amythest_n_ice: A New Start (Jack/Ten) [PG] (SUMMER HOLIDAYS, PROMPT 2)
Title: A New Start
Author: amythest_n_ice
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jack/Ten
Spoilers/Warnings: Nope
Challenge: Summer Holidays
Prompt group: 2: first time - first kiss - beginnings - primordial
Summary: Jack has been waiting a for a long time, but some firsts are well worth waiting for.
**
Jack Harkness stood on top of the Torchwood Tower in Cardiff, looking down at the gathering crowd below. Only the name of the city remained the same now, it had changed and grown over the centuries he had been on the Earth. He snorted softly to himself, wondering when he had gone from thinking in terms of months and years to centuries and millennia.
His eyes flicked to the clock on the other side of the square, nine minutes to midnight, in nine minutes, he would see his fourth millennium celebration on this planet, and he wondered why the hell he was still here, he was still the head of Torchwood, but they didn’t need him, he had hundreds of loyal and well trained staff who could have taken over from him over the years.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the roof door opening, and footsteps crunching over the gravel, he glanced over his shoulder to see a distinguished man in uniform, with salt and pepper hair, and a stiff posture. The uniform already bore the new logo; Jack noticed idly, the Torchwood T melded neatly with the UNIT insignia.
“What is it, Brigadier Hopkins?” Jack asked tiredly.
“Sir, we need you downstairs,” Hopkins told him, snapping off a sharp salute.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure you can deal with it. The merger will be official in seven minutes, and that will make the orders I left on your desk go into force,” Jack told him, turning to stare out across the square once more.
“Orders, sir?”
“I’m stepping down, Hopkins, handing over command to you. I’m tired of it,” he sighed.
“Sir…”
“Dismissed, Hopkins. You can deal with it,” Jack told him sharply.
He heard the footsteps retreat once more, and sighed as the roof door closed again. He knew in his heart of hearts why he had stayed as long as he had, Earth was the one place he was almost guaranteed of seeing the Doctor, the one place where he could at least catch a glimpse of him occasionally, but in recent years, the Doctor had come to Earth less and less, leaving the defense of the planet to UNIT and the growing Torchwood organization, and Jack suspected the Doctor hadn’t forgiven him for disobeying his order to keep Torchwood the size it was, all those years ago.
The roof door opened again, and he growled low in his throat as feet crunched across the gravel yet again.
“Damn it, Hopkins, you can deal with whatever the hell it is,” he snapped without turning.
“Brigadier Hopkins said you were brooding up here.”
Startled, Jack turned around and saw the Doctor standing on the roof behind him, scruffy hair, pinstriped suit and those damn converse of his, a Doctor Jack hadn’t seen in far too long.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.
“Is that any way to speak to an old friend?” the Doctor pouted.
“Old friend? You avoided me for centuries, your later regenerations stopped coming to Earth at all, pretty much, and you want to call yourself an old friend?” he snapped bitterly.
“Oh Jack, I’m sorry things had to be that way, but there was no help for it, I had to wait for this moment in time, and my later selves, well, lets just say that would have been complicated beyond belief for them to be around you too much.”
“Complicated, right. What do you want, Doctor? Has the old Christmas Invasion been reinstated and shifted to New Year or something?” he sighed.
“No, I came for you, Jack.”
Jack snorted and turned his back on the Time Lord, looking over at the clock once more.
“Have I left it too late Jack? Do you hate me now?” the Doctor asked quietly, stepping up to stand beside him, looking at the revelers far below.
“I could never hate you, and you know it,” Jack pointed out sourly.
“I know, I never did give you enough credit, did I, Jack? I never bothered to look beyond the image of the flirt, the playboy image, that you projected,” the Doctor said quietly.
“Very few did, very few were allowed to. The only one who ever compared to you has been gone for a very long time.”
“Ianto Jones, I…”
”You were at the funeral, I know, I felt you there.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure how you would feel about me being there, so I didn’t stick around.”
“I needed you that day; you were the only one who could possibly have understood.”
“I’m sorry. Come with me, Jack, you’ve handed over command here, there’s nothing for you to stay for any more. Is there?”
“Why would I want to come with you?”
