Auction fic: When In Rome... er, Cardiff... 1/2
Story: When In Rome... er, Cardiff...
Author: wmr wendymr
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, others in minor roles
Rated: PG
Spoilers: For Journey's End
Disclaimer: Not mine, BBC!
Summary: "He just stole my TARDIS!" AU from the last ten minutes of JE.
Written for adaliazandra and serving double duty both as a bidding-incentive ficlet and for Adalia's prompt in the OT3 bonus ficathon.
When In Rome... er, Cardiff...
Chapter 1: Stranded
“Did you see that? Did you see- He just stole my TARDIS!”
“But you told me, back there on the beach, you said he’s you. An’ if he’s you, that means it’s his TARDIS too, right?”
“Of course not! That’s just... that’s... I was here first! Of course it’s my TARDIS! And what’s this? Sarcasm? Are you ganging up on me too, Rose Tyler?”
“Ganging up on-”
“First your mum turns on me when all I’m trying to do is make sure you’re safe and protected and-”
“No, you were dumping me.”
“I was not- It made perfect sense, Rose. You and him, growing old together. The life I could never have, but you-”
“The life I never wanted. Anyway, he didn’t either. Didn’t notice him fighting too hard to stay in Pete’s World, did you? Laughed my head off at him an’ Mum and Donna shoving you back inside the TARDIS.”
“You’ll never see your mum again.”
“You really need me to tell you I made my choice? Anyway, stop changing the subject. You have to stop making decisions for me, Doctor.”
“I don’t - well, maybe once or twice, but it’s for your own good! Anyway, never mind that. He’s got my TARDIS, Rose. My TARDIS! And he dumped us in Cardiff!”
“You were gonna dump him on a beach in Norway. And they told you why. Donna needs help, and not your kind of help. And what were you thinking, planning to dump him in the parallel world when he and Donna need to be together because of that biological metacrisis thingummy?”
“Well...”
“He’s going to fix her, Doctor. That’s important, right? And then they’ll be back. He said they’ll pick us up tomorrow, so it’s not like we have to wait long.”
“Tomorrow. Just as likely to be two months from now!”
“Oh, so you finally admit your driving’s terrible?”
***
“Jack! Come down here. You should see this!”
Unfolding himself from behind his desk and away from a particularly interesting and as-yet-unidentified piece of alien flotsam, Jack yells back, “What’s so important?”
“Just get your arse down here,” Gwen retorts.
He rolls his eyes. “Forgotten who’s boss around here again, Cooper?” Regardless, he obeys her. “So, what?” Jogging up behind her, crowding her deliberately, he stares over her shoulder.
And stares.
He said goodbye to them - what? A week ago? Who’s he kidding - he knows exactly how long it was. Six days, two and a half hours, and every day since he’s wondered at least once whether, if he hadn’t been so quick to say his goodbyes, the Doctor might at least have made the offer. Or what the Doctor would have said if he’d asked for a trip once in a while.
The Doctor and Rose, standing outside in the Plas - and, so far as he can see, the TARDIS is nowhere in sight. Just one Doctor, too, and no sign of Donna. It’s the original Doctor, unless they’ve changed suits.
“Stay here,” he instructs the team - they’re all now gathered around the monitor, expressions ranging from curiosity to outright disbelief. “That means you, too,” he orders Mickey, giving the younger man a commanding glare. “I’ll update you later,” he adds; after all, he reminds himself, Rose was the guy’s girlfriend.
This, he knows beyond doubt, is not a social call. For one thing, the Doctor doesn’t do that. For another, the fact that it’s just the two of them, with no TARDIS in sight, is setting all kinds of warning signals off.
It’s not as if he wasn’t aware of the potential for trouble when he left the Doctor last week. Species-blending, especially the unplanned sort, rarely works out well, in his experience. And the creation of a human-Time Lord hybrid has the potential for all sorts of trouble. None of his business, though, he’d told himself. The Doctor was there - the three Doctors, really - and it would all be in good hands. He certainly wasn’t needed, and not especially wanted either. Even if he wouldn’t have minded being close to - or in - those hands himself. Even if he could’ve thought of lots of fun things to do with those hands - and still can.
“Make sure you come back,” Gwen comments, with more sarcasm than worry. Martha catches his gaze, revealing her own concern - for him or for the Doctor?
He grins at both of them. “Course I’ll be back. Where would I go?”
But his team’s far from his mind as he jogs out onto the concourse and approaches the two visitors. The Doctor sees him first, and his expression turns animated. “Jack! Just the person! I was just wondering how to find your Torchwood. We might... well, maybe, just perhaps - I mean, I’m sure we’ll be fine, but-”
Rose interrupts. “We need your help, Jack.”
“Anything,” he promises. “What’s up? And where’s Donna and the other you, Doctor?”
The Doctor’s eyes become impossibly wide, and he rakes a hand through his hair, tugging at it until it’s even wilder than usual. “Gone! They took my TARDIS, Jack. Can you believe it?”
“Told you, it’s his TARDIS too,” Rose comments, but it’s clear she’s not expecting the Doctor to listen. It’s also clear that, while the Doctor’s annoyed and indignant about the situation, Rose is nothing but amused.
