Author's Note: Sorry, guys. I've been getting into this other story of mine. Any Buffy fans should totally read it. Then I had some family things along with some tests. I warned you people I was a University student. Sometimes life sucks. Anyway, here's the next chapter, I borrowed a line or two of Jack describing Torchwood from Torchwood's first episode. This episode is heavy with the flashback. Also, I was kind of all over the place with the way I wrote this, so if I made mistakes please let me know so that I can fix them and update. This chapter just kind of expands a little more on Leah's friendship with Jack. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: "State you name, rank, and intention." Rosalea, fanfic author, fun. –Meaning, I do not actually own Doctor Who. But Leah Jackson and her integration into the lives of these character's is all out of the Medusa's Cascade-like thing that is my brain.


Chapter 9: Friends?

Luke and Leah walked up to Alice Carter's house. Leah hadn't been here in at least a year. She tried to keep in touch, but there really wasn't much reason for her to come around if Stephen wasn't around anymore. They made it to the porch and Leah knocked on the door.

Alice answered the door, and was surprised at who she found there.

"Leah! What brings you by?"

"Hello, Alice. This is my boyfriend, Luke."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Yes, you too. Come in you two. Let's sit in the lounge."

They all came in looking similarly to the scene from earlier at Rhia's house with Alice in a comfy chair and Luke and Leah on a couch.

"Alice," Leah spoke up. "I'm going to be leaving town for a while. I'm not sure when I'll be back. So I thought I'd drop by and say a proper goodbye."

"Where are you travelling to, dear?"

"Now is as good a time as any." Luke said inside her mind.

"Actually, Alice, I'll be travelling with the Doctor."

Alice looked alarmed, but tried to cover it up. "Doctor Who?"

Leah smiled warmly. "Well, that seems to be the question, isn't it? No, Alice. Not a doctor. The Doctor."

"How did you meet him?"

"Trust me, Alice. It is a long story. Some of it is that I know about Torchwood. And I know who you are to Captain Jack Harkness. I just thought that you had the right to know. It's not as if I can tell anyone in my family that I'll be travelling with an alien through all of time and space."

"Well, thanks for telling me. Leah, have fun. For Stephen."


March 2007

"Rhia, I hate that job so much! My boss is simply too much to deal with!"

Leah had just gotten off work from the coffee shop that she worked at. She couldn't stand that job, and was currently expressing such in Rhiannon's kitchen.

"I don't know why you don't just quit then, sweetheart."

"Well, that would be all fine and well, but I need the money for that school convention. And the only other job I'm qualified for is babysitting."

"Well, there's this one lady in town, Alice Carter. She's got a son called Stephen and is looking for a new nanny for after school hours. Why don't you talk to her?"

Leah's eyes lit up as she finally had a spark of hope. "Brilliant! What's her number?"


"So, Miss Jackson, what makes you qualified to be my son's nanny?" Alice Carter asked during the interview.

"Well, I ran a babysitting business while I was still in America, and since I'm a student myself, I'm available for the exact hours you need me. Also, I'm CPR certified."

That probably sealed the deal, because Alice suddenly wore an extremely bright smile. "That sounds lovely. You can start tomorrow."


Leah absolutely loved this job. Stephen was one of the best children she had ever taken care of. Two weeks after starting the job a man came to the door while Alice was still out. Leah answered the door to a nice looking man about in his late 20s early 30s. He was wearing an old army coat, which caused her to believe maybe he was military.

"Hi, Captain Jack Harkness." He said as he peered through the door to try to see inside. "I was just looking for Alice." Or maybe he was still army and he had business with Alice.

"Well, she's not here right now."

"Is Stephen here? I'd really love to see him." Was this man Stephen's father? If so, Alice never mentioned him. She wasn't sure she was supposed to let strangers into the house. That hadn't really come up.

"I'm not sure that's a good…" Just then Stephen came running down the stairs towards Captain Jack.

"Uncle Jack!" Nope, not father then.

"Hey, big guy!" Jack lifted Stephen into his arms.

"Alright, I guess you can come in." Leah finally allowed, it seemed that whoever this man was, Stephen trusted him.

"Uncle Jack, I made a drawing. Do you want to see?"

"Sure I do, why don't you go get it for me?"

"Ok." And just as quick as he appeared, he was gone again. Jack and Leah made their way into the kitchen to talk. Jack sat at the bar while Leah looked around for a drink for him.

"So you're the new nanny? You don't look that old."

"I'm a student and she needs someone who can watch him after school hours, which just so happens to be when I'm available. It works out nicely." She said as she handed him his drink.

