Nomad Chapter 6, a doctor who fanfic

Well, I'm quite proud of this one, if I do say so myself. I had a lot of fun with this bit. But I had to just post it already, as I kept refining it to within an inch of its life. Oh in case I haven't said it yet, nothing here that is not mine is mine...er, that is, I do not own Doctor Who, Torchwood, or anything involved, nor do I make any money off of this. End disclaimer :) And yes, the Thea Gilmore cover may be my favorite version of this song ever.

I can't see much of a future

Unless we find out who's to blame

What a shame

And we won't be together much longer

Unless we realize that we are the same…

~ Thea Gilmore

Somewhere in the Torchwood hub, Gwen was reviewing the information from the asylum. Francis was sleeping off his heavy dose of tranquilizers, while Martha was making sure his vitals were stable, and that he was well-restrained. The Doctor and Mickey were animatedly studying the weapon/teleportation device/apparent hair dryer he'd had on his person, and Ianto was making coffee for all of them, trying not to cast too many worried glances in the direction of Jack's office. In said office, Jack and Fayden were apart from all of these goings on. They were too busy catching up.

"How long have you been like this?" Fayden asked in a soft voice, sitting in the comfortable chair behind his desk. She'd taken off her jacket, for in the hub her usual clothes didn't feel so terribly conspicuous. Jack had eyed the familiar glass and gold trinkets that hung from her weather-worn leather corset with fondness. He recognized her pieces of home.

"Depends on what timeline you go by," Jack replied, leaning against the desk. He too had removed coat and jacket, and was standing in his shirt sleeves. "For me it's been a long time," His eyes found hers, "Counting some time I spent buried alive…it's been a little over two thousand years for me, since the last time I saw you, Fay."

"…Huh," Fayden swallowed, looking down at her hands, "You looked…I mean, your eyes," She sighed, frustrated with herself for not being as sharp with words as she usually was, "Almost like The Doctor, in that you haven't aged much physically but you seem older. Calmer. More than just fourteen years older, even."

"Took a while to calm me down, yes," He smirked, "Still not quite sure I have, entirely…" He trailed off.

"So, how did it happen?" She asked, "Because I'm fairly certain immortality isn't a regional or genetic trait…" Jack laughed,

"Well, that's complicated, even I don't fully understand how it works," He admitted, "But basically, I…well, I died. And then I was brought back…by Rose Tyler," He smirked, "And now I can't die."

"…And they don't have a major religion centered around this girl yet?" Fayden asked, shaking her head as he laughed again, "I believe it though, I've seen a lot of weirdness lately, I think I'm ready to believe anything. Will you age? I mean, obviously not normally, if you've been around so long already…"

"The Doctor thinks I will, technically," Jack explained, running a hand through his hair, as if he expected to be able to feel if there were any grays, "My genes will likely mutate, given enough time." He grinned, "So far so good though." Fayden just tilted her head, her eyes losing their good humor, leaving only curiosity and a bit of confusion.

"And your name?"

Jack was quiet for a long time, staring over her shoulder at the wall, "I was…at odds with the Time Agency," He said slowly, "I spent some time in London, in the 1940's. I couldn't exactly use my real name so, I took another," He swallowed, "That's the simple version."

"But," She shook her head, "You still could have come back. The Time Agency fell apart, Isop would have been safe for you, so why…why keep your name changed and stay here…?" She was starting to sound like a child again, so she shut her mouth. Jack's eyes returned to her face, and Fayden looked back at him, waiting.

