Time Knots- Chapter Two

This was originally written all in one chunk so there's a little bit of jiggering around where the chapters end and begin. My apologies.

Thanks to Aqua Mage, Batman'sBeauty18, Village-Mystic, Anna, friends-girl2008, TV-crazy and Nargil for this chapter. Reviews make me post. FYI, Jack and young Jack will NOT be making out in this story because I would get way too confused with the pronouns. Feel free to imagine it vividly though.

'It's OK. You don't remember this, do you? Must mean it's going to get wiped from my head. So we're free to talk.' Jack's younger self spoke with fluent ease, and Jack could clearly see all the little shifts of posture that said 'I'm harmless, I'm charming, you want me.' He really hoped his own signals had become a little more subtle than that with age.

'Talk about what?' he asked suspiciously. Abruptly, Jack's mind shunted aside its surface considerations to present a bit of information that had been jumping up and down trying to get attention. 'You're the missing two years!' choked out Jack, shocked by the wrenching in his gut. This was the event that had caused so much upheaval in his life?

The kid raised his eyebrows but didn't comment. He was a cool operator at least.

'Should we perhaps take this inside the hub?' suggested Ianto. The semi identical men surrounded by a small crowd of armed people were drawing the odd stare.

Still frantically running through the ramifications in his head, Jack nodded dumbly. He lead the way back inside with a curt order for his younger self to stay at the rear of the group. He wasn't going to risk touching the kid.

Once downstairs they fell automatically into an arrangement that left Jack and his younger self in the centre. Jack was bemused by the likeness it held to a stage show. He could practically feel his team cracking out the popcorn.

'Name?' he demanded of his younger self.

'What, you don't know?' His tone was almost taunting but his grin made it harmless.

'As you've pointed out, I don't remember this,' Jack half growled. He didn't mean his harsh tone. It was refreshing to be reminded of a time of such ambition and relative innocence.

'Dexter,' said the kid with a quirk of his lips.

'Seriously?' groaned Jack.

'I cannot believe you were ever called Dexter,' Owen muttered under his breath.

Dexter turned to look at the origin of the voice, taking a second to scan the rest of Jack's team. After a moment, he turned back to Jack and cocked an eyebrow. 'At least my sense of aesthetics hasn't clouded with extreme old age.'

That got collective groans from the aesthetically pleasing people in question. Jack ignored them and narrowed his eyes. 'You know something,' he said, studying Dexter minutely.

Abruptly the joking smile dropped from the younger man's face. 'I know lots of things I'd rather I didn't,' he sighed seriously.

'Why are you here?' asked Jack, getting to the root of the issue.

'I need your help. Or more accurately, you need your help.'

Jack cocked his head on one side, considering. After a moment, it all seemed to click. 'You ran into an older version of me,' he stated.

'Yup,' agreed Dexter easily. 'And he's a mess. I tried, but as soon as I say anything, he's all with the "you don't understand".'

'So what makes you think I'll have any more success?' asked Jack with a frown. He couldn't help a brief glance at Ianto who was watching the scene with blank attention.

'Because you're post immortality but pre extreme-disillusionment-with-the-universe,' Dexter told him bluntly.

Jack just stared at him for a moment. The first thing that sprung to his mind was "the Doctor would be better for this." This younger version of himself didn't know the Doctor though. And if he was honest with himself, the Doctor wouldn't help at all. He wouldn't be so foolish as to try and quickstep around such a minefield of paradoxes.

'Look, you can borrow my wrist computer if you want. He mentioned yours is broken.' Dexter was already unstrapping the technology on his arm.

'Don't be so ready to take that thing off kid,' warned Jack. 'You don't want to get stuck without it.'

Dexter paused in his actions to raise a dubious eyebrow at Jack. 'You know I'm not going to remember any of this right? And even if I did, I would ignore any advice you gave as a matter of principle?'

'I know,' sighed Jack. 'It's just instinctual.'

'Get it out of your system,' advised Dexter confidentially, going back to unbuckling his wrist computer.

