Chapter four: Private emotions
A few moments later, she returned with her hot cup of tea to find all of them in Jack's office. Jack was sitting in his chair again, feet propped up on the desk. She paused in the doorway for a moment as her head flitted back to some of the happier memories she had in this room. She remembered when he told her that he loved her; he'd trapped her by the desk to give her back her first kiss, only to claim more from her. But that memory was quickly replaced by the two of them on the couch and her face scalded in humiliation.
She'd waited for him to find him in his office for the longest time only to find that bloody hand of his gone without a sign. She'd looked, hoped, worried and prayed for all those months. She didn't even know if Jack was alive and a few times, she'd even thought there was a possibility of him being dead. After all, he hadn't returned; he'd abandoned her and the team. Jackie had grown up alone a miserable as a child, practically hungering for her mother's affection only for it to never be returned. She was determined not to waste her adult life with a man who played with her affections as well.
Jack glanced over at her for a second before looking back to John. "Open it."
"What, not even a please?" John teased. "Don't your manners get brought back to life too?"
"Now!" Jack snapped at him.
John exhaled and did as Jack asked. "This should give us the location of the diamond." He puts the triangle over the tetrahedron. It generated a hologram of a beautiful woman in an expensive white suit. "There she is."
"The woman you murdered." Gwen reminded him.
John only smirked at Gwen before turning his attention back to the hologram. You've travelled several galaxies for this. Well done.
"Thank you, gorgeous." John said too cheerfully, tempting Jackie to smack him upside the back of his head.
Except, the woman said slowly there's no diamond.
"What?"
Jack smirked at the look of surprise on John's face. Jackie added. "I sense a strong dose of karma coming your way."
Only this. The tetrahedron parts into an almost swastika shape, then the triangle opens before rising up.
"No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no," John rattled off as the triangle began changing shape. "there's got to be a diamond. It's all about the diamond."
"Diamond's are a girl's best friend," Jackie said as a circular device rose into the air then attached itself onto John's chest. The pain in his chest prickled her senses until she forced the emotions off. "They didn't say it was man's best friend."
"What the hell is that?" John demanded as he tried to pull it off his chest.
It's an explosive device; the woman had turned and was now staring John dead in the eye. Which will latch on to the DNA of whoever killed me.
Jackie's brow rose. "That's brilliant."
It'll detonate in ten minutes.
Her eyes narrowed. "Not so brilliant."
It can't be removed without exploding so, don't bother trying. Goodbye, lover.
"No, wait!" John shouted.
See you in hell. The woman's hologram vanished.
"She can't be serious." Gwen questioned. "Ten minutes?"
"Get it off me!" John demanded his shout borderline hysterical.
"Actually, nine minutes fifty, forty nine," John stared at Ianto in shock, unbelieving that Ianto had his watch ready. Jackie grinned brightly and released a quiet laugh as she leaned her back against the water cooler. "forty eight. Always at the ready."
Jackie laughed and placed her hand on his arm. "Oh, I love you."
Ianto's brows rose slightly and she spared a glance at Jack, who was too busy concentrating on the moment to have take in her words. "how big is this explosion likely to be, Jack?" Gwen questioned.
"That technology, that size? Big." Jack's brows rose to punctuate his words.
"So," Owen stated. "we should really get him out of the city."
"Nine minutes thirty seven." Ianto's voice rose slightly in a welsh lilt, causing Jackie to smile slightly.
She poked him. "Stop it. You're making me laugh."
"You've got to help me." John begged Jack. "Please."
Jack stood up from the desk and glowered at John, demanding firmly. "Why?"
Jackie caught the emotions welling up inside John and shouted. "Look out!" just as John punched Jack in the face. As Jack flew back, John grabbed Gwen by the back of her hair and pulled her.
"Let her go!" Owen shouted as he pulled his gun, Jackie and Jack followed suit as John began backing up out of the room with Gwen.