"My vortex manipulator broke," He told her, "It broke while I was in the late 19th Century, here. I waited over a hundred years for The Doctor to show up, to fix it. But by the time he did, I was in charge of this place, had a home with these people…" He trailed off, a small smile on his lips, "Besides, The Doctor informed me that a human who can't die really shouldn't be hopping around in time, so he kept it broken." He took the leather strap from off of his wrist, and tossed it into her waiting hands. "But I am sorry," He said softly, "I'm sorry I've never caught up with you. I really did care about you, Fay…"

"It wasn't…wasn't just that," She stopped him, "I mean yes, I was young, and for the first time very infatuated," A small smile ghosted across her lips, and he grinned, "But you were more than that. You were like family, too. At that age, it felt like you were all I had left, when I found you," She admitted, "Then reality hit, and I realized that I was very quickly going to get in the way of your bachelor life. As I said, I handled it badly."

"Where did you go?" Jack asked, leaning forward across the desk, "I swear, I looked everywhere for you. I knew you couldn't stay with me, but I had every intention of making sure that you were safe and taken care of…"

"I hopped a freighter," Fayden grinned at his surprise, "Spent, oh…two years dressed as a boy, working on the docks of Mareshka. My freakish height helped. Then I caught another ride to Ananda, spent almost five years there as a bandit in the desert…"

"You're pulling my leg," Jack laughed, and Fayden shook her head.

"Nope!" She assured him, "I robbed nearly every baron who'd sent looters to Boe, got back as much of our stuff as I could," She sighed, "Then I fell in with a bloke who left me broke and homeless back on Mareshka. Where I met The Doctor and our Rose. Seven years later, and I'm the owner of a private shipping company."

"Wow," He smiled down at her, a rather rueful look in his very old eyes. They were silent for a little while, Fayden spinning from side to side in his chair a few times.

"Do you think, if you could that is," She broke the silence softly, "That you'll ever want to go back? To the peninsula?" Jack regarded her carefully, before answering.

"Maybe," He nodded, "Up until a little while ago, I thought not," He murmured, "But now…maybe. Someday." Jack met her eyes steadily, "I do have a life here, though." Fayden nodded.

"Only I'm not asking for me." She informed him, her voice a little sharper, "I'm asking because your parents are buried on that planet, same as my mum. Seems to me you buried your whole identity along with them."

"That's not fair." Jack said evenly, still looking her in the eyes, his expression stony. "You don't know what I've lived through, Fay…"

"Not since you were 22," She added, not changing her tone, "But we did have the same childhood."

"Would you rather I went around wearing my planet on my sleeve?" He asked with an exasperated laugh, his voice raising a notch, "You're wearing more Boe merchandise than the mayor's wife used to go around in!"

"Well there's a hell of a long way between this and forgetting your real name!" She shot back at him, and Jack was silent. "I shouted your name, when you died," Fayden went on in that stern tone, fighting back the wetness in her eyes, "I could tell your team had never heard it before. Do they even know about your family?"

Jack had turned away now, crossed his arms and stared intently at the wall. And then, "Gray came here." Fayden sucked in a deep breath, her eyes widening. "John found him…" Jack's voice drifted for a moment, and she could tell that he was not seeing the wall at all, "He was one of the ones they left in their nests. He was a lot older when John found him, that means…" That meant he'd been the last to live. To survive torture, and eventually cannibalism. "He'd…he'd gone mad, Fay." Jack swallowed, and Fayden felt the bile rising in the back of her throat. "He was desperate and mad and he made John pull me back through time so that he could bury me alive as punishment…" Jack turned his eyes back to her, and she finally saw the full weight of his heartbreak, his guilt, and his age. "For letting go of his hand, that day."

Her childhood friend. For the first time, Fayden couldn't bear meeting his gaze, and had to look away. "What happened to him?" She asked in a whisper. Gray the tease, Gray the wild boy, Gray the one who made her miss school hunting sand dollars on the beach…

"Frozen." Jack told her flatly, and her eyes flew back to his anguished face, "His insanity is complete, and he's homicidal." He took a deep breath, "If I find a way to help him, I'll unfreeze him, but…"

"He was only nine," Fay whispered, reaching up and drying her eyes, "I'm sorry, I never…"

