Notes: Well, I decided, in a fit of boredom, to set myself, Morph and LilCosette a challenge. Not a particularly challenging challenge, but a challenge nonetheless. The only criteria was this: 'better with two.' We each decided on different Doctors and companions, so hopefully there should be three completely different fics. I hope you enjoy reading them all. This is my contribution. Be prepared for extremely mild slash.
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He wasn't quite sure what was driving him forwards, because it felt like a long time since he'd taken a breath. Then again, these days it probably wouldn't do him a bit of harm. He was aware of his feet pounding underneath him, his arms brushing against the long coat that it was really too hot for now. Even Cardiff had been struck by summer heat, and the evening felt thick and humid.
It wasn't in the same place. It was tucked away in a corner of the square rather than being stuck in plain view. For one terrifying moment Jack toyed with the idea that the Doctor was avoiding him. But he'd run too far now to turn back. He stood in front of the TARDIS, gasping for air, one hand leant on the flaking wood. He could feel it humming with life beneath his fingers.
It had been his home once. One of the few places he'd ever truly considered to be a home. His heart was pounding now, and he knew it probably couldn't be blamed on his dash from the Hub.
To hell with procrastination, he thought. He raised a fist and pounded on the door. Then came an agonising wait during which he felt a strong urge to run again. Then…
"Hello?" The door swung open slightly and a bemused looking face looked out. Male, with light brown curls that hung gracefully around his face. He regarded Jack with innocent curiosity. "You don't look like you're in search of emergency help from the police."
"I'm…not," said Jack, clearing his throat. He stood up straight and stuck out his chest. "I'm looking for the Doctor."
The man frowned. "Sorry…do I know you?"
"Don't think so," said Jack briskly. "Is he in, or should I come back later?" he added, in a tone that implied he was very much going to stay.
"No need," he replied. When Jack looked none the wiser, he smiled. "I am the Doctor you see."
"You're the Doctor?" asked Jack incredulously.
"Yes, for quite some time now," he said patiently.
"But…your hair. Your face!" said Jack. He caught a glimpse of dark green velvet. "Your clothes…" Jack suddenly realised. "Regeneration."
The Doctor was startled. "Did you say regeneration?"
"Your body's changed," said Jack.
"Yes I thought you did," muttered the Doctor. "But…I'm afraid I really don't know who you are. Which is quite unfortunate as I'm sure we've have broken every rule in the book by now. Then again, nothing I haven't done before." He paused. "Would you like to come in?"
"Thought you'd never ask," said Jack with a grin.
It was much darker inside the TARDIS than he'd remembered, and when his eyes adjusted, Jack saw that in fact it was completely different inside. The control room, which had always been big, was practically cavernous, with thick iron pillars and a wooden console that looked much more organised than it had been. Or would be?
"You're a past regeneration, right?" asked Jack, his eyes wandering, trying to take everything in. There was a cosy looking armchair and footstool in one corner, accompanied by a little table stacked with books and a half-empty teacup. He took a moment to wonder how on earth the Doctor managed to drink out of a dainty china cup in the control room without the cup smashing every time the TARDIS gave a lurch.
"Not that far past I shouldn't think," said the Doctor, leaning against a pillar. "As I stand, I've got an awful lot behind me and not so much in front."
"Which means…?" Jack's mind was too busy trying to process other things to work out the old-fashioned, lyrical way in which this Doctor spoke.
"I'm currently in my eight body," said the Doctor obligingly. Jack looked him up and down, taking in the soft velvet coat, the fussy cravat and sophisticated waistcoat. When his eyes reached the Doctor's face, he grinned.
"Not bad," he said approvingly. If the Doctor was at all uncomfortable with this obvious inspection, he didn't show it, but frowned slightly.
"Strange of me to invite you in," he mused, a little suspicious. "After all, we haven't been properly introduced."
"What, do you think I'm gonna pull a gun on you?" laughed Jack, his hands in the air.
"It wouldn't be the first time," said the Doctor with a slight wince. Jack stuck out his hand.
