Immortal Sins

Ellis Island, New York City, USA…

The huddled masses are waiting to enter the promised land. A USIS Inspector calls out for the next lucky person.

"Harkness. Anyone? Jack Harkness. I'm looking for Jack Harkness." The inspector said.

A black haired, brown eyed man with a mustache raises his arm.

"That's me." Angelo said, happily.

"Welcome to America, Mister Harkness. There's your visa all stamped." The inspector said.

"Grazie. I mean, thank you very much, Inspector."

"Hey, wait. Stop that man!" Jack said, tackling Angelo to the floor.

Jack and Angelo's eyes meet.

"Come on now." The guard said.

"You're not Jack Harkness. The visa's mine." Jack said, showing his passport.

"It's what?" The inspector asked.

"You'll find everything's in order. The British consulate arranged for my travel through the embassy in Rome. That visa belongs to me."

"Yes sir. Terribly sorry this happened, sir." The inspector said, retrieving the visa. "Take him away. Send him back home. There you are."

"Thank you."

Cells…

"You're still here. Thought you'd be in the city by now." Angelo said, looking at Jack.

"Time to spare. Waiting for the next boat to Manhattan." Jack said.

"I also am waiting for a boat. Mine goes all the way back to Italy."

"Right. That's what they do with thieves."

"An interesting fact is, they do it also with people who forge visas."

"Good eye. Why didn't you tell them?"

"I wasn't sure, until that moment when you said, why didn't you tell them?"

"I'm on a kind of unofficial official visit, one part of the government pretending to be another part."

"You work for a government?" Angelo asked.

"Look at me. Do I look like a bureaucrat?" Jack asked.

"Never seen a man like you before. More like a soldier."

"Your English is good. Where'd you learn?"

"We had a schoolmaster in the village. He taught me. I went to him every single day because I always dreamt of coming here."

"What's the village?"

"You wouldn't know it. No one ever does. Tiny place on the Almafi Coast. And I mean, for certain, right on the coast, the whole place is holding its breath on the edge of a clifftop. You look over, hundreds of feet down to the sea."

"Sounds beautiful. Why'd you ever leave?"

"New York. They have buildings here taller than the cliff. I wanted to see that."

"You wait. They've only just started building. Years to come, they're gonna have…" Jack said, staring into space.

"What? They're gonna have what?" Angelo asked.

"Never mind. What's your name?"

"Angelo Colasanto."

"Angelo Colasanto." Jack said, using his vortex manipulator to change his visa to Angelo's name and description.

"La magia oscura."

"It's not magic. Technology. Sometimes they're indistinguishable. Hey, hey, hey."

"How does it work? Can I see it?"

"Hey, over here! We just found this man's papers. You can let him go. We're going to Manhattan." Jack said, looking at the guards.

Los Angeles International Airport…

"Hello, I'm not available, but please leave your name and number and I'll call you back as soon as I can. Thank you." Rhys said, his voice coming out of Gwen's phone.

"Rhys, it's me again. I've landed. I'm back in LA. Where are you, you bloody fool? Why aren't you picking up the phone? Call me back." Gwen said.

"Gwen Cooper to the white courtesy phone. Gwen Cooper, you have a call. Gwen Cooper to the white courtesy phone. Gwen Cooper, you have a call." Someone on the speaker said.

"This is Gwen Cooper. Hello, this is Gwen Cooper. You said I had a message." Gwen said, picking up the white courtesy phone.

"Lenses." A man said, through the phone's speaker.

"What? What did you just say?" Gwen asked.

"Lenses."

LAX restroom…

Gwen goes to the restroom and puts in the Eye-5s. She gets a text message on them. We have your mother. We have your husband. We have your child.

"Who. Who are. Who are you? What do you want? What do you want!" Gwen said, angrily.

Bring us Jack.

Gwen tries phoning Swansea, but they are not allowed to pick up the phone, "Rhys, call me, okay? Mom, if you can, call me, okay?"

Keep the lenses in. We are watching.

Apartment…

Rex's film of the incineration module is online.

"Vera! Vera! Vera!" Rex said, on the monitor.

"Rex, I'm sorry." Jared said, walking up to Rex.

"You don't have to be so tough on yourself, Jared." Rex said, while Esther closes the laptop as he enters. "You couldn't do anything about it. How many views have we got now?"

"It has over five million views." Uiharu said, frowning.

"Well, people are setting up memorial services for her too. Random people who didn't even know her." Saten said, looking at a monitor.

"I just, er. You got the footage and that's gonna make the difference. But I've been meaning to say I. I know that that must have been. I'm sorry." Esther said, looking at Rex.

Rex pours himself a drink, "I got you."

"No, really, Rex." Esther said.

