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Somewhere outside the dorms: Wee hours of Friday morning

Jack had crashed out early Thursday night, with the predictable result that he woke up in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Since staying in the dorms held absolutely no appeal, he got up, got dressed, (deciding a shirt was unfortunately necessary given the weather), threw on his swoopy coat, and headed out into the night.

A sudden break in the clouds left him staring up into the sky, and he lay down on top of a picnic table, hands folded behind his head, and tried to figure out which star was Parker's.

[ooc: open! But thread with Jack and Parker locked to them, please.]

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"Oh, you can call. So I can laugh." Parker grinned, bumping her arm against his. "And pass the hat." She rested her chin in her hands, studying him. "Isabel said you guys talked about the Time Agency tests."

Jack didn't answer right away, distracted by wondering how much Isabel had told Parker. "We did," he finally answered, voice carefully neutral.

"She said you worked out whatever it was." Parker studied him. "They really did a number on you, didn't they?" She sighed. "I get why, after talking to Captain Jack. I just don't get why you're okay with it."

"We did, and it really wasn't that big of a deal." Jack didn't pull away, but he did shift slightly, muscles tensing almost imperceptibly, enough to put a bit of distance between them. "And what is there to not be okay with? It's done, it's over."

Parker thought over recent talks they had, and some of what Captain Jack had said to her, and tried to phrase it so Jack wouldn't immediately reject what she was saying. "They want you because of what we talked about before. How you can stay separate from what you do. Take sides without worrying about the legalities." She closed her eyes, putting it into words. "I'm worried they'll use that up. Use *you* up, and leave you hanging. Are you sure this is what you want? Something that alienates you from Isabel, makes you... tense." She patted his arm without looking at him. "Withdrawn?"

"You don't get it, do you, Parker?" he asked gently. "This me here, this isn't who I'll be when I leave, and it's my ability to stay separate that lets me have this. Because no matter how much I love it here, I know it's temporary." He deliberately relaxed, relaxed against her, made himself sound cheerful. Didn't tell her that the temporary nature was why he could enjoy it. "That's why they want me, that's what they wanted to make sure of, that all this hadn't changed me. It hasn't." He lifted his head to meet her eyes squarely, almost challengingly. "You know that."

Parker looked at him, and nodded, unable to deny it. And unable to avoid knowing that one side fed the other; that he was too deeply distrustful of any peace or normality to believe it would last for very long. He could want it, but not trust it. And so he kept that colder side in reserve at all times. "I'll quit asking," she whispered. "I do wonder how they used me against you though," she said lightly. "I can't figure out the angle they would have used."

Part of him was relieved she was going to let it go. A much smaller part of him was disappointed, but not surprised. "Do you really want to know?" he asked. "I'll tell you exactly what happened if you want me to."

Parker rolled her eyes, and thwapped him lightly. "Would I be asking if I didn't? I keep imagining you had to watch us be tortured, or bombed, or blown up. I have a very good imagination, Jack. Give me a context."

Jack bowed his head for a moment, breathing deep, then started explaining. "They read my memories, used them to set up these simulations. They were all in my head, but they felt completely real. There were two. The first was so they could figure out who to use for the second."

He glanced at her, then away, focusing his gaze on his hands, striving to keep his voice matter-of-fact. "They made me choose. They were going to burn you and Isabel to death unless I chose one of you to die quickly. I could feel that, taste it, smell it," he shuddered, but quickly got himself under control, "so I had to choose."

And again, Parker wanted to track these people down and beat them to death with a crowbar. Did they have to get so detailed? "Did you go for who could help you survive, or who you wanted to protect more?" she asked before she thought about it, then winced. "Oh."

"I'm sorry," he breathed, never questioning that she'd figured it out. "I had to."

"Don't ever apologize for that. Idiot." She leaned against him, keeping her voice soothing and warm. "So they made explicit what I could figure out as soon as I asked the question. It just proves they're very, very dim."

It made him smile, just a bit, and her tone eased him. "Yeah, they're not bright. But it felt real, and I couldn't get past it. It was all a set-up for the next one, anyway."

Parker rubbed his arm, keeping her eyes on the stars. "What happened in that one?" Anything that had death threats as a set-up could not be good.

Jack closed down, eyes shuttering as he looked away. "Isabel," he said softly. "I screwed her over. Literally," he added with a mirthless chuckle, "ended up with her - and you - hating me."

Parker frowned, then shook her head. "Okayyy... I don't get the how of that, and I don't get the why of it. What was the point? What were they trying to find out?"

"The how I'll keep to myself," his smile was tinged with apology, "but why?" He shrugged. "I think they wanted to see how I'd react, get me to a point where I'd recognise that life is so much harder with people in it. I already knew that, but I guess they had to be sure. And now they know."

"They suck beyond belief." Parker's lips thinned. "Like they aren't people? Like giving your loyalty to just an Agency and an ideal is so much better? Bastards." Parker's hand tightened on his arm. "So now they know you'll be enough like Captain Jack to not have to worry about you, do they?"

"I guess they do." He suddenly had to move, and he pulled out of Parker's grip and leapt off the table. He turned to face her, hands held out to his sides. "And now you know what happened."

"Yeah." Parker leaned back on her hands, watching him. "Was that so hard? Telling me?" Her voice softened. "Didn't learn anything I didn't expect, Jack."

He knew it was completely irrational - one of the things he loved about Parker was that she knew him so well - but it hurt. "I guess not. Should have known I wouldn't be telling you anything new."

She studied him a moment, then got off the picnic table. "You'll protect people to the point of picking the person who needs it most. You want to keep your friends and what you have here, but you're willing to give it up because you want adventure and saving people and the universe." Parker cocked her head. "You're more ruthless than I am. Which is saying something." Her voice grew softer. "Nothing I'd change about you." Nothing that could be changed.

Solemn, he watched her, then a smile very slowly started to appear. "Thanks, Parker."

Parker walked over, then nudged him in the side. "I'm finally getting tired. Let's go in. We can eat popcorn and watch Gorilla Rex again until I zonk out."

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Somewhere outside the dorms: Wee hours of Friday morning

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