Chapter 46: Shiney - Part 1

Elise's fingers were racing across the keyboard of her laptop. She and Marie were sitting in the Brew Pub eating dinner and finishing up their latest article for J&G Publishing. Elise had insisted it needed to be done ASAP as the deadline was tomorrow morning. However Marie had insisted on food. They compromised by going out so that no one had to cook. Sarah would have gladly cooked for them, but she was currently in the Underground with a certain Goblin King. So that was how they'd wound up sitting in a corner booth munching on pizza and sipping soda. Elliot had come out of the kitchen at one point to chat with Marie about a new recipe she'd just tried, and the two drowned out Elise's typing for a little while. However he'd had to go back to the kitchen eventually and Marie was left reading over Elise's shoulder as the woman quickly typed up an article on hipster coffee shops in the area.

"Are you done yet?" Marie yawned.

"Almost," Elise mumbled as she started a new paragraph.

"Right, well I'm going to leave you here if you don't finish soon."

"You can't rush art, Marie," Elise shot back.

Marie snorted. "Yeah, whatever."

Elise kept typing away for another minute or so until she finally hit the period key one last time and proudly exclaimed, "Done!"

Marie glanced over and nodded her approval. "Great! Now send it to Adaeze and let's go home. Your cat misses you, and I'm missing the new episode of Carmilla!"

Elise chuckled, but did as her friend, housemate, and photographer said. The two women packed up their gear and waved goodbye to Hardison behind the bar before exiting the Brew Pub and heading down the street to the parking ramp they'd parked at three blocks down. However half-way there, Marie bumped Elise with her shoulder as she leaned closer and whispered, "There's a guy following us."

"What?"

"The guy in the trench coat has been following us since we left the Brew Pub and just turned the corner with us."

"You are so paranoid. Maybe he's just going to the same parking ramp. There are a lot of cars there, you know," Elise pointed out.

"Okay, but he was just standing there on the corner before we came out of the Brew Pub and then started following when he saw us."

Elise frowned and tried to glance behind them covertly. All she could see was that it was a guy of medium height, wearing a trenchcoat, with his hands stuffed casually in his pockets. Both girls quickened their pace and entered the parking ramp. Marie dug in her bag as they made their way towards the car and pulled out her can of pepper spray. "Really wishing you hadn't made me leave my taser at home!" she grumbled.

"How was I to know a guy would follow us?!"

"Natasha would slap you if she heard you say that. Better to be prepared."

Elise rolled her eyes.

"She's right," a masculine voice said behind them. "Constant vigilance is key."

Marie spun faster than Elise had ever seen her move, pepper spray held in front of her and finger on the trigger! However a hand came up and intersected with her arm causing her to lose her grip on the can, while the other hand of the stranger was already smacking Marie's making her drop the can completely. The woman wasn't about to give up yet though, and quickly brought her knee up towards the man's groin. "WHOA!" he shouted as he jumped back.

"WAIT!" Elise shouted. "Jack?" She peered through the dark at the man who was standing with both hands up by his head in the universal surrender position.

The familiar smile of Captain Jack Harkness made them both relax a bit. "Gotta say, I applaud your ability to defend yourself."

The two young women grinned and nodded a thanks.

"Yeah, well, there is a reason the doctor doesn't like taking me for trips. 'You're too violent, Marie.' And 'They are a peaceful alien planet that doesn't need your bad influence Marie.' ...What?" Marie asked, getting looks from the other two. "Okay, fine, he didn't say that last one, but it was rudely implied. He's been very rude lately, sneaky rude, and I don't like it."

"How are you, Jack?" Elise asked, shaking her head at Marie's statement, and giving Jack a smile.

"I'm well, thank you. Been awhile since I've seen you two, looking good," he smirked. "I heard you've been busy globetrotting too?"

"Where did you hear that?" Marie asked crossing her arms.

Jack rolled his eyes a little. "I called your work a few weeks ago looking for you. Your boss said you were on your way back from a trip abroad for a story."

"Are you spying on us, Mr. Harkness?" Elise narrowed her eyes, but her playful tone kept the mood light.

"Do I look like a spy?" he held his arms wide, but then looked down at himself dressed in a dark frock coat and lowered his arms. "Don't answer that… I need your help with a mission."

"A mission for whom?" Marie asked. "Torchwood doesn't exist anymore."

"Not in this time," he replied crossing his arms.

"Where… or rather, when are you from, Jack?" Elise asked struggling to get her chronological phrasing right.

