Chapter 32
The Ritz Dance Hall - January 29th, 1941
Harry and Tosh were in the backroom, Tosh keeping guard as Harry changed. The ever-prepared Harry unsealed a spare change of clothes from a small seal on her thigh. From there, it was easy to transfigure them into emerald long-sleeved 1940s era dress, with a skirt that stopped just above her knees. She also transfigured a pair of nylons, even though only the rich could afford them at this time due to the shortage. She also made a pair of heels that matched her dress. She conjured a string of pearl with matching earrings; she might as well go all-in if she was going to seem wealthy. She then pulled out a vial of magic neutral concealer, she could have used the mundane version, but this concealer would only come off with the neutralizing potion. Unfortunately, she couldn't glamour her seal tattoos, and only specialized cosmetic potions could conceal them. She painted her exposed skin, Tosh having to help with the back of her neck. She undid her hair, then cast a spell to smooth it out as it fell into its natural loose curls. She put on some light makeup before turning towards Tosh. Harry quickly fixed Tosh's makeup, then transfigured her dress into something more era-appropriate.
Tosh was on the verge of a panic attack by the time that Harry finished changing.
"Calm down, Tosh," Harry said, sending a feeling of calm through their bond.
Tosh took a deep breath.
"We are at war with the Japanese at this time. Do you know what they used to do?" Tosh asked.
"You'll be fine with me. As for you, your parents immigrated here before World War One, and you are working as a translator; we work together." Harry stated, going over the backstory they had concocted. "Jack is my husband, an American volunteer in the RAF. We are here for one last night out before Jack is shipped off. You going to be okay?"
Tosh nodded as she mentally went over the story again in her head.
Harry stuffed her clothes and Tosh's jacket into a small green bottomless purse, similar to the one Hermione had made all those years ago. She then took Tosh's arm and led her back into the main dance hall. They made their way over to Jack at the bar, where he was ordering several drinks. As they came up to Jack, he patted his pockets, realizing that he didn't have era money. Harry rolled her eyes and was about to interject when a handsome man in an RAF uniform came up behind them.
"I haven't seen you in here before." He said to Tosh, then looked over at Jack then the barkeep. "I'll get them."
"Thank you," Jack said.
"On one condition." The man then stated.
"What?" Jack asked protectively.
Then the man spontaneously grabbed Tosh's hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. Jack laughed before turning towards Harry.
"Should we join them, darling?" Jack asked mischievously.
"I suppose we should." Harry agreed with a smile.
They were making their way over when they heard a young woman speak.
"Why is George dancing with a Jap?" She asked heatedly.
The pair stopped and looked at her, the mood ruined.
"Jack!" Gwen's voice could be softly heard, stopping them in their tracks.
"That was Gwen." Harry stated, "They must have sent her when they couldn't get a hold of us."
Jack turned to look behind him but couldn't see anything abnormal. Harry made her way over to Tosh.
"Can I borrow my mate for a moment?" Harry asked as she cut in, smiling at the handsome pilot.
"Anything for you, dove. I expect compensation, though." He said as he gave her a rake-ish smile.
"I'll save you a dance," Harry said with a smile as she pulled Tosh back towards Jack at the bar.
"Have fun there, Tosh?" Jack asked.
Tosh shot him an annoyed look, but before she answered, the man beside her cut in.
"Hey, are you a volunteer, too?" The man asked Jack in a distinct American accent.
"Yeah," Jack answered with a smile, holding out his hand for a handshake.
"I'm Captain…." They both started at the same time, causing them to laugh.
"You go first." Jack chuckled.
"Captain Jack Harkness, 133rd Squadron." The man introduced himself, causing Jack to freeze.
"James Potter." Harry's voice prompted Jack back into motion.
"Captain James Potter, 71st, and this is my lovely wife Harriett Potter, and this is our close friend Toshiko Sato." Jack introduced them without missing a beat.
They were interrupted when they heard a voice telling them to look over and were temporally blinded as the flash went off on a camera.
"The 71st? That where I'm hoping to be posted next." The Captain said.
Suddenly the well-dressed older man that they had seen in the lobby came up to them.
"One more for the record, sir. I insist." The elderly gentleman said as he came up and posed with them. "Thank you, gentlemen." He thanked them as he walked off.
"What's your poison?" The Captain asked, moving towards the bar.
