Foundations
Chapter One
This is a piece of fan fiction that came from an idea I've had for a while, even since the most depressing series ever- I.e, Children Of Earth. Couldn't get the idea out of my head, and so I decided to write it. I apologise if it isn't very good, but I'm used to writing purely pairing-based fics on my other accounts, so I'm not used to real, non-fluff based storylines ( so don't be surprised if you see a certain amount of fluff later on.) There will probably be a pairing later on, and some parts you might not like because of this- I also happen to be quite depressing. But please please please review and I will definitely update.
He wished there was a way to do it, that would give him some chance to say goodbye. That was all he wanted. Just a chance.
And it had to be at the right time. Which, of course, meant waiting. Half a year, maybe, Jack wasn't too sure. For anyone else, the wait would have been agonizing. But for him…he had endured over a century of waiting at one point. He could handle a few months.
He kept on travelling till the end, visiting the furthermost parts of the galaxy, black holes, the creation of planets. Fantastic things, beautiful things. He travelled alone; his visits were brief, only taking enough time to see what he intended to see. If he had been with someone, a companion, it would have been different. If he had been with the Doctor, they would have stayed and explored- and probably become embroiled in some piece of fast-paced action.
It was such a calm time it seemed ironic. There was no drama, no fast paced action. There was just travelling. Jack was shaking the dust from the Earth from his shoes, but the whole time he knew what was coming. He knew that very soon, he would plunge back into the life he was trying to save, the life whose remnants he was still trying to shake.
He had a huge responsibility. He knew this. If everything went wrong…well. What exactly did he have to loose? A year ago, he would have feared losing his friends. Not any more. They were gone. Many, many, many more years earlier, he might have feared losing his life. The thought of feeling that way right now made him want to laugh bitterly. He was tied to this world, planted deep in the history, and even the future, like an ancient tree, spreading across the universe. But now his roots had been cut; there was nothing keeping him here.
He wasn't even sure that this was the right thing to do. But before he could decide, he knew he had to get a little bit more dust on his shoes.
It was mid afternoon when he arrived. The sun shone brightly over the calm waves of the bay as they lapped softly at the stone harbour walls. The sky was thick with dark , heavy clouds scarring the perfect blue. Shoppers milled from one store to the next, glancing worriedly up at the sky and the clouds. The town was busy today, bustling with life. Bustling with children; children with their parents, eating lunch on benches, riding around on small scooters and racing with their friends. Their crying and laughter filled the air and lingered there.
Jack Harkness stood a few metres away from the Carousel, watching it spin, the horses rising and dropping rhythmically as the music drifted over. He closed his eyes for a second and bathed in the familiarity of the area; the sound and smell of the water, hollow footsteps on the wooden pier, the shouts and cries…he had almost forgotten what it was all like.
It was only when he felt the first few cold droplets of rain falling on him that he opened his eyes, and registered the odd looks a few people had been throwing at him. He felt a little panicked for a second, before taking a deep breath. They weren't looking at him because they recognised him- it was a lot more likely that the strange looks he was getting was a result of the fact that for the last ten minutes, he had been standing, watching children quietly. Not the best impression to make, really.
Straightening up, he buried his hands in the pockets of his jacket and began to walk.
When he reached the small low bridge that overlooked his destination, he stopped, resting his hands on the concrete and staring.
It may have been months, but some part of Jack hadn't expected this, this perfect scene that lay before his eyes. He had almost expected to see the scene of destruction that must have been left when the bomb had exploded. Instead, he saw an almost identical scene to how it used to be. There was no rubble, no thick clouds of smoke. It was like he had never left- no, like he had never been here, like the bomb had never exploded. The Plass was gleaming at the far end of the circle, the floor smooth with new concrete as teenagers on skateboards, springing around on pogo-stilts. The only sign of any past damage was a cordoned off corner, where workmen had spent their time earlier on in the day, throwing crumbling rock into a large yellow skip and replacing it with a brand new layer of concrete. The work was half finished; with the first signs of the impending storm, they had left, a tarpaulin elevated on poles and spread across the work-site, orange cones marking it off.
There was a lump in Jack's throat as he tried to swallow. Slowly, he began to walk. Each step he took sounded like the thunderclap that the sky threatened to release as it poured rain down as a warning. The kids messing around on pogo stilts packed up and left as the hail got stronger. It drenched Jack, plastered his hair to his head, blinded his vision and made his long jacket even heavier than usual. He carried on walking, until he arrived at the Roald Dahl Plass.
It looked exactly like it used to. He wondered if the explosion had hit this part; he fingered the watch-like device around his wrist but didn't dare to try anything- he knew it was impossible that anything successful would happen. Not for the first time he thought about the damage he had left behind. The Hub had been destroyed before and had been fixed but he felt his usual dull pang of sadness as he tried to accept the fact that the damage couldn't be fixed. He wondered if UNIT had taken it over, laying their own foundations in the spot he had worked so hard to maintain. He had always tried to keep the location secret from them, and he hoped it wasn't in vain.
The area looked exactly alike. There really was only one way to find out.
With a sigh, he stepped forwards and stood nervously on one certain thick slab of stone. Spotting a woman hurrying along underneath a large umbrella, he shouted out to her.
"Excuse me!" He called out to her. She continued on, not even turning to glance at him. Something strong was building in the pit of his stomach and as he spotted another woman walking by closer to him, his voice shook a little as he called through the pelting downfall.
Once again there was no response. They couldn't see him. Even if this spot had been hit, it hadn't been affected. Couldn't get rid of it, just like the man who caused it. Jack smiled for the first time in months, as he reached up to wipe away the rain from his face.
Deciding to try one last time as he saw a figure moving closer towards where he stood, he squinted through the rain blindly. The sky had gotten even darker now. This was the start of a big storm and everybody else had taken shelter. Even if he had wanted to, there was nowhere he could have gone. Not anymore.
"Hello!? Hello!?" There was no reaction as the figure approached him. He paused and tried to cover his eyes to protect them from the blinding rain.
"Hello?! Hey!" Nothing. Jack concentrated as the figure walked past the Plass. Something made him call out one last time.
"Excuse me! Hey! Can you hear me?" This one last time was louder than before as he finally prepared to give up and leave. There was no reason to stay, as far as he could see.
But at times like this, a reason can come out of thin air ( or chilly, wet air.) And as the figure turned abruptly and slowly began to walk towards him, a stroke of lightning illuminated the sky, and light flashed across the town. In the short seconds that followed, Jack found his reason; he found himself looking into the eyes of a woman, a woman soaked with the rain, her dark hair plastered to her face, her eyes wide with pure shock. Jack found himself looking into the bewildered eyes of Gwen Cooper.