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Title: When Everything Changed – A Torchwood/Dr. Who/Sarah Jane Adventures Crossover
Author: [personal profile] tonjavmoore 
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Eleven and Amy Pond, and a lot of people from the Whoniverse at large
Rating: PG
Word Count: Total: 32,741; Chapter 17: 1,852
Spoilers: This assumes that you are familiar the five days of Children of Earth. Otherwise, you’ll be a bit lost. This is a timey-wimey fixit that takes up action partway through Day 3.
Disclaimer: Torchwood, Dr. Who, and Sarah Jane Adventures all belong to the BBC and RTD. Sadly.
Betas: Thanks to midlist_writer and welsh_scotsman on Live Journal. Also, to my friend Alexandria Cameron who put up with my squeals and tantrums when it just wouldn’t get out through my fingers the way I wanted it to.

Dedication: This is for my good friend and the best roommate anyone could have ever the pleasure of having, Susan Garrett. She was taken from us by cancer and the world is not as bright as it was before she left.

Summary: When the Shadow Architects find a paradox that is destroying the Universe, can the Eleventh Doctor find a way to restore Jack’s timeline to what it should have been?

I have disabled comments on Live Journal. Please comment at my Dreamwidth account. I love comments. They are cookies for my soul. You don’t have to have an account to comment there.

A/N: I was trying to make my chapters about the same length, but for this one, it didn’t work. Two scenes go together where there should be a natural break. So to balance the perversity of the Universe, I’m posting them one right after the other.

A/N: For those of you who are wondering what Jack’s plans are, all will be revealed in Chapter 19.

Story starts here:
Chapter 1


Chapter 17

Staying in a palace was always nice – all the amenities one could ever want and someone to answer the bell if one should find something missing. The rooms were spacious and welcoming. One could feel the history seeping out of the walls.

Jack, however, didn’t want amenities. He wanted Ianto. Wrapping his arms around his lover he pulled him close. Ianto snuggled down, placing his ear over Jack’s heart. “Now that we’ve talked to Gwen and Martha, I don’t want to move,” Jack said, stroking Ianto’s hair.

“I don’t know if I have the strength myself,” Ianto said with a sigh. “We’re eventually going to have to take our shoes off though.”

“Practical. But beyond me at the moment.”

Almost before he got the statement out, Jack heard a noise – a wheezing metallic noise. He sat up as the sharp breeze blew in his face. Ianto came up with him. “What’s that?” he demanded.

“It’s the TARDIS.” Jack didn’t believe it. “She’s here.”

In the corner of the room, the TARDIS and her flashing blue light solidified into view. Ianto gasped. “That girl – Amy – she said the Doctor would see you later.”

Jack found that he was unable to speak for a moment. He scrambled off the bed, pulling Ianto with him. “I never thought he would,” Jack said quietly. “He doesn’t…”

The door to the police box snapped open. The redhead he had seen before stood in the doorway. “Well,” she said impatiently, “come on.”

Ianto tried to pull his hand free, but Jack just held it tighter. “No. We go together or not at all.”

“He wants to see both of you,” Amy emphasized. “So does the TARDIS. Apparently she’s quite insistent about it. Don’t keep her waiting.”

As Jack crossed the threshold, he felt the soothing presence of the ship. He pressed his hand against her and brought Ianto’s up to touch her as well. The ship’s voice came to him as she always had. Ianto looked surprised and then said reverently, “She’s singing.”

Jack smiled. He had guessed that Ianto would communicate immediately with the TARDIS; he was sensitive to psychic phenomena. Jack leaned his cheek against her to hear even more clearly. Her song had words, whispers he could barely hear. “My Champion…”

“Hello, my lady,” he murmured.

“Your One is with you and he hears my song. A beautiful soul, your One. He brings light to you.”

“Yes.” Jack’s stomach twisted a bit. He still had not shaken that dream off – Ianto dead in his arms because of something Jack did.

