Come Away Oh Human Child [Jack/TW/The Meddler]

"Say Robin, does the name Jack Harkness mean anything to you?" She asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

For a change, the Meddler wasn't performing longhand computations. He was, instead, cleaning the exhibits. "Jack Harkness..." he said, polishing a thrysus carved with Greek and Persian characters. "Jack Harkness..." he repeated.

He replaced the thrysus, and turned to face his Niece. "Yeah, it does," he said. "I knew a Captain John Hart. Human. Time traveler, thief, assassin. Good kisser. He told me about one of his old flames, back when he worked for the Time Patrol - or was it the Time Agency? Something like that. Jack Harkness..."

A shrug. "It might be the same person. Why?"

"The name has been on the whispers lately, it keeps reoccurring. 'The man who just won't bloody die' one of the Goblins said. Oh yes, I kept forgetting to mention that, I found them nibbling on the console's wiring last week. Told them if they don't leave at earth next time I'd kick them into the closet so hard they'd end up straight into Narnia.." She said lightly, smiling.

He nodded. "Yes, that sounds like one of the things John said about Jack Harkness." He frowned. "And we have goblins on board? And they've been nibbling at the console? Did you remind them who I am?" His smile turned nasty for a second, then returned to the distantly pleasant expression he normally wore.

"Who is this Jack Harkness, Robin? Can we pay him a visit? We haven't been civil in weeks." She asked, her smile widening.

"He's..." his voice trailed off. "You know, I don't actually know much about 'the man that doesn't die". We should go visit him.

"Come!" he called striding down the ramp and across the console room, "To the library!"

---

One of the interesting things about a time traveler's library is history books, and they are interesting because they are - from a certain perspective - histories of things that have not actually happened. ("Although," the Meddler said, nose deep in the catalog, "In a broad sense, they have. That was the whole point of the Anchoring, after all, and the Prime Lines haven't snapped yet.") The card catalog was interesting a well, but from a different perspective - it was apparently designed by lunatics who could think four-dimensionally.

Nevertheless, over the course of several hours, the Meddler managed to track down a reference to "Jack Harkness" in Bowman's Big Fun Book of Temporal Anomalies ("The 57th century's answer to Ripley's Believe it or Not"), which talked about a man named Jake Harkness, who was the legendary founder of the Torchwood Archive Society way back in the 22nd century.

That led the two to a large, leather-bound illuminated tome from the 77th Century, titled Ye Nice & Accurate Historie Of Olde Tellus, Being A Faithful & Complete Rendering Of The Past Life Of Ye Homeworlde, And Of The Circumstances That Bringeth Manne To Ye Stars ("It's a better history than you'd think"). The letters were hand-painted.

"Here we go," the Meddler finally announced. "I quote: 'Ye Captain, who be also known to historie as Jacke Harkness, & also Ye Once And Ye Future Director, & also He That Liveth And Yet Never Dieth, is known to have once walked ye soil of olde Tellus. Let those with wisdom knoweth that, in ye First Century Anno Atomicus, it was he who restored the glory of ye Torchwoode Archives, who saved the Children of Men, & who turned back the nightmares of the Miracle Day. It is he who taught all Humans that there is no shame in love and that we must love all, & it is said that even now he walketh among the stars and watcheth his children for the day that he shall be needed, for he sitteth at the right hand of the Evergreen Man."

Something about that final passage made the Meddler laugh, as he repeated "sitteth at the right hand of the Evergreen Man" several times. Finally, sitting the tome on a reading lectern, he began to muse out loud. "Torchwood, Torchwood... where have I heard that name bef- I remember!"

A grin. "When I was acting as scientific adviser for the OEI, they would occasionally discuss rival and allied organizations. One of them was named Torchwood." The grin grew broader. "They operate out of Cardiff, in the early 21st century. You remember Cardiff, right?"

He headed for the door. "Come, Niece! More practice! Take us to Cardiff, in the early 21st century!"

"Right hand of the evergreen man.." She whispered, almost at the same time as Robin's mocking counterpart. She eyed him "Evergreen man, they don't mean Finvarrah do they? I think the King has other things on his mind.. yet a man that cannot die, I'm afraid what they'd do to him for entertainment."

"No, not Finvarrah," he said, still laughing. "Evergreen Man is one of the names the Neo-Anglican Papacy had for the Doctor, sort of for the same reasons the Sidhe were called the Good Neighbors. They were terrified of him."

---

And so they arrived, standing close to the harbor on a square of some sorts, on the right of them a large building that looked like a museum but could very well be something entirely else. On the left of them was a mirror surfaced grand pillar. She folded her arms and frowned at the pillar, there was something off here. She could feel it.

"Something weird is going on here and I can't place my finger on it." She muttered softly

The Meddler locked the TARDIS door behind him, and pocketed his key. "I don't really see anything out of the ordinary," he commented. "Roald Dahl Plass looks the same as always. There's the Senedd, there's the Millennium Center, and there's the Oval Basin." He pointed with his cane as he spoke. "Oh, and there's one end of the spacetime rift, and... there's the stone with the crude perception filter on it."

He walked over and poked at the stone with his cane. "Now what would a perception filter be doing on a paving stone?"

Sharp blue eyes were locked on the appearing machine as it slowly materialized on screen.
Was it even possible? Did that idiot of a Time Lord finally come back to have another adventure?

"Welcome back Doc" he quietly mused before grabbing his coat.
This was going to be brilliant.

It took him about two minutes to get up top and behind the two.
A cheeky/flirty grin on his face as he slipped his hands into the navy blue coat.

