Time Agency Hub: Fifty-first century [Fandom time - January 2008]

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Now

Jack was tired, so tired it hurt to put one foot in front of the other as he trudged down the darkened hallway towards his quarters. The training mission shouldn't have taken so long. He shouldn't have been leading a damn training mission in the first place.

It was all Kane's fault.

* * *

Then

After Satellite Five, everything had changed. Kane started treating him - not as an equal, not even close - but like someone who was worth his time. He started explaining why and how instead of just barking orders, and he let Jack get involved, sometimes deeply involved, in their missions.

Jack's life got harder, but he didn't mind. It was good, what he was doing. Well, not good as anyone else would ever understand the term, but good for him. Kane had said it best. If it was easy, it wouldn't need people like them doing it. It was a chance to give full rein to everything he could do, everything he was, and he was revelling in it, even as he knew he could never tell anyone some of the things he'd done.

Even with all that, Kane's barked, "New job," followed by a tossed data chip had surprised him. The contents of the chip had surprised him even more. "You want me to lead a training mission?"

"That's what it says."

"Okayyy -- why?"

"Did I tell you to ask questions?"

That again. It had been months since Kane had pulled that, and Jack buried every hint of resentment under a bland smile. "No."

"Then get started."

Jack waited until he was gone, and then cursed under his breath. The only positive thing, as far as he could tell, was Jason's name in the list of cadets.


* * *

Now

God, he was tired. He fumbled at the thumb pad and leaned on it with his full weight, head pressed against the wall as the door opened. Groaning, he staggered inside and straight for the shower, eyes half closed, barely even aware of his surroundings.


* * *

Then

Jason had smiled tentatively at Jack and, when he was certain no one was watching, Jack had grinned and mouthed, 'don't screw up' at him.

Jason's thumbs up just made him shake his head. Once everyone was settled, he started outlining the plan. Simple really. Get in, retrieve the device before the building was destroyed, get out. Jack had done it before, and it was so simple. This one happened to be in the middle of a war zone, but that just made it more of a challenge. Or as much of a challenge as it could be when they had a full chronology of every event, down to the second it occurred, from the time they landed until the time the city would become a smoking hole in the ground.

"Everybody got that?" A series of nods, and 'yes, sirs' that made him boggle - he was not a 'sir' - and he swept a hand at the ship's exit. "Let's go."


* * *

Now

The hot water, so scaldingly hot his skin was turning red, was working its usual magic. There were people who had sonic showers, but Jack personally thought they were insane. Water got you just as clean, and was a hell of a lot more fun. He grinned, lifting his face into the spray, remembering Fandom and a few of those fun times.

With a long sigh, he finally stepped out, wrapping himself in a towel and scrubbing his hands through his hair. Still dripping, covering a yawn, he walked out of the bathroom.

And stopped dead, heart stuttering as he looked around the room.


* * *

Then

It should have been simple. There should have been no surprises. Wasn't there some earth saying about the best laid plans of mice and men? It was running through his head like a litany, like a horde of iron footed mice, as everything went to hell.

The device had to be retrieved. That was more important than anything else. In the middle of a barrage, frightened cadets staring wide eyed in panic, he wondered why, if it was so damn important, they'd sent him with a bunch of babies.

Later, he would remember that question.

He couldn't get it and them out safely. It was as simple as that. He hated to do it, but this was why they had people like him and Kane. He ducked his head out, scouting a safe route for himself, and as he pulled it back in, he caught a glimpse of Jason.

Frak.

Jason wasn't panicking. Jason was sitting, scared but alert, calm, watching him. Waiting for him to get them safely out. Knowing that he would do it, that Jack would keep them safe.

Frakfrakfrakfrakfrak.

He could not leave him here. The rest, yeah, he could. It didn't make him happy to admit, but he could. But not Jason. And Jason would never leave the rest behind. For a heartbeat, he hung in the balance, then went crashing down. "Damn it!" He slammed his fist against the wall, making everyone but Jason flinch. "All right, here's what we're going to do."


* * *


Now

It was all gone. Everything was gone.

Stunned, Jack slowly circled the room, turned, movements becoming almost frantic, trying to figure it out.

Maybe it was the wrong room? No, it was his, it had opened for his thumb print.

"No."


* * *

Then

Once he'd committed to them as his primary goal - well, Jason, but the others were the price of his safety - the device was gone, relegated to live out its history as it had unrolled the first time. He'd watched the building blow, winced as it went up.

He was going to pay for this. He knew he was. It was just going to be a matter of how much, and when.

Judging by the expression on Kane's face as he stared at Jack - Jack, who had an arm around some cadet whose name he didn't even know, helping her into the ship - it was going to be bad.


* * *

Now

Everything was gone. His books, the stuffed elephant, the ice cube tray, even his clothes, everything he'd brought with him from Fandom - he dropped to his knees, reaching under the bed, desperately looking for the photo album - was gone.

