Author's Note: I'm not a cat person. I don't hate 'em, but I've always been more of a dog person. My brother and sister-in-law have a cat, as does my best friend, so what I know of cat behavior comes from that. In fact, it was from my brother's cat that this story comes. Back in July, a few weeks before my youngest niece's sixth birthday, we visited their family and their cat took up residence on my lap. He swatted at the neckline of my shirt, and for some reason, I thought of Jack. Next thing I know, I have images of Jack in a cat's body, sauntering into the med-bay and meowing cheerfully at Owen, who talks to him as if he was still a human. Of course, at that point, I had to write the story.
Chapter One
Still Extraordinary
Nearly a year earlier, William Lennox's life was turned upside down, just days from his return to the States and his family: his beautiful, amazing wife Sarah and his newborn daughter Annabelle. The SOCCENT base was attacked and destroyed by a giant alien robot masquerading as a helicopter and then the few survivors of that attack were pursued by a somewhat smaller robot in the form of a scorpion. By the end of that week, he'd encountered more of those alien beings. . .the Autobots, now his allies, and the Decepticons, who tried to kill him on multiple occasions. Now, less than a year later, 'strange and bizarre' were normal for Will. However, this was just a little weirder than normal.
The director of Torchwood America, Captain Jack Harkness, was currently curled up in his wife's lap, tail twitching. Will shook his head, trying very hard to fight off a headache. Jack was turned into a cat. How he was turned into a cat and why he was turned into a cat. . .well, not even Jack's team could figure that out yet. A rather shell-shocked Lacey was steered into Tosh's usual chair, still cradling the cat (Jack) against her chest protectively. Not that the cat (Jack) seemed to mind. . .he/it was purring quite happily, bumping his/its head against Lacey's cheek as her free hand stroked him/it. And poor Rhys was just staring first at the long coat and clothes folded neatly in a pile on Tosh's desk and then at the cat (Jack). Will's lips twitched, ever so slightly. It was a helluva introduction to Torchwood. Jack was enough of a character on his own, but given this little situation, and it was no wonder Rhys was wop-jawed.
The two remaining male members of Torchwood America, Dr. Owen Harper and Ianto Jones, joined them when they heard Jack's scream and arrived in time to see Lacey pick up the cat (Jack). Owen initially balked at examining this furry version of his boss, pointing out that he was a doctor, not a veterinarian. However, Suzie pointed out that he did have samples of Jack's blood on file. . .he could take another sample and see what he could find out. Owen grumped about that a bit, until Lacey hit him with one of her Looks. He swallowed any additional complaints and very carefully, very gently took blood from the cat while Lacey soothed the decidedly-unhappy feline.
For his own part, Ianto Jones tracked down a bowl in the HUB kitchen as well as milk, which was lapped up hungrily. And staying true to form, Jack found a way to flirt, even in a cat's body: licking at Ianto's fingers while the young man poured the milk. The newest member of Torchwood America offered a half-smile, gently chastising, "That's harassment, sir." The cat simply meowed up at him cheerfully, drawing a laugh from other humans, before turning his/its attention to the milk. Will was no expert on cats, but it figured that a man as attractive as Jack Harkness was a beautiful feline. Although, Will thought, maybe 'striking' is a better term: as a cat, Jack was a black Siamese cat with blue eyes and a white throat and white paws.
It seemed that caring for the human-turned-feline was the priority in the first few hours after the metamorphosis, but as Owen ran his tests and Jack snuggled against his wife's chest, Lacey roused herself and said softly, "We still have work to do. Suzie and Tosh, I need the two of you to start working on that thing. Run tests, just don't touch it. . .or, touch it as little as possible. Ianto, can you start checking the database I set up a few years ago, see if something similar came through the Rift in the past? Will, is Rhys staying here?" The major looked from the hollow-eyed young woman to the new recruit, who was staring at Lacey in absolute shock. He shrugged. Well, this was his cross-training period. . .and really, while it was a bizarre situation, Will figured there were worse situations Rhys could have walked into.
