Rani Meets a Alien

[Gwen Elizabeth Cooper]

(( I am so sorry I've been away! Having a broken charging cable and surgery makes it hard to get on the internet! ))

"What, other than saving you?" Gwen chuckled, smiling at Sarah Jane, glad to see she was relatively okay. "I guess the more descriptive answer would include subduing some weevils and driving an S.U.V. in and out of an alien spaceship, plus having to lug around a decapitated Mr. Tall-Dark-And-Undying."

Gwen had been tensed for the entire time while waiting for Sarah Jane to wake up, and now she finally let herself relax a bit. "What I'm more worried about is what happened to you. It seems like going gallivanting about with aliens all the time is starting to be bad for your health."

[Sarah Jane]

Shaken from her trials, Sarah Jane has lost some of her usual diplomacy.

"Gwen Cooper, I've been doing this since before you were born! I know how to take care of myself." She said quite strongly. She'd sent entire species running back to their homeworld with their tail between their legs. Surely she could overcome one big bug. But she hadn't. What had gone wrong? A single tear spilled warm into her ear.

"Jack's head?" She said, it finally sinking in. "Surely not even Jack can . . . . ?!" Her mouth opens in soft horror wondering what damage she has done this day. "Is Owen. . .alright?!"

[Gwen Elizabeth Cooper]

Gwen realized her cavalier feelings about Jack's personal situation might not sit well with everyone, especially those who didn't spend all day every day around him. Added to the fact that Sarah Jane was a rather caring person, more than most, Gwen realized that simply throwing words around like "decapitated" probably weren't the tiptoes she should be taking in her friend's current state of what she guessed was an emotional mine field.

"Yes, yes! Don't worry!" Gwen smiled some more, though more of her "PC Attempting to Calm Someone Down Smile" smile, in an effort to relieve Sarah Jane's worry. "Owen is fine. Always resilient, that one. And Jack will be fine too if he isn't already. Honestly I don't know how long his whole thing takes to do, and frankly I'd rather not stick around to measure it." Gwen attempted to laugh a bit, but realized that perhaps talking about the disgusting details of Jack's healing process might be touching that same nerve she was thinking about earlier.

"But, I did mean to talk to you about something. You have been doing this before I was born." Gwen stopped for a second, and bit her tongue. "Or slightly after I was born. Or maybe when I was five." Gwen was making her strongest attempt to be delicate and flattering. Shooting and running was more of her thing. "That might be the problem. Have you ever thought of... slowing down?"

[Sarah Jane]

Gwen had a pretty good smile. There was something sweetly compelling and tough about that gap toothed grin. Sarah Jane bet Gwen could spit through it. And if Gwen did not fear for Jack, then Sarah Jane would take her word for it. Still. It would have hurt him like hell. He'd told her once that it hurt every time.

"I'm not. . . .I didn't. . . .for years I've . . . . " Sarah Jane rarely had a hard time finding words, but this moment what she thought of herself and what she knew of herself did not match.

"I've gotten so used to my friends just being there . . .Luke. Clyde. Rani. . . . " This line of thought drifts, for she'd had to let each of them go. "but . . .I was alone for so long before that. I know how to do this without any help!" It starts sinking in that she'd gone out this night behaving like the Bannerman Street Gang was running back up for her. She had not prepared as she would have back in her solo days. She hadn't even told K-9 what was going on. And Torchwood had paid the price. Now she can't even look at Gwen. Her voice is soft.

"I'm not past my pull date, Gwen Cooper."

She almost wanted to call her out for a match right then, but Sarah Jane was feeling mighty flat, and the Welsh could be tenacious.

[Gwen Elizabeth Cooper]

Sarah Jane was obviously upset. "I'm not past my pull date, Gwen Cooper."

Gwen leaned back in the chair, pulling back from Sarah Jane a bit, and crossing her arms. Gesticulating as she spoke with her hand that wasn't tucked in below the opposite arm, Gwen piped up again. "And I'm not trying to say that you are. I know how good you are in a tough spot! No one can shimmy through an air vent like you can." Gwen sighed a bit.