"I really didn't even know her that well, okay?" Rex asked.

"You did talk to her though. You must have talked." Mikoto said.

"Look, she, she told me about her mother, her ex-husband, possibly something about a brother or a sister. I don't know, maybe not." Rex said.

"But the obituary says…" Shirai said, looking at the obituary on a monitor.

"Yeah, but what does it matter, hmm? Whoever she was, it's gone. I don't even know where she's from." Rex said, looking at Shirai.

"The news is saying San Antonio." Esther said.

"Well, then, go Spurs."

"Sorry. I don't know how to help. Except that maybe her death has changed things. They'll shut down the camps."

"No, they paused the camps. That's all they're saying, paused. And while the politicians are all denying everything, those ovens are still out there, waiting to burn."

Gwen enters, "Jack!"

"Gwen, you're back." Esther said, happily.

"Where's Jack?" Gwen asked.

"Sorry about your dad. Did you hear any news?"

"No, not really. Jack!" Gwen said, angrily.

"Jack's outside." Jared said, letting out a sigh. "Sorry."

"Jack?" Gwen asked.

Jack comes in, "Hey, I missed you. I've been searching through that Blessing stuff."

"Listen, er, you've got to come down to the car. I've got to show you something." Gwen said.

"Anything good?" Rex asked.

"No, er, just stuff from back home. Souvenir sort of thing. Just you, me, and Jared. Come on." Gwen said.

"All right, stop your nagging. Told you she missed me." Jack said, smiling.

"Yeah, today would be good, Jack, Jared." Gwen said.

"Check the lenses." Jared said, as he, Gwen, and Jack leave.

"Bad day, Gwen?" Esther asked.

Car…

Jared has Ebb and Flow in bow and arrow form, and he stuns Jack with an arrow as the Face of Boe gets into the car. He enters the sidecar to be next to Gwen and drives off.

Gwen gets a message - keep driving, "All right. Okay."

Little Italy room…

Back in Little Italy, New York City, 1927, Jack and Angelo are shown a room by an Italian speaking woman.

"I'm sorry. My Italian isn't so…" Jack said.

"She's saying there is only one bed." Angelo said, speaking Italian before looking back at Jack. "I said I'll sleep on the floor."

"On the floor, yes. He'll sleep on the floor." Jack said, doing the English thing with foreigners, speaking loudly and slowly.

"Come-a down to the shop anytime. Family butcher's is fine food. And you are family now." Mrs Giardono said, leaving them alone.

"It's a good room. And it's cheap." Angelo said, happily.

"You should save your money, Angelo Colasanto. Next couple of years, earn as much as you can. Save it all up, because you're gonna need it. Bad times ahead." Jack said.

"Why, what's going to happen?"

"Oh, so many things. Don't worry. It gets better. Then it gets worse again."

"You talk funny."

"I'm a very funny man." Jack said, and Angelo took off his shirt. "Scars. You been in a lot of fights?"

"Sometimes you have to defend yourself, you know? People say things. Hey, she was right. Not much of a view, huh?" Angelo asked.

Apart from the young lady on the fire escape opposite, lighting a cigarette.

"Ha. A person could argue." Jack said, happily.

"You like that, don't you?" Angelo asked.

"I like a lot of things."

"She's beautiful."

"You like her too?"

"Of course I do."

"What would you like to do to her?"

"You tell me." Angelo said.

"I'd strip off her clothes. Maybe a little too quickly. Something might tear." Jack said.

"Girls don't like that."

"She's not most girls. She's strong. She'd rip open my shirt."

"And what then?"

"I'd move in close, so I can smell her and she can smell me." Jack said, whispering right into Angelo's ear.

"Then what?" Angelo asked.

"Kiss her."

"Yeah?" Angelo asked, turning to face Jack.

"I'm kissing her." Jack said.

"Yeah?"

"Kissing so deep, like there's not enough air in the room. You know what that's like? When it starts being all teeth, and wet, and hot. And you're just breathing them in."

So they end up naked and in bed together. And some time has passed with the two looking at each other in bed.

"I like New York." Angelo said, happily.

"You haven't seen much yet." Jack said.

"What I've seen is, er, it's okay."

"What are you looking for? I mean, in America."

"Speed, change, new things. People moving so fast they are not looking at me, so I can move fast on my own, faster than anyone."

"Spoken like a true American."

"Really?"

"Turn out the lights. We can talk till we fall asleep."

"I thought you'd want me to go." Angelo said.

"No. I mean, if you want to stay. Turn out the lamp. You've never done this?" Jack asked.

"No. The other part, yes. This part, no."

"What happened to your eye?"

"I was born with it." Angelo said, while he has a thick red capillary running from the outer corner to the iris of his right eye.

