Chapter Six: Viva la Revolucion
She'd never been a revolutionary before. Sure, she'd lifted a few signs for a protest or two in her life. But instigating a revolution was a new experience. Admittedly, the Doctor and Jack were doing the most. She felt a little like a third wheel in this case, though she knew both would disagree heartily with that assessment. Rose shivered in the faint chill of the room but refused to complain. There were more important things to attend to than her being cold.
"Rose?" Jack. He looked worried and she offered him a smile. "You okay?"
"Shouldn't I be askin' you that?"
He shrugged. "Maybe. But I asked you first."
She shook her head. "I'm fine. Good even. Little cold maybe. But otherwise, good."
"C'mere," he told her, opening his arms. She went into his embrace willingly, closing her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her. "Better?"
"Mmmm." She could stay like this forever. "How 'bout you?"
"Me?" He sounded surprised.
"I answered you. Now 's your turn." She opened her eyes and tilted her head so she could see his expression.
She had a hard time reading his face, almost as if a stranger's mask had slipped over it for a moment before dissipating. "I don't know. Starting a revolution against my mother. Being back here. Seeing Harrison and Evie again...I don't know if I'm okay."
Now Rose could read the doubts in his eyes and she reached up to gently caress his cheek. "You can do this, Jack. I know you can."
Jack smiled. "Yeah. Suppose I can. Thanks, Rose." He tightened his embrace.
"For what?"
"For being you." He brushed a kiss against her lips.
"HA!" The Doctor's exclamation caused them to pull away from each other enough to look in his direction. Surrounded by bits and bobs of machinery parts, wires, and a communications device of some sort on the floor, he looked more like a mad scientist than the Time Lord that he was. His manic grin brightened the room as he waved the jury-rigged machine in triumph. "Got it! An' it only took a little jiggery-pokery to do it. Too easy."
She watched, bemused, as he leapt to his feet and moved to join them. The gadget was held out for their inspection and her brow furrowed as she tried to determine what it would do. It was basically a communication device, apparently nicked by Jack from a guard. But what the Doctor's 'jiggery-pokery' was supposed to do was beyond her.
"It's the latest accessory," he told them in a serious tone, though the amusement in his eyes gave the game away. "An all-com unit that doesn't only reach every communications device on the colony but also reaches anywhere on the planet. An' it comes in some lovely colours."
She grinned at his antics, but the expression faded as she felt Jack stiffen slightly in her arms.
"Showtime," he murmured.
Additional arms wrapped around them - gadget and all. "You'll be fantastic," the Doctor said.
Jack nodded and pulled out of the embrace, but not before kissing each of them once more. Rose blinked a little at the sight of Jack kissing the Doctor. Admittedly, the sight of Jack kissing a man didn't faze her. But the Doctor? And it appeared to her eyes that he was quite comfortable with the idea. Then again, strangely enough, so was she. But only because it was Jack. Huh. Things had definitely changed - and for the better - between them, though the most important words remained unspoken. Though she suspected, as she watched both of 'her' men step away to converse over the device, that most of those words were just that. Words. Actions were far more telling of the love they felt for each other than words alone. Someday, perhaps soon, perhaps not, they would say those words. But, for now, it remained an unspoken truth and that was enough.
The Doctor turned on the gadget and offered it to Jack. It was, as he said, showtime.
Across the colony, in every home and business, in every school and government facility, communication devices brightened to life. The familiar features of the Administrator's son, Jonathan Harkness, filled the screen, but not as they knew him. He wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the name of a band some twenty years gone. This was not the slicked back, perfect son Elizabeth Harkness told them about. This was someone else. This was something else.
"Hello. I suppose to some of you I don't need an introduction. My mother has been doing that for me. However, I'm not here to repeat my mother's lies. I'm here to tell you the truth. And the truth is this. My name is Jack Harkness and I have lived off-world for the past twenty years.
"My mother has told you that I'm here to save you. I suppose, in a way, I am. Not for her sake, but for your own. I'm going to tell you a story - make of it what you will - but know that it's nothing but the truth. Suppose, if you will, that once upon a time there lived a little boy. To the outside world, to you, he lived the perfect life. He had the perfect mother, the perfect schools, the perfect friends, the perfect existence. But to the inside, to those who were his true friends, they knew the truth. That perfect life was a lie.
