Sacrifice [for slayers_desire]

[fractured_agent]

The city of Cardiff is eerily quiet in the aftermath of Abbadon's passing. Those who died beneath his shadow had their life forces returned once the demon died... all but one.

Captain Jack Harkness lies in the Torchwood Three morgue, cold as stone. Gwen sits at his side, waiting patiently for him to revive. But where he only took minutes to come back from the dead before, there isn't even a whisper of life from him now.

Lost without their leader, who they so recently betrayed, the team drifts in uncertainty.

It's Tosh who finds April's contact information in Jack's antique Rolodex, and gives her a call, not sure if this is a plea for help or a final death notice.

Comments

[fractured_agent]

Jack looks at April, the last member of this little tableau. "You're really something, you know that?"

[slayers_desire]

"I am just so glad I was able to reach you..." April moves forward to hug him tightly.

[fractured_agent]

Jack is a bit conflicted. He'd almost thought he might stay dead for good this time, and that thought does have an appeal to it. A big one. But on the other hand... he still has people he cares about here. So he's thankful as he hugs her back. "Me too."

[slayers_desire]

"Hey, I know you would do it for me."

She knows the others are still suffering from shock. But sooner or later, that will fade, and they will start to ask questions. How did she get here so fast. Why didn't she react when it was revealed that Jack revived after getting shot.

[fractured_agent]

Jack, likewise, knows that they're going to start asking questions about his little resurrection trick. Gwen knew already, but everyone else... the first they knew of it was when he gasped into life on the floor of the Hub, the ground shaking all around them as the Rift opened and Abbadon came forth.

Ianto returns with a stack of neatly-folded clothes and hands them to Jack. "We'll give you some privacy, sir," he says, seeking refuge from shock in his professionalism again.

[slayers_desire]

April gives Jack one more hug, before leaving the morgue to give him some privacy. She removes the hair tie, to free her hair.

"Did someone clean up the blood?"

[fractured_agent]

Jack doesn't care one bit about modesty or privacy, but his twenty-first century team certainly do. Ianto startles a bit at April's question, as if he'd forgotten about it. "...not yet."

[slayers_desire]

"I'll avoid the area..." April doesn't want to make the situation uncomfortable for anyone. Less of all.. her.

[fractured_agent]

Ianto moves to get his cleaning supplies, finding some normalcy in the routine. He just has to shut out the thoughts of Jack's corpse lying there, a hole through his head and a frozen look of surprise on his face.

"You're not the only one," Gwen says with a slightly nervous laugh.

[slayers_desire]

She can see the brief memory, and can't imagine how hard that must have been for the others. "This was a tough day, for all of you..."

[fractured_agent]

"You have no idea, love," Owen says sincerely. No sarcasm or mean attitude this time. "You were right about the Rift."

[slayers_desire]

"After sensing everything I did when I entered... I wish I was wrong. To save you all the pain."

[fractured_agent]

"At least it's over now, we think," Tosh says. "We haven't seen Bilis since the Rift was opened." She doesn't say the Rift has settled down, though. It's hard to tell if the increased activity is the new normal, or if it's just aftershocks, like waves in a pond after throwing in a stone.

[slayers_desire]

"He might not be completely gone... we have to be careful."

[fractured_agent]

Jack comes out of the morgue, moving slowly. He still feels drained, with good reason, and he's still pale. But at least his color is a little better. "And that's why psychic shielding is important, boys and girls," he says, his voice a lot more normal too.

[slayers_desire]

"Of course. And I am sure everyone has learned what they require to build stronger shields."

[fractured_agent]

All the others are ashamed of being fooled so easily... except for Gwen, whose vision became a reality when Bilis killed Rhys, her boyfriend. Something that was thankfully reversed by opening the Rift. She regrets what came of that decision. But she doesn't regret her boyfriend being alive again.

Jack doesn't give them much time for wallowing in that shame. He moves to the couch and sits down a little more heavily than normal, glad to get off his feet. "We're not going to let this happen again, isn't that right?"

The rest of the team nod in agreement. "Absolutely," Owen says.

[slayers_desire]

"Good. I know you all will face my challenges with all your heart. And that is all I could ever ask."

((bed))

[fractured_agent]

It certainly does seem like they're going to be better students from now on, especially Owen.

Jack looks to Tosh. "How's the Rift looking? Settled down any?"

"It's hard to tell yet... there haven't been any more unusual reports since after it was opened."

[slayers_desire]

Even with everything that happened today, April is impressed that they dedicated to their duty.

[fractured_agent]

It's easy to find normalcy in routine, something to hold onto when everything else has gone crazy. It was all that was keeping some of them together when Jack was dead, with them thinking they were on their own now.

Owen has had the least amount of work to do to keep him busy and keep his mind off things. So he's the one who breaks first. "Jack.... how are you not dead?"

It's a difficult question to answer. It always has been. "I don't know."

[slayers_desire]

April doesn't know how to answer that question any better. Strangely, this would be an easier question to answer if she had been shot, and revived.

[fractured_agent]

"Gwen says you've done this before," Tosh says. "Coming back from the dead." And you said you served in the war...

"More times than I can count," Jack admits. "But I don't know how, or why."

[slayers_desire]

"Jack has an endless sense of time about him. He didn't always have these abilities... but he does now."

[fractured_agent]

"And you... you know an awful lot more than just a plain old telepath would know," Owen says, doing his best not to be confrontational about it. Today's been a tough day and he's fucked up several times, and he doesn't want to make anything worse. He's had enough.