Sorry that this is late guys; but I kept getting writer's block. I apologize ahead of time for any spelling mistakes.
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or the Doctor Who episode "God Complex"
At first, Jack Harkness didn't know what to think. He took a step forward and closed the door behind him. Jack tilted his chin up slightly, standing to attention. A tiny smirk formed on his lips.
"What else?" Jack laughed, cold and ironic.
The only light in the room, a dimly lit lamp on the bedside table, caught on the glass of the mirror making the glow of the reflection's eyes glint wickedly.
"Looking good as always," Jack said. "So, what've you got for me? Interrogation? Accusations? Hmm? No. Going to recap every mistake I've made, every sin I've committed?" Jack stepped closer. "Nothing?" He shrugged and glanced around.
Jack stalked over to the bedside table and unplugged the lamp. Jack then walked back to stand at attention in front of the mirror. "Alright. You don't want to talk. Fine by me."
The immortal gripped the lamp tightly in his fingers before hurtling it at his reflection. As the mirror shattered, an ardent, blood-curdling scream burst from the reflection's lips; the crashing of glass filling the small space. Jack jumped backwards to avoid being hit by the shards, despite the fact any wound would've healed instantly. Once the discordance died down, Jack brushed nonexistent dirt from the lapels of his coat.
"Sorted," the captain murmured, leaving so quickly that he missed the dark smoke that started to stream from the base of the mirror and over the rigid glass.
The hallways seemed to stretch and weave much more than Jack remembered...and...no how did he just pass room 51 again? Jack shook his head. Stay focused, Jack reminded himself. He continued walking. Jack eyed the other room numbers, searching subconsciously for other strange numbers.
"Jack?" It was Gwen.
"Yeah..."
"Where are you?" Gwen questioned.
"Doesn't matter. I'm coming back now."
"It's been forty minutes," she deadpanned.
Jack stopped. "What?"
Gwen sighed, "'I'll be back' my arse. Check your watch or that wrist strap thingy of yours."
Jack glanced at his watch and repeated in utter disbelief, "forty minutes..."
"What's going on, Jack?"
"Wha-? Nothing."
"You're," Gwen sounded amused now, rather than annoyed, "lost aren't you?"
"Me," Jack snorted, "lost?"
"Well what else would you be doing that's taking so long?"
"I can think a few things." The immortal glanced up and down the never-ending hallways. "Just stay in the common room, yeah?"
A short pause before, "Okay, Jack. But try not to be too much longer, Carlie's getting twitchy again." There was a precipitous, loud, muffled crash from Gwen's end of the wi-com. "Shit," Gwen hissed.
"What happened?"
"The lightbulbs just exploded, we're in the dark but I think we'll be okay-" she was cut off by the sound of a scream, Carlie?, and then the connection went dead.
Jack cursed a slew of both 21st century and intergalactic swears and broke into a run. Well, thought Jack, at least I'm getting some exercise out of all this. He skidded to a halt when he finally reached the common room and...no one was there. Jack threw his hands up. "Why the hell not," he exclaimed. "I really should've seen this one coming." He walked attentively through the darkened room. Glass crunched beneath his boots and he had to maneuver around dangling ceiling lights. Occasional sparks of electricity crackled from the wires. Where Ianto and Carlie was sitting, rested the PDA. A red dot was blinking wildly on the small screen.
Jack went to pick it up when he heard another scream, this one definitely Gwen, followed by the sound of a slamming door. The American breathed in, then out heavily. He rolled his neck, loosening the muscles before going to find the source of the noise. Jack found himself back in the hallways of rooms. He'd made it only a few feet forward when a fingers wrapped around his wrist and tugged him backwards. Jack whipped around as the door closed, seemingly by itself, with the revolver aimed.
"Whoa, Jack," Gwen said. "It's just me."
"Oh."
"Yes..." Gwen said slowly. She indicated the gun. "Want to put that away now?"
Jack re-holstered the gun. He eyed her. "Well, its good to see you in one piece." Jack took in the fog clouded room. It was impossible to see anything except for what was right in front of him. "Is this your room?" Gwen looked uncomfortable and self-conscious. "Gwen. Are you okay?"
She waved her hand dismissively. "Let's just find Carlie and Ianto."
"If you're sure," Jack said, still unconvinced. "We can talk about it."
"I don't want to talk about it Jack, thank you," Gwen stated, shouldering past him and speeding out the door.
Jack was doubtful, but followed her out anyways. "Ah, so where did they go?"
"I think they went in the opposite direction as I did," Gwen explained. "So they headed for the stairs to the lobby."
Gwen and Jack walked down the stairwell. Gwen slowed down a bit, observing the photographs. Just as if this were a real hotel, employee's of the month were hung up along side various managers. Their broad, white grins beamed at the pair of them from behind the glass. Jack didn't pay the pictures much attention, but Gwen paused at the bottom of the staircase.
"Jack, come and see this," the Welshwoman said.
The last photo had a layer of dust covering the surface and cobwebs hanging in the corners of the frame. But they could make out exactly who it was. "Huh," Jack said. "Haven't seen you in a while. Okay. I'll play your little games, Bilis Manger."
