Jack

[logan_echolls]

Christmas was well in the past now, and Logan had settled into the new year. Things with Jack were- Well, they were as normal as he could hope, though things were still strange. There was no easy way to just get over learning some other him had lived some other life- With a man who was now his boss. Still, Logan had accepted that life was complicated, and he'd moved on as best as he could.

It was late now and most of the team had already left- But not Jack. Logan was certain the man never truly left work. Even when he said he was taking a night off, he was sure he was just working on something else. So after clicking off the lights in the record room he made his way to Jack's office, pushing open the unlocked door and leaning against the door frame.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," he tutted. "Come on, we're going out," he decided.

Comments

[im_torchwood]

"I can't. I've got to finish submitting this paperwork," he said, bent over his desk.

[logan_echolls]

Logan rolled his eyes, walking over and looking at what Jack was working on.

"Is the honeymoon over then?" he quipped dryly, catching Jack's wrist and giving it a light squeeze before letting go. "Come out with me," he said again, softer this time. "Or stay in, I don't mind."

[im_torchwood]

Jack dropped his pen and looked up. He felt like he should beg off, should give Logan time and space now that he's screwed everything up. But then he said it like that and Jack's resolve crumbled.

"Okay, okay. Let me get my coat."

[logan_echolls]

Logan nodded, watching him for a beat before speaking again.

"We could go to mine if you don't want to go out. Order pizza or something," he offered.

[im_torchwood]

"That actually sounds kind of nice," he said. "Is there anything new on Netflix?"

He got up and slipped his coat on, then switched off the desk lamp.

[logan_echolls]

"Not a clue," Logan admitted, grabbing his own coat on the way out.

His flat wasn't far, and the place was small and half empty. It was a far cry from the penthouses and mansions he'd once called home. Logan had adapted to modest living a long time ago though, way before the money had dried up. All of the furniture here had clearly come with the place, bar a few weights in the corner and a pull-up bar fixed to one of the door frames.

"You want a beer?" he offered, pulling out his phone and already using an app to order a few pies.

[im_torchwood]

"I'll just have some water," he replied. "But thanks."

While Logan placed the call, Jack looked around. Not bad at all.

[logan_echolls]

"Only have that purified stuff with electrolytes," he said, offering Jack a bottle of water meant for sport. He hadn't bothered with a beer either in the end, instead settling on a sports drink.

"Make yourself at home. Pizza should be about half an hour."

Truth be told, he wasn't sure why he'd invited Jack here- Other than curiosity, and, perhaps, loneliness.

[im_torchwood]

Making himself at home meant he took off his coat and laid it over a chair, then took the water and sipped it.

"This is not what I imagined your flat would be like," he said.

[logan_echolls]

"You'd be amazed how quickly your tastes change when your bank account runs dry," Logan quipped, moving to sit down. "I don't need much anyway. Never did, if I'm honest with myself."

[im_torchwood]

Jack nodded in understanding.

"I get that," he said.

[logan_echolls]

Logan nodded a little, then wet his lips.

"I'm having those dreams again. I told you I'd had them when I was younger- Dreams about a beach, an island, some weird place. It was a long time ago, and they're hazy to me now, but- I'm having them again, and now- You're in them. And I don't know if it's because of what you told me, or if you've always been in them," he admitted. "I debated if I should even bring it up, had even decided I shouldn't, but- You're here and I'm..."

Logan trailed off, but spoke again before Jack had a chance to reply.

"It's on my mind, a lot, and some of it- It's detailed. I remember a building, this huge place... A kitchen, a woman making sweets- And I swear, sometimes I see- I see someone I knew a long time ago. A girl- But she's just a girl with a face I knew, she's not her."

His voice cracked slightly as his thoughts went to Lily, but he cleared his throat and shook it off.

"What I'm trying to say is- I believe you. I mean, I believed you when you told me, but- I believe, maybe, it was me."

And there it was, a truth he hadn't even wanted to admit to himself.

[im_torchwood]

Jack listened and hope swelled in him. Maybe might be good enough.

"Eostre," he said. "She made the sweets."

[logan_echolls]

"Maybe. ...It's all jumbled though. I do remember being really young though. Swimming with someone- He had... He had kind eyes, and he was like family. Like a dad. ...Better than a dad."

Logan trailed off, lost in some fragment of a memory, then shaking it off.

"I don't remember details though. It's like trying to remember a birthday party you had when you were seven. It's there, but it's all faint and warped with time."

[im_torchwood]

"I know what you mean," he said. "Some things I recall so clearly. But most of it doesn't mean anything."

[logan_echolls]

"You could argue then, that a clean slate might be best," Logan replied, looking hopeful. "I can't pretend to step into this without baggage. I can't pretend I've closed the book on my last relationship even- I mean I didn't leave my wife because I stopped loving her, I left because I needed to keep her safe from this, the thing we're looking into. But I also know that when I made that choice there was little hope in going back. So... I'm here, and I'm- I'm willing to see what happens, if you're willing to accept I'm still grieving what I lost."

[im_torchwood]

"Logan, I have nothing but time. You can take this at any pace you like," Jack said, practically buzzing for this to go somewhere.

[logan_echolls]

Logan nodded, relaxing a little. "Right, okay. Good," he said, looking down at the table for a moment, then looking at Jack.

"You have a movie in mind?" he asked, nodding towards the TV.

[im_torchwood]

"Not a clue. I don't think I've seen a movie since that last Marvel movie," he said. "I'll watch whatever you pick, though."

[logan_echolls]

"I don't watch much," Logan admitted. "The most the TV gets used is for streaming workouts and playing the occasional round of COD."

[im_torchwood]

"Hmm. Well, let's just browse. That should take up an hour," he laughed.

[logan_echolls]

Logan laughed, then shrugged.

"Sure thing, Captain," he said, heading over to the sofa.

[im_torchwood]

Jack joined him, sitting with a good distance between them.

"Do you have any ideas? Adventure? Space?"

[logan_echolls]

Logan clicked on the TV and started scrolling through movies, pausing when his Dad's face flashed up, then quickly scrolling by.

"Maybe something older," he said, wandering into the classics section and picking a western.

[im_torchwood]

"Oh, I've seen this one," Jack grinned, settling in. It had been years- he'd seen it in the theater oh so many years ago.