Dreams and Meetings

A man with a mysteriously hidden past, some crazy dreams, a little crushin', and a strange meeting; all a normal day at the office for team Excala.

Chapter 1

Captain Jack Harper awoke from his slumber with a gasp. As he sat up, covered in sweat and panting from the chaos of his sleep, he looked around the dimly lit room. The walls of the room were a deep red, making the dark black furniture stand out, over the dresser a large black-framed mirror hung reflecting the soft light of the two half moon shaped black lamps that hung on every wall, the bed that sat against the wall directly opposite to the dark green door that let out into the rest of the rather large apartment had dark purple sheets and comforters on it. Jack sighed and pulled off the covers before standing and walking into the large bathroom, he squinted as the bright light from the chandelier scorched his eyes like fire but shook it off and turned to where the counter was. He shoved the short locks of thick black hair out of his face where they had fallen, his defined bare chest glistened with sweat as he breathed heavily. he looked into the mirror, into his own deep blue eyes, and murmured to himself “no, why now?...Why now? I stopped having those dreams, I stopped seeing The Tear, over a hundred years ago; why would it come back now?”

Jack splashed some cold water on his face in frustration and then went to go get dressed.

When he walked out into his apartment he sighed as he looked around, the walls were a standard peach color and the chairs, coffee table, and wood bookcases that were scattered about the room were all black...nothing but a few lamps with off white shade were light or colorful in that room. A large assortment of ornate shelves and bookcases were all that lined the walls. Records, books, and dark pieces of pottery were on every shelf; but the one thing you wouldn't find in this awing living structure was a picture...a piece of the past. Jack stood in his living room and let out another long sigh before turning and walking into his kitchen to make something to eat.

His large kitchen, much like the rest  of his home, was ornate; it had deep green granite counters, dark cherry cabinets, a silver sink, a well polished gas stove, a black fridge with a calendar stuck to it, and above the island that sat in the middle of the room was a large rack with pots hanging from the ceiling. Jack made some coffee and then walked out into the rest of the building.

Jack walked down the long corridor and took a deep breath as he thought about the fact that the past may very well be coming back to haunt him. Once Jack reached the end of the hallway he pressed the button on the elevator, as the door opened Jack walked in and murmured to himself “I’m gonna need to call  the rest of the team in I suppose.”

When he stepped out of the elevator he looked around the base he had come to call home. The extensive structure with it’s primarily concrete walls, and it’s various rooms with walls of glass covered by long white shades, was, in fact, where Jack lived. This labyrinth underground is where Captain Jack and his team controlled the supernatural, the alien. In the base, though it is a virtually endless maze of rooms and corridors, the main space in which the work was done was quite possibly the largest room in the structure. The room was vast in height, width, and length, there was a work station for every member of his small team, a large rack for weapons from everywhere in time and spaced sat upon the far wall, the catwalk that surrounded the whole room had a staircase that came down to sit right in front of the small office kitchen, and up on the catwalk the captain's office looked down upon the entire base.

Jack took a moment to look over the room, observing his team's cluttered desks and leftover pizza boxes. As Jack turned to walk up the staircase he heard the sound of the metal door sliding open and saw the youngest of the team walk in.

“Good morning Michael,” Jack said through a grin as he took in the tailored suit, the thick blackish brown hair, pale blue eyes, and red dress shirt, of the young man before him.

“Morning, sir,” Michael said with a half smile before walking towards the small kitchen to begin making coffee for the team when they arrived.

As Michael walked in he had to refrain himself from grinning like a schoolgirl who just got asked out by her crush as he saw his boss, his very, very extremely handsome boss, standing on the staircase looking like he was in a world of his own.

While Michael went through the process of making the team's coffee in a calm and rehearsed manner he sighed to himself as he thought about Jack. He knew it was wrong to think of your boss in such an intimate way but somehow he couldn’t stop himself from admiring the man. The way Jack’s black suit pants made his legs look like they went on forever, or the way his blue shirts that he wore every day brought out his stunning blue eyes and his flat abdomen, or the knee length black trench coat he always wore when he went out, or possibly his thick black hair that he longed to run his fingers through and how locks of it would fall in Jack’s face when he leaned forward in interest.

