Part 3: Faith
Anno 1892 – Tenth Doctor, 1106 – Jack, 57
(Jack's first "death" after Satellite 5)
Jack's point of view
America, land of freedom and opportunities.
He had been living in that time for more than twenty years, and yet Captain Jack Harkness still failed to understand what freedom meant in the nineteenth century.
It had been nothing extraordinary, really. His search for the Doctor had led him to New York when somebody stole his – forged – credentials. Ever the pickpocket himself, he had shrugged it off and simply pilfered them back. Normally, he would have taken more drastic measures, but he had been in a good mood and had still not decided how to hit on that dazzling brunet in the neighbouring queue. Thus, he had not bothered confronting the thief. After all, everybody wanted to taste a bit of America's legendary freedom, and he could not really blame the haggard, dirty man for dreaming of a better life.
But then again, he probably should have spent some seconds on intimidating him. He might not have gotten the brunet's name that way, but at least he would still stand a chance on actually dating him.
Alas, here he laid in a pool of his own blood, caught off guard by a homophobic, gunned thief ready for revenge. His body had grown numb enough not to even register much of the pain in his chest anymore, and yet he still felt strangely awake.
"If it's any consolidation," he heard a familiar voice above him, "that man will get what he deserves."
In spite of the situation, Jack could not help smiling. Thanks to his limited mobility, he could not see the man, but he would recognize that subtle Scottish accent anywhere. John. His latest flirt seemed awfully familiar to such situations, but then again, he would not have expected the brunet to find him in this dark corner to begin with.
And…he was grateful not to be alone in that dire moment. "I wanted…to ask you out for dinner," he whispered, and his sentence ended in a fit of coughs.
Finally, as he crouched next to a dying man, the brunet almost-stranger entered his field of vision, and his otherwise handsome features looked both pale and awfully concerned. "We'll have lots of dinners together," he smiled softly and reached for Jack's hand, "You'll get out of this just fine." It was a lie and Jack knew it, but for the moment, a lie was all he needed.
"I would like that," he whispered and closed his eyes, imagining all the wonderful things life would still have had in store for him, "I would like that very much."
A set of coughs shook him out of his reverie, but they were not his own. His eyes shot open. If his latest friend had gotten injured while trying to help, he was in danger himself, he should not –
"I should have come much earlier," the brunet spoke softly, "I guess I was afraid." He sent him a gentle smile and continued in his strange monologue, "No matter what will come, keep in mind that you are not alone."
As he was lying motionless in the arms of a stranger, his mind so sluggish he could barely concentrate, Jack only noticed he was crying when a tear was brushed off his cheek. "It took me a long time to acknowledge it," the brunet added wistfully, "to acknowledge the fact that I need you in my life." Their eyes met, both so much older than they should be, and even in his dazed state of mind Jack finally saw the other man for who he was. "You are a wonderful, impossible being, Jack Harkness," the Doctor whispered in his ear as he pulled him into a gentle hug, "and if we ever meet again, I would be honoured to travel with you once more."
He wanted to return the embrace, to answer, to give his dear friend any kind of indication of how much those words meant to him. And yet, helpless in the face of death, Jack could not move a single muscle.
He had been alive for half a century and seen more than most people his age. But right then, he felt that he had never been as happy as in the very moment – and in that short moment of bliss, he did no longer mind that he was dying. Not at all.
Anno 2008 – Tenth Doctor, 906 – Jack, 174
(After the year that never was)
Martha's point of view
„Really, you could come, you know."
They had survived the end of the world – better yet, they had managed undoing the worst carnage in the history of mankind. A whole year of pain and terror had been undone…at least to most of earth's inhabitant.
Martha, however, bore the burden of remembering every detail of that horrible year, and so did her family. She had helped saving the world, but she could take it no longer.
The Doctor did not see her the way she saw him, and she just…could not keep travelling with him anymore. It was hard enough on her to begin with, but now she had other, more pressing duties. She would find her own way from now on, because she really had no other choice.
It was a hard decision to make, but the Doctor would be fine. He only needed one companion anyway, and she knew that Jack would follow him to the end of time itself. Well, technically, he had already done that, but she was still convinced of his loyalty. Jack might have been a normal human once, but he was immortal now, and if there was something the Doctor deserved, it was a friend who would neither age nor die on him.
"The last time I met the Doctor before joining up with you, he was really…much older," the immortal had reminisced on one of the few precious evenings they had spent simply talking, "He had come to cheer me up in a really bad situation, and I loved him for that."
Jack and the Doctor – they were perfect for each other, and she accepted that now.
So why the hell was Jack hesitating?
