Chapter Forty-Two: I'm Your Father
When Jack and Gwen returned from their chase with Neal, they returned to Gold and Henry, who had been waiting for them in the lobby of Neal's apartment. Once Jack informed Gold that his son had gotten away, Gold – as expected – took the news horribly. He furiously pressed all of the call buttons at the gate until one of the tenants surprisingly allowed him through. His idea was to wait for his son to return to the apartment while he was there – a bad idea to Jack Harkness. There appeared to be no stopping Gold as he broke into his son's apartment and walked right in with Jack, Gwen, and Henry following.
"I'm telling you, Gold. We shouldn't be here." Jack's warnings fell on deaf ears, aggravating Harkness even more. "Alright. Didn't want to have to do this, but…" Jack removed his revolver from his holster and aimed it directly at Gold. The click it made when Jack readied it stopped Gold dead in his tracks.
"Jack!" Gwen exclaimed, surprised by her fellow Torchwood member's sudden action.
Gold turned and faced Harkness, not appearing to be fazed by the gun aimed at his head. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Whatever it takes to get it through your thick skull that you're not going to see your son." Jack boldly remarked.
"And how would you know that for certain, Captain Harkness? Did you speak to him while barreling down the street in your failed pursuit?" Gold's question was meant to be rhetorical; however, looking closely at the questionable look on Jack's face, he made a realization. "You did speak to him."
Seeing that Gold was on to Jack, Gwen attempted to diffuse the confrontation before it boiled over. "Boys, let's just go back to the hotel and figure things out there. I'm sure we can…"
"You're lying to me, Harkness." Gold interrupted. "What did my son tell you?"
"You're not gonna be alive for very long to find out, unless you leave here now." Jack warned.
"You're not gonna shoot me."
"Seems pretty simple to me. You don't have magic, and you can't kill me. All I'll have to do is pull the trigger at even the slightest move from you."
Henry was surprised by Jack's willingness to kill Gold. Reminded of the fact that he was still in the room, Gwen turned to him and whispered, "Go to the bathroom and wait there, Henry."
Henry hesitated. "But they're…"
"I promise nothing will happen. Just wait in the bathroom please."
Henry saw how desperately Gwen wanted him to do what she instructed, so he rushed into the bathroom and waited. Meanwhile, the showdown between Gold and Harkness continued.
"Gold, I'm giving you one last chance to get out of here and forget about your son. Your son is dead."
"Don't tell me that. Don't you dare tell me that!"
"Jack, put the gun down!" Gwen demanded.
"One last chance, Gold!"
"You wanna shoot me? Then shoot me!"
"Jack!"
"Leave!"
"SHOOT ME!"
"HEY!" Another voice shouted outside the group and everyone turned to see Neal rush right in. Jack lowered his revolver in surprise, while Gold stood shocked to see his son standing there right in front of him. Neal stared down his father and brazenly said, "Leave them alone."
Gold was nearly speechless, but he managed to speak to the man, uttering only the name he knew him as since he was an infant. "Bae?" Neal nodded, solemnly acknowledging his former character. Gold beamed with happiness. "You came back for me."
"No." Neal's response disappointed God. "I came to make sure you didn't hurt these people." He gestured to Jack and Gwen. "I've seen what you do to people who rebel against you."
"Please, Bae. Just let me talk."
"I have no interest in talking to you. You can go."
Gold shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Get out of my apartment!"
"Neal…" Jack stepped in.
"No, Cap. I got this."
Gold was taken aback from the acquaintance that the two men had. "You two…know each other?" He then repeated his words with more distain and in a louder tone. "You two know each other. How? How do you two know each other?"
"What is going on?" They heard Henry say as he reentered himself into the conversation.
"Who's this?" Neal asked, a bit surprised from the boy's emergence.
Jack felt like he had been backed into a corner the moment Neal questioned about Henry's identity. He wondered how Emma would have handled this situation had she been there. It was pretty obvious from the moment Neal told Jack about him and Emma what connection the man had to Henry. After taking a deep breath and holstering his revolver, Harkness looked to Neal. "He's your son."
Neal felt his body go numb immediately as he heard this news.
"What?" Henry said with a chuckle, believing Jack to have been joking. Unfortunately, from the seriousness on the immortal captain's face, it was clear to Henry that he wasn't. "No. My dad was a fireman, and he died. Emma told me that he…"
"She lied to you, Henry." Jack said, shocking Henry into a state of heartbreak. "I'm sorry."
Henry was on the verge of tears, shaking his head in disbelief of the fact that his own mother – his real mother – had lied to him. He leaped out through a nearby open window and climbed out into the fire escape. Jack attempted to head out onto the fire escape himself, but Gwen quickly stopped him. "I'll go and talk to him, Jack. You handle things here."
As she headed outside, Jack knew exactly what she meant. Neal was flooded with emotions, having to come back to confront his father and then discovering that he had a son. Jack stood between him and Gold, trying his best to play peacekeeper – a role that seemed impossible after nearly shooting Gold. "Look, Neal…Emma made a deal with your father. That deal was to get him to talk to you. I understand that is a lot to ask for, but for her sake…would you please do it."
Neal was quiet for a very long time, wrapped in his emotions and caught in a seemingly difficult decision. After a while, he finally nodded and told his father, "You got three minutes."
