Broken Threads 7/7
Story: Broken Threads
Author: wmr wendymr
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Jack Harkness; appearances by Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper
Rated: PG13
Spoilers: Doctor Who universe up to Voyage of the Damned and AU from there; Torchwood universe: reference to many S2 episodes, up to and including Fragments, but AU from Sleeper onwards.
Summary: “Knew you always wanted me, Jack. I thought that if I gave you what you wanted... you might say yes.”
With very many thanks to dark_aegis for BRing and lots of brainstorming help. And please note: this is completely AU from most of S2 of Torchwood, and in particular from Exit Wounds.
Chapter 1: Proposition l Chapter 2: Tensions l Chapter 3: Decisions l Chapter 4: Departures l Chapter 5: Truths l Chapter 6: Consequences
Chapter 7: Choices
Oh. Now this is interesting. The Doctor clearly doesn’t like the fact that he’s going back to Cardiff. This time it’s not just the frenetic movements and the refusal to meet his gaze that are the giveaways; he’s actually showing it in his vocal tone too.
He reaches out to cover the Doctor’s hand with his, stilling the rapid movements across the console. “I have to. I want to stay, but you were right all along. I can’t just abandon them.”
“Yeah.” The Doctor nods, then swallows. “Said it before. Responsibility.”
“Yeah.” His lips turn down at the corners. “If there was a way I could stay and still keep an eye on them, I would. Wish there was.”
Which means this is going to be goodbye. After all this time, all those decades of loving the Doctor, of wanting him, of dreaming and fantasising of undressing that body of his - admittedly, for most of those years it was a different body he was fantasising over - he’s finally got what he wanted. The Doctor in his bed - or himself in the Doctor’s bed - as often as he wants it. Once the Doctor decided to let go of that strait-laced celibacy of his, he’s really been making up for lost time.
Can’t be helped. He’s needed, and much as he’d like to he can’t put pleasure above duty. And, since the Doctor’s not one for regular visits, he can’t count on continuing the relationship. Oh, maybe he’ll drop in once in a blue moon, but not enough to consider it keeping in touch.
The Doctor swings around suddenly to face him, and his eyes are wide, bright with that expression that means he’s got An Idea. Usually, according to him, it’s an idea of universe-saving proportions. Sometimes, too, it even is.
“Why can’t you do both?” Both? But how? “No reason why not. If you really want to stay, that is.”
“Oh, I do. Can’t you tell?” He grins suddenly, despite the twist in his gut at the thought of leaving, which even the Doctor’s cryptic suggestion hasn’t dispelled. “You were right, Doctor.”
“I was? Well, of course I was. I usually am. But... ah, about what?”
“Sex was always gonna do it.”
The Doctor shakes his head, but he’s barely managing to suppress a smile. “Anyway,” he says, firmly emphasising the word, “there is a way. Course there is.”
“Yeah?” He wants to hope, but his inner sceptic is still holding him back.
“We go back, see how they’re doing, save the day if they’ve got into any trouble, tell them how to do things and then leave them to it. Come back a few weeks later, or a few months, to check on them again.”
Well, it’s a bit more absentee management than he prefers, but it’s true that Gwen did seem to do a pretty good job of things in his absence before. And they were always complaining that he doesn’t delegate enough. Would it work? Could it work?
“Give me your phone.”
He blinks, giving the Doctor an enquiring look. “Phone,” the Doctor repeats. “That thing you carry around with you that connects to your Bluetooth headset.”
“I know what my phone is.” He tosses it over. “Just can’t see why you’d want it.”
The Doctor shakes his head, giving Jack a pitying smile that Jack just wants to kiss off his face. “Come on. Jack. Rose had one. Martha had one. A superphone? Trans-universe, temporally-capable mobile communication device?”
Right. So that his team can contact him if they need him. So he won’t be leaving them without help, without support. Yes, this can work. It will work.
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a genius, Doctor?”
“Not often enough,” the Doctor retorts, levering the back off his phone and doing stuff to it. After a couple of minutes, he throws it back. “There. New, Doctor-improved version. So, yes? Compromise solution?”
He grins, feeling lighter than he’s felt since that nagging sense of guilt over abandoning his team started to set in. “Yes.” Definitely yes.
“You know,” he continues, moving into his usual place by the console to play co-pilot, “you could’ve just asked me to stay right from the start. Or told me you want me to stick around. Hard to know I’m not wearing out my welcome otherwise.”
The Doctor gives him an impatient shake of the head. “Idiot. You humans, always wanting stuff spelt out. Thought you had more sense than that, Jack.”
The Doctor’d probably have spelt it out for Rose. But, then again, maybe not. In his last body, he’d have had needles stabbed into his eyes rather than actually admit to needing anyone.
But it’s obvious enough: the Doctor does want him here, and probably needs him too. That’s more than good enough.
***
Good. Problem solved. Now he doesn’t have to worry about Jack leaving.
As always, he’s tried to convince himself that he can cope with the departure of a companion - after all, he always has - but once that departure happens, or is imminent, he finds it’s not as easy as he’d pretended it would be. Especially when it’s someone who’s managed to sneak past his carefully-constructed protective shield. Like them but don’t get too attached, he’s always told himself, and mostly he manages to do that. Well, sort of. Well, all right, maybe not. But some departures do hurt more than others. Sarah’s. Charley’s. Rose’s, of course. Both times Jack left him before. And now Jack’s almost-departure for a third time. Problem averted, though. He really is brilliant.
