Jack rose though the layers of consciousness as daylight crept in around his dreams. He reached for Ianto but he was alone in the bed. He lay there looking up at the ceiling as he tried to remember which was the dream, Ianto dying in his arms or Ianto alive in a reality where they had never met. He heard a throat clearing and looked over, still expecting to see Ianto.
'Well at least you're wearing pants.'
'Coffee.'
'In the bathroom, you can thank me later, preferably after a shower.'
Jack followed the smell of coffee to his bathroom where true to her word was a take away coffee cup. He looked at Undine who leaned casually against the door frame. 'I thought you were invisible and couldn't touch things.'
'I might have mentioned that I can't interact with most things, not all, just most. And there are always exceptions.'
He picked the cup up, it was still hot and although he didn't recognise the logo when that first sip of coffee exploded over his taste buds he nearly wept. 'I haven't had coffee this good in ten years.' Jack wondered what else she wasn't telling him. If she didn't want to let him know how she had managed to procure coffee that tasted like Ianto's then so be it. He all but inhaled the coffee and was examining the logo on the cup. 'The Hub?'
She nodded. 'It's incredibly popular, people drive all over Cardiff for coffee from The Hub.'
'The Hub?'
Undine gave him a Mona Lisa smile and said nothing, Jack decided it was too early for puzzles and he had a hangover so he didn't care. If he couldn't shoot it or shag it it was too much effort to think about. A hot shower would help, and it hadn't been a complete surprise to find clothes in the wardrobe. He emerged in record time, clean shaven and dressed to face the world. Dark blue shirt, braces, trousers and his trade mark coat, his armour to see what lay outside the front door. He started patting down his pockets.
'What are you doing?'
Jack pulled a cellphone out and pretended to answer it. 'What, this way I can talk to you and they,' he indicated the people on the footpath around them. 'Won't think I'm mental.'
'You are in nineteen forties period dress, and you are worried about people seeing you talk to yourself.' However she couldn't really fault his wisdom. 'And what happens if anyone does ring you?'
'Who has this number?'
'Oh.'
They walked along the street and Jack found himself comparing his Cardiff to this one, by and large it was the same place. Until they stood outside a little curiosity shop Jack did not recognise. He could see some real treasures amongst the junk in the window. Jack found himself grinning. 'Now this I know. I even remember when most of this stuff was new.' He looked at Undine, his cellphone still held to his ear. 'There is a for sale sign in the window, what do you think?'
She smiled. 'Make him an offer.'
'As my financial advisor, do I have the money?'
She smiled. 'Money is just another form of energy Jack.'
'Is that a yes?'
She nodded.
Jack tucked his phone back in his pocket and entered the shop, the bell dinged as the door closed behind him and Undine. The shop was filled with curiosities, junk and a few genuine antiques and even had a wall of books. It was just like any one of a number of shops he had been taken to by Ianto when he was in a crockery phase. If there was any business in Cardiff, other than a gentleman's tailor, guaranteed to get Ianto's attention, it was this. And since he had lived though the last hundred or so years, he knew what was junk, what was treasure and what was just plain ugly.
Two days later Jack was the proud owner of a curiosity shop that came with a flat upstairs, which meant he was moving house.
He unpacked the last box and muttered darkly under his breath about hating moving. The word flat however was a bit of a misnomer, it was actually a three bedroom house above the shop. The previous owner, Clive had even left him some of his furniture. He had fallen in love at the young age of sixty three and was taking his new bride on a world cruise, before they moved to her cottage in the country. Jack just gave a quick and quiet prayer that it wasn't the same countryside that had been home to cannibals back in his reality.
He also wasn't impressed that he hadn't yet actually met Ianto, and that since Undine was largely unable to interact with physical things he had to do most of the moving himself. He had also pointed out that she had magicked him up the last flat, and just given him a dirty look when he questioned why she hadn't done the same this time around. Or at the very least, saved time by setting himself up with this place to start with, rather than creating the need to move. Apparently it was something to do with free will and that she was just a possibility, it was still up to him to create the reality.
Jack sighed as he fished out the last tea spoon and flicked the kettle on for a coffee. Even if it was just instant, it would have to do. He looked at Undine leaning against the wall, her dress a lively shade of red that really set off her clear skin and made her eyes look bigger. He didn't know why the layers managed to move as if there was a breeze around her. He also didn't know why her hair never seemed to move, staying straight, down her back and perfect.
'I don't suppose you have any more of that coffee tucked away in some invisible pocket dimension, so I don't have to drink the instant stuff?'
Undine just smiled serenely and shook her head. 'What you really want to ask me, is when do you get to meet Ianto.'
'Well since you know that's what I want to know, I don't have to ask, do I.' He found her smile was really starting to annoy him. He was also sober and he wasn't sure he liked that fact either. 'If I have free will, I want to meet Ianto.'
'Must you whine like a petulant child.'
'Apparently I must.'
Undine sighed. 'There are things I can't tell you. Things you have to work out for yourself, and things I don't want to tell you.' And she was sick of him going on and on and on and on about Ianto.
Jack just looked at her. He had learnt a long time ago that the way to get someone to answer questions they wanted to avoid could be sped up with specifically applied torture. However this wasn't one of those times. Patience wasn't one of the things he was known for either, which made all this cosmic justice crap a little difficult to deal with when he seemed to be on the slower end of the universe. If this was someone's idea of a joke he was going to rip someone's head off. He felt like screaming and Undine wasn't helping him find Ianto. She had brought him here because of some cosmic injustice generated by Ianto's death at the hands of the 456. Now she kept telling him to be patient. He wanted to shoot something.
