One year later:
Their home was completed. Jack hired a mover to bring his things from the apartment over to the new house. NG had moved his small bunch of belongings over in one trip in Leon's car. He didn't accumulate much since he had moved home nor did he bother to buy a car. Jack had offered to help him find one and pay for it. NG said it was a waste of time, he would rather have Jack drive him around or he would walk or run if needed. The house wasn't that far from work; not if he ran, that is.
But then again he never was much for having belongings follow him around. He did bring Ianto's diary with him. He found a very special place for it in a loose floorboard in the bedroom. Well the board was really pried loose by his own hand and he modified it to open with a certain touch in a certain place on the board. He insisted on wood floors for this very reason. It was the only request he had made for the new house. The rest of the details he passed off to Jack who in turn handed the job of furnishing and decorating to Mark. Mark agreed having the best eye for color out of all of them. Even Ianto had often run to Mark for advice.
Jack entered the new house having expected the whole gang to be there. He even thought he heard an echo of Leon running to the front door to greet him once he had learned to run. But the look, shape and size of the house may have been just like that home that Jack had shared with seven other people a long time ago, but the rest was very different.
One thing was that the feel of it was off. It didn't have that pleasant feeling that the old house had. He knew that he was expecting that kind of chaos to greet him when he opened the door for the movers. Instead, he found NG putting away some groceries in the kitchen. The place still smelled like paint and the living future was still too new to seem comfortable. It was also strange to find NG in the kitchen and not Ianto.
Jack walked up and ran his hands over the counter. "You should have waited for me. We could have gone out together."
"At some point we will have our own memories. You don't have to make excuses to leave already. Jack, I told you this wasn't a great idea to build the almost exact house." He put the last can of tomatoes away and began to fold the bag.
Jack looked down at the floor. He knew the moment the house was complete that it was the wrong idea. He half wanted to sell it as well feeling that NG wasn't going to be happy with it. But somehow that didn't happen when NG warmed up to the place all with one bright smile. The smile Jack couldn't get enough of. It was rare but brilliant every time NG allowed it to happen. Like his laugh, it brought a sense of peace. Even with NG's approval Jack still thought he made a mistake in building the house again. It was not what he wanted for NG and himself but what he wanted to have again from the past.
NG wasn't part of that past. He was supposed to be part of a new beginning.
"It isn't a mistake. Sorry, you have become very transparent today. I love it Jack, and I will be happy here. Care to join me and help make our own memories? Besides, you did build it for a reason." He went for Jack's face and was received with a hug.
"And what is that reason if you can read me today?" Jack held him tight leaning in to his soft head of hair that curled around the back of his neck.
"Because it was a place of comfort for a man that was always homeless. I promise it will be a home again." The kiss was interrupted by one of the movers asking where they wanted all of the boxes to go.
Jack regrettably pulled away from NG saying the soon the boxes were put in their proper rooms, the sooner the movers would be gone and they could christen the house. It was a good thing the movers were out of earshot.
Trying to get much need information out of John Hart and Jack Harkness in regard to safe time travel protocol proved to be very difficult. It had been over a year since NG had last jumped. It didn't mean he was never going to do it again. For the most part the bracelet was working. Dan and Leon were able to monitor NG more effectively, so anytime a time stream was pulling at him, they knew about it. The bracelet held strong and grounded NG in the present. Jolein made a nicer version of it. Lightweight and copper in color, it almost looked like a piece of expensive jewelry. It was also easy to clean around and didn't leave his arm hurting. So for the most part he forgot it was even on his arm until he would feel Jack absentmindedly play with it. That was when the whole reality that he was different would hit home. NG would have to ease the feeling away so as not to get stuck brooding for the rest of the day.
At this moment Jack was doing just that, playing with the bracelet as NG asked more questions on the subject of time travel.
"We just finished having sex. I wish you would talk like a lover sometimes." He was not upset as the ending laugh told NG.
"You are more willing to give away information after sex, Jack. I bet that is how your enemies used to get secrets out of you. Really you're like this big mush willing to tell anyone anything." He poked Jack in the ribs.
"I'm not that loose, am I? Well, maybe I'm more relaxed. So what was the question?" He snuggled a little closer to NG.