Though of course if Jack is staying he can’t ignore Torchwood altogether. So, yes, they’ll have to make regular trips back to Cardiff for the foreseeable future, and possibly longish stays, too. Getting attached to one particular time and place. It’ll be almost like the UNIT days again, feeling tied down. Though of course he could always just drop Jack off and come back for him in a week or two - or use the TARDIS’s time-travel capabilities and go straight there. So maybe it won’t be so bad.
They’re arriving now, and together the two of them control the materialisation sequence. This time he’s landing up in the Plas again - might as well refuel while they’re there. And anyway, he doesn’t want to land in the Hub during the day, when the TARDIS might get a little too much attention from Jack’s team.
On his way to the door, Jack hesitates and half-turns. “Coming?”
This is familiar. In the beginning, whenever he brought Rose home for visits he always refused to come up with her to see Jackie. Took him a long time to see what he was doing. By staying away, he was forcing her to choose. If she spent time with one, it was a betrayal of the other, and that wasn’t fair to her. If Jackie hadn’t made the first move, by treating him as one of the family that Christmas and in doing so making clear she wasn’t going to fight his place in Rose’s life any more, he’d probably still have been doing it.
He had the good sense to accept Jackie’s olive branch and, in doing so, discovered he actually liked her. And between them they made things much easier for Rose.
Oh, Jackie Tyler’s a braver person than he is. And she’d never let him hear the end of it if she ever knew he’d thought that.
He smiles at Jack. Yes, lesson learned. And anyway, if he’s with Jack there might be less chance of Jack seeing his team and getting seduced by camaraderie into staying after all.
“Yep. Coming.”
***
The Doctor beside him, he takes the back entrance - the perception-filter elevator - down into the Hub. It’s actually an exciting feeling, the thought of seeing his team again, imagining their reactions. And with the Doctor by his side he’s got no need to worry that he’ll get left behind again.
The first person to notice him as they walk from the lift to the main work area is Tosh, and he’s glad of it. Quiet Tosh, always the one to hang back, to get overlooked. She just happens to be looking around as he approaches, and he gives her a huge grin and holds out his arms. She runs to him, squealing his name, which makes everyone else look around too, and then there’s a melee around him as he hugs them all one at a time, Tosh and Owen and then Ianto, who kisses him, but this time chastely.
Gwen hangs back and is last in line for a hug. When she pulls back, she thumps his bicep hard enough to make him protest. “What was that for?”
“Jack bloody Harkness! If you’d missed my wedding I’d’ve bloody killed you.”
“I’d only get right back up again,” he teases, pulling Gwen back into his arms and hugging her tightly. “As if I’d miss your wedding.” Though he’s lying and he knows it; he’d forgotten all about it until she mentioned it.
Well, at least he’s back in time, and the Doctor’ll just have to wait for him, because this is something he won’t miss. “When is it?”
She rolls her eyes at him. “Tomorrow, you git!”
“Hold on a minute.” The Doctor’s at his shoulder suddenly; he’d noticed his friend slipping back into the shadows while he had his reunion with the team. “Gwen -”
“Hello again, Dr Smith,” Gwen says, just a little coolly.
“Actually, it’s just the Doctor,” Jack corrects her. “I didn’t introduce him properly before - sorry. Guys, this is the Doctor. He and I travelled together for a while before I joined Torchwood. Back when I was still mortal.”
“Saved the universe a few times too, eh?” The Doctor’s smile is warm, and the hand that lands on his shoulder feels like an open statement of their closeness.
“Anyway,” the Doctor continues, looking at Gwen, “I hope you don’t mind, but I just happened to notice... what happened to your arm?”
That’s when he notices the bandage around Gwen’s forearm. She shrugs. “Had a bit of a run-in with an alien. He bit me when I got him trapped. Just your average day in Torchwood, really.”
The Doctor’s still staring intently at Gwen, and she looks uncomfortable. “I’m all right. Owen stitched me up.”
“Doctor?” His gaze flits from Gwen to the Doctor and back again. “What is it? Something’s bothering you.”
The Doctor steps forward, brushing past him, and stops directly in front of Gwen. In his hand, he’s holding the sonic screwdriver. “Got a faint trace of something that shouldn’t be here,” he explains, glancing back over his shoulder. “Can I see your arm?” he adds to Gwen.
She shrugs awkwardly, lifting it. The Doctor runs the screwdriver along it, and it bleeps loudly. “Oh, yes. I was right. That thing that bit you was a Nostravite, Gwen.”
“And let me guess... that’s not a good thing?” Ianto enquires, moving in close to Gwen.
The Doctor raises his head. “Well, unless Gwen and her fiancé want to give birth to an alien parasite foetus some time in the next twenty-four hours, no, not really.”
“What?” Gwen exclaims, and for a moment he thinks she’s going to hyperventilate. “I’m getting married tomorrow! In twenty-four hours we’ll be sitting down to dinner, with my mam and dad and Rhys’s mam and dad too. And you’re saying I’ll be pregnant? About to give birth?” As the Doctor nods slowly, sombrely, she claps her hands over her mouth. He can just about hear her say, “Brenda Williams already thinks I’m not good enough for her precious son as it is. Now she’s going to think I’m a complete slag!”
Oh, yeah. Looks like they came back just in time.
***
The Hub’s medical facility will do; he’d really prefer not to have to take half of Jack’s team into the TARDIS. Exploiting alien technology is part of their job. What they’d do to his ship... He shudders.
