Summary: After Torchwood is destroyed in Children of Earth, Jack goes looking for the Doctor, hoping to get away from Cardiff and the Earth in general. 11/Jack, because there's not a lot of that pairing out there, and I think they'd just be adorable together. Jack needs to come back in season 7 to meet the new Doctor!

A/N: Finally caught up on Doctor Who, and felt bad for the Doctor, being so sad and lonely after the Ponds left. And I finished Torchwood CoE and am too lazy to watch all of season four (and depressed a bit since everyone in Torchwood is dead, except for Jack and Gwen), and felt bad for Jack, so I wanted to write something to make them both happy again. Yay happy! :)

Maybe it's just me, but I think that Jack has a crush on the Doctor. I mean he always talks about him, and he even clung to the TARDIS through the Time Vortex just to see him again. And even if it's a bit creepy, he kept the Doctor's hand, which in the end, helped out and stuff. He's even willing to do dangerous things (like step into a room full of deadly radiation stuff and get EXTERMINATED! by Daleks) to help out.

Oh and by the way, this takes place after Children of Earth for Jack and after The Angels Take Manhattan for the Doctor. And yes, I know that the Doctor is married to River, and I do like that pairing, but I like this one better, so I'm just going to conveniently forget that River exists, hee hee. xD

Uncreative title is uncreative. I get most story titles from song titles, even if the song has nothing to do with the story ^^; Got this one from Kris Allen, or whoever originally sings it, since I don't know, I've only heard the cover. :P

Warnings: There be slashy goodness in this, so if you're offended by that then click the back button in the corner. Of course, I'm a wuss and probably won't write anything too bad, so don't worry.

Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me (unfortunately), they all belong to BBC, Steven Moffat, Russel T Davies, and all the other people who make Doctor Who and Torchwood possible.

Oh my gawd that was a lot of writing (that you probably didn't even read)! Sorry to bore you! On to the story!


Finding the Doctor is no easier than the last time he tried finding him. Of course, he didn't expect it to be easier, but he had some hope that maybe the Doctor would show up to see what had happened after the 456 ordeal. In fact, he had hoped the Doctor would've shown up during it because then Jack wouldn't have had to watch Ianto die, watch Steven die, watch how twisted the leaders of the world were when they turned over 10 percent of the worlds' children, but keep their own safe at home. The Doctor would've saved them, saved everyone, because he always does. Jack knows he would have, because he's seen the Doctor do the impossible, even though he says it's only "highly unlikely".

But Jack knows that there's no use dwelling on what could've been. Instead, he focuses on the now. If he waits long enough, the Doctor will probably show up to refuel the TARDIS, but waiting is something he easily tires of. And now there's not even anything to do to pass the time. The hub was destroyed and Gwen is hiding away with Rhys and their daughter. There's no one to talk to about what he's lost or what he's feeling, no paperwork or alien technology to busy himself with while he waits. Maybe if he tries hard enough, he can send a message to the Doctor's psychic paper, but that takes a lot of power, and that's definitely something he doesn't have. Besides, he has no idea how to go about doing it anyway.

He sighs and paces about the small abandoned house he's taken up residence in like he's been doing for the last twenty minutes. Since he practically lived in the hub, he had to find somewhere to go for a while to get his thoughts together, to rest and to grieve. He couldn't risk going somewhere where he could be recognized by someone who wanted him dead, or at least someone who would follow him wondering why he didn't die when he got shot through the head. That would just get annoying.

The house is somewhat near where Torchwood used to be. If he looks out one of the windows he can see that they've already rebuilt the tower and covered the huge hole in the ground created by the bomb that was inside him. Every day he looks out the window hoping to see that blue box and every day he hopes to hear that strange sound that he'd recognize anywhere. But sadly, his hope is dwindling. Really, you should stop looking for him like some lost puppy, he thinks to himself. Sometimes he thinks that maybe that's really what he is. A lost puppy. He'd follow the Doctor anywhere if he could. He really wanted to the last time, after the year that never happened and the Master was defeated temporarily, but at that time, he still had responsibilities to his team, not to mention the fact that the Doctor thought he was wrong, something that shouldn't exist, but does. That was a stupid reason to abandon me on Satellite 5, he thinks, still bitter over the Doctor leaving him surrounded by corpses and Dalek dust. Luckily his vortex manipulator still worked, sort of. It still works now of course, since the Doctor fixed it, but he doesn't really want to go anywhere, or when for that matter, on Earth and there's nothing close enough to the planet that he can transport to.

He flops down on the bed, bored out of his mind, and closes his eyes. He doesn't sleep though, he rarely does now. Too many nightmares that leave him waking in a cold sweat and tears prickling at his eyes as he watches Ianto and Steven die again. He wishes that he could control his dreams, because then, maybe he could do something, even if it's only in a dream world. He has knowledge now that he didn't then, maybe he could think of something else to save everyone. But he knows that perhaps it's not a good thing to have control, because it isjust a dream world, and that would make reality all the more painful.

