Flight and Capture
Title: Flight and Capture
Author: Llama1412
Universe: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Characters: Jack Harkness, The Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond
Disclaimer: Characters from the Doctor Who Universe do not belong to me.
Summary: Pre-Torchwood. Jack Harkness is assigned to investigate the presence of Daleks during World War II. Spoilers for Victory of the Daleks.
It was 1941, height of the London Blitz. Again. The man who'd once been called Jack Harkness by those he cared most about didn't particularly enjoy living through the same time twice. It got a bit boring after the first time, really.
Only, as it happened, this wasn't quite the same time as it should've been. In fact, it wasn't quite the same time as the history he'd studied relentlessly said it should be. This time wasn't right at all.
It was for that reason that he'd gone AWOL from Torchwood for a bit to investigate. He may not be the Doctor, but he was a trained Time Agent. He knew when a timeline had gone wrong, and he knew how to fix it.
In theory, anyway. In actuality, it was wartime and Churchill had a habit of locking up people who went nosing around top secret information. And it was from the brig in the Cabinet War Rooms that he heard the real experts come in.
The screeching-grinding noise the TARDIS made was unmistakable, even from as far away as Jack unfortunately was. For a moment, just one moment, he allowed himself to believe that the Doctor had come back for him, had come to tell him what happened and rescue him from a linear life.
In the next moment, he came back to himself and pushed silly dreams aside. The Doctor didn't even know he was here. Jack had died on the Game Station. If the Doctor had known otherwise, he would've gone back for him right away, surely. Otherwise he wouldn't have stranded Jack in this cursed life.
He shook his head. There was something weird going on here and the Doctor was here to fix it. That's what the Doctor did. For all he knew, it might not even be his Doctor. The alien was over nine hundred years old, after all. But whether it was his Doctor or not, if he needed help, Jack had to be able to give it to him.
Which he couldn't do under guard in a cell.
--
There were days he loved the silly sexual repression of the 20th century. It made people so much more susceptible to the intensity of hormones. Of course, the 51st century pheromones helped.
They helped so much, in fact, that it was almost no trouble to commandeer an air ship (revamped with a gravity bubble that could sustain life outside of the Terran atmosphere. Definitely not the proper timeline). With his assumed identity, he was finally able to discover what the hell was happening.
Daleks. He didn't know how it could be possible, but Daleks were above London, lighting the city up as one big target for German bombs. Daleks, a race that should've been completely destroyed after the Time War and the Delta Wave the Doctor had used on the Game Station.
This timeline was all wrong and London was about to be destroyed, but the only thing that really mattered to him at this point was the fact that the Doctor was apparently up there in the Dalek ship, no doubt trying to save the day, as always.
Well, Jack would save him. A transmission came through on his radio. "Broadsword to Danny Boy. Broadsword to Danny Boy. Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!"
Jack was good at taking orders, especially when they would save the Doctor's life. And he had to admit, it was wonderful to be back in space, even if it was just barely above the atmosphere.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Danny Boy to the Doctor. Are you receiving me? Over."
"Oh, Winston, you beauty!" A voice that definitely did not belong to his Doctor shouted.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Come in. Over."
"Loud and clear, Danny Boy. Big dish! Side of the ship! Blow it up! Over."
Well, that was easy, wasn't it? Jack grinned. Maybe not his Doctor, but definitely the Doctor. And that was good enough for him.
It had been a long time since he'd flown and longer still since he'd fought in space, but there were some things you never forgot and as he watched his men go down around him, he fervently hoped this was one of them.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Only me left now. Anything you can do, sir? Over."
"The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long."
"Good show, Doctor. Go to it. Over."
He fired at the disk until it exploded and listened to the cheers from Home Base. He'd done his job then. But it wasn't over.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Going in for another attack."
"The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy the ship! Over."
With pleasure. But... "What about you, Doctor?"
"I'll be okay."
It was so easy to doubt that, knowing the Doctor, but he had to believe. And the Daleks had to be destroyed. He was just moving in for that final victory, when the Doctor came in again. "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw."
"Say again, sir?"
"Withdraw! Ten to one. Over and out."
"But sir!"
