Confrontation
The door sealed to the Hub behind Ianto with a soft hiss, followed with a clang as the gates shut too. Gwen looked over at Jack, sitting in his office. The Hub was empty, besides her and her boss. He looked lost in thought behind the murky glass with the 'T' logo painted on its surface in deep penetrating black.
Gwen was hesitating about this. But then she heard in her head voices of people she'd spoken to about Jack. 'Don't you ever wonder,' Suzie's voice echoed. 'Who is he?' 'All the time.' Gwen had replied. 'We were banking on you.' Tosh had said over that Chinese so long ago. And then she heard Owen's voice too. He had of course asked her about what she knew about Jack, but she had sworn him to secrecy. After Suzie had said right in front of everyone when they brought her back, she killed him so Gwen had expected the whole team to ask something. But only Owen had asked. 'Who is Jack Harkness?' Maybe Tosh hadn't asked because she didn't want to pry. But then that's what they did. Torchwood. They investigated aliens. And for all Gwen knew, Captain Jack Harkness could be an alien.
Before she knew what she was doing, Gwen stood up from her own desk and wandered towards Jack's office. She had almost reached the door when she got cold feet and turned right round and headed back in the opposite direction. She thought he hadn't seen her, but – 'Gwen?'
She froze and turned slowly back round. 'Did you want something?' he called through the thin glass. She walked slowly round to the doors and took a deep breath before pushing through them.
'Erm, there's something I wanted to talk to you about, Jack.' She said nervously. She rarely got this nervous but it wasn't everyday she asked her boss who nobody really knew who he was.
'Take a seat.' He gestured to the seat before his desk and she sat gratefully. Her legs were shaking. 'What is it?'
'Jack…' Go on, say it, she dared herself. 'Jack…'
'Spit it out Gwen. Tell me what's going on.'
'There's nothing going on. It's you I wanted to talk about.'
Jack sighed and looked away giving her the very strong feeling he didn't want to talk about this. But she'd anticipated this. And she wouldn't give up. 'Who are you, Jack? Where are you from? What happened to you when you died?'
'What's with the twenty questions, Gwen?' Jack demanded, raising his voice.
'Why is it so hard for you to open up? You can't just tell me you died and not explain what happened and not expect me to be just a little bit curious!' She stared him down as he glared at her.
But then he did what she didn't expect. He closed his eyes… and smiled to himself. 'I was happy, Gwen Cooper.' He said, opening his eyes. 'Truly happy. Me, Rose and the Doctor.'
She didn't question him. She just waited for him to continue.
'You probably wanna know how it all started, right?'
She shrugged. 'Who was the Doctor?'
'A Time Lord. He travelled through Time and Space in his TARDIS. He was the reason Torchwood was founded because he was an enemy of Queen Victoria. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I used to be con man. But then I met Rose Tyler. An ordinary, but out of her Time – literally – 19 year old girl. She led me to the Doctor. She was his best friend when we met. I tried conning them but then I made a mistake and ended up endangering the human race. I could've died fixing it but the Doctor came back for me when I thought I was a goner. We travelled for a while but then we came against an alien race called the Daleks in the year 200,000 who fought against the Cybermen at Canary Wharf last year. But these were insane, created to worship a monster. I was human when I died.'
'What happened?' Gwen asked.
'I died to give the Doctor more time to prepare his weapon which would wipe out the Daleks. One Dalek laser, straight in the chest.' H tapped his chest. 'I thought I was gonna die, I would've been happy dying knowing I gave him more time to save the world. But then, I woke up. Came back to life. And then I find the Daleks in piles of dust on the floor and I saw the TARDIS with the Doctor and I presume Rose. They just left me there. All on my own.'
Gwen sighed and went over to Jack. She knelt in front of him and e bowed his head. She took his hands in hers. 'I thought we were friends, Gwen.' And then she saw for the first time a tear roll down his cheek. He stayed silent for a moment and then wiped it away, resuming his façade that he was alright and nothing ever emotionally hurt him. 'That's why I wait here. I'm waiting for him to come back. You know the chameleon circuit where the lift is? That's because that's that very spot is where the TARDIS came to pick up fuel from the Rift when I was still on board.'
'What happened to Rose then? Did she go with him after you died? Where was she from?'
'This Time. The 21st century. She always came back here to visit her mother, that's what the Doctor told me.'
'Have you tried finding her?'
'No.' Jack shook his head. I don't know what I'd say. I don't even know if she ever got back with him. He sent her back here last I knew when he thought she'd be safer away from the fighting. But they were inseparable, you know?'
Gwen nodded. 'You should try finding her, Jack. You could get some answers.'
Jack looked Gwen deep in the eye and nodded slowly. He stood up, and so did Gwen from her kneeling position. 'Do you wanna help me?' he asked.
'Ok.' Gwen smiled, walking out his office side by side with him. 'So what time are you from Jack? The past or the future?'
'I can't believe you're asking me that! Obviously the future. The 51st century.'
'Bloody hell!' Gwen said in amazement. 'That's like, 30 thousand years away.'
'Tell me about it!' He said as they arrived at the Main computer. He sat down and Gwen pulled up another chair to sit beside him.
'Are you ready for this?' She asked. 'We may not find anything.'
'Oh there'll be something.' He said. 'There always is.' He brought the keyboard closer and searched their database for Rose Tyler. And the first thing that came up gave him an amazing shock. It was a news article about her death.
He read through it quickly, Gwen holding his free hand. He finished reading and said, 'She died at Torchwood One. He was there too. He killed her like he killed me.'
Sorry everybody if this is a bit confusing, but I just felt the urge to write down what could happen if Gwen ever confronted Jack about his past.
Please review though, and tell me what you think, if you think this story could go somewhere and follow its own storyline or just to tell me what you thought of my imaginary scene all comments are appreciated!