Instead he spent days sorting though his stock in the shop and even managed to get to a few estate sales. Which meant he had brought more stock that was currently cluttering up a spare bedroom upstairs. His business cards had arrived, flyers sent out and adds had been placed in the local paper. Captain Jack Harkness Collectables (formally Clive's Curios) was officially open for business. A business that was unpredictable and did not leave him any time to explore his new surroundings and find Ianto. He had also been unable to find the source of the divine coffee Undine was somehow able to procure for him. Every morning he would open his shop and a cup of coffee would be waiting on the counter. The more of the coffee he drank from The Hub, the more convinced he was that Ianto had, in this reality at least, opened his coffee shop, or worked in one.
In what spare time he did have he had found the sheer number of 'I Jones' listings in the phone book was depressing and he wasn't yet ready to dial each number until he found his Ianto. He didn't even have have the internet connected yet so he couldn't just google Ianto and The Hub to see if that would offer any clues. So instead of chasing down his lover, he was arranging his front window with the items most likely to appeal to the quite, gentle Welshman. The Wedgwood china and a collection of delightful tea cups were displayed to achieve one purpose and one purpose only.
The only things stopping him from going out there and looking for Ianto was not knowing what he'd do if he did find him. That, and Undine acting like a dragon guarding her gold. He was terrified he'd find Ianto and the man would not fall in love with him. Just as terrifying was the possibility that he might find Ianto and the man would fall in love. Because what if this wasn't really his Ianto or what if he lost him again.
He didn't want the hope that was matched in equal measure by the fear that it wouldn't be. He woke in cold sweats each night, reliving the death of Ianto until he was afraid to go to sleep least he dream. The dreams of Ianto alive and in his arms were almost worse because now he was being given the possibility that this was another chance for them. And what if he cocked this one up too. Whatever universal dictate or energy had decided he needed a second chance with Ianto was driving him insane with hope. And fear.
The bell chimed as the door opened in what was apparently mid conversation. Jack hadn't looked up yet to see who the latest potential customers were as he heard a soft English accent.
'I'm not saying we should give him a key to our Hub, but it's like he's an honorary member of the team.'
The next word, spoken in a stronger, less refined English accent caused him to stop what he was doing.
'Tosh...'
Jack turned as if in slow motion and the tea cup in his hand tumbled to the floor.
'Oi, I hope that wasn't valuable.'
Jack could see Undine out the corner of his eye shaking her head. He was looking at Tosh and Owen, alive, tea cup ignored he wanted to volt over the counter and hug them both. And probably give them a quick snog each, if he was totally honest. Jack no longer trusted his eyes and he seriously wondered if he wasn't in fact having a complete psychotic break from reality.
He reasoned however that if he was in a coma, and or was hallucinating and or was suffering some sort of divorce with reality, he would already be in bed with Ianto. He wouldn't be running a junk shop in the vain attempt to met up with his Welshman. They would already have fucked their way towards a decent reunion. But Tosh and Owen. Jack flashed them his customary grin. 'I'm Captain Jack Harkness, how can I help you today?'
'Captain?'
Jack nodded. 'In a former life, yes.' He could listen to Tosh's sweet voice all day. 'And how can I help you today, are you looking for anything in particular?'
'We were thinking of getting a gift for someone.'
'We, weren't thinking any such thing, you were.' Owen looked at Jack. 'Not my idea at all.'
'And did you have anything in mind, Miss?'
'Sato, Toshiko Sato.'
Owen rolled his eyes. 'All right Tosh, steady on, I'm Doctor Owen Harper.'
The bell over the door chimed again as a blonde head poked around the door literally dripping Welsh vowels. 'All right you two, got your phones on silent have ya, I'm double parked yeah.'
Jack looked outside and saw the black Torchwood SUV and grinned, he'd loved that SUV. Andy apparently had joined the team which wasn't totally surprising he had shown a great deal of spirit in trying to save the kids from the 456. Even though that apparently doesn't happen here the same potential had clearly been recognised. He didn't want Tosh and Owen to go but they didn't know him and if he told them how he knew them, he'd be lucky if he only ended up in the cells at Torchwood. Tosh gave Jack an apologetic smile.
'Another time then Miss Sato, Doctor Harper.'
'Yeah, come on Tosh, you can buy the tea boy something later.'
The door closed on their conversation, leaving Jack wondering if Owen had meant his tea boy, but Ianto had never joined Torchwood in this reality. He sighed and turned to Undine. 'This is giving me a headache, Owen and Tosh are alive, Andy is apparently a member of Torchwood.'
She gave him a sympathetic smile. 'It was never going to be easy Harkness.'
Jack banged his hand down on the main counter. 'Dammit does it have to be so difficult though.'
The bell chimed and Jack turned to see who had entered his domain now, dropping the tea cup he had just picked up again. This time the cup shattered. Jack just stared at the man walking into his shop, eyes following him, drinking him in. The first thing he saw was the suit, a very dark pinstripe almost black, the waistcoat buttoned up and the suit jacket open. The shirt itself was just a plain white shirt and the tie a dark blue that emphasised the blue eyes just looking at him. Perfect dark hair and lips Jack wanted to get lost in kissing. He closed his eyes a moment and opened them slowly, willing the man before him to still be standing there.
He could feel his pulse racing and the sound of his own breathing competing with the sound of his heart beating. Sounds that deafened him. He wanted to laugh and cry and this time he really did want to jump over his shop counter and fold Ianto into his arms for an eternity. Even forever wouldn't be enough to wipe out the memory of this same man dying in his arms. It did occur to him that Ianto might think he was a mad man but it was tempting. He still didn't believe he wasn't imagining this. Tosh and Owen, and now Ianto.
The very man Jack would have been willing to follow to the ends of the universe. He realised the truth of what Undine had been saying, that he would have laid waste to his own reality if he thought it would have brought Ianto back. He would have pulled apart the very fabric of reality to have this man in his life.