"So, who was your first?" Jack asked.

"A boy from my village. In secret. In the woods, you know?"

"What about that schoolmaster of yours?"

"No. What makes you say that? He was my teacher. He was my friend."

"Okay. I was just joking." Jack said, laughing a little.

"But why? What's so funny? I don't understand. We just did something special. Why do you make it cheap?" Angelo asked.

"I suppose I do sometimes. I'm sorry. Really. I'm sorry, okay?"

"How did you know? About me, that I was like this?"

"Just experience, that's all."

"So anyone looking at me, would they know?"

"No. Trust me, you're safe." Jack said, looking at Angelo.

"Okay." Angelo said.

"People wouldn't know if you don't want them to know."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Okay then."

"Okay."

"But you too, mostly. Most of the time. Keep your hands down maybe."

"I really don't care what people know."

"Where are you from? Italian visa, British passport." Angelo said.

"A magical island called Torchwood."

"What does that mean? You keep saying things that don't make sense."

"You'll learn to love it. It makes me more interesting."

As they kiss, fireworks go off.

"What's that? No, really, there are bombs." Angelo said.

"Welcome to America, Angelo. Happy Fourth of July." Jack said, happily.

Car…

"Another nonstop hour of music, weather…" Someone on the radio said.

"Boring!" Jared said, changing the radio station. "I want to be kept up to date."

"And allegations continue to surface about procedures at the new medical facilities. But Oswald Danes has released a statement in which he says that a global emergency calls for emergency measures, and he advocated a swift return to the category policy."

Jack wakes up, "I'm tied down. Why am I tied down?"

"Gwen has the Eye-5s in her eyes." Jared said, sipping on some taro bubble tea.

"What?" Jack asked.

"I said that Gwen is using the Eye-5s. The Torchwood contact lenses, they're in Gwen's eyes, Jack."

"Jared's right. Somebody's taken Anwen, Rhys, my mother, the whole bloody family. And they've said if I bring you, Jack, they'll let them go unharmed. Don't try moving. You'll never get out of those knots." Gwen said, looking at Jack.

"My hands are asleep. And my feet. You and Jared tied my feet?" Jack asked.

"Of course we did, Spock. If we didn't do that, you'd get out of the car, knock us out. And turn this baby back to Venice Beach." Jared said, placing his drink into the cup holder.

"Gwen, are you sure they have your family?" Jack asked.

"I phoned a hundred times. And so did Jared. There's no reply. They've got them." Gwen said.

"I want to talk to the lenses. Look at me so I can talk to them."

"Why do you always keep thinking you can tell us what to do?"

"Pull over, or look into the rear view. Just, please, let me talk to them."

"Jack, don't fuck this up, okay? This is Gwen's family we're talking about here!" Jared said, angrily.

Gwen looks at Jack in the rear view mirror.

"Listen, whoever you are, there's more than one way to play this. Are you listening?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, there's a cursor. They're there." Gwen said.

"You want me? Let her family go and I'll come to you alone."

"Jack, tell them they can have Gwen and I too." Jared said, sadly.

"No, just me. Let Rhys go, let Anwen go, let Gwen's mother go free. You guys, you know what? Here I am. You got me." Jack said.

"Nothing." Gwen said, waiting for a response back.

"Give them a minute."

"There's just nothing now."

"Maybe they're thinking about it."

"Jack, you're such a piece of crap sometimes. Gwen's mother's name is Mary. Mary! You've known Gwen for five years and you don't know her mom's name?" Jared asked.

"All right, I'm sorry, okay?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, well, you should be, because this is all your fault. They want to kill you, Jack, but why do they want to do that?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know." Jack said, sadly.

"What have you done?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you've done something, haven't you? Way back when in that long bloody life of yours. God, you've lived so long you can't remember half of it. Now you think. Think! What the hell have you done?"

Blessed Saints' Cathedral, New York City, USA, 1927…

"I love this. I love weddings." Jack said, happily.

"I don't believe in marriage." Angelo said.

"So young, so handsome and so cynical."

"Look at them. What are their chances?"

"That's what makes it so brave and wonderful, making a promise and going forward. It doesn't matter what happens in the future. Right now, it's real and it happens and it's true. You're Catholic, right? Do you want to kneel down like that?"

"He doesn't hear me."

"He doesn't hear you? Why?"

"You know why."

"That's our padre. Wait here." Jack said, running to church/

Confessional…

"Forgive me, father, for I have sinned so many times, and that's just today. It's been about seven hundred years since my last confession. Where do I start? How about the triplets? Or the naked circus? Or that sapphic leapfrog jamboree? No. Let's just start with the sin of Father Timothy sent me." Jack said.

