Forever Constant
Disclaimer: I Own Nothing Torchwood-Related.
Chapter 8: 1914
"Captain?"
He jumped at the sound of her voice, then relaxed when he saw her. "Oh, it's you again. I was worried you were...someone else."
Frowning, she crossed her arms and tried to figure out what was different about him – more different than usual, of course. He seemed tense, uncomfortable. And he almost seemed to be in hiding, sitting as he was, on the ground in a back alley. She had only been able to find him because she always could. "Who did you think I was?" she inquired.
He didn't say anything for a minute, just looked up at her. When he finally spoke, it was to ask a question of his own. "Why did you become a fortune-teller?"
She blinked, but answered slowly. "I do what I know, as does everyone. It's all we can do."
"I suppose," he agreed. "But maybe what we know isn't always what we should be doing." Then, inexplicably, he started laughing. "Oh, God, now I sound like you. All cryptic and deep..." He trailed off, the laughter dying.
She watched him silently. Something had definitely changed about him over the past seven years, but she couldn't see what. That fact alone was worrying. Hesitantly – for the alley was not the cleanest place and sitting in it was not something she particularly wanted to do – she lowered herself into a kneeling position in front of him. "Captain, there's something bothering you and you're hiding it from me. Why?"
He looked confused. "You're asking why, not what? 'What' would be easier."
"Yes, but 'why' is more important."
He sighed. "Why would I hide something from you?" She nodded. "Well, why shouldn't I? It's not like I know you that well."
She didn't say anything, but she dropped her eyes from his. She didn't understand how he could say that; she felt like she'd know him for centuries, rather than decades. And she didn't really feel like the time she'd spent watching him had contributed much to that. She'd only been watching, after all.
But he was going on. "That is, I shouldn't know you that well. Except I do. Or I feel like I do, which doesn't make any sense."
She looked up again, a small smile on her lips. So he did feel the same, he just didn't understand it. "Talk to me," she said quietly.
He complied. He told her of the man he was looking for, the one she'd seen in his cards – he called this man 'the Doctor'. He then described an organization, Torchwood, that thought the Doctor was their enemy, because they didn't understand who he really was.
"I'm one of the Doctor's best friends and now I work for people who see him as a threat to be eliminated," he finished bitterly.
"Are they likely to succeed?" she asked.
"In eliminating him? Not a chance, but that's not the point – I work for them!" He said angrily.
For just a moment, she felt that the anger was actually directed at her. After a moment of concentration, she realized why – he'd originally taken the job because of her fortune that he'd have to wait so long to find this Doctor. That had been his answer to his question of what to do in the meantime.
The feeling of blame vanished almost as soon as she learned what it meant. If he had even been aware of the feeling, he gave no indication of it. "I'm supposed to be on assignment for them now. But...I'm not hiding! I'm just...avoiding them for awhile." He seemed to sense her skepticism and changed the subject abruptly. "There's going to be a war in a few months. A war that will involve most of the world. I think I'll go fight in it. Give myself a chance to get away from Torchwood for a few years."
Though she knew nothing of a war, she found that she didn't doubt that he knew what he was talking about. "Interesting," she murmured.
"What is?"
"I'm the fortune-teller," she answered. "But you're the one with knowledge of the future."
She did not ask how he'd gotten this knowledge. She didn't really need to, because she already knew – he knew the future because it was in his past. He remembered it.
She did wonder, though, whether his memory of the future was part of the reason that he would always be there.
A/N: Thanks to Torchwood Cardiff and izzfrogger for reviewing! Especially, izzfrogger, for all the great ideas! They really helped a lot - I now have a pretty good idea of all the meetings for the 20th century. This chapter was, in fact, inspired by your idea of him musing about the World Wars (though I doubt it was really what you had in mind).
This chapter was also supposed to explain why Jack didn't know what Tommy was going to have to do in 'To the Last Man' despite telling them that Tommy had been there 'longer than any of us - any of you', which meant, as we know, he had actually been there the longest.
I haven't reminded you of Becoming a Time Lady for a few chapters, so here's a shout-out of that: Go read it!
And now, please review!
