(*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*)
"What are we going to do, Jack?" Tosh was asking her boss, "WWII, Granddad stayed in London but he was persecuted. If I stay stuck here, what will happen to me?" Her eyes were pleading with him to tell her the truth.
"I'll take care of you." Jack said simply, he looked at Lucy, "I'll take care of both of you."
"Well if I get stuck here, I'm going to London in search of a bomb that isn't a bomb." Lucy said with a grin, "I'm going to go on an adventure."
"Oh I bet you would." Jack laughed.
"This period," Tosh said, changing the subject. She could only guess that Lucy was talking about something to do with the Doctor, she didn't like being left out of the conversation and still wasn't sure if she had forgiven her friend or not for knowingly letting them get stuck in 1941. "you look like you fit in. Have you been here before?"
"Yeah" Jack said, "I can't explain it but I served in the war in 1941"
"I could explain it if you want." Lucy said with a small smile, Jack just looked at her, "or I could not" She conceded, "sorry continue your story."
"I was undercover, I needed a false identity so I took his name."
"Who were you before you took his name?"
Jack refused to answer, and Lucy gave a small shake of her head to let Tosh know that this was not something that Jack was ever going to tell, it also led the Japanese woman to falsely assume that Lucy didn't know anything more than that either, this made her feel a bit better about not knowing. Lucy would never tell her differently.
"Why him?" She nodded at the captain who was talking to his friends at the bar, getting another drink.
"It was convenient." Jack said
"But if you chose his identity to steal then he..."
"Dies in battle." He agreed, slightly sadly. It was one thing to know this objectively and to have no concerns about using his name, but now he had met the man it meant more. Suddenly his death was no longer a statistic - it was one of the curses of travelling in time.
"When?"
"Tomorrow." They stood in silence watching the group before Lucy moved.
"Well I'm going to go join them, Tosh you need those co-ordinates and one of the men down there will know."
"Good idea. Jack?" Tosh looked at Jack, he nodded his agreement.
"... she says, I can't there's rats down there." The man who had been dancing with Tosh and fighting with Jack earlier said, he laughed and one of the other soldiers did as well, but the real Captain Jack and one other didn't seem to find it as funny.
"So," Tosh interrupted them, "Who's the best navigator here."
"Tim." George said, "he can't fly for toffee but at least when he goes down, he'll know exactly where he is." He laughed at the expense of the younger man but this time none of the others did.
"Why don't we chat over here?" Tosh said gently pulling the boy away from the rest of the group
"I give the public schoolboy a fortnight." He joked and Lucy raised an eyebrow.
"You almost sound like you want him to die, just so you can be proved right." She said not letting any emotion into her voice.
"No," George backtracked, "I didn't mean it like that."
"That boy's come a long way in five weeks" Jack Harkness said "as long as you boys remember your training, and help each other when needed, you'll be alright." He looked at Lucy and Jack, "I'm glad you came. Shall we sit down? Agent Smith I still owe you a drink, Captain do you want anything?"
"No thanks, we may need to go rather quickly." Jack replied, as they walked towards a table, "I'd prefer to be sober if we do."
"Fair enough." he shrugged.
George seemed excited by the war and wanted to know if Lucy and Jack had any stories.
"You must have seen some action captain, you too Agent. That is if you really are a spook and I'm not convinced."
"Well let's hope you never find out for certain because that would mean we were probably sharing a mission and I can't see that going well."
"The enemy comes in all shapes and sizes." Jack said patiently, "Agent Smith here knows that more than anyone."
"Yeah, I can't wait to get up there and give Jerry what for." George said naively. "How many did you kill in the Battle of Britain sir, 26 wasn't it?"
Jack Harkness was suddenly uncomfortable and Lucy and Jack both knew why. Talking about death was never fun, and talking about people you had killed was even less so.
"You've heard that story countless times George" He said trying to shift the conversation.
"No one's as fast as him." George continued, "Hasn't lost a man yet."
"I'll go get those drinks." The Captain said standing up, "Are you sure you don't want anything Captain?"
