Author's Note:

Greetings, humans. Thank you very much to the following lovely people for your kind reviews on the previous chapter - MayFairy, GallifreanGirl, iLuvTwiBoyz, Jiwa, OhTex, babybluepineapple, Omniac, Aietradaea and Beautiful Rogue.

Further thanks to tardisandafirebolt for finishing your reviews to every chapter in this whole series, that was a stunning and most appreciated effort!

Also, big hi to soro1010, KlinicallyInsaneKoschei, KoscheithePianist and Avelo, if you are still reading ***waves hello ***

CHAPTER TEN

- Building Rooftop, Cardiff, March 2013 -

Captain Jack Harkness stood gazing out over the lights of Cardiff, a tall, motionless shadow, his long coat blowing in the cold, bone-deep wind. Overhead, dark clouds drifted aimlessly across the face of the full moon, temporarily casting Cardiff Bay into darkness, only to move on, releasing the silver moonlight to dance eerily across the choppy waves once more. The air felt heavy with impending rain.

Jack took in a deep breath, tasting the salt of sea-spray on the icy breeze. This was where he had always come when he was troubled, to the high places, close to the stars. Over the long decades of his life, the buildings of Cardiff Bay had come and gone, the newer edifices climbing higher and higher, their rooftops reaching for the sky. But still Jack remained, never changing.

He came here to think, to dream, to remember and to grieve. And always, when he left this place, he was able to go on, to somehow find a new beginning.

First, there had been the endless nights standing high above the city, waiting for the Doctor to return, gazing into the emptiness of eternity, whispering the ancient names of the stars to himself, a constant litany of loneliness and hope.

Then, after The Year That Never Was, when he had returned to lead his team, he had come here again, to remind himself why, in the end, he had chosen Torchwood over the TARDIS. Looking out over Cardiff as the sunlight slowly faded away and the city lights had flickered on - many of them representing a home, a family coming together for a meal at the end of the day, safe in a magical circle of light and love – he had reaffirmed his self-imposed duty. The sentinel of Cardiff, watching over this city, this country, this planet, trying to help the human race become ready to encounter the rest of the Universe.

He had not been alone, back then. Sometimes Ianto had joined him here. His heart clenched now in sorrow as he remembered embracing the young Welshman in this place, far above the bustle and confusion of the world below, exchanging soft kisses, murmured endearments, secret jokes and whispered memories. His Ianto, whom he had loved, but never told.

And then, after the 456 incident, after Ianto was dead, when it was too late, Jack would stand here - the grief flaying him, the pain still so raw, so savage – and he would hear a soft foot-fall behind him and Tejana would step quietly into the curve of his arm. Together they would look out over the water, sharing the night, watching the ghostly yellow flash from the lighthouse ship stationed beyond the mouth of the bay, each of them knowing the other was broken and crying deep inside. Jack had mourned for Ianto and Stephen; for Tosh and Owen; for the Jack he had been long ago, before his own choices had destroyed him. Within her silence, Tejana had ached not only for the atrocities she had witnessed at the Fall of Gallifrey, but also – although Jack hadn't known it then – for the loss of the Master.

Jack had fallen in love with Tejana here. She had been his light in a sea of darkness, leading him home, just as surely as the ships far out in the ocean followed that yellow beacon into the safety of Cardiff Bay. But now her light shone for someone else and Jack was left alone in the blackness, abandoned and confused.

So ironic, then, that the Tejana down below in the Hub, the reason he had retreated tonight to his eyrie in the rooftops, knew nothing of any of it. She looked like his Tejana, sounded like his Tejana, tasted like his Tejana...but she had not yet worked for Torchwood, she had not loved Owen, Tosh, Ianto and Gwen, she did not know about the 456 incident, or remember finding a devastated Jack on the planet Zog. She had not seen the destruction of Gallifrey, she had not walked the catacombs of Avalon. And most of all, she had not yet lain under the stars with the Master in The Matrix.

