Title: Torchwood Bebop
By: sqyd
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Owen, Tosh, OC
Rating: M
Warnings: AU, Action/Adventure
Spoilers: None
Word count: 6200
Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood or Cowboy Bebop or any of the characters, no money is made
Summary: It's the future. Humanity has spread out into the stars, but it's not all sparkles and glitter. Jack, Gwen and Owen are space-bound bounty hunters. Tosh is a kid, but still a computer genius. Myfanwy is a dog. Ianto looks good in black.
Beta: the fabulous Rootesie
Notes: Written for Reel Torchwood fic challenge. The story is a cross between Torchwood and Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.
I'm not sure if familiarity with Cowboy Bebop is a plus or minus when reading this story. It generally follows the Cowboy Bebop movie plot, but there are significant differences. Also, it's my first time at genre-bending, and I think a touch of film noir seeped in.

Gwen was hovering the Redtail at a respectable distance above the busiest speedway intersection on this side of Mars. Her monopod was one of the most popular single-person space ships in use, so nobody would bat an eye seeing it; still there was no reason to spook their prey too soon. She waited.

Suddenly Tosh’s voice crackled on the comm:

"Max Del just paid toll for the M7 going north, towards the city. I'm transmitting you the details."

As she spoke, the picture of the vehicle and its driver appeared on the ship’s comm screen. Gwen eyed it, annoyed. The target was practically a kid. She preferred chasing after real criminals, with substantial bounty on their heads, but she was perturbingly low on funds. At least hackers were easy to catch; they had very few survival skills in the real world. What this one was doing driving a rented tanker truck was anybody's guess. At least it would be easy to spot - and there it was.

"I got it, Tosh." She barked into the comm, and was off.

She was going to follow the truck until it got off the speedway and stopped somewhere. Nabbing Max then would be a quick job, and an easy five million credit bounty. They were going through the busy downtown area when the truck started pulling over, then it just stopped. What the hell was he doing? Gwen was hovering above befuddled while the driver's side door opened and a man got out. It was without a doubt not Max Dell. It was a tall, lean man, with a big mane of dark hair, and at least a decade older than Max. Gwen just had enough presence of mind to push the record button for ship’s camera and angle it, zooming in on the stranger. He shielded his eyes against the bright sun as he looked straight up at Gwen's ship. Then an explosion shook the air, there were flames and gray smoke pouring from the tanker. Gwen flew the Redtail around, but couldn't find any traces of the man. There was nothing to do. She headed back to the Bebop.

*********************

The Bebop was a large ship, large enough to carry three monopods – hers, Jack’s and Owen’s. It could also land on water: that was very practical. In this case it meant they didn’t have to stay in orbit or at the overpriced space port. Thanks to one of Jack’s shady connections they could park in the bay free of charge.

Gwen entered the room that they used as a shared living space. You couldn't really equate it to a living room of a real house; it looked a lot like any other part of the ship, except for the few mismatched pieces of furniture. Its proximity to the bridge and the kitchen made it the most likely place they would spend time in. Gwen surveyed the room. Jack was sprawled out on the sofa, with both hands on his cup of coffee. Nobody else would drink that vile concoction he brewed. Owen was sitting on a chair, holding his own cup, probably tea. Tosh was on the floor tugging Myfanwy's ears. The Welsh corgi didn't seem to mind. Jack had picked up the dog somewhere before Gwen first came on board, and she never got the straight version of the story. How the hell Jack picked the name was a bloody mystery. It was all odd, since Jack didn't like dogs. Or kids.

Tosh was a then 12 year old computer hacker extraordinaire they had picked up on Earth a year before. Well, to be exact, Tosh hacked the ship’s navigation system and forced them to take her on board. The girl had been living on her own since she had gotten bored with the orphanage. Earth was kind of a dump since the hyperspace gate accident, constantly bombarded by meteor showers, and most of the population left was living underground. You couldn't blame Tosh for wanting to get off. She had proven herself very useful since, even if aggravating at times.

They were all staring at the large holo-screen on the wall. The news was on. The reporter kept going on about the suspicion of a bio-terrorist  attack, hundreds of people in hospitals, and they were showing footage of the scene, people in bright orange hazmat suits spraying; decontaminating the road and buildings.

"I was there!" Gwen exclaimed as she walked into the room.

All eyes snapped to her, and then they all started slowly inching away from her.

“Gwen got cooties!” Tosh’s sin-song taunt came from behind the sofa.

