Getting Better... Somewhat. (Open)

[captain jack harkness]

Well Jack managed to avoid getting shut into an airlock or shot when they were in that main room together. It seemed like that Laura Roslin or whoever she was had taken charge for now. Something about being a President somewhere or some place. Where she was from wasn’t a place he was familiar with or knew about. However for now Jack thought he would place nice with those around him. Even though he was going to do what he did normally, work beyond and away from what they were trying to set up. Sure he would make it look like he was going on along with it and taking part of everyday life they were trying to set up here. But he was working behind the scenes, being typical Bloody Torchwood as it was often referred to back home.

Jack didn’t play by anyone’s rules but his these days and well maybe the Doctor’s okay the Doctor’s rules mostly. But he was on his own here and not sure whom he could trust or get along with. Yeah there he and we some rather lovely people here wouldn’t mind a good shag with but he knew no one was comfortable enough for them to take his advances yet. Give it time and human needs…. Or where ever they were… would take over and make them want and need that shag to make things feel like normal. When that happens, Jack wouldn’t be too far away. The place and century he was born and lived in for a while, sex was just like handshake. There were no bonds and ties… it was just sex and nothing more. Though he loved Ianto and needed him, they had an understanding with each other about that.

Jack found roaming around what was called the Fourth Tower. It looked like and had everything to sustain life. There were some machines that made up food as someone pointed out. They already had sleeping quarters assigned to them by that lady who pretty much took over the role of being in charged. Jack was just roaming around the hallways with nothing to do and needed to find something to kill his boredom. He needed to get his vortex manipulator working again, cursing the Doctor from using the sonic on it and not allowing him teleport between time and space.

After roaming around for a few moments, he made his way into the mess hall and sat down at one of the tables. His arms folded on the table and his head came to rest on those arms. His eyes staring ahead, wondering about Ianto and Gwen again as well as how he was going to get out of here. For all the things he hated about the 21st Century, he found himself missing those things. One could say that Jack was truly home sick which was strange seeing as he never really felt like belong anywhere or had a home… Well that wasn’t true there had been a time when he was homesick for the TARDIS and The Doctor but he learned where his place was and its where he came back to after traveling with the Doctor and Martha…

[dr. temperance "bones" brennan]

If there was one thing Doctor Temperance Brennan could not stand, it was not knowing something. She prided herself on her genius-level IQ and her broad range of knowledge.

Her frustration levels were reaching new heights at her current surroundings. Logic offered two solutions. The first was a dream. Evidence to support was the man who was shot but did not die, the appearance of this place, and the delusions of those surrounding her. Getting out would be fairly simple: wake up.

The second solution was much less pleasant. She, along with everyone else here, could have been drugged and kidnapped. Copious amounts of hallucinogens over long periods of time could account for the mad assertions made of being the president of a colony Brennan had never heard of.

In this scenario, the only way out would be to discover who brought them all here in the first place. Brennan knew they would all likely have to work together against their common enemy, and she didn't think they were capable.

As shown in that disaster of a first impression, half the people here were prone to immediate hostility. Especially against something called a "cylon," which, to further irritate her, Tempe knew nothing about.

In order to try and learn more about this place, Brennan found herself in what was probably their eating area. Her first instinct was to distrust any food given to her in this place; rationality argued she'd be of no use to anyone starved.

Common sense dictated that such an elaborate ruse would not exist if the sole purpose of their capture was to murder. With that in mind, Brennan wondered at the seemingly random jumble of people here...

As if reading her thoughts, the man that most puzzled Brennan was also wandering this corridor. Captain Jack something or other. Brennan, embarrassingly, hadn't been paying the best of attention.

Unfortunately, although he was obviously distraught - for reasons she could probably guess - Brennan hadn't the social skills to even begin to contemplate how to formulate her words to begin to open a conversation with anyone trapped here.

She found herself left standing awkwardly off to the side, attempting to appear as if she was contemplating her options for sustenance.

[captain jack harkness]

Since that day in the main room or whatever it was, Jack found himself wondering who this president was and where she claimed to be. When alone, he had opened his Vortex Manipulator and opened up the map of all known places and searched for that place the “president” and the female claimed to be from. When he couldn’t find anything, he typed in a search for what she said, along with the cylon things and that common word they used Frak or whatever it was. Unable to find anything on those things and never hearing of the made Jack wondering if everyone was drawn from another reality, another existent plane in order for some greater goal. Which was a great possibility but Jack wasn’t too sure... it was too early on and not even answers for all the questions.