“Are they coming back?” He can’t really believe that Donna would just dump the Doctor and Rose, whatever about the hybrid-Doctor.
“Well, how do I know? I mean, talk about ingratitude-”
“Doctor.” Rose shakes her head, tugging at the Doctor’s hand. “They said they’d be back tomorrow. You heard them.” She turns to Jack. “Thing is, Donna’s got problems. What did you call it? A meta-something?”
“Metacrisis.” The Doctor tugs on his ear, and now there’s worry as well as irritation. “Consequence of having a Time Lord consciousness inside her brain. Trouble is, there’s never been a human-Time Lord metacrisis before. There can’t be, Jack. It’s impossible, and it’s going to kill her unless something’s done about it.”
“That’s why he took her away, Doctor,” Rose says, her tone patient, soothing. “He said it’d be easier without you there, an’ anyway she’s part of him an’ he’s part of her and that means he can fix her. Without whatever you were going to do to her, an’ what was that, anyway?” Her tone sharpens.
“Hardly matters now, does it?” the Doctor retorts, without looking at her. “Though if he doesn’t get it right I’ll still have to do it when they come back. If they come back.”
“But they said they’d come tomorrow?” Jack clarifies. Because that’s how long it’ll take to make Donna better, or because...?
“Yeah. Not that I know why they couldn’t have come back in five minutes. It’s a time machine, Jack. A time machine!”
Ah. So his second suspicion is correct. It’s only what he’d have done, after all, and probably for the same reasons.
He’s only been talking to the two of them for a couple of minutes, but already it’s obvious that they’ve barely talked since Rose’s sudden reappearance from the parallel universe. They might be holding hands, but the Doctor’s avoiding looking at her, and she’s a lot less adoring in her manner towards him than she ever used to be. A few tensions there, maybe? It’s as plain as the nose on his face that the other Doctor left them here so that they’d be forced to talk.
And that tells him, loud and clear, what his role in this is. “Right, well, in that case you need somewhere to stay. We’ve got-”
“I don’t need somewhere to stay.” I? What about Rose? “I just need to borrow your Vortex manipulator. Soon find them and get the TARDIS back.”
“No chance!” he retorts immediately.
“What, just because I won’t let you use it? That’s a bit petty, isn’t it, Jack?”
“That’s got nothing to do with it,” he almost snaps, then stifles a grin as he notices the way Rose’s gaze is switching between the two of them, a bit like she’s watching a tennis-match. “They need time alone to sort out the metacrisis - and, if you could stop thinking about yourself long enough to consider their situation, you’d realise they probably need some time to themselves to talk, too. Donna’s got a Time Lord brain now, and he’s a second you. Didn’t occur to you that that might be a problem?”
“Of course it did!” The Doctor’s chin juts forward. “And I had a solution. A perfectly good one, too. But they all ganged up on me!”
“He was going to dump me and the other Doctor in the parallel universe,” Rose explains, hands on her hips - she’s let go of the Doctor. “That’s his idea of a perfectly good solution! Wasn’t ours. Or Donna’s. An’ god only knows what his solution was for Donna. Prob’ly something equally stupid.”
Jack sighs. “Why does that not surprise me? All right, this is how it’s gonna be, Doctor. You and Rose are stuck in Cardiff - on my territory. And that means I’m in charge for once. So, as I was gonna say before I was interrupted,” he adds with a touch of amused sarcasm, “Torchwood’s got a flat you can use until the others come back.”
“What?” The Doctor looks appalled. “A flat? You mean with doors and carpets-”
“I think it’s got hardwood floors, actually,” he counters. “But no-one’s forcing you. I’m not gonna stop you wandering the streets, though you should know there’re laws against vagrancy. Rose might like a decent place to sleep, though, after the day she’s had. How about it, Rose? And, you know, I never did get a hug hello, did I?”
Rose takes one step forward, then another, and suddenly she’s running into his arms. “Jack. Jack.”
His arms fold around her, he buries his face in her hair, and a hundred and forty years melt away.
***
Jack’s hugging Rose! No, now he’s kissing her. No, no, this can’t be allowed. Next he’ll be...
“Jack Harkness, get your hands off Rose’s bum.”
Jack raises his head, but doesn’t move his hands. His lips are covered in bright red lipstick. “Why? Rose is okay with it. Unless you’ve got some prior claim or something.”
What? Of course he has! And Jack knows it.
Rose turns to look at him, eyes wide and innocent-looking. “Not so’s you’d notice. Three years ago on a beach I told him I loved him an’ all he said was quite right too. Then just half an hour ago he tried to dump me on that same beach with his double. Think that counts as breakin’ up with me, don’t you?”
Jack grins before bending his head to kiss Rose again. What’s more, he’s positive that he’s seeing glimpses of tongue. This time, the Doctor marches up to the two of them and taps Rose on the shoulder. “Oi! Still here, you know.”
“Oh, yeah.” Rose at least has the decency to look contrite. “S’pose we shouldn’t really be snogging in broad daylight, Jack.”
