Chapter Text
Autumn 1899
Jack woke up after having been stabbed and killed by a broken bottle in a fight. He didn’t mean for it to happen. All he did was flirt a little with the bar maid, but apparently, her boyfriend didn’t like it. It wasn’t like he even knew she had one, either. Coming back from dying was worse than, actually dying and he wondered if he would have ever get used to it.
The Doctor would come and get him soon.
Once he finally caught his breath, Jack pulled the bottle out of his stomach, which was excruciatingly painful, and noticed there were two people watching him. A tall young man, probably around his height and wearing a suit, not quite from this time, and a young Japanese woman, wearing a red dress and white Jacket. They were looking right at him and hoped they hadn’t seen him die.
“Good evening.” Jack called and remembered the bottle. “I was, um…rehearing for a play.”
Neither the man nor the woman listened to him. Instead, they knocked him out in the nicest way possible and brought him underground.
When Jack woke again, he was tied to a chair. This couldn’t be good. “If you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask.” He said irritably. There were five of them now. The same man and woman as before and now another man and two other women.
“If we didn’t, then you would’ve tried to escape and use violence before we even got a chance to say a word.” The young man told him in a soft Welsh accent. “You’ve caught our attention over the past few months, Mr Harkness. In that time, you’ve died twenty times, eighteen of which were in bar fights. You’ve also escaped imprisonment fourteen times for homosexual acts which I don’t know if you noticed, is illegal.”
Jack huffed. “Well, I didn’t ask to get get in such a backwards time!”
The man walked forward and stood right in front of him. “There was every chance you could’ve got caught and sent to an asylum where they would keep you for life. Eventually, they would begin to notice the lack of aging. I don’t think Bisection or being kept in a cell for a century would be very pleasant would it.”
Jack knew he was right. “Who are you and what am I doing here?”
“I’ll get to that later.” The Welshman said. “Another thing we’ve noticed, is that you’re quite literally throwing your life away. Just because you come back after death, doesn’t mean we can sit by and let you commit suicide just cause you feel like it.”
Jack tried to get out of the ropes, but it was futile. “Why would you care!?”
“Because he does.” The other man with a London accent spoke.
The Welshman smiled for a split second. “Now, to answer your questions. I’m Ianto Jones, this is my second, Toshiko Sato. That’s Owen Harper and these two are Emily Holroyd and Alice Guppy. We are Torchwood.” Ianto sighed when he saw the look of distrust on the man’s face.
“Jack.” Jack said shortly. “Is it pointless to ask you to get me out of these?”
Ianto shook his head lightly. “I was about to do that anyway, but only if you stay calm. Then we’ll go to the board room and answer almost any answer put to us.”
“Almost?” Jack asked.
Ianto went to undo the rope. “I won’t answer personal questions unless I think they’ll become useful to you.”
Jack nodded. He understood that. He wouldn’t want anyone knowing about his brother or life at home or anything like that. He watched Jones tell Holroyd and Guppy to do something before leading him, Harper and Sato, to a well lit room with a table surrounded by chairs. Jack sat on the one furthest away from where the others sat.
“What do you know about immortality?” Was Jack’s first question. He knew nothing about it apart from the fact it hurt. If this was to be his life now, then he wanted to know as much as he could about it.
Ianto put his arms on the table and thought about his answer. “You can’t die. You live forever and many people want that, but the few that know of it, wish they weren’t.” He knew that wasn’t a satisfying enough answer for the man sitting opposite, so he continued. “I sent Miss Guppy and Miss Holroyd out of the room because they got sent here by the crown. I hand picked Toshiko and Owen to join the team and I promised I would always protect them. Unfortunately, there was an accident a few years ago where someone dropped a box and from it came some sort of golden mist. Apparently now the three of us can’t die, but that protection is still in place. I can relay that onto you if you so wish.”
“Do you trust them?” Jack asked, implying Alice and Emily.
Owen answered that question. “Lets put it this way. If they had brought you here, your death count would’ve gone up a few.”
Ianto nodded slightly. “They’re part of the team, but not the protection.”
Jack only had one last question for now. He was tired and hungry as he always was after a death. “What do you want in return for the protection?”
For the second time that night, Ianto slightly smiled. “You’ll work for Torchwood and for me. You’ll be here whenever I ask you two and we’ll do our best so save people and eliminate the threat to Earth and this city.”
