az: Just something to wrap all this up. Should I ever want to make any more fics set after this point.

Restart: Gwen's resolution

Written by Izzu alias honou-no-izumi

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Gwen speed up her pace as she caught up to Jack who had been sitting by the pier in a daze. She glanced up towards the darkening sky as she shook her head worriedly.

She brushed away the stray raindrops on Jack's hair as she started scolding him.

"Silly Jack, what're you doing? You'll catch a cold like this... let's get inside!" she said as Gwen started to drag Jack towards the Information Centre entrance of the hub.

Jack groaned loudly as he half-heartedly let himself being dragged along. "Do I have to? It's not like it could get worse, me getting a cold..."

Gwen clicked her tongue at him in annoyance before started fussing over him once they were inside. Jack chuckled.

"Wouldn't Rhys mind it if you fussed over me a bit too much?"

Gwen rolled her eyes at him. "Is that why you kept trying to avoid having to stay at my place for too long? You're worried about Rhys? Jack, for all its worth you're more than a friend to me. I would care a lot should anything happen to you and I did almost lose you—and god forbid no one shall stop me from looking out after your well-being Captain Jack Harkness!"

Jack looked away almost guiltily before muttering his apologies. Gwen looked at him with concern. "So what happened?"

He shrugged. "It's nothing worrisome. I'm just moping."

Gwen frowned. "Moping? Moping about what?"

Jack cocked his head to his side, almost uncaring. "I lost my Doctor. Just that, and another person popped in. I guess this time I took it differently, probably 'coz I wasn't in some life-threathening end-of-the-world situation like last time. And I thought I could handle it, he did almost gone that end that time during the Dalek incident."

"Lost? What do you mean... the Doctor died? Some other Time Lord took his place?"

Jack shook his head. "No... no. It's still the same Doctor, same Time Lord. There was no other, he was the last. He just... regenerated. He—he would just change his cells, appearance, everything... the moment his life might be ending. He'd still be alive... yet, he's a different person."

"So yeah, I'm moping for the loss of the Doctor I knew. Kinda pathetic... yeah, but well at the moment I had time to do useless things like this, might as well take this chance..." Jack looked towards Gwen as if expecting her to laugh at him.

She just smiled and ran a hand over his hair.

"Well... I can't blame you to react like that. I don't quite know the Doctor spare that one instance we saw through the monitor during that sub-wave communication network. But I knew you for quite a long time to know that the Doctor was an important person to you."

Jack grinned. "Yeah... he was. Changed my life, he did. The old Doctor, two versions of his incarnations in fact." He sighed. "But well, I still haven't got the chance to see this new version of him at work so I might give him a chance. He promised to help in case we needed it, I'd kick him if he broke that. Hopefully it won't happen like that. Honestly that man loves to run around so much... and I swear his life gets more confusing the more I knew him. Not sure which was even more confusing; his or my life."

He stopped talking for a moment before turning back towards Gwen.

"Gwen... I'm afraid."

Gwen frowned. "Afraid? Afraid about what?"

He shrugged. "Starting anew. Restarting all of this again. I mean, last time... there was still Torchwood One and Torchwood Two; so even when I had made drastic changes for this hub during the year 2000, it was just for this Torchwood Three. But now, this hub was the only thing that's left of Torchwood. Restarting it again... will have a greater impact to the future of this organization, I'm not sure..."

"Would you let that stop you?" Jack looked up to her as Gwen smiled. "Would you let that deter you from doing it? Jack, you've managed to lead Torchwood before... you can do it again. Now."

Jack snorted. "Last time, I only ended up taking command merely due to technicalities. This time..."

"This time it won't be any different,"said Gwen in reassurance as Jack studied her carefully.

"So are you sure about it? Going back to work for Torchwood? There's no turning back if we're making it official after this. Because right now, Gwen... you not only have Rhys, your mother to look after. There's Anwen too... and I can't—"

Gwen placed a hand on Jack's arm.

"I am sure about it. I am bloody sure about it," she answered firmly. "Yes, at times I hated this job whenever my family got dragged into danger and whenever something just turned out wrongly—but I could not deny that I'm meant to keep continuing doing this job to protect everyone."

