ok, this is my first attempt at getting a serious pairing going, so bear with me. i've been reading a lot of jack/ten lately and i thought i'd try it out myself

it hurt knowing it would never be okay. knowing that nothing would ever be alright. knowing that HE wasn't coming. jack harkness stood on the dusty ground and waited. what he was waiting for, he didn't know, all he knew was it

wasn't here. he had already been waiting for a long time, and it really, really hurt. both physically, trying to force his lungs to take in the foul air, rancid with the stench of human garbage, pollution and waste. and emotionally,

knowing that he would never again know what it felt like to feel the sun on his face, to breathe a deep lungful of fresh air, to never again run freely, not always to escape some horrible beast, but just to RUN. run for the feel of

the wind on his hair and the breeze on his face. being left behind kind of bit too.

"oh well" he thought "what was i expecting anyways? the doctor to come riding in on a fiery steed to rescue me from a lonely eternity? whisk me away in his magic box to travel the universe for the rest of eternity? as if. he left me

behind once, he obviously has no problem doing it again."

jack gets up and begins to walk away. then he freezes. he hears it, the sound of the universe. the TARDIS . It was him. jack raced around the corner, trying to locate it. it didn't take him long,he found the TARDIS before the sound

faded. for a moment, he simply stood there for a moment, savouring the mere sight of the familiar blue box. then, the door opened, and the man himself stepped out. clad in the usual brown pinstripe suit and converse sneakers, the

tall, thin man slipped gracefully out the door, shut it quietly behind him and turned -like a man facing his execution- to jack. neither of them said anything for a long moment. the doctor looked uncomfortable, as if he expected jack to

leap forward at any moment and punch him in the jaw. jack himself was feeling rather tense. he didn't know if the doctor was here on friendly terms or not, he didn't know if the doctor was going to run away if he felt this reunion

had gone wrong. in the end, it was the doctor who broke the silence, spreading his arms wide and looking at jack with a look of regret, sorrow and pain. jack wondered how long it had been for him, since he had last seen him, and

how many people he had traveled with -and lost- over that time.

"i'm sorry" he whispered, no beating around the bush, no long, heartfelt speech about how wrong he had been, just simply stating the fact. he spread his arms wider, and jack suddenly realied the significance of this gesture, it was

surrender, apology, acceptance and also, he realized a moment later an invitation for a hug. jack stepped forward slowly, unnerved by how quiet it was. suddenly there was hope in the doctor's eyes, and jack couldn't restrain himself

any longer. he ran into the doctor's arms and was enveloped in a hug, feeling surprisingly safe considering the other man's size and build. despite their surroundings, simply having the doctor with him improved his mood quite a bit.

for a few moments while the hug lasted, he forgot about the acrid scent in the air, of the children buried beneath his feet, who had died far too young. for a moment,just a moment,jack was home. he wanted to lose himself in this and

never let go fo him again. but the doctor's next words dragged him back to reality, though it certainly wasn't unwelcome considering the nature of the interruption.

"come with me?" it wasn't a command, or a request, it was more of a question, actually. jack unwillinly pulled back to see the doctor's face and found ti full of conflicting emotions, uncertainty, sadness, loss, pain. but most powerful of them was in his eyes. hope.

jack smiled "absolutely"