Hard choices leave you with nothing [for slayers_desire]

[fractured_agent]

It's been a while since Jack needed a stiff drink, and he usually abstains in case the Doctor picks that moment to return. But after a day like today... sometimes he can justify letting himself slip a bit.

The rest of his team is sent home, and the Hub is empty, save for Jack and the pterodactyl roosting in her eyrie. Leaving him alone with only a drink and his memories for company.

He looks down at his wristcomp. Very few times has he been able to call anyone for help, since his time at Torchwood began. And it still doesn't quite work... but he's spent too much time with only his thoughts for company. He's terribly lonely, in the way that only the immortal truly know, and right now his heart is aching for the loss of Estelle.

He calls up April's number, before he can talk himself out of it.

Comments

[slayers_desire]

"Sounds like a small, but tight-knit team."

[fractured_agent]

"Well, we're working on it. Gwen's our newbie. She's only been with us about two months." Not enough time to mesh totally with the rest of the group, but she's slowly getting used to it.

[slayers_desire]

"That is always hard, being the new person on a team." April knows the feeling. After all, she was technically the new person to the JLA for a little while.

[fractured_agent]

Jack hasn't been the new guy for over a century now, so he doesn't tend to think about it much. "She fits in more than she thinks. I can see this place growing on her. It actually kind of worries me. She has a boyfriend, a life outside of Torchwood. I don't want to see her let that slip."

[slayers_desire]

"Is it hard for your agents to maintain their outside life?"

[fractured_agent]

"Yeah. I actually live here," he says, with a smile that has very little humor in it. "This job... It gets to you. Knowing that aliens are out there and no one else seems to know, going about your life like it's the same as before, it's difficult. Most Torchwood agents never escape it." He's a special case, though. He's always known humans aren't alone in the universe.

[slayers_desire]

"Tell me about that." April and Clark have to pretend every day of their life that aliens are out there and that no one else seems to know. And Clark is the alien whose secret they are safe-keeping.

[fractured_agent]

"I don't have that problem myself, but these twenty-first century folk, they're only just learning that there's more to the stars than just looking beautiful. Thousands upon thousands of species who could come from anywhere, and no idea if they're friendly or not. Most of the ones we deal with aren't the friendly type, either. And the Rift never sleeps. I've had to kick people out of the Hub before to get them to stop worrying about the job. And even when they aren't here, it's still in their thoughts. You can't bring back that innocence."

[slayers_desire]

"What about your innocence?"

[fractured_agent]

"You already know what happened to mine." It's been decades since she helped him regain his lost memories, but he will never forget the horrors of the beaches of Boeshane, when he was only fourteen.

[slayers_desire]

"But... that doesn't mean that you are not effected by all this. I worry about you Jack."

[fractured_agent]

"Why?" He asks with a chuckle. "It isn't like I'll off myself if I can't deal with it."

[slayers_desire]

"But you deal with it all alone. That must be hard."

[fractured_agent]

"I don't have a choice." It's incredibly hard, truthfully. But aside from seeing the mind healers after his honorable discharge from the Earth Empire military, he's steered clear of shrinks.

[slayers_desire]

"And I think that sucks the most." April hugs him again.

[fractured_agent]

Jack hasn't had nearly enough hugs over the years, and he cherishes every one. "You're a great friend, April Kent."

[slayers_desire]

"I am glad that I am your friend."

[fractured_agent]

Jack doesn't want to keep her from her family, but it's also hard to ask her to go, leaving him alone here for the rest of the night. "Do you want to hang out for a while?" he offers.

[slayers_desire]

"I can stay as long as you need me." April knows that Clark will care for their children with confidence. And if he needs her, that he will contact her.

[fractured_agent]

Jack smiles at her. He would be fine if he was alone with his thoughts, but he's had decades to wallow in his sorrows. It's good to get out of his head once in a while. "Let me give you the tour," he says, pretending that perhaps this could be the reason he called her here, trying to chase away the grief of losing Estelle.

[slayers_desire]

"Sure." April will indulge his tactics to pretend she is here for another reason.

[fractured_agent]

His base is not as nice and modern as Watchtower, but it sure is big, especially once they leave the main area. The tunnels are very utilitarian, undecorated and unpainted, though the walls of the center area are tiled like the London Underground. It's vaguely damp and cool, like the inside of a cave, and there are more of the same smells throughout the facility.

One of the alien scents is stronger as Jack's tour approaches a row of cells. "These are the vaults. Temporary storage for dangerous individuals."

[slayers_desire]

"Is there one of those individuals still here?"

[fractured_agent]

Jack nods casually. "Yeah, we usually have a Weevil or two down here."

[slayers_desire]

"What is a Weevil?"