Jack looked up from his paperwork as Gwen stalked past his office for the third time in the last ten minutes; he smiled and shook his head as he looked back to his work.
Five minutes later he looked up to see her leant against his doorframe, leaning back in his chair he raised his eyebrows at her expectantly.
"I'm bored," she complained as she walked across the floor to drop into the chair across from him.
"I see," he replied leaning forward to rest his chin on his linked fingers. "Well have you..."
"Done it," she replied.
"Okay, how about..."
"Finished that too."
"Go home then," he suggested a smile quirking his lips at the look that crossed her face.
"Rhys is working back all week," she sighed. "A big audit on next week or something...I don't feel like sitting around alone."
Jack's interest peaked. "Is Ruth working back with him?"
She frowned slightly. "I suppose so...why?"
He shook his head slightly. "No reason."
"I could murder a good coffee right now," she sighed.
Jack chuckled. "I miss him too."
"How is his Nan?" she asked of Ianto's grandmother who'd had a bad fall recently.
"She's getting better but still needs help getting around," he replied. "He says he'll be with her for at least another week."
Gwen dropped her head onto his desk. "I'm bored!" she sighed again. She heard him open his desk drawer and put something onto the desktop; she looked up to see what he'd placed on the desk.
"Rubber bullets," he explained as she looked to him.
"Rubber bullets?" she questioned. "For what exactly?"
"Training," he replied smiling. "Think of it as...extreme paintball."
"You can't be serious," she cried as she caught on to his intention.
"I never joke about training my team," he said seriously.
"Okay," she replied carefully. "Tell me exactly what you have in mind."
He shrugged. "We run around the lower levels," he replied. "Whoever gets shot in the ass first loses."
"Again...you can't be serious!?"
"Come on," he urged. "You're bored...it'll be fun...plus training!"
She looked down at the box on the desk. "They fit your gun," she said. "Where are mine?"
"You don't need them."
"Jack!" she exclaimed. "I'm not going to shoot at you with live rounds."
He grinned as he stood and pulled his Webley from its holster at his belt. "You'd have to see me to shoot at me," he joked as he exchanged the rounds.
"You know," she stated. "I reckon I just about could shoot you! Where are my rounds?"
Laughing Jack reached back into his draw pulling out a box of rubber bullets to fit her Sig.
"So how do we do this?" she asked as they walked together to the lower levels of the Hub.
Stopping Jack looked at her. "I go one way...you go the other," he smiled. "Count to two hundred...then start hunting."
Her heart beat in her chest as her adrenalin kicked into gear.
Just as they were about to move Jack grabbed her arm. "You wanna make this more interesting?"
"More interesting than possibly being shot in the arse with a rubber bullet?"
"A wager of sorts."
"What sort of wager?" she asked suspiciously.
"Well...if I win," he started.
"Yes?"
He looked as if he were thinking it over. "How about if I win you tell me something that you've never told anyone else...a secret no one else knows."
This didn't sound too bad. "Okay," she agreed. "And if I win?"
"Same deal," he said.
This really sparked her interest – any opportunity to find out something about Jack was golden.
"Deal," she said before she moved off in the direction Jack had indicated to her.
"You fucking bastard!" she screamed as pain shot through her.
Jack laughed. "You knew the rules...you lost."
She couldn't believe he had found her so fast. She hadn't looked at her watch, but thought it must've taken all of ten minutes. "You could've just said 'freeze' or something," she yelled. "You didn't have to shoot me in the arse! That bloody hurts!"
"Believe me," he said to her. "I know!"
"So what the hell!?"
"If this was real life Gwen, the bad guy isn't just gonna say freeze and then you have a good laugh...he's gonna pull the trigger."
Gwen could see his point; she also thought he seemed to be enjoying this a little too much.
They walked back to his office – a little more slowly than when they had walked out.
"So spill," Jack said as he dropped into his chair.
Gwen was about to take a seat in the other chair – thinking better of it. "What?"
"The bet remember!?"
"Oh...right," she replied. "The bet."
"Yeah...and it's gotta be good," he warned. "Not something like 'I stole a Mars Bar when I was twelve'."
She thought a moment and he could see on her face the moment she came to her decision; he leaned forward expectantly.
"I..." she looked at him now. "I...shagged my roommate when I was at college."
He kept his eyes on hers. "And?" he prompted.
"And what?"
"That's all I get?" he complained. "You tell me you shagged your roommate and then leave me hanging?"
"You want details?" she laughed.
"Ahhhh...yeah..."
"Ahhhh...no...that wasn't the deal." She looked at her watch. "Shit!" she exclaimed. "I totally lost track of time...I told Rhys I'd be home when he got there and that was an hour ago."
"So you're leaving?"
"Yep," she said as she headed for his door. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Jack stood and watched her until the big cog door slid into place behind her, deciding he'd definitely have to make sure he won their next training session.