Lost and Found - Chapter Eleven
Lost and Found - Chapter Eleven
Author: Milady Dragon
Series: Dragon-Verse
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): JackHarkness/Ianto Jones, Phil Coulson/Clint Barton, Rowena Harkness-Jones/Henry Morgan, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (mentioned), Clint Barton/Other (mentioned), Cadi Harkness-Jones/John Hart (mentioned), Rhys Williams/Gwen Cooper (past), Others
Warnings: Implied Torture, Mpreg (mentioned), Reincarnation, Language, Violence, Angst
Spoilers: For most of the Dragon-Verse stories, some not yet written
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, I would have treated it better. There are other things in here also that I don't own as well.
Summary: "Fucking Rift," Rhys managed to mutter, realising immediately what must have happened.
Living in Cardiff was like playing Russian Roulette: no one was safe, but the Rift more often than not dropped off instead of picked up and it was just luck of the draw when those negative spikes appeared and snatched a person away.
16 June 5119 (Earth Standard Date)
Madrina
Rhys was awake, showered, and dressed in the least eye-injuring outfit he had in his closet when there was a knock on his hotel room door.
He wasn’t at all surprised to see Nathan breeze in, carrying a bag from which something wonderful smelled. “Good morning!” the young man greeted, grinning. “I brought breakfast just in case you hadn’t called down for anything yet.”
Rhys didn’t even have to speak; his stomach did it for him by rumbling loudly. Nathan snickered then took a seat on the sofa, putting the bag down on the coffee table. Rhys joined him as he began digging items out from it. There were several wrapped things that Rhys took to be some sort of breakfast sandwich, along with two sealed cups that were obviously coffee.
“Thanks mate,” he said, reaching for one of the cups. He slipped the lid off and inhaled the wonderful scent of well-made coffee. “You are a lifesaver.” He’d been wondering about breakfast, since no one had bothered to clue him in last night on how to do that. Nathan had stopped him from making a fool out of himself by attempting to figure it out on his own.
“We have a two standard hours before we check out,” Nathan said, helping himself to one of the wrapped objects. It did turn out to be a form of sandwich, with meat, cheese, and what resembled an egg but was blue in colour in between two pieces of thick bread. They looked amazing. “Morgan is off overseeing the packing up of all our equipment, and she asked me to come up and keep you company until we had to leave.”
“Thanks again. I would’ve gone off my nut waiting up here by myself.” He took a sip of coffee, and while it couldn’t meet the expectations Rhys had after being served Ianto Jones’ miracle coffee for so many years, it wasn’t bad at all. He then set the cup down and grabbed one of the sandwiches, tugging off the paper wrapping and taking a huge bite. It was every bit as good as it looked. The meat was slightly spicier that what he’d expected but the tangy cheese and fluffy egg balanced it out, plus the bread had its own different flavour, almost like it had some sort of fruit baked into it.
Nathan nodded. “If you mean you would’ve gone crazy, then I get it. Although, I think my impatience and your experience are two completely different things.”
“Yeah,” Rhys answered after swallowing. “For me, it’s more like not knowing what I can and can’t do, or not trusting that I won’t get lost if I start wandering around.” While he was really enjoying the newness of his surroundings, there was still that part of him that was freaked out by the fact that he was in the future, and that he really had no clue what the hell he was doing.
“You wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost around here,” Nathan assured him. “What you’re wearing would be enough to let any of the resort staff know that you’re with Morgan and her crew. And, now that you have your translator, they’d be able to understand if you asked for directions, and you’d understand them.”
Rhys reached up and touched his ear, having completely forgotten about the tiny device in his ear canal. “Oh, yeah.”
To Nathan’s credit, he didn’t laugh at Rhys’ brain fart. “You’ll get used to it. It’ll just take time, and when we get back to Hubworld it’ll be easier with Torchwood and my Granddad and Grandtad there to help. At least they’ll be familiar to you.”