The implanted eggs are already visible on the scanner, and as everyone crowds around to look - except for Gwen, who’s lying on the bed under protest - he explains. “Nostravites, like I said. It’s how they work. The female passes the eggs to the male after fertilisation, but they don’t carry them to gestation. They find a convenient host to act as an incubator. Since you caught the male, Gwen, you were the obvious choice. He couldn’t die without ensuring his offspring were safe. So, tag, you’re it. One bite and you’re pregnant.”
“So, what?” Gwen asks. “There’s a female around somewhere, right? So all we have to do is find her and give her the eggs back?”
He rocks on his heels. “It’s not as simple as that.” Over her head, he catches Jack’s gaze. It’s clear that Jack’s not familiar with Nostravites, but he’s getting the general idea. “She won’t just take her eggs back. She has to wait until the eggs are ready to hatch. Then she tears the host apart to reclaim her child.”
“Tear-” Owen swings around, his gaze cold. “We’re not letting that happen.”
“Course not!” he exclaims. “You’ve got me here, haven’t you? Though you also need to know that Gwen’s not the only one in danger here.”
“She’s not?” Ianto asks. “What are these Nostravites?”
“Basically, your carnivorous, hunting, shape-shifting aliens. They can look like anything or anyone they want - and I mean anyone. Could be one of us, even. If there’s one of them on the loose, that’s bad. A whole lorry-full of bad. If anyone gets in her way, or even if she’s just feeling hungry, she’ll attack. And when a Nostravite attacks someone - well, let’s just say you don’t want to see the results. Gwen was lucky. Very lucky.”
“So what’s the plan?” That’s Jack, of course, all matter-of-fact and looking for answers. Results.
He rattles out instructions to Owen and Toshiko, who seem to be the most useful of the team at the moment, before turning back to Jack. “Abort this pregnancy before the female tracks Gwen down or the eggs’ alien biology harms her. And then use the eggs’ DNA to find the female and deal with her.” His voice is hard, and he knows how Jack will interpret it.
“Kill her, then.”
Oh, yes. This Nostravite isn’t another Beth. They’re scavengers, amoral, uncaring who they hurt in their path to what they want. “Yep.”
Gwen struggles to sit. “But this baby - it’s not hurt anyone-”
“Yet.” Jack’s voice is harsh too. “And you don’t know what it could be doing to you. Besides, you can’t carry it to term. You’re getting married tomorrow.”
“There’s no choice, Gwen,” he says firmly, but kindly. “Besides, shouldn’t your first pregnancy be something you choose, you and your husband?”
She subsides. “Do what you have to.”
He works, using Owen as assistant, while the others wait; he’s tempted to order them out of the room, but it seems Gwen’s gaining comfort from their presence and they’re worried about her. There’s a real team atmosphere here. It’s no wonder Jack wanted to return after the Year that Never Was.
It doesn’t take long. Laparoscopic surgery removes the eggs and a useful bit of alien technology in Torchwood’s possession seals the exit wound almost as well as the dermal regenerator would. Gwen’s a bit teary as he finishes, but she’s physically fine. Unharmed.
“Right. Now I need to trace the female. She’ll know her offspring’s dead and she’ll be looking for revenge.” He glances at Jack. “Your equipment here will do.”
“Okay.” Suddenly, Jack’s in charge. “Toshiko, work with the Doctor. Trace that female. Owen, make sure Gwen’s recovered and then take her home-”
“I’m fine, Jack,” Gwen interrupts. “There’s work to be done here.”
“Gwen, you’re getting married tomorrow.” Jack looms over her. “That’s the most important thing here, as far as you’re concerned. I told you when I recruited you, remember, that I didn’t want you getting so sucked up in this that you lost your life. Go home.”
Gwen looks mutinous, then says, “All right, but Rhys will come and get me. Don’t look like that, Jack. Rhys knows all about Torchwood. I couldn’t lie to him any more.”
“Gwen-”
“Don’t say a bloody word, Jack Harkness. Rhys saved our lives a few weeks back. You weren’t here. He knows everything, and the team’s okay with it.”
Weeks? They’ve been gone that long? And then the other thing she’s said hits him: Gwen said the team. Not the rest of the team. And his gaze shoots to Jack, who looks stunned, about to object... and then he nods. “Fine. Call Rhys.”
Jack swings around then. “Ianto, with me. Doctor, Tosh, let me know as soon as you’ve traced the Nostravite.”
He follows Toshiko out of the room, but while part of his mind’s already working out what he’ll need to use, the rest of it’s worrying about Jack. How’s he going to feel about losing his place here - and is he going to want to take it back?
***
He takes Ianto up to what was his office and is now very evidently Gwen’s. Yet more evidence that his place isn’t here any more. He’s not in charge, despite his little exercise of control down in the medical room. They’re getting on with things without him.
“I need an update,” he tells Ianto as he closes the door. “But first - you. You’re okay?”
Ianto smiles. “I’m fine. It’s good to see you, Jack.”
He studies his former lover carefully. It’s one thing to tell the Doctor that they were never serious; it’s another to face Ianto now that he’s deeply involved with someone else.
He takes a deep breath. It’s only fair that he be completely honest. “Ianto, the Doctor and-”
“I know.” Ianto cuts across him. “I could see it as soon as he came to stand next to you. I know he’s what you wanted, too. Does he make you happy?”
He nods. “Oh, yes.”
“Then I’m glad. It’s what you were always looking for, Jack. I’ll miss you, but I am happy for you.” Ianto leans in and kisses his cheek briefly before pulling back again. “Anyway, I’m with someone else now too.”
“Someone special?” He has to know.
Ianto nods. “And I think... if Gwen and Rhys can make it, maybe I can too.”
