Time Doesn't Always Run Straight

To The Last Man

Part 1

First off, really sorry for the huge gap between chapters. Things were just crazy with finishing uni and having placement. But I am now completely done with uni. So plenty of free time. So I was originally have Meat first but I think this sets things up slightly better. Four chapters, interlude and then Meat. In other news, anyone else watching the 50th in cinema? Managed to get a 9am screening on the 24th (In Australia) with 2 friends. Planning on dressing as soothsayers from Fires of Pompeii so should be great fun. Thank you to everyone for your continued support but please review more. I really want to know what you think.

Disclaimer: Not mine, if it were I wouldn't have to worry about unemployment.

"Right time to start." Jack draws the attention of the team around the conference room for the team meeting. It had been two days since the Sleeper case and things were still tense. He had had to order Gwen to come to the meeting, generally Gwen had been refusing to be in the same room as Jestine, claiming she didn't want to be shot at again. Not that Jestine was around much. She seemed to be avoiding them all, spending as little time as possible around the team.

"Right for those of you who do not know, today we are having a special guest." Jack informs the team.

"Special guest?" Gwen asks.

"Thomas Reginald Brockless." Jack answers.

"Tommy." Ianto adds.

"Twenty-four years old." Jack continues.

"Sort of." Ianto manages to not smirk.

Gwen frowns. "Well, he's either 24 or he's not."

Owen doesn't hide his smirk as he watches Jack and Ianto play with Gwen. Tosh bites her lip to avoid laughing, while Jestine just sits there watching.

"Depends on how you work it out." Ianto explains.

"All right, when was he born?" Gwen is getting frustrated at their little game.

"1894" Jack answers.

Gwen frowns in smirks before continuing on.

He's been here for ninety years, long than any of us. Any of you." Jack corrects himself. Ianto wishes he could give Jack a reassuring hug but can't in front of the team and certainly not in the middle of a team meeting.

"Torchwood have used alien cryogenics since Victorian times. They froze Tommy in 1918." Jack smirks. "So he's 24 or 114 years old. I know which one I'd choose."

"And the relevance to us?" Jestine speaks for the first time since she had stormed out after the case with Beth.

"We have to wake him up every twelve months or so. Well, defrost him. One day only, then back in the freezer." Owen explains.

"Why?" Gwen asks.

"Check he still works." Ianto answers.

"One day, we're gonna need him." Jack adds.

"Right so we're going to unfreeze a guy from 1918. How exciting." Jestine mutters as she moves to get up.

"Stop." Jack orders. "I'm not finished."

Jestine glances at Jack before collapsing back in her seat.

"As I was saying, we are unfreezing him today. After we run a few test on him, he will have the day to do as he wants. But he needs someone to show him around." Jack explains.

"Normally Tosh does, but she's busy working on her newest project." Ianto adds as Jack looks over to Jestine.

Jestine narrows her eyes with suspicion. "What, no, I am not babysitting your frozen guy. I'm sure there is something else I need to be doing. Anyway can't Gwen do it?"

"Gwen needs to finish her paperwork. And it might do you some good to spend some time with someone like Tommy." Jack points out.

Jestine frowns. "1918 Earth. So likely he was frozen right before the war was ended." Jestine raises a sceptical eyebrow. "You don't like me shooting but you want me to spend time with a solider?"

"How do you know he's a solider?" Gwen asks frustrated. She was sick of everyone knowing but her.

Jestine shakes her head at Gwen. "How couldn't he be? Unless he was invalid, he would be a solider, just like any capable man in 1918 was."

"It doesn't matter. You will be looking after him for the day." Jack orders. "We will be de-frosting him in half an hour." And with that he dismisses the team. Jestine flounces out while Tosh and Owen leave together.

"You can't let Jestine spend the day with Tommy. She'll probably shoot him or something." Gwen demands from Jack.

"She won't shoot him." Jack tells Gwen with a sigh. "It might just do her good to spend time with someone closer to her age, someone whose life is a little more normal."

"Normal if you ignore the fact he is a frozen solider from 1918." Ianto quips.

Jack briefly glares at Ianto, although it lacks any malice.

