Prologue
Olivia Felton, age twenty-one, sat bored out of her mind, balancing her pen between her upper lip and nose, staring at it with crossed eyes. Aaron, sitting next to her, couldn't help but chuckle, drawing the professor's attention and he whirled around from explaining something on the board. He turned just in time to see the pen fall from Olivia's lip and glared at her as she grinned back, Aaron turning his attention ahead again.
"Well, Miss Felton," he snapped, making her close her eyes so she could roll them at the sound of his tone. She knew what was coming next. "Perhaps you would like to come up here and teach this point to the students? I'm sure you could make it more exciting, if my way of teaching seems to bore you?"
"Try not to show off…too much," Aaron smirked out of the corner of his mouth as she stood, making her give him a smirk as she started toward the front of the class.
"Right!" she grinned, putting on an English accent and Aaron couldn't help but smirk and shake his head. She was going into Doctor Mode. It was something she'd picked up since she'd started these advanced science classes. "Professor Goodman, mind if I borrow your marker for a moment? Cheers!"
She snatched the marker from his hand to step in front of the white board as he crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for her to feel embarrassed, but she grinned as she turned to the class.
"Now…since we've all been over the basics, why don't we skip to the theoretical?" she grinned, hurrying back to her seat to grab her book as the whole class straightened in their seats and nodded to one another. Olivia flipped through her textbook and grinned on a page, holding it up for everyone to see. "Who's up for wormholes?!"
After Class...
"Olivia, you really have to stop showing up the professor like that," Aaron smirked as they walked through the college campus parking lot. "You're gonna get kicked out."
"They can't kick me out," she smirked back as they reached his Hot Rod Red Mustang. She circled around to the passenger seat as Aaron stepped up to the driver's side. "I'm their shining future, remember? Without me, they'd be nowhere."
"That sounds like the kind of arrogance I'm lookin' for."
Aaron looked up behind Olivia as she whirled around with a frown. Both their eyes popped when they spotted the tall man with bluer than blue eyes and dark trendy hair wearing a long military coat, a charming smirk over his lips.
"Wow," they both mouthed before Aaron hurried around the car to stand next to Olivia as they both shamelessly looked him over, and he did the same to them.
"Who are you and where have you been all my life?" Olivia smirked, leaning back on Aaron's car, flirtatiously and the handsome stranger smirked even wider as he stepped closer to them.
"Captain Jack Harkness," he introduced himself, holding a hand out for her to shake and she instantly grasped it, resisting the urge to step closer to him. "Nice to meet you, Olivia Felton."
"Oh, the pleasure is all mine," she smiled slyly as they let go of each other's hands and he chuckled, turning to Aaron to shake his hand as well as she introduced, "This is my best friend, Aaron Marcus."
"Nice to meet you, Aaron," Jack nodded as they shook hands.
"Uh huh," Aaron breathed with a deft nod.
"Aaron, you're drooling," Olivia teased, lifting a hand to close his mouth from its slack position as Aaron only stared on at Jack, swallowing hard.
"Nice car," Jack complimented, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"It's mine!" Aaron blurted, making Olivia snort out a laugh as Jack lifted a brow at him, still smiling. "I…I mean…yeah. It's my car."
"I like the color," Jack nodded, stepping on the other side of Olivia to get a better look at it. "1969, right?"
"Y-Yeah," Aaron smiled, his eyes lighting up.
"Down, boy," Olivia joked to him before turning to Jack, still leaning on the car as she tilted her head back slightly and Jack met her gaze with a charming smile. "I don't think you came here to talk about cars, did you, Captain? Personally, I'd like you to start with how you knew my name when we haven't met. And believe me, I'd remember if I met a hot hunk of man such as yourself."
"Ooh, you're good," Jack smirked, turning to face her as she remained leaning on the car. "You came to our attention some time ago. Your first year of college, in fact. A very good friend of mine told me about you. Told me I should keep an eye out in every college campus in America for a girl named Olivia Felton. Even gave me your High School name. I've been keeping tabs on you until you were ready for my proposal."
"Why, Captain! We've only just met!" Olivia gasped in false astonishment, placing a dramatic hand on her heart. "Think of the scandal a proposal would cause!"
Jack laughed heartily as she lowered her hand and she asked, seriously, "And who was this friend of yours? Anyone I know?"
"Let's just say, the three of us go to the same Doctor," Jack replied.