The priest slides the hatch open, "You're Jack Harkness?"

"Good to see you, Father. I believe we're gonna talk business." Jack said.

Sacristy…

"The Volstead Act makes an exception for sacramental wines. And the brothers upstate produce more than we can use." The priest said.

"The extra income feeds a lot of widows and orphans, I'm sure." Jack said.

"Yes, I'm doing this entirely for charity, every last cent."

"It's not very good." Angelo said.

"It's the blood of Christ, Angelo. I'm sure it's good enough." Jack said, looking down at the wine.

"This is just a sample. If you make enough profit, we'll start delivering crates." The priest said.

"We should figure out a system…" Angelo said, when men burst in and grab them. "Hey, what are you doing? Who are you?"

"It's okay. Let them take us, Angelo. It's okay." Jack said.

"Where are they taking us?"

Car…

"I don't know where. Just east." Gwen said, frowning.

"Did they say get on the Ten going east? Or on the eastbound Ten Freeway, or what? If they said highway, they could be from back east. If their grammar was wrong, it could mean that English is not their first language." Jack said.

"I didn't notice anything wrong with it."

"You're Welsh. You wouldn't notice if the vowels were missing."

"Jack, shut the fuck up!" Jared said, angrily

"Hey, Jared, Gwen, you two got guns, haven't you? One of you could smuggle yours back here to me." Jack said, looking between Jared and Gwen.

"Mine's gone. They made me leave it behind. And I told Jared to leave his weapons behind because they told me to. Just give it up, Jack, with all this planning, okay? Because if there was a way out of this, I can guarantee you we would have thought of it." Gwen said.

"Gwen, I shouldn't. There are reasons I shouldn't even say this. Secrets. But we could find Anwen. My wrist strap, it could find her. We could save her." Jack said.

"What?" Gwen asked.

"It's coded to my DNA. And it resonates to anything close to my DNA."

"If you are using my daughter as leverage, I swear to God, I will kill you myself."

"Listen to me. If we recode it to your DNA, then Anwen is a close match. It would respond to her, like a tracker. The three of us could save her together. We could rescue her."

"You could do that? You could do that recode thing?"

"Yes. A drop of your blood. A single cell would do, but a drop would be easier."

"Let's do it." Gwen said, happily.

"Pull over." Jack said.

"Okay, let's do it. We'll have to untie you."

"One hand for just a second, all right, Gwen? I'd be saving Anwen." Jack said.

"A vortex manipulator doing that? Bullshit!" Jared said, as Gwen thinks for a few moments.

"Jack. You bastard. Nice try." Gwen said, looking at Jack, then at Jared. "Thank you for letting me know a vortex manipulator can't do that, Jared."

"You're welcome, Gwen." Jared said, smiling

Gwen gets a message. Captain Jack Harkness always lies.

"Oh, mmm, hmm. Whoever this is, they know you, Jack." Gwen said.

Alleyway, NYC, 1927…

"So, Mister Harkness and his acolyte." Maranzano said.

"Yeah, and who are you?" Jack asked.

"Your friend thinks he's funny."

"He doesn't. He isn't. He's sorry. This is Sal Maranzano." Angelo said.

"You were going to undercut my price." Maranzano said.

"We found some untapped resource." Jack said.

"Rumour is you two are a pair of finocchi."

"That's not a rumour. That's a boast. And if you were really upset about some small-time competition, it'd already be hailing bullets. So we're here for another reason."

"I don't think so. Take 'em, kill 'em."

"Give us a try, Maranzano. You need men like us, off the grid. Men who could never be traced back to you. So whatever it is you need, Sal, no matter how dangerous it is, no matter how strange it is, you just found the right men."

"There's a box in a warehouse that needs to find its way to another warehouse."

"You can count on us." Jack said, smiling.

"You will not look in the box." Maranzano said.

"Sure thing."

"You will swear on everything that is holy you will deliver the box, but you will not look inside."

"I promise."

"Then we got a deal. Tomorrow night, Gallaco Wharf, Bay Five."

"Get going. Get lost." A thug said, looking between Jack and Angelo.

Little Italy room…

Jack is packing a suitcase.

"You're running away?" Angelo asked.

"No." Jack said.

"That's mine. What are you doing? You're packing my things." Angelo said, unlocking the suitcase.

"You need to go now. There's a plan."

"And I'm not part of your plan? Look at your hands. Not a scar on them. I'm tougher than you."

"Maranzano's people have stumbled across something they're not supposed to have. I've got to stop them."

"You made this happen? You've planned this. Since when? Since you got on the boat to America?"

"Just get out town, Angelo. These people are bad. You don't want to be on their list. Get far away." Jack said.

