5
Jack usually didn't sleep much. Neither did the Doctor, but the fact that he was still asleep and quite deeply so attested the fact that he apparently hadn't been sleeping at all lately. He lay in bed, looking at the Time Lord in the dim light that leaked down into his quarters from the Hub. He could make out most of the freckles on the Doctor's face and that his hair was a total train wreck; his mouth was slack, his lashes, thick and long, lay on his cheeks and Jack thought he had never seen anything so beautiful, so adorable in his life.
As much as he wanted to think how nice it would be to see this sight every night, he knew he had to get the Doctor back to himself and ready to fight the good fight again. However much it would hurt Jack on a deeply personal level, he wanted what was best for his Time Lord. And to do that, he would need to depend on his team. Ianto, ever the early riser, would be in soon. Jack took his pillow and snugged it close to the Doctor, waiting until the Time Lord had wrapped his arms around it. He carefully crept out of bed, gathered his clothes, and climbed the ladder to the upper level of the Hub.
Once dressed, he called Ianto. "Rise and shine, we have a visitor." This is what he usually said when the Doctor was there, so Ianto knew immediately the Time Lord had stopped by…which meant, usually, that he wasn't up to snuff for whatever reason: Jack was his default setting when he was out of his depth.
"How is he?" Ianto asked. Jack heard him yawn.
"Code Deep Blue," Jack said.
"Deep blue? That can't be good…" Ianto replied. Baby blue meant a little down, Medium Blue a little worse, plain Blue was fairly bad. They had never had a Deep Blue.
"It's not, not good at all. Stop and get some donuts and éclairs, would you? Oh, and Jaffa cakes. He likes those."
"I'll pick up some Jammie Dodgers as well."
"Good call," Jack said. "Oh, get some Toffee Dodgers, too, he'll like those! Thanks Ianto."
"Not a problem," Ianto said. "If he's that bad, try not to leave him alone too long."
"Let Gwen know he's here. You know how much he likes Rhys."
"I will," Ianto chuckled. For whatever reason Rhys and the Doctor had struck up quite a friendship.
"See ya soon" Jack said affectionately.
The Team had learned the hard way that where the Doctor was concerned, the best way to piss Jack off was to give the Time Lord a less than stellar welcome. Make the Doctor happy: a happy Doctor meant a happy Jack. And by God, they meant to keep Jack happy where the Doctor was concerned because Jack could be a right pain in the arse if he was displeased with the treatment the Doctor received.
Besides, it didn't take long for the Time Lord to endear himself. He possessed an innocent, innate charm, and it was easy to care about him. Gwen had liked the Doctor well enough from the beginning, but when the Time Lord had taken a shine to her Rhys, she practically fell in love with him.
As for Ianto, the initial insecurity and jealousy had been tough, but as time passed, he saw that Jack meant to stay the course and not run off with the Doctor. Soon he discovered that treating the Doctor well made Jack very happy with him. Then he realized that being nice to the Doctor made Jack feel closer to Ianto. Soon after, Ianto found that he had begun to actually like the Doctor himself. The Time Lord's quirky charms worked their magic on Ianto without him even realizing until he found himself feeling sad the Doctor was leaving after one of his brief visits.
And he did have a cute bottom, really.
So he felt quite concerned about the Code Deep Blue, and was glad Jack had called and asked him to stock up on the Doctor's favorite treats. The conference room table was now laden with them, just waiting for the rest of the team to show up.
After Jack had briefed everyone (Rhys was off today and had come in with Gwen, anxious to see his alien friend) Jack went back to his quarters to wake the Doctor. He sat on the side of the bed, again just looking at his adored Time Lord. He looked so young, untroubled and sweet that he hated waking him, but thought it best. He leaned over and kissed the Doctor's cheek.
"Wake up, sleepyhead! Myfanwy will build a nest in your bum if you don't get up!"
"Mmm. Morning. Jack. Morning Jack. Oh, Morning, Jack!" The Doctor rubbed his eyes, sat up and immediately reached out to be held.
