Torchwood: Fanfic: One chance

[m_findlow]

Title: One chance
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,300 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "Any, any, A chance worth taking" at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack's two worlds collide suddenly and unexpectedly.

Jack set his hands on his hips and surveyed the hub around him. He could hardly believe this was the same hub from three days ago. The rift machine, which sat so proudly at the middle of it, and had been the culprit in practically trying to bring the entire building down around their ears, now returned to its placid and unobtrusive self.

The team had done a great job, he thought, trying to clear up the worse of the mess left by the aftermath of their escape. There were still things to be done, of course. The windows in the boardroom needed replacing, having been completely blown out. A string of bright yellow police tape lay across the gap about four feet from the floor just to remind people not to get too close to the edge. It would possibly be the first time anyone ever took notice of the tape and did what it said. They'd swept up the debris, removed the items that were broken or damaged, and judging from the efficient hum of equipment, had gotten the rest of things back online. They'd done all of that - his team - and all without him. Their resilience and dedication impressed him beyond words.

He was waiting for them to return with coffee. Sadly one of the things that hadn't survived the chaos had been the Torchwood coffee machine. Jack couldn't tell if he or Ianto were more upset about that. Coffee was a lifeline around here, but Ianto had assured him that he'd already taken the liberty of ordering a new one to be paid from their emergency sinking fund. After all, what else would you use emergency savings for? Not having coffee was an emergency, though Jack suspected that the sinking fund which had been rather sizeable last week was now dwindling with all the costs to repair the hub back to its former glory. Oh well. It was only money.

'Where are they with those coffees?' he said aloud to himself, thinking they'd been gone a good twenty minutes now. After his greatest ever resurrection, he was in desperate need of a triple shot, extra cream, cappuccino with lots of chocolate sprinkles on top. And maybe a muffin to go with it. The time vortex could only do so much to bring him back to peak condition. It wouldn't be quite as good as a Ianto Jones special, but it would do. Three days without caffeine and he was feeling the effects of withdrawal.

A breeze came out of nowhere and rippled through his hair, sending loose papers flying off desks and scattering them across the floor. His ears pricked up as the familiar sound of a whirring time rotor echoed all around him. His face broke into a smile. Could it really be? Was today the day? One glance across at the jar left perched on one of their cabinets told him all he needed to know. The hand inside it jiggled as the violet gel glowed and bubbled with a fury. Goddesses, but he'd waited over a century, thinking today would never come and now here it was. His Doctor, finally returning to Cardiff to refuel just as Jack had expected him to.

His brief moment of elation turned to panic. Go! He had to go right now! The Doctor might not come back here for another hundred years!

He grabbed the jar and tucked it under his arm, running towards his office with it. He quickly set it on his desk and frantically began rummaging through the bottom of one of his tall cupboards. Where was it? He was sure there was one in here somewhere. Yes, ah ha! Here it is, pulling out a large backpack he hadn't used in years. It was just the right size for his jar, carefully setting it inside. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to take it with him, only that it felt right to return it. After all, if he'd lost a hand, wouldn't he like to have it back? He quickly scanned his office, desperately trying to think of what else he needed to take with him. In the end all he grabbed was his coat. There just wasn't time to worry about other stuff. He knew the TARDIS would take care of everything he didn't have. All that mattered was that he get there in time. He slung the backpack on and ran back out towards the invisible lift. That would be the quickest way out of here, jamming his fingers onto the controls of his vortex manipulator to set it in motion, even before he got there. He leapt up onto it already two feet off the ground and continuing to rise.

As he began his ascent, feeling it to be agonisingly slow given his urgency, he got a bird's eye view of the hub and all that hard work his team had done. A flutter of guilt twisted his stomach. He was leaving them and he hadn't so much as bothered to leave them a note to explain where he was going. It'd be fine, he assured himself. Once he made himself known, the Doctor wouldn't hurry off. Jack could show him all the good work he'd done turning Torchwood into something he could be proud of. Even if they had to go, it was a time machine. He could come back five minutes after he'd left and his team would be none the wiser. Admittedly, his timing could be better. He'd only just come back to life after days of the team being convinced he was dead and not coming back. He still had to sit down with them and explain to them how that all worked and how it had happened, even if he didn't quite understand it himself. Now that the cat was out of the bag, they deserved to know what he knew.

And speaking of cats out of bags, he was probably going to have to explain that kiss. He grinned as he heard the trap door overhead grind open, revealing the bright blue sky and sunshine beaming down. That kiss was definitely one for the scrapbook. Ianto would be blushing for weeks but it had been worth it. That was one thing he would miss. No more sneaky kisses in corridors out of sight of CCTV cameras or in the back of the SUV after a weevil chase. As thrilling as it was to snaffle the young man in moment of privacy, being allowed to do it whenever and wherever he liked would be better.

A whole raft of truths were about to come out and Jack didn't feel the same trepidation about them anymore. He just had to do this one thing first. He had questions of his own that needed answering, and he hoped that when he came back he'd be able to tell them everything. Whether the Doctor could fix him, or even if Jack wanted to be fixed, were things he didn't yet know, but he couldn't waste this chance. It might not ever happen again. He had to take it, wherever it might lead.

As he came to stand beside the water tower, he didn't worry about how it might look for a man in a greatcoat with a backpack to come suddenly running out of nowhere. Jack could already hear the engines of the TARDIS whirring again, signaling it's imminent departure across the other side of the Plass. No! Not yet! his mind screamed. He ran harder, calling out and trying to get the Doctor's attention. The TARDIS was already beginning to fade but he threw himself headlong at it, grabbing its sides hard as all thoughts of Cardiff and his team melted away in an instant.

Comments

[bk_forever]

Poor Jack, it won't be the happy reunion he was hoping for, but he's still right to go, even though a note would have been appreciated.