear upon arrival."

He didn't hold much hope that John had simply gone on ahead like some fucked up game of tag...with kidnapping.

From:

Trying for words, the only thing Joe managed was a frustrated, exasperated sort of sigh and he threw up his hands before looking at Dale. This entire situation had gone from slightly fucked up to being far too fucked up for his liking, but there wasn't a hell of a lot they could do. They had to get Logan back, that much was obvious.

From:

Dale just kept Joe close by, trusting no one else to watch out for him but himself.

"Jack," he said, "I will back you up to the best of my ability, but I think we need to put this one in your hands. This is your playing field, and you're the one who knows the rules here. We'll follow your lead."

He felt that 'keep the civilian safe' needn't be said. Especially when said civilian was Joe.

From:

"Okay. Okay...jut let me think for a minute," he replied. His adrenaline was pumping and his thoughts were jumbled. If they went to the stone, it would mean Joe and Dale would have to blend. Americans in Victoria's London wouldn't exactly be inconspicuous. Joe was the poster child of what an Agent was supposed to avoid. Dale...Dale would pass, given the right clothing.

Maybe they could just get Joe a hat.

But if John had been lying, it would be a wasted trip. If there was no stone, or if there was simply something else he had wanted...

And then there was the fact that he had Logan and a Vortex Manipulator. They could be anywhere and anywhen.

"Shit," he hissed under his breath. "What I need is a computer. What I need is..."

Torchwood.

"Torchwood One is here in London somewhere, I think. With my Manipulator, once we find him we can arrive on his metaphorical heels. It'd be better if we were in Cardiff, although that would be a hard one to explain- And there's the whole taboo of crossing your own timeline and the risk of touching and all that would just be a mess..." He was rattling on and when he realized it, he stopped abruptly.

"Right. Torchwood One. Pinpoint the artron trail. Go get Logan. Sounds like a plan. You in?"

From:

Joe just shot Jack a withering glare, because that was the stupidest fucking question he could have asked. You in? Of course he was fucking in, because Logan was the one they had to go after and Logan was the one who mattered.

"Yeah," he said flatly, looking to Dale again. "Yeah, of course we're fucking in, right?"

From: