A/N: as always, many thanks to my beta, RedShoeKitty. If you haven't read her offerings, go and check them out!
Several days after the incident in Brynblaidd, Jeannie is huddled down in the med-bay with Owen; they're going over her chart, updating her record with the latest abilities and test results. He has her perched on the table with leads going here, there, and everywhere while she's laughing at his reaction to her story about how she teleported for the first time when Jack wanders over, and leans on the railing above the bay to listen in, adding his own two pence to the conversation. Owen tries to order him to leave, as he has a half-naked patient to see to, and Jack leers, indicating that the view is quite good, and he intends to stay. Rolling his eyes, Owen continues with the scans before pronouncing Jeannie healthy enough to put her clothes back on, and get her boy-toy out of his hair.
Surfacing from the med-bay, Jeannie grabs Jack's hand and tugs him up the stairs, detouring to Tosh's station at her request; she has a piece of tech that fell through the rift in front of her, and has a match in the records indicating that it is Phela in origin. Examining it with interest, Jeannie has a seat while reaching for it eagerly. It appears to be a sort of hat, made of a malleable metallic material; Tosh, in answer to Jeannie's questioning look, indicates that it is some sort of learning device. No idea what it teaches, but it appears to be harmless from her scans of it. Jeannie, who has been looking it over while running her hands over it, promptly plops it onto her head with a shrug. Jack lunges forward to try and stop her, but is too late; Ianto, feeling Jack's fear, rushes up from the archives, and stops when he sees their mate with a metal cap on. Jeannie's eyes are wide with wonder as she reaches out blindly for the hands of her mates; with Jack and Ianto kneeling on either side of her chair, she starts talking.
"This is completely amazing! It's all in the Phela language, but I can understand it; what we have is unusual, even for the Phela. Our triad is bound in ways that are unheard of, making us more powerful than any other bonding in history. This helmet has dumped so much knowledge into my head that it'll take me months, if not years, to understand it all, but from what I can gather, the way we are bound is what allows me to teleport, time-travel, and everything else. This is, truly, an equal-opportunity relationship, because with time, I can teach both of you to travel too!" Taking off the helmet, Jeannie carefully places it back on Tosh's desk before shaking her head to settle the ruffled fur. Ianto has his eyes narrowed in thought. "So, you're saying that at some point in the future, Jack and I will be able to teleport like you do? Without you starting the process and taking us along for the ride?" Laughing, Jeannie nods her head emphatically. Jack looks a bit awed at the prospect; glancing down at his wrist strap, he just shakes his head, thinking that 'travel by Jeannie' is so much better than the Agency way!
Gwen and Suzie arrived back just in time to hear Jeannie start talking; Suzie is happy for her friends, and amused by the looks of awe on their faces as they contemplate teleporting themselves about. Gwen briefly looks like she swallowed a glass of unsweetened lemonade before her expression clears to one of acceptance; she wanders over to her own station to browse through the latest police reports, hoping for something to redirect attention to anything except Jeannie. She gets her wish, but not from a report; the rift alarm blares, indicating that a ship has come through and landed on the outskirts of Splott. Tosh finds a single operational CCTV camera for the area, and it shows a silvery saucer, the approximate size of their SUV. Recognizing it, Jack chuckles, "They're traders; they always have something good, Tosh, Jeannie, Ianto, with me! The rest of you, paperwork! Chop chop!" With that, Jack detours into his office for his coat and a small rucksack containing knick-knacks he's put together for just such an occurrence.
Several hours later, the four team mates cheerfully wave at the departing trade ship; their rucksack is empty, and several hard-to-get items are in the back of the SUV; Jack knows exactly where each piece will do the most good. Most of the haul will go to his contacts in the Cardiff alien community, and will be used in barter from there, and a few of the pieces will stay in his personal safe until needed. With a successful mission completed, Jack verifies that the Hub is locked down for the night, and then sends everyone home while dragging his mates off to dinner.