"Anna gave me a series of shots that she said you told her to do. I'm assuming they are to fight various different illnesses in the future as well as the past."
"They are also for you to combat different bacteria in foods so you can eat and to help your body adapt to environmental changes as well as different pollutants. Early Time Agents use to come back with sicknesses. Although most were curable, many weren't. So they came up with ways of helping an agent fight off anything that entered the body. Remember what is cured in the now may be deadly to some in the future. Not everything dies off and stays dead." He rubbed NG's arm lightly.
"Oh you mean like you?" He nipped at Jack's chest pulling at a few hairs.
"Oh I like that, again please?" Jack caressed NG's cheek as he fought the urge to change the subject.
NG gave into the touch for a brief moment before continuing the conversation. "I had an unstuck feeling when I arrived in the past as my report stated. It didn't feel normal. Dad said everyone reacts differently to the push and pull of the time stream with some similarities. He didn't remember anyone with a similar reaction." He was answered at first with Jack laughing.
"That is because he would react just like you and did we torment him over it. Green kids often get the worst teasing and John Hart was as green as they come. But your Dad became so strong after that. He was trying to get you to do the same, if it happens again."
"Please don't let it happen again!" Jack pleaded.
NG moved a little, leaning off the bed as if to leave. "I guess I just have to find my own way around since none of you really are helping me out?" He got up and headed out the bedroom door.
Jack sat up waiting for NG to return. When 15 minutes passed Jack stood up with an "Oh hell" and went to find him.
He had retrieved the throw they had on the couch in the living room and wrapping it around his body he went to sit out in the back yard. It was dark not quite late, but dark enough that the neighbors couldn't see a naked Jack standing in the doorway watching NG.
"I didn't mean it to seem like we were trying not to help, NG." He saw the younger man jump at his voice. He must have been miles away already not to notice Jack standing to his left side. "Are you looking for your Papa?" Jack leaned into the door and waited for NG to talk to him.
"No, I just was thinking. I will just find my own way. I get it that is what all of you want. I also don't mind that you know everything I do like how my body reacts to the Rift and how you are all watching me so closely. But it is getting to be an annoyance to be under the microscope all the time. Is it wrong of me to want the next time I leave I don't come back? After all, at least I would be free. Right now I'm nothing more than a prisoner; maybe not chained but just as much a captive. Strange, I don't remember committing a crime." His voice was almost hushed on the last word.
"You don't mean those things. NG, how can you say that? The truth is I would rather you not learn how to live that life but stay here and never leave." Jack sighed trying to not let his emotions get the better of him.
"It isn't about how you feel, but about how I need to be, Jack!" He stood as he shouted at Jack. "It is about how I need to know how to survive if it happens again. I'm going on instinct right now, at some point that will fail. I need Dad and you to train me, to teach me how to live out in the unknown, to stay sharp so I don't get killed or kill something by mistake. I don't have anything to go by, I'm flying blind without your help!" He was angry and frustrated as he pushed past Jack to take the argument away from the outside world. He didn't need their new neighbors to think they were fighting already. They had been so nice to them with housewarming gifts, inviting them over for tea and such. NG liked the attention; he could make a life out of this but not if Torchwood or his affliction was in the way of them having that normal life.
Jack followed NG into the living room, leaving the back door open. The cool air was nice, it made him think twice before he let his hot head further push NG away. He was right; he and John were avoiding the truth. They didn't want NG to have to train like they did, to go through that kind of horror that went with time travel. It would have been easier if the Doctor were here. He could take NG out into Time for a test run. But that was clean compared to what a Time Agent did. There was no training needed to be on the TARDIS.
"We are being stupid for wanting to protect you, NG." Jack finally began. "You have to understand, there is a lot that we fear for you. It is selfish on our part to hold you back. I know that it must have been scary, not knowing what to do. You got lucky it was me you ran into. At some point you may not be." He moved next to NG on the couch making sure he kept his space a little bit from the young man. "So why don't we try again? This time we won't fail you." He watched NG before seeing that smile appear on the young man's face.
"Thank you, I knew I could count on you." He grinned.
