Summary – What would happen if Jack Harkness were offered the chance to become mortal again? Torchwood/Dr Who crossover. Jack/Ianto; nothing graphic but rated T just in case anyone objects to the relationship. The title comes from a John Denver song. My first attempt at this so any layout issues are entirely mine and I apologise.
There Are Many Ways Of Being In This Circle We Call Life
By Ness Ayton
I don't own any of these characters, except Magdalena, and I am so sulking about it. Perhaps if I talk nicely to someone in the BBC……? This is my first "Torchwood" story although I have written in other fandoms and I'd be the first to admit that it's not one of my best efforts but I liked the concept.
Magdalena stood on the edge of the Welsh cliffs, looking across the wild stormy sea. The wind took her long silver hair and blew it out almost parallel to the Earth, her tresses reaching for the horizon as the waves broke on the shore below her. As a stray flash of lightning lit up the dark green rollers, it reminded her of somewhere she had been before but she couldn't quite put her finger on the place. Closing her eyes she breathed in deeply, revelling in the smell of the salt and the feel of the wind until she felt a pulsing in the air behind her. Without turning she smiled to herself as she heard a familiar noise. A blue box dematerialised some twenty metres or so from the cliff edge and sat there for a while before a door opened and a head poked out.
Magdalena's senses told her when the occupants of the blue box finally left it and started to walk across the springy turf towards her. She knew they were eyeing her up curiously but made no move towards them, gauging their approach by sense alone. Finally she knew they were within hearing.
"Hello Doctor," she said, without opening her eyes or turning round. She sensed the other's confusion as he hesitated in his stride before crossing the final couple of metres and stepping to her side.
"And you are?" he demanded, looking out across the ocean, unconsciously mirroring her stance.
She opened her eyes. "Magdalena."
"And you're here because?"
"I'm looking for a time agent from the 51st century who went AWOL. Tall, dark, magnetic personality…… perhaps you've met him in your travels Doctor?"
The Doctor eyed her suspiciously. "Why do you want to find him? And what makes you think I would know who, let alone where, this missing agent is anyway?"
"Well, you did travel with him for a while. As for me, I'm a time agent as well and I lost my heart to a starship trooper……" She allowed herself a slight smile.
The Doctor grinned. "Situation normal then. And there's only one time agent I've ever travelled with – one Captain Jack Harkness."
"Er, Doctor, ain'tcha going to introduce us?" the girl standing just behind him suddenly interrupted.
"Of course, Magdalena this is Donna; Donna this is Magdalena."
"Well that makes everything clear. What's a time agent?"
"I am," Magdalena told the redhead.
"Yeah and……?" Donna pressed
"And?"
"Jeez, what's a time agent?"
Magdalena eyed the woman for a moment. "The Doctor will explain when he has time," she said in a tone that brooked no argument.
Donna pouted but knew when she'd met her match. In the meantime, the Doctor was eyeing the girl closely. He was convinced that he had never met her before; he was sure he would have remembered someone so striking, yet it was clear that she knew, or thought she knew, him. Finally his curiosity got the better of him and when Donna was silenced he turned back to Magdalena, brushing the silver hair that had wandered towards him away from his face.
"And you know me how?" he asked.
"Oh we've met before," Magdalena responded airily.
"And where would that have been?" he urged. "I'm at a loss to place you."
She finally turned to look at him, eying him sadly for a moment though whether it was because he'd forgotten her or for some other reason he couldn't tell.
"I'm not sure you'd want to know," Magdalena said softly. Her hair swirled around them and her ultra-blue eyes transfixed him.
"The Doctor always wants to know everything," Donna interrupted again.
"But it might not good for even the Doctor to know everything," Magdalena responded gently.
"Perhaps not but in this case I do want to know," he told her, with a confidence he did not feel.
"Very well." She dropped her eyes for a moment before answering him. "Gallifrey," she said, "it was on Gallifrey". She looked up at him again, almost desperately, her eyes filled with tears.
The Doctor took a step away from her.
"But how…?" he started.
He was interrupted, however, by a familiar shout and he turned to see the very time agent they had been discussing running towards them, closely followed by a tall good looking young man.
"I told you it was him," the man in front was shouting ecstatically.
"Excuse me," the Doctor apologised and ran towards the two men, catching the older in his arms and giving him a big hug whilst eyeing the other up.
"Doctor what are you doing here?" Captain Jack Harkness demanded as soon as he could breathe again.
"Visiting old friends by the look of it," the Doctor replied grinning at the Captain but allowing himself to be slightly distracted and then amused by the younger man who had stopped a short distance away but who was glaring protectively at Jack.
"I don't think I like being described as old," Harkness countered.
"Oh not just you," the Doctor informed him, "Her as well."
He gestured towards the edge of the cliff and Jack's eyes followed. As he caught sight of the girl standing there, looking once more out to sea, his eyes widened and he visibly blanched.
"Magdalena?" he whispered. She turned as if she had heard him and smiled.
