Survivors by misura / Jack/Suzie, Jack/Ianto, Jack/Owen, Jack/Tosh / PG-13 / round #2
Title: Survivors
Author: misura
Pairing: Jack/Suzie, Jack/Ianto, Jack/Owen, Jack/Tosh
Rating: PG-13
Fandom(s): Torchwood, Doctor Who
Thanks: to the usual suspects
Warnings: speculative pre-series AU, minor spoilers for Cyberwoman, references to the whole of the first season of the new Doctor Who.
Summary: Two weeks before Volcano Day, Jack drops by at Torchwood One to say hello to his new team.
Officially, Captain Jack Harkness and Torchwood One don't go together in one sentence, unless it's to say they don't get along all that well and tend to try to avoid one another. For all that it's a power-hungry, megalomaniacal and arguably evil organization, Torchwood One knows Trouble with a capital 't' when it shows up hanging on the arm of the Prime Minister, with a charming smile and a past that even Torchwood One can't dig up. Jack, in turn, finds that Torchwood One reminds him uncomfortably much of the Time Agency - possibly because that, too, was a power-hungry, megalomaniacal organization, albeit not an arguably evil one. In the case of the Time Agency, Jack's pretty damn sure about the evil part. Possibly, that makes him a hypocrite, but Jack prefers to think of it as his taking someone messing with his memories personally - messing with other people's memories, he feels he can condone, under certain circumstances; messing with *his* memories is stepping beyond the line of what's acceptable behavior.
Unofficially, and with the help of a piece of psychic paper he got from the Doctor in the distant future, in a galaxy that's not all that far away, if you look at the bigger picture, Jack pops by for visits every now and then, whenever the mood strikes him and he happens to be near London. It starts as a one-time thing, inspired by curiosity, boredom and the sudden desire to discuss Gasculan food with someone who might actually have a clue what he's talking about, gradually eases into a once-a-year indulgence and ends up as a bimonthly habit, including a time-table, lunch and elevator-sex (not Jack's favorite kind, if truth be told, but he respects people's wishes not to get caught in a compromising position on CCTV, and the cameras in elevator number five have been malfunctioning ever since his first visit to Torchwood One, with Mr. Ianto Jones from Administration somehow keeping forgetting to request Maintenance to fix them).
Thus, two weeks before what the Time Agency's books will list as the Battle of Canary Wharf (although Jack has seen the footage, and it looks more like a carnage to him; ugly and bloody and desperate), Jack flashes his psychic paper along with his most charming smile at some people who should remember him from last month, and acts confident about their forthcoming permission to enter. (The smile, Jack knows, probably isn't necessary, but it won't hurt either, and he bets these guys don't get a lot of attractive people smiling at them, so why shouldn't he make their day a bit better?)
Once inside, nobody pays much attention to him - Jack would feel underappreciated, except that he knows Torchwood discourages its employees from socializing, which probably means that the only reason people are pretending not to see him is because they (quite rightly) assume that one closer look at him will be enough to make them want to get to know him better, or at least give him their phone-number with a request to call them sometimes, or better yet, give them *his* phone-number.
x
Jack's first stop is at the second floor, Administration, where one may find the best coffee in all of London, along with one of the few people Jack's ever met who looks as good in a suit as he does out of one - it might simply be that suits have gone out of fashion a bit, reserved for businessmen and politicians, but Jack knows that suits tend to do something to the people who wear them, make them look either ridiculous and stuffy or sexy and controlled. Ianto, needless to say, belongs to the last category, yet he still looks sexy and controlled when he's naked, and that's rare indeed.
Ianto's also wonderfully organized - Jack never needs to worry about making his job harder by scattering papers all over the floor when he clears Ianto's desk a little too enthusiastically. There's a CCTV in Ianto's office, of course - this is Torchwood One, after all - but somehow, the people who are supposed to be watching always are distracted at the right moment, by the arrival of some excellent coffee with just the teensiest bit of sedative mixed in to ensure their taking a nice, relaxing forty-eight minute nap.
Afterwards, Jack perches on Ianto's desk, watching Ianto straightening his clothes and cleaning up a bit. If it bothers him to be working on a desk where he's had sex (or to have sex on a desk where he'll be working again later), Jack has yet to notice it - which is a good thing, because there's no carpet on the floor, and Ianto's chair looks like it'd fall over way too easily.
"I'm thinking about asking Lisa to marry me," Ianto says when he's done, offering Jack another mug of coffee. Jack observes that Ianto's own mug is different from his own - it's got cartoon-characters on it.
