Help_Haiti fic: Let Us Leave This Place 1/1
Story: Let Us Leave This Place
Author: wmr/ wendymr
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler, others mentioned
Rated: PG
Spoilers: only up to Journey's End
Disclaimer: Since I don't think the Doctor or Jack would ever be allowed to be this angst-free, we can safely say that I'm not claiming ownership of these characters!
Summary: The old team's back together at last! AU in which Journey's End turned out very different and the Doctor is less of an idiot.
Written for aibhinn in return for a generous donation to Haiti disaster relief. Her prompt is at the end. Gratuitous fluff warning!
Let Us Leave This Place
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
- Where The Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein
Jack
“Alien spaceship sighted in the Plass, boss. Thought you’d want to know.”
Jack lays down his pen, grateful - though he’d never tell Mickey - for the interruption. Writing reports is far from his favourite activity. It takes a moment for his newest recruit’s words to sink in. “Alien spaceship?” he repeats slowly, deliberately stifling the hope that’s already growing inside him.
It won’t be them; of course it won’t. It’s been barely three weeks since the Doctor dropped him off back here in Cardiff, with Mickey and Martha tagging along, after the whole lot of them saved the universe from the Daleks yet again and towed the Earth back home. Three weeks since he teleported to that London street, just in time to see someone he never believed he’d set eyes on again blow a Dalek into tiny pieces before it could strike down the Doctor. Right in that second, he didn’t know which he found more attractive: Rose herself, or that massive great gun she was toting.
Ever since everything was set to rights once more and the Doctor took him back here, he hasn’t been able to shake himself of the conviction that - despite Rose’s cheeky grin and her see you later! - the Doctor intended to take her straight back to that parallel universe with her mum.
“Boss?”
This time, he actually allows himself to look at Mickey. And the grin on the young man’s face sends that shred of hope leaping into his throat.
In one bound, he’s out from behind his desk and running for the exit.
***
The door’s standing open, he sees as he runs across the Plass, and as he gets closer the Doctor appears in the opening, mad grin on his face, hair as wild as ever. “Well, hurry up, then! Can’t wait around all day, you know!”
“Thought this was a time machine,” he puffs as he reaches the door. The Doctor steps back, and he accepts the unspoken invitation and walks inside.
Instantly, he has an armful of laughing blonde. And, before he has a moment to do more than wrap his arms tightly around her and steady the two of them, her lips are on his, kissing him enthusiastically. He kisses back with just as much enthusiasm - who wouldn’t, he tells himself - until the Doctor’s tutting in the background makes him pull back. But the Doctor’s grinning, nothing more than amused impatience in the raised eyebrow that greets him.
“What are you doing here?” he finally manages to ask.
“Looking for you, of course!” Rose exclaims, still hugging him loosely. “Told you we’d see you later, didn’t I?”
“Yep!” the Doctor says. “Did we give you long enough? We left it a few weeks - well, a few weeks for you, of course. Only been a couple of hours for us. Long enough to take Donna home - she’s staying with her family for a bit - and then come back for you.”
“Long enough for...?” He shakes his head. Either he’s really getting old, or the Doctor’s tangents and rambling statements are getting harder to understand.
“For you to sort your team out with whatever they need, and then come with us, of course!” The Doctor clucks and shakes his head. “You never used to be this slow, Jack.”
“But-”
“Oh, I know, you said no before. And I accepted it then, because you were right: you had responsibilities. But Torchwood’s got Martha and Mickey now too, am I right?” He nods. The Doctor continues without giving him time to speak. “And you can’t stay here, Jack. You really can’t. This is three thousand years in your past. I know you’ve been careful, but the situation’s just a paradox waiting to happen. It’s time.”
“Might as well just give in an’ come with us,” Rose says, her hand rubbing up and down his back. “We’re not leaving without you.”
Duty wars with inclination, until the Doctor strolls purposefully over to him, nudges Rose out of the way in a move that just emphasises how comfortable with being in each other’s space the two of them are, and grips Jack’s shoulders in firm hands. “They’ve had you for more than long enough, Jack. It’s time you came home.”
Hope wars with confusion. Why now? Why at all? Oh, he knows the Doctor’s genuinely sorry for running away from him on Satellite Five - they sorted all that out long ago - but he also thought they’d come to an understanding. The Doctor in the TARDIS, him in Cardiff, both defending the universe in their own ways - and each there for the other when situations demanded it. What’s changed? Especially now Rose is back - why would the Doctor want him around?
“You’re thinking too much, Jack,” the Doctor comments, amusement in his voice. “Never a good idea, really, thinking too hard. Your human brain’s not built for it.” The Time Lord’s wink is far too sexy, given how near he is. He’s lucky Jack hasn’t already jumped him.
“Bein’ rude again, Doctor,” Rose comments, a broad grin on her face. “Told you, after everything that’s happened you need to show him you mean it.”
The Doctor sighs. “Humans, always needing to have things spelt out! But I suppose you’re right.” He leans in, so close that the front of his hair brushes Jack’s forehead, and plants an enthusiastic kiss right on Jack’s startled lips.
“Now will you come?” the Doctor demands, so obviously trying to look irritated but failing as he moves back, releasing Jack.
He’s trying to smother a grin himself. “If I say I’m still not sure, do I get more of that kind of persuasion?”
***
He comes, of course.
It’s a few days later before they leave; Jack can’t and won’t just walk out on his team without a word. Not again. So he needs time to explain and hand over and make sure Gwen has all she needs, and of course to say his goodbyes one by one. Martha, who wants to be sure that he knows what he’s doing; Mickey, who gives him a raised eyebrow and a knowing grin; Gwen, who’s resigned but still hugs him and wishes him happy, as well as ordering him to come back and visit; and Ianto, who’s hurt but stoic - it seems he always knew Jack wouldn’t stay. He really doesn’t treat the people he loves all that well, Jack muses as he leaves his office for the last time. He really is a bit like the Doctor sometimes.