"The very same. Hello……."
He could tell she was about to say his name, his real name, and cut in quickly, "Jack, it's Jack now."
"Hello again, Jack," she said, walking towards him, the turf barely bending under her tread. She held her hand out to him and he took it, but it was she who drew him to her. She stood on tiptoe to kiss him but he gently stopped her.
"There's someone else now," he told her, softly.
"Well, good for you," she replied. "Who's the lucky g……." She paused, eyeing him closely, "man?" she finished. Then light dawned and she looked over his shoulder at the young man standing a short distance off, studiously looking at his shoes.
Jack held his hand out. "Ianto," he called softly. The Welshman looked up at the sound of his name and came forward hesitantly to take the Captain's hand in his. Jack ran his thumb over the back of the hand that he had taken and Ianto smiled shyly at him.
"Ianto Jones I want you to meet an old friend. This is Magdalena."
Ianto turned to look at Magdalena. He eyed her suspiciously but she smiled gently at him, sensing his unease. With a soft sigh she took his free hand in hers and looked deep into his eyes.
"He loved me once," she candidly admitted to him, "centuries in the future, but that's all in the past now. You would seem to be it for him now. I can see it in his eyes; hear it in his voice. I'm history and given the amount of time since we last met that's not very surprising." She suddenly giggled, "Can you call someone from the future history?"
Ianto found himself grinning despite himself and started to warm to her.
"So what was he like when you knew him?" he ventured timidly, retrieving his hand from hers.
"Well…….."
"Oh no you don't," Jack interrupted, "I'm not having my mis-spent youth aired in public."
"Oh what a shame," Ianto responded, slipping an arm through Jack's and hugging it tightly. "I don't often get the chance to talk to someone who can dish the dirt on the perfect Captain Jack Harkness."
Jack stretched out a hand and ruffled Ianto's hair affectionately. "Brat!" he grinned.
"Oh but you love me for it," the Welshman grinned back.
"Sick bag, Doctor," Donna interjected. "I think I'm going to be sick!"
"Really? I think it's rather cute. The question is, has it stopped him flirting with everything he meets?!"
"Jack? Flirting?" Ianto looked at the Captain in mock astonishment, after all everyone at Torchwood knew he would shag anything with a post code.
"Long story and a long time ago," Jack replied with a sigh, glaring at the Doctor. "Seems I've got quite a reputation."
"Oh, you could say that," the Doctor and Magdalena replied together.
"And I'm not sure I totally deserve it!" he remonstrated.
"Oh you deserve it," the Doctor told him with a smirk.
"Humph!" Jack wasn't sure whether to laugh or take umbrage but he caught the half-astonished, half-admiring expression on Donna's face and found himself laughing, despite himself. Ianto squeezed his arm and smiled at him.
"If we've quite finished with How the World Turns," Donna sniffed, "I, for one, would like to know what's going on."
"I'll second that," Ianto said.
"I'd say the situation's normal;confusion reigns when the Doctor's around," Jack explained.
"And we're supposed to understand that?" Ianto asked.
"No," Jack replied, smiling indulgently at the young Welshman who rolled his eyes expressively, making Donna giggle.
"Well, I'm the one who's confused at the moment," the Doctor admitted.
"That has to be a first," Donna muttered to Ianto.
The Time Lord turned from his companions back to Magdalena, who had stood there listening to the banter.
"So, who are you? And how did I know you on Gallifrey?"
"Time agent remember?" Magdalena responded quietly.
"That doesn't explain how…….."
"She was fighting with the Time Lords," Jack informed him, turning slowly away from Ianto to face Magdalena again. Her eyes flashed and for a moment he stood looking into their azure depths, teetering on the brink, in danger of tumbling headlong into them. Then his face crumpled as memories began to flood back and he remembered what he had tried so hard to forget. He stared at her, tears threatening to fall.
"I thought you died in the Great Time War".
At Jack's words the Doctor started and turned to stare at her as well, memories of that time, long hidden, becoming unlocked.
"I did," Magdalena told him, "but I've been allowed to return to offer you mortality".
Jack froze. "You can do that?" he whispered.
Magdalena nodded. "Yes I can," she replied.
He was aware that all eyes were on him and even the wind seemed to have dropped leaving him at the centre of a stillness, the like of which he'd never known before.
"You can really restore my mortality?" he wanted to make sure that he was clear on that point.
"Yes," Magdalena confirmed again. "But only here and now, at this point in time. If you choose immortality now there will be no turning back."
Jack turned back to Ianto.
"How would you feel having me mortal?" he asked the young man. Ianto gazed back at him and shook his head in disbelief.
"It would be different," he replied at last, "I would have to come to terms with the fact that I could lose you." He tried to extricate his arm from Jack's but the Captain held him tight.
"No you wouldn't" Jack whispered softly, resting his forehead against his young lover's. "Doctor?" he continued without moving, holding Ianto's gaze with his own.