"Captain Jack Harkness," he said with his most charming smile. The Doctor took his outstretched hand and shook it. Jack held on tightly, unwilling to let go. He stared at the Doctor's fingers, his palm, holding onto him with both hands now.
"Even your hands are different," he murmured. The Doctor didn't try to free himself, but watched Jack thoughtfully.
"I think…there are unresolved issues here," said the Doctor after a pause. Jack laughed, a little bitterly.
"Well, we can hardly resolve them now," he said. "Too much and we cause a paradox." Jack looked up and the Doctor held his gaze. "And I don't want anything to stop us from meeting for the first time."
"Don't worry, Captain," said the Doctor with a knowing smile. "There are ways of forgetting."
"Not everything," said Jack, trying his best to keep his voice light. "Believe me, I've tried."
There was a slight pause. "So! Let me show you round the TARDIS," said the Doctor with a smile. "I imagine it's different to how you remember."
"A hell of a lot different," admitted Jack. "But I like it. It's kinda…gothic."
The Doctor chuckled. Actually, Jack would have said it was closer to a giggle. This Doctor was almost childlike. He had a great innocence about him that Jack knew was drastically going to change.
"And the control room's a lot bigger," Jack continued, looking around again. "You've got a sort of…alcove thing going on."
"Yes I suppose so," said the Doctor, observing it himself. "A little area for each area of my life. I like to keep them separate, but then again, part of a whole. You see?"
"Yeah," said Jack, laughing. "Yeah. I get that. Travelling always gets a bit hectic, doesn't it? If things aren't ordered at home, you can get…" He paused. "Lost."
"The TARDIS isn't the only thing that's different though," Jack continued, but his voice sounded forced. "Look at you! You look like some dashing romantic hero."
"Dashing? You think?" said the Doctor, looking pleased.
"I do!" said Jack, laughing again. He sighed. "You're not the man I knew, not by a long shot. But my God it's good to talk to you again, however you're packaged."
"Why did you come looking for me Jack?" asked the Doctor slowly. "I was watching you on the scanner. You ran, all the way here. I've had many good friends leave me, but in my experience they only come looking again if they're unhappy."
Jack dropped his hand and wandered over to the console, pretending to study all the different buttons and switches. "I like the wood too. Very sophisticated. But I can tell you, the décor's gonna change a lot." He heard soft footsteps behind him and felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder.
"What did I do?" asked the Doctor quietly.
Jack let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "You're sure nothing will change?"
"Trust me, I know exactly what I'm doing for a good half of the time," said the Doctor with a small smile. "Anything you say, I will forget."
"So why even bother in the first place? Gonna psychoanalyse me? Because better men have tried," said Jack, more harshly than he'd intended. The Doctor silently took his hand off Jack's shoulder and put it in his trouser pocket instead.
"The TARDIS needs to recharge," he said. "Which means I'll be here for a while. If you don't want to have it out with me, I won't be particularly bothered by it. But Jack…I think that you might."
Jack couldn't bear to be spoken to like that, and completely against his better judgement, he swung around and caught the Doctor by the collar, shoving him against a pillar.
"You're not my Doctor," he snarled. "You don't know me."
Jack felt the Doctor's pulse quickening under his fingertips as the startled man tried to work out what to do next. But before the Doctor could do anything more, Jack leant forwards and kissed him hard, noticing with interest that it wasn't completely one-sided. Intrigued, he toyed with the idea of seeing just how far he could tempt this polite, graceful Doctor. Then he let him go and backed off, slightly breathless.
The Doctor stayed where he was, backed up against the pillar, looking quite taken aback. Then he relaxed, his hair flopping over his eyes. "If that was a seduction, I've had better," he said wryly, adjusting his collar.
"Well, a seduction, similar to being caught in a storm or travelling the universe, is one of those things that are better with two," said Jack with a grin. "I mean, I'm doing all the work here."
"Oh yes, trying to throttle me, very persuasive," he replied, rolling his eyes.
