quitehomoerotic | for brigadiertardis Ghost in the machine

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for brigadiertardis Ghost in the machine

Torchwood didn't keep hours. Torchwood couldn't keep hours. Not with the sort of work they did. Alien invaders didn't really respect when people might like to have a nice night in in front of the telly, or sleep in late in the morning. They didn't care if you wanted to start at nine and finish at five.

But sometimes, Jack just had to accept that even his staff needed lives of their own. Admittedly, of course, that would often be when Gwen picked up her bag and declared she was going home, without giving Jack option either way. But accept it he did. He knew people needed time to themselves, and times away from the underground confines of the Hub. And so some nights he'd end up there alone, an old record player on echoing out a cracked recording of Gracie Fields and a self made (infinitely worse than Ianto's) cup of coffee in hand.

This was one of those nights.

He sat in his office, listening to the sound of the music as he jotted down notes on paperwork he'd left waiting for weeks. To his side a computer ran a regular nightly scan for any activity in the area. Nothing, just the way he liked it. Cardiff safe.

Nothing strange (which was almost strange in and of itself), nothing out of the ordinary or abnormal. Nothing that was until a little alarm started sounding.

He ought to have known things would never run smoothly.

Pushing aside his papers he leant forward and prodded keys on the keyboard. Strange, he thought, the reading wasn't something he recognised. Some sort of transmission. It seemed to be harnessing the rift, but how? He keyed a little more and then the screen flickered, putting him on edge.

Something wasn't right.

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Jack sighed heavy and laboured. Oh he knew all about what Torchwood was when it started. The selfish aims Torchwood One maintained before it fell. He'd tried so hard over the last few years to change things. To try and sort them out, but sometimes mud could stick. He could hardly blame the TARDIS for being annoyed at Torchwood and its reputation.

"Yeah," he said, "I know all that. "But it's not the same as it was. Not any more. Who do you think I'm doing all this for?"

It felt almost a little too honest, they both knew quite well what and who Jack did this for, so he had a silence of his own before going on, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Yeah. Yeah I know." He knew all about loneliness too. "Best not tell him you and me had a chat then, huh? Wouldn't want to ruffle his Time Lord feathers. Or have him come after me... Then again..."

He laughed slightly at his own humour and nodded. "Should be able to patch you across the comms system. Then again... maybe not. We've had a few errors ever since the time lock. Overloaded the system a bit, don't want you getting stuck."

Okay. Think about this logically, he thought.

"Right, is there some sort of technology, some sort of something that you could download your consciousness to?"

He wasn't fooling anyone with his question, though she was certain he knew that. "What you do and what others do are rarely ever the same," she noted. "You are not the same as them. You are not human."

For once, it wasn't meant as a slight. She didn't like him being a Fact, but she still remembered him from before the Game Station, remembered how brilliant and helpful he'd been. They'd been friends, once. Cruel as she could be, she was more upset that she'd lost that than that he'd been made a Fact.

"He does not know I come here," she offered eventually. "I do not want him to know. He would tell me to stop." It wasn't what Jack meant, she knew, but at the same time she didn't really want the Doctor coming back here, for him or any other reason. There was too much pain on Earth.

The conversation moved on and she followed it gladly, considering. "Any communication device that is capable of patching into the server would be acceptable," she explained. "A projection unit could also suffice. Have you anything portable that is capable of either voice relay or video?"

It felt almost jarring for Jack to be told so outright he wasn't human. He didn't know what he was. Human once, maybe but what now? He wished he knew. "Yeah, well if you know what I am, besides being a fixed point, answers on a postcard."

He was almost flippant with his words, but his intention beneath them was real.

"Yeah?" Jack said, almost surprised that the TARDIS could achieve such a feat without the Doctor's knowledge. But no, the Doctor sometimes didn't notice things right in front of his nose. He supposed it shouldn't surprise him.

"Well don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. I won't tell him. It's not like he calls for regular chats anyway, is it."

