Chapter 16
The following day Jack continued to avoid the meaningful conversations, that he could tell his erstwhile friends were keen to have with him. He also ignored Joanne, and Owen's, attempts to find out more about his addiction, and their continued attempts to persuade him to start a methadone program. As the day went on, he could feel the physical need creeping up on him, and, more insidiously, the memories beginning to clamour for his attention.
Tonight was the time that he would, if free, have taken his next hit. Instead, he knew that he would spend the night a physical wreck, shaking, fevered and retching. He hid it from the others for as long as he could. But, as Gwen took him back to his room, to lock him in for the night, he couldn't hold back a groan as stomach cramps seized him.
Although Owen had warned them all what to look out for, it still took Gwen by surprise when Jack groaned and doubled up in pain, clutching at the wall for support. She reached out to support him, and helped him into his room. After she guided Jack over to lie on his bed, she called Owen on the comms. "Owen, it's Gwen. I'm with Jack in his room. I think it's starting."
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Owen had been on tenterhooks for hours, waiting for Jack's withdrawal to manifest itself. He and Joanne had planned to works shifts, monitoring Jack in his room, if things had not started by the time Jack was locked in. Owen had taken Joanne's advice on board, however, and it would be Joanne, Tosh and Gwen who would help Jack through this. Owen would be in the background, available if he was needed. Mark and Ianto were on Torchwood duty, though Ianto had argued vociferously that he should be allowed to look after Jack. He had not taken Owen's refusal well.
Calling Joanne, to let her know she was needed in Jack's room, Owen settled down to keep monitoring the situation via CCTV.
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When Joanne got down to Jack's room, he was doubled over with cramps, and threw up on the floor as she entered. Gwen was hovering over him. Sending her off to fetch a sick bowl, and things to clean up with, Joanne sat on Jack's bed and took his temperature. It was elevated. She also checked his pupils, which were dilated. He was jittery and sweating. "Jack, I'm going to give you an injection of clonidine," she informed him. "It will help alleviate your symptoms. "And this will suppress the diarrhea and vomiting," she added, giving him another shot.
Jack promptly threw up again, this time into the bowl that Gwen had just walked in with.
While Gwen cleaned up the bowl and the floor, Joanne went to fetch another bowl filled with tepid water.
"Jack. Who would you like to stay with you; me or Gwen?" she asked when she returned.
"Neither of you need to stay," Jack pointed out. "I can handle this. Just leave me the bowl."
"We're not going to leave you alone like this," Gwen gasped. "You need someone to look after you."
"Oh come on," Jack responded, with some bitterness. "This is nothing compared to things you let me deal with alone before."
Gwen flushed with shame. "Yes, well we want to be better now."
"You could just kill me," Jack pointed out. "That would fix all this quickly. And, as a bonus, the track marks would go."
"Are you telling us that you kill yourself to get rid of the track marks!" exclaimed Gwen in horror.
Jack had not intended to let that slip, so he backpedaled. "Just joking," he emphasised. And, in an attempt to divert attention from his inadvertent admission, he added, "OK, Gwen can stay."
"Alright," said Joanne, "I'll come back to check on you in a couple of hours. Just call if you need anything in the meantime."
As time went on, Jack became worse. Visibly sweating and wracked with tremors, he paced up and down his room until the stomach cramps brought him to his knees, clutching the bowl. As the physical symptoms peaked, the memories assailed him. He could still push them down, but another day and he would fold under their weight. Why couldn't Torchwood have left him alone? Jack just wanted life to be simple, so he could switch off his brain and move through it without thinking And it had been simple; spread your legs, open your mouth, shoot up.
Gwen did what she could to help Jack through the long torturous hours: giving him water to drink, bathing him to reduce the fever, and cleaning up when he threw up. Joanne visited several times, and Owen monitored them via CCTV.
Eventually, after several hours, Jack began to feel better and things improved. And he did admit to himself that, whatever Joanne had given him, coupled with the nursing care, had made this withdrawal much less traumatic than previous occasions. It would all be futile in the long run though. He just hoped that his plan to escape would work.
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At 3am, Tosh arrived at Jack's room to relieve Gwen.
"He's sleeping at the moment," Gwen whispered. "He's been in quite a bit of pain, but the sickness seems to have passed."
Tosh nodded, and quietly took the chair next to Jack's bed. He was sleeping, but not peacefully. He was moving around fitfully and flashes of pain crossed his face.
"If he gets feverish again, you can sponge him down with this water," Gwen told her. "It seems to help." She then tiptoed out, and headed up to Owen's office to check in before heading home.
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"It's going as well as we could expect," commented Owen.
Owen had been observing what was going on, so Gwen did not need to give him a detailed report. But one thing was bothering her. "Yes, but did you hear what Jack said about track marks?" she asked.
"He said he was joking, Gwen."
"I'm not so sure," she argued. "Jack looked as if he wished he hadn't said it. Do you really think that he could have regularly killed himself to get rid of track marks? What would that say about his mental state?"
