Title: A Bit of a Problem
By: _usakeh_
Fandom: Heroes/Torchwood
Pairing: Peter/Jack
Rating: PG-13
Author’s Note: This story was written as a gift for taffimai. My friend millari was kind enough to give it a read through for me. Thank you, millari!

“Well, well, well,” Elle Bishop said as she strode into the room and surveyed the group of people gathered around her. “It looks like you’ve made some new friends, Peter.” A spark started to form in the palm of Elle’s hand. “Too bad they don’t have much longer to live,” she added. She then took aim at the woman standing closest to Peter.

Before the bolt could hit, however, the man wearing an old trench coat dove in front of her; immediately thereafter, he crumpled down onto the floor. Elle grinned and gazed around at Peter’s four remaining friends. “Sorry guys,” she said, “but before long you’re going to wish that you’d never met him.”

“No.” To Elle’s amazement, the man who’d been lying on the floor moments before got to his feet. “You’re going to wish that you’d never met me.”

“Wow.” Elle was doing her best to hide how much the man’s miraculous resurrection had stunned her, but acting had never been her strong point. “This has just become a lot more interesting.”

“You bet it has, Sparky,” the man said. “Hit any member of my team with one of your little lightning bolts and I can guarantee that you won’t make it out of here alive.”

“All right.” Elle narrowed her eyes. ”How about we make a deal?” The spark in the palm of Elle’s hand flared up and then fizzled out. “You give me Peter and I’ll leave the rest of your little friends alone.”

“Okay.” Peter stepped forward. “That’s fine. Take me.”

“If you as much as try to make a run for it, I’ll come back for these guys and kill them. And the one who can’t die? He’ll have any even better fate. I’ll get to kill him over and over again.” Elle smiled. “Understood?”

“Yeah, it’s–”

“No,” the man in the trench coat interrupted, taking a step towards Elle. “Not so fast, Sparky.”

“I don’t think you have a say in this anymore. Peter and I made a deal; you’ve nothing to do with it anymore. If you want to get in the way, I’d be more than happy to kill you a few more times. But I’d advise you to skip it. Peter’s mine. Even he knows it.”

“Peter?” The man raised an eyebrow.

“You asking me if I remember her?” Peter scrutinized Elle for a few moments. “No. I don’t. But I know she’s not kidding, and I don’t want any of you to sacrifice yourselves for me.”

“I didn’t say anything about sacrificing,” the man said, pulling a gun out of his back pocket. “I don’t stay dead, but something tells me that Sparky here will.”

“Don’t,” Elle hissed, tossing her hair back and launching a bolt of electricity right at the man’s heart, “call me Sparky.” Then she turned towards the rest of them. “What? Do you need an invitation? Today’s your lucky day! I’ve decided not to kill you.” She paused, allowing blue light to accumulate in the palm of her hand. Then, more softly, she added, “So, what are you waiting for?”

“We can’t just–”

“Yes, you can,” Elle interrupted, glaring at the brown-haired woman. “Want me to make it simpler? Stay another second and I’ll kill you all.”

“Go,” the man in the trench coat commanded. “I’ll settle this one.” Silently, the other four people filed out of the room. Elle knew that they’d be back; hopefully, however, she’d be done by the time they came up with a plan to rescue their apparently immortal leader and Peter Petrelli, a man whose abilities were almost as extraordinary as her own. She could hardly think of two people less in need of saving.

“Okay then,” Elle said to the man in the trench coat once his comrades had left the room, “who are you? And what do you want with Peter?”

“Usually I introduce myself first and then get the death threats; you’ve done it the other way around. How refreshing.” The man grinned; his smile gave off more sheer wattage than Elle’s most intense spark. “Name’s Captain Jack Harkness,” he continued, extending his hand. “And you are?”

“Elle.” Elle took his hand, sending a slight shock through it in the process. Disappointingly, Jack didn’t as much as flinch.

“Very clever.” Jack ran a hand through his hair. “Personally, though, I prefer Sparky.”

“I warned you not to–”

“Skip it,” Jack interrupted. “What do you want with Peter? Can you give me one good reason why I should hand him over to you?”