'Don't go rescuing girls from barrage balloons. Always check your bed before you get in it. Definitely stay well away from giant pepper pots.' Jack let out a quick stream of all the things he could think of.

'Better?' asked Dexter, holding out the wrist computer.

'Much,' replied Jack cheerfully, carefully taking the proffered item, making sure they didn't touch. The leather was newer and stiffer under his fingers. He let out a small huff of air through his nose. Memories were wandering back to him. He'd been so proud when he'd finally earned the right to wear that wrist computer.

'He's not far from here,' Dexter informed him. 'Distance-wise that is. New Galactica, 7128. It's pretty much Cardiff if you account for continental drift.'

Jack couldn't help a wry smile at that.

'One moment,' butted in Owen, frowning at the scene before him. Both Jacks turned to look at him with identical questioning expressions. 'Could we have some proof that he isn't a fake?' queried Owen.

'I'd have to agree there,' joined Ianto. 'He could be an imitator just trying to get you away from the rift so he can end the world. As people inevitably seem to attempt.'

'He has a point,' agreed Dexter with a thoughtful twist to his lips.

Jack rolled his eyes. 'No. He just wants to hear about embarrassing past secrets.'

'Well those are good too,' replied Dexter with an insalubrious grin. 'Like that time when-'

Jack managed to cut him off with a very severe frown. 'I know you're me. It would be pretty hard to fake.' Owen managed to only look a little crestfallen. Jack flipped the wrist computer open and blinked at the controls. It had been a long time since he'd used a wrist comp for time travel without a Time Lord pointing a sonic screwdriver at it.

'You better have given this its maintenance,' he warned Dexter.

'Relax. It's only 72 centuries. Even I could hit the right minute from here.'

'Even you, huh?' asked Jack wryly. He was punching in coordinates as he did. 'Where is he specifically?'

'In the calligraphy dome. He just lies there watching the 'scape and starving to death over and over again.' An edge of worry laced Dexter's voice as he talked about his older self.

Jack met his eyes and nodded. 'I'll see what I can do,' he promised. A deep breath, and he pressed down hard with both thumbs on the engage button. They all watched as Jack was abruptly sucked into the vortex and disappeared.

Dexter held position for several seconds before his attention was grabbed by his surrounds. 'Cool secret base,' he complimented them cheerfully.

'Jack better get back safely,' Gwen informed him curtly. Her sentiment was echoed in the expressions of the other three.

Dexter raised both eyebrows in mild surprise. 'What could possibly happen to him?' he pointed out. 'He can't die, and he's going to live a very long time. Even if he gets stuck, he'll get back here eventually.'

'How long is he going to live?' asked Tosh with a curious frown.

Dexter shrugged. 'I haven't found the end.' He paused, rubbing his chin. 'That's a little depressing actually.'

'Here wasn't the first version of yourself you came to find, was it,' Ianto stated more than asked.

That got a small grimace. 'Not so much, no. It's like "This is Your Life" when you haven't lived it yet. You got any coffee around here?'

'Are you old enough to drink coffee?' retorted Owen.

That earned the medic a look that clearly hadn't changed in Jack's long lifetime. 'Get to know me a bit better and you can find out,' he suggested with an insalubrious wink.

'Where does 'Dexter' come from?' asked Tosh, politely attempting to reroute the conversation.

'Short for dexterous,' Dexter informed her, tip of his tongue showing through his evil grin. Ianto found he was watching him very closely, an unreadable expression on the Welshman's face masking decidedly interesting thoughts. The others managed similar expressions, although theirs were more genuinely flat.

'Aw, c'mon. Jack wouldn't have to know,' Dexter appealed to them, his expression leaving no doubt to what he was suggesting. At Owen's unimpressed glare, Dexter shrugged cheerfully and headed past the four of them, aiming unerringly for Jack's office. The Torchwood team exchanged meaningful glances and followed. They didn't necessarily trust this man, even if he was going to be their boss one day.

TBC.