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fan_flashworks2021-03-20 09:24 pm
m_findlow) wrote in fan_flashworks2021-03-20 09:24 pm
Entry tags:
Torchwood: Fanfic: Keeping it together
Title: Keeping it together
Jack wandered back to his office for a few moments to be alone. He'd been desperately craving the solitude for the better part of a whole day, and right now was the only chance he was going to get. Perhaps he'd been rude, or perhaps he'd just been their leader, but he didn't feel any qualms about having told his team that he disagreed with them. He perhaps wished though that he hadn't gone so far as to dismiss Owen, driving him out of the hub, and driving a wedge between himself and the rest of the team. Owen had pushed his buttons in every conceivable way and it was all Jack could do not to lunge forward and strangle him by hand. He'd lost patience with Owen's needling and wanted him gone. Now he was, and Jack would have to live with the consequences, assuming they survived long enough to learn what those were.
He wandered over to the large glass window and stared out of it for a moment, hands resting on his hips as he expected to see the other three huddled over in some kind of joint mutiny. They disappointed him by being separate and apart, doing whatever they could - whatever that might be - to try and help, but Jack didn't think there was anything they could do. The rift was splintering, growing wider and more far reaching by the minute, and Jack didn't know how to stop it.
None of it should have been happening. They never should have slipped through from 2007 to 1941 in the first place. Weaknesses in the fabric of time happened for sure, but not even here in Cardiff where the rift hung over them was time that fragile. That guy, Bilis Manger, the one who'd owned the dance hall back in 1941 had something to do with it. Gwen hadn't just imagined him. He was connected somehow. Still, he couldn't have known they'd try to open the rift to get back to the present. It was far too dangerous to just open up the rift and take their chances. Only because they had Tosh's equations, did he think they might be safe to attempt it. Had he known then that someone had scratched out the vital last part of those equations, he never would have allowed it. Better to preserve the timeline than risk everything for two people. Maybe that wasn't fair on them, but it was still the right thing to do.
He'd promised Tosh he'd keep her safe but he had no idea how he was going to keep that promise to her. It wasn't as if he could get her a job at Bletchley Park. In that day and age it was the only job she was truly qualified to do, apart from Torchwood. He couldn't hide the fact that she was Japanese any more than he could hide the fact that he looked for all the world attached to the United States Air Force. She'd be interned until the war was over and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.
All the while he'd have to enlist yet again. Another four years of war. Another four years of being stuck in the trenches, watching men around him die. He'd have to reinvent himself as someone else once more. He was already here at least twice in this timeline - his original self before he'd met the Doctor, schmoozing with the brass in London so he could offload his Chula medical transport, and the second version of himself, the one that already worked for Torchwood, waiting for his Doctor to return. How would his third reincarnation last through the years? He couldn't very well go back to Torchwood and cross his own timeline. No more than he could let Tosh join their ranks. The pair of them were not supposed to be here in this time and place. Anything they did, however small, could affect the future
Worse than that. If they were stuck here, Jack would be able to live out the years in between and return back to his timeline eventually. Tosh wouldn't be so lucky. She'd live and age just as always. She'd be ninety five by the time they caught up with their own timeline, assuming she made it to such a ripe old age. It was cruel and unfair. He wished now that he hadn't been so blase about fitting in at the dance, flirting with his real life counterpart. He should have been working harder to help Tosh figure out a way to get them back and not using it as the opportunity to indulge his fantasies. If they could have found a way, Owen and Ianto wouldn't have had to Owen the rift.
He'd hated admitting it to the group of them, standing there looking to him to make things right. He genuinely didn't know what to do to fix this. Opening the rift had never been done. Not even the most zealous and anarchic leaders of Torchwood in days gone by had been brave enough to attempt it.
What was happening now scared him. This was not supposed to be happening. He'd seen the future before and the destruction of Earth was not part of that history. Timelines could change though. What they did now could alter the entire history of the world. Or end it.
Jack wasn't cut out for this. The end of the world couldn't happen on his watch. Where was the Doctor? The century had turned twice and now they needed him.kre than they ever had. He simply had to turn up now. He'd know what to do. The Doctor had always been there when the world needed him most, and Jack needed him now.
Emergency Protocol One. Just the thought of it made him shudder. He wouldn't do it - not even if Tosh and Ianto thought it was a good idea. Opening up the rift even more than it already was would lead to disaster. It didn't even count as an option of last resort, not whilst Jack was around. Just having them know it existed was troubling enough. He would have to fight them harder on it before the end came.
