Jack sat by himself at the bar, gazing morosely into his empty glass. He was in some trashy space dive on the Fifth Moon of Luxx, a place renowned across the universe as the ultimate getaway from all your troubles. So far, Jack still felt his troubles weighing him down, just like they had done every waking minute for the last year, and that could only mean one thing.
"Bartender! Get me another one!" Jack called, waving his glass in the air, "Make it a triple."
The bartender nodded and Jack went back to staring into his empty glass. Next to him, a young man in a starship officer uniform sat down next to him, though Jack paid him no attention. What felt like ages passed before the bartender returned with his drink and a piece of paper in his hand.
"From the man over there," he said, setting the piece of paper in front of Jack and jerking his thumb over his shoulder before leaving. Jack looked in the direction he had pointed and saw the Doctor standing there, his hands in his pockets, looking older and more troubled than Jack remembered him despite the obvious front he was putting up. He looked down at the piece of paper and unfolded it, reading the words written on it with black ink.
His name is Alonso
He looked back up at the Doctor, who nodded toward the young man in uniform sitting next to him. Jack looked at the man, then back at the Doctor, then jumped to his feet and ran around the bar to where the Doctor stood, promptly throwing his arms around the Time Lord and hugging him tighter than he'd ever hugged anyone in his life.
"Hello, Jack," the Doctor grunted, hugging him back just as tightly, triggering something inside Jack. With difficulty, he pulled away from the hug and gazed into his friend's face, noting the conflict raging inside those ancient eyes, which was much more apparent up close.
"What happened?" Jack asked.
"It's not important," the Doctor replied, smiling wearily.
"You know I don't believe that, don't you?" Jack said, arching an eyebrow.
"Of course," the Doctor said, his smile faltering, "I just wanted to check in on you. On everyone, really."
Jack regarded the Doctor with suspicion before waving the paper in his hands.
"What's this?"
"Haven't you read it?"
"That's why I'm asking."
The Doctor sighed, avoiding Jack's inquisitive gaze.
"Just repaying you for everything you've done for me," he muttered, focusing on a cackling group of Carrionites on the far end of the bar, "you know, I thought I imprisoned the lot of them..."
"You think you have to repay me?" Jack asked, crossing his arms, "Doctor, I should be the one repaying you."
The Doctor turned his attention back to Jack and gave him that tired smile again.
"Jack Harkness," he said fondly, "hard to believe you were ever a con man."
"Like I said," Jack said, smiling, though like the Doctor's, this was an empty smile, "Doctor, I know you're not okay."
The Doctor sighed again, shuffling his feet slightly.
"I should ah, I should go-"
"Don't," Jack said, gripping the Doctor's arm tightly, "please, don't. Let me try to help."
He didn't know why or how he planned to help considering his own troubles, but something about the look in the Doctor's face troubled him. He looked far too glum, too much unlike the Doctor he remembered. And maybe his own loneliness coupled with his concern for the Doctor overwhelmed him too much, because the next moment he had pulled the Doctor close and pressed his lips against the Time Lord's. He clung to the Doctor's mouth desperately, hungrily, needing him to know exactly how much he meant to him, and to know that the Doctor cared about him even in the slightest. The Doctor didn't pull away from the kiss, though he didn't exactly respond either.
At last, Jack let go of the Doctor. He looked into those big, brown eyes he loved so much and smiled, and to his surprise, so did the Doctor.
"Of course," he said, "I should have expected your goodbye to be a kiss."
"Goodbye?" Jack asked, puzzled, "Doctor...what do you mean, goodbye?"
"I think you've figured it out by now, Jack," the Doctor said wearily. Jack gulped.
"Will I ever see you again?"
"If I'm lucky," the Doctor muttered, looking over at the bar, "don't keep Alonso waiting. He's a good man. Brave man."
Jack looked over at Alonso as well, though if he was being honest with himself, his heart wasn't all into it.
"Doctor, I-"
He turned around, but the Doctor was gone. Jack sighed, fighting back the tears now welling up in his eyes as he saluted thin air, then headed back to the bar. There he sat in silence for a few minutes, cradling his glass in one hand and the piece of paper with the Doctor's handwriting in the other. At last, he pocketed the paper and turned to Alonso instead.
"So, Alonso. Going my way?"