The TARDIS sent soothing tones to him. “Fear not. He will live. Time has joined him to you.”

Before he could ask what she meant, he heard a throat being cleared. This was the moment of truth then. He touched Ianto’s shoulder and they turned together.

The man standing beside the console didn’t look like anyone Jack had seen before. He must have regenerated. It was a younger body with brown hair and bright green eyes. And for the first time in so many years, Jack looked at the Doctor and was unmoved. No pull of attraction, no desire to flirt, nothing. He was just a friend from Jack’s past. It was oddly refreshing.

With his hand on Ianto’s back to make sure he didn’t stay behind, Jack mounted the steps to the platform. He waited for the Doctor to speak. When he didn’t, Jack said, “Interesting what you’ve done with the place.”

“Yes, well,” the Doctor said, shuffling his feet, “new me and all. Decided to match.”

“This is Ianto Jones, my…” He hesitated, looked at Ianto and then said firmly, “My partner.”

It was the truth. Ianto squeezed his hand. It felt wonderful.

“I remember you, Mr. Jones;” the Doctor said, nodding. “You managed the Rift while Jack was on the Crucible with me.”

“Yes, sir. I saw you before that, the other you, I mean. I was at Canary Wharf that day.”

The Doctor looked sad. “I didn’t realize there were survivors.”

“There were twenty-seven of us.”

Jack knew the Doctor had not stayed long enough to check. He’d been long gone by the time Jack had gotten there. Most of the living had already been taken to hospitals, but his team had managed to find three more when they searched the wreckage.

The Doctor bowed his head. “I should have stayed. But I lost someone very close to me.”

Ianto said quietly, “So did eight hundred other families.”

Although there was no rebuke in the statement, the Time Lord winced. “I’m not that person any longer.” A pause, then: “Mr. Jones, have you ever traveled through time…?”

Jack had no patience left. He wanted to be in bed with Ianto safely lying against him, not listening to a Time Lord circumnavigate the issues. “Why did you let the 456 take our children?”

Finally, the Doctor met his eyes. “I had to. It was necessary.”

“Ah.” Jack used the syllable to convey his skepticism. “You let me be blown apart, let the Hub be destroyed, let Torchwood be held prisoner, let a bunch of corrupt politicians declare war on its own people, and allowed nearly six million children to be taken into slavery by drug-crazed monsters. All because it was necessary.”

Amy Pond spoke up. “Now wait just a minute, there was a paradox…”

“Enough, Amy,” the Doctor said.

Jack looked at her and then at the Doctor. He should have known. His anger flared again. “So, you didn’t come to help me. You came to fix a paradox in Time. Something this week changed the future.” More bitterness threatened to overwhelm him. “I suppose it was my fault. It’s always my fault.”

Ianto touched his cheek, turning his head so that he looked into Jack’s eyes. Jack could see the fire in them. “It was not your fault, Jack.” As always, Ianto’s touch soothed and reassured him. “Whatever happened, you did the best you could. You always do.”

That horrible dream Jack remembered. It must have been a part of the paradox. “I lost you.” He looked back at the Doctor. “That was part of it, wasn’t it? Ianto died.”

He nodded. “That was part of it.”

“I don’t want to know any more.” Jack was firm. He let his anger go. “It didn’t happen. That’s enough.”

“That Timeline is gone. It no longer exists.” The Doctor grinned. “And your Mr. Jones is right. You did the best you could. It wasn’t your fault. It was the circumstances. If there is blame, it’s mine. I’ve never looked back. You do, and people’s lives are better for it.”

That was a stunning admission, considering the source. Jack relaxed some, but not enough to return the smile. He slid an arm around Ianto’s waist. “Is that all, Doctor? Ianto and I need rest.”

“Oh. No, it’s not. Sorry.” The Doctor went to his console and flicked a few switches. “Come here, please, and take a look.”

