Title: Keeping Up with the Harkness-Joneses
Fandoms: Torchwood/Glee
Pairings: Mostly Jack/Ianto and Quinn/Finn, with grautitious mentions of many Doctor Who, Torchwood and Glee ships.
Rating: PG-13, and a sound PG-13 at that
Warning: Lots of fluff, lots of sad chapters, implications and mentions of domestic abuse, occasional violent chapters and Jack and Ianto like to kiss...a lot.
Beta:I don't have one at the moment, but if you'd like to, I'd be more than appreciative!
Summary:After discovering that Ianto is immortal, Jack is able to rebuild his life with the other man. They become Ianto and Jack Harkness-Jones, and are dropped off in Lima, Ohio by the Doctor. Why Lima? The Rift is like a window, with Cardiff on one side, and Lima on the other side. They expect the craziness that comes with the Rift. What they don't expect? Needing to adopt a six year old: Quinn Fabray. And they discover that life doesn't always turn out like they planned.
Notes: Guess what? Finals are over, my schedule is more regularized, I can update on time, and I'm updating today and tomorrow for all you lovely people who have been so patient with me! Also, I really need to start writing more. You guys are catching up to where I am and I literally don't know what I'm going to do when that happens and I haven't finished...if I write every day, I should be okay. It's a pretty big if, but still, I can't risk you guys catching up to me.
Reviewer Replies:
There's a Time Lord in Lima- Y'know, a lot of people are sending me reviews for that chapter, asking me, "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?" and I just kind of get a kick out of it because that's not even as bad as it gets. Like, literally, it gets so much worse and you guys have no idea yet. Wow, that sounded mildly threatening, didn't it?
Angel-eyes56: Why, thank you! That's my intention to make you both laugh and cry, but I'm glad you're enjoying it.
Chapter 35-
A rising star in field of alien relations is Quinn Hudson. That's what Martha Jones hears from England and back. So it's no wonder that UNIT calls her for a meeting over in New York City to discuss a proposal to the President for improved alien protocols.
The blonde walks into the room with an air of seriousness and an easygoing smile. Martha knows it reminds her of someone, especially the way she casually nudges the Secretary of Defense with her hip as she goes up to give her presentation. "Gentlemen," Quinn nods her head to most of the men in the room. "Lady." She nods at Martha. "I'm here to discuss a new potential protocol in regards to alien relations. Our current protocol deems we attack the aliens but with the recent developments in technology I propose we attempt contact first."
"This is preposterous," one older man exclaims. "Have you actually encountered an alien that hasn't meant to take over the world?"
"The Doctor," Martha and Quinn say in unison. The blond lights up at this and smiles at Martha. Martha sits up in her chair and turns the rest of the room, saying, "The Doctor never had any violent interactions with aliens or people if he could help it."
"And before that," Quinn adds, feeling obviously relieved that she has a supporter on her side. "The Doctor was our only means of communication with aliens. But we should be able to fend for ourselves. The Doctor will die one day, and the human race should be long prepared for something like this. The more positive relations we have, the better."
"But why would we need allies?" the same man asks. Quinn raises her eyebrow in disbelief, and Martha knows that look is so familiar to her but not sure where she knows that look from. After all, she's never met Quinn Hudson before in her life.
"Daleks for one thing," Quinn says sardonically. "Cyberman. I'm sure you gentleman and lady remember the attack on Torchwood One of 2006. Half converted Cyberman all over the place." Her throat chokes a little bit and she closes her eyes tightly. She takes in a deep breath and continues, "The only person who had saved us was the Doctor. We did nothing for ourselves."
"Your proposal is that we fund the technology to make translators and set up liaisons?" There are grumbles of dissent circulating throughout the room.
"Exactly," Quinn says calmly, with a small smile and a lift of her eyebrows. "We're at the point where we can't stay ignorant of what goes on outside our own hemisphere. We have to start building relations outside of the planet."
"Why would any alien want to side with a planet that can't even cooperate with itself?" Someone in the back of the room protests hotly.
Quinn is nonplussed by the outburst. "Well, maybe you should get on that then, gentlemen," she says flatly. "But don't look at me. I'm not responsible for coming up with world peace proposals. It's not my division."
"Miss Hudson, thank you for your brief and scathing presentation. You are dismissed for another half an hour while we discuss what you've presented," a man sitting at the head of the table has spoken now. "Actually, I change my mind. We'll all take a half an hour lunch break. Miss Hudson, you're dismissed for the day."
"I'd like to know the final decision," Quinn says, lifting up her chin. "I may not be allowed in the room but I am certainly not leaving this building until you tell me exactly what your decision comes to." He glowers at her, but acquiesces after a moment. "Very well, then," he says. "We will reconvene in half an hour, and we will include Miss Hudson in our discussions."
Quinn immediately flies out of the room and Martha follows her, eager to talk to her about her adventures with the Doctor. Quinn is standing in the hallway near a set of long windows pacing back and forth.