"Maybe its a coincidence? He could've worked here. As a guard I mean."
Jack shook his head. "No." he trailed off and bolted back up the stairs, ignoring Gwen's calls. Gwen's voice was fading behind him. An intense presentiment was settling in the pit of Jack's stomach but he ignored it. He stood once more at attention in front of room 51. This time he didn't hesitate. Jack wrapped his fingers around the door knob, throwing it open for the second time. The immortal froze.
Where the remains of a mirror once stood in baleful defiance, was nothing but an empty space. The hotel room looked as if no one had touched it. Completely normal. Except that it wasn't. Nothing in Torchwood was ever normal.
The captain crossed his arms over his chest and stood in the doorway. "Well then." He half expected Gwen to appear next to him again and demand 'what the hell that was about'...but she was nowhere. Actually... "Gwen?" Jack called. Odd. She'd been right behind him. Hadn't she?
Suddenly, the same low growling from before erupted from somewhere close by. Beneath the savage roars, was a choked back shout. Wait a second, Jack thought. He turned around carefully and was met with the image of the Minotaur with it's gristly hands wrapped around Ianto's throat, pinning him against the wall. Carlie sat on the opposite side of the hallway, a blank expression on her face, head quirked at an unusual angle. Jack aimed and fired the revolver. The bullet bounced off of an invisible shield, flying back and nearly hitting the immortal.
Doc didn't mention anything like this, Jack thought ruefully. He stormed forward and hammered his fists on the force field. If he couldn't reach the Minotaur, he could at least try distracting it, right? The beast was ignoring him though. Ianto, however, glanced over to Jack, eyes widening a little and he seemed a bit irritated. Ianto kneed the Minotaur and it fell back groaning, but recovered quickly, lurching forward and shoving the Welshman into the wall again. A loud, 'thud!', and Ianto was knocked unconscious.
Jack swallowed hard and flickered his gaze to Carlie. "Carlie, run!"
She didn't hear him.
"CARLIE!"
Carlie looked up and frowned. Not at the Minotaur that loomed over her. "You're not 'him'," she stated bluntly, sounding like her old self for a brief second.
This surprised the Minotaur because it staggered backwards. As it moved, Jack saw what Carlie was referring to. A cloud of ebony smoke hovered behind the Minotaur. It was darker than the Void and in the silhouette of a man. The Minotaur's ears twitched and it noticed the gruesome form. It growled, but the dissonant snarling reverted to a pained cry as the shadow lunged forward and slammed against the Minotaur, full force. Splatters of crimson splashed against either side of the hallway and the entire hotel was drowned in a chilling silence.
Jack barely had time to react before the ghostly creature advanced on Carlie who didn't have a chance to scream before it descended on her. The captain beat his hands against the shield as Carlie was lost in a mass of black fog. When the shadow retreated all the only thing of Carlie Roberts that remained, was a pile of ash.
The immortal pushed against the invisible force field and stumbled when he realized there was nothing blocking him anymore. Jack crouched down and ran his fingers through the thin layers of dust. It was coarse like beach sand and crumbled under Jack's touch.
Ianto was coming to now. Jack glanced over his shoulder. Ianto was rubbing the back of his head. "Jack...what...what happened?" The blood of the Minotaur stained his suit and dripped down the side of his face. Ianto noticed and rolled his eyes. "This is going to take forever to get out."
"Ianto, I-" Jack could taste bile. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, some help you were," Ianto quipped. Jack shook his head and moved over. "What's that?"
"I'm so sorry," Jack persisted, unable to look Ianto in the eyes.
Ianto blinked. "I don't understand, what is that? Where's Carlie?"
Jack glanced at Ianto, then back to the ash pile. "She's gone." He stared off somewhere, head throbbing. "I couldn't save her."
There was a long pause. "No," Ianto said. "It's not..." The Welshman reached forward, fingers hovering over the dust. He stood abruptly. "Carlie..."
"Jack! Ianto!" Gwen exclaimed, running over to them. "Is that...blood on the walls? Where's Carlie?"
Jack glanced at Ianto, but the younger man was still staring at the only thing left of his friend. "She's dead," Ianto answered, voice chillingly calm.
"Oh my god," Gwen gasped. "How? Did the Minotaur-"
"It's dead too," Jack said meaningfully.
Gwen frowned at him and weaved past Jack, pulling Ianto into a tight, slightly one-sided hug. Jack, stood a few awkward feet away from them. "Sweetheart, what happened?" Gwen was using that same ton she used when talked to the family of those who had passed to an attack from an alien who'd come through the rift. Before she came to Torchwood, no one took it upon themselves to tell the parents, or friends, or spouses anything. They just let them believe their loved one had vanished and didn't really think much of it. It wasn't an easy job and Jack admired Gwen for it.
"I was knocked out," Ianto confessed. "But from what I can remember, the Minotaur found Carlie and I...tried protecting her. I was holding it off, but it wasn't doing much good. Then I saw Jack."
"Jack," Gwen said, she flickered her gaze over to the immortal who opened his mouth to explain but Ianto spoke first,
"He was just standing there."