This was true. Rhys had so many questions about the future he’d probably take months to ask them all.
But there were still some things that he thought he could ask his new friend.
“I did have a few things I wanted to know,” he said, taking another of the breakfast sandwiches. He hadn’t even realised he’d wolfed down the first one.
“Sure,” Nathan encouraged him. He snagged the last sandwich.
“Last night during the concert, I heard a couple of the workers calling you and Morgan ‘Star Dragons’…” It had confused him at first, because it had come out of nowhere. Rhys didn’t have any idea what it meant, because Ianto had never claimed such a thing; in fact, Ianto’s dragon form had always had a firm alignment with the Great Earth Dragon.
Nathan looked surprised, his eyes widening. “You mean Aunts Cadi and Brina didn’t explain that?”
“They explained a lot of things about the future, but not that. What does it mean?”
The young man sighed, slumping back against the arm of the sofa. “Well, it’s really Aunt Anwyn’s fault that we’re called that, but Arthur was the one who kept it up, especially when he changed the Torchwood logo and he got his own dragon form…”
“And that’s another thing on the list,” Rhys interrupted. “What’s this getting a dragon form thing? I mean, Ianto was born a dragon, so I’d’ve thought his kids would have had one too.”
“That’s easier to explain than the Star Dragon thing, actually. The kids born from Granddad Jack are all born with human forms, and gain their dragon forms when they find a mate. My Dad didn’t get his dragon form for about sixteen hundred years, when he met Phillip again. Aunt Morgan doesn’t have hers yet, and neither do my other Aunts Kaitlyn, Pryce, and Alyce…although Aunt Alyce is only seventeen and not ready to look for a mate yet. Grandtad Ianto says she’s not allowed to date for at least another hundred years.”
That sounded like something Ianto would say. “So,” Rhys mused, “any child that Ianto has are born with their dragon forms then?”
Nathan nodded. “Yep, that’s right. My Aunts Rowena and Cadi and my Uncles Gareth and Alun were all born dragons. Oh, and my second cousin Rory, he was also born a dragon, but like I said Arthur has had his dragon form like forever now…”
There was something else Nathan wasn’t saying, but Rhys let it go for now. He was sure Nathan would say something if it was important. “Okay, so what about this Star Dragon thing?”
“Alright.” Nathan took a deep breath. “So, Aunt Anwyn grew up in Torchwood, and she became a ship owner pretty early on. Her first spaceship was called the Star Dragon, and she did a lot of good work in it, so much so that she became pretty well famous. When Aunts Rowena and Cadi were old enough, they travelled with Aunt Anwyn a bit, and since they already had their dragon forms they were nicknamed after the ship, you know? Because when the Star Dragon showed up, people believed everything was gonna be alright. Even Granddad and Grandtad would go with them at times, but Grandtad was already known as the Torchwood Dragon, so it didn’t so much stay with him as it did with my Aunts. Besides, by then he and Granddad were retired and weren’t looking for any sort of attention like that.”
That actually made sense. Of course Rhys had been aware of the notoriety of the Torchwood Dragon, since he’d been sighted at Thames House during that shit with the chanting children, and then had gone on to fight with the Avengers when the Cybermen had attacked the United States so soon after the Battle of New York. It had bothered Jack to know that more and more people were beginning to find out about Ianto’s secret, and hadn’t wanted that knowledge to get into the wrong hands.
Although, he was pretty amused by the fact that Ianto was still called that, even this far into the future.
“Well, during one job that Anwyn and Cadi had been on, the Star Dragon was attacked by pirates and would have been destroyed if the Doctor hadn’t shown up. Still, the ship was pretty well wrecked, and Anwyn decided to junk her and get another one, which this time she called a different name…I don’t even know what it was, to be honest. So the Star Dragon name sort of faded away.
