Time: Sometime between yesterday and tomorrow. Place: unnamed time-ship, unknown location.
Jack didn't know precisely what day it was, but he was fairly confident it wasn't Tuesday. And that was a good thing. It was also about the only thing he was sure of.
Last thing he remembered was stepping out of his room, hoping like hell it wasn't Tuesday again, and then the world had dissolved into light.
He'd woken up here: a bedroom with strange curved walls and an entirely too small bed. He was pretty sure it was a ship of some kind, but beyond that, he didn't have a clue.
But at least it wasn't Tuesday.
Jack was stuck - the door was locked, and there was nothing to break it open with - and he'd been cooling his heels for about an hour now. He wasn't worried, but he was bored. He'd solved this by tipping over the room's only light and now shadow bunnies were cavorting across the wall in increasingly obscene poses.
When the door pinged politely before sliding open, he leapt to his feet, eager to find out what was on the other side.
The day was getting better: not only was it Not Tuesday, there was an extremely attractive man standing in the doorway. Jack didn't even try to suppress a grin as his eyes travelled from feet to face, finally meeting the man's eyes.
Not much could knock Jack off his stride, but the look in those eyes was enough to do it. The face was expressionless, but the eyes - and they were a bright, piercing blue - were strangely intense, something disturbingly possessive lurking in their depths.
They fastened on him and Jack's smile faded. It raised the hairs on the back of his neck and, swallowing slightly, he backed up a step, then another, worry suddenly strolling up and introducing itself.
They watched each other in silence as the seconds ticked past.
Most people have a fight or flight reaction; Jack tended more towards fight or flirt. So he shunted worry aside in favour of the fine tradition of getting himself out of trouble by getting himself into an entirely different sort of trouble, and sauntered back towards the door, peering up through his eyelashes while he flashed his best smile.
It didn't get quite the reaction he was hoping for.
The eyes were losing their strangeness, starting to sparkle with mirth, and a smile was creeping across the handsome face. Jack reached out to slide a hand down the temptingly bare arm, but it was quickly snatched out of reach as the smile morphed into a disturbingly familiar grin.
"Jack, much as I appreciate the effort, it's not necessary." Shaking his head, the man added, "And, much as it pains me to say it, you can't touch me. Very bad idea."
Mildly offended and very confused, Jack asked, "Do I know you?"
"Kind of." Laughing and shaking his head, the man stepped backwards, waving Jack through the door. "Captain Jack Harkness at your service."
Jaw dropping, Jack stared, stumbled, caught himself with a hand against the wall and stared some more. "You, what?" It was possible he was doing a credible impression of a goldfish.
"Yeah, I know. Running into yourself can be a bit of a shock." There was definitely a touch of sympathy there, and Jack wondered if he had run into himself before. If this him had run into some other him, that is; he already knew that he hadn't met himself before.
His head was starting to hurt.
Fumbling after some semblance of coherent thought, Jack studied the man standing in front of him. Little bit taller, a little bit broader, but the same face, the same grin, and the eyes…yeah. This was him.
Suddenly something as simple as an endlessly repeating Tuesday was looking pretty damn good.
"Huh." This was so weird. "This is so weird."
"Yeah, that's probably a fair call."
"What are you -" Jack stopped, regrouped, tried again. "What am I -" Nope, not quite there yet. "What the hell is going on?"
"Long story."
"I'm pretty sure I've got time. Hey, you wouldn't be responsible for Tuesday, would you?"
"The day generally? No. Though I do have a day named after me. Little planet named Velsten has Jack Harkness day. That's part of why I need to talk to you."
"You couldn't have picked up the phone?"
"Well, there was also the small matter of the Time Agency trying to get their hands on you again. That's why you were looping."
"Oh." Jack had a sudden urge to bang his head against the wall. Repeatedly.
"They won't be a problem anymore. Trust me."
"What, you dealt with them?"
"Sort of. Come on, let's get a drink. There's some things I've got to tell you and you're not going to like most of them."
Jack snorted. "Yeah, I kinda suspected as much."
Several hours and many drinks later, Jack stumbled into bed.
How in the hell had his life gotten this complicated?
He believed the Captain - it was just easier to think of him as 'the Captain' and his brain was already twisting itself into knots trying to deal with this so anything that made it easier was a Good Thing - how could he not? There was no doubt that, yeah, the Captain was him, and he knew he wouldn't lie to himself.
But join the Time Agency? After everything they'd done?
Except apparently he was going to be a damn good Agent. Do a lot of good things, incredible things, things that would have been left undone if he hadn't been around; save whole worlds, even. His future, the Captain's past: if they diverged, it would all be erased. But knowing what they'd tried to do, what they'd actually done, he could never join the Agency. Not even for the sake of a past and a future.
Paradox.
Time travel.
Things had been a lot simpler in the fifty-first century; he should have just stayed there.
Sighing deeply, he stared into the darkness.
Another memory wipe, and this time he'd lose everything. Everyone he'd known at Fandom High, everything he'd done. He'd lose CJ. He'd lose Parker. Two people that loved him, even if one of them had only admitted it because she knew she wouldn't remember. Two people he loved. The first place that had ever truly felt like a home.
But the future that the Captain had unrolled before him was incredible. To give that up, to lose all of it, all the things the Captain had done and he might still do…losing a year's worth of living didn't sound like much compared to that.
Cursing, he punched the pillow, knowing he'd already decided. But he was damn well going to leave himself a note this time.
He would make sure he remembered the important things. The important people. No way was he going to give them up.
