Missing Scene #4
Title: Memoriam (Latin for Forevermore)
Episode: Sometime After "Closing Time" but before WoRS, Slight XOver with Torchwood: After Children of Earth, but before Miracle Day
Main Characters: Jack Harkness, Eleventh Doctor, Rose Tyler(mentioned)
Summary: Every once in a while Jack makes an effort to visit the memorial plaque of Canary Wharf, where the names of the dead are listed. There he takes a moment to remember the best, most influential time of his life. Traveling with his Doctor and his Rose. During one visit he runs into somebody who was also greatly influenced by her...
A/N: Wow. Not one single review on that last chapter. And I thought it was pretty good. That's what I get for being so proud of "Falling Apart"'s success. Well, there'll be no new chapters in this for a long while...
Jack sighed as he hopped up the steps and towards the Canary Wharf Memorial Plaque. At least once a year he tried to visit this place, to honor the ones he loved most. He stood in front of it and read the hundreds of names, until he reached the ones he recognized.
Rose Tyler.
Jackie Tyler.
Mickey Smith.
He ran his fingers over the names and remembered the Doctor who he knew was with them that day. He knew now that his friend, her mother and her former boyfriend were not dead, but that they were safe and very much alive in a parallel universe.
There had been so much pain and heartache for him these last few years. He missed them so much. Estelle, Owen, Tosh, Ianto...
"Do you ever think that one day your luck'll run out? That you won't come back?"
Gwen and Rhys' lives had nearly been destroyed, along with their then-unborn child. He hoped they were doing well. They still thought he was off-planet, grieving over what had happened, when the Children of Earth spoke as one. In fact, he had just returned, and this was his first stop. Half of him loved coming here. He could get lost in those years that happened so, so long ago...
"And off we go, into time, and space!"
"What are you, Captain of the Innuendo Squad?"
"You just handed me a piece of paper telling me you're single and you work out."
"By the way, love the t-shirt!"
"I knew we should have turned left!"
"Buy me a drink first."
"You are worth fighting for."
The other half of him hated it. Because it only reminded him of how alone he was now. He had nothing, and he knew nothing would ever end his suffering. He'd just keep living on. Those were the best years of his life, and they were never coming back. Not ever.
Jack took a deep breath and noticed someone was standing beside him. He turned to look and noticed a man in a brown jacket and a bow tie, wearing a cowboy hat. Jack would have wondered about his choice of clothing, but the look on the man's face made him stop. It was pure heartache.
"Did you lose someone here too mate?" He looked back at the memorial.
"Yeah."
"A friend?" Jack immediately felt a connection with this stranger.
"Yeah, she was. She was my best friend."
"What was her name?"
"Rose."
"Rose?" Jack spun back around but noticed the man was gone. A look of shock passed over his face. That had to be him, who else could it have been? That would explain the clothing choice, and the sudden wheezing noise that echoed all around him. He looked everywhere but couldn't see the familiar blue box. He looked down at the ground in sorrow. Oh well. That part of his life was over.
Seeing the Doctor there only affirmed his suspicions that the Doctor loved Rose as much as she did him(and that he definitely knew). He knew the Time Lord was a man not to look back on his past because it hurt too much.
But Rose was different. Rose had touched them both since the day they met. The Doctor in a small shop in Cardiff, and Jack on a spaceship in front of Big Ben. And, thanks to her, they were both better men. They would never be the same.
Gazing one last time at the Memorial, he turned around and walked away.
"It's time I stopped running."
-End-