Let the healing continue... although staying home sick allowed me to get more work done on this story :p

Major mature... or immature... content in this one, thanks to certain characters. When it gets uncomfortable for you, skip to the next break and you won't have missed much. :p

No new spoilers.

Spare Wheel

Thirty-six: Back On Barcelona

"Right, we'll meet up back on Barcelona where the Tardis was before," the Doctor told the Meddler. "I'll send the Serenity lot with you, if you don't mind—all but River and Simon."

"All right," the Meddler agreed. "See you soon."

The Doctor went to where Jenny was speaking to her second in command.

"Tell the major I resigned," Jenny was saying cheerfully. "I've had enough of the Alliance. It's time for something new."

"Just a moment," said the Doctor. "You mean to say you're abandoning your post? Deserting? No daughter of mine is a deserter! You return for debriefing and go through the formalities, and then you can quit."

"But I want to go with you now," Jenny whined. "What if you disappear again? Oh, please don't go without me."

"Come here." The Doctor hugged his daughter. "I won't disappear. I'll wait for you, I promise. I lost you once—nothing's going to make me leave you behind now."

Jenny hugged him back, hard. "Okay. Thank you."

"There's a good girl. Be a good soldier now, and get your troops home safely."

"Yes, sir." Jenny kissed his cheek and left with her men.

The Doctor smiled after her for a moment before turning back to his own little crew. Gray and Simon were carrying Dair—sedated once again—back toward the Tardis. Jack and John were standing nearby; he went to join them.

"You really don't want Dair on the Tardis, do you?" asked John.

"I've got a bad feeling about it," the Doctor admitted. "But I'll deal with it."

"We'll deal with it," John corrected. "I've learnt my lesson with Gray. I won't give up on a fellow until you do."

The Doctor smiled. "Lovely, that puts the burden on me, doesn't it?"

"I think Gray can be a big help, though. Since he knew him."

"I hope so. Let's get going, shall we? This ship gives me the creeps."

"Where's the Master?" Jack asked.

"I think he's already back on the Tardis." Sulking in his room, no doubt… "I'll want everyone in the control room to help me pilot," the Doctor said as they headed back, "so if you want you can wait in my room…"

"It's okay; I'm going to have to see him eventually. I'm just not in a hurry to be alone with him." Jack seemed to be ignoring John's presence for the moment, and for once John kept his mouth shut.

The Doctor watched Jack's reactions closely when they returned to the Tardis. Jack avoided looking at the Master, especially making eye contact. He seemed uncertain whether he wanted to look at Gray or not—when Gray looked his way, Jack redirected his gaze, but he looked back soon afterward.

The Doctor stayed close to him at all times and let the Master give a lot of the piloting directions to the others. When they landed, the Master checked the readings carefully.

"Looks like we've landed about an hour after we left," he reported.

The others smiled and began to disperse. The Master shot a quick look at Jack and then darted away into the back of the Tardis. Gray took River's hand and they started to follow, the last to leave.

"Gray," Jack said suddenly.

Gray looked back hesitantly. He met Jack's gaze for a moment, then looked at the floor.

"We need to talk," Jack said. "Not right now, but… soon, okay?"

Gray nodded, still looking away.

"I love you."

Now Gray looked up again, and even across the room, the Doctor could see tears in his eyes. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

River put her arm around Gray. "He loves you, too," she supplied, keeping her eyes on Gray's face. Then she led him away, down the passage.

"He couldn't say it," Jack murmured.

The Doctor gently pulled Jack against him. "He wanted to, though. He's doing so much better, but he's still scared."

"Why is he scared? I'd never hurt him."

"I know, but he's only just realized how beastly he was to you. I think he's afraid that soon you'll realize it, too. Come on now, you look exhausted. Let's get you to your room."

Jack didn't move. "Doctor…"

"What is it? You don't want to stay in your room?"

"No."

The Doctor was puzzled for only a moment. That's where Gray molested him. He needs to be somewhere he feels safe. "Do you want to stay in my room, then?"

"I don't want to put you out of your own room…"

"Nonsense, I've got half a dozen empty guest rooms. Or I could stay with you if you like."

Jack hesitated. "You don't have to do that."

"Jack, do you want me to?"

"I… don't know. Let me think about it."

"All right." They walked in silence until they reached the Doctor's room. He opened the door for Jack, but he went in first. He went to the bed and turned down the covers for him. "Is there anything else you need before bed?"

