Forever In My Heart

Summary: The Torchwood team head out to investigate strange happenings in the woods around the town of Treegap, the home of one Jesse Tuck.

Pairings: Jack/Ianto, past Jesse/Winifred

Rating: T

Warning: Spoilers for the movie Tuck Everlasting and frequent mentions of past character death.

Disclaimer -Torchwood and Tuck Everlasting are not mine. Although anyone you don't recognise are.

Prologue

Time. For some, there's never enough of it, and for others, an hour can feel like an eternity. Yet there are some for who time doesn't exist.

Our story focusses on two of these such people. The older of which was 51st Century ex- time agent and current leader of Torchwood Three, Captain Jack Harkness; a man who had been given the gift of immortality by an unlikely source, after being killed by the universe's deadliest foes, the Daleks. Ever since, he had walked the earth, trying to find the one man who could set things straight. Then one night, he met a special girl, a girl with the gift of sight. She told him it would be 200 years before he would meet the man known as the Doctor. At a loss, he accepted a job with the Torchwood Institute, and had been there ever since.

To him, time, personally, didn't affect him, but seeing its effects on those around him was like torture. He had been forced to watch countless friends and lovers age and leave him, while he remained exactly the same. Immortality was the reason he was being denied the one thing he wanted more than anything… to share his life with someone he loved. That someone was Ianto Jones, Torchwood's Archivist. He just wished there was something he could do to stop the inevitable.

Then there was Jesse Tuck; a man who was forever stuck at the age of 17. It had happened nearly 200 years ago, after drinking water from a spring in the woods, beside a little place called Treegap, he, his mother, father and brother Miles had all become immortals. At first, they lived life as normal, believing nothing had changed, but then they realised. It was because of him actually. He had fallen from a tree, sustaining injuries that should've killed him, but his body repaired itself.

For Jesse, time didn't matter either. It was just a word, something that was irrelevant to him. However, occasionally something would remind him of how harsh time could be and make him wish he could turn it back. First, he had to witness his brother lose everything. He watched as Miles fell apart. He hated himself for a while for thinking it, but he hoped that he'd never have to go through that himself. Then, after over eighty years alone, he met the most amazing girl. It was purely by accident, but it was the best thing that ever happened to him. Her name was Winifred Foster. They fell in love, shared every thought and feeling, and leaving her was the hardest thing he had to do, but he had no choice. His Mother had been found guilty of murder and was due to be hanged, something they couldn't let happen. It would've permanently exposed their secret. He had asked Winifred for he aid and she had helped them escape. Before he rode away with his family, he offered her a choice, to drink from the spring and become like them, then he would return for her when it was safe. But, when he returned, she had already died. At that moment, seeing her gravestone, the engraving of 'Winifred Foster Jackson' as clear as day, he knew how his brother had felt all those years ago. His heart broke. It was then, instead of leaving and seeking comfort in his family, he decided to return to the ruined house where they had both lived for a while, rebuild it and remember her.

There are some who say time is like a wheel, turning and turning, never stopping, and the woods are the centre, the hub of the wheel. Both Jack and Jesse had heard the saying, but only Jesse believed it, having witnessed it himself, many years ago.

Our story begins the first week of summer, a strange and breathless time, when accident, or fate, bring lives together. When people are led to do things they've never done before…

Thanks for reading . Let me know what you think. Should I carry on?