Title: Inhibitions (And Jack's Lack Of)
Pairing: Captain Jack Harkness/Tenth Doctor
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Spoilers for series 1 & 2 of Doctor Who and Torchwood.
Summary: He could only carry through with it because Jack didn't recognise him.
A/N: Written during slashfest IV. Hopefully this isn't too confusing – The Doctor is post-series 2 but Jack is pre-series 1, meaning he's not a Time Agent anymore but he hasn't met the Ninth Doctor yet either. Jack's timeline is a very confusing thing and I don't think anyone has definitely worked it out yet, but for the purpose of this fic he picked up the name 'Captain Jack Harkness' well before he met Nine and Rose.

There had to be an infinite number of bars in the whole of time and space, countless planets and clusters and galaxies that all seemed to share the single need for small, seedy backstreet watering holes that every being ended up in, eventually. There were whole planets devoted to it, in fact, scattered throughout time.

So, the Doctor mused, the chances of running into a familiar face in a non-descript bar on original Earth, especially at the randomly, Tardis-chosen date of 2108, were quite low. But then again, it seemed he couldn't go anywhere without causing a stir – because there, leaning against the bar and carelessly draining a hyper-vodka, was Captain Jack Harkness.

The trouble with time-travel was that although you could just about manage to keep up with your own fractured timeline, it was impossible to be exactly sure where everyone else was with theirs. This Jack didn't look much different than the one they – he – had left on that Game Station, but he knew more than anyone how deceptive appearances could be. Jack looked as though he'd been having a few rough nights recently, dishevelled and scruffy, but the arrogant charm was still so strong the Doctor could swear he felt it from the door.

If he hesitated before walking straight over to the bar and sitting himself down next to Jack, no one saw it. He signalled the barmaid over with an enthusiastic grin and ordered himself a well-matured Scotch, turning to Jack as he sniffed at the glass then set it back down on the bar, grim firmly in place as he tried to get his attention.

'Hello,' he tried, when staring didn't work.

Jack ignored him as he waved at the barmaid and flashed her a grin as she placed another clear glass of throat-burning alcohol in front of him. He took a sip and then, eventually, allowed the briefest flicker of his gaze in the Doctor's direction before answering, with an utter lack of enthusiasm, 'Hi.'

'Drowning your sorrows?' The Doctor asked, conversationally.

'I've got universal woes,' he stated simply, not looking at the Doctor as he threw his head back and finished his drink.

'Yeah, well, I've got cosmic angst. We make a fine pair. Care for another hyper-vodka?'

Jack turned to look at the Doctor properly for a moment, skimming his gaze ostentatiously over him, half-flirting, half-assessing. That done, he caught the Doctor's gaze and grinned (oh, the Doctor realised, he'd missed that grin) and nodded encouragingly, though it dropped to a soft smirk as he was passed his drink and took a long sip.

The Doctor rested both elbows on the bar and cupped his head in one hand, inclined to the side enough to see Jack clearly. 'So, how long have you been here?'

'On this planet or in this particular bar?' He replied, trying to gauge the stranger's reaction.

'Oh, I think we'll stick with the second one for now. Plenty of time for the rest of it.'

Jack stared at him for the briefest second, then gave an almost unnoticeable shrug, put down his glass and answered, 'About four and half hours… in the past three days I've become quite a regular.'

'Ah,' The Doctor nodded, in a tone that suggested understanding and really meant nothing. 'Why this place… why this planet, even?'

'Wanna know why this year, too?' Jack smirked, his tone light. The Doctor quirked his lips in a quick smile and shrugged, though he didn't reply. After a moment, Jack said, 'This bar because it's the nearest to my ship. Earth because I like the atmosphere and twenty-one eight because I don't remember visiting this year before, thought I'd check it out.' He was aware enough to know exactly what he was saying but drunk enough to not quite care, not when this stranger had such a disarming smile and an open interest in him. He was sober enough to wonder why, but too apathetic towards his life to worry.

'Well, hmm,' The Doctor mused, looking pointedly around the dark room as he spoke. 'But not much really ever happens in twenty-one eight, and you seem to more focused on drinking yourself into oblivion. Now, I wonder… why would that be?'

To his surprise, Jack just laughed lightly. 'Right. Oblivion is the easiest choice and I'm not big on making grand decisions. Losing another week or so is not going to change things.'

The Doctor raised an eyebrow in reply, silently nudging him to continue. There was a long pause as Jack drained his glass quickly and then he leaned in close to his ear, gripping the Doctor's shoulder a little harder than necessary for just balance. 'I've already lost two years of my life,' He murmured, his breath warm and heavy against the Doctor's skin. Neither pulled away, although Jack's hand shifted and loosened its grip.

'Lost?' The Doctor asked incredulously, though already he was ticking off timeline-boxes in his mind.

'Stolen, actually. By the Time Agency.' He moved back and his voice may have sounded quite matter-of-fact but there was a hint of anger, a desperate need for something that the Doctor recognised. 'That's why I'm here, looking for someone who might recognise me and tell me who I am.'

'Had any luck yet?'

Jack gave a short bark of laughter, before shaking his head and taking another gulp of his drink. 'Of course not. The most luck I've had so far is with Susan here.' He winked at the barmaid again and the Doctor was kind of impressed that she didn't blush under his gaze, instead smiling back from the other end of the bar.

'So, what, that's the plan? Hop from planet to planet throughout time and space until you figure out what exactly you've been missing?'

'Yeah, that's about it. Why? Fancy coming along?' Hell, any company would be better than the gaping holes in his memory.

'Nah,' The Doctor drawled, 'Personally I prefer heading for the future. Though, mind you, there are parts of my past I wouldn't mind going back to…'

'My future means nothing to me,' Jack shrugged nonchalantly, and the Doctor had to stop himself throttling him just because Jack's future had Rose in it while he had already left her behind, dead for all it meant to him, untouchable in a parallel universe.

This boiled down to a throwaway, 'Ah, never say that,' which Jack greeted with a humourless snort.

Realising he should probably get through the introductions before he called him Jack and brought up a whole new range of confused and probably highly suspicious questions, the Doctor asked him his name.

'Captain Jack Harkness, at your service. And you are?'

'John,' he replied without hesitation, not daring to even mention the word 'doctor' because oh, paradoxes could be such tricky things.

'Just 'John'?' Jack asked, incredulously, but the Doctor shrugged and Jack realised he didn't actually care how much he lied, as long as he didn't leave. Even as 'John' started coming up with a long and undoubtedly detailed answer about his lack of surname, Jack made up his mind to grab this stranger by the hand (literally, because he did have extraordinarily nice hands) and pull him outside, though a labyrinth of back alleys and the Doctor was silently thankful that they went in the opposite direction to the Tardis. That was, until they paused in the middle of another endless street and rational thought stopped altogether.

Oh bloody hell, the Doctor thought, as Jack pushed him against the cold rough wall and kissed him, hard. The Jack he knew in his most recent past life may have made a pass at him every third sentence and he never doubted he would willingly follow through with them but this – this urgency defied logic. Then again, defying logic was one of the Doctor's favourite pastimes and so he went with it, running his hand through Jack's hair and holding him tight with one arm around his waist.

And even as Jack pushed his hand down his trousers and broke the kiss to suck on his neck, The Doctor reminded himself he could only go through with this because Jack didn't recognise him, and the thought almost broke his already heavily-bruised hearts.