Chapter 10

Lois climbed the stairs to the apartment she shared with Chloe. She was exhausted. Tracking down the Sheriff had taken all afternoon and part of the evening. They had eventually found her at the local State Patrol office using their computers. The Sheriff had been very shocked when they had asked her about Jack Harkness. She was even more shocked when they told her that it was Jack himself that suggested they talk to her about him. They jokingly explained to her about the wager to have Jack pick up the tab for a night out on the town if they could figure out what he did in his most recent job. The Sheriff had looked from Clark to Lois and told them that she had received a hit on the International Anti-Terrorism Watch List when she had ran Jack's name earlier that morning on her car's computer. "I can't believe it. Jack a terrorist? Why would he tell us to contact the Sheriff?" Lois had thought. The Sherriff had handed Lois a copy of a computer printout and told Lois to read it. Lois read the printout:

INTERNATIONAL ANTI-TERRIORISM WATCH LIST

/WARNING/WARNING/WARNING/

THE INDIVIDUAL YOU QUERIED [ HARKNESS, JACK (CAPTAIN) ] IS NOT TO BE DETAINED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. HARKNESS IS TO BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

IF THIS QUERY IS BEING MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER FROM A UNITED NATIONS MEMBER COUNTRY (EXCEPT THE UNITED STATES) ANY REQUESTS MADE BY THIS INDIVIDUAL ARE TO BE ROUTED IMMEDIATELY TO LOCAL UNIT HEADQUARTERS. IF CIRCUMSTANCES ARE SUCH THAT TIME DOES NOT ALLOW THIS, YOU ARE TO FOLLOW HIS ORDERS AND ARE COVERED UNDER UNIT REGULATIONS 1-2: THE COMPANION CLAUSE.

LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN THE UNITED STATES ARE STRONGLY SUGGESTED TO FOLLOW THE ABOVE GUIDELINES EVEN THOUGH THE UNITED STATES IS NOT A MEMBER OF THE UNIT TREATY.

The Sheriff had told them she had spent all afternoon at the State's computers trying to learn more about Harkness and UNIT. She told them that UNIT stood for United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. She had called the nearest UNIT center in Canada requesting information on Regulation 1-2. The Colonel she talked to shed no light on the enigma that had shown up in her county. The Colonel had said that Regulation 1 dealt with a man named the Doctor and how he had acting command of UNIT during any crisis whenever he bothered to show up. Regulation 1-2 said that any and all help would be given to any companion of this so called Doctor. When he asked who the companion was, she told him. The man had laughed and called him a "bloody, sexy bastard who cheats at strip poker." When the Colonel quit chuckling, he warned the Sheriff to be careful. He told her that wherever Jack went, trouble followed; big trouble.

It was with these thoughts racing through her head that she made it to the door. She hesitated, her hand at the door knob. She had seen Jack's SUV in the parking lot and guessed he was probably in the apartment. Chloe's bed was directly to the right of the entrance and in plain view from the main room of the apartment. She had walked in on Chloe and Jimmy on more than one occasion when coming home from work. Lois did admit to herself that she was curious to see if Jack could possibly be as good looking without clothes as he was with them on. She smiled to herself, turned the knob, and confidently strode into the room. The words she heard Chloe say made her cover her eyes with her hands instantly.

"Oh god Jack, there is NO way I'm putting that thing in my mouth after where you just stuck it. Besides, it's too big, I'd choke," Chloe said.

"Oh god…oh god…oh god…" Lois muttered.

"Hey Lois, want to join us?" Jack asked.

Lois kept her eyes closed, but dropped her hands as she brought her shoulders up to her ears in her biggest "ewww, gross" cringe of her life. "That voice didn't come from Chloe's bed, it came from the table. Damn Chloe, I have to eat there," Lois thought. Lois slowly turned towards the kitchen. Curiosity got the better of her and Lois peeked out of one eye. Jack was sitting across from Chloe at the kitchen table, both fully dressed. Chinese take-out boxes were scatted around the table. Jack was holding a large egg-roll at the end of his chopsticks. It looked like two different types of dipping sauces were stuck to one end.

Chloe was looking at her cousin with utter confusion. "What's up Lois, I thought you loved Chinese food. Jack bought enough to feed an army. Come on, join us."

Lois wondered about the possibility of death by embarrassment. Her fears of impending mortality got worse when she saw Jack mouthing silently to himself what Chloe had said earlier. His eyes crinkled and the sides of his mouth turned up. He looked down at his egg-roll. He motioned it towards Lois, "Egg-roll, Lois? Chloe is the only one so far to resist my secret dipping sauce," Jack said while he raised his eyebrows suggestively. Lois blushed for the first time in recent memory.

"Come on Lois, like I said, enough for an army," Chloe said.

The only thing that saved Lois was Chloe's comment about an army. It brought her mind back to the information she had gathered from the Sheriff and off her current situation. Lois knew a little bit about UNIT from being dragged around Europe by the General. General Lane was always complaining about certain operations being taken over UNIT. He loathed the fact that they were able to do that, but he had the utmost respect for their special ops teams. He had had the opportunity to see one of them in action up close and he had gone on and on about it for weeks. He had told Lois that the team he had seen had been made up of the best of the best of their respective home countries Special Forces. Lois motioned for Chloe, "Can I talk to you for a moment, in private?" Chloe looked at Jack and they shared a knowing smile. Chloe leaned over the table and gave Jack a small kiss on the cheek and followed Lois out of the apartment. Lois shut the door and handed Chloe the printout. "I think you should read this."

Chloe read the printout and handed it back to Lois. "I guess they know he's back now. I wonder how long before someone from his last job comes looking for him?" Chloe said as she shrugged her shoulders. Lois only looked at her in shock. "Jack told me everything thing today, well at least everything that doesn't put others in jeopardy. Relax Lois, Jack's one of the good guys. He has been one for a very long time. By the way, you're on the right track if you want to win that night out. I will give you an extra hint. He never has and never will work for UNIT. In fact, UNIT isn't too fond of the folks he used to work with. Although from what I hear, there have been a few UNIT personnel who are fond of Jack. Now come on, let's get something to eat," Chloe said.

"Hold on," Lois said. "Is he staying the night?"

"Oh, yeah!" Chloe exclaimed breathlessly.

Lois didn't think she would ever be able to eat an egg-roll again without blushing. "I'm going to leave you two love birds alone. I'll stay a Smallville's place tonight. He could always use a good night on the couch," Lois said.