"Get back. Back off." John shouted as he held Gwen in front of him as a shield in case any of them fired a shot. Then in one swift moved, he handcuffs himself to Gwen.
Gwen stared at her bound wrist in shock. "What've you done?
"It's hyper steel," John explained. "impermeable, deadlock sealed. No way to undo them. Unless you have this key." Jackie lunged for him just as he swallows the key.
"You are unbelievable!" Gwen shouted as she grabbed him by his throat.
"And yet you still find me strangely attractive." He turned and grinned at the rest of the team. "Now you had better find a solution pronto or she'll be blown up with me."
"Would shooting him stop the DNA trigger?" Owen questioned.
"No." Jack placed his hand on Owen's shoulder to make him lower his gun.
"So, what are we gonna do now, team?" John taunted as Jackie put her gun away. "The orgy's still on offer, by the way. Especially now I've got the cuffs out."
Jackie's hand moved towards her gun instinctively to be stopped by Ianto. "Nine minutes four seconds."
Jackie turned towards Owen. "I say we gut him like a fish, get the key out of him, and then send him off somewhere to be blown up."
Gwen stared at her. "Jackie!"
"Or we gut him, and then find a way to get the bomb off him." Jackie snapped. "Sorry Gwen, I am not losing you when you're blown up by some idiot!"
"Language, lady." John chastised her.
"Tosh," Gwen questioned. "the Rift predictor program, have you perfected yet?"
"Pretty much." Tosh said slowly.
"No!" Jackie said firmly, her mind already connecting the vague dots.
"What?" John questioned.
"Anything in the next few minutes?"
"Gwen," Jack said firmly. "no way."
"And I agree with Jack," Jackie stated. "for once today! You can't! you're getting married!"
"What's she talking about?" John questioned.
"If we're in the Rift when that disc explodes," Gwen points out. "the city will be safe."
"How does that save us?" John questions, finally having the sense to sound nervous.
"It doesn't." Gwen held eye contact with Jack, a faint smile on her face. Something in Gwen's face caused Jackie to look at Jack. then, it hit her. Gwen had feelings for Jack! Jackie let out a groan and hit her head in exasperation for her own blindness! No wonder Gwen had been so unenthusiastic when Rhys proposed! She was in love with Jack!
"Eight thirty two, thirty one." Ianto's singsong voice penetrated her anger and she inhaled deeply, trying to rein control before her hair went red.
"You're bluffing." John stated.
"Try me." Gwen shot back.
"Believe me," Jackie bit out. "I wish to hell she were!"
"The car park where he arrived." Tosh said. "The crack in the Rift is still active up there."
"Right," Gwen grabbed a hold of John's red coat, spun him around towards the stairs. "that's where we're going."
"Somebody better start doing something!" John shouted in protest.
"Cut his hand off!" Jackie and Ianto shouted in unison.
"That would activate the bomb." Tosh shouted in a far calmer voice than everyone else."
"Don't make me pull you." Gwen shouted. "Get up the stairs, now! Jackie, you stay here!"
"Fat chance of that happening!" she shouted. "I am not leaving you!" Jackie's warning bells went off in her head and she spun around just as Tosh slammed Jackie's head against the wall and everything went swirly. It was hard enough to send her crashing into the wall, but not hard enough to knock her unconscious. Jackie shook it off quickly and glowered at Tosh. "I strongly suggest you don't try that again!"
Gwen snapped. "I need you to stay here and help Jack and Owen figure out something! There isn't enough room in the car. If you want to help, then you better figure out a way to save me!"
That said, Gwen, Tosh, John and Ianto all went towards the door. Jackie spun around and headed back to the lab where Jack and Owen were in the lab with Torchwood blood samples. Jackie exhaled. "I hope you guys have a plan because that is my only sister and I am not losing her like this!"
"We're going to mix up all these blood samples," Owen said as he reached for another vial. "and inject them into his heart. It should corrupt his DNA and confuse the disk."
