Chapter Twelve
"I feel like we've gone back in time, not forward," Rose commented softly into the headset attached to her ear. She was weaving through the crowded casino room of the Club 48, dressed in a classy 40's style dress, black with white trim. Her blonde hair had been caught up in an elegant chignon. She looked elegant, classy, and felt very retro.
"Personally, I kinda like it. Whoever this Rooney is, he's got style," Jack replied, touching his own headset. The 40's dance-hall style club fit Jack Harkness to a T. He felt as if he'd died and gone to heaven as he moved through the room, flashing charming grins at the beautifully dressed ladies that passed him.
Rose caught his eye from across the room and grinned at him. "You would," she replied, chuckling.
"Do we know what this Rooney looks like?" Jen's voice floated into both Jack's and Rose's ears. He glanced across the dance floor and caught sight of her on the other side of the room, a vision in a deep, emerald green gown with capped sleeves and a mandarin collar. He could also see the fiery flash of impatience in her green eyes as she surveyed the room, looking for any clue as to the whereabouts of the elusive Mr. Rooney.
"The description that Mary gave me could fit about half the men in this room," Jack replied. "Dark hair, kinda dumpy, lecherous gleam in the eye."
"Oh, that does narrow it down," Rose said sarcastically, glancing over her shoulder at a table full of men playing poker, every one of which could have fit the description Jack had just given them.
"Hang on," Jack replied. "Lemme see if I can speed this process up a bit…" He released the button on his headset and sauntered up to the bar. Leaning casually against it, he ordered a drink. When the glass was handed to him, he took a long, slow sip, and then addressed the bartender again. "I'm looking for Mr. Rooney," he said.
The bartender raised an eyebrow and looked over at Jack disdainfully. "Mr. Rooney is not taking visitors tonight," he replied, sending Jack a scathing look.
Unperturbed, Jack took another sip of his drink. "So he is here tonight?"
The bartender did not answer. He simply glared at Jack once again, and then turned to serve another customer.
Chuckling to himself, Jack stepped away from the bar and depressed the button on his headset once more. "Mr. Rooney is not accepting visitors tonight," he mimicked the bartender, dryly.
"Oh, that helps," Rose replied, sardonically.
"Actually, it does," Jack responded. "He didn't say that Rooney isn't in; he said that he's not accepting visitors."
"Which means that he's likely in, but not in the dance hall or the casino," Jen replied, thoughtfully.
"So we should look for a doorway, somewhere that leads off of the main halls" Rose added, already spinning around to survey the walls.
Silence hung over the lines of communication for several moments as each of the three individuals searched their surroundings for something, anything, that might lead them to the elusive Mr. Rooney. "Found a door," Jack finally said. The women could hear him struggling for a moment, before he finally added. "And it's locked."
"On my way," Jen replied. Rose caught up with her halfway across the room and the two women approached Jack together. Stealthily, she reached into a hidden pocket on the side of her dress and withdrew a small tool. "Cover me," she said to her comrades.
Jack and Rose both stepped in front of her, shielding her from the rest of the room. "Sonic screwdriver?" Jack asked conversationally, giving every appearance of being deep in a conversation with the blonde by his side.
"Close," Jen replied. "Psionic wrench. It runs off of the brain patterns and thoughts of its owner. Completely useless to anyone but me." A moment later, Jack and Rose heard a telltale click behind them. "And we're in," Jen breathed, softly.
It took only a moment for the three of them to slip unnoticed through the door and into a corridor on the other side. At the end of the corridor was a single doorway. The three of them glanced briefly at each other, and then Jen shrugged and began in the direction of the door.
"Wait a sec," Jack spoke up. He reached under his jacket and withdrew a pistol. Dubiously he eyed Rose for a moment. "Do you know how to use one of these?" he asked.
Rose looked mildly offended and took the firearm from him. "I worked for Torchwood in the alternate dimension," she pointed out. "Of course I do."
"My mistake," he replied, grinning. He then turned to Jen. "What about you?"
"I'll go without, thanks," she replied.
Jack looked surprised. "Are you sure? What if we run into trouble?"
"Then I'll expect you and Rose to cover me. But I can take care of myself," she added. "Now let's go."
"Fine, fine," Jack replied, withdrawing a second weapon from his jacket. He placed himself ahead of the two women as they crept silently down the hallway, and therefore reached the door first. With a quick glance at the other two for confirmation, he grabbed the knob, flung it open and spun inside, weapon raised and ready to fire.
On the other side of the door, they found a rather round-looking man seated on a couch, laughing with four scantily-clad women that surrounded him. The five of them fell silent and looked startled by their sudden interruption, but only a moment before the gentleman's brow furrowed in fury.
"I thought I told those idiot employees that I wasn't taking visitors tonight!" he growled, sending the women scampering behind the couch.
"Mr. Rooney, I presume? We didn't exactly ask for permission to come and visit you," Jack replied, leveling the firearm at the man's head.
"We've come to retrieve something from you that we believe belongs with us," Jen added, stepping into the room. She met his gaze with a fearless one of her own, anger sparkling dangerously in her green eyes.
"What could I possibly have that would belong to the likes of you?" Rooney asked scornfully.
"A man, I believe," Jen replied, dryly.
Rooney laughed boisterously. "I assure you, young lady, my taste doesn't extend to men. Though, if you're interested…"
"A man," Rose retorted, raising her voice to overtake his. "And you know exactly who we're talking about." She raised her gun higher and stepped closer to him. "The Doctor. You know, last of the Time Lords. Your goons took him from the Tardis."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Rooney retorted, darkly. "And if you don't lower that gun…"
"There's an important lesson that you need to learn, Mr. Rooney," Jen spoke up, her voice deadly calm. "Never, ever lie to a telepath. Now, be a good boy and tell us where he is."
He paused a moment, giving her statement serious consideration. "I've got five good reasons not to answer that, little missy," he replied, grinning.
Jen only lifted a brow curiously.
"Boys!" Rooney cried out. Jen, Jack, and Rose had failed to take note of two doors, one on either side of the room, that flanked Mr. Rooney. These doors abruptly flew open, and five well-dressed men toting automatic rifles burst through the door. They lined up behind Mr. Rooney, the muzzles of their weapons well trained on the trio before their boss.
Once again, Rooney laughed. "Now, these nice gentlemen give me five good reasons to have you escorted from the premises. Now, if you'll just hand over those guns…"
Jack and Rose cast each other a questioning glance, each asking the other what they thought should happen. Finally, they both came to the conclusion that they were out gunned and out numbered. Sighing, they reluctantly dropped their guns to the floor, slid them across the floor towards Rooney, and lifted their hands in the air.
Jen, instead, approached the men. Casually, she strolled up to the first one and leaned over to examine his weapon, her hands folded demurely behind her back the entire time. "My, that is an impressive piece of weaponry," she murmured, eyes caressing it almost lovingly. She then moved onto the next gentleman sporting a gun. "All of them are!" she exclaimed, her expression very appreciative of both the men and their weapons. Slowly, she made a stop at each man in turn, paying special attention to the gun in his hand. Finally, she swung back around in front of the couch and stood before Rooney.
"Your men are very well armed," she commented. "And those are truly beautiful pieces of weaponry." She paused and appeared to think their situation over for a moment. "I think I'd like to find out if their bark is as bad as their bite." Her eyes shifted upwards and she grinned teasingly at the armed men behind the couch. "Shoot me."