m_findlow

Title: Everything changes
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 591 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for juliet316’s prompt "Torchwood, Jack Harkness, he breathed a sigh of relief when he finally reached the 21st century" at fic_promptly
Summary: It's finally here, but something else has changed too

January the second, the year two thousand. He breathes a sigh of relief. He's been waiting for this moment so long he'd almost forgotten about it altogether. He should have celebrated yesterday. Instead he found himself alone, picking up the broken bodies of his friends and coworkers who'd been murdered on New Year's Eve, by the one person they thought they could trust above all others, their boss Alex Hopkins.

He'd looked into the future and seen only the grim fate that awaited them all if they carried on as they were, and it was too much for him. Better that he end their suffering now. The twenty first century would be when everything changes. He only wished he could have done the same for Jack, who had already suffered more than any of them, and who was fated to suffer even more in the future.

Jack still couldn't believe what had happened, kneeling there on the floor, scrubbing away the pools of bloodstains. For years he'd counted down the days, other years passed by in a whirlwind of oblivion, others dragged on endlessly when he didn't think he could go on.

Years and years of working for Torchwood, being their hitman, or their muscle, guinea pig and general errand boy, other times their hapless bait, but always in the name of the Empire above everything else. And he'd put up with it because he knew he had to.The Doctor was coming back for him at the turn of the twenty first century. The Doctor would fix him so that he could live out a normal life, and one far, far away from the purgatory of Earth, and of Torchwood.

Sure, it hadn't all been bad, but this had never been part of the plan. Hell, surviving the daleks had never been part of the plan. His vortex manipulator glitching and burning out had never been part of the plan. And inheriting the helm of the Torchwood Institute was the very last thing he'd expected.

How could he stay on here and lead Torchwood when he knew The Doctor was coming? What then? He didn't want this, hadn't asked for it, and had absolutely no one else to give it to. He wasn't quite prepared to let it go into the hands of the London branch. They'd butted heads often enough when Alex had been in charge, and the way they ran things there reminded him of Emily and Alice. And so long as he was still in Torchwood's employ, he was never going to work for people like that again.

The second of January, two thousand, and he's here in the hub all alone. How much longer will he have to wait? Days? Weeks? Months? He tries to remember Faith's exact words from over a hundred years ago. The century will turn twice before you find each other again. What happens if it's still years from now? Decades even? His earlier relief is quickly quashed by the grim realisation.

He clambers up the spiral staircase, through the side door and into the main boardroom. He stands by the long, glass panelled wall and looks out over the hub. The twenty first century would be when everything changed, starting today. His first order of business would be to call London and inform them that Alex Hopkins was dead, that he'd appointed Jack Harkness as Torchwood Cardiff's new leader, and that Jack had officially accepted the position.

Everything really had changed. And for the first time in his life, Jack was ready.