"Who are you doing this for? The government in England? Or the other thing you said, Torchwood?" Angelo asked.

Jack gives Angelo money, "For the train. Go to the West Coast. You're handsome enough. Get into the movies."

"I'm not letting you send me away." Angelo said.

"Why? Because you wouldn't know how to get another man? Because you're not brave enough?"

"You think I'm with you because it's easy? It's not easy, trust me."

"I know. I hear the beads clicking at night, Angelo. Everything we do, you ask for forgiveness afterwards. That's just sex. Imagine if it was love. What would He say then, your God? What would he say if two men could love? Oh, but no. No, that's impossible. And if it's impossible, then you can't stay with me." Jack said.

"You. You're an ass. For a man who knows a lot of things, you're not so bright. Think about it. I grew up in a village with two hundred people. Only two hundred. The sun would rise and the sun would set over the same two hundred people. And that was it. That was my world. And look at me now. I'm a bootlegger in New York City with you in my bed. You think any of your little secrets can change my life more than it's already changed? And yes, I, I feel guilty about what we do. It hasn't made me stop doing it. Besides, I always hoped If God is love, maybe he loves me too." Angelo said.

"That's blasphemy."

"I think that's Christianity. You're unpacking my things?" Angelo asked, while Jack was emptying the suitcase.

"I've got this friend. He's called the Doctor. He explores the world with companions. It looks nice." Jack said.

"Are you saying that I can stay?"

"Maybe."

Warehouse…

Jack hands the wrench to Angelo and uses his bracer to open the refrigeration door.

"Oh dio. What's all this?" Angelo asked.

"Ammonia refrigeration. Of course. The best they could do in 1927." Jack said.

"They said don't look in the box."

"Yeah, right."

"What is it? What's inside?"

"Someone, someone way above Maranzano, they found something, a weapon. They told Maranzano to hold it until after the next state election, then ship it to Albany. Maranzano doesn't know what he's got, but he's terrified of it." Jack said, opening the box. "Can't say I blame him."

"No. No, that's, what?" Angelo asked.

A tentacle-like thing with four hooks on the end rises up.

"It's a parasite. Like a bug." Jack said.

"A parasite? Tell me more about it." Angelo said.

"Good man. It's a species of Brainspawn treated as vermin on more than one hundred and fifty planets that I know of, and valued as dinner on one other. It tastes like oysters."

"You did not." Angelo said, scoffing.

"I had to be polite. Now this part drills into the brain of the host and deposits its larvae there. Little worms, sharp as needles, pushing into the brain very slowly. You go insane, but it takes years. Franklin Roosevelt, he's going to be elected Governor of New York this November. But he wouldn't start making the really crazy decisions until his second term as President. Result, America destabilises, pulls out of the war, Germany rises, the Third Reich triumphant and there's a whole new history sprawling out."

"You mean someone is changing the future?" Angelo asked.

"Destroying it. Turning order into chaos and feeding off the results." Jack said.

"Who would do such a thing? These people above Maranzano?"

"They're just being used by someone called the Trickster's Brigade. Believe me, you don't want to meet them. Something tells me, Jared, one of the Doctor's companions, has met one of them. One of the Trickster's Brigade."

"What sort of men are they?"

"They're not men at all. They're not even human." Jack said.

"Okay. Okay." Angelo said.

"Oh, he likes you."

"But it's cold, yeah? So it's safe."

The Brainspawn lunges at them, and Jack shoots it. Then he pours a liquid from a vial onto it.

"That'll dissolve it." Jack said, shutting the box.

"So, the mission is complete." Angelo said.

"We just saved the world, Angelo. And no one will ever know."

"Then, did I pass? Can I stay with you like the Doctor? Learn all the secrets?"

An alarm bell rings.

"Here's one of the secrets. Run." Jack said, running away with Angelo.

Alleyway…

They come to a locked gate in a fence.

"Quick. Come on, up. Go." Jack said.

"Hold it. Stop right there." A policeman said.

Jack boosts Angelo over the fence.

"Take my hand." Angelo said, and the police shoot Jack. "Grab my hand. No!"

Jack is shot in the head. Angelo runs, but gets caught and brought back to the scene.

"All right, get him in there. Get him up the stairs. Go. Step up, please." The policeman said.

"Jack." Angelo said, locked into the police wagon.

"Meat cart's on the way for the other one. You'd better take the main gate. Off you go."

The police don't see the corpse come back to life and run off.

Car…

"It's me." Gwen said, sadly.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"It's me. I caused this. I made this happen. I knew Torchwood was toxic right from the moment I joined up, the very first day, but I stayed."

"I'm glad you did."