"That little boy was punished for what were - to most parents - minor indiscretions. He was beaten at times, but never where it would show. The perfect facade would never be broken. He was kept away from his friends, from people who actually cared about him rather than what sort of figurehead he could become. He was corrected, oppressed, persecuted and moulded in the attempt to make him into a perfect little version of his not-so-perfect mother.
"That little boy saw beyond the pretty pictures that his mother painted to the fetid core. Here's another truth. That boy was me. And here's another one. I wasn't the only one oppressed, persecuted, or dominated by her rules and regulations. So. Were. You. So. Are. You. Underneath the picture-perfect facade of Telurais is oppression and domination. Basic freedoms are denied to all but a select few. The right to be yourself. The freedom of movement, to go where you will, do what you will, be who you want to be is non-existent. The right to express yourself through words, thoughts, or actions is denied. This place, this colony, this world is not perfect. It has more problems than many other colonies of the same size and that is all due to one person. One woman. It is all due to Elizabeth Harkness. She's just a woman. Not a goddess. Not omnipotent. Just a bitter, conniving, evil and manipulative woman who needs to learn one more truth.
"Everything has a consequence. Everything. Every lie that she has uttered, every evil thing that she has done has a consequence. This is one of them. It is up to you to decide the other. All I can do is give you the idea. The rest is up to you. You are the heroes here. You are the ones who can stop the tyranny. You are the ones who can defeat Elizabeth Harkness.
"That choice is yours."
The truth, once released, can never be contained. For those few who had not heard Jack Harkness' words, they listened to them later from the mouths of friends and family members. The truth spread and everywhere that it touched it burned.
In the colonial offices of the Administrator, a woman watched in horror as her perfect society began to collapse around her. The end was nigh.
And it was all caused by her perfect son.
He hated saying goodbye. Better to show up, save the world, and then swan off again with none the wiser. Made things nice and simple. However, he suspected that Jack - and quite possibly Rose - would have his head if he took it upon himself to bundle them off to the TARDIS with nothing more than a 'see ya!' to the revolutionaries. Then again, come to think of it, that might be a bit rude and that was one thing that he had decided not to be this regeneration.
So, goodbye.
"Right then. I think you lot can handle it from here." He grinned at Harrison and was rewarded with only a rather tentative smile in return. "Come on, there. Buck up! After all, 's not often that most of your work's done for you."
The revolutionaries exchanged a glance. "The work's only just begun."
"Nah. The foundations were already there, Jack just gave it a little nudge in the right direction. Before you know it, you lot'll be free." He caught the rather nervous expression on Evelyn's face and his grin widened. "Ah, it's not all that bad. It'll be fun! Exciting times are ahead of you. Could almost say that I'm a mite jealous."
Rose looked at him questioningly.
"I said a mite!" he protested at her look and was rewarded with a smile. The Doctor caught Jack's faint grin and nodded, satisfied. "Right. Well, there's that then. Time to go, I think. Things to do, people to see, places to go, tea to drink..."
The Doctor joined Rose by the door, giving Jack some time to say his goodbyes. He took that moment, only half-listening to the murmured words behind him, to take a good look at his companion. She was cold, but hiding it as best she could. The goose-pimples gave her away and he shrugged off his jacket and offered it to her. "You're cold," he said in response to her silent question, and helped her slide it on.
He heard the a faint noise and looked up to see that Jack had joined them. "Ready?" the other man asked, a weak smile on his face. The Doctor's hearts ached for the other man. Confession was said to be good for the soul, but it tended to leave a raw sensation in its wake.
Jack had obviously had several festering wounds within his psyche, wounds that had never truly begun to heal. Now they could. And, to help matters along, he had decided upon their next stop. The Brigadier's gardens were a good place for healing, as he knew from experience. He could only hope that they could do the same for Jack.
Rose answered for him, sliding her hand into his. "Yeah. Let's get back home."
The Doctor paused for a moment and held out his free hand to Jack, wiggling his fingers suggestively. When the other man grasped it within his own, he grinned. Much better.
However, before they could leave, Evelyn's voice stopped them. "Doctor? Who are you? Really? Even if Jack came back on his own, I doubt we would've gotten this far without your assistance."
