Category: Doctor Who/Torchwood Semi-Crossover
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Summary: When the Doctor leaves the choice of destination for one of his and River's nightly dates up to the TARDIS, she takes them to a bar on alien planet. There, they find Captain Jack Harkness, who is in considerable need of some reassurance, fun, and guidance. In an effort to give him those things, the Doctor asks Jack to come with him and River on a trip.
Characters/Pairings: Eleven/River and Captain Jack, with a few references to Jack/Ianto
Spoilers: All of Doctor Who and all of Torchwood except "Miracle Day". For me, S4 never happened, so Jack is still wandering the universe, trying to find some solace after the events of COE.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who is currently owned by Steven Moffat, and Torchwood is owned by Russell T. Davies, much as I wish it wasn't so.
River gets up from the bench in her cell with a smile upon hearing the sound of the TARDIS arriving. She briefly looks at herself in the makeshift mirror on the wall, then waits in the middle of her cell for the TARDIS to materialize. A few seconds later, it does just that. Once it has become a solid form, the Doctor steps out, sonic screwdriver in hand. He unlocks the door of River's cell from where he's standing, then walks over and opens it.
After meeting her in the spot where she is standing, he takes her gently by the shoulders, leans forwards, and kisses her lightly on the lips, after which he says, "Hello, Dear." River had noticed he'd been greeting her that way more often of late, with and without a term of endearment, but it pleasantly surprises her each and every time.
Smiling at him as he pulls away, River replies, "Hello, Sweetie. Where are we off to tonight?"
The Doctor smiles mischievously and answers, "Actually, I thought we'd let the TARDIS choose this time— To make it more of a surprise."
"I do love a surprise."
His sonic currently stowed away in the pocket of his tweed jacket, the Doctor, smiling indulgently, replies, "I know. That's why I suggested it to the TARDIS. She was very keen on the idea."
"Was she?" River asks, smiling smugly.
"Yes, she was." The Doctor answers, still smiling.
"Clever girl. She knows what we women like."
"So do I! It was my idea!" the Doctor says petulantly, a childish frown on his face. He goes quiet then, and straightens his already almost perfectly straight bowtie. Following that, he resumes. "In fact, I'll prove it." As he comes toward her, River observes a confident swagger and look in his eyes that she's never seen in this version of him before— ones that testify to a sense of confidence not in his ability to defeat an enemy or solve a particularly vexing problem, but in his skill when it comes to more personal, intimate, private matters.
Upon reaching River, the Doctor puts his hands around her waist, pulls her toward him, then kisses her with so much passion and desire that she is left almost breathless. Breaking the kiss but keeping his hands around her waist, the Doctor, smiling smugly and still with a trace of confidence in his eyes, asks, "Now, what do you think of that surprise?"
Smiling lasciviously as she reaches up and brushes a stray lock of hair out of his face, River answers, "What do I think? I think you should kiss me that way more often."
"Maybe I will."
"I'm looking forward to it." River replies, taking the Doctor's already somewhat lowered face in her hands and bringing it closer to her own for an equally passionate, desirous kiss, which the Doctor readily accepts. River's lips linger on his for all of ten seconds, then she concludes the kiss.
The moment now passed, the Doctor becomes flustered over his and River's sudden expression of intense desire, particularly his own. After removing his hands from around his wife's waist, the Doctor makes another show of fiddling with his bowtie, still not even remotely askew.
Grinning nervously, he asks, "Ready for a bit of fun?"
Smiling with amused affection, River answers, "Always, Sweetie. Always."
Briefly clapping his hands with glee, the Doctor says, "Good!" he pauses momentarily, then adds, "Oh, and you might want to pack a bag. Since the TARDIS is choosing the destination, we could end up someplace where we have to stick around for a bit."
"I've packed one already." River tells him before she starts making her way back to the bench. The Doctor follows her a few feet as she walks over to it, then stops in the corner closest to it.
Leaning against the wall in such a way that he is facing her, the Doctor, his hands in the pockets of his slacks, remarks with a smile, "You are an adventurer, aren't you?"
Smiling back at him, River replies, "When you're the traveling companion, how can I possibly refuse?"
Grinning now, and looking very pleased with himself, the Doctor says, "Why thank you, River."
"Of course, Sweetie." She replies, picking her bag up off the floor.
