Fic: Through A Glass Darkly 6/6 FINAL
Story: Through A Glass Darkly
Author: wmr / wendymr
Characters: Rose Tyler, AU Ninth Doctor, AU Jack Harkness, Jackie Tyler
Rated: PG13
Disclaimer: Not mine, unfortunately, though I'm willing to pay in instalments...
Summary: It's only when she's finally given up looking for a way back that she finds him.
Written for the incredibly generous wiggiemomsi, who won my services in the September Support Stacie Auction. I promised a minimum-5000-words fic; you've ended up with a whopping 29,200 words. I hope you like it, Wiggie! With very many thanks to my fantastic team of BRs, dark_aegis, yamx and kae_nine.
Chapter 1: Shadow of the Past l Chapter 2: Tug of War l Chapter 3: Friction l Chapter 4: In The Way l Chapter 5: Full Disclosure
Chapter 6: Home
It’s a relief to hear the Doctor’s voice. She knows what just happened, after all. Jack had a flashback, and it took her close to a minute to get him out of it - and it’s her fault it happened.
The Doctor’ll make sure Jack’s okay. She didn’t miss that penetrating look he gave Jack just a second or two ago. She should get out of the way and leave them to it - and that’s when what the Doctor actually said sinks in. He can get the energy out of her. “You can?”
“Right now. Like I said.” His eyes are wide, in that you lost what few brain-cells you have? expression she knows so well.
Right now. In a few minutes - or however long it takes - she’ll be normal again. Safe again. She can go home.
Home. It is, isn’t it? This universe is home now. She’ll never get back to the universe she came from, and finally she’s at peace with that knowledge. After all, she has family and friends here who love her - and she’s had a completely unhoped-for bonus, the chance to spend a brief while with this Doctor and Jack.
Leaving them will be painful, but she can do it, and she’ll do it with her head held high.
She meets the Doctor’s gaze, chin lifted. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
He nods, an approving glint in his eyes, and holds out his hand to her. About to take it, she hesitates - Jack won’t like it, and she shouldn’t be treading on his territory - but a second later her other hand’s enfolded in a large, warm one. Jack says nothing, but the message is clear.
She slides her hand into the Doctor’s and the three of them walk in silence to the medical lab.
The silence suits her. Her mind’s crammed with thoughts - not about what the Doctor’s got to do to her and what happens next, but about Jack.
What must it have been like to be treated as if he were less than everyone else around him? Of course, Mickey’s experience gives her some insights, but Jack stuck it out for years. He didn’t go into detail, but it doesn’t take much to imagine. He spent years defending the Earth, and the human race, only for them to turn on him and treat him as less than dirt. And then... A shiver goes through her. When his planet was invaded, did he end up fighting people he trained with, served with?
No wonder he’s so damaged, so mistrustful of people like her. But he’s changing - that’s evident not just from the fact that he’s trusted her enough to tell her all of this, but also that he’s holding her hand, at his own initiative.
She’s so lucky to have been born when and where she was. No world wars or civil wars to live through; she’s never had the experience of seeing neighbours turn into enemies, or having to fight against the kind of prejudice that causes people to torture and kill. Oh, she’s seen it on the news, events in other parts of the world - both in her original universe and this one - and, of course, she’s been on the sidelines of some of it in her travels with the Doctor. But she’s never been part of it.
The Doctor has, and she always knew that. And now Jack.
She wants to ask him if he’s okay, but something tells her he wouldn’t want that. Probably feels it’d dent his macho image, the idiot. Anyway, the Doctor’s the one with the right to check up on him and offer comfort.
They’re at the medlab now, and the Doctor drops her hand, waving her forward. Out of the corner of her eye, as she walks in, she catches sight of the Doctor cupping the back of Jack’s neck, an expression on his face she always thought her version of this Doctor reserved for her: tender, concerned, caring. Jack leans into the Doctor’s hold, almost like a cat seeking affection.
Blink and you’ll miss it. Bare seconds later, they’ve moved apart. But she can see the difference in Jack’s eyes; the lost look he’s worn since she broke him out of the flashback is gone.
She moves to the table the Doctor’s had her lie on before, but he shakes his head and nods towards a chair that’s got unfamiliar machinery attached to it. “Need you here this time.”
Before she can move, Jack’s behind the chair, examining the equipment. "Is that a triphasic neuro-polarity reverser?"
“Couldn’t’ve put it better myself,” the Doctor comments, lips twitching, and her smile of fond memory’s only faintly tinged with regret.
She sits, giving the tri-whatever it is a wary look. “What’s it do, then?”
“Combines with this-” The Doctor pats a column-like object attached to the back of the chair and connecting with the ceiling. “-to draw the Vortex energy out of you, convert it and then feed it into the TARDIS. Vortex from another universe is roaming about inside you. Jus’ need to change its properties a bit, make it more palatable. Only way for the TARDIS to absorb it.” He starts attaching probes to her temples; although he’s gentle, she winces at the tiny pricks where they penetrate her skin.
A hand folds around hers; Jack’s crouching next to her. “You okay?”
She gives him a smile that’s only slightly nervous. “Yeah.”
“Looks pretty straightforward,” Jack says to the Doctor, his hand still firmly around hers. “Surprised it took you so long.”
“Wasn’t the reverser that took the time.” The Doctor straightens and moves to lean against a counter a few feet from her. “Had to work out how to convert the Vortex energy in Rose to something the TARDIS could absorb. Turns out the TARDIS knew all along an’ just wasn’t tellin’ me.”
Jack grins. “Sounds like she was trying to tell you something.”
“Or playing for time.” The Doctor’s gaze shifts to Rose, but he doesn’t explain what he means. “Right, then. This’ll take a while, and it might hurt a bit. I could put you to sleep, but it’s better for you if I don’t. You all right with that?”
She’ll have to be, won’t she? “Yeah, fine.”
Jack lets go of her hand; she feels the loss of the warm, firm grip immediately, but tries not to let it show. But he’s only gone to snag a chair and bring it over. He positions it so he’s sitting right in front of her with their knees touching, and he parts his thighs so her knees fit between them. Then he reaches out and catches both of her hands in his. “Whenever you’re ready, Doctor,” he says, glancing up briefly, then returns his gaze to her. “Grip me as hard as you need. I can take it.”
She stares down at their joined hands in disbelief. This is the man who, just days ago, could hardly bear to look at her, and for good reason. Hard to believe he’s now freely offering himself for comfort. Though it is typical of Jack Harkness - even this Jack, as she told him herself a few days ago. “Thanks.” She raises her gaze to smile at him.
The Doctor flips a switch and the skin all around her temples begins to tingle. She tries not to wince, but it’s difficult. The pain doesn’t go away, either, remaining as a constant throb. She grits her teeth, trying to brace against it, and focuses on regulating her breathing, a technique she learned in field training.
Then Jack’s hands tighten around hers, and he says, his voice light - though she can tell that it’s an effort, “You wanted to know about when I saved the Doctor’s life, back on Schattenwelt.”
Her heart slams against her rib-cage. “You don’t have to-”
“It’s okay.” His voice is quiet. “I want to.”
