InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'm taking a chance on love."

capt_harkness (capt_harkness) wrote in vas_captio_rpg,
@ 2009-06-10 23:53:00

Entry tags:

!dropped, day 10, jack harkness, location: museum, shannon rutherford

WHO: Jack Harkness, Shannon Rutherford
WHAT: Jack takes over Shannon!watch
WHEN: 17:00
WHERE: The Museum
RATING: G! seeing who's paying attention
STATUS: Active

There was one person he still hadn't seen following the earthquake. Well, two counting the Doctor but Jack was certain the man was going to be fine. The two of them had seen far worse scrapes over the years and an earthquake seemed inconsequential compared to an army of Daleks. Then again, there they had known what they'd be up against. Vas Captio was a veritable unknown.

Getting Ianto to safety had been Jack's primary concern, though his conversations with the Insider through the journals wasn't helping to ease his mind. Still, Jack knew where his place was and, as much as he wanted to stay and keep Ianto safe, he couldn't. He was the hero and he would do the work of heroes: getting everyone else out safe and then figuring out what to do from there. Having not seen Shannon thus far, Jack worried that she was still trapped under god knew how much more debris.

Moving at a full-out run, Jack moved quickly through the rubble, vaulting over piles of stone, not slowing until he approached the remains of the muesum. God, they'd have to find something by way of shelter now -- the museum wasn't habitable. Squinting, Jack could see two figures near the crumbling foundation and he picked up his pace once more, relief coursing through his veins as he caught sight of her.

Thank god.

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ballerinadreams
2009-06-10 11:13 pm UTC (link)

At the sound of someone running toward the building, Shannon looked away from Sam and up at the source. Jack. Not that she'd been worried about him, since he'd said he couldn't die, but it was still nice to see that he was up and around. Hopefully, that meant Ianto was, too.

She nodded in Jack's direction as if to let Sam know that there was a familiar face and if he wanted to go back out to look for his missing friend and brother, she would understand.

"Hey, stranger," she called out to Jack with a small grin. "Is Ianto okay? And...you know, well, everybody alive...?" The addendum of we know and care about went unsaid, because it was silent in her eyes and she didn't feel the need to vocalize a thought that nasty.

She watched as Sam got to his feet and hated the idea of letting him walk off, but she'd been able to do it the first time and she could do it again. So, she gave him a small smile as he started away, giving a nod of recognition toward Jack, and Shannon looked back at Jack.

[godmoding of Sam done with permission from his player]

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capt_harkness
2009-06-10 11:28 pm UTC (link)

Jack watched as the other man left, wondering briefly who it was, but decided not to ask. Besides, introductions on a day filled with disaster seemed a touch out of place. Waiting for him to leave, Jack took the now abandoned seat and settled down beside Shannon, eyes instantly scanning for how bad her injuries were.

He wasn't pleased.

"Ianto's fine. Looks like a broken arm and he got banged up pretty badly, but he'll be fine. We Torchwood lot are made of strong stuff. Some of us more than others," he teased lightly. "I haven't heard of any deaths," Jack replied with a shake of his head. "But that doesn't mean there haven't been. As much as I'd like to be in two places at once, both the Doctor and the Powers that Be have seen to that." He rubbed the plastic replica on his wrist and shook his head. "You? You okay?"

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ballerinadreams
2009-06-10 11:33 pm UTC (link)

The way his eyes scanned over her was not lost on Shannon. Everyone seemed to be doing it. She supposed it was reflexive and she tried to be more flattered that they cared than annoyed that everyone was worried when it wasn't that bad. At least she didn't think so.

"Ouch," she said, wincing sympathetically for Ianto. She wasn't quite sure she understood the last of what Jack said, so she left it alone, eyeing the plastic watch-looking thing on his wrist. "Did you?" she asked, looking back up at him gravely. "Die, I mean?" She wasn't entirely sure she wanted the answer, but she was on a roll for asking questions just out of the sake of curiosity without bothering to think of how it might potentially bother the person being asked.

With a soft sigh, Shannon leaned her head against Jack's shoulder. "I'll live," she replied. "I'm fucking tired, though; all I wanna do is sleep," she added, lifting her head again and blinking slowly a few times before looking back at Jack and focusing her attention on him. "I don't look to shabby for getting skewered by a broken floorboard and crushed by a support beam, though, huh?" she asked playfully, morbidly proud of herself for just that very fact.