"No," Jack shook his head, clearing his throat, "That's not where I meant to go with this," He assured her, looking at her steadily again, "You're right, I have buried who I am, buried it so deep that I could hardly find it myself. I lost him, and dad. But you lost your father too, and that never stopped you," Jack let out a deep sigh, "After he showed up…I um, I lost two team members that day, and not too long after there was more chaos…" He shook his head again, frustrated with himself, "What I'm trying to say is," He actually smirked a little then, though his eyes stayed serious, honest, open, "I'm trying, Fay. Little by little. To let them all know. To not forget." He looked away, his tone suddenly rueful, "I was hoping to explain the whole name thing a bit more casually though, and at a less traumatic moment…"

"Well, you know me," Fayden shrugged, affecting the same casual tone after that moment of revelation, "Have to make things dramatic. At least when it comes to you." She smiled a little bit, "I'm glad you've stopped running. I rather like this version of you…Jack."

"Me too," He said softly, and there was another long silence, this one comfortable and companionable, both of them lost in their respective thoughts. Jack resting against the desk, and Fayden still sitting, pondering, and also in need of a lighter subject. She felt as if she'd abused him quite enough for one lifetime. Well, her sort of lifetime.

"So," She murmured, glancing out through the glass wall behind him, "Who are you with now?" She asked nonchalantly, catching him off guard. She grinned. "At first I thought it was Gwen, but she's got a wedding ring. So that leaves Mickey or the pretty boy, and I'm fairly certain Mickey's all on one team."

"You were always way too clever for your own good," Jack pretended to be annoyed, walking around the desk to stand behind her, playing with her dreadlocks. Fayden leaned back in the chair, grinning, knowing he preferred this topic to the last. He sighed, "Ianto and I are…close." He admitted, "I care for him, very much…"

"You 'care' for a lot of people," Fayden reminded him, "And I don't just mean in the sack, I could tell today, even when I was busy fuming, that your regard for people has matured along with everything else." Her smile softened, "You love them all. But the way he looks at you…two thousand years, you still haven't made it special with anyone?"

"You know me," Jack replied quietly, turning one of the beads in her hair in his hand, "I never was exactly what you'd call exclusive. I might not hop beds like trampolines anymore, but I still don't know if I'd be able to make it work with just one person." He sighed, "We're close. But we've made a point of not promising anything to each other. We've got dangerous jobs. I can recover from anything…he can't."

"Such excuses," Fayden shut her eyes as he played with her hair, "You and The Doctor, what is it with letting a lifespan determine who you love?" Jack had to smirk at that, "What about that whole, 'tis better to have loved and lost bit?"

"I take it you're the expert on relationships, then?" Jack reached over and picked up her left hand, inspecting her empty finger, "Oops, guess not!"

"Hey!" Fayden yanked back her hand, pouting, "I've been a busy woman the past few years, thank you."

"I think the nine-hundred year old Time Lord downstairs could give me a far better lecture on all things love, loss, and sometimes being too busy for either, thank you," Jack teased further, before moving on, "So nobody in your world either?"

"I just recently was dumped by a married man, if that counts?" Fayden tried, and Jack coughed on a laugh. She sighed, "Fairly certain you hexed my love life, Jack."

"So sorry Fay," He apologized yet again, grinning. Another silence followed, as he played with her long locks, braiding and twisting as he pondered. "You know what struck me about you?" He asked softly, and Fayden waited, expectant. "You didn't need me." He admitted, smirking, "Well, wanted me maybe, after…well, after. But you never needed me. Or anyone. You swept in and then you swept out. I think that's why you stuck in my head for so long after you'd left."

She turned her head, "How long?"

He leaned down slowly, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck, "Oh, you still own a good chunk of real estate in here." He admitted, his breath in her ear, causing Fayden to shut her eyes.

"Too bad for you," She murmured, "That I am the sort who could make it work with just one person."

"I know," He drew back, standing straight, his hands still in her hair, "I knew you were when you were sixteen. You always were a better person than I."

