Dancing Under the Stars
Title: Dancing Under the Stars
Author: Book_Junkie007
Pairing: Jack/Gwen
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 2238 words
Warnings: Set in that elastic space between the day the team reaches L.A. and the day Gwen flies back to Wales to infiltrate the concentration camps.
Notes: Many thanks to Laffers18, for looking over and reworking some of my work, when I thought it wasn’t good enough, and fixing a line I hated. She also came up with an alternative, more serious, ending, so if you’re interested in reading that, please let me know (it’s the same story with the last couple paragraphs changed).
The building where the jazz is playing out of is, in my mind, Harvelle’s, a jazz club founded in the 30’s, and is indeed located in Santa Monica. I have never been, so I apologize if there’s any mistakes in the geography of L.A. The only time I was there we were more interested in going to Universal Studios than going to Venice Beach and Santa Monica.
Summary: Jack and Gwen dance under the stars and reminisce on the past with some reflections on the current Torchwood.
It was a quiet night at the, yet again, new Torchwood Hub. They had been underground so many times it was a wonder they were still able to function with their limited equipment. Or maybe it wasn’t a wonder. Torchwood was a survivor that would always come back, thanks to the people who were a part of it. There was something intangible about the way Torchwood drew people in and didn’t let them go, not for anything. Death was the only escape but even that wasn’t always an inalterable rule, having been broken so many times before. This Hub was at least better than the one they had in London, with a seaside view and decent electricity they hadn’t had to rig up themselves.
Oswald Danes was being quiet, and there was nothing else that needed their attention at the moment. For once there were no Weevils to hunt or Blowfish to chase in stolen sports cars. Maybe it was better this way, with no Rift to get in the way of conversation, although Gwen and Jack weren’t quite sure if Rex would believe them if they had to go on a Weevil hunt anyway. He seemed to be the sort of person who had difficulty believing in anything out of the ordinary. If Gwen or Jack had spoken about the aliens they had seen or hunted, Rex would be the one most likely to laugh in their faces.
Esther, on the other hand, seemed a little more open, a little more willing to believe. She was starting to trust Jack and Gwen, and was looking to Jack as her leader. Even though there were no defined roles in their ragtag group, it was with unspoken agreement between Jack, Gwen, and Esther that Jack was the leader of their group, and Gwen was second. Esther was willing to agree with whatever they would tell her, within reason. Rex was the only one, yet again, who had a different opinion from the rest of the group, even though he didn’t have the experience Gwen and Jack had which may be needed in this operation.
Jack had been watching everyone, and after making sure Rex and Esther would be able to handle anything that came up, he asked, “Gwen, would you like to take a walk?”
Gwen checked her computer screen, and said, “Yes, I would, thanks. You two will be okay?” she asked Esther and Rex.
“We’ll be fine,” Esther reassured her.
Rex let out a grunt of agreement without looking up from his phone, and with that, Gwen and Jack walked down the stairs and out of the building.
Walking along the boardwalk, Gwen and Jack linked arms and just enjoyed the night, ignoring the Soulless, and listening to snatches of conversation and music.
“Let’s stop here,” Jack suggested when they had walked along the boardwalk and deeper into Santa Monica from Venice Beach. They stood next to an old building, the sound of music spilling onto the sidewalk. Jack cocked an ear, smiling slightly as he recognized the song. Jazz, he thought to himself, possibly the 50’s? “I love this song!” he grinned at Gwen, holding a hand out to her. “Gwen Cooper, may I have this dance?”
Laughing, Gwen allowed Jack to pull her into a jiving position. “Jack! What on earth are we doing?”
“The jive,” Jack replied. “Now trust me,” he said and began to lead.
Gwen smiled and followed along. As the songs kept playing and they got in a groove with their dancing, Jack and Gwen began to talk.
“So, what do you think of Rex?” Jack asked.