"Maybe later. We were just in the middle of something." Jack excused.
"None sense, love. It's been a while since you have met another American. Tosh and I can take care of it." Harry interrupted.
Jack turned and met her eyes and then had a quick telepathic exchange.
"This is the man that you based your identity on, correct?" Harry asked.
"This is the man whose identity I stole, you mean, and your father's name? Really?" Jack corrected.
"You froze. Talk to the Captain; it's suspicious that you just happened to run into him, of all people." Harry said.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Jack hedged, feeling off-kilter. He had admired this man, and it was one of the reasons that Jack had chosen his identity to assume.
"You chose this man. I'm sure that you had your reasons. This will probably be your only chance to talk to him. He dies soon, right?" Harry replied.
"Tomorrow," Jack replied sadly.
"Take your chance." Harry encouraged.
"Come along, Tosh," Harry said aloud as Jack walked towards the bar with the Captain.
Tosh followed Harry to the back of the dance hall down a quiet corridor.
"Why does that man have Jack's name," Tosh asked.
Harry paused for a moment.
"Can I tell her?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Jack's voice whispered through her mind.
"It's not Jack's name. It's his. That is the man whose identity Jack took when he came to his time." Harry explained.
"This time?" Tosh asked quietly, taken aback.
"Jack is a time traveller, and when he arrived in this time, he needed an identity. The man that you just met will die in the war tomorrow." Harry said bluntly. She didn't begrudge Jack for what he had done.
"Anyways, what do you have with you in your bag?" Harry gestured to the leather shoulder bag she had.
"I have half the Rift equation here on my equipment. The other half is back at the Hub. If we can find some way of getting these figures back to base, then they can combine them and open the Rift and bring us back through." Tosh explained.
"Come on. I have an idea." Harry said, taking Tosh's hand.
They made their way into the manager's office. It was a luxuriously decorated room for the time.
"In here, it's empty," Harry said, ushering Tosh inside.
Tosh made her way over to the desk and pulled out her laptop. The computer pinged with a notification that the battery was low.
"Make sure to write down everything, in case it dies," Harry ordered as Tosh quickly penned out the equation on a piece of paper.
"I'm not used to writing with these things," Tosh said.
"Don't press so hard," Harry suggested as she watched Tosh struggle with the fountain pen, thinking back to the quills that she used in her youth.
A low battery window popped up, blocking the formula as it blinked.
"Can you read that?" Tosh asked, stressed.
"Plus one over 5a, sin 2ax." Harry read off as the laptop died. "Did you get everything?"
"I just want to get the exact to get the exact coordinates of the dance hall so I can integrate them into the waveform equation," Tosh said.
"I can do that," Harry said.
Harry pulled out a clear quartz crystal from her handbag and cast a location spell. The spell was invented initially for setting up reoccurring portkeys. As Harry looked into the quartz, a number appeared within the crystal. She took a pen and paper and began to translate the number into degrees, minutes, seconds. Once Harry was done, she handed the paper over to Tosh.
"Perfect," Tosh said as she took back the pen to finish her equation.
"What are you doing in here?" A man's voice asked, causing both women to jump.
They looked up to see the older man that had taken a picture with them on the dance floor not too long ago.
"Who are you?" The man asked.
"Harriet Potter, and this is Toshiko Sato, my friend and mathematician. She just had a breakthrough and had to write it down. I'm sorry for barging in, but we couldn't wait." Harry explained, giving him a shy smile while releasing pheromones to daze the man as she moved around the desk towards him.
"I'm Bilis, the manager." The man said as he walked around the desk.
It threw Harry for a moment when he didn't seem to be affected by her. He set down the camera that he held, drawing Tosh's attention to it as she moved beside Harry hugging the laptop to her chest.
"That's an interesting camera." Tosh pointed out nervously.
"It takes photographs instantly," Bilis said in his odd effect.
"I didn't know that they could do that yet," Tosh said softly, now drawing Harry's attention to the camera.
"And I didn't know they made an attaché case out of metal," Bilis said defensively, causing Tosh to hug the laptop more tightly to her chest. The grandfather clock chimed, drawing his attention for a moment before he turned back to them.
"Where did you get it?" Bilis asked.
"I bought it for her as a present a while in America," Harry interjected.