"So lets make some dinner and we can chat about what you need to know. Tomorrow you will start classes with your Dad and myself, but I will run by the basics with you tonight. Sounds like a plan?"
"The best plan yet!" He leaned into Jack and gave him a quick kiss before bouncing off to the kitchen and dinner. Jack watched, trying not to think that maybe he had opened a can of worms in giving NG the key to time travel through the eyes of a time agent.
John Hart yelled "Again!" as NG rushed to disassemble the gun, then reassemble it in the little badly lit room they had set up for NG's training. They needed a part of the Hub that could be private and it was one of the unused lower levels. To NG it smelled bad and it was damp. But he saw the logic in using it for training. It was also a makeshift virtual reality room that Tosh had started creating and Dan had finished. Jack used it at times for certain distraction but John took it over to help with the training of new people. Even as Jack's lover it was NG's first time in here. With his injury and his new ability, Jack decided to hold off on field training him. So NG started to push papers again. But now it seemed he had no choice in controlling NG's training since it wasn't just about Torchwood anymore but the young man's survival. Jack and John agreed that NG still wasn't field agent material but he needed to know things just like the others would need as well as much more for his jumps in time. One part of the training was to learn to think quickly and make fast decisions even under fire.
"Traveling in time, why does it sound so ominous when it concerns him?" Jack was sure to guard his thoughts this time. He didn't need NG to pick up on his doubts about the whole thing. "Wouldn't it be better if we just tried to stop what was happening to him?" It would make sense but somehow Jack knew it would never play out that way.
NG hated his Dad for being so in command. But he was starting to feel like he was part of the team again. It was boring sitting in the Hub waiting for the others to come back from the field with their stories. Leon would ruffle his little brother's hair when NG pouted.
"It's okay Leon, I have figured out exactly how many locks Torchwood has. I also was able to put them in order age first and if they are keyed or voice commanded or time coded. Also I have the exact number belonging to doors, drawers and carrying cases." He rolled his eyes as he finished with "fascinating, it really is fascinating!"
"NG, don't worry you didn't miss much, just Jack trying to talk a giant eel out of eating a cat." Leon didn't get a chance to finish the story. NG had left the room to sulk.
Most of the time it wasn't so bad. He did spend a lot of time with Jack in his office and it wasn't all sex. They talked a lot more. It was nice for a change, kind of reminded NG of Bo only with more hands. Jack seemed to have more than two at times. But they really were getting to know each other. NG never felt like this with others in his past. It was nice to have a friend, a lover and a companion all in one never aging immortal type guy. At least Jack would always be attractive. NG assumed that some would be bothered by Jack's differences, but it didn't faze him at all, it just made him feel proud for some reason.
In the afternoons Jack and he would go to lunch sometimes and just walk around Cardiff when the weather permitted. Jack knew a lot of people and they all had a thing or two to talk about. NG liked this part of Jack. He was starting to see him as more than a lover. Jack was turning into a friend. It was during one of those walks that NG asked to be brought back into the field again. He needed to feel like he was one of the team.
Jack said no and the reason why hung over NG. He couldn't be trusted with being able to protect another member of the team. What if he just jumped and left someone at the mercy of whatever they were up against? It wasn't fair, until NG could control it, he was stuck doing office work.
It was one of many things that NG wasn't allowed that started the argument that made Jack see NG needed to be aware of and how to handle this ability of his. But that left John and himself at an impasse. They had to give NG knowledge that was from the future to help him now. That was something Time Agents just didn't do. Jack stood by this, not to reveal what was to happen, ever.
John put up a great argument after Jack approached him after his nighttime conversation with NG. But when Jack said it was a matter of life or death and he would prefer a live NG slightly corrupted by the forbidden knowledge than a dead ignorant one, John gave in. He didn't want to lose his son now that he had him back.
So this time the VR room was a broken down castle wall with a thick layer of pungent smelling smoke and NG was stuck behind a narrow wooden cart and a stonewall. To NG it was just mixed with the already disgusting odor of the bowels of the Hub. It wasn't hard but John making him do the action over and over again was nerve racking. Just then a shot rang out behind NG as he rushed to put the gun together and fire. He surprised both of them at how fast he was.
With a blink NG was gone as Jack felt something metal pushing at the back of his skull.