"Like I said to Jestine, it doesn't matter, I said she will be, I don't want to hear any more arguments." Jack gets up and heads out with Ianto following after.

Gwen stomps her foot in frustration. She was sick of Jack not even listening to her.

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The team gather in the medical bay as Owen starts the prep to wake Tommy up.

"But why?" Gwen asks as Owen sets the hypodermic against Tommy's neck in preparation.

Jack gives Owen a nod to preceded, ignoring Gwen's incessant questions.

Owen injects him and the team waits.

"Come on, Tommy." Owen mutters as the seconds tick on.

"Charging 200, clear!" Owen calls out before zapping Tommy to no effect.

"Charging 360. Clear!" Owen zaps again.

This time Tommy gasps and opens his eyes suddenly. He starts struggling against Owen with Ianto stepping forward to help subdue him.

"Gwen, quick." Owen calls out for Gwen to grab the paddles. "It's all right!" He tries to calm Tommy.

"Get off me, leave me alone." Tommy struggles against both Ianto and Owen.

"Tommy!" Owen tries to calm him.

Tommy suddenly lashes out at Owen, punching him in the face and causing him to fall backwards.

Jestine lurches forward, grabbing hold of Tommy. "Stop now." She demands.

"As much fun as it is to see Owen being punched, I don't think Tosh likes you punching her boyfriend." Jestine mutters as Tommy stops struggling and looks around the room.

"Gets harder every year." He mutters as he looks around the room.

"Good left hook though." Ianto smirks.

"You know where you are?" Jestine queries as she helps support Tommy as he sits up.

"Torchwood." Tommy nods.

"Is it time again?" He shakes his head slightly as if to clear out the cobwebs.

"Blimey." He exclaims when Jestine nods.

"How are you feeling?" Owen asks.

"I could murder a cup of tea." He answers after coughing.

Owen nods as he pats him on the shoulder. Tommy glances around at both familiar and unfamiliar faces.

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The team have gathered around the conference room table again. This time there is a large spread of food on the table.

"Here, tuck in. There's enough to feed an army." Tommy offers as he grabs food.

"We should do this every morning. Breakfast, I mean." Jack grins.

"Generally we have more important things to do." Jestine mutters as she watches Tommy.

Tommy glances at Jestine. He didn't know what to make of her. Her clothing was like nothing he had seen before. And the way she spoke was different. He had noticed the way language had changed during the years but Jestine spoke differently to anyone he had ever known.

Jack notices Tommy looking Jestine over. "Right introductions. Gwen Cooper, Investigator, police liaison and general field agent. She replaced Suzie." Jack pauses to briefly recall their fallen teammate.

"What happened to Suzie?" Tommy asks cautiously. Over the years he had seen many Torchwood staff come and go, some he hadn't even seen twice.

She went nuts over a glove and kept killing people to try and bring them back." Jestine causally informs him.

The team look at her with an array of emotion.

Jack glares at Jestine's insensitivity. "And this is Jestine."

"Jestine? No last name?" Tommy asks.

"Not important." Jestine states.

Tommy had been dealing with Torchwood long enough to recognise when a topic was off-limits.

"So what am I doing today?" He changes the topic.

"First your check up and then Jestine is going to be showing you around." Jack informs Tommy.

Tommy nods hesitantly. He still wasn't sure about Jestine. She was definitely the strangest person he had ever met.

Gwen turns to Jack during the lull in the conversation. "I still don't get it. Why is he here?"

"And you all think I'm rude. At least I don't talk about people right in front of them as if they weren't there." Jestine mutters.

Jack sighs in frustration at both Jestine and that Gwen wouldn't let it go. "Like I said- one day, we're gonna need him."

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Tommy performs his physical for Owen as Jestine watches on.

"And pull to me. Good. Seems fine." Owen says as he runs through it all. "I just need to, uh, take a few… blood samples." Owen informs Tommy. He did hate that Tommy had to go through this every time.

"Blood samples." Tommy nods, used to the routine by now. He was just glad that Owen was remotely nice. Some of the doctors in the past had been very cold about it, treating him like he was some kind of specimen or something.

"Fun thing to wake up to every year." Jestine comments sarcastically.

"Once a year for you lot, it's every day for me." Tommy points out.