It is during his short rest that he hears it. At first he thinks he's hearing things, that there's no way that the Doctor could be here. Then he sits up and looks out the window, and sure enough, there's that familiar box materializing out of thin air. He leaves straight away. Since the TARDIS has just landed, it'll need time to refuel, and he can get there without having to worry about the Doctor running away from him, like he did before. As he's walking towards the TARDIS, he's thinking. Does the offer to travel with the Doctor still stand? He doesn't see why not, since he helped the Doctor save the world and all that whatnot. Finally, he's standing at the door, and just as he's about to knock, the door opens and an unfamiliar looking man with a tweed jacket and red bowtie steps out, nearly walking into him.

"Doctor? Is that you?" Jack asks, wondering when he regenerated.

"Ah, hello Jack! Nice to see you again! And yes, it's me," he says and flashes a grin.

"You regenerated," Jack states the obvious, noticing how the Doctor's smile doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Yeah, and still not ginger," the Doctor frowns at that, and Jack can't help but chuckle at his, frankly cute, expression.

"Why are you wearing a bowtie?" he asks, eyeing the article of clothing in question.

"Because bowties are cool," the Doctor says, as though it's obvious.

"Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that," Jack teases.

"I will, thank you very much!" he says.

" So, are you travelling alone now?" Jack asks, changing the subject, and the Doctor's face tells him all he needs to know. "I'm sorry," he says, resting a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. He nods and then pulls Jack into the TARDIS, which is surprising to him. He didn't think it'd be this easy.

"New desktop theme," he explains before Jack has a chance to ask. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you something," he glances at the captain before continuing. "Do you…do you want to come with me?" he asks, fiddling with the controls and the monitor.

"You're asking me?" Jack says, thinking it would've been the other way around.

"Yeah, but, if you're too busy, you know, with your team and Torchwood, then you don't have to. I mean, I'd love it if you would, but you know, responsibilities and all that, I understand if you can't come with..." the Doctor trails off, looking hopefully at Jack. And as much as he wants to say, "Yes, of course," he doesn't because suddenly he's angry. Angry at the Doctor for not coming to help when he was holding a dying Ianto in his arms, when he had to sacrifice his grandson , and he's angry because the Doctor is talking like he doesn't even know what's happened while he's been away. And some part of him is telling him that it's not the Doctor's fault, because he can't be there every time the Earth is in trouble and that there are other galaxies and planets out there that need saving and that the Doctor's not even from Earth so why should it be his responsibility, but right now, Jack's not listening to that part of him.

"You know what? I want to ask yousomething. Where were you when the 456 invaded Earth? 'Cause God knows we could've used your help. You better have been off saving the universe or something, because we needed you Doctor! Not just me, not just Torchwood, but everyone! The Earth needed you and you weren't there!" he's shouting now, telling the Doctor all that's happened, all that was lost and there's tears streaming down his face, but he can't bring himself to care.

"I'm sorry, Jack," the Doctor says quietly after a few seconds of silence.

"You're sorry? Don't give me that, because if you were sorry, you could go back and change it!" he says.

"I can't, Jack. You know I can't, it's a fixed point in time," he explains.

"But you can, you're a Time Lord, why does it matter?" he asks, trying to bring his breathing back under control.

"Believe me, I thought the same before. I went back to a fixed point and changed it, and it messed everything up. Someone took their own life because of it, and I can't make the same mistake again!" the Doctor says and he's starting to get angry now too. "Trust me, Jack, if I could go back and fix things I would. If I could save everyone from the 456, I would. If I could go back and rescue my friends from the Weeping Angels, I would, but I can't! You and I have to accept the fact that sometimes you can't save everybody, no matter how much you want to, no matter how much it hurts afterwards!" he says, and they both stand there, glaring at each other and breathing heavily. He doesn't want to admit it, but deep down, Jack knows the Doctor's right. He takes a deep breath and tries not to think about how he probably just screwed everything up. The Doctor was his one chance to leave this place and now that he's gone and yelled at him, there's no way that the offer to travel with him is still available. He turns to leave, because he knows the Doctor's probably going to tell him to anyway, and he really doesn't want to hear it. So, it's really quite a surprise when the Doctor says:

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving, what do you think?"

"You don't want to come with?"

"It's the first time I've seen you since your last self, and the first thing we do is fight. You still want me to go with you?"

"I know, I know we didn't start off on the right foot, so to speak, but I'm tired of being alone, and I think you are too," and he's right. Even though he's still a bit angry, he knows that he's probably not going to turn down the invitation. What good would that do? Nothing's keeping him here, not anymore.

He looks back at the Doctor, and he's not glaring at Jack anymore. Instead, he just gives him a sad smile. He looks down at the glass floor and mumbles, "So are you coming or not?" and despite what's just happened, Jack walks back to the center of the room and sits down on the chair next to the console.

"So, where to now?" Jack says, and the Doctor looks at him and smiles.