"Just a water thanks, if you insist on getting me something." Jack replied
"No problem" The WWII man walked over to the bar and the table fell silent as neither Jack nor Lucy felt the need to say anything and George felt slightly uncomfortable now his captain had left.
A young woman walked up to Captain Harkness at the bar.
"Hello Jack." She said, "I know you're having a night in with the men, but I thought I'd look in. If that's all right."
"Yeah" Jack Harkness still looked uncomfortable and glanced over to Jack and Lucy, "yeah alright."
George moved away from the table to join the rest of his friends, leaving the two Torchwood agents together.
"Tosh has finished talking to Tim." Jack pointed out. They walked over to where Tosh was putting a piece of paper back in her bag. "Well?" He asked her.
"I've got everything I need." Tosh replied quietly "now I just need to find a way to get it down in a way that will last across time."
"Ok" Jack said, "this way."
"We could use Manger's office again." Lucy commented, "I told him we might need to, he didn't seem to happy about it but there is nothing he can really do."
"Good idea." Jack said, "we'll go there and work something out."
As the three of them started to walk in the direction of the office the woman who had been unhappy about Tosh dancing with George earlier stepped between them, facing Tosh.
"I haven't seen you three here before. Which one's with you?" She looked at Jack who didn't say anything but put a hand on Lucy's arm in a silent warning.
"She's after Tim." George said, "Why else would she allow him to bore her to death about navigations."
"Maybe she's a spy."
"That's the other one." he pointed at Lucy.
"And I work for his majesties government." she said, only just remembering in time that King George was still alive and Elizabeth was not on the throne yet. "My pay and orders come directly from the palace."
"The Chinese are on our side aren't they?" Another soldier said, deciding not to question Lucy.
"I'm Japanese." Tosh corrected him automatically
"You're hardly an ally, then." The woman said scornfully.
"Except she was born in London and has been a British Citizen all her life." Lucy said harshly, not going to let anyone talk about Tosh like that.
"Calm down Agent Smith." Jack said
"Whose side are you on?"
"Leave it Audrey" George said, lots of people were watching now.
"What's in the bag?"
"Nothing."
"If you've got nothing to hide then open the bag." Audrey pulled at the bag and Tosh held tight to it, Jack grabbed the woman's arms and pulled her back.
"She can't." Jack said finally getting involved with the conversation, "her work is top secret, just as much as Agent Smith's. She's a decoder for the Brits."
"Without ladies like her, we'd have no way of defending the country." Jack Harkness said handing Jack and Lucy their glasses of water before picking up his brandy from the bar. "And who knows what Agent Smith has done to help the war effort." He lifted his glass, "To Toshiko and Agent Smith."
"Toshiko does all the clever stuff." Lucy said quickly, "she deserves the praise more than me"
"To Toshiko" Everyone around them said, Lucy gave Tosh an embarrassed smile.
"I need Bilis' camera. Photographs last don't they?" Tosh said quietly to Jack.
"Sure you don't want us to come with you?" He asked, Jack Harkness interrupted them.
"You can't go yet, I've just got you a drink"
"It's fine." Lucy said before Tosh could say anything, "I'll go with Tosh and you stay with Captain Harkness" She followed Tosh across the dancehall towards Bilis' office.
"So" She said jokingly, "do you think I'm seeing things in the interaction between the two Jack's that aren't there?" Tosh grinned.
"They do appear to be rather close very quickly"
"What was it you told Gwen - he'll shag anything if it's sexy enough. I would say Jack is sexy enough."
"Which one?"
"Both of them."
"But this in 1941 though, even if he likes guys doesn't mean he'll act on it." Tosh pointed out as Lucy closed the office door .
"Maybe not though, he does go back to war tomorrow"
"Maybe." Tosh picked up the camera and put the piece of paper with the formula on onto the table so she could take the photo. She positioned the camera and quickly took it, pulling out the Polaroid and shaking it.
"Starting to be a habit." Billis said as he walked in
"I told you we may need to use your office again." Lucy said seriously. "My colleague and friend here needed to use your camera to photograph some important information so we can inspect it without damaging it."
