Time Doesn't Always Run Straight
Sleeper
Part 4
Thank you so so much for the response last time. It was just so amazing and helped made my day. So I've decided to change the day I post to Sundays (Australia time). Basically so I can wake up on a Monday morning to your wonderful reviews. No better way to start the week. Because I couldn't respond to you directly, special thanks to Dibart, I'm glad you enjoying the story and hope you like this chapter. Last chapter of Sleeper. Warning pretty dark chapter with violence, character death and huge shock towards the end. Also Gwen bashing, which I know lots of people love. For those that don't, next chapter I will be doing a little bit from Gwen's perspective so hopefully that might make things a little better. Once again, thank you everyone for everything, you really couldn't imagine how much it means to me.
Jack curses as the lights start to flicker and the alarms blare.
"Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?" Jack asks as he exits his office.
Tosh quickly looks through the security monitors and checks the vault. The vault door that was holding Beth's chamber is wide open.
Tosh's eyes open wide in shock. "Beth's gone."
"I thought she was frozen!" Jack glares at the monitor.
"She was! All her vitals were at zero." Owen calls from the autopsy bay.
Tosh is furiously typing on her computers. "Checking systems, command history.."
"What did she do?" Is it a virus, a lockdown?" Jack asks.
Tosh shakes her head. "No, she just turned off the lights."
Jack shakes his head muttering, "What is it with her and light bulbs?"
Tosh quickly gets the lights back on and checks the monitors. They reveal the cog door has been rolled open.
"She went through the tunnels." Tosh tells them.
"Time to change the locks again." Ianto mutters.
"She knew everything about this place. All in her arm. She could have done anything, shut us down, blown us up." Gwen joins the team, her eyes wide as she thinks through Beth's actions. "But she didn't. She chose to leave."
"Tosh, you switched off the transceiver?" Jack asks.
Tosh frowns. "I thought I did, until you asked." She glances at her monitor. "Unless it was another false image."
Owen swears. "Hang on, hang on, hang on. Everything about her was a lie. All of her vital signs were a false image. She can fool the equipment. She can tell it what we're expecting to see. So, you know, she gets scared and it projects an increased heart rate. We try and freeze it and it does the opposite."
"No wonder she had a big electromagnetic field. Simulating that much information would need a huge amount of energy." Tosh murmurs. "So, what's she doing? Did we activate her?"
"No." Gwen interrupts. Beth might not be human but she thought like one and if there was someone at Torchwood who understood humans, it was Gwen. "She's gone to see Mike."
Jack nods, it made sense. "Where's Jestine?" He turns around, trying to find her.
Owen shrugs. "I think she left as soon as you started the freezing." Ianto answers.
Jack growls. They need Jestine right now. She might not be from this time and place but she seemed to understand Beth better than any of them. He quickly scans his team, trying to work out who he could take instead. His eyes settled on Gwen. She was always saying about how human she was, how she understood people when they didn't. Now was time for her to prove it.
"Gwen with me." Jack hurries to the garage, missing Gwen's smug smile as she follows behind like a well-trained puppy.
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"Tosh? We got her. It's all over. We're on our way." Jack tells Tosh over the comm as he, Gwen and Beth hurry along the hospital hallway. "Any word on Jestine?"
Suddenly, before Tosh can answer there's a blast, knocking them and the other occupants of the hallway off their feet.
"What's going on?" Tosh asks as the Hub shakes and she hears a blast over Jack's comm.
Owen rushes from the autopsy bay to check on her as Ianto comes down from the spiral stairs.
Jack looks over to check on Gwen and Beth. He helps Beth up as Gwen pouts.
"What the hell was that?" Jack asks Tosh.
Tosh quickly types at her computer. "Petrol tanker. Looks like someone wanted to take out the M4 link road for some r.." Tosh breaks of mid-sentence as she checks the map. "No! It's not the road. There's an underground fuel pipeline. It's a special fuel supply for the military They use it in emergencies." Tosh explains to Owen.
"Not anymore." He responds as he heads to his own workstation. "I've got a report coming through. Patrick Grainger's been murdered."
"Who?" Tosh asks looking over to Owen.
"Leader of the council, stabbed several times in the chest, once in the forehead. Sound familiar?" Owen answers.
"Who was he, what else did he do?" Jack practically growls as he helps Beth through the corridor.
"He's also the city co-ordinator. Takes charge of the city in case of major emergencies. Has all the security protocols." Ianto reads off one of the computers.
"Well, how do you know that?" Owen asks.
"I know everything." Ianto replies smugly before pointing to the screen. "And it says so on the bottom of the screen."
"It's starting. It's happening right now!" Jack informs his team. "Get Jestine back immediately." He orders. They needed everyone they could but especially Jestine who seemed to have some knowledge on the sleeper agents.
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Just as they make it to the parking lot the comms let out a massive burst of feedback.
