Chapter Five: Reunion

Lisa smiled wanly, tears in her own eyes. “Hi, Jack,” she said, walking closer to him.

His breathing was uneven, as if he didn’t believe what he was seeing. He brought one shaking hand up to touch her face. She clasped her fingers around his, then pulled him into a hug.

They held each other tightly for a good minute before separating.

“Where’s the Doctor?” he asked her, urgency in his voice.

Her eyes drifted to the ground. “He’s not here,” she said softly. “I’ll explain if you’ll tell me what’s been going on. I heard you talking to someone earlier.”

It was Jack’s turn to cast his eyes downward. He told her that three people – a man and two women – from 1953 had drifted through the rift that ran through Cardiff in an airplane. One of them, a man named John Ellis, found out that his wife had died and his son had Alzheimer’s. He felt he had nothing to live for, and, so Jack had helped him commit suicide inside the very building they were standing in front of.

“Is he still in there?” asked Lisa. Jack didn’t answer, and that was an answer in and of itself. “Let’s take care of the body, and then I’ll tell you why I’m here.”

He eyed her, but nodded and they spent the next hour moving John’s body from the building to the mortuary inside the Torchwood Hub, Jack’s headquarters. Then, they took a seat in Jack’s office. The Hub was slightly eerie, as it was empty, although Lisa could hear squawking of some kind of animal.

“This is some place, Jack…” she said, glancing around at everything. Her eyes fell onto what could only be described as a hand in a very elaborate jar that was sitting on his desk. The key around her neck tingled briefly.

“That’s…”

“Yeah,” he answered without even needing her to finish the statement. His eyes were hard. “Where is he?”

Her mind churned with just how much she should tell him. Knowing too much could be dangerous, but the look in his eyes deterred her from keeping everything from him.

Leaning against his desk, she locked eyes with him and said, “I’m going to tell you, right now, that you will see him again. Him and me. But I can’t tell you exactly when. I’m from a time in the Doctor’s future, and he asked me to come back to you. He…said you needed me.”

Jack didn’t comment.

“I heard you,” she said. “ ‘A man out of his time. Alone and scared’.” Her voice took on almost the same tone that Jack himself had said the words in. “You were around me long enough to know what kind of effect that’d have on me.”

“Why did you leave me behind?” he asked suddenly.

“When? Oh, on the Game Station. Jack…” Her voice died as she recalled the memories. The Doctor had absorbed the energy of the Time Vortex, and it was killing him, so he had to regenerate. Same Doctor, but a new body, new personality, and new face. Jack, when he had reunited with them, had figured it out. Huh…maybe it was she who had told him. Well, why not?

“At first, we didn’t even know you’d survived…and, well…we had an emergency. Rose had absorbed the energy of the Time Vortex and we had to make sure she was okay, or she would’ve died. She was fine.” She had to keep him from asking about the Battle of Canary Wharf. The Doctor gave him that information. “The Doctor took the Vortex from her and it caused him to regenerate. Same Doctor, new body. He lost that hand in a swordfight on Christmas Day and grew another one.”

“But where is he now?” he said.

“Now,” she said, “he’s off in the TARDIS somewhere, I guess. It’s been a while. Like I said, I’m from his future.” She really, really wanted to give him some forewarning as to what laid in store for him when they reunited, but that would pollute the timeline far too badly.

Jack was silent for a moment, perhaps suspecting something. “How far in the future?”

Lisa bit her lip; her wings quivered. “The Doctor asked me to come to you…as a last request…before he died.”

He sat in stunned silence, tears forming in his eyes. Lisa went around the desk and took him into her arms.

“Remember, he’s only dead to me. You’ll meet him again, I swear.” She could feel tears start to flood her own eyes. “Jack, please…” she whispered.

“I’m sorry,” he said, squeezing her arms. “How?”

“He just…it was his time. We were together for a long, long time.” She leaned back and wiped her eyes. “He was so weak…he couldn’t even speak anymore. He had to use telepathy. He asked me to bring the TARDIS somewhere safe, and to come back to you. Then he was gone.” She sighed. “I lost my healing power because of it.”

He stared at her, confused.

“The Doctor and I were linked on and off throughout our time together. When it was severed for good, I don’t think my system could handle the strain of his death, so it took my healing power. When he died, a part of me died, too.”

Jack took her hand in comfort, and she gave him a small smile.

“So…” she said. “Now that I’m here, could you use a familiar face around?”

“God, yes…”

End chapter five.

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