“Don’t get me started,” Gwen said as she was led into a spin. “He’s alright, but his thinking he’s the cock of the walk may become a problem.”
“Even if he did save our lives?” Jack asked with a smirk.
“I have no problem with that, I just have a problem of how he went about it,” Gwen said. “We were so close to the bloke telling us, and then he gets shot in the throat.”
“Well, you know Torchwood: if it’s too easy, it’s not fun,” Jack said with a smirk. “We’ll figure this out, using our methods, not whatever Mr CIA says should be our methods.”
“I know,” Gwen said. “I don’t think he would ever believe us if we told him about some of the things we have seen.”
“All the better reason for us to be secretive and keep things to ourselves,” Jack replied. “Now do you understand why I’m secretive?”
“I do,” Gwen agreed. “I just feel like he’s making us run in circles we wouldn’t be running in if he would just trust us and let us do things the Torchwood way.”
“Because the Torchwood way always works out?” Jack asked.
“No, but we have trust in each other, trust which he lacks. I doubt you would have let me shoot formaldehyde into you any other way, even if you were resistant at first,” Gwen said with a soft smile.
“It was for a good cause,” Jack said, smiling back. “I wasn’t ready to die yet.”
“Funny how that works, isn’t it?” Gwen asked. “You live for thousands of years, get freed of immortality, which I thought you wanted, and you’re still not ready to die.”
“What can I say? I’m a stubborn and fickle man,” Jack said. “I will never be figured out even if you live to be an ancient women with her grandchildren, whom I come to visit, looking exactly the same.”
“We have to figure out what’s going on here first,” Gwen said, as she was led into the octopus, “before anything else happens.”
“Very true,” Jack said, leading her out of the step.
“What did you mean anyway when you said we didn’t need anyone else, that you and I were enough?” Gwen asked.
“When did I say this?” Jack asked, puzzled.
“When you drunk dialed me after leaving Esther and I to go to a bar,” Gwen replied. “You came back the next day hungover and excited about it, remember?”
“Ah, right. That was a good hangover,” Jack said, looking off into the distance fondly.
“Well,” Gwen prompted.
Jack turned back to her and focused on completing another step for a moment. “It’s just, I don’t know if we really need the others, or how helpful they’re going to be. Well, Esther’s computer skills have helped already, but I really don’t want to drag her any further into this. It’s like you said, everyone who comes into contact with me gets dragged into my toxic life. I’m not sure I want her dragged into our crazy lives as well. And you have a daughter now. Rhys was right: you should be thinking about her, not running off with me after I abandoned you.”
“Again,” Gwen said.
“Sorry?” Jack asked.
“You abandoned me again, Jack, just like the last time. Granted, it allowed me to take over as second in command, and expand my leadership skills, but still. You abandoned me.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t realise the last time or this time when I abandoned you it would hurt so much. I just needed space, and to find out why I am the way I am, or the way I used to be, but it didn’t always help. Most of the time I just felt like I was failing you again, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Jack, you could never fail me: you were doing the best you could in tough situations, and you handled them better than anyone else would have done.”
“Doesn’t change the fact I misjudged the 456 and so everyone in Thames House was killed, including Ianto.” Jack said sadly.
“Well, this time we’ll do better, alright? Make sure the deaths are kept to a minimum.”
“And that none of them are our team.”
“That too. Do you mean our team of each other, or our team including Esther and Rex, God help us?”
“Esther and Rex included, but you first. You’re always first.”
“Thank you, Jack. I’m sure Rhys will appreciate his daughter’s mam coming home.”
“He doesn’t seem to appreciate you running after me, so it’s the least I can do,” Jack said with a smile.
“Oh, my God. Remember my wedding?” Gwen asked with a slight smile. “I thought he was going to punch you right then and there for stopping our wedding at the altar the first time, let alone all the other madness which happened that day.”
“I was only trying to save your life,” Jack smirked back. “He should have thanked me for stopping it the first time, let alone the crap he gave me over the phone. I let it go ahead the second time.”
