SUMMARY: Jack returns from his trip with The Doctor. His welcome home isn't quite what he was hoping for. This chapter is rated PG for language.
Title is from: Never cease loving a person, and never give up hope for him, for even the prodigal son who had fallen most low, could still be saved; the bitterest enemy and also he who was your friend could again be your friend; love that has grown cold can kindle. Soren Kierkegaard.
Jack was finally home. To say his whole trip with The Doctor had been a disaster would be the understatement of the century. Well in Jack's case, more than a century. The Doctor hadn't been able to 'fix' his immortality, then there was the whole year that never was, and he really couldn't say that even his relationship with The Doctor had improved much. The only good news was that from his team's perspective he was only gone a few months.
He stood on the invisible life and for the first time in over a year Jack felt happy. He couldn't wait to see the looks on his teams' faces. Oh they'd bluster a bit and Ianto would probably hold out for a few days before they were intimate again, but he just knew everything would be wonderful. He couldn't wait to go on a 'weevil hunt' with Ianto.
When he stepped off the lift he was confronted with a young woman with a very large gun. He flashed his patented Harkness smile but she was not impressed. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded.
Jack smirked. "Oh I'm sure you've heard of me, Captain Jack Harkness, Head of Torchwood Three?" She showed no sign of lowering her gun. "I'm back, relax, I'm not going to hurt you."
She smiled back at him. "Oh, I'm not worried about that, I'm just wondering how close I can be to you without getting blood all over me when I blow your head off." Jack started to take a step forward, but stopped when she cocked the gun.
"Come with me," she ordered. Even though he knew he'd come back if she killed him he figured it was best just to humor her for now.
As they headed down to the cells he asked, "Where are the others?" When she didn't reply, he continued, "You know, Gwen, Owen, Ianto, Tosh, my team?"
She motioned him into a cell and locked him in. "You be dealt with when they get back." She turned and walked away. Once she was out of Jack's sight, she ran up the stairs and called the team on her comm. "Guys, you better get back here, there's a man who came in claiming he's Captain Harkness."
The rest of the team was just heading back from a massive weevil sighting an hour away from Cardiff. By the time they got there, there had only been three weevils to deal with and they had easily been stunned and loaded into the boot of the SUV.
Owen looked at Tosh, while Gwen glanced at Mickey. "Fuck," Owen whispered. "Penny, what did you do with him?" asked Gwen.
"He's locked up with the weevils," she replied which brought a snicker from the rest of the team.
"Is he OK?" Owen inquired.
Penny snorted. "You mean other than being a git?" Owen smiled. She was good, maybe even better than Ianto when she was in full sarcastic mode.
"I meant is he physically OK."
"He's fine Owen. Came down the invisible lift like he'd been gone for a couple of weeks of vacation all tan and rested and ready to take the world by storm."
"Well that certainly sounds like Jack. Just keep him locked up until we get back; we shouldn't be much more than thirty to forty minutes. Good work Penny." Gwen added.
Owen was concerned about Mickey. "So Mickey, you've been noticeably quiet here, what's up?"
"You know this is not going to work. Assuming it really is Captain Harkness, how the hell can he return two years later and think he can just waltz in and take over the team?"
"Well we've talked about it enough times," Gwen pointed out. "We have to find out where he's been; see what he has to say for himself."
"And then you just let him back in and all is forgiven, right?" Everyone else looked a little sheepish. "I thought you were Ianto's friends? How do you think he's going to feel about this?"
"That's not fair, Mickey." Tosh looked like she could cry at any moment. "Jack did a lot for us before he left. We owe him the opportunity to explain himself. Then we can decide."
Mickey was not impressed. "Yeah, right. Guess I should be packing my bags and heading back to UNIT or maybe Ianto can put a good word in for me at Torchwood One. Cause I know who's going to get the boot." They rode the rest of the way back to the Hub in silence.
When they arrived, Penny was sitting observing Jack on the CCTV. She told them that he just been sitting there occasionally looking at the monitor. "Let's get those weevils taken care of and then we can deal with the weasel," Mickey growled as he headed back out to the SUV."
"Is there way too much testosterone in the air, or is it my imagination?" Penny asked.
Gwen sighed. 'Mickey's right, let's get those weevils into cells on a different level than Jack is in."
After the weevils were settled in they headed over to Jack's cell. He smiled as he saw his team walk in, but it dimmed a bit when they stood in a row staring at him with hostile looks on their faces. "Hey, I'm back, did you miss me kids? Tosh, Gwen you look great. Owen, wow you're looking much more field ready. And, Mickey, it's Mickey Smith. That's fantastic. And who's the little cute one?"
"Fuck you Harkness, if you are even him," Mickey spit out.
Jack was stunned. This was not the welcome he was expecting. "And where's my handsome, dashing Welshman?"
Even Gwen was infuriated. "How dare you come in here like you've been on a trip to London for a few weeks. First, Owen's going to take some blood and tissue samples and then if you are Jack, we've all got a few things to say to you."
"Where's Ianto?" Mickey pulled his handgun out and pointed it at Jack. "Not another word from you, not another fucking word until we say so or I swear I will blow your fuckin' head off."
'Ok, they think I'm an alien,' thought Jack, 'understandable. It'll be fine once they run my DNA through the tests. They've probably been so out of their depths that they're at their wits ends.'
Within a few hours the tests had been completed and Jack's identify had been confirmed. Penny had gone out and picked up some Chinese takeaway for everyone.
"Let me go down and get him," Owen volunteered." He knows me and I don't think he'll do anything stupid." Owen went and got Jack out of the cell and motioned him to walk ahead of him.
"Come on Owen, you know it's me. What the problem?"
"Jack," Owen sighed. "You have a whole lot of explaining to do."
When Jack entered the conference room he could feel the tension. Mickey was just waiting to explode. Gwen wanted to hug him one second and slap him silly the next. Tosh looked like she was going to break down sobbing. Penny looked bemused. And Owen was eerily calm and that scared Jack more than anything.
They ate in silence and Jack began to sense that something bigger was going on. He looked at Gwen and quietly asked, "What's going on, I know you're angry, please.." And then it hit him. "Oh no. Its Ianto isn't it. Something's happened to him...please, oh gods.." He had turned white as a ghost and was having problems catching his breath.
Owen was at his side in a flash. "Put your head down, and take slow breaths. That's it, calm down." The minute Owen had reacted, Penny had run out of the conference room down to Owen' work area and grabbed an emergency kit. Owen quickly checked Jack over though Owen was pretty sure that Jack was having a panic attack.
"Ianto is fine, Jack." Jack looked at him with disbelief. "Then why won't you tell me where he is?" Owen looked at Gwen and she nodded.
"Jack," she began, "Ianto is fine. He just doesn't work here anymore." Jack looked up horrified and everyone knew what he was thinking. "He wasn't retconned, he's well and happy and living in London."
"How…when…I've only been gone three months."
"Jack," Tosh said gently, "what's the date?"
Jack looked at her like she was daft. "It's November 1st 2007."
"Jack," she almost whispered, "It's November 1st 2009. You've been gone two years and three months, not just three months."
Jack felt a wave of icy cold fear move through him. This couldn't be real, after everything he had been through, The Doctor couldn't have left him off two years in the future. He felt the walls closing in on him. He tried to stand but felt dizzy and lightheaded. And then everything went black.
Owen quickly assured every one that Jack hadn't died. But for the first time in over fifty years, Jack had fainted from shock.
