No pairings.
Set in the mid to late first season. But most likely the mid.
-Boe-
"I'm leaving for the night," Jack announced, but after he realized that Gwen was the only one who had stayed this late.
"Alright."
"See ya'," he said, walking out the door.
After a few moments, Gwen stood up from her place at a desk and was turning the lights off when she noticed Jack had left his wrist...band...thing. Honestly she had no idea what it was, but he never left without it. She walked over to where it lay on his desk and looked down at it. She turned to see if he was still there, only to find that he was long gone. The one time he actually leaves and she has to call him back. Or, she could just leave it. Besides, it wasn't a big deal. He would come back in the morning, and simply put it back down. Yes. No big deal.
She curiously stared at the band for a moment. She wondered if there was a reason he left it. Was it faulty? Or did he only wear it when he was at the Hub? She picked it up and found it wasn't heavy, but it wasn't light, either. She flipped it over in her hand and flipped the flap up. She looked at all the numbers, nothing interesting, and closed it again. She was too curious for her own good, she knew that. But why not? She carefully put the band around her wrist, soon finding out that it was far too big. Just as she was about to take it off, lights flashed and she gasped. She felt very weird, and it wasn't just the not being able to see problem, either. She just felt...odd. She shut her eyes tightly, and when she fluttered them open again, she saw a large dimly lit room, with concrete floor and a calming color of green walls. She took the band off as fast as she could and let it drop to her feet with a light thunk. She backed away from it quite quickly, and walking more backwards, she bumped into something behind her. She spun around, honestly not ready for any kind of fight, but what she found wasn't even close to posing a threat.
The Face Of Boe was right in front of her. In his mist-filled container, he looked ever so peaceful. She had seen pictures of him, from Jack, but he never said where he'd got them from. All she knew is that she was in the future. The far future.
She stared into his large eyes with her mouth slightly open. What was she supposed to say? Hello? How are you?
"Um..." was all she mustered up to say.
He seemed to be almost amused and let out a low laugh.
She hesitantly smiled and took a step back to get a better view of the large head.
"Is...is something funny?" she asked with a shaky voice. How did she get here? How will she get back?
"Yes, old friend."
She awaited his explanation of using this term, but he simply stared at her.
"Old friend? Do we know each other?" she asked, eyes wide.
He let out another laugh. "Yes, quite well."
Well. He was rather vague.
She waited yet some more, but obviously he wasn't going to spill.
"When? Oh, wait...it may be after this...well, for you, before this..." she stammered. Time travel was so confusing.
He what looked like smiled at her, and then said, "Its so nice to see a familiar face."
She stood there, stumped.
"Gwen?"
"How do you know that's my name?" she asked quickly, starting to panic. She looked around the room almost frantically for any door. But what would that do? She was in the future, and if she wasn't, something was very wrong.
"I told you. We used to know each other."
She started breathing faster, and just when she was about to say something, he did.
"But you already know me, Gwen."
"No, I don't. I've never met you in my life," she said, desperately trying to stay as calm as possible. Why was she scared? For some reason, she felt like she could trust him with her life.
His smile turned into a sad frown and he broke eye contact. He shifted, and after a moment of silence,
"It will not be long, now."
"What?"
"Until you must leave again."
Again?
"What do you mean?"
"The wrist band will soon take an emergency exit back to its original location, Torchwood."
She, for some reason, couldn't find words.
"You came here out of curiosity. Slipped the band on when you were alone."
She weakly nodded, although she knew he wasn't asking a question. He was stating a fact, and he knew good and well it was a fact, too.
"You will be sent back soon. Ianto Jones will be there when you return, it has been quite a while since you left the Hub that night. The band is programed a very certain way, for when someone wears it that is not the owner, it automatically sends the presumed thief to a location that the owner alone sets."
"How do you know all that? Only Jack would know..." she trailed off and closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, Boe was smiling at her. Then and there she knew. She knew he wasn't just some big face. Not just a big head. But her friend, her colleague. Someone, she understood now, she trusted with her life.
"Jack..." she said as she went down on her knees in front of him. She placed a gentle hand on the glass containing the once lively Captain. "What happened?"
"Time," was all he said.
She placed her other hand on the glass. "Where are we?"
"Very far from where you need to be."
She knew what he was saying. He was saying she had to go back. But she didn't want to, she wanted to stay and talk about what happens.
The lights came on and they revealed to Gwen a hospital around. Someone must have been behind them, because the curtains around Boe's place were being shut. Soon she couldn't see anything outside of them. Se stood slowly and peeked out of the curtains. She saw mainly cat-woman, which freaked her out, but she ignored them. After all, she had seen worse. She peered the other way and saw a man in a flowing brown coat and spiky hair looking around curiously. He tugged on his ear and rubbed the back of his neck and turn around, calling for someone, but not getting an answer. He sighed and tunred back around, spotting her, and she spun around and went back to Boe. He smiled up at her.
"Its been great, Jack."
"So long since someone has called me that," he aaid, but she saw in his face he was happy about it.
She smiled back and picked up the band. She held it up to her wrist, but before she could say goodbye, it 'emergency exit' occurred and she found herself back in the Hub, in front of Jack's desk, right were she had transported to the future the first time. She took the wrist off first thing and placed it on his desk. She heard voices behind her and turned. Boe had said she had been gone for a while, and since she knew he had really known that, being Jack at the time she had disappeared, she knew she had been.
She walked out into the main area where they all were. They happily hugged and greeted her. When asked how long she had been away, they said two days. It wasn't that long, but Jack said since he couldn't find his band he knew that's what had happened. They asked her where she had gone. Even Jack wanted to know, because he had set several places into the emergency exit feature. She said she went and saw a friend, and when she didn't answer any more of there questions, they left it. In a few weeks they had forgotten about her trip, but Gwen hadn't.
She would always remember the night she met the Face of Boe.