Disclaimer: I don't own operate or have anything to do with the creators, publishers or distributors of Doctor Who other than being a rabid fangirl. This is a work of fiction based on existing characters and my own fantasy.


Chapter 2

One month later…

Captain Jack Harkness walked slowly up the steps in front of the building housing the Torchwood Institute in this parallel world' s London. He had spent the last few weeks learning the differences between this world and the one he had left. He was quite pleased to see that the differences were minor – zeppelins, industry running about 10 years ahead of the old Earth, peace in the Middle Eastern countries and conflict in the South American countries. It didn't take me very long at all to get acclimated, but then again, it usually doesn't. I just need to pass this hurdle and pass it in a way that it doesn't alert Rose or the Doctor. They still need time together. I just need to be in a place that I can do something productive. Thanks to the influence of Mickey, Rose, and Pete, this world's Torchwood is closer to mine than its original incarnation. This is good. I didn't look forward to revisiting the "All alien technology belongs to us to use as we see fit" doctrine. I much prefer the cautious approach of capture, study, and use only with extreme caution. I can blend in here and be useful.

Jack pushed open the glass doors and walked up to the receptionist. Giving his best smile he said, "I have an appointment with Pete Tyler. My name is Jack Harkness."

For the first time, as far back as he could remember, the receptionist didn't respond to his greeting with the usual casual sexually flirty response. Her cadence was clipped as she glanced up at him, typed his name into her computer and reached to hand him a small sticker badge embedded with a microchip. "Mr. Tyler is on floor 63, Suite 601. You must wear the badge at all times while in the building. This badge will only allow access to the route and suite you are visiting. Should you attempt to get off the elevator on a different floor, a force shield will automatically deploy preventing your leaving the elevator and security will be called immediately. Please be aware that the badge has now taken a microprint of the location where it has been applied. Should you attempt to remove it, alter it, or in any way tamper with it, it will release a bolt of electricity perfectly calibrated to your body to stun you to immobility. The only safe place to remove the badge is on this floor. As your route is pre-planned and you do not have access to employee areas, we have restrooms available to your left, if you need to use the facilities before your meeting. Do you have any questions?"

Ok, maybe this world is a bit more than 10 years ahead of the old Earth in the matter of technology. Out loud Jack replied, "I understand. Thank you."

"You are welcome. Mr. Tyler will see you now. Have a pleasant day." The smile she offered was polite and perfunctory never meeting her eyes.

Jack walked toward the elevators, which opened automatically as he approached. Once inside the button for the 63rd floor automatically lit up. Snazzy. It would have been nice to have this technology back home. I wonder which planet it came from.

The doors opened and a lighted path appeared on the floor in front of him guiding him toward Suite 601. As tempted as he was to test the security system in place, for once prudence got the better of him and he quietly followed the path laid out before him, while his eyes furiously scanned every wall, turn, and the placement of every door. The path stopped at the entrance to a corner office. Entering the room, Jack saw a young man manning the desk in the room, who was obviously Pete Tyler's personal assistant. His heart clenched as he approached the desk - flashbacks of naked bodies tangled together for hours, laughing conversations, and the last breath of the man before him escaping as Jack held him with tears running down his face. Those were a different time different place. He doesn't know me here. Locking the emotion away, Jack again offered his customary greeting and was at least a bit mollified to see that it still worked to some extent.

"Hello. I am Capt. Jack Harkness. I am here to see Pete Tyler."

"Ianto Jones. I am Mr. Tyler's personal assistant. If you will have a seat, I will let him know you are here."

"I'm not going to be stunned for sitting down, am I?" Jack tried to joke but it fell flat.

"You will be fine." Ianto pushed a button on his phone. "Mr. Tyler, Jack Harkness to see you… Mmmm-hmmm… Ok. Thank you, sir."

Turning to Jack with a smile, he said, "You may go in."

Ianto's smile cut deeply into Jack's heart even as he tried to ignore the pain. Still he was able to manage a small smile as he said, "Thank you."

