Here's a new chapter-I add some stuff onto here that wasn't in 'An Archive of Our Own' version. You may notice this if you have read the other version. Here, I include a new change of scenery in the middle of a dream sequence Jack has with-well, can't tell you yet if you haven't read this, spoilers. Slightly romantic. Also, new chapter title, better chapter title.


Chapter 4: Out of Sequence

Amy Pond shook her head. She was used to the Doctor being 'obtuse', he had a head that could come up with a plan apparently on the spot without explaining what it was or what was going to happen next, or else trying to explain what it was but never being able to find the right words that would make her understand it, just spouting nonsense. It made her head ache sometimes.

But having this whole secret life and secret past that she never knew he had—interacting with people like Captain Jack, who could not die, and Rose who inhaled the Time Vortex or Heart of the TARDIS—she just wasn't used to this yet. She had met River Song, but River Song wasn't special in the sense that she had powers; she was just one step ahead of the Doctor. That was unique, and it made Amy Pond smile, but it wasn't 'magical'. This Captain Jack was magical in a sense. The Doctor was—well, he was kooky, but he wasn't magical, unless you counted that traveling through time and space bit, which was pretty neat.

No, what really made her upset was the fact that he kept all of these secrets about his past from her—that was how obtuse the Doctor was being. Sometimes he was an open book to her, she could read page after page of his marvelous adventures, but these days, it seemed to her that he was hiding more from her, and she hated that. She hated the fact that he kept himself locked up from her, and she wondered what he was hiding.

Seemed the Doctor had a surprise for her every week, or every day at least. And the way he had explained it all neat and proper, tidied it all up, did it not? Let's not ask any more questions about his past, but it still didn't make sense to her as she wondered why he hadn't brought up, 'oh, did I happen to mention Torchwood?' the first time around, why he had not explained all of this before to her. Secrets.

Perhaps he did make up his explanation as he went along just then? Or perhaps he did not explain all of this to her at first because it was needlessly complicated, it was a need-to-know basis for him. Quite possible. Something else she had to keep in mind. The Doctor keeps secrets until you need to know them, and does not explain them fully. She wrote down in her mind.


Captain Jack slept, and dreamed. He was digging again underground, only this time he was about as tall as a mole, standing inside his hollowed-out burrow, with plans to make a tunnel that extended outward and upward, digging towards the sun and sky.

"You're not really dreaming about this thing again, are you?" Jack heard, and turned around to see John Hart standing a short distance away, dressed in leather, with a bit of a surly British accent to his voice, and bleach-blond hair. "Give it a rest already."

"I always wondered what you would look like dressed up like this," Jack said, studying John. "I thought you would be taller."

"So did I." John said, shaking his head. "Ah, well, give it a rest already, you're out of this mess. You're in the TARDIS again, isn't that blooming wonderful?" He took out a cigarette, and lit a match. "You're not dreaming about that part." He said, starting to smoke.

"How did I-" Jack started to ask.

"Or would you rather dream about this?" John asked, and snapped his fingers. The scene changed from the mole hole to a big band dance hall, circa 1941, with the music swinging almost like jazz, and John and Jack both dressed up in white tuxedos now, sitting at a table looking out across the dance floor. "I always wanted to do this." John said, smiling at Jack.

"You do look nice." Jack admitted. "How did I wind up in the TARDIS?" He asked.

"Does it matter?" John said, gesturing toward the dance floor. "Look around you! It's like 1941, the music is fine, the dancing is good, and you and I are together!" He sighed. "It was the ring I gave you, by the way," He muttered, pointing at Jack's left ring finger. "It had a tracking signal, but I thought I was the only one who could find you in the future—the present—but that doesn't even matter."

John snuffed his cigarette out in an ash tray, and took a drink of bourbon. "What's important now is that you can come save me and all of your Torchwood friends from Gray. Isn't that what you want?" John asked as Jack looked down. "So, wake up, go fetch your Doctor, and tell him where and when you want to go." John said.

"I—I can't," Jack said, looking down.

"Why not?" John asked, staring at him.

"I'm—I'm afraid-" Jack laughed. "I'm afraid of what I might find when I go back. With you and Gray in the picture..."

"You're afraid of what we've done to Torchwood. And Cardiff." John said, putting his drink down. "You're afraid of—are they really that important to you?"

"I'm afraid so." Jack said, shaking his head.

"Come dance with me." John said, holding out his hand. "We'll make your troubles go away, just for a short while."

"I will go back," Jack said, grabbing John's hand and dancing with him for a bit. "I can't let them die alone."

"But you are afraid that they will die, and you can't help them."

"I've lost members of my Torchwood teams before, many of them over the years, but this group—this group is special to me. I've built them up, I've trained them in handling difficult situations, I've been closer to some of them than I have been with anyone for years." Jack said. "I can't face losing them, and I can't disappoint them."

