It was nice of Jack to request that NG go with him to the country to investigate a displacement in time and space. John told the group that he really needed to go over some security protocols with the powers above and Mark wanted to head to Normandy for a few days for his recent Gallery Exhibit. Since he didn't know how long Jack would be out in the wilderness, it was better that someone else went.
"So you suggested me, Dad?" NG frowned at his father.
"Yes, you need some basics and this seems like a rather routine, low level thingy. So even an inexperienced trainee could handle this. But your ass is mine when you get back. No son of mine will not to be able to take care of himself under fire." John puffed out his chest while Leon and Jack tried to stifle a giggle.
"Okay, I'll go pack. I have a few things to mop up in the Weevil Ward and one thing to finish in the Archives. I'll be ready in about two hours. Is that okay, Jack?" Jack nodded as the rest pretended not to notice the calm behavior in NG.
"Low level thingy?" Nick questioned John when NG left the room.
"Well, it is a technical term." John grinned.
"Yes, I think it ranks up there with your famous do-hicky you used on me the other day, Dad." Leon piped up earning a "don't be a wise ass" look from John.
"It is age, brother dear. He can't remember his words anymore." Jolein commented as she looked up from her research.
John went to raise his voice at his children in his defense, but Mark beat him to it.
"He may be old my younglings, but he still has the right moves when needed. Come along Granddad; leave Torchwood to the young and Jack."
John whistled as he chased his husband to the invisible lift.
"Well that was uncomfortable, bordering on disturbing." Leon said.
"I agree, but at least they are together still. I hope I'm that happy when we get to be their age." Jolein answered.
"Somehow sister dear, I know we will be!" Leon returned back to his desk to work on his latest project design. He was a little worried about NG, but he had felt the first emotion from his brother ever when Jack said NG was going with him. Leon smiled for he knew what love felt when it hit him. His little brother was falling for Jack. To Leon it was his hope that it was the best thing for both of them.
a
NG was happy to be away from Weevil cleaning even if it meant he had to ride with Jack. The Simon event made NG feel uncomfortable around him. But the worst part of all NG was falling for Jack in the most terrible way. Also, after the Simon debacle Jack was a bit nastier then usual. Anna joke it was because Jack wasn't getting any lately, causing him often to yell when things weren't done right. Anna explained the real reason was that he had to do a lot of the stuff Ianto use to do. And now that he didn't have that full partnership, Jack was feeling very alone, so he lashed out. She wondered why Jack never planned for anyone else to take over Ianto's job for when he retired.
"Wait, I do the analyzing here, Anna." Nick reminded. "I think it is because he made a mistake with Simon and he can't admit it. He also hasn't talked to me since a week after Ianto passed. That means he isn't handling anything." Nick looked up from his work he was studying for a moment before putting his attention back at the screen in front of him.
"I still think it is because he isn't getting any." She giggled. "We are having a dinner at Leon's tomorrow. It is to cheer up Polly because she lost her job. Ben and you are invited." She watched Nick freeze.
With ice in his words he said. "Is John going to be there?" He regretted those words with NG in the room.
"It's okay, Uncle Nick, I ask that myself normally." He watched his Uncle carefully. Nick noticed that it wasn't so much the question but what NG had read behind those words. He must remember to tell Mark about this. NG was reading people. It may be time to retest NG again; his abilities may be surfacing now.
"You are still worried about that! God Nick, that is as old as NG. Let it go, or is it Ben that won't? He was fine at the funeral and all the Ianto events afterwards. It is just a simple dinner." She had her hands on her hips as she stared at him.
He gulped; a mad Anna was a scary thing. "You're right, it is just… I found him looking at a picture of John the other day. Sometimes I know he never stopped loving him." He felt childish.
"It is like Jack will never stop loving Ianto or my Papa loving Jack. Uncle Nick, love is eternal and forever, we just don't turn it on and off. I think you can let Uncle Ben have these moments and feelings. Don't you still think of what's his name, James?"
"Dear god, what have you done with NG, you alien?" Dan asked, putting a hand on NG's forehead. "Anna, no fever, but make sure his DNA is really NG's." Anna came over and smacked Dan away.
