Gah! Finally another chapter! Last one, guys…

He had no idea how long they were down there, how long they sat in silence. All Jack knew was that his back started to cramp what felt like half-an-hour ago, and his arms were starting to ache from holding them up so long—though he certainly wasn't going to complain. Finally the Doctor pulled away from him, though, avoiding his eyes, "Thanks," he mumbled.

"Anytime." The Time Lord nodded—more to himself than Jack—and shoved his hands in his pockets. Jack read his body language easily and after a few moments insisted, "Don't leave. Not yet."

The Doctor cocked his head to the side, "I haven't moved."

"You know what I mean," he replied, narrowing his eyes. "At least stay a little while. Meet the rest of the team. Recover."

The Doctor's attention was drawn somewhere over Jack's shoulder, an inner debate reflecting in his eyes, "I shouldn't."

"You should."

"Why?"

Jack closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before focusing on the Doctor again, "Because it's a good idea—for you, for them. For me. Just stay a little while—even a day. Don't you ever just want to stop for a moment?"

"Not really."

"Why?"

"...It hurts too much," he murmured quietly after a moment, and something in Jack broke.

"Doct—"

"Don't. Please, just don't... I'll stay till tomorrow."

A small weight lifted from Jack's shoulders and he nodded his acceptance. It wasn't as long as he'd hoped, but at least it was something.

Dawn came when it was expected, but to Jack it felt too soon; to the Doctor it felt too late. Each man was on his fourth cup of coffee and tea respectively, talking about old times and current lives, how long it had been for both of them and what had happened in between their reunions.

At 9am exactly, the cog door opened and Ianto walked in, the young man stopping in his tracks when he heard voices coming from Jack's office. Jack's hearty laugh echoed off the industrial interior while a lighter voice chuckled along with him. Frozen to the spot, Ianto only broke out of his reverie when he heard the second voice suddenly fall silent and Jack beckon him upstairs a few moments later. (Damn super hearing.)

Owen came in half-an-hour later, complaining (justifying) to himself that the only reason he was there this "early" was because Jack would want him to be—it's not like he was curious about the Doctor's condition or anything; really, he isn't. He stopped short, however, to listen to the voices coming from Jack's office. Jack, obviously, Ianto, sure (he was always the first in anyway), but the third voice… Owen would never admit that he smiled slightly when he realized it was the Doctor. (And it's about time, too.)

Tosh, trailed by Gwen, entered not too long after, giggling with each other the way only girls do; but both grew silent when they heard the rest of the team upstairs. They could tell by the tones that the other three members were present, but shared a questioning look when they didn't recognize the fourth voice. Gwen just shrugged and gently tugged on Tosh's arm, leading her towards the staircase. (All they needed was more mystery.)

"Honestly, Jack, that's absurd." Ianto said above them.

"Complete bullshit," Owen eloquently added.

Jack and the mystery man laughed, "No, I swear, completely true! You can't just make that kind of stuff up."

"What are you talking about—you totally would!"

"Hey, boys, how's it going?"

The four men glanced up at Gwen's interruption, Ianto with a slight bow, Owen with an acknowledging nod, Jack with a warm smile, and the other one openly grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "Well, hello!" The man greeted, hopping off the desk. He wavered slightly, like he was going to fall over, and both Jack and Owen quickly stood and moved forward, ready to catch him. He fortunately righted himself, however, and the two retreated following his glare. "Hi, sorry 'bout that, still a bit unbalanced."

"Being mostly dead can do that," Jack mumbled under his breath, earning a snort from Owen and another glare from the Doctor. Jack raised his eyebrows, daring him to challenge the statement.

"Anyway, I'm the Doctor."

"Gwen," she replied slightly dazed, and shook his hand, "You're Jack's friend, right?"

"Oh, yeah, we go way back. And forward, actually," he added, glancing back at a smirking Jack.

"Right… Well, um—oh, this is Tosh, by the way."

"Toshiko Sato, sir. It's nice to meet you," she said, shaking his hand as well.

He grimaced at the address, "'Doctor' is fine, thanks. And we actually met once. Long time ago, that, but still, nice to see you again."

Toshiko briefly looked at Jack for help, but he just shrugged in response, that stupid mocking smile playing on his lips.

After the small-talk of, "What do you do?" the team mostly disbanded. Already knowing the Doctor, Owen disappeared back down to his lab; Ianto to the front desk. Gwen stayed in Jack's office for a few minutes longer, and the Doctor followed Tosh back to her station, listening to her explaining everything that she found on the TARDIS. He let her ramble on—resisting the urge to interrupt her when she said something wrong—even though he knew most of what she was going to say anyway (he was there when it happened).

A few fixed computer programs later, Jack looked out to find the Doctor sitting across from Gwen, laughing and swapping stories.

A few stacks of (finally) completed paperwork later, Jack watched as the Doctor happily trailed a defeated Ianto down into the archives. Ianto, who had up and left Jack hanging when he heard the Doctor was in the hub; Ianto, who had adamantly blamed the Time Lord for the destruction caused to Torchwood, London, since he never heard a different side of the story.

A few hours later the two emerged side-by-side, content smiles on both men's faces. Jack himself smiled at that and motioned for Ianto to come up to his office when their eyes met across the hub.