"I should go back, dear. They're coming back for us now." Bilis said in his creepy effect.
Harry smiled at him before leading Tosh out of the room.
The Hub – January 29th, 2008
Owen and Ianto were in the conference room with all the information about the Ritz Dance hall that they had been able to find.
"Right, the Ritz Dance Hall opened in 1932 and shut down in 1989. It is due to be demolished in one week because it has been condemned. Now, the reported music is from the 1940s. So why is a ghost job taking so long." Owen laid out what they had.
"All those young soldiers," Ianto said sadly as he through the pictures knowing that most of them died not long after.
"Owen, look there," Ianto said, pointing to a new picture that had just come up on the screen.
Owen came over and saw a picture of their missing teammates pulled from the historical newspaper achieves from the library.
The men walked back to the Rift monitor, knowing that the team at Ritz had been pulled back to the 40s.
"Okay, so we use Tosh's information to open the rift and bring them back," Owen said as he typed away.
"We can't. Half the equation's missing." Ianto disputed.
"It can't be. It must be somewhere else. Let me try." Owen said, pushing Ianto away from the console.
"It's not there," Ianto exclaimed.
"What?" Owen said as he began to type furiously.
"It might be on her laptop. Which she never goes anywhere without." Ianto supposed.
"Shit. Shit!" Owen swore.
The Ritz Dance Hall - January 29th, 2008
"I heard music earlier," Gwen reported back to the Hub as she continued to walk through the building, trying doors.
"If I can hear them, maybe they can hear me," Gwen said. "They've got to come back."
"Jack!" She yelled as she hung up on Ianto and Owen again.
Her attention was drawn down the hallway when she heard jazz music again. She walked around but found nothing. Gwen exited the building and radioed the Hub again.
"I've had a good look around, but most of the doors are locked," Gwen told them.
Gwen started as a man came up behind her.
"Can I help you?" An older, well-dressed man asked. "I'm the caretaker. Bilis Manger at your service."
"Hello." Gwen greeted, flustered at being caught off guard, before giving him a smile that always got her what she wanted. "Could you open it all up for me? I think some of my friends got locked in."
"Follow me." Bilis agreed with a smile.
Gwen thanked him as she followed him back into the dilapidated dance hall. Bilis let her into some of the locked rooms and the basement.
"Why was your friend in here anyways?" Bilis asked.
"Just a silly dare. Someone said that it's haunted." Gwen answered.
"You look worried, dear. I'll make you a nice cup of tea." Bilis said before leaving Gwen in the basement.
She gave it another quick look around before following him out. He led her upstairs to an old office filled with junk, but the only room that looked like someone had been in it since it was closed.
"Is anyone expecting you?" Bilis asked.
"Yes," Gwen answered quickly, knowing it wouldn't be wise to let him know that there wasn't.
"Perhaps you should call them; otherwise, they might think that you disappeared, too," Bilis suggested. "I'll put the kettle on," He said before walking out.
Gwen tapped her radio.
"Anything on your end?" Gwen asked.
"There are no more photographs of the three of them after that night," Ianto responded. "That's encouraging."
"Yeah, unless the bombs got them," Owen added pessimistically.
Ianto knew that even if that happened, the two immortals would have survived. Either they made it back to the present, or they had gone to ground to stop the pollution of the timeline until they synced back up. He didn't voice this, however.
"The manager, Bilis Manger, kept the photographs for posterity," Ianto told them.
"Bilis Manger? That's the name of the caretaker." Gwen said, puzzled.
"Can't be the same guy, can it?" Ianto asked.
"Not old enough," Gwen answered. "Although he looks a bit out of his time. He wears a cravat."
Ianto was silent for a moment as the pieces started to fall together.
"Gwen, he's in the photo with Jack, Tosh, and Harry," Ianto said urgently.
"He's the answer," Owen exclaimed. "He's come through the Rift. Find out what he's doing."
"No, get out, Gwen, wait for backup." Ianto contradicted.
"We can't lose him." Owen insisted.
"We can't lose Gwen!" Ianto said firmly. "Maybe this is a trap. He could be sucking us back through time one by one. Get out of there, Gwen. That's an order."
"I'm sorry, but who exactly put you in charge?!" Owen yelled at Ianto.