Stupid really, but he wished the Doctor did. Wished he'd at least stay in touch, just to let him know he was okay.

"Oh I've got the perfect thing," he grinned. "And something you're used to! Full of time. Vortex manipulator good enough for you?"

She would have frowned were she able. "You are Jack Harkness," she said. "That is all you are." A once-man, a fixed point in time, an anomaly and an abnormality. A friend ripped away. He was a great many things she didn't know how to describe.

"You want him to, do you not?" she asked, for once catching what wasn't outright spoken. "You miss him." It did not occur to her, however, that he might also have missed her.

The fact he had a vortex manipulator was both disturbing and rather unsurprising. "That could be used, yes," she said. "A communication device through which I could speak and see, as humans see. Very well."

Jack could almost laugh. "Oh is that what I am?" he said with a shake of his head. Well, even his name wasn't his, was it? Maybe it was by now.

The question was perhaps a little more forward than he expected. Jack was used to asking direct questions but not giving direct answers, and so he bristled slightly.

"He's busy," Jack said instead. "So am I. Lots to do." He did miss him though, of course. He missed all of it. Travelling in the TARDIS. She'd been his home for what he still thought of as the best time of his life. He had a lot of good memories.

"Was good," he said, almost in spite of himself, "up there, you and the Doctor. You have no idea how good it felt back when I heard your engines again..."

But no. No he stopped himself because he could very nearly get emotional. He wouldn't want that.

"Great!" he said instead with a wide smile, already opening his wrist strap and plugging it into his computer system.

"It should show up on node 482. Just hop over and let me know if it works."

His laugh was confusing at best and she made a soft noise, uncertain why he'd find what she said funny. She hadn't been going for humour.

"What has busy to do with anything when I can be at any time?" she asked. She wasn't advocating the Doctor visiting, no. But she was curious. It wasn't the first time she'd heard that as an excuse -- it was one of the Doctor's favourites when it came to searching for Susan, after all -- but she'd never understood the concept. Not when time was relative. "And for one who was so happy to hear me, you were eager enough to discount my being here."

Okay, maybe she was still a bit huffy about that.

"Very well." She navigated to the proper node, checking the subroutines as she went, fixing what broken coding she saw as her own version of thanks for him assisting her. When she arrived, she could all ready feel the difference and it carried in her voice. "I am here."

Jack chose to ignore the question on the meaning of the word. What could he say? Figure of speech? Well it was. But it was a figure of speech to cover a multitude of excuses and emotions. All that were much better not surfaced.

"Well what do you expect!" He defended. "You have any idea how many people and things try to infiltrate this place! Last I'd ever expect would be you! And people try and use the weak spots. Mentioning you, well..."

Well that'd be one of his, wouldn't it?

Jack grinned as he heard the voice echo from the little speaker in his wrist strap. Much clearer with better clarity. Perfect.

"Make yourself at home," he said as he stood himself up, and pressed a button or two on his wrist strap. "Hows things looking from in there?"

"I expect you to believe me," she snapped back, bristling herself. "And what do you mean? What would mentioning myself have done, other than draw incredulity?"

She didn't like to dwell on how much he still cared for her. Not when she still shuddered to think of him. Not when his being here saddened her, because it wasn't what she'd had before.

"It is acceptable," she responded eventually, recalibrating his device. It had been tampered with and that made for uncomfortable quarters. And maybe he'd find one day what she had done. Another gift, though she'd never admit it. "I will need to get closer to get any accurate data, however."

"Yeah? Well excuse me for having a little caution!" Jack said back, defiant. He knew he was right to be cautious, even if she didn't.

"Like I said," he went on, "weak spot."

He didn't feel as though he needed to elaborate on that.

"Sorry if it's not 5 star quarters. But it's the best I can do." His vortex manipulator was a space hopper, and the TARDIS was a sports car. Though he'd never admit it.

"Bit of a minefield," he admitted, "not sure where to head first. We can head down to the basement. Take a look. One of the central computers is there. Main servers are all off site though."

