Oh Jack, why are you always so inappropriate... and so fun to write... ;)

Thank you all for your lovely feedback, it never fails to make me smile! *hugs*

Jack decided that the best method for keep track of the world-wide disappearances and to track their patterns, if any, was to set up a schedule among the four of us in which we had constant surveillance. He'd set up quite the info station in the living room, complete with scanners, several small radios, a television with four different screens, and a strange, purple device which he said was a special sort of antenna. He didn't elaborate too much, so I guessed that some of these devices were secret ones from Torchwood.

He and I were scheduled to take the first watch that night while Amy and Rory slept, then Rory would join Jack for a few hours so that he could be shown the ropes, then Jack would finally get some rest while both Rory and Amy would keep watch. Finally, Amy and I planned to share the last session, at which time we would hopefully have enough data to discuss as a group. Jack's hunch was that there was a pattern to the locations and numbers of disappearances, but we'd have to actually gather information to prove whether or not he was correct.

It was very dark in the room, save for the few lit screens and blinking lights from the radios. I sat hunched on a short stool, using one screen to monitor seismic activity in the continental U.S. Nothing very exciting was going on, currently, so I'd slipped into a sort of dreamy stupor, letting my head rest on my drawn-up knees with my arms around myself.

My feelings about having the Doctor go off without me, again, were rather conflicted. On the one hand, I understood that he could probably get some things done more quickly if I wasn't in the way. Also, I got a warm feeling in my stomach when I realized that he was trying to protect me from danger, making sure that I stayed safe. However, I couldn't deny that a small, but growing, part of me was rather cross with my new Time Lord husband. I'm not a child, I'm a Time Lady, and he said himself that I have powers that I haven't even begun to discover yet... How the hell am I supposed to learn and grow if I'm not given a chance! I frowned to myself, closing my eyes and picturing the Doctor in my mind. His boyish looks often served as a mask for his more ancient pain and immense pile of memories, but I knew that he needed me by his side now more than ever, but he was pushing me away. Of course, how much so, I couldn't be certain; he never let on that he was uncomfortable with the idea of us being married, quite the opposite. I reminded myself that he, too, was new at this sort of relationship, and that he had far less to go on than I did because he'd forgotten the lessons learned in his youth. Perhaps he was so used to being separated from those he loved so often, that it seemed almost normal to him. Yes, that was probably it.

Just as I resolved to tell him that I needed us to be together a lot more, the next time we saw each other, Jack moved slightly next to me. I realized at once that he'd been watching me politely, a look of concern on his face. Looking up hastily, I cleared my throat and brushed my hair back from my face.

"Oh! Um... Sorry, must have dosed off..."

"It's quite alright," Jack chuckled, adjusting a couple of knobs in front of him, "I'm sure you've got a lot on your mind, hm?"

I nodded wordlessly. Understatement of the century...

"Well, we can't have you feeling gloomy, that's not going to work at all! So, perhaps I can offer some distraction." He winked at me, though I felt that he was less flirting with me and more trying to put me at my ease than anything else. I smiled in spite of myself; the Doctor would probably do something bad to Jack if he caught wind that the human charmer had flirted with me against my will.

"Alright," I said, sitting up straight, "What do you propose as a distraction?"

"I find that asking the distraught personal questions often gets them in a better mood," Jack laughed, writing down a few notes on a piece of paper. "If I may?"

"Okay..."

"Well, I can't help but notice that you're from around here... American?"

I paused. "I was raised here, yes..."

"Aha, and... Work? Family? School? All of the above?" Jack sat back in his chair, regarding me expectantly.

"Hmm... School recently, I have an adoptive mother, my adoptive father died some years back, left me with a watch that had been with me in the orphanage as a baby. Most of my friends have lost touch, moved away, gotten married, that sort of thing. The usual."

Jack looked mildly surprised when I'd mentioned that I had been adopted, but he politely didn't ask about it. He was, however, interested in something else, "A watch, you say? And it was yours?"

I nodded, "Yeah, well... um..." I wasn't sure how to say this.

"Wait..." Jack looked at me very seriously, an idea growing in his eyes as he watched me. "The Doctor mentioned something a long time ago about a watch, about its... significance. Are you, sorry, are you a human?"

I smiled. "Not anymore."

His eyes widened. "Ah! So... that explains why the Doctor is so..."

"So... what?"

"Infatuated." Jack's eyes twinkled at me, and I blushed, grateful for the dim light. "He's completely smitten with you, Hero, you're a lucky girl. Woman, sorry..." I laughed, still feeling the heat on my face.

"And you can tell this, how?"

"Sorry, should have mentioned, I've known the Doctor for quite some time. Since his ninth body, in fact... We met up during World War II in Britain, and if I recall correctly I was in the midst of trying to swindle him somehow." I giggled, finding it not very difficult to imagine the flamboyant Jack as a heist master. "Oh, you can laugh, but the Doc really set me straight, made me want to go back to being a decent person and all that... Anyway, some crazy stuff happened, you would know about that, and the Doctor had to regenerate to protect himself. And around that time, I... something happened to me."

"Oh? What makes you special?" I smiled at the captain, watching him think for a moment.

"Well, to put it simply, I can't die." He said this very casually, but there was a lot of baggage in those words.

I blinked. "What?"

"Nothing can kill me, at least nothing I've encountered so far... or tried..." He raised his hand soothingly when he saw my look of horror. "No, no no don't worry... I went through a suicidal phase, which the Doctor hinted might happen, but I'm over that. Long over it. I've learned to adapt to the situation, find its good parts, deal with the not-so-great parts..."

"Wow..." I stared at the human in front of me, realizing that he, much like the Doctor himself, was much older than met the eye, and full of old pain. For some reason, I instantly felt more at ease with the captain now that I had this information. No one is exempt from suffering. No one is 'normal' either...

"Mmm," Jack commented, flipping a switch on his observation screen and smiling softly. "So, Hero, you're married to the Doctor... What's that like, then?"

I smiled, blushing again, "Well, we haven't been married very long yet, and for that time we've only spent two days together, so... Not sure yet." He chuckled, making more notes on his paper. "I'm sure it'll be wonderful, of course, but I'm still getting used to the idea that my husband has a lot of demands on his time... And, well, perhaps I'll be in the same situation as he is pretty soon. Since I'm a Time Lady, and all that..."

"And you're married to him," Jack added, looking at me quite seriously, "Just that fact alone may make things a bit difficult, you know?"

I nodded sadly, "Yeah, I'm catching on to that. But... it's worth it, you know? I wouldn't exchange it for anything else, not at all."

Jack smiled broadly; this was apparently what he'd wanted to hear me say. He clapped me on the shoulder, still grinning. "That's the spirit! I'm happy for the two of you, and I hope that you have great happiness."

"Aw, thanks Jack, that's..."

So, I know you've only been married for a little while," Jack went on, his eyes sparkling mischievously, "but I gotta ask something because I've always been curious... What's he like in bed?" He winked at me roguishly, and I blushed so hard it felt like I had a sudden fever.

"Well... um..."

"Does he still wear that bow tie in the sack?" Jack asked suddenly, looking very curious and earnest and teasing all at once. "Wait! Does he make you wear it? Ooh, that would be naughty..." He grinned expectantly at me, and I nearly died with laughter and embarrassment.

"Please stop talking about the Doctor's sex life..." Rory groaned, shuffling into the room and plopping himself down beside us. Jack and I laughed harder when he proceeded to stuff his fingers in his ears and hum a toneless little song.