Looking into her blue eyes, so fresh, unspoiled and clean, so free of the guilt and compassion and sorrow that had marred their relationship in this time-line, Jack could almost believe that none of it had happened. He knew it was only an illusion and that it couldn't last. This wasn't her time. No matter what happened, she couldn't stay. But he couldn't help wondering if this was his only chance to know how it could have been between them, if he had done things differently.

He was the Temporal Nucleus. He held the Universe together simply by existing. The threads of Time danced and soared and twined around him. He was the heart, the centre of everything. The Ood had sung of him: Captain Jack Harkness, the very Lodestone of Time.

Captain Jack Harkness, the most lost and lonely of them all.

Overhead, the dark clouds finally tore asunder, releasing the huge, fat drops of rain to fall to the Earth, gleaming like silver pennies under the capricious light of the moon. Jack threw his arms wide, his back stiff, his head tilted back, welcoming the sharp, icy drops pattering on to the heated skin of his face. Across the rooftop, his crucified, moon-limned shadow stretched for long moments out towards Cardiff, before shrinking and disappearing as he turned and strode away.

It was time to once again find his new beginning.

- Roald Dahl Plass, Cardiff, March 2013 -

Pleased to be free of the claustrophobic Hub, Amy huddled deep in her jacket as she hurried across Roald Dahl Plass, making her way to Mermaid Quay to find a chip shop. Despite the freezing night air and the imminent rain, the Quay was still busy with tourists seeking a meal from the many up-market restaurants and bars that dotted the area. Avoiding the crowds, Amy wandered a bit further until she found a small, out of the way chip shop named "Alexander's", which seemed to fit the bill. With a sigh of relief, she stepped out of the cold into the warm, lighted interior, the bell over the door jangling discordantly in warning of her arrival.

The only other occupant in the shop, an unattractive man with a pock-marked face and greasy black hair, wearing faded army fatigues, glanced up at her with a leer as she passed his table. Amy pointedly ignored him, focusing instead on the plump woman serving behind the counter.

"What can I get you, love?" the shop lady asked, her voice softened and blurred with a pretty Welsh accent. Amy noticed that her name tag read 'Cheryl'.

Amy ordered four serves of chips, but then, at the last minute, she changed it to five. After all, the Master might be evil, but he was also probably hungry by now.

Uncomfortably, she realised that the horrible man in the army fatigues hadn't taken his eyes off her since she had come in. "So..." he smirked now. "Scots, are you? Here on holiday, yeah?"

"I'm staying with friends," she replied curtly. "They're waiting for me outside."

"Karl Conrad, don't you dare start harassing this young lady!" Cheryl spoke up from behind the fryer. "You've been warned before. Next time I'll have the law on you so fast..."

"Aw, Cheryl, I was only trying to be friendly," the man whined, giving Amy a lecherous wink which made her feel ill. "Don't listen to her, sweet-cheeks. I used to be someone, you know. I used to have an important job with the government."

Cheryl snorted derisively. "Yeah, until they decided you were a few too many bananas short of a bunch and gave you the flick!"

"Until they realised I knew too much!" Karl retorted, drawing himself up proudly. "I was a guard on The Valiant, during the 2008 election campaign. Remember Harold Saxon, little lady? Remember how he killed the US President, Arthur Winters? Well, I was there! And it didn't happen like they said it did."

Amy started in shock. "You were on The Valiant in 2008?" she gasped.

"Yeah!" he said, pleased to have so successfully caught her interest. "And let me tell you, those Toclafane? They were real, not a hoax like the Government want you to believe. And Harold Saxon wasn't even human. He was an alien called the Master."

"Master, schmaster!" Cheryl scoffed. "Harold Saxon was human enough. He was just a bloody nutter, like you, so stop annoying everyone with your stupid conspiracy theories, Karl!"

"You'll all be sorry when I prove it!" Karl snarled. "I know there's a Torchwood secret base around here somewhere and when I find it, I'll blow the whole freakin' story wide open. Then the whole world will know that Karl Conrad was smarter than all of you!"

