New Rose Tyler Ficathon Story: Jack Out of the Box (1/2?)
Story: Jack Out of the Box (1/ maybe 2?)
Author: Kae_Nine
Rated: PG
Spoilers: Up to Doomsday
Disclaimer: This story is not set in the Torchwood continuity, first and foremost because I haven’t seen Torchwood yet. ;)
Summary: Rose is settling down in her new life when she gets an unexpected visit.
Written for bytheseaside as part of the Rose Tyler Ficathon. I hope you’ll enjoy this. :)
Many, many thanks to wendymr and dark_aegis for setting up this challenge and chasing after me with nagging forks. Thanks also to them for the extra week, which I truly needed to get this first section ready for posting. Last and not least, thank you thank you thank you to my wonderful BR wendymr, who gave me ideas, encouraged me to keep writing, supported me when I felt I wasn’t going anywhere, edited this section before I posted it, and found a great title for the story. :) Wendy, you’re awesome (yes, like winning on the lottery... twice ;))
Rose Tyler smoothed her hands over the expensive gown sheathing her body and enhancing her full curves. With her hair tied back in a sophisticated style, she probably looked good enough to make it to the cover of Cosmopolitan. Well, maybe the inside cover. All right, a side-bar on page four. Covers were already booked by Kate Moss-wannabes that disappeared when they turned sideways. Twigs.
She didn’t like Pete’s receptions that much, but then it was all part of public relations, he often argued. Torchwood had to open up to the outside world if it wasn’t to become like its other world’s counterpart.
The other world.
Her world.
She shrugged off the familiar shudder that coursed down her spine every time she let her thoughts wander back to the world she’d left behind.
Failure.
He’d have looked at her, a twinkle of desire in his eyes, then he’d have told her she was beautiful... for a human. They’d have shared a laugh about the silliness of dressing up for a night out when there were so many more important things to do around the universe.
Shrugging off the familiar image of her Doctor, she swallowed back the tears that always came to her eyes whenever she thought of him and walked down the corridor into the reception room.
The party was already in full blast, meaning a mellow song was being played softly on the piano at the back of the ballroom, and people were milling about the buffet, pigging out on toast and snacks. She plastered a smile onto her face and stepped forward. A couple of heads turned upon her entrance, and she saw Pete gesture for her to come close.
With a kiss on her cheek, he introduced her to the people he’d been chatting to. Mr Whatever, banker of something something for Torchwood USA. Mrs Stuff, head of the thingamabob department for “Bois de Feu France” - the French always had to translate everything. “My daughter,” he said to them. He couldn’t really introduce her as the daughter of Pete Tyler, who’d died too young in a parallel universe. Even people who worked for Torchwood had their own limits to what they could believe.
Quickly bored with mundane chat, Rose crossed over to the buffet table. Punch was definitely in order if she was to survive the evening. Pushing over to the punch bowl, she grabbed the ladle to fill her cup. A prickling sensation at her nape made her swivel around. Too close. Too fast. The stranger behind her jumped backwards, but his shirt was already covered in pink liquid.
“I’m sor-” The apology died on her lips. “Jack?”
“Geez, Rose. Some things will never change. My khakis still remember the time when you dropped half the container of Slitheen goo onto them.”
Jack. Jack Harkness here. Jack Harkness, here in parallel London.
In her world.
*********
Half an hour later, sitting by one of the small round tables at the end of the room, Rose could still not believe who she was talking to. Yet it was true, it was real. He was real. His story, on the other hand, was surreal.
“Travelling through different dimensions is no walk in the park,” he told her again, obviously annoyed by her careful reaction to his presence by her side. “But I swear to you it’s still possible.”
“The Doctor closed the rift,” she argued.
She didn’t want to believe in what she’d spent so many months convincing herself was impossible. She’d worked so hard at forgetting about the other universe and the impossibility to go back. And where was the proof that the Jack that was sitting across from her was *her* Jack, and not his alternate universe counterpart somehow trying to con her?
“Not all of it. Proof is, I’m here.”