***
Every protective instinct he’s had towards Jack since the lad was sixteen years old impels him to divert the conversation. After all, it’s not even half an hour since Jack had another flashback, presumably as a result of Rose asking him questions - his first episode in weeks.
But Jack’s an adult, and one who fought hard to be treated that way by a Time Lord who sometimes found it difficult to accept that the boy had become a man. He only finally let go of the last faint paternalistic urge the year Jack kissed him and he allowed himself to be seduced.
He takes a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his fists. Jack knows what he’s doing; he has to trust in that knowledge, even if he’d prefer that this wasn’t indirectly his fault. He’s the one causing Rose pain - and she’s clearly hurting, her body tense and stiff and tiny beads of sweat at her temples - and that’s the only reason Jack’s doing this.
On the other hand, Jack probably needs to talk about Schattenwelt once and for all. And he’s here if it turns out to be a bad decision.
“If I’m gonna tell you about that,” Jack continues, “makes sense if I start with the war. Well, when I went back to Schattenwelt after quitting the Agency, I guess. Hadn’t been back for years,” he says, his voice turning distant. “It’d stopped being home long ago. But I guess when you’re made to feel different it kinda helps to be somewhere you fit in.” Jack smiles slightly. “I even went back to Boeshane - that’s the Peninsula where I grew up. Hadn’t been there since I was fourteen. Left there the day I lost my family.”
He hears an appalled, sympathetic gasp from Rose. “Oh, Jack.”
“Long time ago now.” Jack’s tone is too casual, of course. “Thing is, they died in an attack by what I only knew as the most terrifying creatures in existence. Never saw them, only their ships. What I didn’t know - what I only found out after I went back to the Boe - was who they were.”
The Doctor stills in his task. This is part of the story he hasn’t heard.
“Who?” Rose asks.
“A militia group called Pure Blood. I’d come across them on Earth. Nasty group - they’d been behind a few riots over the years, as well as several murders, all of people who weren’t completely human.”
“Your basic racists, in other words,” Rose says, and the Doctor can hear the disgust in her voice. He’d echo it, if he could find words right at this second.
“Yep. Anyway, I saw the wreckage of one of their ships in a museum of the invasion. Recognised the insignia immediately. I should have realised then,” Jack adds, his voice heavy. “By the time I left the Agency, Pure Blood’s propaganda had done its work. Some of their members had even been elected to government. It was only a matter of time before worlds like Schattenwelt got attacked.” Jack pauses, and the Doctor shoots him another quick glance. But he looks fine; he’s not sweating, and his colour’s normal. He resumes his task. The sooner this gets done, the sooner Jack can stop feeling that he has to take Rose’s mind off the energy-draining process.
“Anyway, the invasion happened, about sixteen months after I got home. We were ready, sort of - ever since the invasion of ’07, back when I was fourteen, they’d been preparing. I joined up, of course. Because I’d had Time Agency training, they made me a captain, for all the good it did. We were no match for their weapons or manpower.”
The Doctor nods, only half his attention on his equipment now. He remembers only too well overhearing mention of Schattenwelt’s fate on one of his visits to a human outpost, and realising the coincidence of time - that Jack was back on the planet by that time. He’d told himself that the fact that he hadn’t known about it meant that Jack’s fate wasn’t a fixed point, though he’s never quite dared to ask himself if he’d have gone regardless.
“So there I was one day, leading a team of detector-droids across a battlefield that’d been strafed with mines and robot-bombs, and I saw this guy lurching across the field, blood streaming from his head, narrowly missing at least three devices. I yelled at him to stay put, then picked my way over to him, by which time he’d started moving again. I just got to him in time to stop him putting his Doc Martens right on top of a mine.” Jack shakes his head, adding dryly, “Just what did you think you were doing, Doctor?”
“Lookin’ for you,” he says, equally dryly. He glances at Rose, who’s turned her head to look at him. He can see the tiny lines of tension around her eyes, but she seems to be coping with the discomfort now. “I’d managed to trace him to within half a mile or so of that field. That computer of his has its uses.” He smiles crookedly. “Trouble was, I got hit by shrapnel an’ could barely see where I was goin’. Would’ve looked just like your Doctor if Jack hadn’t rescued me.”
The rescue, of course, was followed by a lecture from Jack about his tendency to run through bodies - the fact that what had been twenty years for Jack had been well over four hundred for him was beside the point, as far as Jack was concerned. They’d spent the next couple of days arguing as Jack tried to persuade him to leave and he insisted he’d only go if Jack came with him.
In the end, he stayed, persuading himself that even if he already knew what the outcome was going to be there had to be some good he could do. He couldn’t save Schattenwelt, but he couldn’t bring himself to walk away and let Jack die.
“As for the rest of it... we carried on fighting, but we never had a hope,” Jack says, and he’s now staring into the distance, his gaze unfocused. “We didn’t realise, but they were just playing with us. We were completely outclassed - their weapons and tech were far, far advanced from what we had. Anyway, a week or two later - hard to keep track of time, really - our side’s intelligence found out what the plan was. They were gonna blow up the planet. So we tried to organise an evacuation...” His voice cracks, then trails off.
“Wasn’t anything that could’ve been done,” the Doctor says, continuing the story - it saves Jack the effort, at least. “There wasn’t time. Their intelligence said two days, but that was deliberate misinformation. They were still loading people onto rocket ships when the missiles were launched.” And he hopes that Jack never finds out just how much he knew about what was going to happen.
“How...” Rose has to swallow before she can finish her question. “How did you two get away?”
“The Doctor,” Jack says. “He went for the TARDIS once I told him what we’d heard. We were gonna take people to the rocket ships - he said he couldn’t use the TARDIS to take them off-planet, but at least we could try to get them to the evacuation ports quickly. Then we heard the incoming missiles - coming way too fast for us to intercept them, even if we’d had the tech - and the last thing I remember’s everything on fire and hearing screams all around me. I woke up in this room, with what was left of my clothes on the floor and the Doctor healing burns all over my body, and my planet nothing but a ball of fire.”
“Oh, Jack.” Rose lurches forward, almost pulling the probes out of her temples, freeing her hands so that she can hug him. Sod the probes, he decides, watching Jack bury his face in Rose’s hair; he’ll fix them in a minute.
Rose pulls back first, just enough to crane her neck again and look around at him. The fierceness of her gaze takes him aback. “I’m glad,” she says. “I’m glad you saved him, Doctor.”
“Me too,” he says under his breath, before gripping her shoulders and moving her back into position so that he can resecure the probes. “Me too.”
***
Yeah, and me too, he finds himself thinking as he wraps his hands around Rose’s again. And that brings him up sharply.
Ever since he regained consciousness and realised what had happened - to him, to Schattenwelt - that’s been a bone of contention between him and the Doctor. The Doctor should have left him there to die with his people, he’s argued. Why save him only to condemn him to surviving knowing he’s lost everything? And, of course, since the Doctor disagrees, it’s resulted in a bitter argument every time. Bitter because of his grief, naturally, but also because of the Doctor’s sometimes-sarcastic reminders that he’s not the only sole survivor of a vanished race.