"Sounds like a plan," Jack says. He'll miss Ianto, but not too much. Not enough to not be able to stay away, to never go and look for Ianto ever again after he's become a married man. It's not that Jack doesn't want to have sex with someone who's married, really - it's more that it's easier to let go of someone when they have found someone who'll grow old with them, than to stick around and watch them grow old, watch them die bit by bit, while Jack himself stays the way he is. "Don't wait too long."
Two weeks is probably not enough time to set up a wedding, Jack reflects. Still, he knows Ianto will survive - maybe Lisa will, too. Miracles do happen, every now and then.
Ianto gives him a look that's slightly puzzled and perhaps a little hurt. Possibly, he expected Jack to be a little less comfortable with the idea of Ianto getting married. Jack can't quite bring himself to care, to put on an act of being jealous of this girl, this woman who might make Ianto happy. She's of no concern to Jack; if she was, he wouldn't be here, having sex with her boyfriend.
"More coffee?" Ianto offers, one second before the silence becomes uncomfortable.
"No thanks." Jack rises, leaving his empty cup standing on Ianto's desk. He considers asking Ianto to send him an invitation, then decides against it. He also considers telling Ianto to be careful, to make sure he's not near the basement two weeks from now, but instead, he just smiles and nods and walks out the door. Ianto can take care of himself, just like the future - they don't need Jack to steer them in the right direction, to feel guilty when things don't work out.
x
Suzie Costello's office looks messy at first sight, chaotic even. Jack knows it's all an act, just Suzie's small way of going against the system, making it harder for people to go through her stuff without her noticing and actually finding what they're looking for in under an hour. He likes that about her; the rebellious streak she doesn't show to anyone except him.
There's no coffee-machine in Suzie's office - there's a fridge. Jack accepts a glass of some sort of fruit-juice; it tastes sharp and bitter, and it's probably very healthy, choke-ful of vitamins. Suzie sips it as if she likes it, and Jack takes his mind off its taste by watching her.
Her energy and personality are what makes her look pretty to him, what made her stand out, caused Jack to notice her some years ago. She's open-minded, but not naive - Jack feels like he could tell her anything, and she'd be willing to consider it being true.
Unlike Ianto, Suzie doesn't date. Jack can't picture her settling down with a family, and in a sense, that makes him sad, because it means there will never be another Suzie, someone to remind him of her. He knows about her parents, although she doesn't know he knows. She probably wouldn't take it too well if she found out, and in a sense, Jack supposes she'd have a point. Her personal history is for her to share, not for him to snoop around in, simply because he felt like finding out more about her.
"Owen tried to resign again," she tells him, logging off and informing her computer she'll be going to lunch now, and not accessing her files for the next thirty minutes. "Third time in six months."
"That'd be 'Doctor Harper' to you," Jack says, grinning. Owen must be hell to work with, but since Jack's just a guest, he can afford to lean back, watch and be amused. "Miss Costello."
Suzie snorts and grabs her handbag. (She's got a gun in there, Jack knows.) "That'd be Miss Bitch to him - and he leaves off the 'miss' most of the time. And you wouldn't think this was funny if you were the one he came whining to about hating his job every two weeks."
"Probably not," Jack admits cheerfully. "Lucky me, eh?"
They reach elevator five without meeting anyone on the way, which is good. Suzie's got a reputation Jack wants her to keep.
"And poor me." Suzie sighs. "Bastard."
Jack doesn't ask if she's referring to him or to Owen. It might be either, although Owen usually warrants an 'annoying' or 'immature' or some other less than flattering adjective.
"Want me to kiss it all better?" Jack offers, when the elevator goes 'ping!' and the doors slide open.
"You'd better," Suzie replies.
x
Lunch-time means the labs are nearly empty - scientists are only human, in the end; they need to eat, too, and after five hours of staring at bits and pieces of alien, most of them don't feel like eating their lunch down here. Either Owen's got a stronger stomach than his colleagues, or (the more likely option, in Jack's opinion) he's simply too stubborn to admit this place getting to him.
"Weren't you here last week?" Owen frowns at him.
Jack's taken aback for all of two seconds, then remembers. One attempt to resign, equals one retcon-treatment, equals (apparently) a two-month memory gap.
"Time flies when you're having fun," Jack says, side-stepping the question - it's none of his business, really, and Suzie wouldn't thank him if he made her job harder by letting Owen know about the time he's lost.
