CH. 3

Abigail's eyes widened as an awkward silence lingered in the air. Jack just smiled as Abigail squirmed internally and worked a little too hard to avoid eye contact. 'My name' she thought 'yeah, I know this.'

"Um …yes…" she said stopping mid sentence.

"Your name is yes?" he continued to smirk playfully.

"No." she replied desperately trying to think of a way to escape.

The restaurant started to fill with its early morning customers, a couple of the men sitting at the counter laughed heartily in greeting. Abigail's glance shot that way briefly before darting back to Jack who had now reached out to grab her had since she had left him hanging for some time now. She was now eye locked with him, the very thing she had sought to escape. "Abigail" she finally blurted out.

"Abigail" He repeated back, "nice to meet you Abigail. "

Abigail watched as his gaze finally darted away from her's for just a moment, he was looking at the plainly dressed man who had just walked in to the diner. But as she looked to see what was pulling his attention away he quickly lassoed her back into conversation. "Right, so… I don't think I've seen you here before."

Everything he said oozed cliché, but it worked. Abigail could feel her nerves both heightening and melting away, she felt like a walking, talking fifteen year old, oxymoron. Abigail had forgotten how conversation worked momentarily so it took her a bit before slowly stammering out "Yeah, oh, yeah, this is my first week actually." She shifted her weight from one side to the other nervously.

"Really?" Captain Jack looked pleased. "So tell me, what's a knock out like you doing working in a little hole in the wall like this."

'Man, he doesn't let up' Abigail thought, 'and why on earth am I blushing?'

Before Abigail could answer a commotion erupted over by the booth where stranger who had momentarily drawn Jack's attention away was stationed. As he bolted out the door, nearly knocking over Meg, Jack stood quickly running after him. Abi was stunned, but something inside her being told her to follow him. 'Run!' It whispered, 'Just run!' She bolted out the door after him and though she wasn't quite as fast she kept pace with him relatively well until he finally came to a stop. There was an empty alleyway on either side of the street, save the few dumpsters and renegade pieces of trash that blew like tumbleweeds in a ghost town. On the street they were on, only a few deserted cars were parked, otherwise, the sound of the two catching their breath was the only thing either could hear. Jack looked down at his feet, slightly disappointed, but turned around smiling, hands on his hips, pushing back his long coat and exposing his suspenders. "Who was that?" Abigail asked.

"Not important," Jack replied, "what is important is that it seems you couldn't resist following me. Must be my animal magnetism." He winked at her coyly.

She laughed slightly and smiled, "Yeah, right that's it, it has nothing to do wi-"

Before Abigail could finish her sentence a dark figure leapt from the building above, knocking her to the ground. Jack quickly pulled out some sort of weapon, "Let her go Skoren, she's not a part of this."

"Right, you expect me to believe that!" the now very non-human looking figure hissed.

"Yeah I do, I told you I'd come alone and I did, you don't want to be stuck here on earth any more than we want you here, why would I lie about something like this?"

The creature's dark, scaly, appendage loosened slightly around Abigail's neck as he reflected on Captain Jack's point. Abigail squirmed, terrified, and hoping it was loose enough for her to free herself. If she had been able to see the figure behind her, she would have known this was quite improbable, if not impossible. The large alien stood about seven feet high and looked something like bear, but covered in skin like a crocodile, and with nostrils to match. It had four arms, in addition to the two large, clawed feet that let it stand upright. As she attempted to get away the creature's grip tightened again.

"You'll forgive me, "it continued, "but your reputation precedes you Captain. So you can see why I'd be a bit mistrusting. I think I'll hold on to the lady for now."

Abigail stared Jack down, her eye's pleading with him to get her out of this mess. This was not how she had pictured her day going when she woke up this morning.

"Don't worry Abigail, it's going to be alright."

"Yeah," Abi replied irritated, "it really seems alright!"

"Ooh, feisty," Jack smirked, "I like that."

"Really!" Abigail retorted, "You're going to flirt now!"

"Right," Jack replied, "Probably not the time or place, we'll come back to that later."

"Enough!" Skoren boomed, "You want me gone, I my ship needs fuel. You provide me with that, I'll be on my way from your disgusting, smelly, warm-blooded planet."

"You know that's never going to happen. Torchwood can provide you with new means to leave this planet but you have to leave your ship here, the kind of fuel you need is out of the question."

"Well then, it looks like you'll be stuck with me for a very long time Captain."

"Skoren! Just listen to me!"

"NO!" The creature's response shook the windows of the few cars on the street, and Abigail was shocked that no one had emerged from their homes. "I will not leave my ship!" he continued emphatically but less loud as before, "And if you will not help me you can take this fragile female and be on your way."

With that the alien threw Abigail across the street and as she landed at Jack's feet it jumped higher than anything she had ever seen. Jack bent down as he tucked his weapon away. "You alright?" he said as he wrapped his arms around Abi's shoulders. She moved her head in a circle, not quite a yes, but not a no either. She was alive, in that sense she was just fine, but compared to her normal definition of "alright", no she was, in fact, quite far from alright.

"What…wha…what…" she began to ask but before she could continue she felt warm liquid sliding down her temple. Reaching up, Abigail touched her forehead then pulled away her blood stained fingers. The metallic smell of the blood filled her nostrils as the street around her faded to black.