They’ll be better off without him - and he, he’ll definitely be better off with the Doctor and Rose. He’s never felt so right except when he was with them. And, even in spite of his conviction a year ago that he was over all of that, that he didn’t need the Doctor any more and Torchwood was what he was meant to do - who he was meant to be - he knows better. He wants the Doctor and Rose. Needs them.
And they’ve come back for him.
In the end, he’s smiling as he carries the rucksack containing his few belongings - not much to show, really, for more than a century, is it? - towards the TARDIS. The Doctor’s right: he is coming home.
Inside the ship, Rose is nowhere in sight, and the Doctor’s with Mickey, of all people, talking earnestly to him as he hands him a small object. “Don’t tell anyone about this,” the Doctor says. “You’ll know when it’s needed.”
“When the children talk in unison,” Mickey says, clearly repeating an instruction. “Got it.”
“Good man.” The Doctor extends his fist; Mickey bumps his own against it.
“See you around, boss. Jack,” Mickey adds, glancing at him as he leaves the TARDIS. So he’s already been demoted, has he? Not that he minds. The Doctor deserves that title more than he does anyway.
“So! Ready to go, at last?” The Doctor gives him a wide, excited grin, just as Rose comes back into the room.
“Oh, yeah. So very ready.” It’s time to leave, to put all those long, lonely years behind him. There were good times as well as bad, of course, but mostly it was a period of waiting and wondering and mourning.
Rose wraps her arms around him as the Doctor starts the Time Rotor. “It’s great to be back, isn’t it?” That’s when he remembers that, of course, she’s been in a parallel world for the last couple of years.
“It is,” he agrees, hugging her back. “I missed you guys.”
The Doctor looks up, happiness brimming in his eyes. “Missed you too. Both of you. But the old team’s back together at last!”
“Yeah!” Rose drags Jack over, and they stand on either side of the Doctor, following his instructions as the TARDIS dematerialises and takes him away from the linear space-time he’s had to make his home for so very long. And, at last, he feels free again.
***
Rose
She always knew she’d be back. It was the Doctor who was sceptical.
Oh, he didn’t want to risk destroying two universes - and neither did she. If the stars hadn’t already been going out, she never would have used the dimension cannon. She’d have waited, found another way. A safe way. But then the stars started disappearing, the messages Torchwood was intercepting grew more alarming, and she knew it was time. They all did. And so she started jumping.
It almost all ended in disaster, thanks to that Dalek, and she’ll never stop being thankful that she had the presence of mind to blow it to bits before it could kill the Doctor. And then, thanks to everyone else - Donna, Martha, Jack, Mickey, Sarah Jane, Jack’s team in Cardiff, even her mum - they defeated the Daleks and made the universe safe again.
And then, of course, she had to convince the Doctor yet again that he was more important to her than anything else. It took her mum knocking sense into him before he finally admitted that he wanted her to stay as well; he just felt guilty about separating her from her family. “Stop being a plonker,” her mum said in the end. “You think Pete an’ I didn’t know she’d never stay with us? If she’s with you, she’s happy, and that’s all we ever wanted for her.”
He kissed her then, stealing her breath away, and again a second time after they brought her mum home, materialising the TARDIS right inside her parents’ house. And then kissed her a third time after she asked if Jack could travel with them again. It took Donna making loud vomiting noises and telling them to get a room before he finally let her go.
She’s looking forward to getting to know Donna properly, once they pick her up again. Her mum and granddad were pretty shaken up after the Daleks and the Earth being stolen - though Rose suspects Donna’s decision to go home for a while has more to do with giving her and the Doctor a bit of time alone to get used to being together again. Well, the three of them now. It’s great to have Jack back. They’ve got a lot of catching up to do, especially now she knows the truth at last.
She reaches out and slides her hands through both of their arms, smiling up at first one and then the other. The Doctor grins down at her, excitement still bubbling in his face, and on her other side Jack’s smiling as well. Just as it should be; the TARDIS, the two men she loves, and the whole of time and space ahead of them.
“Where’re we going first?”
***
First is a place they’ve been before, a planet where they spent one of the happiest days the three of them had together, right before it all fell apart.
“Hey, I remember this!” Jack exclaims as soon as they’re outside. She comes to a halt beside him, looking around, and the memories flood back.
Rolling hills and lush valleys, gleaming spires and architecture that took her breath away, friendly natives willing to chat and pass the time of day; and then, once darkness fell, a festival complete with songs and storytelling and dancing around open fires. They all danced: she with the Doctor, then Jack, and the Doctor and Jack even danced with each other. Later still, all three of them danced together, arms around each other, bodies close enough to taste each other’s breath.
She thought, then, that the Doctor was going to kiss her - kiss both of them, in fact. There was something different about him that night; it wasn’t only that so much of the grief that had haunted him for so long seemed to be gone from his eyes, but also that the distance he always kept from them, even when he hugged her or held her hand, was gone.
But then she yawned, and the spell was broken, and the Doctor declared it was time to go back to the TARDIS. They went to their separate beds, and in the morning he announced they were going to Cardiff to refuel.
And not long after, of course, they lost Jack and the Doctor regenerated and, as close as she and this Doctor got while they were together, she never again had the same sense of breathless anticipation of something about to happen, something about to change.
Now he’s brought them back here. It has to be deliberate, and it has to mean that what she thought she was seeing the first time they were here wasn’t just her imagination. He’s kissed her, several times. And, once they waved goodbye to Donna, promising to come back for her in a couple of weeks, he steered her back inside the TARDIS and asked her again if she was sure, absolutely positive that she wanted to stay with him. Told her that if she had the slightest doubt he’d find a way to take her back across the Void to her mum’s universe.
