Title: Catching Up
Author: kaly
Characters: Jack, Rose
Parings: Jack/Ianto, Rose/Ten
Word Count: 1750
Rating: G
Spoilers: DW 4x13 Journey's End
Summary: In a quiet moment, two old friends catch up.
Note: So about that not writing anymore fic, especially at midnight... headdesk Thanks to ndannais for the beta.
Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing. All hail the BBC and RTD.
Times Gone By
"Hey, you," Rose said quietly, nudging Jack's leg with her foot. They had been underway for a while now, towing the Earth home. Thanks to this, they were able to escape piloting, at least for a bit, and just relax.
Jack looked up and smiled, gesturing to the floor beside him with a tilt of his head. "Hey, you. Have a sit?" Smiling, Rose dropped beside him, curling her arm through his. When she didn't speak, he asked, "You okay?"
Grasping his arm more tightly for a moment, Rose nodded before dropping her head onto his shoulder. "Am now."
Jack grinned, glancing at where the two (and really, the mind boggled at the thought) Doctors were arguing about... something. He could guess that, deep down, Rose was more than alright with how things had worked out. "I'm glad. It's good you're home."
He could tell by the tilt of her head that Rose's gaze was following the Doctors as they argued. There was a moment of silence, in which Jack was content to just be, before she said, "I was scared. Before I mean. I thought you were dead." There was a long pause before she added, "You should be dead."
Smiling, Jack nodded and moved his arm to rest around her shoulders. "I was."
"But now you're not." It wasn't a question, but Jack could hear the disbelief in her voice, which had grown small.
"Nope," Jack replied, chuckling softly. "Thanks to you."
Rose moved away from Jack just a bit, so that he was able to see her face, and the confusion that rested there. Pushing her hair behind her ears - some nervous habits apparently never died - she asked, "Me? What'd I do?"
He stared off into space for several moments. It had been a long time since he had considered her gift to him anything but a curse. He still considered it a curse, but one he knew had been born out of love, and he could never blame Rose for that. Blinking quickly, he asked, "Remember the Game Station?"
"As if I could forget," Rose said with a shaky laugh. "What about it?"
"The Daleks killed me then, trying to reach The Doctor. But you... My sweet, beautiful girl, you saved me. When you came back, to save The Doctor, you saved me, too. Only..."
Jack could tell he had confused her, and struggled not to laugh at the perplexed look that was creasing her forehead. "I don't remember."
"I'm not surprised," Jack said seriously.
"So now you can't die?"
Trying to force a grin, Jack shook his head. "Oh, I can die. I just have a problem with staying dead these days."
Rose looked torn, and Jack loved her even more for it. "Ever?"
Sighing, Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, I don't know. It's certainly looking that way at this point."
"How long, Jack?" she asked, once more curling into his side. "How long since the Game Station for you?"
He felt cold inside, just thinking about the years that encompassed the answer. "A long time," he finally managed in a rough voice.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, not looking up at him. "But I'm not, not really."
Conflicted, Jack replied, "Rose..."
Leaning back, she met his gaze, her eyes full of the stubbornness he always adored in her. "I'm not sorry you're still here. I'm sorry that forever seems a very long time..." At that, she glanced once more at The Doctor. The original Doctor, Jack couldn't help noticing. "But I refuse to be sorry you didn't die on the Game Station, or the Crucible."
Jack tried to smile, but knew he failed miserably by the look on Rose's face. "For what it's worth, I'm glad I didn't die either of those times, too."
"But there are days you wish you could," Rose said, far more understanding in her voice than Jack felt comfortable with. Far too much of her innocence had gone missing, since he had been with her last.
However, unable to lie, he merely replied, "Yeah."
She smiled sadly, nodding. "It's selfish, but... I won't have to lose you." She gestured toward The Doctor. "He won't have to lose you."
Grimacing, Jack shrugged and looked away, uncomfortable. "Not always so sure that's a good thing."
"Why not?"
Hoping he could avoid getting into the ugly details, Jack just shook his head. "It's a long story, for another time - not one for happy times, like now. We should be celebrating, not hiding in the corner." He used his free arm to gesture toward the center console where The Doctor stood, surrounded by so many of the others. "Shouldn't you be with him right now? You've come a very long way."
"I'm where I want to be right now, thank you very much," she finally said, half-heartedly punching him in the arm. She smiled, and Jack felt his breath catch. He never imagined he would see that smile again, and he had missed it terribly. He half-wondered if she was reading his mind, when she said, "I've missed you."