Keeping his arm securely around her shoulders, Jack nods. “Come on, I’ll show you the flat. He doesn’t have to come unless you want him to.” He winks at Rose.
“Hmm.” Astonishingly, Rose seems to be actually considering it. “If it’s just us, I might actually get to find out what happened to you. If I wait for him to tell me I’ll never find out.”
“All right, where’s this flat, then?” He huffs. “I suppose if we have to be here until tomorrow it makes sense to go there.”
He finds himself trailing along behind Rose and Jack, who are holding each other’s hand as if they have a perfect right to. “Don’t you have a boyfriend, Jack?” he calls pointedly.
Rose glances back with a grin. “Oh, you know Jack. The more the merrier!”
He stifles a frustrated growl. This just isn’t his day. First his half-human meta-crisis twin steals his ship and his best mate, and now Captain Flirt-with-anything Harkness is stealing his woman.
***
“Play along,” Jack murmured as he was hugging her. “Let’s make him jealous.”
After all the mixed signals the Doctor’s been sending her ever since she got back to him - including trying to send her back to the other universe! - that was just too tempting to resist. But what she didn’t anticipate was how good it would feel to kiss Jack. Or that it would bring back the memories of when the three of them travelled together and that she always loved Jack too, almost as much as she loved the Doctor.
Not good. So not good. Because the Doctor’s right. Jack does have a boyfriend. She saw him on the monitor in the TARDIS - the young bloke with the Welsh accent.
Great. After all this time, all the experimenting and trying and failing, all her dreams and imagining about what would happen when she got back to this universe, and it’s looking like the Doctor’s not all that happy to have her back. And Jack, who she was overjoyed to see alive and well and still friends with the Doctor, has a life and love-interest of his own, so there’s no chance of him travelling with them just the way it used to be and she was hoping might be again.
“Hey.” Jack gives her a one-armed hug. “It’ll be okay. He just needs a bit of time. Can’t be easy for him suddenly having two of him around, on top of all that stuff with the Daleks again.”
“I know.” And she does; she of all people knows what it does to him to face Daleks over and over. “An’ there’s Donna. He’s really worried about her.”
She stops and looks back behind her. Teasing the Doctor’s one thing, especially when he’s been blowing hot and cold with her, but now that she’s been reminded of just what he’s dealing with...
He’s following them, head down, hands buried deep in his coat pockets, the picture of misery now. “Come on, Doctor.” She holds out her hand to him.
He tilts his head very slightly to look at her. Oh, his irritation’s tipped over into brooding all right. She waggles her hand, and after a moment he breaks into a little run to catch up and slides his into hers.
“All right, so where’s this flat, then, Jack?”
“Right in there.” Jack nods at an apartment building just a few yards away, one of dozens all around the bay. “Got computerised security systems that keep out anyone we don’t want getting in, and that we can hack into or disable when we need to. Like...” He turns to grin at the two of them. “...if we’re sneaking anyone in we don’t want any record of.”
The building’s definitely built with security in mind; lots of keyed-entry doors and cameras - which Jack disables with a few taps at his wrist computer before the Doctor can even get to his screwdriver - and a smooth, silent lift all the way up to the fifteenth floor. “Bit different from the Powell Estates, eh?” she comments as they walk along the carpeted floor.
“I cleared out the flat, you know.” She stares at the Doctor. “Really should have said something to your mum. She might’ve wanted... Well, I have some of your stuff on the TARDIS. Her stuff. Photos, you know, stuff like that.”
“Really?” She knows she’s practically gaping at him. “You did that?”
He shrugs. “Someone had to. Couldn’t just let it all be thrown away. I mean, I waited first, just to see if anyone else, relatives, you know, came forward. I knew you had cousins.”
“Moved away years ago.” She drops Jack’s hand and hugs him. “Thank you. I’d like to have it, even if we can’t give any of it to Mum.”
He smiles, but it barely reaches his eyes. It’s a relief when Jack leads the way into the flat.
***
The Doctor’s wound so tightly that it’ll only take one push too far for him to snap. And Rose is trying, but the tension’s getting to her and she’s swinging from one emotional extreme to another.
Of course, it’s the same day for both of them, despite being a week later for him, and given what they’ve just been through and that Rose is obviously now separated from her family by an entire universe and the Doctor’s coping with there being two of him and his worry about Donna - well, it’s not surprising that their reactions are all over the place.
And plus, of course, they’ve only just found each other again after being apart for - what? three years? Maybe more for the Doctor. How changed are they finding each other? Rose seems very different, and not just because she turned up again carrying a very impressive gun. How different is the Doctor from the man she knew? Though he did try to send her away again - could he be any more of an idiot?
Counsellor Jack to the rescue, then, breaking the tension. “Tell me more about this metacrisis thing. I get how serious it is, but what exactly caused it? She seemed okay when I left you guys.”
As he hoped, this gets the Doctor talking, walking around the room and gesticulating as he gets more and more technical and scientific. Jack’s only half-listening - he’s interested, but he’s far more concerned about the two of them and in particular whether the Doctor’s likely to go insane waiting for the other him to come back with Donna.