"This little beauty is very unusual and rare." Bilis said walking forward and making the two women feel more and more uncomfortable although Lucy hid it a lot better than Tosh. "Much like the two of you."
"Well we really must be going." Lucy said picking up the piece of paper, "After you Toshiko"
"I could think of better things to photograph than numbers, my dear."
"Yes." Lucy agreed, "There are many things I would prefer to use that camera on but unfortunately there is also a war going on. Landscape scenes aren't that useful in defeating Hitler whilst numbers are."
The two walked through the door as quickly as they could without running.
"Do call again." Manger's voice shouted after them and Tosh shivered.
"That man gives me the creeps."
"Gah," Lucy grimaced, "I agree. Creep on TV and creepier in real life. But I'm liking the power that comes with this spy thing."
"You use it well." Tosh commented, "I had no idea what to say to him."
"I thought I'd just bullshit like Jack does, it seemed to work." Lucy smirked and Tosh smiled back, "Speaking of," she continued "where is the Captain?"
"Which one?"
"Either, both." Lucy shrugged, "I'd be surprised if they weren't together. Find one Jack and we'll find the other."
Tosh stopped at the door and nodded towards it, "If we sort it out outside less people will notice. I'll use the wrapper from Grandfather's card to put the photo in."
"Sure" Lucy agreed, she stood watch on Tosh while the Japanese woman sorted out the photo and put in the plastic wrapper.
"I hope the rest of the team like treasure hunts." She said, thinking out loud. Lucy laughed,
"Oh I'm sure Owen hates them. You know what he's like... Continually complaining about how much effort things are."
"Well we'll have to hope it's Gwen or Ianto then." Tosh said standing up, "If we stick it in the electrical box just round the corner, that should keep it safe and dry"
"Brilliant." Tosh took one last look at it as they turned the corner.
"Oh no." She breathed.
"What?"
"It's missing the first couple of equations."
"Shit" Lucy sighed, "Ok well let's get these ones safe and then work something out for the others. Come on." She tugged the doors open and slid the photo as far back as she could. "That will have to do."
The air raid siren filled the sky, bringing fear to everyone to heard it. Tosh shoved one of the side doors hoping it would open but no luck.
"COME ON!" Lucy shouted, "main door, let's go."
Tosh hugged her bag tight to her check and ran with Lucy back inside the Ritz Dance Hall. They bumped into Jack in the crowd of people who were running for the bomb shelter.
"I didn't get the first part of the equation into the photo." Tosh said as the three of them moved with the crowd into the safety of the bomb shelter.
"But the rest is outside." Lucy said optimistically, "When they find it they'll keep looking."
Once inside the bomb shelter, the atmosphere was tense but relieved, everyone was aware that their house and some of their friends may not be safe but right now they were and that was all that matters. Tosh stood in an entrance to a side room, Lucy supposed it was used for storage, no one ever knew how long they would be in the shelter for.
"I need to write the rest of the equation," Tosh said to Jack and Lucy. "I'll find something else to write it in, ink will fade."
"I'll help you." Lucy said suddenly remembering what Tosh was planning on using, "Jack you stay here with... Jack." She pointed at the other Captain who smiled at their boss.
Tosh and Lucy quickly moved into the storage room before the Captain could tell them not to. Tosh immediately started looking through the cupboards for something to use, Lucy waited and Tosh opened a tin.
"This is air tight, it'll do."
"It will have to." Lucy said wincing and offering her hand to Tosh, who looked at her confused.
"What's that for?"
"You don't seriously think I'm going to let you slice your hand open do you?"
"Well..."
"Well nothing, and do it quickly before I change my mind."
"Thank you, and sorry." Tosh said quickly brushing as much of the dirt off as possible before slicing it across Lucy's palm.
Lucy winced again but didn't make any sound to show that it hurt, Tosh felt bad as she dipped her pencil in the pool of blood and started to write. After about half a minute Tosh had finished and the band had started to play again, she also wrote a small personal note just in case they didn't get out of this alive.
