Chapter twenty-eight: She

"What?" Jackie questioned. "Could you say that again Jack?" But all she got was static. She groaned and moved towards the bridal suite as quickly as she could. For some reason, Jackie seemed somewhat wearied, she couldn't move as fast as she could earlier. When she tried to 'fly' her body was so shaky that she decided against it. The climb up the stairs seemed to take forever and her legs seemed weighted down.

She was able make it to the bridal suite just as Jack kicked the door in with guns drawn. "Get back, you ugly bitch!" he shouted loudly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rhys demanded in outrage. His defense of his mother caused her to smile. "That's my mother!"

"No." Jack stated. "It's the alien."

"I'm not an alien!" Brenda shrieked.

"Oh, you're good," Jack sneered. "I'll give you that."

"But I'm not!" Brenda declared.

"Yeah," Jack said sarcastically. "and the Lone Ranger didn't have a thing with Tonto."

"The lone ranger and Tonto didn't"! Jackie protested loudly. "Both the characters and actors were straight men!"

"Jack," Gwen asked. "does the shape shifter copy smells too?"

"No," Owen confirmed. "it's just physical."

"Well, I'd recognize that bloody awful perfume anywhere." Gwen made a face as she assured everybody calmly. "It's Brenda, Jack. It's Brenda."

Jack dropped his gun and opened his mouth to apologize. Except Rhys punched Jack hard enough to send him sideways into Owen! "That's for calling my mother an ugly bitch!" he shouted.

Jack let out an angry growl and she put a bubble between Jack and Rhys, stopping them. he glowered at her. "You let him hit me?"

"You insulted his mother," she reasoned with him. "it was his right to hit you Jack."

"If that's Rhys's mum," Tosh asked. "then who's that outside?"

Everyone turned and ran out of the room. everyone followed immediately Jackie let out a cry as a sharp pain stabbed her in the head. Rhys paused near her. "Are you alright?"

"Just go!" She ordered. "Go help the others."

Rhys frowned. "Are you-

"Rhys," Jackie shouted. "go!" She inhaled sharply, at the new pain that attacked her head. This time she didn't protest as Rhys guided her to the bed. "Thank you, but you must go."

He nodded. "I'll let Jack know."

She closed her eyes and inhaled. What was wrong with her? Her bubble had broken when the nostrovite had pulled free and that never happened. She'd been able to hold a whale and cause small bombs to detonate inside the bubbles. But now, she couldn't hold a nostrovite and her head ached dreadfully.

Deciding that maybe her blood sugar was low, she waddled downstairs and fiddled with her earpiece en route to the dining hall. "Testing. Can anyone read me?"

Jackie? It was Ianto. are you alright?

"My blood sugar is low and I've got a headache."

You're standing down. Jack ordered. No arguments.

"I take it, this means, it got away again."

Which'll be the last time. Jack declared.

"Ohh, love it when you talk dirty." She teased playfully. "See you all in a bit."

And you be careful, jack said. I want to have all of you in one piece tonight.

You do know, Ianto said slowly. that this is a shared line and all of us have to listen to you two and your sexual innuendos.

"Sorry Ianto, inappropriate while we're on a case. I'll meet you all up in Gwen's bridal suite."

With that, Jackie waddled into the dining room and fortunately, there were still appetizers out. after grabbing a plateful of some turkey meatballs and cheese slices, she slowly made her way back up the stairs. The hall was deserted, but hearing Rhys and Owen's voices nearby, she figured that they were close by.

"I didn't expect to meet someone like you." Jackie paused her hand on the knob to the bridal suite; something in her prompted her to listen to Gwen. "If I hadn't, I'd be married by now."

"You're not the only one who met somebody that knocked their world out of kilter." Jack's voice caused the blood to freeze in her veins. She knew that voice very well, especially when he was seducing her.

Carefully, she opened the door just a crack. What she saw made her stomach swirl. Jack and Gwen were close, close enough to kiss. "Rhys has always been there for me." Gwen gasped out quietly. "Through all this madness, even when I haven't even deserved it." Jack ran his thumb over Gwen's mouth. "He's not afraid to tell me he loves me."

They move in for a kiss, and that's when Jackie turns and stomps quickly down the hall as she can, fury radiating through her body. How could this have happened? Oh, she how could she have been so hasty in marrying Jack? she should have known better than this!

"Have you see Jack?" Owen asked as he came up the hall.

"Kissing Gwen in the bridal suite!" she snapped as she moved to go find the nearest place to get a drink.

She'd have preferred wine, but not with twins. Suddenly, she stopped and turned on her heel and stomped back towards the bridal suite. Why was she running away? She was more than this! Jack, her husband was kissing her sister and they both should be confronted! Knowing the way Gwen worked; she'd probably marry Rhys and still continue with Jack, who figured she must be an idiot!

Jackie pushed the door open just as Owen unloaded a gun clip into Jack. Jackie already had her gun out and didn't even ask as she unloaded her gun completely into Jack. Owen glanced at her, his brow raised slightly as she pulled her skirt up to her knee, grabbed another bullet clip and tucked it into her gun. "Well," he said with a wry smile. "don't you always come prepared?"

