Jason wasn't supposed to be with him. Their contact was supposed to meet them. Jack's day wasn't supposed to turn into hell.

But Jason was with him, the contact was dead, and the device was trashed. ( Plans had a way of going awry. (may be NWS for language) )

The planet was easy enough to get to. It was a corporate world, owned by a distant company, marked on every map. They wanted people to find it; it was how they made money ( Read more... )

"About time you showed up, Harkness."

Jack shrugged. "It got a little complicated." He'd covered his tracks when he'd gone to see Rory. He shouldn't have made the stop, but he'd wanted one clean thing in the middle of everything and he wouldn't risk leading the Agency to Sam or Cedric.

( Jack knew he was good, but the Agency had shown they could sometimes be better. )

Jack woke up. Not unusual in and of itself.

He didn't know where he was. Also not unusual; ( many a morning after had started like that. )

The park was deserted, not surprising given it was before dawn ( Read more... )

[ continued from here]The reapers were phasing out of the time vortex, rippling into existence, drawn by the cracks in the timeline, radiating out from here and now like blood in the water ( Read more... )

Jack's time ship was cloaked as it landed in a clearing, hidden from spying eyes and the comparatively primitive technology available in this century.

No one looked back as they made their way towards the spot where Sam was about to die, heralded by the sound of shifting rocks as they began to tumble down the mountain.

( In the nick of time. )

Jack was leaning against the wall, arms folded, watching Cedric practice. Occasionally he'd glance at Kawalsky, but his eyes always went back to Cedric.

( Waiting. )

Jack wasn't sure if it was him or the world that was vibrating faintly from not enough sleep and too much coffee, but either way, it didn't matter ( Read more... )

Jack kept his head down, sitting at the kitchen table, running calculations, planning, re-planning, working with a desperation that kept him from thinking. He didn't look up. If he didn't look up, he could be anywhere ( Read more... )