"Yeah. . .yeah, I will. Rhys, don't worry, I doubt if Lacey will have you doing anything crazy. Uh, Lacey, who is taking care of Corey while you're here?" Will asked, gently leading Rhys off to one side. When Jack was changed into a cat, Will left the orientation papers to keep Lacey from running to her husband. . .which really wasn't like her. Usually, she knew better than that. Then again, how often had her husband been changed into something else entirely? In any event, he had paperwork for Rhys and it would give him a chance to talk to the still-stunned newbie.
"She's staying with Mom and Dad. I'm sorry, Suzie, I know you're second in command," Lacey apologized, switching her attention to Suzie, who began nudging Tosh toward the (new) experimentation room. Jack chose the former experimentation room, where Will saw a Nokia phone come to life (literally), as his office. Personally, Will would have chosen the observation room as his office, but Jack didn't have the memories of that awful day that Will did (on the other hand, he had awful memories of his own).
"Don't you apologize. . .you're second in command when it comes to administration, and I'm second in command when it comes to the field. Jack knows I suck at administration and diplomacy, too. You take care of Jack, and we'll see what we can do about getting him back to his usual charming self. Ianto, there's a flash drive in my desk. . .I'll log you in and you can start looking over the database she means. Set up the filter to 'transformation' or 'metamorphosis.' C'mon, Tosh, we've got our marching orders," Suzie instructed. Tosh nodded, carefully carrying the artifact to the former control room. Suzie scratched the cat under the chin and behind his ears, saying, "And as for you, be good. . .well, as good as you're capable of being. . .and take care of Lacey." She was rewarded with a swipe of a rough tongue and a sleepy 'meow.' Suzie grinned and kissed the top of Lacey's head, before joining Ianto at her workstation to set him up at her computer.
Leaving Lacey to care for her husband, Will led Rhys away, murmuring, "Here are the orientation papers you need to look over during a quiet moment, if you have any. I know this is a weirder than normal situation. . .just do what Lacey asks of you, and you'll be fine. Suzie was right. . .she's the field second in command, but if Jack isn't available and Lacey's on the premises, she handles the administrative work and interaction with other agencies aside from us. She's the granddaughter of a diplomat, so it runs in her blood. Since Ianto is working the database, it's likely that Lacey will have you taking over his usual duties, at least until Jack is himself again." Rhys nodded, looking a bit relieved. Will called over to Lacey, "You need me for anything, Lace, and I do mean anything. . .you have Rhys call me!" Lacey looked up from where she was softly talking to Jack, and nodded. Will murmured, "Take care of her." Rhys bobbed his head and Will took his leave of the still-stunned Torchwood team.
TWTWTWTWTW
Take care of her. That was the last thing Major Lennox said before he left the Torchwood America base (abandoned him to these nutters). Well, if there was one thing Rhys Williams was good at, aside from driving lorries, it was taking care of people. Even if they didn't need him to cook or make dinner, he could still take care of people. . .especially the brunette now cuddling her husband in cat form. For the moment, he chose to leave Lacey Harkness alone, though he kept an eye on her, and instead focused on what Major Lennox told him. Once, this cavernous room held the leader of the Decepticons, Megatron, and now, it held the workstations of the Torchwood team. Jack Harkness turned the former observation room into the conference room. Why he turned the former experimentation room into his office, Major Lennox really couldn't say. . .just that Jack tended to have very specific reasons for the actions he took. Do not, the major warned when they left NEST's temporary base for Hoover Dam, make the mistake of underestimating Captain Jack Harkness. He is funny and charming and attractive, yes. . .but he's also far more dangerous than he seems.
Rhys had an eerie feeling that was true even now, when the captain was turned into a cat. Right now, he was purring in his wife's lap (and Lord, that was a weird thing to think) while she gently stroked his back and neck. Rhys asked softly as he approached her, "Is there anything I can do for you? Get you some coffee or coke or tea, maybe lunch?" She offered him a tired smile and shook her head, so Rhys pulled up a chair to sit opposite her. He asked, still speaking softly, although he wasn't sure why he was using such a low tone, "I take it that this is strange, even for Torchwood?" That provoked a small smile.
