AN: Hangs head in shame. I am so sorry for the looooong delay. I have no excuse.
Chapter 36
Life continued on peacefully for Jack in the months following the party. He was happy. He and Tosh practically lived together, although Tosh had kept her flat. The boy's night out was firmly established, but, due to the vagaries of Torchwood, it was a small affair. Typically only two or three people managed to make it, including Jack. Jack found that he preferred the nights when he and Ianto ended up out at the pub alone, to those when Mark or Owen also joined them. He and Ianto had worked through their issues and had reached a level of friendship and trust once more. Their relationship remained purely platonic, however.
Jack continued his sessions with Charlotte, though only once per week. The tranquility, and lack of responsibility, in his life was helping immensely with his PTSD. He had even managed to cut the heroin down to three quarters of the original dose. Tosh now stayed with him when he took it, rather than Owen or Joanne.
Jack continued to work at the restaurant. He had impressed the manager with his willingness to work hard, and his competence in cooking; 150 years of experience did show. He had rotated round all the different areas of the kitchen. What some might have considered a high pressure job, at busy times, Jack considered quite relaxing. It wasn't as if being late preparing a dish, or messing it up, was going to cost anyone their life, or destroy the universe. He was hoping to move up to a more senior level in the kitchen soon. He really fancied being the head chef, but that would take a while.
b_b_b_b_b_b_b
Ten months after Oduya and Stamford had been arrested, a legal representative from the Court due to try them arranged a meeting with Owen. They wanted to discuss who from Torchwood would be required to give evidence, and when. At Owen's request, the meeting was arranged without Jack's knowledge. He wanted to avoid discussing this with Jack until he knew for certain what Jack would have to do. Owen took Charlotte with him.
They arrived at the solicitors' offices that were being used for the meeting and asked for George Granby. After the usual introductions and formalities they got down to business.
"You may wonder why I have brought Doctor Nash with me today," Owen started. "She is Jack Harkness's therapist. As I'm sure you know he is suffering from a serious case of PTSD. He's been responding well to counselling, amazingly well over the last few months, but just the idea of standing up in court and having to describe what was done to him in the UNIT prison could undo a lot of his progress."
"He is the prime witness against Oduya and Stamford," Granby pointed out. "He will also be the prime witness against the guards from the prison, but that will be done in a separate trial. Oduya and Stamford are up on a host of charges; treason, torture and abuse of prisoners, suppressing evidence, kidnap and contracting a killing. There are several other prisoners due to give evidence of torture and abuse, but Harkness's case is by far the most extensive. Without his testimony we have a much weaker case, and the treason, kidnap and contract killing charges would be dropped."
"Don't ever put Jack in the witness box in front of a courtroom full of people," Charlotte interjected. "He would not be able to talk about what happened in that sort of situation."
"It won't be a courtroom full of people," Granby assured them. "This trial will be a closed session. Only the defendants, the judge, jury and two admin staff will be present."
"You can't put Jack in a room with Oduya and Stamford!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Have you any idea of what they, and their men, did to him!"
Granby sighed. "Of course I know what was allegedly done. And I can understand what you're saying. But Harkness still has to give evidence."
"Well can't he give his evidence by video?" asked Charlotte.
"You mean like children do in Crown prosecutions?" Granby asked in surprise.
"Yes, that's precisely what I mean."
Granby thought for a moment. "It would be very unusual in a Court Martial, but let me just check something." He turned to his laptop and typed for a couple of minutes. "Yes, under special measures, not only children, but also intimidated and vulnerable adults, can do the majority of their testimony via recorded interview, with any follow up questions done by live video link."
Owen and Charlotte beamed.
"But that is in a civilian court. We would have to persuade the judge to allow it," continued Granby. "However, if you can provide convincing medical evidence of mental disorder, for example this PTSD that you mentioned, and we argued that he would suffer from significant fear and distress in relation to testifying, it might be allowed."
"It's the best chance of getting coherent evidence from Jack," Charlotte opined.
"OK," agreed Granby. "Submit a report to me to that effect and I'll take that forward to the judge. I'll let you know his decision."
"Who else will be giving evidence?" Owen asked.
"The secondary witness to the torture and abuse is Peterson. But we'll also be prosecuting them for suppressing evidence, kidnap and attempted contract murder; though Oduya seems to be primarily responsible for those. So we'll need you, Dr Harper, to give evidence about the DVDs that Peterson leaked to you, and the kidnap of Harkness in Cardiff when they found him. Plus we will need Miss Sato and Mr Jones who also witnessed the kidnap. One of the soldiers arrested for abuse has agreed to give evidence about the contract to kill Harkness, in return for a reduced sentence."