"Hm, I may not like what happened to you but if you become mortal now consider what will happen to the fabric of time," the Doctor replied gently. "Time lines stretch into the past and future that revolve round your immortality."
"Not that I'm not flattered by being the centre of attention, but I also get your point," the Captain replied. Standing up straight, and pulling Ianto into his arms, he turned to face Magdalena.
"It's a very tempting offer, Magdalena. I've wanted to die for so many years but if I was to become mortal too many people's lives would unravel. I can't do that to them."
"Jack!"
"It's all right Ianto. I've thought for years about what I would do if I ever got the chance to become mortal again. It's not as hard a decision as you'd think. Hell for one or hell for millions."
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," Ianto murmured.
Jack shrugged. "Something like that. So, thanks, Magdalena, but no thanks."
Magdalena smiled at him.
"If that is truly your decision…..?
"It is."
"I can't say that I'm not relieved as I really wasn't looking forward to re-stitching time."
The Doctor looked at her askance.
"Why would you have to re-stitch time?" he asked.
Magdalena smiled at him enigmatically and her skin began to glow golden.
He stepped forward.
"Who are you?" he demanded, staring at her.
"Who do you think?" she replied softly as golden tendrils of light emanated from her, one of which attached itself to Jack and others stretched towards the TARDIS.
Suddenly the Doctor rested a hand on Jack's arm.
"She's the Time Vortex personified," he said with a clarity that made him wonder why he hadn't spotted it before.
"What?! You did this to me?" Jack stared at his former colleague and lover in surprise and confusion.
Another smile, this time sad and wistful, played on Magdalena's golden lips.
"I'm so sorry for what happened. I loved you and didn't want you to die - not there, not like that - but, coupled with Rose's will, couldn't stop until you were granted immortality."
The Captain stepped forward away from Ianto and rested a hand gently against her glowing cheek.
"It's all right. I forgave you both a long time ago."
"You've changed, Jack. You don't just care for yourself anymore."
The golden tendrils were growing in number and intensity, caressing him gently, reaching out to draw Ianto into their embrace. Jack wrapped an arm round the young Welshman's shoulders as he came to stand beside his Captain, the tendrils enveloping them both in a cascade of glittering goldenness.
"Don't look at it," the Doctor warned. "Despite being friendly the Time Vortex is powerful."
Ianto closed his eyes and hid his face against Jack's shoulder. Donna too closed her eyes against the brilliance. Jack held his head high, eyes tight shut, as he could feel the warmth of the Vortex surround him.
"Before I leave, Ianto, you might like to have this." A small object was dropped into the Welshman's hand and he peeped at it through his eyelashes.
"A stopwatch?" he queried.
"Lots of things you can do with a stopwatch," Magdalena told him.
"And don't I know it," Ianto replied, giggling.
"Hush, you!" Jack growled into the younger man's hair as a chime of laughter surrounded them.
Eventually Magdalena disappeared into the web of tendrils and rose into the air.
"Where're you going?" the Doctor called to her.
"Home," replied a disembodied voice as the golden web floated over to the TARDIS. The door to the box opened silently and the non-corporeal Magdalena hovered for a moment.
"Good luck for the future to you Captain Jack Harkness and to your Ianto Jones."
The ex-time agent's voice chimed with love as she swept in through the door and out of sight. The TARDIS closed the door behind her with a resounding clang and everyone opened their eyes.
"Jack?" Ianto asked tentatively, looking deep into his lover's eyes.
Jack stroked Iantos' hair gently and dropped a kiss on the top of the young man's head.
"It's all right, Ianto, I'm the same person I ever was."
"Well that's all right then," the Doctor said. "Now, if no one has any objections Donna and I will be on our way."
"No none at all," Jack assured him.
"Right, come on then Donna."
"Are you sure it's safe with that thing in there, Doctor?" Donna asked.
"Oh yes, quite safe. The Time Vortex is what makes the TARDIS what it is."
"Oh that's all right then."
Jack grinned at the unconvinced tone in Donna's voice.
"Oh, she's safe," he assured her.
"Right then let's go, Doctor." Donna still did not sound totally convinced. She set off for the TARDIS, stopping only to see why the Doctor wasn't hot on her heels. He had turned to Jack and Ianto and was shaking their hands enthusiastically.
"Are you coming, Doctor?" she called.
The Doctor smiled at the two men before drawing Jack into an embrace.
"Goodbye, Jack."
"Goodbye, Doctor."
As he released Jack the Doctor turned and winked at Ianto, who was standing watching them, before walking off to join Donna.
The two Torchwood men stood and watched as the Doctor and Donna entered the TARDIS and the blue box dematerialised. As it disappeared from view Jack pulled Ianto into his arms and kissed him gently.
"Let's go home," he suggested.
Ianto nodded happily, reaching up to brush a shower of golden dust from his lover's hair.
As they walked away, hand in hand, a wisp of gold floated after them.
Author's note: How a time agent became the time vortex is, of course, another story and one that a) I don't have; and b) has no relevance to this story other than it happened.