M-RATED CONTENT WARNING: SEXUALLY EXPLICIT AND QUESTIONABLE SITUATIONS

Jack grinned widely and walked around, taking in the new TARDIS design. "Wow! Nice upgrade in here. Which way is my room?"

The Doctor chuckled, "You don't have a room. You've never had a room."

"I had a suite with its own cocktail lounge!" His feet instinctively found themselves heading towards her, "What do you say, Doc?"

He saw her smile fade again. She turned to the blinking buttons and screens, bent on blocking out everything that wasn't her beloved TARDIS.

"What is that?" Jack prompted, "You're not yourself."

The Doctor shook her head, "A lot has changed since we last saw each other, Jack."

He laughed, "Yeah, I can see that."

Then he brought his hand to her chin and guided her face to meet his. She froze.

Push his hand away. Look away from him. Do something.

"But you're still my Doctor," Jack said sweetly, trying to calm her with his voice. "You're so amazing. Whatever happened in there, you didn't deserve it."

The Doctor scoffed internally at his presumptive attempts to quell her anxiety. She realized that even if she told him everything, he would never be able to understand what she had been through. Nobody ever would.

No, that's not true. There is one person who knows…the most psychotic person she's met in all her life journeying across the universe.

"What are you thinking? I'm here for you," he pushed. He delicately stroked her jawline and cupped her face in his palm. Her blood ran cold.

"Jack," she forced herself to grab his wrist and pull his hand down, "I'm fine. I just want to get back to my life and forget about all of this."

"You were in there for over a century, Doctor. I see your tag, I know you were sent on assignments," Jack retorted. He shifted his feet, "I heard the assignments could be intense…"

The Doctor, frustrated, turned to walk away. Jack grabbed her upper arms and twisted her back to face him. "Doctor, let me in," he cood, "You've been through so much. I just want to help you feel more like yourself."

She knew he was thinking of their one night together a few regenerations ago. Her face flushed. "I'm fine," she repeated.

Jack sighed, "You at least need to clean yourself up."

She couldn't help but agree. She took a deep breath, accepting that she would need to shower and change before finding her fam. Just as she reached the final step on her way to the bathroom, her knee buckled, still unstable from the escape and malnutrition. Jack ran to her, throwing his arm over her back and the other securely on her upper arm. "I got you, Doc." She couldn't summon enough energy to resist as he picked her up and carried her to the bathroom.

He sat her down on a small bench and rested his hands on her knees. Her head was too heavy to hold up, fully supported by the wall behind her. "Now, I'm just going to help you get clean and fed. It's me, Doc. It's going to be okay," Jack reassured her.

He reached for the bottom of her prison uniform shirt to pull it over her head.

Just tell him you can do this yourself.

She cursed herself for not saying anything– she couldn't remember when she lost the ability to say what she wanted in the moment it needed to be said. It wasn't just the regeneration. Being a woman didn't make her like this, the way people treated her since becoming a woman was what made her like this. He reached for her waistband.

I'm not an invalid…

Shame flooded her. She couldn't get out of the Judoon prison without him and, despite her best effort, she wouldn't be able to raise her arms or stand up at the moment. He lifted her off the bench a bit to slide her pants and underwear off.

She sat silently, wishing she could melt into the walls, and watched him strip off his own prison uniform and turn on the water for the shower. He flashed her a suggestive wink and leaned over her to help her up. She subtly, accidentally, twitched when he touched her.

The Doctor could tell he noticed but let her hair hide her face from his inquisitive glare. He carefully helped her to her feet, she followed his lead. He supported her as she stepped into the shower, he followed her in. She tried not to think about him standing behind her and let the water wash over her. She missed the warmth.

"Here you go," Jack said, startling her by starting to firmly scrub her back.

He saved you from the Judoon prison. He just wants to help. He wouldn't do anything to you if you asked him to leave.

She was baffled by her own weakness, still unable to speak as he moved up to her shoulders, down her arms, around her neck. He seemed to be silently asking permission to spin her around, slightly hesitating as if to imply she had a choice. She couldn't look into his eyes.

She again began to turn away from him. Finally, she could move. But again, he grabbed her and held her in front of him. "Look at me, Doctor."

He couldn't have known that his words, mirroring those uttered on her first assignment, would sit so heavy. She hated herself for looking at him right away. "You're okay now. I'm going to help you."

Jack stepped closer. She stared intensely at the space where Jack's face had just been, unblinking, completely frozen. He scrubbed her chest and stomach, mindful to tread lightly across her breasts. He knelt down in front of her.