Chapter 11
"Glad," the Doctor called out as he walked into the living room, seeing her open the TARDIS door.
She turned. "What's wrong? You're upset and Sam's talking with that invisible guy."
"A dear friend of mine is going to die," he told her quietly. "And I can't stop it. No one can stop it."
"Why can't you stop it?" she asked. "I mean if you know it's going to happen..."
He exhaled slowly, walking up to her and touching her shoulder. "Because it's part of my past. You can't change your own history. The ramifications of doing so are too great."
She reached out and grabbed his hand. "I'm sorry."
He gave her a sad smile. "Thanks," he breathed. Lowering his eyes, he swallowed. "Still... at least I'll be here to console Doris when the time comes."
Sam, who had just entered the living room, noted that the usual effervescence that the Doctor exuded was definitely lacking. He overheard the last thing that the Gallifreyan said. "You won't have to console her."
The Gallifreyan frowned strongly at Sam's words. "What do you mean? I'm not going to neglect my friend..." His face dropped as he realized what Sam was thinking. "No," he said firmly.
"Yes," Sam nodded. "Don't you see? This is what I've been sent here to do."
"You weren't sent here! You abstracted my friend's life and, as a result, came here with me in the TARDIS. You leave history alone. Changing even one tiny event can have consequences so massive that it could destroy space-time itself! I can't allow that to happen."
"You forget, Doctor, I've been doing this for quite some time. Space-time hasn't been destroyed. It might have worked that way for the Time Lords, but God, Fate, Time, or Whatever seems to want me to do just that."
Glad looked between the two men. "Maybe Sam is right."
"You've been lucky so far. Just luck. I've been traveling for far longer than you," the Time Lord told him darkly. "I know the consequences of changing history. There is no such thing as fate or time or whatever causing others to change things for them. It doesn't happen. Trust me. I have priors. If you make one more change, it could be the one that brings the Reapers."
"Reapers? What are the Reapers?"
"Really nasty chronovores which destroy time. Normally they only exist in the time vortex unless someone is stupid enough to rip open time and let them into this reality. Which is what you are going to do if you keep altering history without any consideration of fixed points in time," the Gallifrayan replied walking into the TARDIS as if to end the conversation right then and there.
Sam let out a sigh, following the Doctor inside, dogging him at every step. "Listen. I don't know what you mean by fixed points. And you may have been traveling longer but, for whatever reason, what I change doesn't appear to be anything like that. I know what I was sent to do. The bartender all but told me that I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to do."
Glad made her way into the TARDIS as well and closed the door, her eyes moving from one friend to the other as she listened to them argue opposite opinions.
"You're going to listen to a bartender instead of a nine hundred year old Time Lord whose entire race made a complete study of time?" the Doctor asked incredulously.
"Yeah. Since he seemed quite capable of making sure I've been in the right place at the right time for as long as I've been leaping, yeah. I'm going to listen to him."
The Doctor folded his arms. "A bartender? You're going to listen to a... bartender. What does he do? Makes you a few fuzzy navels and puts these ridiculous notions in your thick head?"
Glad started stomping her feet. "No. Both of you, stop it now." She looked at the Doctor. "What if he's right? What if you're not supposed to comfort that poor old lady out there? What if Sam's supposed to make sure her husband comes home alive?" She looked into Sam's eyes, her attitude softening. "You have the same look that Father John had when he preached to us at the church. I think God's working through you."
The Gallifreyan dropped his arms at her words. "Believe me, Glad. I would love it if that were true. But it's part of my personal history, which means that this event is fixed for me. I can't change it. I doubt that even the hand of God can change it. If you believe in Him."
"I do believe in Him. And you're not changing anything. Sam will. You might not be able to change your own life, but maybe someone else can. Can't you accept Sam's help?"
"No," he said quietly, not wanting to concede her point for fear of reliving the past in even more detail than he was now.
"I checked with Al," Sam informed him. "Ziggy's giving this a 98 plus probability. I'm sure I'm here to save him."
A huff came from the older man. "Now, you are listening to a computer."
"Not just any computer. Ziggy. You listen to the TARDIS."
"The TARDIS is a sentient life form, not an amalgamation of electrical circuits!"
