The Orphan and Her Family

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"I should be heading out," Jack says, grabbing both Tosh, and Sophie's arms, steering them toward the door.

"But I didn't catch your names," the real Captain Harkness calls after them.

Jack stops, sighs, and turns around.

"Toshiko Sato," Tosh smiles.

"Sophie McCoy," she smiles as well, and shakes the Captain's proffered hand.

Jack steps forward, "I'm Captain James Harper. 71st."

"71st?" the Captain says, sounding impressed, "That's where I'm hoping to be posted. What's your poison?"

Jack waves his hand, "Maybe later. My friends and I were in the middle of something.

"Sure."

Jack once again takes their arms, and leads them out into the corridor. As soon as they are away from prying ears, Toshiko turns on the immortal, "Why does that man have your name? I'm lost enough here without you holding back on me."

Jack sighs, and looks to Sophie for help. She shrugs, and the immortal turns back to face Tosh, "It's not my name. It's his. I took his." He glances back at the bar, and runs his eyes over Captain Harkness, "But I didn't realise he was so hot."

Sophie smacks his arm, and he turns to look at her. "I know too much."

"Then share," Tosh crosses her arms, and raises an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't want that. Trust me." He turns away from Tosh, and crosses his arms, "We have to get back." He spins back around, and places a hand on Toshiko's bag "What's in here?"

"I've got half the equation in here. The other half's back at the Hub. If I can find some way of getting these figures back to base, then they can combine them and open the Rift and bring us back through."

Sophie nods, "Great plan. Allons-y then!" she grins. Jack rolls his eyes, and heads towards the manager's office.

He peers around, then waves them into the room, "No-one here. Come on, quick."

The woman sets her laptop on the desk, and flips open, sighing in relief when the screen lights up, "It works." Jack and Sophie are leaning over her shoulder, and a warning pops up on the screen, alerting everyone that the battery is running low.

"I might have a solution," Sophie states, and tosses Jack her sonic, "This should work to temporarily keep the power running. I'll see if I've got anything else, but I suggest writing it down, just in case."

Tosh starts to write with the fountain pen, and then shakes it wearily, "I'm not used to writing with these things."

Sophie doesn't say anything else, merely tossing a ballpoint pen onto the desk beside the woman's hand. She turns and offers her a thankful smile, as she goes back to copying the equation.

"You didn't tell me which setting, Soph," Jack states, irritably.

"I thought you were smart enough to figure it out," she jokes, elbows deep in her backpack, "Setting ninety-two should work, just make sure there aren't any chickens around."

Jack sighs, but presses the screwdriver to the charging port of the laptop, "Do I want to know? Scratch that, I know I don't want to know."

Tosh closes her computer, "Got it. Now I need to get the exact coordinates of the dance hall, so I can integrate them into the waveform equation. Then we need to get the information back to the Hub."

At that moment, the manager enters. Jack tosses Sophie the sonic screwdriver, and she stands, flinging her bag over her shoulder, smiling at the man.

"What are you doing in here? Who are you?"

"Captain James Harper. And this is Toshiko Sato, friend, and mathematician. And Sophie McCoy, friend, and general nuisance."

She smacks Jack again, but he keeps his gaze locked on the man. "I'm Bilis, the manager. You're not in full uniform, Captain."

Jack glances down, and shrugs, "On leave. Forty eight hours."

Bilis steps further into his office, and sets his camera down on his desk. Tosh takes a step toward it, "That's an interesting camera."

"It takes photographs instantly."

"I didn't know they could do that yet," she says, quietly.

"And I didn't know they made an attache case out of metal," Bilis says, nodding at her laptop. She has it clutched in her arms, and she's hugging it to her chest.

The manager continues the conversation, but Sophie just keeps her eyes on him, sensing something is off about him. As Jack is ushering them to the door, she does a quick scan of the manager.

Tosh and Jack are having a quiet conversation, as Sophie studies the readings, her eyes widening. "Jack," she states. He snaps his head to look at her. "These readings, I don't like it."

Jack walks over to look at the screwdriver, "Readings of what?"

"Bilis?"

"What, could he be an alien?" Tosh asks, also approaching the woman.

"There is artron energy just teeming off him. It's off the charts. I've never seen it so concentrated except in the TARDIS. I don't know what he is, but Bilis Manger has been travelling through time. A lot!'

Tosh and Jack look at each other, "We need to get back, now," Jack states.

Toshiko nods, and they head back toward the bar. "So, who's the best navigator here?"

George smirks, "Tim. He can't fly for toffee, but at least when he goes down, he'll know exactly where he is."

Tosh smiles a bit flirtatiously at him, "Why don't we chat over here?" She leads him away, and the other airmen wolf-whistle as he walks off.

Jack watches from the doorway as Tosh leads the airman away. Sophie walks up beside him, and puts her hand in his, "Hey, you alright?" she asks in a quiet voice.

He sighs, and gazes across the dance floor, "Just a lot of old memories, memories that I thought I'd buried."

Sophie leans her head on his shoulder, "I know how you feel."

He looks down at her head, "Yeah, kiddo, I guess you would." He then pulls away, and looks her in the eyes, "Do you wanna dance? I mean, you're dressed for it."

She smirks at him, "Can you dance?"

He rolls his eyes, and takes her hand, dragging her out onto the dance floor. He swings her around, laughing and smiling until the song ends. Then, Jack heads toward the bar, and Sophie moves to a table nearby, but not where she feels like she's ruining the boys' night.