"I had plenty of time to think during that past year," the immortal mused with a forlorn look on his face, "and I kept thinking about that team of mine."
The Doctor seemed to accept that answer, but Martha would not stand for it – not after her own decision to leave, and certainly not with her knowledge on Jack's actual devotion.
"Come on, Jack," she urged him with a look, "You've been waiting for this. You can return to this day whenever you want, but the next chance to come along might take centuries to occur."
The Doctor arched an eyebrow at her perseverance, but she had accomplished her goal; Jack took a moment to reconsider.
And of course, he smiled in defeat. "Of course, a year of thinking about friends," he stated and winked at the time lord, "is nothing against a century of recalling that handsome face."
The Doctor frowned in disbelief. "Oh, don't start," he replied indignantly and blinked, "Wait, have you met this regeneration of me? When?"
Jack grinned mysteriously, "Oh, you'll know."
Martha, meanwhile, couldn't help laughing. Maybe she would never have the chance to become that important to the time lord, and obviously the Doctor had no idea yet. But one day, and possibly forever, these two unbelievably old men would stand as protectors of the universe. Together.
Anno 1892 – Tenth Doctor, 1106 – Jack, 57
(After the Doctor's visit on Jack's first "death")
The Doctor's point of view
He really thought he was dying.
Young Jack, so blissfully naïve, had no idea the curse of immortality was awaiting him. Hopefully, though, he would one day understand it as a gift rather than a curse.
The Doctor did not have it in him to warn his hilariously young friend, to even tell him of what had happened back then. And so, the very least he could do was to be at Jack's side when he needed it the most.
It was a slow death, and the Doctor hated having to witness life seeping out of the one companion that would hopefully never die on him.
Jack Harkness would survive and grow impossibly old, just like the Doctor himself. For once, the time lord would not be the one outliving a friend.
…and his own egoism in that matter was starting to frighten him.
His own upcoming regeneration, growing more intense with every minute he spent suppressing it, might kill him after all, but the universe still had one marvelous Captain Jack Harkness to save the day, and that was all it needed.
With that thought in mind, the Doctor dragged his unwilling feet back towards the Tardis. A tall man was standing next to it, and the time lord was not surprised it was the same impossible being he had just left behind in a dark corner of the immigration hall.
"You're not getting away that easily, sunshine," Jack greeted him with a half-hearted grin.
The Doctor felt both panicked and relieved. "You shouldn't have come." His friend's loyalty touched him greatly, but the sheer force of regeneration could permanently harm even immortal beings. Wasn't that the sole reason he had not bothered summoning his Jack in the first place? But of course he had, unintentionally, done so by paying him a visit that was long due anyway.
Now that he thought about it, it would have been strange if the immortal had not shown up, given the circumstances. So maybe, just like his own regeneration had been foretold, his friend's presence was meant to be.
Maybe he should no longer bother hiding his own poor condition, for that was becoming all but impossible anyway.
He saw Jack rolling his eyes before he ducked under the time lord's arm to steady him on his venture. "I've been pondering this day for more than a hundred years," the immortal informed him rather good-naturedly, "At first I was elated, and then I started wondering, what has gotten into him? I really had no other choice but to come here, now that I finally got the chance."
The Doctor frowned. So what Jack was he facing then? A young one, yet which one? But then again, did it really matter?
With an encouraging grin, the immortal pushed the doors open and they entered the Tardis together. "I figured you might be regenerating," he spoke, and his grin faltered ever so briefly, "Is there anything I can do?"
Finally back, the Doctor loosened his iron grip on Jack's shoulders to stagger towards the console. "Don't stay here," he coughed and fixed his friend in a serious stare, "You might burn up if you do."
Rather than considering, though, Jack simply shrugged his concerns off, "That would be a change, then, wouldn't it?"
The Doctor leant heavily onto the console. Even breathing was becoming a problem, and he no longer cared whether his message was conveyed properly. "This is not a warning, Jack," he rasped, "it's an offer." As he sluggishly entered far-away coordinates, he made sure for the Tardis to leave his friend back on Earth just this one time.
"I once told you I could not remedy your condition, but that is not entirely true," he explained quietly, "I want you to stay alive with me, but I really don't have the right to be that selfish." Their eyes locked just as the Doctor's body jerked violently enough for him to pull the lever that activated the engine.
"If you ever grow tired of living, my death can kill you too."
His words died in a fit of coughs, his vision was obscured by his own golden glow – and he was grateful to see his shocked friend's silhouette vanishing as the sound of the universe signaled the Tardis reaching a safe spot in orbit at last.
He could take Jack out of his misery, but at a cost.
And the time had not quite come yet.
Part 3 - End
Oh well, you know where this is going. Thank you for still being with me!