"Dream on, Karl," Cheryl giggled, rolling her eyes at Amy.

Concerned, Amy was about to question Karl further, when suddenly he began to glow. It began almost imperceptibly, a faint halo of blue-white light tracing his outline, surrounding him and clinging to him like some sort of creepy St Elmo's Fire. Alarmed, Amy took a step backwards.

Seeing the look on her face, he demanded, "What?"

But the light continued to grow brighter and brighter, until it was almost dazzling. Amy put her hand up to shield her eyes, even as the light seemed to implode into a whirling vortex with a rushing, sucking sound. When Amy looked again, the glow had gone and Karl had disappeared.

"Oh my God," Amy breathed. "That was Time-fire."

"Sorry, love?" Cheryl queried cheerfully, as if nothing had happened. ""Ere, your chips are ready."

"Didn't you see that? Karl just vanished, right in front of you!" Amy exclaimed.

"Karl? Who's Karl?"

"Karl Conrad. Ugly bloke in army fatigues. He was right here! You were just talking to him!"

Cheryl looked at her with narrowed eyes, as if she was concerned for Amy's sanity. "I don't know anybody called Karl. And you're the only one who's been in here for the last hour. Are you feeling OK, love?"

In a daze, Amy paid for the chips and nearly ran out of the shop, into the driving rain. She had to get back to the Hub. She had to let the Doctor and Tejana know that people in Cardiff were beginning to disappear.

- The Hub, March 2013 -

"Karl Emerson Conrad, born 24 November 1984 in Cricklewood, London. Died December 2008, of unspecified causes, whilst employed as a guard on The Valiant," Tejana recited, reading from the screen. "It's all here in the Torchwood records. There's a photo here too."

Amy glanced at the picture, taking in the repulsive smirk, the greasy hair, the acne-scarred skin. Her face whitened and she dropped bonelessly to sit cross-legged on the floor, her legs seeming to fold under her. "That's him, I swear to God. That's the man I was speaking to in the chip shop. He knew all about The Valiant, and Harold Saxon and the Master. Then he just disappeared. What's going on, Tejana? Was he another temporal anomaly, like when I saw Ianto Jones?"

Tejana also seated herself on the floor, rubbing at her forehead, trying to ease the tension there. "Ianto? What's Ianto got to do with it?"

Amy blinked, suddenly realising that the Tejana from 2008 had no idea what she was talking about. "I saw him in the Torchwood kitchen yesterday, three years after he died," she explained. "The Doctor said he was a temporal anomaly, the result of two threads of time crossing that were never meant to touch."

"Oh," Tejana said, still puzzled, but sensing it was a long story. "No, I don't think your Karl was a temporal anomaly. I think he belonged in this time. But, thanks to the Master and his little games, history is now in flux. Something changed back in 2008, something has happened that wasn't supposed to, and this time around Karl got killed on board The Valiant."

"So he was wiped from the future," Amy murmured, suddenly understanding. "Which is why Cheryl doesn't remember him. But I do, because I'm a time-traveller, right?"

"Exactly right," Tejana approved. "Looks like the Doctor trained you well, Amy. Speaking of whom, we'd better get into the TARDIS and tell him about this."

"Will it help?"

"Probably not. All it means is that the Master is trying to change the past, which we already knew. But any information is better than none."

Amy put her head on one side, eyeing the strain in the Time Lady's face. "Are you OK, Tejana?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" Tejana returned bitterly. "I'm trapped in a time-line not my own, where I don't understand a damn thing. My father has regenerated into a stranger, Jack is blaming me for things I haven't even done yet and worst of all...worst of all, soon I'm apparently going to lose my mind and fall in love with a murdering megalomaniac, who is currently trying to completely change the history of the Universe. What could be better?"

"He really does love you, you know," Amy said quietly.

"Sorry?"

"The Master from this time-line."