“But then Arthur and Merlin took over Torchwood. Arthur thought it was a good idea to incorporate a dragon into the Torchwood symbol, as a sort of memorial for Granddad and Grandtad’s centuries of service, but also because it was part of his coat of arms back when he’d been King of Albion…did either Aunt Cadi or Aunt Brina tell you about all the reincarnation stuff?”
Rhys nodded. He’d really wanted to disbelieve it, but he’d been around magic far too much to completely discount reincarnation. Although the fact that Arthur Harkness-Jones had, in fact, been the legendary King Arthur of the Round Table and his mate, Merlin, had been the reincarnation of that Merlin…well…he’d really had to think about that because it had just seemed so bloody crazy even for Rhys’ experience.
“Okay,” Nathan went on, “glad I don’t have to explain that! It even does my head in, and my Dad was reincarnated from some sort of Torchwood hero back in the twenty-first century! Which reminds me, you still have to tell me some embarrassing stories about my grandparents.”
“Oh don’t worry,” Rhys assured him, “I have quite a few of them. Even some about your Dad’s previous life if you’re interested.”
The grin that lit up Nathan’s face could have powered old Cardiff for a solid year. “Fantastic! Alright, to go on…anyway, with Anwyn off doing good deeds and Rowena and Cadi doing their thing, and my Dad and then Uncle Gareth having been born and Dad being a famous adventurer and Uncle Gareth becoming a famous doctor…Arthur wanted to have people actually recognise his family for what they were, so he started talking about Star Dragons again and the rumours just started rolling along. Even though Aunt Anwyn and Dad hadn’t gotten their dragon forms yet, Arthur made certain they were also included in the list of Star Dragons. And the more that were born, their reputations just grew. Uncle Alun is a well-respected Adjudicator; Aunt Emlyn is a model and a philanthropist; and of course Aunt Morgan is known all over the Twelve Galaxies…no one really knows Aunt Brina, because it’s important that no one does since she’s a Torchwood agent and all. Aunt Kaitlyn is an ambassador who became well-known because she stopped a war that would’ve spilled out across the Empire and been a real mess. Aunt Pryce…well, she has her own business,” Nathan snickered a bit, “and Grandtad doesn’t know about it because he really wouldn’t be very happy about it…”
Rhys had to wonder just what was so bad that Ianto wouldn’t like it, especially since Cadi was only well-known because she was a criminal wanted on so many planets she’d lost track.
So he asked.
“Aunt Pryce owns a series of tea shops,” Nathan laughed. “You know how Grandtad is about his coffee…”
Oh yes. Rhys couldn’t help but laugh at the idea that the one person who made the best coffee anywhere would have a child who was in the tea business. “No coffee at all?”
“Nope. She doesn’t care for it. It’s only a matter of time before he finds out, because Aunt Pryce has shops on several different worlds and is becoming better known for her hiring practices and the fact that she has plantations on three different planets and always treats her employees well.”
That was completely brilliant, and said so.
“But anyway,” Nathan said, “we’re all Star Dragons now. It doesn’t hurt that we each have a few different abilities than Grandtad, but he’s proud of us all. So, when you hear someone talking about Star Dragons, now you know. Which really is more than the majority of people out there can say. They don’t know the story, only that we’re out there and that we always try to help when and where we can.”
“That sounds just like your grandparents,” Rhys said warmly.
Nathan’s smile was almost shy. “It’s one of the reasons I like to travel so much. I want to be able to help people out there, whoever I can find. It also doesn’t hurt that Dad had us on the move for the majority of our lives, and while Nicole liked the idea of settling down after he found our third Dad, it’s just not me. Can’t stand it when I have too much dirt on my boots, as it were.”
Rhys recalled that Jack had admitted to being like that at one point in his life, before he’d become immortal. In a way, that sort of life had led him to the Doctor, who ultimately was partly responsible for Jack becoming a fixed point in time. He’d also been told that Jack had once felt that his immortality was a curse, but since he’d mated with Ianto, that had changed. Sure, he knew he’d lost those friends and family that weren’t long-lived, but Jack hadn’t had to face the pain of being alone any longer. He had Ianto, and to a smaller extent Phil Coulson, and that he was happy that they could all help each other through the centuries they’d be alive.
