Chapter One
"I really don't mind though, come with me?" Jack smiled at the words and turned to look at the slab that would take him to the base. A year previously he would have jumped at the chance and left Torchwood and everything he had in the 21st century behind in a second, but he'd had time to think over the past year-thinking and dying were the only things he'd had time to do-and he'd spent most of that time thinking about his team, hoping and praying they were alright, wishing he could have a second chance and do things properly. Now he could. The Master had given him that chance, in a sick, twisted way he had done something good. There were few good things about that year and Jack knew that the survivors had to remember those that they could find or they would go insane. He would go back to his team a changed man and he would be better.
"I..." He couldn't quite bring himself to say the words. He had changed, maybe for the better, but the point was, he had changed and his team wouldn't be able to understand that. They would never know what he had been through, they could never know and he didn't think he could bring himself to lie to them again.
The Doctor twitched slightly at Jack's hesitation, he had thought the Captain would agree straight away and now he wasn't quite as sure this was a good idea. After what he had said to Jack in the radiation chamber their relationship had changed a lot, but Jack had to know he didn't feel the same way anymore. A year of watching him getting slaughtered had changed the Doctor's priorities significantly. "You don't have to, not if you don't want to." He had hoped the desperation he felt hadn't entered his voice, but when Jack quickly turned to look at him he realised that he probably hadn't been successful. Jack raised his eyebrow, silently asking the Doctor if he wanted him to, the Time Lord smiled shyly.
Jack looked back at the hub, then back to the Doctor again. "I need to sort out a few things first, if that's alright?" The Doctor grinned and nodded. "I'll be about three hours, see you then?" The Doctor nodded again and pointed to the TARDIS.
"We'll still be here." Martha smirked at the excitement in the Doctors voice, she watched Jack walk away until he was out of hearing range and leaned over to whisper in the Time Lords ear.
"You fancy him, don't you?" Jack didn't hear Martha's words, but he did hear the Doctor's indignant squawk, he looked over his shoulder in time to see the Doctor shove his hands into his pockets and Martha nearly bent double with laughter. He grinned, he hadn't been sure, but now he knew he'd made the right choice.
The hub was empty, Jack sighed with relief this would make things a lot easier, he had no idea what he would have said if he'd been confronted by Ianto or Gwen. He walked towards Toshiko's workstation, the computer hadn't switched itself off which meant he had missed them by ten minutes at most, the screen showed that they were on a weevil hunt. He would have less than an hour to get out if he didn't want to bump into them. He ran up the steps into his office, it was exactly how he had left it. He smiled then moved quickly down to his bedroom, he had thought it would be the same as he'd left it as well, but it seemed different-only little things-a shirt over the back of his chair that hadn't been there before, the sheets tucked in neatly, the bathroom door shut. He picked up a pillow off the bed and pushed it to his nose, breathing in the scent, it no longer smelled of his own pheromones, it smelled of Ianto. Jack sighed into the pillow, his eyes stinging with tears. He picked up the shirt, it smelt like Ianto too. The Welshman had slept in his shirt. The Doctor had clearly brought him back a bit later than intended, Jack chuckled, he shouldn't have expected anything else.
The Captain pulled out a bag out from under the bed and started packing things from his wardrobe into it. He hesitated for a moment before putting his shirt back over the chair for Ianto. He looked at his vortex manipulator; it hadn't taken him as long as he thought. He went up to his office and pulled a pad of paper and a pen from the draw. He didn't know what to write so he settled for 'I'm sorry' and left the note on his bed. Jack walked down to Tosh's workstation and smirked when a thought occurred to him. Nobody had ever retired from Torchwood, but there was a first time for everything. He pulled up his records and changed his position from 'Captain' to 'retired'. He thought for a second then added the contact number for his vortex manipulator, but tagged it as for extreme circumstances only. He knew Gwen would probably want to contact him anyway, but he hoped the others would stop her if she tried.
He checked the time again and ran to the lift. As the lift came to a stop on the surface, Jack watched as the backs of his team walked towards the tourist information centre. He headed towards where the TARDIS had previously been parked. Panic filled him for a moment when he couldn't see her, but after a few deep breaths he reasoned the Doctor wouldn't be so cruel as to convince Jack to travel as the Time Lord's companion just to leave him behind, again. Besides, he thought to himself, there are still things to take care of, she may hate him, but he couldn't leave Alice and Steven to fend for themselves.
Half an hour later Jack returned to find that the TARDIS was still missing, the panic returned, turning his blood to ice. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, he had said he would take three hours and it had only been just over one. He just had to wait, he had waited for over a century he could manage two hours.
Ten minutes later Jack realised something, yes he had waited for a century, but only because he didn't have what he had now: a working vortex manipulator. Thirty seconds later the Captain disappeared with a grin plastered on his face which only grew when he saw a police box with a man in a pinstripe suit leaning on it.