She told him she was here to stay. No doubts, no hesitation. And then he took her face between his palms and kissed her once again.
It was several minutes later, and she’d somehow ended up pressed against the roundels with his lean, hard body inches from hers, when he raised his head and said, roughly, “So be it.” And, when she asked him if they could get Jack straight away, his grin lit up the room.
And he kissed Jack, too. And they’re back here, on this planet and in the city whose name, he told her back then, means Resting-Place of the Moon-Birds. It has to mean...
Anticipation swirls in her stomach, making her excited and terrified at the same time. She takes a deep breath, ignoring it, and holds out a hand to each of them. “Let’s explore.”
Jack grins, wrapping his big hand warmly around hers. The Doctor laces his fingers with hers; their hands still fit together perfectly. All three of them fit together just as they used to, even if the Doctor’s in a different body.
“Explore, yes! Lots to explore here, there is.” The Doctor’s grin is impish, and there’s something in his eyes that tells her he’s definitely planning something. “Allons-y!”
“You’ve gotta stop saying that, Doc,” Jack retorts with a bark of laughter.
***
Darkness has fallen, and they’re in the middle of the annual festival again, music and the dancing lights of open flames and fireworks surrounding them. This really is a deliberate choice by the Doctor, right down to timing. She’s danced with the Doctor, with Jack and with countless others, male and female inhabitants of this planet who swing her into the mêlée with enthusiasm. She’s looked back to see Jack and the Doctor dancing, hands clasped and laughing, completely uninhibited as they follow the steps.
Someone passes her a glass of something colourful and, probably, very potent, the same thing everyone seems to be drinking. It’s the traditional beverage of this festival, the Doctor told them last time, though somehow she never got around to sampling it then. She sips; it’s definitely heady, with a warm sensation as it goes down her throat. Nice.
“Rose!” She turns and finds the Doctor and Jack, arms wrapped around each other as they execute a complicated step-and-shuffle movement. The Doctor’s free arm’s extended to her and she runs to join them. She can’t keep up with the steps, but none of them care. They end up collapsed in each other’s arms, laughing uncontrollably.
And then, abruptly, it all changes. The laughter dies away, the music and chatter of the festivalgoers fades into the background, and there’s only the three of them, intent on each other. The air feels tighter, sharper around her, her heart’s speeded up and she couldn’t look away from the two of them if she tried.
Jack moves first, dropping his arms from her and the Doctor to frame her face between his palms. His kiss is warm, flavoured with the heady, vanilla-scented drink she tried just a minute ago, and his tongue’s eager as he explores her mouth. A second set of lips trail down the side of her neck, and a strong arm anchors her hard against the two of them.
Time loses its meaning as they kiss, swapping partners, pressing closer, even trying a sloppy, awkward three-way kiss that has them laughing again. And then, finally, the Doctor straightens, takes each of their hands and says, voice breathless and ragged, “TARDIS?”
Jack’s voice is equally ragged. “Thought you’d never ask.”
She can’t even find her voice; she just nods and the tingling inside her intensifies. At last.
***
The Doctor
In the end, it was such a very easy decision to make. And yet he almost didn’t get to make it. If he’d listened to that insidious voice, none of them would be here with him now, and he certainly wouldn’t be contemplating taking this step.
But his friends didn’t let him listen, and here he is. Here they are. Walking silently together back to the TARDIS in the blue-grey light of the full moon, the fires glowing a pale orange behind them and the music little more than a faint echo now.
Rose’s heart is racing, and even Jack’s breathing faster than usual. He’s done that to them. Well... they’ve all done it to each other, but he’s had a hand in it. Well, all right, two hands, and two lips and a tongue... Anyway.
The point is, he almost didn’t have this. And that would have been such a mistake.
He holds tight to both their hands, looking first at Rose, then at Jack. He needs to say this out loud, as much for his benefit as theirs. “Davros was wrong.”
Rose halts and stares up at him, then retorts forcefully, “Course he was.” It’s telling that she doesn’t even have to ask him what he’s talking about. Did he really react that badly on the Crucible?
If anyone would know, she would. She was standing right next to him, after all, while Jack, Donna and the others were sneaking around in the ventilation shafts and other parts of the ship. Getting ready to save the day, as usual - as they always do for him when he can’t.
“He was trying to manipulate you,” Jack says, his voice harsh. Right. As he suspected: Davros was broadcasting their conversation all over the ship. More manipulation. “He knew he could appeal to that guilty streak of yours. I’d like to know how he knows you so well.”
“Old enemies. We’ve known each other a long time.” He looks from one of them to the other. “I needed you there. All of you.”
“You did.” Rose holds his gaze. “And we weren’t weapons. Or soldiers. We were-”
“Your back-up,” Jack finishes. “Your friends. Just like we always have been.”
“Yep.” The Doctor smiles. He really does feel warm inside, and it’s not all from the kissing. “Sarah said I have the biggest family in the universe, and she’s right. I thought, just for one second, that if we got out of there alive I’d have to make sure I kept well away from all of you from then on.” Rose starts to protest, but he continues, giving her a reassuring smile. “But that’s what Davros wanted, because he knew it would destroy me. I need you - all of you. So when Donna’s ready, she’s coming with us again if it’s what she wants. I hope Martha will come along every once in a while - Mickey, too, if he likes. Even Sarah, though she keeps telling me she’s too old.”
“Too old?” Jack laughs. “I’ll talk her out of that one. But do you mind if we talk about it later?”
Surprised, he says, “Course. But why?”
