Oh, wow, we just surpassed 300 reviews, blew by it, actually. *squishy hugs!*
How about that Heaven Sent? I thought it was awesome. I usually hate Moffat's work, but this one had me wrapped up in the mystery, and when it was unraveled, I was like cool!
Then the last line happened. ugh.
XxXxXxXx
The Doctor, Rose, and the Torchwood team made their way into the hub through a tourist center almost half hidden against the shoreline. Jack was going to take the other man through what he called the "Tourist entrance." Not that he believed for a second that they ever had people in that didn't have a very good reason to be down there. He thought it funny that the team's usual entrance was through a tourist center.
Once inside, they watched Jack bringing John down into the hub. John was looking around, babbling.
"It's roomy, I'll give you that. Your taste in interior design hasn't got any better, though. What is this, sewer chic?" John asked when the lift stopped.
Ianto stepped forward, emptied a silver tea tray, and held it out just before Jack ordered John to give up his weapons. John handed over his guns and a sword to Jack, who put them on the tray.
The Doctor knew that wasn't all John was carrying around. Jack had always been armed. He pulled out his sonic and scanned the man. He had an impressive array of weaponry. He'd managed to hide several weapons on himself without transdimensional pockets and it didn't show.
"And the rest," Jack ordered, still holding out his hand.
"Oh, you know me. I'm a two weapon man," the Time Agent lied.
"Twenty-three individual pieces of weaponry," the Doctor called him out on it.
"One pistol strapped to each leg, laser knife beneath left elbow, seventeen small explosive charges in the lining of his coat…" Gwen started listing.
"It slipped my mind," John said. Of course, no one believed him. He started pulling various items out of his clothing.
"And just why do you need to carry so many weapons with you?" Rose wondered when the last bit was placed on the tray.
"Never know what you're gonna wind up doing," John replied, shrugging.
"What? So you bring an arsenal along?" Rose queried.
"You wouldn't know what's out there, Girly Girl," John rebuked her.
Rose stepped right in front of him and looked right up at him. "I've been going from one time and planet to another for around three years. I know exactly what's out there and guess what? I've never brought an arsenal with me." The Doctor was proud at her rebuttal, but this was one of those times where he was sure it probably wouldn't win her any points. He put his hand on her shoulder and nudged her backwards a bit.
"Oh, you're a feisty one!" John exclaimed.
########
Everyone gathered in the conference room and the team reported on what they had found out. Rose and the Doctor stood off to the side, willing to help where needed, but not wanting to interfere if Jack didn't want them to.
"Seven hours ago, we logged a minor surge in Rift energy across three locations," Tosh told them, the readings displayed on the monitor.
"Eight of us, three locations, that's simple. We split into teams to go after each canister," John announced.
"Excuse me, I give the orders," Jack snapped at him. It was clear that he was uncomfortable around this man, and knowing what Rose and the Doctor did about his last years with the Time Agency, they weren't surprised.
"Well, give some, big boy," John teased.
"John's right. Sorry. Er, do you prefer John or Captain?" Gwen asked, seemingly upset with Jack over the sudden influx of people that he hadn't told them about.
"With eyes like yours, you can call me Vera, I won't complain," John flirted.
"Tosh and Owen, take the north. Ianto and Jack go west. Me and Vera'll take the docks," Gwen ordered.
"Excuse me. Not to repeat myself," Jack interrupted.
"You got a problem with this, Jack?" she countered.
"Not at all, but you're forgetting a couple of people. Doctor, if you don't mind, I'd like you to accompany Gwen and John. I'll take Rosie with me," he suggested. The Doctor recognized the look Jack was giving him. He wanted him to keep an eye on this man and was promising to keep Rose under his personal protection. It may have been a long time since they travelled together, but they'd been in similar situations before.
He glanced over at Rose, who was giving him The Smile, not to be confused with The Grin. The Smile said she wanted what Jack had suggested.
"Oh, okay," he agreed with a long suffering sigh. He was going to agree anyway, but responding in that way usually earned him a- yep, there it was. The Grin.
"Now, given the canisters are radioactive, don't open them, eh?" John told them, clearly thinking that they were all idiots.
"Let's go, guys," Gwen snapped irritably.
"Gwen, Doctor, I need a word," Jack requested as the others left the conference room.
"Oh, can I watch this bit? He's gonna give you all the dos and don'ts. I love it," John said, stopping in the doorway.
"They'll be with you in a second," Jack replied and pushed him out the door before closing it in his face.
"What the hell are you doing?" Jack questioned Gwen angrily.
"If I can get him talking, flirt a bit, he might drop his guard. I can find out what he's really up to," she replied, crossing her arms defensively.
"Okay, clever," Jack admitted.
"More than that. Her undermining your authority in front of him, makes him think you have no control over your people and he might be able to," the Doctor added.
"Thank you. Now about the chaperone?" Gwen asked with a look at the Doctor. "Not to be rude, but I don't know you at all."
"Oh, I understand," the Doctor spoke mildly and with some amusement.