“I’ve grown up, Jack.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Far below, hundreds of voices rose in the traditional and long familiar countdown, and Jack half listened to them as he waited for the Doctor to answer his question. The clock tower across the square started to sound the bells of midnight, and Jack’s eyes widened in shock as the Doctor pulled him around, and down into a soft kiss.
“What was that for?” Jack asked when the Doctor released him.
“I told you, I’ve grown up, I’m tired of running from what I feel, Jack, I thought I was protecting myself by doing that, but I wasn’t. Come with me, Jack, don’t let our first kiss be our last,” the Doctor asked, watching the sparks of light in Jack’s eyes as the first of the fireworks exploded in the sky above them.
“Are you serious?”
“I’ve never been more serious, Jack. I know I’ve hurt you in the past, but give me a chance, please. I want you with me, Jack, friend, companion, lover, partner, whatever you want Jack. Come with me.”
“I’m not sure,” Jack hedged.
“What’s holding you here? You’re giving up the one thing you said that you had to stay for, the last time I asked. What is there to stay for now?”
“Nothing, nothing at all,” Jack admitted softly.
“Then come with me.”
“Tell me what you meant by complicated first.”
”This is a pivotal moment in our timelines Jack, yours and mine. Every time one of us came to Earth, was anywhere around you, it threw the timeline into flux, we could come with you as a companion, and by the time we left, you could be gone again. It was safer to stay away from you, to stop the timeline getting stretched anymore.”
“So you’re saying that the mood you left me in whenever you came and went affected the outcome of tonight, of the decision you’re asking me to make?”
“Yes,” the Doctor nodded.
“Will you kiss me again?” Jack asked, leaning forward slightly.
“Any time you want me to,” the Doctor told him almost shyly.
“Now would be good,” Jack pointed out.
Their second kiss was just as light and chaste as their first, but Jack smiled anyway as the Doctor released him.
“Where are we parked?” he asked.
“In the corner of your office.”
Jack grinned and led the Doctor off the roof, heading down toward his former office.
“Let’s go home then, Doctor. There’s another first that I’d like to have a chat about with you,” he smirked.
The Doctor’s ears turned red, but he didn’t resist as Jack pulled him along. This promised to be the best New Year that either of them had ever had, and the future seemed brighter than it had for a long time.
End
Author: amythest_n_ice
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jack/Ten
Spoilers/Warnings: Nope
Challenge: Summer Holidays
Prompt group: 2: first time - first kiss - beginnings - primordial
Summary: Jack has been waiting a for a long time, but some firsts are well worth waiting for.
**
Jack Harkness stood on top of the Torchwood Tower in Cardiff, looking down at the gathering crowd below. Only the name of the city remained the same now, it had changed and grown over the centuries he had been on the Earth. He snorted softly to himself, wondering when he had gone from thinking in terms of months and years to centuries and millennia.
His eyes flicked to the clock on the other side of the square, nine minutes to midnight, in nine minutes, he would see his fourth millennium celebration on this planet, and he wondered why the hell he was still here, he was still the head of Torchwood, but they didn’t need him, he had hundreds of loyal and well trained staff who could have taken over from him over the years.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the roof door opening, and footsteps crunching over the gravel, he glanced over his shoulder to see a distinguished man in uniform, with salt and pepper hair, and a stiff posture. The uniform already bore the new logo; Jack noticed idly, the Torchwood T melded neatly with the UNIT insignia.
“What is it, Brigadier Hopkins?” Jack asked tiredly.
“Sir, we need you downstairs,” Hopkins told him, snapping off a sharp salute.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure you can deal with it. The merger will be official in seven minutes, and that will make the orders I left on your desk go into force,” Jack told him, turning to stare out across the square once more.
“Orders, sir?”
“I’m stepping down, Hopkins, handing over command to you. I’m tired of it,” he sighed.
“Sir…”
“Dismissed, Hopkins. You can deal with it,” Jack told him sharply.
He heard the footsteps retreat once more, and sighed as the roof door closed again. He knew in his heart of hearts why he had stayed as long as he had, Earth was the one place he was almost guaranteed of seeing the Doctor, the one place where he could at least catch a glimpse of him occasionally, but in recent years, the Doctor had come to Earth less and less, leaving the defense of the planet to UNIT and the growing Torchwood organization, and Jack suspected the Doctor hadn’t forgiven him for disobeying his order to keep Torchwood the size it was, all those years ago.
