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Description
Broken Strings –
The Second Night
A Torchwood Fanfiction
Jack is waiting for the mysterious stranger from the night before...
_________________

A man is stumbling through the streets...
His feet are leading his way again. The young man knows into which direction he is heading. Need battles over domination with doubt and fear. He knows that he will be waiting but he also knows that his body won't do any longer if he neglects yet another meal.

Need wins over worry... But leaves him with the gnawing feeling of nauseating guilt in his stomach as he continues his way to his destination.

*****************
Jack is waiting.
He isn't exactly sure what he is actually waiting for or why.

He's been told the mysterious young man from the night before is a regular in this pub and that nobody can tell when he turns up eventually; he just does. And whenever he does, he delivers a brown packet to the barman and stops off for the rest of the evening.
Jacks also been told that the man he's currently waiting for is the one to ask if you are in need of anything.  Another member of his highly honourable guild of scoundrels as it seems.

A young man who becomes more fascinating with every new detail Jack learns about him. And Jack is good at learning details; his proved method of interrogation does actually contain lots of flirting but it always gets him what he wants...except on this day. He does know now as much about this man, who is generally known as 'Fox', as everybody else in this room which is practically nothing and with every passing minute his frustration grows.

The ticking sound of the clock is mocking Jack and he desperately tries to force his eyes away from the entrance door but whenever he hears someone entering he notices that he has been staring at the door already. No matter what he tries door and eyes seem to be forced together as through a strong magnetic pull. Hours pass and Jack slowly begins to doubt that Fox is going to turn up at all.

This is the moment his object of desire makes its big and dramatic entrance. The door swings open and with quick but grave steps he approaches and drops his bag with a loud thud on the bar, right next to a staring Jack. It is unmistakably Fox, even if he looks a little bit grubbier than yesterday but even this just adds to his appeal to our captain.

He watches as the other man hands the barman his packet.
"Sorry for the delay, Steve. Had to make a detour tonight, urgent delivery."

The barman shrugs the apology away with gracious wave of his right hand which he must have copied from the Queen. "Don't worry Fox, must have been really important if you say it's urgent. The usual it is then?"

The young man slowly relaxes in his chair and looks suddenly much younger to Jack at close-up.
Early thirties, even late twenties maybe... He really has something boyish about him when he devours a whole bowl of stew Steve has brought him.

As Jack watches the enigmatic mystery of a man satisfying his perfectly human needs completely unguarded he decides that this is the perfect moment to step in. "Hey Steve, never knew you sell stew too or I would've ordered some hours ago."

Fox hesitates for a moment; he didn't notice that Jack was sitting right next to him. He runs his eyes up and down those oh so familiar features. It is Jack, it has to be him... but not his Jack.
No... this one is different...

~~~~~~~~~~
The young man flinches at the sound a big detonation and curses at the blood he sees.
They are coming; burning their way through Torchwoods last defences...
There is nothing he can do to save the young woman in his arms; her injuries are too bad and she has lost too much blood...

He is desperately trying to hold his tears back when he looks around him the debris of what once has been the hub. Without having to see the corpses he knows his friends are dead, they both died to give them more time... But she is dying...the last person on this planet alive who means something to him.

"Please..."

"What?"

She clutches the lapel of his ragged suit and he bows down in order to hear her better. The sound of her voice is hoarse and barely recognisable but it has an urgency to it that makes him listen. "...promise me not to blame him..."

The young man shakes his head while tears are running down his face.

"You love him"

"I've buried this love a while ago and you know that."

"You were wrong...promise me"

"...I can't...he left... us..."

"He would have never left if he knew this was going to happen, you know that."

"How can you still believe in him, you told me that he was a conman."

She squeezes his hand and softly shakes her head. "Because he told me...please... you've seen the special broadcast to us...he's suffering enough..." The young woman coughs some blood and takes a rattling breath.

"Tosh, don't...if we...I...please...I need you."

His tears just won't stop flowing and he chuckles sadly when he feels the soothing warmth of her palm on his face. "Its too late...I'm useless now. Go, follow our plan. Martha Jones needs our help..."

He can't hear the detonations anymore when he straightens his body, he doesn't feel the heat around him, doesn't smell the smoke. He just sees the rift manipulator in front of him, feels the cold metal of the key in his hand and sees the flashing of the monitor as he enters the last commands into the station.

The Tower vibrates one last time before everything before his eyes is shrouded into a blinding flash of light and suddenly turns black...
~~~~~~~~~~
Con-man.
Fox shakes his head and laughs silently before he resumes his eating.
The world is even more cruel than he would have thought.

"Sorry mate, this stew is not for sale, it's part of an agreement between me and fox."

Jack's teeth are blinking from under his lips when Jack gives them his most winning smile even if Fox doesn't even look at him. "What kind of agreement?"

