Title: "Something New to Chase"
Author: Wish Wielder
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing / Character Focus: Jack, with hints of Doctor x Rose (and possibly even Jack x Rose/Doctor x Rose x Jack)
Challenge: 15 Minute Fic
Theme / Prompt: #34
Word Count: 977
Rating: K Plus / PG
Summary: He didn't have to chase after the Doctor anymore, but maybe now he had something new to chase after.
Notes: Set after the Master dies but before Jack leaves the Doc in "Last of the Time Lords".
Disclaimer: "Doctor Who" and all respective properties are © the BBC. Megan D. (Wish Wielder) does not, has never, nor will ever own "Doctor Who".
"Something New to Chase"He hadn't gone looking for it when he found it. After the Doctor had repaired the TARDIS he began the task of returning those left on the Valiant to their proper homes. He had asked him why he just didn't land the airship somewhere and load them off that way, but the Doctor had merely told him that the Valiant would seem too suspicious to a world that hadn't seen it yet; he would return them with the TARDIS, then he would dispose of the ship.
So while the Doctor played escort and Martha returned to her room to pack (she had told the Doctor she was going for a nap – she had told him otherwise), he had gone exploring. It had been a lifetime and then some since he had last properly set foot on the old girl, and he didn't know when he'd ever see her again. He took the time to familiarize himself with the corridors one last time, searching out his old room (and finding it still in its same old condition, a sentiment that touched him deeply) and reliving old memories of food fights in the kitchen, making s'mores in the library, pillow fights and such – every hall had a new memory that clung to his mind.
So he hadn't exactly been looking; it was more of a general perusal, and it had come to him. That shockingly pink door that held an equally pink room behind it, the door that used to belong to her. He wondered briefly if maybe the TARDIS has led him there on purpose – it wouldn't surprise him.
The Doctor had told him what had happened, during that time at the end of the universe and then with more elaboration during their run from the Master. She had fallen through the Void during the Battle of Canary Wharf, landing herself trapped in a parallel universe with her mum and Mickey the Idiot and the parallel version of her dad. The walls were closed, and there was no way to get her back. The Doctor had tried, had searched – was still searching – but everything came up blank. There was no way to get her back.
He knew the basics, and he had seen the deeper implications on the Doctor's face every time they had started talking about her. So really, he didn't know what he was expecting when he decided to open her door – he didn't even know if he should. But the TARDIS was nudging him, a gentle tingle in the back of his mind, and he knew he had to. Even without the encouragement, he would have had to – this was her he was dealing with, and the Doctor wasn't the only he had waited two hundred-or-so years for – or who missed her.
When he pushed open the door, the room was almost the exact same as he remembered. It was a bit less cluttered (a slight smile curved his lips at the memory of his stop by the Doctor's room, which had gained a distinctly feminine air to some of the things littered about it since before), but there were new trinkets lining the shelves. There wasn't as much make-up on the vanity (another smile at the memory of the bathroom in the Doctor's room), but there were new pictures – pictures with the current Doctor, the cheekier Doctor.
There was also a stack of papers on her bed that he didn't really remember, either.
He walked over to the bed and sat down next to the papers, gently picking one up and opening it.
Rose,
I'll have time to tell you later all about the "Year that Never Was", the Master, how Martha saved the world, and how Jack's still walking around in that old big coat – and more importantly about how Jack is alive. For good, apparently – thanks to you.
He stopped reading there, the letter dropping from his hands. He looked back to the stack of papers – more letters, each one varying in length but – as he read through them, throat tightening with each one – all carrying the same message.
I love you and miss you and I won't stop looking – never ever ever.
He looked up as the TARDIS let out a mournful groan, and he bit his lip as he looked back at the letters. There were so many, and he wondered how long the Doctor had been writing them. If he had ever tried to send them through, or if he wrote them for his own sanity. He picked the first letter back up and looked at the bottom line, heart twisting in his chest at the blotchy stains blurring the ink.
I don't think I could ever fully hate him, but if I could it'd be for this: he had it all, Rose, and he didn't regenerate. He had a you, and he let himself die and leave her. If I could ever hate him, it would be for that.
He folded the paper back up and placed it on top of the others, breathing deeply to steady himself. He had had his Doctor Detector for a little over a year now, excluding the year that wasn't. He had been tailing him for ages longer, hoping to meet back up with him and find out just what exactly was wrong with him.
He had his answers now, and he didn't have to chase after the Doctor anymore. But maybe…maybe now he had something new to chase after, something that both he and the Doctor wanted more than anything else.
Maybe now he had to chase after Rose.
He stood and headed towards the door, putting a hand on the wall before he left. The TARDIS made another drawn-out note, and he smiled.
"Someday, girl," he said, stroking the wall affectionately. "We'll find a way to get her back. Someday."
A.n.: I blame Swankkat for this. 'Cause that mix CD set she did is amazing, and if the songs aren't enough to inspire you the title ("Letters from the Other Side") sure enough is. I'm thinking about extending this a bit in FF100:TxR, maybe actually show some of the letters/when they were written/why, but for now this is it. 'Cause I'm already over time (again, I know…) and the letters aren't the real point of it this time. Word was "tail".