Fic Things Lost and Found Along the Way (11/11) Complete.
Title: Things Lost and Found Along The Way (11/11) Complete.
Rating: pg13
Characters/Pairings: Jack. AU Ianto, Owen and Tosh. Owen/Tosh, eventual Jack/Ianto.
Word Count: This part 2.8k (33k/33k posted)
Contains: Serious illness of an alien variety.
Summary: Travelling back to Earth with Ianto, Owen and Toshiko on board the freighter Ariadne, Jack has growing concerns that the glove he'd used to bring them into this universe has somehow affected him. He's still trying to deal with these worries on his own when they receive a distress call from another ship. A call which is about to change everything.
A/N: This is a sequel to The Spaces in Between. This is a sequel to 'The Spaces in Between.' which was a CoE sort of fix it. Any similarity to Miracle Day with regards to what is going on with Jack is totally accidental as this aspect of the fic had already been decided on last year.
This part beta'd by mcparrot
Starts here.
Jack wakes as Ianto tries to roll over, the lack of space preventing him from doing so.
“Didn't mean to wake you,” Ianto says apologetically. Sitting up, he groans, the movement jarring his arm.
“That's okay. You stay there.” Jack leans across Ianto to reach the bottle of painkillers that Owen has left on the bedside table. His ribs protest as he does, the bruising starting to ache now he’s no longer lying still.
“It probably would have been easier for me to reach them,” Ianto points out as Jack awkwardly moves back to his side of the bed.
“These should help a bit,” Jack says shaking some tablets each out of the bottle. He hands two to Ianto, before taking the other two himself.
Sitting side by side in bed, they wait for the painkillers to start working.
After a few minutes, Jack slowly stands up. The discomfort is a dull background ache, mainly confined to the deepest area of bruising on his ribs.
“I should probably go and get a change of clothes before Owen spots me, and wants to know if I've slept,” Ianto says, but makes no effort to get up.
Jack looks at him for a moment. Ianto's trousers still look okay; it's only really the shirt that has seen better days. Going over to the locker in the corner of the room, Jack takes out one of his spare shirts.
“If you don't want to risk running into Owen on the way back to your room you can wear this. People might talk though,” Jack says with a laugh, offering Ianto one of his shirts. “You turning up wearing my clothes.”
“I hope not.” Ianto gets up, and takes the shirt from Jack.
“Why?”
“Because I don't want Owen or Tosh knowing about...” He hesitates, looking for the right word, before continuing. “Well, us, I suppose is the best description. Not yet, anyway.”
“Why?” Jack asks again, surprised and a little hurt. It's really not what he'd expected Ianto to say. “We're not doing anything wrong.”
“I know.” Ianto sighs. “It's just that it's going to be hard enough to work this out between us, to know where it's going, without having to deal with well meaning questions.” He sighs again, turning away from Jack. “I know that sounds awful, I don't mean it like that. I really do appreciate that they look out for me. But I need this to be something we do for us. To let it succeed or fail without other people pushing us in one direction or another.”
“So you're not ashamed then?” Jack says, stepping in close behind Ianto, putting an arm around him.
Ianto shakes his head. “Jack, I could never be ashamed of you. Frustrated, annoyed maybe, and perhaps even downright angry, but I don't think I could ever be ashamed of trying to have a relationship with you.”
It's actually a relief, Jack finds, that Ianto hadn't used the word love. It's too soon for either of them, both in terms of how long they've know each other and of much time has passed since they lost they lost their own Jack and Ianto.
“I know it's a lot to ask,” Ianto says, turning so that he's facing Jack again. “But could we at least try?”
“Alright,” Jack says a little reluctantly. He understands why Ianto has asked him to do it, and knows that it might actually be the best thing for them, at least for little while, but the secrecy, the idea that they are starting this with a lie, really doesn’t sit well with him.
“Thank you. It won’t be for long, a week or two at most.” Ianto smiles, grateful that Jack is going to go along with it. “Now, how about we get changed and then have some breakfast?”
