It's only been like two months since I updated this story...*desperately tries to convince self that this is acceptable*
Um, yeah. I'll try not to do that again. On the upside, my inattention has let me make a lot of progress on another story, which is not actually posted yet. But you'll know when it is 'cause I'll probably rant on about it for a while in this part. And you should definitely check it out when that happens. Moving on, I will do my best to update within reasonable timeframes in the future.
Disclaimer- So I'm actually pretty sure that Capaldi owns Doctor Who at this point...?
In Which a Yelling Match Takes Place, There is a Lack of Any Information About Anything, and Jack Places His Trust in Questionable Hands
~oOo~
The chatter that had filled the air of the Hub suddenly ceased when Jack and Martha returned from their talk. Alongside a grinning Time Lord clad in a blue suit and flowing trench coat, that was.
And although this particular silence was difficult to articulate, Owen tried anyways.
"...What?"
Jack let out a breath.
"Martha, if you would be so kind as to explain what's happening-"
The Doctor took a step forwards, protruding from his companions.
"I'm helping you." He announced, cutting Jack off. "The good Captain here finally gave in and let me out. Mind you, that might not have been a good decision, but-"
"Shut up!" Jack thundered. The Doctor closed his mouth and silenced himself.
"Right you are, Harkness." He said after a moment. Jack shot the Time Lord a venemous glare, though said nothing to him, instead turning his attention back to his (rightly so) uneasy team.
"I was saying," The Immortal pressed on. "That if Martha could explain what's happening here, the Doctor and I have some things we need to...discuss."
Martha gave a slight nod.
"Yeah. 'Course I will, Jack." She said, turning to face the small group before her.
"Thank you." Jack said, voice tight. "Doctor, you're with me."
The Doctor gave a mock salute, standing up straighter and flashing a lopsided grin.
"Always, Captain."
Jack scowled at the Time Lord, turning on his heel and wordlessly starting towards the staircase that led to his office, not bothering to glance behind himself to check if the Doctor was following. The Doctor, for his part, hesitated only a moment before following Jack up the stairs. He bounced, there really was no other word for it, up the stairs, passing Jack with ease. Once at the top he made his way over to the door to Jack's office, and, finding it to be unlocked wandered inside.
Jack continued up the stairs at a steady pace, reaching the top quickly, and entered his office to find the Doctor already in his chair, both feet placed atop the desk. Calmly, more so than he'd thought himself capable of, truth be told, Jack walked over to the desk and he planted his hands on it, staring at the Doctor with impassive features before he spoke.
"Feet off." He instructed, no room for argument in his voice.
Of course, that did nothing to stop the Doctor.
"Well, what's that for, then?" He asked. "It's here to put things on, papers, mugs, pens; why not feet as well?"
Jack set his jaw and turned away from the desk, pacing around the room, his gaze trained on the Doctor.
"What the hell are you up to?" He questioned, studying the Time Lord, watching for any reaction. A look of confusion passed over the Doctor's features.
"What do you mean?" He asked, confused.
"I mean. what're you doing? You show up here-"
"Not my choice, trust me."
"You knock about a bit, threaten my team, disrespect me, screw up everything you touch, honestly. So what're you doing? I don't get."
In his chair, the Doctor shrugged.
"Passing time till the TARDIS opens up. Second she does, I'll be gone and you won't have to think about me again. I'll be back in the universe, most certainly not here, but still, out, doing my thing-"
Jack spun to face the Doctor.
"And what exactly is 'your thing'?" He asked, voice hard. The Doctor blinked.
"I- I didn't- I don't-" He started to stammer out before once more being cut off by Jack.
"What do you even do anymore?"
"I just sort of- it's-"
"Do you even remember who you used to be?!" Jack demands, stalking towards the Time Lord. Without warning, the Doctor stood up to his full height, jaw clenched, entire body tensed.
"Of course I do, Jack! Every moment of every day, I can't forget it!" He snapped. "I remember who I was, what I did! I remember it all!" He stopped, taking a shuddering breath.
"Then how the fuck can you do what you're doing?!"
The Doctor started towards Jack, stopping only when he was inches away from the other man.