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capt_harkness
2009-06-10 11:44 pm UTC (link)

He was concerned, and not just because there had been sex between them -- even if they hadn't, Jack still would have been worried and still would have searched the entire compound until he found her. He took care of those he cared about, he'd lost two people already, and with Tosh and Owen's deaths still raw on his nerves, he wasn't going to lose a third.

"He'll be fine. We all have had worse." And not that long ago either, Jack silently added with a shudder. Pulling themselves out of the rubble following John's explosions was another very recent memory for Jack. He flicked his head towards her following the blunt question. He wouldn't lie to her, she didn't deserve that. "Yes," he answered simply. "As deaths go, wasn't the worst one ever but sure as hell wasn't the most fun having a good portion of the ceiling fall on top of me." The bit about Gray, however, was going to be left out completely.

Gingerly, Jack slipped an arm around Shannon's waist and held her in close. "Don't sleep--" he broke off, the rest of her words finally sinking in. "Wait. Floorboard?" Jack sat up as quickly as he could without jostling her unnecessarily. "Let me see," he said, slipping into Captain-mode.

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ballerinadreams
2009-06-11 12:05 am UTC (link)

Shannon nodded and looked down. She imagined that in Jack's line of work - whatever it was, as she still didn't quite understand the details - he'd seen just as bad or worse, so she believed him. What really mattered, she supposed, was that he was okay and Ianto was okay. There was still worry settled in her stomach for Dean, for Domeki - whom she hadn't heard from in days, which made her sick to think about - and for the handful of others with whom she'd become close in this awful place. Four down, too many more to go, she thought, when it came to finding out who was still alive. Scratch that. She didn't want to think about it.

"Sorry," she said softly when his head turned sharply to look at her. But, he answered and said that he had. She wanted to ask what it felt like to die. If there was anything beyond. She wanted to ask if it hurt. Not because she cared to know, but because she was still trying to deal with Boone's death and if Jack would be able to tell her that he didn't feel any pain when he died and that there really was the proverbial white light at the end of a tunnel, maybe she would feel some closure for Boone. But, she didn't ask, because if Jack couldn't tell her those things, she'd be worse off for knowing. It wasn't any of her business, anyway, she told herself.

When Jack slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, Shannon squeezed her eyes shut and hissed in pain. "Easy," she gasped, tears springing to her eyes more out of her body's own reflex than the desire to cry. She'd cried enough for the day, so far, she thought, and she didn't necessarily feel like doing it again anytime soon. "Yeah, floorboard," she sighed. "It's fine, I took it out and Sam pulled out the splinters," she insisted. "And then Gambit tied his shirt around it..."

She could tell by the look on Jack's face and the way that he'd moved when she'd said it, that whether Shannon liked it or not, Jack was going to have a look at it. So, rather than fight him, she lifted her arms over her head, affording him the opportunity to untie the shirt and move it away. "It's up kinda high," she added to explain when she dropped one of her arms back down only to pull up her tanktop just below where her bra settled against her skin.

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capt_harkness
2009-06-11 12:19 am UTC (link)

Confessing what exactly he and Torchwood did would take a fair bit of persuasion. It wasn't as if he didn't trust her, it was that he couldn't trust that she wouldn't freak out. In her world, all the contact with aliens had never existed (or so he assumed) -- there were no aliens in Downing street and there was never any spaceships over London. So, while she might not have flinched too much at the Weevils, going into his complete line of work wasn't top on Jack's list of things to do anytime soon. Still, if she asked, he'd tell her the reader's digest version that wouldn't have her calling him mental.

"I'm okay," Jack said, reaching for a hand and lightly squeezing. "Promise you I'm the same Jack, in every detail. And I do mean every." They just needed a little bit of levity inspite of the wretched situation that surrounded them. But when it came to death -- he would tell her if she wanted to know. It wasn't like t here was much to tell anyway -- and his own private hell where Gray was concerned could very easily be omitted.

Wincing, Jack murmured an apology under his breath. He had tried to be as careful as humanly possible, but apparently had failed miserably in that regard. "Floorboard." Jack repeated once more, wondering how a floorboard in the side was not supposed to cause alarm and constituted her being 'fine'. Not in his book. He did want to see the extent of the injury, and if it was bad, figure out a way to get her to the make-shift clinic.

