for ambitious_woman The Bastille

[quitehomoerotic]

Relaxed.

Relaxed was something Jack Harkness rarely felt. In fact the concept of relaxation seemed an alien one to him. But yet here he was, that was how he felt. The muscles in his body were looser than they'd felt in far too long, and pains that had held there through stress and worry had, at least for now, melted away to nothingness.

It was morning, and he opened his eyes to a world he'd come to find he liked. A place that while it was nowhere that he belonged, he'd been surprised to discover that there was a space for him. A welcoming space with a welcoming face. He wasn't sure if it was something he deserved but for once, for a time, he wasn't going to worry about that.

When he woke, beside him he saw Reinette sound asleep. It made him smile and he pressed a delicate and small kiss to the skin at her shoulder. He stayed there a moment, just smiling and watching, and he whispered to her, "I'll be right back."

And so he rose from the bed. His intent was to find food. He'd take a morning walk, just a short one in the pleasant summer morning that he could see filtering through beyond the window, and then he'd venture to the kitchens and procure themselves something.

His clothes were near, and he dressed in them, item by item and then his coat (as if he'd go anywhere without it), and out into the corridors and halls of Versailles he went.

He wasn't on his guard, of course, why should he be? Short of clockwork what need he worry about right now? And really, should he encounter clockwork, he'd merely turn it off. No, here he felt happy, he felt safe, and so that guard he had learnt to keep up, was down.

And so it was his downfall.

He found his way to the rear gardens, nodding politely to footmen on his way (people that usually he made no effort to even acknowledge). But they had noticed him. In fact they had noticed him long before he noticed them. They had been noticing him for quite some time. They had noticed him in gardens and they had noticed him behind closed doors. And Jack had no idea.

And he wasn't prepared.

Entirely unprepared for the troupe of guards that met him in the gardens. It was as though they had been waiting, as though they had sought him out (and they had, of course). And as strong as Jack could be, he was not prepared, and so he could do nothing when he was met with a blow to the head, and another blow that knocked him to the ground. Another and another until he felt metal shackles on his wrists held behind his back and a tear of fabric between his lips to quiet his shouts.

And he was taken away.

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[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

With just the gentle curl, Jack's fingers closed around the shape of Reinette's hand. Not much, just a little, and perhaps an indication as to how he really felt, and not what he'd outwardly display.

"Yeah," he said, but there was no conviction behind his voice.

He didn't want her to go.

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

Reinette smiled deliberately, as if the force of her own might somehow illicit one from Jack. Her thumb traced a single line across his hand where theirs touched.

"Eclairs," she announced. "Breads and crepes and chocolate and creme."

Her tone was warm. It was not truly what Jack needed, she suspected. But it was a start. Reinette stood then, carefully untangling herself and moving towards the door.

"I will return shortly."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack wasn't one that would gladly admit to any sort of weakness or panic, and in truth he wanted Reinette to be able to leave and come back.

But then he wasn't sure how possible that might be.

His heart seemed to speed a little, and all because she'd gone. Because she'd stepped away and it was hardly any distance at all. But then he was worried, and were he honest with himself he'd admit that. What if the kings men came here? What if he got taken back again? 14 months in a room alone was a long time, and the prospect of repeating that, even for a moment, wasn't a welcome one.

And so he found himself talking, perhaps even before thinking.

"Don't go," he said on an urgent breath out.

"Lets go," he added, "Lets go now. From here."

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

If Reinette felt any immediate concerns at Jack's sudden change of heart, her expression revealed none of it. That was to be thought on later, and privately. Or in her case intensely and privately, sorting through precisely what it meant.

Again, they spoke in words that were questions but not quite. Which left them answers that were clear but not entirely.

Reinette crossed the space between them in three precise strides, half as many as it took to walk away.

"Of course, Jack," she replied quietly, but leaving no questions at all. "We can go now."

How could he wish to remain here, after everything that happened?

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

If Jack hadn't realised it before, the relief he felt at her confirmation was palatable.

Ne nodded, and tried not to notice how weak he might appear for asking the question in the first place.

At that though, he sat up a little more, the sheet over him falling down a little. He nodded to her a second time and took a deep breath.

"Get anything you need," he said, and with slightly fumbling fingers, he opened his wrist strap to program in the location.

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

Though they had not exactly inundated their recent time together with conversation, and were generally silent? Now Reinette fell completely so as she considered Jack's instruction.

Anything she might need, he said.

She was a woman accustomed to needed a great many things. Not want. Need. She needed to prove to herself the man from the fireplace was real. She needed to know that she was better than the people of court that would judge her as lacking. And she needed Louis. For a great many reasons. Some complicated, others something more than that.

