Quizzical Meetings

Jack's Point-of-View

Disclaimer: As always, I do not own anything, merely the ideas that randomly pop into my head that seem entertaining.

Summary: Jack's perspective on the meeting!

Well, here we are, Jack's point-of-view on this event. Prepare for entertainment and laughter, because we all know that this is going to be fun!

Rose had insisted that they go to this open-air market on the planet that they were currently visiting. The Doctor had grudgingly said 'yes,' mainly because, Jack figured, the Time Lord was very affectionate towards the human girl and wanted to please her. Jack, being Jack, went along because it was either go along or hang out with the TARDIS. Not that he didn't like the TARDIS or anything.

No, Jack loved the TARDIS. The old girl was positively open with him and always made him feel better. But said old girl had pretty much kicked him out today, for whatever reason.

Still, as they wandered back to the TARDIS, Jack was glad that Rose hadn't bought anything today. Even in his limited time traveling with Rose and the Doctor, Jack guessed that Rose was all for a shopping spree at a moment's notice.

Rose laughed at something the Doctor said as they pushed open the door to the TARDIS and walked inside, the two men following her closely. Once inside, all three froze.

Something was off, Jack sensed, with the TARDIS. The two unfamiliar men standing at the control console only affirmed that assumption. Jack gaped, briefly, at the tall, thin man with crazy brown hair, who was wearing a suit and . . . Converses? On the other side of the console, the second man, not quite as tall as the first man, looked down, giving Jack a good shot of his gray-streaked dark brown hair.

"What?" Jack heard the Doctor say, clearly recovering his voice, and he pulled his attention away from studying the man, who was dressed in such a way that was really attractive on him. Whoever he was, this man could pull off the dark pants, white button-down, red tie, and a waistcoat.

Ooooh . . . a waistcoat. Jack liked those.

Jack smiled a bit, deciding that the trench coat that the man had on gave him a very distinguished and, dare he use the word, imposing appearance. The coat definitely suited the man.

"Oh hello," the thin man in the suit said, giving the Doctor a very mad grin. "Sorry about that, the old girl was pulling tricks on us, though this was supposed to happen. Don't worry, just a small glitch that'll soon work itself out."

The Doctor stomped up to the man. "Who are you and why are you on my TARDIS?"

"We-ell," the thin man said, bouncing on the balls of his feet like a small child, "it's my TARDIS too and the girl decided to act on something she remembered from a while back. This has happened to you before, Doctor, and it will happen again. You remember my face."

The Doctor was quiet as he studied the man in front of him. "I remember a lot of faces, but I know yours, since I know I haven't worn it yet."

"But you will, soon enough."

Jack caught the sadness in this man's voice. For a moment, he took in the man in front of the Doctor. Realization hit him. Their words suddenly made sense. This man was a . . . future version of the Doctor.

A thought crossed Jack's mind, one that he didn't quite want to share with the rest of the group, but, damn, it was a good thought.

The two Doctors looked over at the man in the waistcoat, who had been silent thus far. He looked back, meeting their intense gaze evenly. Jack's estimation of him soared even higher. Even Jack had troubles with meeting the look of just one Doctor when said Doctor had that ancient look in his eyes.

"So, who's he?" Jacks Doctor asked, as he stepped away from the future Doctor. "Not another stray."

"No, no," the future Doctor said. This Doctor looked over at the man, who had to be a companion of sorts. "He's – well, he's Ianto and he's been around for a few years now. Met him, mmm, how long ago was it, Ianto?"

The man – Ianto – seemed to think for a moment before speaking, for the first time since the Doctor, Rose, and Jack's arrival, "First time was back in 2008, so twenty-two Earth years, but it's been longer if you take in account the time that I've spent on the TARDIS."

Ianto was Welsh! There was something about the way he formed his vowels that had Jack completely entranced.

"Right, you've stuck around for a while then?"

Jack heard a faint softness in his Doctor's voice. Was that affection that was already forming?

"Yep." Ianto looked at Rose and Jack. As he did, Jack really got a good look at him. This Ianto was very attractive and there was something about him that drew Jack to him, even though he didn't know the man. "Doctor – er, my Doctor – what're we going to do about them? Timelines, memories, and all?"

Ianto's Doctor seemed to know what he was saying. That mad grin got only madder. Jack had to stifle a chuckle. This Doctor seemed to be a lot of fun.