“You mean kill any alien that sets foot on Earth.” Jack stated dryly.
Toshiko shook her head. “No. That’s how Torchwood London does things. We do have to kill aliens sometimes, but only the ones that are intent of invading and killing. We save the aliens that fall through the rift too.”
“Even the annoying ones who like to cause chaos.” Owen added.
Ianto rolled his eyes. “Yes Owen, we know you don’t like the blowfish.”
Jack sat back in his chair and thought about everything he had heard.
“Obviously you can so no and walk away, but one word about us to anyone and we’ll wipe your memory of Torchwood. Even if that means you can’t remember the warnings I gave you so you could end up in an asylum.”
Jack shivered. “Ok. I’ve got nothing else to do until the Doctor comes for me and he will! He’ll come for me soon and take the immortality away.”
“When that day comes, I wish you the very best.” Ianto said. “For now, Owen will show you around. The hub’s not finished yet, but it’s almost there.”
That’s what happened on the day Jack joined Torchwood. Owen showed him around the half finished hub and Ianto went to sort out the paper work, glad that Jack had made that decision. He didn’t mind taking Jack into his little group. Ianto would gladly look after his every need and hopefully get him to the point where he didn’t feel like dying every other day.
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FEBURARY 1900
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Jack wasn’t enjoying himself at Torchwood. Yes, saving people was the great part, especially after his previous career choice, and he got along well with Sato and Harper. Jones was ok, he supposed, and he was true to his word, but it was Holroyd and Guppy which made him hate it there. Normally, things people said didn’t bother him, but their words cut right through him like a knife.
One day in late February, Jones told him to come up to the board room where Sato and Harper were sitting.
“You’ve shown us a lot Jack, over the past few months.” Ianto started. “So the three of us decided to let you in on how we ended up here. If you want to know what is.” He ended uncertainly.
Jack didn’t say a word, but just nodded.
“Alright then. Tosh?” Ianto indicated to her to see if she wanted to start.
All eyes went to her. “Well, I, um, My mother was killed by a Weevil attack and I saw it all and Ianto let me join Torchwood because he didn’t have a team because the old boss and two others died. Then a year later…he caught me doing something I shouldn’t have been doing.”
Ianto put his hand on top of hers and squeezed it for comfort. “I’ve told you time and time again that there’s nothing wrong with kissing a person you like.”
“Another woman?” Jack guessed.
Tosh nodded. “Yes.” She bore a hole into the table with her eyes. “I was horrified when he came into the room and I thought he’d go and tell the police or at least fire and retcon me, but all he did was say sorry for interrupting and left the room. I thought he’d gone to tell someone, but he waited outside the room and told me it was fine. Eventually, someone found out and there were these people…” She looked up to Ianto. “I can’t…”
“It’s the first time you’ve spoken to someone about it other than me. I’m proud of you for getting this far.” Ianto told her before turning to Jack. “You don’t need to know the full detail, but those people in question are no longer breathing. Tosh wasn’t really her self after that, so that’s when I made the promise. And then a week after that, someone dropped the thing.”
Owen smirked. “That definitely wasn’t me. Well, I came to Torchwood with a drink and sex problem, so Ianto locked me in a cell and fed me water and food for a month.”
Ianto rolled his eyes. “You make it sound forced.”
Owen’s smirked dropped. “I nearly killed someone because I was drunk on the job and wasn’t fast enough to stop the alien. Lucky Ianto was there to stop it in time. I then asked him to help me. “
“Did it help?” Jack asked.
Owen nodded.
“What about you?” Jack turned to Ianto expectantly.
Just then, Emily and Alice begun shouting blue murder from the other room because of a few Weevil sightings.
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APRIL 1900
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Torchwood was way overdue to have a medic on the team, so together, they decided on who to hire. There were several possible candidates, but the one they all agreed one was a thirty-year-old man named Reginald Hastings. He was the best because all the others had families or and jobs already, so it would’ve been harder to convince them to join Torchwood.
The other reason as to why they needed another person to join to team was because Owen wanted to go part time and to have another job. Ianto had asked him what he wanted to do, but the other man had no clue, but he was going to search for jobs in the papers.
Reginald settled in just fine and found a friend in Jack and spent quiet a lot of time with him.