"Nah, just old fashioned,"

There was a knock on the office door then, and they both looked up to see Gwen poking her head in, a soft smile on her face, "Not to intrude," She said quietly, "But your friend The Doctor seems to have figured out where that bit of tech came from, and says we'd best get to the asylum as soon as possible."

----

It was a shimmer, a great trick of the eye lying in the forest. "Camouflaged," The Doctor answered the question no one had yet asked, too entranced by the sheer beauty of the thing. Fayden was quite sure they would have missed it entirely without him knowing exactly what to scan for, and what kind of tech it would have scattered as it fell to Earth. It was a ship, shimmering and glossy and taking on the exact hues of a Welsh forest in early summer. It was large, however the exact shape seemed hard to determine, the edges and angles of the ship somehow seemed to blur, human eyes not being able to focus on them.

"Hapans?" Jack suddenly asked The Doctor, who nodded.

"I believe so," He said quietly, almost sadly, "But this is the 21st Century. They wouldn't have developed the technology to deal with our atmosphere yet." Carefully, he ran the sonic screwdriver along one of the sides of the ship. If Fayden squinted, or took a step back, it looked as if he were touching empty air. But after only a few moments a portion of the forest-colored craft opened, letting out remnants of thick gasses as it did. "We're too late."

They peered into the ship, whose shape was much easier to determine from the inside, almost that of a medium-sized sedan. Two passengers were inside, both motionless, slumped back in their seats before the darkened console. A humanoid male and female, with fingers, arms, and legs that were all just barely too long and slender to look human, their cheekbones just barely too high. Their skin was so pale it almost had a bluish tint, their hair very long and dark, and they were both incredibly, impossibly beautiful.

"They're lovely…" Gwen breathed, her expression both awed and saddened. The Doctor nodded, matching her regret.

"But extremely delicate," He informed her, reaching out and shutting the female's eyes, "They come from a paradise planet. Low gravity, no cause for hard work, almost no sicknesses, and no wars. Their immune systems, muscle growth, bone density, practically nonexistent by human standards. If a Hapan came to Earth in this century and miraculously survived the air, they'd be treated as an invalid." He sighed, stepping back and closing the ship. "That's why they made such pretty, powerful gadgets when they started flying in space. Need them to survive the bullies of the universe." He turned to Jack. "They weren't tossed here by the rift, Jack."

"I know," The other man nodded, as The Doctor looked at him intently.

"They are from this time, they crash-landed here, and I am taking them home." He went on, and Jack nodded again.

"If I could, I'd do the same Doctor." The Doctor smiled.

"Good. For that, I'll let you hold on to the pretty gun." He sighed, "Well, after I use it to get a spaceship inside the TARDIS…"

----

Fayden wasn't quite sure of the logistics…true, the TARDIS was massive on the inside, but the doors were decidedly small…but just as the sky was darkening over Cardiff, Jack and The Doctor had the Hapan craft neatly tucked away inside. The Doctor handed Jack the gun, after disabling the teleport feature and making the human who couldn't die swear to keep it under lock and key. The Time Lord said his goodbyes to his old friend then, as he had to seal the ship up and filter all the messy Earth air out of it, before the fragile bodies within could decay any further.

"It was good to see you again so soon, Doctor," Jack said warmly, as they stood in the console room, "You know, you could make a habit out of visiting your friends this often. Don't think it would kill you."

"Martha just tried the same tactic outside. Nine hundred years of being set in my gypsy ways, but I'll consider it." The Doctor smirked, and then turned to Fayden, rolling up his shirt sleeves as if he were getting ready for very manly work indeed, "Just ah…let me know when you're done saying goodbyes, all right?" He said a little too casually, "I'll be in the big room with the spaceship sitting in it. Down the corridor, fifth door on the right, down the stairs and around the corner from the hat rack. Lots to do, take all the time you need…"

"Thank you, Doctor," Fayden fought back a smile, looking down at her feet as her designated driver left the room, leaving her and Jack standing by the console. The TARDIS hummed to herself as usual, but otherwise they were silent for a moment.