"Now what would a perception filter be doing on a paving stone?"
"We'll you're the Time Lord here, surprise me I'd say."

The immortal grinned silently, he knew it the idiot Doctor would come back one day.
It was just so weird to see him change so much. And each time another lady at his side.
"It's there because we don't like people accidentally finding out we're here...also.." he smiled warmly before stepping in and grabbing the lady her hand.
"Captain Jack Harkness, I believe we haven't met before"

The immortal pressed a feathery light kiss to the woman her hand before turning towards the time lord. Not even considering the thought it wasn't the Doctor.

Sisi held her arms folded as the Meddler crawled around the stone, touching it here and there. She had to rub her eyes a few times because she was having the greatest of trouble actually keeping her eyes on him as he did so.

"I see how that perception filter works.. by Danu. It actually hurts my eyes to keep looking at you" She once again rubbed her eyes, relieved when he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Not true, Niece. I am not the only Time Lord here"

She swallowed, her gaze falling on the ground before them for a moment before she looked back at the stone again, not wanting to meet his eyes. She was going to have to tell him soon how she actually flew that TARDIS, that perhaps she didn't even need the Imprimature to fly it. That perhaps looking into a Schism was something that her mind could not survive.

"It's there because we don't like people accidentally finding out we're here...also.."

Sisi whirled around at the voice, her eyes wide. Startled. She took in the man that stood there, tall, broad, handsome and in 30s military clothing. It made her take a double retake, her green eyes locking onto his. Green eyes that were too bright to be human.

Then her hand was taken, gasping softly as his lips ghosted over the back of her hand. She blinked and finally laughed, the sound merry.

"Well, that was easy" She heard Robin's voice beside her. "Indeed! And here I hoped to surprise you" she answered after him.

She smiled at him, her smile charming, two could play that game. She swatted Robin's hand as he was pulling the man in to take samples. "He's not a guinea pig Robin, we just met him. We don't want him to get the wrong impression of us, do we?"

She turned back to Jack, the hand he had just kissed slipping out of his grasp and softly tracing the line of his jaw.

"I've been waiting to meet you, Jack Harkness" She said with a whisper, her green eyes softly aglow. Definitely not human.

It had been a while since she had used those Sidhe charms and it felt good.

She swatted Robin's hand as he was pulling the man in to take samples. "He's not a guinea pig Robin, we just met him. We don't want him to get the wrong impression of us, do we?"

The Meddler looked irritated, almost like a small child denied candy. "I'm not certain he's getting a wrong impression of me," he countered, "and I'm not looking for a large sample."

Still, he put the iCigar-Clipper thing away.

She turned back to Jack, the hand he had just kissed slipping out of his grasp and softly tracing the line of his jaw.

"I've been waiting to meet you, Jack Harkness" She said with a whisper, her green eyes softly aglow.

"Well, no more waiting for you" he flashed her one of his toothy/flirty smiles.

The Meddler started to speak, then paused and eyed the two - and the look Sisi was giving this Jack fellow. He smiled indulgently. "And it's not even Beltaine," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Now, care to tell me why you two wanted to meet me?"

The Meddler shrugged. "I'll let Sisi explain that," he answered, "She's the one hearing the whispers."

Jack silently stared at the fiery red head, she was no human.
He could feel the strange feeling course through his veins as he watched her move around him.

His blue eyes followed her every move. There were songs of him? And this woman was one of those creepy fearies?
She didn't look like one.

Yet the moment she started to sing he froze. The song washing through his body like warm water. As if he was being welcomed.
His mind however was signaling all the warning signs.
Jack clearly remembered the little girl he needed to hand over before.

And he wasn't very keen on handing himself over to anyone or anything.

So when the red head stopped singing his cocky smile returned.
"Well I'm glad I've inspired them to make a song"

The music of the fae folk wasn't psychic - or, at least, not entirely. Music was nothing more than vibrations, when you came right down to it. And so were matter, and energy - just vibrations of the superstrings. And the music of the fae could alter the frequency and pitch of those vibrations, altering spacetime itself, changing chemicals and modifying electrical impulses.

To the ears of the Meddler, the music had a slightly scratchy note. Like a recording made under slightly less than optimal conditions. But it still held power. Power that he could resist, if he chose. Not that he'd always bothered. Éibhleann would have been able to attest to that.

And now he listened to her daughter sing, and chose not to resist as the song carried him away, bringing back to mind the long years he had spent as Robin Goodfellow, aide and advisor to King Auberon. And his distant, bemused smile grew broad and playful and slightly predatory.

And then the song ended. In the silence that followed, he heard Sisi say "It's referring to you now these days, Jack Harkness."

"Well," Jack answered with a cocky grin, "I'm glad I've inspired them to make a song."

"And well you should be," the Meddler said, lapsing back into the idioms of the Summer Court, "And well you should be, for music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent, and the music of the Lords and Ladies is wisdom true as sunbeams."

He rested his hands on his cane, and cocked his head at Sisi. "Truly may it be said Sisilaya, daughter of Éibhleann, daughter of Derbriu, daughter of Clothru, that you sing with the voice of your mother and of her mother before her. Aye, the three gifts do you possess: a gift of beauty, a gift of voice, and a gift of lore. Now discover to us the meaning of the words sung by the Good Neighbors, so we may know why they sing of Jack the Undying."

(OOC: Yeah, I just made up names for three generations of Sisi's maternal line. I couldn't find a name anywhere for her mother.)