I had honestly intended to update Blood Moon first, but this one sort of wrote itself this morning (while I was supposed to be cleaning... oops ;-) Oh well, it's not like the laundry is going anywhere!) Blood Moon will probably get an update early next week... I've got a busy weekend ahead.

Thank you again for the reviews!

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Chapter Six: Abby's Decision

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Jack and Ianto found Abby sitting on the steps that lead back up to the main area of the Hub. Exactly nine and three quarters minutes had elapsed.

She looked up at Jack as they approached. "You never asked me any questions," she said. "Don't you want to know anything about where I went to school or what I did for the Navy?"

The Captain stuffed his hands in his pockets while Ianto slipped past her and headed back up to check on the Krynoid situation.

Abby turned to watch the Welshman depart up the steps. To look at them now one would hardly realize they were a couple. She waited until she was certain Ianto was out of earshot before asking Jack if they'd had a fight or something, hoping that if they had it had nothing to do with her. It shouldn't, she supposed, but she didn't know them well enough to know the sorts of things they might fight about. Maybe only one of them liked her… she cast a little smile up at the Captain.

Jack decided that if she did stay, they were going to have to have a serious talk about the way her conversations zinged all over the place. Despite that, however, he smiled. Her concern seemed genuine and that was one more point in her favour.

"No, we didn't have a fight." He sat down on the step next to her. "We don't usually fight and when we do… he's more professional about it than I am," Jack admitted. He supposed he did the same thing in the field, otherwise he would never send his partner into a situation more dangerous than rescuing a cat from a tree. He didn't want to think about the kinds of fights that would lead to, however. "Did you want me to ask you questions?" he nudged the conversation back to her original query.

"I wondered why you didn't," her tone was thoughtful and (he presumed) uncharacteristically soft.

Jack shrugged, "Ianto ran a thorough background check on you. That answered all the questions I had."

She looked slightly nervous; it made Jack chuckle.

"How thorough?"

He just continued smiling. He was pretty sure Abby could figure that out for herself. "What the paperwork doesn't tell me is what kind of person you are," he told her. "I can take Ducky's word. I do take his word," he said to the sharp look she gave him. "But what I'm really interested in is how you would handle yourself in a situation and how you would interact with the rest of my team. That's more important than being able to tell a Raxacoricofallapatorian from anAbrobvian – although let me tell you, they're only really alike in personality," he gave a slight mock shudder. "You wouldn't want to invite either species to the company picnic."

Abby ignored his comment and the absurdly easy way that first name, raxa-whatever, had rolled right off his tongue. "You and Ducky really served together in World War Two?" she asked.

"Yes."

"How?"

"I came to this planet… well, not for the first time… but I arrived in Cardiff 1869. I've been here ever since."

"So you're not human."

"I'm… I'm not really sure what I am. I started out human. My son and my mother are both human – they live with us," he added for clarity's sake. Jack had the feeling she'd be staying. He hoped he was right. If not, of course it wouldn't matter what he told her, she wouldn't remember any of this.

"You have a son?" somehow she sounded more startled by that than the fact that he'd been in Cardiff for over a hundred years.

Jack nodded. "Jason. He's nine. I had him before I met Ianto."

Abby gave him dark little look; whereas Ianto rolled his eyes, she narrowed hers while one side of her mouth twisted up funny. "I figured that, Jack."

He just smirked, "Remind me to tell you about being pregnant some time." He wondered if her asking him if he had questions for her was her way of finding excuses to ask him questions. Abby had minored in psychology and earned a Masters Degree in Criminology and Forensic science. "Jason's other father died six months ago… erm… on their timeline." It really was difficult to tell a story when you had to qualify details like that for the other person.

"You were really serious about being born three thousand years from now." It wasn't a question.

He nodded anyway. "But as far as Ianto's family are know, I was born in Illinois about thirty five years ago," he added with a wry smile that garnered a soft chuckle in the woman sitting next to him.

"I've been to Illinois. Unless you're in Chicago, you might as well be three thousand years away… but you couldn't really pass for a Chicago kid."

"Oh?"