"Gwen, med bay, now!" Owen snapped.

*********************

"Are you sure she is safe?" Jack grumbled.

"I couldn't find anything, but anyway, according to the talking heads - he nodded towards the screen - the effect on the victims is almost instantaneous, they pass out within minutes. As much as it pains me to say it, Gwen is fine." Owen replied.

"Hey!" Gwen was glaring at them, and was looking for something to throw at Owen.

They were back at the common room, watching the late breaking news.

"The Mars government has offered a 300 million credit reward for anyone who apprehends the persons responsible for today's heinous attack." The pretty blond announced with a brainless smile.

Five breaths stopped, five pairs of eyes bulged at once.

"THREE HUNDRED MILLION CREDITS?!!??" Four voices yelled in unison. Myfanwy barked.

It was highest amount of bounty set since... well ever. Gwen rushed out to get the data-card from the Redtail's camera. Owen went off to make a phone call. Jack was whistling as he strolled out of the room. Tosh shrugged at Myfanwy.

*********************

Jack had spent many of his younger days on Mars - he knew where to go for impossible to get information, and Faith owed him a favor or two. He entered the dingy bar and headed straight for the back room. The bartender cast one knowing look at him and opted to mind his own business.

He slid in the corner booth across Faith. The girl looked about fourteen, but they both knew she was much older than that.

"I knew you'd come." She said.

"You always say that."

"I always know. You are drawn to trouble, Jack. What is it this time?"

"I need information. I need to know what's behind this morning's explosion."

Faith scowled at him.

"I thought so." She pointed at the stack of cards between them. "Cut the cards."

Jack stifled a sigh and obeyed. Faith always made him go through this hocus-pocus. She took the deck from him and turned over the first card.

"Chariot Reversed." She stroked the face of the card. "The man you are looking for carries great chaos within him. He seeks to fill the emptiness with destruction. You'd be better off not searching for him, but you wouldn't listen to me, would you?"

Jack tried to hide his impatience while he watched her turn over the second card.

"The Fool Reversed. That's you Jack. Impulsive risk taker, rushing into danger."

Jack grinned at her. "You need cards to tell you that?"

 "It's a warning. Not that it will do you any good." She turned the next card.

"Page of Swords. There is someone who can help you with information." She looked up at Jack, studying him like she was trying to make a decision, then sighed and spoke again. "There is a man by the name of Rasheen, at The Market. Find him, tell him Faith sent you."

Jack stood up to leave, but her voice stopped her.

"Wait Jack, there is one more card." She turned it over and looked at it, almost surprised for a moment, then she smiled. "Two of cups. Maybe there is hope for you yet, Jack Harkness. Now, be gone. May I never see you again."

*********************

The Market was a large neighborhood full of small shops of all kinds. It was a place where you could find anything legal or illegal, assuming you knew where to look, and whom to talk to. Jack found Rasheen relatively fast. He was an old man selling trinkets and baubles, jewelry and good luck charms in a small shop.

"So Faith sent you, heh?" He looked Jack over curiously.

"You heard about the virus that was released in Downtown today?"

"That was no virus."

"Then what?"

"Do you believe in demons?"

"Demons?" Jack groaned. More nonsense, just what he needed.

"They say there was a once a man named Dr. Mendelo who spent his whole life making something that didn't exist before, and when he was done he realized he had created a demon. He destroyed his research and vanished. Nobody have seen him since."

"What about what happened this morning?"

"The demons have escaped. That’s the thing with demons, once you create them, you lose control.”

Jack was losing patience. This was going nowhere fast. He considered another line of questioning when the man shoved a small object in his hands.

“Here take this. This is the perfect charm for you. Every man should have a charm."

It was a wooden cube covered with intricate grooves and carvings. Jack opened his mouth to ask what the hell it was, but Rasheen was pushing him out the door.

"It's been nice to have your company, but you have to go now. Bye, and don’t come again."

Jack was out the door - now locked - before he could say another thing. Well, he might as well head back to the ship.

He spotted the young man as he was walking away from the shop. Jack had an eye for fine young men in well-cut suits (among other things), but that was not it. There was a kind of purpose and fluidity with what this one moved that somehow didn't match the suit. They walked past each other. The young man had brilliantly blue eyes. In a minute he was gone.