They’ve just avoided the subject for weeks now, but he’s assumed it’s something they’ll never agree on. Now, though... Now, for the first time, he’s grateful. And guilt-stricken, too. It’s not as if he doesn’t know what the Doctor feels for him, or how much it would’ve hurt him to have to walk away and do nothing to help the millions of other Schattens who were doomed to die. The Doctor saved him, probably at the cost of his principles about interfering in established events - and, yes, he’s damned sure this was an established event and the Doctor knew it - and all he’s done is throw the Doctor’s gift back in his lover’s face. In the face of the only other person alive who knows exactly what it’s like to be the sole survivor of a doomed world.
He tilts his head, looking up at the Doctor where he stands checking the instruments attached to Rose, and waits until the Doctor notices his gaze. “Me too,” he says firmly. “Never said it, did I? Thank you for saving me, Doctor.”
Shock radiates from the Doctor, before it melts away, to be replaced by a beaming smile that lights up the room. “Welcome.”
Rose’s hands tense in his suddenly, and he’s reminded of what he’s actually supposed to be doing here. “Easy,” he murmurs soothingly, rubbing his thumbs over the backs of her hands. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she says on an exhale. “It just hurt for a moment. ‘S okay now.”
“Finished now, anyway,” the Doctor says, sounding pleased. “Jus’ give me a sec an’ I’ll have the probes out.”
“It’s worked?” she asks.
“Yep! All safe now, you are.” The Doctor carefully removes the probes as he speaks. “Oh, there’s traces still, but you’re not gonna be broadcastin’ an invitation across half the universe any more.”
Rose pulls her hands free of Jack’s, then stands, moving away from between his legs. “That means I can go home, then, right?”
“If you want to, yeah.” The Doctor sounds as surprised as he feels. It never occurred to him that she’d want to leave.
She shrugs a little awkwardly. “Well, you two didn’t exactly ask for an extra passenger...”
He feels the Doctor’s gaze on him. The message is clear: this is his call. And, of course, he knows the Doctor’s feelings on the subject anyway. The Doctor likes Rose. Likes having her around - and he’s let her know that.
No, the reason she feels unsure of her welcome is all down to him, and he knows it. He’s treated her every bit as shittily as he got treated by humans from his own time, and there’s no excuse for it, regardless of what happened to him. It’s up to him to put things right.
“Rose.” He closes the gap between them. “I’m sorry. I made you feel unwelcome here, and that was wrong no matter what. Don’t leave just because of me, please.”
“It’s not just that.” She’s still looking awkward, and he knows she’s lying. “Three’s a crowd, right?”
He cups her shoulders, drawing her closer. “Not as far as we’re concerned. Look, the Doctor really likes having you on board. And, now that I’ve stopped being an idiot, so do I.” It’s not even partly a lie, he realises as he says it. He tries a charming smile. “If you insist on going, I’m gonna feel it’s all my fault. Could send me into a decline.”
Her lips twitch. “You’re such a fraud, Jack Harkness.”
He summons a boyish grin. “But is it working?”
She looks as if she’s trying to stick to her guns, but then her mouth curves into a wide smile. “Yeah, it’s working. Last chance, Harkness. If you’d prefer me to go home, speak now or forever-”
“Hang on,” he interrupts as an impish thought occurs to him. “You’re saying if I speak that means I want you to go home? Then... ooh, better come up with some other method, hadn’t I?”
Her eyes widen and her lips part - and he pounces.
It was meant to be a teasing peck on the lips, a demonstration that he’s definitely not repelled by her any more, and proof to himself that the old flirt-with-anything Jack Harkness hasn’t vanished for good. But the instant his lips close over hers something happens.
Sparks fly. Stars dance. A hundred and one other clichés flash through his brain, but the point is that something completely unexpected’s going on.
He wants Rose. Wants her, as in every inch of him’s longing to undress them both slowly, lay her down on a convenient surface - any surface - and kiss her from head to toe before making love to her until she forgets her name.
Judging by the way she’s clinging to him, and pressing her body back against his, the feeling’s mutual.
“Oi! I am still here!”
It takes a second or two before the Doctor’s words penetrate the fog of his brain. Slowly, Jack raises his head, though he doesn’t let Rose go. In passing, he notices the way she’s looking at him: dazed and aroused. Good. It’s definitely not just him.
Instead of the resigned you flirtin’ again? expression he expects from the Doctor, he sees something else in the way his lover’s looking at the two of them. His mouth curves into a slow grin. “You could come over here and join in, you know.”
***
She can feel the hot flush spreading across her face. As if it’s not embarrassing enough that Jack’s kiss - in front of his lover - made her knees weak, he’s now put both her and the Doctor in a difficult position.
Oh, god, if either of them can read on her face how much she’s always wanted the Doctor to kiss her it’d be totally humiliating. Bad enough that Jack guessed, earlier, her disappointment that her Doctor never did.
The Doctor’s footsteps echo as he comes closer. Jack’s arms fall away from her and he steps aside to allow the Doctor in. She forces herself to look up at him as he approaches. The simplest thing would be if he’d just laugh it off, wouldn’t it? Pretend Jack’s joking - well, he has to be, right? - and she can laugh with him. Well, as long as she can sound convincing.
“Rose.” He’s standing right in front of her now, and she makes herself look into his eyes.
There’s long-suffering amusement there, but there’s something else besides. Affection - and desire. She wouldn’t believe it, except then his gaze drops to her lips briefly and she realises that he really does want to kiss her.
He raises one hand, laying the palm against her cheek. “Ignore him. This is you an’ me, Rose. You don’t want this, then shake your head an’ we’ll pretend it never happened. All right?”
She nods. There’s a lump in her throat and she couldn’t speak if she wanted to. She’s so completely aware of him, too, of his nearness, the shushing sound of his jacket as he shifts position, the familiar, long-lost scent of him. Whether it’s that Jack’s got her so turned on her senses are completely heightened, or if it’s that she’s been holding herself in check around the Doctor all this time and she’s finally let go, she has no idea - but it’s all she can do not to throw herself at him and kiss him every bit as wildly as she was just kissing Jack.
Almost without conscious intent, she leans up towards him. He lowers his head, tilting her face towards his with his palm, and their lips touch. His kiss is gentle, almost tentative, and she wants more but doesn’t dare push for fear of scaring him away - what if this is just an experiment for him? Or what if he’s only doing it to be friendly and if she tries to turn it into more he recoils?
His lips withdraw a fraction and she hears a whimper; she realises it’s her and she wants to fall through the floor. But his hand settles at her waist, drawing her closer to him, and he whispers her name, his breath ghosting over her lips. “Rose.” His parted lips touch hers again, with more pressure this time and a hint of tongue, and she goes up in flames.
She’s lost all sense of time when a warm hand lands on her shoulder and a second pair of lips glide over the side of her neck. A shiver runs through her, making her legs wobble again and intensifying sensations in the pit of her stomach she hasn’t felt in years.
