Joker's Folly, Ch 0.5

     He stared at the alien, the non-human, extra-terrestrial man before him; through the endless divide between immeasurable universes, the fear of the man was mirrored. But it was not as though he could help it. It was human nature. It was existence's nature- in order to save oneself, one had to be brutal, willing to live and let die.

     But it was not as though, as he watched the man die, he could not feel the sickening survivor's guilt that burned through his gut. He closed his eyes with a shaking sob, and pressed his palms flat against the stony table. He heard the electronic voice from the darkened room behind him.

     "Congratulations. You win."

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     Toshiko was leant, kneeling against the wall of the firing range, running a wire between her lips in order to stem giggles of hilarity. Owen was peering round the glass frame behind her, and Gwen curled around Owen behind him. In total, it produced the image of a bizarre laughing totem pole. Freya swung round, her arms outstretched, to face them- they all ducked and gasped. Rolling her eyes, Freya threw an apple at Owen, watching him dodge it in barely restrained terror as it rolled away across the floor. Jack turned his back on them to hide his own amused smile.

     "How to defend yourself against a piece of fruit? I thought that was a little too high a method of training for us. More MI5 standard. Or Carry on Movie...whatever those were all about. Anyway, Freya, stop scaring those three, they're jumpy as hell since joining. Think there's a Weevil around every corner." Jack smirked at Owen, who glared.

     "Yeah, well, the last time you said that, there really was a Weevil around the corner." Toshiko twitched, remembering how her life flashed before her eyes as she was slammed to the tarmac by an uncontrollable beast.

      "Stop laying an egg Owen...now. I swear I gave you guys some work to do?" he watched them shifting uncomfortably, crossing his arms across his broad chest. He shrugged, his mouth puckering, "Or if you've all done that, I'm sure I can find all that admin that needs finishing..." Within seconds, his team had taken the stairs two at a time. He made to chase them, then gripped the hand-rail and called up the stairs, "I wish you'd all run that fast when I tell you there's an emergency!" Jack turned back to Freya with a laugh, and found her tentatively holding a light handgun; he folded his arms, and simply watched her.

     He had spent the past 3 hours or so teaching her how to use the armoury of weapons laid out in front of them, and it had been...eventful. He'd nearly died, several times, but he forgave her; he thought she would have burst into tears and ran away if he hadn't, so, as usual, Jack just hid it behind laughter and gentle encouragement. He now watched as she held the gun gingerly, and raised it, steadily following through with every instruction he had given her, whispering every detail slowly before finally aiming, and pulling the trigger. She blinked sharply as the gun recoiled against her palms and a bullet pierced the abdomen of a cardboard cut-out Weevil. With a pained groan, the cut-out fluttered to the ground with a light crumpling sound. Freya shook slightly, breathing out with a quiver. Jack slowly approached behind her, resting one hand on her waist, the other reaching over to grip her wrist and ease the gun out of her hand.

     "Well done," he said softly, "that was good. Now...onto the matter of what gun I'm going to give you."

     "You're giving me a gun?" Freya said, shocked. Jack turned to look at her, putting a small gun together.

     "Why, shouldn't I be? Can't I trust you?" He scrutinised her.

     "No! No...I mean yes! You can trust me, I just thought...I was here to do the...odd jobs. Right?" Jack grinned.

     "Wrong." Freya gawped as he pressed a small, but sturdy black gun into her open hands. "You're here because I want you to be here. Because I want you to deal with the same stuff we deal with. The aliens. The weird stuff that the normal world has no idea how to handle. And for that, you need a gun. Not to use blatantly, but to defend yourself and your colleagues. Your friends. Yes?" Freya stood still...then nodded slowly. Jack put his hand on her shoulder gently, and smiled down at her. She avoided his eyes, and made her way back up the stairs. She heard him call as she neared the top.

     "How are your nightmares?" Jack heard nothing; the footsteps stopped. The silence was only broken by her footsteps leading away once more, and the door squeaked behind her.

      Jack looked to the end of the firing range, connecting the gun pieces with a click.

      "Well, I know you have nightmares Miss. Hannah. You would. Anyone would, after what you've been through."

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     Jack's ear comm bleeped resolutely, and he perked up, sitting upright in his tall chair.

     "Jack, might be something going on down here. Police have found a guy in his flat after neighbours complained that there were strange noises coming from it and he hadn't been out for a while. Now he's ranting and raving about aliens and being controlled like some sort of "Big Brother" experiment. To the everyday Joe, he seems completely insane...but I don't know, Jack. He seems level headed, he's explaining himself, and he's completely calm." Jack sighed. Sometimes Ianto was too kind for his own good.

      "Well, unless something actually happens, and something significant enough actually rises from the situation...we can't do anything about it. If we brought in everyone who went on about aliens and all that jazz, we'd be up to our necks in Trekkies." There was a silence at the end of the line. Jack sucked his pen.

     "Ianto? I need to hear those beautiful welsh vowels again."

     Ianto breathed out on the other end of the line. "He keeps talking about the Casino, Jack." Jack twitched. Ianto sounded cheery, "Just thought you might like to know."

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     Jack surveyed his team, as the blue, twisting screens glowed behind him.

     "We've received tip-off that there's alien involvement in the old Casino down at the Old Town. Freya, with me, we need to go check it out."

     Nothing had been explained, as such...but that was just the way Captain Jack Harkness rolled.