*********************

Doctor Owen Harper entered Cho's Happy Palace through the kitchen. The name was a misnomer on an epic scale. It was about as happy a place as any hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant in Chinatown would be - not very. It definitely was no palace by any definition of the word. At least it was Cho's.

"The usual, Doctor Harper?" The middle aged Chinese man asked him.

"The usual, Mr. Cho." Owen nodded. He hadn't been here for at least five years, but apparently that didn't matter.

He scanned the small dining room. Caught between the lunch and dinner crowd it was almost empty. Martha was already there. He slipped into the booth across from her.

"It's nice to see you again Miss Jones. You are beautiful as ever."

"Oh, don't waste your breath flirting with me, Owen. You want something, or you wouldn't have called me after all these years." - She scolded him, but there was small smile flickering at the corner of her mouth.

Owen figured he might as well come out with it.

"Yeah, you’re right. You know that explosion this morning?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Don't be like that Martha. We go back a long way. We used to watch each other's backs at UNIT."

"Then you up and left. You didn't even say goodbye. One day you were there, next day gone. What was all that about?"

"I just got fed up with all the bureaucracy, paper pushers telling you what to do, bosses playing politics." It was true, even if not the complete truth, but Martha didn't have to know that. It was safer for her not to.

"You were with that Tom fellow anyway. How's he?"

Martha just waved his misdirection away with her hand.

"Fine Owen. What do you want to know?"

"Anything you got."

"Well, that's not much. All the bosses are very tight lipped about it. They are bloody nervous though. All I know for sure is that PHARM are involved somehow."

"PHARM? The biggest medical research company in the galaxy?"

"Yeah, that PHARM. Top brass had meeting with them an hour after the explosion. I just happened to see General Cobb leaving the meeting - he was white as a sheet of paper."

"PHARM and UNIT in cahoots together? That's strange."

"Not as strange as you think. I had suspicions for years, but never any proof."

*********************

Gwen and Tosh were watching the recording for the 10th time.

"There!" Tosh yelled triumphantly as she froze a frame of the movie. The man with the wild dark hair looked straight into the camera. He shielded his eyes against the sun with his right hand. The sleeve of his coat slid down, and there, on his wrist... that was definitely a tattoo.

Tosh zoomed in, cleaned up the image as much as possible, adjusted it for angle, and ran it through the image comparison software. Myfanwy gazed at the screen mesmerized while countless number of images were flickering across it at lightning speed. At the end there were 23 possible matches. They all agreed - even Myfanwy - that #17 was the right match. It was the symbol of a UNIT special forces regiment. It took Tosh a few minutes to break into UNIT's computer system.

"That's him!" Tosh squealed. Myfanwy barked in agreement.

Gwen squinted at the picture: Luis Hallet, younger, clean-cut, but there was a resemblance...

"It says he is dead!"

Gwen collapsed on the sofa. This was hopeless.

Just then Tosh’ss computer started beeping.

"Max just used his card at Rub and Tug!" She exclaimed. "I’m sending the address and coordinates to the Redtail." She added as Gwen flew out the door.

*********************

The Rub and Tug was exactly the kind of establishment the name implied, and Gwen knew they were taking payments in advance, meaning she had a chance to get there in time, if she hurried. She parked her ship as close as she could and proceeded on foot. She was debating whether to go inside or not. She had no qualms about catching Max with his pants down, but she was not familiar with the layout of the place. The decision was made for her when Max Del exited the building with a spring in his steps. She was about to grab him right then and there, but then it occurred to her that he might lead her to the other man. So she followed Max, like a cat stalking a fat little mouse.

They ended up in a derelict old apartment building. Gwen was standing at the bottom of an old staircase. She could hear the murmur of voices from above, but couldn't make out the words. She drew her gun and picked her steps carefully up the stairs. There was an open door on the third floor. She inched into the labyrinthine apartment, following the voices. She could make out Max's words now.

"Jacko has been prepared, Mr. Hallet. So why do it at the parade?"

"All Hallow's Eve is the day when the gate between this world and the otherworld opens. It's when the living and the dead mingles. You’ll like it."

The punctuation mark at the end of that sentence was made with a gun. Gwen recoiled in shock and in the process knocked over some of the detritus of the room. She held her breath listening to any sound to indicate which direction danger would bear down on her. It was deathly quiet. Then her world turned black.

*********************

Jack tossed the wooden cube on the table.

"Got anything?" Owen inquired.

"Just a name: Doctor Mendelo."