"I do want to brush my teeth. I haven't in two weeks…"

"Oh, of course. Always got a spare tooth brush…" The Doctor rummaged in a box on his dresser. "Here we are. You get ready and I'll fetch some pajamas for you."

"Okay."

Before long they were both ready for bed and the Doctor repeated his earlier suggestion.

"Do you want to stay with me, or are you just trying to be helpful?" Jack asked, looking suspicious.

"If you want me here, then I definitely want to stay with you. Very much."

"Then I want you here."

Jack waited, so the Doctor got into bed first. He supposed it made sense—Jack wouldn't want to make himself vulnerable until his bedfellow was already settled. For one wild moment he wondered if Jack might have lost some of his sanity and planned to have his wicked way with him, but then Jack was lying quiet beside him and it was like being in the Javelin's engine room again. Peaceful. Safe. "I love you, Jack."

"Love you." Jack took the Doctor's hand for a moment. Then he moved his hands up and held onto his arm.

"Do you want to talk before we sleep?"

"I don't know that I will sleep."

"Then let's talk." The Doctor reached over with his free hand to rub Jack's wrist lightly. "Are you angry with me?"

"Why would I be angry with you?"

"For taking so long to get you back, of course. For leaving you in the first place."

"I told you to leave me. And I'm sure you got there as soon as you could."

The Doctor kept his hands loose and his movements inviting to let Jack know it was all right to initiate closer contact if he wanted to.

Slowly, Jack seemed to gain confidence and he put his arm around the Doctor's waist. "I thought about you all the time. I even told Dair about you near the end. It made him kinda mad to think of someone taking me away from him."

"Well, he'll have to lump it." The Doctor rubbed the arm around him and laid a kiss on Jack's head. No one's ever taking you away from me again. Not that savage or anyone else. "Do you think you'll be able to talk to the Master soon? He's taking this rather hard. He's very upset that all of this happened without any input from him. And he fought very fiercely for you; you should have seen him."

Jack rested his head against the Doctor's shoulder. "I don't know. I'm kind of confused about him. I know I liked him a lot, but I can't remember why. I know he was funny and charming… but it seems kind of petty now. I mean, what do I really know about him? All I know for sure is that until recently he was an evil genius. He's still a genius—who says he's not still evil?"

"I say he's not. He gave me the most sincere apology. And we're going to go on working things out. I know it's a drastic change and a quick one, but I believe him. I'm beginning to trust him. That's not to say he couldn't go wrong again; we've got to be very careful. But I don't believe he would hurt you, Jack. And I've made it clear to him that he'll be very sorry if he tries."

Jack pressed closer and the Doctor worked his arm out of the way so he could hold Jack against him.

"I missed you so much," the Doctor told him softly.

"Me too. It's good to hear your hearts again. I know when I hear that sound nothing can touch me."

Nothing. Over my dead body.

"I don't want River staying over here anymore," Simon told Gray flatly.

Gray did his best to contain his temper. "Why not?"

"Because you're bad for her."

"In what way?"

"In every way. You're keeping her in an environment where I can't treat her properly, you put her in danger—you just decide to do things without even consulting me. She's not safe here."

River squeezed Gray's hand and moved to her brother's side. "I'm safe with Gray," she told him.

Simon's face softened immediately when he looked at her. "I know you think you are, but I need you to stay with me. Gray took you out of the Doctor's force field when there were hundreds of enemies around us…"

"There were sixty-eight," she contradicted him. "And twenty-four in the passages. Six more at the ship's controls."

Simon paused a moment, seeming to collect his patience. "Fine. My point is, he put you in danger and I can't let that happen again."

"There's no danger here."

"It doesn't matter. I let you stay with him and things went badly."

"What went badly? I wasn't hurt. I kept them safe. The Reavers all died."

Gray kept his mouth shut and tried not to smile. Simon had to be pretty frustrated.

"River… for once, will you just do what I say?"

"I'll go back to Serenity," River said. "But I'm coming back to see Gray when you come to check on Dair tomorrow." She walked toward the control room.

"Well…" Simon trailed after her. "We'll talk about it in the morning," he said, his attempt at firmness failing miserably.

Gray smiled a little and headed back for his own room. Before long he met John and the Master in the hall.

"Gray," John greeted him. "How's things?"

"Okay. Simon's trying to put River under house arrest."