"Ziggy uses my brain cells in a biological matrix in her core computer chips. She may not be a sentient life form but she's as close as any human computer has ever been."
"Sound more like a Cyberman to me," the Time Lord muttered derogatorily.
Sam's eyes narrowed. "There is nothing about Ziggy that is remotely similar to the Cybermen."
The Doctor sighed, seeing the expression on Sam's face. "I know. I'm sorry," he murmured apologetically. He lowered his head, not looking at either of his companions.
Sam spoke up again. "Now, I'm going to do this with or without your help. I'd prefer to have you along."
The Gallifreyan raised his eyes towards his friends. He wasn't used to feeling ganged up on. Well, there were a couple of times when Rose and Jackie had cornered him into watching something on TV he really wasn't interested in or into going to the grocery store for them. But neither instance involved altering history on a massive scale and certainly didn't affect his past. Just seeing the determination to save the Brigadier on Sam's face brought the memories of that time in his life even more to the forefront of his mind.
He clearly remembered the day Alistair had died. After all, his eighth incarnation had been the one to find the body. He'd conveyed the sad news to Doris, providing comfort to her afterwards and helping her with the funeral arrangements. When he had been here on that fateful day, Doris never said anything about a different incarnation having been there before he arrived. As such he knew he would have to leave in the next couple of days before his younger self came, just to make sure that he didn't meet himself. It would be the most logical solution to the keep history safe, as painful as the act would be for him. However with Sam's determination and the faith in Glad's eyes, he couldn't let them down at that moment. He'd go with Sam, yes... but he wouldn't help him. If anything, he'd have to hinder the leaper's efforts in order to preserve the timeline. He just hoped that his two companions weren't right and he wasn't about to break Doris' heart for naught. He exhaled loudly. "All right. At the very least, I can keep you from getting yourself killed." He pointed at Sam. "You're still in my friend's life and I still want her back safe."
"I don't want anything bad to happen to Rose either," Sam promised. He turned to Glad. "This is going to be too dangerous for you, though. I'm sure you'll be fine with Doris until we get back. If the Doctor says you can trust her, you need to trust him."
Glad looked at the Time Lord for a long moment. "Doctor?" she questioned gently.
"Doris will take good care of you and we shouldn't be gone more than a couple of days," he assured.
Seeing that the Time Lord's assurance eased Glad's uncertainty, Sam gave a gentle smile, glad that the Gallifreyan agreed to his plans. "Okay. As soon as Al's back with some specifics, we'll leave."
"We don't need specifics from him. I already have them," the Doctor told him bluntly. "Just need to pull together some supplies."
DWQLTWDWQLTW
Miami, Florida
Late March 2010
When Jack and Rose landed in Miami, he was glad he'd decided to shift their vacation to the sunny Floridian city, certain that no one would go looking for Sam Beckett there. He'd set them up in a high-rise hotel with a great view of the ocean. Both had had an incredible week out and about in the Magic City. The nickname certain described it well. They had decided that tonight they going out for Salsa dancing, this time making sure that the aura was totally incognito. It had been wild and fun as they burned up the dance floor. Afterwards, they started walking back to the hotel which was only a few blocks away from the club.
As they walked, Rose took Jack's hand. "You're a good friend, Jack Harkness."
"Feeling's mutual. That was quite a workout you gave me on the dance floor."
"Learned how to salsa from a friend of mine back home. He spent an entire summer in Puerto Rico and picked up a few steps while he was there," she answered. She chuckled slightly. "He'd never believe that I actually danced the salsa in Miami. He'd think I was daft."
Jack smiled. "Yeah and certainly not the way you looked dancing it."
As both walked and talked, neither heard the approach of the two men that appeared seemingly from out of nowhere. One of them sneered, "Look Bob, more faggots. I swear, they're turning this city into their own private domain. Before you know it, they'll be more of them here than in San Francisco."
Bob twirled the baseball bat he carried in his hand. "Can't have that. Can we, Max? I say we teach them a lesson."
Jack started to reach for his gun, forgetting that he had left it back at the hotel. Instead, he decided to try diplomacy. "I don't think we need any lessons taught tonight. We're not even from here and we'll be leaving soon. Tomorrow, in fact."
"Tomorrow ain't good enough, faggot," Max told him bluntly, flicking open a switchblade that had obviously been well sharpened.
