New Horizons 2/?

[missthingsplace]

Title: New Horizons
Author: missthingsplace
Parings/characters: Jack (Jack/Ianto Rhys/Gwen) OC's: Dafydd, Angela, Christopher, Charlie
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters ... unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while.
Summary: After losing Ianto and Gwen in the same attack Jack accepts a request by the queen in Washington DC
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Angst, slash ... the usual.
Rating: NC17 for series. This chapter PG.

A/N Okay, the bunnies and muses are being very insistant and slowly letting me know where this is heading. This will not be updated daily but as often as the muses allow, they took their time making themselves clear. The fact that Ianto is dead does not mean there won't be any Jack/Ianto, like the first chapter. I hope you approve of where this seems to be headed ....

Jack spotted the FBI agent that was assigned to meet him the moment he walked through to arrivals, he grinned to himself at the thought that the man looked exactly like every stereotypical idea that an FBI agent should look like and almost chuckled loudly but managed to stop himself and gain his composure as he approached the man.

“Mr. Smith I assume?” Jack asked, reaching out to shake his hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

As he said the like he could see Ianto in his mind rolling his eyes and giving him that look he always gave him when he managed to flirt by just saying hello and immediately felt guilty.

“Captain Harkness, welcome to America.” The man replied, totally oblivious to Jack's flirty hello. “I'm here to take you to your destination, follow me.”

Jack followed Mr Smith across the terminal, as soon as they exited into the bright light of the early morning the heat hit him. Pulling his greatcoat off Jack draped it over his arm and continued following the man towards the black unmarked limousine that waited by the kerb in the no parking zone.

“After you Captain.” Mr Smith said as he opened the door of the car.  

Jack slid gratefully into the air conditioned interior and sank into the cool leather seat as the other man climbed in and sat beside him, as soon as he closed the door the car began to move smoothly away from the airport.

“So what exactly my destination Mr Smith?” Jack enquired.

“They never told you?” Mr Smith asked.

“Well, they never told me where I would be based, no.”

“Then Captain Harkness I think you will be impressed.”

“How about we drop the 'Mr' and 'Captain'?” Jack asked. “The names Jack, and you are?”

“I'm not sure that's very professional Sir.”

“Never, ever call me Sir.” Jack replied abruptly.

“I'm sorry Sir, I mean Cap ... Jack.” The man gulped. “The names Charles, well Charlie.”

“Well Charlie, lets hope I am impressed or I will be straight back on a plane to Cardiff.”

“How long have you lived in Cardiff? That's an American accent.”

“It's not, not really.” Jack replied. “And as for Cardiff a very long time and I'm still not exactly sure I should have left.”

“Left someone behind?”

“He died.” Jack replied bluntly. “It's not something I wish to discuss.”

“I see ...”

“No, you don't ... you really don't.” Jack replied, turning away and staring out the window at the passing scenery, signalling the conversation was over.

Jack glimpsed the White House as they sped past it wondering where the hell they were going, but actually relieved that it wasn't his destination. He had been a little worried they were going to stick him in some room in it so they could watch his every move.

His other worry was they were going to do the same thing in the FBI building, he hoped that would be proved wrong too as they came to a stop near the Abraham Lincoln Reflecting Pool.

The heat hit them again as they exited the car, Jack pulled his coat out with him and found his sunglasses in the pocket and donned them against the glare of the bright sunlight as they walked along the bottom of the Reflecting Pool and around the side of the Abraham Lincoln Monument.

As they reached a spot about half way along the side Charlie came to a stop, stepped up to the wall and vanished. Once Jack had had a moment to realise what he was seeing he stepped forward and joined Charlie in the cover of the perception filter.

“You don't seem surprised?” Charlie said as he drew what looked like a small remote control from his jacket and pressed a button.

“We have one, a perception filter that is, in Cardiff.” Jack replied as a hidden door slid aside. “Ours is much cooler though.” Jack added as they began to descend the spiral steps inside.

“In what way?”

“We have a lift.”

“Well, hopefully what you find at the bottom will impress you more.”

“I hope so.” Jack muttered under his breath.

“Sorry, did you say something?”

“No, doesn't matter.” Jack replied as they neared the bottom of the steps.

“Welcome to Torchwood Five.” Charlie announced, pressing his palm to a electronic pad and opening another door.

Jack stepped though into the bright artificial light and looked around, apart from being underground it didn't resemble the hub in any way at all. The place was clinical looking, the walls were covered in plain white tiles and the floor was plain concrete.

Everything in the place appeared to me made of glass and chrome, it couldn't have been more impersonal if it tried. Charlie led him through the place pointing out the state of the art computers and medical bay before taking him into what appeared to be the conference room with it's huge glass and chrome table.

Stepping into the room Jack glanced around at the three other people there, giving them a look that said he wasn't expecting them as they all smiled widely at him. Barely registering that there was one woman and two men Jack turned to Charlie for an explanation.

“Meet your team.” Charlie told him. “Miss Angela Stanley, computer genius, Mr Christopher King, research is his ability and Dr Dafydd Jones.”

“All FBI I assume?”

“Some of our finest.” Charlie replied proudly.

