Title: I Know Him So Well
Pairing: Jack/Ten
Summary: Jack is alone after meeting up with the Doctor the second time and defeating the Master. While he's alone, he thinks about the Doctor and how much he loves him, even he thinks it could never be. Meanwhile, after Martha goes back to her family, the Doctor takes the time to think about Jack and realize his own feelings for the immortal.
Setting: Right after Last of the Time Lords, during/after Voyage of the Damned
Jack walked along, looking out at the bay as his mind wandered. He thought back to the adventures with the Doctor. He couldn't help but know he had fallen for the human-like Time Lord, and fallen hard. A small tear started to trail down his cheek as he paused to look up at the full moon over the bay. He knew better than to take the Doctor's invitation to go with him, because that was like imposing on him. True, maybe the Doctor had invited him so the crazy, cute alien man wouldn't feel so bad, but what could he have done other than refuse?
His heart ached and bled for the love he needed from his Doctor. He knew he was in love, but he had hidden that well enough from everyone. He passed it by as just casual flirting, but he knew deep down it was something more, yet he didn't want to admit it, even to himself. Nothing could change the fact that he left the Doctor once again, this time by choice. He could see it in the Time Lord's eyes that he was still hurting over Rose, and he knew better than to make it worse, because the last time he traveled with the Doctor, Rose was with them.
He leaned on a railing and kept his eyes up on the moon, the light of it shining and making the waters glisten beautifully. The Doctor would have loved this sight Jack thought as another tear trailed down the same path the other had taken. He knew his Doctor so well, and loved him so much more than he could imagine loving anyone else. Of course, Jack would try to move on, but he always had a place for that brown haired Doctor.
Under the emptiness of the night, he felt his heart heaving, and his eyes holding back the tears of love that he felt had been lost. Maybe not forever, but for now, it was impossible. Not anywhere near the highly unlikely mark, this was the impossible. His Doctor would move on to find more companions, maybe forget about him eventually, but he, Captain Jack Harkness, would never forget the love of his life. That love would last forever, and nothing that would happen could break Jack from that thought.
"Someday." Jack said to himself aloud. "Someday he'll come back to me. He'll love me someday. I don't care how long I have to wait, I'll be here for forever. I'll wait with the hope that maybe tomorrow he'll come back to me." The tears in Jack's eyes slowly poured out in silence as he stood up straight, wishing on every little star in the sky that his wonderful, gorgeous alien would come back to him, someday.
The Doctor
"I'll see you again, Mister." Martha said, smiling slightly before heading out the door. Two friends leaving him in one day, could this day get any worse? The Doctor slowly paced around the console, his mind getting lost in the backtracking of the ways he lost his companions. For once, his mind didn't stop on Rose, but on Jack. Something about that immortal man made him afraid, but at the same time, it excited him.
There was someone out there that was going to be there forever, and who was on his side. He felt how much his hearts were hurting this time as Jack declined the invitation to come along, but Jack had made the choice he thought to be best. Perhaps he didn't like a lanky, alien man with wild brown hair that was 903 years old. There was always someone else out there for Jack, so why was he suddenly jealous of every single person Jack had ever hit on?
No, he told himself, you couldn't have fallen for him. No way. Not this one who reminds you of the times when Rose was there. He couldn't shake the idea from his head. No, Jack could never be his and his alone. There was always someone else in the love life of Jack Harkness, and he wouldn't be the last one. He wasn't the one that Jack would drop everything the universe had to offer him for. And for some reason, that made the lord of time sad.
His hearts were breaking, not from losing Rose, never that. They were now breaking from losing the one who made him feel safe and secure; his Jack. He couldn't pull himself together now, but he knew that he had to move on. Jack wasn't going to wait; he never did. And the Doctor had to push past that. Jack wasn't his, nor was he going to be.
It's time to move on. He thought to himself as he began to slowly punch buttons and pull levers, aimlessly doing so. There was no point anyways. Jack was gone. Martha was gone. No one to take anywhere, or have a fun adventure with. All that was gone now. He sighed, pressing one last button when suddenly, a ship horn echoed through the TARDIS.
"What?! What?! WHAT?!" he shouted as the ship's bow pierced the wall. A life preserver laid next to him, and on it was the word 'TITANIC'. Now he was really confused. What was the Titanic doing here?!
Jack
He hadn't ever realized it was Christmas until he woke up that morning. He turned on the telly, only to see the announcement that the Queen hadn't left Buckingham Palace. Good for her. Jack thought, smirking slightly. Unwanted aliens almost always tried to attack London on Christmas Day. Maybe this year would be different. Jack grabbed a bowl of cereal, sitting on the couch, lounging and watched whatever came on.
