Fic: Regrets 1/1

[wendymr]

Story: Regrets
Author: WMR
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Jack
Rated: PG 
Spoilers: POTW, Torchwood if you squint
Summary: Some time in your future, Jack, you’re going to think I’ve betrayed you.

With thanks to Gillian Taylor for beta :)

Regrets

Most people, he knows, have regrets as they come to the end of their life. He, unusually, has to confront all of

Comments

[dave7]

This was fantastic. Absolutely brilliant.

When you told me you'd put up a Jack/Ten fic, this wasn't at all what I'd imagined. Even after I'd seen the snippets! For one, I expected that it'd have been set after Doomsday, 'cause it didn't seem like the Doctor gave much thought to lost companions at all during s2. But... I love that it was set right after TCI. Brilliant.

And... I really need to study, so I can't spend as much time as I want commenting on this, but I have to say something about the last line.

He turns away from where the TARDIS stood and heads for the comms panel. He doesn’t look back.

I *love* that.

[wendymr]

Yes, the Doctor is very good at moving on and not looking back. But I can't believe that he never thinks about people he loses. I think he does, but he doesn't let other people see. And about the only way I can cope with the lack of mention of Jack in S2 is by telling myself that Rose and the Doctor did talk about it, just in off-screen time. After all, we do know that Rose somehow remembered the events of Satellite Five during that season, even if we didn't see it happen - grrrr. :P

And... yes. Jack not looking back just seemed to work for me. He wouldn't, I think; that'd happen once he discovers the legacy he's been left with. And that, I think, in this scenario where he's had an advance apology from the Doctor, is when his faith and trust would start to turn to a sense of betrayal, and a complicated mix of hate/love.

Thank you! I'm so glad that you liked this and that it inspired you. :)

[neadods]

I can't believe that he never thinks about people he loses

He must, because he occasionally mentions them when he's distracted, and he melted into utter wibble when he saw Sarah Jane again.

But at the same time, I think it's all a bit emo for him, and until recently he Didn't Do Emo with a vengance; if something hurt his feelings he just didn't think about it and distracted himself as much as possible so he didn't have to deal with the whole issue. And getting a new pet as fast as possible is such an excellent distraction...

[wendymr]

Oh yeah, I'm sure he does think about them. It's just that, with the exception of Sarah-Jane, we never see him talk about them. :P I'd like to think that, after School Reunion, he talked to Rose about at least some of his past companions, though with Mickey on board by then it might not be likely.

And, yes, the new pet always does help to get over the crushing sense of loss of the old one, doesn't it? Which, I think, is the main role of the Bride, isn't it? The temporary immediate post-Rose companion, to allow him to adjust and allow the audience to get over their 'but she's not Rose!!!!' hating on the new companion before Martha's introduced.

[neadods]

with the exception of Sarah-Jane, we never see him talk about them. :P

Well, there we're tripping over the break between Classic Who and New Who; previous Doctors (Four in particular) made references to other companions all the time. I'm assuming that it's because of the BBC rules that the Doctor could only refer to old companions by name when they're right there (Sarah Jane) or as an in-joke that won't interrupt the flow of plot (Jamie). Otherwise he has to be very generic ("I've travelled with a lot of people, but you're setting new standards for jeopardy-friendly!").

the new pet always does help to get over the crushing sense of loss of the old one, doesn't it?

I've always felt so. I hadn't thought of the Bride as a sort of lightening rod siphoning off the not-Rose haters, but it makes sense.

[wendymr]

I'm assuming that it's because of the BBC rules that the Doctor could only refer to old companions by name when they're right there (Sarah Jane) or as an in-joke that won't interrupt the flow of plot (Jamie). Otherwise he has to be very generic

I didn't know that, but fair enough. All the same, that surely doesn't rule out mentions of Jack or Mickey? And we know it didn't the latter, because Jackie mentions him in L&M.

Ah well. It is the Doctor, after all. 40+ years of tradition and so on...

[neadods]

If I understand it, the BBC has a mandate that it is NOT allowed to make the public purchase anything or chase a plot across different shows in order to make sense of a storyline. They can allude, they can expand tie-ins, they can have in-jokes, but they can't, for example, start a plot in Who and end it in Torchwood. (Or, presumably, vice versa, although they're really pushing the line in Torchwood