Fic - Past and Future Self
Title: Past and Future Self
Author: szm
Pairing Jack/himself
Rating: PG
Summary: "Everyone who time travels ends up meeting themselves at some point."
Many thanks to fandom_me for the help, and as always much love to hellenebright for the beta.
The Time Agency didn’t encourage the use of names. All the agents had a number so that the paperwork could be filled out, but actual names were frowned upon. As a small rebellion most people wore names like an accessory. You could wake up one morning and decide to be anyone. Very few people could even remember their original name anymore.
He had his written on a scrap of paper in a locked box; he didn’t want to forget it.
His supervisor was going by the name Kadia today. She said it meant ‘little dragon’ and went well with her new haircut. She was slightly taller than him and her luminous blue eyes gave away the fact that she was not entirely human - although that in no way put her in the minority. He followed her down the corridor.
They reached the training room and Kadia flashed him a beautiful smile. He couldn’t help but return it.
“This is for you,” she said handing over a large wrist band.
He took it carefully. It represented five years of study and training. “I passed?” he asked, looking up at her with a stupid grin. “Wanna help me celebrate?”
“Almost,” she replied, eyes sparkling. “Just one last test. We throw you randomly into your own future, you get two hours then we pull you back. Everyone who time travels ends up meeting themselves at some point. It’s best to get it out of the way in a controlled environment. This way we can fix any paradoxes right away.”
He flashed an easy grin at her to cover his nerves and strapped the vortex manipulator to his wrist.
**
It took Jack nearly an hour to chase Ianto out of the Hub. He sat at his desk and poured two glasses of whisky and waited. He knew what was going to happen, what had happened. .
The clock quietly ticked from one hour to the next. Suddenly a vortex opened in Jack’s office. A young man stumbled out and the vortex closed behind him. Jack winced in sympathy, first solo time jump. The young man stumbled but managed to stay on his feet. He looked up at Jack and his eyes widened in shock. Impossibly pretty, bright blue eyes. The younger man recovered quickly grinning at Jack.
“Damn, not bad for an old guy!” The younger man struck what he clearly thought was a seductive pose and Jack managed not to laugh. Yeah, that was going to need some work.
“Watch who you’re calling ‘old’ junior,” he replied with a smirk. “Drink?”
The younger man smiled - actually smiled, an open honest smile - before sitting down and knocking the whisky back in one gulp. Jack couldn’t quite suppress the wince as he watched his younger self. Surely he’d never been that trusting. He tried to remember how old he’d been back then. About the same age that Ianto was now. God that just made him feel old.
His younger self frowned. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Up until the drink you were doing fine,” said Jack, with what he hoped was a fond expression, not ‘how the hell did I ever survive being this naive?’
He watched understanding dawn on his younger self’s face as he looked in horror at the glass.
“But you can’t do anything to me! I’m you; if you hurt me you hurt yourself.” Jack’s younger self looked a little panicked. Jack found it hard to believe that his face was ever this open, that every little thing was ever written across it like this. Back when Jack was still a con-artist, this kid would have made the perfect mark.
Jack painted on a nasty smile, “There are plenty of things I could do that would wear off by the time you get to me kiddo. Besides, you’re assuming that I am who they told you I am. This could all be some kind of trick.”
His younger self narrowed his eyes at Jack. “Why would the Agency do that? They haven’t got anything to gain by screwing me over like that.”
Jack groaned inwardly, trying to suppress the urge to give himself a damn good shake. He reminded himself that this was a version of him straight from the sticks. He hadn’t seen his best friend killed in some pointless war, or had two years of his life stolen, or left the Agency just ahead of an execution order. He hadn’t been lost, then found, then tossed away.
Then again, this kid never manipulated people for fun, this kid was a lot less selfish than Jack, lied less, was for all intents and purposes innocent. Jack thought with a fair amount of detachment that the universe really was an unfair place that so much had to happen to one so vulnerable.
“Relax kid; it’s just a very mild dose of an amnesia drug. Just enough to make all this fuzzy when you get back.”
The younger man peered over the top of the glass and narrowed his eyes at Jack. “And for that I’ve only got your word?”
Jack grinned back. “Now you’re getting it, kiddo!”
“I get kinda infuriating when I’m old don’t I?” He leaned forward and snagged the whisky bottle, pouring himself a large measure. Jack raised an eyebrow and watched himself shrug. “If I’m drugged, I’m already drugged, and this is the good stuff. Might as well enjoy it.”
Jack had been accused of being reckless at many times by many people, mostly he just ignored them. Now maybe he was thinking he should have listened.
“So,” started Jack sitting back in his chair sipping his own whiskey. “We’re on your time. Anything you want to ask?”