"Don't listen to him NG, you are right. Nick, you have been analyzed and found jealous. I think dinner at Leon's is the only way to make up for your sin. Be there at seven. Now NG, time for your shots."
Sally giggled as she took her gaze from the microscope. She was helping Becca classify new bacteria that the Rift let in. The virus scan in the Rift monitor picked up on it a day ago. It was harmless but that didn't mean that it didn't need to be categorized. "Returning to Ianto for a moment and away from the soap opera. Do you think he ever would have retired? Think about it, he was more a fixture of this place than Myfanwy."
"Still, he might have left with Jack putting me in charge." Dan said as he brought his wife some orange slices. "Eat up baby; I don't want your blood sugar to tank."
"It is because I have been working myself to death and wondering if our children will call again. It has been a few days. You think they would have better mobile service in Peru by now. I'm not looking forward to retiring. I have way too much fun here. Do you think at the next meeting we could talk to Jack about letting us stay on in research?" She ate an orange before continuing. "You in charge, that's funny." She winked at him, making smiles appear on the faces in the room.
"How about suggesting something along the line of the Board of Directors? We may not be young enough for field work but we aren't over the hill elderly yet, either." Dan went to leave. "Hey, one more thing. Where are Jolein and Leon? I need to borrow them for some brainstorming on that image projector Leon was babbling about yesterday."
"They found something that seems off yesterday in the bay. They are in the Kaboom room." Sally said.
"That bad? I mean they think it might be another bomb of sorts?" Dan frowned.
"Yes, it was giving off strange readings. So they thought it would be better to play with it there. Remember that stink bomb that they took apart in the main room? I think I gagged for three weeks every time I came to work. Well now it is safer for all and no stink either." Sally slipped another slide under the scope.
"What an odd name for a room." Becca commented, trying to fit into the conversation. She injected NG with another series of shots that he needed to work in Torchwood while not sprouting any facial movement.
"A Ianto name at it's finest." Jack interrupted making the room jump.
"How long have you been there for?" Sally looked up at her boss. "You really have to stop doing whatever that is you are doing. We don't even hear you footfalls anymore." She stuck her tongue out at Jack while smiling.
"It is getting annoying, Jack. Really, some of us don't like having a mini heart attack each time you speak. Right, NG?" Anna winked at the young man.
"He moves differently, my Papa mentioned it once. You're not in sync with our Time, you move against it. I guess it happens with someone your age." NG held back the grin seeing that his age comment got to Jack.
Growling a little, Jack's eyebrows knitted softly at the young man. "Age means that I only get better with it. Now, are you ready field agent?" He watched NG with a smile. NG for the most part ignored it, maintaining his cool.
"He is ready, try to bring him back in one piece, Jack. His parents are frightening and so are the rest of his family." Anna grinned as she fixed NG's hair as if he was a little boy going off to school. "Break a leg, NG."
"Thanks, I think." He trotted off after Jack.
It was sometime later after they left the city limits and they headed for the country. Jack was playing some soft music that NG remembered from his time spent at Jack and Ianto's while growing up. He looked out the window as this soft Big Band music took him away to another time. He often wondered what it was like during WWII. It seemed to leave an impression on Jack. He still dressed that way. As a matter of fact, NG didn't remember him in anything but clothes from that era except of for the wedding pictures. Now it was nagging at him, almost making him try to strain out a memory that contradicted this observation.
Something else happened instead as it took him back to thoughts of the war instead of Jack's wardrobe. He was watching the country lane then glanced to the countryside as he saw a young woman standing in the field. She looked young, maybe seventeen, reddish hair in the light. She was dressed like a woman in the Forties, her hair pinned back on top of her head. It was then that a man in a uniform showed up and for a brief moment the green field became a bright light that blinded NG. He yelled out, screaming with the pain that brought him back to his first memory. "Papa, stop please! You are hurting me." It was a little voice; tiny, not even born yet. It was his voice and he knew why he was in pain. Mark was using the moonstone and it ripped apart NG's unborn mind.
He woke to Jack looking over him. The SUV had been pulled to the side of the road and Jack had the passenger's side door open checking NG for a pulse. NG moaned a little as he came back to consciousness.
"Thank Gods, you back with us. You had me worried! You were so pale after you screamed. NG what happen, can you talk about it?" He caressed the young man's cheek causing NG to involuntarily shiver.