"Proper goodbyes," Jack finally broke the silence, his voice slow and warm. Fayden looked up again, smiling at him. "There seem to be more and more of those happening lately. He's getting better at them, I think."

"Better than running off without a word, I suppose," She nodded. He took a deep breath, and a step closer.

"You said that you'd gathered up pieces of home?" He asked, and Fayden nodded again, meeting his gaze steadily. He smiled, "Do you have many with you, and may I see them?" She grinned, taking his hand and leading him from the room, deeper into the TARDIS.

"You've already got a bedroom?" Jack asked, incredulous, inspecting the relatively small, cozy bit of space Fayden led him to. It bore a great resemblance to her cabin on the Nephilim, if a little bit roomier. "The TARDIS didn't let me into a bedroom until I'd been here almost a week! I had to sleep on a lounge in the library!"

"Probably worried that if you'd had one, you'd try and seduce The Doctor into it," Fayden grinned, kneeling in front of her old trunk, which sat at the end of the bed. "Plus, I have belongings," She murmured, "I always carry this trunk with me." Jack stepped closer, looking down over her shoulder as she shuffled through the items inside. He smiled at the sight of the battered old cricket bat. His breath caught when he saw her old kilt, a familiar shimmer of gold fabric. "Ah," She breathed, pulling out a lump of driftwood and putting it into his palm.

Turning it over in his hands, Jack realized that it was carved into the shape of a small, simple fish…very badly. He let out a surprised laugh, even as tears started to fill his eyes. Right by the crooked tail, where he knew it would be, the artist's name was carved. 'Gray'. Fayden smiled, standing back up.

"Don't ask me how," She said softly, "It ended up in a grab bin in a market on Juno. I remember how proud he was when it was done…"

"Mum didn't have the heart to tell him it looked nothing like a goldfish," Jack swallowed, lifting the wood to his nose and taking a deep breath, as if he could still smell the salt and the ocean on it.

"Your mum thought everything her sons ever did was brilliant," Fayden corrected him gently, "You should have that."

"Thank you," He sighed, tucking the old thing into one of his pockets, his eyes fixed on her. "You're not staying on with The Doctor, then?" She shook her head. He took her hands, pulling her closer, "So I'm not going to see you again for another…three thousand years." Fayden shook her head again, looking him in the eyes.

"Maybe by then you'll have mastered the art of monogamy," She grinned, reaching up and playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. Jack let out a long-suffering sigh.

"Maybe," He conceded, leaning forward and kissing her forehead. Fayden bit her lip.

"You should try," She murmured, "Or at least make something significant. Ianto…"

"I'll outlive him, Fay."

"You'll outlive me too." She shot right back at him, still meeting his gaze. Two sets of pale blue, crashing against each other. Jack had nothing to say to that, for a long time.

"I'll try," He whispered, "I promise I'll try." Fayden smiled.

"You'll know where to find me in three thousand years, if you succeed." It sounded like a goodbye, but neither of them moved away. In fact, Jack found himself moving forward, taking her face in his hands, his lips brushing against hers. Fayden froze for only a moment, before letting out a sigh and kissing him back. A pleased hum escaped her throat at the familiar feeling, at those familiar lips. That pleasant feeling returned, that longing inside of her, that thing that no one else had stirred in her, not since him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, he grabbed her waist, and all coherency was lost.

It did not take them any time at all to pick up momentum. His hands still knew their way around her frame, though its curves had since filled out. She still knew how to make him gasp her name, though he'd had countless lovers between their last meeting and this. Nothing else needed saying that evening, until at last they were laying tangled in her bed, sated and breathing deeply. He could have made a comment about her knowing quite a few new tricks, but he only had to catch her eye and grin. She could have quipped right back that most of his new tricks were illegal on some planets, but her answering grin spoke for her.