Somehow, a repeat performance of throwing her over his shoulder didn't seem like the greatest idea in the world. Not wit a gash the size of Germany in her side. "Nothing I haven't seen before," Jack said with a cheeky grin. The smile, however, faded when he saw the state of her side. "Where does it hurt?" he asked, slowly peeling the blood-soaked shirt away from her side. He moved slowly, not wanting to dislodge any of the scabbing that had begun to form, stopping the flow of blood. "And, frankly, why didn't that guy take you to the gym for treatment?"

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ballerinadreams
2009-06-11 12:38 am UTC (link)

Shannon smiled and shook her head, looking down, returning the squeeze of her hand to his when he promised he was the same Jack in every detail. "Oh, good, because it would be pretty awful if any important parts were altered," she teased. There was a small pang of sadness, then, that she thought maybe she might not ever get to have the kind of fun with he and Ianto that she had the previous morning. Not now that she was almost certain she and Sam had finally come to an understanding. She'd miss that about the two other men. Most especially their gentle touches and attentiveness to her in spite of the odd number of people involved.

"It sounds worse than it is," she insisted, even though she had a feeling that when he looked, he'd beg to differ. It looked like hell and she knew it, but it really only hurt when she moved too much, laughed, coughed, stretched... Okay, Jack was probably right. She was probably not in very good shape. But, if she held mostly still and no one touched it, she felt all right. That was her story and she was sticking to it. Weakness was never an option as far as she was concerned. Not anymore. Definitely not in a place like this.

Another hiss of pain followed by a choked cry she tried to hold back emitted itself when Jack peeled away the shirt. The renewed pain of it made her jump which made her back and head throb in protest. "Fuck," she gasped. "Jesus...everywhere," she complained, sniffling and letting her other arm fall back to her side once the shirt was out of the way. She turned her face away from him, not wanting to look at the wound again and took the opportunity to wipe her tears on her opposite shoulder. "Because I wouldn't let him," she answered in a watery voice, closing her eyes and hiding her face in her free hand to cry. "I didn't want Sam to worry about me again and he didn't have his journal for me to leave a note," she admitted.

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capt_harkness
2009-06-11 08:32 pm UTC (link)

Chuckling, Jack gave Shannon a rather impish smile. "Well, would depend on how they were altered I suppose," Jack said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Smaller would be a bad thing, but larger... that could be quite the advantage, wouldn't it?" It had been quite the enjoyable morning for Jack -- it'd been a long time since he'd played like this but he had thrown himself into it and came out sated and content. He hoped that Shannon and Ianto had enjoyed their play as much as he had.

"I beg to differ," Jack muttered, frowning as he began to pull off the fabric. He hadn't meant to hurt her, but he needed to see what the extent of her injuries were. Friendship was one thing, but when his friends were hurt, Jack tended to throw the bedside manner out the window and launched into Captain!mode. "I'm sorry," Jack said, glancing up at her and seeing the tears. "But I need to see. It won't hurt much longer." He frowned, seeing complete extent of her injuries and, pursing his lips, retied the shirt over the wound. "I'll go back in and see if there's some clean cloths. I don't know how quickly you'll bleed through."

Jack, however, didn't move. Gently, he brushed his knuckles against her cheek, wiping away the tears that lurked there. "You need to see a Doctor," Jack said softly. So that was Sam. Jack turned to look in the direction he had departed and shook his head. He shouldn't have let Shannon talk her out of it. "God only knows how much blood you've lost." He looked back at Shannon, fixing her with a level stare. "Well, if he was just here why didn't he take you?"

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ballerinadreams
2009-06-11 09:01 pm UTC (link)

Swallowing back a sob, Shannon nodded. She knew he wasn't hurting her on purpose and she knew he felt the need to check the wound. It wasn't something she was going to fault him for, even if it hurt like a motherfucker. Which, of course, it did. Rather than speak against the lump in her throat, Shannon nodded again when Jack said he was going to go inside to look for a clean cloth. Good luck, she thought, but didn't say.