"Listen," Rose put in. "It's just one day. We just want to go back to our hotel room to pack and then we'll be gone."
"Not going to happen," Bob answered the person he saw as a man. He moved menacingly closer, pulling the bat back to strike his victim.
Jack turned away from Max and grabbed at the bat to prevent its forward motion. "Run, Rose!" he ordered, using his best command voice.
"Ain't that sweet? They even have pet names for each other!" Max commented, moving quickly towards Jack.
Rose didn't hesitated and did exactly the opposite of what Jack ordered, hurrying to help her friend fend off the attackers. A moment later, a sharp pain engulfed her shoulder as the bat struck her, sending her sprawling against a nearby wall. Her head bounced off the wall, causing a wave of nausea to fill her as she tried to focus her eyesight. When they did focus, she went into shock with what she witnessed.
Jack continued to struggle with Bob to keep the bat from finding Rose again. As he did, Max moved in and grabbed him by the shoulder, taking his knife and drawing it across the Torchwood leader's exposed neck. Jack tried to say something but without air to run across his vocal cord, now exposed and bloody, there was no sound. Instead, he dropped to his knees and then to the ground.
Bob's face split into a smile. "You got him, Max. Now let's get out of here before the cops arrive."
The two men melted into the night. Blood spurted from the wound at Jack's neck as death took him. Then it stopped, no blood pressure to force it further. His eyes stayed open, the pupils fixed.
Rose just shook physically as the two murderers ran quickly away, her eyes staring at Jack's prone form. Swallowing, she crawled to his side. She didn't have to even touch him to know the truth. Her dearest friend had died saving her life.
"Jack..." she whispered with a sob. Her hand shook as she reached for his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Dialing '999' gained her nothing until she somehow remembered that, in the United States, the emergency number was '911.' She was about to press send when the small device started to ring, causing her to drop the phone. Shaking worse than a leaf on a tree in a high wind, she again reached for the phone. Grabbing it quickly, she pressed the call button and put the phone to her ear. "Al? Please... please help," she cried out into the phone, hoping that the person on the other line was indeed the Admiral.
Hearing a male's voice not Jack's on the other end of the phone, Ianto Jones requested, "May I speak with Jack, please?"
The request only pushed the girl over the edge as she started to sob openly. "Please help," she begged the voice on the other line. "We were attacked and... they had a knife and... Oh, gawd! He's dead! Jack's dead!"
Ianto paused at hearing his dear friend had been killed again. While it wasn't the first time his boss and part-time lover had been killed, he still worried whether or not Jack would recover as he did many times before. Knowing that the man on the other end of the line was in near hysterics, he spoke calmly, hoping that his tone would somehow provide ballast. "All right. Just stay calm. Tell me exactly what happened."
Rose didn't know who it was she was speaking with but considering that he knew Jack - at least, she assumed he knew Jack - she obeyed the man's request. "They came out of nowhere. He... he was trying to protect me and... they cut his throat. There's blood everywhere!" She started to cry harder. "He was just trying to protect me and now he's gone."
The Welshman considered what he was told. Based on the information provided, coupled with Jack's previous recovery time, he guessed that his lover would return from the dead within the next few minutes... or not. He still wasn't completely sure what incident would be Jack's last. Still, he knew he needed far more information - such as where Jack and his current companion were and who that current companion was - just in case. It wasn't a task he enjoyed. "Are you the bloke that was dancing with Jack?" He continued. "The one in the photograph?"
Rose gaped in shock at his words. "How can you be so callous? I tell you my friend is dead and you... How cruel can you be? Who the hell are you anyway?"
"Ianto. I work with Jack. You must be Sam Beckett. Nice picture by the way. I was a little shocked by it, though. Jack hasn't been out dancing with another man for awhile."
In the background, Rose could hear the sound of keys being hit on a keyboard. "You're sick," she exclaimed, her throat tight at the reply he gave her. "Jack just died! Right in front of me! What did you say your name was? Ianto? Your boyfriend, who thinks the world of you, just died and you're going on about a photograph?"
"Really? He called me his boyfriend? Nice of him." There was a pause. "I know this sounds a bit off but... could you check his pulse?"