Jack moves in front of him and lays his palm against his cheek. Jack’s skin is warm and welcome against his own, but the look in his friend’s eyes makes him shiver. “’Cause you’re kinda breaking the mood here.” Jack leans closer and kisses him, hot and forceful. Pulling back, the human whispers, “TARDIS, now?”
“God, yeah,” Rose gasps, and Jack turns, dips his head and kisses her too.
“Yep,” the Doctor agrees, and tugs on both of their hands, setting off on the last half-mile back to where the ship’s waiting for them.
***
The TARDIS purrs in approval as he leads the two of them across the console room and into the ship’s interior. He hasn’t heard her so pleased since all of his friends helped him fly her home, just a few days ago. She approves, but then she would. She’s never liked him being alone.
He’s shaking, just a little, as he leads them into his bedroom. His room, rather than one of the many bedrooms on the ship - including each of theirs - because if he’s going to do this, offer them this level of intimacy, then he needs to show them that he means it, that this is real and it’s not just something that, in the morning, he’ll pretend never happened.
He’s done that far too many times in the past, when things were on the cusp of changing between them - done it with both of them, though mostly with Rose. The first time they came here, to Shoteka, he turned coward, seizing on Rose’s tiredness as an excuse to retreat, to pretend nothing had changed. And look what happened after that: he lost Jack, and almost lost Rose.
Coming here again was the obvious choice. He’s been given a second chance, after all. What better place to show them he intends to take it?
Once in the bedroom, he falters, unsure of the next step. What’s the etiquette when seducing two of your best friends? What do humans expect in this situation?
But Rose is standing in front of him, a cheeky grin on her face. “You have no idea how many times I fantasised about doing this,” she tells him, and his hearts leap in nervous anticipation. Her hands grip his tie, undoing the knot and pulling the tie out from under his collar.
“Ooh, we could have some fun with that later,” Jack says, moving in and taking the tie from Rose and wrapping it around one hand. His apprehension must show, because Jack grins. “Kidding.” The Captain steps closer, pressing his body up behind Rose’s and wrapping his arms around both of them, sealing them in an embrace. “You’re here with us. You want us. You think that’s not more than enough to make us happier than we could ever have imagined?”
“Yeah, exactly,” Rose says, and leans up to press a kiss against his jaw. And then it’s so very easy to reach for what he wants, to take it - and them - and change their relationship irrevocably for the better.
There’s no going back from here, he reflects as the two of them hold him, and he holds them, in his bed much later. But then, why would he want to go back? Jackie was right, and so was Sarah: he was being an idiot before, refusing to see what he had - and what he needed. Needs.
Rose stirs and mumbles in her sleep, and he meets Jack’s gaze as the two of them turn to look at her. Jack’s smile is fond, happy, and the Captain reaches out, laying a hand on his chest.
“It’s good to be home, Doctor.”
He smiles back, reaching across Rose to kiss Jack. “It’s good to have you home. And it’s about time, too.”
***
The old team’s back, yes, and better than before. Much better. He’s not really sure at first why it should feel so different - not just the sex, surely, though he won’t deny he likes it, the company in bed as much as the physical intimacy. But when he mentions how much better it feels, Rose laughs.
“Course it’s better. We trust each other more, right? Cause we know you’re not gonna send us away again, an’ you know we’re not gonna leave you. And as well-” She tilts her head to one side. “I know you’re never gonna say it, an’ that’s all right. But we love each other, yeah? And that makes a difference.”
“She’s right, you know,” Jack says, giving him a steady look from the other side of the console, and it’s such a shock he has to study the younger man carefully to see if he really means it. There’s no guile or pretence whatsoever in Jack’s face, and he finds his hearts lightening even more. The Captain really has forgiven him for Satellite Five, for running away, for calling him wrong. He’s not just saying the words; he means it.
This really is a new start, for all of them.
Something tells him things could have gone very differently. He never examines his own timelines too closely, for obvious reasons - not that he can see them particularly clearly anyway - but this time there are clear signs that the Crucible was a turning-point, not just for the universe, but for him personally and for those dear to him. He can’t help suspecting that he’s escaped a particularly nasty outcome.
They’ve left that turning-point, and what might have happened, behind, where it belongs. Tomorrow, they’re going back for Donna; he’ll have his other best mate back. She’ll gang up with Rose against him, he’s sure of it, but he’ll live with it; he’s got ways of getting his revenge anyway. He knows all of Rose’s ticklish spots - and he’s got Jack on his side, too.
Today, they’re going to a planet he never took either of them to before; new territory to explore and, not that he intends it, no doubt an adventure to be had. They could be overthrowing a dictator, finding a cure for something that’s gone badly wrong, or even just saving one life. Whatever it is, it’s going to be brilliant.
“No, like this,” Jack’s saying to Rose as she slides a lever on the console, determined to learn to fly the TARDIS. “Do that, you’ll upset the internal gravity. Not that that couldn’t be fun, of course, but not now.” Jack winks.
“Try this instead,” he says, leaning over and laying his hand over Rose’s - because she needs guidance in the exact amount of pressure to apply, of course, and not at all because he just likes holding her hand. “See the difference?”
“Oh, yeah.” She gives him an impish grin, that same one he never forgot, with her tongue curling around her lip, then turns to grin at Jack as well. “But what if I do - this?”
The ship lurches. Without warning, he and Jack are propelled backwards, landing with a thump on their arses. As they exclaim indignantly and leap to their feet to launch themselves at her, the console room rings with the sound of Rose’s laughter - and, he could swear, the TARDIS echoing it.
And that’s just the way it should be, really, isn’t it?