Gwen had enough self-preservation to know what Ianto was right. She quickly and quietly backed out of the room. She walked quickly to the exit but stopped in the main dance hall when she heard Jack laughing.
She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, but there was nothing there when she turned to look.
Spooked, she almost sprinted to the front.
The Ritz Dance Hall - January 29th, 1941
The women made their way back to the main dance hall. They were trying to find Jack, only to run into Captain Harkness.
"Have you seen James?" Harry asked.
"You must have just missed him. He left a couple of minutes ago looking for you two." Captain Harkness told them.
"Oh, did he say where he was going?" Harry asked.
"No, but the barkeep passed him a message before he left." Captain Harkness answered.
"Jack!" a lovely young woman exclaimed, coming up to them shooting a jealous look at the women. "I know that you said this was a boy's night, but I thought I could pop in to see you."
"We'll leave you two," Harry said as they moved away.
"Jack?" Harry asked telepathically, but there was no response. She could still feel him firmly in the bond, unlike Ianto, but he wasn't responding.
"We need to find Jack," Harry stated, slightly worried.
"We also need to find somewhere to hide the message for the team that will last across time," Tosh said.
"Come on," Harry said as they moved towards the back again.
As they walked, a young woman with curly hair stepped in front of Tosh, stopping her. Harry recognized her as the woman who had made the off-colour remark while Tosh was dancing.
"I haven't seen you two here before. Is she with you?" the woman said snidely.
The altercation drew crowds' attention, and the mob mentality started to set in on Tosh before Harry could respond.
"Maybe she's a spy." The women alleged.
"The Chinese are on our side, aren't they?" A seconded uniformed man asked.
"I'm Japanese." Tosh corrected automatically, not thinking.
"You're hardly an ally then." The women snipped.
"Leave it, Audrey." The young man that Tosh has danced with said,
"So, whose side are you on?" Audrey accused. "What's in the bag?"
"Nothing," Tosh said as Audrey made to grab for it.
Harry grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
"If there is nothing in the bag, then open it," Audrey said as she tried to remove her hand from Harry's iron grip.
Suddenly Jack reappeared behind Audrey, pulling her away as Harry released her wrist. Harry moved back and wrapped her arm around Tosh in support.
"She can't. Her work is top secret. She's a decoder for the Brits." Jack defended.
"And without ladies like her, we'd have no way of defending the country." Captain Harkness chimed in. "To Toshiko." He toasted.
A part of the room chimed in, but it was enough to calm the intoxicated crowd. The crowd went back to the party. Tosh and Harry walked over to Jack.
"I need Bilis's camera. Photographs last, don't they?" Tosh said, eager to get away from the potential mob.
"Sure, do you want me to come with you?" Jack asked as Tosh started to make her way up the stairs.
"You can't just run out on me. I've just got you a drink." Capt. Harkness stopped Jack.
Harry shot Jack a questioning look as his focus turned entirely to the Captain, ignoring her completely.
"We'll be fine. You carry on." Tosh said as she grabbed Harry's hand and pulled her away.
"To a fellow captain." They heard Capt. Harkness toast.
The pair made their way back to the manager's office, where Tosh took a picture of her equation. Harry acted as a lookout, and they were able to get away before Bilis returned.
"Did you notice anything strange about Jack just now?" Harry asked as they made their way outside.
"Nothing out of the ordinary," Tosh answered, distracted as she sat down on the steps and pulled about the old-style polaroid.
Harry pushed aside her paranoia as Tosh dug through her bag until she found the card that she had bought for her grandfather this morning and carefully removed the plastic wrapping so that she could waterproof the photo.
"I hope that the rest of the team likes treasure hunts," Tosh said as she stood.
"We need to find a place that won't be disturbed but still findable," Harry said as they looked for a place to hide it.
The Hub – January 29th, 2008
Owen pulled up a floor grate and reached down into machinery.
"Owen, what are you doing," Ianto asked, worried.
"Owen?" Ianto asked again, forcibly when he didn't receive an answer.
"We haven't got the missing numbers. We're going to have to improvise with the Rift Manipulator." Owen said as he pulled cables out.
"We can't. It's risky enough with the equations. If we don't do this properly, anything could happen." Ianto said heatedly.
"Bombs are falling. They're stuck in the middle of the Cardiff Blitz. It's our duty to get them back." Owen shot back.