“But he’s you, right, Doctor? I mean, you’d trust yourself with Donna, wouldn’t you?”
The Doctor looks unsure. “He’s me... but he’s half-human, Jack. He’s unpredictable. You saw how he behaved on the Cru-”
“Doctor, you told me once you could hear them in your head,” Rose interrupts, before the Doctor can get stuck into another rant. “Other Time Lords, I mean. Can you hear him?”
The Doctor stills, then closes his eyes. “Yes,” he murmurs after a few moments. “Fainter than it would be with a full Time Lord, but that’s to be expected. He’s me, though. That helps.” He falls silent again, but after a few seconds his shoulders relax. “They’re all right, both of them. I can feel them.”
Rose hugs him. “Good.” For a few moments, the two of them look almost comfortable together.
Right. Time for him to get out of the way. “So, this is the flat. Kitchen, two bedrooms, bathrooms, living-room. Need a tour, or can you find your own way around?”
“We’ll manage, thanks,” the Doctor says, hands now deep in the pockets of his overcoat as he turns slowly on the heels of his Chucks.
“Yeah.” Rose sounds quiet though determined, and he didn’t miss the flash of relief in her eyes when he mentioned bedrooms. Plural. And that’s new; back in the day, the three of them spent many nights in much closer quarters than either of the bedrooms in this flat, and Rose never had a problem with it. Yet she’s far from comfortable right now.
Still, it’s something they’ve got to sort out for themselves. “Okay, then, in that case I’ll leave you to it.”
“No!” Rose catches at his hand. When he looks at her, she flushes and tries to let go, but he won’t let her. “ ‘S just... can’t you stay? I’ve got all these questions - I don’t even know how you survived the Daleks on the Crucible.”
That’s a whole other can of worms. He shoots the Doctor a wary glance, but it seems that the Doctor’s every bit as panicky about being left alone with Rose. “Yes, stay, Jack. I suppose it’s about time Rose knew the truth, anyway.”
Now there’s a surprise. He was convinced the Doctor never wanted Rose to know what she’d done, or what the Doctor did. But he shrugs easily. “Sure. Let me call the office and let them know I won’t be back for a while.” Glancing at his watch, he adds, “This could take a while. How about I order some food?”
Rose’s eyes widen. “I’m starving. Though...” She looks down at herself. “Think I’ll take a shower first.”
“Yes, and I’ll... um... hang my coat up.” The Doctor practically runs from the room.
Right. So much for thinking maybe things were getting better. He sighs and taps his earpiece to connect to the Hub.
***
Jack and Rose are right. He has to trust the other him with Donna. Even if he did tell himself to go away and mind his own business. The cheek of him!
So he forces himself to relax and sit around the kitchen table with Chinese takeaway while he and Jack explain about Satellite Five, the Time Vortex and its aftermath. Rose takes it about as well as he expects, her reaction split between disbelief that he just left Jack behind and guilt that she’s cursed him to immortality. Jack’s far more relaxed than he expects, though. “Ancient history, Rose. He and I have worked it out. And I can’t deny the immortality’s been kinda handy over the years.”
“But that’s now. What about the future? I mean, the universe isn’t gonna be around for ever, is it, Doctor?”
He glances at Jack before replying; yes, the other man’s also remembering Malcassiro. “No, it won’t. And Jack won’t either.” He reaches across the table and lays a hand on Jack’s wrist. “That’s a promise.”
Jack’s shocked look leaves him feeling chastised. He really should have done something about this sooner. “Thanks.” Jack pushes his chair back. “Well, I guess I should really stop playing gooseberry and let you guys get on with celebrating your reunion.”
Reunion. Oh, yes. Rose. As if he’s been hit with a ton of bricks, realisation dawns on him.
He lost her. For over three years of his lifetime he’s been without her, and been missing her like crazy. He made Martha feel like second-best because he couldn’t stop comparing her unfavourably to Rose, or reminding her that she was only there because Rose wasn’t.
And since Rose came back, what’s he done? Hugged her, oh yes. But since then? Well, apart from taking her back to her own universe and trying to leave her there.
A glance at her is enough to confirm his guess. Oh, yes, she’s wondering if she’s done the right thing by coming back.
He slides his hand across the table and lays it on hers, squeezing. Her gaze shoots up to meet his and a wide, warm, relieved smile curves across her face. He smiles back, just as warmly.
“Excellent.” Jack’s walking towards the door, but then he turns back and the Doctor just knows he’s going to say something outrageous. “Now, if I come back in the morning and find both beds have been slept in I’m gonna be very disappointed in you two.”
Did Jack just say that? Oh, yes, he did. Typi-
“Jack!” Rose sounds appalled, but when he looks at her he realises the truth. Her expressions are still far more revealing than he’s sure she’d like, and what it’s telling him now is that she was hoping they’d share a bed too.
Humans! Humans and their obsession with sex!
“I’m a Time Lord, Jack!” he exclaims, jumping to his feet in exasperation. “I can’t! Not with humans!”
Did he really just say that out loud? Oh, bugger.