- end
aibhinn’s prompt:
Ten/Jack/Rose, in love and travelling together in a world where JE didn't happen. Something happy and fluffy and romantic, and with inspiration from the poem by Shel Silverstein: Where the Sidewalk Ends
Author: wmr/ wendymr
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Jack Harkness, Rose Tyler, others mentioned
Rated: PG
Spoilers: only up to Journey's End
Disclaimer: Since I don't think the Doctor or Jack would ever be allowed to be this angst-free, we can safely say that I'm not claiming ownership of these characters!
Summary: The old team's back together at last! AU in which Journey's End turned out very different and the Doctor is less of an idiot.
Written for aibhinn in return for a generous donation to Haiti disaster relief. Her prompt is at the end. Gratuitous fluff warning!
Let Us Leave This Place
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
- Where The Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein
Jack
“Alien spaceship sighted in the Plass, boss. Thought you’d want to know.”
Jack lays down his pen, grateful - though he’d never tell Mickey - for the interruption. Writing reports is far from his favourite activity. It takes a moment for his newest recruit’s words to sink in. “Alien spaceship?” he repeats slowly, deliberately stifling the hope that’s already growing inside him.
It won’t be them; of course it won’t. It’s been barely three weeks since the Doctor dropped him off back here in Cardiff, with Mickey and Martha tagging along, after the whole lot of them saved the universe from the Daleks yet again and towed the Earth back home. Three weeks since he teleported to that London street, just in time to see someone he never believed he’d set eyes on again blow a Dalek into tiny pieces before it could strike down the Doctor. Right in that second, he didn’t know which he found more attractive: Rose herself, or that massive great gun she was toting.
Ever since everything was set to rights once more and the Doctor took him back here, he hasn’t been able to shake himself of the conviction that - despite Rose’s cheeky grin and her see you later! - the Doctor intended to take her straight back to that parallel universe with her mum.
“Boss?”
This time, he actually allows himself to look at Mickey. And the grin on the young man’s face sends that shred of hope leaping into his throat.
In one bound, he’s out from behind his desk and running for the exit.
***
The door’s standing open, he sees as he runs across the Plass, and as he gets closer the Doctor appears in the opening, mad grin on his face, hair as wild as ever. “Well, hurry up, then! Can’t wait around all day, you know!”
“Thought this was a time machine,” he puffs as he reaches the door. The Doctor steps back, and he accepts the unspoken invitation and walks inside.
Instantly, he has an armful of laughing blonde. And, before he has a moment to do more than wrap his arms tightly around her and steady the two of them, her lips are on his, kissing him enthusiastically. He kisses back with just as much enthusiasm - who wouldn’t, he tells himself - until the Doctor’s tutting in the background makes him pull back. But the Doctor’s grinning, nothing more than amused impatience in the raised eyebrow that greets him.
“What are you doing here?” he finally manages to ask.
“Looking for you, of course!” Rose exclaims, still hugging him loosely. “Told you we’d see you later, didn’t I?”
“Yep!” the Doctor says. “Did we give you long enough? We left it a few weeks - well, a few weeks for you, of course. Only been a couple of hours for us. Long enough to take Donna home - she’s staying with her family for a bit - and then come back for you.”
“Long enough for...?” He shakes his head. Either he’s really getting old, or the Doctor’s tangents and rambling statements are getting harder to understand.
“For you to sort your team out with whatever they need, and then come with us, of course!” The Doctor clucks and shakes his head. “You never used to be this slow, Jack.”
“But-”
“Oh, I know, you said no before. And I accepted it then, because you were right: you had responsibilities. But Torchwood’s got Martha and Mickey now too, am I right?” He nods. The Doctor continues without giving him time to speak. “And you can’t stay here, Jack. You really can’t. This is three thousand years in your past. I know you’ve been careful, but the situation’s just a paradox waiting to happen. It’s time.”
“Might as well just give in an’ come with us,” Rose says, her hand rubbing up and down his back. “We’re not leaving without you.”
Duty wars with inclination, until the Doctor strolls purposefully over to him, nudges Rose out of the way in a move that just emphasises how comfortable with being in each other’s space the two of them are, and grips Jack’s shoulders in firm hands. “They’ve had you for more than long enough, Jack. It’s time you came home.”
Hope wars with confusion. Why now? Why at all? Oh, he knows the Doctor’s genuinely sorry for running away from him on Satellite Five - they sorted all that out long ago - but he also thought they’d come to an understanding. The Doctor in the TARDIS, him in Cardiff, both defending the universe in their own ways - and each there for the other when situations demanded it. What’s changed? Especially now Rose is back - why would the Doctor want him around?
“You’re thinking too much, Jack,” the Doctor comments, amusement in his voice. “Never a good idea, really, thinking too hard. Your human brain’s not built for it.” The Time Lord’s wink is far too sexy, given how near he is. He’s lucky Jack hasn’t already jumped him.
“Bein’ rude again, Doctor,” Rose comments, a broad grin on her face. “Told you, after everything that’s happened you need to show him you mean it.”
The Doctor sighs. “Humans, always needing to have things spelt out! But I suppose you’re right.” He leans in, so close that the front of his hair brushes Jack’s forehead, and plants an enthusiastic kiss right on Jack’s startled lips.
“Now will you come?” the Doctor demands, so obviously trying to look irritated but failing as he moves back, releasing Jack.
He’s trying to smother a grin himself. “If I say I’m still not sure, do I get more of that kind of persuasion?”
***
He comes, of course.
It’s a few days later before they leave; Jack can’t and won’t just walk out on his team without a word. Not again. So he needs time to explain and hand over and make sure Gwen has all she needs, and of course to say his goodbyes one by one. Martha, who wants to be sure that he knows what he’s doing; Mickey, who gives him a raised eyebrow and a knowing grin; Gwen, who’s resigned but still hugs him and wishes him happy, as well as ordering him to come back and visit; and Ianto, who’s hurt but stoic - it seems he always knew Jack wouldn’t stay. He really doesn’t treat the people he loves all that well, Jack muses as he leaves his office for the last time. He really is a bit like the Doctor sometimes.
