Tag: harkstiel

“Flash, bam, alakazam,” muttered Jack under his breath.

“What?” asked Castiel, looking at the reading on his pad.

“It’s an orange colored sky,” said Jack, gesturing upward. “Nat King Cole?”

Castiel shook his head, hiding his amusement. The pad pinged at them. “This way, Jack.”

Falling into step beside Castiel, they crossed the rocky gray ground. “Gallifrey has a similar sky,” said Castiel.

Jack raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been there?”

Castiel gave a non-committed shrug. “Angels and Time Lords don’t get on the best.”

“I’d imagine not. You both have a tendency to believe you’re right.”

Castiel looked at him. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

Jack shook his head. “We’re here to investigate a strange signal, not argue over who’s more stubborn.”

“Should be just over this ridge,” said Castiel.

Jack took a few steps ahead. “Well.”

Castiel joined him and stared down at the sight. It appeared to be a fir tree. All alone among the rocks. And it was glowing, not on it’s own, but covered in Christmas lights, as if someone had decorated it and then abandoned it. There was a slight hum of power from whatever was keeping the lights on.

“Well, that would certainly be the reason for the odd signature. I wonder if someone is trying to get attention.” Jack walked down towards it. Castiel hung back, a bit wary.

Jack got closer to the tree and spotted something underneath the branches. “Castiel,” he breathed.

Cas came up behind him and stared at the infant tucked under the tree, sleeping in some kind of stasis field. “She’s Gallifreyan, Jack.”

“Refugee from the Time War, maybe?” asked Jack, ducking under the tree and reaching for baby. As soon as he crossed under the tree, the power vanished. The baby gave a little noise and woke, staring up at Jack. “Hey, it’s okay sweetheart,” Jack picked her up and cradled her, sheltering her in his coat.

Castiel crouched and picked up something that had slipped from her blanket. It project a message in circular Gallifreyan. “She is a refugee from the Time War. She’s been here a long time.”

“That explains why it took a bit to decipher the signal, they wanted to be sure it was someone that would take her.” Jack looked down at her and gave a little smile. “Can we take her back to Gallifrey?”

Castiel shook his head. “I know of a small colony of Gallifreyans, mostly hidden. She’d be safe there.”

“All right. Somebody must have been pretty desperate.” Jack cooed at the infant and carried her towards the ship.

“It was the time war. The fabric of the universe was being torn apart. That does tend to cause some anxiety,” said Castiel.

Jack inclined his head. A dust storm was starting to kick up and he orange sky above them swirled threateningly. He tucked the baby a little deeper into his coat, giving her a finger to suck. “How far away is this colony?”

“Not too far. I’ll put the coordinates in the ship’s computer.” Castiel kept pace by his side, and Jack knew he was sheltering them with his wings.

“I suppose against ultimate destruction, even Time Lords and Angels can get along,” said Jack as they finally neared the ship.

“Not every Gallifreyan is a Time Lord or Lady,” Castiel reminded him. He went in first and straight to the ship’s computer, putting in some sort of complicated code Jack could barely follow. Well, he trusted that Castiel knew where he was going. Meantime, best to see about the infant.

“Did she have a name?” Jack asked.

Castiel shook his head. “Not on the note, no. I can hold her during take off.”

Jack passed her to Castiel, feeling oddly reluctant to let her go. But no point in getting attached, she’d be much better off with her own people. He guided the ship up, getting it free of the atmosphere just before the storm.

Castiel rocked the baby gently as she fell back asleep.

“Cas?” asked Jack, as the ship took over.

“You want to keep her,” said Castiel, going over to the ship’s computer to try and coax into making something approximating the correct formula for a Gallifreyan baby.

“Well, not everyone could have figured out the signal. Besides, I haven’t raised a kid in a while.”

Castiel sighed and went back to him, kissing him gently. “Perhaps we can stay on this colony for some time.”

Jack wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed him gently. “Thanks.”

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“Come on!” Jack took Castiel’s hand and led him out onto the ice.

Wobbling, Castiel grabbed his arms. “Is this truly necessary?”

“We’re in New York City on Christmas Eve, I think it’s mandatory,” grinned Jack, skating easily backwards and keeping a hold on Castiel’s hands. “Old as you are and you can’t skate?”

“Not all of us have time to cultivate your collection of hobbies,” grumbled Castiel.

“Hey it saved my life once. I was in Holland, and there was this girl…” he trailed off as he saw Castiel staring down at his skates. Jack leaned in to steal a kiss, almost making Castiel land on his ass.