She gasped at his words before anger filled her eyes. "Check this, you bastard!" she told him before promptly hanging up. She turned away from Jack's body, unable to bear the sight of him as she cried heavily into her arms. How she desperately wanted the Doctor there right at that moment. If he'd been there in the first place, one of her best friends wouldn't have died right in front of her. The phone rang once more. Looking at the device, she growled in fury before tossing it behind her, not caring if Ianto Jones' call was ever answered. The ringing went on a few more seconds and then stopped when a male voice answered it.
"Harkness."
Rose screamed at the sound of the voice behind her as she scrambled away, turning to see the impossible: Jack Harkness standing where he had once been lying, his shirt covered with his own blood. "But..." she started.
Jack put his hand up. "Yes, Ianto. I know. I'll have to call you back, though. You know personally how the first time is always a shock for the other person. Okay. Yeah. Ten minutes, tops. Bye." He clicked the phone off before walking over to Rose, doing his best to help her through this shock. "Don't worry. I'm not a ghost."
Crawling up the wall she was pressed against, she shuddered physically. "Okay... not hallucinating, then. At least, don't think I am anyway," she said to herself. "What are you?" she demanded of the person in front of her. "Because Jack Harkness was human and humans just don't stand up after they're dead... unless..." She started to move along the wall, trying to get further away from him. "Unless you're Gelth. You're Gelth, aren't you," she stated bluntly.
"Please. Does this face look Gelth? I do still have a pulse, you know." He noticed she still looked terrified. "No. I'm not Gelth. Not even close. Definitely not made strictly out of gas." He sighed. "Okay, here's the deal. It started on Game Station. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here at all. I'd be dead."
"But... you were dead. Just now," she said. "But... that's impossible." She frowned at his words. "Game Station... I don't understand. How do you know about Game Station? Who are you?"
"I'm the same Jack Harness that was with you and the Doctor in the battle against the Daleks. We did our best against overwhelming odds and I definitely took on the role of the dying hero. Looked good doing it too. However, in the end, we lost. I remember dying and thinking, 'Well, if one has to go, at least go out in style.'" He hedged a bit. "Somehow, I got brought back to life and since then, I can't die." He stopped and reconsidered. "Well, that's not quite true. I die but I don't stay dead. Hurts like a son-of-a bitch too."
"But how..." she started, stopping before the sentence could be finished. "Just you? No one else on Game Station came back?"
Jack shook his head. "Just me and when I did 'revive' it was just in time to see the TARDIS leaving me."
Realizing what Jack must have gone through, Rose's heart broke. Rushing into his arms, she sobbed into his chest, not concerned about the drying blood, and shaking violently. "I'm sorry. All alone..."
Jack hugged her. "Yeah. I can't say I was really thrilled. Ending up getting to Earth. Missed the mark by about a century. Course, that's lead to some interesting situations."
"A hundred forty years," she whispered. "You said a hundred forty years. You lived them. You weren't traveling through time. You actually lived them. Here. On Earth. Alone."
"Yeah," he said quietly. "And it looks like I'll have a lot more." He pulled back from her and held her shoulders looking her in the eyes. "But for now, I'm fine. Alive and well. Shirt's a loss though. Too bad. I really liked it."
Pulling away from him, she wiped at the tears on her cheeks, smearing the blood she'd picked up from his stained wear. "It's a nice shirt. Well... it was a nice shirt." She didn't look at him, still uncomfortable with what he had told her. "I think I need a drink."
"Okay." He pulled up her chin. "I'm still the same Jack, Rose. Only difference is it appears I can't die."
She nodded. "It's not that. It's... I saw you die, Jack. You bled to death right in front of me. I'm just a little... freaked out about it right now."
"I know," he said. "Happens to everyone. Anyway, let's get back to the hotel and get that drink." As he spoke, the phone rang again. Jack looked at it and answered. "Okay, Ianto. I know I said ten minutes but this was important. You didn't exactly help the situation, you know."
"No, he didn't!" Rose exclaimed, anger returning to her voice when she realized whom Jack was talking to. "Prick!" she shouted into the phone.
In the city of Cardiff, Ianto Jones pulled away from the phone for a moment, his ear ringing from the hard male shout. "You can tell Dr. Beckett sorry from me."
