- 3 -
Title:
Home
(because I'm not clever)
Pairing:
Nine/Jack, Ten/Jack
Challenge:
Home
Rating:
PG
Warnings:
Hints at sex, nothing graphic
Spoilers:
References to LotTL
A/N:
This is my first fic, ever. Fear my inexperienced writing!
Jack remembers the first time he and the Doctor kissed. It wasn't his first night on the TARDIS, not for lack of effort. No, to the Doctor that night was all about pleasing Rose; she had asked him to save Jack, he hadn't volunteered the idea. But it wasn't long after that night either; it only took Jack a few days on the TARDIS to earn the Doctor's respect. Maybe he had just been traveling with ancient humans for so long he forgot that some of the more advanced ones actually knew how to work on space-bending machinery – it also helped that mere humans had evolved to need less sleep. Jack would spend hours with the Doctor working on the ship while Rose slept, and he savored every moment of it. He even toned down the flirting during those times, maybe not a lot, but he attempted to be subtler about it at the very least; he knew the Doctor saw right through him anyway. But that didn't stop his Doctor, with the sloppy grin and heavy boots, from pinning him to the TARDIS and making him scream.
When Jack saw the Doctor again after all those years, it almost broke his heart. The leather jacket was gone, replaced with a long brown one, the big ears replaced by big hair. It only took one tight embrace for Jack to realize it was still the same man, though. Under all the fabric and coats, he still smelled the same. But then, like every other good moment in his life, tragedy struck, and he spent a year chained up and tortured. Deep down in his core knew it was not the Doctor's fault, that it was the mad Time Lord doing this, but Jack could not stand the feel of the TARDIS after that. It was like trying to walk through sandpaper. She was still the familiar structure he had loved dearly, but she felt off, and like she was pushing him out. He couldn't stay; she would not let him, probably because the Doctor did not really want him there after what happened. They both needed time to heal.
It was centuries before Jack ever saw him again, but he was eternally grateful it was not another new face to shock him with, but the same big hair. They hugged, and Jack was struck with that memorable scent again. They swapped stories over drinks, talking the entire night. When morning came Jack expected the Doctor to leave again, continue running without a glance back, but when his Doctor held out a hand and asked him to come along, just for one trip of course (as if that was ever one trip), he wasn't prepared for it, he didn't have the strength of will to say no. Torchwood was becoming a fading memory with each step he took into the old ship, all the pain and battles slowly slipping away to be replaced by adventures with this newer Doctor. Later he found out he still tasted the same. He had been lost for so long, kissing the Doctor was like coming home, and he never wanted to leave again.