A/N: Well, by now most of us know that Captain Jack will feature in the season 3 finale of Doctor who. (if you didn't and I spoiled the suprise I'm REALLY sorry). I got to wondering how these two would interract after everything that's happened in the last year. Jack being brought back to life and abandoned on the Gamestation only to find out he can't die. The Doctor regenerating and losing Rose. How will they react to eachother? Here's what came from my imagination.
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Truths to be Told
Jack stepped out into the evening air. Dusk had fallen quickly and the breeze had a chill to it that made him pull his collar tight around his neck. He knew someone was watching him, he could feel it but he didn't look around. He didn't want whoever it was to know he was on to them. Sighing he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets and walked towards the Millennium Centre.
"Is that him?"
"Yup. Captain Jack Harkness."
She almost started at the tone of his voice. "What's wrong?"
"That building. The one he just left. That's Torchwood."
"He works for them. So what? So does Rose."
"Not in this world. Rose will teach them to understand, to protect earth without making visitors target practice." He watched the figure head towards the building they were stood on. His toes were right at the edge and when he looked down all he saw was a sheer drop. He clenched his fists in his trouser pockets
"So this Torchwood isn't a good thing?"
"No."
"Oh. I thought he was a friend?"
"He is."
"But…."
He silenced her with one of his 'don't' looks. The wind whipped his coat around his legs.
"Come on." He stepped back from the ledge and turned for the TARDIS.
XxXxX
Jack climbed wearily to the roof top he spent most of his downtime on, watching the world go by. Pushing the door open he took a deep breath, letting the air fill his lungs. He walked to the edge and stood there, he saw a couple laugh as they ran for the restaurant blissfully unaware of the dangers that lurked in the shadows.
"Hello Jack."
He turned round to face the man who greeted him so solemnly. "So it is you."
"How did you get back?"
"It's a long and tedious story. How's Rose?"
The Doctor didn't answer, he just stood there in silence watching him his face giving nothing away.
"Get bored of her too did you? Left her here and found a replacement?" he spat, nodding at Martha.
"Ooh aren't you the big man?!" Martha retorted, earning herself an impatient look from Jack and the Doctor.
"This doesn't concern you little girl." Jack told her, smiling as sweetly as he could.
"Martha, go inside." The Doctor told her, not giving her a chance to respond.
"You've got that one well trained. She actually does what you tell her too!"
"On occasion."
"That why you ditched Rose? Too feisty for you?"
"You've been looking for me."
"Don't change the subject. What did you do to Rose?"
"Nothing. She left." The Doctor's tone was even and his face was hard as stone.
"Liar. She loved you, she was never going to leave you."
The Doctor narrowed his eyes, daring Jack to continue. "Torchwood keeping secrets from their top man? Tut tut."
"Don't toy with me Doctor. I'm not in the mood."
"You were looking for me. What did you want?"
"You left me. You ditched me on that gamestation with no way back."
"I shouldn't have allowed you to carry on living. You were dead. When people die they're meant to stay that way. I left you alive to rebuild earth."
"Am I supposed to be grateful?"
"Well I thought it was quite generous."
"Why you….." Jack was instantly in front of the Doctor no more than an inch or two between them, staring him in the eye. The Doctor's lapel clutched in one of Jack's hands, the other ready to throw a punch.
"You don't scare meJack." The Doctor growled catching Jack off guard. "With your military look and assumed Captaincy." He flicked at the insignia on Jack's coat. "Nothing scares me anymore. I'm too old and too tired to be scared." He threw Jack's hand from his jacket.
"What happened to you?" Jack snarled. "The old you."
"Regeneration. I don't die, I regenerate." He knew it wasn't what his former companion meant.
"Well it's an improvement on the satellite ears. Although Rose obviously found them endearing, no accounting for taste."
"Leave her out of it." The Doctor turned from Jack and started to walk slowly to the TARDIS.
"Don't turn your back on me!" Jack yelled, watching as the Doctor spun back to face him. He heard Martha call to the Doctor from the TARDIS doors, warning him to be careful.
"Why? What are you going to do Jack? Flirt with me? Flutter your eyelashes and baby blues, pout and coo at me until I regenerate for the last time through boredom?"
"You're not leaving 'til you tell me what happened to Rose. You might not care about her anymore, you might have got bored with her but I still care and I want to know she's ok so.."
"Not care?" The Doctor's yell cut him off. "You really think I'm without her through choice? You really think I want to carry on my miserable existence without her? She was the only thing that made my life worth something why would I leave her behind? But I suppose if you really think that little of me why should I care? I'm just an alien, I obviously have no feelings about anything. Isn't that right Jack?"
The Captain stood staring at the Doctor's face in the gloom, he could he his eyes shimmering in the moonlight, his jaw clenched tightly. Jack stepped closer his eyes never leaving the Doctor's. He saw a lot of pain in the dark brown pools and tears misting them over. He'd got it wrong. This Doctor loved Rose as much, if not more than the last.
"What happened?" Jack asked again his voice softer now.
He watched the Doctor purse his lips and give a small shake of the head. "She's gone. Out of reach." He shrugged chewing his bottom lip. "In fact, in this world she's dead. Her mum too." He looked up at the former Time Agent and realised that wasn't going to be enough. He took a deep breath and continued. "Torchwood Tower in London."
"That was your handy work huh? Should've known." The corner of Jack's mouth twitched.
"Cybermen and Daleks. Two different enemies, both with the same agenda. They came through the void. The only way to save the planet was to send them back into the void. We'd all travelled in it, jumped from one universe to another. Completely unintentional but ultimately our down fall. Everything that had been through the void got sucked back in. Rose lost her grip. I couldn't reach her. She ended up in another universe. A parallel one that I can never get to without ripping both universes apart. She's with her mum and dad and Mickey. She's fine."