“Now that,” Jack says, giving Ianto a very brief kiss. “Sounds like a great idea.”
The walk down to the breakroom takes a while. The combination of his not quite healed lungs and not wanting to breathe too deeply as it hurts his bruised ribs, leaves Jack feeling a little breathless despite their slow pace.
Breakfast is nearly over by the time they get there, and sit down at the same table as Owen and Tosh.
If Owen or Tosh notice that Ianto is wearing one of his shirts rather than one of his own they remain silent on the matter. It’s something which, for Ianto's sake, Jack is grateful for.
“How are you two feeling?” Owen asks, once Jack and Ianto have helped themselves to food and drink.
“Tired, a bit sore, but not too bad all things considered,” Ianto says, then takes a bite of his toast before Owen can ask any more questions.
“A lot better than I was,” Jack says. Because while the sore ribs are an annoyance, and there's still the occasional lingering cough, he feels a lot more like his old self than he had a few days ago. A few more days, provided nothing else happens and Jack’s confident he'll be completely well again.
“I was going to drop by after breakfast and give this back to you,” Tosh says, taking Jack’s vortex manipulator out of the pocket of the overalls she’s wearing. “I went to talk to Vran earlier, she says we're close enough to Earth now that the ships comms will work for contacting Gwen.”
Jack buckles it back around his wrist, the familiar leather cuff feeling heavy after several days of not wearing it. “I’d better call her, give her the coordinates for where we’re going to teleport in.”
“I’ve already done it,” Tosh says, sounding a little uncertain of how Jack will react to this information. “I wasn’t sure how early you’d wake, or how you’d be feeling when you did, and it didn’t seem fair to keep her waiting.”
“Taking the initiative, I like it,” Jack says with a smile. “So when are we arriving?”
“It should be about four thirty this afternoon.”
“We’ve got ages then?” Owen says, looking at the digital clock on the wall of the breakroom which reads nine fifteen. “I could've had a lie in.”
“Not really, that's four thirty in Cardiff,” Tosh explains. “The Ariadne runs on Central Sto time, so we’ve actually got just under two and a half hours. I should really go and run a few checks on the engine in a minute, make sure the repairs will hold until they reach Polpaxi.”
“I suppose I’d better start packing,” Ianto says, with a quick glance down at the sling. “I think it might take a while.”
“There are a couple of things I need to sort out too,” Jack says, looking over at Celesti who has just come in, and sat down at a table on the other side of the room.
“Alright, but take it easy,” Owen says. Looking at Ianto he says, “Before you start fussing over how you’re going to get everything packed, I want to get that arm checked again, and get a new dressing on it.”
Jack waits until they are gone before going over to Celesti.
“You're not going to have any trouble with the port authorities when you reach Polpaxi, are you? For letting us leave before they’ve checked out everybody’s version of events,” Jack asks, sitting down opposite her.
“I've got it sorted,” Celesti says, sounding tired, but relieved. “The Judoon provide most of the policing for this quadrant, and they’re running a big crack down on anybody dealing drugs at the moment. They’re still ticked off over that extortion business the Melegrids tried to pull on Earth last year. I reckon they wouldn’t have been too fussed if we’d handed all the smugglers over to them dead.”
“Melegrids?” Jack asks, wondering if this is something that he's left Gwen to deal with on her own.
“Pug ugly three headed things with bad attitudes for the most part.” She looks at Jack, curious. “You must be about the only person who hasn’t heard about it. It made a couple of the pan galactic news networks, and Earth doesn't usually get much of a mention.”
The realisation that Celesti is talking about the 4-5-6 hits hard, and Jack closes his eyes. Feeling sick and angry, he grips the edge of the table, knuckles going white. Whatever the Judoon are doing it’s all far too little far too late.
“Ah shit, said the wrong thing here, haven't I?”
“We didn’t know what they were called,” Jack says hoarsely. He opens his eyes, although his grip on the table doesn’t lessen. “Not the first time, not this time. I lost…” He stops, “Guess it's all in the past now.”
