m_findlow

Title: Home for Christmas
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Jack
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for Prompt 13 - Author's Choice - I'll Be Home For Christmas at adventchallenge

Jack huffed in an annoyed way as he watched the ships coming and going all around the way station. It wasn't even close to busy, but there were still dozens of vessels landing and taking off every hour. Just not the one he needed.

He shouldn't have taken the job, he realised. It was just meant to be one short trip, a favour to someone they knew at the Shadow Proclamation. Now his ride home had failed to turn up and there wasn't another spacecraft headed in Earth's direction for another week.

He cursed the vessel, not knowing whether it had been delayed or if something had gone wrong, meaning it would never turn up.

He slumped down on one of the long metal benches that were dotted all around the terminus. Somewhere on the other side of the galaxy was his family, getting ready for Christmas. Ianto would be baking cinnamon cookies, and the kids would be writing last minute letters to Santa. They'd stroll down the street after dinner, seeing all the Christmas lights strung up on the houses, and listening to the carolers braving the winter chill to fill the air with festive song. He was missing all of it, stuck here in the middle of nowhere.

'I'll be home for Christmas,' he'd promised Ianto when he'd voiced his concern. 'It's just a simple job, shouldn't the take more than a few days.' And it hadn't, but now his only way of getting back home was missing.

People bustled past him, every kind of species imaginable, going about their day. They all looked calm and at ease. None of them were panicking, because they didn't celebrate Christmas. For them, today was just another day, not the day before the most important day of the year. It was the disappointment of not being there for the kids that hurt the most. Santa would still come, there'd still be presents and they'd still celebrate, but it wouldn't be the same without their dad there. He'd be letting everyone down.

'You look like someone just ran over your poxicle,' the voice said, as Jack looked up to see the alien in dirty grey overalls standing in front of him. Just some lowly mechanic who worked here, fixing ships that came in to pick up supplies.

'Lost my ride,' he said.

'Looks worse than that.'

'Supposed to be home for Christmas with my family. Not going to make it now.'

'Where're you headed?'

'Earth. Milky Way.'

The mechanic reached into his pocket and held out a set of keys. 'Take it. She's not the fastest in the universe, but she'll get you there in a few hours.'

Jack felt stunned. 'I can't just take your ship.'

'Nonsense. Someone abandoned her here weeks ago. Was gonna try and sell it, but I think you need it more than I do.'

Jack leapt up and hugged him. 'Thank you so much. You don't know what this means to me.'

'I think I do.'