onlysayinghello | [au] Two Years Gone...

You wonder... what could a man do that could merit robbing him of two years. Seven hundred and thirty days just wiped clean like a chalkboard. How could something truly be worth the trouble... worth all the effort it would take to do such a thing? Often mistakes are made and when dealing with time and space small events spark larger catastrophes, but deep down... what is really at fault here? Is it the man for trying to make the world a better place? Or is it the world for being unwilling to allow such a change.

Another question that should come to mind is just what happens when a man whose timeline has been overlapped over itself countless times loses those years? How matter of fact can a man be when time is at question?

Despite the smile on his face he knows that she can see the nervousness in his voice, a few times was one thing... but this had been encroaching on far too often for just a random fling that came to pass. Still his hand slipped against hers easily, and the soft skin pressed against his palm wasn't fleeting, it wasn't an urging hand slipping free. His hand gripped tighter as she forced him to keep up with her. Through the halls of the estate finding dimly lit corners on their way back in. Her laughter was something he wanted to silence, but he knew that if he started with that sort of behavior she'd never make it out of there.

All the stories they'd shared, the lives they both had lived and the actions that both knew they could take once they'd found the solace of wisdom with each other had become merely the catalyst to something far greater in the end.

Yet somehow they had found out, and of course he had to assume that all of the travel they had been doing as of late would show up on their radar at some point. The things he had shown her... the places they'd gone... it was not exactly what was to be expected of her through history. Now it was another obstacle to overcome in her life. The slow path was too slow and she was expected to live along it with no fear of what she knew was to come for her future. A life without true freedoms... and for a woman that had seen what was truly possible she couldn't let it slip away just like that.

He found her when she still believed in miracles, and still believed that she'd see those stars. He found her at a time when secrets were often commonplace and to find one other person to confide in was a rarity, especially one such as him. The promises he made her he kept, and he showed her as much as he could.

The skills he learned, the few tools he had shared with her and now they were coming for them. He knew the costs and he knew what they would do. Finally they had put enough space between them and the agents being sent after them. Turning the corner they found a secluded room where he blocked them in with as many chairs as he could gather to pin against the handle.

Satisfied that it would at least hold them back until they became truly smart and just drifted into their timelines he moved quickly to her side. A smirk crossed his features, "So this is where I tell you that if you ever need to find me just put your lips together and blow I figure... of course I think things are going to be a bit worse for wear on my end."

Her eyes searched his and as much as he wanted to follow he knew he couldn't. Tugging his watch off his wrist he pulled the back off of it, and twisted one of the dials until it snapped off in his hand, "It'll never come back for me. You'll have to find him on your own now Reinette."

He wrapped the leather strap across her wrist, so small and delicate that the leather strapping looked far too cumbersome on her. Already she was merely a shadow of the corseted woman he had found at the end of his personal guard position two years ago. Now she was his Companion Across time and he had taught her as much of his own trade as he possibly could in that time. Now though she had to go and he knew that he might never see her again.

The pounding on the other side of the door was steady now, the rattling of wood and brass hinges echoing through the room.

"Agent Harkness... we know you're in there with the lady... you've interrupted history for the last time... if you don't surrender yourself we'll be forced to utilize Protocol Forty Three."

"Oh... forty-three, wow they really are upset about this one," he teased as his hands cradled to her cheek, "Don't worry about me, I'm not the man they hired five thousand years from now. I'll be fine, heck they can't even kill me."

Without any further protest from her he moved forward resting his hand on the dial as he kissed her fully with as much passion as she had displayed for him over their time together. Twisting the dial to the right position he felt her arms wrap against him pulling him tight and then she was gone. Slipped into the slipstream of time and space off to find The Doctor... off to create the sort of history that Jack could feel safe in learning about. He hadn't opened the door and so no sooner had Reinette faded into the light the Agents entered the room through a portal.

"Well portals... that's got to be costly in this time period. I mean, those sort of organisms aren't exactly free floating in the atmosphere just yet," Jack started, trying to distract them or at the very least get them to not notice that he was missing one very expensive piece of Time Agent equipment.

"Where is she?"

"I- I'm not sure who exactly you're talking about but let me tell you there's this girl. South Wing of this place... she is just fantastic, and so dainty you just want to... or well who am I to judge right? NorthWest corridor, hallway full of the suits of armor? Rodrich watches them and he's fairly attentive to all sorts of det-"

The sting of a palm across his cheek felt so... pedestrian and in a way almost fitting to their environment. Rubbing at his jaw for a moment Jack glared at the Time Agent who had slapped him. "You know... it took you two years to track me down, I'd say you were slipping in your old age, but then again the truth is you all lost me a while ago and I'm sure the task force has suffered my loss since then."

Jack almost flinched on instinct half expecting another blow to his features, but instead just had to watch the one who thought he was in charge go take one of the chairs he had propped up against the door and take a seat.

"We can make this simple. You tell us where you sent her, or rather when you sent her and we'll go fetch her and overlap her own timeline and you'll never even exist to her. It'll be far simpler than the removing the efforts of a Time Lord.. you're just an agent... rather an ex-agent."

"I won't tell you, so just drop the act now and do whatever you want now."

"We can make you talk, but maybe this will just be more fun. Do you remember Jack the day you met the Doctor? Do you remember what you were trying to reclaim from us in that... foolish attempt to sell a TimeLord Companion a piece of shoddy equipment? You were looking for what was it again?? Oh yes... two years of your life."

Jack was suddenly confused, and for a man who had seen plenty confusion was often not something he felt comfortable experiencing.

"So Rose... she did something to you... she took in the Heart of the TARDIS and she expelled eternal life into you, and well the thing with being something that is meant to be here forever... but with the current... shall we say enhancements... your timeline is no longer linear. You know that, you've always known that Jack... so right now? Today? These are the years we are taking from you. These precious moments with your Dear Reinette. These two years that you spent finally falling in love with someone that not only was comfortable with exactly who you were... and are, but that could share with you the adventures and the mischief that only you tend to enjoy. So right now we'll change your entire history... and when you try to sort this out later, all that will come is a blank. This day will slip into your entire existence... and no matter what you do... you'll never recall her, and we'll never give you this time back."

Jack moved to lunge at him, to wrap his hands around his neck, to reach for the watch on his hand and slip away just like Reinette had... but he knew that if he did that they'd just keep looking for her... looking for him. The hands against his shoulders kept him still and he glared at the man for once Jack had no words.

"So... Jack the Fact... we can let you keep the years... if you tell us where she is... otherwise it's back to the Boeshane Pennisula to have the years wiped and then we'll drop you off in 1869... with the last two years a wash. It's your choice Jack."

"I hear the first college for women was founded then... I'm sure I'll survive." Jack thought they were bluffing... but as the room slipped into the white of a transport he knew that wherever Reinette was... it was worth it all.

[ooc: it was about one in the morning when I suggested that the two years that the Time Agents took from Jack were ones he spent with Reinette and this just stuck in my head all day long. Of course thank you so much to Megs for sparking my mind and forcing this idea to actually make sense in my head since Jack's timeline is pretty much made of retcon I had to figure out how to make it makes sense and after almost twelve hours of thought I came up with this. Of course it doesn't even go into any of the many adventures of Reinette and Jack, nor does it go into just how he ended up where he did, but trust me... it's all in our heads somewhere and who knows eventually I'm sure we'll get the story up here in some format or another]