Jack knew he'd done the wrong thing turning Owen away. It was just one more thing in a growing list of mistakes he'd made of late. Everything was falling apart - he was losing friends and allies, losing a battle against the rift and unseen enemies who wanted to use it for their own gain, and most of all, it felt like he was beginning to lose himself in all of this. He wasn't Captain Jack Harkness anymore. He never had been, and he was a fool to think that the man whose namesake he'd stolen could ever love him. More mistakes he couldn't take back.
There was a gentle knock at the door. Seeing Ianto standing there looking apologetic only made him feel even more guilty. He'd opened the rift in order to bring Jack back. They all had. Jack didn't deserve their loyalty. They should have stood by Owen.
'What is it?' He almost didn't want to know the answer.
'I've tracked him down.'
Jack nodded, continuing to stare out the window rather look Ianto in the eye. Owen wouldn't have been that hard to find. 'Leave him.'
There was a silent pause left hanging in the air. 'Sir?'
'Owen made his choice.' Jack still had his pride. There wasn't time for grovelling when everything hung in the balance.
Ianto took a tentative step forward, polished shoes clicking on the concrete floor. 'Not Owen, Bilis.'
Jack's head turned so sharply it almost pained him. 'Bilis?'
Ianto flipped over a page on his clipboard, as if he were doing nothing more than reviewing his shopping list. 'There's a shop in the old Cardiff Queen Street arcade called A Stitch in Time. He's listed as the registered proprietor.'
The news was a kick in the guts. He'd never expected to find a trace of Bilis Manger. He had to know something about what was happening now. He may have even orchestrated it in the first place.
'I might even go so far as to say it was a little too easy to find him.'
Jack nodded in agreement. Nothing smelled more like a trap but what choice did they have? He attempted a smile, though he knew his heart wasn't in it and that it hadn't reached his eyes. 'Good work. Grab Gwen. We'll head out there now. You and Tosh stay here and coordinate with local law enforcement. Tell them to do what they can to reassure the public and that we've got this. We just need more time.'
He hoped it sounded as confident and reassuring as he intended it. He had to hold it together for their sakes. There was still a chance, however small, that they could yet find a way to stop this, maybe even reverse it altogether. He didn't know how, but he knew he had to try, and he needed his team around him to help.
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,523 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 329 - Hold
Summary: Jack is struggling to hold everything together as it begins to unravel.
Jack wandered back to his office for a few moments to be alone. He'd been desperately craving the solitude for the better part of a whole day, and right now was the only chance he was going to get. Perhaps he'd been rude, or perhaps he'd just been their leader, but he didn't feel any qualms about having told his team that he disagreed with them. He perhaps wished though that he hadn't gone so far as to dismiss Owen, driving him out of the hub, and driving a wedge between himself and the rest of the team. Owen had pushed his buttons in every conceivable way and it was all Jack could do not to lunge forward and strangle him by hand. He'd lost patience with Owen's needling and wanted him gone. Now he was, and Jack would have to live with the consequences, assuming they survived long enough to learn what those were.
He wandered over to the large glass window and stared out of it for a moment, hands resting on his hips as he expected to see the other three huddled over in some kind of joint mutiny. They disappointed him by being separate and apart, doing whatever they could - whatever that might be - to try and help, but Jack didn't think there was anything they could do. The rift was splintering, growing wider and more far reaching by the minute, and Jack didn't know how to stop it.
None of it should have been happening. They never should have slipped through from 2007 to 1941 in the first place. Weaknesses in the fabric of time happened for sure, but not even here in Cardiff where the rift hung over them was time that fragile. That guy, Bilis Manger, the one who'd owned the dance hall back in 1941 had something to do with it. Gwen hadn't just imagined him. He was connected somehow. Still, he couldn't have known they'd try to open the rift to get back to the present. It was far too dangerous to just open up the rift and take their chances. Only because they had Tosh's equations, did he think they might be safe to attempt it. Had he known then that someone had scratched out the vital last part of those equations, he never would have allowed it. Better to preserve the timeline than risk everything for two people. Maybe that wasn't fair on them, but it was still the right thing to do.
He'd promised Tosh he'd keep her safe but he had no idea how he was going to keep that promise to her. It wasn't as if he could get her a job at Bletchley Park. In that day and age it was the only job she was truly qualified to do, apart from Torchwood. He couldn't hide the fact that she was Japanese any more than he could hide the fact that he looked for all the world attached to the United States Air Force. She'd be interned until the war was over and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.