"By the way," Granby stated, "none of the jury know anything about the the Master's reign of terror over the Earth, although the judge does. It should not be necessary to mention that in any testimony. It's not relevant. The fact that Harkness was tortured before his incarceration by UNIT can be discussed without reference to a time paradox or the exact circumstances."
"What about Jack's immortality?" asked Charlotte, "do they know about that?"
"At the moment only the judge knows," Granby explained, "however that is likely to come into the evidence, as I believe it's alleged that Harkness was killed at least once in UNIT custody. So they will have to know. They'll be briefed before the trial starts."
"You can't just let anyone know about that," snapped Owen. "If it got out, Jack would be targeted endlessly."
"That is understood," Granby assured them. "Her Majesty was adamant that everyone, even the administrators at the trial, be people with the highest possible security clearance. There will be no leaks."
"Can you be accused of murder, or organising a contract killing, if you know your victim will come back to life?" asked Charlotte.
Granby nodded. "That has been discussed at the highest level. The answer is yes. If you kill someone it's murder, regardless of whether they stay dead."
"I should think so," exclaimed Owen, trailing off as he noticed Charlotte staring at him.
Charlotte looked at him strangely for a moment, remembering that Owen himself had murdered Jack, not even knowing he would come back to life. She had managed to put that out of her mind until this moment.
The rest of the discussion concerned logistics and timescale of who would be needed and when.
"Do you think you or I should tell Jack about all this?" Owen asked Charlotte, as they walked back to the car after the meeting.
"I think I'd better," Charlotte decided, "but not until we hear back from the judge about whether he'll accept video evidence from Jack. I'd hate to mislead him about how he'll give evidence."
"Right," Owen agreed. "I'll let you know as soon as I hear."
It was a crying shame, Owen mused, that Jack's peaceful life was about to be disrupted. He prayed that it wouldn't damage Jack's recovery too much.
b_b_b_b_b_b_b
A week after Owen's meeting with Granby, Jack was promoted to demi-chef de partie. It was still a junior position, but Jack was pleased to be moving up the hierarchy. To celebrate, he invited everyone to join him at the restaurant for dinner. It was the first time that Jack would be a customer at the restaurant since he had started work there. Mr Lloyd promised to make their night extra special.
When Jack and Tosh arrived at the restaurant, Owen, Karen and Ianto were already at the table.
"This is a fantastic place Jack," Karen remarked. "I hope the food is as good as the ambience."
"Oh it is," Jack assured her. "I get to try all of the dishes and they are wonderful. You can't go wrong here."
Ianto smirked as he saw the manager giving an approving look to Jack. "They should include advertising as part of your job description," he laughed.
"I haven't done much for that," Jack answered, "this is the first time I've brought any customers in, or eaten here myself since I started."
At that moment Gwen and Rhys arrived, along with Joanne. Mark was on duty and not able to come. Once everyone was settled at the table, Jack announced, "Tonight's dinner is on me, so don't hold back. What would everyone like to drink?"
If Jack had just been a demi-chef de partie, living on that salary, the others would not have let him do that. But they knew that he had money to burn. He wasn't working for the money but for the normality and satisfaction it gave him.
"Cheers Jack," Rhys replied. "I'll have to stick with one beer, and then move on to soft drinks. I'm the designated driver," he added sorrowfully. Gwen patted him on the arm in mock sympathy.
"Me too," added Karen, "so I'll have a tonic water."
The rest of them decided on wine, one bottle of white and one of red to start with. Then they ordered.
The food was, as predicted, excellent. The service was also excellent with the staff doing their best for one of their colleagues. They were given complementary coffee and mints plus digestifs at the end of the meal.
As Jack got up to sort out payment, Ianto leaned back in his seat. "Oh I'm stuffed," he admitted. "I need a bigger pair of trousers. That was a great meal."
Tosh laughed. "You shouldn't have had a starter and pudding then! I only ever have one or the other."
All the others were in a similar state to Ianto.
"I don't have your self control Tosh," moaned Joanne. "The food was so good. I'll have to make up for it tomorrow."
Owen had enjoyed the evening, but his enjoyment was tinged with worry. Jack was doing so well and he feared that the upcoming trial would derail his progress. But this evening had been good for all of them. At least Jack had got to enjoy that before any worries about giving evidence became an issue.
At the till, Jack and Mr Lloyd were talking.
Mr Lloyd was gazing at the Torchwood group. "I think your guests had a good time," he smiled. "Who is the lovely young oriental lady? I couldn't help but notice that you are close."
Jack grinned. "Yes, that's Toshiko. We've been together for over a year."
"You're a lucky man."
"I know it," agreed Jack.
"I'll see you tomorrow for work then. And you know, if you keep going the way you have been, you'll be chef de partie before you know it."
"That would be great," Jack enthused. "I'll do my best."
"You always do," replied Mr Lloyd, smiling