Jack and Fri lay entwined with each other. The morning suffused Jack's cubbyhole bedroom with warmth. Fri opened her eyes and listened to his steady breathing.
His left arm was loosely draped over her chest. Her fingers ran lightly over the worn leather of his vortex manipulator. He even slept in it she noted. Interesting. She popped open the cover gently, trying not to disturb him. She scanned the menu and found the option she wanted. Glancing once more at Jack she thought to herself, Naked, not ideal but…She was just about to set the coordinates when he spoke. "Find what you were looking for?" His voice was sleepy but suspicious.
"Just taking us home." She answered as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Jack looked at her sharply.
"Your place, I could use a shower and a change of clothes."
He seemed to relax a little at this answer and smiled. "mmmm that first part sounds like fun, but we'll have to go the old fashioned way. Teleport was disabled, same as the time interface. It will however give you the Cardiff bus timetable" He rolled onto his back and snapped shut the cover. " Besides teleporting naked was never a good idea."
"Oh you've done it before."
Jack smiled wistfully. "Truthfully they probably would have let me go anyway, I'm that good."
"You are that!"
Jack gathered her into his arms. They made love again, slower this time, none of the desperation of the previous night. Gentle, tender. There could be little doubt in Jack's mind now that they had known each other. Fulfilling each other came too easily, almost instinctively. He brought her upright to him, their legs wrapped around each other, rocking languidly. As she climaxed she spoke his other name on a sigh. " Nate…"
Jack stopped moving.
He closed his eyes and with a sharp intake of breath threw his head back. Images flooded his mind, not a clear and concise timeline but flashes, like a DVD on fast-forward. He and Fri locked in a similar embrace, snippets of missions, laughter, and friends. It rushed through his mind so fast, it was disjointed but it was definitely memories. He waited, holding his breath. Nothing else came. No other visions. So he waited for the ones he had had to fall into place, to make sense. They didn't. He groaned in frustration, extricating himself from her embrace as delicately as possible. He wanted to keep this information to himself while he processed it.
"You know that shower was a good idea. Lets go to mine, I'll even make you breakfast."
While Fri showered Jack sat at his dining table with his head in his hands, eyes closed trying to recall the visions. They came back to him with effort but still not in any sort of order. Faces he didn't recognize. Definitely time agents though. Words echoing as if spoken across time ….follow orders……………simple…………laughter. His own? He could see a weapon in his own hand. Then the memory dissipated like mist in the morning. He growled and thumped the table. Regaining his composure he tried again. This time came the vision of Fri draped around his own body, he could see her eyes, hear her breathing……I love you………then she was cowering in a corner with blood coming from her side……then nothing.
"Jack, what's wrong?" Fri was standing behind him in his kitchen. His eyes snapped open and he looked at her for a long time. "Jack?" she asked again. There she was, real and beautiful and from what he had just recalled, it seemed, telling the truth. He stood up. His eyes were red and moist. He gathered her into him and held her for the longest time.
"Nothing Fri, nothings wrong. Everything is fine now." He knew he wasn't making any sense. There were so many emotions running through him at the moment. Things he thought he would never feel again. Things that made sense and things that didn't. Jack wasn't sure he could ever open himself up again. But at this moment, right now he really, really wanted to.
The weekend was bliss for Jack. They returned to the hub on Saturday, He and Fri worked on the Abseinian's ship. There wasn't all that much wrong. The stabilizers were off line and it had played havoc with navigation. Nothing they couldn't repair given Torchwood's catalogue of Alien tools. Her comprehension of the technology and engineering principles almost matched his own. It made his heart swell to be able to share this with someone. The twenty first century was his home, by choice now, but what a rush it was to be himself.
When they finished up on the ship, Fri and Jack made their way to the cells to try and reason with their guest. He was angry but Fri persevered in his native tongue reiterating that they had not done anything to harm his ship. It was back in working order and in a few days they would take him back to the field where they had found him and let him take off. He was mistrustful. Fri got the distinct sense that he very much thought he would believe it when he saw it.
She also warned him to stay away from this planet in the future in no uncertain terms. This warning was merely translated verbatim from Jack. With Jack facing the creature as he spoke so there could be no misunderstanding of the tone and meaning of the words.
