To:
xenacloneFrom:
alafaye Title: In No Particular Order
Characters and/or Pairings: Jack/River Song
Rating: R
Summary: Four times (though not the only four) Jack and River Song met.
Word Count: 1237
"Well, aren't you a pretty sight."
Jack looked up from watching the bar tender--and wondering whether he would be able to get him into bed--to look at the woman who had joined him. He raised his eyebrow. "And you are?" He flashed her a winning smile and turned his body.
She winked. "River Song."
He softened his smile. "At last. I thought I would never meet you."
"You do know me, then?" she asked.
"Of course I do," he replied. "Last time I travelled with him, you were all he could talk about."
"Spoilers," she warned.
He chuckled and privately agreed with the Doctor--there was nothing like hearing that word in her voice. Instead of being afraid of finding out about the future and changing the course of time, she made it sound like she knew something great was on the horizon and boy, you wouldn't believe it. He signaled the bar tender to bring more drinks.
"So, should I ask where we are?" he said when the drinks were being mixed.
"Oh, I don't think you and I have to worry about that," she said. "I don't think our paths will cross very often or in any particular direction."
"You don't?"
"Oh, Jack, I know all about you." She leaned forward, revealing how low cut her top was. Jack took in the sight briefly. "I may not be a full Time Lord or have all of their senses, but I have enough."
"Then don't I bother you?" he asked hesitantly. It was always the thing between him and the Doctor, the little thing that kept distance in their friendship.
"Of course you do," she said. "But it isn't a problem. So you're a fixed point--we're all a little strange, aren't we? Look at me--something that should have never been!"
"But the Doctor can't get enough of you and as for me..." He shrugged.
"Oh, dear, we are a mess, aren't we?" She took out something that looked like a sonic screwdriver and pointed it at her chair. She winked at him again and moved the stool closer to his. She put a hand on his and squeezed. "He does love you, though. He does. As much as his other companions."
Jack raised his eyebrow. "Really?"
She nodded. "Really. He's a glutton for punishment and no matter how difficult it might be to even be in the same galaxy as you, he will always be fond of you."
He took a deep breath and let it out. She smiled. "Now, enough of that. You and I are intergalatic celebrities--and we've hardly ever appeared on television! Almost all of time knows our name as well as the Doctor's and look at us--being melancholy."
"The Doctor will do that," he muttered into his glass.
She tapped his nose. "Enough. You need cheering up." She looked over at the bartender giving them the eye. "Did you really want to take him to bed?"
He looked over and nodded. "Yes."
"Then I'll leave you to it," she said. "Enjoy your night, Captain."
"And you, Ms. Song."
She smiled and was off. Jack turned back to the bar tender.
~~~
Jack raised his eyebrows at the contortion the dancer had managed on stage and tilted his head both ways. He shook his head. "I have got to find a bed partner like that."
"So you can be fucked and sucked at the same time?" River asked as she sat in the seat next to him.
He smiled. "Hello again."
"Oh, we've met. Spoilers."
"Ah, the perils of time travel."
"Bittersweet."
He looked at her and noted that she looked far younger than when he'd last seen her. "Early days?"
She smiled. "Clever man."
"It's worth it though, when you're with the Doctor."
"True. He is worth all the frustration and anger."
"Very early days."
"How much of his history do you know?"
"When you're the Immortal, you tend to know a lot of the Doctor."
"I'm not sure now if I'm the one who knows his secrets."
Jack smirked. "Let's just say that some of his previous regenerations were rather interesting."
"You've met them? And that didn't screw up your time line or his?"
"Oh, there's been a few close calls, but the Tardis is quite adept at keeping things going the way they should. It explains, though, why she was so welcoming when I was on board my first time."
"How does the Doctor manage to get timelines so screwy for some of us?"
"He's the Doctor."
She nodded as though that made perfect sense.
~~~
"Hello, gorgeous."
Jack raised an eyebrow at River. "And again. I wonder how often this will happen."
She shrugged with a twist of her lips and pressed herself closer. "I don't think I need to ask where we are."
"You once said to me--the first time we met--that we won't ever meet in any kind of order."
"I remember that."
"And you've just come from some bad travels with him, haven't you?"
"Dark days," she said with a frown.
He smiled and turned on the charm. He had gotten out of her their last meeting that there was something about Jack that cheered her up--something about him being an intergalatactic, unrepentent flirt. "I can make that better."
"Oh, can you?"
"Mm, I've gotten to know you a bit. Know what turns you on."
"Oh, he will be so jealous."
He winked. "He's watched."
She shivered against him and coyly looked at him under her eyelashes. "You daring man."
He put down his drink and wrapped an arm around her waist. "A dance! I know you happen to be a good dancer."
"No melancholy tunes."
"No melancholy when you're with the Captain."
She laughed and let him pull her dangerously close. He kept his hands low on her waist and kept his mouth near her ear--a very sensative spot. He sung the song in her ear and her body grew hot in his arms.
"You are a dangerous man."
"The best, though."
"Follow through on your promises?"
"Always."
~~~
"Ah, I have the advantage this time." Jack slid into the booth, uninvited and hoping he was right in knowing which River this was.
She smiled. "Jack. Always good to see you."
He winked. "Good."
Her laugh flowed freely. "Now I understand what the Doctor meant when he said to watch out for you."
"I hope it was nothing bad," he said.
She licked her lips and her fingers danced toward him. "Everything good and bad. And the bad was very, very good."
He caught her fingers and licked them, one by one. "He does like to tell tall tales, though."
Her breath was uneven and she edged closer to him in the booth. "I hope not all of them are, though."
"Oh, you know him." He kissed her palm and then started kissing his way up her arm.
"You don't play fair," she whispered.
He winked. "All is fair in love and war."
"Trite." Her hand slid down his chest and settled on his thigh. She squeezed. "Two can play at that game."
"He had said something about playing with you was like playing with dynamite."
"And he said you were like drinking hyper vodka."
"Oh, I don't think I'm so bad as that."
"Why don't we find out?"
"You do have the best suggestions."