Michael let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding when a familiar and, at this point in time, welcomed ding from the coffee machine pulled him from his thoughts about his boss; about Jack.

Michael left the mugs of coffee on the desks of all the respective team members before bringing Jack his coffee.

A soft knock on the door caused Jack to look up from where his head had been resting in his hands, he smiled as he took in the pale young man in the doorway.

“Everything alright, sir, you seem a bit off? If it’s not too bold to say,” Michael said as he walked in and set Jacks mug down on the desk in front of him.

“Oh yes, yes; everything's fine Michael,” Jack said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, not wanting to burden the younger man with his problems.

Michael nodded and sent Jack a tight smile before saying “well, the rest of the team should be here shortly and I’ll be in the archives should you need anything.” With that Michael turned and left the room, oblivious to Jack’s eyes on his a*s as he went.

Over the next half hour the rest of the team arrived and settled into their various stations and Jack quietly went down to the med lab to get the doctor in fear of the destruction that was yet to emerge.

“Tommy?” an unusually quiet voice called from behind the doctor.

As Tommy turned around, he was surprised to see his usually strong and confident leader standing in front of him with his shoulders slumped and eyes tired.

“Yes, what is it Jack?” Tommy asked uncertainly.

Jack looked around the open room that was the lab before turning back to Tommy and looking into his worried hazel eyes, saying “is there somewhere a little more private we can talk?”

Tommy nodded, puzzled, and said “well I suppose we can go to your office.”

Jack also nodded before turning and leading the way up the staircase out of the hole in the ground that Tommy worked in. When the two arrived at Jack’s office Jack stood to the side of the door until Tommy was in before he shut the door and locked it for good measure.

Slightly exasperated Tommy turned to face the man and said “Christ Jack, just spit it out this is Washington D.C. not New York, what the bloody hell is the worst that can happen?”

Jack took a deep breath before beginning to say “okay so, do you remember those dreams I was having when you first joined?” Jack waited for the doctor to nod before continuing “well, I think they might be coming back; last night I had a dream...and I was back there again. I saw The Tear; and...I also saw a girl, young probably mid teens, and I felt what she did. God Tommy, she was so lost; so alone...I don’t know how she could bear it.”

Tommy walked over and put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder before he led him over to sit on the couch against the wall and said “okay Jack, okay...if you had this dream it was probably for some sort of reason; so why don’t you tell me what you saw.” Tommy watched as Jack softly shook his head from side to side.

Sighing, Tommy said “Jack, I know it’s hard but you need to focus...what was she doing?”

Jack wrang his hands awkwardly and looked straight at the floor as he began “I couldn’t tell at first; but then I saw the knife and realized...she was cutting herself-she was so...scared; so sad I wanted to die just to get away from those feeling. The feelings she has to live with everyday.”

Tommy nodded and put his hand on Jack’s arm before, surprisingly gently, saying “so what do you think? Future victim of The Tear, random lost soul…?”

Jack shook his head and said “I don’t know, I really don’t know Tommy...I wish I did.”

Tommy nodded yet again and said “okay Jack, you should try to get some rest...let me know if you have anymore dreams.”

It was Jack’s turn to nod before Tommy began to walk out, only to be stopped by Jack’s voice calling his name softly.

Tommy turned to look at Jack before saying “yes?”

Jack looked down at the floor a bit before saying “do you think...could you not tell the team about this?”

Tommy rocked on his feet before saying “yeah, sure Jack; whatever you say,” with that Tommy left Jack's office and went back to his lab.

When Tommy got back to his lab he went to grab his mobile and to text Melissa. Tommy walked up to the top of the staircase and waited for his friends phone to buzz. He smiled a bit as he saw her pick up the phone and look at it, he enjoyed looking at the tech expert he thought she really was quite stunning.

