Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. Written for fun, not profit

Story Notes: Crossover with Torchwood.

Jack became aware of the alien's return way before any of of the Rift alarms would go off.

He had been reviewing the incident reports late into the night. Earlier in the day, Ianto had given him a stern warning that included them not having any kind of stopwatch fun until Jack could cut the enormous stack of files to half its size. He had thrown as much charm behind his words as he could, but Ianto didn't sway. "The sooner you get through that," he said nodding in the direction of Jack's desk, "the sooner we can play." He then turned around and offered Martha a ride back to her hotel.

Jack fought the temptation to roll his eyes and sat down, determined to whittle down as many reports as he could. Two and a half files later, his eyes grew heavy and he fell asleep. He dreamed of snow.

Back in the present, he pushed his chair away from the desk and rubbed off the remainder of sleep from his eyes. The most tell-tale signs of the Corvix's reappearance were the not-quite headache and the soft buzzing in his ears. It had most probably started as a faint pulse in the back of his head. A barely there squeeze that had grown into a steady pressure--one that was strong enough to wake him up. God, how he hated telepaths!

The Hub was quiet as he stepped into the main room. His vortex manipulator started to hum. A quick glance at the principal monitor showed a brief series of spikes flashing on the screen before fading away in lengthening intervals. Jack cracked his knuckles and started to work on the code to manipulate the fail safe he had co-designed.

No one could find out about this.

Suddenly, Tosh's computer station turned on, making Jack jump up and gaze at the flickering monitor. There, on the screen, was the Corvix, wearing heavy winter clothing and standing very close to a blond man. The human was pointing at the Beaufort Sea. He was laughing. The Corvix was talking to the human while he looked up at the Arctic sky.

Jack felt a shudder as the Corvix somehow located the satellite that was transmitting his image into the Hub's computers. He stared back with a calm handsome face, his iceberg blue eyes almost glaring at Jack. The overall effect was a little disconcerting, for Jack felt as if the Corvix could look all the way into his soul.

The non-headache started to dissipate as a male voice with a Canadian accent popped into Jack's head. My grandmother used to say that there was no need to go around borrowing trouble. Still monitoring me? The Corvix was talking to the blond man at the same time he spoke to Jack.

Jack twisted his mouth. "I don't remember what mine used to say, but I'm sure she had a few words about breaking into people's minds."

It's the only safe way, the Corvix said. Besides, I'm the last one of my kind. Torchwood shouldn't bother with monitoring me.

"You forget that keeping tabs on you was part of the truce agreement? You didn't get tagged, Corvix, unlike many others." Jack winced at the arrogant tone his words had. "Sorry, old friend, but you disappeared after your return to Canada."

The Corvix tugged his ear. It's the Northern Lights. Ray said--The Corvix coughed. It's been said that the Aurora Borealis tends to 'muck up' anything that is useful to 20th century people.

Jack opened his mouth to reply when, suddenly, the blond man put his arm around the Corvix and leaned his head as if he was whispering something in his ear.

But you needn't worry, Jack. The truce stands. After this, the Corvix and the blond man turned around and walked out into the snow.

Jack kept looking at the monitor until the two men faded into the horizon.