"How was that?" NG asked, rather carefully. He backed away slowly from Jack, putting a good twenty paces between him and his lover before lowering the gun.
"It wasn't loaded, was it?" Jack asked just as he heard the bullets hit the ground when NG's gun chamber was released. "Oh, I see." He turned to face NG to find NG wasn't there. "John, how is he doing that?"
"He seems to be able to accelerate his body to move quicker than the eye. I have no idea what it is exactly. But he has been fucking with it and screwing with me all day."
NG was next to his Dad laughing. "That is because you took your time to tell me the rules of Universal Time Traveling Conduct. Dad, this isn't a game, it is my life. I have the advantage, I can move fast." He said smugly.
"I don't care what you think, or feel! You have to start listening to me or I will not help you. I will do this my own way, which is that right way!"
NG frowned, holding his head down as his Dad yelled. "You are right, I'm just nervous about this. Why don't we try the VM's, won't they help?" He looked back and forth between Jack and his Dad.
"Yes they would and I could give you your Papa's. There is just one problem. The Doctor made sure we couldn't use them. It was stupid of him because at some point we may actually need them. He must have gone around at the party and did it when we weren't looking. When we try to fix one circuit another one fries. It wasn't very nice of him." John frowned allowing Jack to see how much that frown was like NG's.
"Sometimes I think I have the best of both of his parents in the son. Gods, I'm hopeless." Jack smirked to himself.
"Maybe we could get Leon to try again. I could help him and I'm sure Dan will lend a hand. That is provided it doesn't interfere with the other things they are working on. All we need is just one to work." Jack was smiling now.
"This way NG could use it to get home. Right, I'll get mine, it was the only real VM anyway." He smiled at Jack.
"But mine is bigger!" Jack howled.
"Size doesn't matter as long as NG can use it to come home." John said making NG laugh. Jack and John joined in until Anna called over the loud speaker that the last group of Weevils that they had in captivity died.
"It is become an epidemic. One which I hope doesn't spread to other species on Earth." John said to Anna over his com link.
"So far according to Becca's findings, there are no connections in the development with the Weevils and Earth life forms. But we are trying to isolate what kind of virus it is. It seems to die with the Weevil and so far there is nothing that shows up any different in a living Weevil to a dead one." Anna commented.
"Mark said he was going to try to chat with them again. NG, maybe you should assist him. He would love that. And I will try to get the VM up and running for you. You're right, if you learn to use it you can get back home." He hugged his son quickly. "That will be all today. I have to go into town. Someone said a spaceship had landed in his or her pool. I can't wait to see what it is about. You coming along, Jack?" John walked out of the practice room.
"I need to work on something virtual. I'll see you at the house." NG didn't kiss Jack, just waved as he disappeared leaving Jack thinking that maybe the Brat was up to something.
"Move it Harkness, a tiny spaceship is more than likely at the bottom of the pool with little drowning aliens. Take your trunks, it is time for a swim!" John hollered after Jack who was still watching the empty space that NG once stood in.
He was guilty, of course. He didn't want to work on time travel scenarios like his Dad must think he was doing. John Hart was so determined now to prevent anything harming NG. He was going to properly train him. And that meant that training was a class and in class one had to study, so that led to homework. NG smiled, remembering how he wasn't much for homework unless a father or two was hanging over him. But his grades were mainly good but they had accelerated in University. He just didn't socialize much so he stayed home and studied.
"Ianto? Are you there?" NG said when he shifted the simulator to Ianto's kitchen in the house Jack and he lived in. It was quiet except for the old mechanical clock whose pendulum made a clacking noise when the hands touched. It was very old a gift from Jack on their 10th wedding anniversary. At noon a bird would come out and chirp. NG use to climb up on a chair and wait for the bird when he was young. He went for the clock with the time reading close to noon.
"That bird loves you NG, he'll be out soon to say hello. Here give him a seed." Ianto was next to him handing him the seed.
"Is it really you or is this what the chamber created? VR world can be scary real." He reached for the source of the voice next to him. He was afraid that it would be just a part of the VR world and cold.