"Yes, this is strange even by our standards," she answered, tilting her head slightly to one side. She murmured, "I think he's fallen asleep. It stands to reason, I suppose. . .being changed from a human being to a cat would be exhausting." She looked up at Rhys, eyes bright with unshed tears, adding, "That was really stupid of me, I know. . .trying to go to his side during the transformation, but all I could see was how rigid his body and I heard how much pain he was in. It was really stupid of me, something even worse could have happened if I got in the way. . .I just stopped thinking." Rhys leaned forward and rested his hand on her knee, trying to comfort or reassure her, even though he felt hopelessly out of his depth.
"Just be grateful that Major Lennox was there to stop you, yeah?" he suggested gently and she nodded, blinking back those unshed tears. What else could he say? She wasn't thinking clearly when she lunged for her husband? Well, no, but even with his recent training, Rhys couldn't say that he would have done things any differently. He didn't think that was the best thing to tell her, though. Rhys went on, "So, you've been married a while, have a child?" Again, she nodded, only this time with a smile. There, that was better. Rhys asked, "Why don't you tell me about her? I know that her name is 'Corey,' Major Lennox told me that much on the way over. . .and you already told me a little about her while we were walking about the base."
"Uhm. . .well, her full name is 'Corinna Rose,' and she just turned five. We named her after my mother and a friend of Jack's. She, ah, I mean Jack's friend. . .she died recently. Never had a chance to see her little namesake. Jack swears up and down that she looks like me and has my temperament. I agree on her temperament, but I think she looks more like Jack, and thank God for that. She's got his eyes and his smile. Our Corey-girl is gonna be dangerous when she grows up," Lacey replied with a soft smile. Rhys smiled back. She continued after a moment, "As to your first question, Jack and I have been married for a little over nine years, after a year-long courtship and engagement. We've never done things exactly in an orthodox manner. He proposed to me while I was still in the hospital, shortly after my college graduation." In hospital? Lacey shrugged a little, explaining, "I was caught in an explosion. Kind of a long story, but apparently, I scared the ever-loving hell out of Jack. He was sitting beside my bed when I woke up. . .well, the first time, he was asleep. It seems that he dozed off while waiting for me to wake up." She ducked her head, gently kissing the slumbering cat's head.
"He loves you very much," Rhys observed silently and she smiled at him, before rubbing her cheek against the soft fur again. He bit his lip, wondering if he should say anything at all, and then chose to switch his attention to something else, something not as emotionally charged. He didn't want to make the poor woman feel any worse (though in truth, he wasn't sure if that was possible at this point). And so, he said, "So, how long have you been involved in Torchwood? I'm guessing that you're an unofficial second in command, based on what Suzie mentioned?"
She actually laughed at that, replying, "A lot of what I've done for Torchwood is unofficial, Rhys! And really, I've been involved with Torchwood since shortly after Jack and I were married. We were stationed in Cardiff at the time, and I couldn't find a job so I pestered Alex, the director of Torchwood Three, into giving me something to do. Oh, did Jack and I argue over that! But, in the end, I think it worked out well. I never left the conference room or Alex's office unless it was safe. . .safe being a relative term when you're involved with Torchwood, however peripherally. When the others died at the end of 1999, I helped Jack put the pieces back together." Cardiff. She lived in Cardiff for a time. Then something else occurred to Rhys. This was just before those gits from London took over.
However, he chose not to ask about that, choosing instead to observe, "So, you two lived in Cardiff for a time. . .imagine, we might have crossed paths during that time period." Lacey's smile told him that she was thinking along the same lines and Rhys said softly, "Well, I'm glad to meet you now. The last thing that Major Lennox told me to do was to take care of you. He's my commanding officer, and I don't mean to let him down. So you let me do my job, yeah?" That made her smile brighten a little and she nodded.