“It don't stop it hurting though, does it?” she says sadly. “I don't know what they did to you, but I'm sorry, you seem like a good guy.” Celesti pats Jack on the shoulder. “I hope everything works out for you. I really do.”
“It'd be nice to catch a break once in a while,” Jack says with a wan smile.
“Ain't that the truth,” Celesti says wearily. Getting up from her seat she says, “I'd better go see how Pol's doing.”
“How is he?” Jack knows that Ianto hadn’t thought Pol’s chances were that good, although Owen had been more optimistic.
“He’s a tough old goat,” she says affectionately, although it’s clear she’s still worried about him. “He’ll be okay eventually, we’ve been through worse back planetside a few times. It's how we met, hauling each other's wounded asses out of a fire fight.”
Jack can think of a few of his own past relationships that have started in the same way. He hope for Celesti's sake that she and Pol get longer together than he did in his.
Jack stays at the table after Celesti has left, trying to get his thoughts in order before going to pack.
He wonders if the Judoon’s crack down, which has probably been ordered by the Shadow Proclamation, is something that the Doctor has had his hand in. It would seem in keeping with his silent goodbye in the bar. Another attempt at putting things right or at least trying to get things to a point where they are less likely to go wrong.
The Doctor setting him up with Alonso in the bar had been confusing. But having later learn that the exploration ship he'd have otherwise left on was lost in a black hole, which would have mean an eternity of dying and reviving without hope of rescue, he suspects that the Doctor did it to keep him safe, rather than in a misguided attempt at matchmaking.
Eventually, Jack is the last one left in the breakroom, and after one final look around he heads back to his room.
* * *
Stood on the teleport pad in the main cargo hold, his greatcoat on and a holdall containing his few possessions at his feet, Jack waits for Vran to tell them that everything is ready.
Walking over to him, Celesti shakes his hand. “If there’s ever anything any of you need, call and I'll see what I can do.”
“The same goes for you.”
“I've got the teleport coordinates set, so I’m ready when you are,” Vran says over the comm.
Looking at Owen, Tosh and Ianto, Jack says, “Ready to see Earth?”
“Am I ever,” Owen says, taking hold of Tosh's hand. “Proper food and beer here I come.”
Tosh laughs. “I think I'm looking forward to fresh air and a real bath more.”
Moving a little closer to Jack, Ianto just smiles, nervous and hopeful at the same time.
“Good to go?” Celesti asks Jack.
Jack nods.“Yeah.”
“They're ready, Vran, let’s get them on their way.” Stepping back from the transport pad, Celesti raises her hand in a salute.
Returning the salute, Jack watches as the cargo hold around them starts to shimmer with a hazy blue light, before the walls suddenly fade into nothingness.
A split second later they appear on a windswept hillside in Pennarth over looking Cardiff Bay. The late autumn sun is low on the horizon, the sky streaked with orange and gold where it meets the ocean, while above them gulls wheel and screech in the cool breeze.
Jack can see tears in Ianto's eyes as he looks out at Cardiff, a look of amazement on his face, while Owen hugs Tosh tightly, nearly lifting her off the ground. Seeing Earth again, when your own has been destroyed, he suspects, must be rather overwhelming.
“Jack!”
Jack turns to see Gwen hurrying over to them.
Reaching Jack, Gwen puts her arms round him and hugs him tight.
It's not exactly comfortable, as even with his faster than normal human healing, his ribs are still sore, but Jack doesn't care. “Now that’s what I call a welcome.”
Something hard under her coat presses against him, and Jack tenses. Surprised and more than a little concerned Jack says, “You're armed.”
Gwen steps back a bit, the look in her eyes daring him to challenge her about. “I don't leave the house without it, not any more.”
“I’m sorry.” Jack says, hating that Gwen feels that this is necessary. He doesn’t want Gwen to have changed, to be as much a stranger as Owen, Tosh and Ianto are. “I never wanted it to be like this, not for you.”
“Don’t be.” She smiles, trying to reassure him, although there’s a brittle edge to it. “It’s not because of you. I have a family to protect now, and I’ll do whatever I need too to keep them safe.”