They headed back up to the main floor of the hub. As they approached his office Jack swung his hand out and clasped hers. Surprised she looked directly at him. "Would you have dinner with me, tonight?" he asked rather sheepishly. The question surprised both of them. Jack felt like he should be holding his nose and closing his eyes right about now. He seemed to be going in feet first whether his brain wanted him to or not.
"Like a date." He grinned like schoolboy.
They walked to a small restaurant over looking the bay. The lighting was dim with candles providing a romantic glow. There was a pianist in the corner right next to the dance floor. They took a table with a great view of the water. Jack ordered wine for them, and then he sat back in his chair and regarded her intently. Fri laughed and said, "You got it bad." She seemed to find this highly amusing.
Jack also laughed when he answered, "You know I think I do." They chinked their glasses together while still chuckling. Then Jack asked, "Do you miss home?"
Fri's smile faded a little. "Yes."
"I did too for a while."
"Can't have been easy, running all this time."
"I've stopped now."
"I know." She looked directly into his eyes.
"How long has it been, really, since the game station? That's when you dropped off the radar so to speak"
Jack returned her gaze. He seemed to be weighing up his answer, deciding how far to jump. Fri held her breath. She could feel the walls coming down around him. " One hundred and forty years."
"How did this happen to you?"
"A well meaning friend and a power far too great for her."
"And you can't die."
"No."
"Not ever?"
"No."
"Can you grow old?"
"Slowly, it would seem."
"You are so lucky you were still hot when this happened."
Jack nearly snorted wine through his nose. He was gasping for air and his body shaking with laughter.
Monday morning Jack looked down at the tangled mess of sheets under him. Fri lay face down amongst them, her body glistening with sweat from their exertion. He sighed and reluctantly picked up his cell phone. "What?" he barked down the line.
Gwen was a little startled at his manner, "Jack…we were just wondering if everything is alright."
"Fine."
"You're not in?"
"I knew I hired you for a reason PC Cooper" Jack's voice dripped with sarcasm. He knew he was acting like a spoiled child with a toy, but today he didn't care.
Gwen sensed this in him. "Jack we're just concerned. Frienze hasn't turned up either… and…well she did try to kill you." Now she was getting annoyed.
"Exactly, so what else could she do to me?" The last thing Gwen heard before the connection was severed was Jack laughing.
'That' thought Gwen. For all of Jack's secrets, she knew he was still human and therefore still capable of having his heart broken.
Gwen tried a few searches. She didn't really expect to find anything on their newest team member. Jack had lived a long time and been a lot of places. Places she was sure that none of the Torchwood 3 team really would ever understand. She tried to recall the words the other woman had said before Jack banished her from the holding cells.
'Time agent, con man,' it didn't make much sense to Gwen at all. The feeling of dread just wouldn't go away. She remembered the incident with the Abseinian, Fri's familiarity with Jack's wristband that was still such a mystery to the rest of the team. How did she know so much about it? Did she have one herself? No she wasn't wearing one when she arrived.
Jack and Fri entered the hub from the rolling cog like metal doors. "Anyone fancy a drive to the country?" Shouted Jack to the team. "It's time to send our guest on his way and I think we will be doing that with lots of guns pointed at him." Fri chuckled at this. No one else seemed to find it all that funny. The team exchanged unimpressed looks. "Owen lets go shopping in the weapons cache, then you and Ianto can help me escort our guest to the container truck. Girls with me in the SUV once he is secure." He threw Ianto the keys to the truck. They chose their most effective weapons.
They barely spoke in the SUV on the drive. The tension in the air was palpable. Partly because the last time they had dealt with this particular creature, things had not gone so well and partly each and every one of his team wanted to shake Jack and tell him to stop acting like a child. Gwen pondered; they'd all been in this position, caught up in a whirlwind of emotion and new love. But it usually ended badly. Stars that burn the brightest burn out fastest. Somehow they had expected their leader to know that better than all of them. The feeling of impending doom had deepened in Gwen's mind. She resolved that if there were nothing she could do to stop it then she would at least be there to pick up the pieces.