"Didn't hear you complaining," said Jack, almost as a reflex. But on closer inspection, he saw something like regret flicker in the Doctor's eyes for a moment, and wondered what had caused it. Perhaps it was loneliness. It had not escaped Jack's notice that this Doctor travelled alone.
"Can I take that as an issue resolved then?" he asked. Jack moved closer again, close enough to hear the Doctor's sharp intake of breath.
"Maybe not resolved," he said smoothly.
"No…I'm still not persuaded," said the Doctor, arching one eyebrow. Jack wasn't sure whether this was a put down or a test.
"Give me three minutes," he replied confidently.
The Doctor started laughing, not very encouragingly.
"What?" Jack demanded.
"Three minutes isn't a seduction," said the Doctor, grinning in a way that reminded Jack of the Doctor he had known. "Three minutes is a boiled egg."
Jack glared at him for a moment, then started laughing too. "And that's supposed to work wonders for my self esteem I suppose? Some shrink you are. What are you a Doctor of again? Putdowns?"
"Oh practically everything," said the Doctor, leaning on a pillar for support. "Jack, I've known you for all of ten minutes, and you've already charmed me, throttled me, kissed me and insulted me. I can't think why we should ever part."
Jack suddenly stopped laughing. The Doctor noticed immediately. "Oh…Jack, I'm sorry." He sighed. "Look, can we stop all this messing around? I'm tired of guesswork. Tell me why you came looking for me."
Jack took a deep, shuddering breath. "I died. Not all that long ago, but far off in this planet's future. But five minutes or so later, I woke up. In that five minutes, he'd gone. Deserted me."
The Doctor watched him closely. "Go on."
"I managed to get back to Earth eventually. I chose this time, this place…he's been here before, because of the rift. Christmas day, I was in London working with Torchwood, and someone presented me with his severed hand. You've got some battles ahead Doctor."
The Doctor clutched his wrist subconsciously but Jack noticed and smiled. "Don't worry about it," he said. "I'm taking good care of it, for when you come back. That's all I can do now. Wait around. And I'm a guy of action." He sighed. "Reckon it would kill me if I could die."
The TARDIS grew very silent, but Jack liked it that way. In the silence, he could hear the comforting whoosh that meant he was home. For a short while, he was home.
A hand, so much smaller and softer than the one he remembered, slipped into his.
"Stay as long as you need to," murmured a quiet voice. Jack stared into unfamiliar eyes, and for a moment, saw the reason why he was still waiting.
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Jack lay in his makeshift bed deep underneath the streets of Cardiff and stared at the ceiling. The Doctor with the beautiful brown hair would forget all about him, ready for their first meeting in 1940s London. Jack wished he could have spent more time with this strange Doctor, but knew that if he stayed too long he could end up being there when that Doctor regenerated into his Doctor, and that was a paradox that was far too complicated to think about.
He checked his watch. 6.30. Not long before Gwen and the others would start making their way there. If he knew Ianto, he would be here in a matter of minutes.
Not long afterwards, Jack stood near the fountain with his hands deep in his pockets, watching and waiting. Sure enough, a familiar grinding wheeze began to emanate from a corner of the square, the sound of ancient engines. The sound of home. Unnoticed by anyone but him, a strange blue box faded slowly out of sight.
"Alright Jack?" Gwen had crept up beside him without him even noticing. He turned and smiled at her, then pulled her into a hug.
"Better than alright," he said, breathing in the wonderful scent of her, pleased to find her arms winding around his waist. "Fantastic."
"Whatever you're on, I'll have some," she replied with a muffled laugh.
"Must be that Cardiff air," said Jack, releasing her.
"Yeah, that'll be it," said Gwen wryly. Jack offered her his hand and, hesitating only for a moment, she took it.
"Come on. We're both late for work," he said, leading her back to their underground lives. Gwen wondered what on Earth had happened to so drastically change Jack's attitude. Then again, knowing Jack, it probably wasn't something Earthly at all.