Shannon hiccupped and whimpered in an effort to keep from all out losing it when Jack wiped her tears and told her she needed to see a doctor. She didn't want to. She didn't want to go to the gym where Lexie had set up her clinic. She didn't want to move and she didn't want to try to walk. Mostly, Shannon was afraid of what she'd see when she got there. The flashbacks from the crash were already breaking her apart on the inside even if she didn't want anyone to see. The blood. The bodies. The destroyed pieces of the fuselage and the flames. Shannon didn't want to see what the gym looked like now.

Her eyes met Jack's and for the first time since the Weevils with Dean, she let someone see really and truly what she was feeling. In her eyes, the fear was more than evident. Sniffling, Shannon covered her face with her hands and wiped away new tears before they could finish falling. "His brother's missing," she said. "Dean could be dead for all we know...or he could be hanging by a thread, waiting for Sam. I can't make him worry about dragging me around when he has family out there." Shannon would've done anything to rewind time and be there for Boone before he'd died, she sure as hell wasn't going to rob Sam of that on the chance that Dean was in bad shape. "Besides...I'm sure the doctors already have their hands full. If they're not in shambles themselves."

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capt_harkness
2009-06-12 11:53 pm UTC (link)

For now, the shirt would have to do. He knew what a state the museum was in and, even if he could get to his old room, there was no way of knowing if he could find one of the tshirts he and Ianto had kept for themselves. So, for now, it would have to do as it was. The wound, however, worried Jack -- moreso that she wouldn't go to the gym to have a look at it. She had until the evening, if she hadn't gone there by then he'd be coming back to the museum and drag her there if he had to.

Jack's gaze met Shannon's and he found he had to swallow the lump in his own throat. Her expression was so raw, the hurt so clear on her face that Jack wasn't sure what to do. He drew in a deep breath and did the one thing he could: just be there for her. She buried her face in her hands and Jack took that opportunity to carefully hold her, letting her cry if that's what she needed.

"I have no idea how bad it is at the gym. I got Ianto and a few others there, but I couldn't stay," Jack shook his head, sighing. "Sam'll find his brother," he assured Shannon. "The Doctors are working as best as they can. There's been worse scrapes than this that I've seen and have gotten through, my own unique talent not included." He tilted her head up ever so slightly, gently kissing her forehead, giving what small measure of comfort he could.

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ballerinadreams
2009-06-13 12:10 am UTC (link)

When Jack drew her in against himself, Shannon let her hands fall away from her face and wrapped them around him, burying her face against his shoulder. She didn't want to be weak; she didn't want to be crying anymore. But she couldn't help it. Between the pain and the fear and worry, it was all she could do not to fall apart completely and she had the idea that at least Jack wouldn't look down on her for it. Shannon couldn't be strong forever and she didn't want to be.

"What if he doesn't?" she asked. That'll make just one more horrible thing we'll have in common, she thought, dead brothers... Her eyes closed when Jack tilted her chin up and kissed her forehead. For someone she'd only met a few days ago, he seemed to care an awful lot more about her than most people who'd been in her life for years. It was, in its own way, oddly comforting. "Jack--"

The ground rumbled again beneath them and Shannon winced in pain when her muscles stiffened as she clung to him in fear. No more, no more... she thought as she heard more crashing and glass breaking inside the museum behind them. Aftershocks were normal, but that didn't mean Shannon wanted to experience them. It was over almost as soon as it had started but Shannon didn't move, clinging to Jack as if her life depended on it and hiding her face, still, against his greatcoat.

"I just wanna go home," she whimpered, voice muffled by the fabric. "I want to wake up from this nightmare and be home, why can't I wake up?" Because, really, this couldn't be real. She couldn't let herself believe that it was, if only because with the weather being as erratic as it had been, she could only assume that it was controlled, just like everything else, by the people who ran the show. If the weather was fabricated, the earthquake likely was as well and it was just too horrible to process the idea that anyone, no matter how sick, could throw a bunch of people into this sort of situation just for kicks.

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capt_harkness
2009-06-14 01:40 pm UTC (link)

Between the hero role and providing comfort, Jack was finally beginning to feel a bit more like himself. He liked being the one a person turned to and while he may not always know t he right thing to say, he had the wide shoulders with which to cry on if needed. That was his lot in life, and at one time he would have balked at it -- now, he wasn't. Damn the Doctor.

"He will," Jack said, knowing the words were empty, but also had to give her something. "We lot are made of strong stuff, it's no wonder they want to study us. He'll be fine. Scraped up like the rest of us," myself not included he added silently, "but he'll be okay." Jack did care about her, and would have treated her the same regardless of what had happened the day before. He saw her as part of the team, another one that he would protect and take care of, whether she liked it or not.

