Miracle Day- Immortal Sins- Part 2
Alleyway, NYC, 1927.
"So, Mister Harkness and his acolyte." Mr. Maranzano said.
"Yeah, and who are you?"
Mr. Maranzano looked to Angelo. "Your friend thinks he's funny."
"He doesn't. He isn't. He's sorry." Angelo said. Then said to Jack, " This is Sal Maranzano."
"You were going to undercut my price." Sal said.
"We found some untapped resource."
"Rumour is you two are a pair of finocchi."
"That's not a rumour. That's a boast. And if you were really upset about some small-time competition, it'd already be hailing bullets. So we're here for another reason." Jack spat.
"I don't think so. Take 'em, kill 'em."
"Give us a try, Maranzano. You need men like us, off the grid. Men who could never be traced back to you. So whatever it is you need, Sal, no matter how dangerous it is, no matter how strange it is, you just found the right men."
"There's a box in a warehouse that needs to find its way to another warehouse."
"You can count on us."
"You will not look in the box."
"Sure thing." Jack promised.
"You will swear on everything that is holy you will deliver the box, but you will not look inside."
"I promise."
Sal chuckled. "Then we got a deal. Tomorrow night, Gallaco Wharf, Bay Five."
"Get going. Get lost." A thug said.
Back in The Little Italy Room.
Jack is packing a suitcase. "You're running away?"
Jack shook his head. "No."
"That's mine. What are you doing? You're packing my things.
"You need to go now. There's a plan."
"And I'm not part of your plan? Look at your hands. Not a scar on them. I'm tougher than you."
"Maranzano's people have stumbled across something they're not supposed to have. I've got to stop them."
"You made this happen? You've planned this. Since when? Since you got on the boat to America?"
"Just get out town, Angelo. These people are bad. You don't want to be on their list. Get far away."
"Who are you doing this for? The government in England? Or the other thing you said, Torchwood?"
Jack gives Angelo money. "For the train. Go to the West Coast. You're handsome enough. Get into the movies."
"I'm not letting you send me away."
"Why? Because you wouldn't know how to get another man? Because you're not brave enough?"
"You think I'm with you because it's easy? It's not easy, trust me."
"I know. I hear the beads clicking at night, Angelo. Everything we do, you ask for forgiveness afterwards. That's just sex. Imagine if it was love. What would He say then, your God? What would he say if two men could love? Oh, but no. No, that's impossible. And if it's impossible, then you can't stay with me."
"You. You're an ass. For a man who knows a lot of things, you're not so bright. Think about it. I grew up in a village with two hundred people. Only two hundred. The sun would rise and the sun would set over the same two hundred people. And that was it. That was my world. And look at me now. I'm a bootlegger in New York City with you in my bed. You think any of your little secrets can change my life more than it's already changed? And yes, I, I feel guilty about what we do. It hasn't made me stop doing it. Besides, I always hoped If God is love, maybe he loves me too." Angelo said.
"That's blasphemy."
"I think that's Christianity. You're unpacking my things?"
"I've got this friend. He's called the Doctor. He explores the world with a companion. It looks nice."
"Are you saying that I can stay?" Angelo asked.
Jack glanced back at Angelo. "Maybe."
Warehouse
Jack hands the wrench to Angelo and uses his bracer to open the refrigeration door. "Oh dio. What's all this?"
"Ammonia refrigeration. Of course. The best they could do in 1927."
"They said don't look in the box."
"Yeah, right."
"What is it? What's inside?" Angelo asked.
"Someone, someone way above Maranzano, they found something, a weapon. They told Maranzano to hold it until after the next state election, then ship it to Albany. Maranzano doesn't know what he's got, but he's terrified of it." Jack opens the box. "Can't say I blame him."
"No. No, that's, what?"
A tentacle-like thing with four hooks on the end rises up. "It's a parasite. Like a bug."
"A parasite? Tell me more about it."
"Good man. It's a species of Brainspawn treated as vermin on more than one hundred and fifty planets that I know of, and valued as dinner on one other. It tastes like oysters."
"You did not."
"I had to be polite. Now this part drills into the brain of the host and deposits its larvae there. Little worms, sharp as needles, pushing into the brain very slowly. You go insane, but it takes years. Franklin Roosevelt, he's going to be elected Governor of New York this November. But he wouldn't start making the really crazy decisions until his second term as President. Result, America destabilises, pulls out of the war, Germany rises, the Third Reich triumphant and there's a whole new history sprawling out."
"You mean someone is changing the future?"
"Destroying it. Turning order into chaos and feeding off the results."
"Who would do such a thing? These people above Maranzano?"
"They're just being used by someone called the Trickster's Brigade. Believe me, you don't want to meet them."
"What sort of men are they?"
"They're not men at all. They're not even human."
"Okay. Okay."
"Oh, he likes you."
"But it's cold, yeah? So it's safe." The Brainspawn lunges at them, and Jack shoots it. Then he pours a liquid from a vial onto it.