"There's no time. You have to return to Earth now! Over." No! The Daleks would destroy Earth, destroy the universe if they could! He couldn't just let them go!
But it was the Doctor and he'd long ago decided to follow him where ever he went. Teeth clenched and knuckles white, he did as ordered and withdrew. The Doctor wouldn't call him off unless it was essential. Besides, this was the Doctor. He would take care of the Daleks. He had to.
And in the meantime, the Doctor would be returning to Earth, saving them again. And if Jack could get there fast enough...
He was tearing down the corridors as soon as he was properly landed. The TARDIS had to be near the brig for him to have heard it and if he could just tap his Vortex Manipulator into the right frequency... yes! There it was, that gorgeous blue blip on the screen.
He skidded into the corridor just in time to see a pretty-looking redhead bounce into the TARDIS. No, he couldn't be too slow. He couldn't be left behind again.
He was just opening his mouth to shout when the lanky man leaning against the TARDIS straightened with a snap, turning to look at him with surprising intensity.
"I thought that was your voice. Jack!"
Jack slammed into the man, knocking the breath out of him as he tightened his arms into a sturdy hug. The other man tensed, but his arms drifted up to return the hug.
"That's right, it's been some time for you, hasn't it?"
Jack stiffened. "'Some time'? It's been seventy-two years, Doctor! Believe me, I've counted every single month as it's passed! You left me!" he tried to push back, all the joy of seeing the Doctor again evaporating. The Doctor wouldn't let him go, though. He tightened his arms around Jack and hung on.
"Jack, Jack, my Jack. I'm sorry. It's been hell for you, I know, and it's my fault. I wish I could tell you more, I really do. But our timelines are out of synch. I'm from your future, Jack." He buried his face in Jack's neck. "I'm sorry, so sorry. I wish I could take you away from here."
Jack slumped, the fight going out of him. "But you can't."
"Paradox. I'd take away all you do in the future." His lips curved into a weak smile. "I'd probably cease to exist."
He pulled back and caught Jack's eye. "You will save my life, Captain. More times than you can imagine. You save the entire world, over and over again. I can't take that away from you."
Jack closed his eyes in resignation. "A seer I know told me I wouldn't find you until the twenty-first century."
"I'm sorry."
"Do I go with you again?" There was a desperate light in Jack's eye.
"I can't tell you that. You know I can't tell you that." He cupped Jack's cheek with callused hands, "but I'll tell you what: I don't mean it. What I say when you meet me again; I don't mean it. Or, well, I do, but not in the way you think. Not in the way I let you think. It..." he bent his neck to rest his forehead against Jack's. "It's really hard not to say more than I should," he complained.
Jack huffed out a laugh. "Tell me about it." The urge to ask more was almost unbearable, but he knew how timelines worked and more than that, he knew the Doctor. His questions would only go unanswered. He sighed and let his body relax into the Doctor's again. "It's not fair. I finally find you and you're not even the right one."
"Ah. Yeah, about that. How did you know it was me?"
"You did introduce yourself rather clearly to the Daleks." His fist clenched briefly in the Doctor's waistband at the name, but he forced himself to loosen it. "And the Blue Box is a bit of a give away."
The Doctor laughed. "Ah, yeah, she would be, wouldn't she?" The stood there in silence for a moment, savoring a closeness they hadn't had in a long time. "I'll look different. When you see me again. Pretty sure I can tell you that."
Jack nods. "I've seen drawings of you, ordered by Queen Victoria. She seems to hold a grudge."
"Ungrateful." The Doctor pouted, a look much more fitting on this face than it ever would've been on the face Jack had known.
"She considered you unholy. The reports on it were quite entertaining."
He snorted. "She didn't happen to remember the part with the werewolf, did she? And the bit where I saved her? Because that was the cool part."
"She might've glazed over it a bit, but it appeared, yeah." Jack's smile was genuine in a way it hadn't been for too long. "She also knighted you. Does that make you Sir Doctor?"
The Doctor's no doubt witty reply was interrupted by the pretty redhead. She cleared her throat, leaning outside the door. "Sorry. But I figured I'd mention all the World-War-II-minded soldiers before they walked in and had you imprisoned or something."