Leaving his spot against the wall, the Doctor walks over to River. Holding out a hand, he asks her, "Would you like me to take your bag, dear?"
"Yes. Yes, I would." River answers, handing it to him with a smile. The Doctor takes her bag in his left hand, then switches it to his right when River offers her arm for him to hold. Arranged in that fashion— the Doctor with his left arm entwined with River's right and holding her bag in his right hand— the couple walks out of the jail cell. Once they are in the corridor, the Doctor sets down the bag and momentarily lets go of River's arm. Both his hands free, the Doctor closes the door, takes out his sonic screwdriver, then locks it.
After picking up his wife's travel bag, the Doctor holds out his free hand and says pleasantly, "Come along, dear. Our carriage is waiting." Smiling coquettishly, River offers her hand, which the Doctor immediately takes. The TARDIS's doors open as soon as the two of them come within a couple of feet, and River can't help but comment on it.
Looking at the Doctor in curiosity, she remarks, "She's never done that before."
"She's probably as excited to go as we are." He replies with a brief smile.
"Then we shouldn't keep her waiting." With that final pronouncement, the couple goes into the TARDIS, which closes the doors behind them.
The Doctor hands River's bag back to her, then turns to the control panel and looks up, saying, "Okay, old girl, the controls are all yours!" With a bit of noise, including the mechanical, grinding whine the Doctor loves so much, the TARDIS takes off.
A burst of speed sends River and the Doctor stumbling against each other, which prompts the former to grab a hold of the Doctor's arm and remark with a laugh, "She was raring to go!"
"Yes, she was." The Doctor agrees, grinning. Neither says anything more after that, but much to River's delight, the Doctor keeps his arm wrapped firmly around her during the remainder of the brief trip.
Seemingly a few minutes later, the TARDIS lands itself squarely to the right of a door to a bar on an apparently alien planet. After taking a glimpse at the monitor to make sure conditions are safe, the Doctor opens the right-side door of the TARDIS, and followed by River, steps out. Once both are completely outside, the TARDIS closes and locks the one open door behind them.
Looking around, River inquires, "Any idea where we are?"
"None whatsoever." The Doctor answers, also looking around. Upon catching sight of the bar, he adds, "Let's see what sort of establishment this is." Following that, he pushes open the door, River close behind. When they are both inside, the Doctor, looking extremely out of place in his tweed jacket and bowtie, remarks, "It looks like it's a pub or something."
"It does." River agrees. "But why would she bring us here?"
"I don't know." As the Doctor scans the entire establishment, his eyes fall on a very familiar shape sitting at the counter, his body hunched over a drink. A tone of sad recognition in the Doctor's voice, he says, mostly to himself, "Oh, that's why." The Doctor pauses for a moment, then in a quiet voice he assumes no one else can hear, he adds, "She loves him after all." A pang of guilt arises in the Doctor upon his realization that his intense feelings of near-horror may have been the only reason the TARDIS abandoned Jack after he was rendered unable to die.
At the Doctor's shoulder, River, who had heard everything he'd said despite his efforts to keep them to himself, asks, "Who is he? And why wouldn't she? I killed you, yet she still loves me. Nothing he might have done could possibly compare to that!"
Turning to her, the Doctor answers, "He's an old friend of mine named Captain Jack Harkness. And it's not anything he did, it's what he is."
"Which is?"
"Another friend of mine, a girl named Rose, looked into the TARDIS's heart once, and absorbed the time vortex. When some of its power was released, Jack was made virtually immortal, and that— disturbed me. I thought the TARDIS felt the same way, but the fact that she went out of her way to bring us here makes me think she didn't at all. It was just me who did." The Doctor falls silent then, and looks across the way at Jack again.
River, behind him moments before, now comes up next to him. Putting an arm around him and leaning against him, she says, "Oh, Sweetie, you were young then, and not as understanding as you are now. Besides, I'm sure he's forgiven you."
Nodding slowly, the Doctor replies, "That's the way it seemed the last time he traveled with me in the TARDIS, but he's experienced so much heartache since then that I have to wonder if he really has."
"Whether he's forgiven you completely or not, right now, it looks to me like he could use a friend."
Looking at River with a slight smile, the Doctor tells her, "Exactly what I was thinking. Come on." With that, they make their way over to Jack. Once there, the Doctor sits on the stool to the right of him, and River sits on the one to the right of the Doctor.