"Sounds like it. How old are you anyway?"

"Fifteen. So who are you exactly? Stephen's uncle, but how?"

"Well, you see…" Just then Alice walked in the door.

"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that he's not welcome here."

"Alice, be reasonable." Jack said as he stood up from the bar with his hands in a submissive gesture to calm her down.

"I'm being perfectly reasonable. Now get out of my house."

He left quickly without another word. Leah ran to Alice's side apologetically.

"Alice, I'm so sorry. He said he knew you, and then Stephen called him 'Uncle' and I just assumed it would be ok."

"Don't worry, Leah, it wasn't your fault. But just know that that man is not allowed in this house. Ever."

"Yes ma'am."


In town the next week, Leah was stepping out of a shop when she noticed the man from the other day. Captain Jack Harkness he said he was called. She wondered what it was about him that had made Alice so upset.

"Excuse me, Captain?" she called for him.

"Yes?" He turned around and saw her. "Oh, you're Stephen's babysitter. Sorry about the scene the other day, I shouldn't have come in without Alice's permission like that."

"Why does she have a problem with you? Stephen obviously loves you. Did you two have a falling out?"

"You could say that." He nodded.

"What else could you say?" She asked knowingly.

And he didn't know why, but something about this girl just made him decide to tell her everything. He could always drug her with the amnesia pill afterwards anyway. So he led her into a coffee shop where they sat down, placed their orders, and then Jack decided it was time to start talking.

"Look, you've noticed all the weird things in the news, yeah?"

"Titanic almost crashing into Buckingham Palace on Christmas Day, spaceship over London the Christmas before that, and a few months before that still; oh, and let's not forget the Cybermen in every home." She answered him nonchalantly. Of course she noticed those things. By the time she was at the Luna University they were major historical events, she wasn't about to miss them while they were happening right in front of her.

Jack smiled, he liked this girl, she was definitely getting the big picture.

"Right, so you realize its aliens, right?" He had to be sure.

"Of course."

"Well, I hunt aliens. I have a base called Torchwood." She thought that name sounded familiar. But why?

"Wait, Torchwood? Aren't they the people responsible for the Battle of Canary Wharf?"

"That was Torchwood One. Torchwood Two is in Glasgow, very strange man. This is Torchwood Three. I brought it up in honor of someone very special to me. We're different." He hastily replied.

"Okay. I get that. That still doesn't explain why Alice doesn't want you at the house." She had to remember the issue at hand.

"I've been working for Torchwood for a long time. A very long time. Over a hundred years in fact." Leah looked impressed, but not surprised, or even disbelieving.

"Neat trick. How do you keep from aging?" She asked simply.

"I'm immortal."

"Convenient." She nodded.

"Yeah, and when I was working for Torchwood about thirty years ago, I met this woman. We fell in love, and had a daughter. We called her Alice."

Suddenly realization hit her on why they had to discuss Torchwood. "Oh, you're Alice's father. So why doesn't she let you see Stephen?"

He got serious and had a sad look in his eye. "She thinks her life was too difficult when it came to me. She got older and her father didn't. She doesn't want Stephen to have to grow up realizing that I don't age. She doesn't even let him see me as his grandfather. I'm just 'Uncle Jack'."

"So she never lets you see him. Well, what if I did?" He looked hopefully at her. "Yeah, every Tuesday I'll bring him to the park and you two can visit. As long as you just stay 'Uncle Jack' and don't tell him you're his grandfather then all should be well."

"That would be great. You seem to have taken all of this very well." He tilted his head questioningly.

"Yeah, well, I've got a story of my own. And it's a doozy. Yours doesn't even compare." She smirked at him.

"Mine's not done yet. Maybe during our little weekly visits we can compare notes."

"It's a deal." She winked cheekily before she walked out of the coffee shop.


Over the next few months Jack and Leah became quite close during their weekly visits. Jack would spend time with Stephen and then he would go play in the park while Jack and Leah got to know each other. She told him about how she was knew she was different, without ever getting into specifics. He told her more about Torchwood. But they never went into too many details. Then one day Jack mentioned that he used to travel with the Doctor. Leah couldn't believe it. Ever since her coming to Cardiff for this regeneration she kept running into coincidences concerning the Doctor. There were all those alien attacks on Britain that she just knew he was the cause of. Then she met Luke Smith on a school trip where they had to stop an attack from some weird absorbing aliens from Clom that was eating all the speakers; after that they stayed in touch and she found out that his mother used to travel with the Doctor. Now Captain Jack Harkness used to travel with him too? This was starting to get creepy. What was tying her to this man?


