Time Doesn't Always Run Straight
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Part 2
Thank you so much for everyone who followed/favorited. I really appreciate it but I would love love it if you could also review, anything would be amazing. Some violence and maybe swearing in this one, plus what I guess could be considered Gwen-bashing. While I will reframe from it, there will be Gwen-bashing from time to time. Enjoy the story
On top of a quiet roof top garage a golden gaseous light appears. It's faint at first, but grows and grows. A man walks out from the middle. He wears a red military uniform jacket, opened to reveal at shirt, so dirty it is grey. He has his black pants tucked into his boots. He looks around at the scene before him.
A man is being attacked by at knife-point. The victim is being held on a car hood.
"Get off, I didn't do it." The victim pleads as John saunters off. As he walks, the two gun holsters on either leg and the samurai sword on his right side are obvious. Both the victim and attacker watch him as he approaches.
"Help me." The victim calls out to John.
"Come any closer and I'll open up his neck!" The attacker moves the knife closer to the man's neck to demonstrate.
John ignores him and walks right up to them.
"Fine."
"What?!" The mugger is surprised at Johns reaction.
"Which artery do you normally sever?" John asks the mugger.
"NO!" The victim calls in panic, his potential saviour seeming to make things worse for him.
"I'm not bluffing!" The mugger warns John.
"Oh, well, see now, you've.. uh.. given yourself away. Only someone who's bluffing ever says they're not."
The mugger, realising that he was losing turns to face John Hart. Before he can do anything John grabs his knife hand and his neck. He swiftly lifts the mugger clear off the ground and carries him over to the edge of the roof. He then dangles him off the ledge.
"Oh, God! Shit! Please! Please stop!" The mugger starts begging.
John Hart just smirks before letting go of the mugger who falls screaming.
The victim looks on in shock.
SPLAT!
The victim runs to the edge and looks down to the sidewalk where the mugger lays dead.
"He's dead." The victim stammers.
John looks at the man. He stares back in fear, realising he still might not be safe.
John grabs him by the shirtfront. "I was never here."
The man swallows hard and nods.
"Go." John puts him down, patting him on the chest. The man runs as fast as he can.
"Thirsty now." John mutters to himself as he starts walking.
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"Wait." Jack grabs hold of Ianto's arm as he moves to leave Jack's office immediately after delivering his coffee.
Ianto gives a sigh realising he couldn't avoid talking to Jack. "Yes sir?"
Jack closes his eyes for a second to stop Ianto seeing just how much he hurt him. "Please Ianto, can we just talk."
Ianto is well aware of what Jack wants to talk about but isn't sure if he is really up to it. "Jestine has already given you all the reports from while you were away but if you wish to know more I would suggest you call a conference." Ianto gently extracts his arm from Jack's grip.
"I don't want to talk about work. I want to talk about you, about us." Jack replies nervously, not sure if there even was still a "us" to talk about.
"What's there to talk about?" Ianto replies bitterly. "You ran off Jack. I know you said you came back for the team but that doesn't mean anything when I don't know whether you will run out again or not. I don't even know why you left."
Jack stands up and brings a hand up to Ianto's face. Ianto doesn't react, waiting to see what Jack was going to do. Jack slowly strokes Ianto's cheek, remembering the softness of his skin. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you."
Ianto pulls away from the contact at this. "But you did. You never mean to but you still do. I can't continue living my life as your second choice."
"You're not, you've never been my second choice."
Ianto lets out a snort. "You certainly dropped me quickly enough once your Doctor appeared."
"That had nothing to do with you. I had to." Jack turns away, realising that Ianto deserved answers, even if it was going to hurt him to give them.
"And who's to say you have to go again. I can't do it Jack, not again." Ianto turns to leave.
"Because I promise you." Jack grabs Ianto's arm. "Please, just listen to me. I had to see if he could fix me. If he could make me mortal again. I've waited over a hundred years for him, I couldn't just let the chance go."
Ianto looks at Jack in surprise, having not expected Jack to actually tell him anything.
"He ran off on me. I didn't have time to do anything but run for his ship. I only just managed to get a grip as he took off. He ran from me." Jack forces himself to tell Ianto. No matter how painful it was, he realises Ianto needed to know, some of it at least.