The roof door opened again, and he growled low in his throat as feet crunched across the gravel yet again.
“Damn it, Hopkins, you can deal with whatever the hell it is,” he snapped without turning.
“Brigadier Hopkins said you were brooding up here.”
Startled, Jack turned around and saw the Doctor standing on the roof behind him, scruffy hair, pinstriped suit and those damn converse of his, a Doctor Jack hadn’t seen in far too long.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.
“Is that any way to speak to an old friend?” the Doctor pouted.
“Old friend? You avoided me for centuries, your later regenerations stopped coming to Earth at all, pretty much, and you want to call yourself an old friend?” he snapped bitterly.
“Oh Jack, I’m sorry things had to be that way, but there was no help for it, I had to wait for this moment in time, and my later selves, well, lets just say that would have been complicated beyond belief for them to be around you too much.”
“Complicated, right. What do you want, Doctor? Has the old Christmas Invasion been reinstated and shifted to New Year or something?” he sighed.
“No, I came for you, Jack.”
Jack snorted and turned his back on the Time Lord, looking over at the clock once more.
“Have I left it too late Jack? Do you hate me now?” the Doctor asked quietly, stepping up to stand beside him, looking at the revelers far below.
“I could never hate you, and you know it,” Jack pointed out sourly.
“I know, I never did give you enough credit, did I, Jack? I never bothered to look beyond the image of the flirt, the playboy image, that you projected,” the Doctor said quietly.
“Very few did, very few were allowed to. The only one who ever compared to you has been gone for a very long time.”
“Ianto Jones, I…”
”You were at the funeral, I know, I felt you there.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure how you would feel about me being there, so I didn’t stick around.”
“I needed you that day; you were the only one who could possibly have understood.”
“I’m sorry. Come with me, Jack, you’ve handed over command here, there’s nothing for you to stay for any more. Is there?”
“Why would I want to come with you?”
“I’ve grown up, Jack.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Far below, hundreds of voices rose in the traditional and long familiar countdown, and Jack half listened to them as he waited for the Doctor to answer his question. The clock tower across the square started to sound the bells of midnight, and Jack’s eyes widened in shock as the Doctor pulled him around, and down into a soft kiss.
“What was that for?” Jack asked when the Doctor released him.
“I told you, I’ve grown up, I’m tired of running from what I feel, Jack, I thought I was protecting myself by doing that, but I wasn’t. Come with me, Jack, don’t let our first kiss be our last,” the Doctor asked, watching the sparks of light in Jack’s eyes as the first of the fireworks exploded in the sky above them.
“Are you serious?”
“I’ve never been more serious, Jack. I know I’ve hurt you in the past, but give me a chance, please. I want you with me, Jack, friend, companion, lover, partner, whatever you want Jack. Come with me.”
“I’m not sure,” Jack hedged.
“What’s holding you here? You’re giving up the one thing you said that you had to stay for, the last time I asked. What is there to stay for now?”
“Nothing, nothing at all,” Jack admitted softly.
“Then come with me.”
“Tell me what you meant by complicated first.”
”This is a pivotal moment in our timelines Jack, yours and mine. Every time one of us came to Earth, was anywhere around you, it threw the timeline into flux, we could come with you as a companion, and by the time we left, you could be gone again. It was safer to stay away from you, to stop the timeline getting stretched anymore.”
“So you’re saying that the mood you left me in whenever you came and went affected the outcome of tonight, of the decision you’re asking me to make?”
“Yes,” the Doctor nodded.
“Will you kiss me again?” Jack asked, leaning forward slightly.
“Any time you want me to,” the Doctor told him almost shyly.
“Now would be good,” Jack pointed out.
Their second kiss was just as light and chaste as their first, but Jack smiled anyway as the Doctor released him.
“Where are we parked?” he asked.
“In the corner of your office.”
Jack grinned and led the Doctor off the roof, heading down toward his former office.
“Let’s go home then, Doctor. There’s another first that I’d like to have a chat about with you,” he smirked.
The Doctor’s ears turned red, but he didn’t resist as Jack pulled him along. This promised to be the best New Year that either of them had ever had, and the future seemed brighter than it had for a long time.
End