“Anything you’re willing to answer?” countered the other man. “You’ve got to be careful of your timeline, right?”
Jack smiled, that was straight out the academy text book. “Just keep it vague kid, trust me I’m not going to fuck up my own timeline.”
“You said I shouldn’t trust you before?”
“Yep, I did.”
“Am I always this difficult?”
“I always thought I was pretty easy,” grinned Jack enjoying himself.
“Oh.” Jack watched as his younger self rolled the whisky glass between his palms. Jack waited for the question.
“Am I - was I - am I any good? I mean they didn’t just hire me for a PR stunt right? I mean, Face of Boe and all that? I’m going to do a good job?”
Jack looked into his own eyes and it was all there. All that pain and confusion right at the front for anyone to see. How was he supposed to tell this kid that he still doesn’t know? That he thought everything was fine, and then he woke up without two years worth of memories? He walked round the table and sat down in his own lap.
“We’re good, not always perfect, but always trying,” he replied with as much sincerity as he could manage. His younger self shifted awkwardly and held on to Jack’s hips. He bit his lower lip clearly wanting to ask more. Jack leaned in and kissed himself softly. There was a slight synthetic, sterile taste that Jack associated with the fifty-first century. It triggered the memory of this kiss from the other side, and Jack moaned quietly. He felt fingertips dig into his hips and he deepened the kiss.
Jack let the younger man pull back.
“You’re distracting me,” he said in a slightly breathless voice.
“Yep,” replied Jack brushing his younger self’s hair out of his eyes. Anything to avoid looking into those eyes again.
“Just so you know, I knew that,” he said leaning in for another kiss.
**
Travelling through the vortex was a little like behind turned inside out then put back together again. This time he lost his footing and landed on his backside which, after its recent activities, complained bitterly.
Kadia looked down at him with amusement. She sniffed the air.
“Hmm whisky and sex. You had a good time then?”
He tried to remember but everything was blurry, almost like it had happened to someone else. Which he supposed was irony, or something like it. “Yes?” he replied, wincing at how much it sounded like a question.
Kadia chuckled, “You got yourself drunk? Classy.” She made a few notes on her data pad. “That's it. You passed. Congratulations!”
He took her offered hand and let her help him up, deliberately stumbling and ending up in her arms.
“So?” he asked with a wide grin. “Gonna help me celebrate?”
Author: szm
Pairing Jack/himself
Rating: PG
Summary: "Everyone who time travels ends up meeting themselves at some point."
Many thanks to fandom_me for the help, and as always much love to hellenebright for the beta.
The Time Agency didn’t encourage the use of names. All the agents had a number so that the paperwork could be filled out, but actual names were frowned upon. As a small rebellion most people wore names like an accessory. You could wake up one morning and decide to be anyone. Very few people could even remember their original name anymore.
He had his written on a scrap of paper in a locked box; he didn’t want to forget it.
His supervisor was going by the name Kadia today. She said it meant ‘little dragon’ and went well with her new haircut. She was slightly taller than him and her luminous blue eyes gave away the fact that she was not entirely human - although that in no way put her in the minority. He followed her down the corridor.
They reached the training room and Kadia flashed him a beautiful smile. He couldn’t help but return it.
“This is for you,” she said handing over a large wrist band.
He took it carefully. It represented five years of study and training. “I passed?” he asked, looking up at her with a stupid grin. “Wanna help me celebrate?”
“Almost,” she replied, eyes sparkling. “Just one last test. We throw you randomly into your own future, you get two hours then we pull you back. Everyone who time travels ends up meeting themselves at some point. It’s best to get it out of the way in a controlled environment. This way we can fix any paradoxes right away.”
He flashed an easy grin at her to cover his nerves and strapped the vortex manipulator to his wrist.
**
It took Jack nearly an hour to chase Ianto out of the Hub. He sat at his desk and poured two glasses of whisky and waited. He knew what was going to happen, what had happened. .
The clock quietly ticked from one hour to the next. Suddenly a vortex opened in Jack’s office. A young man stumbled out and the vortex closed behind him. Jack winced in sympathy, first solo time jump. The young man stumbled but managed to stay on his feet. He looked up at Jack and his eyes widened in shock. Impossibly pretty, bright blue eyes. The younger man recovered quickly grinning at Jack.
“Damn, not bad for an old guy!” The younger man struck what he clearly thought was a seductive pose and Jack managed not to laugh. Yeah, that was going to need some work.
“Watch who you’re calling ‘old’ junior,” he replied with a smirk. “Drink?”