When Jack needed his team the most, they were not here. Gwen was the perfect people person and Ianto was really good at getting information. Jack found the coward within him wanting to come out and run away from all of this. The two people who seemed to know each other Larua and Kara or whatever their names were had Jack frustrated beyond anything. Not because they killed him and he pulled back to life again by something he didn’t understand but because they were not willing to listen to him. Put all the people together in place and add their ages together, they wouldn’t even be close to how old he was. Sure he looked young but he was over thousands of years old.

The food and water was something he left untouched and had walked away when the group had gathered for a meal earlier. He wasn’t in the mood to eat; it was something he could go without for a while. Jack wanted to explore the place but he didn’t have anyone there that he trusted enough to watch his back or be his wingman when it came down to it. Since he left the main area where they had awoke, he found some time to explore mostly looking or a place where he could work on his wrist strap in peace and quiet. The last thing he needed was anyone stumbling across his piece of technology that was beyond their years.

If he could get the thing working and have a way out then he would take it, find the Doctor and come back here. The Doctor would know what to do, how to make this alright again. Jack had his great coat laying on the table beside him, the sleeves of his light blue shirt rolled up pass his elbows. The suspenders were up around his shoulders and light gray in color. The first few buttons of his shirt was undone showing a white shirt underneath and a pair of old military slacks finished off the outfit. All World War Two issued and basically the only thing he wore.

His eyes finally look over to see the dark hair women standing there. She really wasn’t his type from what he could tell so far but she was good looking. From what he could recall from the time he woke up after being shot, she was among the really confused and bothered by his little “gift”. He took a deep breath before speaking to her. ”Take a seat, its more comfortable than standing… Sure you are still feeling the same affects you felt when you woke up. I sure know that I am…” Jack lied about that part. When he died and came back, he felt nothing of what he felt before. It was like a new page starting over but the headache was starting to come back… maybe it was the pressure in the place they were. It was stronger than what he was used to anyways.

[dr. temperance "bones" brennan]

His voice caused Brennan's facial expression to falter slightly. She mentally berated herself and called upon the strength of character the foster system had forced her to develop.

Trapped in this cage of a place or not, she was Doctor Temperance Brennan, a world-renowned forensic anthropologist and bestselling author. She knew that once a person died, there was nothing after. One could not surpass the barriers of death. She knew this. She worked with these principles daily.

This man had managed to fool her into thinking, momentarily, that he had been killed and resurrected. She both admired and despised that.

"I am experiencing stiffness in the lumbar region of my spine, yes," she replied honestly. Lying was one skill the scientist did not possess. What she didn't say aloud was the dizziness and slight nausea she still felt, as a result of her transport here - drug theory holding firm on that point - or the violent outbursts in the main room.

Warily, she walked closer to the man and rested her hands on the back of the chair across from him. Standing above him left her in the position of power. Sitting with him evened out their standings. Brennan wasn't quite sure if she was willing to let him feel as if they were equals.

[captain jack harkness]

Jack had taken notice when the female’s facial expression faltered when he spoke. He wondered if his presence bothered her if she had been startled by his words. Jack knew on some level that people would think of him as a freak for what he was. It wasn’t something Jack talked openly about or really told others. Gwen had found out and managed to keep it a secret. Then Owen shot him in front of everyone… that was the whole coming out party for him and his little secret.

”I been told I give an awesome massage. Bet I could get that stiffness out with now trouble.” He gave her a slight wink after speaking. Flirting a little with her, it was something that he couldn’t help. It was just who Jack was… He could pick up that she wasn’t telling the full truth but he didn’t want to press the issue any. ”I think the pressure here is slightly greater than what is normal for Earth… Could be causing some side affects in people.” He explained, not sure if he was right about it or not but he was doing his best to make some small talk.

Jack could tell she was trying to keep some level of power over him with the way she stood there. That kind of had Jack more interested, he liked when a lover took power of him. It was one of his turn ons at times. ”I am thinking that everyone is from a different reality or something… Brought together for some unknown reason.. I came from 21st Century Cardiff, Wales… I am a leader of a group known as Torchwood. Not everyone is like me; I am the only one who can die and come back to life… The Doctor said something about me being a fixed point in time. Someone saved my life, brought me back from death and every since then its been like they keep bringing me back for something… I’m not sure what it is. But I did die back there… no tricks.”

Jack opened up, hoping it would make her slightly more comfortable with him. Hoping that maybe she could become someone he could rely on when he needed someone for that. But he was also hoping that she would open up and tell him more about herself, heck he wasn’t even really sure if he had caught her name before or not.

[dr. temperance "bones" brennan]

Brennan tilted her head slightly to one side at his statement. It wasn't quite an offer, although she knew the wink signaled something she was missing. If Booth were here, he'd surely understand what he was trying to imply.

