Torchwood: Fanfic: Holding a Grudge

[lt_indigo]

Title: Holding a Grudge

Author: lt_indigo

Fandom: Torchwood

Rating: PG-13

Length: 324 words

Summary:In which Jack is floored by an old friend.

“Jeez, Rex. Still?”

Normally, Jack had absolutely no issue with lying on his back, looking up at a hot guy. But normally Jack wasn’t massaging his jaw. But every few decades, he ran into Rex Matheson, and ended up with a fist in his face.

The universe was enormous, and yet they just kept on running into each other. It was like the universe enjoyed bringing them together; it was like they were two poles of a magnet, always attracted to each other even though they couldn’t stand each other.

Rex couldn’t stand him, anyway. Rex still, after centuries, blamed Jack for his immortality. Yeah, sure, it was Jack’s blood that had somehow turned him, but Jack hadn’t exactly forced it into his veins. Or even really known what was going on when Esther had taken it from him in the first place. Jack had been kind of busy being delirious and on the brink of death at the time.

Jack climbed gingerly to his feet, just outside Rex’s reach.

“So, can I buy you a drink?”

“Fuck that, World War Two,” Rex said, glaring at Jack. “I can buy my own damn drink.”

Jack grinned and led Rex to the nearest bar. “One of these centuries.”

“In your dreams.”

Jack just grinned. He never could resist taunting Rex: he knew Rex was one of those freaks who only liked women, but the teasing, like the punching, was just part of how they interacted these days. They had seen too much change not to cling to the little things that made up their relationship. And, Jack thought as they settled down with their drinks, he would never have wished his curse on anyone, but there was a part of him that was still glad he wasn’t alone in the universe any more. Even if his companion had to be Rex Matheson, the man who could literally hold a grudge for a lifetime and beyond.