Hissing, Jack let her cling to him, instinctively curling his body around hers to take the brunt of any impact. Distantly he could hear stone falling and crunched even lower, keeping Shannon within the protective bubble of his body. Soon it passed, though Jack didn't move until he was certain the aftershocks had finished. "I think it's passed," Jack said softly, straightening at long last. "They'll keep happening for a bit now. We're okay outside." so long as the ground doesn't open up a la every other horror film.

Keeping her in his arms, Jack rocked her gently, taking care not to jostle her or hit her side. "We all do," he said softly. "And we will get out of here. You have the Captain and the Doctor working on it. We've been in worse scrapes than this before, and we'll get out of this. All of us, I promise."

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ballerinadreams
2009-06-15 01:30 pm UTC (link)

Jack's confidence that Sam would find Dean and that Dean would be all right, for the most part, did little to ease Shannon's worry, but she thought of the resilience Dean had displayed thus far and she calmed slightly. Strong stuff, Jack said. Sam's friend Andy, apparently, wasn't made of strong stuff, given Sam had all but come out and said that his friend hadn't survived the earthquake. But, she could push that away. Andy was the guy with the bum leg; he didn't stand a chance. Dean was healthy and strong. Maybe he really was okay.

The way that Jack shielded her and stayed as such until a long pause had confirmed that the activity was finished - for now - made Shannon feel very small indeed. While it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it served to show Shannon that no matter what the mask she wore, some people here could still see right through her. She was weak, she was insignificant, and she needed someone to take care of her. Jack's protective gesture said a lot about both of them, she thought, but she chose not to vocalize the feeling. And then he straightened again.

"I know," she said quietly. "I'm from California...I've never really been in an earthquake this big, but they teach us in school when we're little about them. We'll be feeling that stuff on and off probably for the rest of the day. I mean, well...maybe. I guess I don't really know...unless we're actually on a fault line, this whole thing is manufactured, so I guess I don't really know for sure if it'll work the way a real earthquake does," she admitted, frowning.

Shannon let Jack rock her and she closed her eyes, letting the gentle movement and Jack's arms around her, coupled with his reassurances soothe her. Whether or not he meant and was confident about his words didn't really matter so much as the tone with which he delivered them. They were meant to assuage her fear and panic; he was doing a good job with it. It made her wonder briefly if he had to do this all the time in the real world; if he had done this with Ianto earlier. For no discernable reason that Shannon could put her finger on, she trusted his promise.

Sniffling and moving one of her hands into the hair at the nape of Jack's neck, Shannon opened her eyes again and turned her head just slightly, looking out at what she could see of the ruins of the town from where she was sitting. "Are you always this way?" she asked quietly, without looking up at him, contented to sit in his arms and allow him to soothe her. "So calm and collected even when everything's gone to shit?"

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capt_harkness
2009-06-17 06:45 pm UTC (link)

The confidence, Jack knew, was just words -- but at the same time the more they were said, at least some bit would sink in. He had helped more than one person through the grief process over the years and while he was certain Dean would be fine, he still spoke the words anyway, empty though they may be.

Truthfully, Jack hadn't meant to make Shannon feel small, it was simply the overwhelming desire to protect. Shannon was someone he cared deeply about, and those were the ones he tended to keep close -- she was an unnofficial member of his team and he would keep her safe. Didn't matter if she could take care of herself -- Jack would always feel the need to be take care of her and that was that.

"Can't say we ever had much in Cardiff," Jack replied with a shrug. "Rift storms were one thing, but never really had the scope of destruction that this thing had." Jack winced, feeling a muscle twinge in his back. He'd still be feeling his body repair for the rest of day if not the majority of tomorrow as well. "Nothing in this place has reacted like a 'normal place'," Jack said. "The aftershocks feel 'normal' but that's about it."

For a moment, Jack wondered if she'd pull away from him -- but the moment she moved closer to him, Jack held onto her as if he wanted to keep her safe. He nearly began humming under his breath, but wondered if that would be pushing things too far. That and he was supposed to be the captain, not the song-and-dance man.

