Title: The Temptation
Author: grissomrocks
Genre: Angst
Rating: K+
Summary: Jack's tempted to change history.
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters therin.
A/N: Please take a moment today to remember those affected by the events of September 11, 2001, especially the families and loved ones of those lost.
As Captain Jack Harkness was getting dressed to begin another day at Torchwood, he looked at the calendar. When he realized the significance of the date, he froze in horror. It read September 11, 2001 – the date that would be the beginning of one of the darkest periods of American history.
When he was with the Time Agency and on his own, Jack tried to avoid times like this – the temptation to fix them, whether for noble reasons or his own personal gain, was too strong. He knew that altering the time line could even have more disastrous consequences than the original event, although he couldn't imagine too many events that were more disastrous than what was going to happen.
It wasn't as if he hadn't seen massive death and destruction before on Earth – he was a veteran of several wars just in the 20th century alone. He could've accepted what was going to happen if it was a military attack against a military target with military casualties, but this was different. This time the majority of the victims would be civilians and that would never be acceptable to Jack.
Jack now looked at the time. It was 6:18 AM in Cardiff, which meant that it was 1:18 AM on the East Coast of the US. A little more than seven hours would pass before the first plane would hit the World Trade Center.
The phone near his bed tempted him as images of planes crashing into buildings, of the Twin Towers collapsing, and of people crying out for the missing and the dead invaded his mind. One phone call to the US branch of UNIT and he could stop this. Stop the destruction. Stop the deaths.
He stares at the phone, the temptation growing stronger. Thousands of people you'll save, Jack, his own voice cooed to him. Thousands of young men and women who won't have to go off to war to avenge this act. Think of the families, Jack. Their loved ones will come home tonight, safe and sound.
I can't do it, Jack argues with himself. This is a fixed point in time. I cannot change what will happen.
Are you sure about that? his voice taunts him. Your personal time line was changed, but look at what good came out of it eventually.
Jack frowned at himself in the mirror. I had no control over that. I didn't resurrect myself and make myself immortal.
The voice replies, You have control now. You can make things right.
"The right thing to do is to let events take their proper course," Jack whispered regretfully. He finishes dressing and comes upstairs into the Hub from his quarters. Throughout the rest of the morning, Jack manages to act as though today wasn't going to bring death and injury to thousands.
Later that afternoon, Cardiff time, Jack is the only one not shocked when the first news reports of the tragedy start coming in. He tells his team that he's going to his office to make a few phone calls to get briefed on the situation.
But when he's in the privacy of his office, he just sits there for a few minutes before the first tears start rolling down his cheeks. Then after he hears someone yell out that one of the buildings fell, Jack quietly sobs, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't save any of you."
The End