"Well.." But Steve is interrupted by the clanking sound of the spoon as the young man drops it into his empty bowl.

"None of your business!"

In an instant the invisible barrier between them is back up again. It is so strong that Jack is almost convinced he can scratch the surface with his fingernails of this wall so much stronger than glass.

His glare is more than intimidating and the coldness in Fox's almost snarled reply startles Jack for a moment before he notices the ugly gash on the young man's face. Fox follows Jack's eye-movements and turns abruptly away from him. "Don't think I'm staying here tonight Steve."

"Is it one of these nights again, then?"

Fox's face is still turned away from him but Jack still can feel his eyes piercing his soul and he tries to repress his sudden urge to shudder.

"Kind of...Just give me a bottle of the usual please."

"Here you go mate and don't keep me waiting tomorrow or my wife will just worry again."

"Sure, don't worry. You know me."

Laughingly shaking his head he replies. "Exactly that's the reason I'm worrying. You attract trouble my friend."

Jack is surprised when he sees the faint shadows of a boyish grin ghosting over the young man's face. "It's not me who is attracting the trouble...I just seem to have a mostly unwelcome talent to stumble over it."

And before he can raise his arm to stop the young man Fox is gone, leaving no other traces of his presence than the soup bowl he left behind still standing alone and deserted on the bar.

*****************

Fox knows that he is being followed. He also knows who is following.
Jack, Jack, Jack...why just Jack? He has crossed almost half of the bridge when he can't stand it anymore and turns abruptly towards his follower. "What do you want from me???"

Jack stops in his tracks, a little intimidated by this harsh reaction. "Easy, I just wanted to talk to you." He can detect a hint of amusement on the other man's face.

"About?"

Jack begins to stammer, he was trying to form a casual chat up line before Fox interrupted him and now he is left a little hanging in the air. "I...I don't know...just...talk."

The blank expression Fox is giving him doesn't help his embarrassment and for the first time in years Jack is lost for words. After a few minutes of silence and uncomfortable helplessness the other man just gives him a look of disbelief and a low chuckle as he shakes his head. "I see... wanna join me for a drink?"

"Sure" replies Jack and joins the younger man who is sitting at the railing and lets his feet dangle over the dark waters of the Thames.

Fox takes a deep gulp and is the first to speak. "Go on then."

"Pardon me?" Jack blinks confused at the other man who seems to be amused by his reaction. "I'm sure you've prepared a chat up line while you were waiting for me."

Jack looks down into the water and gives a low chuckle. "Am I this foreseeable?"

Fox hands him the bottle. "Not really...come on, I want to hear it."

"Wait...I need to get into the right mood first." He chuckles at the raised eyebrow his new drinking pal gives him. "What?"

"Nothing, I'm just surprised that's all."

"How can I surprise you if you don't even know me? Which reminds me... I'm Captain Jack Harkness by the way."

"I know..."  Fox mumbles and takes another deep gulp before he adds more breezily. "Chat-up line, come on. I want to hear it."

Sighing dramatically Jack replies in a dark, seductive growl.
"Hi there stranger, care to share a drink with me?"

What he doesn't have expected is the roaring laughter as reply. "And that's everything you came up with?" Fox chuckles and takes a sip from his bottle. "That was crap, you can do better."

Jack takes the bottle and plays a little with it before he takes another gulp.
"You think so?"

Fox leans back into the pavement to look up into the cloudless sky, not caring that he is lying in the dirt, everything is dirty nowadays and the pavement can't be filthier than him so he doesn't bother. "Yep."

Jack takes a moment to watch the young man before he answers thoughtfully. "Depends on whether it's worth all the trouble, don't you think?" He grins down at the mysterious young man. "What do you say, am I wasting my time?"

Fox closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he answers throatily.
"Depends on what you want from me."

From all the possible ways to answer his question Jack surely didn't expect this one. The young man is puzzling him exceedingly but this only amplifies Jack's interest in this strange man and before he even realized what he was saying he heard himself replying. "What are you willing to give me?"

This question snaps him out of his trance-like delirium. This is getting dangerous. He can't... "Seems like I've drank too much alcohol. I better get going."
In the blink of an eye Fox is on his feet again.

Jack stumbles on his feet while he watches the other man already leaving."
"Hey, wait...What about your bottle?"

The other man is slowly vanishing in the distance and doesn't even turn away when he shouts his reply. "Keep it!"

"Will we meet again?" He doesn't get a reply on this question and looks down at the bottle. Jack shakes his head and empties the remaining content of it into his throat.

*****************
Fox leans his exhausted body against a wall, still slightly shaking from the alcohol, the starving and his encounter with Jack... "Everything, Jack...everything..."

The thin ice he is moving on is slowly beginning to melt, how much longer until he drowns? A single tear finds its way out onto his face before it gets brusquely brushed away by an angry hand. "Fucking universe."