Jack shook his head and argued, "There was some kind of force field. I tried breaking through." Neither of the Torchwood operatives were convinced. "What killed Carlie was some kind of shadow creature," Jack explained, trying to keep the authority in his voice. He was thwart over the fact that he knew even less than he did before. Jack'd barely begun to understand the Minotaur. Now if he were the Doctor this would be thrilling. A new alien species! A new adventure to explore, a new mystery to solve alongside shinning companions. But Captain Jack Harkness was not a timelord from Gallifrey with a sense of wonder for everything. He was a former con-man from the 51st century and knew all too well that it takes just the blink of an eye for something once beautiful to become ugly.
The captain continued, "It's much more dangerous than the Minotaur. I don't know if it's another prisoner whose been released here, or if it's another one of Bilis Manger's tricks"- to Ianto he added, "I'll explain later. But we weren't warned about this so we don't know how to deal with it. I'm going to scan the area with my Vortex Manipulator and try to find of there are any safer places here."
Gwen and Ianto weren't saying anything. Gwen bore a disappointed, obscurely disgusted expression while Ianto...well, Jack couldn't tell what Ianto was thinking at that was worse than any disapproval from Gwen Cooper.
"Okay, Jack," Gwen finally sighed. She tugged gently at Ianto's hand. "Come on, Ianto. We'll get you cleaned up, yeah?"
Ianto stared at the ash with his tear-reddened eyes a heartbeat longer before squeezing Gwen's hand back. He nodded at her and they both walked past Jack.
I failed her, Jack thought, but I Gwen and Ianto are still here. I need to keep them safe.
The Torchwood operative's had spent some time searching for a restroom and when they found one, Jack attempted to go in with them, but thought better when Gwen shot him a warning glare. Jack leaned against the wall, trying to catch bits of their conversation but any fragments were to muffled by the door to hear properly.
Once they finished, Jack pushed away from the wall and strolled around, focusing on his Vortex Manipulator, fiddling with the controls. There didn't appear to be any way out.
Great...
As the Torchwood team walked back to the lobby, Jack wondered what the whole force field situation was about. He'd felt it there. But Ianto claimed Jack was just standing there. Maybe it was Bilis trying to distract Jack from the real problem at hand. He'd been known to play mind games. What could the strange old man possibly want this time?
"I don't know what to say to you, Jack," Gwen said, suddenly next to him. "Ianto wants some time alone." She indicated the Welshman who was pottering about at the front desk.
"Carlie was a great woman," Jack sighed. "She was beautiful and so smart and I wish I got to know her better. I let her down and Ianto will never forgive me. There. That what you wanted to hear?" She glared at him. " Gwen...I promise you I did everything I could to try saving her. There was something blocking my way."
"Honestly, Jack, I'm not sure what to believe," Gwen stated bluntly. "You said the end was where we'd start from. What kind of a start is this?"
Jack was startled by her iciness, the distrust was being practically spat at him. And it hit Jack then that it vexed him to no end. What right did she have to judge him. This wasn't the first occasion in which Gwen had to be all high and mighty. Sure she was a big part of Torchwood with her bleeding heart, but she had something else coming if she though it was her place to look down on Jack Harkness.
"I am trying," Jack snapped through a clenched jaw.
"Well, obviously not hard enough," Gwen countered.
Gwen challenged Jack before, but for some odd reason this was really getting to the immortal. He felt the anger sky rocketing and any admiration he recently had for Gwen fell away. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"
"It's what I strive to be."
"Maybe you should stick to what you do best," Jack sniggered. "Whining about the tiniest flaws in your perfect life and sleeping around."
"Oh, you're one to bloody talk," Gwen pointed out. "What is everything, a joke to you, Jack? Everything has to be about sex, sex, sex!"
Something in the back of Jack's mind was nagging at him, but he ignored it. "Because you're such a better person. The world actually doesn't revolve around, Gwen Cooper!"
Gwen glared at Jack, wide green eyes filled with hurt and loathing. "I hate you," she said, a furious sob barely choked down.
"Why," Jack demanded, "because I'm telling you the truth, because you're not wrapped around my finger?"
Gwen closed her eyes. "I need a moment," she murmured and walked away.
Jack crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't bother stopping her. Jack noticed Ianto who was arranging the various items on the desktop, head down. He'd probably heard every word of Jack and Gwen's argument. Jack sighed and strode over to Ianto.
"You two were having a row," Ianto stated.
"Yeah."
"Sounded like it was getting quite heated."
"She'll get over it."
Ianto looked up. "Are you feeling alright, Jack?"
Jack frowned. "Me? What about you?"
"I'll be fine," Ianto said slowly. "I've seen you and Gwen have disagreements before, but...Well I don't know, that seemed kind of intense."
"Hmph. So?"
Ianto shrugged. "I have a theory..."
Gwen screamed.
The two men jumped into action on instinct. They didn't have to go very far, though. Jack skidded to a halt, throwing his arm out to stop Ianto and nailing him in the chest. He thought about apologizing but the words were lost when he saw what was in the center of the hallway.
Ugh, that was terrible Xp
