Captain John Hart felt the familiar lurch in his stomach as he landed out of the vortex and into the middle of the Torchwood Hub. Shit! Got the coordinates wrong! He thought with panic as he saw the lights were on and that he wasn't in the morgue. He'd wanted to kill two birds with one stone now he was in trouble…
"John!" His head whipped around at the name. A woman was running towards him. She was Asian but not the same woman he'd met the first time he came caught sight of Jack standing in her path, looking at him with astonishment. His former partner's eyes widened and he reached out, grabbing her as she passed him.
"NO! DON'T!" Jack shouted at her.
Hart took a few steps back, confused, wondering if Jack was protecting him from some sort of attack. Why he'd do that was completely beyond Hart as was why this woman was so desperate to reach him. Jack had to lift her off the ground gain a measure of control over her.
He continued to shout, "STOP! You can't! Look at him! He doesn't know who you are. It's not our version of him!"
"Let me go! Now, Jack!" she snarled.
What passion… It made Hart look at her more seriously. The emotion behind that passion wasn't vengeance, anger or hatred. It was the opposite. Hart had only ever known love to fuel that level of determination. It wasn't all that he heard in her plea. Her voice dripped with a venom and a bite that interested him. The complexity wasn't the only thing that got his attention. Even though her face was twisted with raw emotion, she was quite pretty in an old fashioned human sort of way.
She renewed her struggles and Jack was having trouble holding onto her. He put her back on the ground, backhanding her across the mouth. The solid crack got her attention.
"Look at him!" he cried, shaking her.
She'd finally stopped struggling and turned with hesitation and dread.
No one had ever looked at him like that. There wasn't just love and lust. There was a purity to it. Flowing from the ocean of love was a river filled with loyalty and devotion. He never believed anyone would… could look at him that way. What astounded him the most was that her eyes hoped and begged for that look to be returned.
The heartbreak spread across her face, welling up tears in her eyes. "No…"
Jack drew her close as the tears spilled down her cheeks. "Ianto? Take her to my office."
The young man walked forward and opened his mouth as if to say something to him but closed it again. Hart saw none of the hatred and anger he'd seen the last time they'd met. The Welshman quietly took the woman by the arm.
"C'mon, Mandy…" he said softly.
Ianto started to lead her away but she turned and opened her mouth. With cat-like reflexes, the Welshman covered her mouth with his hand. With his other arm, he dragged her away. The tears continued, running down her cheeks and over Ianto's hand. Hart expected her to continue her struggle but halfway to Jack's office, she deflated, sorrow overwhelming her. Ianto dragged her into Jack's office, kicking the door shut with his foot.
Such grief… over me?!
Jack rounded on him, pointing a finger in his face. "You need to leave. Now!"
What Hart had just witnessed left him slightly stunned. He forgot everything the Time Agency and temporal mechanics had taught him and asked, "Who is she?"
Jack crossed his arms over his chest and said, "You know I can't tell you that. Leave. Now."
He had to know. He reached out and grabbed Jack's arm, dragging the other man towards him.
"Jaxon, who is she?" he demanded, dropping his voice to a whisper.
For a full minute, Jack didn't say anything. He just stood there with his chin tucked into his chest. Looking as if he was going to regret what he was about to do, he shook his head.
"A few months ago. 5 November, 2014." Jack grabbed his wrist, tapping those time coordinates into his vortex manipulator and then ordered, "Now, go."