John laughed. "Let him try. I doubt anyone can stop her from doing what she's a mind to."

Gray glanced at the Master. "So… what are you two standing around for?"

"We're waiting until everyone else is asleep so we can hijack the Tardis," the Master said, his eyes flashing.

"Oh. Well, too bad I found out about it. Now you have to kill me."

"Or we could just take you to bed with us."

"It all makes sense now. Won't Jack be a little mad?"

"He did sort of give us permission," John pointed out. "Though he did say a threesome, but something tells me he's not up for that."

"Replacement?" asked the Master, nodding at Gray.

"He'll kill me."

"Why?" asked Gray. "I mean, why does he think it would be so terrible for us to sleep together anyway? Is it because you're his friend and he's protecting you from me?"

"No. I don't think it's that… It's…" John frowned. "You know, I'm not sure, really. But anyway, Master, if you want to get back on track with him, you're not going to go and shag his brother. He'd kill both of us. Honestly."

"You be in the middle then," said the Master. "I'll just be content to watch the two of you…"

Gray backed away a step. "I'm getting a little disturbed now, so uh…"

"Look, after all we've seen today none of us wants to be alone tonight," said John.

"Except the Meddler," the Master put in, "but he's happy in his own TARDIS."

"And I don't know that things will get very heated anyway," John went on. "No one's going to bully you into anything, so come on."

Gray looked from one to the other. "No pressure, huh?"

"I promise."

"Well, okay. Whose room?"

"Mine," said the Master. "Be there in a few minutes?"

"Yeah." Gray paused. "But… if you two want to start without me, go right ahead."

"Do you like music with romance?" John asked as they entered the Master's room.

"I don't know. Let's find out."

John grinned and flipped open his VM. Soon Britney Spears' "Toxic" was throbbing around them.

The Master smiled back at him they immediately began helping each other off with their clothes.

John quickly got the idea that while the Master wasn't very experienced with his own gender, he was very confident and no beginner when it came to sex in general. He'd rarely encountered this kind of domineering confidence and it turned him on in a big way. He tossed his shirt away and wrapped his leg around the Master's.

The Master took him by the hips and pushed him back, making him wait as he delivered a scintillating kiss.

John felt lightheaded. God, no wonder Jack fell for him… He found himself being pushed back onto the bed. He moaned as the Master's tongue circled his. He slid his hands down the Master's chest and opened his fly. Then he felt a strong grip on his crotch and he moaned again.

The Master began licking his way down John's neck.

His mouth free, John gasped and probably said a few words, too, but he wasn't aware of what they were. Only Jack's supposed to be able to make me incoherent... He grabbed the Master by the shoulder and pulled him down, forcing the Timelord's groin against his hip.

It was the Master's turn to moan as John's fingers wormed their way across his chest and caressed his nipples. "Oh, yes," he said with a smug smile before attacking John's mouth again. When he came up for air, he said, "You let me take you first, you get me after."

That was fine with John, but he didn't like being so completely dominated so he said, "Better idea. How about I take you first, and you get me after."

The Master stared at John a moment, looking amused. "You're even more difficult than Jack, aren't you? All right, then. Have it your way."

"Oh, I intend to." John's confident look melted into a groan as the Master reached down to guide him inside.

The Master laughed. "Just to warn you, though—you've never done a Timelord before…"

In a few minutes they were both blissfully spent. The Master looked a little shaky as he supported himself above John to keep them from ending up tied together.

"What's this?" John reached up toward the Master's chest.

The Master slapped his hand away. "Don't touch. It'll go away in a minute."

"You're just full of surprises."

"Yes, and now you're full of some of them, too."

John snorted. "Does that stuff taste good?"

"It's an acquired taste. I'll let you try when it's dry."

There was a knock at the door.

The Master grinned.

"Oh, damn," muttered John. He switched the music loop off. "Is that you, Gray?" he called.

"Yes… Was that 'Toxic?'"

"Um… I'm not sure you want to come in just now…"

"Oh, come on." The Master rolled them away so John was on top of him and quickly spread the sheets over them. Then he pushed John away slightly so their chests didn't quite touch. "There. Come in, Gray."

Gray entered slowly, eyeing the two of them with bemusement. "So… not gonna get too heated, huh?"

The Master chuckled and John looked sheepish.

"Well… you did take a while to join us," John said evasively.

"Yeah, and it looks like a damn good thing. I can just go back to my room if you want."