He nods in return, finding that he’s swallowing a lump in his throat. “Good. Now, fill me in on what’s been going on...”
A few weeks, apparently; longer than it’s been for him. He learns how Rhys found out about Torchwood and, in the process, risked his life to save the team. Owen getting shot and almost killed by a man he once admired, who was conducting unethical experiments with alien life-forms. And then the usual run-of-the-mill stuff, bad days and good.
Seems they managed fine without him. Maybe he’s not so essential after all - though, of course, there’s still what’s to come this century, not that far away now. All the same, they’re coping. They’re effective. And, yes, maybe they are ready, with or without him.
The Doctor runs in, Toshiko at his heels. “We’ve traced it.”
“Right.” He’s on his feet immediately, checking his weapon, working out the plan in his head. “I’ll take Owen. Toshiko, you stay-” Abruptly, he halts. “No. Owen, your call. I’m not in charge any more.”
A faint smile appears on Owen’s face, just for a second, before he issues a series of instructions. In seconds, the team’s dispersed, and it’s just him and the Doctor. “You’re sure about this, Jack?”
“Very. They don’t need me, and I can be here when they do. That’s all that matters.”
It is. He’s built a team he can be proud of, but it’s time to let go. Time to move on.
***
That’s all sorted, then; Gwen’s sent off home, Owen and Ianto take care of the Nostravite, with Toshiko giving them locations from her desk, and he and Jack don’t have to do anything. Though it feels odd, really, not being in the thick of it, not being the one to save the day for once. Yet it’s the right thing to do, especially for Jack’s sake.
They stay for the wedding, of course. Jack wouldn’t have it any other way, and strangely enough he doesn’t even want to find an excuse not to go. The ceremony goes without a hitch, even if the groom’s mother doesn’t look ecstatic about her new daughter-in-law, but the bride and groom are happy and that’s all that matters.
Ianto’s brought a guest, since they’re all officially off-duty; a young woman whom he introduces as Karen. The Doctor has to grin at Jack. “You do seem to find the flexible ones, don’t you?”
Jack grins back. “Just for that, you’re dancing with me, Doctor.”
“We’d scandalise the guests!” he protests, but Jack shakes his head.
“You’re not using that as an excuse. This country’s changing, Doctor. They even have same-sex marriages now. Civil partnerships, anyway.”
He gives Jack a wary look. “Now, just a-”
“Just a dance, Doctor.”
He rolls his eyes, but gives in, just as Owen and Toshiko take to the floor together, to Jack’s evident amusement. “Think I need to check that champagne for pheromones,” he comments dryly.
Then, later, they’re back in the TARDIS, just the two of them. They’re staying until morning; Jack wants to say goodbye to the team again and let them know how to contact him if they need him.
In the den, they make love slowly, with lots of lingering touches and kisses, then relax together in idle conversation, clothes in disarray, he sprawled across Jack’s lap. It’s all very comfortable and lazy, until the topic shifts unexpectedly.
“You never talk about Rose. I mean, other than when you told me what happened to her.”
Rose. Even now, after all this time, he instinctively freezes when her name’s mentioned. “What’s the point? She’s gone. She’s not coming back, and I can’t get to her.” He tries to sit up, to pull away, but Jack tugs him back.
“So, what? She’s gone, so you pretend she never existed?”
“I don’t pretend she didn’t exist! I talked about her, Jack. To Martha. And look how that turned out.”
“Yeah, but that’s different. Martha didn’t know her. And... well, it’s like talking about the ex with your new girlfriend. Yeah, yeah, I know she wasn’t your girlfriend, but the principle’s the same.” Jack runs his fingers lightly through his hair. “You can talk to me. I wish you would, actually.” His hand stills. “I loved her too, you know.”
Yes. Jack did. He always knew that; that’s why he explained what happened to her when they met on Malcassiro. It’s why Rose brought Jack back to life, of course. They loved each other. In fact... well, they all did, didn’t they?
“I love you.”
“Quite right too.” What a stupid thing to say! “Well, I suppose, if it’s my last chance to say it... Rose Tyler...”
“Yep,” he says, and the old lump’s back in his throat. Time to change the subject.
But, before he can, Jack’s got another question. “You’ve never tried to get her back, have you?”
“Told you, the walls have closed. It’s impossible, Jack. Don’t you think I’d have tried if there was any way?”
“You know, you keep using that word, and you’re always proved wrong. Think you’d have learned your lesson by now. I mean, look at me. You called me impossible, didn’t you?”
“That’s different.”
“Nah. Got me now. Two of us together, Doctor - not a lot we can’t do. Especially with my added... features.”
“I don’t see how you dying is gonna get us across the Void and into Pete’s World, Jack. And you think I like seeing you die over and over?”
Jack shrugs, and his fingers glide down to trace over the Doctor’s face. “I always come back.”
“Still. Not easy to watch.”
Jack leans down and ghosts a kiss over his lips. “Yeah. But it’s not a big deal, really.”
“It hurts you,” he points out. “Every time, I see-”
“Oh my god!”
They both whirl at the shocked female voice coming from the doorway. It’s not just that there’s someone else there; it’s that the voice is familiar. Achingly so.
But, by the time he’s turned his head, all he sees is a flash of blonde hair as the interloper breaks into a run.
Jack’s eyes are wide with disbelief, matching his own, he’s sure, as they help each other up and fasten the most obviously-disarrayed bits of clothing. Then suddenly Jack grins. “Looks like you were wrong again, Doctor. We’ve just seen the impossible.”
They have. Now, all they have to do is find her again.
- end
to be continued in Weaving.