“Yes, and thank you for that. I never did thank you all for being at my wedding, did I?” Gwen asked suddenly. “It meant a lot, and I’m sorry you were stuck with the clean up.”
“We were happy to do it,” Jack reassured her. “Well, Ianto complained a bit about being a wedding fairy, but that’s besides the point.”
“Did he now?” Gwen smiled. “I would have thought he was used to cleaning, given the fact he was basically our housekeeper, along with all his other duties.”
“Yeah ... but some of those ‘duties’ were more fun than others,” Jack said with a raised eyebrow.
“That as well,” Gwen said with a grin before sobering. “I miss them,” she said wistfully.
“I do too,” Jack said, holding her closer than was allowed in jiving for a second, then letting go. “They were part of my favorite team.”
“Really?” Gwen asked. “You didn’t like the previous ones?”
“Well, I did,” Jack said, “but you, Tosh, Owen, and Ianto were my favorite combination, the ones I felt the most pride in.”
“We were also the ones you put the most work in,” Gwen said, going into another spin. “We’re the ones you would protect at all costs.”
“And I still will,” Jack said, “even though you’re the only one left.”
“That must make me doubly important, doesn’t it?” Gwen asked.
“Definitely,” Jack replied.
“You’re my best friend, Jack. I would protect you at all costs as well, even though it wasn’t necessary before,” Gwen said.
“But you would still do it. And I will do the same for you, as soon as the world goes back to normal.”
“How are you so sure the world will go back to normal? What if we’re stuck this way forever?” Gwen asked. “I mean, we still don’t even know what caused this.”
“We have the theory about morphic fields,” Jack said. “We can start with that.”
“But until we know the definite cause, we still can’t act,” Gwen pointed out.
“We’ll figure it out, we always do. We’re Torchwood, remember?”
“Ah, yes, a merry band of rebels who will save the world,” Gwen said sardonically.
“Isn’t that how it always works?” Jack asked with a twist of smugness. “The people you least expect always end up saving the world.”
“And die way too young,” Gwen said. “Remember how Owen would always say some sarcastic comment?”
“Or when Tosh would create something which none of the rest of us would ever think of doing?”
“Or when Ianto would order us dinner, just cos we were staying late?”
Jack and Gwen kept playing remember when and reminiscing about the past and their former team mates, changing dances as the music required, until it was past midnight.
“I guess we should head back,” Jack said. “Don’t want Rex thinking he could mutiny on me and take over running our operation.”
“Like that worked out so well for us the last time,” Gwen said, linking her arm through Jack’s again. “Let’s go.”
When they walked back into the base, Rex and Esther were still up, in the same positions they had been in before Jack and Gwen had left.
Rex looked up. “Thought you guys had been caught. What have you two been up to?” He asked in a way which made him sound like an accusing parent.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Jack said mischievously. “For all you know, we could have found alien sex gas and had been making out with it,” he said with a completely straight face.
“You wouldn’t be, there’s no such thing as sex gas,” Rex replied.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Gwen said. “I got up close and personal with one once. I was safe, though, cos I wasn’t a man.”
Rex gave her an are you serious look. “What do you mean, you were safe? What exactly did it do?”
“It was an alien,” Gwen replied, “which fed off orgasmic energy, preferably from men. It also gave off sex pheromones, so I just snogged her.”
Rex looked from Jack to Gwen, who were standing there looking at him with innocent expressions. “The worst part is I think you’re serious.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Jack smirked. “Anyway, tomorrow’s going to be a busy day, so I’m going to bed. Night, everyone.”
“Good night, Jack,” Gwen said, glancing at him. “I’m going to bed as well. Night Rex, Esther.”
Soon after Rex and Esther headed to bed as well, to ready for fighting the system again in the morning.
Rex got into bed, and staring at the ceiling he said disbelievingly, “Sex gas?!”
