Chapter Two: Can't Run

There was one fact of his life that he would always hate. It didn't matter what sort of man he was. Didn't even matter what regeneration. He hated getting captured. Admittedly, he seemed to have it happen to him a lot. Or, if it wasn't him, he would have to rescue his companions from whatever villainous person had captured them this time. Then he'd have to come up with some cunning escape plan, defeat the villain, and get home to the TARDIS in time for tea. It really wasn't easy being him. Or was that a song?

He had tried engaging their captors in a discussion about the merits of jelly babies versus truffles, but they had either ignored him or told him to 'shut up.' When he had tried to talk to his companions, the captors were a bit more demonstrative in their objection. His jaw still hurt. However, the Doctor was worried. Not about escape - that was easy. More about what this was doing to Jack. He glanced at the other man, catching a glimmer of haunted eyes before they were turned away to look out the window. Beyond the transparent material, the Teluraisian ocean sped past - a stretch of never ending blue that was broken only by the faint white of white caps. Then, the transport tilted and dove toward the water. The deep blue of the ocean filled his vision and a moment later, they were under it.

Bright lights twinkled in the distance, seen but for a moment as the transport banked toward them. The matter of getting back to the shore, and the TARDIS, might prove to bit more problematic than the usual daring escape. But no matter. He lived for the danger. Kept him fit. Kept his wits sharp, too. There was nothing quite like a megalomaniac for that, after all. Then again, it wasn't often that said megalomaniac turned out to be related to one of his companions. And, no, the Master having taken over Nyssa's father did not count.

When the transport arrived at the colony, the guards gestured for them to stand. Casting a longing glance at the bundle of his clothes - and the sonic screwdriver - the Doctor exited the shuttle. There really was only one choice available to him. With Jack and Rose ushered along behind him, he looked around the massive landing bay with undisguised curiosity. The sharp sound of boots hitting against metal grating heralded the arrival of 'someone important' and their escort.

He turned to face a grey-haired woman who bore more than a passing resemblance to Jack. This must be the infamous mother. One megalomaniac, check. One Doctor, check. One plan, check.

Showtime.

Only the Doctor could appear menacing while being less than half dressed. The pyjama incident on the Sycorax ship was one thing, but to stare down a woman who could only be Jack's mother while wearing swimming trunks? Only the Doctor. She shook her head and stepped closer to Jack, slipping her hand into his. She dared the guards with her eyes to say something when they reached for their weapons with her movement. She was not going to let Jack go through this on his own.

They were family. Partners. Companions. True, Jack had been gone for two years in his perspective. However, that didn't change the fact that she loved him. His fingers pressed her own in a grateful squeeze and she smiled faintly at him. They could do this.

"Who are you?" Jack's mum, at least she assumed it was his mum given his reaction to her, asked. She looked rather haughty as she tried to stare down the Doctor. Silly woman. No one could out-stare the Time Lord.

Without bothering to answer the question, the Doctor spoke. "Didn't anyone tell you that it was rude to interrupt people while they're on holiday?"

The woman arched one elegant eyebrow. "Didn't anyone tell you that it was rude not to answer the question of one of your betters?"

"There's someone better than me here?" The Doctor's face was a study in astonishment. She had the feeling that this was going to turn into another time when they'd be running for their lives. Especially given the way Jack's mum's face was turning red.

"You're new here, so this is my first and only act of leniency on your behalf. I am Administrator Elizabeth Harkness, leader of this colony. And you, all of you, are my prisoners. Violating the law is, after all, a punishable offence." Elizabeth's glare rested briefly upon her, and she suppressed a reflexive shudder. She did not like this woman. At all.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you?" Jack asked, his tone dripping with disdain. "You don't have a lenient bone in your body. Never did."

The Administrator ignored her son's words. "Put them in the brig. All of them."

"My lady," the leader of the guards replied, bowing his head slightly. He gestured for the others to surround the trio once more.

"Oh, the brig? How painfully obvious. Can't you have at least been original? Haven't you even seen some of the bad B movies from Earth? Y'know, the ones where the megalomaniac - played here by you - threatens the heroes - that'd be us - with death and destruction? You really need to go back to villain school, Administrator. You don't even get a passing grade this attempt." The Doctor looked bored.