"Open the Rift now, and the whole world could suffer," Ianto said, agitated, trying reason with Owen. "We could all get sucked in, and who knows what will come out?
"This is about Diane, isn't it?" Ianto asked as Owen ran cables across the bullpen, refusing to respond to him. "When will you accept that she chose to leave you?" Ianto asked, trying to get a response.
Owen turned towards Ianto with a mean look in his eye.
"Whereas your Cyber-girlfriend stuck around the course. Not that she had much choice, wired up in the cellar." Owen snipped back, digging into old wounds.
"That was different," Ianto said weakly. Even though he found his soulmates and loved them with his whole being, Lisa was still a sore point. She had been the only reason he kept going after the horrors he had witnessed at the fall of One. The hope of saving her was the only light that he had had in the dark time, even if it turned out to be a lie.
"Yeah, it was." Owen agreed snidely. "Mainly because Diane didn't try and kill us all. And, oh yeah, she also happened to be a human being…."
"Stop it," Ianto said warningly.
"… not some screwed-up metal monster." Owen finished harshly.
"I thought she was still Lisa. I loved her." Ianto argued back fiercely. Ianto had been with Lisa for years, and they had been planning their wedding when Canary Wharf happened. Their situations were completely different. "You only knew Diane for a week. That isn't love; that's an obsession."
"And it wasn't enough," Owen said, pushing Ianto away as he hooked another cable into the Manipulator. "Maybe the Manipulator can calculate the missing figures."
Owen continued to jerry-rig the Manipulator as Ianto moved away from him, thinking over his options. There was no way that Ianto could overpower Owen physically, and he couldn't slip away to get something he could take Owen out. Ianto paced as he watched Owen flip the switch on the Manipulator and breathed a sigh of relief when nothing happened.
"It isn't working," Owen said with frustration.
"Good. Jack would never have wanted us to use it this way." Ianto said as he made his way back over to the Manipulator.
"There's a piece missing. We've got to find it." Owen said before taking off running.
Ianto followed behind on damage control and grabbed Owen's arm, stopping him.
"Maybe you should go home," Ianto suggested; however, they both knew that it was an order.
"You don't have any power over me, just because you're fucking the boss." Owen said cruelly, then continued condescendingly, "Okay then, Ianto, we'll do it your way, safe and boring."
The pair made their way back over to the bullpen, and Ianto pulled up the CCTV.
"There is no sign of Bilis leaving the area," Ianto said before the sound of the cog door rolling open drew his attention. Ianto turned to see Owen pulling on his jacket and grabbing his backpack.
"Where are you off to?" Ianto asked.
"The Dance hall, Bilis's office. He must know how the Rift works, and maybe we'll find a clue there." Owen said as he ran out the door.
Ianto was almost glad because he didn't need Owen messing with the Rift Manipulator anymore than he had. It also gave Ianto time to prepare if he had to stop Owen by force.
The Ritz Dance Hall - January 29th, 2008
"What would Jack do to help us," Gwen asked herself as she circled the exterior of the Dance Hall.
Then from the corner of her eye, she saw Bilis turn the corner disappear. Gwen decided to follow, but when she turned the corner, he was gone. Gwen then noticed the electrical box was ajar and that the lock looked freshly cut. She made her way over to investigate the panel. As Gwen opened it, and saw something tucked up near the top. She had almost missed it at first glance. She pulled out the object to find an old faded picture of a formula wrapped in plastic.
Gwen radioed back to the Hub.
"I found an old picture with math equations. It looks similar to the stuff Tosh is always working on." Gwen reported.
"Tosh must have realized that we need her half of the equations and left behind clues," Ianto answered. "Read them out to me."
Gwen read out what was in the photo.
"I need more equations, Gwen. The equation is not complete." Ianto stated.
Gwen disconnected the radio and looked around the panel, but there wasn't anything else.
"What happened here, Tosh?" Gwen asked herself. Something must have happened if Tosh hadn't been able to send back the complete equation.
The Ritz Dance Hall - January 29th, 1941
Tosh swore as she looked back down at the picture.
"What's wrong," Harry asked.
"I accidentally cut part of the equation out of the picture. It's not complete." Tosh explained.
"Well, we'll hide what we have now and figure out something else for the rest." Harry reasoned. "There is an electrical panel over there. I remember it from the present."