Jack and Ianto moved to see. The little television that used to be there had been replaced by a much larger flat screen. Jack sighed. The previous TARDIS had been home. This one would take some getting used to. Not that he intended to stay here.

There was more focusing and then the Doctor announced, “This is the solar system as it existed before the explosion. The TARDIS has marked the Rifts in purple.”

The screen showed blots of purple scattered in between the planets. “How many were there?”

“I count twenty-three,” Ianto said.

Jack had learned to take Ianto’s word about that. “I didn’t realize there were so many.”

“I think that’s why you get more aliens dropping in unexpectedly. It’s a lot for a small system. It may explain why several races are anxious to get their hands on Earth. However, that’s not what I need you to see. This is what it looks like after the explosion destroyed your Rift Manipulator.”

Many more purple spots came on screen. Jack blinked. “Fifty-seven,” Ianto said, his voice somewhat awe-struck.

More than twice as many. That wasn’t good. Before Jack could ask any questions, the Doctor brought up another image. This was a world map. There was still a large purple blotch over Cardiff, but there were smaller circles spreading out from it. They were moving. Swallowing, Jack said, “More Rifts on Earth?”

“Yes,” the Doctor said. “Several more. One or two might make it out into space, but the rest are going to stay close to the surface. The TARDIS can’t predict where they’ll end up or how fast they will start dumping out debris, but all of them will eventually. Probably within the next two Earth years.”

“Torchwood is going to be busy,” Jack managed to say.

“We’ll need to be a bit more aggressive with our recruitment program,” Ianto added.

They looked at each other and smiled. Jack couldn’t resist saying, “It will go faster if you wear your Armani.”

Ianto came back with, “Your coat will do more to attract them.”

Jack winked and Ianto blushed, and it all felt normal again, just as Gwen had said. There were still missing children, plans to be made, and now new Rifts to deal with, but this was Torchwood. His Torchwood. For the first time since the trouble began, Jack truly believed they could go on.

“Thanks, Doctor,” he said. “I appreciate the information. We’ll go now.” He caught Ianto’s eye and raised an eyebrow. “Work to do.”

Ianto raised a brow, too. “Yes, Captain. Work to do. Good-bye, Doctor, Miss Pond. Thank you.”

“Yes, thank you for your help, Miss Pond,” Jack said, following Ianto down the stairs to where she stood. He offered her a hand which she took. “When you stop travelling with the Doctor, look us up. I think you’d fit right in with Torchwood and I like to keep a watchful eye on Companions.”

“Jack!”

They turned to look at the Doctor. His face had taken on an expression Jack had never seen before. “Jack, won’t you need my help?”

“No, Doctor.” Jack was surprised to find himself feeling slightly sorry for the Time Lord, but he went on. “No, we don’t need your help.”

“Why?”

“We need to do this on our own. Humanity has to grow and expand. They can’t depend on a crutch any longer. This is going to be difficult and painful, but we need to do it without outside help. I’m human, Doctor, but you’re not. You watch over the entire universe. Right now, you can leave watching over Earth to us.” Jack let his features soften. “You’re welcome to visit, but we’re going to climb to the stars on our own. Good-bye.”

When he put his hand on the door to open it, the TARDIS sang once more. “Keep your One close, my Champion. He will never leave you while you need him.”

“Thank you, girl,” Jack said. “I’ll keep him close.”

They went out back into their room. The door slid slowly closed behind them and Jack felt a chapter of his life close with it.

 

(no subject)

Date: 2010-10-22 08:38 pm (UTC)
cjharknessgirl: (Default)
From: [personal profile] cjharknessgirl
Oh they have their work cut out for them with all those new rifts. I love that Jack told the Doctor that they would handle it and didn't need his help. It's good that he stood up to him and I'm glad the Doctor told Jack that this wasn't his fault.

I'm curious as to what the TARDIS meant about Ianto and Time. *goes off to read the next chapter*

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