Rhys was almost pitifully glad that his friends were now surrounded by family that would, chances were, be alive as long as they would be. Yes, he did know that they would still miss those who would pass on while they still lived, but at least there would be those who would still stand beside them when others are gone.
It made him think of the people he’d left behind, his friends and family and teammates. All of them were dead now, and dust, except for the few that had travelled into the future the slow way and not by Rift like he had. It really was the first time he’d sat back and considered them: Toshiko and Kathy, Owen and Diane, Patrick and Alice and the London team and the new ones that he hadn’t had a chance to really get to know yet. Oh, and the friends in SHIELD: Melinda and Daisy, Mack and FitzSimmons, Bobbi and Hunter and everyone else he’d talked to and had gotten to know.
He knew he could always ask Jack and Ianto, and Phil and Clint, but he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to. Would it do any good to know the fates of his friends? Would it make living in the future any easier? Or would holding onto the memories he had make things harder?
Something must have shown on his face, because Nathan’s expression changed to concern. “You know you’re safe here, right? That my family will look after you?”
“I know that,” Rhys reassured him. “It’s just…a lot to take in.”
“We’ll get you there, don’t worry. And…Granddad and Grandtad are gonna be so happy to see you.”
Rhys had no doubt of that. He’d be glad to see Jack and Ianto as well.
It was just that he was finally figuring out just how big a change this was. It wasn’t exploring the future anymore; it was the idea that he was stranded there, and he really didn’t mind it at all. He’d lost everything, and yet it didn’t feel like a big deal. He wondered if he should be worried about that, and then decided no, that way led to him going off the deep end.
No, the future was his. He just had to figure out what he was going to do in it.
That meant he had to get to Torchwood.
He had to get to Jack and Ianto.
And then he would finally be free.
Chapter Twelve
Author: Milady Dragon
Series: Dragon-Verse
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): JackHarkness/Ianto Jones, Phil Coulson/Clint Barton, Rowena Harkness-Jones/Henry Morgan, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (mentioned), Clint Barton/Other (mentioned), Cadi Harkness-Jones/John Hart (mentioned), Rhys Williams/Gwen Cooper (past), Others
Warnings: Implied Torture, Mpreg (mentioned), Reincarnation, Language, Violence, Angst
Spoilers: For most of the Dragon-Verse stories, some not yet written
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, I would have treated it better. There are other things in here also that I don't own as well.
Summary: "Fucking Rift," Rhys managed to mutter, realising immediately what must have happened.
Living in Cardiff was like playing Russian Roulette: no one was safe, but the Rift more often than not dropped off instead of picked up and it was just luck of the draw when those negative spikes appeared and snatched a person away.
16 June 5119 (Earth Standard Date)
Madrina
Rhys was awake, showered, and dressed in the least eye-injuring outfit he had in his closet when there was a knock on his hotel room door.
He wasn’t at all surprised to see Nathan breeze in, carrying a bag from which something wonderful smelled. “Good morning!” the young man greeted, grinning. “I brought breakfast just in case you hadn’t called down for anything yet.”
Rhys didn’t even have to speak; his stomach did it for him by rumbling loudly. Nathan snickered then took a seat on the sofa, putting the bag down on the coffee table. Rhys joined him as he began digging items out from it. There were several wrapped things that Rhys took to be some sort of breakfast sandwich, along with two sealed cups that were obviously coffee.
“Thanks mate,” he said, reaching for one of the cups. He slipped the lid off and inhaled the wonderful scent of well-made coffee. “You are a lifesaver.” He’d been wondering about breakfast, since no one had bothered to clue him in last night on how to do that. Nathan had stopped him from making a fool out of himself by attempting to figure it out on his own.