He sighed as he saw Melissa locking her computer before beginning to stand up. He smiled a bit more as he looked over the beautiful Asian woman; her shoulder length black hair that framed her face delicately, her hot pink glasses that she wore while working, her denim jacket that she always had on, her jeans and black boots that hugged her legs, her perfume that made her smell like a field of wildflowers...everything about her made Tommy have butterflies in his stomach.

As Melissa reached Tommy she said “hey, what’s wrong? You said it was something with Jack?”

Tommy held his finger to his lips for a moment silence Melissa before gently grabbing her arm and ushering her down to his lab. When they reached the bottom of the staircase Tommy pulled out his office chair for Melissa to sit in before sighing and taking  moment to find to words to explain to his friend what was wrong.

Melissa frowned as Tommy pulled her down the staircase and all but shoved her into his office chair, but she could tell by the look on the usually stoic doctor's face that it was an urgent matter. She was worried, she really quite liked Tommy and it was killing her inside to see her friend this distraught.

Melissa also thought Tommy was rather cute what with his short brown hair, his large hazel eyes, his round face that made his straight toothed smile stand out, his lab coat with all his pins stuck into it...she could go on all day but admiring the man that would never lover her back was rather pointless right now; it appeared there were more pressing matters at the moment.

Tommy bounced his foot up and down nervously before he took a deep breath and met Melissa’s worried gazed before saying “I think something might be wrong with Jack.”

Melissa nodded and said “yes, I gathered that from your text...what exactly do you think is wrong with Jack?”

Tommy walked over and perched on the side of his desk before turning to Melissa and saying “you can’t tell any off the others I promised Jack I’d keep it under wraps.”

Melissa nodded and said “Tommy, you can trust me...I won’t tell them anything you don’t want them to know.”

Tommy sighed before saying “back in Jack’s past, I don’t know exactly when or how, but he ended up on an uninhabited moon. There was some sort of...gateway that looked into The Tear; Jack stared into it, and nothing happened. Anyway, a few days later he was rescued...everything seemed normal tell he went to sleep; that night when he went to sleep he began to have dreams. In those dreams he could see anything and everything; everything that is, was, or ever could be...he began to go mad with it. Anytime he went to sleep he could see some lost soul crying for help somewhere in the universe. Fast forward a bit and he ends up in a bar somewhere in the 1800s, starts trying to drink away the images...the screams; he ends up in a bar fight. He gets fatally stabbed and thrown into an alley, only to wake up and find his wounds have healed; it was just then he realized...he was immortal. Best I can figure, the raw energy of The Tear that he was exposed to for those couple days changed him and made him immortal.”

Melissa furrowed her brow and said “okay, that’s horrible, but I don’t see what it has to do with the here and now.”

Tommy gave her a pointed look and said “calm your tits down little mamma, I’m getting there. Now, fast forward a few years; Jack goes to sleep and he doesn’t have the dreams. When he wakes up he realizes this, he grabbed a knife and cut himself; the wounds heal almost instantly so he is still immortal. When he goes to sleep the next night he still doesn’t have the dreams, for an entire week he would go to sleep, wake up dream free, cut himself and see it healed. He never knew what happened all he knew was the dreams stopped but he was still immortal. Now, present day, he goes to sleep just like any other night but-”

“But he has dreams,” Melissa finished his sentence for him “when did it start again?”

Tommy looked at her and said “it started again last night, that’s why he is acting so weird today.”

Melissa looked over the rim of her glasses at Tommy and said “so what did he see?”

Tommy sighed and began “I don’t really know to be honest...he said he saw a sad girl who was cutting herself, the details were pretty fuzzy to him as well; he didn’t really know what he saw either.”

Melissa nodded and said “well, what do we do now?”

Tommy shrugged and said “I guess we just carry on as usual…”

Melissa nodded once again and said “well we should probably get back to work then, The Tear is supposed to go insane later today.”

Tommy sent her an exasperated look and murmured “great, just what I needed today; more aliens to chase through the middle of D.C.”