Martha approaches Quinn, trying to ask her a question, but she sees the other woman with a phone in her hand. She's smiling fully, and her eyes are sparkling. "Dad, put them on the phone," she says, putting a blond strand of hair behind her ears. "I miss my babies."
"Ow! Jim! Stop climbing on me! Your Momma can hear you just fine. Just speak into the phone and your Momma can hear you, all right?" Martha recognizes that voice. It's Captain Jack Harkness. Martha stares at Quinn, realizing that Jack is her father. Suddenly everything makes sense. "Sarah Jane, Jim, I can't have you both in my lap at the same time! I'll hold the phone and you talk into it, okay?"
"But Granddaddy Jack? Why can't Momma come home now? Why we gotta talk to her on the phone? And when's Daddy coming home?" A little girl's voice, who Martha assumes to be Sarah Jane-must be after the Doctor's companion, she thinks, if Quinn knows the Doctor-comes out of the phone. "Momma, why can't you come home?"
"Momma's got meetings for a few more hours and then she'll come home, okay, sweethearts? And Daddy will come home when he's done visiting your Auntie Rachel and Uncle Jesse. And he's gonna bring back Uncle Kurt and Uncle Blaine back with him. But he doesn't come home until the weekend." Quinn says lovingly, smiling at the phone.
"Uncle Blaine and Uncle Kurt? Yay!" the children cheer loudly. "Will they bring presents like last time?"
"Only if you're good," Quinn laughs, pressing her forehead against the window. Her eyes are watering a little bit. "You're being good for your Granddaddy Jack and Granddaddy Ianto?"
"They're wonderful," Jack says fondly. "They're being so well behaved, except at bedtime."
"Grandaddy Jack is making my hair messy!" Sarah Jane protests loudly. "And I'm fine at bedtime. It's Jimmy that's not behaving. Granddaddy Ianto does a good time at reading Goodnight Moon, Momma. And then Granddaddy Jack takes the monsters out from under our bed and flushes them down the toilet."
"Momma? Momma?" A little boy's voice comes out of the phone now. "Granddaddy Jack doesn't know how to get the alligators out from under my bed. He doesn't do it like you do. Can you come home to get the alligators out from under my bed?"
"When I come home, bach, I'll get all of the alligators out from under your bed. Okay, sweetheart?" Quinn says. Then she realizes Martha is watching her and she says, "All right, babanod, Momma has to go. Rwy'n dy garu di, rhai bach."
"Love you too, Momma," the children chorus loudly. "We miss you!"
"Miss you too, sweethearts. Be good for your Granddaddy Jack and your Granddaddy Ianto. And Daddy Jack? I love you. And tell Daddy Ianto I love him too?" For a moment, Martha can see how young Quinn is. This fresh-faced young girl of thirty-one. So young, really, but clearly has been through so much.
"Of course," Jack's voice is soft. "I love you, sweetheart. We'll see you tonight."
"Yeah. Bye, Dad." Quinn hangs up the phone and stares at the phone sadly for another minute more, before turning to Martha. "Sorry. Did you need something, Miss Jones?"
"Martha. Sort of..." Martha says, staring at Quinn. "Where you just on the phone with Jack Harkness? Is he your…?"
"Jack Harkness-Jones. And yes, he's my dad," Quinn corrects with a smile. "My other dad is Ianto Harkness-Jones." Then something hits her and she says, "Wait. Martha Jones. The Martha Jones? Companion to the Doctor?"
Martha can't answer for a minute. A huge grin crosses her face because she honestly can't believe what's in front of her. Jack and Ianto's daughter, a former companion of the Doctor; it all seems so surreal. But the smirk, the hip check, the eyebrow lift…all of it makes sense. These are trademark actions and expressions from Jack and Ianto. "How is Ianto your father?" she finally asks. "I heard he had died."
"He did," Quinn's voice quiets and she gazes beyond Martha. "But the Doctor knew that he couldn't stay dead, just like Daddy Jack…the Doctor always knows." She shakes her head and smiles at Martha.
"Ianto's immortal, just like Jack?" Martha asks, eyes wide. Now she can't keep the grin off of her face. She had always said that Ianto was good for Jack. Quinn nods again. "Bloody brilliant! Do you think they'd mind if I popped over tonight? I haven't seen them in…years, at least. It's been well over a decade, I'm sure. Maybe a decade and a half."
"I live far away," Quinn admits. "I live in Ohio. That's like a two hour plain ride from here."
"I can delay my flight another night," Martha says, waving her hand. "I'd really love to see them."
"Okay!" Quinn says, beaming. "We'll surprise them. I'll call it a gift for watching my kids."
"How old are they?" Martha asks eagerly. "They sound like a handful."
"They're twins," Quinn says, laughing. "They're three years old, and this is the first time I've been separated from them. Our friend, Rachel St. James—"
"You're friends with the Broadway star Rachel St. James?" Martha asks, flabbergasted. She's impressed with Quinn's wide range of connections. "Is there anyone you don't know?"