She gave him a look. "You're the boy next door, Jack. At least that's what you want people to think, all Mister Dimples and coy smile," she actually reached out and gave his cheek a gentle pinch – although she suspected he wouldn't object to more than a gentle pinch. "You're not fooling anyone, you know. You might look the part, but once you start talking… "

He chuckled. "Once upon a time I was a very good conman. It helps to look like someone people can trust."

"What changed?"

"I did. I met some people. They're gone now… well, he isn't, but he isn't around much either." He wasn't sure when he was going to see the Doctor again. "Rose is stuck on a parallel world."

"How many parallel worlds are there?" she asked without seeming to miss a beat.

"No one knows."

"Not even Ianto?"

Jack smiled, "Not even Ianto."

"I knew no one knew everything!"

His smile turned into a full blown laugh.

She grinned too. Then, "So what exactly would my job be? If I decide to stay that is," she qualified the question. "You don't worry about what will and won't hold up in court, do you?"

"No. We operate outside the police and beyond the government. They know about us, but only unofficially." He paused a moment to let that sink in; she gave him a look, but didn't interrupt.

"You've got a sharp mind, a good eye," Jack told her in a sincere tone. "Attention to detail is critical if you don't want to get yourself killed in the field. Or in the lab. We salvage alien technology. Mickey is good, but he could use someone like you to have his back when he's taking something apart. You would also take some of the work load off Bobby."

"Is he a doctor or a medical examiner?"

"Around here, they're the same thing."

"I don't do autopsies. I'm not a doctor anyway, but even if I was, I wouldn't do autopsies."

"Ducky told me you sat in with him sometimes."

"That was different." She sounded defensive.

"We don't kill anything unless we have to, Abby," Jack promised her.

She gave him a long penetrating look; it easily rivalled one of the Doctor's.

Jack met her gaze. "When I took over Torchwood Three here in Cardiff, I changed it. I rebuilt it. Sometimes we have to kill, but it is always a last resort. We've seen enough death as it is. We don't need to add to it unnecessarily." He took a breath and let it out, turning away from her.

"For the first few years there were just four of us," Jack explained. "Me, Suzie Costello, Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato. Then I hired Ianto. He used to work for Torchwood London. After Canary Wharf they… there isn't a Torchwood London any more," he shrugged. She could read the file for herself if she wanted to. "Then Suzie died and I hired Gwen." The less said about that the better. "About six months ago Owen and Tosh died." He fixed his gaze back on her. "They died in the field, but not because they were clumsy or made mistakes, they died because that's what we do. We put our lives on the line…your lives on the line… every day.

"I hired Bobby because we needed a medic. Then Wendy came our way. Mickey sort of fell into my lap," he grinned. "But he's a good man. They're all good people," he couldn't help the sadness in his tone. He loved them all and someday he was going to bury each and every one of them.

"Torchwood employees die young, Abby. I'm trying to change that. I can't change what we do, the risks we take. But I can hire a few more people, give you guys – give myself – a life outside this place. Ianto was right when he reminded me that what we're fighting for is all the people out there, the world out there. We need to be a part of that world, too. You'd still be on call twenty-four seven," he added in a cautionary tone.

"Gibbs' Rule Number Three."

Jack gave her an inquisitive look.

" 'Never be unreachable.'"

"Good rule."

"You and Ianto break Rule Number Twelve."

He smiled; he could take a guess what Rule Number Twelve must be about. "So do Wendy and Bobby. As long as it doesn't interfere with the job, what you kids do on your own time isn't my business."

"I am not a kid!"

"I'm over two thousand years old, Abby," he said in a calm tone.

"Oh. Well. Just because you're old doesn't make me a kid,"

Jack just chuckled. He glanced at his watch, although he didn't really need to see the time to know it had been longer than ten minutes. "Well?" he asked. "Your ten minutes have been up for a while, you know"

"Janet thinks I should stay. So I guess I'll stay. But I'm only doing it for her."

"Works for me…"

They both looked up to the sound of footsteps near the top of the stair. "Jack!" Wendy called, "Gwen thinks she's found the pod."

"Ready to go to work, Miss Schuito?"

Abby snapped to attention. "Ready, willing and able, Sir!"

Jack returned the salute and stood up, offering her a hand up, "Welcome aboard, Ma'am."