Ianto's expression was mild once again, however, when he shut the door behind him.

"You and the Doctor okay?" Jack hesitantly asked.

"Yeah, I guess... He told me what happened to him at the Battle of Canary Wharf."

Oh. "And?"

"And I now have a better understanding of what happened." Succinct, vague, and evasive—a true member of Torchwood.

"Good." That is good, right?

"Yeah." Can I leave now?

Noticing his discomfort about the whole situation, Jack nodded toward the door, excusing Ianto.

He looked at the clock—the day was almost over.

Dusk fell when it was expected, but to Jack it felt too soon; to the Doctor it felt too late. They had just finished pizza, and the story of how Gwen joined the team, when the Doctor and Jack shared a Look. Or rather, the Doctor shot one and Jack reluctantly acknowledged it. Despite pulling a face at the Doctor's expectant gaze, Jack nodded almost imperceptibly in agreement and "permission." (As if anyone could make the Doctor do something he didn't want to do.)

When a lull in the conversation fell over the group, the Doctor seized the opportunity and "casually" stood up, stretching as he did so, "Well, I should really head out. I don't want to interrupt your work any longer than necessary." He said it so politely—and with that perfect mock-innocent smile—that only Jack saw the tension and anxiety that he would be stopped lurking underneath.

Jack though tried to ease that concern, "Yeah, I suppose. Though you certainly helped out a lot around here, so thank you."

"Oh, not a problem. Simple really." He exchanged goodbyes with each member, leaving them with thank-yous and various tips pertaining to his individual experiences with them: Tosh on her codes and programs; Gwen with understanding how to be a better leader; Ianto reorganizing the archives "correctly;" and Owen creating better formulas and testing methods. Finally he turned to Jack and nodded towards the door to the basement, "Walk me out?" the Doctor asked, smiling.

Jack grinned back, noticing the looks of confusion passing over the faces of most of his team. "Gladly," he replied.

Jack followed the Doctor down the stairs, throwing sideways glances at him every few seconds. Finally he just couldn't take it anymore, curiosity over something he saw in the Doctor's mind killing him inside. "Something's been bothering me..." he started cautiously, waiting for the Time Lord to look at him before continuing, "I have to know, why is your emergency protocol set to Torchwood? I mean, why us?"

Going against any reaction Jack would have expected, the Doctor actually scoffed. "Set to Torchwood?" He asked incredulously before sobering, noticing Jack's deflation. "No, I mean—Jack, it's not set to them. It's you."

"Me? What do you mean?"

"You really think I'd simply hand over the most powerful ship in the universe to Torchwood ?" Jack probably should have taken it as an insult, but instead he brushed it off; it's not like he didn't understand the Doctor's feelings. "No. The TARDIS isn't programmed to Torchwood, Jack. She—" he suddenly broke off and looked uncomfortable standing there, "...She's programmed to you," he finished quietly and looked away.

"Wha—Why?"

He shrugged, "I trust you? You're smart, and experienced, and have the resources; and if something really did happen, you're the only one I would trust to do the right thing." Jack lost his breath for a moment, unable to formulate a response to something he'd always wanted to hear. "Is that okay?"

Jack snapped back to reality at the tone of concern and uncertainty in the Doctor's voice. "Are you kidding? Of course. God, yes, of course. You have to know you can always come here—come to me—for help. You do know that, right?"

"Why?"

Ugh! What? "Why?" he echoed softly.

"Why," the Doctor restated. "After everything that's happened, why are you so willing to help?" Jack was shocked at how genuinely confused he sounded.

"Because I trust you," he said slowly.

"Why?"

He closed his eyes and sighed, "Doctor, please, not now."

"Then when?"

Petulant child. "Okay, fine. I trust you, because... Despite all your flaws and faults… You're incredible."

He rolled his eyes, "One, you used that already, and two, you do know that isn't a real answer, right?"

"I think it is," Jack replied, shrugging. "You save people and make the universe a better place; and while yes, there may have been a few times that I doubted you," Yeah, only a few , his mind offered cynically, "I can't help but have faith that in the end you'll do the right thing. You already have," he added with a crooked smile. The Doctor just stared at him, "So help me, if you ask another stupid question like that..." he teased lightly.

A small but genuine smile graced the Doctor's face before he began walking away, "Nah, wouldn't dream of it. Until next time, Captain!" he waved. He stopped about a foot away from the TARDIS, however, before he turned back, and with a fondness Jack had never expected to be looked at with, said, "Thank you, Jack."

Fin

^_^ Ta-Da! I know the last few chapters were unnaturally far apart—I usually try to stick to a regular schedule—so a HUGE thanks for everyone who commented, favorited, followed, and stayed with me!

Also, I answered Whoviangirl1452's public question about writing similar stories in a PM, but I thought I'd share it with the rest of you: A lot of what I write/ have written is whump—and due to recent events that's probably gonna be a majority of what I post for a while—but they're mostly long-chapter fics and I hate posting them when they aren't finished/close to it. (Case and point with this story lol.) But yeah, I have a few DW ones I'm working on, a White Collar fic in progress, and if any of you are into Supernatural I have a bunch of random pieces that I'm trying to pull together. (That or I'm just gonna end up posting, like, 10 SPN oneshots.) Who knows? ;) But anyway, thanks for reading!