Once they had unloaded the ship Jack needed to help Ianto and Owen to release the Abseinien. He reiterated his warning to the creature via Fri. "You leave, you live, got it?" Everyone waited for the response. The creature nodded once. "Right in formation, do not take your eyes off him. Do not take your weapons off him. Got it?" The team nodded and trained their weapons on the Alien. Jack found himself in two minds. He had tuned his manipulator into the nav system of the ship to track the departure course. Just to be sure. He also wanted to be first line of defense if the creature decided he didn't like the plan. He hesitated one more moment and then in one swift movement released from his wrist the leather strap of the manipulator. He threw it through the air to Fri. "See if you can find the time of the next bus." He joked.
Four jaws seemed to hit the ground; the team stared in disbelief as Fri held the device in both hands flipped open the cover and began searching for the nav system. A secret smile spread across her lips. She looked up at Jack, confident, she nodded and he in turn signaled the rest of the team. Owen and Ianto brought the alien to Jack who never let his weapon waver. He disengaged the restraints, stepped back and there were five weapons trained on the alien. The creature looked over the group then started moving towards his ship. He opened the hatch and climbed in. They heard the engines power up. On the manipulator Fri followed the coordinates he set on the ships navigation system, still no one lowered their guns. They watched as the ship lifted off and turned towards the sky. "And….out of range." There was a collective sigh after she spoke.
Ianto started gathering up the weapons, the others started back towards the vehicles. Jack was slightly further away. He turned to start towards the SUV. He looked to where Fri was standing still clutching his vortex manipulator. "I wonder," she began. "If the homing beacon still works?"
Terror struck Jack's heart. No words would come out. He simply stared in horror as she hit the button that pinpointed his location to the time agency's mainframe. Each agent has an individual signal. They would know in matter of seconds when and where Captain Nate Artisse was. He made to run towards Fri. He got two or three steps when an agent materialized in front of him. He spun on his heel to change direction and another agent appeared. He stood frozen to the spot then as three more agents in quick succession completed the circle around him. They were all armed, weapons trained on Jack.
Gwen, Owen, Tosh and Ianto realized too late that this was bad, really bad. They'd surrendered their weapons to Ianto. He was stood with an arm full of guns. As the thought hit him and he made to redistribute them, Fri drew hers, pointed it directly at his head and said. "Drop them." Ianto hesitated, his mind searching for a solution. He could find none. Fri cocked her gun and spoke again. "Now Tea boy." It seemed he had no choice but to comply. He let the weapons fall to the ground at his feet. She kicked them away, never taking the weapon from his head. When she was far enough back she bent down and collected each of the guns. She tossed three to the agents nearest her and kept a second for herself, popping it in the waistband of her jeans. "Now boys and girls I do not want to hurt you. Our only interest is in your boss here, so don't do anything stupid and you get to live, ok?"
Owen sneered. Gwen nodded. Tosh and Ianto just looked stricken. Fri reached into a pouch on the waist of the nearest agent and pulled out a stone like device. She threw it at their feet and it activated a force field around them. It was a more powerful, more advanced version of the device Torchwood had in its possession.
Frienze then turned her attention to Jack. His face had turned to stone. "Ready to go home. Baby?" she oozed.
"Why?" was all Jack could manage out of gritted teeth.
"The price was right."
"You're a bounty hunter." He was incredulous.
"Now, now don't take it personally. They only send the best for you Captain. You should be flattered. Ever since your adventures on the Game station you have been most sought after by a lot of people, Immortality fascinates many sections of the community, the agency made the best offer. "
"But I remember……."
" Planted. Nice touch don't you think? Just enough to hook you good."
"So we've never met?"
She laughed at this. "Oh we've met, you just weren't as trusting the last time. This century has made you soft."
Jack hung his head. A mix of anger and shame washed over him. He looked over at his team, helpless against the kind of technology the agency could employ. He didn't see a way out of this. If he made a break for it they would shoot him and while it wouldn't kill him it would render him useless for a while allowing them to take him home. Stalling for time was all he could think of.
"So you're the best they've got?" he asked.
She smiled. "Yeah. Once you're wrangled they've given me a sweet offer to go after your mate. I could play the doe eyed companion to a tee, don't you think?"
"You're not that good."
"Your hero worship is misplaced Captain. I am that good."