Jack walked into an office bordered on two sides by walls of glass, which offered a stunning view of the city and the zeppelins lazily floating above it. The man sitting behind the desk Jack had never met before, but he could see hints of Rose in the shape of the eyes and the tilt of the chin. Pete Tyler was of average height, balding with close cropped blond hair, a ready smile, and piercing blue eyes that immediately let Jack know that the brilliant smile was a cover for a shrewd mind. Jack walked forward quickly and extended his hand.

Shaking it with a firm, but not hard grip, Pete gestured for Jack to have a seat in one of the two leather chairs across from his desk. He sat back into his own, sizing Jack up, before leaning forward again and steepling his fingers on the desk. "So, Mr. Harkness. Please tell me how a man, who does not exist, manages to find Torchwood and gets access to its director."

Something warned Jack that he would need to tell the absolute truth, or everything that he had taken a chance for would be lost and he would find himself alone in a dark cell for a very long time. Taking a deep breath Jack began his story. "I was a companion of your daughter and the Doctor on the parallel Earth. In the course of saving the world, Rose looked into the heart of the TARDIS and held the power of time, which she used to destroy the Daleks. In the process she also unintentionally made me immortal, though I do not know if she actually remembers that part." Jack continued discussing the events that led to his return to Earth and his founding of Torchwood Three and the shift in the doctrine that occurred after the battle of Canary Wharf. He also discussed the battle against Davros and the subsequent battle with the 456.

Pete listened intently to everything Jack told him, nano-technology in the air around the chair he Jack was sitting in effectively acted as a lie-detector, but Pete didn't need to see it to tell that Jack was telling the truth. He had heard much of this already from Rose and Jackie, though the 456 threat was new and one that he would note as a future potential threat. Finally, he stopped Jack and asked, "I appreciate your telling me all of this, but you haven't answered a particular question which needs to be discussed. You knew this world would be cut off from your Earth and you chose to strand yourself here. Why?"

"Because I couldn't stand being without them any longer," Jack said quietly. "After the 456, I started realizing how much I had lost. The Doctor, Rose, my team, my daughter and grandson, everyone that I cared about had moved on and I was lost. Then the Doctor appeared to me one last time and an idea formed. I suspected that Rose and Jackie would have been returned to this parallel world and that the hybrid Doctor would be with them. I crossed my own timeline and followed them. I know that I am immortal and they are not. I know that I could lose them again, but in my life, the happiest I have ever been is when Rose fell off a barrage balloon onto my spaceship, which brought both her and the Doctor into my life. They changed me. They shaped me from a con-artist into someone who cared about the world; cared about saving the world. I need them in a way I have never needed anyone else.' Jack paused for a moment then added quietly. "The thing is, I need them, but I know that right now, they need each other more. If I know anything about Rose, she is still grieving the loss of the Doctor in the TARDIS. She knows in her heart that the Doctor that remained behind is still a part of the other, but her head is probably reminding her that he is different… and without a TARDIS the differences will be little pinpricks of pain she will have to adjust to. For his part, the loss of the TARDIS will be even harder for him and Rose coming to grips with loving him will be tearing him apart. They will get through it; it will probably only take one little world crisis to do so. I can't imagine a universe where the Doctor and Rose aren't meant to be together."

Pete was stunned at how accurately Jack described the current tension between his daughter and the Doctor. If his gut hadn't already cleared Jack, it did now. He could also see the desperate need on Jack's face for both of his companions. Still, he steeled his expression and asked, "What do you want to do? Why did you come see me first?"

"I want to join Torchwood again. I can be pretty handy in a fight and I am familiar with a lot of alien tech. I just have one request. I would like to be stationed somewhere outside of London for now, and I don't want you to tell either Rose or the Doctor about my being here for the time being. They need to work out their dynamic without me interfering in it. Eventually, I will make my presence known, but for now I am asking for your silence on it."