Jack turned towards Rose. "Ianto says sorry." The only response he got from the teenager was a deep-seated glare. "Yeah... well... Dr. Beckett is... understandably reserved about giving his forgiveness," he told his Torchwood friend. "What did you need, Ianto?"
"You wanted to know when Harold Saxon announced the success of the satellite grid and the date that Pi would be turned on worldwide."
"Yeah. Has that happened?"
"According to the news conference Saxon just had in Melbourne, the Pi Network is going to be activated two days from now at twelve o'clock Greenwich Mean Time."
"April Fool's Day?"
"Sounds a bit like a marketing ploy, if you ask me. There's going to be a lot of people who are going to think it's nothing but a joke anyways," Ianto commented. "Who'd have thought? Instant worldwide communication in the early 21st century."
"Yeah. Who'd think," Jack said. With a sigh, he signed off. "I'll get back with you tomorrow. As of now, you're shut down. I don't want anyone monitoring outside the Hub until I give the go ahead. Got it?" There was a long pause and Jack could almost see in his mind's eye Ianto looking at his fellow Torchwood agents, confusion on his face.
"Jack," came another Welsh accent, this one feminine. "Did we just hear you right? You want us to go into communication lock-down?"
"Yes, Gwen. Your ears are fine. I know you think I'm nutters here, but trust me. I have my reasons. And while you're at it, tell Rhys to do the same. No phones, radio, computer, television... nothing. That includes calling me."
"Oh, he won't be happy about that. There's a match on tomorrow night," Gwen grumbled.
"Tell him to Tivo it. Might come in handy later."
"Is this because you're going to miss the match as well? Don't want anyone giving away who won?" she taunted.
"Well... there is that..." Jack trailed off. "But I'm serious. No outside communications until I say so."
"Will do," Gwen agreed. "And you'd better explain this when you get back."
"I promise," he told her. "See you later." He snapped the cell phone shut. "Now, Rose Tyler... how about that drink. And room service. Sound like a plan?"
"Sure," Rose answered, frowning at the conversation she'd overheard. Why Jack would tell someone not to use any form of communication was beyond her but it wasn't the foremost thing on her mind. She still couldn't get her head around the concept that Jack just couldn't die. She felt completely numb, like when the Doctor had regenerated in front of her. So much had happened in so little time, it was still hard for her to completely take it all in.
Jack shook his head as he noticed the look on her face, recalling the reason for it. "Al's going to be fit to be tied. I told him I'd make sure nothing happened."
Hearing him berate himself, she gave him a hug with her uninjured arm. "Don't blame yourself. If it weren't for you, they probably would have done a lot worse."
Neither said anything further as they continued on their journey to their hotel.
DWQLTWDWQLTW
Project Quantum Leap
Stallion's Gate, New Mexico
Walking down the ramp into the Control Room, Al briefly wondered how Sam was going to convince the Doctor that he actually had a mission to do. After all, based on the little time that he had spent with the alien, Al knew the Time Lord was probably the most stubborn man... alien... whatever... he had ever run across. Well, that was subjective considering he was in the running with Sam Beckett himself. That being the case, though, it didn't change the need to get Rose Tyler back to Project Quantum Leap. Once Sam finished his mission to save Sir Alistair, there was no doubt that he would leap out and the Doctor and his troublesome time and space machine would be out of the picture.
"Ziggy, get Captain Harkness on the horn. I'll take it in my office," he instructed, tossing the handlink to Gooshie as he headed for the exit. A minute later, he slipped into his desk chair and the phone rang, telling him that he had been connected.
Jack and Rose had returned to the hotel. Coming in through a side door, they quickly made their way to the elevator. Once in their room, Jack said he was going to get a shower and Rose should call room service. Before he could move to the bath, the phone rang. Jack answered it. "Harkness."
Al grinned triumphantly as he spoke. "Jack... time to bring Miss Tyler back. Long passed time, if you ask me."
"What? Why?"
"Sam's back on Earth finally. Took enough time. We even found out what he's there to do."
"Where are they?" he asked.
"Peru. About eight months ago. Have to save someone named Lethbridge-Stewart."
"So they're not..." Jack started but quickly stopped himself, switching gears. "Must have popped by to visit his friend, the Brigadier."