As they came up to the panel, the air raid sirens began to sound.
"Hurry." Harry prompted as Tosh rushed to hind the photo.
They ran back towards the front entrance as the lights in the dance hall turned off. They banged on the closed door, but someone had barred it from the other side.
"Come on. We need to find shelter." Harry yelled as she suddenly heard the sound of a bomb whizzing down before exploding, shaking the street.
Harry grabbed Tosh's arm and pulled her away. They needed to get inside a building and into the cellar. Once there, Harry would be able to cast a bomb repelling ward. As they made their way around the back of the Ritz, they came across an open door.
"Harry! Toshiko!" they heard Jack yell.
"We're here!" Harry yelled back as they came up to him, as another bomb landed nearby, shaking plaster dust from the ceiling.
"Come on," Jack said as he led them down into the cellar with everyone one else.
"Part of the equation is missing from the photo that I hid. They'll keep looking if they find it, right?" Tosh asked for reassurance.
"Of course, they will," Jack reassured her as they entered the basement.
They made their way over to a free wall. It was crowded but relatively safe. Harry ducked behind Jack so that the rest of the room couldn't see her. She reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of black tourmaline. She carefully started to etch a runic array into the wall.
"What are you doing?" Jack asked.
"Bomb ward. It will redirect any bombs in a 50-metre radius. A mundane-born Magi invented it in WW2. I don't have a ward stone with me, but it should last the night." Harry explained.
"Thank god," Tosh said, relieved that she didn't have to worry about a bomb dropping on them.
"We need to find a way to get the rest of the equation back." Harry reminded.
"Pencil will fade. I need to find something else." Tosh said as she grabbed the lantern and headed out farther into the basement with Harry following.
Harry realized that Jack was not with them after they arrived in a storage area of the basement. Tosh rummaged around looking for something to use; however, Harry was troubled.
There was something wrong with Jack. He was not responding telepathically to her, and the limited empathy from the bond was flat. She had wanted to probe deeper into his emotions to find out what was wrong, but she didn't dare. She would be easily overwhelmed by the terror of the city as bombs fell from the sky. She could still remember the paralyzing terror that had left her in a stupor for years during this period at One.
Even without her empathy, there was something about the whole situation that set her teeth on edge. It was almost like they were being pushed around by some unseen force. There was some guiding hand, and it was no coincidence that they just happened to come across the original Captain Harkness. Tosh didn't seem to think that anything was wrong, but maybe it was because she was terrified that she didn't see the little incorrect details. Tosh's denials were almost enough to convince Harry that she was being paranoid.
As Tosh rummaged through the cabinet, she suddenly gasped and pulled back her hand holding an old paint tin.
"Are you okay," Harry asked.
"Yeah," Tosh winced, "I just sliced my hand open on something. I need something to write with, something that won't fade." Tosh mumbled as she looked at her bloody hand.
Harry quickly followed Tosh's train of thought and stopped her before she could dip the pencil into her open wound. Harry reached into her purse and pulled out a self-inking eagle feather quill. Tosh was bewildered at the antiquated writing tool.
"I can't use that." She said she could barely get the fountain pen to work for her.
"Don't worry. I'll write it down. Just write it down in pencil and will trace over it in ink." Harry reassured her.
Tosh got to work copying down the equation. Harry was glad she didn't have to try and transcribe the formula; she wasn't very familiar with mundane math. Her people had developed their math and terminologies that diverged from mundanes around the era of the first pharaoh. Mundanes used base ten math, while they used base seven because it was a magically potent number. She was limited in mundane math to what she had learned in primary school.
Once Harry copied over the equation, Tosh sealed the paper in the airtight tin. Tosh hid the container back in the cupboard that she found it in, stuffing it towards the back. They made their way back into the main area where the singer and band members were playing, trying to get everyone's mind of the bombs that were raining death from the sky.
Jack was off to the side again with Captain Harkness, and Harry wondered if she had made a mistake encouraging Jack to seek Harkness out. They looked like they were having an intimate moment, and Harry's self-doubts reared their head as she wondered if Jack had changed his mind again about them. Tosh didn't react like anything was wrong, so maybe Harry just imagined things. However, Harry still couldn't shake the feeling that they were being gaslighted.
Soon the music was broken with the air raid siren sounded again, and the manager Bilis flipped back on the breaker.
