I am what I am Chapter 2

Jack

Jack took one last look at the young Welshman before taking his seat at the head of the table in front of his team. He had been lost in thought when he heard Suzie clear her throat. "Jack what are we going to do about him?"

"I can think of a few things," Jack said with sly smirk on his face, causing Tosh to give a small giggle, but everything went quiet again as soon as he gave a small shrug.

Before he got the chance to answer, Owen interrupted, "I say we retcon him and drop him off at some hospital. It's obvious that someone wanted to make him disappear. We've got enough troubles on our hands."

"Can't do that," Tosh protested rather quickly. To Jack, it was rather clear it troubled her that she couldn't figure out who the poor man was. He had to agree with her. He didn't want to leave the man like that, lost and confused, yet Owen did have a point. "We don't even know if he has a place to stay."

"That's not our problem!" Owen snapped back. "He's not a lost dog. We can't keep him Tosh."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Now kids, you know better than to fight," Jack teased.

"I think Owen is right, "Suzie said softly. "We don't know who he is, if he's dangerous or not. All we know is that he knows something that he's not supposed to know. If he can't remember his name, he might not remember anything at all."

"There is always the chance he can remember," Jack said, trying to sound just at ease as he was earlier but the sense of discomfort was still there. Jack couldn't help but think of what the young man could do if he managed to get his memory back. "Employees of ONE are not to be taken lightly, even less if he really was one of ONE's projects."

"We don't know whether he is a project or not!" Tosh protested, "If he is a project, why come to Cardiff? We can't just jump to conclusions because he might recognize a weevil."

"The scarring on his body matches with the damages on the others. He's the same body build type that ONE projects are," Suzie argued as she slammed her hand on the table.

"Look, Tosh is right. We don't know anything about the man," Jack interrupted. "And we have no real proof that he is either. There is nothing we can do till we're sure. Owen, run some scans. Tosh, set him up somewhere where we can keep an eye on him."

"What exactly are we going to do, follow him everywhere he goes? He's eventually going to see one of us and know that something is up. There are only so many of us," Suzie stated as she made her way to the glass wall. Looking at the med bay, she could see the Welshman folding the paper neatly."He's taking things too calmly, don't you think? He hasn't questioned what this is yet or demanded to be let go or anything."

"I think he has other things in mind, with his memory and all," Owen replied quickly as he got to his feet. It was obvious to him the he had lost the battle of getting rid of the man. "Tell me what you have decided Harkness because I have to make sure he doesn't fall back asleep."

"I think he should stay."

"Yeah, you would, wouldn't you?" Owen snarled back. "Only you would go as low as to try to get into a broken man's pants."

"You know me, never miss an opportunity when you get one," Jack said, giving his signature Harkness' smile as he winked at Owen.

"You're sick in the head you know that?"

Jack chuckled as he got to his feet and made his way to the door," He'll have to stay here until we figure out if he's harmful to anyone. Other than that, I'll stay with him tonight so you can all go home."

He rubbed his temples, relieving the pain for just a few seconds of bliss. His head wouldn't stop throbbing though. It was as if he had no room to think. He shut his eyes and tried to think, to focus, on the paper. News of what had gone about such as new robberies, the latest gadgets, and job openings filled the pages but none of that brought up his memory. They simply left him with more questions.

The Welshman sighed as he neatly folded the paper, trying to get the creases out. He was brought out of his thoughts as he felt a pair of eyes on him that sent chills running down his spine. Looking up, he could see a woman coldly staring at him. He slowly brought his head down, scared, and sensing something was not right with the way she was looking at him. He quickly went back to folding his paper neatly and didn't look up again. It wasn't long before the medic was back at his side, asking him if he felt dizzy.

Doctor Harper checked him over before leaving the Captain with medication. "Give him one of these every three hours and don't try anything, Harkness."

"I'll behave," the captain said as he gave his biggest smile and wagged his eyebrows, "But I can't promise that he will." The comment made the young man blush and quickly look away from the two men. He didn't know why he had since it was only a joke with nothing else intended.

Jack pulled Owen's stool next to the bed before giving him another glance. "So, um, you feeling any better?" he asked rather quickly. The young man looked up, tilted his head, and gave a grunt for a response. It wasn't much but it was something. Jack closed his eyes and swallowed, even if his mouth was dry. If the man's voice made him squirm in his seat with just that sound he wondered what he would sound like in bed. Unfortunately, now was not the time for that. He cleared his throat before replying, "So I take that as a no then?"