Melissa giggled before patting him on the shoulder and walking back up to her work station.

As Melissa sat back down and switched her computer Agatha leaned over and said “what’s up Melissa, Tommy finally ask you out?”

Melissa shifted her chair to look at the last member of the team and said “no Agatha, I wish that were the case, but no; he’d have to die of alcohol poisoning before he’d do that”

The ex-police officer smiled at Melissa and said “he likes you too you know.”

Melissa snorted and said “I think you’re wrong about that.”

Agatha raised her eyebrows and said “oh I don’t think so sweetie, I wasn’t a cop for no reason; I can pick up on things.”

Melissa turned back to her computer and began to type in the password before murmuring back to Agatha  “well I suppose we can only hope.”

Agatha smiled fondly before turning back to her own workstation and letting her eyes trail up to Jack’s office.

Jack was pacing his office trying to make sense of what was happening when he turned to look out the glass pane that was the wall and catching Agatha’s heated gaze locked onto his body, Jack was unable to stop himself from smiling at the woman; even if he was aware of her fiance waiting for her at home. Jack knew it was wrong to want Agatha closer to him in his life, in his heart...in his bed, but he couldn’t help it. He also knew Agatha had feelings for him too, there were days when the pale brunette woman, with her beautiful green eyes, would spend all day staring at him from down at her workstation. But, Agatha was already in a committed relationship with a good man; that’s why Jack had never pushed for anything more with the woman, no matter how painfully tight his pants were when he was around her.

Later, Michael was brewing the team's third round of coffee when everyone was assaulted with a bright flash of light followed by an almighty “thud” at the bottom of the med lab staircase. Tommy had managed to trip himself in the commotion so it wasn’t until he stood up to look around the base that he saw her.

A young girl lay unconscious at the bottom of the med lab staircase, from Tommy’s initial onceover of the sleeping girl she appeared to be mid to late teens, waist length caramel hair, nice black leather bikers jacket on her shoulders, brown boots, blue skinny jeans, a dark purple T-shirt, mascara on her eyes, and a cut on her forehead from where it had collided with the staircase on the way to the bottom. As Tommy picked the girl up, putting one arm under her knees and another around her back, he turned to lay her on the medical bed in in the middle of the small room, when he reached his hand out to brush the long hair out of her face to get a better look it occurred to Tommy just who this fit the description of.

“Jack,” Tommy called as he stepped away from the table, not for one second removing his eyes from the slumbering girl.

Jack came out of his office looking a bit disoriented but quickly shook it off when his eyes met the girl and Tommy watched, confirming his suspicions, as he saw the color drain from Jack's face and turn an interesting shade of white.

Just to confirm what he already knew to be true he warily spoke “Jack? Jack is this the girl from your dream?”

Jack just absently nodded and his team listened as what sounded like a strangled cry escaped from his lips. Tommy nodded and walked up the staircase to put a hand on Jack’s arm and steer him away from the sleeping form. When they got up to Jack’s office Tommy pushed Jack down into his office chair and sighed as he looked around the room trying to regain his composure and figure out what was happening. Jack’s office was much like everywhere else Jack considered his own, the desk, shelves, and leather chairs, that were in his office were all dark brown; the walls of Jack’s office were all glass with the exception of the walls directly behind and to the right of his desk, all the glass walls except for the one in front of his desk that looked directly down on the rest of the team were covered in long white shades that had collected dust from lack of attention, Jack had many novels and military strategy books on the shelves along with an old fashioned lamp and a bonsai tree on his desk. But, once again, there was not a single picture or reminder of Jack’s past in the room.

Tommy opened his mouth a few times to speak but closed it again before finally finding the right words and saying “Jack, I know it’s hard but I need you to try and remember your dream. Anything about the girl; her name, where she lives, anything.”

Jack slouched in his chair and looked at his hands that were resting on his knees before beginning “I don’t know...I think; it felt like she was worried but excited at the same time...like, she was waiting for something or someone. I really can’t remember much of it Tommy, sorry...but, I’ll tell you as soon as I remember something more.”

