Challenge 915 - Sense of duty
May. 3rd, 2026 06:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
m_findlowTitle: Sense of duty
Character: Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 200 words
Length: 200 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 915 - Serious at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
torchwood100
torchwood100Summary: Jack doesn't get to kick back and enjoy life as much as he'd like. A double drabble.
Jack enjoyed a bit of banter and a good time as much as the next person, or probably more. When he was laughing he felt most like himself, as if he could shed all the other personas he'd donned over his long life, and just be Jack.
But the weight of immortality and the responsibility of his job were weights he found getting harder and harder to shift. Laughing and having fun were things for other people to enjoy. Jack had to be serious, always switched on to any threats that might impinge on his city, and the planet as a whole. He couldn't afford to turn a blind eye to any of it, often heading up to the rooftops of Cardiff to sit and watch over the city, to brood in silent gravity. Cardiff's residents lived their lives in blissful ignorance of the dangers that roamed their streets.
Perhaps it wasn't fair that he could never properly switch off from all of it. He hadn't chosen immortality, or this place to call his permanent home. He hadn't signed up for the burden of protecting the planet from alien threats, yet if he didn't do it, who would, or could?
Jack enjoyed a bit of banter and a good time as much as the next person, or probably more. When he was laughing he felt most like himself, as if he could shed all the other personas he'd donned over his long life, and just be Jack.
But the weight of immortality and the responsibility of his job were weights he found getting harder and harder to shift. Laughing and having fun were things for other people to enjoy. Jack had to be serious, always switched on to any threats that might impinge on his city, and the planet as a whole. He couldn't afford to turn a blind eye to any of it, often heading up to the rooftops of Cardiff to sit and watch over the city, to brood in silent gravity. Cardiff's residents lived their lives in blissful ignorance of the dangers that roamed their streets.
Perhaps it wasn't fair that he could never properly switch off from all of it. He hadn't chosen immortality, or this place to call his permanent home. He hadn't signed up for the burden of protecting the planet from alien threats, yet if he didn't do it, who would, or could?
no subject
Date: 2026-05-03 09:16 am (UTC)