After they have eaten, the three go for a stroll in the park; it's a clear night for a change, and not too cold, or too late. They are strolling along beside the duck pond when Jack stops, as stiff as a statue as he stares across the water. Following his gaze in confusion, they see a woman in her 30's smiling fondly at a young boy; the mates catch a slideshow of fast-moving pictures that show the woman growing up until she is about 5 or so, and then the next set of images shows her as an adult. From this, they gather that this is Jack's daughter and grandson; with no secrets in their relationship, of course they know all about her. They know that her mother poisoned her against him when she ran away with Torchwood's help back in the 70's; they also know that she begrudges him any time spent with her son, his grandson. His heart breaks every time he sees the look of fear and contempt in her eyes when she looks at him; he hides it well, but the hurt is there all the same. When Jack turns and walks away, they realize that the woman had seen him, but not the boy. Had the boy been aware that his beloved 'Uncle Jack' was in the vicinity, there would have been no escaping for any of them.
Jeannie sends a calculating look in the woman's direction before turning and following Jack. She and Ianto wrap their arms protectively around his waist, blanketing his hurt in warmth and love. With a grateful smile, his shoulders relax a bit, and they head back to the Hub; the night has lost a bit of its charm for now, and they just want to go home and cuddle.
The next day is a Sunday, and Jeannie leaves to run some errands midway through the morning. She ends up at the same pond as the night before, and sees Jack's daughter, minus the boy. Wandering over to where she is sitting, Jeannie settles down next to her on the bench while looking her over. The woman, Alice, is returning the once-over, and starts talking. "You were with my father last night; you should be careful, he's a very dangerous man, and he'll hurt you." Jeannie's eyes flash with anger, "Is that your own experience talking, or the poison Lucia fed you?" Alice's nostrils flare in annoyance, "What do you know about this? About my mother? Or how my father left us?" Jeannie shakes her head sadly before responding. "If you want to know the truth, call me. If you want to keep living in your safe sheltered little world were Mummy always knows best, don't." With that, Jeannie leaves a plain card with her number printed on it lying on the bench between them and walks away with her head down. Alice picks up the card, running her fingers over the raised numbers while thoughtfully watching as the woman walks away.
Returning to the Hub, Jeannie walks up to Jack's office, vaguely noticing that he's on the phone. She quietly climbs into his lap for a cuddle, relishing the feeling of him wrapping his free arm around her while he continues berating whatever politician had the misfortune to call him. Jack wraps up the call by slamming the phone back onto its cradle; "What's wrong, beautiful?" Keeping her head firmly planted on his shoulder, Jeannie tells him that she ran into Alice, and was warned off by her. Jack closes his eyes in pain; "It's not her fault, her mother twisted her perceptions of me. Maybe she was right to do that; I am a dangerous man." Jeannie raises her head, her luminous green cat-eyes catching and holding Jack's blue gaze. "Yeah, you're dangerous, but it still isn't your fault! You loved her mother, and you love her. Lucia knew damn-well what she was getting when she married you; you never hid your immortality from her. Instead of handling the situation like an adult, she took her little red wagon, and ran! Unfortunately, she was enabled in her childish reaction by the fact that Torchwood wanted to use her to keep you in line; they sent you off on some trumped-up mission while they relocated both of them." Jeannie continues gently, "You forget my love, I saw the memory; I felt what you felt when you came back home from a mission that went tits-up hoping for a hug from your little girl and found the house empty. It wasn't your fault. It's not Alice's either, but both of you are hurting because of the situation." Jack's head is resting on Jeannie's shoulder, and Ianto has come in, closing the door behind him before crouching beside his mates. "When I finally found her again, she was all grown up, and her mother was on her death-bed; I finally managed to talk to Alice the day of Lucia's funeral. She had Stephen by then, and her marriage was rocky, so I did what I could to help them out. I started sending them money every month; Alice had made sure I knew I wasn't welcome, but Stephen, he was ecstatic over having an uncle. And so, she let me keep in touch." Two tears trail slowly down his cheeks as he talks, his eyes sad and hurting.
Ianto breaks away long enough to go kick the team out for the night before pulling his mates up from the chair and leading them down to their apartment. Tonight is going to be a comforting night for them; the rift can go hang itself!
A/N: Like/dislike, whatever, shoot me a message or click the 'review' button and let me know!