But it occurred to her then, standing there in nothing but her nightgown that she could think of absolutely nothing in that particular moment that she needed.

Other than to go with him.

Self aware as always, she immediately checked herself. Was she losing herself, somehow. So consumed in his own self and hurts and was disregarding herself? But no, it was what she wanted. And needed.

To go with him.

Still silent Reinette went to gather Jack's coat into her arms, the heaving fabric draping where she held it as she returned to his side.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

As Jack waited for Reinette, he was already preparing himself. It wasn't a conscious thing, but it was as though he knew she'd be back without having to prepare. And then? There she was, and he held his hand out towards here.

"Wouldn't want to forget that," he said, as if he were referring to the coat in her hands, but he wasn't looking at it as he spoke; he was looking at her.

His wrist strap was set then, ready to go back. Back to a little house, a long time from now. Somewhere safe and somewhere his.

With the flap open he gestured towards it. "Want to do the honours?" he asked and pointed towards one of the silver buttons. "That one there."

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

Reinette balanced the weight of Jack's coat onto one arm, so that she might take his hand. It still smelled of him, she realized then. However Louis had stored in within that trunk and not allowed the scent to dissipate, but rather kept it close. It was mildly disconcerting, but hardly unmanageable.

She failed to catch his glance as his fingers closed over her own. Instead Reinette's gaze slipped from the coat to his hand. It was not that looking at his skin, clean and healthy and strong caused her to recall what he looked like before. Rather she was captivated by the now, and the in between. What caused it, and the man that managed it. It was not a difficult thing, she suspected. And though they had never discussed it.

At his offer her eyes flickered up to his, warm and the glimmer of pleasure there undisguised. It was brief, but genuine.

"I will not say no."

Unguided, her fingers slipped close to a button that was absolutely not the one Jack indicated. There was the thought of it, that it might lead anywhere. But more than anything it was to tease the man next to her. Out of himself. Away from his thoughts. And thus that much closer.

That was all.

Closer.

With another tilt of her mouth Reinette's fingers did precisely as they were bid and depressed the button as originally instructed.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

For a moment Jack's eyebrows both raised. He didn't stop Reinette but he straightened his back a little and sat a little more attentive.

And for the same moment, there was a smile on Jack's face that was entirely normal.

And then they were gone.

The vortex seemed to tug on him a little more than usual for those few moments that it could be felt, but then it was over as soon as it had begun and then they were there, somewhere and somewhen else.

For Jack the landing was less than graceful. He was where he wanted to be, but the accuracy was only as close as he could manage, and so he found himself falling to the floor, still wrapped in the sheet from the Paris bed. The room was carpeted and relatively warm for a cottage that had been left alone. But it was his, and of a sorts? It was home.

And it was safe.

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

It was never something she would grow accustomed to, Reinette thought. The almost violent pull at her core, the sensation of not entirely being held together. Only to have it all stop, just as suddenly as it began.

Of course, what a wonder there was something so beyond herself to not grow accustomed to at all. There were worse things, she knew. She had only recently witnessed one of them.

Jack, somewhat recovered in at least the physical sense, stood taller than Reinette once more. So much that when he fell to the ground, their hands still clasped, there was little she could do but follow. There was the moment where her knees tried to catch them both before yielding.

And then Reinette too was on the floor, Jack's coat landing just at her feet.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack took deep breaths as he tried to recover and get a sense of himself again. He was aware, somewhat distantly, that he'd pulled Reinette down with him, but it took him a few more deep breaths before he could address that fact.

That done though, he gave her hand a squeeze and looked to her with a nod. "You okay?" he asked, filling his lungs with the fresh sea air that came in through the cracked open windows.

He was aware then of the space around him, and he turned his head a little to take a look. His cottage, the little place he had hidden away on a Welsh cliff top. A small stone building and the place he'd come when he'd decided he needed Earth as much as he'd wanted to run. It was small, but it was his, and it was where he'd been those months he went away from her, and those little times he'd zipped away. The last time he'd been here, of course, being merely two days before he was taken away. He'd come for a shower.

With a slight wince, he pulled himself from the floor to standing, the sheet pulled with him, and he nodded. "Welcome to Wales."

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

She did not need her eyes to tell her they were somewhere utterly different that her rooms in Paris. The smell of salt and birds in the distance. The light was different as well, soft and unfiltered.

Reinette closed her eyes and will the slight nausea that always come with such travel to pass as she listened to the sound of Jack breathing deeply. After a moment she followed suit.

Even though it was just Jack, there were still appearances to be maintained. She carefully rearranged the tangle of her nightgown at her feet so that when she stood she in no way embarrassed herself. Then she gathered Jack's coat and brought herself standing once more.