"Why?" Ianto curses himself of softening towards Jack already but he couldn't stand the pain in Jack's voice.
"I'm impossible, I'm wrong. It hurts him for me to even be near him." Jack tries his hardest to keep his voice level.
Ianto sighs, torn between wanting to help Jack and protecting himself. "For what's it worth, I don't think you're wrong," he whispers.
Jack gives Ianto a small smile. He's statement didn't take away the pain The Doctor had inflicted but it did help lessen it.
They slip into an awkward silence, each man wanting to tell the other so much but have too much pride and not enough courage to.
Ianto clears his throat. "Well, I should um, leave."
"Please don't." Jack pleads so quietly that Ianto almost misses it.
Despite himself Ianto can feel his heart breaking from the pain in Jack's voice.
He turns around to face Jack. "I'm sorry Jack but I can't do this, not yet. Maybe some point in the future but not now. It just hurts too much."
Jack nods mutely. He wanted to be nowhere but in Ianto's arms but knew he couldn't push the Welshman or he might lose him completely. "For what's it worth I missed you too."
Ianto gives him a smile that says he didn't doubt him for a second before he turns and leaves.
Jack moves back to behind his desk and slumps in his chair, emotions overwhelming him.
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Music blares at an establishment. It's filled with people casually drinking and enjoying a night out. John grins as he pushes the double doors open. It's exactly the kind of place he has been looking for.
As the doors close behind him he presses a button on his wristband, the music stopping immediately. The crowd groans as some notice him.
"All right! Now…" He calls loudly to the now silent room.
He looks around the room, starting with those closest to him and working inward, selecting those he wishes to stay and those he wants gone.
He turns his back to the people and speaks to the barkeep. "I'll take one of everything."
He turns back to the room of people who are just standing there watching this strange man.
"Any questions? He asks as two large bouncers appear.
"All right mate, let's take it outside." The bouncer approaches John.
John smirks as he pulls out both his large guns and holds them up. "Did I mention I'm armed?"
The room quickly clears with people running, screaming.
He smiles with amusement as he watches the chaos.
He laughs and turns to the bar.
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The Torchwood team are at the scene with the police and SOCO. They surround the man as Tosh takes a reading. Her hand-held scanner beeps.
"Fragments of rift energy around the neck, arm and shoulders" Tosh explains.
"So not direct contact with the rift but something that came from it." Jestine summarises.
"Something that pushed him." Jack adds.
Tosh nods as Jestine rubs her face in frustration. "Explains the residual energy cluster."
"How did you ever manage without me?" Jack grins at the team, trying to win them back over.
Owen ignores Jack. "So, there's a potential killer on the loose, bi-pedal, maybe humanoid."
"Any other alien tech involved, Tosh?" Gwen interjects.
"No readings to suggest that." Tosh answers.
Jack claps his hands together. "Okay, let's get back and see what we can piece together."
"Taking charge again are you?" Gwen response tersely. While she was glad he was back, her feelings towards Jack were confusing her greatly.
"I was hoping for a little power struggle, resolved by some naked wrestling." Jack leers, although it doesn't contain the same enthusiasm as normal.
Jestine shoots Jack a glare as the team head to the crime scene tape.
Andy holds it up for the team.
"Thanks Andy. We've got everything we can. The SOCO are free to investigate, they can eliminate us from whatever they want." Jestine thanks Andy as the team ducks under.
"This another one of your spooky-do's, is it?" Andy asks, he knew he wouldn't get much information but at least now with Jestine around he got a little bit of information. Although he wasn't sure how long that would last with Jack back in the picture.
Jestine shrugs. "Not sure, doesn't look it but will let you know if anything else shows up. Thanks Andy. You've been helpful. Let us know if we can help you." Jestine smiles as she follows the rest of the team to the SUV.
"Don't mention it, Jestine." Andy smiles back.
"Bit friendly." Jack comments.
Jestine shrugs. "I've been informed that giving them a little information makes our job easier."
Jack is just reaching for the door when his wristband beeps. Jack looks at in surprise before pressing a button and turning it off.