But Booth wasn't here, wherever "here" was, and Brennan needed to stop thinking about him. So instead of trying to decipher the subtle clues behind the man's body language, she replied, "As soon as my intervertebral cartilage expands slightly to re-accommodate bearing my weight, I'll be fine." She crossed her arms stubbornly, face impassive except for the slight raise to her chin.

Her confusion escalated in direct proportion to her irritation. "Atmospheric pressure raises with temperature. Factoring in the volume of this facility, the pressure in the air, proportionally, would not be uncomfortably high." She estimated the volume and temperature of the room, calculating the ideal gas law in her mind. No, she had to disagree with his solution. Scientifically, it didn't make sense.

What he said next had Temperance thinking he was just as addled as the firearm-wielding women who had, for the most part, taken charge of things. "There's no such thing as alternate realities," she argued, tone blunt as ever. "Nor is it possible to be brought back to a semblance of life, no matter what different religions try to claim. There is no scientific proof to support that hypothesis."

Briefly, her mind flashed to the voodoo New Orleans case, when she'd lost a day in her memory and had never fully recovered it. Brennan remembered the voodoo priest who had killed his daughter with the intent to bring her back to life, and how Brennan had poked him in the eye when he'd been trying to "curse" her.

She felt no more belief now in the concept of an awakening after death than she had then.

[captain jack harkness]

All he had offered was a simple massage; a way for her to relax for what he thought would have been a while from the way she carried herself. Whatever else happened all the way, could be blamed on the moment. There was nothing else implied to his words even though he was flirting with her. He missed Ianto, needed the other man at the moment. For the kind of man Jack was, missing someone was something new. He never though of him and Ianto as a couple… he hated that word and hated titles and groups… it always seemed like Earthlings were putting things into groups, categories and giving them titles. It was not something that made sense to Jack at all.

When she spoke up again, Jack finally lifted his head up from his arms and sat up slightly in the chair. There was a slightly defeated look to him, like someone had pulled the rug out from him already. With all that was going on, Jack needed to get on his feet and get back into the game instead of acting like the way he was. ”You sound like a scientist. Sure if Tosh or Owen was still alive, they could easily explain all this to me in simpler terms.” He chuckled a little to show that he was joking around. He had a fair idea of what she was talking about. If she was a scientist or doctor it would explain to him the trouble she was having with him. ”Its good to hear that you will be fine, I am sure that you could be of great importance where ever we are…” Jack trailed off with a sigh.

Jack looked a little worn out around the edges but that was because he barely sleep any. It was something that he felt that he didn’t need to do, sure he grabbed sleep here and there but it was nothing that could be in the range of normal. Jack opened the strap of leather on his left wrist, showing off his Vortex Manipulator and pulled up a scene he kept on there. It was of Boeshane Peninsula with his family. The clothing was far from what was normal in the 21st Century and the bay looked like nothing from earth. It was sandy area with strange homes. ”This is from Boeshane Peninsula 51st Century… No tricks or anything like that. So I hate to bust your bubble but there are such thing as alternate realities… A good friend of mine, Rose is trapped in another one…” Where was the Doctor when he needed him the most… to explain all of this better.

”I should take you to the Hub when we get out of this place. Show you things that you will never see before or again in your life. My group deals with the alien threat… we protect Earth. Just wait until you see Janet… she tends to shock everyone the first time they meet her.” Jack talked with a fondness that wasn’t common with him but he loved his job, he loved Torchwood and his work. ”I traveled with The Doctor… I been to the end of the Universe and back… traveled through time. Earth is not ready for those things or even close to being old enough to deal with what is truly out there… But here and now, you need to keep an open mind. Sticking to those beliefs will not help anyone out.” He said with a more stern tone.

[dr. temperance "bones" brennan]

"I am a scientist," Brennan nearly interrupted. (He appeared to have finished his thought, at least, when she had finally spoken up.) "My name is Dr. Temperance Brennan. I work as a forensic anthropologist with the Jeffersonian Institution in Washington, D.C." The normal burst of pride shone through. Plus she was still wearing her blue Jeffersonian lab coat, with her ID card clipped to the lapel. He likely hadn't even noticed T. Brennan was embroidered in navy on it.

Despite her more well-known renown as an author, Brennan neglected to mention this. She was far readier to assert herself as an authority in the scientific community, thereby proving she was right and he was wrong. "My best friend works as a forensic artist, specializing in holographic simulations of crime reenactments, but I've seen her use the Angelatron for her own art before. Showing me a picture of what you claim is from the fifty-first century does not, in fact, prove what you are saying."

She took a breath finally, having delivered her tirade quickly in one go, to listen to what this man now had to say about his nonexistent realities and dimensions. "As I have told Booth many times before, there is no proof to suggest extraterrestrial lifeforms exist. All of the 'proof' offered by conspiracy theorists can be easily explained away rationally by natural science." She gestured with one hand, snapping it back to cross her other arm once she'd finished speaking.