“Well, I don't want to seem unappreciative but I hand pick my team members and I'm not comfortable with having FBI agents in my  ... here.” 

“We're only trying to help.” Charlie replied, trying not to sound a little offended.

“No offence meant, I just pick the people I know will be best suited for the job.” Jack explained. “And I won't be taking this position if it involves the FBI in any way, I, we, Torchwood don't answer to anyone but the current queen.”

“Her majesty made that perfectly clear, but you must understand we have rules here just like in the UK.”

“Then you need to read what she told you a little more closely, Torchwood are above the law.”

“But ...”

“No buts, we do what we have to do and no one gets in our way.” Jack knew he was being arrogant but he need this man to know exactly what was going to happen.

“Well, we'll see Sir.”

“Drop the sir before I drop you.” Jack almost growled, making the other man almost shudder at his tone.

“Jack, sorry.”

“Now, lets get these people out of here and I can start finding my own team.” Jack instructed.

“Look, how about a compromise?” Charlie asked.

“In what way?”

“You keep them on a trial basis, if they prove their worth they sever all ties with the FBI and work for you alone. If not, you replace them with whoever you choose.”

Jack thought about it for a minute before coming to a decision. “Okay, but I was access to their complete files, I need to know everything about the people that work for me.”

“They will be accessible on your computer by the end of today.”

“Okay.” Jack said turning to face the other people in the room properly for the first time. “Does anyone know how to make a decent cup of tea?”

“Tea?”

“Yeah, I gave up drinking coffee a little over a week ago.”

“Why would you do that?” Angela asked.

“None of your business.” Jack replied, a hint of sadness in his voice trying to betray him.

“My aunt sends me proper tea over once a month, along with other things I miss.” Dafydd told him.

“Then I think I love your aunt.” Jack replied, looking at the young man properly for the first time. “Dafydd Jones wasn't it?”

“Yep.”

Jack gulped, finding himself looking into the man's eyes and seeing something he knew should be impossible.

“Not very American, that name.”

“Nope, I'm Welsh but my parents emigrated here when I was eight, I kinda adopted the accent.” He replied, switching his accent to Welsh as he got to the end of the sentence.

“I used to know a Jones.” Jack told him, seeing Ianto clear as day in his mind.

“Very common name in Wales.” Dafydd replied. “I'm actually a little responsible for you being here.”

“How come?” Jack asked, getting more curious my the minute and unable to take his eyes off Dafydd's.

“I was the only person in the FBI to have heard of Torchwood.” He explained.

“And how exactly did you know about Torchwood?”

“My cousin, he's older than me but we kept in touch, well we did.”

“How did he know?”

“The worst kept secret in Cardiff he called Torchwood, it's strange but about six or seven years ago he just seemed to stop writing, well emailing and I discovered just over a week ago he died.”

“He died?” Jack mind was racing, it was impossible, wasn't it, that Ianto was related to Dafydd?

“Some kind of accident, no one seems to know the details. Guess I'll never hear from him again now.”

“What ... what was his name?” Jack asked.

“Ianto, Ianto Jones.” Dafydd replied, seeing a cloud cross Jack's face. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine.” Jack replied, regaining his composure. “He had family?”

“Just his mam and his sister, Rhiannon.”

Jack sat down on one of the seats around the table and picked up one of the glasses of water that was placed on it and downed the contents in a couple of gulps.

“Can I get you something, are you feeling ill?” Charlie asked him as the others looked on confused.

“No, I just need to be left alone for a bit.”

“If you're sure?” Charlie asked. “I need to take you to see your apartment.”

“Come back in a couple of hours please, the rest of you, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning.”

All four of them left, agreeing with his comment as Jack finally let a tear fall down his face. He made no attempt to wipe it away as it dripped onto the glass table, followed closely by a second.

“No point brooding.” Jack murmured to himself as he got to his feet and began to explore the base properly.

The medical bay looked like it was fully equipped and beyond, the computers really did look like they were the state of the art as Charlie had described them. He found a very modern bathroom with a couple of shower cubicles and brand new lockers, they had none of the appeal of the old Victorian bathroom of the hub back in Cardiff but he imagined they were more efficient.

As Jack stared at the showers images of being in the shower with Ianto crept into his mind, he let them linger for a few minutes before his emotions threatened to overwhelm him and forced himself to leave the bathroom.

Then he happened upon the small kitchen area, his eyes sweeping around it taking in the small fridge and microwave before settling on a coffee machine that looked so high tech he wouldn't even know where to begin with it if he was still drinking coffee.

Jack picked up the box of tea bags and read the label to himself. “English Breakfast Tea.” Better than nothing he thought as he placed one in a mug and flipped the kettle on.

Leaning against the wall opposite as he waited for the kettle to boil he found his eyes drawn to the coffee machine, this time it was just images of Ianto serving his coffee, his fingers lingering on his own as he handed it over that filled his mind.

And this time he didn't even try to shake them off, sliding down to wall and crumpling in a heap on the floor Jack let the tears flow as he sobbed into his arms, knowing that coming to DC wasn't going to help him get over his loss any faster.

He was still there when Charlie returned to get him an hour later.

TBC

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