Captain Jack Harkness pilots a brilliant crystal spaceship that can trascend space and time. How like an epic adventure it sounds, and how much Captain Jack Harkness wished instead for a small blue box, instead of this glittering magnificence.
He tried several times and places, some at random, others after serious thought.
The random: Cobalt in 100,000, where all the cities were underwater; Raxacoricofallapotorius in 2021, watching Magaret emerge first in her class in infant school; Fennelirix, looking at twin suns set, and the sky literally caught fire.
The others: London, 2006, a drab council estate; Cardiff, two months later; then London again, and again. He tried Christmas and New Year, watching for a blue public call box anywhere near the block Rose's mother lived in.
Jack stopped trying London after spotting them on the roof of the council block. He was already running towards them when he saw the large spaceship fly past them and crash. It was too early; Rose had told him about this, after they sent Margaret back to Raxacoricofallapotorius. He watched them watch the spaceship crash, grin at each other, and race each other to the staircase.
He felt numb after that.
He dreamt of the TARDIS frequently. Mundane conversations held in the console room as he and the Doctor repaired the TARDIS, and Rose sat nearby, reading. Jack told them about his adventures as a TIME Agent and conman (it was surprising how similar both occupations were); Rose told him about what happened before he met them in 1941.
"Cardiff was beautiful," Rose had said, "And we met Dickens! Charles Dickens!"
"And loads of undead," the Doctor had added.
"Thanks, I was trying to forget about them," Rose deadpanned, "But it was amazing! The snow was the best bit, I think. I like snow. It hardly ever snows in London."
He had woken up, thinking about snow in London.
He went back in time, sampling the coldest Christmases and New Years that London experienced in the last two hundred years. Nothing. Growing in desperation, he tried the future.
He looked through the Citadel records, scanning for anything that might tell him where the Doctor and Rose could be. One piece of information leapt out at him.
In the 24th century, weather control technology was perfected, with the use of micro-satellites that were positioned in the upper atmosphere. In 2424, as part of a month-long celebration in London that culminated on New Year's Eve, snow was ordered in copious amounts for London on Christmas Eve. Wind conditions were kept to a minimum in order to reduce the chill factor.
He landed in Hyde Park, where a huge masquerade ball was being held. Stepping out, he almost thought he had arrived in the wrong time. The first people he saw were dressed in Elizabethan finery, complete with huge lace collars, bone-white make-up for the women, and short Dutch cloaks to fend off the snow.
There was also a group of young men, hair matted, dressed in kilts and not much else. Jack wasted less than a minute admiring them - a record in brevity for him - before checking his wrist computer. He had been so inured to failure now that success almost horrified him. He was still for a moment, shocked. Then he broke into a dead sprint towards what the wrist computer had picked up. Two hearts. A Gallifreyan.
He almost reached the Serpentine when his wrist computer told him he should be almost on top of the Time Lord. Looking around, he saw people pedalling around on the Serpentine, but no one within range. Only one young man, leaning against a tree, his lean form almost hidden in its shadow.
The man stepped forward slowly, looking surprised to see Jack. He was wearing a dark brown trenchcoat.
Jack double-checked. The signal was coming from the man. He looked up, his face a mixture of puzzlement and despair. Not the Doctor, then. But another Time Lord? Wasn't the Doctor the last one?
"Jack?" the stranger asked in disbelief.
"Yes," Jack answered, too disappointed to turn on his charm, "Who are you?"
Instead of replying, the stranger laughed delightedly. There was something about that laugh that seemed familiar. Jack stared at him in wonder, an eerie feeling coming over him.
"Rose is going to be absolutely thrilled!" The stranger said, grinning, "The best Christmas present ever, since the bicycle! I should wrap you up, Jack. Maybe something in red…"
"What are you talking about?" Jack demanded, walking closer, "You know Rose? How is she? Where is she? Where's the Doctor?"
The stranger turned sombre.
"I think we should wait for Rose to get back before I explain," he replied.
"Rose is here?" Jack asked, boggling.