"Get them out of here," Elizabeth snarled.

As the guards ushered them none-too-gently past the Administrator, the Doctor continued. "And what about our clothes? A last meal? A phone call? Really, if this is how things are run around here, I'm not coming back."

"Who says you're ever going to leave?" One of the guards asked, before prodding the Doctor with his weapon. "Keep moving."

"No need to be so touchy about it. But she still didn't answer my questions!"

"She doesn't need to. You're going to be the one who'll be answering the questions. And at length. With or without your cooperation." With that promise, the guard prodded the Doctor again with his weapon.

"Oooh, now it's torture? Am I supposed to be scared?" He shot her a brief grin. "How 'bout you, Rose? Y'scared?"

"Am I supposed to be? 'Cause if I am, they're not doing a good job at it. Really, I'm sorta bored." She shrugged as she returned his grin.

"Keep moving and shut up!" It was her turn to be poked with one of the weapons. They were pushed out of the landing bay and into a featureless grey corridor.

"You lot need to hire new decorators. Grey went out of fashion about two centuries ago," the Doctor commented. "Or was that last century? Honestly, it does get a little jumbled in my mind trying to remember these things. Now fuchsia, there's a colour. Nice fuchsia corridors, maybe throw in a bit of white. Might look nice."

"Nah, should be a nice pale yellow or a blue," Rose disagreed. "It's a bit calming, that colour. Might make 'em behave a bit nicer to their guests, too."

"You think so?"

One of the guards cocked his weapon and pressed it against the Doctor's head. "One more word out of either of you, and I shoot. Got it?"

The rest of the journey was spent in silence.

Some things never change. The brig seemed to be one of them. Same boring grey walls. Same lumpy mattress on the single cot in the room. Same metal grating on the floor. Same sparking force field over the doorway. Only thing different was that this time he wasn't alone.

"Nice. Very posh," had been the Doctor's comment after being forced into the cell.

"Bit cold, though," Rose had added, but the comment had been ignored.

The threadbare mattress pad lacked any form of covering, and no amount of complaints had summoned the guards back to them. Rose was obviously cold, tiny shivers running up and down her spine. The Doctor, too, for he had even less clothing on than Rose, had goose-pimples on his arms though he denied it. "On the bed. Both of you. Now." Jack ordered.

Rose shot him an amused look that was echoed by the Doctor. "Bit forward today, aren't you?"

"Well..." He shrugged, and it hid a multitude of sins. "Can you blame me?"

"You still haven't bought me my drink," the Doctor groused even as he complied. He seemed to know what Jack was intending.

"Rose, get between us. You're freezing." He silently cursed himself for not throwing on his jacket before leaving the TARDIS. Then he would have had something to give to them beyond his own body heat.

She nodded and settled between the Doctor and himself. A moment later, arms were wrapped around her, the three exchanging warmth and comfort as well as they could. Given, of course, that they were in jail.

"Brings back memories a bit," he said after a long while. He sensed them listening intently to his words, but they didn't speak. He was rather thankful for that. He suspected that if they had asked, he would not have been able to continue. But, he needed this. Needed the catharsis, because without it how could he face his mother? "Stuck in here. These same grey walls. Same lumpy mattress. Same everything."

"Not the same you," Rose said, and he hugged her.

"No," he agreed. "Not the same me. But close. She had me thrown in here a couple of times for breaking the rules, her rules. Hung out with the wrong friends. Fell in love with the wrong person. Pretty much by doing what was, according to her, the wrong thing. The improper thing." He was not aware that his face had twisted into a grimace of pain at the memories. "I was being groomed to take over, you see. I was going to be the next Administrator since Mother knew that she wouldn't live forever - no matter how much she wanted to. I was supposed to be seen with the right crowds, supposed to dress a certain way, supposed to be the perfect little duplicate of her image of herself. Needless to say, I rebelled."