"Decisions, decisions. Jack, you were bound to face this situation sooner rather than later," John said, looking up at him. "Given the facts of your life. Number one—immortal. Number two—dangerous situations. Number three—crazy people."

"I know that. I just thought it would be later rather than sooner."

"Jack, Jack, my poor Jack..."

"John, why is your hair like that?" Jack asked.

"What? This?" John said, pointing at his bleach-blond hair. "Oh, you know, I just wanted to try something new." He smiled. "Besides, I thought you might like it." He vanished.


Jack woke up. He opened his eyes to find himself lying in a reclined position on the sofa/loveseat 'jump' chair beside the console. The lights had dimmed a little bit.

He sat up. "Hello, Captain Jack." said a female voice he recognized-

"Amy Pond." Jack managed to say, turning around to face the fair red-haired 'newcomer' to the TARDIS family. She was different to Rose, and Martha. "Glad to meet you." He said, holding out his hand. "Hope I didn't disturb you."

"I wasn't expecting to-" Amy Pond said, and shook his hand. "I wasn't expecting to meet a man who could come back from the dead." She said. "I've met several other people who were friends with the Doctor-not exactly the most ordinary of people, but never-never had I imagined..."

"The Doctor didn't prepare you well, did he?" He asked with a laugh. "He always does that-springs a trap on you when you least expects it. Leaves you in the dust, and forces you to come along with him, keep up as best as you can, and then fend for yourself in the end." He sighed. "Disappointment has a name-the Doctor." He muttered.

Amy Pond frowned and lowered her head, blushing with embarrassment. "The Doctor told me we would be meeting Jack, Captain Jack he soon added, but nothing more." She said. "We found your signal and tracked you down, dug you up, we were in a bit of a rush. I suppose the Doctor suspected something was wrong, or 'off' when we found your signal in 42 AD, but-well, he didn't have time to explain everything, I suppose."

"Never does, does he?" Captain Jack laughed again. "Always a fast talker, that Time Lord. He babbles on whenever we're on the run, doesn't explain half of the terms we don't understand."

Amy Pond smiled a bit. "He does try, though, but when things get tough-he's pressed for time usually. But he did sit down with me, while you were asleep, and-discussed some of the problems he's had with Torchwood." She said.

Captain Jack sighed. "I wish he would sit down with me and give me that same little talk. I wish he would explain to me why he doesn't like Torchwood."

"He said he couldn't handle your problems." Amy Pond interjected. "Said he couldn't handle the day-to-day affairs of cleaning up messes..."

"Messes? Is Torchwood the trash collectors or the cleaning crew?" Jack scoffed. "I suppose we are tasked with some of the dirtiest, menial jobs in the universe, but that is still no excuse. These are good people that I work with, even if they do get fouled or messed up with the trouble in their lives." He sighed. "I suppose the Doctor did talk a lot, didn't he?" He asked.

"More than anything." Amy Pond said. "He does talk a lot more than he does things rapid-fire." She said.

"He talks up a storm, that's why they call him the Oncoming Storm!" Captain Jack laughed. "Although I suppose sometimes he does talk so much because he's alone, or has only one other companion with him. He doesn't have anything else to fill up the space with, doesn't have anyone else to share talk time with too much."

Amy Pond frowned. "One other companion..." She said, and then shook her head. "Maybe that's so, but sometimes he's quiet, too quiet." She said. "He's always thinking, always planning something." She said half to herself. "I wish I could get inside his head sometimes and figure out what he's thinking about that's so important that he just can't-"

"Well, I suppose I leave you two alone for too long, it's natural that you all will start talking about me," said the Doctor as he flicked the lights on even brighter.


Captain Jack and Amy glanced away from the glare, shielding their eyes as Captain Jack looked down at the floor. "It looks...shiny," He said, glancing up at the Doctor. He still couldn't get over it. The Doctor wasn't his Doctor anymore-not the first Doctor he had met, not the second, but a third instead.

The first Doctor he had met was his favorite, in terms of how he had looked up to the man, almost like a second father to him. The second Doctor was almost just as sweet, and certainly as funny, certainly more of a buddy or companion to him, especially with all of the dangers that they had faced together and how closer together they were in terms of experience and power. The Doctor was a Time Lord, after all, and he was now immortal, not just a Time Agent but also a member of Torchwood. They were sort of even, balanced each other out, and were used to leading people by now.

"Much brighter than the old version, I have to admit, more on the techno-groovy side," The Doctor said, smiling and dancing a little bit. This third Doctor-who was he?

"How did it get like this?" Captain Jack asked.

"Fire." The Doctor said, serious. "I had a more-explosive regeneration than the last," He said, glancing around. "Radiation poisoning, it's complicated," He said, frowning. "In any case, how are you, Jack? How have you been?" He asked, trying to sound cheery. "When was the last time we saw each other, the Master incident?"

"Yeah, that was-why would you ask me that?" He asked.

"Might have been in the past for him, but in the future for you." Amy said, smiling.

