A/N: So, after going back and reading the first chapter over, I noticed that I seemed to write that argument rather easily, I didn't even really think about it, it just kinda came out…...like angry vomit (ew) lol. I wonder what that says about me…..Anyways! Hope you've liked it so far, and hopefully this chapter will be a bit happier. And I'm writing this after already writing the chapter, so this should be at the end, but I was too lazy to put it down there. Have fun reading! :D
Disclaimer:(do I have to put this every time? Oh well, I will just in case). All the characters in the story are not mine. BUT all the names of the planets (besides Raxacoricofallapatorius) are. :D (You have no idea how hard it is coming up with planet names! Or maybe you do, I dunno! But it's still hard!)
"Right! Now, where should we go next? Somewhere exciting like the moons of Carpathia 5? Or perhaps a dangerous place like Zanalu? I wonder if they'd be happy to see us on Raxacoricofallapatorius, no, probably not…" the Doctor's rambling again, like he does and Jack doesn't really mind. Sometimes the Doctor just says things that sound like nonsense, and Jack suspects that he really just likes hearing himself talk.
It's been about three months since that day in Cardiff, and it's been three months of adventure and danger and saving planets from terror. Oh, and there's the running too, mustn't forget that. Most of the time it's a thrill, the two of them love going around saving the universe together, but sometimes, Jack just wishes the Doctor would take them somewhere relaxing for once. A planet with nice weather, a beautiful surface, and no indigenous creatures trying to kill them sounds rather nice.
Jack leans against the railing and watches the Doctor push buttons and flip levers on the TARDIS' controls, all the while talking excitedly and very rapidly. He never gets tired of it, and he actually somewhat enjoys just listening to the Doctor's voice, even if he doesn't really understand half of what he says.
"What are you smiling at?" the Doctor asks suddenly. He didn't even realize he was smiling until now.
"Oh nothing, you're just really cute when you babble," Jack says.
"Stop it," the Doctor says playfully, and ducks his head, trying unsuccessfully to hide the fact that he's blushing a little bit. Jack chuckles at that, because that's his reaction every time he says something to him like that. And of course, he doesn't stop, because he loves messing with the Doctor and it's all in good fun.
"So anyway, I was thinking that maybe we could just go somewhere relaxing for a change. I don't know, maybe the 'Planet of Really Nice Hot Springs', or something," he says.
"Don't be silly, there's no planet with that name, and besides, aren't you having fun saving the universe?" the Doctor looks at him, and then glances at the monitor.
"I am, but I want to rest sometime, you know? We should-," he doesn't get to finish his sentence, because he's interrupted by a huge crashing noise and the TARDIS shaking terribly. He grabs the railing and looks at the console.
"What's happening?" he says, hoping that they haven't torn a hole through the Time Vortex or something equally as bad. The TARDIS shakes again and there are sparks flying out of the console.
"Well, um, I might have neglected a couple of repairs over the last few weeks," the Doctor says, rushing about and flipping switches on the controls. "Looks like you're going to get your wish, Jack. We have to land somewhere safe before I can fix anything. You might want to hold on to something," he says and pulls down a lever, almost falling down from the tremors it causes. After a minute, they land with a thud, and everything stops shaking, but now there's smoke rising up from below the console. The Doctor and Jack cough and cover their mouths, heading for the door. The Doctor has the TARDIS turn on the fans to clear out the smoke and then follows Jack out to see where they've landed. It turns out that it's a nice beach, with waves lapping at the shore and a pleasant breeze blowing and stirring up bits of sand here and there.
"Now this is more like it. Where are we?" Jack asks, taking in the view.
"Well," the Doctor sticks a finger in his mouth and then holds it up like he sometimes does. "It seems that we're on the lovely planet of Atraxia. A lot of the residents live more inland, don't think they'll be too much of a bother. Weather seems nice, and it looks as though it'll stay that way while we're here," he says.
"There's no way you can tell all of that by holding up a finger," Jack says skeptically.
"Oh but of course I can Jack! You should now that by now," the Doctor says and grins at him. Jack rolls his eyes. Show off, he thinks.
"So how long do you think it'll take to repair the TARDIS?" Jack asks, looking back at the blue box.
"Not too long hopefully, couple of days at the most. Of course, things would go faster if I had some help," he glances at Jack.
"Well, we better get started then, huh?" Jack says, heading back to the doors.
"I thought you wanted to relax!" the Doctor looks at the beach and thinks that maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
"I do! But if we fix the TARDIS first, then the relaxing will be so much better after all the hard work," he says.
"All work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy," the Doctor says, getting a laugh out of his companion. He follows Jack to the TARDIS. "Don't worry, old girl. We'll have you fixed up in no time," he says, patting the outside of the ship as he enters.
When the Doctor said that he'd neglected a "couple" of repairs, he was totally lying. There was so much to do and it turned out that it may take about a week instead of two or three days. Jack was working on a few things underneath the console and the Doctor was fiddling with his sonic screwdriver and kept getting zapped by the TARDIS every time he tried to use it on something that didn't need fixing. Jack found it highly amusing every time the Doctor got shocked because he'd let out a little high-pitched yelp. He finished repairing a couple of wires he was working on and climbed out from underneath the console.
"Ow! Would you stop doing that?! I'm trying to help!" the Doctor scolded. Jack couldn't suppress the laugh that escaped his mouth and the Doctor gave him a look. "Quit laughing! It's not funny!" he cried.
"No, it is funny. Really funny actually," Jack said, grinning like a loon. The Doctor gave a little huff and resumed his work, deliberately ignoring Jack's comment. He could hear the screwdriver pulsing and then the Doctor gave a cry of triumph.