The younger man smiled - actually smiled, an open honest smile - before sitting down and knocking the whisky back in one gulp. Jack couldn’t quite suppress the wince as he watched his younger self. Surely he’d never been that trusting. He tried to remember how old he’d been back then. About the same age that Ianto was now. God that just made him feel old.
His younger self frowned. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Up until the drink you were doing fine,” said Jack, with what he hoped was a fond expression, not ‘how the hell did I ever survive being this naive?’
He watched understanding dawn on his younger self’s face as he looked in horror at the glass.
“But you can’t do anything to me! I’m you; if you hurt me you hurt yourself.” Jack’s younger self looked a little panicked. Jack found it hard to believe that his face was ever this open, that every little thing was ever written across it like this. Back when Jack was still a con-artist, this kid would have made the perfect mark.
Jack painted on a nasty smile, “There are plenty of things I could do that would wear off by the time you get to me kiddo. Besides, you’re assuming that I am who they told you I am. This could all be some kind of trick.”
His younger self narrowed his eyes at Jack. “Why would the Agency do that? They haven’t got anything to gain by screwing me over like that.”
Jack groaned inwardly, trying to suppress the urge to give himself a damn good shake. He reminded himself that this was a version of him straight from the sticks. He hadn’t seen his best friend killed in some pointless war, or had two years of his life stolen, or left the Agency just ahead of an execution order. He hadn’t been lost, then found, then tossed away.
Then again, this kid never manipulated people for fun, this kid was a lot less selfish than Jack, lied less, was for all intents and purposes innocent. Jack thought with a fair amount of detachment that the universe really was an unfair place that so much had to happen to one so vulnerable.
“Relax kid; it’s just a very mild dose of an amnesia drug. Just enough to make all this fuzzy when you get back.”
The younger man peered over the top of the glass and narrowed his eyes at Jack. “And for that I’ve only got your word?”
Jack grinned back. “Now you’re getting it, kiddo!”
“I get kinda infuriating when I’m old don’t I?” He leaned forward and snagged the whisky bottle, pouring himself a large measure. Jack raised an eyebrow and watched himself shrug. “If I’m drugged, I’m already drugged, and this is the good stuff. Might as well enjoy it.”
Jack had been accused of being reckless at many times by many people, mostly he just ignored them. Now maybe he was thinking he should have listened.
“So,” started Jack sitting back in his chair sipping his own whiskey. “We’re on your time. Anything you want to ask?”
“Anything you’re willing to answer?” countered the other man. “You’ve got to be careful of your timeline, right?”
Jack smiled, that was straight out the academy text book. “Just keep it vague kid, trust me I’m not going to fuck up my own timeline.”
“You said I shouldn’t trust you before?”
“Yep, I did.”
“Am I always this difficult?”
“I always thought I was pretty easy,” grinned Jack enjoying himself.
“Oh.” Jack watched as his younger self rolled the whisky glass between his palms. Jack waited for the question.
“Am I - was I - am I any good? I mean they didn’t just hire me for a PR stunt right? I mean, Face of Boe and all that? I’m going to do a good job?”
Jack looked into his own eyes and it was all there. All that pain and confusion right at the front for anyone to see. How was he supposed to tell this kid that he still doesn’t know? That he thought everything was fine, and then he woke up without two years worth of memories? He walked round the table and sat down in his own lap.
“We’re good, not always perfect, but always trying,” he replied with as much sincerity as he could manage. His younger self shifted awkwardly and held on to Jack’s hips. He bit his lower lip clearly wanting to ask more. Jack leaned in and kissed himself softly. There was a slight synthetic, sterile taste that Jack associated with the fifty-first century. It triggered the memory of this kiss from the other side, and Jack moaned quietly. He felt fingertips dig into his hips and he deepened the kiss.
Jack let the younger man pull back.
“You’re distracting me,” he said in a slightly breathless voice.
“Yep,” replied Jack brushing his younger self’s hair out of his eyes. Anything to avoid looking into those eyes again.
“Just so you know, I knew that,” he said leaning in for another kiss.
**
Travelling through the vortex was a little like behind turned inside out then put back together again. This time he lost his footing and landed on his backside which, after its recent activities, complained bitterly.
Kadia looked down at him with amusement. She sniffed the air.
“Hmm whisky and sex. You had a good time then?”
He tried to remember but everything was blurry, almost like it had happened to someone else. Which he supposed was irony, or something like it. “Yes?” he replied, wincing at how much it sounded like a question.
Kadia chuckled, “You got yourself drunk? Classy.” She made a few notes on her data pad. “That's it. You passed. Congratulations!”
He took her offered hand and let her help him up, deliberately stumbling and ending up in her arms.
“So?” he asked with a wide grin. “Gonna help me celebrate?”