FORGIVENESS

TWENTYEIGHT

"No flipping way," growled Jack Harkness.

"But Jack! They're so cool! And I've always wanted to try it!"

"Breathe liquid? You're out of your fucking mind, John. I am not going to agree to immerse myself in fluorocarbon fluids just because you think it's cool. Besides – my God! – didn't you pay attention to the specs? The suit surgically inserts a connector into your thoracic cavity as well as fills all your other natural orifices." Jack grimaced at the thought.

"But it makes sense too, Jack. We both know it'll help us deal with the high gee forces."

Jack shook his head, "We're only talking about six gees; the more conventional suits will do us just fine in that regard." He shook a finger in John's face, "And wearing one of those claustrophobic hermetically sealed rebreather nightmares is bad enough as it is. Nope, forget about submerging yourself in liquid, John. Some fetishes should be kept to yourself."

"Oh, for God's sake, Jack, you're…"

"Yes, yes, I know; a stick-in-the-mud."

"No, Jack. You're boring. When did you become boring?"

The only response was a cold stare.

"Seriously! I mean I think I know the answer already but I want to hear it coming from the horse's mouth. Of all the people in the universe, you should be the least concerned with health and safety. You're fucking immortal, Jack!"

"Almost immortal…"

"Yeah, right. But it's not that, is it? It's something else. Or should I say some one else? Come on, Jack, admit it. It's just the two of us and I won't tell…"

"Shut up, John."

John rolled his eyes. "So… No breathing liquid?"

The cold stare returned.

John groaned but knew that he'd lost the battle. He conceded gracefully, "Okay then, how about these suits that resemble what you and The Doctor wore aboard the Newhope? What do you think of them? They'll be a lot more flexible than those gigantic armored combat suits and we can compensate by outfitting ourselves from the weapons lockers."

Jack's eyes hungrily traveled to the armories. Their contents were indeed impressive and John had been correct earlier, Jack Harkness was getting ideas. Lots of ideas. "We need to muster as many weapons as we can and as large a variety as possible without seriously impacting our mobility." The Captain nodded toward the lockers, "I really like those charges."

"Which ones?" John asked.

"All of them. But particularly the tricobalt packs. Something tells me that having the ability to tear a hole in subspace may be to our advantage. But the conventional explosive charges, especially those really small micro-packets that we can hide in unconventional places," Jack winked at John, "may come in handy, too. Even the Death Star had a fatal design flaw, and our latest EM schematics seem to indicate a massive centralized power source inside the core. That feels like a potential Achilles' heel to me, what about you?"

John grinned boyishly but then shook his head, "You know, Captain Harkness, I only understand about half of what you're saying. If you ask me, and I notice you haven't, you've lived on Earth for far too long. But if you're suggesting that we may want to try to blow up the beachhead's main power plant, I'm in full agreement." His eyes sparkled. "And can I just say it? Damn but I love this bit."

"What bit?"

"You are so sexy, Jack, when you're weaponing up. It may take you a while to get there, but there's no one who comes close to you once you've decided you want in the fight. You're incomparable! I mean look at you! Your face is positively glowing. And I swear – your eyes are an even brighter blue than usual. My God, but you are hot, Captain Jack Harkness."

Jack winked. "Easy John. Calm down, you're embarrassing me."

"Embarrassing you? With those fifty-first century pheromones of yours? I doubt it."

The next words that came out of Jack's mouth gave John a visceral thrill. They were a variation of the tail end of their very first conversation – a conversation that took place just after they'd met as newly assigned partners at the Time Agency. A few minutes after that first conversation ended those same two men were making ferocious love, just as they'd continued to do each day subsequently, up until and including the day Jack left him. Never let it be said that emotional turmoil got in the way of the good Captain's libido.

Jack's next words, and the words that followed, were a well-worn, comfortable and comforting dialogue they'd repeated innumerable times after that first gloriously savage encounter.

"Captain Hart, are you flirting with your new partner?"

"Captain Harkness, are you flirting with yours?"

"As I stand here it's not a hard thing to do."

"And as I stand here, I'd say something's very hard indeed."

"And growing harder by the second…"

"As a Time Agent," John's eyes sparkled, "it is my sworn duty to meticulously inspect such compelling phenomena."

Jack chuckled, diverging from the familiar script and gently breaking the spell, though the shared comfort – tinted with a distinct aura of desire – lingered. "I will love you forever and always, John Hart. But what do you say we saddle up?"

John nodded. "I will always love you too, Jack Harkness. But if I have to save your sorry ass one more time…"

The Captain hooted with laughter.

"…I will." John added quietly with a grin. Or I'll die trying…