They’ll be better off without him - and he, he’ll definitely be better off with the Doctor and Rose. He’s never felt so right except when he was with them. And, even in spite of his conviction a year ago that he was over all of that, that he didn’t need the Doctor any more and Torchwood was what he was meant to do - who he was meant to be - he knows better. He wants the Doctor and Rose. Needs them.
And they’ve come back for him.
In the end, he’s smiling as he carries the rucksack containing his few belongings - not much to show, really, for more than a century, is it? - towards the TARDIS. The Doctor’s right: he is coming home.
Inside the ship, Rose is nowhere in sight, and the Doctor’s with Mickey, of all people, talking earnestly to him as he hands him a small object. “Don’t tell anyone about this,” the Doctor says. “You’ll know when it’s needed.”
“When the children talk in unison,” Mickey says, clearly repeating an instruction. “Got it.”
“Good man.” The Doctor extends his fist; Mickey bumps his own against it.
“See you around, boss. Jack,” Mickey adds, glancing at him as he leaves the TARDIS. So he’s already been demoted, has he? Not that he minds. The Doctor deserves that title more than he does anyway.
“So! Ready to go, at last?” The Doctor gives him a wide, excited grin, just as Rose comes back into the room.
“Oh, yeah. So very ready.” It’s time to leave, to put all those long, lonely years behind him. There were good times as well as bad, of course, but mostly it was a period of waiting and wondering and mourning.
Rose wraps her arms around him as the Doctor starts the Time Rotor. “It’s great to be back, isn’t it?” That’s when he remembers that, of course, she’s been in a parallel world for the last couple of years.
“It is,” he agrees, hugging her back. “I missed you guys.”
The Doctor looks up, happiness brimming in his eyes. “Missed you too. Both of you. But the old team’s back together at last!”
“Yeah!” Rose drags Jack over, and they stand on either side of the Doctor, following his instructions as the TARDIS dematerialises and takes him away from the linear space-time he’s had to make his home for so very long. And, at last, he feels free again.
***
Rose
She always knew she’d be back. It was the Doctor who was sceptical.
Oh, he didn’t want to risk destroying two universes - and neither did she. If the stars hadn’t already been going out, she never would have used the dimension cannon. She’d have waited, found another way. A safe way. But then the stars started disappearing, the messages Torchwood was intercepting grew more alarming, and she knew it was time. They all did. And so she started jumping.
It almost all ended in disaster, thanks to that Dalek, and she’ll never stop being thankful that she had the presence of mind to blow it to bits before it could kill the Doctor. And then, thanks to everyone else - Donna, Martha, Jack, Mickey, Sarah Jane, Jack’s team in Cardiff, even her mum - they defeated the Daleks and made the universe safe again.
And then, of course, she had to convince the Doctor yet again that he was more important to her than anything else. It took her mum knocking sense into him before he finally admitted that he wanted her to stay as well; he just felt guilty about separating her from her family. “Stop being a plonker,” her mum said in the end. “You think Pete an’ I didn’t know she’d never stay with us? If she’s with you, she’s happy, and that’s all we ever wanted for her.”
He kissed her then, stealing her breath away, and again a second time after they brought her mum home, materialising the TARDIS right inside her parents’ house. And then kissed her a third time after she asked if Jack could travel with them again. It took Donna making loud vomiting noises and telling them to get a room before he finally let her go.
She’s looking forward to getting to know Donna properly, once they pick her up again. Her mum and granddad were pretty shaken up after the Daleks and the Earth being stolen - though Rose suspects Donna’s decision to go home for a while has more to do with giving her and the Doctor a bit of time alone to get used to being together again. Well, the three of them now. It’s great to have Jack back. They’ve got a lot of catching up to do, especially now she knows the truth at last.
She reaches out and slides her hands through both of their arms, smiling up at first one and then the other. The Doctor grins down at her, excitement still bubbling in his face, and on her other side Jack’s smiling as well. Just as it should be; the TARDIS, the two men she loves, and the whole of time and space ahead of them.
“Where’re we going first?”
***
First is a place they’ve been before, a planet where they spent one of the happiest days the three of them had together, right before it all fell apart.
“Hey, I remember this!” Jack exclaims as soon as they’re outside. She comes to a halt beside him, looking around, and the memories flood back.
Rolling hills and lush valleys, gleaming spires and architecture that took her breath away, friendly natives willing to chat and pass the time of day; and then, once darkness fell, a festival complete with songs and storytelling and dancing around open fires. They all danced: she with the Doctor, then Jack, and the Doctor and Jack even danced with each other. Later still, all three of them danced together, arms around each other, bodies close enough to taste each other’s breath.
She thought, then, that the Doctor was going to kiss her - kiss both of them, in fact. There was something different about him that night; it wasn’t only that so much of the grief that had haunted him for so long seemed to be gone from his eyes, but also that the distance he always kept from them, even when he hugged her or held her hand, was gone.
But then she yawned, and the spell was broken, and the Doctor declared it was time to go back to the TARDIS. They went to their separate beds, and in the morning he announced they were going to Cardiff to refuel.
And not long after, of course, they lost Jack and the Doctor regenerated and, as close as she and this Doctor got while they were together, she never again had the same sense of breathless anticipation of something about to happen, something about to change.
Now he’s brought them back here. It has to be deliberate, and it has to mean that what she thought she was seeing the first time they were here wasn’t just her imagination. He’s kissed her, several times. And, once they waved goodbye to Donna, promising to come back for her in a couple of weeks, he steered her back inside the TARDIS and asked her again if she was sure, absolutely positive that she wanted to stay with him. Told her that if she had the slightest doubt he’d find a way to take her back across the Void to her mum’s universe.