"Look," Gwen began again, "After we met in the mansion, I looked at all the reports U.N.I.T had on you. I was curious. I read all the stuff you had done; The Slitheen, The Bane -- you are a truly remarkable person but you've always had help. Now if you're going out in the middle of the night, solo, hunting for aliens, you've got to prepare better! I mean, Jack's immortal and Owen," Gwen smirked a bit and looked to the upper right corner of her eye, "Owen can run well enough seeing as he's all skin and bones; but what if it had just been you?"

Gwen leaned back towards Sarah Jane, and offered her hand again. "Jack says this thing; 'The twenty first century is when everything changes, and you've got to be ready.'" Gwen made a mental note to not try an American accent ever again. "Well, you've got to be ready Sarah Jane. These aliens that I see every day aren't little green men with probes. They kill for fun, or because it's like a drug, and I'm pretty sure the Devil's son is under Cardiff."

Gwen smiled again, attempting to win back Sarah Jane. "I'm not saying this because you're an 'asset to the cause' or because I'm angry with you or anything. I'm only saying this because you're my friend, and I'm worried for you."

[Jack Harkness]

Still slightly dizzy, the immortal captain slipped out of the SUV.
Using one of the amazing technique's of opening the thing from the inside and nearly tripping over his own feet as he finally touched the ground again.

The man held onto the door and took a few deep breaths again before finally looking up.

A hospital? Who was injured?
His blue eyes locked onto the doors before he hurried inside.
Half of the staff staring at him for two reasons, one: he was gorgeous, two: he had blood pretty much all over.

He flashed one or maybe two of the nurses a smile before rushing through the hospital.
Asking where to go along the way until he heard familiar voices.

Jack slowed down his pace, his feet near silent as he got closer.
Silently listening to the two before he found his Que.
"Worried? We have no need to worry over the Sarah-Jane do we?"
He had this serious light in his blue eyes as he looked at the two.
Yet still a light hearted smile.

Jack was nearly always worried when one of his team mates, friends or loved ones were hurt.
But he would trust them, trust them to tell when things became to much.
"So, I'm still a bit dizzy, how are you two?"

The man casually leaned against the door frame before he noticed they were missing a couple of people.
"Wasn't Owen around?"

[Sarah Jane]

Her left eye is starting to sport quite a shiner, and one can see the edge of stitches running up into her hair there, but her face breaks into a huge smile when she sees him. Somehow, even with his clothing and skin still darkened and sticky with drying blood, he still manages to look good.

"dang your eyes, Jack, there you are. Back from the dead and pretty as hell." It is clear she is fiercely pleased he is whole again, though still feeling to limp to reach out a hand to him.

He is there with perfect timing again, saving her day by interrupting before she need more closely examine her transgressions of the night. She'd taken a big bite out of Torchwood last night as they'd come to clean up her mess. She was hoping sight of her friend would take that haunted look out of the back of Gwen's gaze.

What was it like to bundle your friend's detached head and put it in a zip lock bag?

[Jack Harkness]

Jack flashed the lovely lady a smile, moving closer so he could softly slip his hand on Gwen her shoulder and examine his injured comerads.
"Well, the dead don't seem to like me, I'm glad you do" he grinned and noticed the bruises, cuts,bandages and medical equipment that seemed to latch itself onto Sarah.

"It's nice to see you're ok" he smiled, giving Gwen a slight squeeze before pulling out a chair and sitting down next to the two.
"And, both still gorgeous" he teased.

Jack couldn't really lie about that, these two girls were both drop dead gorgeous. And he wasn't going to hide that fact.
But it seemed business wasn't completely done yet.
"Anyone care to explain what happened?"
That serious light returned to his eyes as he observed the two.

[Sarah Jane]

After the greetings, Sarah Jane suddenly became very interested in whatever was happening outside her window, which was exactly nothing but tarmac. She didn't know where to start except and apology, but they don't make a sympathy card that reads, "Sorry you got your head cut off while I was laying around trying to get your crew killed."

For once she had nothing to say.

[Gwen Elizabeth Cooper]

Gwen smiled at Jack as he entered, filling up the room as usual. He was smiling just like always. She wondered to herself what it would be like to simply be able to live no worries and no concerns, able to bungee jump or scuba dive or fight an alien and throw all caution to the wind, just because you can pop up in half an hour. Or, maybe he just smiled all the time because he was prettier that way. She wouldn't be surprised if that was it either.