He started walking from his office and down to the door that lead away and downstairs. "So," he thought he'd attempt to make conversation. "Find anything interesting in my files?"

The TARDIS made an indelicate noise, relaying a feedback loop through his wrist band to show her displeasure. Maybe if he had a better system, he wouldn't need to be so cautious. If he had a better system, nothing short of her Matrix would be able to infiltrate it.

She refused to discuss his weak spot any further, if only to avoid her own discomfort with the idea.

"I have been through worse," she replied a little absently, running scans and diagnostics, trying to pinpoint the source of whatever was crippling his system and keeping her here. "And the central computer will have to do. I can attempt a patch network to the main servers, but it may cause power outages throughout the city."

She was in the process of figuring out a method to do just that when he asked her about his files and she paused. Had she found anything interesting? A good deal, really, but she didn't want to admit that. "You have been busy," she offered eventually. "I would almost think you attract the aliens here."

"Yeah I know," Jack said gently. Oh he knew. He'd seen her go through worse. Seen her cannibalised into a paradox machine. She'd suffered that year, just as much as any of them.

He continued on down through dank corridors and thin staircases, and he frowned slightly. "Power outages? Yeah well we could do without those. The city would go crazy."

He laughed again, though there was really no amusement in it. "Yeah. Wouldn't be surprised. Seem to attract trouble. Maybe I'm cursed."

Breathing out a heavy breath, he shook his head and seemingly nowhere, he asked, "You don't like me much, do you?"

"I do not really care how the residents of Cardiff would react," she replied brusquely. "If it would free me, I would shut down this country. I do not like being trapped."

She'd been trapped one too many times in her long life to harbour any positive feelings toward it, that was certain.

He chuckled about curses and trouble and she didn't reply immediately, weighing his final question. He at least deserved an honest answer.

"I do not like what you have become," she said finally. "I do not like that you have taken away one who belonged to me."

"Yeah well funny enough, I do care. I have to look after this city. So lets try and do this without causing damage, okay?"

He headed down to the level below and kept quiet as she spoke. He kept quiet after too. The words cut. They hurt, but he didn't really want that to show.

"Yeah, well," he said in the end, because he felt he had to say something, "between you and me, not sure I like it much either."

She made an indelicate noise. "You should not be trapped here. You deserve more than a wasted city on a blighted planet."

Whether she noticed his hurt or not, the TARDIS didn't say. She let him speak, considering his words. This wasn't something she was used to, and she wasn't exactly the most sympathetic being in the universe, even after the Time War. Or maybe it was because of the War that Jack's change hurt so much. She'd loved him once and now it was painful to even be around him. To have something taken away so completely after losing so much...

"I would fix you if I could," she offered quietly. "But even I cannot change what you have become. Rose Tyler used me and I cannot fix what she destroyed."

Jack let out a half laugh. "Careful," he said, "that's very nearly sentimental. But it's not all so bad. This planet, this city. Someone has to look after them, and the Doctor isn't always around to do it. And you don't think I should be trapped here? Might want to tell him that, considering he's so intent on breaking this damn thing and keeping me stuck here."

Ahead of them was a box secured with a key, and he pulled a bunch out from his pocket to unlatch it. Inside was an access panel to the central matrix of the computer system.

"Would you?" he asked with his own voice quiet, concealing emotion as best he could. "Wouldn't be here at all if it wasn't for you, I suppose. You and Rose. I'd have stayed dead on Satellite Five. Funny, you know I don't think I'd ever thought about it like that."

"You need not be trapped here," she repeated quietly, tinkering with his vortex manipulator one last time. It should at least work now, which was more than the Doctor had ever given the Fact. "The Doctor is not the only one capable of saving others."

She went silent, observing their location for a long while, surprised somewhat by how extensive it all was. She hadn't been expecting it.

"What she did was wrong. It would have been better to die than to become what you are. She is a child and she ruined you." Her voice faded and she added: "But if I could change it, yes, I would. I would like to have you back."

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