"I think that is a fair re-"

"Pete! Pete darling… the nanny has said Tony is hiding in the zeppelin again and won't come out unless you get him," A middle aged blond with her hair pulled back into a ponytail quickly walked into the room, not even registering that her husband was talking to someone. "That's the third time this week. I am going to have to look into getting another one, because she obviously can't keep up."

"All right, Jacks," Pete said trying to hide a smile from the flustered woman in front of him. This Jackie Tyler had wiggled her way deeper into his heart than even his former wife. He loved everything about her spunkiness and her constant complaining, while she hid her huge heart from the world. They both had weathered their own rough patch when she first came to this world – Her Pete having died when Rose was a baby and his Jackie having been turned into a Cyberman. But they had gotten through it, which gave him hope that Rose and the Doctor would too. Turning to Jack, he said, "I am sorry but I will have to cut this interview short. Leave your contact info with Ianto and I will have someone send you the information on where you would be stationed. I am thinking Cardiff. Something tells me that you would be at home there."

Jackie finally realized that there was someone else in the room and turned to look at him, an apology forming on her lips. "I am so…. BLIMEY! Capt. Jack Harkness what on God's green earth are you doing in this parallel world? How did you get here? Does Rose know? Does the Doctor? I need to tell them!" She whipped out her cell phone and started pushing buttons.

With a quick glance of apology at Pete, Jack rushed to knock the phone out of Jackie's hand and covered her mouth with his hand. Jackie, unfazed, promptly bit him.

"Ow!"

"Serves you right. What did you go and do that for?"

"I am sorry Jackie, but I had to stop you from calling Rose. Neither she nor the Doctor knows I am here and I want to keep it that way for a while longer."

"Why?" the suspicion oozed out of Jackie's voice.

Jack sighed, "Because they need time to work out their relationship without me in the middle of it. I took advantage of my only opportunity to cross into this world but they aren't ready for me yet. It has been three years since I last saw all of you, where for you it has only been a month or so."

"Have you thought they might do better with you there, rather than hiding out?"

"No… and I won't. They love each other. In their hearts they know this it's just taking their damn brains a little longer to figure it out. I love them both more than they know, but if I step out of the shadows now, they will focus on me and how I got here, rather than focusing on each other. I don't want that."

"All right. I won't say anything for now." Jackie grumbled. "But you need to tell them soon. I still think having someone else who travelled with them and saw what they did would help them remember."

"Thank you Jackie." Jack's voice was sincere.

"C'mon Jacks, let's go get Tony." Pete's voice brought them back to the issue at hand. "Jack, I will plan on meeting you in Cardiff next week to introduce you to the team."

"Thank you Mr. Tyler. For Everything."

"Call me Pete. I have a feeling we are going to be working together quite a bit."

"Thank you, Pete."

The Tylers slipped out a side door, which Jack guessed led to the roof, while Jack stepped back out into the front office. Ianto was still at his desk, typing away at his computer. This time Jack noticed a wedding ring on Ianto's finger and on the corner of his desk, there was picture of Ianto, the woman Jack remembered as Lisa, and a young girl of maybe two or three with a wide smile and beautiful green eyes. Smiling he said, "Is this your daughter?"

The smile on Ianto's face widened as he replied. "Yes that's Suzie. She's three now, though in the picture she had just turned two. She is my pride and joy. She shares a nanny with young Tony Tyler, so I know what is happening. Don't worry; Pete will be able to talk his son off the zeppelin. It's almost a game for him now. He's obsessed with anything that flies."

"Sounds like his sister," Jack mumbled quietly, while Ianto shot him a questioning look but didn't say anything.

"I have your paperwork here, Capt. Harkness. If you want to fill it out and bring it back tomorrow, I will get everything squared away including your security clearances. The Cardiff building is small, but it does have sleeping quarters, which you are welcome to make use of or there is an apartment building nearby if you prefer your privacy. You are all set to start next Monday. Please report here in the morning and one of the senior staff will escort you over to the site and introduce you to the staff onsite."

"Please call me Jack," He smiled again at Ianto as he took the paperwork. "I look forward to getting to know all of you better."

"Welcome to Torchwood, Jack."