“I know,” Jack says wearily. He’s seen Torchwood take too many good people other years, changing them, making them too quick to kill. He’d wanted to take Torchwood away from that, make it something more.
Not wanting to talk or think about it any more, Jack nods towards the mint green people carrier that’s parked at the bottom of the slope. “Really?”
“Long story,” Gwen says, waving a hand at it. “But the short version is the new SUV is still on order and this is the only thing the car hire company had big enough on this short notice.”
Jack grins. “Good, I'd hate to think I had to drive that thing all at the time. I've got an image to maintain.” He's not sure what Owen, Ianto and Tosh will make of it, as the cars in their world had been a product of engineering around the problem of scarce petrol, with vehicles powered using coal gas being the most common.
Having given Jack and Gwen a few minutes to talk, Ianto, Owen and Tosh walk over to join them. Ianto holds out his hand to Gwen, “Pleased to meet you, I’m Ianto Jones. We spoke on the video link.”
Jack can see the conflicted look on Gwen's face, as she shakes Ianto's hand, as she tries to remind herself that the people now standing in front of her aren't the same people who'd she'd known, loved and worked with little more than a year ago.
Leaving Gwen to talk to Ianto, Owen and Tosh, knowing that this first introduction is something that they really need to do for themselves, Jack walks over to the edge of the cliff and looks out across the bay. It’s too far away to see anything in detail, but he can just make out the curved shape of the Millennium Centre now that the lights are coming on as the evening closes in.
Greatcoat catching in the breeze off the ocean, Jack closes his eyes. He can smell the tang of salt from the sea, the fumes of cars and dozens of different chemicals, all overlaid with just a hint of Rift energy, combining to make up the familiar air of 21st century Cardiff.
The melancholy mood is broken, when behind him he hears Owen exclaim, “What! With nothing but a daffodil?”
Jack smiles, and turns back to them, to his team. He's home.
The end.
For now at least, but the story will be continued in a new fic in which Jack, Ianto, Owen, Tosh and Gwen try to settle in as a team, deal with the Rift throws at them and get the Hub rebuilt.
Rating: pg13
Characters/Pairings: Jack. AU Ianto, Owen and Tosh. Owen/Tosh, eventual Jack/Ianto.
Word Count: This part 2.8k (33k/33k posted)
Contains: Serious illness of an alien variety.
Summary: Travelling back to Earth with Ianto, Owen and Toshiko on board the freighter Ariadne, Jack has growing concerns that the glove he'd used to bring them into this universe has somehow affected him. He's still trying to deal with these worries on his own when they receive a distress call from another ship. A call which is about to change everything.
A/N: This is a sequel to The Spaces in Between. This is a sequel to 'The Spaces in Between.' which was a CoE sort of fix it. Any similarity to Miracle Day with regards to what is going on with Jack is totally accidental as this aspect of the fic had already been decided on last year.
This part beta'd by mcparrot
Starts here.
Jack wakes as Ianto tries to roll over, the lack of space preventing him from doing so.
“Didn't mean to wake you,” Ianto says apologetically. Sitting up, he groans, the movement jarring his arm.
“That's okay. You stay there.” Jack leans across Ianto to reach the bottle of painkillers that Owen has left on the bedside table. His ribs protest as he does, the bruising starting to ache now he’s no longer lying still.
“It probably would have been easier for me to reach them,” Ianto points out as Jack awkwardly moves back to his side of the bed.
“These should help a bit,” Jack says shaking some tablets each out of the bottle. He hands two to Ianto, before taking the other two himself.
Sitting side by side in bed, they wait for the painkillers to start working.
After a few minutes, Jack slowly stands up. The discomfort is a dull background ache, mainly confined to the deepest area of bruising on his ribs.
“I should probably go and get a change of clothes before Owen spots me, and wants to know if I've slept,” Ianto says, but makes no effort to get up.
Jack looks at him for a moment. Ianto's trousers still look okay; it's only really the shirt that has seen better days. Going over to the locker in the corner of the room, Jack takes out one of his spare shirts.
