Title: The Captain comes to town

Author: PatM

Pairings: Chloe + Jack, Clois, Jack + just about anything

Rating: PG - 13

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the rights to Smallville or Torchwood. I'm just playing with their stuff. Besides if I did own the rights, Ianto will still be alive and Lana wouldn't.

Setting: After season 8 Sv and "Children of Earth" Tw

Notes: Slight Au - Lex is still alive and married to Lana (they deserve each other.) They don't know about Clark's secret.

Summary: A certain Captain is brought back to Earth. This time state side to help out the fledgling Superheroes. Because, like he says, the 21st century is when everything changes.

Prologue

Chloe walked down the stairs into the Talon to get her usual dose of caffeine. She had been up all night researching and working as the Watchtower. She grinned to herself as she thought about her hero name. "Who would have thought that I would end up with a secret identity and a cool code-name," she thought, "now if we could only come up with something cooler for Clark than The Blur," She continued happily musing down those lines as she bought her coffee and sat down to read the weekend edition of the Daily Planet. As usual Lois had an article on the front page and Clark had one on page 2. She decided to skip both and start with her secret, guilty pleasure, the comics section. She knew if Lois ever found out she would never hear the end of it.

She finished up the comics with Get Fuzzy and sighed contentedly. Chloe was having a relaxing morning for once. Her eyes snapped open in panic at the mere thought of it. She snatched her cell-phone from her purse, flipped it open, and looked for missed calls. There were no emergency calls from Clark. No 911 calls from Lois asking for help on research. Not even a text from Ollie and Co. "Huh, an actual boring morning, weird," she muttered and went back to her coffee and the paper

Later, she would not be able to say what it was that had drawn her attention to him, but she looked up to see a man getting a muffin and a drink at the counter. His back was turned to her and for an instant she thought it was Clark. He had the same general build and height. Like Clark he had black hair and was in excellent physical shape. She looked closer and noticed than the man was somewhere in his late thirties to early forties. Chloe let her eyes travel up and down his form and wondered if she should ask Lois to get her one of those for Christmas. "Now where did that thought come from," Chloe asked silently to herself, blushing slightly.

The man turned around and started to look for a place to sit. The Talon had become busy and all of the tables were full. In a rather bold move for her, Chloe cleared off her paper and motioned for the man to come over. He made eye contact with her, smiled and walked to her table. Chloe's heart started to beat faster and she wondered how someone could make the act of walking with a muffin and drink sexy. "Hell if this guy was an actor," she thought, "I'd watch a show just to see this guy walk, no matter what the plot was" The man was wearing dark gray slacks, a light blue shirt, and brown suspenders. Normally Chloe thought suspenders were just for really old guys, but on him, they looked good. He had a blue, wool overcoat draped over one arm. The man had made it to the table and Chloe caught herself staring at him. "May I join you?" he asked, flashing a smile of perfect white teeth. She flushed with embarrassment, but the man seemed not to notice.

"Oh, um, sure. Please sit. I haven't seen you here before. You're new in town aren't you? What brings you to our little corner of the world?" Chloe rambled.

"Just my luck, I'm here for less than a day I pick a seat at a table with a gorgeous investigative reporter," he teased. He faked a pout, but his blue eyes danced with cheer.

"I'm no longer a reporter, and...Whoa, back up! How did you know I used to be reporter? Are you stalking me? And did you just describe me as gorgeous?" The last question was asked on a brighter higher note.

The man held up a hand and ticked off on his fingers, "One: Reporters have a certain cadence and rhythm when they ask questions. I know, I dated a couple. You asked using the same cadence. Two: No, but I can if you want me to. Three: I call them as I see them, Blondie."

Chloe thought this over and replied, "O…k, that's reasonable I guess, but don't ever call me Blondie."

"What else do I call you, you haven't told me your name." the man said with his charming smile on full blast.

Chloe thought that smile was so like the famous Kent smile, but yet not - yin and yang. While Clark's smile implied innocence and made you want to protect him, this man's smile made you want to do things with and to him that were probably still illegal in some states and some things that were just plain improbable with-out the aid of zero gravity. "What areyou getting yourself into Chloe?" she thought. "It's definitely not Blondie," she chuckled. Chloe stuck out her right hand, "Chloe Sullivan"

The man took her hand in his and shook it as he said, "Captain Jack Harkness,"

Chapter 1

Jack took the Chloe's hand in his and shook it, "Captain Jack Harkness, but you can call me Jack."

Chloe smiled, "Thanks Jack. Tea, huh. I would have taken you for a coffee kind of guy."

Jack's smile slipped and Chloe saw a flash of hurt in his eyes and then it was gone and his smile was back, but only at what she would consider human levels. "I quit drinking coffee after I left my last job. I had the best coffee in the world there. Every time I try to drink it now, it just reminds me I will never have that coffee again."

"If he's talking just about coffee then I'm Lana Luthor". Chloe quickly changed the subject. "So what does bring you to Smallville? You don't look like a farmer." "You don't smell like a farmer either. Whatever he's wearing is awesome."

He glanced down at his clothes, his smile replaced by a sly grin "Is that a bad thing, 'cause I can dress in whatever you want me to wear or wear nothing at all, if that's what you fancy." Chloe blinked rapidly at his remark and blushed again. Jack went on before she could get her bearings, "It's kind of a funny story how I got here. My last job didn't end well at all and I took an extended vacation. I was deep in the dumps and my best friend showed up out of nowhere and helped me through it. I wandered around for a while and then he showed up again. He said I looked like I needed some fresh air. After that he dropped me off outside this place next to my SUV. I have no idea where he found the SUV or how he got it here. After I made sure my keys still worked, I came inside, got my tea and a muffin and sat down next a woman with the prettiest green eyes."