Returning her smile, Jack nodded and kissed her on the forehead. "I've missed you, too. You've no idea how much."
Laughing, this time she shoved him harder. "Hardly! Hello? Stuck on a parallel world?"
"I'm sorry," Jack said softly, once the laughter had subsided. "When I saw your name on the list of the dead..." He shuddered, before reaching up and pushing her hair out of her face. "I much prefer you stranded to dead, I have to say. Was thrilled when The Doctor told me what'd really happened."
"I'm back now, though," Rose said, "so we'll have no more moping about that particular bad spot." She nodded shortly, as if declaring that was the end of that.
Jack threw his head back, laughing like he hadn't in a while. Since before they'd lost so much to Gray. Since Tosh and Owen. "Yes, ma'am," he replied, saluting.
Head held high, Rose looked down at him, playfully. "And don't you forget it," she commanded, before dissolving into giggles.
They were silent for some time, content to just sit together. Quiet times were never common on the TARDIS, and it had been far too long. Eventually Rose broke the spell, asking, "So that was your Torchwood? On the screen, I mean."
Suddenly, all Jack could think of was that dark, humid hole in the earth that held so many memories, good and bad. During the excitement on the Crucible, he couldn't afford to think too much about what might have happened at the Hub. In the quiet... it was hard not to think of exactly that. "Yeah, that's them."
"Going back to them?"
"I think it's where I belong. With them. For now, anyway."
Smiling, Rose nodded, looking so much older than she had the last time they had been together. "I understand." And sitting there, feeling the warmth of Rose pressed against his side, he knew she did. "Tell me about them? Gwen, wasn't it?"
Jack grinned. "Yeah, Gwen Cooper, well, it's Williams now. She reminds me of you so much, sometimes. Follows her heart, always wants to see the best in people." Laughing, he added, "Tenacious as hell."
Threading her fingers through Jack's, Rose gave his hand a squeeze before asking, "And the bloke? The looker on the screen with Gwen? Who's he?"
Closing his eyes, he could see only Ianto's face as he bid Jack farewell the last time. Knowing what dangers might be lurking, having had already had to face losing Jack to The Doctor once before, he still let him go with a brave smile. Being what Jack needed, no matter how he might have felt. Was humbling, now that Jack really had time to stop and process it.
Some days Jack really did have to wonder what he had done to deserve him.
"That's Ianto. Ianto Jones," Jack finally replied, his voice rough.
"Sounds like a story there."
Jack opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again, trying to come up with the words to describe him as he had so easily with Gwen. Failing miserably, he settled, somewhat sheepishly, on, "He's... special."
He felt as much as heard Rose's laughter. "Now it really sounds like a story. Captain Jack? Speechless? Might dare even say... caught?" Sitting up straight, Jack groaned at the downright evil glee on her face.
"I'm not so sure about that," Jack replied, feeling some unconscious need to deflect her attention away from something he had problems putting words to on a good day. "It's... complicated."
Rose smiled at him, and even conflicted he was unable not to smile in return. "I am. Sure that is."
"Oh yeah?" Jack asked, laughing and ruffling her hair in some inane attempt to break the tension. "Why's that?"
"Yeah," she said, nodding firmly. "I've seen that look before - that one you had on your face just now when you thought about him."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah," Rose answered, absently looking across the room at The Doctor. The original Doctor, Jack once more noted - which might get interesting, if they had time to dig into it before Jack left.
He hugged her tightly for a moment, relishing the feeling of something long lost returned. It so rarely seemed to happen that stories had happy endings around Jack. And this was one he wouldn't trade for the world.
"Have I mentioned how happy I am that you're back?" Jack smiled at her, before looking at The Doctor, and then back at Rose. "For both of you."
"Me, too," Rose said softly. Searching Jack's eyes for a long moment, she asked, "And what about you? Happy to be off home?"
"I'm not sure what or where home really is anymore, exactly. Haven't been for a long time."
Rose smiled, and Jack couldn't help thinking it lit up her entire face, as it should. "Yes you are. And he's waiting for you at Torchwood - this Ianto of yours. Impatiently, no doubt, but waiting. Home."
His eyes lost their focus for a few seconds, before he smiled. "Yeah, he is. How'd you get so smart?"
"Oh, I've known a couple of smart guys in my time..."
Both of them dissolved into laughter, clutching at one another and content merely to be happy, and - for now at least - together.
end