“If you don't want to risk running into Owen on the way back to your room you can wear this. People might talk though,” Jack says with a laugh, offering Ianto one of his shirts. “You turning up wearing my clothes.”
“I hope not.” Ianto gets up, and takes the shirt from Jack.
“Why?”
“Because I don't want Owen or Tosh knowing about...” He hesitates, looking for the right word, before continuing. “Well, us, I suppose is the best description. Not yet, anyway.”
“Why?” Jack asks again, surprised and a little hurt. It's really not what he'd expected Ianto to say. “We're not doing anything wrong.”
“I know.” Ianto sighs. “It's just that it's going to be hard enough to work this out between us, to know where it's going, without having to deal with well meaning questions.” He sighs again, turning away from Jack. “I know that sounds awful, I don't mean it like that. I really do appreciate that they look out for me. But I need this to be something we do for us. To let it succeed or fail without other people pushing us in one direction or another.”
“So you're not ashamed then?” Jack says, stepping in close behind Ianto, putting an arm around him.
Ianto shakes his head. “Jack, I could never be ashamed of you. Frustrated, annoyed maybe, and perhaps even downright angry, but I don't think I could ever be ashamed of trying to have a relationship with you.”
It's actually a relief, Jack finds, that Ianto hadn't used the word love. It's too soon for either of them, both in terms of how long they've know each other and of much time has passed since they lost they lost their own Jack and Ianto.
“I know it's a lot to ask,” Ianto says, turning so that he's facing Jack again. “But could we at least try?”
“Alright,” Jack says a little reluctantly. He understands why Ianto has asked him to do it, and knows that it might actually be the best thing for them, at least for little while, but the secrecy, the idea that they are starting this with a lie, really doesn’t sit well with him.
“Thank you. It won’t be for long, a week or two at most.” Ianto smiles, grateful that Jack is going to go along with it. “Now, how about we get changed and then have some breakfast?”
“Now that,” Jack says, giving Ianto a very brief kiss. “Sounds like a great idea.”
The walk down to the breakroom takes a while. The combination of his not quite healed lungs and not wanting to breathe too deeply as it hurts his bruised ribs, leaves Jack feeling a little breathless despite their slow pace.
Breakfast is nearly over by the time they get there, and sit down at the same table as Owen and Tosh.
If Owen or Tosh notice that Ianto is wearing one of his shirts rather than one of his own they remain silent on the matter. It’s something which, for Ianto's sake, Jack is grateful for.
“How are you two feeling?” Owen asks, once Jack and Ianto have helped themselves to food and drink.
“Tired, a bit sore, but not too bad all things considered,” Ianto says, then takes a bite of his toast before Owen can ask any more questions.
“A lot better than I was,” Jack says. Because while the sore ribs are an annoyance, and there's still the occasional lingering cough, he feels a lot more like his old self than he had a few days ago. A few more days, provided nothing else happens and Jack’s confident he'll be completely well again.
“I was going to drop by after breakfast and give this back to you,” Tosh says, taking Jack’s vortex manipulator out of the pocket of the overalls she’s wearing. “I went to talk to Vran earlier, she says we're close enough to Earth now that the ships comms will work for contacting Gwen.”
Jack buckles it back around his wrist, the familiar leather cuff feeling heavy after several days of not wearing it. “I’d better call her, give her the coordinates for where we’re going to teleport in.”
“I’ve already done it,” Tosh says, sounding a little uncertain of how Jack will react to this information. “I wasn’t sure how early you’d wake, or how you’d be feeling when you did, and it didn’t seem fair to keep her waiting.”
“Taking the initiative, I like it,” Jack says with a smile. “So when are we arriving?”
“It should be about four thirty this afternoon.”
“We’ve got ages then?” Owen says, looking at the digital clock on the wall of the breakroom which reads nine fifteen. “I could've had a lie in.”
“Not really, that's four thirty in Cardiff,” Tosh explains. “The Ariadne runs on Central Sto time, so we’ve actually got just under two and a half hours. I should really go and run a few checks on the engine in a minute, make sure the repairs will hold until they reach Polpaxi.”