Jackie stared at him in amazement before tilting her head to the side. "Did I ever tell you that you're amazing Owen?"
He smirked. "No, but…doesn't hurt to say it again."
She frowned slightly. "Should you really infuse Jack's and my blood? I mean, I'm alien and Jack is…well, you know, just Jack."
"Well, your two's blood will definitely corrupt the DNA coding, as it's not human, so, I'd say yes."
Jack turned to her. "Let's go get the car."
She held up her hand. "You help Owen, I'll get the convertible."
"Convertible?" Jack questioned.
"Jackie bought it," Owen explained. "in case of emergencies where the SUV isn't fast enough."
Jackie grabbed the keys to the crimson red convertible that she'd fallen in love with. Everyone on the team got to use it on special occasions. She got in, revved the engine impatiently. She glanced at her watch. She didn't know how much longer they had left, but it would take about five minutes to get to the car park. Jackie glanced around the garage and her eyes fell on an ax. She jumped out, grabbed it and put it in the back seat of the car just as Jack and Owen came running in the garage.
She got in the driver's seat as Owen shouted. "I'll drive!"
"I'm driving!" She corrected him.
"You can't drive!" Jack shouted. "You don't know how!"
"Hold onto your coat flyboy," she snapped as she put on her seatbelt. "or I'm leaving you behind in the dust. I learned a lot while you were gone."
Jack and Owen let out a ton of grumbling that she mentally muted. As soon as they got in, Jackie stepped on the gas, getting a loud shout from both men as she tore out of the garage. Her argentine tango cd, that she'd left in there got switched on when Jack's knee hit the power button on the player, adding a rather tense, yet comedic, sound to the whole situation.
"Make sure you have your seatbelts on!" she ordered as she began zipping around cars, ignoring the blare of horns and shouts of people.
"You drive…like a maniac!" Owen protested as she took a sharp turn that caused Jack and Owen to crash into each other.
Jackie ignored that and concentrated on the road ahead. "How much time left?"
"We've got three minutes to get there." Jack said. "Which gives us about thirty seconds for this to work."
"If it doesn't work," she snapped. "I've got an ax in the back seat and I am hacking off his hand!"
Jack looked at her in shock. "Could you honestly-
"In a heartbeat!" She snapped. "I am not going to lose Gwen."
"You should hear her stories about the year we missed." Owen shouted above the noise. "No wonder she changed so drastically in three days."
The rest of the speeding journey was filled with silence and tango strings. Then, they reached the car park. Jackie slammed on the breaks so hard that they almost bounced out of their seats. Jack and Owen vaulted out of the car; Jackie grabbed the ax and ran after them.
Jack tackled Gwen and John, and injected the blood straight into John's heart. John let out a shout and bellowed. "Get off me!"
Jack jumped off him and stared down at the device, which was still beeping. "Owen, it's not working."
"Fifteen seconds." Ianto reported.
"What are you doing?" Gwen questioned.
"Trying to confuse the disc." Owen explained.
"Why hasn't it worked?" Jack demanded.
"I don't know!" Owen shouted.
"Twelve seconds." Ianto reported.
"Jack, do something!" Tosh shrieked.
"I've got to go, jack." Gwen said.
"Five seconds and I am hacking off his hand!" Jackie snapped. "I am not going to explain to mom, dad and Rhys that you've gotten blown up!"
Fortunately, for John's hand, when Gwen and Jack pulled him to his feet, the disc fell off him. "Five, four, three," Ianto grabbed her hand as he began counting down, pulling her away from the explosion as Jack picks it up and throws it into the glowing rift. "two, one!"
There's a loud cracking and Jackie drops the ax as she and Ianto dash behind the SUV. Ianto covered her, his back taking the brunt of the force from the explosion. Rocks flew everywhere and suddenly the world went black. Everyone frowned and stood up in slight confusion. "What the hell?" Jack questioned.