On A03
Author: Book_Junkie007
Pairing: Jack/Gwen
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 2238 words
Warnings: Set in that elastic space between the day the team reaches L.A. and the day Gwen flies back to Wales to infiltrate the concentration camps.
Notes: Many thanks to Laffers18, for looking over and reworking some of my work, when I thought it wasn’t good enough, and fixing a line I hated. She also came up with an alternative, more serious, ending, so if you’re interested in reading that, please let me know (it’s the same story with the last couple paragraphs changed).
The building where the jazz is playing out of is, in my mind, Harvelle’s, a jazz club founded in the 30’s, and is indeed located in Santa Monica. I have never been, so I apologize if there’s any mistakes in the geography of L.A. The only time I was there we were more interested in going to Universal Studios than going to Venice Beach and Santa Monica.
Summary: Jack and Gwen dance under the stars and reminisce on the past with some reflections on the current Torchwood.
It was a quiet night at the, yet again, new Torchwood Hub. They had been underground so many times it was a wonder they were still able to function with their limited equipment. Or maybe it wasn’t a wonder. Torchwood was a survivor that would always come back, thanks to the people who were a part of it. There was something intangible about the way Torchwood drew people in and didn’t let them go, not for anything. Death was the only escape but even that wasn’t always an inalterable rule, having been broken so many times before. This Hub was at least better than the one they had in London, with a seaside view and decent electricity they hadn’t had to rig up themselves.
Oswald Danes was being quiet, and there was nothing else that needed their attention at the moment. For once there were no Weevils to hunt or Blowfish to chase in stolen sports cars. Maybe it was better this way, with no Rift to get in the way of conversation, although Gwen and Jack weren’t quite sure if Rex would believe them if they had to go on a Weevil hunt anyway. He seemed to be the sort of person who had difficulty believing in anything out of the ordinary. If Gwen or Jack had spoken about the aliens they had seen or hunted, Rex would be the one most likely to laugh in their faces.
Esther, on the other hand, seemed a little more open, a little more willing to believe. She was starting to trust Jack and Gwen, and was looking to Jack as her leader. Even though there were no defined roles in their ragtag group, it was with unspoken agreement between Jack, Gwen, and Esther that Jack was the leader of their group, and Gwen was second. Esther was willing to agree with whatever they would tell her, within reason. Rex was the only one, yet again, who had a different opinion from the rest of the group, even though he didn’t have the experience Gwen and Jack had which may be needed in this operation.
Jack had been watching everyone, and after making sure Rex and Esther would be able to handle anything that came up, he asked, “Gwen, would you like to take a walk?”
Gwen checked her computer screen, and said, “Yes, I would, thanks. You two will be okay?” she asked Esther and Rex.
“We’ll be fine,” Esther reassured her.
Rex let out a grunt of agreement without looking up from his phone, and with that, Gwen and Jack walked down the stairs and out of the building.
Walking along the boardwalk, Gwen and Jack linked arms and just enjoyed the night, ignoring the Soulless, and listening to snatches of conversation and music.
“Let’s stop here,” Jack suggested when they had walked along the boardwalk and deeper into Santa Monica from Venice Beach. They stood next to an old building, the sound of music spilling onto the sidewalk. Jack cocked an ear, smiling slightly as he recognized the song. Jazz, he thought to himself, possibly the 50’s? “I love this song!” he grinned at Gwen, holding a hand out to her. “Gwen Cooper, may I have this dance?”
Laughing, Gwen allowed Jack to pull her into a jiving position. “Jack! What on earth are we doing?”
“The jive,” Jack replied. “Now trust me,” he said and began to lead.
Gwen smiled and followed along. As the songs kept playing and they got in a groove with their dancing, Jack and Gwen began to talk.
“So, what do you think of Rex?” Jack asked.
“Don’t get me started,” Gwen said as she was led into a spin. “He’s alright, but his thinking he’s the cock of the walk may become a problem.”