Owen scowls. "This job is so not fun. I swear, one of these days, I'm going to tell those guys in IA where they can shove their regulations."
"What, you're no longer interested in finding out all about aliens?" Jack asks. Suzie's IA (Internal Affairs) and high-level, too, but she's the only one in that department with a sense of humor, and Jack doesn't think she'll risk her position for Owen's sake - not when Owen gets himself into trouble by shooting his mouth off. There's being an annoying, whining bastard, and then there's being an idiot - the first, Suzie can forgive, the second, she can't. It's one of the things she and Jack have got in common.
Owen sighs and sags down in his chair. It's one of those with wheels under it, and Jack bets Owen picked it solely to be able to ride around in his lab. In many ways, Owen's still a twelve-year-old kid, up to and including the conviction that he'll get things his way if he just sulks and wheedles long enough.
"You want any coffee?" Owen's coffee tastes the way it looks - like dark-brown drab. Lots of caffeine, but rather an acquired taste, to put it politely. Owen gulps down the stuff like it's water.
"No thanks, I'll pass." Compared to Ianto's brew, any other coffee tastes like Owen's. In two days' time, perhaps, Jack will have some ordinary coffee again, in some place where they're supposed to know how to make it. He'll pay too much for it, and it won't even taste that good, but Jack has learned to settle for second-best things. Besides, when Ianto gets married, Jack won't be able to ever drink his coffee again anyway; he might as well get used to it.
"Suit yourself." Owen sounds slightly offended. Presumably, Jack's supposed to feel honored that Owen'd deign to offer him some coffee that Owen made himself. "You just here for sex, then?"
Jack almost chuckles at that, at the idea that Owen thinks he should be here for both sex and coffee, but then again, isn't that the truth when it comes to Ianto? When it comes to Suzie, it's for sex and company - less shallow, that. Maybe.
"You complaining?" Jack asks, knowing the answer.
Owen wouldn't be Owen if he wasn't complaining.
"Don't be so bloody stupid," Owen snaps. "Of course I'm not complaining. Would I be here if I was?"
x
Jack's never quite figured out if his visiting Toshiko last is a case of 'saving the best for last' or more one of 'last but not least'. If Owen's gotten stuck in his teens, then part of Tosh has gotten stuck in her pre-teens, when the universe was still a magical place, filled with wonders and new things to explore.
Tosh is the only one Jack worries about, because he just knows that one of these days, Tosh is going to find out the truth, that the universe is actually an ugly, hateful place, filled with ugly, hateful people, with little to no place for ideals like love and peace and simply getting along.
In a way, Tosh reminds him of Estelle - except that he felt it was okay to warn Estelle, while every time he listens to Tosh, he just pretends he's not disbelieving her, because it seems a shame to take away her ideals, her faith. Jack tells himself it's because he's not involved; Tosh will find out sooner or later, and he'd rather it be later. In all of Torchwood, Tosh is the only one who always seems to be cheerful, or at least not bitchy, resigned or whiny. Jack feels comfortable around her.
Sometimes, naturally, he wonders if it's not all an act, but Tosh isn't Suzie - Jack doesn't feel any inclination to look into her past, find out if all that easy cheer is for real. He prefers to think Tosh is exactly what she seems - someone he enjoys talking to, and joking around with.
"You know," Jack says, after she's told him all about her latest pet-project, "maybe you should go to Osaka for a couple of weeks."
Tosh stares at him over the rim of her mug. (They're drinking tea - not green one, just tea. Earl Grey even, if Jack's not mistaken.) "Why?"
Jack shrugs. "Just an idea. You said you wanted to go last time I was here." Tosh hadn't had much of a pet-project then; she'd only just finished with her last one. "To see your grandparents."
"Maybe next year," Tosh says. Her voice sounds a little uncertain. "I'm a bit busy right now."
Jack shakes his head. "You're always 'a bit busy'. You need a break. Your project can wait until you get back, you know - and I've heard Japan's supposed to be really something this time of year."
"I'll think about it," Tosh says. "Thanks, Jack."
There's not really anything she should be thanking him for, Jack knows. He wants her away from here when things are going to go to hell - not because he cares about her, but because he's selfish enough to want her not to change, to remain the kind of person she is now. He nods anyway.
"Want me to walk you home?"
Her apartment's not too far from Torchwood One - it's filled with pictures and knick-knacks and books, most of which Jack's read by now, although there always seem to be new ones. If he were still able to sleep, he thinks he could wake up there and not feel like he's centuries away from where he belongs.
