Author's Note: Yay! I finally figured out where to go next and how to get there. This puppy is just about finished; should have one more chapter to go.
Chapter Twenty
The hallowed halls of the Dannar Corporation were silent, as their CEO liked them. The occasional click of heels against the cold, tile floors echoed mutely through the corridors, but otherwise all was eerily still. On the top floor, a long, spacious corridor opened up into a large reception area in which a young secretary was industriously plowing through her days work. Two armored guards stood still and quiet behind her on either side of a pair of large, heavy wooden doors.
If one would open the door, they would find a slightly built, elderly man seated behind a large wooden desk. His white hair was combed straight back off of his nearly non-descript face. The only striking feature the man possessed was his startlingly dark eyes that seemed to bore out of his pale face and straight through whomever he chose to look at. His dress, too, was odd; a dark, old-fashioned jacket with an open-collared shirt and a burgundy cravat.
Papers seemed to fly by his face as he shuffled them from one side of the desk to the other, glancing at some, scrawling his name across others, his dark eyes flitting back and forth across the pages. In the background, a Mozart sonata could be heard playing softly, the only sound disrupting this tranquil, peaceful scene.
Or it was for several moments. Abruptly the man's tranquility was broken by a low, distant roar that seemed to come in waves. A rush of wind swept through the room, tearing his papers away from him and swirling them around the room. Annoyed, the man looked up to first see a flashing light materialize on the other side of the desk, immediately followed by a large, blue police box beneath it.
A moment later a younger, handsome man strolled out of the box. He had a thick thatch of dark hair and a jaunty grin. He was dressed rather smartly in a deep blue, pin-striped suit and a brown overcoat that he had shoved his hands into the pockets of. Dark eyes twinkling, his gaze rested on the older man and he smiled. "Oh, hello!" he cried.
"What are you doing here?" the older man demanded. "How did you get in here?"
The Doctor appeared to think this over briefly. "Well, I opened the door to my Tardis and walked in, of course" he began, approaching the desk. "And, I heard a rumor that you were looking for me," he explained. Still grinning, he stepped closer to the desk and leaned against it. "Since you went to all the trouble of killing our mutual friend Rooney for failing to introduce us, I assumed it must be pretty important. And so I thought I might come and introduce myself."
He leaned forward at this point, narrowing his eyes at the leader of the Dannar Corporation and lowered his voice to all but a low growl. "I'm the Doctor."
The man, however, looked unperturbed. "I know precisely who you are," he responded. "And I thank you for saving me the trouble of having to seek you out again."
"What exactly do you want with me?" The Doctor asked, folding his arms over his chest.
Before the man had time to reply, the doors to the Tardis once again opened and three more figures joined them in the spacious office. One of the figures, a tall, handsome man rounded the corner to face the desk and froze, startled. He recovered after a moment and reached under his jacket for his gun. "Bilis Manger," he muttered, darkly.
Bilis inclined his head and smiled slightly. "Captain Harkness," he acknowledged gallantly. "I can't say that I'm surprised to see you here, given your… infatuation with our friend the Doctor."
The Doctor allowed that comment to pass him by, but glanced over his shoulder at Jack. "You know this man?" he asked.
"Unfortunately," Jack replied, lifting the barrel of his weapon at the older man. The Doctor frowned at the action, but let that slide as well.
"Well since you're well acquainted," Jen spoke up as she and Rose walked up behind him, "how about you give the rest of us the pleasure of an introduction."
"I'm not sure how much of a pleasure it would be," Jack said to her, his eyes never leaving Bilis' face. "This man tried to wipe out all of humanity by using the time rift in Cardiff to unleash a horrific monster on the Earth."
"And that's precisely why I'm here now, Captain Harkness," Bilis interjected, calmly. "You ruined my plans earlier, and so I had to come up with an alternate solution."
"So what was your plan?" Rose asked, coming up to stand beside of Jack. Jen flanked his other side, and the three of them stood behind The Doctor as if sending Bilis a silent message that if he wanted the Doctor he would have to tangle with the three of them, first.
