Chapter Twenty-Eight
We met Jack in the cells, where Gwen informed Jack of her encounter with Bilis back at the prison cells.
"Are you sure it was the same guy?" Jack asked, staring with his arms crossed at one of the Weevil's in the cells.
"It was definitely him. Bilis, the caretaker of the dancehall." Gwen said.
"And yet I never saw him." I commented.
"And all he said was 'sorry'? Well, what's he got to be sorry for?" Jack asked.
"Can you stop them from making that noise?" Gwen asked, staring at the Weevil as it was making a high-pitched distress noise.
"If you've got any ideas as to how." Ianto said appearing in the dungeons. He had taken the unconscious solider from me to put in the cells while we had gone looking for Jack. "Jack, we've run out of room. I need your codes to activate the other vaults."
"All nine levels are full?" Jack asked surprised. He hadn't realised how many people they had brought in during the night. "Maybe they're time sensitive. This disturbance may be too much for them."
"You were busy last night." Ianto said cynically.
"I'll go. Jack, I think you need to find Bilis." I advised heading to the vaults below to activate their security.
They had two areas which could be used as surplus vaults. The first point of call was on sub level 12 (below vault level 9, which was on sub level 11). Like the first nine level of vaults, there was a glass fronted vault with a back entrance. The only difference between these cells and the ones above it was the security. These ones hadn't been updated in the last twenty years with the new tech discoveries. They were secure, but not to the same level. Hopefully they wouldn't fill these cells which went down four levels. If they did, they would have to start using the archive rooms as cells. The archives could be sealed, but they had almost no other security and was closer to the main part of the hub. Soon they wouldn't be able to use the archive rooms as surplus cells since Ianto was splitting the archives into two sections: paper and object, which would mean more rooms being taken up.
I returned to the main part of the hub in time to see Owen confronting Jack again.
"…carrying smallpox or Ebola or something from the future we don't even know about yet? What do we do then?"
"Yeah, well, it's not doing us any good standing around speculating." Jack snapped back.
"We need to be prepared. We're helpless. All we're doing here is putting sticking plasters on gaping wounds."
"What do you suggest?" Jack turned to face Owen.
"I suggest you lead us and you tell us what the instructions are." Owen got in Jack's face.
My eyes widened as I hovered at the edge of the group. Owen was always the most unstable of the lot of them in a stressful situation, especially in more recent weeks. And with the responsibility of what had happened resting on him he was going to be walking around in a cloud of anger.
"Owen." Gwen tried to interfere but it just caused Owen to snap at her.
"No, come on. You're all thinking it too. You're the big man here. You keep all the secrets. Well now's the time to tell us a few and tell us how the hell we'll get out of this."
"You want to know a secret?" Jack snapped back, frustrated with Owen's insubordination whenever a crisis hit. If Owen didn't learn to listen when he gave orders it was going to get people killed. "There is no solution. I can't fix this. Because this was never meant to happen. The first thing you learned when you joined Torchwood was don't mess with the Rift! But you disobeyed those orders, and now everything that's happening is down to you."
"I only disobeyed instructions to get you back."
"And now people are dying." Jack answered back grimly.
"What, so I shouldn't have bothered? Who the fuck are you anyway? Jack Harkness? You don't even exist. We've looked. So, if you're not even a real person, then why the hell should I follow your orders?" Owen spat in his face.
I closed my eyes in pain. I knew what Jack was going to do next. He had kept this team so small because he needed to be able to trust them. But he couldn't trust a member of his team who didn't trust him and wouldn't follow his orders unquestionable when they were in a crisis situation. Yes, sometimes it was good to be questioned, to be challenged even, but not like this. Not when the questioning is done on an emotional basis only, with no logic or facts behind it.
"Get out." Jack said coldly.
"What?" Owen whispered like he couldn't understand that he had finally pushed Jack too far.
"Get out! I'm relieving you of your duty." Jack made himself clear.
"No. You can't do that." Tosh said horrified.
"Bollocks you are." Owen snapped.
"Jack wait." Gwen pleaded.
"You're done here." Jack ignored the protests from the women.
"What, so that's it? The whole world is going to shit and you're going to fire me?"
Seeing that Jack was stood on an island and a storm was coming, I came forward and placed my hand on the small of Jack's back to let him know I had his back.
"Owen, this isn't the first time you've questioned Jack when faced with a crisis situation. You're letting your emotions run you, and we need your head clear. If you can't trust Jack, then how can you expect him to trust you? To rely on you to get the job done." I spoke softly, sadly. "Four years you've worked for Jack, and yet you still don't trust him. And if that's true, then you arguing and remaining here in a situation that is devolving by the minute will do us no good. So, either shove your pride to the side and trust in your Captain, in your boss, or leave."
"Raven's right. If I can't rely on you, if I don't have your complete trust, you don't belong here." Jack turned to look at Gwen and Tosh. "That goes for the rest of you. Anyone who agrees with Owen, leave now."
"So now we know how it is." Owen said bitterly, stepping towards the exit. "So that leaves me twenty-four hours to savour the good times."
"What are you talking about?" Gwen asked, staring at Owen with wide eyes.
"Think about it, Gwen. Nobody leaves this place intact. Sometime in the next twenty-four hours I get Retconned. All my memorised erased. I don't know where or when, but he'll get me." Owen looked to Jack's face which might as well have been made of flint.
"Jack this has gone far enough." Gwen turned to Jack, speaking as though Jack was simple making a point. Like a parent who says they're leaving their stubborn child, but actually isn't.
"So, I guess this is goodbye. Good luck with the end of the world. I would say thanks for the memories." Owen smiled bitterly before he left on his own.
