"Doctor, I hope you don't mind," Jack apologized as they turned into the parking lot of a modest hotel just north of the Plass. "Ianto couldn't get you in the four star hotel we usually use here on the bay."
"I'm sure whatever you have will be fine," replied the Doctor. "I'm used to shipboard life after all."
"The TARDIS is hardly austere accommodations," Jack responded as he parked the SUV. "At least he managed to get you the penthouse suite here. I am sorry though, usually he can pull in a favor or two to get what we need. I'd feel better if you were closer to the Hub."
The Doctor opened his door and exited the vehicle. He looked up at the hotel and then across the road where the Plass was clearly visible as Jack removed the suitcase Ianto had prepared from the boot. "You know, this hotel is so close I can't figure out why you bothered to drive here. We would have arrived here just as quickly if we had walked," he observed.
"That's only because the last person to drive the SUV did a rotten job of parking," countered Jack as he lead the Doctor into the glass enclosed reception area.
"And that person was?"
"Me. You happy now?" asked Jack, as he set the suitcase down in front the reception desk. "Why don't you have a seat while I make sure they have everything ready? These short notice reservations can sometimes be a problem."
Instead of following Jack's suggestion, the Doctor decided to nose around a little. The reception was brightly light and very modern. Off to one side was a low table surrounded on three sides by oversized chairs. Beyond the table was one lone potted palm standing in a corner.
Across the reception from the palm was a small stand with brochures on various attractions in the local area. He smiled as he looked them over. He was familiar with most of the places they featured. Some of them he had actually help build.
Behind the stand was a glass wall that separated the reception from the dining area. It was closed, but it looked like there would be a breakfast buffet of some kind in the morning.
"You're not still hungry, are you?" asked Jack as he walked up behind the Doctor and clapped him on the shoulder.
The Doctor gave a little jump and shook his head. "No, no, I'm fine," he assured Jack.
"Good. Let's get you up to your room. You look like hell, you know that?"
"No, I didn't. I thought I looked a mess, but thanks for letting me know," the Doctor quipped.
Outside the penthouse suite, the Doctor was about to use his sonic on the lock when Jack put a restraining hand on his wrist. Surprised, the Doctor turned to Jack who rolled his eyes upward to the security camera in the hallway. Chagrined, the Doctor gestured for Jack to open the door.
The captain put the keycard in the slot of the door lock and deftly pulled it out. The light on the door flashed red. "Sometimes it takes a few tries," Jack explained. He put the card back in the slot and pulled it out slowly this time. Again the light flashed red. The Doctor's hand itched to use his sonic. Jack looked puzzled and slightly embarrassed, but tried once more, this time pulling the card out at a slightly faster speed. The light flashed green. He quickly turned the door handle before his luck changed.
"See? No problem at all. Let's get you settled," said Jack as he carried in the suitcase. The suite was large. The first room had a couch, desk, television and a medium sized table with four chairs. He headed straight for the second room, which was the bedroom. The Doctor, bemused, followed behind.
"I can take it from here," said the Doctor, wanting to be alone once Jack had put the suitcase on a luggage stand. "Why don't you get back to Torchwood."
"I just want to do a sweep first. Make sure there's no bugs here."
"I'll take care of that. No need for you to do it," asserted the Doctor.
"I know, but if it's one of ours, I don't want it destroyed and if it's someone else's, I want it intact so I can trace it. I've seen what you do with surveillance devices," Jack countered. "Why don't you unpack? I'll be out of your hair soon enough."
The Doctor reluctantly yielded to Jack and opened the suitcase. A small pile of square foil packets caught his eye. "What's this about?" the Doctor asked, indicating the offensive supplies.
Jack turned away from taking a small video device out of a picture, his eyes wide when he saw what was in the suitcase. "Oh, that's just Ianto being considerate. Here, I'll take those for you. Unless you would like to try them out?" he asked, raising an eyebrow suggestively, half kidding, half hopeful.
"They're all yours," the Doctor responded, his voice heavy with disdain as he stepped back from the suitcase. Jack quickly gathered them up. He stopped briefly to examine one more closely.
"Hmm I didn't know he had these. I'll have to talk to him about that," said Jack. He looked at the Doctor and changed the subject. "Well, I have this room clear. Let me go check the other one."
Left alone, the Doctor quickly finished unpacking. He hoped it would be a waste of effort and he could be off the next day. Doing a quick sweep of the room with the sonic he discovered a few devices Jack had missed. They imploded with puffs of smoke as he disabled them. As he pried one out of a lamp base to examine more closely, he looked out the window for the first time and discovered his room overlooked the Plass.