Jack smiled softly, thinking of something to cheer the man up before saying. "I remember this one time I had so much to drink that I woke up on a different plan ...et ..." Even though the man looked slightly dazed, he seemed to be trying to catch every word that he was saying. Jack sighed as he reconsidered his story, "You know what, that's a story for another time."

They sat in the uncomfortable silence examining each other. Well, at least Jack was. He couldn't help but stare at the man and his rich brown hair that seemed to curl at the end of the tips. He wished that he could see the man's eyes again. He wouldn't look at Jack, choosing to fix his gaze at his own lovely hands.

Jack knew that the man's eyes were a gentle, gorgeous blue gray from earlier. A soft smile formed on his lips as he looked at the man's nose. It was a button-nose, and a very cute nose at that. It helped to soften the man's serious face just as it added character.

Jack's eyes wandered further down the young man's face. Those lips, he thought. The man had beautiful pink lips. I bet that those lips are just as soft and warm as they are inviting, Jack thought. It was when the man shifted that Jack broke from his thoughts.

He couldn't think of him like that, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't. The man was a possible threat and also, he was injured. His old self would have been careless and jumped him by now, but he wasn't that man anymore. Now he was Captain Jack Harkness, head of Torchwood Three. It meant that he had to sort out his priorities as best as he could, even if sometimes it was only the effort that counted.

"So what should I call you? I mean, we can't go around calling you 'hey, you' or something along those lines."

As soon as he said it, Jack wished he hadn't.

The man began to chuckle bitterly before saying, "I'd give anything to be called by my own name, but it's a shame I have nothing to offer."His voice was filled with sadness yet his face did not show any sign of it. Even so, Jack wished he had never brought it up. It had only brought an uncomfortable silence between them that was only broken when Jack started to hum a tune to himself.

The once Timelord felt a rush of guilt fly into him. He had not meant to sound mean or pathetic and he knew that the Captain was only trying to help but he had let his anger get the better of him. He was going to apologize when he heard the tune that was being hummed. He listened to him hum the song quietly. It was so familiar. Unknowingly, he began to tap his finger in time with the song. Soon, he began to hum along, images of instruments, vocalists, and of big, round, black disks being played on a sound box pulled themselves from his memory. It was then that the words began to form on his tongue and the urge to release them bade him to start singing.

"…I'm gonna send a wire, hopping on a flyer,

(Leaving today )

Am I dreamin'? I can hear her screamin',

( Hi-ya, Mr. Jackson)

Everything's OK-A-L-A-M-A-Z-O…"*

He was startled by the Captain's outburst in laughter, staring right at him with surprise. "It's been a long while since someone knows what I'm humming," he stated quickly, wearing a big smile as if he was remembering something that happened long ago. "How do you know it?"

"I must've heard it from somewhere," he replied softly. He was a little embarrassed that he had sung it out loud. "Recently, or something."

"I don't see how," Captain Jack said with soft chuckle, his expression changing to disappointment. "That song hasn't been played much anymore."

"Why is that?" he asked, his stomach beginning to turn. Every fiber of his being was telling him to cover his ears, to run, because he wasn't going to like the answer he was going to get.

The man looked at him with concern for a few seconds before replying. "Do you know what year it is?"

He raised his eyebrows, "I'd be surprised if I did know, in fact, I'd be ecstatic." He yawned softly before rubbing his eyes."Maybe some sleep would do me some good."

"Now, come on," The captain said as he cuffed his arm. "You know, that's the last thing you should be doing. Maybe in a few hours but right know I need you think. Where did you hear that song?"

"Well sir, it's a bit hard to not sleep when all you want to do is sleep. I mean, it's early in the morning and not a lot of people are up at this hour," he replied softly before yawning. The drowsiness that had slowly been consuming him suddenly dissipated when he felt a pair of strong hands cup his face.

"I need you to think, please. This could help me help you," Captain Jack pleaded, slowly stroking his cheek. He took a deep breath. He was so close to the Captain that it made him blush. The man had the most beautiful blue eyes. This man was just breath taking. He closed his eyes, trying to distract himself. He needed to remember. He needed to think. He began to hum the tune once again, hoping it would bring back something else.

"What do you see?" he heard the man ask him. It wasn't hard to figure out that he had been studying his expressions.

He clenched his eyes tightly as his mind began to show him an image, "I see a man."

"What does he look like?"

"He's an American captain, wearing glasses, neat, combed back hair…" he described, recalling the details of the man his memory had drudged up.

"What's on his name tag?"

The image started to blur and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hold the image still. He forced himself to focus on the name tag, trying to read what it said, "M…Mil...Miller." The name was familiar. His head began to pound.