"Hm. I talked to an old friend from UNIT. She thought UNIT and PHARM had something going on together, and that they are mixed up in this. Tosh, can you break into PHARM's system and check for a Dr. Mendelo?"

"Not a problem!" Said Tosh cheerily, putting on her data goggles, as she usually did for serious hacking. She was swimming in the data stream. Sharp-toothed little fishies of her home made hacking software were chewing through pass codes and firewalls, swimming upstream in less protected channels, sneaking in through backdoors. The final destination appeared on the liquid crystal screen of her computer for all of them to see.

Doctor Mendelo, dates of birth, employment, termination, pay grade, etc. Department: Research and Development, Nano-Genes.

"Tosh, see what you can find in R&D." Jack directed.

The fishies swam on, and Tosh swayed like someone in a trance. Suddenly she went rigid.

"No no no no! The hacking software crashed!" She threw the goggles down.

Tosh hardly ever had problems hacking into anything. This debacle meant that PHARM had something very big to hide. Jack scratched his head.

"Tosh, is there anything you can do?"

"Mmmm." With her face crunched up and eyes squinted, Tosh looked comical. "Well, there is one thing, I have a nice little fishie, but it would have to be put directly into their computer system, then I could link to it."

Owen snorted. "Breaking into PHARM? That could be a touch tricky."

Jack was frowning, but then his expression brightened. "Tosh, can you find out what cleaning company is contracted by PHARM, and what their schedule is?"

Tosh grinned. It took her all of a minute to find the information.

"Tortoise Cleaning Company, every day 6 am and 8 pm."

"Tomorrow morning then."

Jack  ambled off to the direction of the kitchen. Owen followed. Tosh picked up the wooden cube and her face lit up in a wide and happy grin.

*********************

"I'm telling you, I need real food!"

"Well, then you go and do some shopping. We spent our last credits on repairs. We’re down to our emergency supplies." Owen cut Jack off.

The two were munching on instant noodles without much enthusiasm. Tosh was fiddling with the cube. She nodded towards her computer screen without looking up.

"I forgot to tell you. That's the guy who blew up the tanker truck. Gwen doesn't think it's him, but Myfanwy and I are certain."

Jack leaned forward to read the info on Luis Hallet and look at the enlarged image from the morning.

"TA-DAA!" Tosh held up the cube victoriously. As it turned out, it was not a cube, but a puzzle box - now open. In it lay one blue sphere.

Owen's eyebrows shot up, he snatched up the sphere, and wordlessly stormed out of the room, towards the med bay.

*********************

Early next morning found them crowded around the med bay holo-screen. Owen was outright smug, lecturing them.

"This is what was in the bead. It looks like a lymph corpuscle, but this is what happens when heated."

On the screen the normal looking cell shrinks then flies apart into a cluster of tiny particles.

"All I can tell for sure that they are nano-genes, but we don't have the facilities here to safely analyze what they do, and if they do what they did in Downtown yesterday, I certainly don’t want to try.”

*********************

The driver of the Tortoise Cleaning Co. found himself in his underwear, gagged and tied to the toilet. He tried to free himself to no avail. He resigned himself to wait till somebody came in. He didn't know that there was an "Out of Service" sign on the door.

The cleaning company truck was let through the gates with the guard barely glancing at the driver. Jack parked at the docking bay and used the service entrance. A man in a blue overall with a company logo on it was as good as invisible. Not that many people were around at that early hour anyway. Behind the third door he found what he was looking for: A large room full of office cubicles. He stuck the card Tosh had given him into the data port of one of the computers. He watched the monitor for the sign that Tosh’ss program was securely released into the system, then removed the card. All he had to do know was to exit quietly as he came.

He was walking towards the exit when a familiar figure appeared striding down the corridor from the opposite direction. This time he was not wearing a suit, but a form-fitting black special forces uniform that matched the way he moved so much more. Jack's own movements didn't give anything away. His cap was already pulled down deep over his eyes. They passed each other, and Jack saw the exit, but then the sound of a gun cocked behind his head stopped him dead. 

Jack turned with his hands in the air.

"We have met before." He said with a teasing tone that was wholly inappropriate for the situation.

“You have a talent for being places where you shouldn’t be. Why are you here?” Brilliant blue eyes glinted coldly at Jack.

“Maybe I was looking for you. I can't resist a man in a uniform." Jack leered, but the other’s eyes didn’t lose their coldness.

"What do you know?"