The TARDIS was easily visible beneath the water tower. To his eyes she appeared haloed by the light illuminating the fountain, to others she would be almost invisible. As he stared at her, he realized unpacking was not a waste. Her resentment towards him was apparent, even at this distance. He was going to be a resident here for quite some time, unless he chose to abandon her. No, that was unthinkable.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Jack clearing his throat behind him. Turning, he saw the captain had quite a collection of miniature surveillance devices in his hand.
"All Torchwood's?" the Doctor asked.
"Just a few, Mostly UNIT's, a few MI5 and some I don't recognize, but we'll know where they are from once we get them back to the Hub."
"Any ideas about this one?" asked the Doctor holding the device from the lamp between his thumb and forefinger, as if he had a rat by the tail.
"Yeah… Um… That's one of ours," replied a rather embarrassed Jack. "Sorry, I just wanted to keep an eye on you to make sure you were safe."
"I've been keeping myself safe for quite some time now. I don't need your help in that area, thank you very much."
Jack returned the Doctor's stare, rubbing his chin, considering his next words carefully. "We can debate that another time I guess. Right now, you are in about as bad a shape as I have seen you, short of being shot by a Dalek. I don't want anything to happen to you, especially when I could have done something to prevent it."
"I'm fine. I just need to rest without being the main attraction on someone's monitor. If you don't want me destroying your devices, you might want to remove any others you have here before you leave."
"Right, I'll get right on that. Anything else?" replied Jack, his irritation at being dressed down showing in his voice.
"No, I'll see you in Torchwood tomorrow. I gather you monitor the entrance."
"Yes, we do. We won't leave you outside for long," said Jack with a smile, his good mood apparently returning.
Once Jack left the suite, the Doctor's shoulders sagged. The effort of keeping up a front had left him exhausted. He felt has if a giant weight was trying to press him into the floor. He pushed through his fatigue and performed a final scan of the suite with his sonic. There was one device left. He deftly disabled it, smiling in spite of himself. He would have been disappointed in Jack if he hadn't at least tried.
He readied himself for bed, pleasantly surprised to discover Ianto had managed to find pajamas and a dressing gown that fit his long frame. The young man apparently took his job very seriously. The Doctor carefully hung up the blue suit, shirt and tie. Hopefully his brown suit would be back to him soon, it felt odd to trust its care to someone else.
The room was pleasant and the view was spectacular. He wanted to leave the heavy curtains open so that view would greet him in the morning, but something made him feel uneasy about doing so. He felt too exposed. It made no sense. He was on the top floor. Anything that could get to him here from outside the window wasn't going to let a bit cloth get in its way. But he reached to close the curtains anyway.
He stayed his hand when he thought he saw something high and to the right, just at the edge of his vision, but when he turned his head to look at it, it was gone. Most likely a bat or nocturnal bird he thought, as he quickly drew the curtains shut, the hangers screeching as they rubbed along the curtain rod.
He stretched and looked down at the bed unhappily. He knew he needed to sleep, but he really didn't want to. The rectangular mattress in front of him looked stark and unappealing, despite the posh quilt and oversized pillows. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His stomach queasy, he reached down and flicked back the covers revealing the bed's pale blue sheets, thinking maybe a less formal appearance would make the bed more appealing.
It was better, but still not good. Fair at best. He turned his back on the bed as he pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead and considered his options. Staying up wouldn't work. He was depleted. Jack's constant references to his appearance confirmed that. Ideally he should be recovering in the TARDIS as she idled in the vortex. "No use fixating on what you can't have," he berated himself. He was being childish, the problem wasn't the bed, or the room, or even the window. Those were just excuses. He had to face it. As much as his body craved sleep, his mind feared it and putting it off wasn't going to make it any better.
Turning back to the bed, he reluctantly laid down on it and slipped under the covers. He gave a worried glance at the draped window and told himself he was just being silly. The bedclothes felt cool and smooth where they made contact with his skin, their scent clean and pleasing. The weight of the quilt and blankets relaxed him, making him feel oddly protected. He was safe here, he assured himself. Fatigue had just made him paranoid.
He took a deep breath and sighed contentedly as he let it out. It was almost as if he was in his own bed. Only the hum of the TARDIS engines in the background was missing. He rolled on to his side, subconsciously putting his back to the worrying window and drifted off to sleep.