He politely waves the bartender away after confirming that River doesn't want anything to drink, then looks over at Jack. Shaking his head partly in confusion and partly in slight disappointment, the Doctor asks, "What in the world are you doing here, drinking all alone? I'd think you'd at least have some company."
Jack, who had only briefly glanced at the Doctor when he had sat down, now looks over at him completely. A caustic tone to his voice, the former Time Agent, and most recently, former leader of Torchwood Three, answers, "Unless you're offering to keep me company, I don't know why you care what I do or who I'm with or not with. You don't even know me."
The Doctor is bewildered by Jack's response at first, but then he recalls the circumstances under which they had last seen one another. Looking down briefly and nodding, he says, "That's right. I was delaying a rapidly approaching regeneration when you saw me last."
Jack, who had begun returning his attention to his drink, abruptly turns back to the Doctor upon hearing the last several words. His eyes wide with surprise, he exclaims, "Wait, Doctor?"
Smiling brightly at him, the Doctor replies, "Hello, Jack."
Turning completely to the right on the stool and leaning back slightly to see the Doctor more fully, Jack, shaking his head, remarks, "My god, you look younger every time I see you! And what in the world are you wearing?"
The Doctor hears River chuckle quietly next to him, and takes a moment to shoot her an annoyed look, after which he turns back to Jack and replies, "I like this outfit, especially the bowtie. The bowtie is especially cool. As for the whole looking younger every time thing, it's just one of the perks of being a Time Lord. No reason not to take advantage of it."
"Yeah, well it's annoying." Jack says, folding his arms in front of his chest.
The right corner of the Doctor's smile inches up slightly so it is more of a friendly smirk, and the Time Lord replies, "Says the man who hasn't aged at all in the last, what, one hundred or two hundred years?"
The response finally garners a smile from Jack, who answers, "Okay, you've got me there." After a momentary pause, he shakes his head slightly in disbelief and says, "I still can't believe you're here! How did you find me?"
"I didn't. The TARDIS brought us here."
"It can do that? I mean, without you telling it where to go?"
"She." An unfamiliar female voice to the right of the Doctor says sharply. "And yes, she can. She does it all the time."
"Sorry, She." Jack answers somewhat penitently, looking past the Doctor to see who had just spoken to him. When he finally sees River, he looks at her long enough to conclude that she's quite an attractive woman. He then looks at the Doctor and asks, "Who's your ladyfriend?"
"Doctor River Song." River says, getting up and walking over to stand next to the Doctor. "I'm his wife." She adds, slipping her left hand into the Doctor's right with a confident smile.
Jack is stunned into silence, and so has to take a couple of minutes to recover the use of his voice. When he does, he says in an amazed tone, "Nice to meet you, Doctor Song. I'm Captain Jack Harkness."
"How do you do, Captain Harkness." River replies with an inviting smile.
The Doctor catches her, and scolds playfully, "River, behave yourself! Don't you start flirting with my male friends."
Giving him a cheeky smile, River says, "Relax, Sweetie. You know I'm a good girl most of the time. Any flirting I do, I'll only be doing with you."
Smiling and chuckling self-assuredly, the Doctor replies, "Good." Then, much to Jack's utter shock, the Time Lord, without a second thought, reaches up, brings his apparent wife's face close to his own uplifted one, and kisses her on the lips. The Doctor, his hand once more entwined in River's, then turns back to Jack. Seeing the stunned look on his face, the Time Lord, smiling roguishly, asks, "What is it, Jack? You look a bit shocked."
"I've just never seen you be so intimate with the girls who travel with you!" he explains. "It's really hard to get used to!"
Shrugging and smiling nonchalantly, the Doctor replies, "New body, new personality, what can I say? Besides, River's not just any woman— she's my wife."
Beginning to warm to this new incarnation of the Doctor sitting across from him and doing the best he can to control the painful feelings that keep threatening to come up, Jack says with a smile, "So she is." He pauses and takes a sip of his drink, then continues. "How long ago was the wedding?"
"Five, six months ago, wasn't it, dear?" the Doctor says in an inquiring tone, looking up at River.
"Five." River replies, letting go of his hand and elbowing him in the side, which results in a sharp, protesting 'Ow!' from him. "You'd better have memorized the date we got married by the time our one year anniversary comes around." River adds with a trace of annoyance in her voice.