He felt both Rose and the Doctor turn in his arms, and he was wrapped in another embrace - only this time with himself as the centre. He drew in comfort from their touch, and he thought that they knew just how much he needed it before he continued. "The last straw for my mother was when I fell in love with Harrison Imelder. This might be a more enlightened time, but my mother still harboured the same old prejudices. Her son couldn't love another man. Her son was meant for greater things. Her son was meant for..."

"She was right in one thing, Jack," the Doctor said as he lifted a hand to gently touch Jack's face. "You were meant for greater things than this."

He laughed bitterly. "Maybe."

"No maybe about it. This life? It would've been a waste for someone like you. Besides, I'm selfish. I'm glad you left. I'm glad you joined us."

He felt Rose press a kiss against his jawline. "What we do? Jack, it's better with three. An' without you it wouldn't be the same."

What had he done to deserve friendship like this? What had he done to deserve love like this? Even though they had never said it, he knew it. He knew it from the way they comforted him now. He knew it from the emotions in the Doctor's and Rose's eyes.

And, for the first time in twenty years, he allowed himself to cry. He cried for his childhood, forever lost due to the callous misunderstandings of a manipulative woman. He cried for the little boy that lived inside him that had only wanted his mother's love. He cried for all of that and more.

And they held him.

It was enough.

She hated Elizabeth Harkness.

With every tear that Jack shed. With every heave of his body, gathered protectively against her own. For every moment of his lost childhood. She hated the woman even more. How anyone could do that to a child baffled her. How anyone could do that to Jack astonished her.

She hated Elizabeth Harkness. But a tiny portion of her mind thanked her. Because without Elizabeth Harkness, she never would have had Jack in her life. However, that did not excuse her from hurting him. That did not excuse the Administrator from any of the sins that she had committed. That did not excuse her at all.

Jack's tears began to abate, his sobs quieting until he lay passively within their arms. She looked at the Doctor, and in his eyes she could see the same burning anger that dwelt within her own. Hurt one of them. Hurt them all.

She tilted Jack's face up to her own and brushed her lips against his in a gentle kiss. "It'll be okay," she told him as she pulled away. An empty platitude, perhaps, but a heartfelt one. She caught his brief astonishment at the action, but she ignored it. She loved him. Why shouldn't she kiss him?

"It will?" he asked, and in his eyes she could see an echo of the little boy he'd never truly got to be.

She didn't have to answer, as the Doctor took over for her. "Yeah. We're here. We're together. And that is how it'll be okay."

Jack offered them a weak smile as he repeated the Doctor's last word. "Okay."

The Time Lord leaned forward and pressed his lips against Jack's forehead before repeating the gesture with her. "Now, let's get out of here. I don't know about you two, there's something about cold jail cells that just doesn't do anything for me."

That startled a laugh out of her and Jack, and they all shared an amused glance. "No," Rose agreed. "They don't do anything for me either. Though I would like to get my clothes back."

"First things first, Rose. Can't have the chicken before the egg. Or was that the egg before the chicken?"

"You," she declared, "are weird."

"But you love me anyway!" He gave her a brilliant smile, before it faltered faintly as he realised what he had just said. Thoughts seemed to play across his face, though she had little insight into them. A moment later, he seemed to shrug and let it pass. They all knew it to be the truth, even though some things remained unspoken.

Jack disentangled himself from them and pulled off his shirt and offered it to her. The sight of his bare chest mesmerised her for a moment, but she shook off the thought and accepted the shirt with a murmur of thanks. Pulling it over her head, she looked expectantly at the two men. "Well? What're we waiting for?"

"I don't know about you, Jack, but I was waiting for an engraved invitation." The Doctor flashed her yet another smile before he turned his attention to the sparking force field that kept them confined.

"Only an engraved invitation? I was hoping for the marching band." Jack seemed to be feeling better, though his eyes told a different story. He wasn't better, but he would be.

"You're both a regular comedy act, aren't you?" Rose asked with a grin.

"We're here all week," the Doctor replied absently as he examined the edges of the doorway. He stopped suddenly and moved back, stepping protectively in front of both Jack and herself.

"Doctor?" she asked, but before he could respond the force field fizzled and winked out.