"Ah-ha! There, I'm finished. That wasn't so bad now was it? I could've done without the zapping though," he told the TARDIS. She seemed to have responded, because he came back with, "No you're not, you thoroughly enjoyed causing me pain," and stood up.
"She giving you trouble again? You totally deserve it, since you haven't even checked up on her in forever," Jack said. The TARDIS hummed as though in agreement. Over time, the ship had taken a liking to Jack. She definitely wasn't bothered by his "wrongness", as the last Doctor put it, anymore.
"Of course you'd agree with him," the Doctor grumbled at her. He walked around the TARDIS, surveying what work was left to do, muttering either to himself or to her quietly.
"So, what's left to do?" Jack asked. They were already a few days into making repairs and it was hard work. Jack helped where he could, and the Doctor gave him instructions on certain tasks, but there were still things left that needed fixing.
"Um, let's see. Most of the wiring is done, and once we've finished with that, there're other parts that need work. See, if I'd actually made a routine of checking up on her, there wouldn't be so much work now. Oh and I forgot about that other thing too….," the Doctor listed off things that needed to be done and Jack just nodded his head because while he might've been a passenger on the TARDIS for a time he still didn't know how it all worked. The Doctor tried to explain it sometimes, but his explanations usually just left Jack more confused than before.
"Isn't there an instruction manual for this? It'd make things a lot easier," he mused aloud.
"Well, there was one. But I kind of….threw it away," the Doctor answered.
"Why would you do that?" Jack asked.
"Because I disagreed with it!" he said.
"You….disagreed with it?" Jack shook his head and sighed. "What are we going to do with him?" he asked the ship.
"Hey now! Don't say that!" the Doctor protested with whatever she had said.
"Alright, you know what? We've been working all day, why don't we take a break for a while okay?" he suggested.
"We should get it done now though," he said.
"Well, we have all the time in the universe; I don't think a break would kill anyone. Come on, it's almost dark out," Jack said, going up the stairs and looking at the monitor. He took off his coat and shoes before heading to the door.
"I'm going, whether you're coming or not," he called to the Doctor. He went outside and closed the door behind him. The sun was getting close to setting and the sky was colored with an orange hue. He walked to the shore and let the water lap around his ankles. The water was pleasantly cool and he waded into the water until it was at his waist, not really caring that his clothes were getting wet. He turned around as he heard the doors to the TARDIS close and the Doctor stepped onto the beach. He walked to the shore, standing just before the water touched his feet.
"Come on, the water won't hurt you," Jack called to him.
"How do you know that?" the Doctor answered.
"Because if it did, I wouldn't be standing waist deep in it, now would I?" he said.
"No, I suppose not," he muttered. He stood there watching the sun and not really paying much attention to Jack. That is, not until water sprayed into his face.
"Hey!" he cried, looking at Jack, who had a mischievous grin on his face. "What was that for?!" he said. Jack didn't answer; he simply splashed more water in the Doctor's direction and laughed.
"Oh, you're gonna get it, Harkness!" the Doctor declared, going into the water after him.
"Ooh, you used my last name, I'm so scared!" Jack teased, laughing as the Doctor splashed at him. As the two of them chased each other around in the water, Jack was thinking about how silly they must look. He hadn't played around with someone like this in a long time, in fact, the last time he ever actually goofed around like this without a care in the world was when he would play with Gray back home. Here I am, a thousand something year old grown man, playing with a nine hundred something year old alien at a beach on a planet in outer space, he thought, laughing to himself. The thought seemed ridiculous and if someone had told him that's what he would be doing at some point in his life, he would've thought they had lost their mind. And yet, here he was now, doing just that. Funny how life works out sometimes.
Eventually, the two tired themselves out and returned to shore, lying down in the sand next to each other.
"Well, that was fun!" the Doctor exclaimed, a huge smile plastered on his face. "But look at my clothes!" he said, gesturing to his outfit which was now drenched with water. Jack laughed at the Doctor's expression.
"Yeah, I got you all wet, didn't I?" Jack winked suggestively.
"Oh gosh, you're horrible!" the Doctor blushed and covered his face with his hands. Jack laughed, because it was so much fun getting the Doctor all flustered like that, and the way he reacted to the innuendo was just so adorable and hilarious at the same time. Jack pried the Doctor's hands from his face and smiled at him.
"You're so cute when you're embarrassed," he teased.
"Stop it," the Doctor mumbled, still a little red.
"Not a chance," Jack said, moving so that his body was hovering over the Doctor's and grinned at him. He let go of the Doctor's hands and reached to cup his face. The Doctor's breath caught and he went still for a moment when Jack leaned over and pressed his lips to the Doctor's. He kissed back hesitantly, and Jack could sense that the Doctor's arms were flailing about, as though he didn't know what to do with them. He smiled into the kiss and moved his hands to the Doctor's arms, guiding them so that they were wrapped around his waist. His hands returned to the Doctor's face, one of them stroking his cheek, and the other running his fingers through his floppy brown hair. When they separate to breathe, Jack leans his forehead against the Doctor's, smiling softly at him.
"Well….that was…nice," the Doctor says breathlessly. Jack hums in agreement. They stay like that for a bit, catching their breath and after a while, Jack laughs softly.
"What?" the Doctor says.
"You're as red as a tomato," Jack replies.
"Well, we know whose fault that is, huh?" the Doctor says and smiles at him. Jack moves off the Doctor and pulls him into a sitting position.
"The sun's setting," Jack remarks.
"So it is," comes the Doctor's reply. Jack wraps an arm around his shoulders and the Doctor moves closer to him, laying his head on his friend's shoulder. They sit there together, watching the sun set, something neither of them has done in a long time, and Jack thinks that this moment is absolutely perfect.