Author's Notes:

I started this a while ago… and even got a couple of chapters written… before getting distracted by other projects. Lately, however, Kam and Jack have been on my brain again, so I figured if I start posting and people start pestering me to keep going, I'll actually write more instead of overindulging in the Sims2 while I'm on holiday from school. I'm officially (ambitiously) working on two pieces at once (as well as trying to finish up Blood Moon... and come out with a little holiday piece to add to Short Stories... good thing I'm on holiday myself! Believe it or not, I HAD planned to give myself a short break from writing after I finished 12 Months. I'm STILL going to a movie tonight, though, darn it ;-)

This picks up shortly after we left Kam and Jack at the end of Intermezzo, by the fantastically talented Sidlerocks. To a large extent, much of this wouldn't exist without her encouragement and input… she's given me a wonderful cast of characters to play with.

Thank you also to everyone who read the first story I wrote in this series; I honestly never expected it to be so well accepted and widely enjoyed. I just needed something to make me feel happy knowing that Ianto would die someday…

Rating: M because I prefer to err on the side of caution and don't want to have to feel guilty about any steamy scenes that creep into my brain.

Genre: Sci Fi / Drama… as usual, expect some romance and a little angst.

Synopsis: When we left Jack and the crew of the Bonnie Welshman, they were heading off into the Fringe Regions of space. What the crew doesn't know is that Jack has a lead on something more interesting, and more dangerous, than a routine salvage operation…

While I use spell check (set to U.K. English because that's where Torchwood is set), like most of my work, this is un-beta'd. All errors are mine and corrections of glaring errors are appreciated.

And lastly... do I need to tell anybody I don't own Torchwood or Doctor Who? I mean, really, if I did, do you think I'd be writing here...well actually, I probably would! ;-) Just the same, I do not own that which quite clearly does not belong to me.

Chapter One: The Janus and Hestia

The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you are not going to stay where you are.

Annon.

For the better part of the last four days there had been a charge in the air aboard the Bonnie Welshman. It had started when An Cho finally locked onto the frequency Captain Harkness had given both she and Kai Jennings. Of the two communications specialists, An was by far the more reserved and had made little fuss over finding the signal first. It was probably just luck of the draw, she reckoned…

She didn't even know that the Captain had put his money on her when he became aware of the 'little bet' the crew had going as to who would find the signal first, her or Jennings. Mostly he was supporting ship's morale by betting on his own shift. Jennings certainly didn't seem to take it the least bit personally.

Jack had had some reservations about the four crewmen who had remained with him after the incident at Omega Station… well, three of the four. Kam told him about Tolbert sticking up for him in the showers. Even if he and Kam hadn't spent some off-duty time shooting hoops with her and Weiss, that alone would have been enough to make him like the night shift engineer. It didn't hurt her case any, either, that she was a Hell of a mechanic. Between her and Buddy Garrison, the Welshman had never been in such good shape. Jack was just as glad to have a pair of top notch engineers on board this time around.

Over the last few weeks the reservations he'd had initially about Chinball, Ali and Jennings had faded. They were good kids. In fact, there were very few members of his current crew he wouldn't consider signing on to an extended contract. What surprised Jack the most was that he was pretty sure most of them would take him up on it, too, and not just for the money. Jim Smeed concurred – Jimmy had always had a better handle on the crews' attitudes than the Captain. But between Buddy Garrison and Anna Raynor, morale was at an all time high aboard the Welshman, despite the general frustration and anticipation the crew of a salvage ship always felt before getting to the job.

Two days ago the hulking vessel that was their destination had finally come into view. It was an ancient derelict of ship in a slowly degrading orbit around a gas giant, the third planet out from a super giant blue star.

It was only today, however, that Jack had announced the name of the vessel they were fast approaching.

The Janus and Hestia.

As Mr. Smeed came onto the bridge, Jack stood, giving up his seat to the day shift commander.

"Evenin' Captain," he said as he took the Captain's chair. They'd had coffee together a couple of hours ago to discuss how the next few days were going to go but then Jack returned to the bridge to finish out his shift with his crew.

He returned his First Officer's smile with one of his own, "Jimmy," he maintained an informal rapport with his First Officer even in front of the crew.

Jack glanced down the young man who sat in the pilot's chair and smiled some more; he stepped closer. His smile warmed to a grin when Kam Anders turned and met his gaze. The younger man always seemed to know when he was looking at him. It was uncanny. It brought a pleasant rush of warmth to the older man's insides, however, so he never, ever complained about it or even really commented. Some things, he had learned in his many years, didn't need to be remarked upon; they should just be enjoyed for the happiness they brought because too few things in life ever brought any kind of real or lasting joy.

