We Grow Great By Dreams: A Kiss is Just A Kiss (2/3)

[teachwriteslash]

Chapter 2


Smiling happily over Rhys’ news, Gwen cancelled the call and tucked her mobile back into her jacket pocket. Looking around, she realised that she was alone. “John,” she called, looking around but finding no sign of him. After calling twice more, she removed her gun from her waistband.



“Worried you'd lost me?” John purred from behind her as she whirled and pointed her gun at him. “Whoa. Little bit jumpy there?” he teased, holding out his hands.


“Keep in front of me, okay?” Gwen ordered icily.


Hart rolled his eyes. “God, you're so untrusting,” he muttered. “But with your boss, it's probably wise.”


“Yeah, well. I trust him just fine, thank you,” Gwen retorted angrily. She might not, but she wasn’t giving Hart the satisfaction of hearing her admit it.


John shrugged, shaking his head. “Once a con man, always a con man.”


“What do you mean by that?” Gwen demanded icily.


John seemed to consider his response. “Look, just don't rely on him, Gwen. There's a lot about him you don't know,” he added as he opened another container door. “Fancy a peek?”


Gwen stepped inside and immediately spotted a canister. “Is that it?” she demanded, advancing towards it. As she picked up the canister, he walked up to her and pushed her to the side, slamming her against the wall. “What are you doing,” she cried just before he kissed her passionately. She allowed it for only a second before she pushed him away. “Get off me!”


Hart laughed as she gasped and fell to the floor. “Celebrating, that's all. God, the Twenty-First Century is so frigid!”


“What've you done?” Gwen managed to breath. She felt like she was suffocating.


“Don’t get up,” John scoffed. “I mean, you can’t anyway; paralysing lip gloss. I think it might have even been Jack taught me that trick. Just one problem, if you're not found in two hours, your major organs will go into shutdown.” He removed her mobile from her jacket pocket and dangled it in front of her. “Thanks,” he taunted, and then moved towards the opening of the container. “You going to be okay here without me?” he called back, and then paused. “He won't stay with you. He and I shared something.” He closed the door behind him.


~


Owen and Tosh had arrived and the medic was examining Gwen when a pale, shaken Jack returned with a small canister clutched in his hand. Without saying a word to the team or John, he crossed deliberately to the SUV and found a stasis device. Quickly, he placed the canister inside and went back to his team.


“How is she?” he asked Owen, crouching beside the medic. Tosh was assisting him and John and Ianto were standing off to one side.


“Stable, but non-responsive,” Owen reported, not looking up. “I need to get her back to the Hub and run a full work-up to see what caused this and how to counteract it.” He glanced over at Hart. “Vera over there keeps saying he has no idea what did this.”


“He doesn’t,” Jack admitted, standing and looking towards his former partner. “I’m sorry,” he muttered, not meeting Hart’s eyes. “I really am.”


“Jack!” Owen growled, looking incredulous as Tosh and Ianto just blinked. “Why are you apologising to him? Look what he did to Gwen!”


“He didn’t do it,” Jack replied, just shaking his head. “He wasn’t lying. There was a booby trap and a bomb. We have three radiation cluster bombs spread throughout the city and whoever sent them is who hurt Gwen. God help us; he was telling the truth.”


“Fuck,” Owen breathed, swallowing and glancing at his fallen teammate.


“Okay,” Jack ordered, collecting himself and shifting back into Captain mode. “Owen, Tosh. Take Gwen back to the Hub and start that work up. I want answers when we get back.” He turned to Hart and Ianto. “Ianto, John, with me. We need to find those other bombs and get them into stasis before they destroy the city.”


“Then what?” Ianto asked diffidently. “How do we get rid of them?”


“No clue,” Jack replied as he moved to help Owen lift Gwen. “We’ll think of something. We always do.”


“When we find them, let me go in,” John said, his guilt showing plainly. “Jack is right. No one else needs to be hurt tonight.”


“No,” Jack ordered, asserting his authority. “My team and my city means my rules. I’ll go. You and Ianto will stay with the SUV or you go back to the Hub, am I clear?”


“Are you out of your mind?” John snarled. “If those things are leaking or booby trapped, then you’re as good as dead. I will not be the cause of your death, Jack, no matter what you might think of me.”


Jack looked at his team. Tosh, Owen, and Ianto each gave a quick nod. The Captain turned to his former partner. “I can’t die,” he said simply. “What’s been a few years for you has been over a century for me. I can’t die. Ever.”


John looked horrified. “But what does it cost you? Every time you have to drag yourself back here, how does it feel? All that pain and trauma. Fuck, Jack. How?”


“Not the time,” Jack told him simply. “I’ll explain when we find the bombs and take care of Gwen. Just know, that these people and this planet are what I come back for.” This time, he looked directly at Ianto as he said it and he didn’t look away. “All this beauty is worth it.”


~


John gaped in surprise as Jack stepped forward into view. “Now that's impressive. Seriously, you can earn a fortune in the Vegas galaxies with an act like that. Go on, how's it work?”


“I can't die,” Jack replied with a shrug.


Hart laughed incredulously. “No. But, really...?”


“No,” Jack grinned without any humour. “But really, you can't kill me. No matter how many times you try. I can't die. Ever.” He started down the steps into the bay area. Gwen and Ianto made room for him, and then trained their guns back on John.


“But what does it cost you?” John taunted his former lover. “Every time you have to drag yourself back here, how does it feel? All that pain and trauma. Plus, you're reborn into this godforsaken mess. I pity you.”


Jack looked at him in disgust. “These people. This planet. All the beauty you could never see. That's what I come back for.”


“Well, goody on you,” John replied with a snide expression, rolling his eyes.


Gwen had had enough of the banter. “What's in the canisters?” she demanded, looking down the barrel of her gun.


“Come-clean time, Captain,” Owen added, disgust evident in his voice.


“Yeah, all right,” Hart admitted with an expression of disdain. “That woman I told you about? Had herself an Arcadian diamond; the rarest gem in the Damascene Cluster. Just when I'd got my hands on her, she only generates her own personal Rift storm. God, I hate technological geniuses.”


Tosh looked horrified. “You said this was a dying woman's request.”


Hart shrugged. “Yeah, she was dying. I shot her. Thought my luck had changed when I
found it had ended up here,” he added, looking around. “So, I'm thinking 50/50? Even split, good deal. Or if anyone fancies an orgy?”



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