"Do you want me to write anything?" Tosh asked. Lucy shook her head.
"Nah, let's get back to the two captains. You got anything I could use as a bandage in that bag?"
"Sorry." Tosh said again.
"Dammit" Lucy said jokingly, "I liked this t-shirt and now I have to rip it."
"I'm sure someone will have a first aid kit." Tosh commented as they walked out, the air raid siren sounding again to give the all clear.
"I hope so."
They joined Jack and Tosh said quietly, "It's all done and hidden."
"Well done."
"What happened to her hand?" Tim, the navigator that Tosh had been speaking to earlier asked.
"I slipped." Lucy said
"The spy slipped over, oh dear what hope is there for the rest of us?" George said.
"I'm human and misjudged my step in the dark," Lucy said sarcastically, "happens to even the best of us sometimes."
"I've got a first aid kit." Tim said, still primarily talking to Tosh. "If you want I can go and get it..."
"That would be brilliant, thank you." Tosh replied and Lucy turned to Jack as the two disappeared to find it.
"How is it they are talking about me but I'm the invisible one?" Jack just laughed.
"You'd better go catch them up."
"I'm off. You just want time to talk to the Captain."
"And is that a problem Agent?" Jack said slightly mockingly.
"Not at all Captain," Lucy replied seriously, "But don't forget that we could get new orders and have to leave any second."
"I know. Now go get your hand dealt with." They had been walking as they talked and were among the last to leave the shelter, Lucy split from the two men to find Tosh and Tim waiting for her by the door. Tim was carrying a first aid bag.
"Let me poor some water on it to clean it and then you can bandage it up." Lucy said to the pair of them.
"I was telling Tim how you cut it on a nail." Tosh said seriously, "He's got some disinfectant in there as well."
"I'll be fine without, really." Lucy said but Tosh was not budging, she felt bad enough about having to cut Lucy's hand she didn't want to be the one to let it get an infection too.
"You know that your work doctor won't approve of that." With that last sly comment, Lucy knew that Tosh had won. Owen would not be happy if the wound wasn't disinfected and Tosh would be sure to tell him, she could deal with the disapproval from the doctor but the lecture after was not worth it, and he wouldn't let her down on the range in case she aggravated it. He had threatened her with that before and when she had complained Jack had said that although she might be the weapons expert Owen was the doctor and in matters to do with health and the body Owen was in charge and his orders overruled everyone's.
"No" She sighed, "he wouldn't like it at all. Ok, I'll go clean it and then you can poison me with disinfectant before bandaging it up."
With that she left for the bathroom but not before hearing Tosh laugh and tell Tim that she was just being dramatic and not to worry.
10minutes later and Lucy's hand was neatly bandaged up.
"Thanks" She said to Tim, Tosh stood a little bit further away looking at Jack and Jack who were sitting up on the balcony talking to each other.
"No problem." Tim replied, looking over Lucy's shoulder at Tosh.
"You know you could ask her to dance." Lucy said with a smile.
"What?" He was worried and shocked that he had been caught out.
"Tosh, you've been looking at her all night and tomorrow you go off to war. You could ask her to dance with you."
"But after what happened to George..." Tim said stumbling over his words.
"George grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor without even saying hello." Lucy said calmly, "I'll hold the bag full of important secrets and you can take her onto the dance floor."
"Do you think she'll say yes?" He asked hopefully.
"I'm sure she will but one word of warning though." Lucy said turning serious, "we may have to leave at any minute. So if that's mid-dance it's mid-dance, so I suggest you ask her before you run out of time." Tim nodded and visibly gathered his courage
"Ok, thank you Agent Smith."
"No problem" Lucy replied, she watched Tim walk over to Tosh and speak to her quietly, Tosh seemed a bit surprised and held her bag tighter but Tim just pointed at Lucy who smiled at the pair and nodded. Tosh sighed and then smiled at the soldier, she walked over to Lucy and handed her the bag and the laptop.
"Look after it."