Tommy nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets, obviously deep in thought, before saying “I’ll go tend to the patient then...Jack; you did good, thank you.”

Jack nodded almost absently and then watched through tired half lidded eyes as the young doctor walked out the door. Of course, everyone was young to Jack...it was simply the curse of living forever.

As Tommy arrived back down in the medical bay he noticed a large duffel bag and a backpack scattered about the floor. Now, how he had missed the bags the first time Tommy did not know but dismissing his stupidity he walked toward the duffel bag and crouched down next to it. Tommy slowly looked from the girl to the bag a few times before he gingerly reached forward and grabbed the bag but, before he could look into it a hungover groan alerted him that the girl was awake; cause’ that was just his luck.

She felt cold metal underneath the palms of her hands and groaned as her head began to spin at a thousand miles and hour. When she was finally able to open her eyes she was accosted by a blindingly bright light and the faint smell of rubbing alcohol, she frowned as the light was turned down and she was able to make out the shape of a lamp like one would find in a dentist's office.  

“Jack, she’s awake,” Tommy called after he had turned down the light for the now conscious young girl.

Tommy took a deep breath as he saw Jack exiting his office and heading towards the med lab. When Jack arrived at the staircase Tommy began to tell Jack “now Jack listen, she is very disoriented and probably doesn’t remember much so we need to approach the situation with ca-”

“Who in the living f**k are you?!” Jack demanded angrily to the teenager upon reaching the bottom of the staircase.  

The girl snapped her head up to meet Jack’s fiery gaze before stumbling over her words as she tried to speak “m-my name is Eva...” she took a deep studdering breath that she held for a moment before she finished shakily “Evangelista; Evangelista Connolly...who are you?...W-where am I?”

Tommy jogged down the staircase and all but threw Jack out of the room. When Jack was dealt with he walked over the the young girl and said “I’m sorry about my boss, he isn’t usually like that, my names’ Tommy; it’s Evangelista right.” The girl nodded and chewed her lip nervously before she stuttered, once again, in saying “w-where am I? What happened?”

Tommy reached his hand forward to tuck some hair behind her ear where her forehead was cut, frowning when she flinched away when she saw his hand coming towards her face.

“Where. Am.I?” she asked again, this time more stern than the last.

Tommy stepped back and sighed as he looked her over slowly before saying “There is a...Tear in the fabric of time; objects, creatures, from all parts of time and space fall through it and we’re the ones who control it.”

“Who’s we?” Evangelista asked as she watched Tommy get some sterile water and gaws.

Tommy walked back over to the medical table and moved her hair back before he began to gently wash out her wound, he flashed her the faintest of smiles and said “hey guys, come here.”

Evangelista turned to look up at the catwalk where three people were lined up along the railing before she turned her attention back to Tommy who was beginning to say “This is the rest of the team, Michael Sullivan,” he said nodding toward the immaculately  dressed young man on the catwalk “Agatha Right,” he said turning towards a pale woman in her early thirties “Melissa Satem,” he said pointing towards an Asian woman “and you have already met our boss, Captain Jack Harper.”

Evangelista tried her best to smile but was only able to manage a slight twitch of her lips and mumble “nice to meet you,” to the people around her.

After the silence that fell over the med lab had stretched to a breaking point and the rest of the team had went back to their stations Tommy finally said “So, Evangelista, where are you from?”

Evangelista glanced up at him from where her eyes had been locked onto her boots and said “Kentucky.”

“Oh really, what part of Kentucky are you from?” Tommy asked, nothing but polite curiosity in his tone.

“Hilltop,” she answered with the faintest of smiles “it’s right up against the northern border of Tennessee.”

Tommy smiled at her as he placed a small bandage over the cut on her head and said “cool, my mom always wanted to live in the country when I was young; what’s it like up there?”

Evangelista beamed as she said “well, it’s mainly woods and fields but it’s a nice place. Me and my...family; live on a small farm out in Hilltop, we have a jersey cow, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, and we even have a few asses.”