He'd known the price would be high. He hadn't expected it to be this high. In a daze he crossed to the vidscreen and punched in Kane's number.

It was answered in seconds. Almost as if Kane had been hovering, waiting for his call. "Harkness."

"Kane." Jack's face was utterly blank, everything locked down and under control. "Don't suppose you assigned me a new room and forgot to tell me?"

"No."

"Care to explain what happened to all my stuff?"

"Not much of an explanation required. It's gone. That's it."

"Gone moved, gone destroyed, gone some meaning of the word I've never heard?"

"Gone as in reduced down to dust and ash, Harkness. My advice is to stop asking."

Something grabbed his heart and squeezed it, and he wrapped his hands around the desk to stop them shaking. "Why?" It slipped out before he could stop it.

"You know why."

And that was the thing. He did know why. Because he put people before the job. "I didn't get the device."

Kane was silent for a long time, eyes boring into Jack through the screen. Something shifted in his expression, almost imperceptible, but Jack saw it. "Harkness. You were wired. Completely. Sound, video, biometrics, everything."

Jack blinked, not quite getting it. "What?"

Steepling his fingers, Kane raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think anything that happened today was an accident?"

He suddenly understood. How the data could have been wrong. It hadn't been wrong. It had been a lie. A test. Kane had sent those kids, had sent Jason, out to die, sent them out so Jack would leave them to die. "It was a setup."

"I knew everything that would happen." Almost everything, his eyes said. Except you screwed up.

Jack opened his mouth but no words came out. If Jason hadn't been there, he wouldn't have, he would have gotten it exactly right. Right now, looking at Kane, the thought sent a chill down his spine.

"Jack." Kane's voice was very soft. "There is so much more the Agency can take from you than mere possessions. Remember that. Learn the lesson and move on."

Jack went cold. His memories. His memories of Fandom, that's what Kane was talking about. He couldn't-- Thinking hard, he scrabbled frantically after something, anything, to push his attention away from Fandom, and managed a smirk. "Fine. Lesson learned. Do I get change?"

The tiniest flash of uncertainty. "Excuse me?"

It was a start. He had to misdirect, had to make him believe his anger came from something else, somewhere else, that it had nothing to do with Fandom. "The books. Any idea how much they were worth? Genuine, near mint, paper books? From Earth?"

More uncertainty, and something that almost looked like surprise, flashed across Kane's face. "Not really my area of expertise."

"A hundred thousand, maybe two hundred thousand credits. More to the right collector." Jack shook his head, and scowled at the screen. "Maybe next time you could just dock my pay?" he suggested. "Or you could reimburse me what I would have made."

"I'll see what I can do." Kane reached out to touch the disconnect, then hesitated. "Harkness? I can and I will take whatever I have to from you to satisfy the Agency."

The screen went blank and Jack closed his eyes, rage tearing through him, fear close at its heels. He knew Kane would do it, he'd rip them away, turn them into dust and ash, just like everything else. Head bowed, teeth clenched so hard they ached, he dragged in a ragged breath. They were his, they were all he had. He would not lose them. "God fucking damn you."

There was a crashing noise, sending ripples of agony through his hand, up his arm, meeting the pounding in his head, and he opened his eyes to stare blankly at the screen, seeing his spiderwebbed reflection, repeated over and over, staring back at him.

His hand was bleeding. And it looked wrong, one of the fingers was curled at an angle it shouldn't go. There was a connection between the broken screen and his hand but he couldn't quite get there, pain and exhaustion drowning his ability to think. Cradling his hand, he slowly sank down the wall to sit on the floor and stared at the empty room.


* * *


Jason had expected to find Jack in the bar. Neither of them had ever said the words, but it was what they did. Whenever Jason ended up at the Hub, he and Jack would find each other at the Wolf's Head. This time, Jack didn't show.

Given what had happened today - and he closed his eyes briefly, pushing away his sadness over the two who had died - Jason decided to go looking for him. Just to make sure he was all right. The thumb pad was shining a warm orange, meaning Jack was in his quarters, but he didn't answer.

After several minutes, Jason bit his lip and gingerly laid his thumb against the pad. Jack had said he'd given him access - one night when they'd both been very drunk, and Jack had been rambling something about keys and plants and a place to stay, none of which had made any sense - but Jason had never tested it.

The door slid open. Jason kept his eyes carefully on the ceiling, just in case Jack wasn't alone. "Jack?" When there wasn't an answer, he risked looking around the room, frowning, because all of Jack's belongings were gone. Maybe he'd moved? Maybe...he saw the shattered screen first, then Jack.

He was, the only word that came to mind was huddled, in the corner, staring at the floor, and his hand... Jason swallowed hard and hurried over. "Jack, what happened?" Though he suspected he knew.

Jack smiled at him, and it was disturbing, twisted and cold, and his eyes were too much like they had been, that first night in the bar. "I broke my screen."