"John is dangerous. Trust me, I want you having back up. The Doctor is the best you could ask for," Jack insisted.
"Maybe, but about that flirting?" Gwen questioned.
"Oh, I can flirt with the best of them. And knowing the time frame that he's from, he might well prefer it," the Doctor added.
"I'm sure, if the Doctor sees that you're making headway in that area, he'll back off a bit to let you at it. You'll still be safer with him nearby. Three rules. One, don't believe anything he says. Two, always keep him in front of you. And three, under no circumstances let him kiss you," Jack instructed.
"As if I would," Gwen snapped at him and opened the door to leave.
"Has he got on to the no kissing rule yet? He only invented that because he wants me all to himself," John asked from where he had been hovering outside.
"Keep in front," she ordered and pushed him ahead of her down the steps.
The Doctor followed John and Gwen out to one of the vehicles and she drove to the area by the docks where one of the readings had registered. There were dozens of large shipping containers in the area that would make searching rather tedious.
"Nothing. Are you sure this is the right spot?" John questioned as he tried to scan for the canister with his wrist strap.
"Yeah. But containers get shifted all the time," Gwen replied, double checking the map Tosh had given her.
"This could take days," John complained.
"Nah, shouldn't take more than a few minutes," the Doctor assured him, pulling out his sonic to scan for the radioactive signature.
"So, that woman, the one with the canister. How did you get to know her again?" Gwen asked John once the Doctor had turned the corner. He could hear them despite the distance, but wanted to make them think he couldn't to give her that chance to get him to reveal his plan.
"We were in love," John told her.
"Oh," Gwen responded, sorry to have mentioned what was likely a painful topic for him.
"Yeah," John said.
"I'm sorry. Did they catch the person who shot her?" she asked.
"Do we have to talk about this?" he grumbled.
"No, no, of course not," she told him just as her mobile started ringing.
"Don't mind me," he said and kept walking.
The Doctor decided it would be best not to give him the chance to eavesdrop on Gwen's conversation and intercepted the man to lead him off away from her.
"Now this is interesting. What do you make of this reading?" the Doctor asked him, taking John by the arm. "This looks almost like that rift storm was created rather than naturally occurring. Isn't that unusual?"
"Yup. Very. Almost as unusual as a Time Lord hanging around a Time Agent," John said sharply.
"Wellll, he was more of a con man when I met him. Few years ago for me, a bit longer for him," he responded.
"Well, no matter what might have prompted you to have dealings with him, you are getting in my way," John told him and the Doctor suddenly felt the pinch of a strong tranquilizer dart pinch his side. The drug acted quickly even against his advanced biology and he collapsed on the ground immediately.
When the Doctor finally regained consciousness, he realized that twenty-three minutes had passed already. John was likely gone from the area, but Gwen might still be around somewhere. He quickly thought to Rose, "John knocked me out. I'll try to find Gwen, but you be careful because he is probably coming for Jack."
"We'll keep our eyes open. Let me know when you find her," Rose responded slowly. Her words were weak with the distance, though he could tell she was practically yelling them. He could feel her surprise at his contact, as well as her worry about the situation, but he knew that she was capable of taking care of herself and Jack would protect her as well. He still wanted to be there by her side, but she was on the other side of Cardiff and he had something there he could do.
He followed his sonic as he scanned for human life signs in the maze of shipping containers and found one of them containing a single, female signal. Upon opening it, he saw Gwen laying against the wall.
"Are you alright? What happened?" he asked as he knelt next to her to do a more thorough scan. Gwen couldn't speak, but her eyes were moving rapidly. "Gwen, can you hear me?" he said. her eyes widened a little, and he realized that she was unable to respond in any other way. "Okay, Gwen. I need to know what happened. I'm a telepath. It's not going to hurt and I won't look at anything. I'll just make contact with you, and you think at me, just like speaking," he instructed. He wasn't able to get proper permission from her, but he needed to do this. He put his fingers on the sides of her head.
"He kissed me. Surprised me and pushed me against the wall. He said he had paralyzing lip gloss or something. That if I wasn't found in two hours, my organs would start shutting down," she explained in a panicked rush.
"Jack warned us about the kissing. Probably a common thing in their time. Just a second, I think I have something in my pocket that will start neutralizing it," he told her reassuringly out loud. He pulled one hand off of her head and rummaged around in the pocket of his jacket, where he kept his version of a first aid kit.
"In your pocket? You just keep that kind of thing in there?" Gwen wondered.
"Oh, lots of stuff in there. Bigger on the inside and all, never know when you'll need a generic antitoxin. There we are," he said as he placed a small, green pill under her tongue. It dissolved quickly.
##########################
Rose, Jack, and Ianto took one of the range Rovers to an office building nearly on the other side of town from the secret underground base. The three of them talked on the way. There was a quick rundown of the rules when working with the Torchwood team, which weren't much different from the rules of working with the Doctor. Rose promised to do what Jack said. This was his territory after all. When they got to the building where the cannister was, they became silent.
