TITLE: Just Like A Jones
Chapter: 6/25
Rating: g - nc-17 for the whole series
Pairing/Characters: Jack/Ianto. Mica. Gwen/Rhys. Lois. Johnny/Rhiannon. OC's
Synopsis: Mica may be a Davies, but sometimes she acts like a Jones. Set 13 years in the future. The world is a very different place, and Torchwood is a world that Jack doesn't want to know, but a promise made a long time ago brings him back to their door whether he likes it or not. Mica is in awe of a past she didn't know and a man she barely remembers, but her passion for his world takes her on a journey she never expected.
Spoilers: Aftermath of COE.
Disclaimer: Not mine, if it was this woul not need to be written.
A/N - I shall make you happy! jut watch me! happy fix.
Comments are always appreciated. i havent been back into fic for long and I do need a confidence boost atm :(. Thanks. Thanks to everyone who has replied so far XD
PART
1 2 3 4 5 Rhiannon made her way down the stairs and tied her dressing gown around her. The house was dark, barely lit by the light outside the window, and she had to feel around the walls to guide herself. Sleeping wasn't easy for Rhiannon, especially after a blast from the past like Gwen Cooper, and lying in bed wasn't going to get her anywhere. She walked into the kitchen and saw a figure sitting in her seat; he clutched a glass of whiskey In one hand and the bottle in the other, his head flat against the table. Jack Harkness wasn't sleeping, he just didn't seem to have the energy to hold his head up.
“What's wrong?” She put her hand on his shoulder and his head moved from its position to look over his shoulder. “Drinking never does any good.”
“I can't sleep.”
“Well this won't help.” She took the bottle away from him and sat down beside him. “You break my heart when I see you like this.”
“Sorry.” Jack sat up. “I'll be gone tomorrow anyway.”
“Do you want to talk?” She leaned over the table and rested her hand over his. “I can't sleep and I would like to feel like I'm doing some good.”
“Not really something I can talk about.” He smiled. “But thanks for the offer.”
Rhiannon took a breath and leaned back in the chair. “I thought you should know that Gwen Cooper called me tonight.”
“Gwen Cooper?”
“Yes. You remember her don't you?”
“Yes.” Jack licked his lips nervously. “What did she want?”
“She wanted to know if I had seen you recently. She seems to want to talk to you about something, but she wouldn't say what.”
“And what did you tell her?”
“I said I hadn't seen you, not seen you in years.”
Jack smiled. “Thanks Rhi.”
“Are you in trouble?”
Jack shook his head. “No.”
Rhiannon smiled. “Glad to hear it. I don't want no more trouble at my door; no more guns in my kids lives.”
“Y'know, in this world you can't stop them from seeing guns and danger. You just end up driving them away.”
“I can try to protect them.”
“You're a good mother.” Jack kissed her hands. “David and Mica are lucky to have you.”
“What's this, insomniacs anonymous?” Mica stood in the doorway hiding a file behind her back. “I wasn't expecting competition for the kitchen table.”
“Shove the kettle on love,” Rhi said, “I'm chokin' for a cuppa.”
Mica sighed and did as she was told; she filled the kettle and switched it on, then took the bottle of whiskey from the table and put the cap back on. “No more of this,” she said, “you're leaving tomorrow. You need to be hydrated.”
~~~~*~~~~~
Gwen crept into the house, trying not to be seen. It was past two in the morning and if Rhys caught her just sneaking in he would have a moan; she had been good at coming home recently, sometimes even making it home for tea, but tonight was different.
“Dirty stop out.” Rhys switched on the lamp in the living room behind Gwen as she attempted to climb the stairs. “There's casserole in the oven, I'd say I would heat it up but I suppose it's a little late now.”
“Sorry.” She dropped her bag beside the stairs and walked over to her husband, then sat beside him. “You didn't have to wait up for me.”
“A call would've been nice.”
“I got busy.”
“You always get busy.”
Gwen lifted his arm and ducked underneath it, resting her head on his chest. “Funny day, that's all, sorry.”
“What happened?”
“Blast from the past.” She sighed. “Jack.”
“Jack?” Rhys move away from her and turned a little. “What about Jack?”
“He's back, he's hiding from me, but he's back.” She kissed his lips softly. “Why is he hiding from me?”
“I dunno do I? I never understood him to start with.”
“I did.” She rested her head on him again and hugged his waist. “He never came back to see that I was okay Rhys. Not once.”
“You saw him the night he left Gwen, he's not the same man that you knew.” Rhys stood up and took her hand, leading her towards the stairs. “Forget him.”
“I need answers.”
“No.” Rhys pushed her towards the stairs and slapped her backside gently. “You need sleep. Right now. Come on.”
She turned around. “I will get answers.”
“Fine, tomorrow you get answers. Tonight you sleep.”
Gwen turned on the stairs and cupped his cheeks between her hands. “I love you.”
~~~~~*~~~~~
“Well, I think I better go and see if I can get a few hours sleep.” Rhiannon stood up from the table and ran her fingers through her hair. “You coming sweetheart?”
Mica shook her head. “I think I need another cup of tea first.”
“Okay.” She kissed Mica's head and then Jack's. “But don't leave it too late, you told Sue that you would cover her shift at the Laundrette tomorrow morning and I don't want you letting her down. I'm sick of you and your brother rotting away in your pit's till midday like school kids on holiday. You're adult now, you need to learn to act that way.”
“I won't be long.” she promised.
“And you, Harkness, you can do the dishes.” She smiled and handed Jack two cups. “Make yourself useful for once.”