"Anyone care to explain what happened?" And there he was again. Tall, dark, and serious. For all of his levity and wittiness, he never lost sight of the goal.

"Well, um..." Gwen was at a loss for words. She couldn't stand to hurt Sarah Jane's reputation with Jack and in turn Torchwood. But at the same time, anyway she tried to deflect the blame off of Sarah Jane, it cast the light on Owen, and while he could be a complete pig on occasion, he was still her teammate. Of course, she could just lie a bit. It's not like Jack carried around an Arcateenian and could read her thoughts. "Well, Sarah Jane was, um, well she was walking around Bannerman Road, obviously, because you know she lives there and, uh, and Owen actually tracked an Alien life-form to Bannerman Road, because..." Gwen wasn't the best liar. "Well because, um, oh! Because it had a grudge against Sarah Jane from a long, long, long, long..." She had a pained look on her face, realizing she was pretty much insulting Sarah Jane. She quickly looked back to her friend, mouthed a gritted "sorry", and kept talking. "A while back. And so, I guess you found her and Owen, and I tracked you from the Hub, and this tin dog wired the ship to fly up into the sky, and I threw your body and your head in the car, and we all just ended up here!"

Gwen decided to end with another Police Woman "I'm-Telling-The-Truth-Don't Worry-Smile" to Jack, and turned back to Sarah Jane.

[Owen Harper]

Owen was listening on the other side of the door. He was lucky to hear what he heard. Owen was cooling down from his angry moment from the roof top.

“No,” Owen said, stepping inside. “You are right,” he said to Jack, but loud enough for the others to hear it. “US dead people hate you.” It was true. He was still hating Jack for bringing him back from being dead.

“The truth was this,” Owen said, walking to the end of Sarah Jane’s bed. “I was in the neighborhood. I went for a ride. You know how I can be when I get all tangled and angry being dead. So, I was driving without knowing I was doing it. Dead thought do run through this brain of mine. And I seemed to snap out of it and I found myself out of petrol. I wasn’t sure where I was but I realized it looked familiar. And next thing I know that spider thing came after me right out of the woods. And Sarah Jane was nearby,” Owen looked at her. “She saved me. So in favor I saved her. So we are even. She came to save one us Torchwood members.” He folded his arms across his chest. It was bad lie but it might make thing confuse enough and Jack will just stop questioning. “I mean, why go on when we don’t ask about your history, eh Jack?” that was a below the belt hit from Owen.

[Sarah Jane]

She half lay there listening to first Gwen then Owen defend her poor choices that night in turn. She and Gwen had history, but Owen . . . . .well, after he'd nearly died for her she supposed his little white lies were hardly unexpected, but welcome to the point of near tears.
"Oh, Gwen. Owen. You're both mighty good to have at my back, but I can't let you bend the truth to make me look better." She traded glances with Owen for a particularly long time. Something had been forged between them this night.

She let go of Gwen's hand and forced herself to meet the eyes of Captain Jack Harkness. It took quite a bit of will.

"I received a call from a young friend of mine saying she'd seen something out her window. I - I- didn't think much of it. I only had one Alien reading over class C this morning." She presses her lips together. She hadn't even checked for a new reading before she left. She hadn't even woken the computer to have it mark her destination, or told K-9. "I just bundled up and went." She said then, slightly amazed at herself, shaking her head a little now, letting her gaze drift from Jack's as she recalled her simple thrill at going out into the night. "And there was no vendetta. Nothing personal, but Gwen didn't know that." Her eyes find Gwen's her gratitude for the woman clear on her face. Now she must look at Jack again.

