Chapter 11

Liz plopped down on the couch and swung her feet to and fro, waiting for Jack. She nipped at her thumbnail and rummaged over ways to not bugger anything with Jack up. He was a seemingly confusing person – apparently from an Earth she would never know; but would he take her there? What was his story… had the Doctor simply picked him up for a ride, or – like Arthur… was he a hitchhiker… wait was that story real? Possibilities of literature that had just been an escapist form of fun for her flitted through her mind and she never grew anxious of when Jack would come – he knew where she was.

In what seemed like an hour, but was in reality half – Jack found her and plopped next to her with a noisy landing. She jumped and promptly smacked him for it, but smiled all at the same time.

"You scared me, what took you so long?"

"Time is not the boss of me!" Eliza looked at him and raised a questioning eyebrow, not believing him for one second. "Okay, you're right. That's more of the Doctor's territory, but to be fair I come bearing gifts!"

Jack held up the entire Batman trilogy, including The Dark Knight Rises, of which had not been released in Eliza's timeline. Her eyes widened as she hid her face – inner superhero loving girl wanting to be hidden lest she make an utter fool of herself.

"Thewaytoagirlsheart," she muttered incoherently into her hands.

Jack chuckled and knelt in front of her to pull her hands from her face, but her eyes were closed and she shook her head. "Did I just find a way to actually make you blush?"

"Nope!" She replied all to quickly with a shake of her head. Her hair fell over her face and she attempted to blow a piece from the tip of her nose – it tickled.

"I really think I did. Let's pop this in and see how you do. I bet you we're arguing over whether Joker or Scarecrow is a better villain by the second film!"

Eliza sucked in a deep breath and blew it out quickly, shaking her head slowly. "Hm... tough one, Harkness. Ultimate loser has to get the popcorn!"

"Deal," Jack smiled back to her from over his shoulder.

He got the movie started and disappeared for a few minutes to find the remote, of which was in the microwave. He was shaking his head and simply explained something about the effects of radiation against batteries, and the Doctor's obscene need to explode everything near him. Liz briefly thought of Charity, and her explosion about the Doctor earlier. She really seemed to love him, and it was inconceivable to think that either of them could have fallen in love with these men so fast. Liz would be the first to admit hers had a heavy stress on lust, but as Jack wrapped her tenderly in his arms to lie against his chest her thoughts flitted to his beating heart under her ear.

It was a steady rhythm, and what had she done to deserve this? Jack was handsome, beautiful even – and he had the world at his feet. As much as she would like to admit to being strong, sometimes she wasn't… attachment was her biggest downfall, and now Jack was stroking against her hip slowly. How soon until that would become a comfort?

Too many unanswered questions – she'd decided, but taking this the route of any other guy on a date was the only way Jack would latch onto her. So, play hard to get and be playful. Let him know that you care, but don't let him walk all over you. She snuggled further into him as the first of the trilogy began and reveled in being able to have a nerdy side, as well as an intelligent side – fairly well rounded, she amused herself with the like. Jack idly played with various parts on Eliza, stroking her to thrumming his fingers against her. He discovered, in the hours they had watching Batman that the base of her spine was sensitive and she wiggled her toes whenever The Joker came on screen.

"Irrational fears much?" He had inquired playfully.

His hand was lightly stroking over her neck and she pulled it up to her mouth to bite between his thumb and pointer finger. He jumped back and squealed out a sound of pain, but it was hidden behind his chuckle. "He's creepy, shut up."

As the last movie dwindled down Jack realized that Liz had managed to fall asleep in his lap, a moment of vulnerability not missed to his eyes. She seemed to be in a state of bliss, and happy with no qualms of cuddling against his neck when he carried her back to her room. It was going on nearly two a.m., and he was planning on finding out where the Doctor had gone with Charity, but the pulling at his wrist as he tried to turn away brought him back. She was looking at him with a sleepy grin, and laced her fingers with his.

"Stay," she whispered out.

The sound carried out through the room and struck Jack; he hadn't heard a pleading voice since... Ianto. He swallowed down the unwelcome lump in his throat and muttered a quiet okay before he wriggled from her hand. He set his bracers to lie over the chair with his button up and trousers. His hair was tousled from being set on the couch all evening and he ran a tentative hand through it… this was the part he wasn't good with. Jack could do the flirting and pinning wall sex, but his grey area was comfort. And he felt his body go rigid as Liz slid up closer to him. She must have noticed because she took a deep breath and propped up on her right elbow as her left hand slid to trace down the taut muscles of his stomach.

"Will you tell me?" She asked in a quiet voice.

Jack stopped her hand with a brush of his fingertips and rested her palm flat against his chest, willing his heart to calm. He knew she would wait the whole night for his answer to come, but it was a bit more complicated than a bedtime story. "I have seen too much of your world, and so many others. Sometimes… it's… it's just hard to ground myself again – hard to be reminded that while I may be invincible my heart isn't."

She braced herself against Jack's chest to lie back down – curled against his side. "Tell me of other worlds…" Liz muttered sleepily.

Jack chuckled quietly and thought: other worlds, I can pretend those lives were other worlds. "There's a world where an elevator is within a rift… and if you step into it carefully there's a human inhabited hub. Pterodactyls fly around and each day it gets easier to let the coffee maker blend in with the hand in a jar that sits off to the side…"

His voice trailed off as he eventually fell into a dreamless sleep with Liz wrapped tightly to his frame. For once Harkness trusted, and for once Liz was happy to give in.

Author's Note: There's the update. :) We don't know when we'll update next, but hopefully it's soon. Review? :3