He pulled away from Jack not wanting the contact with the immortal. Jack stirred things in NG and right now he didn't want. "Nothing, it was just I thought I saw something in the field and it went white." He told a half-truth to Jack. He wanted nothing more than to bury the other part that happened with the moonstone. The pain wove through his mind with the memory making him wince.
"What was in the field?" Jack leaned against the inside of the car door understanding that NG needed space.
"There was a couple, a man and woman. I was thinking about how you never changed how you dressed the same since WWII. So I kept thinking about if I had ever seen you in any other style. As I looked to the field," he stood up with legs shaking. Jack grabbed his arm to stabilize him. He didn't seem to notice as he scanned the field in front of him. "She was standing there, in a forties style dress like she was waiting for someone. He showed up, but that is when the light went white. I must have screamed. I heard myself do that." He didn't finish the rest. He didn't want to think about the other part. His Papa sealed the telepathic part of his mind off that day, taking him away from the rest of his family, isolating him and making him an outcast to the group. He sat back down watching the field.
"Right, if you are able to stand now, get the scanner in the boot of the SUV. Well set up shop here." Jack went to get some other needed equipment out of the back seat while NG just blinked.
"Just why are we here?" He looked at Jack as the immortal rummaged through the back seat.
"The Rift monitor and some local stories were picking up parts of events that happened in WWII in these parts. You weren't the only one that saw these ghosts. So get a move on NG, we have work to do!" He smiled at the youth thinking of how that statement meant something different with Ianto. But Ianto was gone, and in Jack's case, life always went on even if it hurt.
Setting up the monitor came first, then the camp. Jack thought it best to set up a tent. He brought along a few modern pieces of equipment like a heater that the sun charged during the day and a stove that was powered by an alien energy source Dan had managed to convert for Torchwood use. It went against Jack's no alien tech to be used policy he tried to implement but his employees just went over his head. After all, it did save on the budget and they became more familiar with handling alien devices. It was all part of the training program, as Ianto would say while glancing up from the books smug that they saved money.
"You're all against me, even pretty Welshmen that come in suited packages!" Jack would shout out at their meetings. Until the suited package brought the expenses up and found that Torchwood was actually able to make a profit this way. Then the mighty Captain Jack was grateful he had a team that was smart.
"It will get cold later, NG, so I brought you a hoody to wear. I noticed you didn't have many warm clothes." He tossed the black fleece hoody over to the young man.
"Thanks, I haven't had a chance to do much shopping. I'm glad for it." He put it on while making the final adjustments on the monitors. "There, everything is set. What's next?"
Jack watched as the young man looked around the campsite. "I remember we used to camp like this. Dad and you would take us all out to that spot in Snowdonia National Park when we were kids. I liked that. We always had fun," NG said.
Jack threw a bag at NG. "Here, that is the kitchen kit. Why don't you set up the fire, while I continue to pitch the tent?" Jack laughed when NG rolled his eyes at him for the comment.
"It is always about 'pitching the tent' with you, isn't it? But you said we have a stove. Or do you just prefer the old fashion way for everything? Do we have food for this adventure or do you want me to set a rabbit trap?" He went about finding rocks to put in a circle.
Jack smirked at NG. The young man had a wit, at least. Something he noticed didn't come out when he was with his parents, which was more sarcasm. "You ask a lot of questions, sometimes. In the boot of the SUV is a built in cooler. Leon made a smaller compressor to freeze the airtight box he built and placed there. It was for keeping small or parts of aliens and things from the Rift cold. But I by chance was at the market this morning. There was someone I had to check out. So I figured that since I knew that we would be going to the country, I would get some supplies. The fire is for the ambience. The fire makes it a campsite. The stove we will need to make sure things get cooked properly."
"Food stored where alien parts once rested, gross! You had someone to check out? Have you been 'checking out' the local produce so soon?" There was an edge to NG's voice. He was a little upset, but kind of understood if Jack was looking for company. Ianto never would want Jack to be alone for too long. But someone new so soon after Simon just seemed off. NG remembered the night on the couch as he rubbed his lips where Jack's kiss once was.