Surprisingly, the person next to him was warm. "It is I, NG. As promised, I'm here for you." Ianto's hug was warm as NG fell into his chest just as the bird peeked out and sung its song at noon.
"There, there, I haven't left. I told you I would be there for whatever reason even if it just for this, for a hug. They can't be that bad, they all love you and are trying to help you. Jack sometimes just needs a kick in the right direction. Someday, all this hard work will be needed. Until then, I'll listen." He pushed NG away to look at his face. "Or I'll just be there when you need a hug."
"I love you, Uncle Ianto. You just being here makes all the difference."
There was a late evening a few days later that Jack rather pushed NG out the door for dinner. NG was a little annoyed, he had a lot of Torchwood work to catch up on because his training was getting in the way of his job.
"No pouting, I want you to come with me, it won't take long. I can buy you dinner if you want?" He pulled NG down the Plass with his left hand while tightly gripping a paper bag in the right. His gate was determined and forceful as he pulled a stumbling NG along. Jack rounded the corner for the stairs off the pier that headed to the shoreline below.
"Great," NG mused. "He has some kinky idea in mind, one of his experiments of the week. I'm really not in the mood." He frowned just as Jack turned to look at him. He stumbled on stone.
"Oh come on NG, you run all the time, keep up the pace. You are sorely lacking tonight. I thought you could keep up with me?" He laughed as NG scowled a bit.
"I can, just not when I'm not sure why I have to. Jack, what are you playing at?" NG didn't get an answer, as Jack just seemed to defy the sand pulling against his shoes to get to the surf.
He stopped, releasing NG's hand. He took a small rocket out of the bag and placed it on the sand. He checked his wrist strap quickly before turning towards the puzzled look on NG's face.
"My friend, the one that passed away." He pointed to the rocket. "He was very dear and loved my stories of space. So I promised him that on his next birthday I would launch him into space. He was so happy the day he died because he would get to at least somehow be with the stars in death. NG, you never asked what he meant to me or even who he was." Jack watched the darkened image of NG waiting for the stars above to touch him so he could read his lover's face.
"I know your need for privacy. I also know that you would in time tell me if it is what you wanted. Jack, I would never demand your private thoughts." He waited for Jack to comment.
"You seem to understand me. I just thought you would have a little more curiosity. But you are right, I would tell you in time." You're not Ianto, I have to stop expecting questions. He was always asking them at the beginning, trying to find his place with me. It was when he stopped trying that I knew he had all the information he needed. You still are confusing, NG. I hope you never change.
If NG read those thoughts, he never told Jack.
"He was just a friend, someone that I knew since 1950 as a person of great understanding and integrity. He was a rare find in that he understood me better than I knew myself then. He was not with Torchwood but was one of the few that knew of it because he worked with UNIT and he knew the Doctor. His name was Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. He died very old in my arms because I was the last of his friends still standing that is, except the Doctor. Alastair kept my secrets safe, even from the Doctor. Now it is time."
Jack pushed the button on his wrist strap and the rocket soared high above with a trail of firework sparklers, almost toy-like. Jack saluted it as it rose high into the night sky. "He loved a little drama, at least that is how he explained it to me." They both craned their necks to see the rocket slip out of sight. At some point the couple moved next to each other finding their hands had worked together. Both watched the rocket until it couldn't be seen in the flickering starlight. It was then that the pair turned their eyes to the water watching the surf hit the beach breathing like a life force all its own.
"You smell extraordinary tonight." Jack breathed down NG's neck, pressing him lightly into the wall outside of Archives. He struggled just a little as Jack pushed just a bit harder into his body while finding it necessary to use his neck to test his teeth on. Each little nip sent shock waves through NG's body. He was also aware that Jack's pheromones were very strong tonight as he felt himself swoon a little from the heavier scent.
"I have to fight this. He has too much control and I feel faint." Faint he did for a moment as he let his weight slide his body down the wall some more. Jack's forceful torso pinned NG in place while he insisted on chewing the buttons off his shirt.
"Did you plan for this in order to make it difficult? Since when did you start to wear a button down shirt?" Jack blew hot air into NG's ear when he made it the new home for his lips after he had ripped all the buttons off the shirt.
