Chapter Seven
"Why don't we move into the boardroom? We'll all be more comfortable there," Jack said.
He silently led them inside and everyone sat down. Jack found himself at one end with Trace at the other. To Jack's left was Owen and Tosh; to his right, Gwen and Ianto.
Once everyone was comfortably seated, Trace started recounting the night of the weevil attack, her eyes focused on the table in front of her.
"I had snuck out, as I'm sure you all know. I had been walking around town for a few hours when I heard some noise coming from this alley. I was curious, so I went down to see if I could help or something.
"This thing, a weevil, jumped out and attacked me. It took me a minute to realize what was happening, and once I did, I screamed and fought back. It grabbed my arm and threw me against the wall.
"As I was loosing consciousness, I saw two pairs of shoes approach the creature. When I regained consciousness, I saw those two fighting that thing and I didn't want to draw its attention again.
"So, as quietly as I could, I crawled to the end of the alley, went around the corner, then ran home. When I woke up the next morning, I thought it was all a dream until I noticed that my clothes were torn and bloodstained, but I didn't have a scratch on me.
"And that's it." She glanced around at the team before settling her gaze on Jack.
"Now, I believe you said that my father is alive, and you know who he is?"
The Captain nodded slowly before speaking. "Yes. He was in London for business. It was top-secret. No one was supposed to know that he was there. But one night, he met your mother."
Everyone watched as a small smile appeared on their leader's face.
"He hooked up with her and found that he actually liked her. So he saw her again, and again, and again. But no one was supposed to know that he was in London.
"He had just finished what he was there to do and was driving out to meet your mother to celebrate. He was also trying to figure out how to say good-bye."
His smile disappeared as he started telling the next part.
"He was approaching a curve in the road and the brakes failed when he tried to slow down. He crashed. The car caught on fire; so did he. It took a minute, but he managed to escape the car.
"He had just somehow managed to get the fire that spread across his body out when a thought struck him. This…accident was the perfect way out. There was no way someone could have survived it, and he wouldn't have to deal with good-byes."
Jack could no longer deal with looking at Trace, who was staring intently at him, so he settled on looking down at the table.
"So he left. He went back to Cardiff and moved on with his life."
He chanced a glance at the girl's face. It frustrated him that he could not tell what she was thinking.
After a minute, Trace decided to break the silence that was surrounding them. "And his name?"
The Captain looked her straight in the eyes. "Captain Jack Harkness, at your service."
The room was dead silent. Jack and Trace stared at each other, unreadable looks on both of their faces.
Tosh stared at Jack, surprise written across her face. Owen looked at the teen, taking in all the similarities. Gwen looked between the two, her mouth gaping as she tried to form a coherent thought.
Ianto gazed calmly down at the table. He had suspected as much.
After a few minutes, Trace could feel her mask slipping again and tore her eyes from that man. She settled for staring at the floor off to her right.
Without looking away from his daughter, Jack said, "Owen, Gwen, Toshiko, Ianto, go."
Gwen started to protest, "But Jack!"
"Now!" he replied, still not looking away.
The four silently got up and left. With the late hour, they all decided to just head home.
The room was once again filled with a heavy, tense silence. Jack was still gazing at Trace, who was in turn looking at the floor.
Just when the quiet was getting to the Captain, the teen spoke up.
"Mum always said I was my father's daughter." She slowly looked up at him, her face still showing no emotions.
She was a bit surprised inside that his did not either. She just looked at him for a moment before continuing.
"She said that I had his eyes, his hair, his swagger, his attitude, some of his mannerisms; but how could I have his accent?"
Jack watched as she fell silent again. "I'm not from this time."