"It wasn't like that. I thought that this person was an alien trying to fit into a human life. Turned out she was just strange in a very human way. I get confused sometimes. Humans are so odd on their own that they can easily be mistaken for an alien. I still don't get why she called security because I asked very nicely if I could scan her. I didn't think scanning was a perverted thing to do. Sometimes this time period can be so picky and prudish." He ended his sentence with a bang of the hammer as he went after the first stake of the tent.
And NG laughed outright at the comment. He liked being outside for a change. He missed that about the Outback. Bo and he had loved to camp in the middle of nowhere, especially in the spring. They would hold each other under the stars and watch the clear sky reveal the sea of twinkling lights above. Bo would talk about work and NG would just look up and listen.
"Do you have plans, NG, anything at all?" Bo asked once, realizing that all NG did was the filing of Bo's research and to take care of the house. NG was too smart in Bo's eyes to be a secretary and housekeeper. But there was always more to NG than he told anyone. One day Bo thought he would find out more about his lover. NG never let him in so that never happened.
"None, I don't feel the need. Besides, this is more than fine for me. I don't have to think about anything. At home there was too much thinking." 'Too much that would happen to the ones that I love. I didn't even let them know I left them because of what I see.' NG thought to himself as Bo held him closer as they continued their talk.
Jack noticed the young man staring off into the nothing as he finished the last stake. "NG, dinner isn't going to cook itself! You should get the fire started, at least." He watched NG blink out of his thoughts and start the fire.
It wasn't long until the camp was set up and NG had some hamburgers and beans cooking on the stove as the campfire produced some rather impressive flames.
Jack sniffed the air, the smell making his stomach growl. He watched NG get the table out and set it up before he set up the other equipment needed to "ghost watch." Jack returned, checking the settings on his VM before sitting down at the table with a notebook he had removed from the SUV. "Here, this way we can know if anything changes in the field."
"What is it we are looking for?" NG asked handing Jack a beer.
"Thanks!" He held up the bottle to NG before taking a swig. NG smiled, shaking the hair out of his eyes. "We are looking for cold pockets in the areas. These are common with Ghost sightings, as are magnetic changes in small patches of Earth." He said watching the screen before him.
"You mean Rift spikes or Time displacement patches? I remember the one we had in the kitchen of our house when Papa and I moved back in with Dad, Jolein and Leon. I was what, almost 3 years old and I still didn't think it was scary to watch all the chairs go to the center of the kitchen floor. It was kind of neat." He watched Jack eat the food he was given engrossed in the screen in front of him.
"You had a natural acceptance of thing. Your parents wanted the room 'cleansed,' for lack of a better word. The three of you used to think it was a game of musical chairs. I think Jolein kicked Dan in the leg when he made the 'ghosts' go away, as she put it. You just left the room and Leon wanted to understand the trick. You were all so different. So now are you going to eat or just stand there?" Jack shoved the burger in his mouth, handing the plate to NG asking "More?" before returning to the screen. NG sighed, but did as he was asked. He sat down in front of Jack and waited for something to happen.
Later, the two men dozed a bit in front of the fire. NG was thinking about Ianto and as if his dazed mind had wandered into Jack's thoughts, Jack started to talk.
"I never could get Ianto to camp with us. It had to do with the cannibals. The only time I got him outside was either in Cardiff or when we were camping out on the China Sea and in Hawaii. He loved that island. I told him we would retire there. We never got to that part of our lives, but you know that." Jack's voice went very low, almost hushed by the breeze blowing the tall grass in the field.
"I'm sure he understood, Jack…" NG started just as the device that was scanning the field started beeping.
Both men jumped up and headed away from the fire. The device was set up outside of camp. Dan warned that personal feelings or conversations might have an effect on the time displacements. He said that most "ghost images" or time displacements were emotional in principle that any strong emotions in the area could interfere with the event. It was all just his way of saying, "don't scream when you see the ghost, it will hurt the readings."
"NG, turn that level on the right, the one with the blue tape on the handle just a little to the left; your left that is. Now move that green knob to the right. Good. Can you see what I see?"
NG glanced out in the field. This time he didn't feel the effect the couple had on him the last time. They were just standing facing each other in what was a patch of grass in the sunlight and a darken field like the rest of the world around them. It was around springtime by the position of the sun in the sky.