Olivia's playful air instantly disappeared as her smile dropped and he knew she'd understood what he meant. Aaron did as well as his eyes widened and he instantly shot his gaze to Olivia as she stood tall, her eyes darkening as she kept them on Jack and he met her gaze.
"What's this proposal you have for me?" she questioned, no longer flirting or playing around. "Who are you, really?"
"I am who I said I am," he nodded. "I work for Torchwood in Cardiff, South Wales. Our base sits right on top of a rift in time and space. We specialize in—"
"I know what Torchwood is," Olivia cut in. "I've read up on you, and UNIT. Get to the point, Captain."
"You're far more advanced in your college courses than anyone else in this school," Jack began. "I need someone like you on my team. It's only three of us."
"For what?" Olivia scoffed. "I study planets. You guys deal in alien debris and whatever else falls the through the rift. What could I possibly offer that you don't already know?"
"I watched you in your class today," Jack replied, stepping closer to her, looking into her eyes so that she saw his sincerity. "You were brilliant. You put that boring old codger in his place. You were just like Him, Liv."
"Don't you dare call me that," she ground out, her gaze turning to a burning glare that made him smirk. "Wipe that smug smirk off your face. Only one man gets to call me that. One. And unless you're a new regeneration of the Doctor playing some head game with me, you do not get to call me that…ever. Got it?"
"That, Olivia Felton, is why I'm here for you," Jack still smirked. "You've got a fire in your eyes like a supernova, and the mind of a genius. You're open to anything because the Doctor has shown you things no one would ever believe, and you're stuck here."
"I'm not stuck here," she snapped. "I live here. My mom is here, my friends are here and the Doctor is coming back here to visit me…eventually."
"You could be waiting a long time for that, Olivia," Jack warned. "He wouldn't want you wasting your life waiting for him when you could be doing so much more."
"Sorry, but that line isn't gonna work with me," she shot back, turning to open the door of Aaron's car. "Nice to meet you, Captain Eye Candy, but I'm not going to Cardiff with you."
Jack and Aaron watched Olivia get into the car and Aaron glanced at Jack before hurrying to the other side of the car and got in to start the engine, but before they could pull out of the space, Jack leaned on the edge of the door on Olivia's side.
"You'll come around, Olivia Felton," he smirked, reaching a hand into his pocket to pull a small card from it and hold it toward her. "Call me when you do."
"And what in the big black universe makes you think I'll change my mind?" she sighed, snatching the card from him with two fingers to examine it before looking up at him.
He leaned toward her, still smirking, and whispered into her ear, "Because you're in love with the Doctor, and staying near the rift increases your chances of seeing him again."
Olivia felt her heart thump in her chest at his words, but she stared ahead, not wanting him to think he affected her as he stood tall again and Aaron took that as his cue to back out of the slot and drive away. She glanced to the rearview mirror to watch Jack become smaller and smaller until Aaron turned out of the lot and into the street.
"What did he say to you?" Aaron questioned as he drove.
Olivia examined the card in her hand and the number on it before slipping it into her pocket, lying flatly, "Nothing."
Evening...
"I'm sorry, Martha," Jack shrugged, holding his cell phone to his ear as he shuffled around his hotel room. "She didn't go for it. Maybe the impossible has happened and she's over him."
"I doubt it," Martha replied over the phone as Jack tossed one of his shirts into his suitcase as it sat open on the bed. "Astrophysics is a serious career choice, and she made it with him in mind. She wouldn't still be at it if she gave up on him."
"The voice of experience or woman's intuition?" Jack smirked.
"Both," Martha admitted, making Jack scoff but he frowned when he heard the beep of a call waiting through the phone.
"Sorry, Sweet Martha, I have another call," he smiled, charmingly.
"Another one of your girlfriends?" Martha guessed, and he heard the smirk in her tone.
"I'll call you back and tell you all about it," he replied before they gave their short goodbyes and he answered the next call. "Harkness."
"I have just one question for you, Captain," Olivia answered, making him smirk but he said nothing yet. "Exactly how will going to work for Torchwood increase my chances of finding the Doctor? From what I've read, you and the Doctor haven't really had any contact. The only incident on record is the day the Daleks took the Earth to the Medusa Cascade."