"Whoa, that never beeps." Jack should have known better than assume Ianto didn't see something.
Jack looks at his team nervously, all of them looking worried besides Jestine who also seems nervous.
"That's what I was thinking." Jack answers as the team gather around him.
He reluctantly presses a button and a nearly-life-sized 3-D light image of John Hart appears in front of them. It reminds the team of something out of Star Wars.
The recording starts. "I can't believe I got the answer machine! What can you be doing that's more important than me? Anyway, you've probably traced the energy shift, found the body. All me, sorry about the mess. Bill me for the clean-up. Now ..." The recording claps and rubs his hands. "Drinks! Retrolock the transmission coordinates, that's where I am. And hurry up, work to do!" He grins and swaps to a girly voice. "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!"
As the image vanishes Jestine curses while Jack turns serious.
"Stay here. Don't come after me." He looks at his team and Jestine.
"Who was that?" Gwen demands annoyed that Jack was keeping secrets again.
Jack ignores Gwen, annoyance already bubbling to the surface. "Stay here." He orders them as he jumps into the SUV. Gwen tries to protest as he drives away, leaving them.
"Hey, Jack!" Gwen calls out angrily as the SUV speeds away, Owen stomping his foot in frustration. Ianto turns and heads back towards the main road as Tosh starts fiddling with her hand-held.
"You see that? He swans back in and then he shuts us right out." Owen glares after the SUV.
" I'm not having this." Gwen declares angrily.
"You think he cares about what you are 'having'?" Jestine asks Gwen. "Whatever it is, he doesn't care what you think or he would have taken you with him."
Gwen glares at Jestine, about to have a go at her before Tosh speaks up. "I can track him!" She declares, holding up her scanner.
At that moment Ianto whistles loudly and everyone turns.
"Taxi." He indicates to the maxi cab that he managed to flag down.
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Jack steels himself before heading in the doors of bar Reunion.
John looks over at the doors as Jack bursts through the double doors with his coat flapping against his legs. John steps out and away from the bar, moving to face off against Jack. Jack's face is blank, John unable to tell how he felt about seeing him.
John Hart unsnaps both his holsters in a threatening move before starting towards Jack. Jack moves towards him, but resists temptation to get his gun out.
They finally stop mere inches from the other. The tension builds as they stare each other down.
Suddenly John leans in and starts kissing Jack. Jack hesitates for a second before he responds. As suddenly as the kiss started, it stops and they push each other away. John pulls away and punches Jack hard in the face. Jack smiles before returning the blow and they are punching and kicking each other.
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"Reports coming in of a bar disturbance." Tosh tells the team as they ride in the taxi after Jack.
She takes another look at her hand-held scanner. "Same coordinates as the SUV."
She quickly fiddles with her hand-held. "I've tricked the system into thinking it has already sent someone so we shouldn't get any police turning up."
"Okay, so who the hell was the bloke in the hologram?" Owen asks.
"Looked like Jack recognized him." Ianto answers as Gwen and Tosh shrug. Jestine suddenly seems very interested with the passing world outside.
"Why didn't he let us go with him?" Tosh is upset, she knows Jack has his secrets but it still hurt for him to leave them out.
Gwen replies. "'Cause it's typical Jack, isn't it? Disappears, he comes back, then he runs away again. Shuts us out. We don't even know his real name." She grumbles. Jestine rolls her eyes.
"Or which time he comes from." Tosh adds.
"He's supposed to be our boss, we know nothing about him. It drives me crazy!" Gwen adds.
Jestine huffs. "You need to stop acting like you are entitled to know about Jack. Clearly he doesn't want you to know."
Gwen glares at her. "You wouldn't understand, you don't know Jack like we do. And I doubt he is going to keep you around long enough for you to know."
Ianto can see Jestine bristle at that comment and can sense another fight coming on. "It is more fun when he's around though." He stops anything else from being said.
The team aside from Jestine nods as she sits there frowning.
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Jack and John crash through a glass partition. They land on the floor and roll apart, reaching for their guns, drawing on each other.
They smile and chuckle as they circle each, waiting for the next round of attacks.
John and Jack then start taunting each other before they head for the bar.