"I can see that." He very gently grasped Jack's elbow, turning his arm so he could get a better look at his hand, wincing at Jack's hiss of pain. "I think you broke your hand as well. You need to see the medtech."

Jack shook his head but didn't try and pull away. "Can't. They can't know I care, or they'll take all of it, take everything else."

"You're not making any sense," he said, frustrated. "Take what?"

"Fandom," he said, voice very quiet. "They'll take all of it away if they know I care."

Suddenly, he thought he understood. Jack's Agency wasn't his Agency, for all that they were part of the same organisation. When Jack was drunk, he let things slip, things that made Jason's heart hurt for him. "Your things, the photos, the books, they took them?"

Jack nodded. "They turned them into dust and ash. Like they'll do to my memory if they know I care."

"Why?"

The question roused him, prodded some part of his brain into working again. "No. No, don't ask. Jason, don't. Just go, okay? I'll deal with it." He didn't know how. "Cover it up."

"No." He stood up, briefly resting his hand on Jack's head. "No, just stay there."

Jack blinked at him. That hadn't sounded like Jason. "What?"

Jason looked at the broken screen, and what he suspected was an equally broken Jack, and felt something shift inside him. "No. I can deal with this. They can't find out about any of this, right?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Jack? I think I can fix this, but you're going to have to trust me. Think you can do that?"

Jack looked at him for a long time, long enough that Jason started to worry, then he let his eyes slip shut. "You I can trust."

Despite everything, it warmed him. He pulled out his communicator and started making calls, calling in favours, begging where necessary, until he had agreement. Satisfied, he slipped into Jack's bathroom, finding painkillers and a clean towel. The painkillers he made Jack take, holding a glass of water to his lips, and the towel he folded gently under Jack's hand. Once the pills kicked in, he coaxed him into clothes and to sit on the bed, and it was frightening how pliant he was.

Twenty minutes later, two of Jason's friends arrived with a new screen. Jason stayed between them and Jack. "Put it in, pull out the old one, get rid of it. And don't tell anyone." Once they left, and it took longer than he wanted, he turned back to Jack. "Jack, now we have to go. Down the hall, out to the main entrance. Selma's going to hack the feeds and erase both of us, so it'll pick us up out there, as if we're just getting back. You hurt your hand in a fight. Okay?"

He was so damn tired, but he managed an, "Okay."

Jason helped him up, nearly staggering because Jack was almost a dead weight, but once they were out of the room, Jack pulled himself together. "You don't have to do this," he murmured.

"Yeah, I do."

Jack didn't say another word until they were outside, and Jason had called Selma, told her to go, to get in and wipe them out of the feeds. "Thank you."

"I've told you before," he tightened his hold on Jack, who was listing a little, "You're my friend. Thanks aren't necessary."


* * *


Jack was barely aware of the trip to the medlab. His memory was filled with pain from his hand, and exhaustion, and fear, but when they pushed him onto a bed, he still managed to flirt with the tech. She rolled her eyes at him and gave him a shot of something wonderful, then did something to his hand.

He was vaguely aware of Jason, spinning a story about the bar fight, but he didn't care. He was all floaty, and his hand was all floaty, clean now, the finger was pointing the right way, and encased in shimmering plastic. He couldn't move it. The tech was snapping her fingers in front of his face. "Hmmm?"

"Harkness. You have a cracked wrist, three broken fingers, and you've damaged some of the small bones in your hand. I've put an immobiliser on it, inserted a pain blocker, and started a quick heal. It's going to be at least four weeks before you can do anything with it, and once the immobiliser comes off, you're still going to have to take it easy."

"But I need my hands, they're part of what makes me so popular."

She snorted. "So I've heard. Must be why this very nice, otherwise apparently sane young man is prepared to take responsibility for you."

Jason was blushing, Jack could see it, and he laughed. Or he thought he laughed, he wasn't quite sure. "He is very cute when he blushes. Not as cute as you, though. You know, I still have one good hand."

She gaped at him, then dismissed him, turning back to Jason. "Can you get him out of here?"

Jason nodded. "I can, and I will. Right now. Come on, Jack." He helped him up.

Jack put an arm around Jason's shoulders and let himself be led out of the medlab, not really caring where they were going, until they got there. "Where are we?"

"My room. Temporary. They billet us here. I didn't think you'd want to go back to yours."

Weary beyond endurance, Jack put his head down on Jason's shoulder and closed his eyes. "I knew you were smart."

"Yeah, that's me." Jason led Jack inside and pushed him down onto the bed. "You need to sleep. You'll feel better if you sleep."

"No I won't," he mumbled.

"Yes, you will," Jason said firmly. "Trust me, remember? I'm smart."

It drew a very tiny smile out of him. "You're pushy."

"I learned from the best." Jason pulled the blankets up over Jack, carefully rearranging his arm. "Go to sleep."

[ooc: NFB, natch. NFI, too, but OOC comments are better than pie and ice cream. Or pie and coffee. Or pie and ice cream and coffee.]

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