"Only incident on record," Jack echoed. "There was another time, not on record and in no one's memory, except for a few, that I helped the Doctor. It was a year that never happened that I'll explain to you at another time. The Doctor landed right above the base to charge up the TARDIS. See, the rift gives off energy that the TARDIS can feed on, like a pit stop."
There was silence on the other side of the phone for a moment and he assumed she was thinking before she asked, "And this friend that told you about me…was it the Doctor?"
"No. But she is a doctor in London. She works for UNIT. Doctor Martha Jones."
"I've heard of her. How does she know about me?"
"Wish I knew," Jack shrugged, sorting through his suitcase. "I honestly don't know. I didn't ask. You can ask her if you want. She works with us from time to time."
"You're assuming I'm excepting the job."
"You are."
"I never said that."
"But you are," Jack smirked. "You wouldn't have called me if you weren't. Unless, of course, you just wanted to hear my sultry voice one last time before I head back to Cardiff?"
"Are you always this cliché, Captain?" Olivia questioned.
"Come with me and you'll find out," Jack shot back. "And you will come with me, because you wouldn't miss this opportunity to see him again. You wouldn't risk it."
"How did you know…about my feelings for the Doctor?" she questioned, hesitantly.
"The look in your eyes when I mentioned him," Jack smirked. "And the way you snapped at me when I call you Liv. That was a lucky guess on my part, by the way. I wanted to see how riled you could get. I have to admit, knowing how clever you are was one thing, but meeting you was a whole different experience. I like you, Olivia Felton. You are definitely Torchwood material."
Silence again. He waited, patiently, knowing that she was thinking it over. Thinking everything over.
"When's your flight back to Cardiff?"
The Next Morning...
"I'll call when I land," Olivia explained to Joyce and Aaron as she paced her room, packing a large suitcase and they stood in her doorway. "The time difference is roughly five or six hours, so I might not call you till evening…maybe even the middle of the night."
"Olivia," Joyce called gently, making her look up at her mother, but she didn't stop. "Are you sure about this?"
"Mom, if I don't do this, I might miss the Doctor altogether," she replied, grabbing a plastic bag and tossing it into the case. "I'll need time to get a place there. I'll send you the address as soon as I have one where you can send the rest of my things. Or, I might be back. I don't know yet. I'll let you know for sure."
"What if he comes back here?" Aaron questioned. "You may miss him if you leave, then this'll be for nothing."
"It's been three years, Aaron," Olivia replied, packing another set of clothes into the case before looking to the ring on her finger she'd gotten from Gemsyti and lifting her hand to fiddle with it. "I haven't given up hope that he'll visit me, but…if there's some way I can meet him half way, then I'll take it."
She paced the room again, packing more things as she continued, "I've thought about this, and Jack's right. My professors know nothing compared to what the Doctor showed me. I didn't realize what he meant by saying I was stuck here until I really thought about it. He meant I'm stuck intellectually. Torchwood might be able to give me a challenge."
She froze when she caught the sound of a choked sob and shot her gaze to her mother as Joyce held a hand to her mouth, trying to stop the sobs, but it did no good.
"Oh, mom," Olivia groaned, stepping toward her to pull her into a tight hug, feeling her shudder with sobs. "It's a temporary trip. I won't be there forever, I promise. If this job doesn't pan out for me, I'll be back. And I'll be back anyway if it does to say a proper goodbye. Or you can come live with me! You can even bring Faye along. I'm sure Torchwood will have a way to get her there. Please, mom, stop crying."
"Just…" Joyce shuddered and Olivia pulled away to look at her, lifting a hand to wipe her tears away. "Just promise me…you'll stay safe. Some of the things you told me about Torchwood—"
"I'll be fine, mom," Olivia smiled, stroking some of her hair from her face. "I promise."
Joyce nodded with another sob before turning and hurrying down the hall so that she wouldn't see her tears as Olivia sighed, lifting her hands to her face to rub it before sniffling and turning back to her suitcase to pack it.
"You're awfully quiet," she noticed, glancing up at Aaron as she shuffled around the room and he remained in the doorway, watching her. "Usually you'd have more of an opinion."
"What do you want me to say, Olivia?" he shrugged. "This is exactly what happened when the Doctor asked you to take off with him. The only difference is the guy you're going with. I couldn't stop you then and I can't stop you now."
"The reason is different, too," she replied.
"No it's not," he argued, making her stop and frown up at him as she was about to pack a pair of pajamas and he met her gaze. "It's the same exact reason as last time: The Doctor."