Ughhh I'm so sorry guys, for taking so long. Please forgive me, and there will be more to come soon, I promise.
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The man smelled of sweat and alcohol. He looked down at his bruised knuckles and then at the bodies scattered through the alley. They were just juveniles- couldn't have been older than 17. They had just wanted his money. A few insults, a few kicks to his stomach, and they would have left. But they just had to pull out the pictures in his wallet. Had to comment on the one of a handsome man in a suit, smiling as he poured a cup of coffee. Had to rip the picture in half.
Of course, not all of them were dead. Some were just whimpering, curled up in a fetal position and crying for mommy. In fact, only one of them was dead- an unexpected, but not undesirable outcome.
He was so drunk. In this state, he knew he couldn't get home. Gwen was in Scotland with Rhys. Everyone else he knew was in Cardiff, miles away from here.
He had one other option.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Well that was fun, wasn't it?" Nora smiled in the passenger seat, her teeth gleaming in the dark. The Doctor shrugged. "The drunk principal kind of ruined it for me."
Nora giggled. The car idled on the side of the road, across from her house, and neither one of them knew how to break the silence.
"Well, um, I'll see you after Christmas break?"
The Doctor nodded. "Right. Mhm."
"Uh…yeah. Okay." She popped open her door, but before she could climb out, she made a last minute decision. The astronomy teacher leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, their faces turning bright red.
She smiled and closed the car door. As The Doctor watched her walk away, however, her hair turned blonde and her blouse morphed into a tight union jack T-Shirt. He sighed and leaned back against the headrest.
Don't think about Rose. It'll only get you thinking about-
Martha. And Donna. And all of their families. Jack-
His phone began to ring.
He didn't feel like talking to anyone right now. But it was the middle of the night, and if someone was calling, it was probably an emergency. He answered it, grumbling, "Yes?"
"Heyyy…..Doc."
The words were slurred, but there was no mistaking that American accent.
"Guess what I did?" Then there was an arrogant snort. "There were these kids…these, well, they were really rude…"
The Doctor closed his eyes. "You have to stop doing this, Jack."
"Can you…pickmeup, Doctor? Pretty pleaseee?"
The Doctor hung up and started the car. He didn't even have to ask where Jack was- it was always the same street, full of pubs and lounges. Ever since Ianto died and Torchwood sort of broke apart, he would get drunk out of his mind every Friday. This wasn't the first time the Doctor had come to pick him up.
He found Jack curled up in an alley, buried in his navy coat to fend off the cold. The Doctor helped him to his feet and then they both surveyed the damage.
"Are they dead?" The Doctor asked quietly.
"Naah. Only one." Jack giggled and then held up two halves of a picture of Ianto. "He was mean, Doctor."
Aside from these Friday nights, Jack Harkness was a hard, unemotional man. You would never know how miserable he was, how badly he wished to die like Ianto had. He threw himself into his work, taking care of the nasty aliens that crawled throughout Britain. He had been solo for quite a while now, and he had plenty of work since The Doctor had put away his sonic screwdriver.
As they climbed into the car, the Doctor handed Jack a sharp dagger. Jack sighed. "DoIhaveto?" He slurred. The Doctor nodded and started the ignition. For some reason, being killed was the quickest way to get Jack sober again. So in the passenger seat of the Doctor's car, he murdered himself.
After a few moments of silence on the road, he came back to life, gasping for air. Then he groaned, rubbing his head. "Hangover already starting."
"I keep telling you to stop."
"Yeah well I didn't listen, obviously. What did I do?" Then he looked at the two halves of Ianto's picture, lying in his bruised hands. Both men were quiet for a while. The best thing to do in these situations, the Doctor had found, was start a conversation and distract him from thinking about the past.
"So have you heard about these teen kidnappings?"
"What? No."
"Four kids taken from different high schools last week. Still missing, no connection. What do you reckon?"
"Probably nothing. Wait," Jack glanced sideways at The Doctor. "You're not thinking of putting the coat back on, are you?"
"What?" The Doctor frowned. "No! And what's that- 'putting the coat back on'?"
Jack smirked. "Hey, I miss that coat."
The Doctor sighed. So did he.
He drove in silence for a few more minutes. A rude man cut him off in traffic, and he resisted the urge to shout and resort to ridiculous human gestures. Jack let them loose, however.
"So how have you been, Jack?"
Jack snorted. "The usual, Doc. Catching the scum of the British Isles, what else?"
He didn't always call aliens scum. But his views on the wonders of other worlds had changed since some of his favorite people were taken away. "Had to stop a Weevil from jumping on the tube the other day. They're getting braver and more restless all the time."
A pang of guilt went through the Doctor. He should be helping his old companion, saving the world every week and being everyone's friend. But every time he thought of doing it again, he felt like he was going to throw up.
As if to make it worse, Jack blurted, "So where is that sexy phone box anyway?"
The Doctor sighed as he changed lanes, turning into Jack's apartment complex. The sun was slowly rising above the tall grey buildings and the people were starting to trudge out tiredly in their work clothes. A few attractive women- and men- passed the Doctor's car and winked at Jack, waving. The Doctor was pretty sure Jack had slept with everyone in his building at least once. Maybe even the delivery boys.
"Doc? TARDIS still around?" Jack brought him back to Earth with the same painful question.
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, she's in the attic of the house. But I haven't…well I haven't even looked at her in months."
Jack looked at his friend. They were both so messed up and they couldn't even admit it to each other. They couldn't save themselves no matter how hard they tried.
So who could?
... ... ... ... ... ...
It was dusk now, and the Doctor could barely see the outline of his house from the car. It really was a beautiful house. The entire front was covered in ivy and the balcony looked out over the trees surrounding them. He liked the isolation of it all- the city was close, but not too close. It gave him space to think and drink tea and grade papers in peace.
On the other hand, it left him alone with his thoughts every single day.
Every time he unlocked the door and let himself in, he thought of how lovely it would have been to live here with Rose. She would get up in the morning and go downstairs and he'd have eggs and sausages ready and the telly turned on to some silly reality show that she secretly enjoyed.
Maybe the Other Doctor was living that life right now, at this very moment.
He flicked the lights on and immediately glanced at the mantel. There it was- the miniature angel, facing the wall, where a picture of the angel was taped opposite. Of course they hadn't moved since a few days ago when he'd put them there. But it was a temporary solution- surely there was something worse just around the corner.
The girl who'd given him the "present" was of course long gone on her Christmas holiday. He had tried contacting her, but his phone calls were ignored. Come to think of it, he couldn't even remember the student's name.
He hadn't mentioned the angel to Jack, and that was on purpose. He knew that the moment he said something, Jack would try to get him back into that world of daring adventures and dangerous risks. Not dangerous for him, of course- for other people. People he loved. He couldn't let Jack put others' lives in jeopardy just because he had been momentarily startled by a weeping angel.
No, he would take care of things himself.
Starting with a visit to Sam Baker's flat.