The exchange only lasted a moment as Kam had to return his attention to the controls. Flying through a solar system full of debris was a lot trickier than flying through open space. They had passed the remains of at least a dozen wrecks as they neared the huge star at the heart of the system. While Kam wouldn't quite call it a ships' graveyard, it was as close as he'd ever come to one.

The day shift bridge crew was just a few minutes behind Mr. Smeed. Leah Ali, Kai Jennings and Tom Chinball came in together, chatting. They settled down as soon as they saw that both Captain Harkness and First Officer Smeed were on the bridge.

Although the crew had grown comfortable with their Captain, most of them didn't know quite what to make of him, even the ones who had known him a little longer. Just the same, when he smiled and nodded, they smiled and nodded back; it wasn't a forced effort.

Posts were traded with words of greetings and the imparting important information… this sensor's been sticking a bit, that one's been touchy… there was a lot of interference from all the debris in orbit around the planet…

Smeed shot the Captain a surreptitious glance; it had been years since either could remember having a crew that treated each other with anything better than general civility or passing carnal desire.

Jack returned his First Officer's look with a nod of acknowledgment. Approval. It had been a long time since he'd wanted a crew that honestly cared about each other or him. "The bridge is all yours, Mr. Smeed, but I'll be staying on to observe, if you don't mind."

Smeed shot a questioning look.

"We should be within docking range of the Janus and Hestia in a couple of hours," he nodded towards the derelict ship that was taking up a good portion of the main portal. He usually observed from his cabin or the observation deck. Alone. But things were different now.

Jim Smeed hid his smile and shrugged. "Your ship, Sir. You lot're welcome to hang around, too," he glanced at the rest of the night crew. "Assuming the Captain doesn't mind."

"No objections," said Jack.

"Would you mind if we grab a bite to eat and come back?" Weiss asked hopefully. "I've never been up close to a real antique before, Sir," he explained. He completely missed the amused look on Smeed's face when said the word 'antique'.

Jack stifled his own chuckle behind a cough, nodding at the young crewman. "I suppose it isn't everyday you kids come across something quite as ancient as that old wreck out there," he winked at Kam. "Go on and get some food and then come back if you feel like it. Things probably won't get interesting for another hour or so anyway."

An Cho hid her relief at not being ordered to return to the bridge better than Kam hid his smile at Jack's comment about old wrecks. (Likewise, she completely misunderstood the Captain's wink or the young pilot's smirk. So did Weiss, but the latter chalked it up to mere flirtation between the two.)

Cho knew her feelings could get her into trouble aboard the Welshman, but she needed this job. She wouldn't have taken a contract on a ship with a man like Harkness otherwise. Not that he seemed all bad. To the contrary, he seemed decent… but looks were often deceiving and nothing was ever as it seemed.

"Join us for a bite?" Weiss offered in her direction, startling her out of her thoughts.

She managed a friendly seeming smile. "No… thank you." She stepped aside to let him and the Captain's Boy pass through the door first.

Just as she was aware of Mr. Anders' position aboard the Bonny Welshman, An Cho was aware of her own. She was expendable. Her job wasn't even all that important, whereas the Captain had made it painfully clear by his past actions that he placed a great deal of value on his personal little cyprian.

Then again, she had some idea of what Anders must have cost the Captain. Her whole contract wasn't worth as much money as he would have had to pay out to acquire Mr. Anders' services all for himself.

………………………………………………………………….

"You honestly have no idea?" Weiss asked Kam. Again.

The young pilot smiled and rolled his eyes in a way that would have put Jack in mind of Ianto Jones. "No. Honestly. He hasn't told me any more than he's told the rest of the crew."

"But you're… you know…" Weiss stopped himself without finishing the thought because of the uncomfortable look that crossed the younger man's face. "I just meant to say that you're… you know…"

"Sharing his bed?" Kam couldn't help the acerbic edge in his voice. He didn't mean to be over sensitive, but sometimes he couldn't help himself, even with someone like Weiss who was fast becoming one of his closest friends. He was sure Weiss didn't even mean it that way…

"I was going to say boyfriend," the other young man told him sheepishly. "But I… I didn't mean to presume." He shrugged and shovelled a mouthful of Sheppard's pie into his mouth to keep himself from saying anything else stupid or embarrassing.

Kam blinked in surprise. Boyfriend wasn't a word he would have thought of to describe his and Jack's relationship. He wasn't sure what word he'd use. "I guess… maybe… look, I'm sorry," he finally just apologized for snapping.

Weiss swallowed his food and flashed a tight little smile. "Me too. If I was out of line, I'm sorry Kam, I hope you know that."

Kam regarded the other man a moment, suddenly wondering if the only reason the crew was friendly with him was because he shared Jack's bed… but Roberta had been nice to him before that. Looking closely at Weiss now, all he thought he saw was someone who was embarrassed over having presumed too much, not someone afraid of getting chucked out the airlock.