"Don't worry, the TARDIS – bless her – is taking care of that."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, seemingly innocent, though Jack heard something pointed in there, walking forward, clearly eyeing up Ianto's version of the Doctor.

Jack saw her assess the future Doctor in front of her and he tried not to comment. He also saw her give the future companion of the Doctor a quick once-over. She didn't seem to like his waistcoat or the gray streaks in his hair. Pity, Jack realized, because the gray seemed to suit him and the red looked good on him. Ianto met his eyes and smiled a bit at him.

This future Doctor leaned against a railing. A flash of light against a gold band caught Jack's attention – and his Doctor's attention as well. Was that a wedding ring on the future Doctor's hand? If it was, then Jack really wanted to know who the Time Lord was going to be married to. The present Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but stopped at a look from Ianto.

"You two play a role in the future of Earth and the things you're seeing in this version of the TARDIS don't technically exist yet in your personal timelines, so the TARDIS is going to have to put a memory block on you that will only come down when she wills it to happen."

"How is that fair?" Jack asked, riled. He didn't like memory wipes and memory blocks, not that he ever told anyone the extent of his hatred of it. His experiences with the Time Agency had pretty much beaten that opinion into him.

"You'll remember in time, Jack," the Doctor promised. "But you can't remember everything until a later point."

"And why's that?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips as he walked to the future Doctor.

The Doctor didn't say anything. He merely kept that knowing and cheeky look on his face. For a moment, Jack was very envious of this future Time Lord for having knowledge of his future personal time line.

But Jack's attention was diverted.

Ianto was smiling a bit as he adjusted his tie in such a way that was positively adorable. Jack saw light reflect across two rings on a very important finger on his left hand – a wedding ring and a ring that had diamonds around the band. The Welshman smoothed his trench coat – it already looked perfectly pressed and didn't have any wrinkles in it, at least none that Jack saw. He gave Jack a slow and intense look-over that positively smoldered. Oh, Jack was definitely attracted now.

Was he being flirted with?

All thoughts of that matter, however, went merrily skipping out of his brain when Ianto crossed to him and pulled him for the best kiss that Jack had ever had. Seconds later, when his brain finally caught up with the rest of him, Jack responded. He returned the kiss with all the energy that he could muster. He didn't know how Ianto knew him, but, if was the kind of kiss that Ianto could give, Jack wanted to find him and keep him, whoever Ianto was married to, be damned.

However, given that Ianto had started the kiss, Jack wanted to end it with a bang.

With a flourish, he dipped Ianto, earning a quiet gasp from the man in his arms, making him wrap a hand around his neck. Jack liked having him close to him and he was not at all embarrassed about his erection pressing against Ianto's leg.

As they parted and Ianto stepped back, Jack was sure that there was a possessive smile on his face. Possessive was sexy on Ianto.

Ianto's Doctor looked as giddy as a schoolboy. Rose? Well, Rose looked damn jealous right now, with her hand over her mouth. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ianto smirk, looking as if he had just staked his claim on Jack.

The door of the TARDIS banged open, causing Jack to look back at it. His jaw dropped. He saw – himself! This new Jack had an alien object in his hand and a very familiar World War II greatcoat (that Jack still in his closet) on, flapping around him in quite an imposing manner.

"Doctor, I have the transmitter and – oh my God!" This Jack stopped and looked at Jack, Rose, and the Doctor. After a moment, he looked to the future Doctor. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"And spoil the fun?"

This future Jack looked at Ianto, still a few feet away from Jack. "Did you know about this, Ianto?"

Ianto walked to him as he set the alien radio transmitter onto the ground, out of the way. "Not until they walked in, Jack."

"Fine." The future Jack looked from Ianto to Jack and then back to Ianto. Jack caught his breath. This was a future version of himself! "Did I miss the kiss?"

"Yep." Their Doctor seemed as giddy as a school boy.

Jack watched as the future him wrapped an arm around Ianto's waist, pulling him close to his chest. He saw a matching wedding ring on that Jack's hand, accompanied by a ring that had emerald and sapphires on the band. "Damn it, Yan, you couldn't have waited! That was a fantastic kiss."

Ianto chuckled and leaned in to kiss Jack. "I'll make it up to you later, cariad."

That's when it really hit Jack. His future self was married to Ianto! Ianto was going to be a part of his life!

"You better, love." The future Jack had Ianto's tie in his hand, running it through his fingers.

The future Doctor coughed and the two men looked back at them. Jack saw that Rose was very flabbergasted. The two Doctors didn't seem as fazed by the antics of the men. Jack felt a pang of jealous at them.

