So I've had this first chapter written since *checks* March 1st. Oops.
Disclaimer- I could say that all I really own is my music, but I steal some of that too.
The first time the Doctor drops in by Torchwood, he just sort of…walks in.
It's something along the lines of three in the afternoon and Ianto is busy trying make himself look busy at the strikingly public reception desk of Torchwood when he hears a knock at the door, followed by two more after a split second's hesitation. He glances up from the papers he's been scribbling occasional notes such as 'pick up milk' and 'look for Regualairan hairdryer in archives' on, and instead fixes his gaze on the door.
'Knock, knock, knock'
The knocks on the door are faster this time around, some blend of impatience and desperation intermixed into the noises. Ianto doesn't quite understand. Most people just open the door.
Still, he stands up from behind the desk and makes his way across the Tourist Information Centre, over to the door.
Knock-
"I'm coming!" Ianto barks, hand closing around the brass doorknob as he turned it. He pulls the door open and almost understands why the man on the porch didn't knock. Knocking is what most people do, and this man is most certainly not most people.
The man before him is tall and thin with spiky brown hair that is plastered to his forehead from the downpour of rain outside. He's clad in a blue pinstripe suit and a brown coat of equal length and grandeur of Jack's own World War Two jacket, and, of all things, he's wearing converse.
Also, he's not carrying a pizza.
This throws Ianto for a loop because about ninety nine percent of people that come into this building are bearing some kind of cardboard box with an alluring smell, and the other one percent are just lost. Ianto quickly places this man in the later category.
"I think you've got the wrong address." The Welshman says, all professionalism and smiles. The man glances up at Ianto, expression eerily blank.
"I really don't." He replies. Ianto draws his eyebrows together and opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, the other man is shoving past him and into the office. He stalks across the room, behind the desk, whips something out of his pocket, somehow activates the supposedly hidden control under the desk, and strides through the panel that is now both existent and open, leading into Torchwood, all in the same window of time that it takes for Ianto to regain his balance from being pushed aside.
The man is well into the hallway by the time Ianto manages to get to the entrance he disappeared through and soon enough the stranger is at the rolling metal door, waving something blue tipped and metal at said door, and to Ianto's undisguised shock it rolls open, and this man more or less walks into the British government's best kept secret.
Ianto Jones has seen aliens and gods and the most ridiculous, impossible things you could imagine, alongside a lot more that you couldn't and though it all, he's managed to keep an air of calm and composure. For the first time, he can't quite manage that, and as the man walks into the Hub, his mouth falls open and he has no idea what to do.
Approximately half a second later, reality catches up with Ianto and he flat out sprints through the still open rolling door, after the man, accompanied by absolutely bewildered yells of 'What the hell?!' He comes to a stop so abrupt it was almost comical as he scans the Hub quickly and finds the man to be leaning over a keyboard in the currently unoccupied main level, fingers skittering over the keys, evidently unconcerned by Ianto, who is looking on with utter disbelief.
"Jack!' Ianto shouts and still the man doesn't so much as flinch.
A second passes, two, and just as Ianto thinks that the Immortal has gone off somewhere, the door to Jack's office flies open and Jack himself races across the balcony, leaning over the railing.
"Ianto?" He calls, an edge of anxiousness in his voice. He glances to the younger man and Ianto gestures furiously to the man at the computer. Jack's gaze follows, and when he sees the slight man, his expression contorts to surprise, then confusion, worry, anger, and shock once more.
"Doctor?!" He says, voice jumping up in pitch. "What the hell?"
For the first time, the man, now named as the Doctor (and Ianto just knows he's heard that title before), responds, turning his attention away from the monitor to glance at Jack instead.
"Captain." He acknowledges calmly before returning to his task, and Ianto feels his confusion multiply tenfold. In a flash, Jack is down the stairs, racing towards the Doctor. He stops probably five feet away from him and spends several moments being speechless.
"He just...walked past me." Ianto offers in lieu of the silence. Jack doesn't answer and Ianto isn't really sure that the other man has heard him because he's too busy gaping at the Doctor.
"Wha- why- what're you doing?" Jack eventually sputters. The Doctor doesn't reply for a minute, too absorbed by whatever it is that he's doing to answer Jack. After a moment, he takes a step back from the keyboard, running a hand through his hair. He turns to Jack.
"Hello, Jack." He greets. Jack blinks.
"What the hell was that all about?" He asks, confusion laden in his voice as he glanced the Time Lord up and down, taking in his (remarkably disheveled) appearance. The Captain doesn't ask about that though, not at the moment at least.
The Doctor hesitates for a moment before answering.