“Not a problem.”
“If he's snoring when I get up there I'm going to shove my foot up his arse.” Rhiannon made her way out the kitchen. “Night all.” She shut the door.
Jack put the cups in the sink, then rolled his sleeves up before running the water and putting in the soap.
There was silence in the room for a moment; Mica made herself a cup of tea with two sugars and half a bottle of milk and watched Jack. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his back.
“I'm sorry.” she said. “Please don't leave tomorrow and be angry.”
“I'm not angry.” Jack continued cleaning.
“I love you.” She tightened her grip. “You annoy me so much, but I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“And my family.” Mica closed her eyes and rested on his back. “I love my dad to bits. I love it when he steals a fiver from mam's purse for cigs and she finds out and brays him with the phone book. I love the way that David will stand up for me and never let me down, even it means spending a night in the cells after he bashes someone's face in.”
Jack laughed. “Sounds like David.”
“We're common as shit and I think it's fantastic.” She sighed. “But I don't need someone else protecting me.”
Jack closed his eyes and lay his hand over Mica's. “Tonight, you mentioned Alice.”
“I was angry. I didn't mean to--”
“No.” Jack sighed. “I lost her forever when I did what I did. Torchwood, the government, the 456-- I don't know who was worse in the end; we all murdered, but I was the only one to murder my own. I lost my daughter, my grandson and Ianto all in the space of twenty-four hours and all because of me. I still see the blood on my hands.”
“But it's done now.”
“You're the closest thing I've got to a daughter,” Jack said, “you're everything I would want her to be.” He turned around. “Strong, brave, beautiful, independent, proud.” Jack smiled and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “And God are you ever careless and headstrong.”
“I learnt from the best.” She smiled, then looked up at Jack. “I already have one overbearing dad and a brother. I don't need another one.”
“Mica--”
“No.” She cut his sentence short before it could even form. “Listen to me.” Mica put her hand's on Jack's face. “Sometimes I feel like you hold me back. It's like I have wings, but instead of helping me spread them you're cutting them off every time you see them grow.”
“I don't mean to.”
“Of course you don't. You're my best friend Jack, so help me. Talk to Gwen, get me into Torchwood.”
Jack sighed, sat down at the table and ran his fingers through his hair. “I don't want Torchwood to ruin your life like it ruined his.”
“Help me get in.”
“No.” Jack shook hi head. “No way. Torchwood and his job there killed him, I refuse to have a part in your death too.”
“For God's sake!” Mica slammed her hands down on the table and made Jack jump. “Torchwood didn't kill him, you didn't kill him, the government didn't kill him. The 456 killed him.”
“It was partially my fault.”
“Yeah okay, maybe it was but you can't change that.” Mica picked up the file she had hidden behind the microwave earlier and put it down on the kitchen table. “The 456 killed him and I can bring him back.” She opened the file and pushed it in front of him. “With the help of this.”
“You've done your homework.”
“I always was a good student.”
“What is this?” Jack looked at the document, written on Torchwood paper. It had detailed instructions on a a device that even he hadn't seen before, with pages and pages of mathematical equations. He cast his eyes over all the pages, and gazed at photographs of a small flat object.
“I don't know what it is, but I know what it does.” She took the paper from him. “It's a very simple piece of technology, but one that didn't originate from this earth. It's an automatic autopsy.”
“How did you get this information?”
“You said it yourself.” She smiled. “I'm clever.”
“Not this clever.”
“Yes I am.” She smiled again, turning to one of the pages. “It doesn't work and I know why. These equations, they're wrong somehow. Now I don't know how they're wrong but if I can figure it out I can fix it. And I will fix it because I can fix anything.”
“I don't understand.”
“If I can get this to work I can do amazing things.” She pointed to a paragraph. “Read.”
“The technology is advanced, but does not seem to be sinister. If this device could be amended to work on the biology of the human body, instead of the extraterrestrial, the advances in human science would be unheard of. Autopsy would no longer be complex and not at all invasive, with precise cause of death available within seconds.” Jack shook his head. “I don't get it.”
“The plan to develop this was shelved,” she explained, “Torchwood didn't see the potential, but I do.”
“What potential?”
“This device, if reprogrammed to work on the human body, would give a precise list if all toxins in the body at time of death. It can give you much more advanced toxicology and an even give a breakdown of individual particles.”
“So?”
“So if I can find out what was in his body when he died I could eliminate all the ones you would expect to see. It would leave me with a detailed run down of all the chemicals used to make the virus that killed him, even chemicals that don't exist on this planet. “ she smiled. “Then we can make an antidote. He can come back Jack. I can do it, I know I can.”
Jack stared at her, then at the document, before returning to her eyes. He took her hand. “I know you want to know him but this is going way too far.”
“I'm not doing this for me,” she said, “it has nothing to do with me.”
“Rhiannon?”
“No.” She shook her head.” I'm doing this for you, Jack. You have no spirit behind your eyes any more; you're not the man he loved, the man he would do anything for. You're amazing, but you're not the man I read about.”
“He's gone.” Jack lowered his eyes.
“But I need that man Jack, I need that fighter behind your eyes that you lost so log ago. This isn't about bringing him back, it's about bringing you to life.” She cupped his face. “For a man that can't die you look pretty dead to me.”
“No.” Jack shook his head. “I wont do it, I won't put you in that much danger. He's gone but you're still here.”
“So you won't help me?”
“I can't.”
“Then I'll have to find a way to do it on my own.”
PART 7 NOW HERE