February 2008

Leah's older brother Ianto worked as an office manager for some company that he wouldn't talk about. But after last June they started going on destination a lot for their jobs. While they were all away Ianto had Leah clean up the office for some extra cash. True there were some weird things around, but when she got into clean mode she zoned out and just finished her job, not realizing that she was messing with technology that she knew for a fact would not be invented for centuries. Finally one day the team made it back to the Hub before Leah was done cleaning.

Leah was wiping off a desk when a man, a brunette woman, and an Asian woman all walked in. They seemed to be in the middle of a joke, but immediately silenced when they saw Leah.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm not supposed to be here when you lot are. You must be early. I'll just get out of your hair; don't tell Ianto I was still here. Thanks."

Just as she turned around she ran smack dab into Captain Jack. They smiled when they saw each other, but then they both were confused.

"Leah?" Jack asked surprised.

Leah was equally as surprised. "Jack, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, sir, I'm sorry." Ianto rushed to diffuse the situation. "Sometimes, while we're away I have my sister clean up the Hub for some extra money." Just then he realized that they had already greeted each other by name. "Wait do you two know each other?"

"Sister?" Jack asked.

"Sir? He's your boss?"

"How do you two know each other, Leah?" Ianto narrowed his eyes at his sister.

"He's a friend of Alice Carter's, the woman I'm nanny for." She explained.

"Oh, well, isn't that funny. Yes, Jack is my boss." What a coincidence.

Leah's heart sank. How could this be happening? The one part of her life she thought she didn't have to worry about. The part that she was sure was clear of any alien influence was her new family. And now this?

"You work for Torchwood? How could you do this? How could you be so stupid? You are putting yourself in so much danger! Do you know what this kind of life could do to you?"

Ianto didn't understand what had caused his sister to become so upset all of a sudden. She was talking as if she knew all of the risks of working at Torchwood, certainly Jack wouldn't have shared anything with her without giving her an amnesia pill afterwards. Then he remembered last June. The reason why he trusted Leah enough to come clean the Hub even though he knew he shouldn't. He had met a future version of Leah. She had been with Luke Smith, the boy that this Leah hadn't met till just last spring. Suddenly he was very angry.

"You knew! All this time you knew about aliens and the Doctor! I thought it was new information for you, but you knew this whole time!" He shouted.

"What are you talking about?"

"Get out. Get out of here. I don't want you near this place ever again." Maybe if he kept her away from the Hub now she wouldn't have to face the dangers of the life he lived.

Leah ran out crying. She didn't know what her brother was talking about that she had supposedly knew about. She kept her knowledge of aliens very well under wraps, a skill he was also apparently very good at. She was so scared of the fact that he worked for Torchwood. Jack was one thing, he was already working there before they met, and he was the bloody boss. Ianto was her brother here. He was one of the people she looked up to. But here he was just another tie in to aliens. She chastised herself now for not noticing before all the advanced technology at the Hub. And, hello, how long had that pterodactyl been there?


July 2009, a week after the 4-5-6 attack

"Hi, Leah." Jack greeted her.

"I don't even know why we're here." She scoffed.

"It's Tuesday. We always meet up on Tuesdays."

"We met on Tuesdays so that you could see your grandson. Well he's dead now Jack. And so is Ianto."

"I loved your brother, you know." Jack admitted.

"What?" Leah was shocked. Ianto had never hinted that he and Jack might be involved.

"Your brother and I were together. For over a year, actually for almost as long as you and I have known each other."

"I had no idea. He never said anything. You never said anything. How could you two keep something like that from me?" She asked hurt.

"We tried not to make things too serious. Well, I tried to not make things serious." He hung his head ashamedly at the last part.

"Why?"

"Why? For the way I feel right now, that's why! I'm immortal, Leah. If I care too deeply about someone then I have to sit back and watch them die. Just like I sat and watched Ianto die last week. Do you have any idea how hard that is for me?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm sorry. Look, we both lost two people we loved because of the 4-5-6, let's not stay mad at each other, yeah?"

"You're right. That's why I came here. I thought we could still be here for each other, even though we lost them."

"Good, because I could really use a friend right now." She said as she went to embrace him.

He spoke up once he finally pulled back to face her. "Also, I wanted to tell you something. Ianto, he died in my arms."

She choked back a sob. "Oh, Jack, that must have been so hard for you."

"Yeah, it was. But, he wanted me to tell you something."

"What?"

"He wanted you to always know how much he loved you. And that you should have 'a bloody fantastic life'. It's funny, that's what the Doctor said in his emergency protocol message to Rose right before she made me immortal."