"Stopped in Cardiff for the TARDIS to refuel and she was picking up some strange readings. Not entirely unexpected, what with the Rift tearing a hole in reality and all, but still, figured it couldn't hurt to check on your systems." Pause. "According to the TARDIS, it was either readings from a generator or the Rift was about to collapse in on itself and probably destroy earth in the process."
Silence.
"Well?" Questions Jack. "Which was it?"
"Hmm? Oh, you don't need to worry, it was just a generator going a bit haywire. The world's not going to end-" The Doctor breaks off, frowning slightly. "Well, it might. But still. Won't be from this."
There's a pause in which Jack is about to say something, but before he gets the chance, the Doctor spins on his heels to face Ianto. Jack doesn't fail to miss the way that the Doctor very nearly falls over, just barely catching himself, nor does he miss just how sickly the grin that he flashes Ianto is.
"Sorry 'bout earlier, Ianto." He apologizes. "Thought I might have to prevent a catastrophe and I guess I forgot my manners in the process."
"It's alright, sir." Ianto replies, his words sounding more like a question than he had intended.
"...Right then!" The Doctor starts, startling Jack with the sudden energy he was projecting. "I should probably be off, don't want to be bothering you-"
His words are cut off as Jack grabs the Time Lord's wrist and, Christ, he can feel his friend's shaking frame in his own steady hand.
"You're not bothering us, Doc." Jack says, voice deceptively calm. He wants the Doctor to feel like he has a choice in whether he stays or not, even though he doesn't. Because Jack just knows that the second the Time Lord feels an ounce of pressure to stay, he'll bolt out of Torchwood in record time and won't bother to show up for another regeneration.
The Doctor waves his free hand dismissively.
"Sure I am. You've got stuff to do, there's no reason for me to slow you down with all of that."
Jack gives a derisive snort and motions around the Hub.
"No one else is here, Doc. I let the rest of the team go home hours ago. It's a slow day."
The Doctor blinks, and for a second Jack could swear there's anger present on his features before it passes and a grin takes its place, bright and brittle and paper thin.
"If you're sure-" He begins.
"Of course I'm sure." Jack confirms. "You're always welcome at Torchwood, Doctor."
The Doctor looks as though he's about to say something, but before he can, Ianto's voice cuts through.
"I know I've seen you before." The Welshman says, voice steady and slightly accusatory. "Who are you, exactly?"
"I- I'm just a traveler. That's all."
"Jack doesn't ever stop talking about you, you know." Ianto mentions slowly, and there's just a twinge of jealousy there. The Doctor glances to Jack, genuine surprise etched on his features.
"Oh, well, we're a bit similar, I suppose. Both wanderers in a sense of the word, neither of us can quite fathom Torchwood One's utter incompetence...we're two of a kind. I imagine it would be a bit hard to shut up about me." The Time Lord joked, recovering from his earlier surprise. At the latter part of the Doctor's sentence, specifically, at the words 'Torchwood One', Ianto's spine stiffened and he glanced the Doctor over again, really taking in every detail this time around, and something very much like hate flashes in his eyes.
Jack sees this immediately. He's been watching for it, really. Because sometimes Ianto is just too damn clever for his won good, and Jack knew, just knew, that the younger man would catch on quickly, figure out exactly what Jack didn't want him to in no time flat.
So he steps in between the broad shouldered Welshman and the unhealthily thin Time Lord and shoots Ianto a pointed glance.
"A word, Ianto." The Immortal says, voice sharp. Ianto glares at him, jaw clenched and the Doctor takes several steps back.
"If you want to just hang about in my office for a minute, Doctor." Jack says without looking at the other man in question. The Time Lord seems to hear the hidden command and starts towards the stairs leading up to the balcony without argument for once. Jack watches as he reaches the top , opens the door to his own office, and steps in, letting the door close behind him. The Captain opens his mouth to speak, but Ianto beats him to it, pouring out years of hate and resentment and betrayal.
"He was at Canary Wharf, Jack! He was there, he made it happen, and you just let him stay here even though you know that?! The bastard took you away from us for a whole year, and you come back, and you won't say anything about anything, and you still trust him?!" Ianto nearly shouts and Jack winces, in part because the door to his office can't possibly be quieting Ianto's words any, but also because they hurt.
"It- it's not like that, Ianto." Jack says, voice remarkably steady.
"Then what's it like?!" Ianto snarls.
"That- Canary Wharf, and the Year, that...it wasn't his fault." The Immortal argued, mostly convinced of what he was saying. As flawed as the Doctor may be; a mad man with two broken hearts and a twisted soul, if there's one thing that Jack believes in, it's him. It has to be him, actually, because while the rest of Jack's world may die and waste away, the Doctor is the one constant in his life and he has to keep holding onto that.