"I'm certain that the four of you have deduced most of it by now," he replied. "This corporation does specialize in genetic manipulation and cloning. I'm sure it wasn't a far stretch to conclude that I was planning to clone the good Doctor and harness the energy of his regeneration."
"How did you learn about me?" The Doctor asked.
"That was simple enough," Bilis smiled. "Torchwood computers offer a wealth of information."
The Doctor remained silent, but turned to glare over his shoulder at Jack, who could only shrug sheepishly.
"When you had the energy, what then?" Jen asked.
"Very simple," Bilis replied. "I could use that energy to open the rift and release Abaddon."
"You already released him, and I killed him," Jack reminded him. "This is pointless."
"Ah, but you see Captain Harkness," he said, smiling gallantly, "I do have the ability to travel to and fro in time, just as your Doctor does. Once I have the energy required, I can simply travel backwards in time to a point before you killed Abaddon, and open the rift then. He wouldn't be dead at that point, would he?"
A shocked silence filled the room. "You can't change the past," The Doctor finally spoke up, angrily. "Do you have any idea what sort of consequences that would create?"
"Consequences would be damned, along with the rest of the world, Doctor," Bilis retorted, coldly.
"We won't let you do this," Rose said in a threatening tone. "There are four of us but only one of you. We'll stop you."
Bilis only laughed. "Do you really think that you can stop me, dear girl?"
He pressed a button on the underside of his desk, and two panels slid open on opposite ends of the room. Armed sentry guards burst into the room from behind the panels, six on each end of the room. Each one held a large rifle in their hands, and raised it up to point the barrels at the intruders.
Jack swore under his breath. "Jen, Rose," he said under his breath. "Get behind me."
Jen shot him an exasperated look. "I'm not a helpless woman," she growled.
"I know you're not helpless, but you are unarmed," Jack retorted, angrily. "Now get behind me."
"Rose is right," The Doctor said cautiously, his hands in the air. "We can't let you do this."
"I don't think you have a choice, Doctor," Bilis replied, smirking.
By this time, Jack had reached the end of his patience. With an outraged cry, he tightened his grip on the pistol and pulled the trigger.
The guards were faster. Before Jack could fire on Bilis, his guards fired on Jack. A guttural sound escaped Jack's lips and he collapsed to the floor as the sound of gunfire died down.
"Idiot!" The Doctor cried. He had squatted to avoid gunfire himself, and whirled around to check on Jack's condition.
Jen was faster. "Jack!" she cried, falling to her knees by his side and cradling his head in her lap. Her fingers briefly rested on the side of his neck. Outraged, she glared up at Bilis. "He's dead," she said, her voice low and dangerous.
"I owed him that, for Lord Abaddon," Bilis sneered, disdainfully.
"That's what the idiot gets for firing," The Doctor said with a shake of the head.
Rose rounded on him. "You're awfully cavalier about the fact that Jack is dead!" she shouted at him, indignantly.
"Well if the idiot wanted to live then he shouldn't have shot the gun!" The Doctor retorted. "I've told him hundreds of times, violence only brings more violence."
As Rose and The Doctor argued, Jen detected a slight movement in her lap. She glanced down to see one blue eye staring back up at her. Jack winked the eye as he slid his hands covertly under his jacket. And then, in one swift motion, he withdrew the hands and tossed two sonic grenades at the groups of guards at either ends of the room. The guards were not killed, only knocked unconscious by the blast.
"How did you—?" Jen questioned as Jack openly grinned up at her.
"Well hello there," Jack replied. "It's nice to know that you care so much, my lovely Jenaria."
"Stop it," The Doctor spoke up, warningly.
"But I was just—!" Jack retorted, pushing himself up.
"You were flirting, and if you're going to put the moves on my daughter I'd appreciate it if you would at least have the courtesy to make sure I'm out of the room first. What am I saying?" he asked himself, and then pointed at Jack. "Don't do it at all!"
All four of them then turned to Bilis. "Your bodyguards are gone," Jack said, sauntering closer. "What are you going to do now?"
Bilis lifted a defiant chin. "I'll concede defeat – for now," he replied, warningly. "But I assure you, this won't be the last you see of me." And with that, Bilis vanished into time and space.