"Nine hundred years of helping people, of sacrificing everything to help everyone else, of saving the whole damn universe! And you know what I learned, Jack? The universe doesn't care! I gave and gave and gave until I had nothing, and look what I got in return! My people are dead, my friends abandon me- I don't care anymore, Jack! I'm done helping if this is what I get for it!"
His voice cracked and he broke off.
"You can't just do that, Doc." Said Jack. He placed a hand on the Time Lord's shoulder.
"Get off of me!" The Doctor shouted, flinching away from Jack. "Don't you touch me, Harkness!" He stumbled a few steps back until he pressed himself against the wall, some blend of fear and anger in his eyes. "Bloody human; you have nothing to say to me!"
Jack set his jaw.
"Even if I'm 'just a human', I do know a thing or two. Granted, I haven't lost my entire race, but I've been ripped from my own time, I've had a family, and I lost them, so don't act as if I've no idea what you're talking about, Doctor."
The Doctor gave an empty smile.
"Of course. My condolences." He said, voice laden with false sympathy. "But, pray tell, why exactly do you care if I've stopped helping? What the hell does it matter to you?"
Jack was silent a moment.
"Bullshit you remember who you used to be." He spat, glaring at the Time Lord. "The old you, the proper you, he wouldn't be doing this."
The Doctor -except he wasn't the Doctor, not really- gave a snort. Jack's gaze flashed to him.
"He never would have done this! He wouldn't have given up!"
Stalking around the desk, the Doctor gave a hollow laugh, devoid of humor.
"Right, the wonderful Doctor, savior of worlds; he never gave up, did he?" He asked, mock curiosity coloring his voice.
"No! He never did!"
The Time Lord stopped in front of Jack, the slight smile that had been pulling on his lips gone.
"And don't you sometimes wish I had?!" He snapped. He continued, voice full of a quiet intensity that used to drive away murderers and masterminds and Daleks. "Don't you sometimes wish that I'd had a bit more sense? Don't you sometimes wish that I could recognize a lost cause? That I would have given up? Don't you sometimes regret all the people I killed trying to save them, Jack?"
He took a step back from the Immortal, gazing at the ground.
"No," Jack said after a moment. "I don't."
"Don't lie to me, Harkness!"
"I'm not lying! We did good! He did good! A hell of a lot more people would have died if he'd given up like you!"
Pause.
"You keep saying 'he'." The Doctor noted.
"Yeah."
"Like we're different people. I'm still him."
"You're really not."
The Doctor smirked.
"Why? Because 'he' wouldn't have given up?"
"Because he was a better man than you." Jack retorts.
"...I know." The Time Lord acknowledged. "He always will be."
"...You could be him again." Jack said softly.
"I'm not sure if I could, though." The Doctor replied.
"You could try."
The Doctor glanced to Jack.
"I could."
Jack nodded slightly.
"That would be good, I think."
The Doctor gave no response, staring instead at the space behind Jack, expression unreadable. A moment later he looked to Jack, and for a fracion of a second, the Captain could have sworn he saw a glimpse of the man he used to know in the Time Lord's eyes. The Doctor clasped his hands together and turned towards the door that led out of Jack's office.
"We should get back to your team." He said, starting out of the room.
Vaguely frustrated at the Doctor's lack of definite answer, vaguely hopeful of what he thought he'd seen, Jack followed.
The Doctor walked down the stairs, hands stuck in his coat's pockets. He reached the bottom of the staircase and glanced around his surroundings, gaze focusing on the six people before him.
"Alright," He said, starting towards the group and beginning to circle the table that stood between them. "I assume you've all been briefed by...somebody." He said to nobody in particular.
"More or less." Owen grunted in reply. "Interesting move, Jack."
Jack, as per usual, ignored Owen's quip.
"You try anything. we'll drop you dead." Gwen said, watching the Doctor
"I'm hurt, really." The Doctor replied, clearly too preoccupied to be concerned by the undoubtedly serious death threat that had just been issued to him. It was only the latest in a long line, Jack supposed.
"Moving on from that," The Time Lord continued. "We know that these things, they interfere with emotions. What else do we know?"
"They're called the Saphris." Interjected Ianto. The Doctor's attention shifted to the Welshman.
"Yes. I know." He dismissed coldly. Ianto quite suddenly became very interested by his shoes.
