Ficlet: The End of It (Doctor Who, Ten/Jack) [G]
Last weekend, just before the finale, I had this idea. A scene popped into my head, fully formed, so clear and vivid that I could see it - and I'm not a very visual person at all, so that is rare indeed. (For those of you at the Querstrich-Treffen - this would be what I was rambling about when we went to the cinema.) Ever since then, I've been trying to find a way to use this scene. Now I have. It's the ending of today's ficlet, because of course I've been writing again...
Title: The End of It
Characters: Ten, Jack (gen/pre-slash)
Rating: G
Summary: "Come travel with me again." Set during and after Last of the Time Lords.
A/N: Do I even need to say it? fluffyllama once again put her finger exactly on what needed to be fixed. *smooches*
**
His poor TARDIS.
The Paradox Machine was no more, of course - never had been, really, not in this timeline. But its destruction hadn't been easy on the TARDIS. He could still feel her hurting.
And if his queasy expression was any indication, Jack knew it too. He might not be able to feel it, but he could see the damage, and he knew.
"Give me a hand with that, will you?" he asked.
Jack nodded, and off they were - working together, once again, fixing, healing.
But he still felt empty inside. Dry and empty and thirsting - thirsting for something he could never have again. Not to be alone... This was less than a droplet. The Master was gone.
Gone, for good, the last of his kind - now it was only him again, and the terrible loneliness. The loneliness, closing in on him.
He looked at Jack again, and it might only be a droplet, might not quench his thirst, but suddenly he couldn't bear the thought of losing that too. "Stay," he whispered.
"Doctor? Are you all right?" Jack's concerned eyes, peering down at him. When had he sat down?
He jumped up, forced a grin. "Well then! She's almost as good as new. Good job!"
Jack quirked his lips. Not fooled for a second. "Doctor?"
"Stay," he asked again. "Travel with me again."
And right before his eyes, Jack's face closed.
"You know you want to," he prodded. Come on. You want to, Jack. He knew that as surely as he knew himself.
"But you don't." Jack's answer was curt and to the point, and - what?
"Of course I do!" Indignant, now. Who did Jack think he was? "It'll be fun. Come on - where do you want to go? We could go anywhere. How about -"
"No," Jack interrupted him. "Don't get me wrong, it's tempting - and I don't know what I'd do if I thought you meant it. But you don't."
"Fine." He turned around, resisting the urge to shake the man. Had he read him so wrong? "Guess I got that completely wrong, then. Had to happen some time." He'd been sure Jack wanted - had always wanted... And Jack had always taken what he'd offered, without question.
"Doctor." From behind him, Jack spoke again, almost hesitantly. The Doctor didn't turn around. "You don't need me. And I need to be going back." A pause, then: "Whether that's the end of it - well, that's up to you, isn't it?" A clear challenge in his voice.
The Doctor walked away.
~o~
He tried again, when it was really time to go. "Come travel with me again."
"No," Jack said again. A different explanation, this time, whether for Martha's sake or because they were both true.
It was spite more than anything else that made him disable the vortex manipulator. Won't come with me? No time travel for you, then! But Jack's unsurprised expression offered him no satisfaction.
And Jack walked away.
~o~
Then Martha left.
She was only going to see her family, of course. She was coming back - of course she was. Wasn't she?
Jack had left, though, when he'd thought - he'd thought - - He'd really read something wrong there. Whether that's the end of it... What did that even mean?
The Master was gone. His last hope. The last of his kind. His old friend, his old enemy. Everything else... did that even matter now?
Stupid apes.
Stupid apes, getting to you. Worming their way into your hearts.
And Jack...
He'd been so sure Jack would stay with him. Stay for him. When had it all gone wrong?
He knew the answer to that, of course: when he'd run from the man, left him behind.
Whether that's the end of it...
It was an offer.
Still a chance to fix this, then. Maybe.
If he got it right this time - what Jack wanted. What he would accept. If he got it right.
~o~
A pub.
It was like any pub, anywhere in the universe - people drinking, chatting. Bad music. Someone trying to flirt with someone. Someone trying not to fall off their chair. Someone swearing over a spilt drink.
Not any pub, though: there he was sitting, on a barstool. He hadn't even taken off his coat, but he was flirting with the woman who was just handing him his drink.
The Doctor watched, just a moment longer. Almost turned around and left again, but he couldn't quite. He couldn't.
He nodded to himself and moved through the crowd, slid onto the bar stool next to Jack, managing not to tangle his coat. Smiled at Jack when the man turned around, a surprised expression on his face.
Surprised, but pleased. Good. Possibly not a mistake, this.
