Series 1 RP for twmagdalena

[quitehomoerotic]

A rare evening alone and Jack should have known things would never go to plan. He told the team to go home, to have dinner, go to the pub, whatever it is normal people do with their evenings. But he hadn't bargained for the six Weevils that appeared in Cathays park.

He dealt with it, of course, but not before loosing a great amount of blood. Not enough to kill him straight away, but enough to kill him slowly. To wait until he got back to the empty Hub (and oh was he thankful it was empty) and die there. He sat at his desk and tried to stop the bleeding, but there was little that could be done and the next thing he knew was when he was taking a heavy breath and opening his eyes back to life.

It hadn't been a long death, half an hour, maybe. But it was a sluggish one. Took the drive and energy out of him. He sat there in his bloodied clothes, and instead of change, he just sighed. Sighed and looked out of the doors, staring into the nothingness of the empty Hub.

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[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"I'm not hiding," he corrected. "Just keeping my personal business personal. There's no reason for people to know things that would only scare and upset them."

He looked up at her and heaved out another heavy sigh. He supposed he'd asked for it in a way, Gwen Cooper. It was her passion, fire and the fact that she never seemed to give up that made him interested in her in the first place, so he should hardly be shocked that she'd be the same where he's concerned.

[twmagdalena.livejournal.com]

"We're not children, Jack," she reminded him. Her heart beat just a bit faster.

And then he sighed at her, and she looked away, laughing falsely. If anything, she felt a bit foolish. A bit like she'd overstepped some line that she hadn't realised was there until she'd blundered over it. Jack was an incredibly informal sort of a boss -- it was easy to mistake his easy charm for a sort of intimacy. Especially after a few lessons from him with firearms.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"No," he agreed, "children aren't scared of anything, they don't know any better." He smiled a little and looked over at her.

"It was a Weevil. A pack of Weevils," he tells her. An olive branch of sorts reached out. An answer to a question she didn't ask. "Caught me off guard, that's all. Oh and don't worry, I didn't drive like this." He tried to inject a little humour. His defence mechanism so many times.

[twmagdalena.livejournal.com]

She huffed a little, a noise that could have been a laugh or could have been a sigh, but was, in reality, somewhere between the two. "I suppose that's something," Gwen allowed. "You'd've been swerving all over the road and scare some traffic patrol half to death."

Her hands were held in her lap, fingers absently drumming on her thighs a bit. "Take off the shirt, please," she blurted, barely even registering the potential suggestiveness of her request. "It's just... so red." Feeling still a bit foolish, she added weakly, "And red's not your colour in the least."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Oh I do that too," he pointed out with a slight smile. "Usually makes driving a little more interesting. Brightens up the day." He was diverting, making light of the situation. But that's how he deals with things. He needed his outlet as much as the next.

The request surprised him, but he nodded. He decided against the obvious and easy comment to make. He could understand her discomfort at seeing him like that. "I'll change," he nodded and spoke with a gentle voice.

He stood and pushed himself from his desk, attempting not to appear still a little woozy on his feet. "A fresh coffee wouldn't go amiss," he suggested with a smile as he paused at the hatch in the corner. "And one of those pastries. If we've still got them."

[twmagdalena.livejournal.com]

"I'll have a look," Gwen agreed, and watched him wobble a bit. She dug her fingers into her leg to resist the urge to get up and help him, and probably offend his pride. "But I think Owen got into the last of them."

She waited until he'd disappeared down the hatch before getting up to make coffee, taking her mug of tea along with to sip as she fussed. As luck would have it, though, the fridge yielded up one of the pastries Ianto had fetched for everyone's breakfast, and she put it on a plate as the coffee brewed.

He seemed more himself when she got back up with his coffee and pastry. You don't have to pretend with me, she wanted to say, but it seemed rude.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

When he returned up the ladder Jack had washed and changed. Not a sign that he'd been dead less than an hour ago but for the slight circles under his eyes.

"Brilliant!" He smiled when he saw the pastry. He was easily pleased by food goods.

He gestured out of his office and over towards the sofa outside. "Shall we?" Walking over he took a seat and leaned his head back a little before taking the coffee and plate from her.

[twmagdalena.livejournal.com]

"We shall."

Gwen trailed after him, watching him carefully for signs of that shakiness she'd seen earlier. He looked just exhausted, and she felt for him, truly she did, for having to go through this alone so often -- for god only knows how long.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack focused on the pastry and the hot mug in his hand. A welcome distraction from the death and from having to evaluate her reaction.

"You know these things are pretty good," he nodded in an attempt to sideline the conversation even further. Truth was if she questioned him he wasn't at all sure how he'd answer. He'd become comfortable with keeping his true nature a secret.