"I guess I've never had a boyfriend before," he admitted, hoping he wasn't misreading his companion, hoping he wasn't setting himself up for humiliation or any sort of backlash later.

When he'd lived in the Red House, he'd learnt not to trust anyone, not to rely on anyone. But on the outside Kam had learnt he had to rely on his crewmates… his friends… even people he didn't like or who didn't like him. "I'm not even sure what it means to call someone my boyfriend," he added.

"Relationships are never easy to figure out," said Weiss in a tone that suggested he understood.

"You mean everybody feels like this?"

He grinned, "If you mean that half the time you're on top of the world and the other half you don't know which way is up, yeah, that's pretty normal."

"How do you do it? I mean…" he was chewing his lip again.

The other man shrugged and took another bite of his dinner before continuing. "You just do, I guess. The alternative is pretty pathetic. Being alone I mean," he clarified.

"My whole life's been alone." At least until a couple of months ago…

Weiss gave him a startled look, but didn't comment; he didn't have to. Kam knew that no one on the outside understood what life was like for a Service Provider. The Houses and the Empire that supported their continued existence did a good job of making sure of that.

Roberta Tolbert's entrance saved Weiss from putting his foot any further into his mouth. "Care to join us?" he asked her, unable to help the way his stomach turned happy little summersaults when he saw her. It was just like what he'd said to Kam; half the time he was on top of the world, the other half, he didn't know which way was up, but whenever she was around, he felt good… happy. Especially when she smiled and slid in next to him so their knees were touching under the table.

"Don't mind if I do," she flashed a warm grin at Kam as well; he returned it. "So did you guys get a look at the Janus yet?" she asked eagerly.

"So far it doesn't look like much," Weiss told her, casting Kam a mild glance. "But I guess the Captain knows what he's doing." His tone clearly betrayed his lack of confidence in the operation's pay out. None of them had known before yesterday what they were out there to salvage, although it wasn't uncommon for the Captain of a ship to keep the details of an operation to himself. The law out in the margins of space was 'first come first serve' – or he with the biggest guns wins. It didn't appear to any of them as if the Bonny Welshman had very big guns. "The Janus and Hestia must be at least a hundred years old," he added.

"One hundred and seventy two," Roberta corrected him with a wry grin. "I looked up her records on the ship's library system as soon as we got the name. She was one of the first ships to come out this far… and one of the first to get lost. About a year ago another salvage crew found her and brought back some pretty good stuff."

"Probably all the good stuff," Weiss moaned.

"I'm sure the Captain knows what he's doing," she shot a quick wink at Kam.

"Don't even try asking him," the other man continued to moan. "He keeps claiming not to know anything," he said in an exaggerated tone.

It took Kam a moment to realize Weiss was only teasing him. As soon as he did, he shook his head. "Honestly, when it's the two of us behind closed doors…"

"I don't think I need to hear this," said Weiss.

Roberta punched him, although not hard enough to hurt, and her grin was good natured.

"All I meant was we don't talk about… business," Kam said, for lack of a better word.

"Good for you," said Roberta. "Seriously, the quickest way to ruin a relationship is to not be able to separate who you are when it's just the two of you from who you are when you're on duty. You've gotta be able to have your time when you're just two ordinary people, not the infamous Captain Harkness and his cute pilot boyfriend," she flashed a mischievous grin.

Kam blinked; she was the second person in one day to use that word… "He is pretty infamous, isn't he?" he said, trying to cover how very happy it made him feel to think of Jack as his boyfriend. This was all so new… sometimes he was so afraid he would wake up and find it was just a dream… or that Jack would get tired of having him around…

"I'm not the one sleeping with him," Roberta winked back at him. "But since we're on the subject… is he really as good as all that?"

Kam couldn't help the smile that overtook his lips. "Oh yeah," he breathed.

She leaned forward with an inquisitive grin. "Yeah?"

"Oh God, come on, guys…" Weiss complained at them. It was no good, Kam was already talking:

"He's… innovative."

Weiss groaned. "I think I've just lost my apatite," he gave his (empty) plate a shove.

His misery, clearly feigned, only made Roberta giggle.

Kam found himself laughing too… this has to be real, he thought looking at the two of them. There was no way they would act like that if all they were doing was trying to play up to the Captain though his… his boyfriend. Kam smiled again. The word in his head made him feel warm… boyfriend, he repeated it to himself.

Doc Raynor was right, there would probably always be people like Avi Stasi (who had at least been civil to him the last month), but for the most part he was surrounded by people he genuinely liked. People who seemed to like him.

Best of all, there was Jack.

He looked up just in time to see his Captain come into the mess to get a cup of coffee. Jack met his gaze; the smile he gave Kam started in the very heart of those amazing blue eyes of his…