Tejana shot her an incredulous look of disbelief. "Yeah, right. I'd rather kiss a Dalek!"

"No, you wouldn't," Amy giggled, trying to conjure up a picture of an amorous Dalek and failing miserably. "I've seen the Daleks – definitely not snoggable!"

Despite the distinct lack of humour in the situation, Amy's mirth was contagious and Tejana couldn't help grinning back. "Oh great, you've seen the Daleks. So not only do I have the Master in my future, but I've got more Daleks to look forward to as well. You sure know how to cheer a girl up, Amy Pond."

Amy laughed, shaking the long red hair out of her face, her eyes sparkling with amusement. Then she reached out and grasped Tejana's hand, gripping it tightly in reassurance. "Look, I don't know anything about what happened in 2008 – they don't call it The Year That Never Was for nothing. But I do know what I've seen with my own eyes. And I saw the Master fight for your life, on the floor of Jack's office, when you were dying from aspirin poisoning. I saw the look in his eyes. He loves you, Tejana, and you love him, whatever the Doctor and Jack might think. So don't worry, everything's going to be fine."

Tejana squeezed her hand back, grateful for her attempt at comfort, inadequate and ineffective though it was. "Thanks, Amy. I'm so glad the Doctor's got someone like you in his future to look after him." Then, all at once, her smile changed to a bewildered frown, her arm stiffening as a flash of something else blazed across her consciousness. "Amy...who's Rory?"

The red-headed girl looked at her blankly. "Who?"

"Rory. Messy brown hair, blue eyes, big nose, check shirt, brown puffer vest..." the Time Lady reeled off. "I saw him in your mind."

Amy shrugged. "Nope, not ringing any bells."

"That's strange," Tejana said, scrutinising her closely. "I don't usually pick up human thoughts on an impromptu basis, especially with my mental shields at maximum. But that image was so strong. You were talking about love and a crystal clear impression of this Rory just blasted across your subconscious."

Amy's head felt hot, her thoughts unsettled and confused. Flustered, but not understanding why, she repeated crossly, "I said I don't know any Rory."

For a moment, Tejana's quizzical gaze didn't waver. But before she could say anything else, the big cog door rumbled back and heavy footsteps echoed on the dark stairs leading up to Jack's office, interrupting her train of thought.

"Sounds like Jack's back," she said quietly. "I suppose I'd better go and speak to him."

"Yeah. And I'd better go and tell the Doctor about Karl," Amy added, relieved to be off the hook. "Hope he doesn't mind cold chips."

- Jack's Office, The Hub, March 2013 -

Tejana hesitated uncertainly outside Jack's office door, wanting to go in and yet feeling absurdly shy. She knew she was being ridiculous. This wasn't a stranger. This was Jack. One kiss couldn't have had this much impact on their relationship. After all, Jack had kissed her before and it had never changed anything. But, deep inside, she knew that this time had been different, because Jack himself was different.

She sighed. Why did everything always have to be so complicated? Raising her hand, she gave a brief knock at the door.

"Come in," Jack's voice said.

Entering, she saw that he was seated in his chair, tilting it back in a relaxed position, with his feet up on the desk. Like the rest of the Hub, his office was in darkness, lit only by a small lamp which cast a warm pool of light across his desk. He was tossing a small golden sphere, about the size of a large grapefruit, back and forth between his hands.

"Hey," she greeted him hesitantly. "You're back."

"Hey, yourself," he returned solemnly. "I didn't go far. Just up to the rooftops. It's where I go when I need to think."

Tejana nodded slowly, stepping into the room and closing the door. "I guess I would have already known that, if I was your Tejana."

He gave a rueful half-smile. "Yeah. Not much you don't know about me, in the future." Then, after a brief pause, he added, "I'm sorry...about before."

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You were right. We were being stupid, so let's just forget it, OK?"

Jack didn't answer, concentrating instead on the golden sphere as it arced between his hands.

"What's that?" she asked curiously, moving closer to him.

