Day Five

Too soon, he was well and truly gone. Gwen heard the swish of the greatcoat as Jack gently closed the bedroom door. His watch and vortex/wrist strap were gone from the bedside table.

She closed her eyes tight to keep the tears back, and burrowed into the sheets trying to inhale the last of his scent. She pulled his pillow into her arms, hugging it tight, and fell into a dreamless sleep, not waking until early evening.

Gwen made herself get out of bed, padded into the bath, and used up all the hot water taking a long shower. She threw away the leftover Chinese food cartons, and changed the sheets, and did the laundry.

It was very late that night when she flipped open her phone and dialed Rhys. And when she heard his voice, she said, "Rhys . . . oh, sorry to wake you, darlin'. No, no, morning is fine, I'm just going to sleep now, too. Yes, Jack's fine, and he's gone. No, I don't know where, but he'll call when he's back. I'm just very tired, Rhys, and I love you."

Gwen went back into the bedroom, now aired out and the bed newly made up. She took another quick shower, and put on a silky nightdress that Rhys particularly liked. She was sure he'd be home before she woke up in the morning. She was tired to the bone. She needed to sleep. She climbed between the cool sheets, pulled the covers up over herself, and with the glass of water on the bedside table, took the level six Retcon tablet she had hidden in the drawer. Then she turned off the light, and cried herself to sleep.

And, six months later, when Jack called, she was filled with an indescribable feeling. He had asked her to meet him late at night, at the end of a long road. Rhys insisted on driving.

"You can't drive, Gwen," he insisted. "You're in your ninth month, you shouldn't even be in a car."

"I have to, Rhys," she pleaded. "It's Jack."

He held off the rebuke that usually came immediately to his tongue and said, "Yes, sweetie, I know it's Jack. I'll drive you."

So there Jack was, standing at the top of a grassy hill, his coat moving in the wind that was so strong tonight. She was almost to him when he spoke to her. "You look good."

"I'm huge," she said. "Are you ok?"

Rhys hung in the background as they spoke.

Jack told her he was leaving, this time for good. She didn't really hear what he was saying, her tears rolling down her face. "I haven't travelled far enough yet."

"Are you ever coming back, Jack?"

"What for?" he said, his throat closing.

"Me." Tears started from her eyes as she said, "It wasn't your fault."

"I think it was," he said. "Stephen and Ianto, and Owen and Tosh, and Susie, the others. All of them, because of me."

"But you saved us, didn't you?"

"I began to like it," he admitted. "And look what I became." He took a deep breath, trying not to let her see his tears. "Still, I have lived so many lives. It's time to find another one."

"But they died," she choked out, "and I am sorry, Jack, but you cannot just run away."

"Oh, yes I can," he said holding her gaze, "just watch me."

When he was silent, she said only "You said you'd always come back for me."

"And I did," he kissed her eyes. "But now I have to go." Pressing a tab on his vortex manipulator, a beam dropped from the sky, consumed him, and lifted him away. He disappeared before her eyes, and she stood stock still, staring at the sky until Rhys came up to put his arms around her and led her back to the car.