She told him she was here to stay. No doubts, no hesitation. And then he took her face between his palms and kissed her once again.
It was several minutes later, and she’d somehow ended up pressed against the roundels with his lean, hard body inches from hers, when he raised his head and said, roughly, “So be it.” And, when she asked him if they could get Jack straight away, his grin lit up the room.
And he kissed Jack, too. And they’re back here, on this planet and in the city whose name, he told her back then, means Resting-Place of the Moon-Birds. It has to mean...
Anticipation swirls in her stomach, making her excited and terrified at the same time. She takes a deep breath, ignoring it, and holds out a hand to each of them. “Let’s explore.”
Jack grins, wrapping his big hand warmly around hers. The Doctor laces his fingers with hers; their hands still fit together perfectly. All three of them fit together just as they used to, even if the Doctor’s in a different body.
“Explore, yes! Lots to explore here, there is.” The Doctor’s grin is impish, and there’s something in his eyes that tells her he’s definitely planning something. “Allons-y!”
“You’ve gotta stop saying that, Doc,” Jack retorts with a bark of laughter.
***
Darkness has fallen, and they’re in the middle of the annual festival again, music and the dancing lights of open flames and fireworks surrounding them. This really is a deliberate choice by the Doctor, right down to timing. She’s danced with the Doctor, with Jack and with countless others, male and female inhabitants of this planet who swing her into the mêlée with enthusiasm. She’s looked back to see Jack and the Doctor dancing, hands clasped and laughing, completely uninhibited as they follow the steps.
Someone passes her a glass of something colourful and, probably, very potent, the same thing everyone seems to be drinking. It’s the traditional beverage of this festival, the Doctor told them last time, though somehow she never got around to sampling it then. She sips; it’s definitely heady, with a warm sensation as it goes down her throat. Nice.
“Rose!” She turns and finds the Doctor and Jack, arms wrapped around each other as they execute a complicated step-and-shuffle movement. The Doctor’s free arm’s extended to her and she runs to join them. She can’t keep up with the steps, but none of them care. They end up collapsed in each other’s arms, laughing uncontrollably.
And then, abruptly, it all changes. The laughter dies away, the music and chatter of the festivalgoers fades into the background, and there’s only the three of them, intent on each other. The air feels tighter, sharper around her, her heart’s speeded up and she couldn’t look away from the two of them if she tried.
Jack moves first, dropping his arms from her and the Doctor to frame her face between his palms. His kiss is warm, flavoured with the heady, vanilla-scented drink she tried just a minute ago, and his tongue’s eager as he explores her mouth. A second set of lips trail down the side of her neck, and a strong arm anchors her hard against the two of them.
Time loses its meaning as they kiss, swapping partners, pressing closer, even trying a sloppy, awkward three-way kiss that has them laughing again. And then, finally, the Doctor straightens, takes each of their hands and says, voice breathless and ragged, “TARDIS?”
Jack’s voice is equally ragged. “Thought you’d never ask.”
She can’t even find her voice; she just nods and the tingling inside her intensifies. At last.
***
The Doctor
In the end, it was such a very easy decision to make. And yet he almost didn’t get to make it. If he’d listened to that insidious voice, none of them would be here with him now, and he certainly wouldn’t be contemplating taking this step.
But his friends didn’t let him listen, and here he is. Here they are. Walking silently together back to the TARDIS in the blue-grey light of the full moon, the fires glowing a pale orange behind them and the music little more than a faint echo now.
Rose’s heart is racing, and even Jack’s breathing faster than usual. He’s done that to them. Well... they’ve all done it to each other, but he’s had a hand in it. Well, all right, two hands, and two lips and a tongue... Anyway.
The point is, he almost didn’t have this. And that would have been such a mistake.
He holds tight to both their hands, looking first at Rose, then at Jack. He needs to say this out loud, as much for his benefit as theirs. “Davros was wrong.”
Rose halts and stares up at him, then retorts forcefully, “Course he was.” It’s telling that she doesn’t even have to ask him what he’s talking about. Did he really react that badly on the Crucible?
If anyone would know, she would. She was standing right next to him, after all, while Jack, Donna and the others were sneaking around in the ventilation shafts and other parts of the ship. Getting ready to save the day, as usual - as they always do for him when he can’t.
“He was trying to manipulate you,” Jack says, his voice harsh. Right. As he suspected: Davros was broadcasting their conversation all over the ship. More manipulation. “He knew he could appeal to that guilty streak of yours. I’d like to know how he knows you so well.”
“Old enemies. We’ve known each other a long time.” He looks from one of them to the other. “I needed you there. All of you.”
“You did.” Rose holds his gaze. “And we weren’t weapons. Or soldiers. We were-”
“Your back-up,” Jack finishes. “Your friends. Just like we always have been.”
“Yep.” The Doctor smiles. He really does feel warm inside, and it’s not all from the kissing. “Sarah said I have the biggest family in the universe, and she’s right. I thought, just for one second, that if we got out of there alive I’d have to make sure I kept well away from all of you from then on.” Rose starts to protest, but he continues, giving her a reassuring smile. “But that’s what Davros wanted, because he knew it would destroy me. I need you - all of you. So when Donna’s ready, she’s coming with us again if it’s what she wants. I hope Martha will come along every once in a while - Mickey, too, if he likes. Even Sarah, though she keeps telling me she’s too old.”
“Too old?” Jack laughs. “I’ll talk her out of that one. But do you mind if we talk about it later?”
Surprised, he says, “Course. But why?”
