OTA

[im_torchwood]

After John Hart, after Gray, Jack couldn't be in Cardiff. He was Torchwood now, not just what he did but who he was, and he had a small crisis and had to get away. Although he'd broken with London's Torchwood after the incidents at Canary Wharf (which it seemed the population had either forgotten or written off) Jack found himself in England's jewel. He was ready to make a new start. And, he reckoned, the Doctor would probably visit London before Cardiff if truth be told.

He'd settled into the subterranean Hub that Alice and Emily had worked in. It had been long forgotten in favor of the building of steel and glass that had been built atop it. Bloody Torchwood...they were supposed to be secret. He'd made his contacts and had put himself to work. But even Jack needed to eat.

He had all of the city to choose from and rather than just go to a pub Jack stood on the sidewalk looking at his mobile reading Yelp reviews. There was a place just down the block and around the corner. Yelp was good and all but he kind of wanted a real opinion so he looked up from his screen and he smiled at the first person whose eye he caught.

"Excuse me...do you know if this place is any good?" he asked, showing the screen. His American accent immediately marked him as a tourist, even though he wasn't.

Comments

[im_torchwood]

"That, too. But never underestimate good parking. Especially in London," Jack said. He was entirely joking and it felt good, even as it felt a bit false. He couldn't just shut out what had happened in Cardiff. But he could pretend and Jack was very good at pretending.

[whispersoflove]

"I'll take your word for it," Anael allowed, still smiling slightly. "I don't drive."

[im_torchwood]

"You don't drive? At all?" he asked. "I can't even imagine what that kind of life would be like."

[whispersoflove]

"I don't even have my license," Anael confirmed, amused by the turn the conversation was taking. Why would he ever drive, stuck in between sheets of metal when he could just take to the air. But he liked walking around, too, in the cities of men, sharing in their life.

[im_torchwood]

"Oh my god," he laughed. "You know what that is? That's like another language you're speaking."

The very idea amused him to no end. Not even possessing a licence? Impossible.

[whispersoflove]

"Who actually needs a car in London," Anael remarked, enjoying Jack's amusement very much.

[im_torchwood]

"Completely foreign language," he asserted. But he was laughing. Laughing all the way to the main lot for the Eye where he pulled in and found a spot near the entrance.

"I hope we're not too late," he said, checking his watch quickly.

[whispersoflove]

"I think we are," Anael replied, unbuckling himself. He looked up at Jack and smiled, open and easy. "But I'm sure we'll find a way." He got out of the car, all relaxed confidence.

[im_torchwood]

"Oh, you think so?" he chuckled. "We might get on but we can't make it go."

[whispersoflove]

"We'll figure something out," Anael stated, waiting for Jack to fall in stride with him, towards the Eye. He looked up at the height of it, gauging. Twenty seconds, at most. At the very most.

[im_torchwood]

Jack caught up to him and walked shoulder to shoulder to the platform. He was a bit distracted, head tilted back so he could look up and up and up at the top of the wheel.

[whispersoflove]

"I like the height of it," Anael stated as they walked, quiet and happy with the decision he had come to. The lights in the buildings were off; there was no one they could charm their way past. But he wanted to give this to Jack, before his work swallowed him, if Jack would let him. "And when you're up there..."

[im_torchwood]

"It's almost as good as flying?" he asked, head tipped back as far as it would go.

[whispersoflove]

"It might be the next best thing," Anael allowed with a small smile, as they came to a stop in the shadow of a building. "Twenty seconds," he told Jack, looking away from the Eye to face him. "Do you think you can trust me for twenty seconds?"

[im_torchwood]

Jack didn't trust anyone, not really, but there was something so striking about the request. Especially coming from such a placid looking man. Jack sensed no threat at all and with one skeptical once over he gave Hani a nod.

"Okay," he said. "I'm game. Twenty seconds."

[whispersoflove]

Anael smiled at the answer, unsure until Jack spoke whether it would be the one he had hoped for. "For most people, I'd recommend closing their eyes."

As he spoke, he walked around Jack and wrapped his arms around him from behind, giving him one last chance to protest, even as he settled the cloaking he normally used around them both, to shield them from human eyes.

"Twenty seconds," he told him again, his voice warm and reassuring. Then there was a flap of wings, followed by more, and they were shooting up through the sky, straight for the top of the Eye.

It was fifteen seconds before they were settled in one of the cabins, Anael's wings gone again by the time he released Jack, once he was certain of his safety.

[im_torchwood]

It was remarkably hard to shock Jack and even when he was he rarely let it show. But he'd seen so many wonders in the universe and he was always, always open to new ones.

Jack found his footing and then turned to look at Hani. He smiled brightly.

"Was that as good for you as it was for me?" he asked.

[whispersoflove]

"I always love it," Anael smiled back just as brightly, glad to find that Jack was not, as they said, 'freaking out'.

[im_torchwood]

That was when Jack turned to face him. Up here the light was different in the way it struck them and Jack's eyes seemed...infinite. Timeless and ageless in a way no mortal man's could possibly be.

"Thanks," he said warmly. "I mean it."

[whispersoflove]

Anael focused on those eyes for a few moments, thinking to himself that he had never before seen eyes like this on a man. It made his heart ache for Jack, and he was all the happier for having given him this.

"You're welcome, Jack," he told him, with a small smile.