“We have a two standard hours before we check out,” Nathan said, helping himself to one of the wrapped objects. It did turn out to be a form of sandwich, with meat, cheese, and what resembled an egg but was blue in colour in between two pieces of thick bread. They looked amazing. “Morgan is off overseeing the packing up of all our equipment, and she asked me to come up and keep you company until we had to leave.”
“Thanks again. I would’ve gone off my nut waiting up here by myself.” He took a sip of coffee, and while it couldn’t meet the expectations Rhys had after being served Ianto Jones’ miracle coffee for so many years, it wasn’t bad at all. He then set the cup down and grabbed one of the sandwiches, tugging off the paper wrapping and taking a huge bite. It was every bit as good as it looked. The meat was slightly spicier that what he’d expected but the tangy cheese and fluffy egg balanced it out, plus the bread had its own different flavour, almost like it had some sort of fruit baked into it.
Nathan nodded. “If you mean you would’ve gone crazy, then I get it. Although, I think my impatience and your experience are two completely different things.”
“Yeah,” Rhys answered after swallowing. “For me, it’s more like not knowing what I can and can’t do, or not trusting that I won’t get lost if I start wandering around.” While he was really enjoying the newness of his surroundings, there was still that part of him that was freaked out by the fact that he was in the future, and that he really had no clue what the hell he was doing.
“You wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost around here,” Nathan assured him. “What you’re wearing would be enough to let any of the resort staff know that you’re with Morgan and her crew. And, now that you have your translator, they’d be able to understand if you asked for directions, and you’d understand them.”
Rhys reached up and touched his ear, having completely forgotten about the tiny device in his ear canal. “Oh, yeah.”
To Nathan’s credit, he didn’t laugh at Rhys’ brain fart. “You’ll get used to it. It’ll just take time, and when we get back to Hubworld it’ll be easier with Torchwood and my Granddad and Grandtad there to help. At least they’ll be familiar to you.”
This was true. Rhys had so many questions about the future he’d probably take months to ask them all.
But there were still some things that he thought he could ask his new friend.
“I did have a few things I wanted to know,” he said, taking another of the breakfast sandwiches. He hadn’t even realised he’d wolfed down the first one.
“Sure,” Nathan encouraged him. He snagged the last sandwich.
“Last night during the concert, I heard a couple of the workers calling you and Morgan ‘Star Dragons’…” It had confused him at first, because it had come out of nowhere. Rhys didn’t have any idea what it meant, because Ianto had never claimed such a thing; in fact, Ianto’s dragon form had always had a firm alignment with the Great Earth Dragon.
Nathan looked surprised, his eyes widening. “You mean Aunts Cadi and Brina didn’t explain that?”
“They explained a lot of things about the future, but not that. What does it mean?”
The young man sighed, slumping back against the arm of the sofa. “Well, it’s really Aunt Anwyn’s fault that we’re called that, but Arthur was the one who kept it up, especially when he changed the Torchwood logo and he got his own dragon form…”
“And that’s another thing on the list,” Rhys interrupted. “What’s this getting a dragon form thing? I mean, Ianto was born a dragon, so I’d’ve thought his kids would have had one too.”
“That’s easier to explain than the Star Dragon thing, actually. The kids born from Granddad Jack are all born with human forms, and gain their dragon forms when they find a mate. My Dad didn’t get his dragon form for about sixteen hundred years, when he met Phillip again. Aunt Morgan doesn’t have hers yet, and neither do my other Aunts Kaitlyn, Pryce, and Alyce…although Aunt Alyce is only seventeen and not ready to look for a mate yet. Grandtad Ianto says she’s not allowed to date for at least another hundred years.”
That sounded like something Ianto would say. “So,” Rhys mused, “any child that Ianto has are born with their dragon forms then?”