"Yeah. Uhm. . .I guess the only thing we need to do is make sure that you and Ianto don't get in each other's way. Right now, he's helping the girls, but usually, Ianto does the taking care of. You gotta be sneaky with him. . .I don't think he knows how to let people take care of him. Scratch that, I'm almost positive that he doesn't know how," Lacey explained. She didn't tell him how she was so sure of that, but Rhys decided to take her word for it. She went on after a minute, "Suzie and Tosh. . .really, they get really caught up in their work, so it's harder to take care of them. I know, Will told you to take care of me. . .my job is to take care of them."
"Then we'll split the difference. You take care of them and Captain Harkness there, and I'll take care of you. You like lasagna?" Rhys asked and Lacey's answering smile could have lit up McCarren by night. Rhys beamed at her, replying, "Well, that's settled! You haven't eaten yet, have you? No, didn't think so. Point me in the direction of your kitchen, and I'm assumin' you have one. . ." She bobbed her head and rose to her feet a bit unsteadily. Rhys reached out to grasp her elbow, to steady her, and the motion woke the sleeping cat. Both Rhys and Lacey laughed at the rather disgusted expression that resulted and Rhys pointed out, "Go back to sleep, Captain, I'll see to your lady."
"Mrow!" was the rather determined response, and Rhys would swear that the translation would have been something along, 'you damn well better!' And then, the cat settled back against Lacey's chest, returning to sleep almost immediately. Rhys blinked in astonishment, and Lacey snickered, whispering, 'Welcome to Torchwood!' Yeah. He was starting to get the picture now. And he hadn't even been here an hour!
TWTWTWTWTWTW
From the moment he noticed a girl hanging from a barrage balloon while running a con in 1941, the former Time Agent who took the name of Jack Harkness found his topsy-turvy world thrown into even more disarray. Because of that meeting, he began remembering an impish, playful, innocent little boy who grew up on the Boeshane Peninsula with his parents and little brother, began remembering the little boy he was once and took his first steps back toward becoming the man whom his father wanted him to be. Before their home was invaded, before his father was killed, before Jack failed his father and his brother, before his innocence was shattered.
He didn't always act like that man. Sometimes, it was a matter of survival; sometimes, he simply didn't have the energy to give a damn; and still other times, it seemed at the time like the right thing to do. His father-in-law lived his life by something he learned in the military. Go with what you know at the time. It may be wrong five minutes later, when new information came to light, John Keller told him, but it was right at the time you made the decision. He didn't claim that it never steered him wrong, but he also didn't stand there and dither when a decision had to be made. It sounded suspiciously like Rinna's long-dead grandfather, who always told her and her brothers while they were growing up, 'do something, even if it's wrong.'
This situation definitely fell into that category. He was a cat. Thanks to a device which Three sent to them (Jack had to wonder how many of Three's people were turned into animals and what they were turned into), Jack was turned into a cat. It hurt like hell, changing form and downsizing. And his wife was partially right. . .the transformation from human to cat was exhausting. What was far more exhausting, and the reason he was sleeping so much (aside from the fact that his Lacey was so warm and comfortable), was because he retained an awareness of himself as a human being (including what he heard), even though he was now in the body of a cat. . .and his brain was currently the size of a cat's brain. That made thinking real interesting. And he hadn't even gotten to the fun part of being this size. . .like being in a better position to look down his wife's blouse or shirt or whatever she was wearing today.
Curiously, or maybe not so curiously, he held no rancor toward Rhys Williams. It would have happened regardless of whom held it, once whatever button was pushed on it. . .but if one of the girls were holding the device, rather than Williams, things might have gotten a whole lot uglier. Jack was reasonably sure that he would survive the return to his own form. Considering he used up one of the cat's nine lives when that thing hit him, it was highly unlikely that any of the others would have survived the initial change, much less the return to human form. He was also grateful, beyond words, to his wife for picking him up and keeping him in her lap. Myfanwy had yet to make her appearance, and he really didn't want to end up as a Myfanwy-snack. Besides, it was an interesting perspective, seeing the world from the sanctuary of his wife's lap.