"Stop being so nice. We left nice behind a hundred miles back. I'm trying to be honest, okay? Because do you know what the worst thing is of all? Out of all the shit we have seen, all the bloodshed, all the horror, do you know what is worse than all of that? I loved it. I bloody loved it. And I'd keep telling Rhys I was sorry, and I'd say to little Anwen I'm sorry, but I loved it so much. I knew things no one else knew and, oh, I felt so special. And when we lost people, it was so, so big and I could say it was worth it. Because the bigger it was, the more important I was. And the more people we lost, the more that meant I was a survivor and I was better than them. My God, this is all my fault and now they've got my beautiful little girl and I wished this on her."

"I used to think the same about Torchwood."

"That's what I'm saying. Have you got what I'm saying to you, Jack? What I'm saying is no more. Because I know exactly what you're thinking, Jack Harkness. I know it. She won't do this. Not really. Not my Gwen. No, Gwen, she can't hurt me. Gwen loves me. She'd never hand me in. Well, this is about my daughter. And I swear, for her sake, I will see you killed like a dog right in front of me if it means her back in my arms. Understood?"

"Understood. And let me tell you. Now that I'm mortal, I'm gonna hang on to this with everything I've got. I love you, Gwen Cooper, but I will rip your skin from your skull before I let you take this away from me. Understood?"

"Understood. I feel like I know you now better than I've ever done before."

"Gwen, Jack, being a part of Torchwood or traveling with the Doctor. It is absolute hell knowing everything. Knowing what is to come. Knowing who will live or who will die. I absolutely hated it for the longest time. Now I know how all of those fanboys or fangirls that end up falling into the Whoniverse like I have. I just wish I could go home. Home away from all this, you two. Because I'm done. I'm done. And I want this fucking Miracle Day to be over. Because I feel like the deaths of Owen, Tosh, and Ianto were my fault. But after all the good we had. It was fun. Despite all the bad. Understood?" Jared asked, looking between Gwen and Jack.

"Understood." Gwen and Jack said, at the same time.

"Yeah. Right at the end." Jack said.

"Mmm. Right at the end." Gwen said.

"Yup. Right at the end." Jared said, smiling.

Sing Sing Prison, New York, USA, 1928…

Jack meets Angelo as he gets out of prison.

"Nice suit. Look, it's all right. Don't panic. It's me. I'm the same man." Jack said.

"I saw you. I saw you get shot." Angelo said.

"I got better."

"You got shot in the head. I saw it. I saw the blood. I saw your body."

"Want to see it again?"

"Shut up, Jack! This is so wrong. Tell me what happened. You were dead."

"Clearly I wasn't. I was playing dead. Then I cleared out. I went to Los Angeles."

"No, I saw you dead." Angelo said.

"But I'm alive. Feel. You wanted to learn the secrets? This is the best secret of all." Jack said.

"You're alive."

"Yeah, I'm alive. I came back, Angelo. I came back for you. Believe me, I have never done that before. I even got us that same old room."

"You came back for me?"

"Yes. Yes I did. You don't know whether to hit me or to kiss me, do you? Come on, you can try both."

Little Italy room…

Angelo rips Jack's shirt open, sending buttons flying.

"No scars." Angelo said, looking at Jack's chest.

"You keep learning." Jack said, smiling.

"No. I don't know what you are."

"I'm Jack."

"That's not the answer."

"It's an answer. First of many. Come on. You've been locked away for a year. I know you'll like this. I can feel that you'll like this." Jack said, while they kiss on the bed, Angelo stabs the immortal in the side. "What the hell, Angelo? What did you do?"

"Sei il diavolo."

"I am not the devil."

"It's the only way. The devil seduces with confidence." Angelo said, raising the knife and Jack grabs his hands.

"No. No." Jack said, punching Angelo off him.

"Stay away from me, devil!" Angelo said, stabbing Jack again, this time through the heart.

"No!" Jack said, dying.

Their landlord and landlady are present when he revives.

"Il diavolo. Il diavolo!" Giardono yelled.

"Jack." Angelo said.

"Il diavolo!"

The butcher stabs Jack again multiple times.

Meat locker…

Jack is hanging from his wrists, and the local community is gathered to watch him come back to life.

"I don't understand. Angelo, I don't understand. What did he do?" A girl asked.

"We can show you." Giardono said.

"E'un miracolo." An elderly woman said.

"A miracle?" Angelo asked.

"I want to see. Do it again." A black man said.

"Tony." Giardono said, speaking Italian.

"No. No." Jack said.

Tony shoots Jack. An elderly woman fills a bottle with his blood. Jack revives, scaring them all.

"Diavolo!" Everyone yelled.

"Angelo. Angelo. Don't go. No!" Jack said, worried.