***
tbc in Chapter 2: You're Not On Gallifrey Any More
Author: wmr wendymr
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, others in minor roles
Rated: PG
Spoilers: For Journey's End
Disclaimer: Not mine, BBC!
Summary: "He just stole my TARDIS!" AU from the last ten minutes of JE.
Written for adaliazandra and serving double duty both as a bidding-incentive ficlet and for Adalia's prompt in the OT3 bonus ficathon.
When In Rome... er, Cardiff...
Chapter 1: Stranded
“Did you see that? Did you see- He just stole my TARDIS!”
“But you told me, back there on the beach, you said he’s you. An’ if he’s you, that means it’s his TARDIS too, right?”
“Of course not! That’s just... that’s... I was here first! Of course it’s my TARDIS! And what’s this? Sarcasm? Are you ganging up on me too, Rose Tyler?”
“Ganging up on-”
“First your mum turns on me when all I’m trying to do is make sure you’re safe and protected and-”
“No, you were dumping me.”
“I was not- It made perfect sense, Rose. You and him, growing old together. The life I could never have, but you-”
“The life I never wanted. Anyway, he didn’t either. Didn’t notice him fighting too hard to stay in Pete’s World, did you? Laughed my head off at him an’ Mum and Donna shoving you back inside the TARDIS.”
“You’ll never see your mum again.”
“You really need me to tell you I made my choice? Anyway, stop changing the subject. You have to stop making decisions for me, Doctor.”
“I don’t - well, maybe once or twice, but it’s for your own good! Anyway, never mind that. He’s got my TARDIS, Rose. My TARDIS! And he dumped us in Cardiff!”
“You were gonna dump him on a beach in Norway. And they told you why. Donna needs help, and not your kind of help. And what were you thinking, planning to dump him in the parallel world when he and Donna need to be together because of that biological metacrisis thingummy?”
“Well...”
“He’s going to fix her, Doctor. That’s important, right? And then they’ll be back. He said they’ll pick us up tomorrow, so it’s not like we have to wait long.”
“Tomorrow. Just as likely to be two months from now!”
“Oh, so you finally admit your driving’s terrible?”
***
“Jack! Come down here. You should see this!”
Unfolding himself from behind his desk and away from a particularly interesting and as-yet-unidentified piece of alien flotsam, Jack yells back, “What’s so important?”
“Just get your arse down here,” Gwen retorts.
He rolls his eyes. “Forgotten who’s boss around here again, Cooper?” Regardless, he obeys her. “So, what?” Jogging up behind her, crowding her deliberately, he stares over her shoulder.
And stares.
He said goodbye to them - what? A week ago? Who’s he kidding - he knows exactly how long it was. Six days, two and a half hours, and every day since he’s wondered at least once whether, if he hadn’t been so quick to say his goodbyes, the Doctor might at least have made the offer. Or what the Doctor would have said if he’d asked for a trip once in a while.
The Doctor and Rose, standing outside in the Plas - and, so far as he can see, the TARDIS is nowhere in sight. Just one Doctor, too, and no sign of Donna. It’s the original Doctor, unless they’ve changed suits.
“Stay here,” he instructs the team - they’re all now gathered around the monitor, expressions ranging from curiosity to outright disbelief. “That means you, too,” he orders Mickey, giving the younger man a commanding glare. “I’ll update you later,” he adds; after all, he reminds himself, Rose was the guy’s girlfriend.
This, he knows beyond doubt, is not a social call. For one thing, the Doctor doesn’t do that. For another, the fact that it’s just the two of them, with no TARDIS in sight, is setting all kinds of warning signals off.
It’s not as if he wasn’t aware of the potential for trouble when he left the Doctor last week. Species-blending, especially the unplanned sort, rarely works out well, in his experience. And the creation of a human-Time Lord hybrid has the potential for all sorts of trouble. None of his business, though, he’d told himself. The Doctor was there - the three Doctors, really - and it would all be in good hands. He certainly wasn’t needed, and not especially wanted either. Even if he wouldn’t have minded being close to - or in - those hands himself. Even if he could’ve thought of lots of fun things to do with those hands - and still can.
“Make sure you come back,” Gwen comments, with more sarcasm than worry. Martha catches his gaze, revealing her own concern - for him or for the Doctor?
He grins at both of them. “Course I’ll be back. Where would I go?”
But his team’s far from his mind as he jogs out onto the concourse and approaches the two visitors. The Doctor sees him first, and his expression turns animated. “Jack! Just the person! I was just wondering how to find your Torchwood. We might... well, maybe, just perhaps - I mean, I’m sure we’ll be fine, but-”
Rose interrupts. “We need your help, Jack.”
“Anything,” he promises. “What’s up? And where’s Donna and the other you, Doctor?”
The Doctor’s eyes become impossibly wide, and he rakes a hand through his hair, tugging at it until it’s even wilder than usual. “Gone! They took my TARDIS, Jack. Can you believe it?”
“Told you, it’s his TARDIS too,” Rose comments, but it’s clear she’s not expecting the Doctor to listen. It’s also clear that, while the Doctor’s annoyed and indignant about the situation, Rose is nothing but amused.