“Even if he did save our lives?” Jack asked with a smirk.
“I have no problem with that, I just have a problem of how he went about it,” Gwen said. “We were so close to the bloke telling us, and then he gets shot in the throat.”
“Well, you know Torchwood: if it’s too easy, it’s not fun,” Jack said with a smirk. “We’ll figure this out, using our methods, not whatever Mr CIA says should be our methods.”
“I know,” Gwen said. “I don’t think he would ever believe us if we told him about some of the things we have seen.”
“All the better reason for us to be secretive and keep things to ourselves,” Jack replied. “Now do you understand why I’m secretive?”
“I do,” Gwen agreed. “I just feel like he’s making us run in circles we wouldn’t be running in if he would just trust us and let us do things the Torchwood way.”
“Because the Torchwood way always works out?” Jack asked.
“No, but we have trust in each other, trust which he lacks. I doubt you would have let me shoot formaldehyde into you any other way, even if you were resistant at first,” Gwen said with a soft smile.
“It was for a good cause,” Jack said, smiling back. “I wasn’t ready to die yet.”
“Funny how that works, isn’t it?” Gwen asked. “You live for thousands of years, get freed of immortality, which I thought you wanted, and you’re still not ready to die.”
“What can I say? I’m a stubborn and fickle man,” Jack said. “I will never be figured out even if you live to be an ancient women with her grandchildren, whom I come to visit, looking exactly the same.”
“We have to figure out what’s going on here first,” Gwen said, as she was led into the octopus, “before anything else happens.”
“Very true,” Jack said, leading her out of the step.
“What did you mean anyway when you said we didn’t need anyone else, that you and I were enough?” Gwen asked.
“When did I say this?” Jack asked, puzzled.
“When you drunk dialed me after leaving Esther and I to go to a bar,” Gwen replied. “You came back the next day hungover and excited about it, remember?”
“Ah, right. That was a good hangover,” Jack said, looking off into the distance fondly.
“Well,” Gwen prompted.
Jack turned back to her and focused on completing another step for a moment. “It’s just, I don’t know if we really need the others, or how helpful they’re going to be. Well, Esther’s computer skills have helped already, but I really don’t want to drag her any further into this. It’s like you said, everyone who comes into contact with me gets dragged into my toxic life. I’m not sure I want her dragged into our crazy lives as well. And you have a daughter now. Rhys was right: you should be thinking about her, not running off with me after I abandoned you.”
“Again,” Gwen said.
“Sorry?” Jack asked.
“You abandoned me again, Jack, just like the last time. Granted, it allowed me to take over as second in command, and expand my leadership skills, but still. You abandoned me.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t realise the last time or this time when I abandoned you it would hurt so much. I just needed space, and to find out why I am the way I am, or the way I used to be, but it didn’t always help. Most of the time I just felt like I was failing you again, but I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Jack, you could never fail me: you were doing the best you could in tough situations, and you handled them better than anyone else would have done.”
“Doesn’t change the fact I misjudged the 456 and so everyone in Thames House was killed, including Ianto.” Jack said sadly.
“Well, this time we’ll do better, alright? Make sure the deaths are kept to a minimum.”
“And that none of them are our team.”
“That too. Do you mean our team of each other, or our team including Esther and Rex, God help us?”
“Esther and Rex included, but you first. You’re always first.”
“Thank you, Jack. I’m sure Rhys will appreciate his daughter’s mam coming home.”
“He doesn’t seem to appreciate you running after me, so it’s the least I can do,” Jack said with a smile.
“Oh, my God. Remember my wedding?” Gwen asked with a slight smile. “I thought he was going to punch you right then and there for stopping our wedding at the altar the first time, let alone all the other madness which happened that day.”
“I was only trying to save your life,” Jack smirked back. “He should have thanked me for stopping it the first time, let alone the crap he gave me over the phone. I let it go ahead the second time.”