Jack moved swiftly, one hand grabbing the younger man's wrist, another brushing his hip for just a second before pulling back for a punch. The gun clattered down the floor, but the punch that was supposed to incapacitate the other man, hit only empty air. The man twisted and delivered a right hook that split Jack's lip and sent him flying down the hallway. Jack caught the glimpse of a familiar tattoo on the young man's wrist. He also noticed heavily armed guards barreling down at the far end of the corridor. It was time to leave.

*********************

When Gwen came to, her first view was the dead and dull eyes of what once was Max Del, hacker, and bio-terrorist wannabe. Her ankles and wrists were bound, and there was a blunt pain at the back of her head. She rolled over and scanned the room. The morning light was filtering into the room at harsh angles through a broken window. She was alone - not counting Max, who, being dead, didn’t count any more. She rolled to the window and pulled herself up, turning to face the room. She could feel the edge of a broken piece of glass scratch against the rope around her wrists.

*********************

Jack was strolling down on a quite side street when his phone rang.

"What do you have for me Owen?"

"Tosh got the goods this time, thanks to you. Turns out Dr. Mendelo was creating nano-genes for military use. They can be released into the air. They have short lifespan within the atmosphere, but if inhaled they multiply in the body. They travel into the brain where they shut down every brain function one by one, starting with the higher functions and ending the automatic ones like breathing. Actual death takes several days, but the subject is incapacitated within minutes. When the victim dies the nano-genes break down into harmless protein, and become unidentifiable."

"Shit, Owen, they are playing with fire. Development of nanotechnology for combat use was banned by the Treaty of Amsterdam. If they were found out, that would be the end of the company. Heads would be rolling - literally."

"That's not all. UNIT is involved too. They provided test subjects for them. Apparently, PHARM also worked on another set of nano-genes – these ones to destroy the first ones, and counter their effects. Sort of like an antidote to poison, or a vaccine. They tested them on Luis and other UNIT soldiers during a “mission” on the planet Titan. They all got exposed to the first set of nano-genes. Luis was the only one who got the vaccine too. He lived, the rest died. There was one problem though: Luis used red-eye. It mixed adversely with the nano-genes in his brain. It drove him mad. He also lost all his memories from before Titan."

Red-eye was a highly illegal drug that accelerated the user's reflexes, enhanced their strength. Supposedly one could dodge a bullet under its influence, although that might have been a myth. The delivery method was spraying it directly into the eye. It was used by gangsters, the yakuza, and sometimes soldiers. It was hard to get, but not impossible.

Jack was roused from his thoughts by Owen’s voice.

"The onset was gradual and the PHARM doctors didn't catch on immediately. Then Luis disappeared, and so did their stash of nano-genes. Have you found anything while at PHARM?"

"Their guards are excessively well armed, and I ran into a sexy right hook.” He hang up.

Jack was studying the blinking, moving dot on the screen of the small device he was holding. He hailed a cab and gave directions.

*********************

A young man in black uniform hurriedly got out of a car in front of Central Station. As he moved something caught the corner of his eye. He stopped for a moment. There was something, barely visible, on his left hip: A tiny chip, just below the belt. He ripped it off. He recognized it as a tracking device. The corner of his lip curled up recalling the touch of that man's hand on his hip. He threw the chip in the gutter and kept running. He spotted the tall figure with unruly dark hair far in the crowd, heading for the trains.

Jack arrived to Central Station a few seconds later. For a moment he stared baffled at the device in his hand, then he understood. He shoved it in his pocket and hurried into the station. He scanned the crowd. In the end it was the familiar movement that caught his eye.

Jack barely made it into the last car of the elevated train heading across the bay, before the doors slid closed. He started walking from car to car. He found the two of them in the first one. It was a deadly tableau: Two men, guns drawn, passengers cowering under their seats.

"Luis, it's me." There was pleading in the young man's voice, but it didn't seem to have any effect on the other man.

"Luis, let me take you in. We can help you. We can be together again."

Jack saw the squint of the eye, the small muscle movement and knew its meaning. He leaped forward, slamming into the younger man, twisting as he moved to cover the other as much as possible. The bullet from Luis' gun hit him in the shoulder. They landed on the floor, Jack on top. He pulled his own gun out as he pushed himself up.

For a moment he just stood there, gun pointed at Luis.

"Why don't you shoot? Or aren't you as tough as you look?" Luis scowled.

"You’re worth nothing dead." Jack scowled right back.