"First London. And now Wales. I might call myself a traveler now."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

As Reinette readjusted her clothes, so too did Jack with the sheet, as if he were a little more aware of it. A mark of just how he noticed her. A good sign, perhaps, that he still did.

He nodded, just briefly. There was no smile. His sparkle had gone, and it would take some effort to recall it, but he looked to the window and back to her.

"And not just travel in distance," he said. "You're in 2011. Long way from home."

He looked then down at the sheet and back up, let out a slight breath.

"I should go... clean up." As well as he might have been cleaned, he didn't feel clean. "Make yourself at home, I'll be right back."

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

It still felt as if someone were pretending to be Jack, and doing a fairly poor job at it. Dressed up in him perhaps, but not quite capturing the man she knew. It was not fair. Reinette was aware of that. And she could not help but think on her own part of it.

But it was still difficult to see.

But no more difficult then his words, so casually said, were difficult to hear. He would be right back.

Of course.

Reinette made no comment, and worked to keep her features in careful repose. Her only movement was to smooth the lines of Jack's coat. Her gaze met Jack's briefly, encouraging. Her words mirrored her thoughts. There was a small smile.

"Of course."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack lingered, just a moment. A space with no words or anything, as though he was waiting, but not for anything he could specify. And then he went. Turned and made for the stairs, up and away.

He was alone then. Alone but not really, and he went to his bedroom and quietly shut the door. When in there, he breathed in a way he had seemed to have been holding back. Not sure why, and not sure how, but it came with a flood of emotion and then it made sense.

The emotion was there, brimming on the top, and he held it back then. Held it back as he dropped the sheet to the floor and quietly walked into the bathroom. He stood, staring into the mirror, looking at himself now and trying to see through the lies his body outwardly told to see the damage of the last 14 months. It wasn't there of course, but he could still feel it. He could feel it all, inside and out, and though a death might make it look renewed, it wasn't.

He took himself into the shower, under water that was a little too hot. It burned his skin but that didn't matter, it felt good. It was cleansing in more ways than one. While in there he leant himself against the wall, closed his eyes, and finally allowed that emotion forth.

He cried. He cried then, and cried for some time, the tears mingling with the water of the shower. It all hurt, but it had to come out, and this would maybe be a start.

It was half an hour or more before he thought to emerge, coming out and wrapping a towel about his waist. He wondered then if it were a good idea at all that he'd brought one of France's historic women to a little house in Wales while he was anything but himself. But then he found he still struggled to mind.

His room had clothes, and not just the same he always wore, but for now he dressed in a simple deep blue towelling robe. He took one more look at himself in the mirror, and he headed back downstairs.

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

Reinette remained still for sometime after Jack departed, though she would be hard pressed to say why. Perhaps it was the sheer exhaustion of the past day had simply taken its toll. Or perhaps it stretched even further back, to the unrelenting pace with which she had attacked her life in the past year.

But it was unlike her to remain still for long.

She moved to drape Jack's coat on the long, low sofa that dominated the main living space. The soft scented sea air seemed to suit it. Almost immediately her gaze was caught by the coastline that cut across the horizon. Reinette stood and watched the waves, listening to the sound of Jack moving above her. The sound of rushing water seemed to extend forever.

She was concerned, of course. But it was that same concern that allowed him his space.

Which allowed time for her own natural curiosity to take over. She remained away from the room Jack obviously occupied, but explored the rest of the upstairs before returning to the living area once more. The smallest thing caused her to lose time. The way an object was fashioned, the clean cut pages of a book.

The kitchen was by far the most captivating, including what was obviously designed to keep food cold. Gooseflesh ran up and down her exposed arms every time she opened the door. That was interesting enough, of course. The chill. But then there was the matter of the light. She was fairly certain it was only bright when the door was opened, though she had yet to catch it in the act.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

When Jack arrived downstairs the lounge was empty. He moved the few steps to the kitchen and stood where he could see Reinette just a few steps away doing what appeared to be opening and closing the fridge door.

He smiled, just slightly.

"Having fun there?" he asked quietly before stepping over towards her.

"The fridge," he said, gesturing towards it. "Keeps food cold. Not that there's probably any food in it. Hadn't really thought as far as that." Which considering how hungry he was, was really quite stupid.

He stood behind her then, fighting with an internal urge to reach out and touch her shoulder. For now, it didn't win out and he merely stood there.

"Need anything?" he asked quietly. "Sorry I didn't really have anything ready for you."

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

She was so intently focused on defeating the light in question that for a moment -- only a moment, truly -- she was distracted to the point she did not hear Jack come down the stairs. She actually started at the sound of her voice, the door swinging closed with more force than intended.