"Tosh?" Jack tries, even though he knows it's no good.
He can only hope that they managed to get a hold of Jestine before it happened and she would be able to help them.
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"Did you get through before the phones were cut?" Tosh asks Ianto who had been trying to ring Jestine.
He shakes his head. "Looks like they are on their own." He replies.
Suddenly there is a golden light and a second later Jestine is standing in the middle of the hub. "What happened? Have the cell activated?" Jestine asks as she scans the Hub.
"Jack seemed to think so. But they've cut communication." Tosh explains to Jestine.
She nods. "But not the explosion. What was that?"
"Military's emergency fuel." Tosh answers. Jestine curses in a foreign language.
"Right, taking over. First limit military's ability to defend. Next take down communication, isolate area, cause panic." Jestine talks more to herself than the others. "But what else?" She frowns in thought.
"They killed Patrick Grainger, he had all the security protocols, was meant to take charge of the city in case of major emergencies." Ianto explains.
Jestine curses more violently. "So no way to defend and no way to get the message out for help. No one to take charge so lots of panic and distraction. But what about weapons. It's good to disable a city but you need weapons to take it. Tosh you need to see if you can find anything about weapons." Jestine tells Tosh as she runs down to the archives.
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"No, I can't just hook something up! The entire telephone network is down!" Tosh glares at Owen.
"What about mobile connection?" Owen asks.
"The ENTIRE telephone network is down!" Tosh explains again, this time slower.
Ianto joins them.
"Mobiles, landlines, tin cans with bits of string. Everything. Absolutely everything. No phones, phones all broken." Ianto hold up his hand to his faces as if talking with a phone. "Hello? Anyone there? No, 'cause the phones aren't working." Ianto mocks Owen.
"What if…" Owen starts.
"There is no way of getting in touch with Jack! No way!" Tosh interrupts him.
Then suddenly Jack's voice comes from the radio. "Tosh, Ianto, can you hear me?"
The team look in surprise at Jack's office and the radio within. Tosh runs and answers it.
"Thank God. What happened?" Tosh asks.
"There's a cell, it's active. Four including Beth- two are dead. We're tracking the last guy now. If we can get to him before he does anything, we can stop this."
"What can I do?" Tosh asks.
"He's heading for an abandoned farm just outside the city. I need to know what's out there."
Tosh nods even though Jack can't see her and gets started on her work.
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Upon getting the message, Tosh quickly starts typing away. She grins as she hacks into the military system in seconds. The grin quickly drops from her face as she reads the information in front of her.
"Oh my God." She gasps.
"How have you guys screwed yourselves over this time?" Jestine asks upon hearing Tosh's exclamation.
"The mineshaft. The military are using it for storage. Nuclear warheads. Ten of them. Nobody's supposed to know, not even us." Tosh explains to the team, both over the radio and in the Hub.
Jestine curses. "21st century humans. They don't need any heavy weapons. You give them all the weapons they need."
"We leave the key under the doormat. All you need is to walk in and take over." Jack shares Jestine's sentiment.
"Please tell me you can stop this." Tosh tells them over the radio.
"Going as fast as we can. If we don't, we won't feel a thing. We're at the centre of the blast radius." Jack replies.
"That's comforting." Tosh mutters sarcastically.
"Come on! Have a little faith! With a dashing hero like me on the case, how can we fail?" Jack can't help but smile a little despite the seriousness of the situation.
"He is dashing, you have to give him that." Ianto admits.
"But what if they can't stop it?"
"Then it's all over." Ianto admits with a shrug.
"Let's all have sex." Owen jokes trying to lighten the mood.
"And you told me orgies were bad." Jestine teases.
"End of the world changes the rules." Owen replies.
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Jestine watches as Gwen goes to tell Beth they were ready to freeze her again. The team were sure it would work this time but Jestine was sceptical.
Jack joins Jestine on the couch.
"Sorry I left before it was done." Jestine apologises to Jack.
"I understand that this case was tough for you." Jack tries to sympathise.
Jestine frowns. "This case was no more difficult than others we have done."
"That's not what I meant." Jack tells her. "You just seemed to understand what Beth was going through."
"I told you, we've done this before, that's how I know." Jestine tries to brush him off.
"I think it was more than that. When you spoke about her losing everything, it sounded like it was from experience." Jack knows he shouldn't try to push Jestine too much but he was sure there was a story behind her outburst.
Jack tries to not squirm as Jestine eyes him up and down. It felt like she was looking into his very soul. She sighs and leans back against the couch.
"My experience is different from Beth. But there are similarities. I travelled for long time, many years. But I stopped once. It looked like I stopped forever, that I found home. I was wrong." Jestine's face hardens. "My world was destroyed and everyone I had ever loved with it. My existence may not have been a lie but I still lost everything just like Beth."