Nathan nodded. “Yep, that’s right. My Aunts Rowena and Cadi and my Uncles Gareth and Alun were all born dragons. Oh, and my second cousin Rory, he was also born a dragon, but like I said Arthur has had his dragon form like forever now…”
There was something else Nathan wasn’t saying, but Rhys let it go for now. He was sure Nathan would say something if it was important. “Okay, so what about this Star Dragon thing?”
“Alright.” Nathan took a deep breath. “So, Aunt Anwyn grew up in Torchwood, and she became a ship owner pretty early on. Her first spaceship was called the Star Dragon, and she did a lot of good work in it, so much so that she became pretty well famous. When Aunts Rowena and Cadi were old enough, they travelled with Aunt Anwyn a bit, and since they already had their dragon forms they were nicknamed after the ship, you know? Because when the Star Dragon showed up, people believed everything was gonna be alright. Even Granddad and Grandtad would go with them at times, but Grandtad was already known as the Torchwood Dragon, so it didn’t so much stay with him as it did with my Aunts. Besides, by then he and Granddad were retired and weren’t looking for any sort of attention like that.”
That actually made sense. Of course Rhys had been aware of the notoriety of the Torchwood Dragon, since he’d been sighted at Thames House during that shit with the chanting children, and then had gone on to fight with the Avengers when the Cybermen had attacked the United States so soon after the Battle of New York. It had bothered Jack to know that more and more people were beginning to find out about Ianto’s secret, and hadn’t wanted that knowledge to get into the wrong hands.
Although, he was pretty amused by the fact that Ianto was still called that, even this far into the future.
“Well, during one job that Anwyn and Cadi had been on, the Star Dragon was attacked by pirates and would have been destroyed if the Doctor hadn’t shown up. Still, the ship was pretty well wrecked, and Anwyn decided to junk her and get another one, which this time she called a different name…I don’t even know what it was, to be honest. So the Star Dragon name sort of faded away.
“But then Arthur and Merlin took over Torchwood. Arthur thought it was a good idea to incorporate a dragon into the Torchwood symbol, as a sort of memorial for Granddad and Grandtad’s centuries of service, but also because it was part of his coat of arms back when he’d been King of Albion…did either Aunt Cadi or Aunt Brina tell you about all the reincarnation stuff?”
Rhys nodded. He’d really wanted to disbelieve it, but he’d been around magic far too much to completely discount reincarnation. Although the fact that Arthur Harkness-Jones had, in fact, been the legendary King Arthur of the Round Table and his mate, Merlin, had been the reincarnation of that Merlin…well…he’d really had to think about that because it had just seemed so bloody crazy even for Rhys’ experience.
“Okay,” Nathan went on, “glad I don’t have to explain that! It even does my head in, and my Dad was reincarnated from some sort of Torchwood hero back in the twenty-first century! Which reminds me, you still have to tell me some embarrassing stories about my grandparents.”
“Oh don’t worry,” Rhys assured him, “I have quite a few of them. Even some about your Dad’s previous life if you’re interested.”
The grin that lit up Nathan’s face could have powered old Cardiff for a solid year. “Fantastic! Alright, to go on…anyway, with Anwyn off doing good deeds and Rowena and Cadi doing their thing, and my Dad and then Uncle Gareth having been born and Dad being a famous adventurer and Uncle Gareth becoming a famous doctor…Arthur wanted to have people actually recognise his family for what they were, so he started talking about Star Dragons again and the rumours just started rolling along. Even though Aunt Anwyn and Dad hadn’t gotten their dragon forms yet, Arthur made certain they were also included in the list of Star Dragons. And the more that were born, their reputations just grew. Uncle Alun is a well-respected Adjudicator; Aunt Emlyn is a model and a philanthropist; and of course Aunt Morgan is known all over the Twelve Galaxies…no one really knows Aunt Brina, because it’s important that no one does since she’s a Torchwood agent and all. Aunt Kaitlyn is an ambassador who became well-known because she stopped a war that would’ve spilled out across the Empire and been a real mess. Aunt Pryce…well, she has her own business,” Nathan snickered a bit, “and Grandtad doesn’t know about it because he really wouldn’t be very happy about it…”
Rhys had to wonder just what was so bad that Ianto wouldn’t like it, especially since Cadi was only well-known because she was a criminal wanted on so many planets she’d lost track.