Ianto gives a disbelieving snort at Jack's words.
"Of course those weren't his fault." He mutter, and Jack just wants to grab him and shake him by his shoulders until he sees. The Captain opens his mouth to say something, to try to convince Ianto of exactly why the Doctor deserves their respect, their help, their love, even, and then closes it again, knowing his words will fall on deaf ears.
"You- you have to know him." Is all he says, turning away from Ianto and starting for the stairs leading to his office. Jack knows that his words are true, just as he knows that Ianto won't believe them, because, to know the Doctor, to even come close to the illusion that you might understand him, you have to know the love and friendship and mercy that is the Time Lord, as well as the hate and fury and guilt that are just as much a part of him.
The Captain reaches the top of the stairs, twists the doorknob, and pushes the door open, stepping into the office. His gaze falls to the cot in the back of the room where the Doctor is sitting, posture slumped, face buried in hands, every inch of his screaming exhausted.
"Doctor," Jack addresses, and the Time Lord snaps up to where his back is straight, facing Jack and flashing a grin just on this side of sane.
"Captain," He replies, voice too bright, too enthusiastic, for it to be anything but a lie. "You know, just glancing around down there, some of the stuff you've got lying around down there could rip apart the Time Vortex if you twitch it the wrong way-"
"Stop." Says Jack, cutting off the Time Lord's hundred mile an hour babble while cataloging the disturbing (and probably true) off hand remarks the man had just made about the potential disasters waiting to happen stored down stairs. "Just...stop.
Something surprisingly like hurt flashes across teh Doctor's features, soon enough replaced by a perfectly blank expression as he does what Jack says, clamping his mouth shut and studying the Immortal intently.
"I'm sorry, but you just...need to slow down."
'In speech, in thought, in life, before you turn an unexpected corner and spin out of control, into a fiery wreak-'
"Right." The Doctor replies, slower this time around, cutting of Jack's train of thought. "Sorry 'bout that. You really should take care of some of those artifacts, though."
Jack nods, waving a dismissive hand as he does so.
"Yeah, I will, but..." He glances up to the Doctor and trails off, the words he was about to speak, lost. Because when he looks at the Time Lord, really looks at him, there's something about him, a desperation in his eyes that he can't quite mask and Jack can't help but think that it doesn't quite line up with his claim for why he came to Torchwood in the first place
"...Are you sure that those readings are the only reason that you stopped by here, Doc?"
The Doctor flinches slightly at this, but gives no other reaction.
"Of course, Jack." He replies, perfectly calm. "Why else would I stop by?" He asks, and Jack has to admit that he does a pretty good imitation of genuine curiosity because those words had hurt, and the Immortal know that they were supposed to. Their very purpose had been to sting and drive Jack away from anything even remotely close to the truth. Jack knows this, knows the game that the Time Lord is playing at, because he himself has played it one too many times, and he knows how to turn it against the other man in what he hopes to be a beneficial way.
"I dunno, maybe to see the rest of the team, or the Hub, or me." Jack says as casually as he can manage. The Doctor merely shrugs in answer. Jack hesitates some, not quite sure how to phrase his next question. He decides, taking in how unnaturally pale the Doctor is and the unhealthy thinness that afflicts his body, that perhaps, in this incidence, being direct is his best option.
"Are you sure that you didn't stop by to just...rest for a while?"
The Doctor stiffens. Blinks. Looks to Jack. Opens his mouth to respond. Closes it again.
"Are you alright?" Jack asks, and even he can hear how worried he sounds. The Doctor is quiet a moment.
"I'm always alright..." He mutters.
"Doctor-" Jack starts, frustration leaking into his voice.
"No, really." The Doctor interrupts, louder and more confident this time around. "I'm fine."
"As fine as you ever are." Jack corrects.
"Exactly." The Doctor confirms.
"Which isn't really fine at all."
"Captain. Look at me. I'm perfectly alright."
Jack fights the urge to laugh, to point out the bags underneath his friend's eyes, the skinniness that his suit does little to hide.
This is what he says instead.
"It's just...I never know where, or when, you are, Doc. I never know what you've gotten yourself into and I-" He pauses. "I don't want the next time I see you to be in a UNIT morgue." He finishes, done juggling words.
"It won't be." The Doctor quickly counters.
"And how can I be sure of that?!"
The Doctor gives a small sigh, watching the Ex-Time Agent with care.
"Can you just trust me on this?" He asks.