The Doctor's grin widened as he looked over his shoulder at the two people who would help save their world. "Just a friend passing through."
She did not appear satisfied by the response, but that was all she was going to get. "Thank you."
"All in a day's work. C'mon, Rose. C'mon, Jack. There's a nice cuppa with our names on it back at the TARDIS." With his companions firmly in hand - literally - he headed for the door.
Time to go.
He had spent most of his life running from home. Funny that. Twenty years gone, and he was doing it again. Running away from home, only this time in the company of the two people he loved most in the universe. It was said that one must learn from the mistakes of the past to avoid making them in the future. Ironic. Running away from home.
Again.
Twenty years ago, he had run through the halls of the colony. Twenty years ago, he had dodged his mother's guards by ducking into different corridors and into empty rooms. Twenty years ago, he had slipped into the Teluraisian landing bay and stolen one of the shuttles. Twenty years ago, he had managed to escape. Twenty years later, he was repeating himself.
He looked around the cavernous landing bay, picking at random a transport that would take them back to the mainland. It had been a long time since he had last flown a simple shuttlecraft, but the principles remained the same. At least in a shuttle he need not worry about landing them ten minutes too late or twenty years too early. "That one," he told his companions, indicating one of the vehicles.
He had to drop the Doctor's hand to work on the door controls, cursing faintly as the stubborn device refused to function properly.
"Let me," the Doctor said and gently pushed him aside. Sonic screwdriver in hand, the Time Lord caused the control panel to spark alarmingly. With another twist of his device, the shuttle seemed to groan and the hatch sprung open. "The sonic screwdriver - not just for puttin' up shelves."
He let the Doctor and Rose precede him inside and he paused, glancing around the room. Once again he was saying goodbye to his home. Once again he was running. But this time, he knew, was different. This time he wasn't a scared kid. This time he was a man who knew that he was loved. This time - he grinned - this time he could be truthful in the last words he would utter on the colony.
"I'm going home."
The journey back to the mainland was spent in a companionable silence that was broken only when he thought of something. "Doctor, what month is it?" Jack could not take his eyes away from the controls, so he could not see the Doctor's expression. However, from the long pause, he suspected his friend was doing the mental calculations.
"December, give or take a few days," the Doctor replied.
Huh. Imagine that. "You know, it makes sense now."
"What's that?" Rose asked.
"5048 was the year my mother became a dictator," he explained as he landed the shuttle. "5049 was the year she was overthrown."
"So...y'think you were meant to be here? Even though it was a mistake?" Her voice was slightly incredulous and he could not find the heart to blame her.
"It's possible," the Doctor said thoughtfully. "Coincidences are few and far between when it comes to time travel."
Jack smiled faintly. The prodigal son had returned, only to be the instrument of his mother's downfall. That was quite the coincidence. "I don't know."
"Coincidences tend to give me headaches," the Doctor confessed in a serious tone. Jack shot him a look only to see a pointed wink. "An' what's the best cure for a headache?"
"No, wait, let me guess," Rose said in a deadpan tone. "Tea?"
"Oh, give the girl a prize." The Time Lord slung his arm over Rose's shoulder and beckoned for him to join them. "C'mon, you two. There's a good cuppa with our names on it waiting in the TARDIS right now."
Jack moved to Rose's side and wrapped his arm around her waist. Thus entwined, the trio left the shuttle behind.
He decided that there was an unreality to walking across the sand. The sound of the surf, the breeze that teased his skin, and the perfect cerulean skies above seemed to have been captured from a painting rather than from fact. The only things on Telurais that seemed real to him were the pale blue police box, the Doctor, and Rose. He felt detached from his experiences on the colony and with his mother.
Home.
It could mean so many different things. A planet, a place, even a person.
Home.
Telurais, his Chula warship, the TARDIS?
Home.
Mother, Harrison, Evelyn, the Doctor, Rose?
Home.
As Jack pushed open the door to the TARDIS and stepped inside, a new thought occurred to him. He wasn't running away from home. Not anymore. His life, his very existence, had all led up to one point - this one.
Home wasn't a planet.
Home wasn't an unforgiving mother who never deserved a son.
Home was a faded blue police box.
Home was the family that he chose, the two people who meant the most to him in the universe.
It wasn't running from home, it was running to home. And that was what made all the difference.
To be concluded...