Disclaimer: Captain Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Dr. Owen Harper, Gray Harkness, Toshiko Sato-Harkness, Esther Drummond, Steven Carter, Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, Suzie Costello Williams, Rhys Williams, and Anwen Williams do not belong to me. Nor do Agent Rex Matheson, CIA Director Alan Shapiro, Oswald Danes, Jilly Kitzinger, Charlotte Wills, Dr. Vera Juarez, or the Families. They belong to the BBC/Starz Studios, et al. Lucas North and Harry Pearse belong to Kudos. Alyssa Jones and her cousin Devin Harkness, on the other hand, do belong to me, as do certain other characters who will be appearing later. I have no problem with you borrowing them … just return them to me intact and please ask first.

Author's Notes: Happy New Year! I hope everyone has recovered from however they celebrated the end of 2014 and beginning of 2015. I've spent most of the last few days writing … oddly enough, travel does magical things to my writing. Maybe it's spending eight to twelve hours in the air with nothing to do but watch movies, but the floodgates have opened up. I've actually had this prologue in my head since I arrived home on Tuesday, but I wanted to get the first three chapters of 'Dite's Favor' up (especially since I've had the prologue of that written for nearly a year. Yes, I wrote that in February of 2014). So. Here we have the beginning of 'The Culling,' the Themes and Variation re-write of Miracle Day (and I truly hope it makes more sense than the original, which I largely regard as a hot mess). In this opening prologue, we have a meeting between Jack and Lucas, as Jack begins to lay the foundations of a trap for the Families and Lucas finds himself in the biggest undercover job of his career. Hope you enjoy it!

Prologue

The Opening Salvo

London, England

May 2010

He'd known for some time that he would be called upon to once more help Captain Jack Harkness and Torchwood. That was never in doubt. He did not, however, expect that call to come mere days after the birth of the captain's daughter. Lucas North heard about the birth through Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, who was on hand when Alyssa Sitara Jones came into the world. He'd known about 'Alyssa,' of course … the infant's mother Esther told him about it when he came to visit Alice Carter … but 'Sitara' was new to him. Alistair observed that it was the Indian/Sanskrit word for 'starlight,' suggested by Suzie Costello Williams. Lucas smiled … they'd found a way to name the baby after her mother, after all.

Yes, he'd known that Jack would need his help again. He'd never expected a call to meet him here, however. Lucas cast a wary glance around his surroundings … there were entirely too many places for an ambush in a cemetery … before returning his attention to the stone in front of him. He spoke aloud, just loud enough for him to hear his own voice, "Lucia Moretti. Alice's mum and Jack's former lover. Interesting."

"Glad you think so," came the familiar voice of Jack Harkness himself, and Lucas looked up as the other man seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Lucas gave his new friend a once-over, and Jack grinned impishly, adding, "I've been here all along. Perception filters are wonderful things." Lucas rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile. Jack smiled back, adding, "Thank you for coming. I know you've got your hands full with …"

Jack didn't continue. He didn't need to. Lucas said quietly, "If you need my help, Jack, you've got it. How's the baby doing?" Jack's expression brightened, and Lucas braced himself to hear all about the wonders of one Alyssa Sitara Jones. However, Jack surprised him by limiting himself to just that one, bright smile. At least for now, although he was sure he would hear all about the baby later, when they weren't meeting for business.

"I'll tell you all about her later. Right now … right now, Suzie's contact in the CIA has alerted us to a threat. You need to know … this will probably be a mission unlike any you've ever undertaken. You'll find it necessary to hurt people … good people who've never hurt anyone in their lives. Can you do that, Lucas? Can your soul survive those kinds of wounds?" Jack asked quietly, no doubt thinking of the eight years Lucas spent in Russian hell.

"Better me than someone else. I know Ianto and Owen have a darkness in them, but neither of them have the training that I do. I have this, Jack," Lucas agreed quietly. Jack looked at the headstone for his former lover, but Lucas had the sense that he wasn't really seeing it. That he was seeing something else, or maybe someone else. Lucia herself? Their daughter? Something or someone else? It was hard to say.

Jack returned his attention to Lucas, saying, "If you accept this mission, you'll have to deceive Harry Pearse. I already have Tosh working on a cover for you. In truth, you'll be a triple agent, pretending to betray MI5. Are you willing to take the chance that he won't forgive you when it's all over?" Assuming that he was still alive, of course, went without saying. Lucas closed his eyes, thinking about everything that happened during the last few months. Ros' death. His own promotion. The new people that came on board. And then he thought about the last time he worked with Jack Harkness, the promise that Jack made to him only hours after he learned that his daughter was, at best, brain damaged.

'I will only ask you for help, Lucas,' he had said, 'if it means the possible end of the human race. Your work is just as important as ours, it just lies in a different area.' He thought about Harry, about Ros, and he knew that there was only one way to answer Jack's question. If he failed to do this, there was a chance that Harry, and the other people whom he loved, would be dead at the end of this. But if he did this … if he did this, then at least Harry would be alive to hate him. It was worth the risk.

"I'm in," Lucas told the older man, and Jack Harkness smiled. Not one of his brilliant, megawatt smiles that threatened to blind even Lucas, but a warm, relieved smile that made Lucas feel warm as well. The MI5 operative went on, "What's the cover, and what's the mission?" Jack hesitated, but then began telling Lucas a story about a young Italian émigré to the United States in the early decades of the twentieth century, about a man who couldn't stay dead, and about a night of betrayal and blood that ended with three men buying that blood. Lucas' own blood ran cold at the story, especially knowing that it was true. And at the end, he could only repeated, "I'm in." There was no hesitation. Jack learned from their CIA contact that the descendents of those three men would be making their move soon.

Jack liked to say that the twenty-first century was when everything changed, and that they would need to be ready. What he hadn't said … or maybe what he hadn't realized … was that some of the gravest dangers they would have to face would come from their own species. Thus would be the case with the Families. Jack didn't know exactly how these Families would strike, or how his blood would be used, but he did know that they had to be stopped. That was part of Lucas' job. He would help Jack take the Families down …

… Or he would die trying.

TBC