"Always." She bit out tightly. "So, that, was the nostrovite, not Jack?"

"Yeah," he bit his lip before adding. "it kissed Gwen, not Jack."

"It's not dead yet Owen, let's back out of the room." Owen did as she asked, watching 'Jack's' body on the bed. "Tell Jack to get a bigger gun up here, now. And if I talk to him, I'm probably going to shoot him."

"Right." They closed the door the bridal suite just as the nostrovite woke up. it let out a snarl and lunged for the door just as they slammed it shut. "Jack, Jackie says to bring a bigger gun. We're holding the nostrovite in the bridal suite."

Did her comms go out again?

Owen glanced at her and nodded. "Yeah."

Be there in a second. We're right by the truck.

"Good, because it's trying to get out," Owen grabbed a hold of the doorknob and pulled. There was no other exit from the suite except the main door, so the nostrovite was furious. "and get to us."

On our way!

Jackie held onto Owen's waist and pulled as the creature shrieked and banged at the door. Owen glanced at her. "You do know that Jack isn't-

"I don't want to hear it Owen!" She roared. "Understood?!"

He nodded and tilted his head to the side. "Right."

She growled out incomprehensible words in fury as they waited for Jack and the others to show up. "We're here!" Jack said cheerfully as he ran up the stairs. She rolled her eyes. "Ianto, take Jackie's place on the door. Jackie stepped away and pulled out her gun again, checking it to make sure the clip was secure. "You alright honey?" his hand on her shoulder caused her to shriek and she spun around, batting his hand off her shoulder. Jack frowned at her. "Honey, put that gun down."

"Don't you honey me!" She shouted, causing Jack to jump.

Owen shrugged. "Give her a few minutes, she'll be fine. Probably should keep your mouth shut for a bit Jack. she might shoot you this time."

She glowered. "Get that gun ready and just shoot it!" she demanded. "Go!"

Jack chuckled and shot her a cocky grin. "Love it when you're like this. So sexy. Alright, Owen and Ianto, get ready to open the door." A quick nod and they released the door, causing it to fly open. The nostrovite charged and Jack without even blinking, carelessly aimed at the nostrovite and fired. The creature went splat, black gunk flying all around the room. Jackie was able to put a protective bubble around her, so she was the only clean one. jack hoisted the gun back up on his shoulder and turned to the group. "How's that for a shape shift? Now this, is what I call trashing the bridal suite!"

Ianto cleared his throat. "I'll go tell Gwen and Rhys that everything's all clear now."

Owen nodded and started after him. "Yeah, I need to go see Tosh and make sure that the egg isn't in Gwen anymore."

Jack nodded. "Ok, we'll follow along shortly." Jack turned to her and held out his hands. "Come here you."

She hesitated only for a moment and then went straight to his arms. "I'm sorry, I'm such a," Jack cut her off with a kiss. After a few moments, she pulled way. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, if I saw you kissing somebody else, I'd have gotten mad too." She arched a brow at him and he shrugged. "Well, not as mad, I'm not pregnant." He smirked at her. "Never doing that again."

"Oh you," Jack cut her off with a kiss which she allowed for a few moments before pulling away. "Come on, there's a wedding to tend to and after today, they got a mild sample of 'for better or for worse' in the future."

"Agreed," Jack said with a grin as he picked her up. "and if Rhys and I are both man enough to marry the Cooper girls, we need to stick together."

The wedding was beautiful. Everyone was able to put off the stress of the dance and actually have a good time. Rhys and Gwen were so happy and their love for each other was beautiful and transparent. But for Jackie, there was a bit of a shadow for her in the secret reaches of her heart. There was something wrong with her and she didn't know what. She could feel herself weakening and it wasn't good.

She wanted to tell Jack, but today, the words just couldn't find the way to her lips. when she tried to tell him, Gwen insisted on calling them up to have a special wedding dance, since everyone wasn't at their wedding. She let Jack hold her close as they slow danced to 'She' from 'Notting Hill' by Elvis Costello. The lyrics hit her close to heart tonight. She, who always seems so happy in a crowd, whose eyes, can be so private and so proud. No one's aloud to see them when they cry. She may be the love that cannot hope to last. May come to me from shadows of the past that I'll remember till the day I die.

Somehow, Jackie got a sick sense during this dance and fortunately, Jack didn't sense. But the way her body had been changing on separate occasions confirmed something to her. something was wrong and whatever it was, her body was doing everything possible to keep her twin babies alive and healthy, even as her own life was being drained. She was dying, somehow, in a very odd, random and slow-paced way, but she was dying and she didn't know what to say or do. And what would she tell Jack when it became fairly obvious to anyone around her that she was hiding a secret?

Hi everyone, I'm back! Thank you so much for your well wishes. I'm feeling much better. I just now get occasional twinges in my back, but I am basically alright now. It took a few days to get this chapter out, but better late than never. I'm still taking things somewhat easy. The worst part is not being to dance for a while, but I just need to be patient.