Jack moves in front of him and lays his palm against his cheek. Jack’s skin is warm and welcome against his own, but the look in his friend’s eyes makes him shiver. “’Cause you’re kinda breaking the mood here.” Jack leans closer and kisses him, hot and forceful. Pulling back, the human whispers, “TARDIS, now?”
“God, yeah,” Rose gasps, and Jack turns, dips his head and kisses her too.
“Yep,” the Doctor agrees, and tugs on both of their hands, setting off on the last half-mile back to where the ship’s waiting for them.
***
The TARDIS purrs in approval as he leads the two of them across the console room and into the ship’s interior. He hasn’t heard her so pleased since all of his friends helped him fly her home, just a few days ago. She approves, but then she would. She’s never liked him being alone.
He’s shaking, just a little, as he leads them into his bedroom. His room, rather than one of the many bedrooms on the ship - including each of theirs - because if he’s going to do this, offer them this level of intimacy, then he needs to show them that he means it, that this is real and it’s not just something that, in the morning, he’ll pretend never happened.
He’s done that far too many times in the past, when things were on the cusp of changing between them - done it with both of them, though mostly with Rose. The first time they came here, to Shoteka, he turned coward, seizing on Rose’s tiredness as an excuse to retreat, to pretend nothing had changed. And look what happened after that: he lost Jack, and almost lost Rose.
Coming here again was the obvious choice. He’s been given a second chance, after all. What better place to show them he intends to take it?
Once in the bedroom, he falters, unsure of the next step. What’s the etiquette when seducing two of your best friends? What do humans expect in this situation?
But Rose is standing in front of him, a cheeky grin on her face. “You have no idea how many times I fantasised about doing this,” she tells him, and his hearts leap in nervous anticipation. Her hands grip his tie, undoing the knot and pulling the tie out from under his collar.
“Ooh, we could have some fun with that later,” Jack says, moving in and taking the tie from Rose and wrapping it around one hand. His apprehension must show, because Jack grins. “Kidding.” The Captain steps closer, pressing his body up behind Rose’s and wrapping his arms around both of them, sealing them in an embrace. “You’re here with us. You want us. You think that’s not more than enough to make us happier than we could ever have imagined?”
“Yeah, exactly,” Rose says, and leans up to press a kiss against his jaw. And then it’s so very easy to reach for what he wants, to take it - and them - and change their relationship irrevocably for the better.
There’s no going back from here, he reflects as the two of them hold him, and he holds them, in his bed much later. But then, why would he want to go back? Jackie was right, and so was Sarah: he was being an idiot before, refusing to see what he had - and what he needed. Needs.
Rose stirs and mumbles in her sleep, and he meets Jack’s gaze as the two of them turn to look at her. Jack’s smile is fond, happy, and the Captain reaches out, laying a hand on his chest.
“It’s good to be home, Doctor.”
He smiles back, reaching across Rose to kiss Jack. “It’s good to have you home. And it’s about time, too.”
***
The old team’s back, yes, and better than before. Much better. He’s not really sure at first why it should feel so different - not just the sex, surely, though he won’t deny he likes it, the company in bed as much as the physical intimacy. But when he mentions how much better it feels, Rose laughs.
“Course it’s better. We trust each other more, right? Cause we know you’re not gonna send us away again, an’ you know we’re not gonna leave you. And as well-” She tilts her head to one side. “I know you’re never gonna say it, an’ that’s all right. But we love each other, yeah? And that makes a difference.”
“She’s right, you know,” Jack says, giving him a steady look from the other side of the console, and it’s such a shock he has to study the younger man carefully to see if he really means it. There’s no guile or pretence whatsoever in Jack’s face, and he finds his hearts lightening even more. The Captain really has forgiven him for Satellite Five, for running away, for calling him wrong. He’s not just saying the words; he means it.
This really is a new start, for all of them.
Something tells him things could have gone very differently. He never examines his own timelines too closely, for obvious reasons - not that he can see them particularly clearly anyway - but this time there are clear signs that the Crucible was a turning-point, not just for the universe, but for him personally and for those dear to him. He can’t help suspecting that he’s escaped a particularly nasty outcome.
They’ve left that turning-point, and what might have happened, behind, where it belongs. Tomorrow, they’re going back for Donna; he’ll have his other best mate back. She’ll gang up with Rose against him, he’s sure of it, but he’ll live with it; he’s got ways of getting his revenge anyway. He knows all of Rose’s ticklish spots - and he’s got Jack on his side, too.
Today, they’re going to a planet he never took either of them to before; new territory to explore and, not that he intends it, no doubt an adventure to be had. They could be overthrowing a dictator, finding a cure for something that’s gone badly wrong, or even just saving one life. Whatever it is, it’s going to be brilliant.
“No, like this,” Jack’s saying to Rose as she slides a lever on the console, determined to learn to fly the TARDIS. “Do that, you’ll upset the internal gravity. Not that that couldn’t be fun, of course, but not now.” Jack winks.
“Try this instead,” he says, leaning over and laying his hand over Rose’s - because she needs guidance in the exact amount of pressure to apply, of course, and not at all because he just likes holding her hand. “See the difference?”
“Oh, yeah.” She gives him an impish grin, that same one he never forgot, with her tongue curling around her lip, then turns to grin at Jack as well. “But what if I do - this?”
The ship lurches. Without warning, he and Jack are propelled backwards, landing with a thump on their arses. As they exclaim indignantly and leap to their feet to launch themselves at her, the console room rings with the sound of Rose’s laughter - and, he could swear, the TARDIS echoing it.
And that’s just the way it should be, really, isn’t it?
- end
aibhinn’s prompt:
Ten/Jack/Rose, in love and travelling together in a world where JE didn't happen. Something happy and fluffy and romantic, and with inspiration from the poem by Shel Silverstein: Where the Sidewalk Ends