Author: wmr wendymr
Characters: Tenth Doctor, Jack Harkness; appearances by Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper
Rated: PG13
Spoilers: Doctor Who universe up to Voyage of the Damned and AU from there; Torchwood universe: reference to many S2 episodes, up to and including Fragments, but AU from Sleeper onwards.
Summary: “Knew you always wanted me, Jack. I thought that if I gave you what you wanted... you might say yes.”
With very many thanks to dark_aegis for BRing and lots of brainstorming help. And please note: this is completely AU from most of S2 of Torchwood, and in particular from Exit Wounds.
Chapter 1: Proposition l Chapter 2: Tensions l Chapter 3: Decisions l Chapter 4: Departures l Chapter 5: Truths l Chapter 6: Consequences
Chapter 7: Choices
Oh. Now this is interesting. The Doctor clearly doesn’t like the fact that he’s going back to Cardiff. This time it’s not just the frenetic movements and the refusal to meet his gaze that are the giveaways; he’s actually showing it in his vocal tone too.
He reaches out to cover the Doctor’s hand with his, stilling the rapid movements across the console. “I have to. I want to stay, but you were right all along. I can’t just abandon them.”
“Yeah.” The Doctor nods, then swallows. “Said it before. Responsibility.”
“Yeah.” His lips turn down at the corners. “If there was a way I could stay and still keep an eye on them, I would. Wish there was.”
Which means this is going to be goodbye. After all this time, all those decades of loving the Doctor, of wanting him, of dreaming and fantasising of undressing that body of his - admittedly, for most of those years it was a different body he was fantasising over - he’s finally got what he wanted. The Doctor in his bed - or himself in the Doctor’s bed - as often as he wants it. Once the Doctor decided to let go of that strait-laced celibacy of his, he’s really been making up for lost time.
Can’t be helped. He’s needed, and much as he’d like to he can’t put pleasure above duty. And, since the Doctor’s not one for regular visits, he can’t count on continuing the relationship. Oh, maybe he’ll drop in once in a blue moon, but not enough to consider it keeping in touch.
The Doctor swings around suddenly to face him, and his eyes are wide, bright with that expression that means he’s got An Idea. Usually, according to him, it’s an idea of universe-saving proportions. Sometimes, too, it even is.
“Why can’t you do both?” Both? But how? “No reason why not. If you really want to stay, that is.”
“Oh, I do. Can’t you tell?” He grins suddenly, despite the twist in his gut at the thought of leaving, which even the Doctor’s cryptic suggestion hasn’t dispelled. “You were right, Doctor.”
“I was? Well, of course I was. I usually am. But... ah, about what?”
“Sex was always gonna do it.”
The Doctor shakes his head, but he’s barely managing to suppress a smile. “Anyway,” he says, firmly emphasising the word, “there is a way. Course there is.”
“Yeah?” He wants to hope, but his inner sceptic is still holding him back.
“We go back, see how they’re doing, save the day if they’ve got into any trouble, tell them how to do things and then leave them to it. Come back a few weeks later, or a few months, to check on them again.”
Well, it’s a bit more absentee management than he prefers, but it’s true that Gwen did seem to do a pretty good job of things in his absence before. And they were always complaining that he doesn’t delegate enough. Would it work? Could it work?
“Give me your phone.”
He blinks, giving the Doctor an enquiring look. “Phone,” the Doctor repeats. “That thing you carry around with you that connects to your Bluetooth headset.”
“I know what my phone is.” He tosses it over. “Just can’t see why you’d want it.”
The Doctor shakes his head, giving Jack a pitying smile that Jack just wants to kiss off his face. “Come on. Jack. Rose had one. Martha had one. A superphone? Trans-universe, temporally-capable mobile communication device?”
Right. So that his team can contact him if they need him. So he won’t be leaving them without help, without support. Yes, this can work. It will work.
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a genius, Doctor?”
“Not often enough,” the Doctor retorts, levering the back off his phone and doing stuff to it. After a couple of minutes, he throws it back. “There. New, Doctor-improved version. So, yes? Compromise solution?”
He grins, feeling lighter than he’s felt since that nagging sense of guilt over abandoning his team started to set in. “Yes.” Definitely yes.
“You know,” he continues, moving into his usual place by the console to play co-pilot, “you could’ve just asked me to stay right from the start. Or told me you want me to stick around. Hard to know I’m not wearing out my welcome otherwise.”
The Doctor gives him an impatient shake of the head. “Idiot. You humans, always wanting stuff spelt out. Thought you had more sense than that, Jack.”
The Doctor’d probably have spelt it out for Rose. But, then again, maybe not. In his last body, he’d have had needles stabbed into his eyes rather than actually admit to needing anyone.
But it’s obvious enough: the Doctor does want him here, and probably needs him too. That’s more than good enough.
***
Good. Problem solved. Now he doesn’t have to worry about Jack leaving.
As always, he’s tried to convince himself that he can cope with the departure of a companion - after all, he always has - but once that departure happens, or is imminent, he finds it’s not as easy as he’d pretended it would be. Especially when it’s someone who’s managed to sneak past his carefully-constructed protective shield. Like them but don’t get too attached, he’s always told himself, and mostly he manages to do that. Well, sort of. Well, all right, maybe not. But some departures do hurt more than others. Sarah’s. Charley’s. Rose’s, of course. Both times Jack left him before. And now Jack’s almost-departure for a third time. Problem averted, though. He really is brilliant.
