Jack Harkness had never been in love before. Sure, he's usually liked the people he'd slept with, flirted incessantly, but he'd never actually been in love. Until he met the Doctor and Rose Tyler.

Rose was a sweetheart. She flirted with him and joked with him, and in any other circumstances, he would've taken her to bed almost immediately. Then she'd introduced him to the Doctor.

The Doctor was tall and funny, strong and absolutely brilliant. He too flirted back, sometimes Jack thought he was joking, but other times, he wasn't so sure. Sometimes he could've sworn that the look in the Doctor's eyes was longing and lustful.

He had never allowed himself to dwell on that. It couldn't be possible, he'd decided, that a Time Lord, the Last Time lord, would have any interest in him. None whatsoever. He was sure of it. The Doctor was 900 years old. He'd seen everything. Usually when Jack wanted to seduce someone, he'd shock them. Show them things that they'd never seen, never even dreamed of.

But the Doctor knew more than he did. He'd seen more, done more, been more places. Jack couldn't shock him, there was nothing he could do to shake him. So he showed Rose.

Told her outrageous stories, did outrageous things, and flirted with her. A lot. It made the Doctor angry. Really angry.

"Why are you doing this to her?" the Doctor demanded, after Jack had sent Rose off to bed giggling like a school girl.

"Doing what?" Jack had replied casually, secretly dying that the Doctor seemed to have some sort of feelings for Rose. Sure, he'd always knew, but he'd been able to ignore it till now.

"Leading her on like this?" the Doctor had asked, no longer seeming angry, just weary.

"It's just a little harmless flirting, Doc," he had said flippantly, watching the Doctor's reaction.

"She's just a girl, Jack," the Doctor had told him, his voice softening, "Why do this to her when it's not her you want, hmm?"

That had shocked Jack.

"Wh-What?" he'd stuttered, wondering if the Doctor had known, hoping maybe the Doctor was jealous, not of him, but of Rose.

"Unless I am wrong," the Doctor had begun, "and I'm never wrong, then you have developed feelings. For me." Jack had started to interrupt, planning to deny it vehemently, but the Doctor waved him off. "So you flirt with Rose, trying to make me jealous maybe, or just flirting 'cos she's there and you thought I'd never want you, and now she thinks you want her. But you don't, do you?" Jack considered denying it. But the Doctor knew. There was no point.

"Yeah, basically. I wasn't trying to make you jealous though, I just--" Jack had been cut off suddenly by the Doctor's mouth on his. He'd been stunned for a moment, but soon relaxed into the Doctor's embrace, surprisingly gentle.

The following morning, Rose was looking for Jack. He'd said he'd tell her more stories, and she wanted to hear them. She didn't see him in his room, and he wasn't anywhere else. Maybe she'd ask the Doctor.

She opened his door quickly. Her question died on her lips as she surveyed the scene in front of her.

The Doctor was sprawled on his back, one arm above his head, the other wrapped around Jack. Jack was lying on his stomach, half on top of the Doctor, his head on the Doctor's chest.

"No!" she shouted, startling both of them awake, "NO!" Jack and the Doctor scrambled to cover themselves. The Doctor pulled on his pants, and looked at Jack momentarily, a silent agreement passing between them. He went to Rose, who was crying in the doorway.

"Rose," he said, "Rose, I'm sorry, I--" he was cut off by Rose's sharp slap to the face. The Doctor took a deep breath, ready to continue, but Rose interrupted.

"I want to go home."

The Doctor froze. He looked to Jack who was buttoning his pants, who had stopped as well.

"Rose, I know you're mad, but--" she cut off Jack's sentence again, repeating herself.

"I want to go home. Doctor, take. Me. Home. Now." The Doctor looked stunned. He nodded numbly.

"Okay. Okay, Rose, let us get dressed and we'll bring you home." Jack looked shocked by the Doctor's quick agreement. The moment she left the room, he turned to the Doctor with raised eyebrows, looking confused as hell.

"What do we do?" the Doctor asked, as he yanked a shirt over his head. Jack understood immediately. He'd only agreed to Rose's demands to get them alone, so they could figure out what to do.

"I don't know. But, Doctor, I've wanted this for too long to give it up now." The Doctor looked touched and he smiled softly. He kissed Jack gently, holding him close. "I think I'm in love with you, Doctor." The Doctor inhaled sharply, look into Jack's eyes, seeing his sincerity and closing his eyes with a sigh.

"I don't know if I love you, Jack," he began, "but I know that I could be." Jack smiled into the Doctor's neck, his hand's over the Doctor's twin heart-beats.

"Good enough for me," he said, earning a smirk from the Doctor, "But really, what do we do?''

"I think we should let her go," the Doctor said slowly, "But give her a means to talk to us, so when she realizes that she can't go back to that life, she can come home." Jack nodded. The Doctor was right. They had to respect her wishes.

They finished dressing quietly and returned to the controls of the TARDIS. Rose was there, looking furious.

"Rose, we're sorry," Jack said as the Doctor started to bring them back to 21st Century London, "We never meant for you to get hurt. We're going to take you back, but you can still use your "Superphone" to talk to us, if you ever want to come back to us, okay?" Rose nodded mutely, her phone suddenly weighing heavily in her pocket.

Six months later, at the moon colony in 2497, Jack and the Doctor received a call. Rose wanted to come home.

"I've met someone," she'd said, after asking if they could come with them, "It may surprise you but I love…her." Jack and the Doctor were surprised, but not upset.

"Her name is Tegan, Doctor, and she said she used to be your companion. She said she's from '84, but she made it to 2005 with a Time Agent. She says she misses traveling. Can she come, please Doctor?" The Doctor nodded, smiling at the prospect of seeing his girls again.

Tegan and Rose came aboard the TARDIS and the four of them lived happily ever after.

END