Title: Sacrifices

Author: doctorsgal1792

Beta: jandl

Rating: K+

Pairing: Jack/Gwen

Disclaimer: I do not own anything. Torchwood is the property of RTD, the BBC, Starz, and all other affiliates. I am but a mere fangirl who was having a deep and intellectual conversation about Torchwood with my bestie, when this ficlet came to the fore front of my mind.

Summary: Based off of the promo for the episode "Immortal Sins." Rosa and I were discussing what we saw of the clip of Jack tied down in the car, and Gwen driving to, presumably, hand him over in exchange for the Coopers, Rhys, and Anwen. The lengths Gwen will go to for her family are endless, especially her daughter. Even if that means handing over one of the most important men in her life, even if Jack can actually die in this world.

This is a brief ficlet about Jack's thoughts while in the car.

A/N- Yay! Torchwood fic! I'VE MISSED MY TORCHWOOD MUSE! Anyways...plain and simple, it is a Jack/Gwen implied fic...and if you don't like it...or don't possibly understand how anyone could ship Jack/Gwen...then just leave...simple.

Please review and let me know what you think! I'm VERY nervous about this, since I haven't written Torchwood fic in ages...and I literally wrote this in about a 15 minute span...Whoo!

Thanks for reading!

Jack awoke with a start, a great gasp of air leaving his lungs as he did so. He was aware of the fact that he was in a car, going at a high speed, and he made a mental note that he had tight binds around his wrists, the cords chafing his skin uncomfortably. He struggled first, deciding not to pay attention to the woman in the seat beside him. Gwen Cooper's eyes were red and fat tears fell down her face as she sped down the highway. She glanced at Jack, who, feeling her probing eyes upon him, looked up from his position studying the bonds on his wrists to question her. "Why am I tied down?"

He had finally looked at her because he remembered what had been happening before he had unceremoniously been thrown in Gwen's car. There had been a fight at the apartment, which Gwen had been lucky enough to somehow win (Jack was a bit put out that she had succeeded in knocking him out) and moved him to the car. Jack was somewhat impressed at this latter fact and knew that Gwen must be really worried if she had managed to carry his much larger body-build out of the apartment, down the stairs, across the pavement, and into the car without any sort of assistance. Rex and Esther- his memory was hazy - but he was relatively certain they hadn't been there, or something had happened. His head was pounding from the impact of Gwen's knockout hit - he was fairly certain her use of that lampshade had been cheating - and, all things considered, Jack Harkness had lived better nights than this one.

Gwen looked at him briefly, a fresh stream of tears making their way silently down her face and her breath hitching as she fought back a sob. "Jack, this...is about my daughter...and that's all there is to it. I will see you killed, if it means having her back in my arms again."

Jack remembered then - what had happened at the 'base.' Gwen had told him what happened and he had wanted to come up with a plan. Gwen, in her distraught state, just wanted to run right in and hand Jack over as the ransomers had asked. There had been a lot of yelling, and he flinched at the thought of Gwen's thick Welsh accent, ringing out the words that pained him most of all: "You will never take a higher priority in my life than my family, Jack bloody Harkness!" Jack had been hurt before - by bullets, swords, knives, bombs, and various other means of death, either his own or those of the ones that he loved dearly, but nothing had ever hurt that much.

Once upon a time, Jack had been convinced he was the most important person in Gwen Cooper's life. Once upon a time, Jack was the most important person in her life. And now he wasn't.

He stopped struggling as he accepted his fate. His reasoning behind such suicidal action was simple: he loved Gwen, and wanted her to be happy. He would never be able to forgive himself if Anwen were to be killed. Of course, no one could be killed in this "new world," but it would be very easy to cause a damage so great to Anwen that if and when a solution was found, Gwen could lose her daughter forever.

He loved Gwen. He always had and he was certain that he always would, and so, despite his inclination to remind Gwen that he was literally the only person who could be killed in this scenario, he kept silent. As Gwen continued to drive, checking her rear view mirror occasionally, he saw what he had done to Gwen and sighed sadly, feeling shame wash over him. Her eyes were still redrimmed and puffy, and Jack could already see the beginnings of guilt working their way into her countenance - doing this to him was something she would never forgive herself for, he knew. But it was something she *had* to do, and any comments he made on it would only make her feel worse. And Jack knew he had already caused enough trauma and heartache to Gwen Cooper in one lifetime than he could ever make up for doing. Jack would've loved nothing more than to hold her, and whisper it would be okay, but he couldn't do that now. The time for confessing his love for Gwen had long since passed, and this was hardly the situation for bringing up such feelings, no matter how much he still felt they needed to be acknowledged. So he just looked down at his hands and said, in a barely audible whisper, "Okay...I'll go..." Gwen didn't hear him say "I'm doing this for you."