So he asked.
“Aunt Pryce owns a series of tea shops,” Nathan laughed. “You know how Grandtad is about his coffee…”
Oh yes. Rhys couldn’t help but laugh at the idea that the one person who made the best coffee anywhere would have a child who was in the tea business. “No coffee at all?”
“Nope. She doesn’t care for it. It’s only a matter of time before he finds out, because Aunt Pryce has shops on several different worlds and is becoming better known for her hiring practices and the fact that she has plantations on three different planets and always treats her employees well.”
That was completely brilliant, and said so.
“But anyway,” Nathan said, “we’re all Star Dragons now. It doesn’t hurt that we each have a few different abilities than Grandtad, but he’s proud of us all. So, when you hear someone talking about Star Dragons, now you know. Which really is more than the majority of people out there can say. They don’t know the story, only that we’re out there and that we always try to help when and where we can.”
“That sounds just like your grandparents,” Rhys said warmly.
Nathan’s smile was almost shy. “It’s one of the reasons I like to travel so much. I want to be able to help people out there, whoever I can find. It also doesn’t hurt that Dad had us on the move for the majority of our lives, and while Nicole liked the idea of settling down after he found our third Dad, it’s just not me. Can’t stand it when I have too much dirt on my boots, as it were.”
Rhys recalled that Jack had admitted to being like that at one point in his life, before he’d become immortal. In a way, that sort of life had led him to the Doctor, who ultimately was partly responsible for Jack becoming a fixed point in time. He’d also been told that Jack had once felt that his immortality was a curse, but since he’d mated with Ianto, that had changed. Sure, he knew he’d lost those friends and family that weren’t long-lived, but Jack hadn’t had to face the pain of being alone any longer. He had Ianto, and to a smaller extent Phil Coulson, and that he was happy that they could all help each other through the centuries they’d be alive.
Rhys was almost pitifully glad that his friends were now surrounded by family that would, chances were, be alive as long as they would be. Yes, he did know that they would still miss those who would pass on while they still lived, but at least there would be those who would still stand beside them when others are gone.
It made him think of the people he’d left behind, his friends and family and teammates. All of them were dead now, and dust, except for the few that had travelled into the future the slow way and not by Rift like he had. It really was the first time he’d sat back and considered them: Toshiko and Kathy, Owen and Diane, Patrick and Alice and the London team and the new ones that he hadn’t had a chance to really get to know yet. Oh, and the friends in SHIELD: Melinda and Daisy, Mack and FitzSimmons, Bobbi and Hunter and everyone else he’d talked to and had gotten to know.
He knew he could always ask Jack and Ianto, and Phil and Clint, but he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to. Would it do any good to know the fates of his friends? Would it make living in the future any easier? Or would holding onto the memories he had make things harder?
Something must have shown on his face, because Nathan’s expression changed to concern. “You know you’re safe here, right? That my family will look after you?”
“I know that,” Rhys reassured him. “It’s just…a lot to take in.”
“We’ll get you there, don’t worry. And…Granddad and Grandtad are gonna be so happy to see you.”
Rhys had no doubt of that. He’d be glad to see Jack and Ianto as well.
It was just that he was finally figuring out just how big a change this was. It wasn’t exploring the future anymore; it was the idea that he was stranded there, and he really didn’t mind it at all. He’d lost everything, and yet it didn’t feel like a big deal. He wondered if he should be worried about that, and then decided no, that way led to him going off the deep end.
No, the future was his. He just had to figure out what he was going to do in it.
That meant he had to get to Torchwood.
He had to get to Jack and Ianto.
And then he would finally be free.
Chapter Twelve