“Are they coming back?” He can’t really believe that Donna would just dump the Doctor and Rose, whatever about the hybrid-Doctor.
“Well, how do I know? I mean, talk about ingratitude-”
“Doctor.” Rose shakes her head, tugging at the Doctor’s hand. “They said they’d be back tomorrow. You heard them.” She turns to Jack. “Thing is, Donna’s got problems. What did you call it? A meta-something?”
“Metacrisis.” The Doctor tugs on his ear, and now there’s worry as well as irritation. “Consequence of having a Time Lord consciousness inside her brain. Trouble is, there’s never been a human-Time Lord metacrisis before. There can’t be, Jack. It’s impossible, and it’s going to kill her unless something’s done about it.”
“That’s why he took her away, Doctor,” Rose says, her tone patient, soothing. “He said it’d be easier without you there, an’ anyway she’s part of him an’ he’s part of her and that means he can fix her. Without whatever you were going to do to her, an’ what was that, anyway?” Her tone sharpens.
“Hardly matters now, does it?” the Doctor retorts, without looking at her. “Though if he doesn’t get it right I’ll still have to do it when they come back. If they come back.”
“But they said they’d come tomorrow?” Jack clarifies. Because that’s how long it’ll take to make Donna better, or because...?
“Yeah. Not that I know why they couldn’t have come back in five minutes. It’s a time machine, Jack. A time machine!”
Ah. So his second suspicion is correct. It’s only what he’d have done, after all, and probably for the same reasons.
He’s only been talking to the two of them for a couple of minutes, but already it’s obvious that they’ve barely talked since Rose’s sudden reappearance from the parallel universe. They might be holding hands, but the Doctor’s avoiding looking at her, and she’s a lot less adoring in her manner towards him than she ever used to be. A few tensions there, maybe? It’s as plain as the nose on his face that the other Doctor left them here so that they’d be forced to talk.
And that tells him, loud and clear, what his role in this is. “Right, well, in that case you need somewhere to stay. We’ve got-”
“I don’t need somewhere to stay.” I? What about Rose? “I just need to borrow your Vortex manipulator. Soon find them and get the TARDIS back.”
“No chance!” he retorts immediately.
“What, just because I won’t let you use it? That’s a bit petty, isn’t it, Jack?”
“That’s got nothing to do with it,” he almost snaps, then stifles a grin as he notices the way Rose’s gaze is switching between the two of them, a bit like she’s watching a tennis-match. “They need time alone to sort out the metacrisis - and, if you could stop thinking about yourself long enough to consider their situation, you’d realise they probably need some time to themselves to talk, too. Donna’s got a Time Lord brain now, and he’s a second you. Didn’t occur to you that that might be a problem?”
“Of course it did!” The Doctor’s chin juts forward. “And I had a solution. A perfectly good one, too. But they all ganged up on me!”
“He was going to dump me and the other Doctor in the parallel universe,” Rose explains, hands on her hips - she’s let go of the Doctor. “That’s his idea of a perfectly good solution! Wasn’t ours. Or Donna’s. An’ god only knows what his solution was for Donna. Prob’ly something equally stupid.”
Jack sighs. “Why does that not surprise me? All right, this is how it’s gonna be, Doctor. You and Rose are stuck in Cardiff - on my territory. And that means I’m in charge for once. So, as I was gonna say before I was interrupted,” he adds with a touch of amused sarcasm, “Torchwood’s got a flat you can use until the others come back.”
“What?” The Doctor looks appalled. “A flat? You mean with doors and carpets-”
“I think it’s got hardwood floors, actually,” he counters. “But no-one’s forcing you. I’m not gonna stop you wandering the streets, though you should know there’re laws against vagrancy. Rose might like a decent place to sleep, though, after the day she’s had. How about it, Rose? And, you know, I never did get a hug hello, did I?”
Rose takes one step forward, then another, and suddenly she’s running into his arms. “Jack. Jack.”
His arms fold around her, he buries his face in her hair, and a hundred and forty years melt away.
***
Jack’s hugging Rose! No, now he’s kissing her. No, no, this can’t be allowed. Next he’ll be...
“Jack Harkness, get your hands off Rose’s bum.”
Jack raises his head, but doesn’t move his hands. His lips are covered in bright red lipstick. “Why? Rose is okay with it. Unless you’ve got some prior claim or something.”
What? Of course he has! And Jack knows it.
Rose turns to look at him, eyes wide and innocent-looking. “Not so’s you’d notice. Three years ago on a beach I told him I loved him an’ all he said was quite right too. Then just half an hour ago he tried to dump me on that same beach with his double. Think that counts as breakin’ up with me, don’t you?”
Jack grins before bending his head to kiss Rose again. What’s more, he’s positive that he’s seeing glimpses of tongue. This time, the Doctor marches up to the two of them and taps Rose on the shoulder. “Oi! Still here, you know.”
“Oh, yeah.” Rose at least has the decency to look contrite. “S’pose we shouldn’t really be snogging in broad daylight, Jack.”