Few topics got Brennan as fired up and "squinty," as Booth put it, as discussing scientific impossibilities. She could feel her pulse rate being slightly elevated from its resting state, and her breathing had become alternately shallow and deep while she ranted quickly and without halting.

Belatedly it registered in her mind that' she'd mentioned Booth's name out loud and would now likely have to explain who he was - more importantly, who he was in relation to her - and that was something she'd been hoping to define for herself in the year they were to spend apart.

[captain jack harkness]

Since Jack found himself among a strange group of people who were either from different points in time and/or from different realities, Jack was trying to get information out of them. Learn about each one so he knew whom they were but also where they came from. ”I think the other guy who was in that room was a scientist or something like that… he had a lab coat on.” Jack said hoping that it would lead her to someone she could relate to and get to know as a friend. The last thing he knew was when they were going to get out of here so having those friends was going to be important in many of ways. ”Hello there, Doctor Temperance.” He flashed his signature smile at her. The one the Doctor always yelled at him for when he was saying hello to someone. ”Would say it’s a pleasure but it really hasn’t been on has it? Sure we can change that though.”

Jack was finally getting back to being his old self now that things were getting settled even though there was still a strain on him. He had taken notice of those things but didn’t pay close enough attention to the embroidered name or the ID Card, his focus had been else where. His light blue eyes looked up at her for a moment as she started to talk about her best friend and what they did and how claiming and showing her something didn’t prove something. ”Bet if we found a lab, we can prove it. DNA, right? You know how to do that kind of thing.” Suggested. He knew his DNA was different than and that it had been changed since he was brought back from the dead but also because he was from another Century all together.

He glanced back up at her, hoping to avoid another tirade from her, Jack was feeling tired from all that happened as well as worn out. Though he was refusing to get rest or even really close his eyes. His head was laid back down on his arm. When she spoke about Booth, he wondered if that was her boyfriend or co-worker… maybe friend but he didn’t question her on it. ”Oh things I could so you that would blow that whole belief out of the water if I was back home with you. Suppose if I told you about something called the rift, you would dismiss that you, wouldn’t you?” He figured he would ask before going rambling on about it. The rift was the only other idea about how they could all end up here... Damn Owen for screwing with it and him for thinking they had fixed it.

”Why don’t you tell me what it is like from where you are? What is the year, what your home is like?” Jack suggested, he wanted if she was from the 21st century or not. Most that were from the same century as him knew of the alien showing up in England no matter how much they tried to cover it up and pass it off as something else. Though mostly he was trying to start the first small steps of a friend. Maybe if he could get these people more comfortable the then could start to be more productive around here and get some sense defense up just in case.

[dr. temperance "bones" brennan]

One of Brennan's eyebrows raised, her expression skeptical. Should it impress her that there was another scientist trapped here? Not that a lab coat necessarily signaled scientist. "A lab coat could also mean a medical professional," she pointed out. "Nonetheless, such a person would no doubt provide intellectually stimulating conversation and not spout off blasphemous concepts."

She narrowed her eyes at the name he'd called her. "It's 'Dr. Brennan' to you," she snapped. No one ever tried calling her "Dr. Temperance." It didn't even sound right. Her dates called her Temperance - and occasionally Booth, but he usually just called her Bones. Ange called her Bren; Hodgins called her Dr. B; Parker called her Dr. Bones.

Brennan still didn't know his name. She was starting to decide she didn't care what it was.

She exhaled loudly in exasperation. "DNA is not definitive evidence of a time period. In addition, I am a forensic anthropologist. I work with skeletonized remains to determine race, sex, height, age, and other markers essential for identification. I do not work with flesh or cell nuclei." Her nose scrunched up slightly in disdain. Brennan disliked was she perceived as the subjective nature of flesh.

Once again she arched an eyebrow high on her forehead. "I couldn't begin to make a hypothesis on my reaction to a concept you haven't mentioned. If it is based on the same flawed logic you have presented me with before, I could make an estimate that, yes, I would dismiss the concept."

His questions on the year made Brennan conclude he was definitely suffering some hallucination. She remembered they'd had to continually ask Booth if he knew the current, year, president, or other obvious things to make sure he wasn't suffering any ramifications from his surgery.

"The year is 2010. I live in Washington, DC, where I work at the Jeffersonian Institution contracted by the FBI to identify human remains that have decomposed past conventional means. I was to spend the next year on a dig in the Maluku islands in Indonesia, but instead I am here."

She rattled the facts off quickly, her expression only slightly hiding how insane she thought him.