When the Doctor lifts his head, she looks from one to the other of the faces so close to her, a mass of whirling emotions inside her. “What exactly’s happening here?” They’re together, so why are they kissing her? - and what does it mean that they both seem as affected by the kisses as she is?
Jack and the Doctor exchange glances; she catches a raised eyebrow from Jack and a nod, together with briefly rolled eyes, from the Doctor. “Think we’ve decided to keep you,” Jack says.
“Assumin’ you want to be kept,” the Doctor adds, giving her an assessing look. “Sort of jumping to conclusions here, a bit.”
Kept? She wants to stay, no doubt about that - but, after this, what position’s she being offered? There’s a place for her here, and it’s not playing gooseberry; the warmth and unmistakeable interest in both pairs of eyes looking at her tells her that. But is this just a novelty? A few snogs, maybe a one-time invitation to their bed - all of them together, she’s guessing given what’s just happened - and then back to just mates?
Jack tugs her closer to the two of them until they’re in a three-way embrace, both of them holding her. “This feels right, doesn’t it?” he murmurs, his voice sending shivers through her.
“Yeah.” The word’s escaped before she’s even consciously thought it. But it does, even if nothing in her experience has ever prepared her for this kind of situation - and she still doesn’t know where it’s going.
“Well, then,” the Doctor says, dropping his arms and stepping back from the two of them. “So, you’re stayin’. Good.” He reaches into his jacket pocket, rummages, then brings his hand out again. A chain dangles from his fingers, and at the end of the chain a small brass key is glowing. Her heart lurches.
He holds it out to her. “Welcome home.”
***
“Right, then!” He produces his widest smile. “Jack, give me a hand sorting all this stuff. Rose, you best go an’ put that key somewhere safe.”
Jack drops his arms from around Rose, his expression making clear he considers the Doctor a spoilsport. “Don’t go far,” he says, stealing another kiss from her.
She shakes her head at him and, pocketing the key, leaves the medlab. He doesn’t even need to see her face to know that she’s confused - about what’s happening between the three of them, and why he interrupted it. And he can almost hear Jack pouting.
Things were moving too quickly. Much more and they’d have ended up shagging on the medlab floor - and, apart from that offering too much scope for bruises, it would have been a bad idea. Oh, it’s not as if he wasn’t getting as carried away by the moment as the other two - and, unlike Jack, this doesn’t surprise him one bit. He’s been attracted to Rose Tyler from the moment Jack dragged her into the TARDIS and the intervening weeks have only intensified that initial response, though he never would’ve acted on it if Jack hadn’t precipitated this. But it’s too much too soon, especially for Jack.
“What was all that about?” As the echo of Rose’s footsteps vanishes, Jack stares at him, hands on hips. “Put the key somewhere safe? Now?”
“Call it a cooling-off period.” He starts dismantling the neuro-polarity reverser. “Think we all needed it.”
Jack opens his mouth to protest, then closes it again. They work together in silence for a minute or so, then Jack says, “We were going too fast for her?”
“Twenty-first century human. Not used to polyamorous relationships. An’ does she strike you as someone who’d be okay with a quick one-off shag?”
Jack just stares at him for a moment, then says, “Right. Too fast.” He dismantles the energy converter before speaking again. “Thought you knew I didn’t mean that.”
He shrugs faintly. “Thought you probably didn’t. Did Rose?”
Jack dips his head, looking a little ashamed. “Oops. Probably not.”
“It’s not just that,” he adds. “Just a week ago, you could barely talk to her. Can’t blame me for bein’ a bit concerned.”
This time, Jack straightens, abandoning his task. “Yeah, I couldn’t. I know what you’re saying, Doctor, but that’s not a problem now. You know what occurred to me earlier? When we were talking in the kitchen?”
“What?”
“She’s human, yeah, but from three thousand years before my time. How do we know that her family won’t turn out to be Schattens, not humans?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Good point. Could find out, I s’pose, if it matters?”
“Nah.” Instantly, Jack shakes his head. “That’s the point. It doesn’t. She’s Rose, and that’s all that matters.”
“Good.” The nagging disquiet he’s felt over the last twenty minutes disappears. “So, what next?”
Jack leans in and claims a kiss. “Next, I ask you if I’m the only one who thinks our bed’s big enough for three.”
***
Rose sits on her bed, turning the TARDIS key over and over in her hand as those few minutes in the medlab replay in her mind. A bare month ago, she’d have sworn she’d love her Doctor for the rest of her life. Now, she’s in love again - with this Doctor and Jack.
Where it’s going, she has no idea. The Doctor sent her away so the two of them could talk without her around, that’s clear, but what does that mean? Where can things possibly go from here?
Oh, she knows where she wants them to go. With her Doctor, she knows that never would have happened. With this Doctor - and with Jack apparently over his instinctual dislike of her - who knows?
Whatever happens, she’s staying. That’s not even in question. Travelling on the TARDIS again, visiting alien planets and having adventures, is the best sort of life there can be. Anything else is a bonus.
There’s a tap on her door, and she looks up and around to see the two of them standing in the doorway, shoulders pressed together. “Okay if we come in?” Jack asks.
“Course.” She loops the chain around her neck and lets the key fall between her breasts, then looks at them to wait for their decision.
“Got something to ask you.” The Doctor’s attempting unsuccessfully to smother a grin, and Jack’s not even trying to hide his. “Don’t snore, do you?”
***
Two weeks later, Jack takes a deep breath and prepares to open the TARDIS door. They’re here, a destination they promised Rose the day after the Doctor removed the Vortex energy from her and pronounced her safe - and the morning after she shared their bed for the first time.
Earth. Twenty-first century Earth, a long way from the era of the Pure Blood movement and the Time Agency, but still a place that gave him nightmares last time they were here.
Now, though, it doesn’t feel so much like an enemy planet. It’s just Rose’s - his lover’s - home. That’s no guarantee that he’ll feel any more comfortable about visiting the Earth of the fifty-first century, but he’s still come a long way from the man he was when he and the Doctor first followed Rose’s Vortex energy to this place and time. He’s healing, with the help of both the Doctor and Rose.
It’s helped, too, to remember that he’s not alone - that neither of his partners can go home either, since Rose can’t go back to her original universe. It’s starting to matter less, because they’re becoming each other’s family; each other’s home.
“Come on, slowcoach.” Rose pats him on the bum and gives him an impish grin. “My mum doesn’t like being kept waiting.”
Next to her, the Doctor shudders theatrically. “Who needs to go halfway across the universe to find scary aliens? Got one right here on your doorstep, Rose.”
She swipes at his shoulder. “Oi! That’s my mum you’re talking about!”
Before the Doctor can retaliate, Jack swoops in and steals a kiss from each of them. “Come on, guys. Whole world to explore out here. What’s that you always say, Doctor? Use the wrong verbs and kiss complete strangers?”
“Nah.” The Doctor brushes past, shoves the door open, then reaches back to grab both of their hands to pull them forward. “Might have bad breath.”
He can’t resist. “Come on, Doctor, Rose already told you not to talk about her mum like that!”
Still laughing, he wraps his arms around his partners’ shoulders and steers them along the crowded London street.
