ericadawn16 | Longest Distance Yet

Title: But Time Marches On
Characters: Jack, Mica,Alice
Rated: PG-13 ANGST COE Spoilers MPREG AU
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Jack tells Alice about his childhood.
Author's Note: The Sequel to But Time Didn't Stop
Yay, computer is fixed, things are settling down and I have some time!

Masterlist: http://ericadawn16.livejournal.com/113396.html

Previous Chapter: Fun with Airport Security

Longest Distance Yet

Jack supposed the session could have been worse, but after an hour, they had only finished discussing his life until he'd joined the Time Agency.

"Remember you have homework," Selene said with a smile as Jack exited into the car park. He nodded although he wasn't looking forward to it. She gave him a little wave and went back up.

*************************************************

Mica caught Sian's eye and waved her over. Then, Chris noticed.

"You didn't tell me she was going to be here," he complained and Mica rolled her eyes. She had wanted to help them communicate.

"You are both going out with other people now!" she reminded them. Eldora sitting next to Chris and Matt holding Sian's hand looked a little uncomfortable.

"Why can't we all get along again?" Mica asked.

"Because it does not work that way," Chris uttered and folded his arms. After a few seconds, Sian spoke, "I could have some chips."

She sat down next to Mica. At least, it was a start.

********************************************

Alice heard the tea kettle and stood up from the table. Lucia was coloring in a book with crayons while her dad sat in another chair with Iefan on his lap. He was smiling and acting like he was fine, but she knew better by now. She knew when he was faking. Alice carried the kettle to the table that had everything else laid out for tea.

"Biscuit now?" Lucia asked, looking at her.

"Yes, but you and Iefan need to go play outside for a bit," she said as her daughter took one from the plate. The girl held the biscuit in midair and whined, "Why?"

Ever since she had come to stay with her, Lucia had become very...clingy. She didn't like Alice out of her sight for very long as though Alice might or disappear or something. It'd been a horrible realization.

"Because we have to have adult time," she said and nodded at Jack. She was still getting used to her haircut the day before. It was no longer touching her shoulders.

"Why?"

"Because there are things you don't need to hear," Alice explained and Lucia pouted.

"But I'm a princesa!" she complained and Alice tried not to smile.

"How about you and Iefan can have your tea outside later?" she suggested and Lucia gave the toddler a glare. For the most part, Lucia and Iefan liked to pretend that the other didn't exist. She wasn't sure if that was an improvement from fighting. Her daughter frowned and was readying another argument so Alice pulled her off the chair. Jack was by her side in a moment, picking up the five year old. Iefan was by his side, dragging the blue dog toy from Christmas.

"No!" Lucia complained and kicked as he set her outside the door. Iefan let go of the pull-toy and ran to the climbing wall. Lula rushed out as well.

"We won't be long, Lucy. I love you," Alice spoke and the words came out easily before she realized it. It was nice. Jack shut the door and she could still see the top of Lucia's head as she tried to see inside. She sighed, but her dad needed her more right now. Alice put a hand on his arm.

"What happened today?"

Jack took the seat next to her and poured himself a cup.

"She made me...talk. I'm not used to doing that," Jack uttered and took a sip. One session wouldn't be enough to know whether there was progress. She wasn't sure what progress would be exactly. Alcoholism was a life-long fight although it would be nice to have him continue to be more open. Then, she noticed the pronoun.

"'She'?" Alice asked, making her own cup.

"Yes, 'she', you met her. She's Iefan's doctor, too," Jack explained and she tried to think back to that time in the hospital. Iefan's laugh from the backyard carried into the house.

"Purple frames?" she guessed and Jack nodded. She was glad she hadn't needed a special doctor. Alice had also been surprised that her dad had been so civil around her, not a single instance of flirting. It was strange since Iefan was fine by that point. The young woman had seemed very competant though although Alice couldn't recall her name.

"What's her name again?" Alice asked.