"Amy-" The Doctor said, trying to shush her.

"Wait, have you met me since?" Captain Jack asked, shocked and looking up. "In the past for you, but in the future for me? What happened?" He asked urgently.

"Amy, we have got to have a long talk about not interrupting me when I'm trying to get around some delicate little matter," The Doctor said to her, and then shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't-I can't spoil this. Leastways I don't think I can spoil this." He said to Jack, muttering the last.

"Doctor, what are you talking about?" Jack said.

The Doctor sighed. "Jack, you were supposed to stay buried." The Doctor said.

"What?" Amy said, looking up. "That-you mean-we weren't just going to leave him buried there, were you?"

"He always leaves me behind." Jack muttered.

"No, I-I wasn't going to just leave him there," The Doctor sighed, looking at Amy. "Not after you found him, but-I had worried that it was too soon for him to be 'unburied'. Jack, you-you have been buried for awhile, right?" He asked.

"Since 27 A.D., I think that was what I heard my-my burial party say," Captain Jack said, frowning at this point, but then he continued, "It has been-I heard this lovely young woman say it was 42 A.D. now, 15 years of excruciating pain and suffering for me."

He sighed. "Being buried is not a trip in the park. Suffocation and hopelessness, trying to dig my way out, tedium and, well, just trying to come to grips with what happened-Doctor, can you honestly say it was not right for you and Amy Pond to unearth me? And can you honestly forgive me if I say-are you nuts for trying to tell me that I was supposed to stay buried? For how long, Doctor? For how long?" He asked emphatically.

"Well, how's about-give or take-500 to 1900 years from now?" The Doctor said.

"That's insane!" Amy Pond said, looking up. "What, you weren't supposed to find him?"

"No, that was an accident. That was a 'blip' on the radar screen we weren't supposed to find until-you found him." The Doctor said.

"Thank you, Amy."

"You're welcome, Captain Jack."

"So, let me get this straight, Doctor-" Captain Jack laughed. "You were supposed to fly right by me, without even noticing me, while I suffered? And I-"

"Amy Pond and I got you out, Captain Jack, and we were there to rescue you. You would have been down there for a long time, but now-we can get you closer to your destination time, without all of that pain and suffering. You're welcome." He added.

"Doctor, are you-are you just going to bury me again?" Captain Jack asked. "Can't you-why can't you just take me back, straight to my own time and place, right when and where I was when-you know?" He asked.

"Captain Jack-I'm sorry, but that's not the way it works." The Doctor said.

"You're sorry?" Captain Jack gasped. "You're always sorry!" He exclaimed. "You're-"

"Captain Jack-Doctor-" Amy said, looking back and forth between them. "Look, I don't understand this, I never have, but-"

The Cloister Bell rang. Everyone looked up, and then slam, bang, something seemed to be hitting the ship, rocking it back and forth.

"What's happening?" Captain Jack called.

"They're-they're-" The Doctor appeared to be examining the viewer screen. "Reapers." He hissed.

"Reapers?" Amy asked.

"I thought they weren't-" Captain Jack said.

The Doctor punched a few buttons, and a holographic screen appeared in front of Amy and Captain Jack, showing the creatures attacking the TARDIS. "Reapers-they feast on areas affected by temporal paradoxes," He said, looking towards Captain Jack.

"Oh, what, I'm to blame for-" Another Reaper slammed into the TARDIS, trying to rip through the force field. "Hang on-I've been a temporal paradox before." He said.

"I went back in time and met the previous Captain Jack in World War 2, I've been around Cardiff in that same time period and my previous self was all over the place, especially in London, during World War 2."

"Wait a minute, what-" Amy Pond said.

"That's different! You're-you were supposed to be in those times and places!" The Doctor called.

"Wait a minute, but-if I'm supposed to be a fixed point in time and space, then how can I be a temporal paradox if I'm so messed up to begin with?" Captain Jack asked.

"That—that's a good question, actually," The Doctor said thoughtfully. "You know, I've really only seen the Reapers once or twice, and-they are always around at the oddest of times and-" Bling, bling.

"Oh no." The Doctor said, staring at the screen. "We're going to be thrown." The Doctor said, panicking. "The TARDIS can't handle this much more. We're going to be-transferred to somewhen else." He said, practically whispering

"Somewhen-when and where precisely?" Amy Pond asked.

"I don't know-let's find out." The Doctor said, smiling.

"Here we go again." Captain Jack said, smiling as well as he couldn't help it. It was the Doctor, after all.


Yay! I know-Spike as Captain John Hart, right? Couldn't resist. Plus, dance hall sequence! And I can't help wondering about those Reapers (I want to say Reavers, though) from Father's Day-very curious that they show up at one paradox, with Pete, Rose's dad, and not at other paradoxes. Makes you think, huh? Anyway, I'll get to that if I can. Might update soon. Ciao. (Surprises in next few chapters, big surprises!)