“I suppose I’d better start packing,” Ianto says, with a quick glance down at the sling. “I think it might take a while.”
“There are a couple of things I need to sort out too,” Jack says, looking over at Celesti who has just come in, and sat down at a table on the other side of the room.
“Alright, but take it easy,” Owen says. Looking at Ianto he says, “Before you start fussing over how you’re going to get everything packed, I want to get that arm checked again, and get a new dressing on it.”
Jack waits until they are gone before going over to Celesti.
“You're not going to have any trouble with the port authorities when you reach Polpaxi, are you? For letting us leave before they’ve checked out everybody’s version of events,” Jack asks, sitting down opposite her.
“I've got it sorted,” Celesti says, sounding tired, but relieved. “The Judoon provide most of the policing for this quadrant, and they’re running a big crack down on anybody dealing drugs at the moment. They’re still ticked off over that extortion business the Melegrids tried to pull on Earth last year. I reckon they wouldn’t have been too fussed if we’d handed all the smugglers over to them dead.”
“Melegrids?” Jack asks, wondering if this is something that he's left Gwen to deal with on her own.
“Pug ugly three headed things with bad attitudes for the most part.” She looks at Jack, curious. “You must be about the only person who hasn’t heard about it. It made a couple of the pan galactic news networks, and Earth doesn't usually get much of a mention.”
The realisation that Celesti is talking about the 4-5-6 hits hard, and Jack closes his eyes. Feeling sick and angry, he grips the edge of the table, knuckles going white. Whatever the Judoon are doing it’s all far too little far too late.
“Ah shit, said the wrong thing here, haven't I?”
“We didn’t know what they were called,” Jack says hoarsely. He opens his eyes, although his grip on the table doesn’t lessen. “Not the first time, not this time. I lost…” He stops, “Guess it's all in the past now.”
“It don't stop it hurting though, does it?” she says sadly. “I don't know what they did to you, but I'm sorry, you seem like a good guy.” Celesti pats Jack on the shoulder. “I hope everything works out for you. I really do.”
“It'd be nice to catch a break once in a while,” Jack says with a wan smile.
“Ain't that the truth,” Celesti says wearily. Getting up from her seat she says, “I'd better go see how Pol's doing.”
“How is he?” Jack knows that Ianto hadn’t thought Pol’s chances were that good, although Owen had been more optimistic.
“He’s a tough old goat,” she says affectionately, although it’s clear she’s still worried about him. “He’ll be okay eventually, we’ve been through worse back planetside a few times. It's how we met, hauling each other's wounded asses out of a fire fight.”
Jack can think of a few of his own past relationships that have started in the same way. He hope for Celesti's sake that she and Pol get longer together than he did in his.
Jack stays at the table after Celesti has left, trying to get his thoughts in order before going to pack.
He wonders if the Judoon’s crack down, which has probably been ordered by the Shadow Proclamation, is something that the Doctor has had his hand in. It would seem in keeping with his silent goodbye in the bar. Another attempt at putting things right or at least trying to get things to a point where they are less likely to go wrong.
The Doctor setting him up with Alonso in the bar had been confusing. But having later learn that the exploration ship he'd have otherwise left on was lost in a black hole, which would have mean an eternity of dying and reviving without hope of rescue, he suspects that the Doctor did it to keep him safe, rather than in a misguided attempt at matchmaking.
Eventually, Jack is the last one left in the breakroom, and after one final look around he heads back to his room.
* * *
Stood on the teleport pad in the main cargo hold, his greatcoat on and a holdall containing his few possessions at his feet, Jack waits for Vran to tell them that everything is ready.
Walking over to him, Celesti shakes his hand. “If there’s ever anything any of you need, call and I'll see what I can do.”
“The same goes for you.”
“I've got the teleport coordinates set, so I’m ready when you are,” Vran says over the comm.
Looking at Owen, Tosh and Ianto, Jack says, “Ready to see Earth?”