"How boring." Jestine scowls. "Still while we wait." She gestures to the clipboard.

Tommy nods. "Tommy Reginald Brockless, born 1894 February the 7th in Blackley, Manchester, Private officer in 10th West Yorkshire regiment." He answers.

"Good." Jestine nods as she checks the details.

"Only son of Constance May Bassett, died 1900, and Thomas Campbell Brockless, died June 1931, aged 57. Heart attack. That's right, isn't it?" Tommy asks.

"Yeah, sorry." Jestine gives him a sympathetic smile.

"It's all right. I just haven't had that much time to get used to it." Tommy reassures her. He could have sworn that he saw a flicker of emotion cross Jestine's face when he mentioned his parents.

Owen glances between the two before disturbing them. "Right, all done. Why don't you go get some clothes on?"

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"How about this?" Jestine suggest as she holds up some pants and a t-shirt for Tommy. They are in the team locker room, choosing clothes for Tommy.

"Isn't it a bit cold? I noticed Tosh was wearing slacks under her dress." Tommy comments.

Jestine frowns, "Slacks?" before nodding. "Apparently that is fashionable for this period of time." She answers.

Tommy nods and stats grinning. "1968, they were in miniskirts. Thought all my Christmases had come at once. Shame they haven't made a comeback."

Jestine gives a snort. "You should see them at the clubs. Make miniskirts seem conservative." She holds up a sweater, shirt, pants and a jacket. "Here try these then."

Tommy grabs them but looks around in confusion.

Jestine frowns. "You right?"

"I um, wasn't sure where you wanted me to get changed." Tommy confesses.

"What? Here, where else would you get change?" Jestine shakes her head.

"But you're here." Tommy replies, blushing slightly.

Jestine looks at him confused. "And the problem is?"

"I just thought you wouldn't want a strange man to get dressed in front of you." Tommy replies. "Why is that normal for you?" Tommy was starting to wonder if it was a good idea for Jestine to be showing him around.

Jestine shrugs. "Well more often it's undressing, but I'll wait outside then if it makes you more comfortable."

Tommy looks at Jestine in shock at the implications of her answer.

"And that's how everyone is these days. Just undress with anyone." Tommy can't bring himself to say the actual words.

Jestine shrugs. "Some people are, but most people are still uptight in this time period."

"What do you mean this time period?" Tommy was getting so confused by Jestine.

Jestine bits her lip. "Let's just say you aren't the only one who isn't from this time. I'll just step outside." And with that Jestine leaves a confused Tommy to get changed.

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Gwen and Jack are in Jack's office. Jack had finally gotten sick of Gwen's questions and so was explaining Tommy's case.

"St. Teilo's Hospital, 1918. There was a time-shift. A fracture in the rift means that two slices of time were erupting into each other." Jack explains.

"A slice of 1918, and ... ?" Gwen asks.

"A slice of the future. But we don't know exactly what slice. It could be tomorrow, it could be in a hundred years' time." Jack shrugs, he always hated that about Tommy's case. And hated that there was a good possibility that he would be the one to send Tommy to his death.

"What will happen?"

"Chunks of 1918 will start to appear at the hospital. A few at first, then more and more. When the time-shift is complete, it'll start a chain reaction." Jack explains standing up. "Unless we stop it, time-shifts will start happening all over the country, then all over the world."

"But how does Tommy fit in?" Gwen asks as she looks at the profile and picture of Tommy and Jack opens one of the locked cabinets.

Jack takes out a canister before answering. "He helps to stop it somehow. Torchwood 1918 left us sealed orders."

"Eyes-only documents. FAO Torchwood, commander overseeing case 1918 TB." T ... Tommy Brockless?" Gwen reads the label on the canister out loud.

Jack nods as she tries to open it.

"Okay. It's stuck." Gwen gives up trying to open it.

"No, it's locked." Jack explains as he resists the urge to roll his eyes.

"Okay, where's the key?" Gwen asks, trying to keep down her annoyance at Jack playing with her.

"It's a temporal lock tied in with the rift frequencies at the hospital."

Gwen rolls her eye and sits down at the desk, her annoyance winning out. She switches the slide on the old desktop light box to another slide.