"I'm already dead, just looking for the door. Why don't you come with me?" Luis pulled the trigger, and the bullet ripped through Jack's chest. He was gasping on the floor while Luis walked up to him and pulled him up by the neck.

"Luis!" The young man’s voice was desperate.

"See you on the flip side." Luis spoke to Jack and hurled him through the window.

Jack faintly registered that was falling towards water. Broken glass glittered around him, barely visible against the clear blue sky. He died before he hit the surface.

*********************

Jack gasped back to life on the shore. The tide must have washed him up. A couple of hours had passed since he died. Thanks to the warm weather he was dirty, but almost dry. He shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk. His senses started to tingle too late. He found himself surrounded by UNIT goons - too many of them to fight, and he was not in the mood to die again.

Before they shoved him into his cell, he noticed a familiar figure in the next one. He also noticed the shock of surprise in those blue eyes.

There was a wall between their cells, but the front was just old-style metal bars. Jack sat against the shared wall. He spoke first when they were finally left alone.

"So, we meet again."

"So we do. You look good for a dead man."

Jack wondered if there was really a sense of relief in the other's voice, or if he imagined it. Judging from the sound he was sitting against the other side of the wall.

"You don't look so bad yourself. By the way, I'm Jack. Jack Harkness."

"Ianto Jones."

"How did you end up here, Ianto Jones?"

Ianto sighed.

"After your, erm... exit, Luis released more of that thing. Everybody in the car was affected, but me. Whatever is protecting him, I have it too."

"It's nano-genes. Two sets of them, one to kill, other one as a vaccine. You must have the latter. Maybe it can be transmitted from person to person."

"Makes sense. I thought it might have been something like that. We were lovers, you know. He came back after a mission, but he wasn’t the same. He kept forgetting things; every day he was a little less like himself. Then he vanished."

"Did you love him?"

There was a moment of heavy silence.

"Yeah. He was... He never had anyone, even as a kid he had nobody to love him. I wanted to take care of him. When he disappeared they sent me after him because of our history, because they thought I would have a better chance of finding him. I took the assignment because I thought that if I got to him first I could save him, but I was wrong. He didn't even recognize me. He really is gone."

There was nothing Jack could say to that, and there was silence again. Ianto spoke next.

"So what's your story? How come you are still alive?"

"I can't stay dead.”

“That’s nice.”

“You’d think so. When I was younger I was always looking for ways to cheat death. Then I met this fantastic, brilliant man, and I was ready to die for him, and I did. I was brought back to life, and since then I can't stay dead. I realized that I'm frightened of living forever, watching everyone I know die, while I keep going on."

"Where is he now?"

"He left me."

"Oh."

"So how come they threw you in here?" Jack was keen to change the subject.

"Clean-up. They need to get rid of any evidence that these nano-genes ever existed. They can't leave us alive. Well, they'll have to wipe your memories, at least, and I don’t think they’ll let you go."

*********************

They came for Ianto first. Two guards only and that was stupid. Even with his hands cuffed behind his back, he could easily shove one guard towards Jack's cell just as they were walking past it, head-butt the other, and kick him in the groin for good measure. Jack took care of his guard in short order: He yanked him to the bars with such force that he lost consciousness the moment his head hit the bars. He grabbed the guard's access card and let himself out of the cell. The sight of Ianto straddling the body of the other, half-conscious, whimpering guard gave him a moment’s pause.

Dressed in the guards’ uniforms they headed for the roof where they were guaranteed to find a ship to borrow, but first they stopped at the lab. Ianto's blood was being cultured there for the vaccine. They took all the cultures with them.

*********************

They all, plus Ianto, were back on the Bebop again.

"They said something about a parade." Gwen was relating her story.

"There is a big Halloween parade through Midtown this evening." Owen added.

"Max said Jacko had been prepared."

"Jacko?"

"Jack-O-Lantern!" Tosh squealed helpfully.

"Wonderful. It's Halloween. There will be Jack-O-Lanterns everywhere." Grumbled Owen.

"We don't have much time. Owen, Are you sure this will work?" Jack asked.

"That depends how fast we can get this vaccine into the air. If the harmful nano-genes have too much time to do their work, the damage might be irreparable. There is one thing that could help: if it was raining that would make the vaccine spread faster."

Jack cast a meaningful look at Gwen.

"All right, I’ll go!” She huffed. “I’ve never hijacked a weather control center before, anyway." With that she was off.