Author: misura
Pairing: Jack/Suzie, Jack/Ianto, Jack/Owen, Jack/Tosh
Rating: PG-13
Fandom(s): Torchwood, Doctor Who
Thanks: to the usual suspects
Warnings: speculative pre-series AU, minor spoilers for Cyberwoman, references to the whole of the first season of the new Doctor Who.
Summary: Two weeks before Volcano Day, Jack drops by at Torchwood One to say hello to his new team.
Officially, Captain Jack Harkness and Torchwood One don't go together in one sentence, unless it's to say they don't get along all that well and tend to try to avoid one another. For all that it's a power-hungry, megalomaniacal and arguably evil organization, Torchwood One knows Trouble with a capital 't' when it shows up hanging on the arm of the Prime Minister, with a charming smile and a past that even Torchwood One can't dig up. Jack, in turn, finds that Torchwood One reminds him uncomfortably much of the Time Agency - possibly because that, too, was a power-hungry, megalomaniacal organization, albeit not an arguably evil one. In the case of the Time Agency, Jack's pretty damn sure about the evil part. Possibly, that makes him a hypocrite, but Jack prefers to think of it as his taking someone messing with his memories personally - messing with other people's memories, he feels he can condone, under certain circumstances; messing with *his* memories is stepping beyond the line of what's acceptable behavior.
Unofficially, and with the help of a piece of psychic paper he got from the Doctor in the distant future, in a galaxy that's not all that far away, if you look at the bigger picture, Jack pops by for visits every now and then, whenever the mood strikes him and he happens to be near London. It starts as a one-time thing, inspired by curiosity, boredom and the sudden desire to discuss Gasculan food with someone who might actually have a clue what he's talking about, gradually eases into a once-a-year indulgence and ends up as a bimonthly habit, including a time-table, lunch and elevator-sex (not Jack's favorite kind, if truth be told, but he respects people's wishes not to get caught in a compromising position on CCTV, and the cameras in elevator number five have been malfunctioning ever since his first visit to Torchwood One, with Mr. Ianto Jones from Administration somehow keeping forgetting to request Maintenance to fix them).
Thus, two weeks before what the Time Agency's books will list as the Battle of Canary Wharf (although Jack has seen the footage, and it looks more like a carnage to him; ugly and bloody and desperate), Jack flashes his psychic paper along with his most charming smile at some people who should remember him from last month, and acts confident about their forthcoming permission to enter. (The smile, Jack knows, probably isn't necessary, but it won't hurt either, and he bets these guys don't get a lot of attractive people smiling at them, so why shouldn't he make their day a bit better?)
Once inside, nobody pays much attention to him - Jack would feel underappreciated, except that he knows Torchwood discourages its employees from socializing, which probably means that the only reason people are pretending not to see him is because they (quite rightly) assume that one closer look at him will be enough to make them want to get to know him better, or at least give him their phone-number with a request to call them sometimes, or better yet, give them *his* phone-number.
x
Jack's first stop is at the second floor, Administration, where one may find the best coffee in all of London, along with one of the few people Jack's ever met who looks as good in a suit as he does out of one - it might simply be that suits have gone out of fashion a bit, reserved for businessmen and politicians, but Jack knows that suits tend to do something to the people who wear them, make them look either ridiculous and stuffy or sexy and controlled. Ianto, needless to say, belongs to the last category, yet he still looks sexy and controlled when he's naked, and that's rare indeed.
Ianto's also wonderfully organized - Jack never needs to worry about making his job harder by scattering papers all over the floor when he clears Ianto's desk a little too enthusiastically. There's a CCTV in Ianto's office, of course - this is Torchwood One, after all - but somehow, the people who are supposed to be watching always are distracted at the right moment, by the arrival of some excellent coffee with just the teensiest bit of sedative mixed in to ensure their taking a nice, relaxing forty-eight minute nap.
Afterwards, Jack perches on Ianto's desk, watching Ianto straightening his clothes and cleaning up a bit. If it bothers him to be working on a desk where he's had sex (or to have sex on a desk where he'll be working again later), Jack has yet to notice it - which is a good thing, because there's no carpet on the floor, and Ianto's chair looks like it'd fall over way too easily.
"I'm thinking about asking Lisa to marry me," Ianto says when he's done, offering Jack another mug of coffee. Jack observes that Ianto's own mug is different from his own - it's got cartoon-characters on it.