"How do you know? You said you can't get to her."
"I found a tiny rift that I managed to get a message through." He sighed and moved to sit on the ledge. Jack followed suit. "There we were stood on a beach, seeing and hearing each other, trying to say everything we wanted to say in the space of a few moments." Jack winced as the Doctor's voice cracked. Gone was the anger of his outburst now all he heard was heartbreaking sadness. "She was crying and I couldn't hold her. I couldn't tell her it'd be alright." He smiled sadly. "She told me she loved me. I tried to say it back but the connection broke. I never got to tell her. She'll never know." He looked up at Jack and saw the pity in his eyes and it annoyed him. "You wanted to know. Now you do. Doesn't change anything, doesn't bring her back but you've got what you wanted so I suppose you're happy. You won, the Doctor is in pieces, well done Torchwood." The snarl was back in the Doctor's voice. "So how long have I got before they come to take me away?"
"What?"
"That's what they do." The Doctor shoved himself up from the ledge and towered over Jack. "That's what Torchwood is for. Protect the planet from the alien threats."
"Are you a threat?" Jack asked levelly.
"Does it matter? I'm an alien. In fact, I'm the reason Torchwood even exists."
"You talk about Torchwood as if it's a bad thing." Jack frowned at the Doctor's tone.
"When I arrived in that place they told me I was a prisoner. They wanted my knowledge once they had that Rassilon knows what they would have done with me." He sighed and rubbed his face. "They kept on widening that void allowing their 'ghosts' through without any thought as to why it was there or what it was doing to the universe. If they hadn't been so concerned with trying to prove how great their operation is, if they'd actually bothered to test what they were doing then everything would be as it should." He stared intently at Jack. "And Rose would still be here." He muttered. "They let the biggest known threats to the universe in. You've seen what the Daleks can do. Imagine a universe controlled by them! No human beings exploring, no life of any kind except them. But hey, who knows, maybe the Cybers would have won! Then we would have had millions of humans being 'upgraded', their brains ripped from their bodies and put in a metal suit, never thinking for itself, never feeling anything. Torchwood left the universe and beyond wide open to invasion with no way to prevent it and to top it off it cost Rose the life she knew. She's stuck in a parallel universe that isn't her home and she didn't want to be there. I tried to send her away to safety but she came back to me. She chose to stay with me, even when it meant never seeing her mother again. She chose to be with me and that choice was ripped away from her because of human ignorance. Thinking they know the answers when they only know half the question. So yeah, you could say I'm not particularly enamoured with them."
"You think you could run it better?" Jack challenged standing to face the Doctor on the same level.
"I'd ask the right questions!" The Doctor snapped.
Jack looked over at Martha. He saw the sadness on her face.
"I'm not your enemy Doc."
"Yes you are. You're part of them. You're an enemy to aliens everywhere. You shoot first and ask questions later, just like you did with the Sycorax."
"That wasn't us, that was London."
"Is there a difference?"
"Yes. Yes there is a difference. We don't shoot first ask questions later unless it's a danger. I only work for Torchwood because it is the only way I can find you. I can't be your enemy because I need you." He watched the Doctor raise his eyebrows. "Not like that. Don't get me wrong you're much cuter this way and any other time I might've tired my luck but right now I need your mind."
The Doctor took a step back, not liking where this was headed.
"I can't die Doc and I need to know why."
"What?" the Doctor frowned.
"Ever since you left me things haven't been right. I got shot in the head and I'm still here walking and talking like it never happened and I don't understand how or why. Am I ever going to die Doc? Am I stuck here forever in this world?"
"No." he sighed and saw a flicker of relief on Jack's face. "I sent Rose home, to safety. She opened up the heart of the TARDIS to get back to me and managed to absorb the time vortex. She used it to destroy the Daleks and it brought you back to life. Your body will give out eventually. It'll get old and tired. But no one will be able to kill you. So live to your hearts content Jack Harkness. Go bungee jumping, or skydiving. If the parachute doesn't open it won't matter, you'll still be able to get up and walk away."
"What if I don't want to live that way? For that long."
The Doctor was beginning to feel sorry for him. "We all have to do things we don't want to sometimes, Jack. It's called life. It can be a real drag. But sometime, just sometimes, it can be absolutely fantastic."
Jack almost smiled at the Doctor's familiar phrase. No one said it with more enthusiasm than the Doctor. Only this time the words were flat.
"Which is it for you Doc?"
"Dunno really. It has its ups and its downs. Just get on with it really."
"Living life day by day." Jack paused. "I am sorry Doc. I really am. I always thought you two made a great couple. Course she'd have looked better on my arm!" He flashed to Doctor a grin that made him chuckle. "Well she would have done if I was up against the satellite ears and the baby blues, bit beauty and the beast really" he winked. "Dunno about going up against the chocolate brown eyes and big hair though."
"It's not that big!" he complained running his fingers through it. "But your right, you wouldn't stand a chance. You may have the whole matinee idol look and the American charm, but I've got one thing you haven't got."
"And what's that?" Jack smirked.
"A TARDIS." The Doctor grinned.
"Oh, yeah. You got me there Doc." Jack passed the Doctor and headed for the stairwell, flashing him his cheesiest grin.
The Doctor watched him for a moment. He wasn't sure he liked Jack's tone. "Jack?!" The former Time agent melted into the darkness of the stair well. "JACK!"
XxXxX
A/N: Well, what do we think? Guess we'll have to wait til next summer to find out what happens for real. Suggestions? Comments?
Merry Christmas everyone!
"Catch ya on the flip flop"