The men in the crowd take turns killing Jack. One slashes him with a knife, another uses a meat hook. Finally, their bloodlust is sated, and three well-dressed men in suits are there, looking at Jack.

"I don't know. I just don't know what it is." Frines said.

"Hmm. How much is the butcher asking?" Ablemarch asked, who is an African American man.

"Ten thousand. Not too much for something with so much potential." Costerdane said.

"And we'd own him together?" Frines asked.

"A partnership. What do you say?"

"Agreed." Ablemarch said.

"Agreed." Frines said.

"Agreed." Costerdane said.

They clasp each other's right wrists to form a triangle.

Mesa, California…

And back to now. Gwen, Jack, and Jared are leaning against the car at 5am.

"This is it. It's been a long time coming. All those years." Jack said.

"Jack, what's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? Not just on Earth." Gwen said.

"I'm not doing this. I'm not giving final speeches."

"Just tell me. Anywhere in the universe."

"I saw a firebird once. A tiny little thing, even smaller than a hummingbird."

"Oh?"

"Literally made of fire. It only lives for a minute. It blazes different colours and sings. It gets so bright you have to close your eyes. And when you open them, it's gone."

"Oh."

"But the image stays behind your eyelids for longer than it was alive."

"Now Jared, tell me one. What was the most beautiful thing you've ever seen? Not just on Earth." Gwen said.

"My first adventure with the Doctor. I saw the end of the Earth. Jack, you will be there. As the Face of Boe." Jared said, happily.

"And what was the end of the world like?" Gwen asked.

"It was sad. Really sad. At the end of the adventure. The Doctor, Rose, Team RWBY and I then got fries. Or as you know them, Gwen. Chips."

"Chips after seeing the end of the world. That sounds lovely right about now. So Jack, tell me about your life, all the things that you've never said. How many children did you have, Jack?"

"I've lived a lot of lifetimes, Gwen. I can't tell you everything." Jack said.

"A lot of lifetimes. That's a consolation, isn't it? Is it? I mean, you've had more lives than anyone." Gwen said.

"It's not enough. I don't want to die."

An SUV drives along the road below them.

"I know." Gwen said.

"Me too. Jack, I trust you as I do River." Jared said, frowning.

Meat locker…

Angelo has lowered Jack to the floor and is removing his bonds, "I'm so sorry, Jack. It just. It went crazy, like bloodlust. I was so scared."

"Aren't you gonna take the wrist strap?" Jack asked.

"I'm a good thief. I could have taken it any night. You'd better clean up. We've got to go. Can you stand?" Angelo asked.

"Give me a minute."

Angelo wipes the blood from Jack's bare feet, "I bought some inattention from Nico, the guy who's supposed to be watching you, but it won't last forever. You can put these on."

"Who were the three men?" Jack asked, putting on the clothes.

"What men?" Angelo asked.

"There were three men. Like they were making an agreement."

"I don't know. Hurry up."

Alleyway…

"Hurry, there's a train out tonight." Angelo said.

"Train where? Where are we going?" Jack asked.

"Like you said, we'll go to the West Coast, Los Angeles together." Angelo said, when Jack starts to climb the fire escape. "Jack. Jack!"

Rooftop…

"Where are you going?" Angelo asked.

"I left something here." Jack said, opening a vent.

"You left something in a vent on a roof?"

"Ha. Never go far without it." Jack said, taking out his gun and his greatcoat.

"Okay, but now we go."

"I'm going, yeah. Time to move on. But not with you."

"I'm sorry. I was terrified, Jack. They said you were the devil, but other people said you were a blessing."

"Something happened to me once, a long way away. Time itself changed me to a fixed point. And now I can't die. I suffer and I perish, but I always come back. I've lived through a lot of Earth's past and a lot of its future. And I'll keep on living this life forever."

"In the future, are we together?" Angelo asked.

"What does it matter?" Jack asked.

"Are we together?"

"We can't be, because one day you're gonna die and I won't."

"Then we forget the future. We make the moment now. We make a promise and we go forward."

"Angelo, don't."

"What? You're lonely too. You said you want a companion."

"Don't make me do this."

"You're not going without me."

"Just let me go."

"But you can't. I'm never gonna let you go. I could travel this whole wide world, but where would I find another man like you? Please, don't leave me on my own." Angelo said, looking at Jack.

"I'm sorry, Angelo, but this is the story of my life. It always ends the same way. You kill me. Men like you, you kill me." Jack said, falling backwards off the building.

"No!" Angelo said, running down the stairs to the ground. "No! No, no, Jack!"

But when Angelo gets there, Jack is gone.

Mesa, California…

The SUV drives towards Jack, Gwen, and Jared, and stops. Two burly bodyguards get out, then a slim woman.