"Selene Bello," he said and there was hesitation as though he wanted to add more.

"And?" she prompted.

"And she wants me to...talk more with other people, like you," Jack uttered. They were never that good with that, but she saw now how that was part of the problem. Still, she didn't him to feel over-whelmed at once.

"You don't have to start right now," she said.

"No, I never told you about your grandparents," her dad spoke with a sad look on his face. Memories surfaced from when she was young.

"I asked you, over and over again but you never would so I stopped asking," she said, "I thought they must be dead like mum's."

"They will be in over two thousand more years," Jack told her, "but Lucia talked about her parents. It's not...it's...you should know about mine because...because..."

She could tell he really didn't want to tell her whatever it was, didn't want to relive what he had just gone through with Selene but if he didn't tell her now, he never would. Somehow, Jack Harkness had all the courage in the world except when it came to revealing parts of himelf to others. She was beginning to understand that. Jack drank from his tea for almost a minute.

"My mum had blonde hair and blue eyes. She was beautiful and when I was little, everyone would say how I looked just like her. She was...she was the charmer," he spoke and hesitated before continuing, "Dad was the quiet one, like my brother..."

Alice couldn't remember her dad ever mentioning a brother before.

"My dad had brown hair and brown eyes while my brother was a bit ginger..."

Both of them couldn't help looking out the window at Lucia who was carrying Lula around. Now, Alice had a better understanding of how Steven and Lucia got their hair colour. Blond and ginger were recessive traits, but she had carried both from Jack. She thought for a moment and wondered if Jack was the first born.

"Was he younger?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yes, he was six years younger than me. He was my responsibility when we were playing and..." he stopped and shook his head. Alice wondered if his brother died and leaned closer to put a hand on his knee.

"There were aliens. They would attack my planet from time to time. When I was fourteen, they came. My dad told me to protect my brother and he went back to protect my mom. I had my brother by the hand and we were running but when I reached safety, he wasn't...his hand must have slipped from mine. My brother wasn't with me...he was only nine, I should have been watching..."

Alice had no idea. However, he wasn't done with the story.

"I looked for him everywhere...it was...I'd never seen anything like it before. They had always made sure we were safe, but I couldn't find him. I didn't know what to do. I thought maybe he had gone home, but he wasn't there and..." Jack uttered and set the cup down. His hand was shaking.

"My dad was dead in the yard. Mum was hysterical and she kept asking me, Where's Grey? Where's Grey? I didn't know where he was. She told me not to come back until I found him. I had to sneak back in the next morning. It was...it was all different after that. She believed Grey was coming back. She insisted on having a place for him at every meal for when he came back, but sometimes, she'd admit the truth. Then, she'd say I killed him," Jack explained and his blue eyes were particularly haunted, "She hated me. I think she wished they had taken me instead of him."

Alice moved from her seat to put her arms around her father. Now, she knew why he was so insistent on Steven's death being just as bad if he wasn't an only child. She couldn't imagine hating a child over that.

"It wasn't your fault. You were only fourteen," Alice spoke and hugged him.

"I know. Selene said that, too, but it was just...hard. All I wanted was her love and she never gave it to me again," he uttered.

"That's when you joined the Time Agency?" Alice guessed.

"No, you had to be sixteen for that so I just tried to find love wherever I could, anyone or anything that could give me the attention that she couldn't give me anymore," he whispered, "After that all went wrong...that's when I signed up..."

If her dad was capable of abusing alcohol, he could have done other things in the past and just fourteen or fifteen, that was just a baby. She understood why he had never wanted to tell her about them before and she couldn't blame him.

"Oh, dad..." she said and hugged him as tight as she could with her large belly. Then, she kissed him on the cheek and told him, "I love you."

Jack squeezed her back and held on. She tried to ignore the slight shudder of his body or the sob from his throat.

"I love you, too, never doubt that," he uttered.
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