"That'll dissolve it." He shuts the box.
"So, the mission is complete."
"We just saved the world, Angelo. And no one will ever know."
"Then, did I pass? Can I stay with you like the Doctor? Learn all the secrets?" Angelo asked. An alarm bell rings.
"Here's one of the secrets. Run."
Alleyway
They come to a locked gate in a fence. "Quick. Come on, up. Go."
"Hold it. Stop right there." A Policeman shouts.
Jack boosts Angelo over the fence. "Take my hand." The police shoot Jack in the back.
"Grab my hand. No!" Jack is shot in the head. Angelo runs, but gets caught and brought back to the scene.
"All right, get him in there. Get him up the stairs. Go. Step up, please." A Policeman says as they escort Angelo into the carriage.
"Jack." Angelo says and is locked into the police wagon.
"Meat cart's on the way for the other one. You'd better take the main gate. Off you go." A Policeman says. The police don't see the corpse of Jack come back to life and run off.
Sing Sing Prison, New York, USA, 1928.
Jack meets Angelo as he gets out of prison. "Nice suit. Look, it's all right. Don't panic. It's me. I'm the same man." Jack says as Angelo starts to panic, seeing Jack alive.
"I saw you. I saw you get shot."
Jack shrugged. "I got better."
"You got shot in the head. I saw it. I saw the blood. I saw your body."
"Want to see it again?"
"Shut up, Jack! This is so wrong. Tell me what happened. You were dead."
"Clearly I wasn't. I was playing dead. Then I cleared out. I went to Los Angeles."
"No, I saw you dead."
"But I'm alive. Feel. You wanted to learn the secrets? This is the best secret of all."
"You're alive." Angelo breathed.
"Yeah, I'm alive. I came back, Angelo. I came back for you. Believe me, I have never done that before. I even got us that same old room."
"You came back for me?"
"Yes. Yes I did. You don't know whether to hit me or to kiss me, do you? Come on, you can try both."
Little Italy room.
Angelo rips Jack's shirt open, sending buttons flying. "No scars."
"You keep learning." Jack said.
"No. I don't know what you are."
"I'm Jack."
"That's not the answer."
"It's an answer. First of many. Come on. You've been locked away for a year. I know you'll like this. I can feel that you'll like this." Jack said.
But as they kiss on the bed, Angelo flashes back to his last sight of Jack in that alleyway.
Angelo stabs Jack in the side. "What the hell, Angelo? What did you do?"
"Sei il diavolo." Angelo said.
"I am not the devil." Jack said.
"It's the only way. The devil seduces with confidence." Angelo raises the knife and Jack grabs his hands.
"No. No." Jack punches Angelo off him.
"Stay away from me, devil!" Angelo stabs Jack again, this time through the heart.
"No!" Jack dies. Their landlord and landlady are present when he revives.
"Il diavolo. Il diavolo!" The Landlord says.
"Jack." Angelo said.
"Il diavolo!" The butcher stabs Jack again multiple times.
Meat Locker
Jack is hanging from his wrists, and the local community is gathered to watch him come back to life.
"I don't understand. Angelo, I don't understand. What did he do?" A girl aksed.
"We can show you." Mr. Giardono said.
"E'un miracolo." An elderly woman said.
"A miracle?" Angelo asked.
"I want to see. Do it again." A black man says.
"Tony." (Speaks Italian.) Mr. Giardono said.
Jack revives and sees the situation. "No. No."
Tony shoots Jack. An elderly woman fills a bottle with his blood. Jack revives, scaring them all.
"Diavolo!" Everyone yells.
"Angelo. Angelo. Don't go. No!" The men in the crowd take turns killing Jack. One slashes him with a knife, another uses a meat hook. Finally, their bloodlust is sated, and three well-dressed men in suits are there, looking at Jack.
"I don't know. I just don't know what it is." Mr. Frines says.
"Hmm. How much is the butcher asking?" Mr. Ablemarch asked.
Mr. Costerdane replied, "Ten thousand. Not too much for something with so much potential."
"And we'd own him together?" Mr. Frines asked.
"A partnership. What do you say?" Mr. Costerdane asked.
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
They clasp each other's right wrists to form a triangle.
Angelo has lowered Jack to the floor and is removing his bonds. "I'm so sorry, Jack. It just. It went crazy, like bloodlust. I was so scared." Angelo asked.
"Aren't you gonna take the wrist strap?"
"I'm a good thief. I could have taken it any night. You'd better clean up. We've got to go. Can you stand?"
"Give me a minute." Jack says.
Angelo wipes the blood from Jack's bare feet. "I bought some inattention from Nico, the guy who's supposed to be watching you, but it won't last forever. You can put these on."
"Who were the three men?"
"What men?"
"There were three men. Like they were making an agreement."
Angelo shook his head. "I don't know. Hurry up."
Alleyway
"Hurry, there's a train out tonight."
"Train where? Where are we going?" Jack asked.
"Like you said, we'll go to the West Coast, Los Angeles together." Jack starts to climb the fire escape.