"When the rift nears completion, the box will open and we'll find out exactly what Tommy does." Jack explains.

"But why would they keep us in the dark, Jack?" Gwen asks, frustrated at all the secrets Torchwood had, even from its employees.

"I guess we'll find that out, too." Jack shrugs.

The conservation is cut off with Jestine and Tommy walking in.

"Appropriate for the time period?" Jestine asks as she shows them Tommy dressed in the clothes she had chosen for him. "Although I don't know why I'm asking Mr WWW2."

"Seriously, what do you think?" Tommy asks, a little unsure of himself in the strange clothes.

"You look like a film star." Gwen replies, looking him up and down.

"Who? Charlie Chaplin?" Tommy grins, causing Gwen to giggle.

Jestine rolls her eyes. "Right. Are we set to go?"

"Just want a word with Tommy." Jack informs her. "You should see Ianto, he said he had a few suggestions about what you two could do."

Jestine glances at Jack with suspicion. "Fine but be quick. It's boring in here." And she spins on her heel back to the main part of the hub.

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"What did you want to talk about?" Tommy asks once Gwen had also left the office.

"You may have gathered already, but Jestine isn't local." Jack explains.

Tommy nods. "She said something about not being from this time period earlier. But she didn't really give me any details."

"It's a long story but Jestine seems to have grown up in the future." Jack tells Tommy. "We don't know the details but some bad things have happened to her. Because of this she sees and acts differently."

Tommy can't help but feel sad for Jestine. He knew the terrors of war and could emphasis with Jestine over whatever terror was in her past.

"She isn't a danger to you but keep in mind that she isn't like anyone else you have met."

"You're don't need to tell me twice." Tommy tells Jack with a smile.

Jack nods before leading Tommy out. He couldn't shake the feeling that maybe having Jestine spend the day with Tommy wasn't going to be as good idea as he had originally thought.

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"Jack told me you have some suggestions of what Tommy and I should do." Jestine informs Ianto as she moves to the work stations.

"There's an art exhibition on at the moment." Ianto hands her a brochure. "Let's Tommy see what art is like now compared to his time."

Jestine glances briefly at it before looking back at Jack's office where he and Tommy were chatting.

"Or one of the museums." Ianto suggests.

"Or you could tell me why you really want to talk to me." Jestine gives Ianto a pointed look.

Ianto sighs. "We just want you to be careful. Remember that Tommy is from 1918. Things were a lot different back then to now, let alone when you are from."

Jestine rolls her eyes. "I do understand how to act around people from different time periods. I was a part of Time Agency." She mutters.

Ianto nods. He knows there is no point trying to push the subject with Jestine, he just hopes she is right and Tommy will be able to manage her.

"Right, you two are ready to go." Jack informs Jestine as he and Tommy join the others in the main part of the Hub. Gwen moves to be beside Jack as Tommy helps a surprised Jestine with her coat.

"Jack? Have you got any more of those pretty boys in the freezer?" Gwen asks Jack as she eyes Tommy up.

Jack resists the urge to roll his eyes. As much as Gwen claimed to love Rhys, she always seemed to have her eyes on someone else.

"Hands off, missy. I think Jestine seems to have beaten you to him." Jack jokes but can't help to worry.

"So we're ready to head off." Jestine tells the team.

"No worries. Have fun. Be careful." Owen calls out.

"Where are you off?" Gwen asks, curious to know where one would take a frozen solider from 1918.

"Don't know yet. Around. Hopefully something exciting will come up." Jestine answers.

"Maybe you should just stick to a film or pizza. Not everyone can handle your level of excitement." Ianto suggest.

Jestine weighs Ianto's suggestion up before shrugging. "Yeah, might. Just have to wait and see."

"Make sure you let me know if the world looks like it's going to end or anything like that or else." Jestine warns them.

"Have a lovely time." Gwen tells them as they leave, Jestine waving over her shoulder to acknowledge her.

"I think she's taken a liking to him." Tosh tells Ianto as Jestine and Tommy leave.

"He's a frozen soldier from 1918." Gwen frowns at them.

Jack shrugs. "Nobody's perfect."

Thank you so much for taking the time to read it. Please review and let me know what you thought, any suggestions would be so awesome.