Watching
Title: Watching
Author: Book_Junkie007
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Wordcount: 688 words
Warnings: Set post Miracle Day
Notes: Thanks to my Twitter peeps, Laffers18 and KyinHI, for betaing. :) Please let me know what you think.
Summary: Rex watches Jack and Gwen with Anwen and reflects on how normal they seem, even with everything they have said they have done.
Watching
Rex stood in the doorway of the kitchen leading into the living room, watching the people there. It had been six months since the events of Miracle Day had been reversed, and the planet was far from being normal. The economy was still crashed, albeit slowly being rebuilt, but it would still be months before the economy was fully recovered, if it ever did. The concentration camps had been shut down for burning people alive, although some people thought they should still be used for the disposing of the dead. There was now a fierce debate on whether it was ethical or not to use the concentration camps after the crisis had passed; he was staying well out of it: it wasn’t his fight anymore. Food supply was still in shortage, but that would be resolved eventually. Everything considered, the planet had recovered fairly well with what it had been put through.
The man and woman sitting on the couch in the living room were telling the toddler some crazy story about aliens. Rex still wasn’t sure if aliens existed, but when the pair on the couch talked about them, it almost made him want to believe. Almost.
Listening to their stories, the ones not filtered for the toddler’s benefit, he was surprised at how ... normal they seemed. There was pain in their eyes, yes, but that pain was masked with an overall mask of serenity. It was hard to believe that these two people had done the things they had and still came out alive. They were fighters, that was evident, yet there was a softer side to them as well. A side he was only just seeing.
Rex walked into the living room, his drink in hand and sat down. “Thought you two weren’t supposed to be telling her stories about aliens,” he said, nodding at the toddler. “Isn’t your husband going to be angry if he finds out you’re still telling her about them?” he asked the woman.
“Ah, she still thinks it’s all a fairy tale,” Gwen said. “And what Rhys doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“Besides,” Jack added, “the twenty-first century is when it all changes, and she has to be ready. Who knows what will happen over the course of her lifetime? For all we know, she could become the next alien whisperer.”
“Alien whisperer,” Gwen laughed, nudging him with her shoulder. “What kind of occupation would that be?”
“A very good one, seeing as she already knows two,” Jack responded with a grin.
“You two,” Rex shook his head. “What if she knows an alien already?”
Jack and Gwen gave each other knowing glances and Jack said, “Well, then she’s already one step ahead of the rest of you.”
“Right,” Rex said doubtfully. “Thanks for letting me stay here, Gwen. I really appreciate you opening your house to me.”
“Oh, it’s no problem,” Gwen said, waving away his concerns. “I’m happy to help. Torchwood is family, plus now you get to experience Wales without prejudice.”
“Yeah, a real dysfunctional family,” Rex muttered. He said louder, “And I still think Wales is the equivalent of Jersey.”
“Well, you’re here, and that’s what matters,” Gwen said, ignoring the dig on her home country.
“Hey, World War Two, where are you staying?” Rex asked.
“Oh, you know. Around,” Jack said vaguely.
“I’m going to go put Anwen down for her nap. You boys behave,” Gwen said, picking up Anwen and walking out of the room.
Jack sat on the couch, completely content and at ease with his surroundings. Rex watched him, remembering one question he’d always had. It came to him while Jack and Gwen had been telling him stories of their adventures, although Rex suspected they were holding some things back. “Jack,” Rex began. “Why are you still here? With all the things you could be out doing, why are you still here, on Earth?”
Jack thought back on his life with Torchwood, the pain, the sorrow, the losses he had suffered. Then he thought about right now, where he was safe, loved, and at home. “Because it’s enough,” Jack said simply.
On A03