- end
Author: wmr / wendymr
Characters: Rose Tyler, AU Ninth Doctor, AU Jack Harkness, Jackie Tyler
Rated: PG13
Disclaimer: Not mine, unfortunately, though I'm willing to pay in instalments...
Summary: It's only when she's finally given up looking for a way back that she finds him.
Written for the incredibly generous wiggiemomsi, who won my services in the September Support Stacie Auction. I promised a minimum-5000-words fic; you've ended up with a whopping 29,200 words. I hope you like it, Wiggie! With very many thanks to my fantastic team of BRs, dark_aegis, yamx and kae_nine.
Chapter 1: Shadow of the Past l Chapter 2: Tug of War l Chapter 3: Friction l Chapter 4: In The Way l Chapter 5: Full Disclosure
Chapter 6: Home
It’s a relief to hear the Doctor’s voice. She knows what just happened, after all. Jack had a flashback, and it took her close to a minute to get him out of it - and it’s her fault it happened.
The Doctor’ll make sure Jack’s okay. She didn’t miss that penetrating look he gave Jack just a second or two ago. She should get out of the way and leave them to it - and that’s when what the Doctor actually said sinks in. He can get the energy out of her. “You can?”
“Right now. Like I said.” His eyes are wide, in that you lost what few brain-cells you have? expression she knows so well.
Right now. In a few minutes - or however long it takes - she’ll be normal again. Safe again. She can go home.
Home. It is, isn’t it? This universe is home now. She’ll never get back to the universe she came from, and finally she’s at peace with that knowledge. After all, she has family and friends here who love her - and she’s had a completely unhoped-for bonus, the chance to spend a brief while with this Doctor and Jack.
Leaving them will be painful, but she can do it, and she’ll do it with her head held high.
She meets the Doctor’s gaze, chin lifted. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
He nods, an approving glint in his eyes, and holds out his hand to her. About to take it, she hesitates - Jack won’t like it, and she shouldn’t be treading on his territory - but a second later her other hand’s enfolded in a large, warm one. Jack says nothing, but the message is clear.
She slides her hand into the Doctor’s and the three of them walk in silence to the medical lab.
The silence suits her. Her mind’s crammed with thoughts - not about what the Doctor’s got to do to her and what happens next, but about Jack.
What must it have been like to be treated as if he were less than everyone else around him? Of course, Mickey’s experience gives her some insights, but Jack stuck it out for years. He didn’t go into detail, but it doesn’t take much to imagine. He spent years defending the Earth, and the human race, only for them to turn on him and treat him as less than dirt. And then... A shiver goes through her. When his planet was invaded, did he end up fighting people he trained with, served with?
No wonder he’s so damaged, so mistrustful of people like her. But he’s changing - that’s evident not just from the fact that he’s trusted her enough to tell her all of this, but also that he’s holding her hand, at his own initiative.
She’s so lucky to have been born when and where she was. No world wars or civil wars to live through; she’s never had the experience of seeing neighbours turn into enemies, or having to fight against the kind of prejudice that causes people to torture and kill. Oh, she’s seen it on the news, events in other parts of the world - both in her original universe and this one - and, of course, she’s been on the sidelines of some of it in her travels with the Doctor. But she’s never been part of it.
The Doctor has, and she always knew that. And now Jack.
She wants to ask him if he’s okay, but something tells her he wouldn’t want that. Probably feels it’d dent his macho image, the idiot. Anyway, the Doctor’s the one with the right to check up on him and offer comfort.
They’re at the medlab now, and the Doctor drops her hand, waving her forward. Out of the corner of her eye, as she walks in, she catches sight of the Doctor cupping the back of Jack’s neck, an expression on his face she always thought her version of this Doctor reserved for her: tender, concerned, caring. Jack leans into the Doctor’s hold, almost like a cat seeking affection.
Blink and you’ll miss it. Bare seconds later, they’ve moved apart. But she can see the difference in Jack’s eyes; the lost look he’s worn since she broke him out of the flashback is gone.
She moves to the table the Doctor’s had her lie on before, but he shakes his head and nods towards a chair that’s got unfamiliar machinery attached to it. “Need you here this time.”
Before she can move, Jack’s behind the chair, examining the equipment. "Is that a triphasic neuro-polarity reverser?"
“Couldn’t’ve put it better myself,” the Doctor comments, lips twitching, and her smile of fond memory’s only faintly tinged with regret.
She sits, giving the tri-whatever it is a wary look. “What’s it do, then?”
“Combines with this-” The Doctor pats a column-like object attached to the back of the chair and connecting with the ceiling. “-to draw the Vortex energy out of you, convert it and then feed it into the TARDIS. Vortex from another universe is roaming about inside you. Jus’ need to change its properties a bit, make it more palatable. Only way for the TARDIS to absorb it.” He starts attaching probes to her temples; although he’s gentle, she winces at the tiny pricks where they penetrate her skin.
A hand folds around hers; Jack’s crouching next to her. “You okay?”
She gives him a smile that’s only slightly nervous. “Yeah.”
“Looks pretty straightforward,” Jack says to the Doctor, his hand still firmly around hers. “Surprised it took you so long.”
“Wasn’t the reverser that took the time.” The Doctor straightens and moves to lean against a counter a few feet from her. “Had to work out how to convert the Vortex energy in Rose to something the TARDIS could absorb. Turns out the TARDIS knew all along an’ just wasn’t tellin’ me.”
Jack grins. “Sounds like she was trying to tell you something.”
“Or playing for time.” The Doctor’s gaze shifts to Rose, but he doesn’t explain what he means. “Right, then. This’ll take a while, and it might hurt a bit. I could put you to sleep, but it’s better for you if I don’t. You all right with that?”
She’ll have to be, won’t she? “Yeah, fine.”
Jack lets go of her hand; she feels the loss of the warm, firm grip immediately, but tries not to let it show. But he’s only gone to snag a chair and bring it over. He positions it so he’s sitting right in front of her with their knees touching, and he parts his thighs so her knees fit between them. Then he reaches out and catches both of her hands in his. “Whenever you’re ready, Doctor,” he says, glancing up briefly, then returns his gaze to her. “Grip me as hard as you need. I can take it.”
She stares down at their joined hands in disbelief. This is the man who, just days ago, could hardly bear to look at her, and for good reason. Hard to believe he’s now freely offering himself for comfort. Though it is typical of Jack Harkness - even this Jack, as she told him herself a few days ago. “Thanks.” She raises her gaze to smile at him.
The Doctor flips a switch and the skin all around her temples begins to tingle. She tries not to wince, but it’s difficult. The pain doesn’t go away, either, remaining as a constant throb. She grits her teeth, trying to brace against it, and focuses on regulating her breathing, a technique she learned in field training.
Then Jack’s hands tighten around hers, and he says, his voice light - though she can tell that it’s an effort, “You wanted to know about when I saved the Doctor’s life, back on Schattenwelt.”
Her heart slams against her rib-cage. “You don’t have to-”
“It’s okay.” His voice is quiet. “I want to.”
