hero by mistake
title: hero by mistake
author: phinnia
fandom: torchwood/DW
character: jack harkness
rating: PGish
spoilers: dw s3, torchwood: COE (yeah, i know i said COE didn't exist. never written dr. who before either. be kind. <3) this is much more melancholy than my usual fluff. i'll try and write somethng featuring bananas or something soon. <3
prompt: today's comment_fic: "The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else." ~Umberto Eco
He's died hundreds of times, but was 'born' twice: once on Boeshane and once on the Gamestation, and he supposed that meant his 'mother' was Rose and his 'father' was the Doctor and how fucking Oedipal was that?
But it was exposure to the Doctor's particular brand of chivalrous madness that had made him into what he was now, today - someone who did things that needed to be done, that stepped up when times required it, not out of any desire for fame or glory, but simply because it was the right thing to do.
And then somehow everything went tits-up and the right thing turned into the wrong thing, the worst thing. And he'd realized that he'd wanted this for longer than he could remember - the chance to just up and run, to detach, to get the hell away, to choke on acid tears and just plain not be the responsible one anymore;
As Jack watched the little blue planet fall away he was gutsick with shame, paradoxically praying he'd never see that slender shadow falling cool across his path again because he'd have to look into those eyes and say he failed, and he couldn't bear it.
But then he remembered that beautiful face twisted in rage and shame as he cradled the Master's body and realized the Doctor might understand better than he thought.
author: phinnia
fandom: torchwood/DW
character: jack harkness
rating: PGish
spoilers: dw s3, torchwood: COE (yeah, i know i said COE didn't exist. never written dr. who before either. be kind. <3) this is much more melancholy than my usual fluff. i'll try and write somethng featuring bananas or something soon. <3
prompt: today's comment_fic: "The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else." ~Umberto Eco
He's died hundreds of times, but was 'born' twice: once on Boeshane and once on the Gamestation, and he supposed that meant his 'mother' was Rose and his 'father' was the Doctor and how fucking Oedipal was that?
But it was exposure to the Doctor's particular brand of chivalrous madness that had made him into what he was now, today - someone who did things that needed to be done, that stepped up when times required it, not out of any desire for fame or glory, but simply because it was the right thing to do.
And then somehow everything went tits-up and the right thing turned into the wrong thing, the worst thing. And he'd realized that he'd wanted this for longer than he could remember - the chance to just up and run, to detach, to get the hell away, to choke on acid tears and just plain not be the responsible one anymore;
As Jack watched the little blue planet fall away he was gutsick with shame, paradoxically praying he'd never see that slender shadow falling cool across his path again because he'd have to look into those eyes and say he failed, and he couldn't bear it.
But then he remembered that beautiful face twisted in rage and shame as he cradled the Master's body and realized the Doctor might understand better than he thought.