*********************

Owen and Tosh headed to the small airfield. What they didn't count on was that the only planes available at such short notice were a small fleet of crop dusters flown by a bunch of old codgers. Well, in a way it made perfect sense - Owen mused to himself. The old geezers were very enthusiastic, and most of them managed to make it off the runway. There was no reason to think they couldn't make it as far as Midtown.

*********************

At the same time, at the other side of town a good looking, dark-haired woman with a large machine gun walked into the weather control center. She shot a round into the air to get attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a terrorist attack. Please remain calm and nobody will get hurt. Who is in charge here?"

A short, balding, middle aged man was nudged forward by several other employees.

"What are your demands?" He groveled at her nervously.

"I want it to rain."

"Rain? Why?"

She gave him a devious smile. "I want to rain on the parade."

*********************

Jack and Ianto were on the ground in Midtown running from one grinning giant pumpkin to another. They were everywhere, from ground floats to flying ones, big and bigger. All the while something was tugging at the back of his mind. Then he looked up and understood: The Flipp Tower! The huge metal-frame tower was modeled exactly after the one that once stood on Earth, in a city called Paris - before it was all razed to the ground by the meteor showers. This one here stood to commemorate the ego and vanity of one very rich man: Donald E. Flipp. Hardly anyone remembered anymore how he had made his fortune, or who he had been, but the tower, graceful and odd, still bore his name.

Jack pointed Ianto towards yet another giant pumpkin, and when the other man turned, he slipped away into the crowd. The lift took him to the top of the tower where he knew Luis was waiting. The sun was setting, coloring the gathering clouds in violent shades of red and purple. Jack spotted the tall figure standing at the edge, looking down at the celebration bellow.

"I knew you'd come." He turned.

It was the second time in two days somebody had said that to Jack. He was getting predictable.

"Why?" Jack's gun was drawn, but the other man only held a small object that no doubt was a remote trigger.

"I saw it in your eyes: You're dead like me."

"No, I’m nothing like you."

"Don't deny it. The memories are slipping away, aren't they?"

"I make new ones."

"Hah!" Luis scowled. "Do you even remember who you are any more?"

They circled each other warily.

"I know who I am now." Jack retorted stubbornly.

"And who is that?" Luis taunted him.

Jack realized he didn't really have a clear answer to that. He asked his own question instead.

"What do you hope to achieve?"

"To open a door to the other side."

"There is no other side. Just darkness."

Jack could hear the distant hum of airplane engines.

“So you came to save the world?” Luis goaded him again.

“I’m just a bounty hunter. I came for you.”

“You are a bad liar. You think you’re doing the right thing, but you are just another monster.” Luis smiled, and his thumb squeezed down on the trigger button.

Jack could hear the explosion and the screams of the crowd from down below. He waited. Nothing happened at first, but then his vision blurred, the world started to tilt around him, and he dropped his gun. He had to sit down, or he would have fallen over. He could hear the planes right above now. From the corner of his eye he saw a butterfly made of light. He tilted his head to get a better look at it. There were more of them, fluttering all about him. They were beautiful, and it was hard to think of anything else, but he had to try. He cast around for his gun, but Luis got to it first, and was pointing it at him. It began to rain.

"Luis! You have to stop! It’s over." Ianto's voice cut through the haze in Jack's brain.

"No! Ianto, stay back!" Jack wanted to shout, but he barely had a voice.

The two were pointing their guns at each other, frozen in the moment, and Jack could only look on.

"I'm sorry, Luis. I'm so sorry." Ianto whispered.

A single shot rang out.

Jack looked at the lifeless body of Luis Hallet. The man didn't shoot at Ianto. He could have - Jack thought - but he didn't. Maybe in the end he remembered. He hoped he did, but they would never know. He slumped down and closed his eyes. Memories of all the people he had loved, and was afraid he'd forget one day, flickered through his mind like an old movie.

He didn't know how much time passed, but when he opened his eyes, the butterflies were gone, and Ianto was looming over him, water dripping from his dark curls. Jack couldn't tell his tears from the rain. That was the great thing about rain. He wondered if there was a way to go forward, and if it was worth the risk. There was one way to find out.

"So, how do you fancy becoming a bounty hunter?" His levity was forced, mixed with fear and hope.

Ianto gave him a sad little smile.

"Yeah, okay."


Fin.


A/N: “The Two of Cups shows the beauty and power that is created when two come together.”