Tommy smirked ever so slightly but also frowned as he heard the strange emphasis she put on the word ‘family’ as if there was more to the story than meets the eye. But, he shook it off and said “so where you heading kid?”

“Where am I heading?” Evangelista quoted, the question evident in her voice.

Tommy nodded and gestured briefly to the bags on the floor before saying “yeah, that's an awful lot of stuff to just be going out shopping; so where were you heading?”

Evangelista looked at him flatly before what looked like a flash of panic played across her young features, looking more lost in her own thoughts than what was happening currently she murmured “I-I was going to spend the weekend at my best friends house, I don’t get to see her much so I wanted to be prepared for anything.”

“What like the apocalypse,” Tommy said sarcastically through a smirk, earning him a hard punch in the shoulder from Evangelista. Tommy laughed and rubbed his shoulder where she had hit it before remembering the task at hand and saying “alright so, I need to check you over just to make sure there is no real damage but while I do that think you might be able to tell me what the last things you remember were?”

Evangelista nodded reluctantly as she saw Tommy pulling on some latex gloves and grabbing an empty needle “what are you doing?” She asked, polite curiosity and a slight bit of worry in her voice as she watched him fiddle with the syringe.

Tommy sent her a tight smile and answered “I just need to draw some blood, so if you’d be so kind as to take off your jacket we can get on with it.”

Evangelista nodded once again, knowing that in doctors speak Tommy was giving her a politely phrased order, and hopped off the table to stand on the ground briefly and take off her jacket. Once she was situated on the table again she presented her arm to the doctor and watched as he rubbed down the spot with some sterile water. Evangelista tried not to tense as she saw Tommy put the needle in her arm and begin to fill it with blood, taking a deep breath she remembered Tommy’s question and began to say “just before I was taken I was walking across the road and texting my friend on my phone, I was in the middle of the road just in front of my house when there was a bright light...next thing I knew I was waking up here.”

Evangelista sighed in relief when Tommy finally pulled the needle out of her arm, a thoughtful look on his face, before he put down the vial of blood and turned to face her saying “right; okay…”

“What?” Evangelista asked as the doctor trailed off.

Tommy shook himself and sent her another tight smile before saying “oh nothing, it’s just not activity were used to seeing from The Tear.”

Evangelista nodded and said “are you done, you know, with the medical exams.”

Tommy chuckled fondly and said “hell no, I have a to do a complete check up.”

Evangelista frowned at him and glared before murmuring “fine.”

Later when Tommy had finally finished poking and prodding at the teenager he lead her up to sit on the ratty old couch near the medical bay.

Evangelista clasped her hands and let them sit on her anxiously bouncing knees as she looked at the floor and tried to make sense of her day.

“Can I get you something,” Michael said as he watched Evangelista fidget with her clothes, trying but failing miserably to look busy.

When the answer came it was such a low murmur that Michael almost missed it as she quietly spoke “the last fourteen years of my life back.”

Michael shifted from foot to foot for a moment before he tried to change the subject from Evangelista’s remark saying “wait, you're only fourteen?”

Evangelista glanced up at him for half a heartbeat before she shrugged and said “older than I look, I know…”

Michael shook himself and shifted back to his previous question saying “so, can I get you something or not?”

Evangelista shook her head softly saying just a bit too sternly for comfort “no, thank you, but no; if I want something I’ll get it the way I always have, on my own.”

Michael looked slightly taken back by the teenagers answer but merely tugged his suit jacket and walked away, towards Jack's office.

Michael knocked softly on Jack’s door, not wanting to startle the man, before he opened to the door and walked in saying “excuse me, sir, but do you know if Tommy did a psych eval on the girl?”

Jack looked up at Michael and said “no, I don’t think so, why?”

Michael looked at Jack carefully, as though he had to phrase his words perfect, before saying “well, I just spoke to her and she just came off as a little bit...troubled; that’s all.”

Author's Note

Let me know what you thought please!
Thanks for reading, see y'all soon;}...