“I’ll kill you over and over again until you do. Does that do it?” Elle’s eyes sparkled with anticipation; the thought of getting to shock him over and over again was certainly an appealing one.

“No. Remember, Sparky: I’ve got a gun. And I’ve the nice advantage of not being able to die.”

“Hold on.” Peter stepped into the space between Elle and Jack. “We don’t need to be threatening each other.”

“Actually, I think we do.” Elle clasped her hands together; then she stared Jack right in the eye. “Did you know that Peter nearly made New York City go nuclear? Did he tell you about that?”

“Nope.” Jack reached out and placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “What about it?”

“Well, he did.” Elle paused. “And I’ll have you know that I work for a company that specializes in finding and treating people like Peter. We don’t operate out of some basement. We–”

“This isn’t just some basement, darling.” Jack, Elle noted, was slowly massaging Peter’s shoulder. Was that what it was all about? It’d explain why Peter had never responded right to her advances; he’d been batting for the other team all along. “And I think you’re in more need of treatment than Peter is.”

“I am standing right here, you know,” Peter said. “And I think that letting the other four leave was a big mistake, Elle. I had a reason to listen to you back then; now I don’t. I don’t know you and I don’t trust you. I don’t like the fact that you came in here and threatened my friends. So I’m not exactly going to give you what you want. Not if I can help it.”

“Then I’ll have to make sure that you can’t help it,” Elle purred before promptly sending a spark his way. Once more, however, Jack dived between her and her target and fell to the floor. “This could get old pretty fast,” Elle commented as she watched him struggle to his feet. “How about we play another game?”

“Okay,” Peter said. “How about–”

“How about, ‘Leave or I’ll shoot you?’” Jack interjected. “That’s always a good one.”

“Very funny,” Elle said, and hit him with yet another bolt of electricity. This time she ran to his side as he fell and pulled his gun away from him. When he regained consciousness, she was standing above him, grinning. “I never liked that game very much,” she continued, “so I thought I’d change the rules.”

“If you hurt him again,” Peter said, stepping towards Elle, “you’ll have to kill me before you can take me out of here.”

“Really?” Elle raised an eyebrow. Just as she shot a spark towards Peter, though, Peter countered with a spark of his own; the two met halfway and flared up into a stream of incandescent light.

“Nice fireworks,” Jack commented, stepping backwards. When the sparks finally faded, he added, “This is getting pretty entertaining.”

“I’m not quite as amused by it,” Elle said, “because, unlike you, I have an assignment to do.” She then hit Peter with a spark he hadn’t expected; instantly, he fell onto the floor. “Don’t worry,” she added, looking at Jack, “I was told I had to bring him in alive. Now let’s get down to business, shall we?”

“I’ve always preferred pleasure, personally, but–”

“Shut up,” Elle interrupted. “Let’s keep this simple. I need Peter. You don’t. So I’m going to have to tie you up and take him. You don’t listen to me and I’ll just kill you again and again until you do.” Before she could continue, however, she found herself encircled by a strange white cloud. “What the–”

“I don’t think you’ll find it that easy to shock us now,” one of the members of Jack’s team said, stepping back into the room. “In fact, I don’t think you’ll be able to shock us at all.” The Asian woman turned to Jack. “Where do you want us to put her?”

“Toss her into the container where we found Peter,” Jack commanded. He watched with visible satisfaction as an enraged Elle vainly struggled. “Put some food and water in there, too; I want to make sure she survives.” When Jack returned from seeing her led outside, Peter had gotten back to his feet.

“Are you all right?” Peter asked. “Where’s Elle?”

“Don’t worry,” Jack said, “she’s not going to bother us again for a while.” He then pulled Peter into a long kiss. When he let go, he looked around at the rest of the team. “Thanks, guys.”

“Yeah,” Peter echoed. “Thanks. I wish you hadn’t had to go through that. I’m really–”

“Don’t mention it,” Jack interrupted, pulling Peter into yet another kiss.

A week later, Elle Bishop headed over to a New York City payphone and dialed a familiar number. She pressed the receiver up to her ear, reluctantly waiting for the voice to pick up at the other end.

“Daddy?” Elle began, “I’m not exactly sure how to explain this, but I ran into a bit of a problem.”