"Oh, you two have a story to tell us, just what is it you need for us to know?" Jack watched them through his binoculars. "NG the red button, press it." It was then the machine started humming and clicking, recording the data.
"Jack, isn't this thing rather Steam Punk? I feel like a Jules Verne character with switches and knobs. What's next?"
Jack didn't take his eyes off the two images in front of him. He chuckled a bit; liking the way NG saw things. But in a way the boy was accurate in his description. "It is from the early days of Torchwood. Primitive, but it works. Oh, and you can start cranking the leveler on the left. We are running out of power." He snickered, wondering why he couldn't get NG to enjoy this.
But NG was enjoying this, as he went full force into keeping the device functioning with his own strength.
"They are not the same as when I saw them earlier. He wasn't wearing a German uniform. Jack, she is pregnant. I would say about five months. She wasn't that way before. Do you hear the shouting, like a mob is heading this way?" NG kept cranking as hard as he could.
Jack scanned the area but didn't see any more than the two in front of him. And as it happened before with NG, a while light blinded the two men as the images faded.
"Well that is a lot more than we had earlier. I don't think we will get another show tonight. But if we do, the monitor will let us know. I think it is time for bed." Jack stood and stretched. He smiled before heading to the tent.
NG waited, sitting by the fire gazing out into the field. He wasn't sure he could trust himself in a tent alone with Jack, so he decided to wait for a bit, maybe Jack would be asleep.
Nature called after his fourth beer so he found himself wandering away from camp. He didn't realize in the dark that he was heading straight for the spot where Jack and he had read the couple earlier. He found a bush that seemed isolated, not that it mattered in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere and did his business.
He was in midstream when he realized it was suddenly the middle of the day and the girl in the flashbacks from before was watching him.
"Shit, sorry, I didn't see you." He quickly finished and zipped up his pants.
She blushed but let out a laugh. "It's okay; I didn't mean to startle you. I grew up in a house of brothers. So I'm use to it. I don't recognize you. Are you from around here?" Her sharp green eyes focused on NG's face.
"I'm here with a friend, we are camping." He knew the statement was a mistake as soon as he caught her pretty face staring at him.
She narrowed her eyes. "Strange, you are alone. I've walked the whole area today and you're the first person I have seen. Where is this friend?"
"You can't see him, he isn't exactly here. Wait, that doesn't make sense does it?" He was stammering all over his words as the heat rose to his cheeks. "I'm not very good at this, it is my first time." He regretted those words as well.
That bought out a laugh from the ghost girl as she giggled at his lack of confidence. "You sound like Hal, he talks like you." She smiled with pretty dimples and pale skin. NG noticed a slight pink tint. "But your hair, it is long for a boy, and you are very pretty." She beamed at him swaying side to side like a little girl would.
"Yes, they wear it like this were I come from." 'Ghosts don't have skin tone. She is real.' NG came to the conclusion. If she was real then this wasn't an image. It was really happening. He started to think of the worst-case scenario. He was back in time somehow.
"Where is that? And is the war there as well. You accent seems odd, not quite Welsh." She seemed to like him. That much he could feel from her. Wait, he was feeling things from her. NG began to sweat, feeling the perspiration run down his back.
"It isn't really. It is French and Welsh with a hint of Australian combined with several other languages I speak fluently. But that isn't important." He felt faint and his head was swimming in colors and sounds. Some how he knew he was being pulled away from this place.
She watched him as the blood drained out of his face. "Are you okay?" She went to reach for him as he held out his hand to her. But they didn't connect and he was back in the cold October night in a lonely field. He fell over and passed out.
Jack woke with a start, noticing NG never came to bed. The tent was warm, a contrast to the cold night that seemed to drop to almost freezing. The fire went out hours ago and the monitors were clicking away still. NG was not in camp. "Shit!" Jack went back to the tent and grabbed his gun and his coat. He glanced at his wrist strap and pushed the button that gave him NG's location. He wasn't moving, and his vitals seemed low. His location was in the middle of the field where the images were seen that night. "Great, Nigel, what have you gotten into now?" A quick glance of the machines showed that there had been some activity but for whatever reason the alarm never sounded.
End Chapter 6
TBC