"Sounds like a plan," Jack says. He'll miss Ianto, but not too much. Not enough to not be able to stay away, to never go and look for Ianto ever again after he's become a married man. It's not that Jack doesn't want to have sex with someone who's married, really - it's more that it's easier to let go of someone when they have found someone who'll grow old with them, than to stick around and watch them grow old, watch them die bit by bit, while Jack himself stays the way he is. "Don't wait too long."
Two weeks is probably not enough time to set up a wedding, Jack reflects. Still, he knows Ianto will survive - maybe Lisa will, too. Miracles do happen, every now and then.
Ianto gives him a look that's slightly puzzled and perhaps a little hurt. Possibly, he expected Jack to be a little less comfortable with the idea of Ianto getting married. Jack can't quite bring himself to care, to put on an act of being jealous of this girl, this woman who might make Ianto happy. She's of no concern to Jack; if she was, he wouldn't be here, having sex with her boyfriend.
"More coffee?" Ianto offers, one second before the silence becomes uncomfortable.
"No thanks." Jack rises, leaving his empty cup standing on Ianto's desk. He considers asking Ianto to send him an invitation, then decides against it. He also considers telling Ianto to be careful, to make sure he's not near the basement two weeks from now, but instead, he just smiles and nods and walks out the door. Ianto can take care of himself, just like the future - they don't need Jack to steer them in the right direction, to feel guilty when things don't work out.
x
Suzie Costello's office looks messy at first sight, chaotic even. Jack knows it's all an act, just Suzie's small way of going against the system, making it harder for people to go through her stuff without her noticing and actually finding what they're looking for in under an hour. He likes that about her; the rebellious streak she doesn't show to anyone except him.
There's no coffee-machine in Suzie's office - there's a fridge. Jack accepts a glass of some sort of fruit-juice; it tastes sharp and bitter, and it's probably very healthy, choke-ful of vitamins. Suzie sips it as if she likes it, and Jack takes his mind off its taste by watching her.
Her energy and personality are what makes her look pretty to him, what made her stand out, caused Jack to notice her some years ago. She's open-minded, but not naive - Jack feels like he could tell her anything, and she'd be willing to consider it being true.
Unlike Ianto, Suzie doesn't date. Jack can't picture her settling down with a family, and in a sense, that makes him sad, because it means there will never be another Suzie, someone to remind him of her. He knows about her parents, although she doesn't know he knows. She probably wouldn't take it too well if she found out, and in a sense, Jack supposes she'd have a point. Her personal history is for her to share, not for him to snoop around in, simply because he felt like finding out more about her.
"Owen tried to resign again," she tells him, logging off and informing her computer she'll be going to lunch now, and not accessing her files for the next thirty minutes. "Third time in six months."
"That'd be 'Doctor Harper' to you," Jack says, grinning. Owen must be hell to work with, but since Jack's just a guest, he can afford to lean back, watch and be amused. "Miss Costello."
Suzie snorts and grabs her handbag. (She's got a gun in there, Jack knows.) "That'd be Miss Bitch to him - and he leaves off the 'miss' most of the time. And you wouldn't think this was funny if you were the one he came whining to about hating his job every two weeks."
"Probably not," Jack admits cheerfully. "Lucky me, eh?"
They reach elevator five without meeting anyone on the way, which is good. Suzie's got a reputation Jack wants her to keep.
"And poor me." Suzie sighs. "Bastard."
Jack doesn't ask if she's referring to him or to Owen. It might be either, although Owen usually warrants an 'annoying' or 'immature' or some other less than flattering adjective.
"Want me to kiss it all better?" Jack offers, when the elevator goes 'ping!' and the doors slide open.
"You'd better," Suzie replies.
x
Lunch-time means the labs are nearly empty - scientists are only human, in the end; they need to eat, too, and after five hours of staring at bits and pieces of alien, most of them don't feel like eating their lunch down here. Either Owen's got a stronger stomach than his colleagues, or (the more likely option, in Jack's opinion) he's simply too stubborn to admit this place getting to him.
"Weren't you here last week?" Owen frowns at him.
Jack's taken aback for all of two seconds, then remembers. One attempt to resign, equals one retcon-treatment, equals (apparently) a two-month memory gap.
"Time flies when you're having fun," Jack says, side-stepping the question - it's none of his business, really, and Suzie wouldn't thank him if he made her job harder by letting Owen know about the time he's lost.