"You gave it to me." It was more of a protest spoken in a whisper as NG faltered again, sliding down the wall further. The moan that escaped him when Jack moved his hand to his waistband was an improvement in the volume of his voice. "Are we alone here, I mean in the Hub? Jack, what if someone comes down here?" He woke up from the blissful feeling that Jack was helping him sink into as the immortal explored certain parts of his body.
"They won't come down here now. They will call you if they need you, but that doesn't mean you have to answer." He had NG's belt off and the top button of his pants undone, his hand finding the fluff of hair a nice place to rest for a bit.
Try as he wanted to NG just couldn't move. He wanted to do back to Jack what was being done to him. But he just couldn't gain that position, as Jack seemed to have developed many hands at once. It wasn't the case for it was just the two hands. NG just felt like that because his own mind couldn't seem to process the amount of time that it took Jack to do each little move while he gained access to the spot he really wanted to go.
As if he were drugged, after a kiss that curled his toes, NG felt his body being turned around, his pants slipping down to his ankles. Somehow he missed a step but he could feel the pleasure that Jack was now giving him as they joined. He was floating and falling like this was the ocean and the tide pushed and pulled at the two of them. He was red hot, feeling his skin's heat, knowing he must be blushing from his excitement. It was wonderful, the best he ever had as Jack continued to dominate the act.
Jack couldn't make sense of this. He had no control over what he was doing. It was plainly out of need. Something tonight let Jack give into his instincts again. Being a polished lover, never a disappointment with a "customer," he always left people satisfied but it was planned. Even his most spontaneous moments had some kind of goal in mind or a pattern to follow. The sex right now just wasn't like that; it was lost in a primitive desire that was purely natural, no plans just action.
And for once not having a plan felt good. So Jack did what his body wanted and he let it happened. They rode out the buildup that started when Jack first pinned NG to the wall and it ended it with two very satisfied men panting from exhaustion.
"What was that?" NG spoke into the wall as he prayed his heart wouldn't stop beating. "I don't think I ever did, well had anything like this before." He wanted to wrap himself up in Jack but he could tell the older man was also trying to catch his breath and come down a bit.
"I don't know, but I want to do it again." He pressed his head into NG's sweaty neck, taking in the man's strong smell. "But I also would like to stop hearing my heart in my ears. I also think I can't see out of one eye." They both laughed while they gently relaxed again. NG managed to turn around to face Jack. They both panted, staring into each other's eyes.
"If we do, I want to go somewhere a little more private." He buried his face into Jack's sticky skin.
Jack wrapped his arms around the younger man as he whispered what started another chain of laughing. "Not if, but when."
The intensity of their sexual relationship didn't stop Torchwood from getting in the way. But as soon as business was done the two would slip off to have intercourse wherever it was convenient. They were good about doing it in the Hub even when it was full. Jack didn't mind really if everyone wanted to watch, hell they could join in if they wanted. But because of the intensity of the feeling state he was experiencing, NG wanted it to be a little more private. Jack smiled at that. Somehow it made this feel special. He also stopped comparing what was going on with NG to what he felt and had with Ianto. It wasn't right, they weren't the same and Ianto wasn't there. So he decided to clear this up once and for all with Ianto so he could have this amazing sensation with NG without feeling guilty.
NG had some work to do with Leon and Dan one afternoon so Jack took the time off and said he had some things to do. NG was so wrapped up in what Leon was saying that he barely said goodbye to him as Jack shoved his hands in the greatcoat and walked out the door. He took the SUV, driving slowly for the change. The weather was warm and the sky for once was blue for most of the day. It was summer and it felt great to have the windows open as the fresh air entered into the cab of the SUV.
"It needs an airing every so often." He found himself saying out loud in a Welsh accent like Ianto. The drive being pleasant, he stopped along the way and picked up a dozen white roses in a vase. He was careful with them as he drove to Ianto's resting place.
He parked. Taking the roses carefully out of the car, he walked to Ianto's gravestone. His eyes played tricks and for a second he thought Ianto was standing there smiling. "I think you know why I'm here. I need your permission to move on. I love him Ianto, and he is making me happy. So would it be okay, my love, to leave you behind for a bit, but never forgotten?"
End Chapter 24
TBC