Clarification: Things written between these ********* are flash backs. Sorry for any confusion.
What Aren't You Telling Me?
"What aren't you telling me Phoenix? I know you. I know that you are hiding something from us, from me. What is it?" he asks her, looking over to his team working in the main hub.
"Don't worry Jack. It's nothing to do with them and nothing to do with you so it doesn't matter," she tells him as she gathers the weapons together and lays them out at one end of the table.
"Then by working this out, it has something to do with you so tell me," Jack tells her turning around to face her.
"I can take care of myself Jack. I don't need you looking after me," Phoenix tells him as she walks around the table and tries to leave the board room but he puts his arm across the door and stops her.
"Then it is about you? Tell me Phoenix, let me help you," Jack tells her putting his other hand on her shoulder.
"I am a big girl Jack. I am not your responsibility Jack. I will deal with it," she tells him and slips under his arm and out.
She makes her way down the stairs and to the room that she was staying in with her bag in her hand. She lays the bag on her bed and then laid on the bed next to it. Moments later, Jack was standing at the door looking at her laying on the bed. Even though she had slept a little, she looked so tired.
"What aren't telling me Phoenix? I might be able to help you," Jack asks her as she lays on the bed.
"Are you going to follow me around until I tell you?" she asks him knowing that he could be stubborn, but not as stubborn as her granted.
"If that is what it takes to get you to tell me what you are hiding then yes," he tells her frankly.
"Jack. I'm too tired for this. Can't you just leave me in peace please?" she asks him, her tiredness now in her voice too.
"How long haven't you slept for before last night?" he asks her walking into the room and stopping just short of the bed.
"Too long Jack. The nightmares are worse now than they were before. I have done so much more, seen so much more since then, it haunts me in my dreams," she tells him turning onto her side and curling up like a baby in the womb.
"Share them with me. Show me your nightmares. Let me see what haunts you," he tells her sitting on the edge of the bed next to her.
"You know I won't do that again Jack so why ask me? Not after what it did to you last time," she tells him, closing her eyes as he slides his hand on top of hers.
"I am stronger and I can handle it this time," Jack tells her really wanting to help her by knowing her nightmares.
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Jack sits at the top of the bed and Phoenix sits in front of him. She puts her hands on the side of his face and he does the same to her as instructed.
"Open your mind to me Jack. Let me give you my nightmares," Phoenix tells him and he closes his eyes, relaxes and she feels him open his mind.
She shows him her nightmares, like seeing a film but with feelings, her feelings, pain, terror, fear. Everything she had felt at the time were locked into her nightmares. Jack saw death, people hurting, people she loved hurting and dying. Phoenix restrained herself and didn't show Jack everything, simply giving him a taste of what her nightmares were of, little clips of different sections. She pulled her hands away from Jack's face, leaving his mind and severing their connection.
Jack's hands seemed as though he couldn't move them, tears streaming down his face, his face distorted in horror at what he had witnessed. He blinked hard, several tears falling in the process. His mouth closed and his hands finally dropped.
"I know now why you have such nightmares," Jack tells Phoenix and she gets off of the bed.
"I protected you as much as I could, I only let you see snap shots," she tells him, walking away from the bed.
"I will stay with you while you sleep, protect you," he tells her walking up behind her and putting his arms around her waist.
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"I won't do it Jack so please don't ask. I need to stay awake and focus on the tasks at hand," Phoenix tells him.
"God you are so stubborn girl. You always were," Jack tells her as he stands up from the bed and walks across the room.
"You should know that by now and you know why I am so stubborn," Phoenix tells him sitting up on the bed.
"I will keep on at you Phoenix. What is it that you are hiding from me? What is it that you know that I don't? If it's not about me or the team then it must be about you," Jack asks her getting the bit between his teeth.
"Jack. Leave it. It's about me so I will deal with it. You should be happy that it isn't about you or your team. Just leave it and go back to your team and lover," Phoenix tells him getting off of the bed, walking past Jack and out of the room.
Jack couldn't leave it. If she was here then it was bad and they would need her and he needed to know what was going on. If there was something wrong with her, if there was something important that she wasn't telling him, he needed to know. He needed to know because of the team and because of her. There was unfinished business there that he needed to deal with. He follows her out of the room and into the corridor and takes hold of her arm, pulling her back and pinning her to the wall.
"I want to know Phoenix. I want to know what you are hiding from me and I will keep on until you crack. Tell me. Tell me or I can't help you," Jack demands and she moves his hands from her shoulders with some force.
"You can't help me Jack so just drop it," she barks at him, her hands glowing with bright white light.
"What can't I help you with? What is coming to happen? What are you hiding?" he pushes her.
"I might not survive this. I might not make it out," she tells him, pushes him away from her and disappears down the corridor, her arms now glowing too.
"Phoenix. PHOENIX!" he shouts after her but she continues down the corridor and out of sight.
Jack returns to his office, bypassing the team with no word, a solemn look on his face and a black cloud hovering over his head. He sat down in his chair and started to think. "What did she mean? Why won't she make it out? Why might she not survive? What does she have to do to risk her own survival? Is there anything Torchwood can do to help her?" he thinks to himself and then Ianto comes into the office.
"What did she say for you to have a face like that?" Ianto asks him going to Jack's side of the desk and sitting on the edge almost in front of him.
"She didn't say anything until I pushed her. She still hasn't told me everything but she said that in this battle, she might not make it, she might not get out alive," Jack tells Ianto and he understands now why Jack looked so deep in thought.
"How? Why? Can't we help her?" Ianto asks him and then realises that Jack doesn't have any of the answers.
"I don't know how and I don't know why and she said that we couldn't help her. I don't want to push her Yan but I don't know what to do for the best," Jack tells him, looking up at him.
"Oh Jack. She came here to help us Jack. From what I can tell, she knows what she is doing. She knows the risks and she is taking them on. I know you want to protect her but she seems capable. If she wants you to know, she will tell you," Ianto tries to reason with Jack and then he sees Jack fighting a battle in his own head.
"Come here Jack," Ianto tells him holding out his arms and Jack stands up and Ianto holds him close.
"You really are worried that she is going to die aren't you?" Ianto asks him, Jack's head on his shoulder and rubbing his back.
"She said that she is going to be offering the team protection and I think that might have something to do with it," Jack tells him, putting his arms around Ianto and almost holding onto him for dear life.
"If that is the case, then we have to help her in anyway we can," Ianto tells him and kisses him on the forehead.