After a while, Second Jack decided a walk was in order, so he snuck out the back and wandered the train yard, taking care to keep out of sight so he didn't get caught. It was well into the evening when he was coming back that he heard a gun firing and he broke out into a run. The closest entrance was the back way, so he headed for that door and slipped in the back. His fingers itched for his Webley and he grimaced. He didn't have a gun with him at the moment. Had someone found them? He cursed silently and made his way through the empty warehouse until he got to where the team was.
Gwen was standing in front of an older man who looked vaguely familiar. Rhys was standing off to one side, holding the gun butt, the muzzle facing down. Jack blinked. Across from them, Ianto knelt on the floor with First Jack in his arms. Gwen was talking to the older man and it took a few moments before Jack remembered who he was. The old man from the institution. From the way Rhys was moving away from them with the gun, it was obviously that man who had shot his other self. He hung back and waited to see what was going on.
It was unnerving watching his other self revive. He had never seen it happen before, oddly enough. It was like looking in a mirror. First Jack clutched at Ianto, who held him tight and soothed him as he revived. Second Jack felt a pang of jealousy and understood how his other self felt earlier when he had probably seen him touching Ianto. He took a deep breath and listened as Gwen reassured the old man about Jack. The man was still freaked out and ran off. First he headed towards Second Jack and then veered away as if he knew that Jack was back there, watching. Gwen ran after him. Jack watched them go and then turned back to where Ianto still knelt with Jack in his arms. Rhys just sat down on a stool, stunned by the events. Second Jack held back, unsure of how to enter the situation.
Eventually Gwen came back with the man in tow and by this time, Ianto had helped First Jack up again. They talked and Second Jack strained to hear the conversation. It was then that he realized who the man was, and why he had shot – well, him.
Clem was staring wildly about, muttering about him being everywhere. Gwen tried to soothe him, but it was obvious that he sensed the other presence. He kept looking off into the darkness, muttering that he was there again. Eventually, Jack didn't see any point in skulking around and so he walked from the shadows. He scared the wits out of Clem who moaned when he saw him in two places.
That necessitated an explanation as to how there were two Jacks, and Clem just shuddered and wrapped his arms around his head, not wanting to hear how it could be. First Jack was sitting off to one side, stunned by the turn of events. Ianto had gotten up and moved away after Jack had stood up and told his story. It was obvious how upset he and Gwen were by the story he told from 1965. They were having a hard time comprehending how he could have done that. Second Jack understood, though.
His attention was drawn to the audio coming from the laptop, and he looked at the screen. Ianto had turned to the screen as well, and was paying attention to what was going on there while Gwen reassured Clem and led him off somewhere to calm him down. Second Jack moved closer, and First Jack looked up as he walked into the area. They stared at one another, hopelessness reflecting in each other's eyes. Second Jack frowned. His other self knew something that he didn't.
"What?" He asked softly. First Jack hesitated a long moment.
"They took Alice and Steven," he said in a low voice. Second Jack closed his eyes in response. He nodded. Nothing more needed to be said. He turned to look at the scene unfolding on the laptop.
"We need to get in there," he said. First Jack nodded. They turned as one to look at the screen. Frobisher was walking away, the negotiations on hold now that the 456 had made their demand known. Ianto bowed his head as Lois left the room with the rest of the group and she left the Thames House.
Gwen came back after settling Clem somewhere else, away from the Jacks. Rhys wrapped his arms around her and she held him tight, her face pressed into his chest. After a while she pulled back and turned towards the two Jacks. Then she turned away, going with Rhys off somewhere to sleep. That left them alone with Ianto.
Second Jack glanced speculatively at Ianto and then back to First Jack. His other self looked to be still dealing with having been shot as well as the awkward revelations from the past. Second Jack turned back to Ianto, who sat in the chair in front of the blank laptop. Lois had taken out the contacts. He walked over to stand behind Ianto.
"I don't get it," Ianto finally said, feeling him right behind him. "Why?" He asked softly. Second Jack bowed his head while First Jack got up and walked away, hands in the pocket of his great coat as he walked away with his own head bowed.
"I didn't have a choice," Second Jack told him. Ianto shook his head. He wasn't buying it. "Look, we didn't have the technology we have today. They were threatening us and we didn't have a way to fight them."
"And so you sent innocents off to a fate unknown," Ianto said. "To aliens."
"Yeah," Jack acknowledged. Ianto could hear the pain in his voice and knew that he was torn up about it. How many other things had he done in the past that he buried deep inside because he didn't want to remember what he did? Ianto wondered. He knew that a lot of it went back to his brother as well. That from that point on, Jack had always blamed himself for any event that went poorly. Intellectually, Ianto knew that Jack had been a soldier following orders, but he also knew that he had a problem with Jack just doing that unquestioningly. He felt so conflicted inside about it. He stood up and turned to face Jack. The misery in Jack's eyes stopped him cold for a moment.
Ianto opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't voice anything. His mind refused to focus. He turned away and walked a few feet to get some distance. Second Jack turned away. He really couldn't blame Ianto's reaction. Or the look on his face. The pain in his eyes. The same pain he saw in the mirror when he forced himself to look. He sighed heavily and walked away, hands in his pockets. He needed some time alone.