"Do we know anything of use?" The Doctor asked again.
"Not really." Said Toshiko.
"Do we know where they came from?"
"No."
"Do we know why they're here?"
"No."
"Do we know how they manipulate emotions?"
"No."
"Have you found any connections between them and anything else yet?"
"No."
"...We have nothing."
"That's about the size of it."
"Well...that's a bit useless."
"Just a bit, yeah." Said Owen. He received a withering look from Toshiko as repercussion.
The Doctor was silent a moment, studying the people before him.
"We'd best fix that, then." He said. "Come on then, everyone. Up on your feet; get looking."
"We've been looking for days." Pointed out Ianto.
"Yes, but you've been looking for days without me. And that does tend to make a difference." He paused a minute. "Right. Toshiko, I need you to look over the energy signatures that the Saphris left when they came here. You've got the software, I should think."
"Yes, but-" Toshiko began.
"I know you've already looked it over." The Doctor interrupted. "I want you to look it over again. Go back on your records as far as it might be relevent. See if you can find something that matches the Saphris' energy signature."
"They seem like Weevils, though." Said Tosh.
"Then look for Weevils." The Doctor supplied, voice steely. "Look for Weevils that didn't end up being Weevils. Alright?"
Tosh nodded.
"Okay. Gwen, I need you to help her."
"Right." Agreed Gwen.
"Owen, I need you to find out more about that Saphris."
"That thing is alive." Owen protested.
"That thing is a potential danger to Earth."
"Doesn't matter."
"Then use the dead one! I don't bloody care!"
Owen arched a skeptical eyebrow.
"The one that you killed?"
"Yes." Said the Doctor. "That one."
"So now I'm taking orders from a murderer." The medical doctor noted, unimpressed.
"You take orders from Jack all the time." The Doctor pointed out.
Behind him, Jack flinched.
The Time Lord continued.
"Ianto, Tom, Martha, you're with me in the archives."
"What's that for?" Questioned Ianto.
"To look through the archives, perhaps?" The Doctor suggested.
"Well, yes, but what are we looking for?"
The Doctor spun on his heel, starting towards the door that led down to the archives, throwing his hands in the air.
"Everything!"
~oOo~
Jack, having not been assigned to any one particular duty -a rather wise decision on the Doctor's part, he thought- was free to do as he pleased. So as Tom, Martha, Ianto, and the Doctor entered the archives, he made his way over to Gwen and Toshiko, peering over their shoulders at the screen they were studying.
"What's this?" He asked, motioning slightly to the various graphs that were present.
"Energy readings from the Rift." Toshiko replied, somewhat distant.
"So I've gathered." Said Jack.
Toshiko seemed to register Jack's words and snapped out of her complete focus.
"Right, sorry. That one," She pointed to the reading at the top left of the screen, a line with sharp spikes of positives and negatives for its entirety. "Is an average of what happens when the Saphris show up. And these," She motioned to the rest of the graphs. "Are the Rift readings for the rest of the month."
"Right." Said Jack, nodding. He paused. "Do you actually think you'll find anything this time around?"
Toshiko gave a small shrug.
"...Maybe. Too early to know."
"Got it."
"We'll let you know if we do find anything." Said Tosh.
"What are you doing anyways, Jack?" Gwen asked.
The Captain shrugged.
"Might head down to the archives in a while." He answered. "See what they're getting up to."
A short silence ensued.
"Do you really trust the Doctor to help us?" Toshiko asked after a moment. Jack hesitated, slightly thrown off by the direct nature of the question. He thought of the Time Lord, of their yelling match, of his own frustration, and of the glimpse of the old Doctor he thought he might have seen.
Finally, he answered.
"...I don't think we have much choice."
So that wasn't a whole lot of story for the wait. Sorry. Let me know how pissed off you are about that in a review! Also, I need to get my ass into gear and finish writing chapter fourteen, and if you've got anything you want to see in that chapter or beyond, leave that in a review, too! Or just send me a PM. I pretty much always reply. Unless you spew profanities at me. Don't do that. Just plot bunnies or conversation. Anywho, thanks for putting up with my sporadic updates and still bothering to read them, have a fantastic day, and DFTBA!