Jack silently berated himself for his stupidity. He should have known better than to walk into the house before checking to see if anyone had come home. He had first come around when he knew that Sarah Jane had a dinner date with a friend. He had checked on the mini camera that he had placed around the house and found that, indeed, Sarah Jane had sabotaged them. They were all disassembled and tossed in the trash bin. Briefly, he wondered if she knew he would come to check on them and he had been meant to see them thrown in the trash.
He would have to install the new ones that he had retrieved from the Torchwood agent that had met him several weeks ago to check his progress. The new cameras were smaller and easier to place, but they weren't quite as reliable as the old ones. Finding hiding places for them was considerably easier, however, and that made up for the lesser quality.
As he had begun installing the last of the cameras, he realized that he was out of the special double-sided tape he used to affix the cameras. Annoyed, he had quickly cleaned up his mess and left the house. Once he had retrieved the tape, he would return if there was no one in the house. He took a glance at the feed from the cameras he had managed to install and saw the house still empty. It didn't look like Sarah Jane was planning on coming home tonight.
When he returned, he realized he had left the door unlocked. What was with him today? It seemed like he was making all kinds of stupid mistakes. Stepping into the dark house, he almost immediately tripped over the fallen umbrella stand that definitely had still been upright when he left. Right then, he considered turning around and leaving. One thing stopped him: it almost certainly wasn't Sarah Jane in the house. In all the time that he had been watching her, the journalist had never tripped over that umbrella stand—or anything else in the house for that matter—even when it was completely dark. She knew the layout of the house like the back of her hand. There was someone here that wasn't supposed to be here—someone other than Jack. Once again, he cursed himself for not locking the door.
Whoever it was that was now in the house could be out to hurt Sarah Jane, and that wasn't something Jack was going to let happen. He had become quite fond of the woman. He was sure Torchwood would highly disapprove of becoming attached to a mark, but he couldn't help it. She reminded him of someone he had lost a long time ago, and he wasn't going to let anything happen to her.
Unfortunately, before he could shift into stalk-mode—or even pull out his gun, for that matter—someone was demanding to know why he was in the house and threatening him with an iron fire poker. Even as he went instinctually for the gun under his coat, the man demanded he keep his hands away from his sides. Jack decided to cooperate. Besides, the man looked familiar, and he was trying to remember why.
It hit him then—after the other man demanded to know what had happened to Sarah Jane—that this was the friend that she had gone to dinner with tonight. Or was supposed to have. Dr. Harry Sullivan, formerly a medical officer for UNIT, now with a practice of his own. (Supposedly. Some said he still secretly worked for UNIT, but it was little more than a vague suspicion.) Jack hadn't bothered to do much more research on him than that because the doctor was going to be in America for over a month. Now he thought it might have been a good idea to check a little bit further into him.
"I swear I don't know where Sarah Jane is. I'm a consultant for UNIT and they wanted me to keep an eye on her." It wasn't completely a lie, just misleading.
"Why would UNIT send a consultant to spy on Sarah?" demanded Sullivan.
"They wanted to be inconspicuous. They think there's something following her," Jack lied. Sullivan was currently staring him down, obviously trying to figure out whether or not to trust him. He had the distinct feeling it was only a matter of time before he got an iron poker over his head.
A/N ~I'm having trouble figuring out how to make Harry trust Jack without braining him. Maybe Jack should have just said he was from Torchwood or something, Idk. I cut this off because I figure it'll be easier writing this from Harry's POV. Review with ideas? :) ~II