Owen scowls. "This job is so not fun. I swear, one of these days, I'm going to tell those guys in IA where they can shove their regulations."
"What, you're no longer interested in finding out all about aliens?" Jack asks. Suzie's IA (Internal Affairs) and high-level, too, but she's the only one in that department with a sense of humor, and Jack doesn't think she'll risk her position for Owen's sake - not when Owen gets himself into trouble by shooting his mouth off. There's being an annoying, whining bastard, and then there's being an idiot - the first, Suzie can forgive, the second, she can't. It's one of the things she and Jack have got in common.
Owen sighs and sags down in his chair. It's one of those with wheels under it, and Jack bets Owen picked it solely to be able to ride around in his lab. In many ways, Owen's still a twelve-year-old kid, up to and including the conviction that he'll get things his way if he just sulks and wheedles long enough.
"You want any coffee?" Owen's coffee tastes the way it looks - like dark-brown drab. Lots of caffeine, but rather an acquired taste, to put it politely. Owen gulps down the stuff like it's water.
"No thanks, I'll pass." Compared to Ianto's brew, any other coffee tastes like Owen's. In two days' time, perhaps, Jack will have some ordinary coffee again, in some place where they're supposed to know how to make it. He'll pay too much for it, and it won't even taste that good, but Jack has learned to settle for second-best things. Besides, when Ianto gets married, Jack won't be able to ever drink his coffee again anyway; he might as well get used to it.
"Suit yourself." Owen sounds slightly offended. Presumably, Jack's supposed to feel honored that Owen'd deign to offer him some coffee that Owen made himself. "You just here for sex, then?"
Jack almost chuckles at that, at the idea that Owen thinks he should be here for both sex and coffee, but then again, isn't that the truth when it comes to Ianto? When it comes to Suzie, it's for sex and company - less shallow, that. Maybe.
"You complaining?" Jack asks, knowing the answer.
Owen wouldn't be Owen if he wasn't complaining.
"Don't be so bloody stupid," Owen snaps. "Of course I'm not complaining. Would I be here if I was?"
x
Jack's never quite figured out if his visiting Toshiko last is a case of 'saving the best for last' or more one of 'last but not least'. If Owen's gotten stuck in his teens, then part of Tosh has gotten stuck in her pre-teens, when the universe was still a magical place, filled with wonders and new things to explore.
Tosh is the only one Jack worries about, because he just knows that one of these days, Tosh is going to find out the truth, that the universe is actually an ugly, hateful place, filled with ugly, hateful people, with little to no place for ideals like love and peace and simply getting along.
In a way, Tosh reminds him of Estelle - except that he felt it was okay to warn Estelle, while every time he listens to Tosh, he just pretends he's not disbelieving her, because it seems a shame to take away her ideals, her faith. Jack tells himself it's because he's not involved; Tosh will find out sooner or later, and he'd rather it be later. In all of Torchwood, Tosh is the only one who always seems to be cheerful, or at least not bitchy, resigned or whiny. Jack feels comfortable around her.
Sometimes, naturally, he wonders if it's not all an act, but Tosh isn't Suzie - Jack doesn't feel any inclination to look into her past, find out if all that easy cheer is for real. He prefers to think Tosh is exactly what she seems - someone he enjoys talking to, and joking around with.
"You know," Jack says, after she's told him all about her latest pet-project, "maybe you should go to Osaka for a couple of weeks."
Tosh stares at him over the rim of her mug. (They're drinking tea - not green one, just tea. Earl Grey even, if Jack's not mistaken.) "Why?"
Jack shrugs. "Just an idea. You said you wanted to go last time I was here." Tosh hadn't had much of a pet-project then; she'd only just finished with her last one. "To see your grandparents."
"Maybe next year," Tosh says. Her voice sounds a little uncertain. "I'm a bit busy right now."
Jack shakes his head. "You're always 'a bit busy'. You need a break. Your project can wait until you get back, you know - and I've heard Japan's supposed to be really something this time of year."
"I'll think about it," Tosh says. "Thanks, Jack."
There's not really anything she should be thanking him for, Jack knows. He wants her away from here when things are going to go to hell - not because he cares about her, but because he's selfish enough to want her not to change, to remain the kind of person she is now. He nods anyway.
"Want me to walk you home?"
Her apartment's not too far from Torchwood One - it's filled with pictures and knick-knacks and books, most of which Jack's read by now, although there always seem to be new ones. If he were still able to sleep, he thinks he could wake up there and not feel like he's centuries away from where he belongs.