"Jack, what's going on?" Gwen asked. "Why's it gone dark?"
"The rift's reverted to the moment he came through." Jackie explained, cutting Jack off. Her body and mind sensed the time disorder. "Everything's gone back to the beginning of the night. We've lost another day and get to live today right again, without him here."
"Now we've got to avoid ourselves." Jack grumbled. "Great."
"It's a temporal displacement." John explained. "Makes your tongue tingle, doesn't it? It's lovely."
Gwen rolled her eyes in exasperation before asking. "What was in the syringe?"
"Torchwood DNA." Owen explained.
"What?" Gwen questioned in exhaustion as Jackie walked up to her to check for any injures.
"DNA samples from the six of us, fused and injected into his heart." Owen looked so tired that she was concerned that he'd fall over. "It temporarily corrupted his DNA coding, and confused the disc."
"You mean there's a bit of all of you inside of me?" John questioned dryly. "Sweet goddesses, that's all I need."
"Thank you, Owen." Gwen said, control back in her voice.
Owen bobbed his head at her. "You're welcome."
Jack turned towards John and stated. "I want you gone."
"Well, we've got to work out a way to get these off first." Gwen pointed out in irritation.
"Actually." John said as he tilted his head back and after a few gagging sounds, retrieved the key. Jackie's mouth fell open in shock and anger. "Old Artesian trick. Keep it in the lining of the throat. Has a lot of uses."
"You had that all along?" Gwen asked quietly.
"You were my passport to survival." He explained as he undid the handcuffs on Gwen. The anger began building up in Gwen and Jackie at the same tame. "No hard feelings?" he then grinned as he dropped a suggestion. "Well, not in that sense."
Gwen drew back her arm and punched John hard enough to knock him to the side. Jackie then kicked his foot out from under him before stomping back over to Ianto, fury radiating in her very being while Jack laughed at John.
Jackie wrapped her arms around her while Ianto placed a hand on her waist. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."
She rolled her eyes. "That's not humanly possible. You can make me mad once in a blue moon, but you're never on my bad side."
She turned back as Jack took his bracer back from John. "Definitely bigger." He stated.
Jackie exhaled. "Enough with the innuendoes!"
John shifted towards Jack. "If you need a new team member-
"No." Jack's reply was instant and swift.
"Really?" John actually looked surprised. "I could-
"No."
"But-
Jack cut him off in a firm, resigned voice. "No."John drew back in surprise as Jack ordered. "Go now, and you can harness the residual rift energy."
John exhaled and tried again. "Listen-
Jack shook his head. "Goodbye." For once, Jackie felt a little less harsh towards Jack this evening. He was actually choosing them over his long time old 'friend' and whatever glories the universe had held for him.
"Okay." John said as he turned and walked back towards the rift. He activates his bracer and the rift begins to appear around him. "Oh and by the way," John's voice begins to get gravely. "I meant to tell you." Jack turns towards John as he says. "I found Gray."
Shock ripples through Jack's body so hard that Jackie wobbles. For a moment, her mind connects with Jack and she sees a small hand slipping out of another hand, and then a child screamed. She could feel the terror of the past and the confusion of Jack in the present. John vanished, leaving Jack standing there in shock.
Everyone approached Jack silently. Gwen was the only one who actually asked. "Who's Gray?"
Jack stood there silently for a few moments more. "It's nothing."
"A boy." Jackie said quietly, causing Jack to turn towards her. "A little boy…from long ago."
Jack turned towards her, a snap in his voice. "Something's…are private Jackie."
"Sorry," she admitted honestly. "but, your thoughts were actually readable this time."
He glowered at her. "We've got a lot to talk about." He turned towards the rest of the team. "Let's get back to work." He averted his gaze back to her. "And you, I need to know what happened to you while I was gone. Also I want to know…what the hell do you think is going on between you and Ianto?"
TJ: Same here, Jackie really has changed since Jack's been gone.