"Know her?" Gwen asked.

"No." Jack said.

"Nope. I can't remember everyone and everything, Gwen." Jared said, sadly.

"Okay." Gwen said.

"Thank you. You followed the instructions as far as I can tell. Captain Harkness, the last mortal man. It has been a long journey." Olivia said, as a red laser sight runs down the burliest of the guards, and an energy beam shot hits the ground at his feet. "What the hell? Find out who that is."

"It's on you." Gwen said.

"Who is it?" Jack asked.

"What the hell are they doing?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know." Jared said, and the sniper prepared for another shot.

"Gotcha." Mikoto said, tossing another arcade coin into the air.

Apartment…

And now, how Rex, Esther, Mikoto, Shirai, Saten, and Uiharu got to Mesa.

"Check the lenses." Jared said, as he, Gwen, and Jack leave.

"Bad day, Gwen?" Esther asked.

The computer beeps. Esther checks the Eye-5 software, and it says blocked. She accesses the cache and gets the text messages that Gwen has been receiving.

"Rex. Girls." Esther said, calling Rex and the girls from Academy City over.

"Yeah?" Rex asked.

"What is it?" Shirai asked.

"Don't tell me. They got into trouble again." Mikoto said.

"Rex, Mikoto, Shirai, Saten, Uiharu, you got to see this. Jared gave me a hint. A vital hint to let us know what is going on. I was just checking the cache on the Eye-5s. Look what it says." Esther said, looking at the laptop.

"Can we track them?" Rex asked.

"Jared must have installed a tracker on it." Saten said.

"It is possible. Knowing how he is about friends. With concern." Uiharu said, walking over to a monitor. "Yes. We can track them."

"Oh, Gwen." Rex said, frowning.

Mesa, California…

"You ready?" Rex asked.

"I'm ready." Esther said.

"Must be Rex, Esther, the Railgun, and her friends. She's still got Anwen." Gwen said.

"Not for long. Uh, you've got a little something on you there. An electrical shock from several miles away. Now unless you want to be diagnosed Category One…" Jack said.

"Especially by Tokiwadai's Railgun or a level four teleporter from Judgement." Jared said, when Olivia raises her arms. "I suggest you put your guns down."

The bodyguards obey. Jack's hands are free. Gwen, Jack, and Jared pick up the guns.

"Okay, get back. Get back! Back." Gwen said, aiming her gun at Olivia.

"Her hands are up." Rex said.

"Thank goodness." Uiharu said, sadly.

Esther makes a phone call, "Go, go, go."

Swansea Bay home…

"All right, go, go, go." A SWAT team member said, while armed police burst into the house and shoot one man. "Grid one. Check him out."

"One down. Living room clear." Another SWAT team member said.

"Spread out, follow the grid."

"Yes, sir. Jackson, with me."

"Rhys, I can't believe it. We got you, don't worry. You're all right." Andy said, running up to Rhys.

"You took your bloody time." Mary said, annoyed.

"Yes, hello, Mrs. Cooper. It's been frantic. We got this call. I was off duty…"

"Gun, gun, gun." Rhys said, as Andy shoots the injured man with the gun.

"Shots fired." The SWAT team member said.

"I've never shot anyone before." Andy said, looking at Rhys.

"Where's Gwen? Andy! What's happened to Gwen?" Rhys asked.

Mesa, California…

Rex and Esther drive up to where Jack and Gwen have Olivia and her bodyguards under guard. Shirai teleports in with Saten and Uiharu before teleporting away and back with Mikoto.

"It's okay. It's okay. Your family and baby, they're safe." Esther said.

"Next time, just ask for help. I'm sick of Torchwood and Judgement acting like amateur clowns." Rex said.

Gwen hugs Rex, "Oh, you did it. Thank you."

Jack hands his gun over to Esther, "Got it?"

"Thank you. And you, you're gonna live." Gwen said.

"It's a talent of mine." Jack said, smirking.

"I meant every word I said."

"So did I."

"Me too. I meant every word I said. About well, everything." Jared said, looking between Gwen and Jack.

"Good." Gwen said, looking at Olivia. "And as for you, you'd better pray that death comes back to this planet by the time I'm finished with you."

"So tell us who you are before I let Gwen Cooper or Mikoto Misaka loose. Because this has gotten personal." Jared said, and an electrical shock came out of Mikoto's head.

"I don't see that anything's changed. You're still coming with me, Jack." Olivia said.

"Why would I do that?" Jack asked.

"You'll want to come with me because I can take you to the one man who knows how the Miracle began."

"Who's that?"

"Angelo. Angelo Colasanto. He's waiting for you, Jack. He's been waiting for such a very long time."