"Quite right!" The Doctor jerked away with a nervous chuckle. "Would be a bit embarrassing, wouldn't it? Getting imprisoned by Winston Churchill?" Jack cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, you didn't! Really?"
Jack shrugged. "Asked the wrong questions." He gazed longingly at the TARDIS for a moment before visibly steeling himself. "I suppose you have to go now."
"I'm sorry."
Jack nodded. "So am I." He smiled sadly, "I'll see you again, yeah?"
"You will. I promise."
"Good enough for me." He leaned forward to press a kiss to the Doctor's cheek. "See you, Doctor." He turned on his heel and left. It hurt, gods it hurt to leave the Doctor, but it was better than seeing the TARDIS leave him again. He wouldn't be able to take that.
For now, he would have to trust in the Doctor's promise. He would see the Doctor again. Maybe then he would find out what had happened to him and he would finally be able to travel with the Doctor again.
--
"So…" Amy leaned against the main console. "Who was that?"
"Captain Jack? Oh, just a friend."
"Friend?"
"I have lots of friends." The Doctor knew he sounded petulant. "That's the wrong Jack, though. Well, not wrong, only he is, but not…he's Jack from the past. Got a long time to live still before he sees me. And not even me-me."
"But you've got a time machine. Can't you just skip ahead?"
"It's complicated. And...not so sure he'd really wanna see me, after all that's happened."
Amy gave him a dubious look. "Sounds to me like he'd want to see you no matter what."
The Doctor shook his head. "He's got sixty-nine years plus a year that never happens to go through before our timelines synch up again. Lots happens, most of it not pleasant where I'm concerned." His voice was laden with guilt in a way Amy had never heard before. Time for a change of subject.
"Well, off to our next big adventure, yeah? Where are we off to next?"
The guilt and regret was forgotten as a wide grin spread across the Doctor's face. "All of Time is at our doorstep. Anywhere and everywhere you'd like to go..."
Amy smiled. That was her Doctor. And maybe she'd find out more about this Captain Jack of his later.
Author: Llama1412
Universe: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Characters: Jack Harkness, The Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond
Disclaimer: Characters from the Doctor Who Universe do not belong to me.
Summary: Pre-Torchwood. Jack Harkness is assigned to investigate the presence of Daleks during World War II. Spoilers for Victory of the Daleks.
It was 1941, height of the London Blitz. Again. The man who'd once been called Jack Harkness by those he cared most about didn't particularly enjoy living through the same time twice. It got a bit boring after the first time, really.
Only, as it happened, this wasn't quite the same time as it should've been. In fact, it wasn't quite the same time as the history he'd studied relentlessly said it should be. This time wasn't right at all.
It was for that reason that he'd gone AWOL from Torchwood for a bit to investigate. He may not be the Doctor, but he was a trained Time Agent. He knew when a timeline had gone wrong, and he knew how to fix it.
In theory, anyway. In actuality, it was wartime and Churchill had a habit of locking up people who went nosing around top secret information. And it was from the brig in the Cabinet War Rooms that he heard the real experts come in.
The screeching-grinding noise the TARDIS made was unmistakable, even from as far away as Jack unfortunately was. For a moment, just one moment, he allowed himself to believe that the Doctor had come back for him, had come to tell him what happened and rescue him from a linear life.
In the next moment, he came back to himself and pushed silly dreams aside. The Doctor didn't even know he was here. Jack had died on the Game Station. If the Doctor had known otherwise, he would've gone back for him right away, surely. Otherwise he wouldn't have stranded Jack in this cursed life.
He shook his head. There was something weird going on here and the Doctor was here to fix it. That's what the Doctor did. For all he knew, it might not even be his Doctor. The alien was over nine hundred years old, after all. But whether it was his Doctor or not, if he needed help, Jack had to be able to give it to him.
Which he couldn't do under guard in a cell.
--
There were days he loved the silly sexual repression of the 20th century. It made people so much more susceptible to the intensity of hormones. Of course, the 51st century pheromones helped.