Description
Broken Strings –
The Second Night
A Torchwood Fanfiction
Jack is waiting for the mysterious stranger from the night before...
_________________

A man is stumbling through the streets...
His feet are leading his way again. The young man knows into which direction he is heading. Need battles over domination with doubt and fear. He knows that he will be waiting but he also knows that his body won't do any longer if he neglects yet another meal.

Need wins over worry... But leaves him with the gnawing feeling of nauseating guilt in his stomach as he continues his way to his destination.

*****************
Jack is waiting.
He isn't exactly sure what he is actually waiting for or why.

He's been told the mysterious young man from the night before is a regular in this pub and that nobody can tell when he turns up eventually; he just does. And whenever he does, he delivers a brown packet to the barman and stops off for the rest of the evening.
Jacks also been told that the man he's currently waiting for is the one to ask if you are in need of anything.  Another member of his highly honourable guild of scoundrels as it seems.

A young man who becomes more fascinating with every new detail Jack learns about him. And Jack is good at learning details; his proved method of interrogation does actually contain lots of flirting but it always gets him what he wants...except on this day. He does know now as much about this man, who is generally known as 'Fox', as everybody else in this room which is practically nothing and with every passing minute his frustration grows.

The ticking sound of the clock is mocking Jack and he desperately tries to force his eyes away from the entrance door but whenever he hears someone entering he notices that he has been staring at the door already. No matter what he tries door and eyes seem to be forced together as through a strong magnetic pull. Hours pass and Jack slowly begins to doubt that Fox is going to turn up at all.

This is the moment his object of desire makes its big and dramatic entrance. The door swings open and with quick but grave steps he approaches and drops his bag with a loud thud on the bar, right next to a staring Jack. It is unmistakably Fox, even if he looks a little bit grubbier than yesterday but even this just adds to his appeal to our captain.

He watches as the other man hands the barman his packet.
"Sorry for the delay, Steve. Had to make a detour tonight, urgent delivery."

The barman shrugs the apology away with gracious wave of his right hand which he must have copied from the Queen. "Don't worry Fox, must have been really important if you say it's urgent. The usual it is then?"

The young man slowly relaxes in his chair and looks suddenly much younger to Jack at close-up.
Early thirties, even late twenties maybe... He really has something boyish about him when he devours a whole bowl of stew Steve has brought him.

As Jack watches the enigmatic mystery of a man satisfying his perfectly human needs completely unguarded he decides that this is the perfect moment to step in. "Hey Steve, never knew you sell stew too or I would've ordered some hours ago."

Fox hesitates for a moment; he didn't notice that Jack was sitting right next to him. He runs his eyes up and down those oh so familiar features. It is Jack, it has to be him... but not his Jack.
No... this one is different...

~~~~~~~~~~
The young man flinches at the sound a big detonation and curses at the blood he sees.
They are coming; burning their way through Torchwoods last defences...
There is nothing he can do to save the young woman in his arms; her injuries are too bad and she has lost too much blood...

He is desperately trying to hold his tears back when he looks around him the debris of what once has been the hub. Without having to see the corpses he knows his friends are dead, they both died to give them more time... But she is dying...the last person on this planet alive who means something to him.

"Please..."

"What?"

She clutches the lapel of his ragged suit and he bows down in order to hear her better. The sound of her voice is hoarse and barely recognisable but it has an urgency to it that makes him listen. "...promise me not to blame him..."

The young man shakes his head while tears are running down his face.

"You love him"

"I've buried this love a while ago and you know that."

"You were wrong...promise me"

"...I can't...he left... us..."

"He would have never left if he knew this was going to happen, you know that."

"How can you still believe in him, you told me that he was a conman."

She squeezes his hand and softly shakes her head. "Because he told me...please... you've seen the special broadcast to us...he's suffering enough..." The young woman coughs some blood and takes a rattling breath.

"Tosh, don't...if we...I...please...I need you."

His tears just won't stop flowing and he chuckles sadly when he feels the soothing warmth of her palm on his face. "Its too late...I'm useless now. Go, follow our plan. Martha Jones needs our help..."

He can't hear the detonations anymore when he straightens his body, he doesn't feel the heat around him, doesn't smell the smoke. He just sees the rift manipulator in front of him, feels the cold metal of the key in his hand and sees the flashing of the monitor as he enters the last commands into the station.

The Tower vibrates one last time before everything before his eyes is shrouded into a blinding flash of light and suddenly turns black...
~~~~~~~~~~
Con-man.
Fox shakes his head and laughs silently before he resumes his eating.
The world is even more cruel than he would have thought.

"Sorry mate, this stew is not for sale, it's part of an agreement between me and fox."

Jack's teeth are blinking from under his lips when Jack gives them his most winning smile even if Fox doesn't even look at him. "What kind of agreement?"