Owen looked stricken. "We really need to get a counsellor for him. Jack clearly doesn't want to talk to any of us. But nobody can go through as much trauma as he has, and not be in serious need of help. I hope we can convince him to talk to someone."
"It's not just that," Gwen continued, "but, if he has really been dying regularly, and we know he died in that hospital a month ago, why was he still addicted? Wouldn't that have cured him?"
"I guess he still had the same reasons for taking the drugs as he did when he first started, " Owen answered. "So he just carried on. Hopefully being in a new place, with new people, will help him break out of the pattern."
"We'll all help him as much as we can," stated Gwen earnestly.
"Of course we will," agreed Owen, with a smile, "we all will."
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Th following morning, Tosh and Jack walked into the main part of the Hub.
"Jack," exclaimed Ianto, holding himself back from rushing over to the other man. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," Jack replied, forcing himself to smile. "It wasn't as bad as I expected."
Ianto burst into a smile at hearing that. "I'm so glad. Now you can begin a new life."
"I guess so," agreed Jack, keeping up his act.
There was a generally happy atmosphere in the Hub that morning. Everyone, except Jack, felt as if a weight had been lifted off them. Jack was pleased that everyone was beginning to treat him less like a prisoner. His plan was working.
When a major rift alert sounded, Owen took Ianto, Mark and Tosh with him. Joanne was off duty, but Gwen had come back in. He left Gwen to man the Hub, and babysit Jack. Before he left, he pulled Gwen to one side, and gave her strict instructions not to leave Jack on his own, or allow him out of the Hub. "Even if he has turned a corner with the drugs, it's early days yet," he warned.
Gwen nodded in understanding, but in her happiness at Jack having achieved a small step towards his recovery, she couldn't help but subconsciously relax a bit around him. The whole team were the same.
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Gwen was pleased at how easily Jack seemed to have got over the events of the night. All signs of illness seemed to have vanished. He was restless though, wandering around the Hub aimlessly. She watched him from her work station, but as long as she could see, or hear him, she didn't prevent him from wandering around.
Eventually, Jack wandered back to Gwen and said, "Coffee?"
Gwen looked up and smiled. "Sure, I'll make some."
"That's OK," Jack replied. "You have work to do. I'm not completely helpless, so I'll make it."
"That would be great thanks," answered Gwen, and watched as Jack headed off for the kitchen and clattered about.
Five minutes later, Jack appeared with two cups. "Not as good as Ianto's I'm sure, but good enough I hope."
"Thanks, it's great," Gwen assured him as she sipped.
Jack sat down near her, and sipped his own coffee slowly. Gwen continued to work. As Jack watched her, she yawned.
"Gosh, I'm really tired. I guess neither of us got much sleep last night," she commented.
Jack merely nodded in agreement.
A few minutes later, Gwen was practically falling asleep at her desk. Finally realising that something was wrong, she pushed back her chair, and would have fallen to the floor, if Jack hadn't caught her.
"What did you do?" she gasped.
"It's OK Gwen. It's just a sedative, from Owen's stock. You'll sleep for a couple of hours, but it's totally harmless." As he spoke, Jack picked Gwen up and moved over to the sofa, lowering her gently down. "I'm sorry, but I need to get away."
Although Gwen fought against it, trying desperately to move to get to a comm so she could call Owen, unconsciousness soon claimed her.
As soon as he was certain that Gwen was unconscious, Jack headed towards the invisible lift. The Hub was in semi lock down, as it had been since he had been brought there. Codes, which he did not have, were needed to operate any exits. But Jack had built that lift. And no code could keep him from operating it. Pulling off the cover of a panel, he rearranged the wiring to bypass the security, and manually override it. As the lift came down, he glanced around the Hub for what he hoped was the last time.
As he ascended, he felt the need for drugs, that he had been holding desperately at bay for the last several hours, escape from his control. He had to get heroin, and quickly. First money, then one of the seedy areas of Cardiff where he knew drugs could be obtained. He'd have to buy the equipment he needed to prepare the heroin as well, but that shouldn't be a problem Stepping off the slab at the top, he headed quickly for the bank.
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In the surveillance flat, the two UNIT soldiers on duty were monitoring the surveillance cameras. They had come to the conclusion that their assignment was a waste of time, and Jack Harkness would never come within 100 miles of Cardiff. They could barely believe their eyes, therefore, when the camera covering the Plas showed them a man that looked just like Harkness.
"Jesus, Charlie, look!" exclaimed one soldier. "Is that him?"
"Damn right it is," confirmed the other, "I'm not about to forget that piece of ass. He's just come out of their base. How the hell did no one see him go in?"
"Shall we call the Colonel, and get the backup brought in?" Pete asked.
"No need, he's alone. The four of us can deal with him. Just think of the brownie points that this will get us." Charlie reached for the communications, and alerted the other two members of their team. "We'll follow him, and wait until he's out of public view, then grab him. With four of us we can keep tabs on him without getting too close. It's very important that he doesn't see us. I'm sure he remembers all of us really well," he added with a leer.