Keeping his arm securely around her shoulders, Jack nods. “Come on, I’ll show you the flat. He doesn’t have to come unless you want him to.” He winks at Rose.
“Hmm.” Astonishingly, Rose seems to be actually considering it. “If it’s just us, I might actually get to find out what happened to you. If I wait for him to tell me I’ll never find out.”
“All right, where’s this flat, then?” He huffs. “I suppose if we have to be here until tomorrow it makes sense to go there.”
He finds himself trailing along behind Rose and Jack, who are holding each other’s hand as if they have a perfect right to. “Don’t you have a boyfriend, Jack?” he calls pointedly.
Rose glances back with a grin. “Oh, you know Jack. The more the merrier!”
He stifles a frustrated growl. This just isn’t his day. First his half-human meta-crisis twin steals his ship and his best mate, and now Captain Flirt-with-anything Harkness is stealing his woman.
***
“Play along,” Jack murmured as he was hugging her. “Let’s make him jealous.”
After all the mixed signals the Doctor’s been sending her ever since she got back to him - including trying to send her back to the other universe! - that was just too tempting to resist. But what she didn’t anticipate was how good it would feel to kiss Jack. Or that it would bring back the memories of when the three of them travelled together and that she always loved Jack too, almost as much as she loved the Doctor.
Not good. So not good. Because the Doctor’s right. Jack does have a boyfriend. She saw him on the monitor in the TARDIS - the young bloke with the Welsh accent.
Great. After all this time, all the experimenting and trying and failing, all her dreams and imagining about what would happen when she got back to this universe, and it’s looking like the Doctor’s not all that happy to have her back. And Jack, who she was overjoyed to see alive and well and still friends with the Doctor, has a life and love-interest of his own, so there’s no chance of him travelling with them just the way it used to be and she was hoping might be again.
“Hey.” Jack gives her a one-armed hug. “It’ll be okay. He just needs a bit of time. Can’t be easy for him suddenly having two of him around, on top of all that stuff with the Daleks again.”
“I know.” And she does; she of all people knows what it does to him to face Daleks over and over. “An’ there’s Donna. He’s really worried about her.”
She stops and looks back behind her. Teasing the Doctor’s one thing, especially when he’s been blowing hot and cold with her, but now that she’s been reminded of just what he’s dealing with...
He’s following them, head down, hands buried deep in his coat pockets, the picture of misery now. “Come on, Doctor.” She holds out her hand to him.
He tilts his head very slightly to look at her. Oh, his irritation’s tipped over into brooding all right. She waggles her hand, and after a moment he breaks into a little run to catch up and slides his into hers.
“All right, so where’s this flat, then, Jack?”
“Right in there.” Jack nods at an apartment building just a few yards away, one of dozens all around the bay. “Got computerised security systems that keep out anyone we don’t want getting in, and that we can hack into or disable when we need to. Like...” He turns to grin at the two of them. “...if we’re sneaking anyone in we don’t want any record of.”
The building’s definitely built with security in mind; lots of keyed-entry doors and cameras - which Jack disables with a few taps at his wrist computer before the Doctor can even get to his screwdriver - and a smooth, silent lift all the way up to the fifteenth floor. “Bit different from the Powell Estates, eh?” she comments as they walk along the carpeted floor.
“I cleared out the flat, you know.” She stares at the Doctor. “Really should have said something to your mum. She might’ve wanted... Well, I have some of your stuff on the TARDIS. Her stuff. Photos, you know, stuff like that.”
“Really?” She knows she’s practically gaping at him. “You did that?”
He shrugs. “Someone had to. Couldn’t just let it all be thrown away. I mean, I waited first, just to see if anyone else, relatives, you know, came forward. I knew you had cousins.”
“Moved away years ago.” She drops Jack’s hand and hugs him. “Thank you. I’d like to have it, even if we can’t give any of it to Mum.”
He smiles, but it barely reaches his eyes. It’s a relief when Jack leads the way into the flat.
***
The Doctor’s wound so tightly that it’ll only take one push too far for him to snap. And Rose is trying, but the tension’s getting to her and she’s swinging from one emotional extreme to another.
Of course, it’s the same day for both of them, despite being a week later for him, and given what they’ve just been through and that Rose is obviously now separated from her family by an entire universe and the Doctor’s coping with there being two of him and his worry about Donna - well, it’s not surprising that their reactions are all over the place.
And plus, of course, they’ve only just found each other again after being apart for - what? three years? Maybe more for the Doctor. How changed are they finding each other? Rose seems very different, and not just because she turned up again carrying a very impressive gun. How different is the Doctor from the man she knew? Though he did try to send her away again - could he be any more of an idiot?
Counsellor Jack to the rescue, then, breaking the tension. “Tell me more about this metacrisis thing. I get how serious it is, but what exactly caused it? She seemed okay when I left you guys.”
As he hoped, this gets the Doctor talking, walking around the room and gesticulating as he gets more and more technical and scientific. Jack’s only half-listening - he’s interested, but he’s far more concerned about the two of them and in particular whether the Doctor’s likely to go insane waiting for the other him to come back with Donna.