Rose peered around his shoulder to see Rodger and an unfamiliar guard aiming their weapons at them. "Harkness, you're coming with us."

"And if he doesn't want to come?" Though the words were polite, Rose could easily hear the threat that underlined the words in the Doctor's voice.

"Things would get quite unpleasant for you. Then again, they're going to get unpleasant anyway. Harkness!" Rodger's words were clipped.

Jack sighed and stepped around the Doctor, placing his hand on the other man's shoulder. "It's okay, Doctor. I've got to face her at some point. Might as well be now."

"But..." she objected.

"It'll be okay, Rose. Mother wouldn't dare hurt me. And if anything happens to either of you, well, I never much cared for this city. I'll happily rip it down to rubble in revenge." Jack didn't look at her as he delivered his threat, but she knew that he spoke the truth. She knew that both her and the Doctor's eyes reflected the same. Harm one. Harm them all.

Rodger didn't bother to respond to the threat, only gestured with his weapon. "Let's go."

Jack gave them both one last glance and with a bitter tone he told them, "See you in hell."

Then he was gone.

He never should have brought them here. Typical, wasn't it? He could have all the best intentions in the universe, but in the end, the people he cared for were hurt. It was supposed to be a nice, fun little romp on a beautiful planet. Instead it had turned into an unpleasant trip down memory lane for Jack. Good intentions? He wanted to snort in derision at that thought. Good intentions had led to this.

Jack was hurting. And now Jack was gone. Taken by the thugs to face his mother without his support. His fingers clenched into a fist as he glared at the force field. This was not getting him anywhere. Regrets were one thing, but regrets wouldn't get the force field turned off. Regrets wouldn't let him rescue Jack.

And here he was without his sonic screwdriver.

When it rains, it pours. There had to be a way for him to get out without his trusty device's help. A loose panel. The appropriate application of brute force. Even throwing the cot at the sparking force field. Something. His brow furrowed as he tried to come up with another means of escape. He felt along the doorway, his sensitive fingers trying to determine if there was something loose. He knew that the sparking was caused by a faulty power regulator - which might be useful had he had his sonic screwdriver.

He firmly told himself not to dwell on it. What was done was done. Que sera, sera. He stepped away from the doorway with a sigh. Nothing. No loose panels. No clever ideas.

Time for plan B.

Whenever he figured out what that was. He ran a careless hand through his hair, succeeding only in rumpling it more than usual. When he checked the cot, on the off-chance that it might be movable, he found that it had been bolted to the floor. Damn humans, anyway. Couldn't they make things easy for him? Just once? No, of course they couldn't. It wouldn't be fun otherwise.

So, plan B. "Rose? How are you at acting?"

"Acting?" She repeated, giving him a suspicious look. "Don't tell me. You're thinkin' of having me pretend that I'm sick or somethin'? An' that'd get the guard runnin', then you bash 'im over the head and we get out?"

He affected a downtrodden expression, though inwardly he was proud that she had figured out plan B. "It was that obvious?"

Rose nodded. "Y'know that only works in the movies, right?"

"It worked on Tenebril."

"Tenebril doesn't count."

"Oh?" He arched an eyebrow.

"Nope. 'Cause I had to rescue you after you tried it."

He'd forgotten about that. "Oh."

Time for plan C, then.

He did not get a chance to determine what plan C was since, for the second time in an hour, the force field disappeared. A new guard, even more sinister-looking than the last, eyed the two of them with an air of disinterest. "One of you is coming with me. Doesn't matter which."

One choice. "Me." He stepped forward, blocking Rose from view.

"Doctor!" Rose objected, but he shot her a quelling glance. Outside, he had a chance of escape. Outside, he had a chance of finding his sonic screwdriver and saving the day. After all, that was what he did. He was the Doctor.

The guard shrugged and gestured for him to leave the cell. "I'll be back, Rose. Don't get into too much trouble without me."

She just shook her head, but in her eyes he could see that she was scared. Not for herself, but for him.

"Once more into the breach? Or was that 'unto' the breach?" The Doctor asked, and was moved forward by the rather forceful jabbing of a weapon in his spine.

"Move." The guard instructed.

He moved.

To be continued...