The click of the knob told Mark that the outside world had been left behind to the quiet confines of Jack's office. Walking over to the couch to make him self more comfortable for the conversation he dreaded, Mark's attention was drawn to an object on Jack's desk. He glanced at it for a moment and then beamed at the trinket he knew all too well. Picking it up carefully, he held it gently as if it was going to vanish with a mere thought.
"You kept this?" He questioned Blue. For now it was Blue he needed to talk to. Not Jack. Jack was the outside world. Jack was the after time, after their time. Now he was Andy. He was trying his hardest to be both when he wanted nothing more than to disappear. To be nothing, but that was not what the cosmic joke had in store for him. It was becoming more and more apparent each day. And John was the light at the end of the dark and lonely road. Now it was even brighter as he was about to be a father.
He handed the paperweight back to Blue. Playing with it in his hands, Blue smiled at his friend. "You made it for me in class. You said the perfect rounded ball for the perfect rounded friendship. Still don't know what that meant. You laughed when I asked. What were we, thirteen?" He rolled the green and yellow swirled ball around a few times in his hands and put it back in its spot on the desk.
Andy's eyes slit at Blue as he smiled. Blue knew it was a sign of stress. "And I'll still never tell you. Take it my grave, I will." He looked at his best friend and regretted those words. Too many times in his life it was almost that. He shuddered with the thought of how long he could keep tempting fate and cheating death. Time must run out at some point.
But would time run out for Jack Harkness? Would that round ball see the end of the universe as well? With that thought he looked into Jack's Boeshane ocean blue eyes. The thought that came to Andy was the first time he gave Blue his name. He looked at the water and then to his champion. It was the only real name that matter, then and now. He would forever be Blue when they were like this. Jack was for when they were back once again in the 21st century. Right now it was a timeless zone just of them.
"Andy?" Blue grabbed his friend by the shoulders, "Just say it. I think I know what it is about. Whatever is on your mind, however you feel it might hurt or upset, or enlighten me just say it. I owe you so much. You have never asked anything." Blue took Andy's mouth with his. It was a sweet kiss that last a moment. But it was the same as always. Leaving Andy a little confused as to where he really was.
Sounds of the office, the smell of old coffee and Blue, brought him back. "I will ask you one thing." A soft caress brushed Blue's cheek. "Take care of John and the children if anything happens to me. Please, I know it is a lot, but he will be so lost without me right now."
Blue's face was showing the confusion going through his mind. "Andy, what does that mean? He would miss you, but John is so strong. How could he give up if you're gone? He has a part of you inside him. He wouldn't do any harm to his children!" Blue sought his friend's eyes to see if he was convincing.
Andy bit his lip. The next bit was hard to explain. Blue was about to hear what the whole truth was. "I loved my Master, the mind probe gave me my real memories back. I gave him a child that they took away from me. To keep me safe, he gave me to Darby. Otherwise those "creatures" would have killed me. My usefulness had worn out. Blue, my Master loved me as well, he really did, and I saw his thoughts. But I guess he was good at keeping the whole truth, or maybe just the thought of being happy again and having a baby blocked the truth. The truth that he was trying to tell me all along but couldn't. He was under orders. He had no choice." He paused to sit down. Blue perched himself on the edge of the desk.
"Did he want you or was that just by order? If he loved you, the two of you could have found another place to live, right?" Blue asked, questioning his friend.
"No, it doesn't work like that. He wouldn't have disobeyed and they would have found us. I'm pretty sure of that. I don't know. I have no way of knowing the truth. I may never know what happened to our son. I won't ask you to look for him on your journeys in the future. Maybe you could find him and see if he is okay? How he turned out? After what they did to Grey and your Dad, that would be out of line." A tear escaped his eye and worked its way down his cheek.
"No, you're right, I wouldn't look. Because I would not be the right person to approach him." It was wrong to say that, Blue was sure he could be a little more comforting to his friend. He just knew he had to be honest to Andy at this time. "But I could find someone who could. I don't want to talk about this now. You are not going to die!" Blue became aggravated. It was out of his character of recent times to not accept the reality of a situation. But Andy was going to be the one that broke all protocol. Blue owed it to John and him to see it though and bring Andy home safe.
The easy smile scared Blue as Andy said, "If you say so, I'll try. There is something you should know about John. He is under the influence of a mind technique that my Master used on me. In time he will come back to normal, but for the first three weeks he is going to be a little child like and possessive. So he will be a wreck if anything happens to me."
Blue's looked confused and scowled at his friend that he had manipulated John the way he had. "What made you do this? Was it so you could get him pregnant?" Blue was close to being angry.
"I asked him first. He needed to know what 'He' did to me. He wanted to have a baby with me. I don't know what made him want that. I wanted it because he would have something of me. Is that so wrong?" Tears left his eyes and trailed down his soft skin.
Andy was a beauty. Blue thought he was never going to see one such as him. He felt bad for being upset. "I'm sorry. I just feel like I can't stop this cycle you and I are in. We seem to be into hurting each other. Me more than you, it would seem. I will take care of them. John and your children will never want for anything." Slowly he moved to his former lover and knelt in front of him. Andy reached for the warmth that was his best friend. The two held on for a long while.
"My father killed our son, Blue." He whispered softly to the man he would always love. The pain was great, as both began to relive that long gone event which bought about the tragic loss of a child and the end of their relationship in due time.
"How do you know this? When did you find out?"
"When I had that moment after the mind probe. I learned a lot of things. But that was the most revealing. He told me that he poisoned me to make me miscarry. You corrupted me in his eyes. He didn't want my life ruined anymore. How wrong he was, right?"
Blue held onto his friend. Part of him believing what he was saying was true, the other part thinking that Andy was now insane. He wept at this. It took awhile for him to stop. But Andy was loyal as always and held on for the sake of his friend. Try as he might, Andy still couldn't read the mind of this man called Jack Harkness. So he had no clue what Blue was really thinking.
"Did they, did they change you Andy? Make you more powerful with your abilities?"
"Yes. I won't tell you how. It is not for human ears, and it would kill you if you knew how they did it. It is so horrid." He wept as well and cried out as if he was pain. The memories opened and flooded his mind with their unpleasantness.
"Easy, easy, it is okay, let it go Andy, let it all out. I've got you. I won't let go again, now or ever. You are safe." He gripped the young man in his arms. Rubbing his back, Blue calmed Andy down. He pushed away to wipe the tears with his shirtsleeve. It was Boeshane all over again these two friends united in horrible every day events. They were to little boys again, fighting in the world of men.
Ianto's page brought them back into the real world. Their 'friends' had made their demands. In no time they were back to being Mark and Jack again. And the past was once again in the past. It was now the future's turn.
End Part 48 TBC
