The Wife of Captain Jack Harkness

Inside Torchwood

Jack stood to attention and moved aside. There was a stern but beautiful young woman standing in the doorway. She was dressed in a masculine manner and only a few years older than myself. She stood with a formidable stance, her hands on her hips and scowling at us darkly.

 “Where the hell have you been Harkness?” The young woman demanded loudly with a strong Scottish accent which made her sound even more severe as she glared between myself and Jack. “Well? Would someone care to explain the events of this evening to me? After all I’m the last long standing surviving operative. Who believe it or not is still endeavouring to run this bloody madhouse for King and country.”

 “Hello to you as well Alice… It’s good to see you all again, my how I’ve missed Torchwood…” Jack dryly replied, annoyed by his brusque leader’s interruption he returned his attention to me.  

 Alice was very intimidating, she seemed the kind to shoot and ask questions later. Alice regarded Jack coolly but then her mood changed abruptly as her lips curved upwards. I preferred this haughty woman’s scowl to her sardonic smile. It appeared Alice was amused by Jack’s brand of humour even if there was mutual loathing on both sides.

 “Good of you to grace us with your presence Captain, how many months has it been now?” Alice’s mood abruptly changed again as she stamped her foot and raised her voice with anger, gazing upwards with frustration. “What the hell was Doctor Jones thinking? Getting involved with that creature and not telling me…Good Doctors are so hard to come by aren’t they Harkness?” Jack had no intention of answering Alice, whose malicious tone and double meaning was beyond my comprehension that night.

 But it was of no great consequence as her attention had switched to me. This woman must have helped me and as I wrapped the covers around my body as a barrier I’m sure I was lying in her bed. I longed to be home and yet at the same time I dreaded that moment for there was nothing there for me now. How could I survive the emptiness? I had no family and close friends, everything I had loved had been taken away from me. I was in Torchwood; I’d woken up in a bewildering and fearful new world. Alice began to pace the room, staring at me with a peculiar expression of intrigue and annoyance. My concerns about going home were premature; I was beginning to wonder whether I would see daylight again…

 “So Harkness…What should one do hmm…What’s to be done with Miss Jones?” Alice mused outwardly; I gazed up at Jack unable to conceal my apprehension as Alice moved towards me in her precise manner. I could see the tension in Jack’s face as he moved protectively beside me. “By all accounts young Bella already knew too much before this night.” Alice continued then paused for an agonizing moment, regarding me with renewed interest, her brow clouded but then in an instant her face lit up with a smile of sheer mischief. “You certainly know how to look after yourself, not that you’ll be seeing much action…So Isabella Jones, sister of the late Doctor Frederic Jones…When can you begin your service for Torchwood?”

 The offer was put to me in a cordial manner but I was fully aware it was an offer I could not refuse. I meekly shook hands with the fiercely independent Alice Guppy but was uncomfortable under her penetrating gaze. After my experiences earlier with that creature I’d grown wary of being stared at as an object of desire. I had heard of women like Alice but I’d never actually met one before… To conceal my person I pulled the bed sheets up to my chin in an agitated manner. Alice smirked with cruel amusement before turning her back, commanding a reluctant Jack to leave the room, to no doubt continue their conversation in private. I was alone with my thoughts at last. My body was aching as I lay down in the dark and wept silently to myself. My life changed beyond all recognition.

 As I reminisce, that dark time was the same endless day. The following morning I was home again and as the days turned into weeks they continued with painful slowness, Fred was constantly in my thoughts. Then came the nightmares of the creature Merak which finally followed after I collapsed with exhaustion, sick with grief. I did not see Fred after that night, my brother’s remains as with all deceased operatives belonged to Torchwood. I had no desire to see Fred again, I was with him to the end and that was all that mattered. I once believed I knew everything about my brother, it turns out I was wrong. No one would ever know how deeply embroiled he was in that creature’s world. Although I knew with certainty that Fred Jones would still be alive if Torchwood had not recruited him. I could not forget Torchwood… I belonged to them now, so I waited with a sense of dread for my time to begin with that secret institution. Then there was Jack Harkness, my light in the darkness. There was an unfinished conversation awaiting us, so I waited for him without realising how much I needed to see him again. Then one day Jack returned to me.