"So this old friend of yours," Amy said as they got settled on the plane. It was a rickety old thing-although it was technically new in this time period, Amy still thought of it as being old. She wasn't too sure whether or not it was stable, but Captain Jack seemed to trust it and Rory hadn't made any comments on it.
"Yes," Captain Jack said without having to hear the rest. "The Doctor sent me a message that you two would get sent here."
"What exactly did he say?" Rory asked. "Is he coming back?"
Jack didn't seem surprised by Rory's questions. He remembered wondering years ago whether or not the Doctor would come back. Jack, at the time, was quick to realize that he couldn't wait around for the man in the blue box forever... Well, at the time he didn't know he could. He could theoretically take a seat and wait for the Doctor to show up for years on end. Of course he wouldn't, being immortal didn't mean thinking irrationally. The Doctor never planned on seeing him again and Jack knew that. Jack also knew that Amy and Rory wouldn't get to see the Doctor again.
"The Doctor said to get you settled here. I don't think he's coming back, he probably can't," Captain Jack said.
Amy had already known that was the case. She knew that when she blinked. It was what had to happen, she was getting too old for an imaginary friend.
"What was the Doctor like when you knew him?" Amy asked. She wanted to imagine him happy, not how he was when she said goodbye.
"I knew two of his regenerations," Jack said. He smiled slightly as if he could see the Doctor's faces right then. Rory thought he saw something in Jack's expression similar to that of someone talking about a past love. "When I first met him he was travelling with Rose. He had short hair and big ears. He wore a leather jacket all the time. When we were in the middle of an adventure he was mostly serious, but when we all managed to make it out alive he was back to being goofy. Last time I met him he had a different face, his hair was longer. He wore a brown pinstriped suit and a long coat."
"He was wearing that when I met him. I have a picture of the three of us on my mobile from this morning," Amy said. She reached into the pocket of her coat and found her mobile phone. When she pulled up the picture she mentioned she showed it to Jack.
"He's gotten younger. At this rate he'll be fifteen next time he regenerates," Captain Jack said smiling at the picture. Amy turned the phone off and put it back in her pocket. She needed to save the battery in case she wanted to look at the pictures later on.
"Why aren't you still travelling with him?" Rory asked.
"I have Torchwood to look after," Jack said. His tone made it sound like that was all he would tell them. It reminded Rory of the Doctor and how he would only say what mattered in the moment. The Doctor never said anything to them about the other people he travelled with before them, just that there were other people.
"How did you meet the Doctor twice?" Amy asked.
"He left me behind but then I found him again later on. It's a little complicated, a lot happened," Jack said. Jack then told them the story of him meeting Rose Tyler and the Doctor. And then he told them about the planets in the sky and how the Doctor and a lot of his other companions helped him save the Earth.
The plane descended on the runway closest to Torchwood 3. It had taken them almost three times as long to get to Cardiff, or at least that's what Amy thought. The 1930s was going to be a big change from 2012.
When they finally arrived at the base, the Ponds were surprised by the slightly advanced equipment-most of which had to have been alien. Rory wondered whether or not Torchwood was like UNIT, but didn't ask. It wasn't important which organization the Doctor wanted them to go to, if the Doctor trusted Jack they could too.
Jack took them to a woman called Claudia-she was a short woman with short, dark brown hair. Jack told them that she would give them their new identities and then he acted as though he was going to leave.
"Where are you going?" Amy asked. She spoke with an air of authority as if she was in charge of Torchwood.
"Work," Jack answered. "Don't worry, I'll catch up with you two later."
Claudia was quick with her job making Amy and Rory wonder if she was informed ahead of time to make the identification records for them. It wouldn't be too shocking. The Doctor can travel in time and space, therefore he could have contacted Jack weeks in advance so that Jack could prepare for the arrival of the Ponds. The two waited patiently for Claudia to finish the final touches.
"You both are oddly quiet," Claudia said after a few minutes of silence. "People are usually going mad and asking all sorts of questions at this point. Where are you from anyway?"
"The year 2012," Rory said.
"And you've got no problem being stuck here?" Claudia said. She wasn't at all surprised by Rory's answer, after all she worked for Torchwood. Weirder stuff must have happened to them daily.
"We can't leave," Amy said.
"Sorry to hear that. You're lucky Jack found you," Claudia said.
"Where exactly is Jack from?" Amy asked. She was curious. He told them about when he met the Doctor, but what about before that? He definitely wasn't from this time period.
Claudia's smile disappeared. "You're asking the wrong person," she said.
"How could you not know? You work together."
Claudia handed them the finished forms and said, "Gabriel will give you both money and-"
"No one knows then? Or you can't say anything?" Amy interrupted.
"Jack never does. All I know is that he came here months ago and when our last boss transferred to Torchwood 2, he took over," Claudia said. "We don't know where he's from or who his family is because we don't need to. Blimey, we don't even know his address!"