"I'm the present Jack Harkness, but that's beside the point. I'm not doing this mission for any agency. There are none that I will work for in this time. Though S.H.I.E.L.D. had some promise before it was exposed as being run by Hydra," he trailed off. "Anyway, I'm doing this because it needs to happen in order for something important to happen in the future."

"Why are you concerned with the future? Can't your future self do it?"

"He would, but he's caught up in his own thing and sent me a message, because he knew I'd be capable of helping out."

"This is so confusing," Marie grumbled. "So future you asked present you for help because he literally needed to be in two places at once?"

"Exactly," Jack grinned.

"Great, right, um… so what is this mission?" Marie asked.

"Just need your help acquiring intel and giving it to the right people." Jack shrugged.

"And only we can do that?" Elise asked. "Because I'm pretty sure other people have better qualifications."

Jack took a step back and ran his hand through his already tousled hair. "Um, yeah, about that."

"Here it comes," Marie groaned.

"I don't want to give too much about the future away to you two, but I suppose you deserve to know this at least. Earth isn't there in the future we're going to, and humans have spread out among the various planets and galaxies. You two are the only ones in my present who know enough about these kinds of things to adapt quickly."

The two girls were a bit dumbfounded for a moment before Marie raised a hand as though asking a question in school. "Just how far into the future are we going?"

"About five hundred years, give or take," Jack shrugs as though this is nothing.

"Five hundred years?! There won't be an Earth in five hundred years?!" Elise was freaking out a little.

"Actually, less than that. Humans are forced to abandon Earth in the future due to circumstances that I cannot go into without giving away too much."

"JACK!" Marie shouted, her voice echoing in the parking garage. "Not helping!" She had an arm wrapped around Elise's shoulders, and the older woman looked about ready for a panic attack.

"Sorry! Sorry! Forget I said anything!" Jack waved his hands apologetically. "We're just going into the future to get some information from some people in a spaceport. That's all."

Elise closed her eyes and sucked in a few deep breaths before calming enough to nod. "Okay," she said. "Okay, I'm good. Let's do this."

Marie gave her friend a concerned look. "You sure? We can say no."

"No, it's fine. I really am curious about the future, and a spaceport, Marie!" Elise had switched emotional gears and appeared to be getting excited.

Marie frowned, but finally nodded. "Okay, what do we have to do?" she asked of Jack.

Jack grinned and grabbed their hands in both of his. "Hang on tight!"

The next second was a wild ride through time and space. Elise and Marie felt like they were going to be sick, but only a minute later and they were standing on solid ground. "Fricken hell! Warn a gal!" Marie cursed, holding onto her head with both hands.

"I find it's easier to not warn people. Faster too," Jack murmured, looking around to see if anyone saw them zap in. "Right, here are a couple of outfits to help you blend in," Jack gestured towards a bag hidden behind some crates.

Elise and Marie finally looked around to see that they appeared to be in the middle of a shipping dock. There were large crates surrounding them, but through the gaps in between they could see hundreds of people walking around bartering goods and negotiating. Above them, was an unfamiliar sky that was more of a greenish blue than Earth's… and there were space ships! Hundreds of ships large and small were zipping around. Some were landing to unload people or cargo, others were just taking off. "Where are we?" Elise asked.

"We're in the Eavesdown Docks on Persephone. It's a major port for trade, refueling, and passenger pickup or dropoff," Jack answered as the two girls changed into the outfits. He stood with his back to them, keeping an eye out on the crowd beyond the cargo containers.

Elise and Marie had similar outfits in different colors. They each had a long-sleeve v-neck shirt and a close-fitting vest for a top, and fitted trousers with knee-high boots and a large belt to complete the ensemble. Marie's outfit was a muted purple and black coloring while Elise had a moss green and dark khaki combo. Marie also quickly pulled her hair back into a French braid while Elise simply pulled hers up into a ponytail. "Are we really going to need these?" Elise asked picking up a sheathed knife, and a small pistol to attach to her belt. She liked the aesthetic, but honestly couldn't see herself using them.

"Hopefully not," Jack replied turning back to see the two women now kitted out in the gear he'd picked up for them. His own outfit and knee-length frock coat already matched the style of the world they'd landed on. "Okay, so all we have to do is get to the main offices on the other end of the dock, sneak into the security office, collect the information we need, and get to the pub to meet with my contact for trade."