He lost his train of thought for a while, as Lacey's gentle stroking sent him to sleep. Jack was vaguely aware of Lacey and Rhys talking, though he couldn't quite make out what they were saying, and it really wasn't important anyhow. Although, how his spine was now aligned with Lacey's forearm was a matter of some confusion for him. However, he wouldn't argue. . .not that he could. . .when his new position was even more comfortable. It also left him in a better position to swat at his wife's neckline as she settled into a seat in the new kitchen. Lacey laughed and rubbed her nose against his, gently chastising, "None of that, now, Jack. Not into bestiality, you know that." He mrrowed at her, drawing another laugh from both her and Rhys.
Something was said about Will wanting Rhys to watch over Lacey. . .which, to Jack, was a good idea. She was busy taking care of Ianto, Owen, Tosh and Suzie (as well as Jack and Corey on normal days), so it was only right that someone take care of her. Jack normally took care of her, but that wasn't possible right now, so Rhys it was. When Jack assumed his correct form once more, he would figure out a way to thank the newcomer. A way that didn't involved kissing or 'dancing,' though he couldn't make any promises about flirting. Fortunately, he was married to an extremely understanding woman.
Lacey was worried about Ianto. Jack wasn't entirely sure where that came from, but it was true. She gently suggested to him several times since their arrival in Nevada that it might not be a bad idea to talk to a psychiatrist about what he survived at Canary Wharf. She believed the youngster was dealing with a case of post-traumatic stress disorder, and her father agreed. However, Ianto insisted he was fine, and after every conversation along those lines, he melted into the shadows a little more. Lacey stopped making those suggestions when she noticed the same thing, but Jack saw the worry in her eyes when she looked at the young man. She couldn't force him into seeing a psychiatrist (and Jack suggested speaking to the NEST psychiatrist after Ianto pointed out that he couldn't speak to a civilian or non-Torchwood individual), but she would watch over him to the best of her ability. Jack told him on more than one occasion that if something was wrong or Ianto had an issue, his door was always open. But Ianto simply smiled and reassured him that everything was fine, and usually, that was right before everything went to hell. That was one thing about Torchwood. . .timing was everything.
He lost track again, and Jack was uncertain if he fell asleep or if his cat-brain overheated and he fell asleep (yes, there was a difference, thank you very much). The next time his human-brain came online, he was in his office, still cradled in Lacey's arms, and there was the strong smell of lasagna in the air. Oh. That was nice. She was getting something to eat, and she was in his office, where she knew he was comfortable. He knew that Lacey wasn't comfortable in his office, even though she didn't know what happened here. She didn't know about the Autobots (aside from what he told her after they saw the battle with Scorponok in Qatar), and only knew that NEST was a new ally to Torchwood America. She didn't question him on that, just said that it stood to reason. . .Torchwood had an uneasy rival/ally in UNIT, it was only right that NEST, whatever they did, were an ally.
John asked him not to tell Lacey the full story about the Autobots, fearing for her safety if she knew everything (or even most of the story). He agreed to keep quiet, for now. But the moment her safety was jeopardized by her ignorance of the situation, Jack would tell her. John agreed, looking more than a little relieved, and informed him that he requested an Autobot guardian for Lacey. As the daughter of the Secretary of Defense (who had a part in the destruction of a Decepticon), it was possible and even likely that Lacey would become a target for Decepticons. This was the rationale for his request, and it was why Optimus agreed. Besides, it was something the giant alien and Jack already discussed. When Lacey's guardian arrived on earth (whomever he was), then it would be time to tell her the truth about NEST.
For now, Jack snuggled against his wife's chest, playfully bumping his head against her cheek when he was awake. The next time he was awake, he would consider the best way to get himself turned back into a human. But that would wait. Right now. . .
TBC