"Well.." But Steve is interrupted by the clanking sound of the spoon as the young man drops it into his empty bowl.

"None of your business!"

In an instant the invisible barrier between them is back up again. It is so strong that Jack is almost convinced he can scratch the surface with his fingernails of this wall so much stronger than glass.

His glare is more than intimidating and the coldness in Fox's almost snarled reply startles Jack for a moment before he notices the ugly gash on the young man's face. Fox follows Jack's eye-movements and turns abruptly away from him. "Don't think I'm staying here tonight Steve."

"Is it one of these nights again, then?"

Fox's face is still turned away from him but Jack still can feel his eyes piercing his soul and he tries to repress his sudden urge to shudder.

"Kind of...Just give me a bottle of the usual please."

"Here you go mate and don't keep me waiting tomorrow or my wife will just worry again."

"Sure, don't worry. You know me."

Laughingly shaking his head he replies. "Exactly that's the reason I'm worrying. You attract trouble my friend."

Jack is surprised when he sees the faint shadows of a boyish grin ghosting over the young man's face. "It's not me who is attracting the trouble...I just seem to have a mostly unwelcome talent to stumble over it."

And before he can raise his arm to stop the young man Fox is gone, leaving no other traces of his presence than the soup bowl he left behind still standing alone and deserted on the bar.

*****************

Fox knows that he is being followed. He also knows who is following.
Jack, Jack, Jack...why just Jack? He has crossed almost half of the bridge when he can't stand it anymore and turns abruptly towards his follower. "What do you want from me???"

Jack stops in his tracks, a little intimidated by this harsh reaction. "Easy, I just wanted to talk to you." He can detect a hint of amusement on the other man's face.

"About?"

Jack begins to stammer, he was trying to form a casual chat up line before Fox interrupted him and now he is left a little hanging in the air. "I...I don't know...just...talk."

The blank expression Fox is giving him doesn't help his embarrassment and for the first time in years Jack is lost for words. After a few minutes of silence and uncomfortable helplessness the other man just gives him a look of disbelief and a low chuckle as he shakes his head. "I see... wanna join me for a drink?"

"Sure" replies Jack and joins the younger man who is sitting at the railing and lets his feet dangle over the dark waters of the Thames.

Fox takes a deep gulp and is the first to speak. "Go on then."

"Pardon me?" Jack blinks confused at the other man who seems to be amused by his reaction. "I'm sure you've prepared a chat up line while you were waiting for me."

Jack looks down into the water and gives a low chuckle. "Am I this foreseeable?"

Fox hands him the bottle. "Not really...come on, I want to hear it."

"Wait...I need to get into the right mood first." He chuckles at the raised eyebrow his new drinking pal gives him. "What?"

"Nothing, I'm just surprised that's all."

"How can I surprise you if you don't even know me? Which reminds me... I'm Captain Jack Harkness by the way."

"I know..."  Fox mumbles and takes another deep gulp before he adds more breezily. "Chat-up line, come on. I want to hear it."

Sighing dramatically Jack replies in a dark, seductive growl.
"Hi there stranger, care to share a drink with me?"

What he doesn't have expected is the roaring laughter as reply. "And that's everything you came up with?" Fox chuckles and takes a sip from his bottle. "That was crap, you can do better."

Jack takes the bottle and plays a little with it before he takes another gulp.
"You think so?"

Fox leans back into the pavement to look up into the cloudless sky, not caring that he is lying in the dirt, everything is dirty nowadays and the pavement can't be filthier than him so he doesn't bother. "Yep."

Jack takes a moment to watch the young man before he answers thoughtfully. "Depends on whether it's worth all the trouble, don't you think?" He grins down at the mysterious young man. "What do you say, am I wasting my time?"

Fox closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he answers throatily.
"Depends on what you want from me."

From all the possible ways to answer his question Jack surely didn't expect this one. The young man is puzzling him exceedingly but this only amplifies Jack's interest in this strange man and before he even realized what he was saying he heard himself replying. "What are you willing to give me?"

This question snaps him out of his trance-like delirium. This is getting dangerous. He can't... "Seems like I've drank too much alcohol. I better get going."
In the blink of an eye Fox is on his feet again.

Jack stumbles on his feet while he watches the other man already leaving."
"Hey, wait...What about your bottle?"

The other man is slowly vanishing in the distance and doesn't even turn away when he shouts his reply. "Keep it!"

"Will we meet again?" He doesn't get a reply on this question and looks down at the bottle. Jack shakes his head and empties the remaining content of it into his throat.

*****************
Fox leans his exhausted body against a wall, still slightly shaking from the alcohol, the starving and his encounter with Jack... "Everything, Jack...everything..."

The thin ice he is moving on is slowly beginning to melt, how much longer until he drowns? A single tear finds its way out onto his face before it gets brusquely brushed away by an angry hand. "Fucking universe."