"You've heard of this guy?"
"Of course. Everyone knows about the Brigadier. Well, everyone on the other side of the pond and quite a few on this side as well."
"UNIT guys, of course," Al commented. "I'll have Ziggy arrange your flights back for tomorrow morning."
"No need to. I've already made flight arrangements."
"What? You were coming back anyway?"
"We..." He paused, looking over at Rose, who sat on her bed, obviously still shaken by what had happened in the street. "We decided that it was time to go back. There is such thing as too much fun, after all."
"What? Too much fun for you, Jack? I think I'll have to circle today on a calendar with a big red pen. Never thought I'd hear you say that."
"I would prefer that you didn't," Jack put in abruptly, unable to hide his feelings from his voice this time.
"Right," Al said somewhat confused by the somewhat somber tone of the man. "Oh. Did you hear? They're going to be turning on the Pi network. We may actually have cell phone reception here after that. Should make you pretty happy, huh, Jack?"
"Ecstatic," came the deadpan response. "Listen, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. Do me a favor. Make sure that no one has anything to do with outside communication lines until I'm back. No telephones, television, radio, internet, anything like that. And that includes Ziggy doing any research outside of her current databanks. The only communication allowed is to contact me on this phone and this phone alone. Got it? Good. Thanks." He hit the end button.
Al frowned slightly as Jack hung up the phone without giving any kind of explanation for his orders. It didn't make any sense. With the Pi Network going to be active in only a couple of days, why would Jack want to limit their external connections? If anything, one would think that he'd want the project to explore the new technology as much as possible. After all, it did come from the brilliant mind of Harold Saxon himself. Still, Jack was the boss. Maybe he just wasn't an early adopter of technology... although the man had always struck Al as more than willing to try anything new and that was often an understatement. He figured they could discuss it after the two got back to the project the following day. Until then, he needed to help Sam out anyway he could which was going to be difficult under current orders. He sighed. "Ziggy," he ordered as he hung up the phone, "go into communications black-out. Jack's orders."
"Admiral, if I go into communications black-out, I will be unable to continue my external research on this leap," the parallel-hybrid computer pointed out. "I will be limited in my abilities to provide Dr. Beckett with accurate information."
"Yeah. Sam's going to be pissed, that's for sure. But he's had to wait a bit of time before. Jack'll be back tomorrow. We'll settle this then."
"Very well, Admiral. Initiating communications black-out."
Al shook his head as he leaned back in his chair. He just hoped this blackout wasn't going to tie the kid's hands too badly. If it meant the difference between a successful leap and one that failed, he didn't want to deal with the leaper's reaction to the consequences.
DWQLTWDWQLTW
Miami, Florida
The moment Jack ended the phone call with Al, he turned his focus completely on Rose, who was still sitting with a slightly lost expression. "You okay?"
"Yeah," came the hesitant reply. She turned to Jack and gave him a small smile. "I'm always okay."
"You're a lousy liar, Rose," he told her. Picking up the phone in the room, he dialed room service himself, ordering a large dinner and a bottle of wine. He turned to her. "You do like Merlot, right?"
"Yeah, sure," she replied half-heartedly. After a long pause, she suddenly gained a voice. "It's just... I've never been attacked like that before. I've been all over the universe, fought all sort of aliens, been kidnapped, imprisoned, had to defend myself... but this..."
"It happens. People get it in their heads they can't live with letting others be and..." He nodded to the trashcan where his former favorite shirt was now residing. "Fortunately, most people don't go that route."
"Well, hearing about it and knowing about it aren't the same as being on the receiving end of it," she told him. She gestured towards the bathroom. "You'd better wash up. You still have blood on you and I don't think we want police to come visiting us."
"No. That wouldn't be a good idea. They might try to keep us from leaving town and we do need to get back to New Mexico."
"Can't say I'm too upset about that prospect." Seeing the questioning look on Jack's face, she clarified. "Sam's leaping. I love being with you, Jack. But... you're not the Doctor... and this isn't the TARDIS. I miss it. The sooner I get out of this aura, the better, in my opinion."
"Yeah. Just don't get your hopes up too soon, Rose Tyler," Jack told her cryptically. He didn't wait for her to reply to his comment, going into the bathroom for his shower.
