Heaven's Light ✿ The Doctor [2]

33- The Sound of Drums (pt. 2)

They managed to find refuge in an old abandoned warehouse. Avery and Jack sat beside one another while they waited for Martha to return with food and the Doctor fiddled with Martha's laptop. Jack turns to her, his voice soft, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." Avery agrees before her eyes turn to him, noticing quickly that something is bothering him, making her voice soften as her expression fills with a bit of concern, "What's wrong?"

"There's a bit of a story to go with it." Jack prefaces.

Avery offers him a small, comforting smile, "I'm willing to listen."

"Tosh and I fell through the rift and landed in 1941." He begins.

Avery smiles at the year, "Not too long before we met, then?"

"Yeah." Jack can't help but smile at the memory before his expression darkens slightly, "I met someone there." He hesitates a moment before adding, "As I'm sure you've figured out, Ms. Bad Wolf, my name isn't actually Jack Harkness, I borrowed the name for my conman cover."

"I know, Javic." Avery replies softly.

Jack's face flits through a complicated mix of emotions before settling on a slight look of discomfort, admitting, "It's weird to hear that name again, it's been so long." He leans towards her conspiratorially, requesting softly, "Please keep that name a secret between us, yeah?"

"Of course." She agrees before refocusing on the initial conversation topic, "Now, Jack Harkness, you met him, didn't you?"

"Yeah." He responds softly, his expression downcast as he admitted, "We started to feel something for each other in the short time I was there. It was dumb for me to grow attached, I knew he was going to–" He cut himself off and she places a gentle hand on his, a comforting gesture he appreciates, "I guess, what I'm wondering is how do you handle it?"

"You don't." She answers bluntly, "That's the thing with time travel, they may be a figure of the past but in the moment, they are real people." She looks at him curiously as she asks, "Did I ever tell you about Reinette?"

"I don't think so."

Avery begins softly, her eyes glazing over as memories flit through her mind, "Reinette Poisson, more commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was the mistress of King Louis XV. I met her through time windows on a spaceship, different moments all throughout her life and she fell for me. When I ended up stuck with her for a while, I fell for her. When I got back to the Doctor, I wanted to take her with us, at least on one trip, but the connection to the time window was loose and when we got there, she had already passed away from illness."

"What did you do?"

"I went home and I grieved. She may have been dead for hundreds of years but I loved her as much as if I had been alive in her time." Avery answers before taking Jack's hand in hers and telling him, "That's what you are going to have to do too, Jack. It's the curse of a time traveler."

Jack looks at her for a moment before admitting, "I wish you were around more. They don't know me like you do."

"Do you give them the chance to?" There's a beat of silence as Jack avoids her piercing gaze, causing her to suggest, "You could let them closer, you know." A mischievous smirk plays her lips as she adds, "Especially Ianto."

Jack rolls his eyes at her before reminding her seriously, "I don't die, Avery. I can't let them get too close just for me to watch them grow old and die one day." Avery's gaze shifts to the Doctor and she knows he can relate with such pain before she turns her attention back to Jack as he continues, "Losing Ianto... I don't even want to imagine it."