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Jack knew that he only had a couple of hours before Gwen regained consciousness, and alerted the rest of Torchwood to his escape. And that time could be significantly shorter, if the rift alert turned out not to be serious. He needed to be in and out of the bank, and holed up somewhere out of sight, with his drugs, before that happened.
In his haste, and his agitated state, he never noticed the UNIT men tailing him.
He took the maximum amount out of his account that the bank were willing to give him in cash, £2000, and headed to Splott.
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The UNIT soldiers traded off positions, while tailing Jack, so there was never one person following for a significant length of time. It seemed to be working. Harkness was totally oblivious. The crowded shopping centre was working both for, and against, them. They were less likely to be spotted, but they couldn't make a move on him until there were no witnesses. This was not a legal arrest.
They watched him go to the bank, and then followed as he walked to Splott. Charlie sent one of the men back to fetch their transit van. They would need it to move Harkness, when they had him, and they could radio to let the driver know their location when they needed him. They watched as Harkness negotiated with an obvious drug dealer, and handed over a stack of money. The dealer and Harkness headed towards a run down doss-house, and went inside. A few minutes later the dealer came out, but Harkness did not.
"That's it," Charlie exclaimed with glee. "It's perfect. He's still hooked, and he's going to shoot up. If we wait ten minutes, we can go in there and grab him without a fight."
"What about the other people in the house?" asked Pete.
"They'll all be stoned, " answered Charlie dismissively. "And I doubt that any that aren't are going to argue with three armed men."
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About an hour after Jack had left the Hub, the team returned from the alert. The major incident had turned out to be some sort of alien music system, that had fallen through the rift while belting out the Alpha Centauri equivalent of Top Of The Pops.
As they walked back into the Hub, they spotted Gwen asleep on the sofa.
"What the hell?" cried Ianto. "Where's Jack?"
Owen hurried over to check Gwen, and was relieved to find that she was merely in a deep sleep and had not been harmed. "Jack must have done this," he exclaimed, "but Gwen's OK," he assured the others. "Dammit, I told her to watch him!"
"You don't think he's looking for drugs do you?" asked Tosh in distress.
"I guess it's possible that he was just desperate to get away from us," Owen answered, "but I wouldn't bet against the drugs."
Ianto was horrified. The idea that Jack would throw away all the progress he had made, in withdrawing from the drugs, by going straight back on them was heartbreaking. "We have to find him and stop him."
"Tosh, get a trace on him. I want to know where he is, and hurry," Owen ordered.
Tosh had the location of the tracer pinned down in less than five minutes. "He's in Splott. And he's not moving."
"Right, everyone come on," ordered Owen. "Let's get after Jack. We'll call Joanne on the way. She can come in and look after Gwen."
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In the doss-house Jack was taut with anticipation, heart thumping, as he prepared the heroin. He was in a filthy room, with a couple of mattresses on the floor. He was currently the only occupant. The flashes of memory were getting stronger, and more difficult to banish. He could barely contain his need. The heroin seemed to take forever to dissolve, but finally it was ready. He drew up the liquid into a syringe, and put it gently down, while he tied a cord around his upper arm. He was about to pick up the syringe to inject, when the door burst open and three armed men stormed into the room.
Seeing that they had arrived just too soon, the UNIT soldiers converged on Jack and forced him face down on the floor. Jack recognised the men instantly. All three were guards from the UNIT prison. Panicking, he fought back fiercely, and managed to throw the two men holding him down, off. But the third hit him across the head with his gun, stunning him enough that the other two regained control of him.
When everyone was still again, Charlie held his gun to Jack's head. "Hello again, Princess," he sneered. "Remember us?"
"Why are you doing this?" Jack gasped. "I've been pardoned. I'm not wanted by UNIT anymore."
"We're not here on official business. You managed to upset some of the higher ups. They want you out of the way. So they have a little holiday planned for you, by the sea."
"What do you mean?" growled Jack.
"Oh, did I say by the sea? I meant in the sea. The plan is to weigh you down, and drop you so far offshore you'll never be found."
The true horror of what they had planned hit Jack like a ton of bricks. He had spent a year dying on the Valiant, and he had a very good idea of what drowning over and over would be like. And it would be never ending.
"That's inhuman, why would you do this?" he pleaded.
"That doesn't matter," Charlie purred in Jack's ear. "What matters now is that you are going to carry on with what you were doing. That way we won't have any trouble, will we?" He pulled Jack up into a sitting position, and handed him the syringe. Pressing the barrel of his gun to Jack's forehead, he whispered, "Go ahead, you know you want to. And, if you don't, I'll shoot you and do it myself."
Five minutes earlier, Jack would not have believed that anything could make him not want to take his fix. But he knew that, once he did, he would be helpless, unable to avoid any fate that these UNIT renegades had planned for him. But he had no choice. They could easily inject him if he were dead, and the result would be the same. Reluctantly, he raised the syringe and moved it towards his arm.
AN: I will do my best to update once more before Christmas, but I might not quite make it. I'm way behind with Christmas preparations this year. So I will take this opportunity to wish all my readers Happy Christmas. Sorry for leaving you on this cliffhanger over Christmas, if I don't manage to update!