TORCHWOOD FOUR: THROUGH THE RIFT

They were all sitting around the table with their drinks. Nancy, as “Junior” had introduced her, looked quite bored at the conversation the men were having. The music came to an end and everyone applauded, almost covering the conversation they were having.

“So, what’s your next mission?” Junior asked him.

Jack wanted to tell him right there – tell him that he knew everything – tell him that he even knew what was going to happen to him. He wanted to ask him if knew he had an older brother. If he knew he had an older brother that Jack had been powerless to stop from dying. Just like he was this time. But he didn’t. “Careless talk costs lives.” He spoke into his drink.

Nancy welcomed the out, “I should go anyway.” She stood, the men standing with her.

Jack recanted what he had said, “No, I didn’t mean that to…”

She turned to him, “It’s all right. I can get a lift if I leave now.”

Jack sat back down, but Junior remained standing. “I’d better stay here.”

She turned her back to the man at the table, “Aren’t you leaving tomorrow night?”

The man she was looking at nodded in affirmation. Jack was sure he saw a very familiar look in his eyes.

Her face fell obviously. “You sick of us Welsh already?”

He chuckled a little before replying, “Yeah, that’s why I’m still fighting for you.” They looked over at Jack, who had to admit he felt a little uncomfortable – a little like a – gasp! – father watching his son end a date…The Captain kissed her on the cheek, “I’ll be in touch when I’m next on leave.”

Nancy’s shoulders fell and she left. Jack nodded as he watched them, thinking the whole time that, while he wanted to talk to his son, he would rather know that this man who had his name had lived his life to the fullest. As if he could read his mind, Junior turned back to her.

“Nancy…”

She turned to look at him hopefully.

“It’s been a good few weeks.”

Nancy left without another word. The Captain sat down.

Jack was quietly livid. “Was that it?!” He looked after the spot where she had been, wondering what that was about.

Junior shrugged at the man sitting there, “She's a sweet kid, but I need to look after my men tonight. It's their last day tomorrow.” He took another drink. Jack looked at him like he was crazy.

“Go after her. Kiss her goodbye. Anything can happen tomorrow.” He became more intense, leaning in as he spoke roughly to the other man. He just doesn’t get it, does he?

He sighed back at Jack. “It’s just a routine training exercise. I’m hardly going to die.”

In that moment, Jack never felt more like a father. He wished the man would just listen to him. He leaned in to tell him what he thought he needed to hear. “That’s when they catch you, when you least expect it. You don’t know what’s ahead. Kiss her…” he hesitated for a brief moment before whispering the rest. “…goodbye.”

Junior finished his drink and went after Nancy. He found her in the doorway. “Nancy.” This was followed by a quick kiss as he helped her put her coat on.

Jack closed his eyes, thinking about the night he had left Emily. How hard it had been for him. And he hadn’t gotten to give her one more kiss, no chance to tell her how much he loved her. He had written a note and packed light. Taken the coward’s way. He didn’t want to see his namesake do the same.

She turned around to hug him and stood on tiptoe to whisper in his ear, “I love you.” She looked at him for his reaction before leaving, placing her hand on his face as a final goodbye.

He walked back to the table, where Jack is sitting, waiting for him. He was still thinking of the way Emily had looked the last time he had seen her, belly swollen with the very man that was standing in front of him. “That just made things twenty times worse. Now she thinks she’s in love with me!” Grabbing his hat, he stalked away.

Jack was suddenly torn between laughter and tears. Here was his son, getting mad at him and stomping away. Just like Jack should have seen him do as a teenager. Lost in thought for a moment, he decided to follow him down the stairs. He was suddenly angry that this man would lay all the blame at his feet.

“Hey! Her falling for you is hardly my fault. Play it cool in front of your men, but not in front of me.” Your father…Jack paused for a beat. “It’s okay to be scared.” He wasn’t sure whom he was talking to more.

The Captain hurumphed and kept decending, “A captain has to keep his head.”

“A captain needs to explain risks – tell his men what to expect.” Jack was tired of all of this – he wanted to tell the other man so badly what his fate was – the thought of losing another son was tearing him up inside.

He spun on the man he did not know was his father. “So what do I do? Tell 'em I saw a young boy get shot in the eyes mid-flight?!”

The reply was soft. “I understand.”

He faced him, challenging him, sizing him up. “Do you? Did you hear him on the radio, yelling for his mom, while the Messerschmitts pumped him full of holes and blew his plane apart? All I can hear on the radio ...”

Jack cut him off, truly tired of the martyr act – a Harkness should never act like that. He was more mad at himself in that very moment than he ever had been. He should have been there, not Frank! “-- is screams. I went to war when I was a boy. I was with my best friend. We got caught crossing the border over enemy lines. They tortured him – but not me - because he was weaker. They made me watch him die.” He realized for the first time that he had to look up to look into the other man’s eyes. “And they let me go.”

That got the other man’s attention. “Who were they?”

Jack thought for a moment before telling him everything. “The worst possible creatures you can imagine.” It was Jack’s turn to walk away. This time, he was the one being followed.

For a moment, Jack was lost in memory. “ I persuaded him to join up. I said it would be an adventure. He hadn't lived…”

“Have any of us?” The other man asked, continuing down the stairs, alone. Jack was quick on his heels.

He caught his elbow. “I need to talk to you. Now.”

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