Though of course if Jack is staying he can’t ignore Torchwood altogether. So, yes, they’ll have to make regular trips back to Cardiff for the foreseeable future, and possibly longish stays, too. Getting attached to one particular time and place. It’ll be almost like the UNIT days again, feeling tied down. Though of course he could always just drop Jack off and come back for him in a week or two - or use the TARDIS’s time-travel capabilities and go straight there. So maybe it won’t be so bad.
They’re arriving now, and together the two of them control the materialisation sequence. This time he’s landing up in the Plas again - might as well refuel while they’re there. And anyway, he doesn’t want to land in the Hub during the day, when the TARDIS might get a little too much attention from Jack’s team.
On his way to the door, Jack hesitates and half-turns. “Coming?”
This is familiar. In the beginning, whenever he brought Rose home for visits he always refused to come up with her to see Jackie. Took him a long time to see what he was doing. By staying away, he was forcing her to choose. If she spent time with one, it was a betrayal of the other, and that wasn’t fair to her. If Jackie hadn’t made the first move, by treating him as one of the family that Christmas and in doing so making clear she wasn’t going to fight his place in Rose’s life any more, he’d probably still have been doing it.
He had the good sense to accept Jackie’s olive branch and, in doing so, discovered he actually liked her. And between them they made things much easier for Rose.
Oh, Jackie Tyler’s a braver person than he is. And she’d never let him hear the end of it if she ever knew he’d thought that.
He smiles at Jack. Yes, lesson learned. And anyway, if he’s with Jack there might be less chance of Jack seeing his team and getting seduced by camaraderie into staying after all.
“Yep. Coming.”
***
The Doctor beside him, he takes the back entrance - the perception-filter elevator - down into the Hub. It’s actually an exciting feeling, the thought of seeing his team again, imagining their reactions. And with the Doctor by his side he’s got no need to worry that he’ll get left behind again.
The first person to notice him as they walk from the lift to the main work area is Tosh, and he’s glad of it. Quiet Tosh, always the one to hang back, to get overlooked. She just happens to be looking around as he approaches, and he gives her a huge grin and holds out his arms. She runs to him, squealing his name, which makes everyone else look around too, and then there’s a melee around him as he hugs them all one at a time, Tosh and Owen and then Ianto, who kisses him, but this time chastely.
Gwen hangs back and is last in line for a hug. When she pulls back, she thumps his bicep hard enough to make him protest. “What was that for?”
“Jack bloody Harkness! If you’d missed my wedding I’d’ve bloody killed you.”
“I’d only get right back up again,” he teases, pulling Gwen back into his arms and hugging her tightly. “As if I’d miss your wedding.” Though he’s lying and he knows it; he’d forgotten all about it until she mentioned it.
Well, at least he’s back in time, and the Doctor’ll just have to wait for him, because this is something he won’t miss. “When is it?”
She rolls her eyes at him. “Tomorrow, you git!”
“Hold on a minute.” The Doctor’s at his shoulder suddenly; he’d noticed his friend slipping back into the shadows while he had his reunion with the team. “Gwen -”
“Hello again, Dr Smith,” Gwen says, just a little coolly.
“Actually, it’s just the Doctor,” Jack corrects her. “I didn’t introduce him properly before - sorry. Guys, this is the Doctor. He and I travelled together for a while before I joined Torchwood. Back when I was still mortal.”
“Saved the universe a few times too, eh?” The Doctor’s smile is warm, and the hand that lands on his shoulder feels like an open statement of their closeness.
“Anyway,” the Doctor continues, looking at Gwen, “I hope you don’t mind, but I just happened to notice... what happened to your arm?”
That’s when he notices the bandage around Gwen’s forearm. She shrugs. “Had a bit of a run-in with an alien. He bit me when I got him trapped. Just your average day in Torchwood, really.”
The Doctor’s still staring intently at Gwen, and she looks uncomfortable. “I’m all right. Owen stitched me up.”
“Doctor?” His gaze flits from Gwen to the Doctor and back again. “What is it? Something’s bothering you.”
The Doctor steps forward, brushing past him, and stops directly in front of Gwen. In his hand, he’s holding the sonic screwdriver. “Got a faint trace of something that shouldn’t be here,” he explains, glancing back over his shoulder. “Can I see your arm?” he adds to Gwen.
She shrugs awkwardly, lifting it. The Doctor runs the screwdriver along it, and it bleeps loudly. “Oh, yes. I was right. That thing that bit you was a Nostravite, Gwen.”
“And let me guess... that’s not a good thing?” Ianto enquires, moving in close to Gwen.
The Doctor raises his head. “Well, unless Gwen and her fiancé want to give birth to an alien parasite foetus some time in the next twenty-four hours, no, not really.”
“What?” Gwen exclaims, and for a moment he thinks she’s going to hyperventilate. “I’m getting married tomorrow! In twenty-four hours we’ll be sitting down to dinner, with my mam and dad and Rhys’s mam and dad too. And you’re saying I’ll be pregnant? About to give birth?” As the Doctor nods slowly, sombrely, she claps her hands over her mouth. He can just about hear her say, “Brenda Williams already thinks I’m not good enough for her precious son as it is. Now she’s going to think I’m a complete slag!”
Oh, yeah. Looks like they came back just in time.
***
The Hub’s medical facility will do; he’d really prefer not to have to take half of Jack’s team into the TARDIS. Exploiting alien technology is part of their job. What they’d do to his ship... He shudders.