"It was practically my own back yard, Jack, it was hardly the invasion of the Daleks. And when I saw Owen, I was sure it was just a pervert Rani had seen in the woods. I knew I could handle a single man for goodness sake." She had not scanned with her Detector. She had not told K-9 what was going on. "Owen . . . Owen must have seen the Bug come up on the scanners. It called itself a scientist. It wanted a human to study and found me first." She swallows her embarrassment."Owen did a hostage exchange, me for him." Her sorrow and gratitude clear. "Thats when I called you. I didn't do what he said, I didn't go home. I didn't wait for back up. I didn't even think to call K-9. I just figured. . . .I'd go get Owen out." Jack, sadly, knew the rest of the tale, and had lost his head in the process. Her voice lowers to an earnest whisper. "I'm sorry, Jack."

[Jack Harkness]

It was nice to know Owen was alright, and also that Gwen was still being ever so sweet.
But having two of his team mates lie to his face and bring up things they knew he wouldn't talk about.
It hurt, not that he would deliberately show this.

The smile just vanished from his face as Owen mentioned his past.

He was about to say something to them when Sarah decided to clear things up. Her story sounding more like the truth as those of his Torchwood team.

It was, however, not good to hear one of his dear friends had just decided to hunt an alien by themselves.
Jack wanted to know when people were in danger, he'd rather have his head torn off as anyone Else's.

'I'm sorry Jack'
The words were like glass through his heart, pained but nothing that could kill him. And instead of apologizing she should be promising him never to do such a reckless thing again.
"You know that things don't get work like this right?"

It was this thing he had to do, sometimes he just had to be hard in order to protect his loved ones.
"You should have told someone..."
He slipped his hands into his pockets before getting up again.
His skin still sticky with blood as he did so.
"You nearly got two of my team killed, you nearly got yourself killed as well..."

He knew very well Owen couldn't die, and that he hated him for the fact it was his fault.
But Owen his well being still mattered to Jack. The man would become useless without a head, or any other kind of major injuries.
"I care for you Sarah-Jane, but if you get anyone killed I don't think I can be nice..."

[Owen Harper]

Owen was furious. He never held his opinions well with Jack. He rubbed off Jack. They butted heads all lot. Owen didn’t like how Jack handles things. So he was not afraid to speak what’s on his mind.

“Jack, we can handle things,” Owen said. “Life… You are born and you die. In the between we make choices. There are good ones and bad ones. The good ones are merits. Bad ones earn bad endings. Death happens to be part of it. Well, it SUPPOSED to end your existence.” Owen was not happy not happy at all. He showed it in his painful dark eyes. “We MAKE a choice. Sarah had made a choice. We all make choices…” he was sliding over about Jack. “Look, Sarah made a poor decision. Don’t you point a finger at her,” Owen stepped closer to him. “You owe Gwen and me, Ianto and Toshiko because we MADE a choice to sign up. We missed the ‘red line’ area that said forever…or beyond death…or until time ends.” He was rolling his eyes as Owen was trying to grab Jack’s collar. He stepped real close to Jack, and said to him in a low tone. But people can still hear it. “I was trying to get my eternity death card…” he stared at Jack. “And one more thing Jack…It’s not all about you!” With that, Owen walked out of Sarah’s room.

[Gwen Elizabeth Cooper]

It was now Gwen's turn to lay it on Jack. And how she could; the Welsh women were a group of people that it was never fun to mess with. She stood up, standing next to Sarah Jane who was still in the bed, the chair making an audible screech as she did so, the sharp noise putting the attention on her.

As Gwen began talking, she stared at Jack, incredulous. "And how exactly can you chide her? We do this every day, Jack. Every day! All of us, Owen, Tosh, Ianto, myself, even you! We all get in situations that we think we can handle, and it blows out of proportion! Then, one of us has to come in and save the other and well; if you're going to get mad with her you might as well be mad with me as well." Of course, Gwen knew that Jack very well could be mad with her, but was banking on the fact that perhaps today was one of his good days. "Sarah Jane made a mistake; she knows that." Gwen placed her hand on Sarah Jane's shoulder, defensively and reassuringly. "But we all make mistakes! What about when Ianto was hiding Lisa in the basement? Or when Tosh had that 'mind-reading' pendant? Owen hopped in that cage with the Weevil and you didn't care four hours later! You didn't even mention it when Martha didn't get out of the Pharm when you told her to." Gwen paused for a second, looked at Jack, and said, calmly and measurably, "And if you can forgive me for opening the Rift; you can forgive Sarah Jane."