“Yes, and thank you for that. I never did thank you all for being at my wedding, did I?” Gwen asked suddenly. “It meant a lot, and I’m sorry you were stuck with the clean up.”
“We were happy to do it,” Jack reassured her. “Well, Ianto complained a bit about being a wedding fairy, but that’s besides the point.”
“Did he now?” Gwen smiled. “I would have thought he was used to cleaning, given the fact he was basically our housekeeper, along with all his other duties.”
“Yeah ... but some of those ‘duties’ were more fun than others,” Jack said with a raised eyebrow.
“That as well,” Gwen said with a grin before sobering. “I miss them,” she said wistfully.
“I do too,” Jack said, holding her closer than was allowed in jiving for a second, then letting go. “They were part of my favorite team.”
“Really?” Gwen asked. “You didn’t like the previous ones?”
“Well, I did,” Jack said, “but you, Tosh, Owen, and Ianto were my favorite combination, the ones I felt the most pride in.”
“We were also the ones you put the most work in,” Gwen said, going into another spin. “We’re the ones you would protect at all costs.”
“And I still will,” Jack said, “even though you’re the only one left.”
“That must make me doubly important, doesn’t it?” Gwen asked.
“Definitely,” Jack replied.
“You’re my best friend, Jack. I would protect you at all costs as well, even though it wasn’t necessary before,” Gwen said.
“But you would still do it. And I will do the same for you, as soon as the world goes back to normal.”
“How are you so sure the world will go back to normal? What if we’re stuck this way forever?” Gwen asked. “I mean, we still don’t even know what caused this.”
“We have the theory about morphic fields,” Jack said. “We can start with that.”
“But until we know the definite cause, we still can’t act,” Gwen pointed out.
“We’ll figure it out, we always do. We’re Torchwood, remember?”
“Ah, yes, a merry band of rebels who will save the world,” Gwen said sardonically.
“Isn’t that how it always works?” Jack asked with a twist of smugness. “The people you least expect always end up saving the world.”
“And die way too young,” Gwen said. “Remember how Owen would always say some sarcastic comment?”
“Or when Tosh would create something which none of the rest of us would ever think of doing?”
“Or when Ianto would order us dinner, just cos we were staying late?”
Jack and Gwen kept playing remember when and reminiscing about the past and their former team mates, changing dances as the music required, until it was past midnight.
“I guess we should head back,” Jack said. “Don’t want Rex thinking he could mutiny on me and take over running our operation.”
“Like that worked out so well for us the last time,” Gwen said, linking her arm through Jack’s again. “Let’s go.”
When they walked back into the base, Rex and Esther were still up, in the same positions they had been in before Jack and Gwen had left.
Rex looked up. “Thought you guys had been caught. What have you two been up to?” He asked in a way which made him sound like an accusing parent.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Jack said mischievously. “For all you know, we could have found alien sex gas and had been making out with it,” he said with a completely straight face.
“You wouldn’t be, there’s no such thing as sex gas,” Rex replied.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Gwen said. “I got up close and personal with one once. I was safe, though, cos I wasn’t a man.”
Rex gave her an are you serious look. “What do you mean, you were safe? What exactly did it do?”
“It was an alien,” Gwen replied, “which fed off orgasmic energy, preferably from men. It also gave off sex pheromones, so I just snogged her.”
Rex looked from Jack to Gwen, who were standing there looking at him with innocent expressions. “The worst part is I think you’re serious.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Jack smirked. “Anyway, tomorrow’s going to be a busy day, so I’m going to bed. Night, everyone.”
“Good night, Jack,” Gwen said, glancing at him. “I’m going to bed as well. Night Rex, Esther.”
Soon after Rex and Esther headed to bed as well, to ready for fighting the system again in the morning.
Rex got into bed, and staring at the ceiling he said disbelievingly, “Sex gas?!”
On A03