For a moment, Jack didn't seem to follow what she meant, his mind obviously far away. He stared at the small ball as if he had never seen it before. Then he glanced up at her, his blue eyes as opaque and as distant as the ocean.

"This?" he replied. "I don't know. It came through the Rift a few months ago. We haven't worked out what it is yet. The way things have been going around here lately, it's probably an inter-galactic bomb of some kind."

"Can I see it?"

He held it out to her, his warm fingers brushing hers as he passed it over. A small smile lit her face as she rolled the sphere between her hands, her fingers exploring the raised ridges of the delicate runes engraved across the surface, seeking the tiny catch that she knew must be there.

"It's not a bomb, Jack," she said softly.

"No? Then what is it?"

As he spoke, she found it, the slight indentation she had been looking for. With a gentle twist, she activated the secret spring and held her hands out flat towards him, the sphere resting on her palms. Slowly, the small ball began to rise into the air, hovering between Jack and Tejana like a fragile dragonfly. All at once, it began to unfold, the sides peeling back, unfurling like the petals of a flower. From deep inside, a pulse of warm illumination began to blossom forth, shimmering and gleaming like pixie-dust, unwinding and spreading until the room was filled with multi-coloured, ever-changing fractals of light. Jack gazed around in bewildered awe. He had never seen anything like this. It was like a miniature fireworks display of unrivalled magnificence, the intense colours and patterns almost more than his conscious mind could absorb.

"What is it?" he asked again, watching in fascination as the play of light and colour reflected across Tejana's lovely face.

She smiled, her eyes sparkling with teasing merriment. "It's a child's toy. A music box. The Jaare-Oregim sell them by the hundred in the street bazaars on the planet Lystra."

"A music box?"

"Sssshhh...listen..."

As she hushed him, the music box began to sing - a high, lilting, wordless melody of indescribable beauty, which joyfully wound its way in firm tendrils around his heart and tugged, bringing astonished tears to his eyes. He recognised this music. He had heard it before, once upon a dream.

"But that...that's the Song of the Universe..." he whispered incredulously.

Tejana nodded, her gaze questioning as she looked at him. "Few can hear it, fewer still can recognise it for what it is. The Jaare-Oregim are time-sensitive beings. Like Time Lords, they hear the Song from the moment they are born. It's an integral part of their culture, essential to their existence. But you, Jack, you hear it too?"

"I heard it with you," Jack choked out. "At the beginning of all things, as Time reformed around me, the Universe sang to me as I held you in my arms."

Suddenly, the tension between them was almost tangible. The haunting music and the soft, glowing light seemed to encircle them, shutting out the world and drawing them closer together. Slowly, Jack reached for her, pulling her to him, his hands trembling as though he couldn't help it. Tejana didn't try to move away, her eyes fixed steadily on his face.

"Jack..." she quavered, her voice almost inaudible. "I thought you didn't want to do this. Nothing we have can last, you know that."

Jack's hands came up to caress her face. "Forever doesn't make people happy, Tejana. Believe me, I should know. It's the moments hidden inside forever which make people happy. And there's nothing I want more than to share this moment with you, however long it lasts."

Then his mouth came down on hers, soft and hot, his arms tightening possessively around her. A tremor of mingled fear and anticipation shot through her as she felt the warmth of him through his shirt, shimmering against her skin. Their bodies twined together, suddenly sharing a language that needed no sound. Tejana felt her lips parting involuntarily under his, welcoming the heated invasion of his tongue. Jack made a small sound, deep in his throat as he lifted her gently and carried her across to the shabby old couch at the back of the room, his mouth hardening urgently against hers. Tejana made no protest, her hands sliding into his dark hair, not to push him away but to pull him closer, matching him kiss for kiss. It felt right to be here with him, so safe and comforting, surrounded and cradled by the Song of the Universe.

And if, while laying back on that couch, looking up into Jack's blue eyes, she suddenly found herself imagining a pair of wicked brown ones, that meant nothing, nothing at all.