They helped so much, in fact, that it was almost no trouble to commandeer an air ship (revamped with a gravity bubble that could sustain life outside of the Terran atmosphere. Definitely not the proper timeline). With his assumed identity, he was finally able to discover what the hell was happening.
Daleks. He didn't know how it could be possible, but Daleks were above London, lighting the city up as one big target for German bombs. Daleks, a race that should've been completely destroyed after the Time War and the Delta Wave the Doctor had used on the Game Station.
This timeline was all wrong and London was about to be destroyed, but the only thing that really mattered to him at this point was the fact that the Doctor was apparently up there in the Dalek ship, no doubt trying to save the day, as always.
Well, Jack would save him. A transmission came through on his radio. "Broadsword to Danny Boy. Broadsword to Danny Boy. Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!"
Jack was good at taking orders, especially when they would save the Doctor's life. And he had to admit, it was wonderful to be back in space, even if it was just barely above the atmosphere.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Danny Boy to the Doctor. Are you receiving me? Over."
"Oh, Winston, you beauty!" A voice that definitely did not belong to his Doctor shouted.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Come in. Over."
"Loud and clear, Danny Boy. Big dish! Side of the ship! Blow it up! Over."
Well, that was easy, wasn't it? Jack grinned. Maybe not his Doctor, but definitely the Doctor. And that was good enough for him.
It had been a long time since he'd flown and longer still since he'd fought in space, but there were some things you never forgot and as he watched his men go down around him, he fervently hoped this was one of them.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Only me left now. Anything you can do, sir? Over."
"The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long."
"Good show, Doctor. Go to it. Over."
He fired at the disk until it exploded and listened to the cheers from Home Base. He'd done his job then. But it wasn't over.
"Danny Boy to the Doctor. Going in for another attack."
"The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy the ship! Over."
With pleasure. But... "What about you, Doctor?"
"I'll be okay."
It was so easy to doubt that, knowing the Doctor, but he had to believe. And the Daleks had to be destroyed. He was just moving in for that final victory, when the Doctor came in again. "The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw."
"Say again, sir?"
"Withdraw! Ten to one. Over and out."
"But sir!"
"There's no time. You have to return to Earth now! Over." No! The Daleks would destroy Earth, destroy the universe if they could! He couldn't just let them go!
But it was the Doctor and he'd long ago decided to follow him where ever he went. Teeth clenched and knuckles white, he did as ordered and withdrew. The Doctor wouldn't call him off unless it was essential. Besides, this was the Doctor. He would take care of the Daleks. He had to.
And in the meantime, the Doctor would be returning to Earth, saving them again. And if Jack could get there fast enough...
He was tearing down the corridors as soon as he was properly landed. The TARDIS had to be near the brig for him to have heard it and if he could just tap his Vortex Manipulator into the right frequency... yes! There it was, that gorgeous blue blip on the screen.
He skidded into the corridor just in time to see a pretty-looking redhead bounce into the TARDIS. No, he couldn't be too slow. He couldn't be left behind again.
He was just opening his mouth to shout when the lanky man leaning against the TARDIS straightened with a snap, turning to look at him with surprising intensity.
"I thought that was your voice. Jack!"
Jack slammed into the man, knocking the breath out of him as he tightened his arms into a sturdy hug. The other man tensed, but his arms drifted up to return the hug.
"That's right, it's been some time for you, hasn't it?"
Jack stiffened. "'Some time'? It's been seventy-two years, Doctor! Believe me, I've counted every single month as it's passed! You left me!" he tried to push back, all the joy of seeing the Doctor again evaporating. The Doctor wouldn't let him go, though. He tightened his arms around Jack and hung on.
"Jack, Jack, my Jack. I'm sorry. It's been hell for you, I know, and it's my fault. I wish I could tell you more, I really do. But our timelines are out of synch. I'm from your future, Jack." He buried his face in Jack's neck. "I'm sorry, so sorry. I wish I could take you away from here."
Jack slumped, the fight going out of him. "But you can't."
"Paradox. I'd take away all you do in the future." His lips curved into a weak smile. "I'd probably cease to exist."
He pulled back and caught Jack's eye. "You will save my life, Captain. More times than you can imagine. You save the entire world, over and over again. I can't take that away from you."