The implanted eggs are already visible on the scanner, and as everyone crowds around to look - except for Gwen, who’s lying on the bed under protest - he explains. “Nostravites, like I said. It’s how they work. The female passes the eggs to the male after fertilisation, but they don’t carry them to gestation. They find a convenient host to act as an incubator. Since you caught the male, Gwen, you were the obvious choice. He couldn’t die without ensuring his offspring were safe. So, tag, you’re it. One bite and you’re pregnant.”
“So, what?” Gwen asks. “There’s a female around somewhere, right? So all we have to do is find her and give her the eggs back?”
He rocks on his heels. “It’s not as simple as that.” Over her head, he catches Jack’s gaze. It’s clear that Jack’s not familiar with Nostravites, but he’s getting the general idea. “She won’t just take her eggs back. She has to wait until the eggs are ready to hatch. Then she tears the host apart to reclaim her child.”
“Tear-” Owen swings around, his gaze cold. “We’re not letting that happen.”
“Course not!” he exclaims. “You’ve got me here, haven’t you? Though you also need to know that Gwen’s not the only one in danger here.”
“She’s not?” Ianto asks. “What are these Nostravites?”
“Basically, your carnivorous, hunting, shape-shifting aliens. They can look like anything or anyone they want - and I mean anyone. Could be one of us, even. If there’s one of them on the loose, that’s bad. A whole lorry-full of bad. If anyone gets in her way, or even if she’s just feeling hungry, she’ll attack. And when a Nostravite attacks someone - well, let’s just say you don’t want to see the results. Gwen was lucky. Very lucky.”
“So what’s the plan?” That’s Jack, of course, all matter-of-fact and looking for answers. Results.
He rattles out instructions to Owen and Toshiko, who seem to be the most useful of the team at the moment, before turning back to Jack. “Abort this pregnancy before the female tracks Gwen down or the eggs’ alien biology harms her. And then use the eggs’ DNA to find the female and deal with her.” His voice is hard, and he knows how Jack will interpret it.
“Kill her, then.”
Oh, yes. This Nostravite isn’t another Beth. They’re scavengers, amoral, uncaring who they hurt in their path to what they want. “Yep.”
Gwen struggles to sit. “But this baby - it’s not hurt anyone-”
“Yet.” Jack’s voice is harsh too. “And you don’t know what it could be doing to you. Besides, you can’t carry it to term. You’re getting married tomorrow.”
“There’s no choice, Gwen,” he says firmly, but kindly. “Besides, shouldn’t your first pregnancy be something you choose, you and your husband?”
She subsides. “Do what you have to.”
He works, using Owen as assistant, while the others wait; he’s tempted to order them out of the room, but it seems Gwen’s gaining comfort from their presence and they’re worried about her. There’s a real team atmosphere here. It’s no wonder Jack wanted to return after the Year that Never Was.
It doesn’t take long. Laparoscopic surgery removes the eggs and a useful bit of alien technology in Torchwood’s possession seals the exit wound almost as well as the dermal regenerator would. Gwen’s a bit teary as he finishes, but she’s physically fine. Unharmed.
“Right. Now I need to trace the female. She’ll know her offspring’s dead and she’ll be looking for revenge.” He glances at Jack. “Your equipment here will do.”
“Okay.” Suddenly, Jack’s in charge. “Toshiko, work with the Doctor. Trace that female. Owen, make sure Gwen’s recovered and then take her home-”
“I’m fine, Jack,” Gwen interrupts. “There’s work to be done here.”
“Gwen, you’re getting married tomorrow.” Jack looms over her. “That’s the most important thing here, as far as you’re concerned. I told you when I recruited you, remember, that I didn’t want you getting so sucked up in this that you lost your life. Go home.”
Gwen looks mutinous, then says, “All right, but Rhys will come and get me. Don’t look like that, Jack. Rhys knows all about Torchwood. I couldn’t lie to him any more.”
“Gwen-”
“Don’t say a bloody word, Jack Harkness. Rhys saved our lives a few weeks back. You weren’t here. He knows everything, and the team’s okay with it.”
Weeks? They’ve been gone that long? And then the other thing she’s said hits him: Gwen said the team. Not the rest of the team. And his gaze shoots to Jack, who looks stunned, about to object... and then he nods. “Fine. Call Rhys.”
Jack swings around then. “Ianto, with me. Doctor, Tosh, let me know as soon as you’ve traced the Nostravite.”
He follows Toshiko out of the room, but while part of his mind’s already working out what he’ll need to use, the rest of it’s worrying about Jack. How’s he going to feel about losing his place here - and is he going to want to take it back?
***
He takes Ianto up to what was his office and is now very evidently Gwen’s. Yet more evidence that his place isn’t here any more. He’s not in charge, despite his little exercise of control down in the medical room. They’re getting on with things without him.
“I need an update,” he tells Ianto as he closes the door. “But first - you. You’re okay?”
Ianto smiles. “I’m fine. It’s good to see you, Jack.”
He studies his former lover carefully. It’s one thing to tell the Doctor that they were never serious; it’s another to face Ianto now that he’s deeply involved with someone else.
He takes a deep breath. It’s only fair that he be completely honest. “Ianto, the Doctor and-”
“I know.” Ianto cuts across him. “I could see it as soon as he came to stand next to you. I know he’s what you wanted, too. Does he make you happy?”
He nods. “Oh, yes.”
“Then I’m glad. It’s what you were always looking for, Jack. I’ll miss you, but I am happy for you.” Ianto leans in and kisses his cheek briefly before pulling back again. “Anyway, I’m with someone else now too.”
“Someone special?” He has to know.
Ianto nods. “And I think... if Gwen and Rhys can make it, maybe I can too.”