"I will have, dear, don't worry." the Doctor replies apologetically.
"I'm glad to hear it." River says, smiling and slipping her hand back into his.
After quickly stifling an amused grin, Jack remarks, "So not very long ago, then."
"No." the Doctor replies. "But enough about me. How have you been?"
"Alright, I guess." Jack answers, turning away and shrugging.
Knowing very well that isn't the case, the Doctor tries another tact to draw him out. Leaning forward (a movement made easier by River accommodatingly releasing his hand and sitting back down) and lightly putting a hand on Jack's right arm, the Doctor asks gently, "What's the matter, Jack? What's made you start wandering the universe alone?"
Jack sighs deeply, then looks over at him again and answers, "A lot had happened before the…previous you saw me like this at that other bar— enough that I couldn't bear being on Earth anymore, so I left."
"Anything you'd like to talk about?" the Doctor asks kindly.
"Not right now, no." Jack replies, turning away again and taking another sip of his drink.
"Alright, that's fine." the Time Lord says understandingly, lifting his hand off Jack's arm. Jack, for his part, expects the Doctor to get up and leave right then and there. Much to the former Torchwood leader's surprise, however, he doesn't. Instead, he simply sits there quietly, as if pondering over something, and occasionally exchanges an affectionate look, word, or gesture with River.
After a few minutes, the Doctor, turning back toward Jack with a small smile, says, "You know what I think you need?" Jack looks at him with the slightest bit of interest. "You need to have some good, proper fun." The Doctor finishes.
"Fun, huh?" Jack replies with a doleful smile.
"Yeah, works every time." the Doctor answers confidently.
"Do you have a different suggestion for me than the one you gave last time?" Jack asks, a slight tone of reproach in his voice.
The Doctor, somewhat taken aback, replies, "That's not what I was going to suggest, but now I'm curious what happened. Did it not work out? Did he not want to, you know, do that?"
Jack can't help but smile at the Doctor 'saying but not saying' what both of them know he's talking about. Jack then says, "No, it worked out fine, and he was very willing, but…" Following the final word, his smile disappears, and he lapses into silence.
"But what, Jack?" the Doctor asks gently, placing his hand on Jack's arm again.
"It didn't really help. That kind of thing isn't enough for me anymore, and doesn't make it easier to move on, not after…" Jack, appearing to be on the verge of tears, looks away and swallows hard, in an attempt to regain his composure. During the few minutes it takes him to do so, not once does the Doctor lift his hand. Finally, after a considerable amount of wiping his eyes, Jack resumes. "That kind of thing just doesn't help anymore, not after everything that's happened." he explains sadly.
Jack's expression and tone of voice make it very clear to the Doctor that he'd wanted to say something else entirely, but couldn't bring himself to. The Time Lord doesn't press him on it, however, but instead, says comfortingly with a sad smile as he stands up and walks over, "Then we'll find something else that does." Upon reaching Jack, the Doctor, putting an arm around his shoulder, tells him, "Come on. You're taking a trip in the TARDIS with River and me."
"Is that okay with her?" Jack asks in an almost childlike manner.
"River or the TARDIS?"
"Both, I guess, but mostly River." Jack suddenly realizes the impropriety of referring to his old friend's new wife by her first name after only just meeting her, and rushes to correct himself. "I meant to say 'your wife', sorry." The Doctor looks over at River questioningly.
Getting up and walking over, River says to Jack with a forgiving smile, "The TARDIS brought us here for a reason. If you're that reason, far be it from me to complain. And you can call me River if you like."
The Doctor smiles and kisses her on the cheek, then slips his free hand into her left one, after which he turns back to Jack and answers with a kind smile, "There, you see? Now come on."
Jack smiles at them both gratefully, then says, "Okay, just let me pay my tab." The Doctor, still smiling kindly, nods and takes his arm from around Jack's shoulder. Torchwood Three's former leader gets up, takes the necessary amount of currency out of his pocket, hands it to the bartender, and wishes him a good night.
When Jack turns around and faces them, the Doctor asks, "Ready?"
His hands in the pockets of his coat, Jack, nodding slightly, answers, "Yeah."
"Okay, let's go." The Doctor says with a brief smile. With that, the trio heads for the door, Jack to the left and slightly behind the Doctor.