Chloe smiled at the last part then shook her head as if to clear it, "Some friend. He drops you off in the middle of Kansas and doesn't fill you in on the details."

"Yep, best friend in the whole Universe. Well, two Universes actually," Jack's smile took on a bemused quality like he was million miles away. "He lets me know what he can and I fill in the blanks. We've been doing it that way for so long I think I would die if he gave me straight answer." Jack smirked at the private joke.

"So what are your plans?" Chloe asked. She was surprised at how candid Jack was. She knew he wasn't telling her the complete story, but it was more than what she would tell a complete stranger.

"Get a hotel room, convince a beautiful young woman sharing her table with me to be my tour guide for the day, and then take you out to dinner," Jack said as he lightly placed one hand on hers. Chloe drew her hand back slowly and deliberately crossed her arms across her chest as she leaned back into her chair.

Chloe smiled as she said, "You're pretty sure about yourself, Jack. What if I've learned not to let strangers get me into their cars and take me places?"

Jack laughed and also leaned back into his chair, "Of course I'm sure about myself. Who can resist these charms? To solve our little dilemma, we'll take your car. That way I'll be the one letting a stranger take me places. Some of my more memorable nights have started out that way." He wiggled an eyebrow suggestively. Chloe burst out laughing, began to raise her arms in mock surrender when she saw Lois and Clark walk into the Talon. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but Lois punched Clark in the arm. When Lois turned away, Clark smiled. Lois looked over at Chloe at waved.

"Jack, I'll be right back. My cousin and best friend just walked in." Chloe said. She hopped out of chair and walked towards Lois.

Lois had just walked in with Clark and they were bantering back and forth. "Smallville, I told you the place would be packed. There's no place to sit. If you had let me drive, we would have been here a lot sooner."

"Lois, if I had let you drive we would be even later because you would have been pulled over by that trooper for speeding," Clark teased.

Lois punched Clark in the arm. "That's for getting lucky and having a valid excuse for once."

"Ow," Clark remembered to say. It wasn't luck. Clark had heard the trooper using his tuning fork to check the calibration on his radar gun as he was setting it up to check for speeders. The fact that he was 3 miles down the road made no difference. You don't hear many tuning forks out in the fields and it didn't take that much to figure out who was using it. Lois didn't need another ticket on her license, so Clark had insisted on driving his truck after Lois had stopped at the farm.

"Hey, there's Chloe." Lois waved at her cousin.

"I wonder who that guy is at her table?" Clark asked somewhat suspiciously.

Lois rolled her eyes, "Clark Kent, defender of the innocent. I got news for you Smallville. Little Chloe isn't so innocent. I walked in on her and Jimmy a couple of times. In fact this one time…" Lois stopped for dramatic effect and looked at Clark's face. His eyes had gone wide with shock and his cheeks were rapidly turning the color of his favorite red jacket. "I'll save that story for later. Hey, Chloe!" Lois heard Clark make a sound somewhere between a choke and a cough.

"Hi, Lois. Everything all right with Clark. He looks a little flushed. You getting a cold Clark?" Chloe knew it was impossible for Clark to get sick and what had probably happened was Lois had said something to embarrass him once again. "Good for her" she thought, "Clark needs to lighten up a little." Chloe suddenly remembered that tonight was the night the three of them had decided on going bowling. Lois took great pleasure on beating the tar out of Clark. Chloe and Lois also liked watching Clark bend over as he bowled, but they would never, ever admit that to him or each other. Chloe really wanted to go out with Jack tonight, but she didn't want to disappoint Lois and Clark. Inspiration hit her.

"Hey guys, tonight is dinner at the farm followed by bowling, right?" Chloe asked.

"Of course it is, Cuz. We've been looking forward to it all week." Lois said as she put one arm around her cousin's shoulder and gave her a sideways hug.

"Well, I just met this guy and he asked me out tonight," Chloe said.

"Sure, we understand," Clark said with just a hint of coolness in his voice.

"Actually, I was going to ask if it was OK if he joined us? If not I'll see if I can get a rain check with him," Chloe laughed.

Clark perked up. Lois said, "Sure thing Chloe, but what about this guy makes you want to go out with him the first time you meet him?"

"You have to see it to believe it. Come on, I'll introduce you," Chloe said with an impish grin.

Lois looked at Clark who just shrugged his shoulders and they followed in Chloe's wake.

"Jack, this is Lois Lane, my cousin and this is Clark Kent, my best friend. Lois, Clark…This is Captain Jack Harkness. I forgot that we were having dinner at Clark's place and then going bowling after that," Chloe said.

"At least Chloe and I are going bowling. I'm not sure we can justify what Smallville does by calling it bowling," Lois interrupted. Jack looked over at the tall young man and saw the hint of smile.

"AS I was saying, we have room for one more if you would like to join us." Chloe saw Jack's eyes light up and her heart skipped a beat.

Jack's mega-watt smile came on and he said, "I'd love to. It's been a long time since I've eaten at a farm and I love bowling. Those shoes are great." His comment about the shoes brought a look of confusion on Clark's face and a laugh from the women.

Jack was chatting with Clark as Lois leaned over to Chloe and whispered in her ear, "Yeah, he's gorgeous and has a great smile, but what is so unbelievable?"

Like a kid with a new toy, Chloe whispered, "Watch." "Ugghh, my coffee's gone cold. Jack, would mind getting me another one?"

Always ready to put on a show, Jack said, "My pleasure." Jack stood up, turned around, and WALKED to the counter. Both women cocked their heads to the side and leaned over to get a better view as Jack made his way through the tables. Clark covered his mouth and laughed at them silently.

Lois breathlessly muttered to Chloe, "I am soooo going to enjoy bowling tonight." Clark's super-hearing picked this up and he stopped laughing.