"We're friends with her—we all went to high school together-, her husband, and Kurt Hummel is my brother-in-law," Quinn says with a little smile on her face. "We're very well connected, needless to say. Anyway, Rachel's show opens in a few days and Finn came out with me to see her perform. I was going to go, but…I've missed my kids too much."
"You don't bloody say," Martha says, shaking her head and laughing. "All right, well, let me take you out to lunch, Miss Hudson and we'll chat some more. Yeah?" Quinn nods eagerly and links arms with the older woman as they head to the deli on the corner.
Ianto is reading the paper when the lights in the driveway go off. "Jack, it's Quinn," he says, raising his voice enough so that his husband can hear him so that they're not going to wake the children. He stands in the front door as Quinn bounds out from the car and over to him to hug him tightly. "How's my best girl?" he whispers, placing a gentle kiss into her hair. She hugs him tightly, nestling into his shoulder.
"Hi, Daddy," she murmurs, tightening her hold on Ianto. "I'm fine. Brilliant, actually. Thanks for letting me crash here. I just couldn't think of getting the kids out of bed and driving them home."
He kisses the top of her head. "Any time, sweetheart," he says affectionately. "I didn't want you driving around this time of night after your flight. I worry about you, you know." He places his chin on top of her head. "You're still my little girl."
"I told you, Daddy," she mumbles, headbutting Ianto's shoulder. "I'm fine. In fact, I'm brilliant."
"Brilliant, huh?" Ianto asks, lifting his eyebrows at her. "I don't think I've ever heard you say brilliant in your life and now you've said it twice. You must've met some strange characters in your meetings."
"You could say that," Quinn says with a sly, indulgent smile. "I ran into some few characters."
"Did you hip check the Sec Def like I told you to?" Jack asks, voice coming from the kitchen. Quinn nods and laughs. Jack walks over and wraps his arms around his husband and their daughter. "Welcome home, sweetheart," he whispers, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He watches the car, still parked in the driveway. "Why haven't they moved away yet?"
"I thought Finn wasn't coming back with you," Ianto asks curiously, looking at the figure in the car.
"He didn't," Quinn says with a sly smile.
"That looks like…" Jack begins, and then the figure steps out of the car.
"Martha!" They both cry out delightedly and run toward her. Ianto gets there first, hugging Martha tightly, and Jack collides into them, knocking both of them to the ground as he holds them tightly. They sit up on the front lawn, and Ianto gently wipes Jack's tears away.
Quinn goes upstairs to let her fathers have a reunion with their friend. She opens the door to her old bedroom, and looks in to find her two children sleeping. She walks over to them and gently kisses their foreheads. "I love you, sweethearts," she whispers.
"Momma?" Jim sits up and rubs his eyes blearily. She comes over to his side of the bed and he throws his arms around her neck. He nuzzles his face against her neck. "Missed you, Momma. Never go away again. Missed you too much." She wraps her arms around her son and kisses his head.
"Momma loves you, sweetheart," she whispers. "And if I go away, I'm always gonna come back, okay?"
"Okay," Jim whispers, nuzzling against her. "Granddaddy Jack and Granddaddy Ianto love you a lot. Did you know that, Momma?"
"I did," Quinn says softly. "And did you know that I love you a lot? And I love your sister a lot? And Granddaddy Jack and Granddaddy Ianto love you both so much?" She kisses the top of his head.
"You love us because we're your babies, even though we're not babies anymore," Jim says sleepily, but still in a matter of fact way. "Like Granddaddy Jack and Granddaddy Ianto love you because you're their baby even though you're our Momma. And you're always gonna be our Momma, aren't you?"
She squeezes her son tightly to her and she whispers fiercely, "I am always going to be your Momma. I'm not going anywhere, babi." She kisses the top of his head and tucks him back into bed. "Go back to sleep, okay, sweetheart?"
"Kay," he says, closing his eyes. "Can you get the alligators out from under my bed?"
"Of course," she says. She leans down beside the bed and pretends to pull out shadows. "Got them all," she says, but Jim has already fallen back asleep. Her eyes water as she looks back at her sleeping children. Raising them wasn't the easiest thing, but she's so glad that they love her. "I love you both so much," she whispers to her sleeping children. "And I will never leave you. Not the way my Mom left me. I love you with everything I have to give, and I will always be there for you. Good night."
She kisses their foreheads again and goes back downstairs. For a moment, she watches Jack, Ianto and Martha. They're chatting animatedly on the couch. Catching her eye, Jack beckons her over. She sits on the couch between Jack and Ianto, and the each draw an arm around her shoulders. "In answer to your question, Martha," Ianto begins.
"We love our daughter very much, and we wouldn't change the life we've built over the last twenty something years," Jack finishes.
"Twenty-five years with Quinn and I'd say…maybe forty years together? Possibly forty-five?" Ianto offers, kissing Jack tenderly.
"Always knew you two would make a great couple," Martha says, beaming. "Just never thought you'd get domestic."
Next Chapter: Blaine and Quinn reflect on events of the past on Blaine's wedding day (to Kurt I might add), including the definition of "parent".
-LBP