Shooting range, Friday morning

[moonbrain_tam]

River posted the safety rules for the first time.

SAFETY RULES:

· TREAT ALL GUNS AS IF THEY WERE LOADED

· KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL READY TO FIRE

· BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET AND WHAT’S BEYOND

· ALWAYS WEAR HEARING AND EYE PROTECTION

· NEVER USE ALCOHOL OR DRUGS BEFORE OR WHILE SHOOTING.

· CHECK IN ALL WEAPONS BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE RANGE.

She'd

Comments

[anextimeagent]

First place Jack went on his first morning back was the range, heading to the weapons locker to retrieve a gun. The 9mm felt right, given where he was, so that's what he grabbed, gathering spare clips and safey gear, before heading over to snag an alley.

He didn't make it, stopping dead when he saw who was already there. River.

[moonbrain_tam]

It wasn't hard to sense someone else in an otherwise empty room, and this person felt familiar. River turned.

"Jack!"

She called out before remembering that this could be any other version of Jack, and more than likely it was, so she let her mind reach out to him, wanting to find out.

[anextimeagent]

For one brief second, he hesitated, then training and current inclination kicked in and he started thinking hard about numbers, equations, vortex formulas, chronological insertion points for times he'd never visit, throwing up a babble of information between himself and her. "Hey, River."

[moonbrain_tam]

He recognised her then, so no alternate version. But River frowned, trying to get past the information that shielded him from her like a cloud of useless information. All that noise pulled at her attention and distracted, and there was nothing of the invitation she'd been used to. She opened her mouth and all she could think of was: "Why?"

[anextimeagent]

His expression closed down. "Things change," he said flatly, continuing on to drop his things in his alley. He did not want her walking around in his head. Luckily, neither did the Agency, and this was part of what he'd learned, this fog of numbers. "How are you, anyway?"

[moonbrain_tam]

River ignored his question. "You said you'd never return," she said. "Didn't expect you to." She looked at the gun in her hand, undecided whether to load it and start shooting or to stop and talk.

[anextimeagent]

"Didn't expect to either." Jack had no such dilemma, and he quickly checked his gun over and loaded it, frowning as he realised that his hand was still weak. Too weak, he decided after a quick assessment, to shoot with. Luckily the other one was fine. "Would you rather I hadn't?"

[moonbrain_tam]

River took a step back, then looked over her shoulder, down the alley, at the targets. Within seconds she had the gun loaded and extended her arm, aimed and fired. Lowering her hand again, she turned her eyes back to Jack. "Expecing an honest answer?"

[anextimeagent]

"I was, yeah." His concentration slipped slightly, a sudden stab of disappointment cutting through the fog. "Guess I'm not going to."

[moonbrain_tam]

River silently reloaded the gun. Then she looked up again and walked over to Jack's alley, slowly stepping close to him. "It depends on the reason," she said.

[anextimeagent]

His nostrils flared but he didn't move. "It shouldn't matter what the reason is."

[moonbrain_tam]

River looked up at him, her face deceptively calm. "If you came here expecting to benefit from your friends here, giving nothing in return then yes, I'd prefer it if you'd stayed away. You left. You knew what you chose. I know, because you let me see. Think that won't hurt the people you care about?"

She couldn't see into his mind, not unless she forced her way through his defences, and it could be this treatment was reserved for her, but she was fairly confident that her guess that it was not was correct.

Quickly she raised her arm and fired at the targets in his alley, with her usual precision.

[anextimeagent]

It might be stupid, but he didn't move. Not like it would make a difference even if he did; if she wanted to shoot him, she'd shoot him.

When the noise died away, he looked her up and down, then met her eyes. "If that's what you think, just because I'm not letting you wander through my mind I'm here to use you, use them." He smiled coldly. "Then you never trusted me. Trust is what you have when you don't know, River. Now you don't know, you condemn me out of hand."

Taking one swift glance at the target, he slid a clip into the gun and fired until it was empty, putting every shot through the bullseye.

[moonbrain_tam]

River watched him fire the shots. "You've been practising," she commented, then looked up at him again, her face expressionless. "Trust is earned. Don't have to read your mind to know how little what I feel mean to you now." She raised a hand to touch his face. "You said it clearly the moment you stepped through the door. No need to try and hear what you won't tell me when you spell it out like that." Towards the end she could no longer hold back the anger in her voice.

[anextimeagent]

"I've been practicing lots of things, River. All sorts of interesting things." He grinned lazily at her, feeling an answering anger bubbling up inside him. He didn't let it get past the numbers, though. "You don't know what I think. You don't know what I feel." He leaned forward, until he was nose to nose with her. "You want to walk through my mind? This is just white noise, it can't stop you. I can't keep you out. So you do what you have to do, River. But you might want to think long and hard about the nature of trust before you do it."

[moonbrain_tam]

River didn't move away, just stood still feeling her anger moving through her body. "What are you afraid of, Jack?" she asked, her voice cold.