"Let the dancing continue." Bilis declared as everyone cheered.
The mood became joyous again as everyone made their way back up to the dance hall. The women made their way over to Jack.
"We've finished. The rest of the equation is hidden." Tosh told him.
"What happened to your hand?" One of the young pilots asked Tosh.
"I slipped," Tosh said, holding up her hand to stem the bleeding.
"I've got a first aid kit in the van." The man offered.
Tosh looked at Jack, and he nodded his permission. The two broke away, and Harry hung back.
"Scotch, Captain?" The pilot that danced with Tosh asked.
"Ah, no. I'd like some time in private with Captain Potter." Captain Harkness said, dismissing his subordinate.
"I guess I'll join Tosh," Harry said, irritated at Jack when he gave her a look to leave as well.
"I'll escort you. I do believe that you owe me a dance." The young pilot grinned down at her. "I'm George, by the way."
"Harriett," Harry said as she slipped her hand on his elbow. "I believe that was your price for letting my friend go."
"Now there, that makes it sound like I extorted you." George smiled as he led her upstairs to the dance floor.
"So that you know, I am a married woman," Harry warned as they started to dance as the jazz band started up again.
"Still's nice to dance with a beauty such as yourself," George answered smoothly.
As George twirled her around, he caught the sight of Jack and Captain Harkness sitting close at one of the tables. Much too close for only acquaintances.
The Ritz Dance Hall - January 29th, 2008
Gwen made her way back to the front of the hall.
"Be careful, Gwen. Bilis is still around. He seems to know where the CCTV cameras are and is good at ducking them." Ianto told her over the radio.
As Gwen came to the front, she noticed that the sports car belonging to Owen was now parked behind hers.
"Owen, where are you?" Gwen asked over the radio.
"I'm in the building. Where's Bilis' office?" Owen asked.
"It's at the far end of the corridor. I'll keep looking out here.
Inside Bilis' office, Owen tore the place apart as he looked for anything that might give them a clue. It was when he came across a safe that he thought that there might be something promising. Owen pulled out an alien lock pick and made quick work of the safe, only to find it empty.
"Shit," Owen swore.
He was about to get up and leave when the grandfather clock in the corner of the room chimed, drawing his attention. Owen then noticed the multiple clocks that littered the office.
"Timepieces." He said to himself as an idea came to him; it was a riddle. He made his way over to the grandfather clock and opened it to find an odd piece of metal attached to the pendulum. It looked alien in origin, and he was pretty sure that it could fit into the empty slot in the Manipulator. Owen stuffed it into his bag and headed out, and he cursed to himself as he spotted Gwen walking down the corridor towards him.
"I didn't find any equations. I'll get back to the Hub." Owen said, trying to sound casual.
"Fine, I'll keep looking here, then." Gwen agreed, not caring what Owen did.
"Yeah, you do that," Owen said as he turned to leave.
Gwen made her way back to the basement to look around more thoroughly without Bilis standing over her shoulder.
"I'm gonna check everywhere for the other figures. I'm not gonna leave Jack now." Gwen radioed back to Ianto at the Hub.
Gwen was going through an old filing cabinet when she heard a woman singing sadly. Gwen looked around but couldn't see anything, and as soon as it started, it stopped. She could almost convince herself that it had been her imagination, but it had happened too many times now and had to be something with the Rift. Gwen continued her search until coming across an old paint on the floor. She picked it up and pried open the lid. Inside was a modern card with the rest of the equation written on it.
Gwen tapped on her radio.
"Ianto? Yeah, it's me. I've found it. It's stained with blood." Gwen said, now worried about what was happening back there.
The Hub – January 29th, 2008
Owen arrived back at the Hub to find Ianto at the Rift monitor typing away as the alarm went off.
"Gwen's found the rest of Tosh's readings," Ianto informed him.
"What's she got for us," Owen asked as he came up behind Ianto.
"Cos sin, square axca equals x over 2," Gwen answered over the radio.
Ianto imputed the missing piece of the formula; however, it still didn't match up.
"No, I need at least three more numbers, Gwen. They must be somewhere else." Owen said, frustrated.
"No, they're not," Gwen said confidently.
"Well, how do you know?" Owen asked.
"Because someone scraped out the final numbers," Gwen answered dejected.