***
Every protective instinct he’s had towards Jack since the lad was sixteen years old impels him to divert the conversation. After all, it’s not even half an hour since Jack had another flashback, presumably as a result of Rose asking him questions - his first episode in weeks.
But Jack’s an adult, and one who fought hard to be treated that way by a Time Lord who sometimes found it difficult to accept that the boy had become a man. He only finally let go of the last faint paternalistic urge the year Jack kissed him and he allowed himself to be seduced.
He takes a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his fists. Jack knows what he’s doing; he has to trust in that knowledge, even if he’d prefer that this wasn’t indirectly his fault. He’s the one causing Rose pain - and she’s clearly hurting, her body tense and stiff and tiny beads of sweat at her temples - and that’s the only reason Jack’s doing this.
On the other hand, Jack probably needs to talk about Schattenwelt once and for all. And he’s here if it turns out to be a bad decision.
“If I’m gonna tell you about that,” Jack continues, “makes sense if I start with the war. Well, when I went back to Schattenwelt after quitting the Agency, I guess. Hadn’t been back for years,” he says, his voice turning distant. “It’d stopped being home long ago. But I guess when you’re made to feel different it kinda helps to be somewhere you fit in.” Jack smiles slightly. “I even went back to Boeshane - that’s the Peninsula where I grew up. Hadn’t been there since I was fourteen. Left there the day I lost my family.”
He hears an appalled, sympathetic gasp from Rose. “Oh, Jack.”
“Long time ago now.” Jack’s tone is too casual, of course. “Thing is, they died in an attack by what I only knew as the most terrifying creatures in existence. Never saw them, only their ships. What I didn’t know - what I only found out after I went back to the Boe - was who they were.”
The Doctor stills in his task. This is part of the story he hasn’t heard.
“Who?” Rose asks.
“A militia group called Pure Blood. I’d come across them on Earth. Nasty group - they’d been behind a few riots over the years, as well as several murders, all of people who weren’t completely human.”
“Your basic racists, in other words,” Rose says, and the Doctor can hear the disgust in her voice. He’d echo it, if he could find words right at this second.
“Yep. Anyway, I saw the wreckage of one of their ships in a museum of the invasion. Recognised the insignia immediately. I should have realised then,” Jack adds, his voice heavy. “By the time I left the Agency, Pure Blood’s propaganda had done its work. Some of their members had even been elected to government. It was only a matter of time before worlds like Schattenwelt got attacked.” Jack pauses, and the Doctor shoots him another quick glance. But he looks fine; he’s not sweating, and his colour’s normal. He resumes his task. The sooner this gets done, the sooner Jack can stop feeling that he has to take Rose’s mind off the energy-draining process.
“Anyway, the invasion happened, about sixteen months after I got home. We were ready, sort of - ever since the invasion of ’07, back when I was fourteen, they’d been preparing. I joined up, of course. Because I’d had Time Agency training, they made me a captain, for all the good it did. We were no match for their weapons or manpower.”
The Doctor nods, only half his attention on his equipment now. He remembers only too well overhearing mention of Schattenwelt’s fate on one of his visits to a human outpost, and realising the coincidence of time - that Jack was back on the planet by that time. He’d told himself that the fact that he hadn’t known about it meant that Jack’s fate wasn’t a fixed point, though he’s never quite dared to ask himself if he’d have gone regardless.
“So there I was one day, leading a team of detector-droids across a battlefield that’d been strafed with mines and robot-bombs, and I saw this guy lurching across the field, blood streaming from his head, narrowly missing at least three devices. I yelled at him to stay put, then picked my way over to him, by which time he’d started moving again. I just got to him in time to stop him putting his Doc Martens right on top of a mine.” Jack shakes his head, adding dryly, “Just what did you think you were doing, Doctor?”
“Lookin’ for you,” he says, equally dryly. He glances at Rose, who’s turned her head to look at him. He can see the tiny lines of tension around her eyes, but she seems to be coping with the discomfort now. “I’d managed to trace him to within half a mile or so of that field. That computer of his has its uses.” He smiles crookedly. “Trouble was, I got hit by shrapnel an’ could barely see where I was goin’. Would’ve looked just like your Doctor if Jack hadn’t rescued me.”
The rescue, of course, was followed by a lecture from Jack about his tendency to run through bodies - the fact that what had been twenty years for Jack had been well over four hundred for him was beside the point, as far as Jack was concerned. They’d spent the next couple of days arguing as Jack tried to persuade him to leave and he insisted he’d only go if Jack came with him.
In the end, he stayed, persuading himself that even if he already knew what the outcome was going to be there had to be some good he could do. He couldn’t save Schattenwelt, but he couldn’t bring himself to walk away and let Jack die.
“As for the rest of it... we carried on fighting, but we never had a hope,” Jack says, and he’s now staring into the distance, his gaze unfocused. “We didn’t realise, but they were just playing with us. We were completely outclassed - their weapons and tech were far, far advanced from what we had. Anyway, a week or two later - hard to keep track of time, really - our side’s intelligence found out what the plan was. They were gonna blow up the planet. So we tried to organise an evacuation...” His voice cracks, then trails off.
“Wasn’t anything that could’ve been done,” the Doctor says, continuing the story - it saves Jack the effort, at least. “There wasn’t time. Their intelligence said two days, but that was deliberate misinformation. They were still loading people onto rocket ships when the missiles were launched.” And he hopes that Jack never finds out just how much he knew about what was going to happen.
“How...” Rose has to swallow before she can finish her question. “How did you two get away?”
“The Doctor,” Jack says. “He went for the TARDIS once I told him what we’d heard. We were gonna take people to the rocket ships - he said he couldn’t use the TARDIS to take them off-planet, but at least we could try to get them to the evacuation ports quickly. Then we heard the incoming missiles - coming way too fast for us to intercept them, even if we’d had the tech - and the last thing I remember’s everything on fire and hearing screams all around me. I woke up in this room, with what was left of my clothes on the floor and the Doctor healing burns all over my body, and my planet nothing but a ball of fire.”
“Oh, Jack.” Rose lurches forward, almost pulling the probes out of her temples, freeing her hands so that she can hug him. Sod the probes, he decides, watching Jack bury his face in Rose’s hair; he’ll fix them in a minute.
Rose pulls back first, just enough to crane her neck again and look around at him. The fierceness of her gaze takes him aback. “I’m glad,” she says. “I’m glad you saved him, Doctor.”
“Me too,” he says under his breath, before gripping her shoulders and moving her back into position so that he can resecure the probes. “Me too.”
***
Yeah, and me too, he finds himself thinking as he wraps his hands around Rose’s again. And that brings him up sharply.
Ever since he regained consciousness and realised what had happened - to him, to Schattenwelt - that’s been a bone of contention between him and the Doctor. The Doctor should have left him there to die with his people, he’s argued. Why save him only to condemn him to surviving knowing he’s lost everything? And, of course, since the Doctor disagrees, it’s resulted in a bitter argument every time. Bitter because of his grief, naturally, but also because of the Doctor’s sometimes-sarcastic reminders that he’s not the only sole survivor of a vanished race.