John garbs a bottle and passes it to Jack who bites the spout off and spits it aside. John leans against the bar as he guzzles over half of his own bottle.
Jack just watches him without touching his. He knows John and knows to not let the man out of his sight for a moment.
"So ... how was rehab?" he asks, trying to work out how much John had changed, if anything since they had last met.
"Rehabs." John smirks. "Plural." He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
" Drink, drugs, sex and ..." Jack asks, dreading the answer and knowing he now needs John out of Cardiff as soon as possible.
"Murder." John laughs, thinking Jack is impressed with him.
Jack chuckles as his insides turn. "A-ha ha! You went to murder rehab?"
John laughs back. "I know, ridiculous. The odd kill, who does it hurt?"
Jack clenches his teeth, wondering how he could ever have possibly liked the guy before. "You clean now?"
"Yeah. Kicked everything. Living like a priest." Jack knows John isn't serious and this angers him so much.
He chuckles anyway as he sets his bottle down on the counter. "So, how's the Time Agency?"
John looks at Jack in surprise. "You didn't hear?" He continues based on Jack's face. "It's …shut down."
"You're kidding." Jack honestly doesn't know how to feel.
"No. There's only seven of us left now."
"It's good to see you. It was never the same without you." Jack leans forward as does John as if to kiss him but Jack stops.
"You need to go. I don't want you on my territory." Jack warns John who stands up and puts his nearly empty bottle on the counter.
"Time was you couldn't get enough of me in your 'territory.'"
Then in seconds John grabs the gun off the counter. Jack ducks to avoid being shot. Instead of shooting Jack, John shoots both the front and back doors.
"All right, everybody out!" John shouts.
Jack doesn't know whether to be angry or please as his team comes in, Gwen and Ianto from the front, Tosh and Owen from the back. He notices Jestine is missing.
"Everything all right, Jack?" Gwen asks as she eyes John.
"It's okay, okay, okay!" Jack replies in relief that his team was ok.
John is amused. "You've got a team! You've got a team! How sweet! Oh, pretty little friends! No blonde, though. You need a blonde."
"God! He's worse than Jack." Owen mutters as they move forward.
"Oh, do you have a team name? I love team names, go on!"
"Torchwood." Jack declares, distracting John as he notices a shadow pass behind the back.
"Oh. Not Excalibur? Blizzard? Bikini Cops? No? Torchwood. Oh, dear."
Jack ignores Johns comment and reluctantly introduces his team. "Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, meet ..."
"Captain John Hart." He smirks, eyeing up each member in turn.
"We go back." Jack glares at him as his eyes linger longer on Ianto than the others.
John feigns hurt. "Excuse me. We more than go back. We were partners."
"In what way?" Ianto asks, trying to not sound too jealous, considering he had not long ago rejected Jack.
John grins, picking up on the jealously. "In every way. And then some."
Jack glares, an old argument starting. "It was two weeks."
"Except that two weeks was trapped in a time loop, so we were together for five years. It was like having a wife." John grins, aware of how much he was annoying Jack.
"You were the wife." Jack can't help but falling back into old patterns with John around, thus one of the reasons he wanted John gone, that and John was bad news, causing trouble where and whenever he was.
"Oh, but I was a good wife." John smiles.
"Seriously, no one cares, just piss off." Jestine tells John as she cocks the gun that is pointed at John's temple.
John looks at her in surprise.
"What are you doing alive? Everyone said you were dead."
Jestine rolls her eyes. "Don't believe everything you hear."
Jack's skin prickles at the exchange between the two.
John looks between Jack and Jestine a couple of times. "What, you guys aren't pulling a con are you?" He smiles, "That's why you don't want me here, isn't it? You don't want to share."
"No, no con, he doesn't even know who I am." Jestine coldly informs John.
"What?" John exclaims.
"Didn't you ever wonder why he left the Agency?" Jestine sighs with frustration.
Jack practically growls as realisation hits him like a brick wall.
"I assumed he found something better or was getting out while he could." John shrugs.
Jack suddenly pulls his gun to Jestine's head. The Torchwood team react with shock while Jestine ignores him. "They wiped his memories, two years." Jestine replies.
