Well, here we have it: chapter five. It's not as long as some of the others, but I hope you like it just the same ='D

Jack took one last deep breath as he fished the dregs of his coffee from the murky bottom of the takeaway carton, before tossing it carelessly into the nearest litter bin. He was tired, mentally exhausted with all the lies and mistrust that swam chaotically through his body to the foggy swamp that was his mind. His entire team, his entire life - lying!

He'd been stationary for an hour and a half now, brooding around Mermaid Quay, alternating between slouching along the road or sitting on the rails, staring absently at the clock tower, thinking, something he often preferred to leave to his oh-so-wonderful team.

He had that odd, familiar sinking feeling that things were getting steadily worse - and that he had no idea how to stop this dreadful decay of the situation, for the simple reason that he was still missing most of the crucial facts. Yes, he knew his team had been lying, for God only knew how long. No, he didn't know why.

His mobile phone buzzed annoyingly in his pocket and, upon peering cautiously, he saw Bethan's name flashing irritatingly, as if a constant reminder of his current situation. Aggravated and downright angry, he answered it with a non-committal grunt.

"Hi, what's up with you?" Bethan's cheery voice greeted him, bubbly and welcoming as always, without any hint that she knew of what had transpired in the Hub.

"Why don't you tell me?"

Frightened by the tone of his voice, all brightness melted from her voice as she gently said, "Jack, a-are you ok?"

"Me? Oh, I'm fine, you know me. But the question is, Beth - do I know you?"

"What're you talking about?" It was plain to hear, from the sound of her shaky breath against the phone, that he had worried her. It wasn't a pleasing sound, hearing one whom he had trusted and had liked go through such uncertain fear, but he was determined not to back down.

"Your little charade is over Bethan. The game is up; the joke's on me, whatever you guys are calling it."

"I don't know what you're talking about Jack. Why-"

"Oh, of course you don't." He grimaced: he hadn't actually meant for that to be as scathing as it was. He imagined poor Bethan cringing under his words, her little glasses askew, her face crumpled with hurt and incomprehension.

"But Jack…"

He laughed dryly: it was so like her to play dumb. "I'm guessing this master plan, whatever it was, wasn't entirely your idea. I'm guessing Robert goaded you into it, Erin promised it'd be all right, Gavin reassured you that nothing could go wrong. Am I getting warmer?"

"Um…"

"I'll take that as a yes. Just tell me Beth - why?"

"Why what? Listen Jack, you've got this all wrong."

"Wrong?" His voice rose dramatically, and a young mother by the railings glared at him before gathering her children away. "Well why don't you tell me what's right? Huh?"

"I don't-"

"Oh spare me that act. Beth, I liked you, ok, you were such a sweet member of my team, so independent and smart, so I can't begin to understand why you'd go along with whatever plan the others cooked up. So, do me the decency of explaining what I don't know about the guys locked in that container."

"Oh Jack, don't you see? It's worse than that…" Her voice was quite now, hard to hear, and desperately sweet, almost mawkish as he imagined her smiling warmly at him, blossoming beneath the rays of the compliments he'd just given her. He winced at the bitterness of betrayal, and wished, not for the first time that day, that he'd never suspected a thing. It would have made the whole thing easier, and it was breaking his heart to crush Bethan like that.

"Tell me how it's worse Beth." For her sake, he softened his rough voice, forced a sympathetic emotion into his words that he hadn't realised he possessed.

"I can't. I'm not allowed. It's Robert, don't you see? Everything's down to Robert, it was all his idea. B-but the lies go deeper. It's not just about the couple in the Bay, it's about the whole façade of the Torchwood that you know."

His mind jarred, "Wait, 'that I know'? What other kind of Torchwood is there?"

"Oh, Jack, I can't tell you! I want so much for this to be over, I never wanted it to go this far. It was a joke, that's all, a silly little game of Robert's, but it suddenly went too far for us to back out."

"Have you guys been messing with the archives?" Although, the panic in her voice was screaming at him that it was something much, much worse.

She laughed dryly, his tension soared. "The archives… They're pretty much fine, could do with a bit of an update… No Jack, it goes deeper, through and through they've deceived you - I've deceived you. And put them at risk."

"Put who at risk?" He demanded loudly, finally feeling that he was getting somewhere.

Bethan however seemed not to have heard him. "It's all down to Robert, he came up with the whole thing, said it would be nice for us to go out with a bang - Torchwood, that's the biggie! He promised that it'd be fine. He said, when it was all over, we'd go somewhere, somewhere warm and quiet and buy that house we've always wanted, just me and him. He said all I had to do was get them started, cover their tracks, plant a few false records here and there. He never mentioned abduction and… Ah, God, Jack!"

"Abduction?" He repeated dully.

"You should've seen their faces! All cold and blue and pale, so typical and painful to watch. They put up a struggle, oh they're strong - I'll give you credit, but Robert had a g-gun and they were so scared. I thought the guy was going to get the upper hand, 'til Robert punched the girl in the face. And then suddenly it all got worse, everything went downhill, and still Robert won't give up."

"Bethan, please, I still don't understand."

"Gwen Cooper - does she mean anything to you?" Her frantic voice seeped down the line, firing his synapses with suspicion and the thrill of adventure that made this job bearable.

His mind bubbled furiously, but that name did not summon any memories or emotions. "No," he replied flatly, "should she?"

"Oh, who the hell knows anymore Jack? Ianto Jones, the pretty guy, such a brave man, not so brave when Gavin held a gun to his head, was he?"

"Beth, I'm getting more and more confused. Just explain…"

"If only it was that easy… Jack, if you knew the truth… I can only give you a little nudge. The police station? You should try there."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. Ask for Andy. No doubt he's been expecting you."

Yet another name that meant nothing to Jack, but he nodded hastily. "And Beth? What're you going to do?"

"I'm going to try and fix this mess; absolve everything that went wrong. And I hope, when the game plays out, that you'll forgive me in the end, and know that everything I did was out of love for my family. Robert promised, you see, and if I hadn't have done it then we'd have nowhere to live… That's the thing about outlaws: you're willing to try anything."

"Ok Bethan," he imagined her furtive brown eyes darting around the Hub, "And I hope that, when the game plays out, what you've done is forgivable. You always were my favourite. The others were so brash and cold, but you get this whole thing. You're… you. You're perfect and intelligent and, while it lasted, you were mine. In case I never say it again, you did good."

"I knew you'd say that," was her whispered answer, "Echoes of before are starting to seep through. It's only a matter of time until it all comes flooding back. And when it does, please tell them I'm sorry. Tell Gwen and Ianto that I'm sorry."

"Gwen and Ianto," Jack repeated, "right, I'll try and remember. You take care, Beth, I mean it. Run hard and fast from those monsters you call friends."

"Thanks." And with the briefest of 'clicks' she ended the call and was lost from his life forever.

I wanted to make this chapter sorta sad, and I hope that came through in the writing. As always, I have cookies for my luverly readers and reviewers =).

I should probably warn that character deaths'll be coming up soon. So, yeah, forgive me when I write that chapter.

Peace out!