They were clearly happy and at ease with one another, if the way that they fit together so nicely and comfortably was any indication of that. Jack remembered the memory block the TARDIS was putting on him and he silently cursed. He wanted to find Ianto now!

"Don't worry, Jack," the future Jack – the Jack who had Ianto – said, meeting his eyes. Jack saw the way that he squeezed Ianto's waist. Ianto was his – their – husband. "You'll get here eventually. The road will be tough. You'll have your ups and your downs, but, I can honestly promise, once you've survived it, this is the best life ever! You'll know, once you've fallen in love with Ianto." Jack kissed Ianto on the cheek, causing Ianto to smile. "He's smart, a brilliant archivist, and very, very capable. He's extremely handy with a coffee maker and he looks great in red. Plus, waistcoats look good on him. And, if that's not enough of a job recommendation, then I don't know what is. He's the best thing in our lives." Jack paused briefly, laughing. "Well, him and Annabelle."

"Annabelle?" Jack cautiously asked. He felt hope rise in his chest, for some reason.

"Our daughter," Ianto told him. "She's fourteen now."

Jack really smiled. They had a daughter. They had a family!

And then . . . Rose had to ruin the moment by opening her mouth.

"If you've got a daughter, then how does Jack look like he hasn't aged a day. No offense." The blonde looked between her Jack and the Jack who was holding Ianto. For a moment, Jack saw a flash of pure jealous in her eyes and that didn't sit too well with him.

"Let's just say, for a while, Jack wasn't a big fan of immortality," the future Doctor told Rose. His tone was cautious and cryptic. Why would Jack not like immortality? "Don't ask how it happened or why. You'll figure it out along the way." For a moment, this Doctor seemed to consider something for a moment "Though Ianto did change that eventually."

"That's enough of that," Jack's current Doctor cut in with. "No more talk of the future."

"Oh, I agree," the future Doctor agreed. "Donna would have a word with me if she thought I was saying too much."

"Donna?"

Rose and their current Doctor asked that one in unison. Jack looked back at the wedding ring on the future Doctor's hand and saw the way that the future Doctor played with it. This Donna had to be important.

"Not gonna say, Doctor. You'll find out about that on your own."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. The future Doctor only smiled cryptically and then everything got weird for Jack.

Jack was sitting in the TARDIS, his brain particularly fuzzy. Why didn't he remember walking back from the market with the Doctor and Rose? Why did he have an erection with no apparent reason? Who had turned him on?

And why did he have the oddest desire to pull his greatcoat out of his closet, stock-pile red clothing, and go to Wales?

After a moment, it hit him.

"It must be the vowels," he said, to no one in particular.

"Huh?" Rose asked, her face as equally confused as his. "What did you say?"

He smiled a bit. "I was just thinking about why I like visiting Wales. It's the vowels."

"Weird reason."

The Doctor laughed. "Well, we're heading to Wales anyway, Cardiff to be specific. The TARDIS needs to fuel up."

Jack tilted his head to the side. "Fuel up?"

"Yeah, you think that the TARDIS runs on nothing? There's a Rift there, left over from an event in 1861," the Doctor explained. "The energy off that Rift is good for the TARDIS to fuel up on."

Rose smiled brightly. "Oh yeah, Charles Dickens, Gwyneth, and the Gelth."

After a moment, it made sense to Jack. "Right, I've heard about that Rift. If I remember the history books, it went dormant at some point in the twenty-first century."

The Doctor paused. "Right, the TARDIS won't let me go to that time to see that. She says something about maintaining the timelines." He looked at the control panel briefly. "I'll never understand her sometimes."

Rose only shook her head. "I'll call Mickey. I need to get my passport anyway. I'll have him meet us in Cardiff and ask him to bring it along."

The Doctor rolled his eyes indignantly at her. Jack laughed. He heard about this Mickey. That should be a fun meeting.

Jack still didn't know why he had an erection.

But years later, when a young Welshman started stalking Jack with amazing coffee, and later caught a pterodactyl with him, Jack was strongly drawn to him. It was vowels, he told himself, and, later, when he saw said Welshman in a waistcoat and a red tie, it was because he looked damn sexy in both.

And it would be many years after that when Jack remembered why he was drawn to the Welshman.

Here ends this two-parter. What do you think? Did you like? Let me know!

As always, I love and appreciate your feedback! I will endeavor to get another story up as soon as I can.