Jack caught him and set him back on his feet. He moved next to Castiel. “Here, it’s like this,” he said, showing him how to move his feet. “A lot like dancing.”

“But a bit chillier, I imagine,” Castiel said.

Jack chuckled and took Castiel’s mittened hand, patiently leading him around the rink. By the second circuit, he was getting to be much more sure on his feet.

“There you go. Before you know it you’ll be doing triple axels.” Jack let go of his hand and skated away from him, getting up just enough speed to do a quick twirl and landing on his feet with surprising grace.

Castiel shook his head and skated over to him. Jack had a twinkle in his eye. “Trust me?”

“Always,” said Castiel.

“Relax, and follow my lead.”

Jack put one hand on Castiel’s hip, picking up speed as they went. His other hand moved onto the other side and he gripped him before picking him off his feet and twirling him, catching Castiel and making sure he landed back on his skates.

Castiel’s eyes were wide and his breath short. “Jack.”

Jack chuckled.”Fun?”

“Felt a bit like flying,” he admitted.

Jack kissed him and brought them to a stop in front of the statue. The city shone bright around them and the other skaters passed them by, but in this moment, it was only them.

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Bing Crosby drifted out of the radio and Jack hummed along as he worked. The warm desert air beat against his shelter, but he ignored it, stitching up his shirt and thinking about a world light years away. This particular planet hadn’t seen snow in millennia, but there was work here to be done, holidays or no. A little boy ran giggling in and climbed under his table, folding himself in the folds of Jack’s coat.

“Hiding from your sissy again?” asked Jack, not pausing in his work.

“She wants me to clean my room,” he said.

“Heaven forbid,” smiled Jack.

And children listen, to hear, sleighbells in the snow, crooned Bing

“What’s sleighbells?” asked the boy. “And snow?”

“Well, you know how the colony is surrounded by sand?

“Yeah?”

“Snow is kinda like that, only it’s white and cold and falls from the sky. Like the rain we get in the spring.” Jack hummed along with the next lines.

“Oh,” said the boy, peeking out and making sure his sister wasn’t around before climbing out and sitting next to Jack, watching him work. “You’ve been here a long time,” he said.

“I have,” said Jack. “And it’s the holidays. So you should be nice to your sister and listen to her.”

“I miss our Mom and Dad,” he said softly.

Jack reached over and tousled his hair. “I’m sure she does too.”

“Do you miss anyone?”

“Lots of people,” admitted Jack, ignoring his feelings. He tied off his thread and looked at his handiwork. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

“Okay.” The boy took his hand as Jack stepped out of his shelter and into the colony proper. The place had grown a lot in the years since he’d been here, and he knew from experience they had a good foothold. He’d probably move on before too long, leaving himself as only a memory and snatches of old songs.

“Sing me that song you were listening to?”

Jack smiled and sang it for him, a song about a world he’d never know.

“It’s a pretty song,” he said, stifling a yawn.

“Yes it is. There’s your sister, she’s looking for you.” He let go of the boy’s hand and he went to his sister, letting her hug him.

Jack went back to his own place and put away his work, still humming.

“You always did have a way with children,” said a familiar voice behind him.

Jack turned and smiled at Castiel. “Well, he seems to have taken a liking to me. It’s been hard for him, just him and his sister now.” Perils of colony life, he knew that.

“Still, you always do make time for him.” Castiel stepped to shelter entrance and looked out at the sleeping colony.

Jack put an arm around Castiel’s waist and leaned against him. “I’m leaving here soon.”

“I know.” Castiel kissed his forehead.

“Do you think you could make it snow? Just long enough for him to see it?”

“Perhaps,” Castiel, thinking about it. “He’d go with you if you asked, and his sister would let him.”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t need a kid hanging around. You know how dangerous it is. And besides, they need each other, even if they don’t realize it.” His thoughts drifted to his own long lost brother, until Castiel kissed him and brought him back to the present.

Jack ran a hand through Castiel’s hair, loving the way the starlight shone in his eyes.

“You should rest, Jack. I’ll be here in the morning.”

Nodding, Jack took himself to his cot and closed his eyes, not really sleeping, just resting, knowing Castiel would keep watch over the colony for him.

The morning came sooner than he expected and Jack was awakened by a shout of happy surprise. The boy came barrelling into his shelter at top speed. “Captain Jack, I think it snowed!”

“Yeah?” Jack tucked him under one arm and carried him outside. The whole colony seemed to be outside, touching and tossing the thin layer of snow that was already melting as the sun rose.

Jack met Castiel’s gaze as he set the boy down and mouthed a ‘thank you.’

Castiel gave him a nod and disappeared, leaving him to the colonies celebrations.

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