The Ponds felt less sure of Jack. The Doctor trusted him so he must be a good person, right? Of course it was a bit odd that the Doctor never mentioned Jack and Jack was keeping his own past to himself.
Claudia escorted them to Gabriel and they got their money so they could start a new life. They were also given a flat to live in. It was a lot to take in. This wouldn't be a short trip to the 1930s with the Doctor. It was still hard to believe that they would never see him again.
"Ready to go to your new home?" Jack asked them.
Amy stood up from the couch she and Rory were sitting on outside the main room of Torchwood 3; Rory decided to stand up as well. Amy demanded, "Who are you?"
Jack smiled at her, "So you've been asking about me. I told you, I'm an ex-Time Agent. Now I'm the leader of Torchwood 3."
Amy didn't understand what the Doctor would have found so fascinating about Captain Jack Harkness. The Doctor asked her to travel with him because of the crack in her wall and her life didn't make any sense. She wasn't sure what made Rose Tyler or Martha Jones or Donna Noble or Jack Harkness special. Neither Jack nor the Doctor wanted to tell the Ponds about any of the other companions.
"Why did you travel with the Doctor? What made you special?" Amy asked crossing her arms over her chest.
"The Doctor is my friend," Jack said. He looked somewhat confused and slightly offended by her question. The Doctor Jack knew didn't choose his companions based on how important they were.
"How come he never mentioned you or Rose or Donna or Martha?" Amy asked.
Jack's vortex manipulator beeped and he ignored it. All he wanted was to take care of the Ponds and then go to the space bar and try to forget what happened to his last Torchwood team. It was starting to become a common theme in his life. He only joined this Torchwood 3 because the Doctor wanted him to help the Ponds in this time. Jack wasn't planning on staying in the 1930s for long. He really only needed to be there long enough to gain ownership so he could help the Doctor's lost companions as best as he possibly could and now that was almost over.
"Not here," Jack said.
The Ponds followed him to his office. Jack was quick to close the door and blinds behind them. He didn't need for anyone else to overhear what he was about to tell them. Amy and Rory took a seat on the couch across from the desk. The office didn't seem to match Jack at all, probably because he only just took over Torchwood 3. Jack sat down at the desk and began to speak.
"When I met the Doctor the second time it was because I hitched a ride on the TARDIS as they were dematerializing," he said. "If either of you were to do that, you'd die."
"But you didn't," Rory said. His expression had changed from one of curiosity to one of confusion. If Jack wasn't a Time Lord, then how would he have cheated death?
"Did the TARDIS protect you?" Amy asked.
"No, she actually tried to shake me off while going through the time vortex," Jack said, a hint of a smile on his face. He continued, "The trip did kill me."
They stared at him with blank faces.
"I'm a fixed point in time. I can't die."
"He doesn't talk about you because it was his fault," Amy said.
"He doesn't talk about me because to him there's something wrong about me. And he probably doesn't mention Rose, Martha, or Donna because he misses them," Jack said.
"Whoever he travels with next... He won't talk about us," Amy said sounding sad and looking down, fixing her eyes on a random floorboard. It was definitely going to hurt her. Even if she didn't get to see him again, even if she would never know for sure whether or not he mentioned them. She hoped it wasn't true, but it most likely was. Perhaps the next companion would see only pictures of them, like Amy had of those before her. Just pictures, if anything. No stories... Even though it had been a good one.
"I'm sorry," Jack said.
Rory took her hand in his. He wanted to remind her that she wasn't alone in this but she wasn't paying any attention.
"So we just move on? Find jobs and leave it all behind?" Rory said.
Amy looked up immediately. "Can we work here?"
"You want to work for Torchwood?" Jack asked. He understood how it would be difficult for them to adjust to the normal world. A world where they wouldn't be dragged into any alien invasions. After seeing all of time and space it was difficult to go back to the mundane world. Jack hadn't (although he was already a time traveler) and neither had Rose. Torchwood was actually a pretty good place for former companions.
"It doesn't have to become our lives, we can do other things as well," Amy said.
"I don't know if the Doctor would want-" Jack began.
"The Doctor isn't here! And he's not coming back," Amy interrupted.
"Fair enough," Jack sighed. "You can work here. Just keep in mind I won't be here very long."
"You're leaving? Who'll take over?" Rory asked.
"I don't know yet. I just know I am not staying here any longer than I have to."
Amy asked, "Where will you go? Back to America?"
"When you need to know you'll know. Now, I think it's about time you two go settle in," Jack said.
And just as quick as Amy and Rory had accepted and begun to trust Jack, it was put on pause. He was the closest person they had to the Doctor and just like the Doctor he was keeping secrets from them. Except Jack wasn't the Doctor. Jack hadn't seen the Doctor in a long time. He could have changed, he might not be the same man that the Doctor had traveled with all those years ago. Could they really trust Jack?