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JUNE 1901
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One riftless day, Ianto called Jack into his office and told him to sit down.
“Jack. How’s Torchwood treating you?” Ianto asked him.
Jack sat back in his seat. “Fine.”
Ianto inspected the other mans face and could tell he wasn’t telling the truth. “Hastings informed me that Holroyd and Guppy were picking on you the other day. Did you need me to do anything?”
“I can handle it.” Jack told him through gritted teeth.
The Welshman crossed his arms and put them on the table before sighing. “I’m sure you can, but I’m afraid I won’t tolerate bullying either in the hub or out, so if you could kindly tell Holroyd and Guppy to come up to my office, I would appreciate it greatly.”
Jack left the office in wonder of what Ianto was going to do to Holroyd and Guppy as he went to get them. After he did that, he went to the temporary medical room to ask Reginald why he told he boss about them.
Back at the office, Emily Holroyd and Alice Guppy sauntered into the room and sat on the chairs without even being instructed to. The smirks which were on their face dropped when they saw the thunderous look on their bosses.
“Miss Holroyd, Miss Guppy. I’m relieving you of your duty and loyalty to Torchwood and the crown. You will have five years of your memory retconned and sent to live in Australia for the remainder of your life for your own protection and to prevent me from executing both of you personally for your crimes.” Ianto told them formally.
Alice tried to protest, but Emily’s smirk came back. “What makes you think we’ve done anything wrong?” She wasn’t expecting Ianto to give her a copy of the list of everything they’ve done.
“Three separate accounts of the murders of innocent people and the bullying of two Torchwood agents. The list goes one and I will not tolerate this behaviour.” He said dangerously, but calmly. Prepare for your immediate exile. Any attempt to protest with lead to you being shot. Understand?”
Knowing arguing was futile, Emily, Holroyd, and Alice Guppy went to give up their guns and to pack a few things before getting retconned. Once they left, Jack came back in.
Ianto acknowledged him and told him to sit. “As you may have heard, their crimes were unforgiveable. Torchwood serves to save off worlders, not to kill them.”
“Yes, sir.” Jack said quietly.
“Did you want something, Jack?” Ianto asked.
Jack hesitated, but nodded. “Can I take a holiday? Not for long. Only a day or so.”
Ianto thought about it for a second before giving Jack his answer. “I’ll see if Owen can come back full time for a while. I’ll give you 48 hours break on call starting tomorrow. I expect you back at work on Wednesday at 9AM sharp.”
He sighed with relief since he had the impression Ianto wouldn’t let him have time off and it wasn’t a big deal if he didn’t, but sometimes you had to have days off. “Thank you.”
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DECEMBER 1902
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“Merry Christmas!” Was all that was called that snowy morning at the hub, although they weren’t there to work because Ianto had invited them all to spend Christmas with him otherwise they’d all be alone.
Ianto had set up dinner and Tosh helped him cook it as she made amazing food.
After dinner was over, the five of them were immensely full.
“I have some news for you.” Ianto said. “I thought it was about time for someone else to join the team, so I’ve asked a lady called Caroline Llewellyn to come in next week.”
“It’s about time we had someone else in.” Owen replied. “I want to try getting a job in acting maybe, because I didn’t like brick laying.”
Ianto smiled. “Maybe you should be a Doctor.”
Owen snorted. “And do what my mother told me to do? Yeah right.”
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MARCH 1903
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Jack peered at his Calender on his wall and noticed he had been part of Torchwood for nearly five years now. At the beginning, he wasn’t sure if he could trust them even though they never gave him a reason not to, but now, he had to admit; he was glad to take Ianto up on his offer.
He had started to refer to the others by their given names and he often joined in with any team building activity or even a trip to the pub. He’d never really had friends before apart from Rose, but these people were more his family now.
Caroline had only been there a few months, so he wasn’t really sure about her yet, but he felt safe with the others.
On the way to work, he passed the building and the streets in which he used to hate, but now he loved the short walk from his flat to the bay since it gave him time to think, not forgetting when on a Friday when the bakery opened earlier, he’d go and buy something sweet for the others.
Ianto had kept his promise to him and protected him. He wasn’t used to that for he was the one consistently doing the protecting. Jack had grown to like the man and yes, of course, he flirted with him, but it was an enjoyable bonus that Ianto flirted back.