"Jack, no what are you doing." Tosh exclaims.
Jack ignores her while John watches with curiosity.
"Why did they?" Jack asks shakily, not sure if he actually wanted the answers.
Jestine shakes her head. "I'm so sorry, I honestly don't know." Jack isn't sure he believes her.
"So you know who he is but he doesn't know who you are." John laughs.
Jestine glares at him. "It doesn't matter, I'm just passing through. Like you." She looks at him pointedly.
"Sorry but how do you know each other?" Gwen is pissed at being kept in the dark.
John grins, looking her up and down. "We were all at the Time Agency together."
"Ah, yes, sorry? What's the Time Agency?" Owen inquires, not sure he likes the sudden turn of events.
"What? He's never told you about his past?" John looks around at the team.
"No, he hasn't." Gwen replies. She is so angry at the three of them. How dare Jestine lie to her? They had done a background check, all of it checked out ok, with no mention of this Time Agency thing. Clearly they couldn't trust her. Gwen was also annoyed that Jack kept hiding things from her. He should know by now that he could tell her anything but still he didn't.
John looks at both Jack and Jestine.
"What are you doing here?" Jestine glares at John, silently warning him against saying anything more on the Time Agency.
"I was wondering when we'd get to that." John realises when to keep his mouth shut. "This would be much better if I didn't have a gun to my head." He mutters as he opens his wristband and punches some buttons.
"Ain't happening." Jestine replies as Tosh lets out an exclamation.
"That's the same as yours." Tosh blurts out. She shifts uncomfortably as everyone looks at her. She didn't want everyone to notice how she was feeling. She can't help but feel betrayed at Jestine not telling the truth. She also feels like she has failed. She personally looked into Jestine's background, everything from school records to facebook account. It all seemed legit but clearly it had been a fraud.
Jack notices Tosh's discomfort so draws attention away from her. "A little smaller." He smirks at John, a long standing joke between the two of them.
John rolls his eyes. "But last much longer. Get two Time Agents in the same room together, it's always about the size of the wrist strap."
Jestine snorts. "Only the insecure ones."
"So you have one then?" Ianto asks. He had been quiet, trying to process what had been going on. He also felt betrayed at Jestine lying to them, but he could understand. It was unlikely any of them would have asked her to help them had they realised that she knew Jack, even if it did seem to be in his past.
Jestine nods as she pulls up her coat sleeve. Just above her fingerless leather gloves sits a wristband similar to John's and Jack's. She quickly turns her focus back to John, raising the gun once again.
John sighs as he realises he couldn't distract them anymore. He presses a couple more buttons on his wristband. It beeps and a holographic image of a canister appears.
"I'm working with this woman - beautiful, clever, sexy, yadda yadda yadda - and we both get shot. And as she's dying, she begs me. She tells me about these radiation cluster bombs she'd been working on." John answers.
"I don't like the sound of that." Owen isn't sure how much he believes but is willing to hear John out before he makes a final judgement.
John continues. "Three canisters, contents beyond toxic, swallowed up in a riftstorm."
"And ended up here." Tosh summarises, sceptical about the story.
John answers, "Bingo. That's the downside of your city being built on a rift in space and time. Now, left to their own devices, the radiation will break down the canisters and then infect your people and planet. They need to be neutralized." He explains as he presses some more buttons and the holograph disappears.
"What do you get out of this?" Jack knows John well enough that he had to get something from it.
John pretends to be offended. "Dying woman's wish." Neither Jack or Jestine hide their distrust of him. "Now, there's only one problem: I don't know where they are. Hoping local knowledge might help."
"When we get back to the Hub, I can run a citywide scan on radiation surges and cross-reference that with the rift activity during that time span." Tosh replies.
John smiles seductively at Tosh. Owen has to stop himself from punching him. "What are you, the brains and the beauty? You see, together it's an easy job."
Jack drops his gun from Jestine's head and moves so he is in John's face. "We do this, you get out of here when it's finished. Right away."
John chooses to ignore Jack's threat. "Does this mean I get to see your house?"
Neither Jack or Jestine seem happy to see the man.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this chapter, please pretty please leave a review on what you think, anything at all would be appriciated