"We're stealing information from the head of security?!" Marie exclaimed. "What the hell Jack?!"

Jack sighed and shook his head. "It's not what you think. If these people are allowed to keep this information, it will lead to some very not good things. We're talking people dying. Lots of people dying."

"No pressure," Elise murmured.

"And just how are we helping with that?" Marie asked.

Jack simply smirked and led the way out from between the cargo containers.

An hour later found Elise and Marie running through unfamiliar streets and alleys trying to keep ahead of the security team chasing after them. Jack's plan had been for them to cause a distraction so he could get into the security office. At first it had gone to plan. Elise and Marie had basically re-enacted Tulio and Miguel's faux fight from The Road to Eldorado, which definitely caught the attention of the guards around the security office. Unfortunately, not all of them came rushing after the two women. They hoped that Jack had been able to get in okay.

"LEFT! LEFT! LEFT!" Marie shouted before they skidded around a corner to the right to confuse the guards. They dashed in between two cargo containers and quickly ducked down. The sound of thudding feet on the dirt swept past them, but they stayed put for another couple of minutes.

"Are they gone?" Elise whispered, peering between the two crates.

"I hope so," Marie groaned as she caught her breath. "Come on, let's get to that pub Jack showed us. Keep an eye out for the guards though."

Elise nodded and rose slowly. They quickly joined a group of people going in the direction they wanted, pretending to be part of the group. It only took about fifteen minutes to reach the seedy little pub near the inter-system docks (ships that traveled farther between systems docked there), and they grabbed a table in the back close to an easy exit. A couple of minutes later, Captain Jack Harkness stalked in and slumped into another chair at their table. "I don't like that look," Marie said in a low voice. "You didn't get it, did you?"

Jack shook his head. "Too many guards. I honestly didn't think there would be so many. Barely managed to get back out." A server dropped off three large glasses with room-temp beer. Jack grabbed his glass and chugged half of it.

"So what do we do now?" Elise asked sipping at her own beer.

Marie eyed her glass, took a sniff, made a face at the smell and carefully set it back down as though it was a glass of acid rather than beer. "Get the hell out while we still can?" she suggested.

"Marie, we can't! You heard Jack when he said what was on the line here," Elise protested.

"Yeah, but I don't want to die or be imprisoned in some spaceport five hundred years in the future," she deadpanned.

"If you don't want to do this, I can take you back home," Jack intervened. "I can try to find someone else to help me out."

"Like who?" Elise asked. "You don't know anyone here!"

"Don't need to," Jack replied. "Just gotta have enough money. You can make friends real quick with enough cash."

"Just how much cash we talkin'?" another voice chimed in right behind Jack.

The three conspirators jumped and turned quickly. Jack had his pistol out and ready while Marie had her hand on the handle of her knife. A man wearing a red, orange, and yellow knit hat with ear flaps and a poof ball on top had turned around in his chair and was looking at them curiously. He didn't seem perturbed by their weapons at all. Another man and a woman sat at the table with him. The woman rolled her eyes and shook her head while the man just glared at his companion. "Jayne," he called the man's attention. "Ain't very gentlemanly to be listenin' in on other's conversations."

"Can't help it if they're talking crime in the open, Mal," Jayne replied.

Mal glared at Jayne again before looking over at Jack, Marie, and Elise. "He's gotta point, actually. Not very intelligent-like to be mouthin' off about your plans for makin' crime in a public establishment like this."

"Well who asked you!?" Marie grumbled.

"Listen, you all gonna keep your volume down, or do I need to get some muzzles?" the woman asked.

"Kinky, Zoe," Jayne gave the woman a lecherous grin.

"Shut yer trap, Jayne," Zoe replied nonchalantly.

Mal rolled his eyes, but appeared to be used to this kind of quipping from his two companions. "Look, let's all just suppose we chat a little about this in a less public area. Maybe we can work out some kind of a deal?"

"And if we can't?" Jack asked, hand still on the butt of his pistol even though he'd holstered it.

"Then we part ways amicably-like," Mal replied, a pleasant grin on his face.

Jack looked back at the two women with him, his eyes asking what they thought of this. However Marie and Elise were just staring at the three sitting at the table next to them with wide eyes. "That's…" Elise said quietly.

"Yeah…" Marie agreed nodding a bit with a large grin forming.

"Okay!" they both said at once causing the other four to jump a little.

"I mean, yeah, let's hear what they got to say," Marie said after a moment, a wide grin still on her face.