Jack doesn't know what to say. From what Jestine had said previously, he had figured she had always been a lone wolf. He hadn't thought she had once had people that she had loved and that loved her in return. His heart clenches at the thought of how much pain she must have been through. "I'm sorry, I didn't know." Murmurs Jack.
"I did not want you to know." Jestine replies coldly. "If you know, you pity. Pity does nothing. It is the past." Jestine glares at him. "You can't tell the others."
"You know we are here to help you." He tries to reassure her as Gwen walks past with Beth.
"I don't need your help." Jestine replies. "I don't need anyone's help."
"Is that why you won't let Owen have a DNA sample?" Jack tries to casually bring it up.
Jestine glares, immediately seeing through Jack's attempt. "It wouldn't tell me anything useful. And if Owen wants a sample he should ask me directly."
"I told him to let me ask." Jack corrects her. "And he thinks it could help. At the moment we don't know anything about you. You could be at risk from any of our common illnesses. And how would we know if you were sick, we don't know what is healthy for you."
"You yourself are from the 51st century yet show almost no difference from a 21st century human. Despite what my parents may be, it is obvious that I am at the very least of human ancestry. Therefore it would not be unreasonable to expect my body to behave similarly to that of a 21st century human. But I suppose I could provide Owen an example." Jestine reluctantly states. "But with conditions." She adds before Jack can say anything.
"What conditions?" Jack asks cautiously.
"We don't know what time I come from. So my DNA could potentially reveal details about the future. Therefore I want to be there when the results are analysed and only Owen and myself are to be aware of what the results are." Jestine explains.
Before Jack can agree (albeit reluctantly) they are interrupted by a yell coming from the lab.
The team converge on the main part of the Hub instantly, all with their guns out as Beth enters. She holds onto Gwen, the knife that used to be her arm pressed against her throat.
"Let her go!" Jack orders.
"Move away from her now!" Tosh demands.
"Beth, I know it's hard but you are still there. You asked me to make sure you didn't lose your humanity. I'm trying but you need to help me." Jestine tries to convince Beth.
Beth looks Jestine up and down. "I'll kill her first, then all of you, then the rest of your miserable species!" Beth sneers at them, her voice taking on the alien aspect again.
"I don't doubt you for a second." Jestine replies seconds before she takes the shot.
Gwen screams as the bullet buries itself in Beth's forehead.
Owen curses as he rushes to check on Gwen. Tosh and Ianto let their arms drop to their sides, the threat over as they try to process what just happened. Jack is furious at Jestine but she ignores him as she moves to Beth.
"You might not have been human but you never lost your humanity." Jestine whispers to Beth as she reaches down and closes her eyes.
Jestine turns around to the group. "She wanted us to shoot her. She knew she couldn't keep hold any longer. She didn't want to lose her humanity but she knew it was the only way we could do it."
Jack understands why Jestine did it but he is still furious at the risk she took. "My office now!" He demands before turning on his heel and storming off, not even checking to see if Jestine is following.
Jestine briefly glances at Gwen. "You weren't shot, you're fine." She scowls as she moves off towards Jack's office.
"Fine, you almost shot me!" Gwen screams at her.
Jestine whips around. "No, I shot the alien that was threatening to not only kill you but also destroy the world. Try and keep that in mind when you start ranting about me." And with that Jestine abruptly saunters out.
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"What the hell was that?" Jack yells at Jestine the second she enters the room.
"That was saving both your operative and the world." Jestine snaps back.
"You shouldn't have taken the shot. You could have easily got Gwen." Jack retorts.
Jestine raises an eyebrow. "What just like the shoot you didn't take with the blowfish? Same situation. Although it could have been possible to have negotiated with the blowfish, like we were trying to do before you blew his face off." Jestine jeers.
"It's not the same." Jack glares at Jestine.
"No you're right, it wasn't the same." Jestine agrees. "This time there was more at risk, this time we couldn't hesitate. But that's the problem isn't it. You hesitated. We both know you could have taken that shot. But you didn't. Why was that?" Jestine mocks.
"Is this a joke to you?" Jack scowls at her. "You could have missed."
Jestine snorts. "We both know I never miss." Then she curses. "But you don't." She shakes her head. "You don't know me and I don't know you, not this you anyway. Jack the Time Agent wouldn't have hesitated. Even if it meant missing." Jestine sighs. "And that's the problem. I'm your past. A past you want to leave behind."
Jack sighs as he sits down. He felt too weary to be angry now, Jestine's statement having deflated him. "I'm not proud of who I was back when I was a part of the Time Agency." Jack admits.
"You think any of us are?" Jestine mutters sarcastically.
"You sure act it." Jack counters.
Jestine raises an eyebrow. "If I had any doubt about whether you remembered me or not, that would certainly have proven me wrong. You knew I was only there till I found what I was looking for. You even helped me."