"No, no. We're done, I think."

"You think?"

"We're done," the Master said firmly, grinning.

"Okay." Gray hung his robe on the bedpost and climbed into bed, careful not to lift the sheets too far.

John pulled further away from the Master who sighed happily as they came apart.

"Sooo," Gray said, exaggerating his awkward tone. "Since you decided to be so dirty in my absence, how about some feedback?"

"Nice," John said immediately. "Very nice. And really different. In a good way."

"Quite good," the Master agreed. "Not as good as Jack, though."

"Hey! He didn't ask for a comparison. Gray doesn't need feedback on Jack anyway."

Gray started to get up.

John took him by the arm. "Wait a minute, Gray—I didn't mean it like that. I only meant you don't need feedback on someone you don't have that kind of interest in. Don't go."

Stiffly, Gray lay back again.

John put his arm over Gray's chest and kissed his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't think before I opened my mouth."

Gray didn't answer, but he ran his hand over John's arm.

"You know, Jack's not too keen on seeing me," the Master said. "I feel like we're sort of in the same boat, waiting for things to be all right again."

John felt the Master's arm around him, and then he realized that the Master had reached further, until his hand rested on Gray's arm. God, is he showing compassion? Empathy?

"Things can't be all right," Gray whispered. "Not after what I did to him."

"That's how I feel sometimes. Especially about the Doctor. But he seems willing to forgive me, and I'm not going to question his capacity to do so. Jack's got the same capacity; I'm sure of it. Just be patient."

Gray rolled onto his side and put his arm around John. The Master moved his hand up to Gray's waist.

One by one, they drifted into sleep, Gray and John caressing each other, the Master holding them both.

The Doctor suddenly started out of his dosing. Jack was sitting up beside him. "Jack? What is it?"

"I think… I can hear Dair. He's screaming."

The Doctor listened for a moment and then he heard it too, from farther down the passage: an unearthly shriek.

"He's calling me."

"He can't get out. You're safe here. I'll make it so you can't hear him…" The Doctor pushed the covers back and sat up.

"He needs me."

"What?" The Doctor put his arms around Jack. "He doesn't own you. He can wait."

"He belongs to me, and I'm not going to leave him alone when he's scared."

What do I do? "All right, but I'm coming with you."

"You can, but please wait outside."

"You're not going in with him!"

"I'm not going to argue with you." Jack pulled on the bath robe the Doctor had lent him.

"Jack…" the Doctor sprang out of bed and took his maroon robe from the wardrobe. "Just a moment… don't you want to think about this?"

"No, not really."

At the last moment, the Doctor grabbed his sonic screwdriver and stuffed it into the pocket of his robe. Then he hurried out after Jack.

Dair was pounding on the shatter-proof glass window of his door when they reached it. His fingers were either bleeding or covered with blood from another wound.

"Hey, hey, hey," Jack said, gradually lowering his voice as Dair began to calm. "It's okay. I'm right here. You're gonna hurt yourself that way. Look at you."

The Doctor looked on with concern. He nervously handled the sonic screwdriver in his pocket.

Dair growled, making Jack flinch, but he didn't move away.

"Stop that. Talk to me with words or not at all."

Dair growled again, louder.

"Stop!" Jack ordered, leaning closer to the glass. "I'm just as stubborn as you are! The difference is, I can leave. Is that what you want?"

Dair's expression turned from rage to despair. "Jack," he whined. "Jack, my Jack…"

"I'm not yours. Understand?"

"Jack!" Dair shrieked.

"Shut up! You're acting like the most spoiled baby ever spawned. If you want me in there with you, then shut up and move back."

Dair backed away, whimpering Jack's name.

Jack took off his bathrobe and tossed it to the Doctor. "Don't open that door, no matter what. And don't watch."

"Jack!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Don't go in there—he'll tear you to pieces!"

"I don't care if he kills me." Jack took the Doctor by the shoulders. "Promise me: you won't open the door unless I call for you. And as you love me, don't let anyone else open it either."

"Jack, please." The Doctor blinked against rapidly forming tears. Don't make me give you up again.

Jack kissed him softly and then hugged him."I heal instantly and I'm not tied this time; I'll be fine. Stay here."

Minor cliff-hanger. :p Jack's behavior's kinda erratic and unpredictable right now; he needs a stabilizer... And the Doctor needs a sanity retainer. xD