AdventChallenge Bingo - Haunted (Prompt 20 - Ghosts)

[m_findlow]

Title: Haunted
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Jack, Tosh Owen
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for Prompt 20 - Ghosts at adventchallenge

'See ya, boss,' Owen called out, ushering Suzie along with him. They were headed to the pub to celebrate Christmas Eve the only way two single people knew how, by getting slaughtered and falling into bed with each other. Tosh was still lagging behind, fussing with her handbag. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, only that she always felt a bit like a third wheel.

'Are you sure you won't come with us, Jack?' she asked.

'I'm good, thanks, Tosh.'

'But it's Christmas Eve. No one should be on their own on Christmas.'

'Don't worry, I've got plenty to keep me busy here.'

'If you're sure,' she said, hoping he'd change his mind.

'I'm sure. Now go, else Owen and Suzie will leave without you.'

Tosh stepped up and gave him a hesitant peck on the cheek, wishing him a merry Christmas before dashing out to catch up with them.

Jack let out a long sigh. No, he wouldn't be alone on Christmas. He had all the ghosts here to keep him company. The hub was full of them, especially late at night, and even more so at this time of year. They were the one thing he could never escape. Even if he left, he was sure they'd follow him no matter where he went.

He felt a bit like Ebenezer Scrooge, here all alone on Christmas Eve, waiting for the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future to come and pay him a visit.

The ghosts of Christmas past: all the people he'd known from his previous life; his family, lost to time; his brother Gray who was out there somewhere, though Jack had tried everything he could think of to find him; the Time Agency, his fellow agents and all those souls he'd tortured just because his mission directive had told him to.

The ghosts of Christmas present: the friends and lovers he'd left behind him, sometimes for their own sakes and sometimes for his; all his fellow coworkers at Torchwood; Alice and Emily who'd twisted his arm, coercing him into working for them; Charles and Gerald, Harriet and Greg; Alex and his team who still lurked the halls, handing him the mantle of command and expecting him to do something good with it, to somehow keep this city and all the people in it safe.

The ghosts of Christmas future. Those were the ones he feared most. What did the future hold in store for him? As far as he could tell, he couldn't die, or at least stay dead. He was waiting for The Doctor to return and give him the answers he desperately needed. What would The Doctor tell him? Would he live forever, watching everyone he ever knew and cared about die, whilst he kept living? How many more Christmases would he have to endure, watching the ghosts of Christmas present become the ghosts of Christmas past?

This was one time of year when he wished he really could be alone.

Comments

[bk_forever]

Poor Jack, forever haunted =(