AN: Dear Readers,
Again abject apologies for the horrendous delay in continuing to post this story. But I have now written 16,000 words for the next part. It's not as complete as I would like, but I feel that I shouldn't delay posting any longer. My guilt level is increasing with every day that passes and every review or message I receive encouraging me to post. So here is the next chapter. I have a few chapters practically done, then a gap and then several more chapters and the epilogue practically done. I aim to fill in the gap while posting the next few chapters.
So, as promised (a long time ago), here is the continuation of A New Dawn.
Chapter 30
A week went by, and four more of Jack's sessions with Charlotte. Jack had been procrastinating but he knew that, in the next session, Charlotte would want him to discuss the bargain with the Master. It was preying on his mind and he was forcing himself to consider what he would do if he had the choice again. As he lay in bed, he realised that he knew the answer.
With hindsight there was no doubt that he should have let the team die. The destruction of the paradox machine and the reset of time made that obvious. But he had had no idea when he made the bargain with the Master that a paradox machine was involved and that time would be reset. What was causing him sleepless nights was what he thought he would do if faced with that situation again.
b_b_b_b_b
The next morning, when Jack emerged from his room and made himself breakfast, Ianto was sitting alone in the kitchen area having coffee.
As Jack sat down next to him Ianto noticed that he was skittish and avoiding looking him in the eye. This worried him as he had thought that he and Jack had come to an understanding and a start at renewed friendship.
"What's wrong, Jack?" Ianto asked tentatively.
Jack flushed and looked guilty. "It's nothing," he responded.
"Have I done something wrong?" Ianto asked, determined not to just brush Jack's strange behaviour under the carpet. If there was a problem he needed to know so that they could sort it out.
"No," Jack replied. "I'm just edgy because Charlotte wants me to talk about the deal with the Master today."
"Is that worse than the other things you've been talking about?" queried Ianto with surprise. He had thought that Jack would have already spoken to the therapist about some of the most traumatic events he suffered on the Valiant.
"It's not talking about the bargain itself that worries me," Jack admitted. "She knows the broad outline of it anyway. It's that she'll ask me what I think about it now."
Not really understanding why talking about that would make Jack so skittish, Ianto pressed the point. "But why would that make you so uncomfortable to be around me, Jack? I thought we were OK as friends now."
"We are," Jack assured him, "but I feel guilty."
Ianto was shocked. "You are the last man on Earth who should be feeling guilty about anything relating to me!"
"Don't you get it Ianto?" Jack snapped suddenly. "I regret it! I wish I had let him kill you, and the others. Then I'd have a life, like I did before. What kind of a man does that make me?"
"Oh, Jack!" Ianto cried with sympathy. "You don't have to feel guilty about that. I regret it too. I would gladly have died to spare you pain."
Seeing the utter sincerity in Ianto's face, Jack relaxed somewhat. "So you aren't angry about that?"
"Of course not," Ianto answered, "and the others wouldn't be angry either. You must know how much we all wish we could have saved you from the Master, even if that meant dying ourselves."
"And if it had been permanent, as I expected? If time had not reset?" Jack demanded.
"Even then," Ianto declared with complete sincerity.
A small smile appeared on Jack's face. Perhaps the session with Charlotte would not be so bad.
b_b_b_b_b
Owen was reading through a stack of files in his office when Ianto knocked on his door.
"I'm about to go off shift," Ianto told him. "Would you like coffee before I go?"
"Oh, yes please," Owen replied, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. He had a small stack of files set to his right, a large stack on his left and a few in the centre that he was still going through.
"Problem?" Ianto asked, indicating the files.
"Potential new recruits," Owen explained. "The Queen has given us carte blanche to hire new people. But it's hard to know where to look for them. We can hardly put out a job advert in The Guardian. These are files from people who have applied to MI6, GCHQ and the armed forces. The Queen put them on the lookout for any candidates that we might want to consider."
Ianto laughed. "There was a time when MI6 and GCHQ wouldn't put job adverts out either, but now you can apply online," he commented. "Maybe we will be able to advertise one day."
"Most of these aren't useful," Owen told him. "But there are a few worth meeting. We'll have to arrange to interview them."
"So you'll tell them that we deal with aliens?" queried Ianto.
"How can we recruit if I don't?" Owen responded. "And that means if they don't want to come and work for Torchwood, or we don't want them, they'll have to be retconned."
b_b_b_b_b
That evening, Tosh, Gwen and Joanne met up at The Falcon pub in Roath. Before all the trauma of finding out about Jack and the Valiant they had had a regular girls' night out once a month. Now that things had calmed down somewhat they decided to resurrect the tradition.
Tosh and Joanne grabbed a table as Gwen got the first round in. They ordered their food quickly and, as they ate, discussed trivial stuff like the X-factor and The Apprentice.
After two more rounds they were all a bit tipsy and got down to more personal girl talk. Gwen regaled them with all the ups and downs of her and Rhys's life since their last girls' night out.
"It's all very well for you, Gwen," Joanne put in. "But I haven't had a boyfriend in over a year and only a handful of dates that never lead to anything more. They tend to be put off by the antisocial hours I keep, and the fact I keep cancelling or, worse, having to run off in the middle of the date."
"I guess it was easier for me and Rhys because we were together for several years before I joined Torchwood," Gwen surmised. "He just had to put up with it at that point."
"It was just the same for me," Tosh said, agreeing with Joanne. "I hadn't been out with anyone for ages. Unless you count Tommy, that soldier who was frozen."
"I always thought that you and Owen would get together," Gwen admitted, "before Karen came on the scene of course."
"So did I," agreed Tosh, "but he didn't seem to feel the same. Anyway, he and Karen make a great couple."
"Yes, and you and Jack do too," Gwen added with a smile.
Tosh blushed. "I never thought he'd be interested in me."
"Well you were wrong there," Joanne said, "he seems besotted with you."
"I wouldn't say besotted," Tosh argued. "He needs me. But I'm certainly besotted with him."
Gwen leaned forward conspiratorially. "So tell us, what's he like?"
Tosh looked blank. "What do you mean?"
"You know. What's he like in bed?" Gwen whispered.
"Gwen!" Tosh exclaimed.
"Oh don't be a prude Tosh. Enquiring minds want to know."
"You're drunk, Gwen," Tosh retorted. "And all I'll say is that I have no complaints."
"I think it's time we headed off home," suggested Joanne, who wasn't quite as tipsy as Gwen. "I'll go order a taxi."
They dropped Gwen off at home first, then Tosh and Joanne continued in the taxi. "I'm really glad that you and Jack are making it work, Tosh. It'll be good for both of you."
Tosh smiled happily. "It is, it really is."