Jack reached out, grabbing her slim hand over the covers and squeezing it tightly, bringing it to his lips. "I'll see you later, Fayden."

"Yeah," She whispered back, her grin softening, her eyes shining fondly, "See you later…Jack."

The TARDIS doors had barely closed behind Captain Jack's retreating form, when The Doctor returned to the console room. Sitting cross-legged on the jump seat, Fayden had to marvel at his timing. Then again, he was a Time Lord, she wondered if that was one of the perks. She smiled at him in greeting, not quite able to keep the sad tint out of her eyes. "Hello." She said. He smiled, in much the same manner.

"Hullo." He responded, his sympathetic tone the only vocal acknowledgment of her current status, "So!" He went on brightly, turning toward the console and darting about, flipping switches. She heard the engines come to life, and knew they must be leaving Cardiff behind, "Ship's all nice and sealed up, the bodies quite well preserved. I was able to go through their systems, work out who they were, where they live, so on. Seems we'll be taking a quick trip to the Hapan home world…still in this century, but quite a different world than any you've been to I promise. Then I suppose you'll be wanting off…?" He suggested, looking at her with a lifted brow. Fayden sighed, reaching up and tugging on her locks thoughtfully, a playful smirk fighting its way onto her face.

"You know…" She started, "Frank and Dayna really can run things wonderfully without me…" The smile on his face nearly exploded, but Fayden went on quickly, "But not for long! Business and all. And I'll have to give them a call to let them know!" He nodded vigorously, making sure she understood perfectly that he understood perfectly. She grinned again, "But I…I really like what you've shown me, so far." The smile on her face was utterly genuine, and The Doctor had to smile right back.

"You're good company, Captain Amorisha," He told her, earnestly. And then, just as quickly, he sighed dramatically, "Though, do promise me that you won't go about smacking someone on every world we get off at…OI!" He complained loudly, as one of her boots went flying over his head.

---

- 2 Months Later -

She had traveled with him for five weeks, her timeline. She had seen amazing things, gone many amazing places, but after a near-death experience and a quick examination in the TARDIS infirmary, both she and The Doctor had quickly decided that it was time for her to return to The Isop Galaxy. The Business was thriving, her ship waiting for her return, and Fayden could not thank The Doctor enough for what he'd shown her, how he'd inspired her. They'd parted as dear friends, and with a stern promise that The Doctor would drop in again in the not too distant future.

He'd inspired her to make this decision. Both he and Jack.

She hopped down from the open airlock, her boots landing in familiar sand. It was all the same, the rolling surf, the far-off walls of mist, the empty, long-abandoned settlement housing. No one came here, for the same reason no one had come to Edgit until they'd been brainwashed to. Too much superstition surrounding the place, which was why the real estate had been so cheap. Fayden was in the know, and she knew that what had made this planet a place of death would never come back again. She shut her eyes and took a long, deep breath of the ocean air. She listened to the surf crashing against the sand, to the trees waving in the wind, to the sea birds calling to each other overhead. It was time she had a fixed place to rest her feet, she could think of no place better.

"This is home," Fayden whispered, opening her eyes and scanning the horizon again. As far as the old housing went, it certainly didn't look like much. But she was Captain Fayden Amorisha, owner of her own private shipping company, and she would make this place beautiful again. True, she might be the only inhabitant of the Boeshane Peninsula for a while, but that was fine. She and Robeck needed time to get to know each other again anyway.

She wandered over the dunes and up onto the grassy plain where she had played as a small girl, where there were markers set up for those who'd died. Most of them were made out of wood, neglected and wearing down. This would be the first place she poured money, no one should be forgotten. The name on her mother's marker had been scoured away by the sand-filled winds, but Fayden didn't need to read the name to know whose it was. She sat down on the grass by the spot, smiling brightly, reaching out to touch where the name had once been.

"I'm home," She murmured, "I'm home…"

Author's Notes: There are at least two chapters left :) Ya'll make me smile.