They’ve just avoided the subject for weeks now, but he’s assumed it’s something they’ll never agree on. Now, though... Now, for the first time, he’s grateful. And guilt-stricken, too. It’s not as if he doesn’t know what the Doctor feels for him, or how much it would’ve hurt him to have to walk away and do nothing to help the millions of other Schattens who were doomed to die. The Doctor saved him, probably at the cost of his principles about interfering in established events - and, yes, he’s damned sure this was an established event and the Doctor knew it - and all he’s done is throw the Doctor’s gift back in his lover’s face. In the face of the only other person alive who knows exactly what it’s like to be the sole survivor of a doomed world.
He tilts his head, looking up at the Doctor where he stands checking the instruments attached to Rose, and waits until the Doctor notices his gaze. “Me too,” he says firmly. “Never said it, did I? Thank you for saving me, Doctor.”
Shock radiates from the Doctor, before it melts away, to be replaced by a beaming smile that lights up the room. “Welcome.”
Rose’s hands tense in his suddenly, and he’s reminded of what he’s actually supposed to be doing here. “Easy,” he murmurs soothingly, rubbing his thumbs over the backs of her hands. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she says on an exhale. “It just hurt for a moment. ‘S okay now.”
“Finished now, anyway,” the Doctor says, sounding pleased. “Jus’ give me a sec an’ I’ll have the probes out.”
“It’s worked?” she asks.
“Yep! All safe now, you are.” The Doctor carefully removes the probes as he speaks. “Oh, there’s traces still, but you’re not gonna be broadcastin’ an invitation across half the universe any more.”
Rose pulls her hands free of Jack’s, then stands, moving away from between his legs. “That means I can go home, then, right?”
“If you want to, yeah.” The Doctor sounds as surprised as he feels. It never occurred to him that she’d want to leave.
She shrugs a little awkwardly. “Well, you two didn’t exactly ask for an extra passenger...”
He feels the Doctor’s gaze on him. The message is clear: this is his call. And, of course, he knows the Doctor’s feelings on the subject anyway. The Doctor likes Rose. Likes having her around - and he’s let her know that.
No, the reason she feels unsure of her welcome is all down to him, and he knows it. He’s treated her every bit as shittily as he got treated by humans from his own time, and there’s no excuse for it, regardless of what happened to him. It’s up to him to put things right.
“Rose.” He closes the gap between them. “I’m sorry. I made you feel unwelcome here, and that was wrong no matter what. Don’t leave just because of me, please.”
“It’s not just that.” She’s still looking awkward, and he knows she’s lying. “Three’s a crowd, right?”
He cups her shoulders, drawing her closer. “Not as far as we’re concerned. Look, the Doctor really likes having you on board. And, now that I’ve stopped being an idiot, so do I.” It’s not even partly a lie, he realises as he says it. He tries a charming smile. “If you insist on going, I’m gonna feel it’s all my fault. Could send me into a decline.”
Her lips twitch. “You’re such a fraud, Jack Harkness.”
He summons a boyish grin. “But is it working?”
She looks as if she’s trying to stick to her guns, but then her mouth curves into a wide smile. “Yeah, it’s working. Last chance, Harkness. If you’d prefer me to go home, speak now or forever-”
“Hang on,” he interrupts as an impish thought occurs to him. “You’re saying if I speak that means I want you to go home? Then... ooh, better come up with some other method, hadn’t I?”
Her eyes widen and her lips part - and he pounces.
It was meant to be a teasing peck on the lips, a demonstration that he’s definitely not repelled by her any more, and proof to himself that the old flirt-with-anything Jack Harkness hasn’t vanished for good. But the instant his lips close over hers something happens.
Sparks fly. Stars dance. A hundred and one other clichés flash through his brain, but the point is that something completely unexpected’s going on.
He wants Rose. Wants her, as in every inch of him’s longing to undress them both slowly, lay her down on a convenient surface - any surface - and kiss her from head to toe before making love to her until she forgets her name.
Judging by the way she’s clinging to him, and pressing her body back against his, the feeling’s mutual.
“Oi! I am still here!”
It takes a second or two before the Doctor’s words penetrate the fog of his brain. Slowly, Jack raises his head, though he doesn’t let Rose go. In passing, he notices the way she’s looking at him: dazed and aroused. Good. It’s definitely not just him.
Instead of the resigned you flirtin’ again? expression he expects from the Doctor, he sees something else in the way his lover’s looking at the two of them. His mouth curves into a slow grin. “You could come over here and join in, you know.”
***
She can feel the hot flush spreading across her face. As if it’s not embarrassing enough that Jack’s kiss - in front of his lover - made her knees weak, he’s now put both her and the Doctor in a difficult position.
Oh, god, if either of them can read on her face how much she’s always wanted the Doctor to kiss her it’d be totally humiliating. Bad enough that Jack guessed, earlier, her disappointment that her Doctor never did.
The Doctor’s footsteps echo as he comes closer. Jack’s arms fall away from her and he steps aside to allow the Doctor in. She forces herself to look up at him as he approaches. The simplest thing would be if he’d just laugh it off, wouldn’t it? Pretend Jack’s joking - well, he has to be, right? - and she can laugh with him. Well, as long as she can sound convincing.
“Rose.” He’s standing right in front of her now, and she makes herself look into his eyes.
There’s long-suffering amusement there, but there’s something else besides. Affection - and desire. She wouldn’t believe it, except then his gaze drops to her lips briefly and she realises that he really does want to kiss her.
He raises one hand, laying the palm against her cheek. “Ignore him. This is you an’ me, Rose. You don’t want this, then shake your head an’ we’ll pretend it never happened. All right?”
She nods. There’s a lump in her throat and she couldn’t speak if she wanted to. She’s so completely aware of him, too, of his nearness, the shushing sound of his jacket as he shifts position, the familiar, long-lost scent of him. Whether it’s that Jack’s got her so turned on her senses are completely heightened, or if it’s that she’s been holding herself in check around the Doctor all this time and she’s finally let go, she has no idea - but it’s all she can do not to throw herself at him and kiss him every bit as wildly as she was just kissing Jack.
Almost without conscious intent, she leans up towards him. He lowers his head, tilting her face towards his with his palm, and their lips touch. His kiss is gentle, almost tentative, and she wants more but doesn’t dare push for fear of scaring him away - what if this is just an experiment for him? Or what if he’s only doing it to be friendly and if she tries to turn it into more he recoils?
His lips withdraw a fraction and she hears a whimper; she realises it’s her and she wants to fall through the floor. But his hand settles at her waist, drawing her closer to him, and he whispers her name, his breath ghosting over her lips. “Rose.” His parted lips touch hers again, with more pressure this time and a hint of tongue, and she goes up in flames.
She’s lost all sense of time when a warm hand lands on her shoulder and a second pair of lips glide over the side of her neck. A shiver runs through her, making her legs wobble again and intensifying sensations in the pit of her stomach she hasn’t felt in years.
When the Doctor lifts his head, she looks from one to the other of the faces so close to her, a mass of whirling emotions inside her. “What exactly’s happening here?” They’re together, so why are they kissing her? - and what does it mean that they both seem as affected by the kisses as she is?