Jack sits silently, processing the information. "What were you looking for?" He asks curiously.
"Doesn't matter anymore." Jestine brushes him off. "What does is that you accept I did the right thing. Because I will probably do similar things in the future. If you can't accept that I may as well leave right now."
"It wasn't the right thing. It was dangerous." Jack can feel his anger rising again. "Would you still have done it if you thought you would have missed?
Jestine sighs. "She was threatening the world and we both know she could have destroyed all of us."
"Answer me!" Jack demands.
Jestine slams her fist on Jack's desk. "Yes, even if for some reason I actually thought I would miss I still would have taken the shot. Because that's what we do. We save the world, regardless of the cost."
"Not at the cost of each other." Jack shouts back at her.
"Is that for all your team or just the precious Gwen?" Jestine sneers.
Jack glares. "This is not about Gwen. This is about your behaviour."
"Wrong. It is about Gwen. It always is." Jestine declares. "I've read through the old case files. And it seems that whenever Gwen is involved you get emotional, sometimes at the expense of the other members of your team."
"That isn't true." Jack retorts defensively.
Jestine raises a sceptical eyebrow. "What about with those cannibals? You were more worried about Gwen than any of the others."
"She was shot." Jack snaps.
"And Ianto knocked out, beaten and had a knife against his throat. Had you been even seconds later he would have died. Yet who were you worried about?" Jestine practically snarls. "Or should I mention all the times she has broken protocol for no reason other than her moral high ground. And all she ever got was a talking to." Jestine mocks.
"The consequences were her punishment." Jack tries to defend his past actions, even though he knew Jestine did have a point.
Jestine scoffs. "We both know that is rubbish. She doesn't recognise consequences. She just thinks the world is being mean to poor little Gwenie." Jestine takes on a condescending tone. "If anyone on this team is a liability, it's Gwen. She breaks the team, flaunting her so called 'humanity' while breaking the rules to suit her."
Jack makes to interrupt Jestine but she cuts him down with a glare that Jack was sure would freeze hell.
"Do you know why she made herself leader? Because she thought she was better than everyone else, because of her humanity. She never bothered to consider if the others would do a better job. Or even the fact that she was the newest and therefore the least suited to taking control."
"That doesn't matter now. What matters is that you took a risk that you didn't have to make." Jack interrupts the rest of Jestine's rant.
"I say it wasn't and that you have more important issues with the team to deal with." Jestine huffs.
"Irrespective of what the others have done, it still doesn't make it ok for you to take those kind of risks. This is not the Time Agency, we don't take unnecessary risks."
"And how the world hasn't ended on your watch, I don't know." Jestine mutters. "Now either give me my punishment or let me piss off. After this case I need a drink."
Jack sighs. Jestine was very strong willed and he was sick of butting heads with her. "This time you get a warning but I will not tolerate you shooting first and asking questions later." He warns. "And I expect you to apologise to Gwen when you next see her."
Jestine gives a snort of derision. "What for, saving her live? I'm not apologising to her for anything."
Jack stays stern. "You will or I won't let you out on the field again. Now I would suggest you leave and think about what happened today. On reflection you might just realise why there was a problem with your actions."
Jestine opens her mouth to argue before snapping it shut. She simply nods before turning and storming out of Jack's office.
He closes his eyes and lets out a sigh at her exit.
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Jack sighs at the knock on his office door, sure it was Gwen about to yell at him about Jestine.
He relaxes as Ianto walks in with coffee.
"You are an angel." Jack sighs as Ianto hands him the coffee.
Ianto gives him a small smile. "I try my best sir."
Jack moans in appreciation of the coffee, he had been in desperate need of it after having to deal with Jestine.
Ianto rolls his eyes at the familiar response. "Owen wanted me to tell you that he has sent Gwen home. Aside from a little shock she is fine. Also Tosh and he have left." Ianto adds.
Jack nods absently, allowing himself to relax after the tough case and heated discussion with Jestine.
"I was thinking we could both do with some downtime." Ianto suggest as he sips his own coffee.
Jack raises an inviting eyebrow. "And what do you suggest in this down time?"
Ianto chuckles. "You, me, take out and a DVD."
Jack lets out another sigh. "Sound perfect after having to deal with Jestine."
"Being difficult again?" Ianto sympathises.
"Is she anything different?" Jack chuckles. "Let me power down and then we can leave." Jack drains the last of his coffee.
"I'll do a quick tidy up then." Ianto nods before leaving the room.
Despite everything that had happened, Jack couldn't help but smile. Sure it had been a tough case and Jestine had been difficult but he was glad he had turned down The Doctor's offer. He belonged at Torchwood and with Ianto. Nothing would make him give that up again.
He quickly types the necessary commands into the computer before grabbing his coat and leaving his office to go home with Ianto.
Thank you so much for reading. Please let me know what you think, reviews keep me going.