"I'm not going to break it." Lucy sighed, "Now go and dance and enjoy 1941 for a while, there is nothing else we can do now. Owen, Ianto and Gwen will get us back and if not tomorrow we'll go to Torchwood and put it in a time sealed container."
"Are you sure?" Tosh had to check
"Yes!" She laughed, "Now dance and I'll stay her looking after your stuff."
"Thank you." Tosh walked back over to Tim and offered her hand, the two walked onto the dance floor together and, slightly awkwardly at first, they started to dance.
Five minutes later Jack Harkness walked past her looking upset and confused, Lucy decided to stay silent. Jack followed and lent against the wall with her watching Tosh and Tim.
"When did she get onto the dance floor?"
"About five minutes ago." Lucy replied, "I had to prompt Tim to ask her, I think he was a bit scared."
"Of Toshiko?"
"Of women in general." They continued to watch the pair dance and have fun in silence before Jack spoke again.
"Tomorrow is their last training exercise, just another day."
"You don't need to tell me." Lucy said kindly but Jack continued.
"They go out on a sortie and are surprised by two formation of Messerschmitts. He destroys three of the enemy." Jack gave a small laugh, "His men listen to his whoops of joy over the radio. Then it all goes quiet. He can't bail out because his whole plane is on fire. But his men all make it back to safety. But there is nothing I can do him."
"He was a good Captain." Lucy agreed, "I always meant to ask though Jack, how did no one know you stole his name. Forms are easy to fill out or get rid of but they'll be plenty of people who met or worked with the Captain."
"It had been long enough." Jack shrugged, "Those who worked with him were either all posted elsewhere or were simply too focused on the war to care. I've got a question for you as well." Jack said, "seeing as we're answering them, do you know why I'm like this? Do you know what happened and if there is a reason for it?"
"Yes, yes and no." Lucy replied sadly, watching her friend have fun. "And I can't tell you, you'll find out soon though. I promise. And I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"For not stopping this, for the consequences of this." She gave a cold laugh, "for the disaster that's about to happen in two weeks time, for the next year."
"It's not your fault"
"Feels like it sometimes." She said coldly, "whenever I think about it, when I can't sleep I end up coming with theories of how to stop it and they get madder and madder but in every case I can think of at least one feasible way to stop it from happening. And I want to," She pulled her eyes of Tosh and Tim and looked at Jack. "I really want to stop it, that's why I had to come with you."
"It's ok." Jack said seriously, looking straight at her, "whatever happens I forgive you because it's NOT your fault."
Lucy shrugged and looked away again, the song was ending and it appeared Tim was trying to persuade Tosh to dance the next one as well.
"When you meet the Doctor, will you tell him I'm sorry, and that the pair of you should laugh and love life in all its glory and I'll watch you run! And that I'm sorry for how cheesy that sounds." She smiled and then noticed Captain Jack Harkness walking towards them.
"I promise." Jack said.
Lucy grinned at him.
"Looks like Tosh isn't the only Torchwood agent on the dance floor tonight."
"What do you mean?" Jack was confused and Lucy nodded at Jack Harkness who took Jack's hand and the pair walked onto the dance floor together slowly.
'There were angels dancing at the Ritz'. The singer was the only one to keep going as though nothing was wrong, everyone else stopped and watched the two Captains dance in each other's arms.
Tosh and Tim walked over to join Lucy, Tim didn't look comfortable with what was happening but knew better than to say anything about it.
The two men stopped dancing and moved as though to kiss when a bright light burst from behind them.
"Let's go." Lucy said to Tosh.
"What now?" Tim was confused
"Yes we've got to go now. I'm sorry, I had a good night." Tosh replied as Lucy called onto the dance floor.
"Jack!"
The two women started moving towards the light as quickly as possible and Lucy tried to ignore the cliché.
"Jack, we need to get out!" Tosh shouted
"You have to Jack!" Lucy added
"We need you." Tosh begged
They didn't see what Jack said to Jack, but they did watch as he started to walk away before walking back and snogging the WWII Captain. This time when Jack walked away he didn't go back, Jack Harkness saluted them and the world of WWII started to fade away. They walked further into the light and arrived back home. Cardiff, 2007.