"Are you drinking alone?" he asked.
This, right here, right now, was it: the end of it, or the beginning of it.
For a moment, they just looked at each other. Then, Jack smiled back at him. "Seems I'm not."
~end~
Title: The End of It
Characters: Ten, Jack (gen/pre-slash)
Rating: G
Summary: "Come travel with me again." Set during and after Last of the Time Lords.
A/N: Do I even need to say it? fluffyllama once again put her finger exactly on what needed to be fixed. *smooches*
**
His poor TARDIS.
The Paradox Machine was no more, of course - never had been, really, not in this timeline. But its destruction hadn't been easy on the TARDIS. He could still feel her hurting.
And if his queasy expression was any indication, Jack knew it too. He might not be able to feel it, but he could see the damage, and he knew.
"Give me a hand with that, will you?" he asked.
Jack nodded, and off they were - working together, once again, fixing, healing.
But he still felt empty inside. Dry and empty and thirsting - thirsting for something he could never have again. Not to be alone... This was less than a droplet. The Master was gone.
Gone, for good, the last of his kind - now it was only him again, and the terrible loneliness. The loneliness, closing in on him.
He looked at Jack again, and it might only be a droplet, might not quench his thirst, but suddenly he couldn't bear the thought of losing that too. "Stay," he whispered.
"Doctor? Are you all right?" Jack's concerned eyes, peering down at him. When had he sat down?
He jumped up, forced a grin. "Well then! She's almost as good as new. Good job!"
Jack quirked his lips. Not fooled for a second. "Doctor?"
"Stay," he asked again. "Travel with me again."
And right before his eyes, Jack's face closed.
"You know you want to," he prodded. Come on. You want to, Jack. He knew that as surely as he knew himself.
"But you don't." Jack's answer was curt and to the point, and - what?
"Of course I do!" Indignant, now. Who did Jack think he was? "It'll be fun. Come on - where do you want to go? We could go anywhere. How about -"
"No," Jack interrupted him. "Don't get me wrong, it's tempting - and I don't know what I'd do if I thought you meant it. But you don't."
"Fine." He turned around, resisting the urge to shake the man. Had he read him so wrong? "Guess I got that completely wrong, then. Had to happen some time." He'd been sure Jack wanted - had always wanted... And Jack had always taken what he'd offered, without question.
"Doctor." From behind him, Jack spoke again, almost hesitantly. The Doctor didn't turn around. "You don't need me. And I need to be going back." A pause, then: "Whether that's the end of it - well, that's up to you, isn't it?" A clear challenge in his voice.
The Doctor walked away.
~o~
He tried again, when it was really time to go. "Come travel with me again."
"No," Jack said again. A different explanation, this time, whether for Martha's sake or because they were both true.
It was spite more than anything else that made him disable the vortex manipulator. Won't come with me? No time travel for you, then! But Jack's unsurprised expression offered him no satisfaction.
And Jack walked away.
~o~
Then Martha left.
She was only going to see her family, of course. She was coming back - of course she was. Wasn't she?
Jack had left, though, when he'd thought - he'd thought - - He'd really read something wrong there. Whether that's the end of it... What did that even mean?
The Master was gone. His last hope. The last of his kind. His old friend, his old enemy. Everything else... did that even matter now?
Stupid apes.
Stupid apes, getting to you. Worming their way into your hearts.
And Jack...
He'd been so sure Jack would stay with him. Stay for him. When had it all gone wrong?
He knew the answer to that, of course: when he'd run from the man, left him behind.
Whether that's the end of it...
It was an offer.
Still a chance to fix this, then. Maybe.
If he got it right this time - what Jack wanted. What he would accept. If he got it right.
~o~
A pub.
It was like any pub, anywhere in the universe - people drinking, chatting. Bad music. Someone trying to flirt with someone. Someone trying not to fall off their chair. Someone swearing over a spilt drink.
Not any pub, though: there he was sitting, on a barstool. He hadn't even taken off his coat, but he was flirting with the woman who was just handing him his drink.
The Doctor watched, just a moment longer. Almost turned around and left again, but he couldn't quite. He couldn't.
He nodded to himself and moved through the crowd, slid onto the bar stool next to Jack, managing not to tangle his coat. Smiled at Jack when the man turned around, a surprised expression on his face.
Surprised, but pleased. Good. Possibly not a mistake, this.
"Are you drinking alone?" he asked.
This, right here, right now, was it: the end of it, or the beginning of it.
For a moment, they just looked at each other. Then, Jack smiled back at him. "Seems I'm not."
~end~