Sighing softly, Jack leaned his head back into the soft touch from Shannon. He rolled his neck backwards, muscles tense under her fingers but slowly beginning to release. "Am I always what way?" Jack asked. "The insanely charming, always disarming, completely adorable Captain?" The smile changed from cheesey to something far more genuine. "Once upon a time, I wasn't. But when a man can't die, it takes a lot to get me riled up." He drew in a breath, the look in his eyes turning distant. "Every now and then, something happens. Daleks in Cardiff for one." He knew the reference would be lost, but for some reason he felt better to just talk. "But it's easier to be the strong one for everyone else sometimes. I know I'll get through it, and I'll do my damndest to get everyone else through as well."

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ballerinadreams
2009-06-19 12:55 am UTC (link)

"Rift storms?" Shannon asked quietly, glad to have something that might distract her from the discomfort and fear she was currently feeling. Might being the operative word. As far as she knew, Jack wouldn't want to talk about it and if that was the way it was, so be it; she was in no place to push. If he didn't talk about his real life, then she didn't have to talk about hers. The last thing she wanted was to delve back into the realm of the fourth night, tiny and broken in Sam's arms as she opened herself up really and truly for the first time to anyone in a very long time.

The way that he leaned back into her touch gave Shannon reason to give a small smile. He was keeping her safe and making her feel a little less tense and she was glad to be able to give him some small form of comfort in return. The smile grew slightly in response to his joke about being the charming, disarming, and adorable captain. She said nothing, however, because he went on in a more serious tone. Looking down as her fingers massaged gently at the back of his neck of their own accord, Shannon nodded slightly. She supposed if she couldn't die, she'd be a lot less terrified and strung out right now, too.

When she looked up again, she noticed the change in his expression - mainly, his eyes. Like she wasn't even there and he was lost in an audible thought. "What's 'Daleks?'" she asked a little stupidly, brow furrowed slightly in confusion as she blushed with sheepishness. Maybe it was something she should know but had been, in her time in the real world, too self-absorbed to bother noticing.

The latter part of his statement, though, was not lost on her in any way. "I like that you're the strong one," she admitted quietly, resting her head on his shoulder again and closing her eyes, trying to relax in his arms as her fingers went on with their movements, gently kneading out any tension kinks they could find at the base of his neck where it met with his shoulders.

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capt_harkness
2009-06-23 01:20 am UTC (link)

While Jack never liked talking about work to those not of Torchwood (and usually had a retcon for those he did discuss it with), he found himself opening up to Shannon. She needed the distraction and his world was fantastical enough to provide exactly what she needed right now, so Jack figured he could make an exception. Besides, who was going to tell him what he could and couldn't do? Torchwood was his. "Think of the worst storm you could possibly imagine. Focus all that energy on one point and send that point through time and space and have it picking up as much space junk as it could along the way. Then have it come at you with very little chance of predicting. We are getting better, though." Were getting better. No Toshiko to keep working on the Rift Predictor.

Jack took every measure of comfort that he could from Shannon's touch. He was a sucker for hands in his hair and the easiest way to his heart was to run hands through his hair or rub the back of his neck: it was a weakness he would guard until the end of his days -- save from those who managed to figure it out.

When one had faced the emperor of the Daleks, it was hard to get riled up about things -- annoyed, yes. But riled up, hardly.

Jack stiffened when she asked, but it was his own damn fault for bringing them up. HIs explanation to Logan had been hardly adequate, but how do you explain something that was the embodiment of pure evil? It was hard to put it into perspective. "They, honestly, look like an old-fashioned salt shaker. But what's inside?" Jack shook his head, unable to shake the haunted expression. "They're horrible. Never mention them to the Doctor, that's my one piece of advice. They kill without thinking. Believe humans and any other race are inferiour to them." He paused, swallowing hard. "The true embodiment of fear."

Closing his eyes, Jack drew Shannon in closer against his body. "What if I'm not the strong one?" Jack asked softly, not even realising he'd spoken aloud. "What if I've just gotten very good at pretending?"

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ballerinadreams
2009-06-24 12:54 am UTC (link)

Chewing her bottom lip almost thoughtfully, Shannon listened as Jack tried to explain what a rift storm was. She wasn't quite sure she followed - in fact, she was fairly certain that she didn't follow - but something gave her the idea that even if she asked for some further clarification, she still wouldn't understand. "What can you do to predict something like that?" she asked absently, shifting her position just slightly and settling against him again. "If it's too classified or difficult to explain, don't worry about it," she added, just in case.