Jack wants to say that, no, he can't really trust the Doctor on this. That he's seen the Time Lord attempt to fulfill his own death wish one or two or seven too many times for him to place absolute faith in the other man on this matter.
The Doctor apparently notices Jack's quiet and takes it for the distrust that it is.
"Jack...I- I'm not going to lie and say that there;s no chance of me getting killed. You know how I live. But...I'm not going to try to get myself killed." He flashes a weak grin. "C'mon, I'm too important for that." He jokes, and though the comment was meant to lighten the mood, Jack wants to grab the Doctor by his shoulders and tell him that it's true, that he is too damn important to get himself killed, that he's too important to even joke about it.
"Please, Jack. I wouldn't lie to you about something like this."
Jack knows that the Doctor doesn't mean that, knows that the closer he gets to the truth, the more carefully calculated the lies that the Doctor deploys are. And while that scares him, really and truly shakes him to the core, there's something about the Doctor in this moment, and he finds the older man's words strangely reassuring.
He nods.
'Alright, Doc."
The Time Lord sighs slightly, leaning against the wall behind him.
"...I really should leave..." He mutters, mostly to himself.
"You really shouldn't." Jack counters swiftly. The Doctor glances to Jack, looks as if he's about to argue, but the Immortal speaks before he can.
"Please. Just for a while. A couple of hours. Ianto will be ordering pizza in a while. We can catch up."
The Doctor is silent for a moment, and Jack can glimpse past and see the argument going on behind his carefully crafted visage, stayleaverestsunfriendenemysafetydangerwantneedcalmfear-
And suddenly it's over. The Doctor looks at Jack, really looks at him, and gives a nearly unpercievable nod.
"Alright." He agrees, voice quiet.
Jack grins.
"I'll let Ianto know.
~oOo~
"You're sure you don't want anything else?" Asked Ianto. The Doctor smiled and shook his head.
"I'm fine, Ianto." He replies easily.
Jack is quiet, watching the pair's interaction with a fixed fascination. He'd been hesitant at first, hesitant to even let them within speaking distance of each other, fearing that Ianto would lash out with hate and anger and blame, afraid that the Doctor would crack under the words and shirk away, disappearing the moment Jack dared to turn his back.
And while they hadn't been exactly warm to each other at first, slowly, so very slowly, the icy glares and frosty tones had thawed into something a bit less like hate and a bit more like...if not camaraderie, then perhaps respect.
Which had, of course, led to Ianto offering the Doctor pizza and confusing Jack beyond all possible belief. The Captain has seen Daleks and Weevils and alien plots so complex you would need seven dimensions to fully see them for what they were, but never has he thought that he would see this; Ianto and the Doctor, sitting across from each other with only a box of pizza in between them, making small talk.
They're being friendly.
Honestly, Jack's not sure he'll ever be properly surprised again.
Without warning, the Doctor stands up from the sofa he'd previously been relaxing on, and there's something about his posture, a defensive aggression he can't quite hide, and Jack knows what's going to happen next.
"T's nearly ten o'clock, Jack-" It's only eight thirty, but Jack lets it slide. "I'd best be going."
Jack nods slightly, notices the relief that floods across the Doctor's features. He's not offended, exactly, but he really does wish that his friend would stick around just a bit longer.
The Doctor starts towards the Hub's exit, long brown coat flowing behind him. Ianto seems to be vaguely confused at the Doctor's sudden departure, but doesn't say anything.
"Doc!" Jack calls. The Doctor stops and turns around. "Not so fast!" Jack says, smiling slightly.
"Right." The Doctor replies. "Of course. I'll see you around, Ianto." He pauses, glances to Jack. "Captain." He says, giving a two fingered salute. Jack snaps to attention and returns it.
"Doctor."
The Doctor gives a nod of acknowledgment and turns to leave again.
"And, Doc!"
The Time Lord pauses.
"Any time you need to stop by, for any reason...we'll be here. You're always welcome at Torchwood."
The Doctor doesn't answer, but there's a lighter note in his step as he walks, almost a bounce, and Jack thinks that his message got though. The Doctor stops at the rolling door nad sonics it, watching as the mass of metal and gears opens.
"I'll see you later then, Jack. Ianto."
"Y-yes, sir." Ianto stammers out.
"You'd better!" Jack called, a smile pulling at his lips.
Without a word, the Doctor's coat trail disappears from view.
So the second chapter to this is already typed up and ready to be posted whenever. Just so you know. If there's anything in particular you want to see leave it in a review or send me a PM about it, I always reply. Anywho, thanks for reading, have a fantastic day, and DFTBA!