“But he’s you, right, Doctor? I mean, you’d trust yourself with Donna, wouldn’t you?”
The Doctor looks unsure. “He’s me... but he’s half-human, Jack. He’s unpredictable. You saw how he behaved on the Cru-”
“Doctor, you told me once you could hear them in your head,” Rose interrupts, before the Doctor can get stuck into another rant. “Other Time Lords, I mean. Can you hear him?”
The Doctor stills, then closes his eyes. “Yes,” he murmurs after a few moments. “Fainter than it would be with a full Time Lord, but that’s to be expected. He’s me, though. That helps.” He falls silent again, but after a few seconds his shoulders relax. “They’re all right, both of them. I can feel them.”
Rose hugs him. “Good.” For a few moments, the two of them look almost comfortable together.
Right. Time for him to get out of the way. “So, this is the flat. Kitchen, two bedrooms, bathrooms, living-room. Need a tour, or can you find your own way around?”
“We’ll manage, thanks,” the Doctor says, hands now deep in the pockets of his overcoat as he turns slowly on the heels of his Chucks.
“Yeah.” Rose sounds quiet though determined, and he didn’t miss the flash of relief in her eyes when he mentioned bedrooms. Plural. And that’s new; back in the day, the three of them spent many nights in much closer quarters than either of the bedrooms in this flat, and Rose never had a problem with it. Yet she’s far from comfortable right now.
Still, it’s something they’ve got to sort out for themselves. “Okay, then, in that case I’ll leave you to it.”
“No!” Rose catches at his hand. When he looks at her, she flushes and tries to let go, but he won’t let her. “ ‘S just... can’t you stay? I’ve got all these questions - I don’t even know how you survived the Daleks on the Crucible.”
That’s a whole other can of worms. He shoots the Doctor a wary glance, but it seems that the Doctor’s every bit as panicky about being left alone with Rose. “Yes, stay, Jack. I suppose it’s about time Rose knew the truth, anyway.”
Now there’s a surprise. He was convinced the Doctor never wanted Rose to know what she’d done, or what the Doctor did. But he shrugs easily. “Sure. Let me call the office and let them know I won’t be back for a while.” Glancing at his watch, he adds, “This could take a while. How about I order some food?”
Rose’s eyes widen. “I’m starving. Though...” She looks down at herself. “Think I’ll take a shower first.”
“Yes, and I’ll... um... hang my coat up.” The Doctor practically runs from the room.
Right. So much for thinking maybe things were getting better. He sighs and taps his earpiece to connect to the Hub.
***
Jack and Rose are right. He has to trust the other him with Donna. Even if he did tell himself to go away and mind his own business. The cheek of him!
So he forces himself to relax and sit around the kitchen table with Chinese takeaway while he and Jack explain about Satellite Five, the Time Vortex and its aftermath. Rose takes it about as well as he expects, her reaction split between disbelief that he just left Jack behind and guilt that she’s cursed him to immortality. Jack’s far more relaxed than he expects, though. “Ancient history, Rose. He and I have worked it out. And I can’t deny the immortality’s been kinda handy over the years.”
“But that’s now. What about the future? I mean, the universe isn’t gonna be around for ever, is it, Doctor?”
He glances at Jack before replying; yes, the other man’s also remembering Malcassiro. “No, it won’t. And Jack won’t either.” He reaches across the table and lays a hand on Jack’s wrist. “That’s a promise.”
Jack’s shocked look leaves him feeling chastised. He really should have done something about this sooner. “Thanks.” Jack pushes his chair back. “Well, I guess I should really stop playing gooseberry and let you guys get on with celebrating your reunion.”
Reunion. Oh, yes. Rose. As if he’s been hit with a ton of bricks, realisation dawns on him.
He lost her. For over three years of his lifetime he’s been without her, and been missing her like crazy. He made Martha feel like second-best because he couldn’t stop comparing her unfavourably to Rose, or reminding her that she was only there because Rose wasn’t.
And since Rose came back, what’s he done? Hugged her, oh yes. But since then? Well, apart from taking her back to her own universe and trying to leave her there.
A glance at her is enough to confirm his guess. Oh, yes, she’s wondering if she’s done the right thing by coming back.
He slides his hand across the table and lays it on hers, squeezing. Her gaze shoots up to meet his and a wide, warm, relieved smile curves across her face. He smiles back, just as warmly.
“Excellent.” Jack’s walking towards the door, but then he turns back and the Doctor just knows he’s going to say something outrageous. “Now, if I come back in the morning and find both beds have been slept in I’m gonna be very disappointed in you two.”
Did Jack just say that? Oh, yes, he did. Typi-
“Jack!” Rose sounds appalled, but when he looks at her he realises the truth. Her expressions are still far more revealing than he’s sure she’d like, and what it’s telling him now is that she was hoping they’d share a bed too.
Humans! Humans and their obsession with sex!
“I’m a Time Lord, Jack!” he exclaims, jumping to his feet in exasperation. “I can’t! Not with humans!”
Did he really just say that out loud? Oh, bugger.
***
tbc in Chapter 2: You're Not On Gallifrey Any More