It wasn't long before a giant ship in the sky barely missed the palace. Jack, completely in shock over the event, smirked lightly, knowing who saved London once again.
"Thanks Doctor." He whispered quietly to himself.
"You're welcome, Jack." A familiar voice said from behind him. Jack turned and jumped up. What? How? No way! "What, no Happy Christmas from you? I have to say I'm disappointed, Captain." The Doctor said, pouting a bit. Taken back slightly, Jack swallowed.
"Happy Christmas, Doctor." He said, the happiness was back into his voice. "But how-?"
"The TARDIS has a full body projector, Jack. I just thought I'd drop in and say hello. Just so you know, Martha's back with her family, safe and sound now." The Doctor said, his face lacking emotion. Jack swallowed hard.
"That means you're on your own again now, doesn't it?" he asked, as if his statement needed confirming. The Doctor nodded once, but remained silent. The silence was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"So, this is goodbye for a while then… isn't it?" Jack asked in a whisper, half hoping the Doctor couldn't hear his words. But, to his fear, the Doctor did just that.
"Afraid so…" the tone in the Doctor's voice hinted a deep sadness within. Jack frowned. His Doctor needed him.
"Get your little alien ass down here and talk to me like a man." He said in a soft, yet demanding way. The Doctor cracked a smile and the image disappeared, but in its place, a noise that was so familiar and a certain TARDIS materialized. After a moment, the real Doctor stepped out with that same smile still on his face.
"Goodness Jack, you can be so demanding sometimes." He said with a light laugh. Jack, smiling at the sound of the laughter, threw his arms around the wonderful alien man he desperately wanted to call his own and pulled him into a tight hug. To Jack's surprise, the Doctor hugged him back even tighter.
"Doctor?" Jack asked him softly, not letting go. The Doctor made no move to pull away, but only made a small sigh in regards to Jack. "I need to tell you something… something I should have told you long ago." This made the Doctor pick his head up and look into Jack's blue eyes, which were filled with something he hadn't seen since Rose had been with him; love.
"Say no more, Jack." He said with a gentle smile. Jack looked at him questioningly, but said nothing. The Doctor leaned closer and whispered into Jack's ear. "The love in your eyes is enough to get the point across. And if you look deep enough, you'll find that mirrored in mine." Jack quickly pulled the Doctor's up and looked into his eyes intently, finding that he was right. The love was there, shining brightly like the moon on the bay. It had been there all along, but he never looked hard enough to find it.
"Doctor, I-" he started before a pair of warm, sweet lips shut him up. Jack hadn't known the Doctor to be a good kisser, but then again, he hadn't kissed him in the regeneration yet. His Doctor tasted sweetly of honey and a hint of chocolate. That taste matched the scent he had always smelt around the Doctor, but never figured out what it was.
Finally, after a few moments, the Doctor pulled away. "I know Jack. I love you too. But, much to both of our dismays, I have to get a move on. The universe doesn't always wait for the Doctor to have free time to be saved."
Jack chuckled lightly, despite the saddening news. But there was something he knew about the Doctor; his Doctor. And that is that no matter how long you have to wait, the Doctor always comes back. Sometimes, if you mean more to him than others, he'll break down every barrier in his path to find you. And suddenly Jack had a little more hope that this time the Doctor would be back.
The Doctor turned and opened the TARDIS door, glancing back to Jack over his shoulder. He smiled lightly. "Happy Christmas Jack. Have a good year." And with that, he closed the door and within moments, the TARDIS dematerialized. Jack sighed and went to put his dish in the sink, when something caught his eye.
A little blue box sat where the TARDIS had dematerialized from, with a little card stuck on it. As he moved closer, he could see that it was written in Gallifreyan. He picked up the box and opened it, gasping lightly in surprise. There was a small golden locket on a thin, but strong gold chain. On its front side, it was also written in Gallifreyan. But when he turned it over, it was in English.
To my Captain, may you forever remember this Time Lord's greatest secret. With love, the Doctor.
Jack smiled and pulled in gently out of the box and clasped it around his neck, the locket slipping under his t-shirt. His hand went up to the place where it hung and pressed it to his heart. It could be days, or weeks, or months, or years, or decades, or centuries until he saw his Doctor again, but every day, all he had to do was press the simple locket to his heart to smell the sweet honey and chocolate and to feel the love that would forever radiate from the Doctor to him alone.
And to Jack, that alien man was truly worth the wait.