"Still full of cuddles, I see," Jack said, gathering the Doctor to him. "The gang is all here. Everyone is dying to see you. Gwen brought Rhys, and we have donuts and Jaffa cakes and éclairs and Jammie Dodgers and Toffee Dodgers and coffee and tea. Ianto brought all the goodies."
The Doctor's eyes grew wide. "Rhys! Toffee Dodgers? They make Toffee Dodgers now? Brilliant! I'm having some!"
"Well, you can't manage that hanging onto me, sweethearts," Jack kissed his cheek again, eliciting a happy little hum from the Doctor. "Come on, get dressed. After we eat we'll find something for you to do."
"Like what? I'll get dressed later, I want Toffee Dodgers now."
"Dunno yet. We'll find something, though. Keep you from getting bored." Jack watched the Doctor get out of bed and climb the ladder. The shirt he wore hiked up, the pyjama bottoms rode down as he went up the ladder. Jack could see his sacral dimples and the very top of the crack of his ass. "Could teach kittens how to be cute," he said to himself.
"You say something?" the Doctor said, looking over his shoulder.
Jack looked at him wide eyed. "Me? Nah. You go ahead, I'm right behind you." And I'll be enjoying the view every step of the way, he thought. Jack followed the Doctor into the main Hub. Enjoy the view he did, his eyes flicking from the bottoms of the Doctor's bare, slender feet which he got a little flash of while the Doctor walked to the wriggle of his little round bottom.
"Captain," said the Time lord, looking flirtatiously over his shoulder. "Are you watching my bum?"
"Uh, well…yeah," Jack admitted.
He made a soft little sound in his throat. "Carry on," he said, and put a bit more wiggle in his walk. "Ianto! Gwen and Rhys!" he called out as he saw his friends. "Hello, handsome!" The Doctor gave Ianto a hug. Jack saw Ianto's eyes sparkle at the unexpected show of affection.
Next, he went to Gwen and Rhys. He first looked at Gwen's Converse. "Immaculate taste in footwear, as usual!" he said, looping an arm around each of the couple, he planted a kiss on each one's cheek. "My favorite couple," he said. "Now, I'm for those Toffee Dodgers! Where are they?" He looked around and spotted the Conference room table, hitched up Jack's pyjama bottoms from behind and headed for tea and Toffee Dodgers.
"Jack wasn't kidding when he said the Doctor is a bit clingy this time around," observed Rhys.
Gwen saw the look on concern on her husband's face. "Have I told you lately how much I love you, you big softy?" she said. "Jack will sort him out, with our help," she added. "He just wants feeling needed. Jack knows his Doctor. As soon as he feels like he has to help out somehow, he'll be back on track."
"Funny how everyone calls him Jack's Doctor, isn't it?" Ianto said. "Sounds like Jack owns him or something."
"I think," Gwen stated, "That in a way, he does."
"Well, only as much as anyone can own him," Ianto said. "That one's like a cat. He might love us to bits, but he'll always own himself, in a lot of ways. He'll always come back when he needs us, or when the world needs him. But he has to have his freedom. I think it would kill his soul to lose that."
The rest joined the Doctor in the Conference room, watching as the Time Lord ate. Six donuts, three éclairs, three Jaffa cakes, half a dozen Jammie Dodgers and a dozen Toffee Dodgers later, the Doctor got himself another cup of tea and snuggled up unashamedly next to Jack on the couch, looking as contented as a cat with cream, his still-bare feet tucked up under his bottom.
"Toffee Dodgers," he said. "That alone is enough to get Earth an entry into The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
"You mean…it's…real?" Ianto gawked.
"Yep," said Jack and the Doctor in unison. They looked at each other and laughed.
"You going to lounge around in pyjamas all day, Doc?" Jack asked.
"Would you rather I lounge around all day out of them?"
"Promises, promises," Jack countered. "Seriously, get dressed and give me hand. Myfanwy has been a little under the weather lately. Could you have a look at her?"
"Myfanwy? Sick? You should have said!" the Doctor reprimanded.
Jack actually felt a little relief at the Doctor's bossy tone of voice. "I'm telling you now," he said. "Should I have her sedated?"
"Not yet," said the Time Lord. "Getting dressed now. Don't forget to get the things you wanted from the TARDIS," he reminded Jack.