(*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*)
Gwen was sitting in her car outside, she looked as though she had given up but as soon as she spotted them she smiled and jumped out.
"You're alive! You made it." She hugged Jack and then Toshiko, before hugging Lucy as well. "You made it."
"Yes and you're hugging me." Lucy said awkwardly. The other laughed and Gwen stepped back again.
"Yes, well, high emotions and all that. I'll go back to being annoyed at you pretty soon. I'm just glad you're all alive."
"Let's go back to the hub." Jack said, pushing the emotion of the day to the back of his mind.
"Tosh you've got a birthday party to get to haven't you." Lucy said with a smile, "You'd be late but you could still go."
"All I want to do it is to go home." Tosh sighed, "I'll call my mother later."
"If you're sure..." Jack smiled at her
"I'm sure. Now let's go home." Tosh replied with a smile
"I'll call the others and let them know." Gwen said, "Are any of you coming with me?"
"I will" Tosh replied once it became clear that Jack was not going to volunteer.
"Thanks Tosh. Come on."
The drive back in the SUV with Jack was silent but Lucy was glad, she didn't want to talk either. The sight waiting for them in the Hub was Ianto holding a tray with coffee and a smile whilst Owen sat at Lucy's desk with his shoulder and fresh bullet wound showing.
"I... er, I wasn't happy about the idea of opening the rift." Ianto explained as Lucy carefully held the mug so as not to hit against her wound.
"Good shot" Lucy commented, "I presume he was moving at the time and you weren't aiming for his heart."
"I wasn't that angry." Ianto said with his eyebrows raised and Jack smiled at them.
"I'm going up to my office."
Lucy shook her head at Gwen to stop her from following and the Captain walked up in silence and locked himself away.
"Tosh, can you help me over here?" Owen called, Tosh nodded and walked over to the doctor and helped him deal with the bullet wound.
Lucy closed her eyes and drunk her coffee, taking in the sounds and smell of the hub. She might not like the consequences of Owen using the rift and she knew that things were going to get bad very quickly but for now she didn't care. She was home, the only thing the only way it could improve would be if there was a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes laughing and running around.
"Still no sign of Bilis" Ianto said as he searched for the manager/caretaker.
"The world didn't end after all." Owen replied "Good job you're a crap shot."
"I was aiming for your shoulder"
"Please stop arguing" Lucy said opening her eyes, "Owen you know full damn well that it was a good shot and he was aiming for your shoulder."
"I know it was war time." Tosh said sadly, "but it was beautiful"
"There were angels dancing at the Ritz." Lucy agreed before looking at Tosh and nodding at Jack's office. "Go talk to him."
Tosh smiled, she put the bowl for Owen down and walked to Jack's office, everyone else looked at Lucy.
"What happened?"
"Nothing happened, we were with Captain Jack Harkness." Lucy replied, "But it was 1941, they were soldiers and it's now 2008. How many of the people we spoke to do you think are still alive?" She drained her drink and put the mug on Ianto's desk.
"I know it's only early afternoon, but I've just lived through a night during the blitz would anyone really care if I went home?"
Owen, Ianto and Gwen all looked at each other and shrugged.
"Go on, you may as well clock out early." Gwen said with a smile "We'll be ok here without you."
"I'll keep my mobile on." Lucy said as she let herself accept her tiredness and the adrenaline crash that always happened after a long case.
"You're a fat lot of use to us here anyway, sweetheart." Owen mocked. Normally Lucy would be annoyed by Owen calling her sweetheart but she found herself grateful - it was just another thing that reminded her of the hub, of Torchwood, of home.
"Tell Jack where I've gone." Lucy said "I'll leave the car here Ianto and get a taxi."
"Do you want me to wake you for dinner?" He asked
"Knock on the door but if I don't respond just let me be." Lucy replied, "I feel like I could sleep through a month of Sundays."
"Till tomorrow will have to do." Owen said sarcastically, "now scram before we change our minds."
"See ya." Lucy smiled at them and walked out the cog doors out of the hub and into Cardiff.