She stared unblinkingly towards Jack to show how serious she was. She continued. "It's not just about the thrill of fighting all these extra-terrestial stuffs, all these secrecies and double lives. It's about doing the right thing... and we do need more of those kinds of people desperately nowadays because it seemed that we're quite lacking the type of people who wouldn't just follow orders regardless how wrong they were. That's why Torchwood is still needed and that's the reason I'm staying."

"I know you're worried about me, being the only other member still remaining. I've been through it, I know how many members in the past who have worked in this organization that never lived to a ripe old age. I know the myth... and I know how much you wanted to keep everyone alive. And me, being the only one left now... aside from you."

Jack heaved a long sigh as Gwen tightened her grip on his arm. "So let me stay. Because I won't want to leave you to do this job alone by yourself. Not if I can help it."

Jack smiled weakly at her before shifting his sitting position slightly. "Stubborn girl..." he muttered as Gwen chuckled. "And here I am, worrying if I could ever again find some other team members as good as you and the guys."

Gwen grinned. "Well... at least now you have me, and Rex if he finally made up his mind to join us—and you don't need to worry about him dying too fast with his current situation—and that's a good start. I've managed to survive this long after all..."

He nodded. "That you did..." he said thoughtfully. "Wonder if the fact that you were married ended up being a protective charm that kept you alive while being a part of Torchwood?"

Gwen gave him a look of disbelief before slapping him at the sides. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jack grinned at her teasingly. "Well, you know the myth... most of the Torchwood staff never really managed to lived long enough. Spare some. Most who did survived that myth though... coincidentally were married themselves. Even my late wife, she died of old age."

Gwen poked his sides rather roughly. "What's that supposed to mean? You want to scout new members that fit that criteria?"

"Can't say I didn't try," Jack said as he stuck a tongue at her. "Still, I'd need to find people with exceptional abilities as well. That might be even harder to find; I'll need to get good people with skills as well as ones who could survive all of the challenges working with Torchwood entitled. And reliable enough as to not misuse the knowledge and the technologies we have here. I wonder if I could still find people who fits all that requirement. I have seen so many things... so many different people, as much as I wanted to expand this organization I'm afraid of the risks if things went wrong. Look at Torchwood One... and Torchwood India..."

He sighed. "That's why I wondered if I could ever find more good people like you or Ianto or Toshiko or Owen. People that I could entrust to not ended up being corrupted by all this..."

"You will, Jack. I'll help too, I have a good eye on people... and you're not such a bad judge on character yourself. After all, you've managed to gather all of us together... and there's always Martha. It's like that time when Harriet Jones told you to pass her message to the Doctor. You also have chosen your people well."

Jack looked up to her as if he found that statement hard to believe.

"We'll manage it. We'll rebuild Torchwood to be even more stronger than it ever has been. Gather our strengths again," she said again before winking. "We might even grow stronger than UNIT or any other simlar organizations outside combined! That'll show 'em!"

Jack grinned again. "Who know if we could, eh?" he said as he placed his hand on Gwen's shoulder gratefully. "Thank you,"

Gwen punched him lightly on his side. "Sure. Anyway it'll take a lot for you to push me out of Torchwood. So don't try. Besides... you'd be hopeless without me around to keep you in check." she added as Jack snorted aloud.

"Yeah... I guess." he said before making a face. "Now can you let me off to mope in private?" he asked as Gwen laughed.

"No, Rhys's been cooking lots for dinner. I'm not letting you off to leave me and mum having to finish the rest of those food ourselves," she exclaimed before looking out again to see if the rain had let up. She immediately urged him to follow her to her car without stalling.

Jack chuckled as he got into the passenger seat.

"Gwen Elizabeth Cooper, if I hadn't known better I'd think you're trying to make me married to your family!"

Gwen laughed. "You bet I am! Won't hurt to have an extra hand in watching over my daughter..."

He laughed. "Oh yes... it's all about Anwen, isn't it?"

Gwen gave him a long stare before pulling over. "Of course. If we're not around to protect the past, present and future, what hope do we have for our children?"

"You're right at that," he said before letting out a long sigh. "I guess that means I'll have a lot of paperwork to do and people to contact after this."

Gwen waved him away. "Paperworks are nothing... after all of the things we faced these few months, doing mundane stuffs like this might be a good change."

Jack snorted at that as Gwen steered the car into the oncoming traffic.