Jack closed his eyes in resignation. "A seer I know told me I wouldn't find you until the twenty-first century."
"I'm sorry."
"Do I go with you again?" There was a desperate light in Jack's eye.
"I can't tell you that. You know I can't tell you that." He cupped Jack's cheek with callused hands, "but I'll tell you what: I don't mean it. What I say when you meet me again; I don't mean it. Or, well, I do, but not in the way you think. Not in the way I let you think. It..." he bent his neck to rest his forehead against Jack's. "It's really hard not to say more than I should," he complained.
Jack huffed out a laugh. "Tell me about it." The urge to ask more was almost unbearable, but he knew how timelines worked and more than that, he knew the Doctor. His questions would only go unanswered. He sighed and let his body relax into the Doctor's again. "It's not fair. I finally find you and you're not even the right one."
"Ah. Yeah, about that. How did you know it was me?"
"You did introduce yourself rather clearly to the Daleks." His fist clenched briefly in the Doctor's waistband at the name, but he forced himself to loosen it. "And the Blue Box is a bit of a give away."
The Doctor laughed. "Ah, yeah, she would be, wouldn't she?" The stood there in silence for a moment, savoring a closeness they hadn't had in a long time. "I'll look different. When you see me again. Pretty sure I can tell you that."
Jack nods. "I've seen drawings of you, ordered by Queen Victoria. She seems to hold a grudge."
"Ungrateful." The Doctor pouted, a look much more fitting on this face than it ever would've been on the face Jack had known.
"She considered you unholy. The reports on it were quite entertaining."
He snorted. "She didn't happen to remember the part with the werewolf, did she? And the bit where I saved her? Because that was the cool part."
"She might've glazed over it a bit, but it appeared, yeah." Jack's smile was genuine in a way it hadn't been for too long. "She also knighted you. Does that make you Sir Doctor?"
The Doctor's no doubt witty reply was interrupted by the pretty redhead. She cleared her throat, leaning outside the door. "Sorry. But I figured I'd mention all the World-War-II-minded soldiers before they walked in and had you imprisoned or something."
"Quite right!" The Doctor jerked away with a nervous chuckle. "Would be a bit embarrassing, wouldn't it? Getting imprisoned by Winston Churchill?" Jack cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, you didn't! Really?"
Jack shrugged. "Asked the wrong questions." He gazed longingly at the TARDIS for a moment before visibly steeling himself. "I suppose you have to go now."
"I'm sorry."
Jack nodded. "So am I." He smiled sadly, "I'll see you again, yeah?"
"You will. I promise."
"Good enough for me." He leaned forward to press a kiss to the Doctor's cheek. "See you, Doctor." He turned on his heel and left. It hurt, gods it hurt to leave the Doctor, but it was better than seeing the TARDIS leave him again. He wouldn't be able to take that.
For now, he would have to trust in the Doctor's promise. He would see the Doctor again. Maybe then he would find out what had happened to him and he would finally be able to travel with the Doctor again.
--
"So…" Amy leaned against the main console. "Who was that?"
"Captain Jack? Oh, just a friend."
"Friend?"
"I have lots of friends." The Doctor knew he sounded petulant. "That's the wrong Jack, though. Well, not wrong, only he is, but not…he's Jack from the past. Got a long time to live still before he sees me. And not even me-me."
"But you've got a time machine. Can't you just skip ahead?"
"It's complicated. And...not so sure he'd really wanna see me, after all that's happened."
Amy gave him a dubious look. "Sounds to me like he'd want to see you no matter what."
The Doctor shook his head. "He's got sixty-nine years plus a year that never happens to go through before our timelines synch up again. Lots happens, most of it not pleasant where I'm concerned." His voice was laden with guilt in a way Amy had never heard before. Time for a change of subject.
"Well, off to our next big adventure, yeah? Where are we off to next?"
The guilt and regret was forgotten as a wide grin spread across the Doctor's face. "All of Time is at our doorstep. Anywhere and everywhere you'd like to go..."
Amy smiled. That was her Doctor. And maybe she'd find out more about this Captain Jack of his later.