Captain Jack Harkness

It's been a strange couple of days.

Not in the usual way he winds up thinking that about Torchwood. In a very different way. His team are all on edge. Owen screwed up a crime scene, Tosh has been slacking off on an urgent report for UNIT, Gwen is being just about insufferable, and on top of all that, he's had to call the Prime Minister to tell her off.

Again.

But when members of his staff are acting like superheroes then trying to read his mind, that's beyond strange. That's a cause for genuine concern, and he's been waiting for the clues to figure out just what the hell is going on.

They came sooner than he expected in the form of a vicious, bloodthirsty Arcateenian who'd committed dozens of murders over her time in Cardiff. And seduced Tosh to worm her way into their base. Tosh. So vulnerable to that sort of attack.

And now, heartbroken, but damn, she should have known better.

It wasn't like he had an option. He had to kill 'Mary'. There was no way she was going to go back to her planet, not after she'd been exiled, killed her guard, escaped, and seen what was out there in the universe beyond her own planet.

And he wasn't going to let her kill anyone else.

If that means Tosh hates him ... he didn't set out to be loved. You can't do his job and be loved. Sometimes, his staff hates him. And sometimes, he deserves it.

But she doesn't hate him. She comes to find him in her misery, and maybe he can offer her something of comfort in a few soft words that are as close to right as any words can be and the delegation of the decision with what to do about the pendant that made her telepathic.

For what it's worth, he thinks she was right to smash it. She doesn't need that power. None of them do.

"Why couldn't I read your mind?" Tosh asks, after they've been sitting together for a few moments, listening to the constant trickling fall of water from the tower.

"I dunno," he says, shaking his head, and it's ... as close to true as it usually gets with him. He doesn't know.

He has a couple of ideas, though. Whatever has made him this undying whatever he is must be to blame. But Toshiko doesn't know about that.

"Though I could feel you scrabbling around in there," he adds, leaning over to her and giving her one of his best grins in a pretty good attempt at covering the disquiet her question's caused.

"I got nothing," she says, her voice almost breaking with the emotion of the day. He's turned away again; he doesn't want to meet her eyes. Especially when she continues. "It was like you were, I don't know, dead."

That makes the grin fade. (She could be right.) He lets out a heavy breath and looks back up at her.

"I want that list for UNIT on my desk. Tomorrow." Tosh straightens, her face still lined, but she nods. "Or I'll ..." He turns his head. "What do bosses do in situations like these? You know. Regular bosses. Do I get to beat people?"

"We've got rules for that." Tosh laughs.

He lets out an exaggerated grunt of frustration, an almost manic grin on his face as he slaps a fist into his palm. "Red tape!"

"Jack." He'd been smiling, laughing, trying to boost her, but he turns serious now, because he knows how these conversations go. It's usually only right at the end, when she's put at her ease, that she'll say what's really on her mind.

Toshiko was having a crisis of her own humanity, caused by the whispers of others' minds she'd heard. They weren't meant for her. Not for a good, sensitive soul so uneasy in the world but with so much to give. She's crying as she asks how to live with the new world she's seen.

"There are some things we're not supposed to know," he says, placing one hand over her knee. She's so petite his hand looks oversized against her leg, but the contact is the important thing. Touch, reassurance. "You got a snapshot, nothing more."

"I don't mean about Gwen and Ianto and Owen. I mean ... the whole world." She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter."

His smile is grim as he stands and reaches down to smooth her hair and wipe away her tear. It's still all right. There's good to be found in humanity if only you look close enough. Of all people, Jack knows that. And Tosh will learn it, too.

Your name or online alias: JK Ashavah
Your email: ashavah dot jk at gmail dot com
Another preferred means of contact: ashavah ashavah
Character's Full Name: Captain Jack Harkness
Character's Canon: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Character's Journal Name: captgreatcoat
What would you like your character's tag to be?: jack harkness

In 300-500 words total, tell us your...
Character's background (their past and present):Jack was born in the 51st century on an Earth colony. As a child, he lived on the Boeshane Peninsula until he joined the army and then the Time Agency. He took to the heady life of travelling time and space, but the Agency betrayed him and took some of his memories. He started working as a con-man, travelling time and space running self-cleaning cons.

He was running a con when he encountered Rose Tyler and the Doctor in London in 1941, having assumed the identity of an American RAF volunteer, Jack Harkness. The Doctor took him along as a companion. During one of their adventures, Jack was killed, and was reanimated by a temporarily superpowered Rose. She accidentally fixed him in time and the Doctor, repulsed by him, abandoned him in the year 200,100.

Devastated, Jack tried to travel to 21st century Earth in the hope of finding the Doctor. He landed in 1869, but his time travelling device burned out, leaving him stranded. He eventually discovered he was immortal; so did the Torchwood Institute, which forced him to work for them. He worked freelance for Torchwood for many years, eventually becoming the leader of the institute's Cardiff branch after the rest of the team were killed.

There's a detailed timeline here.

Character's personality: Jack is charming and charismatic, which often sets people on edge. He's flirtatious and often suggestive. His 51st century sexual mores mean he doesn't feel bound by any category. He jokes and laughs easily, and appears flippant and shallow, but is very intelligent and capable.

He often keeps himself aloof from people, but he has a hard time keeping himself becoming attached. He's fiercely loyal and protective of his friends and has a sentimental streak he likes to hide. Though he can be compassionate and sympathetic, Jack can be cold and ruthless when necessary. He's a workaholic who spends very little time on things outside of work, and is sometimes accused of having forgotten what being human is like.

Character's skills/abilities/powers: Jack is immortal. In general, he dies, but revives shortly after his death. The time this takes differs from death to death. He also seems to have the power to revive people near death.

He's intuitively good with technology and experienced with a wide variety of alien and futuristic technologies.

Jack's a very good shot.

Any special equipment your character is bringing along? This includes weaponry, magic items, etc.: He'll have his Second World War Webley & Scott service revolver with him, as well as his Torchwood communication earpiece and his Time Agent's wrist strap. It contains a broken vortex manipulator (a time-travelling teleporting device), but can be used as a transmitter, receiver, remote control, scanner, and communications device.

Are you bringing your character to ten_fwd from another game? If you are, which game?: Nope!
Why do you want to play this character in Ten Forward, and what do you plan to do with them? I love Jack. I miss playing him! I love the conflict in his character and I love how much fun he is to throw into unexpected situations with unexpected people. I'm also excited by the small Doctor Who contingent in Ten Forward. I have no particular plans for him yet, but I am sure he will be very interesting to explore in this environment.

Writing Sample #1: Test threads.
Writing Sample #2 (optional): Sample post.