On the other hand, only her mum, Pete, Mickey and Jake knew about the parallel universe and what she’d left there. How could Jack know if he was really trying to fool her?
“I can see you don’t believe me.”
She didn’t deny it. “If travelling across both universes is possible, how come the Doctor hasn’t come back to get me?”
“You’re too high maintenance for him.”
She gaped.
He laughed. “Rose, where’s your sense of humour?”
She opened her mouth to reply. Frowned. Closed it.
“Gone with your words.”
He grabbed a handful of peanuts and popped a couple into his mouth. Only way to silence him, she supposed. “Let’s get out of here,” he said anyway, not bothered by political correctness.
He seized her hand and started towards the large doors to the patio. She followed mutely, too dumbfounded to say more. It was the Jack she knew. Incorrigible, irresponsible, and incredibly irritating.
Irresistible.
Her legs got tangled in her gown, and she stumbled in her step. Immediately, Jack’s hand was on her back, steadying her and guiding her towards the door. She smiled gratefully and hurried, anxious to get out of the stifling atmosphere of the ballroom.
The cool air made her shiver, and Jack’s arm shifted to her shoulders. She didn’t shrug it off. He was the first man to touch her since... She forced the thought to a stop.
“Nice view,” Jack commented, oblivious to the turmoil in her mind.
“I know you like being on top.”
A familiar grin, one she’d very much missed for the past couple of years. Jack. He was here. He was... *alive*. She could still recall the acrid smell of burnt flesh that had signalled deaths on Satellite Five. She had very few memories of what had happened on Level Five-hundred, bar what the Doctor had agreed to tell her once he’d finally confessed Jack had died.
He’d been working on the delta-wave to rid the universe of the Daleks, and Jack had been the last barrier protecting him from the deadly tin cans. The last man standing, ready to die for a cause he believed in. That was what the Doctor had wanted her to know; her last recollection of Jack.
But now her Captain was here, alive and solid and tall and just as breathtakingly handsome as she remembered.
She reached out a hand and laid it on his arm. Oh God, he was real. And warm.
“What is it?”
“You died.”
“Takes more than a handful of Daleks to rid the universe of me.”
“I know you died. The Doctor told me.”
Jack turned around and seized her by the shoulders, forcing her to look up into his eyes. “Rose, you of all people should know that there are many more possibilities in the universe than what humans think. Time travel, dimension hopping...”
“Resuscitation? Don’t tell me you also walk on water!”
“You gave me life, Rose. I mean, literally. Don’t you remember?”
She blinked, confused. “Remember what?”
“I s’pose the Doctor didn’t tell you everything that happened on Satellite Five. He’s probably got his reasons, too. Good reasons.”
“Oh no, you don’t!” Rose shook her head. “Don’t you start on something and then suddenly stop just because the Doctor wouldn’t tell me. The Doctor is not *here*, for all I know. Talk.”
Jack raised both hands in mock-surrender. “All right, all right!”
Then he told her everything, or at least, everything he knew, and his knowledge came from what the Doctor had agreed to share. The Doctor had sent her back to London, but she’d been her usual stubborn self and tried everything to get back. She’d managed to tear the TARDIS heart open and she’d looked into the time vortex, which had brought her back to where the Doctor was about to die. She’d got rid of the Daleks and brought Jack back to life. Then she’d almost died.
“How come I’m still here, then?”
“You’re a tough girl.”
“I’m serious.”
“The Doctor wouldn’t tell me how you survived. That seems to be a sore point with him. You two might wanna talk about that someday.”
She lowered her head. “Now you’re not funny.”
“I’m sorry.” Jack reached for her hand and grasped it tightly. “I’m really sorry, Rose. I know how you feel about him.”
“Felt.”
The moment she said the word, she knew it was a lie. She’d told herself many times that she was fine, that she was over him, that she could go on with her life on this side of the Rift.
What a lie!
She still missed him every bit as much, even months after being thrown into this world.
She looked down at her fingers, entwined with Jack’s. She’d missed him, too. He’d been gone from her life for almost two years, and he’d been a taboo topic with the Doctor when she was still travelling with him. Jack was dead, and the Doctor’s feelings for him had still been too sore to be talked about.