"Oh, yeah. Loving that officy feel. I always get excited in these places. To me, they're exotic. Office romances. Photocopying your butt. Well, maybe not your butt, although as we're here why don't we photo-" Jack rambled about twenty seconds after they stepped out of the lift on the top floor.
"Jack," Rose interrupted, rolling her eyes.
"The rift was active at these coordinates approximately two hundred feet above ground. That means this floor or the roof," Ianto announced as he referenced the information Tosh had given them before they left.
"Sorry, Rosie. Look, Ianto, I was thinking, maybe we could, when this is all done. Dinner? A movie?" Jack asked nervously.
"Are you asking me out on a date?" Ianto questioned, incredulous that he was finally reciprocating his interest.
"Interested?" Jack prompted.
"Well, as long as it's not in an office. Some fetishes should be kept to yourself," he replied.
"And you call the Doctor and I sweet. You two are adorable," Rose commented as she searched the office.
"Looks like we're gonna have to go through every drawer, bin and plant pot," Jack grumbled when there didn't seem to be any obvious sign of the canister they were searching for.
"If I had a sonic, I'm sure I could probably scan for it," Rose complained.
"He still hasn't given you one yet?" Jack asked.
"Nope. Think he's afraid I'll upstage him," Rose joked.
"Right, okay. I'll do this floor. Don't want you getting over excited. And you two take the roof. You're good on roofs. Jack? Why are we helping him?" Ianto asked.
"He's a reminder of my past. And not a good one, like the Doctor and Rosie. I want him gone. By the way, was that a yes?" Jack replied.
"Yes. Yes," Ianto assured him and waved them off to the staircase toward the roof.
On the way up the stairs, Rose felt the need to tell Jack, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that to you, Jack. And I'm sorry that we left you back on the Gamestation. I mean, I wasn't the pilot at the time, but I should have insisted that he tell me what really happened sooner."
"It's alright, Sweetheart. I've learned to accept my immortality. It wasn't easy, and I'm sure there's still a lot more to come, but I don't blame you," he assured her.
"Please don't blame the Doctor either. I know, he was the one that left you there, but I can feel from him just how hard it is to be around you," she pleaded.
"You said something like that before. I know his people were telepathic, what does that mean for you?" he wondered.
"He says that there's this sort of link between us. He gets it a bit with all of his friends while they are around, but it fades over time. Because we've been, well, intimate, it's stronger and," she stopped her explanation just as her fiancé's warning came to her. "The Doctor just sent me a message." She closed her eyes and replied back, hoping she'd get through to him. They'd never conversed from a distance before. Had only sent words without touching for the first time just a couple of hours before.
"He can do that? Wow, Rosie, you two really did connect," he teased.
"Stop it," she chastised, then grinned at Jack, who grinned back at her.
"Way to go, Rosie," he praised.
"He said your friend knocked him out. He's going to try and find Gwen and we had best be careful because John is probably headed for you," she told him, back to business.
"Right, let's find this thing and we can finish it," Jack agreed.
They walked out onto the roof and saw the canister sitting on the parapet. Jack motioned for Rose to hide as he approached it. She ducked behind a large vent, out of sight.
John came up from the stairs and approached Jack silently before telling him admiringly, "Rear of the Year, 5094. Still looking good." When Jack's mobile started ringing, John took it from him and added, "Cute boy, ringing to warn you about me. Canister." He held his hand out for the tube Jack had found.
"If you've harmed them in any way," Jack threatened.
"You know, they're pretty but stupid. You used to have better taste," John rebuked him.
"Doesn't look like that from here," Jack snarked back.
"Just give it here," John said impatiently.
Rose was coming up behind him, slowly, while Jack kept the Time Agent's attention on himself.
"Radiation cluster bombs? Really?" Jack asked, handing the cannister over.
"Let's not get hung up on details," John chided him.
"Little embarrassing that you needed help to find them," Jack scoffed.
"A little humiliated you fell for the scam. Your dolly birds did all my leg work," John countered.
"Is that what you wanted?" Jack asked.
"What I want is for you to come to your senses. Join me, Jack. Back in the old routine we'd be emperors. How can you stay tied to one planet when there's thousands of worlds sparkling with wonder? We should be up there, among the stars, claiming them for our own. Just like before," John said, trying to tempt Jack.
At that point, Rose was behind John. She'd had a hard time crossing the gravel covered roof top silently.
"You know, we didn't really need the warning from Ianto," Jack said with a smile.
"We?" John asked and remembered the blonde just in time for Rose to hit him in the back of his head with a pipe she found nearby. John hit the ground immediately and Jack searched his pockets.
"You've got an arm on you," he told Rose.
"He had you too close to the edge of the rooftop for my liking. Besides, he knocked out the Doctor!" she replied indignantly.
"I would have survived," Jack informed her.
"It would have still hurt, though," she countered sadly.
"Is he everything we ever dreamed?" Jack asked, changing the subject. Rose got a dreamy look on her face for a moment.
"Oh, Jack. Neither of us ever dreamed that," she sighed.