A/N: I know, I know. Two in one day. Don't get used to it, people cause I have two research papers due soon, so I'll be extra busy. Still, thanks so much for your feedback and I hope this original chapter lives up to your expectations. :D

The Wierdness Never Stops

Two days.

I had to live with questions running circles through my brain for two ... whole ... days.

That and the occasional flurry of excited texts Artie and the rest sent me. No matter how long our conversations lasted, though, my mind still went to the Doctor, Downing Street, and my ... presents.

Why on Earth or any planet would the Doctor tell me to stay away from himself and then give me things which weren't from the planet in the first place? What was I supposed to do with a Vortex Manipulator anyway? It didn't even turn on, just sat on my coffee table like a bit of steampunk jewelry.

The watch, however, barely left my hands. I couldn't stop playing with it. After two days of staring at the scroll-work, all I'd figured out was that it was old and probably worth a lot. None of my searches online worked to find something similar, either.

By the time I'd wolfed down my breakfast that second day, I'd already come up with a thousand and one questions to pester Jack with.

One, two, three, six times it rang before I gave up.

I collapsed onto the couch with a huff, trying to ignore the dissapointment that chruned my stomach. Of course. With a cell phone that might be calling through space now, I'd probably gotten the wrong version of him. Nothing in my life was going to ...

That annoying bumble-bee ringtone made me yelp as I fumbled to open it. Jack. "So, too busy to answer the phone now?" I blurted. Probably not the best first sentence I could've come up with.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Two days, you said," I reminded with more of a smile on my face. Unlike the Doctor, I didn't have to feel so ... old with Jack Harkness. "Call you in two days I did, but you are too busy to pick up on the first ring."

"What?" Jack's confusion was so strong, I could almost see his face scrunching up. "I called you."

Oh, great going, Jessica Gale.

I smacked my face with my hand, my inner critic sounding suspiciously like the Doctor. "Gosh ding it! Remind me to thank the Doctor for royally messing up my phone. Did I call the wrong you again?" I could see my life becoming very complicated, very fast if this continued.

"Um ... for once, I have no idea what you're talking about, Jess." Jack laughed. "Don't think that'll be the last time, though, knowing you."

"Speaking of time, I need your help with something."

"Anything for my favorite girl."

Okay, that was awkward.

I cleared my throat, poking the Manipulator. "I found a Vortex Manipulator thing in my apartment."

"You what?" Now I knew what it sounded like to have a man yelp. "Jess, don't touch the thing! You could end up in the fifty-first century and get stuck there or worse! Don't do anything till I get there!"

"Woah, woah, woah!" I nearly jumped off the end of the couch. "First off, it's not even charged or whatever. There's no lights, no nothing and I've had it for two days. I think if it was going to go off and send me who-knows-when, it would've done it already." Then something he said made me pause. "Wait, you know where I live?"

"Course I do. Just do me a favor and don't move from your couch."

"My couch? What?"

Of course Jack wasn't listening. "Just stay put and I should be there right about ..."

A snap and a pop followed by that distorting of the air I was becoming familiar with interrupted him. Jack Harkness popped into my living room. " ... Now. How's that for timing?"

Then the coffee table he'd appeared on top of teetered off balance with a crash.

"Seriously, everytime we end up meeting face to face, I bleed. Ow!" Jack yanked his head away from my hands with a dramatic wince.

I sighed, glaring at the pitiful excuse of a man sitting in front of me. "Really, Jack? For such a confessed hero, you're such a big baby when it comes to cuts and bruises." My whole medical drawer was spread out on my kitchen counter. All to find something to clean that cut.

"It hurts!"

"I barely touched it!" I retorted, falling back on my timeless classic of smacking the back of said head. "Now stay still while I get this on. Don't want to have to tear the hair out of the skull of yours when we take it off."

"Thank you," Jack sighed with heavy sarcasm. "I like my hair the way it is, thanks." In spite of his protests, this time he didn't even twitch as I set the bandaid over the small cut. That didn't keep him from making a face when I was done. "It still hurts, though."

I barely raised my hand when he made an exaggerated dodge. "Want me to hit something else? Take your mind off it?" Same as before, I felt comfortable and relaxed around him, like we'd been friends for a long time. If it was any other man, I'd be worried.

Jack's grin and chuckle was contagious. "Your bedside manner sucks." He leaned a little my way.

"Well that's what you get for being an idiot."

"Hey, I said it wasn't my fault!" He shook his wrist. "It's this thing. I was lucky that I managed to get the right room, let alone the right area. I could've ended up in a wall."

