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„You haven’t aged a day!“ said Thomas Nightingale as he came down the stairs into the hall of the Folly. He hadn’t seen his guest in a long, long time, and quite frankly, had never expected to see him again at all.
“I’d like to return the compliment, but obviously, I can’t!” Jack Harkness answered, as he looked the other man up and down. “But you do look gorgeous.”
“Don’t ask me for an explanation as to why I age backwards. Best we could come up with was ‘It’s magic!’”
Jack laughed. “Fitting!” He tried to close the distance between them, maybe even place a kiss on the cheek of his former lover, but Nightingale put up a hand and shook his head.
Jack looked over his shoulder, expecting to see the rather creepy housekeeper of the Folly, but if she was there, he could not spot her. It probably was best she didn’t see him, she had never taken to him well.
Nightingale used the brief distraction to turn to business. “You want to formally request a liaison with the Folly? Something big must have happened then.”
“Yes, we have a problem, where we could use your help to solve it.”
“Let’s talk about it over something to drink. There is a pub down the street.”
They left into the chill night. While they stepped down the sidewalk Jack noticed that Nightingale was still keeping his distance, carefully avoiding any brushing of hands or bumping of shoulders. He had hoped for a little more enthusiasm.
“You still got that Jaguar?” Jack asked to break the ice. “It must be worth a fortune now.”
“Some days it feels like I have to spend a fortune to keep it running. My apprentice has it tonight.”
“You have an apprentice?”
Nightingale turned his head and smiled at him, for the first time that night. “Two actually.”
Jack grinned. “So the rumors are true. Magic is coming back!”
“Can’t all be aliens and UFOs that cause trouble.”
Jack laughed, but inwardly wondered, if those apprentices, or at least one of them, where the reason for the cold-shoulder treatment he was getting.
They went into the pub and ordered their drinks, than found a table in a corner.
When Nightingale asked him to explain the problem Torchwood was facing, Jack told him a story of a stole artifact, a missing dog and the possibility that a practitioner of magic was involved.
“I will look into it,” Nightingale promised. “Perhaps send Peter, one of my apprentices, up to Cardiff with you.”
“Or you could come yourself.” Jack suggested. “I could show you around town. Lots of interesting things to see in Cardiff. The Millennium Center, the marina, an invisible lift, my bed…” Jack trailed off with a smirk and a wink.
“I don’t think the last option would be a very good idea, Jack. Not anymore!”
“So you are avoiding me. Good, I was already wondering.”
Nightingale nodded solemnly.
“So it’s you and this Peter? Or your other apprentice?” Jack asked.
“No, I’m neither involved with Peter nor Lesley. That would be just as bad an idea as ending up in your bed again.”
“And why would that be wrong?”
Nightingale chuckled humorlessly. “Can’t you guess?”
“I rather have you tell me, Thomas.”
“After all this years, you waltz back into my life, as if nothing had ever happened. Then you claim that Torchwood needs the Folly to help in a case, that you can easily solve yourself, if it’s not made up in the first place. That’s what’s wrong. You even admit to having heard the rumors about magic coming back, so I have to assume you also heard the rumors about me. So it is easy to assume that the only reason you really came to London was to see if any of the things you heard are true.”
He could see it in Jack’s face, that the words had struck a nerve.
“You’re right!” Jack admitted. “I came to see if there was anything to the story. But also because I wanted to see you again. I missed you. We’re still friends, aren’t we?”
Nightingale sighed. “Are we really friends, Jack? I know I could have used a friend a couple of times those last few decades.”
„And I wasn’t there, that’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?“ Jack paused, then continued „But we could start over now, if you give us a chance.”
„I don’t think so Jack. You may be able to forgive and forget, but I can’t. I remember it to well, how you left me the day after you first discovered a grey hair on my head.”
„It’s hard for me to watch people I love grow old and die.”
„That’s your excuse? I’ve seen you die, more than once.”
„You know I will come back. It isn’t the same.”
„When it happened the first time, I didn’t know that.” He took a big gulp of his beer before continuing. „And it didn’t get easier the second or third time.. I always wondered if you ran out of life, or energy, or luck, or whatever you call it, which brings you back. No, it wasn’t easier to see you die again and again. Still, I stayed. I never even thought about leaving you, just because you were different.”
„I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I learned from my mistakes.“
„Have you?“ Nightingale asked with raised eyebrows.
„I’m trying to!“ Jack admitted.
Nightingale slowly shook his head. „Not good enough Jack. Oh, it would be easy to fall for you again. I felt it the moment I saw you standing at the bottom of that stair.. But I couldn’t handle the uncertainty. I may have grown younger again, may even age backwards for a while longer, but that will pass. At one point I will grow older again. And you can’t promise that you won’t leave a second time.”
Jack nodded, but then leaned over the table and finally managed to press a kiss to Nightingale’s cheek. “I will accept your decision. For now. But don’t think I will give up that easily.”
Nightingale smiled back at him. „I know you won’t. I would never expect that of you. And I wouldn’t be surprised if one day, you’d win over my better judgment, just like you always do.”