Jack and the Doctor exchange glances; she catches a raised eyebrow from Jack and a nod, together with briefly rolled eyes, from the Doctor. “Think we’ve decided to keep you,” Jack says.
“Assumin’ you want to be kept,” the Doctor adds, giving her an assessing look. “Sort of jumping to conclusions here, a bit.”
Kept? She wants to stay, no doubt about that - but, after this, what position’s she being offered? There’s a place for her here, and it’s not playing gooseberry; the warmth and unmistakeable interest in both pairs of eyes looking at her tells her that. But is this just a novelty? A few snogs, maybe a one-time invitation to their bed - all of them together, she’s guessing given what’s just happened - and then back to just mates?
Jack tugs her closer to the two of them until they’re in a three-way embrace, both of them holding her. “This feels right, doesn’t it?” he murmurs, his voice sending shivers through her.
“Yeah.” The word’s escaped before she’s even consciously thought it. But it does, even if nothing in her experience has ever prepared her for this kind of situation - and she still doesn’t know where it’s going.
“Well, then,” the Doctor says, dropping his arms and stepping back from the two of them. “So, you’re stayin’. Good.” He reaches into his jacket pocket, rummages, then brings his hand out again. A chain dangles from his fingers, and at the end of the chain a small brass key is glowing. Her heart lurches.
He holds it out to her. “Welcome home.”
***
“Right, then!” He produces his widest smile. “Jack, give me a hand sorting all this stuff. Rose, you best go an’ put that key somewhere safe.”
Jack drops his arms from around Rose, his expression making clear he considers the Doctor a spoilsport. “Don’t go far,” he says, stealing another kiss from her.
She shakes her head at him and, pocketing the key, leaves the medlab. He doesn’t even need to see her face to know that she’s confused - about what’s happening between the three of them, and why he interrupted it. And he can almost hear Jack pouting.
Things were moving too quickly. Much more and they’d have ended up shagging on the medlab floor - and, apart from that offering too much scope for bruises, it would have been a bad idea. Oh, it’s not as if he wasn’t getting as carried away by the moment as the other two - and, unlike Jack, this doesn’t surprise him one bit. He’s been attracted to Rose Tyler from the moment Jack dragged her into the TARDIS and the intervening weeks have only intensified that initial response, though he never would’ve acted on it if Jack hadn’t precipitated this. But it’s too much too soon, especially for Jack.
“What was all that about?” As the echo of Rose’s footsteps vanishes, Jack stares at him, hands on hips. “Put the key somewhere safe? Now?”
“Call it a cooling-off period.” He starts dismantling the neuro-polarity reverser. “Think we all needed it.”
Jack opens his mouth to protest, then closes it again. They work together in silence for a minute or so, then Jack says, “We were going too fast for her?”
“Twenty-first century human. Not used to polyamorous relationships. An’ does she strike you as someone who’d be okay with a quick one-off shag?”
Jack just stares at him for a moment, then says, “Right. Too fast.” He dismantles the energy converter before speaking again. “Thought you knew I didn’t mean that.”
He shrugs faintly. “Thought you probably didn’t. Did Rose?”
Jack dips his head, looking a little ashamed. “Oops. Probably not.”
“It’s not just that,” he adds. “Just a week ago, you could barely talk to her. Can’t blame me for bein’ a bit concerned.”
This time, Jack straightens, abandoning his task. “Yeah, I couldn’t. I know what you’re saying, Doctor, but that’s not a problem now. You know what occurred to me earlier? When we were talking in the kitchen?”
“What?”
“She’s human, yeah, but from three thousand years before my time. How do we know that her family won’t turn out to be Schattens, not humans?”
He raises an eyebrow. “Good point. Could find out, I s’pose, if it matters?”
“Nah.” Instantly, Jack shakes his head. “That’s the point. It doesn’t. She’s Rose, and that’s all that matters.”
“Good.” The nagging disquiet he’s felt over the last twenty minutes disappears. “So, what next?”
Jack leans in and claims a kiss. “Next, I ask you if I’m the only one who thinks our bed’s big enough for three.”
***
Rose sits on her bed, turning the TARDIS key over and over in her hand as those few minutes in the medlab replay in her mind. A bare month ago, she’d have sworn she’d love her Doctor for the rest of her life. Now, she’s in love again - with this Doctor and Jack.
Where it’s going, she has no idea. The Doctor sent her away so the two of them could talk without her around, that’s clear, but what does that mean? Where can things possibly go from here?
Oh, she knows where she wants them to go. With her Doctor, she knows that never would have happened. With this Doctor - and with Jack apparently over his instinctual dislike of her - who knows?
Whatever happens, she’s staying. That’s not even in question. Travelling on the TARDIS again, visiting alien planets and having adventures, is the best sort of life there can be. Anything else is a bonus.
There’s a tap on her door, and she looks up and around to see the two of them standing in the doorway, shoulders pressed together. “Okay if we come in?” Jack asks.
“Course.” She loops the chain around her neck and lets the key fall between her breasts, then looks at them to wait for their decision.
“Got something to ask you.” The Doctor’s attempting unsuccessfully to smother a grin, and Jack’s not even trying to hide his. “Don’t snore, do you?”
***
Two weeks later, Jack takes a deep breath and prepares to open the TARDIS door. They’re here, a destination they promised Rose the day after the Doctor removed the Vortex energy from her and pronounced her safe - and the morning after she shared their bed for the first time.
Earth. Twenty-first century Earth, a long way from the era of the Pure Blood movement and the Time Agency, but still a place that gave him nightmares last time they were here.
Now, though, it doesn’t feel so much like an enemy planet. It’s just Rose’s - his lover’s - home. That’s no guarantee that he’ll feel any more comfortable about visiting the Earth of the fifty-first century, but he’s still come a long way from the man he was when he and the Doctor first followed Rose’s Vortex energy to this place and time. He’s healing, with the help of both the Doctor and Rose.
It’s helped, too, to remember that he’s not alone - that neither of his partners can go home either, since Rose can’t go back to her original universe. It’s starting to matter less, because they’re becoming each other’s family; each other’s home.
“Come on, slowcoach.” Rose pats him on the bum and gives him an impish grin. “My mum doesn’t like being kept waiting.”
Next to her, the Doctor shudders theatrically. “Who needs to go halfway across the universe to find scary aliens? Got one right here on your doorstep, Rose.”
She swipes at his shoulder. “Oi! That’s my mum you’re talking about!”
Before the Doctor can retaliate, Jack swoops in and steals a kiss from each of them. “Come on, guys. Whole world to explore out here. What’s that you always say, Doctor? Use the wrong verbs and kiss complete strangers?”
“Nah.” The Doctor brushes past, shoves the door open, then reaches back to grab both of their hands to pull them forward. “Might have bad breath.”
He can’t resist. “Come on, Doctor, Rose already told you not to talk about her mum like that!”
Still laughing, he wraps his arms around his partners’ shoulders and steers them along the crowded London street.
- end