“Am I ever,” Owen says, taking hold of Tosh's hand. “Proper food and beer here I come.”
Tosh laughs. “I think I'm looking forward to fresh air and a real bath more.”
Moving a little closer to Jack, Ianto just smiles, nervous and hopeful at the same time.
“Good to go?” Celesti asks Jack.
Jack nods.“Yeah.”
“They're ready, Vran, let’s get them on their way.” Stepping back from the transport pad, Celesti raises her hand in a salute.
Returning the salute, Jack watches as the cargo hold around them starts to shimmer with a hazy blue light, before the walls suddenly fade into nothingness.
A split second later they appear on a windswept hillside in Pennarth over looking Cardiff Bay. The late autumn sun is low on the horizon, the sky streaked with orange and gold where it meets the ocean, while above them gulls wheel and screech in the cool breeze.
Jack can see tears in Ianto's eyes as he looks out at Cardiff, a look of amazement on his face, while Owen hugs Tosh tightly, nearly lifting her off the ground. Seeing Earth again, when your own has been destroyed, he suspects, must be rather overwhelming.
“Jack!”
Jack turns to see Gwen hurrying over to them.
Reaching Jack, Gwen puts her arms round him and hugs him tight.
It's not exactly comfortable, as even with his faster than normal human healing, his ribs are still sore, but Jack doesn't care. “Now that’s what I call a welcome.”
Something hard under her coat presses against him, and Jack tenses. Surprised and more than a little concerned Jack says, “You're armed.”
Gwen steps back a bit, the look in her eyes daring him to challenge her about. “I don't leave the house without it, not any more.”
“I’m sorry.” Jack says, hating that Gwen feels that this is necessary. He doesn’t want Gwen to have changed, to be as much a stranger as Owen, Tosh and Ianto are. “I never wanted it to be like this, not for you.”
“Don’t be.” She smiles, trying to reassure him, although there’s a brittle edge to it. “It’s not because of you. I have a family to protect now, and I’ll do whatever I need too to keep them safe.”
“I know,” Jack says wearily. He’s seen Torchwood take too many good people other years, changing them, making them too quick to kill. He’d wanted to take Torchwood away from that, make it something more.
Not wanting to talk or think about it any more, Jack nods towards the mint green people carrier that’s parked at the bottom of the slope. “Really?”
“Long story,” Gwen says, waving a hand at it. “But the short version is the new SUV is still on order and this is the only thing the car hire company had big enough on this short notice.”
Jack grins. “Good, I'd hate to think I had to drive that thing all at the time. I've got an image to maintain.” He's not sure what Owen, Ianto and Tosh will make of it, as the cars in their world had been a product of engineering around the problem of scarce petrol, with vehicles powered using coal gas being the most common.
Having given Jack and Gwen a few minutes to talk, Ianto, Owen and Tosh walk over to join them. Ianto holds out his hand to Gwen, “Pleased to meet you, I’m Ianto Jones. We spoke on the video link.”
Jack can see the conflicted look on Gwen's face, as she shakes Ianto's hand, as she tries to remind herself that the people now standing in front of her aren't the same people who'd she'd known, loved and worked with little more than a year ago.
Leaving Gwen to talk to Ianto, Owen and Tosh, knowing that this first introduction is something that they really need to do for themselves, Jack walks over to the edge of the cliff and looks out across the bay. It’s too far away to see anything in detail, but he can just make out the curved shape of the Millennium Centre now that the lights are coming on as the evening closes in.
Greatcoat catching in the breeze off the ocean, Jack closes his eyes. He can smell the tang of salt from the sea, the fumes of cars and dozens of different chemicals, all overlaid with just a hint of Rift energy, combining to make up the familiar air of 21st century Cardiff.
The melancholy mood is broken, when behind him he hears Owen exclaim, “What! With nothing but a daffodil?”
Jack smiles, and turns back to them, to his team. He's home.
The end.
For now at least, but the story will be continued in a new fic in which Jack, Ianto, Owen, Tosh and Gwen try to settle in as a team, deal with the Rift throws at them and get the Hub rebuilt.