"Jack," she managed, admirably controlling the surprise in her voice. Of course the word itself was not entirely relevant to his conversation and most likely gave her away all the same.

Reinette turned, silently vowing that she and the 'fridge' would meet again. And soon.

"There are a few items inside. Though I as not entirely certain what they are. Or, in one particular case, what it was.

She took in Jack's damp hair and blue robe. It was an odd, in between sight of dress. She knew him both with clothes and without, but this was something else. Reinette felt herself smile.

"I am not that particular. Surely there is no need to make a place ready for me everywhere we go?"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"What?" Jack said with all the mock shock he could muster. "You mean to say that Madame du Pompadour herself wouldn't want each and every detail meticulously planned? Best cancel those three weeks of engagements I had down for you then. I'll call the Queen and tell her your busy. The prime minister can wait."

It was an attempt at teasing. Practise really, at being himself. He wasn't sure if it exactly hit the spot but it was a start.

"So should I give you the grand tour?"

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

Reinette's smile continued at Jack's words the only indication that his words might have had a different result than intended the slight curling of her fingers where they rested at her side.

He was right, of course. Her all but commanding need to plan. A precise need to be in control. Something that had only escalated in the past year. Louis might have no longer needed her in certain, basic ways. But that would not keep her from remaining invaluable to him.

And all the while, Jack had been in prison.

She pushed that firmly aside. He had asked a question, after all.

Even if she had explored, how Jack viewed his home was surely different. And what he would share with her unique. Reinette nodded softly, perhaps even less precise than she would be wont to.

"I would like that a great deal."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Right then," Jack said with a nod.

He wasn't, sadly, the best tour guide, and so his 'guided tour' would surely lack quite the flair it would if given by just about anyone else.

"The kitchen," he said obviously, pointing out the space around them. "All essentials. Fridge --which you've seen-- cooker, microwave, all that sort of thing."

And then he stepped away, back to the lounge, and old habits died hard, he expected her to follow.

"Lounge. Sofa, TV --I'll have to show you that-- basic but comfortable. Pretty much all you need. Second bedroom is through there," he pointed to a door at the back of the lounge, "bit of a mess though, wasn't really expecting guests. I'll clean it up for you. Upstairs is me, bedroom and all that."

A sudden realisation then, and he frowned, "I don't have any womens clothes here. I'll have to get some sorted for you."

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

Reinette bit down on a smile at Jack's brisk, almost terse description of his home. Truthfully she had already seen a great deal more through her own explorations. What he labeled a mess, of course, she had all found to be rather fascinating.

Still she followed, taking in everything that was said.

Her fingers feel to rest on the cool leather of the sofa, savoring the feel of the familiar fabric. For all the design was both simple and immense, it was still tolled with something that she knew. And in that it proved an anchor.

Not that Reinette would ever admit to needing one.

At her last words she smiled. Soft and unexpected, it sat on her features unaltered. Very nearly amused.

"When you inform a woman that you do not have clothes lying about that she might wear here and there, implying that countless have come before her? It is not an all together bad thing Jack. There is no need to look so distressed at the idea."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack looked to Reinette, for a moment, like he might be confused. But then that confusion melted away to something more amused, and his head ducked down with a smile that was likely his first completely genuine one in over a year.

"Yeah well, they haven't," he said, still with that smiling. "Just you."

A brief pause.

"And no men either."

Yet another small pause, and he looked at her, his expression soft.

"Sure you want to stay with me?"

[ambitious-woman.livejournal.com]

Her own smiled remained held and firmly in check as Jack's initial confusion sat between them. But then it faded into something else, and Reinette felt her breath catch.

A smile. Jack's smile. And for that moment the correct person was wearing Jack's body. It seemed to her that the blue of his robe now suited him all the more.

Reinette's smile grew, unrestrained.

Men or women, ultimately it did not matter to her in that moment. How could it? They might examine one other. Push and pull and even strip the other bare, both intended and not. But actual judgment was rare.

Her chin tilted up at a sharp angle, lead by her smile.

"Surely you know enough of be Jack, to know that I would not be here if I did not."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Something in Reinette's smile only seeked to widen his own. It was warm, and he couldn't pin reason to it, but whatever it was he was glad that it had been caused.

It made him feel a little less tired.

But as she spoke he thought, and as he thought he very nearly worried.

He shook his head as he looked at her, but was utterly honest with her too. "I don't have a plan," he said, looking slightly lost. Because he didn't, no plan, no idea of what he ought to do. No adventure or direction, and he always tried to have that. There was always something.

"There's just me. Just here."

And his tone hinted perhaps that he was unsure if that was enough.