[OOC: An actual explanation of what's going on is is here. Oh yeah, and Jack's now under new management.]
Last thing he remembered was stepping out of his room, hoping like hell it wasn't Tuesday again, and then the world had dissolved into light.
He'd woken up here: a bedroom with strange curved walls and an entirely too small bed. He was pretty sure it was a ship of some kind, but beyond that, he didn't have a clue.
But at least it wasn't Tuesday.
Jack was stuck - the door was locked, and there was nothing to break it open with - and he'd been cooling his heels for about an hour now. He wasn't worried, but he was bored. He'd solved this by tipping over the room's only light and now shadow bunnies were cavorting across the wall in increasingly obscene poses.
When the door pinged politely before sliding open, he leapt to his feet, eager to find out what was on the other side.
The day was getting better: not only was it Not Tuesday, there was an extremely attractive man standing in the doorway. Jack didn't even try to suppress a grin as his eyes travelled from feet to face, finally meeting the man's eyes.
Not much could knock Jack off his stride, but the look in those eyes was enough to do it. The face was expressionless, but the eyes - and they were a bright, piercing blue - were strangely intense, something disturbingly possessive lurking in their depths.
They fastened on him and Jack's smile faded. It raised the hairs on the back of his neck and, swallowing slightly, he backed up a step, then another, worry suddenly strolling up and introducing itself.
They watched each other in silence as the seconds ticked past.
Most people have a fight or flight reaction; Jack tended more towards fight or flirt. So he shunted worry aside in favour of the fine tradition of getting himself out of trouble by getting himself into an entirely different sort of trouble, and sauntered back towards the door, peering up through his eyelashes while he flashed his best smile.
It didn't get quite the reaction he was hoping for.
The eyes were losing their strangeness, starting to sparkle with mirth, and a smile was creeping across the handsome face. Jack reached out to slide a hand down the temptingly bare arm, but it was quickly snatched out of reach as the smile morphed into a disturbingly familiar grin.
"Jack, much as I appreciate the effort, it's not necessary." Shaking his head, the man added, "And, much as it pains me to say it, you can't touch me. Very bad idea."
Mildly offended and very confused, Jack asked, "Do I know you?"
"Kind of." Laughing and shaking his head, the man stepped backwards, waving Jack through the door. "Captain Jack Harkness at your service."
Jaw dropping, Jack stared, stumbled, caught himself with a hand against the wall and stared some more. "You, what?" It was possible he was doing a credible impression of a goldfish.
"Yeah, I know. Running into yourself can be a bit of a shock." There was definitely a touch of sympathy there, and Jack wondered if he had run into himself before. If this him had run into some other him, that is; he already knew that he hadn't met himself before.
His head was starting to hurt.
Fumbling after some semblance of coherent thought, Jack studied the man standing in front of him. Little bit taller, a little bit broader, but the same face, the same grin, and the eyes…yeah. This was him.
Suddenly something as simple as an endlessly repeating Tuesday was looking pretty damn good.
"Huh." This was so weird. "This is so weird."
"Yeah, that's probably a fair call."
"What are you -" Jack stopped, regrouped, tried again. "What am I -" Nope, not quite there yet. "What the hell is going on?"
"Long story."
"I'm pretty sure I've got time. Hey, you wouldn't be responsible for Tuesday, would you?"
"The day generally? No. Though I do have a day named after me. Little planet named Velsten has Jack Harkness day. That's part of why I need to talk to you."
"You couldn't have picked up the phone?"
"Well, there was also the small matter of the Time Agency trying to get their hands on you again. That's why you were looping."
"Oh." Jack had a sudden urge to bang his head against the wall. Repeatedly.
"They won't be a problem anymore. Trust me."
"What, you dealt with them?"
"Sort of. Come on, let's get a drink. There's some things I've got to tell you and you're not going to like most of them."
Jack snorted. "Yeah, I kinda suspected as much."
Several hours and many drinks later, Jack stumbled into bed.
How in the hell had his life gotten this complicated?
He believed the Captain - it was just easier to think of him as 'the Captain' and his brain was already twisting itself into knots trying to deal with this so anything that made it easier was a Good Thing - how could he not? There was no doubt that, yeah, the Captain was him, and he knew he wouldn't lie to himself.
But join the Time Agency? After everything they'd done?
Except apparently he was going to be a damn good Agent. Do a lot of good things, incredible things, things that would have been left undone if he hadn't been around; save whole worlds, even. His future, the Captain's past: if they diverged, it would all be erased. But knowing what they'd tried to do, what they'd actually done, he could never join the Agency. Not even for the sake of a past and a future.
Paradox.
Time travel.
Things had been a lot simpler in the fifty-first century; he should have just stayed there.
Sighing deeply, he stared into the darkness.
Another memory wipe, and this time he'd lose everything. Everyone he'd known at Fandom High, everything he'd done. He'd lose CJ. He'd lose Parker. Two people that loved him, even if one of them had only admitted it because she knew she wouldn't remember. Two people he loved. The first place that had ever truly felt like a home.
But the future that the Captain had unrolled before him was incredible. To give that up, to lose all of it, all the things the Captain had done and he might still do…losing a year's worth of living didn't sound like much compared to that.
Cursing, he punched the pillow, knowing he'd already decided. But he was damn well going to leave himself a note this time.
He would make sure he remembered the important things. The important people. No way was he going to give them up.
[OOC: An actual explanation of what's going on is is here. Oh yeah, and Jack's now under new management.]