Title: Conversations at a Wedding: An Epilogue to Evolution

Author: Emma

Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Rhys Williams, Martha Jones, others

Rating: Starts PG, but hey, it’s got Jack and Ianto in it!

Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?

Summary: Rhys Williams has his own monsters to fight…

Author’s Note: This story takes place in a totally different AU from Homecoming. In this one, Gwen and Owen died at the end of TW2.

Author’s Note: A little experiment in dialog-only… And if anyone wants to see how I visualize Martha’s dress, here it is, sorta/kinda.

here

You look stunning. I knew you would.

Any woman would in this. Where did you find it?

Oh, well, you know, I was doing the odd bit of cleaning around the TARDIS…

Doctor.

They were my mother’s wedding robes. Some of them. I didn’t think you’d want the other six layers.

Eight layers? How did they manage?

By sitting down a lot. Gallifreyan weddings were boring.

They’re a family heirloom…

You’re all my family now. Besides, they’re going to get a lot of… oops.

You’re not going to tell me, are you?

You know I can’t.

Never mind, Doctor. Whatever happens Rhys and I will deal with it together.

That’s my Martha.

***********

She looks like a princess in a Rackham illustration.

That she does. Our own little princess bridesmaid looks rather special herself.

She’s managed to keep clean and undamaged through the ceremony and the photos. I can’t guarantee what’ll happen at the reception. There are horses around.

Just make sure she takes off the hair ornaments. Spiderine emeralds are rather rare.

Are you telling me they are real?

Everything is real, Ianto. Martha is wearing the gross national product of several small countries. To be crass about it, the Doc’s family must have been loaded even by Gallifreyan standards.

Speaking of the Doctor. He seems to have developed a rather odd fascination with our eldest daughter.

And she with him. You’re not going to be an overprotective parent, are you?

Me? I can’t wait to see what you’ll do eight years from now when she tells you how she’s going to spend her gap year.

I’ll give her my blessing. I will. I will! After I scream at both of them for a few hours.

***********

I never thanked you for saving my life. Back at the mine.

Oh, that. Don’t worry about it. That was in the way of paying a debt.

You don’t owe me anything.

I owed Gwen. When I managed to disarm the bomb Gray had attached to my wrist strap I went back to the Hub. She was on the steps to the medical bay, you know, and I was trying to stop the bleeding. I didn’t hear Gray come up behind me. She shot him before he could put a knife in my back. The last thing she said to me was you owe me a big one, and  you better pay up or I’ll come back to haunt you.

And you’ve been feeling an invisible breath on the back of your neck all this time, yeah?

Something like that.

***********

No, thanks. I have been up for three days. I don’t want to embarrass Martha or Rhys by falling asleep even before they cut the cake. Interesting custom that, and one that would get you in trouble…

Doc, focus a bit here. What did you find out?

For one, that your mainframe is rather an interesting thing, you know. She’ll wake up one of these days and the Vortex knows what will happen…

Doctor!           

Sorry, Jack. Everything is fine. It seems the little ones were meant to be here all along.

You’re sure?

I took a quick trip down the time line and there are no Reapers showing up at any point for the next two hundred years. The girls are safe. Their genes will be a major contributing factor to the evolutionary leap, but it’s not the only one.

Thank you. I wasn’t looking forward to uprooting them, not to mention Ianto.

He would do very well anywhere you went, Jack.

I know. It’s me. I don’t want to leave. Sooner or later I’ll lose all of them but for now I’m going to enjoy this life, these people.

Loving mortals breaks your heart, Jack.

So what’s your excuse?

***********

I can’t believe you took McKenzie away.

As long as he stayed here he was a temptation to all the idiots looking for shortcuts. Back home he’s been put to work.

Doing what?

Helping terraform a very hostile little planet that shows great promise.

And you trust him?

Martha, do I look like I come from trusting stock? My Nest Mother rides him like a farm mule. But it’s either that or execution.

Jesus, John. That’s a little excessive, isn’t it?

He committed the worst sort of crimes. Genetic experimentation on an unsuspecting population. Slavery…

What do you mean, slavery?

What do you think Mike and the girls would have been? They were only the first step, Martha. Breeding stock for the next generation.

I see. Why are you keeping him alive, then?

Jack believes in punishment in this life, not the next.

***********

I will make her happy, Jack.

You had better. It’s not only me you would have to face. And he can be ruthless in ways I can’t even imagine, much less imitate.

He’s very important to her.

Not as important as you.

Sometimes I feel a little… Gwen had you, Martha has him.

Does it matter? They both chose you.

***********

Everyone’s having a good time.

It was good of you to host the wedding.

We’ve been needing things to celebrate, haven’t we? Besides, it’s Rhys. Family.

You’re going to miss him.

He was an excellent farm manager, but I think Miss Jones will do. Keeps it in the family, so to speak.

So it’s settled, then?

Well, I was surprised she wanted to move out in the middle of nowhere after her London life, but she says she’s tired of pushing numbers for corporations. We’re lucky to get her, really.

Yes, Tish is quite a catch.

Yes, she is. So, Ianto, I noticed, Tish and Jack…

They went through some terrible things together and remain very close. But she’s not in love with him, if that’s what you mean.

All right, then.

A warning, Thomas.  You know how protective Jack is with Martha and Toshiko? Double that for Tish.

Rhys told me about the piranhas.

Keep it in mind.

***********

What do you say we run away, Mrs. Williams?

Good idea. Mr. Williams. With Jack and the Doctor giving swing dancing lessons, nobody is looking at us. Avoid all the rice.

Do we even need the rice?

No. The little stick had two lines.