He nods in return, finding that he’s swallowing a lump in his throat. “Good. Now, fill me in on what’s been going on...”
A few weeks, apparently; longer than it’s been for him. He learns how Rhys found out about Torchwood and, in the process, risked his life to save the team. Owen getting shot and almost killed by a man he once admired, who was conducting unethical experiments with alien life-forms. And then the usual run-of-the-mill stuff, bad days and good.
Seems they managed fine without him. Maybe he’s not so essential after all - though, of course, there’s still what’s to come this century, not that far away now. All the same, they’re coping. They’re effective. And, yes, maybe they are ready, with or without him.
The Doctor runs in, Toshiko at his heels. “We’ve traced it.”
“Right.” He’s on his feet immediately, checking his weapon, working out the plan in his head. “I’ll take Owen. Toshiko, you stay-” Abruptly, he halts. “No. Owen, your call. I’m not in charge any more.”
A faint smile appears on Owen’s face, just for a second, before he issues a series of instructions. In seconds, the team’s dispersed, and it’s just him and the Doctor. “You’re sure about this, Jack?”
“Very. They don’t need me, and I can be here when they do. That’s all that matters.”
It is. He’s built a team he can be proud of, but it’s time to let go. Time to move on.
***
That’s all sorted, then; Gwen’s sent off home, Owen and Ianto take care of the Nostravite, with Toshiko giving them locations from her desk, and he and Jack don’t have to do anything. Though it feels odd, really, not being in the thick of it, not being the one to save the day for once. Yet it’s the right thing to do, especially for Jack’s sake.
They stay for the wedding, of course. Jack wouldn’t have it any other way, and strangely enough he doesn’t even want to find an excuse not to go. The ceremony goes without a hitch, even if the groom’s mother doesn’t look ecstatic about her new daughter-in-law, but the bride and groom are happy and that’s all that matters.
Ianto’s brought a guest, since they’re all officially off-duty; a young woman whom he introduces as Karen. The Doctor has to grin at Jack. “You do seem to find the flexible ones, don’t you?”
Jack grins back. “Just for that, you’re dancing with me, Doctor.”
“We’d scandalise the guests!” he protests, but Jack shakes his head.
“You’re not using that as an excuse. This country’s changing, Doctor. They even have same-sex marriages now. Civil partnerships, anyway.”
He gives Jack a wary look. “Now, just a-”
“Just a dance, Doctor.”
He rolls his eyes, but gives in, just as Owen and Toshiko take to the floor together, to Jack’s evident amusement. “Think I need to check that champagne for pheromones,” he comments dryly.
Then, later, they’re back in the TARDIS, just the two of them. They’re staying until morning; Jack wants to say goodbye to the team again and let them know how to contact him if they need him.
In the den, they make love slowly, with lots of lingering touches and kisses, then relax together in idle conversation, clothes in disarray, he sprawled across Jack’s lap. It’s all very comfortable and lazy, until the topic shifts unexpectedly.
“You never talk about Rose. I mean, other than when you told me what happened to her.”
Rose. Even now, after all this time, he instinctively freezes when her name’s mentioned. “What’s the point? She’s gone. She’s not coming back, and I can’t get to her.” He tries to sit up, to pull away, but Jack tugs him back.
“So, what? She’s gone, so you pretend she never existed?”
“I don’t pretend she didn’t exist! I talked about her, Jack. To Martha. And look how that turned out.”
“Yeah, but that’s different. Martha didn’t know her. And... well, it’s like talking about the ex with your new girlfriend. Yeah, yeah, I know she wasn’t your girlfriend, but the principle’s the same.” Jack runs his fingers lightly through his hair. “You can talk to me. I wish you would, actually.” His hand stills. “I loved her too, you know.”
Yes. Jack did. He always knew that; that’s why he explained what happened to her when they met on Malcassiro. It’s why Rose brought Jack back to life, of course. They loved each other. In fact... well, they all did, didn’t they?
“I love you.”
“Quite right too.” What a stupid thing to say! “Well, I suppose, if it’s my last chance to say it... Rose Tyler...”
“Yep,” he says, and the old lump’s back in his throat. Time to change the subject.
But, before he can, Jack’s got another question. “You’ve never tried to get her back, have you?”
“Told you, the walls have closed. It’s impossible, Jack. Don’t you think I’d have tried if there was any way?”
“You know, you keep using that word, and you’re always proved wrong. Think you’d have learned your lesson by now. I mean, look at me. You called me impossible, didn’t you?”
“That’s different.”
“Nah. Got me now. Two of us together, Doctor - not a lot we can’t do. Especially with my added... features.”
“I don’t see how you dying is gonna get us across the Void and into Pete’s World, Jack. And you think I like seeing you die over and over?”
Jack shrugs, and his fingers glide down to trace over the Doctor’s face. “I always come back.”
“Still. Not easy to watch.”
Jack leans down and ghosts a kiss over his lips. “Yeah. But it’s not a big deal, really.”
“It hurts you,” he points out. “Every time, I see-”
“Oh my god!”
They both whirl at the shocked female voice coming from the doorway. It’s not just that there’s someone else there; it’s that the voice is familiar. Achingly so.
But, by the time he’s turned his head, all he sees is a flash of blonde hair as the interloper breaks into a run.
Jack’s eyes are wide with disbelief, matching his own, he’s sure, as they help each other up and fasten the most obviously-disarrayed bits of clothing. Then suddenly Jack grins. “Looks like you were wrong again, Doctor. We’ve just seen the impossible.”
They have. Now, all they have to do is find her again.
- end
to be continued in Weaving.