Jack's explanation of Daleks made Shannon shiver, the hair on her arms and the back of her neck standing up, although she wasn't entirely sure why. She'd never heard of them nor had she ever seen them, but the look on Jack's face, she supposed, as well as his advice not to mention them to the Doctor was enough to do it. Shannon studied Jack's face as he paused before referring to them as the true embodiment of fear. She was familiar with feeling that way about something. In her case, it was the enigmatic smoke monster that the people running this place had thrown at them on their fourth or fifth day in. On that note, she thought aloud, looking away from Jack and back down, "then it's only a matter of time before they're thrown in here next, isn't it?" It was quiet and almost mumbled, but not inaudible by any means.

When Jack pulled her closer, Shannon winced reflexively although it didn't hurt and then closed her eyes, letting out a soft sigh in response to his words. "Nobody's strong all the time. We take turns here, Jack. That's kind of the good thing about this place. Everybody does their part because everybody has to. Sometimes it's okay if you're not the strong one," she replied quietly. "And as for pretending? Join the club...would you like to be my vice president? There's a lot of things about me in this place that are make believe..."

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capt_harkness
2009-06-29 11:41 pm UTC (link)

Ask Jack what anything alien-techy was and he tended to launch into teacher!mode. He liked explaining things, making himself sound intelligent (which, really, he was thank you very much), and educating others. "We're getting better," Jack said with a nod. "It's more looking at energy spikes when we get them and adjusting our monitors to keep picking up on the signals. We're getting within a good four hours now, which is better than 'well, something's coming in a day or so'. I'll take any bit of improvement."

He hadn't wanted to scare her with the explanation of the Daleks, but having creatures like that it was hard not to. Hell, he'd faced them down twice and even knowing he couldn't be 'Exterminated', Jack still had issues with the creatures. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for the Doctor, nor did he want to. Somehow, though, talking about them with someone who didn't know what they were lifted a bit of a burden from his shoulders. Jack, however, was close enough to hear exactly what was said. He froze, his entire frame going rigid.

Daleks in Vas Captio. Oh god.

"No, not them," he whispered. "Not them." At last -- something Jack was truly afraid of. How could he protect everyone here from them? The simple answer was; he couldn't.

Jack closed his eyes, forcing himself to relax once more by varying degrees. At this point, it was far from easy. "I'll take the position with honour, though it's hard for me to see what you hide in your mask," Jack replied softly, resting his cheek against the top of her head. "I have to be the strong one. The man who can't die. What would anyone do if he suddenly fell into a puddle of mush?" Which was why he needed Ianto. With Ianto he didn't have to be the Captain all the time. "I earned my stripes." Mostly. "And with them comes the responsibility."

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ballerinadreams
2009-07-02 07:17 pm UTC (link)

"Oh," Shannon said quietly, settling herself against him and trying to relax in spite of her pain. Honestly, she didn't care what he was talking about because she was fairly certain she'd never understand it; it was just nice to hear his voice and to be talking about something that wasn't the earthquake they'd just survived - well, sort of; Jack hadn't, exactly... "Yeah, that sounds better than a really vague generalization," she agreed.

She felt Jack go stiff around her and that scared the hell out of her. If he really was that afraid of whatever the Daleks were, it was only a matter of time before they showed up in this fucking place to terrorize everyone; not just Jack and the Doctor. She burrowed more closely against him and went back to moving her fingers in his hair. "We've survived this long...if they really wanted to kill us, they'd have done it today. Maybe they won't come. Or maybe they'll just be for show. Or maybe..." her voice trailed off and she closed her eyes. "Maybe if they come, it's supposed to happen. Maybe everything here was supposed to happen."

"It's hard for you to see because I'm a pro by now," Shannon admitted quietly, feeling him rest his cheek against her head. "I've been hiding for so long, I'm not even sure where the real me ends and the mask begins."

She nodded slightly against him and opened her eyes again, looking up and thinking maybe she saw Gambit in the distance. "I've been keeping the strong one from being able to be strong," she said quietly, frowning as she forced herself to sit up a little. "You should go to Ianto," she added. "And tell him I'm thinking about him? Hoping he's okay?" she asked, eyebrows raised just slightly as she looked up at Jack.

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