"What else?" The Captain whispered as he caressed his cheek soothingly with his thumb.

He could see the man laughing as he clapped him on the back. The Welshman's mouth began to move, "I remember talking... to….him? I'm not certain on what he's saying though."

"I need you to try," the Captain pleaded. The Welshman tried but as much as he wanted to be able to remember, he couldn't. The pounding only got stronger as he tried to think back and he still couldn't tell what the conversation was about.

He gave a sigh before opening his eyes, "I'm sorry I can't remember." He was mad at himself for not being able to recall but he was more disappointed that he had let the handsome man down.

For some reason, he could not bring himself to look at the man's eyes. He half expected for the man to cast him aside for not being able to provide anything useful. What he did not expect was the Captain pulling him into a hug and placing a kiss on the top of his head. "No, you have nothing to be sorry about. You did brilliantly." The older man stated, confusing the ex-Timelord.

"I don't understand, sir," he said softly, causing the Captain to burst into laughter. "Stop laughing. I didn't help." He found himself even more confused than he was before. Was he always like this?

"On the contrary," the Captain said as he pulled away from him to make his way to some screen. He was amazed that the man in his mind was pulled onto the dark screen. "The man you're looking at is Captain Glenn Miller, but the question is, was this your man?"

"Yes!" He found himself yelling as he eagerly sat at the edge of the table. He felt stupid since for some reason he felt like he shouldn't have been so impressed with the screen and its image. It was as if he knew how to use it himself though he had no idea what it was really because a TV it wasn't.

"Well, that answers my question. I can't be exactly sure considering what you've told me, I think I know where you came from," the captain said as he turned to face him again. There was a giant smile on his face, as if he knew something that other man didn't. "You're probably from 1942 or '43 considering the fact that Glenn wasn't a Major until '44. It was also the year that he went missing. A shame too, he was a very talented man and knew just how to make you laugh. You have no idea how lucky you are for being from that era."

"Wait, you're talking like its up and gone!" the ex-Timelord panicked. He could feel his heart sink when the Captain didn't answer right away. Tears began to blur up his sight.

Jack mentally kicked himself. He had been so happy that he had found someone with whom he could share his favorite era with, he had forgotten that the same someone had just lost everything. "I'm sorry, it's in the past."

It was when the young man asked for the year that Jack felt there was a big lump in his throat. It was never easy to be the one to tell someone or something that they were no longer in their time, let alone their own planet. Jack swallowed as he quietly said, "2004." Then, he really hated himself as he watched tears start rolling down the man's face.

Jack looked at the man to see him struck with grief. "I'm so sorry," he whispered as he made his way towards the man, pulling him into an embrace. Jack held him in his arms, trying his best to soothe the man. "Everything will be alright," he whispered softly.

The Welshman didn't say anything. He just let the older man hold him, comforting him, soothing him. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours and when they had finally pulled away, the young man seemed more tired than he had before. Jack brushed his tears away, "Hey, come on, that's enough of that okay?" he said softly. "You're here, you're alright, and I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to keep you that way okay?"

All the Welshman could do was nod. He looked so young, younger than the twenty Owen had guessed earlier. He knew how the man felt. Out of place, lost, alone, and scared. "You're not alone in this, okay?" He whispered as he gave him a soft smile. "Believe me when I say I know how you feel. You see I'm far from home myself."

The Welshman let out a quivering breath as he nodded. They had remained quiet for a long while before the young man asked, "What happened to Miller?"

Jack gave a soft smile before saying, "Went missing on Dec. 16, 1944 on his way to Paris but not without leaving music to be remembered by."

"But you just said that kind of music isn't played often," The man questioned as he rubbed his eyes.

"Well not on the radio but there are still records and a band that still plays his music, 'Glenn Miller Orchestra'," Jack replied softly with a smile. He cupped the man's cheek softly as he gazed into his eyes. He could see fear in them. "Are you scared that you'll forget?"

The silence said it all. Jack got up and pulled the man to his feet. "Come with me," he ordered as he half carried the young man into his office. It seemed a bit of a mess with papers scattered everywhere. There were a lot of strange things, some which felt familiar to the once Timelord despite the fact he didn't know why. In the back, there was a phonograph with a myriad of records on the shelves beside it. Jack looked at the amazed look on the young man's face. "You can listen to these anytime you want so you can never forget."

Jack watched as the man walked over to the shelves looking over the names of familiar big bands. Jack had almost missed it but he was sure that he heard man say, "Thank you."

E/N: *These lyrics are from the original version of the song, hence the use of "flyer" rather than "plane".