They watched as the Time Lord headed for Jack's quarters. "Smooth move," Ianto said.
"He never saw that one coming," Gwen added.
"Jack Harkness," Rhys said. "Time Lord whisperer!"
Jack just looked bit smug. "Well, he's worth the effort," he said with a shrug.
As it happened the Doctor hadn't needed Myfanwy to be sedated. He'd simply had a peek into her little brain and found she was getting too much red meat and not enough fish. After that Jack had found some alien tech for the Doctor to look over, giving him items he knew for a fact the Doctor would raise a fuss about. He gave the Doctor his sonic screwdriver and watched happily as the Time Lord disabled or destroyed item after item, scolding Jack every step of the way.
"Honestly, Jack, I'm going to have to keep an eye on you lot! A cerebral degenerator? That's just sick!"
Jack faked his best chastened look. "We'll try to do better," he said. "Guess you're going to have to pop in for an inspection from time to time."
"Pop in?" said the Time Lord, handing the sonic screwdriver back to Jack. "I'm not going anywhere, remember?" He put his arms around Jack's neck and leaned into his friend. "Still in your custody, Captain." He looked at Jack, giving him a seductive little smile and a pleading, lost look from his eyes. The message was clear: Comfort me! I want kissing, please. And this in front of everyone!
And though Jack happily complied, he couldn't help feeling disappointment mixed with happiness that the Doctor would apparently be with them a while just yet. He wanted the Time Lord to get back on his feet. Truly he did. But at the same time, he hoped the Doctor would stick around for lots more kisses, cuddles and hopefully more…
The rest of the day had gone on well enough, though the Doctor remained quite clingy. Jack could barely move without stepping on the Doctor. Finally, desperate to catch up on paperwork, he'd asked Rhys and Gwen to take the Doctor for a walk and fetch curry for everyone.
Ianto brought Jack a cup of coffee.
"Oh, bless you, Ianto Jones," Jack said, sipping his coffee and shifting yet another stack over to his out-box.
"So, are you two sleeping together yet?" Ianto queried.
"That's all it is. Just sleeping. Does that bother you?" Jack asked testily.
"Not at all," Ianto chuckled. "As a matter of fact I think a little Time Lord nookie might speed up getting him back on his feet!"
Jack looked at Ianto for a long while. "Wouldn't that be taking advantage?"
"He's over nine hundred years old, Jack. And he's practically begging you to make love to him! If that were me, I'd be devastated if you didn't take up what I had on offer!"
Ianto watched Jack's face as realization dawned on him. "Then I'm doing more harm than good by not making love to him, you think?"
"Well, I do have prior experience with you, Jack," Ianto assured. "Trust me on this. Make love to him. Do it tonight. If I'm wrong then feel free to make my life a living hell. But I'm not wrong. I've been in the Doctor's shoes. You making love to me helped me through losing Lisa. It'll help him out of this funk he's in."
"You're sure about this?"
"Yes! Do it, Jack. Tonight. After we eat, I'll make sure everyone leaves. Barring any rift activity, you should be able to get it done properly. And for God's sake, Jack, don't just lay him. Romance him. Make him feel like he's the center of the Universe."
Jack sat very still for a bit, looking Ianto in the eye. Finally, he gave Ianto a little smile, stood up and kissed him. "I ever tell you how smart you are?"
"No. But I am quite smart. I know what I'm talking about. Tell me you'll do it tonight, Jack."
Jack sighed, sounding both daunted and elated at once. "Okay," was all he said.
The Hub door creaked open and Gwen, Rhys and the Doctor came in, carrying bags full of curry and all the fixings.
"You better," Ianto warned quickly. "If you don't, I swear I'll do it myself!" He watched with satisfaction as Jack's brows rose in surprise, then lowered in consternation.
"Don't you dare," he growled. "At least not yet. And if you ever do, I'm watching."
Joking aside, Ianto felt quite proud of himself for opening Jack's eyes. He had deliberately prodded Jack's possessive side. Ianto would know by tomorrow morning if Jack had done what he should do. "Let's go eat," he said. "The sooner you two are alone, the better."