I mock-pouted. "Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you?" My hand mimed a talking mouth while I gathered up the things for the trash. "Blah, blah, blah. That's all I'm hearing. Who's in charge of pushing the buttons? You are, so don't go blaming the tech. You could've driven here, after all."

An awkward silence passed until Jack took a sharp intake of breath. "Speaking of which, what the h*** are you doing with this thing?" He reached over and turned the rogue Manipulator over. His change of topic was clumsy at best, bordering on ridiculous. "It's not mine. Not even mine from the future."

"That can happen? How can you tell?" I leaned against a nearby chair, interested in spite of myself.

Jack grinned and held the two devices together. "See? No sparkage. To put it simply, if they were the same one at two different points in time, they wouldn't be able to touch each other without giving off some sparks."

"Sparkage?" I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms. "Is that a technical term or are you dumbing it down for me?"

"Now that I'm not going to answer if I want to keep my head intact." Jack winked and tapped the screen, but it didn't do anything. "Well, there's no power, that's a good thing. You said you found it on the table? Who else has keys to the house?"

"No one. I don't exactly know that many real time travelers." My mind had started spinning again. Only Jack and the Doctor time-traveled. That I knew of. How would I know if someone was a time traveler or not?

Jack ran his hand through his hair, a gesture I was becoming familiar with. He tossed the dead Manipulator back on the table. "Well, I don't know what you're doing with this thing. As long as it's not glowing, then it should be safe to keep around. My friends could even do some tests on it if you want, but ..."

"But?"

The smirk on his face gave me goosebumps and confused me enough until I had no idea what he was feeling. Jack came over and ran his hands down my arms. "But then we wouldn't be alone for one second today." With gentle fingers, Jack tilted my head upwards then did something that I'd never expected.

He kissed me.

Jack ... kissed ... me.

I froze. I couldn't move anything. Couldn't even think. Why was he kissing me? I barely knew him. I mean, I liked him, but not in that way. At least, I didn't think I did.

Did I?

Finally Jack pulled away, confusion and hurt screaming out of his eyes. Fear clouded his eyes as well. "Jess? What's wrong? What's going on?"

"I ... um ... What I mean to say ... is ... uh ..." Why, oh why couldn't I make a complete sentence?

Jack swore, understanding lightening his eyes and he jerked away. "Oh, c***, I didn't check the date. Please tell me we've ..." When I said nothing, he swore viciously and tore over to the balcony doors on the other side of the room.

Assaulted by his bitterness and a thousand and one other emotions, I could do nothing but stare for a while. He was definately in love with me. Without a doubt. How that happened, I had no idea. A day still in my future, no doubt. Something to look forward to.

Yes, I just thought that.

Sighing, I joined him at the paned doors. I rested a hand on his arm gently. "Quit beating yourself up, Jack. We all make mistakes. With time travel, I guess we both have more complicated ones."

"That's just it, Jess," Jack ground out from clenched teeth. "I'm sick and tired of having to double-check when we are every time I see you. Sick of having to lie to you. Sick of seeing you so happy with ... him. Sick of ..." He had to phisically reign himself in and he beat his head against the glass. "Just sick of everything."

I tried smiling, but couldn't manage it. "I ... I don't know if this will help, but if I hadn't ... you know ... liked it, you'd have gotten something a bit worse than a smack on the side of the head." Great, now I was blushing like a splotchy tomato. Totally unatractive.

Though his chuckle came out strained, Jack's smile, such as it was, carried real relief. He draped an arm over my shoulders and brought me to him in a hug, the warmth of his breath giving me the shivers. "I am sorry. Well, no I'm not, but ... you know what I mean."

"Well, I could still punch you if you want. You look kinda like a punching bag if I look hard enough." I made a show of squinting at him.

"Ouch," now Jack sounded happier, though not back to his old self yet. "Talk about beating a man when he's down. Harsh." Pausing, he looked at me with more seriousness than I'd ever seen from him. "You sure you didn't ..."

I shook my head, biting on my lower lip. "No, actually. You just caught me by surprise. It's ... it's like I've known you for a long time already, if that makes any sense."

He gave my shoulders a squeeze. "It's called being an empath, Jess. Sucks, huh?"

"You know about that?"

"Course." Jack grimaced. "That's why I hate lying to you. Well, one of the reasons. You always seem to know."

Relief made me light-headed. He knew. Someone besides the Doctor knew about me. Such an elation filled me that I acted on the first instinct that came to mind.

I kissed him.

Hard.