"Jack. Jack!"
Rooftop
"Where are you going?" Angelo asked.
"I left something here."
"You left something in a vent on a roof?"
"Ha. Never go far without it." A gun, and his greatcoat.
"Okay, but now we go."
"I'm going, yeah. Time to move on. But not with you."
"I'm sorry. I was terrified, Jack. They said you were the devil, but other people said you were a blessing." Angelo said.
"Something happened to me once, a long way away. Time itself changed me to a fixed point. And now I can't die. I suffer and I perish, but I always come back. I've lived through a lot of Earth's past and a lot of its future. And I'll keep on living this life forever."
"In the future, are we together?"
"What does it matter?"
"Are we together?"
Jack shook his head. "We can't be, because one day you're gonna die and I won't."
"Then we forget the future. We make the moment now. We make a promise and we go forward."
"Angelo, don't."
"What? You're lonely too. You said you want a companion." Angelo said.
"Don't make me do this."
"You're not going without me."
"Just let me go." Jack said.
"But you can't. I'm never gonna let you go. I could travel this whole wide world, but where would I find another man like you? Please, don't leave me on my own."
"I'm sorry, Angelo, but this is the story of my life. It always ends the same way. You kill me. Men like you, you kill me." Jack falls backwards off the building.
"No!" Angelo yells and runs down the stairs to the ground. "No! No, no, Jack!" But when he gets there, Jack is gone.
~0~
Back to Mesa California Roadside.
Gwen, Jack and I are leaning against the car at 5 am. "Oh Jack, I'm so sorry I left you." I said.
"This is it. It's been a long time coming. All those years." Jack said, his voice devoid of emotion.
"What's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? Not just on Earth." Gwen asked.
"Oh easy. Susan. But I'm not doing this. I'm not giving final speeches."
"And you're not going to." I said. "You're not going to die. I won't let you."
"How? How do we stop them taking me?"
I walked up to Jack and hugged and kissed him. I love you. I whispered through the bond.
"Love you too." Jack said aloud.
An SUV drives along the road below us.
"Thank you, Gwen." Jack says as we break apart.
"Thank you?" Gwen asked, puzzled.
"It'll be fine." I told her. "After this, just go back to the others." I gave her my keys. "Keep an eye on them for me."
"Susan?" Gwen asked, panicking.
"They know I'm here. They'll want me as well." I told her. I felt a sharp pain and I hid my wince. This was my second pain, so I knew I had a long while before they would get shorter together.
"No. No. There must be some other way." Gwen said.
I stared at Gwen, trying to do the same thing the Doctor did with me when I was huaman and created a bond, which gave me a splitting headache, but I didn't care. "Don't react." I said out loud then, in Gwen's head. Gwen, I am doing a Thing that the Time Lords can do which is telepathic communications, but I can only hold up this link for so long before it severs since you are human and I already have one with Jack. This is our plan. We need to get inside. Inside with the people who are responsible for the miracle. Getting ourselves captured is the only way to get into the heart of the problem.
No. Gwen thinks to me. You're pregnant and Jack's mortal. You're not going!
Gwen, if I don't come, you're life will be in danger. I didn't tell you this but remember when I went to the bathroom during our shopping trip? Gwen nodded. They threatened you. They threatened the others. They knew they didn't have your family and bluffed you into kidnapping Jack so I would follow. But what they don't know is that two can play at this game. I'm sorry Gwen.
The SUV drives towards Jack, Gwen and I, and stops. Two buff bodyguards get out, then a slim woman.
"Know her?" Gwen asked.
"No." Jack said.
"Okay." Gwen breathes out.
"Thank you. You followed the instructions as far as I can tell. Captain Harkness, the last mortal man. It has been a long journey." The woman says. "And Susan Jane Harkness and the second to last of her species." The woman smirked. Gwen tensed. A red laser sight runs down the burliest of the guards, and a shot hits the ground at his feet.
"What the hell? Find out who that is." The Woman says, crouching behind her SUV.
"It's on you." Gwen says.
"Who is it?" Jack asked.
"What the hell are they doing?" Gwen asked.
"Way to go Rex!" I said.
"Rex is here?" Gwen asked me. I nodded in confirmation. "While I was driving after you, I formed a connection with Rex, the same thing I did with you and told him what was happening. He gladly accepted the position of shooter. I can only form a connection with a human for a very short time, then it is broken, mostly because I already have a permanent one with Jack."
We watched as Rex took out all the people that arrived. "Jack, the next step is to go to Shanghai and Buenos Aires, but, we need Oswald Danes to come with us. Rex, Esther and Vera go to Bueno Aires and Tosh, Ianto, Owen and Gwen come with us to Shanghai."
"Why Shanghai and Buenos Aires?" Jack asked.
"Because I am sick and tired of all this running around and hiding. We are going to end this Miracle... early."
A/N:
Reviewer:
Maren the fangirl: Don't worry, after this we only have three chapters left until Amelia is born. :)