All the while he'd have to enlist yet again. Another four years of war. Another four years of being stuck in the trenches, watching men around him die. He'd have to reinvent himself as someone else once more. He was already here at least twice in this timeline - his original self before he'd met the Doctor, schmoozing with the brass in London so he could offload his Chula medical transport, and the second version of himself, the one that already worked for Torchwood, waiting for his Doctor to return. How would his third reincarnation last through the years? He couldn't very well go back to Torchwood and cross his own timeline. No more than he could let Tosh join their ranks. The pair of them were not supposed to be here in this time and place. Anything they did, however small, could affect the future
Worse than that. If they were stuck here, Jack would be able to live out the years in between and return back to his timeline eventually. Tosh wouldn't be so lucky. She'd live and age just as always. She'd be ninety five by the time they caught up with their own timeline, assuming she made it to such a ripe old age. It was cruel and unfair. He wished now that he hadn't been so blase about fitting in at the dance, flirting with his real life counterpart. He should have been working harder to help Tosh figure out a way to get them back and not using it as the opportunity to indulge his fantasies. If they could have found a way, Owen and Ianto wouldn't have had to Owen the rift.
He'd hated admitting it to the group of them, standing there looking to him to make things right. He genuinely didn't know what to do to fix this. Opening the rift had never been done. Not even the most zealous and anarchic leaders of Torchwood in days gone by had been brave enough to attempt it.
What was happening now scared him. This was not supposed to be happening. He'd seen the future before and the destruction of Earth was not part of that history. Timelines could change though. What they did now could alter the entire history of the world. Or end it.
Jack wasn't cut out for this. The end of the world couldn't happen on his watch. Where was the Doctor? The century had turned twice and now they needed him.kre than they ever had. He simply had to turn up now. He'd know what to do. The Doctor had always been there when the world needed him most, and Jack needed him now.
Emergency Protocol One. Just the thought of it made him shudder. He wouldn't do it - not even if Tosh and Ianto thought it was a good idea. Opening up the rift even more than it already was would lead to disaster. It didn't even count as an option of last resort, not whilst Jack was around. Just having them know it existed was troubling enough. He would have to fight them harder on it before the end came.
Jack knew he'd done the wrong thing turning Owen away. It was just one more thing in a growing list of mistakes he'd made of late. Everything was falling apart - he was losing friends and allies, losing a battle against the rift and unseen enemies who wanted to use it for their own gain, and most of all, it felt like he was beginning to lose himself in all of this. He wasn't Captain Jack Harkness anymore. He never had been, and he was a fool to think that the man whose namesake he'd stolen could ever love him. More mistakes he couldn't take back.
There was a gentle knock at the door. Seeing Ianto standing there looking apologetic only made him feel even more guilty. He'd opened the rift in order to bring Jack back. They all had. Jack didn't deserve their loyalty. They should have stood by Owen.
'What is it?' He almost didn't want to know the answer.
'I've tracked him down.'
Jack nodded, continuing to stare out the window rather look Ianto in the eye. Owen wouldn't have been that hard to find. 'Leave him.'
There was a silent pause left hanging in the air. 'Sir?'
'Owen made his choice.' Jack still had his pride. There wasn't time for grovelling when everything hung in the balance.
Ianto took a tentative step forward, polished shoes clicking on the concrete floor. 'Not Owen, Bilis.'
Jack's head turned so sharply it almost pained him. 'Bilis?'
Ianto flipped over a page on his clipboard, as if he were doing nothing more than reviewing his shopping list. 'There's a shop in the old Cardiff Queen Street arcade called A Stitch in Time. He's listed as the registered proprietor.'
The news was a kick in the guts. He'd never expected to find a trace of Bilis Manger. He had to know something about what was happening now. He may have even orchestrated it in the first place.
'I might even go so far as to say it was a little too easy to find him.'
Jack nodded in agreement. Nothing smelled more like a trap but what choice did they have? He attempted a smile, though he knew his heart wasn't in it and that it hadn't reached his eyes. 'Good work. Grab Gwen. We'll head out there now. You and Tosh stay here and coordinate with local law enforcement. Tell them to do what they can to reassure the public and that we've got this. We just need more time.'
He hoped it sounded as confident and reassuring as he intended it. He had to hold it together for their sakes. There was still a chance, however small, that they could yet find a way to stop this, maybe even reverse it altogether. He didn't know how, but he knew he had to try, and he needed his team around him to help.