The stranger nodded his head towards Jack's left. Turning, he saw Rose walking towards them, dressed in an elegant Victorian styled gown. A dark wrap was tied about her shoulders and she held a fur muff to warm her hands.
"I leave you alone for two minutes, and you're already picking up…" Rose stopped in mid-sentence, staring, "Oh. Oh, my God."
Jack thought if he grinned any wider, his head would fall off. He drew Rose into a tight hug, exulting in the touch and sight and smell of her.
"I'm so glad to see you, Rose," Jack said, letting her go finally, "But where's the Doctor? And who's he?"
Jack pointed to the stranger, who had come up to Rose's side. Almost reflexively, Jack noticed, Rose grasped the stranger's hand. That eerie feeling crept over him again.
"Jack," Rose said gently, "He is the Doctor."
"What? No way," Jack said weakly.
"I got killed on the Gamestation - sort of," the stranger - the Doctor? - replied, "And I regenerated. It's something that Time Lords can do to escape death. But we get a new body each time, no control over what we look like."
"So you never die?" Jack asked.
"Well, no," the Time Lord admitted, "There're only so many times I can do it. After that, we die just like anyone else."
Jack looked at the face of the stranger (nothing like the Doctor's, nothing) and then down at his hand, entwined in Rose's fingers. Obviously Rose believed him.
"I don't know…" Jack said slowly.
"How about this?" the Doctor said, "Remember the first time we met? London, 1941. Albion Hospital. You called me Mr. Spock."
"But Rose could have told you that."
"You're right," the Doctor's voice was a little sharp, "How about the last thing you said to me? Rose wasn't there - yet. No one was alive then, except you, me and -"
"The Daleks," Jack frowned at the memory, "All right, what did I say?"
Jack imagined that the Doctor's face grew more grim and lined. For a moment, he seemed older, and more like the Doctor he knew.
" 'For God's sake, Doctor, finish that thing and kill them all.'"
The two men stood staring at each other. Without warning, Jack lunged forward and hugged the Doctor fiercely. The Time Lord used his free hand to pat Jack on the back a few times. Rose looked on, her eyes prickling with unshed tears.
As they drew apart, grinning at each other, Rose noticed another figure standing a short distance away, watching. For a moment, Rose felt hope well in her heart.
"Aranea?" she asked.
Jack whirled around, a grin ready for his daughter; but the grin died when he saw who was actually standing there.
Ispeth looked at Rose and shook her head.
"That's not Aranea," Jack said, his voice tight with tension, "That's Ispeth, her mother."
"But Nya said -" Rose started.
"I was, " Ispeth's stilted voice cut in," For a few hundred years."
The Doctor stepped forward and smiled at the Arachnid.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor. Nice to meet you."
Ispeth nodded at him.
"I must leave," she said, "Please take care of Jack."
Rose looked at Ispeth's blank face and Jack's taut, angry one, wondering what had happened between the two of them.
"Why do you have to leave?" she asked.
"I am not at liberty to say," Ispeth replied, "Jack will explain."
"There is something I have to tell you about your daughter," the Doctor said.
"I know," Ispeth said, holding up a pale hand, "I felt it."
Jack, alarmed, turned to the Doctor.
"What's happened to Aranea?" he asked urgently.
Before the Doctor could reply, Ispeth came forward and pressed something into Jack's hand.
"Before you throw it away, this is not from me, but from the Citadel," she said, "You can call her to you, when you are ready to talk again."
Jack looked at the piece of crystal in his hand; it was shaped like a teardrop, though all its edges were rounded. He nodded and tucked it away in his jacket.
"Tell her thanks for me," he said in a low voice, "But I don't think I'll ever use it."
For the first time since they were reunited, Ispeth showed some emotion. She gave Jack a smile that was tinged with sadness.
"Treasure the time you will have, Jack," she whispered, "Not many people get a second chance. Sometimes, we don't even get a first one. Goodbye."
With nod to Rose and another to the Doctor, Ispeth turned and walked away. Her form was soon lost among the trees and the darkness.
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AN: Apologies for the month-long absence. Moving to another country and starting work less than a week later is pretty hectic. Now that things are more settled, I'll definitely want to wrap this baby up!