Jack raised their joined hands to his lips and kissed her fingers softly.
“How long...” She cleared her throat. “How long have you been with him?”
“You mean, back on the TARDIS?”
She nodded.
“A couple of weeks.”
“How?”
“Long story.”
“Did the Doctor save your life again?”
She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed the deep sound of Jack’s laugh. “Nah,” he said. “More like the opposite. Then he just couldn’t throw me out.”
“You’re hard to get rid of.”
“Even when I die.” He winked. “Don’t worry, Rose, I’m not mad you guys left me alone up there... Okay, maybe I was a little mad in the beginning.”
“Try again.”
“Infuriated?”
“That’s better.”
“But it’s all good. The Doctor and I talked it out.”
Rose let go of Jack’s hand and turned away from him. She couldn’t look him in the eye, couldn’t face him when she asked her next question. Part of her didn’t even want to ask what she’d been obsessing about ever since Jack had burst back into her life - and over and above her cup of punch. She was scared of the answer and its consequences on her life.
She had to know.
“Can you take me back?”
*********
tbc...
Author: Kae_Nine
Rated: PG
Spoilers: Up to Doomsday
Disclaimer: This story is not set in the Torchwood continuity, first and foremost because I haven’t seen Torchwood yet. ;)
Summary: Rose is settling down in her new life when she gets an unexpected visit.
Written for bytheseaside as part of the Rose Tyler Ficathon. I hope you’ll enjoy this. :)
Many, many thanks to wendymr and dark_aegis for setting up this challenge and chasing after me with nagging forks. Thanks also to them for the extra week, which I truly needed to get this first section ready for posting. Last and not least, thank you thank you thank you to my wonderful BR wendymr, who gave me ideas, encouraged me to keep writing, supported me when I felt I wasn’t going anywhere, edited this section before I posted it, and found a great title for the story. :) Wendy, you’re awesome (yes, like winning on the lottery... twice ;))
Rose Tyler smoothed her hands over the expensive gown sheathing her body and enhancing her full curves. With her hair tied back in a sophisticated style, she probably looked good enough to make it to the cover of Cosmopolitan. Well, maybe the inside cover. All right, a side-bar on page four. Covers were already booked by Kate Moss-wannabes that disappeared when they turned sideways. Twigs.
She didn’t like Pete’s receptions that much, but then it was all part of public relations, he often argued. Torchwood had to open up to the outside world if it wasn’t to become like its other world’s counterpart.
The other world.
Her world.
She shrugged off the familiar shudder that coursed down her spine every time she let her thoughts wander back to the world she’d left behind.
Failure.
He’d have looked at her, a twinkle of desire in his eyes, then he’d have told her she was beautiful... for a human. They’d have shared a laugh about the silliness of dressing up for a night out when there were so many more important things to do around the universe.
Shrugging off the familiar image of her Doctor, she swallowed back the tears that always came to her eyes whenever she thought of him and walked down the corridor into the reception room.
The party was already in full blast, meaning a mellow song was being played softly on the piano at the back of the ballroom, and people were milling about the buffet, pigging out on toast and snacks. She plastered a smile onto her face and stepped forward. A couple of heads turned upon her entrance, and she saw Pete gesture for her to come close.
With a kiss on her cheek, he introduced her to the people he’d been chatting to. Mr Whatever, banker of something something for Torchwood USA. Mrs Stuff, head of the thingamabob department for “Bois de Feu France” - the French always had to translate everything. “My daughter,” he said to them. He couldn’t really introduce her as the daughter of Pete Tyler, who’d died too young in a parallel universe. Even people who worked for Torchwood had their own limits to what they could believe.
Quickly bored with mundane chat, Rose crossed over to the buffet table. Punch was definitely in order if she was to survive the evening. Pushing over to the punch bowl, she grabbed the ladle to fill her cup. A prickling sensation at her nape made her swivel around. Too close. Too fast. The stranger behind her jumped backwards, but his shirt was already covered in pink liquid.
“I’m sor-” The apology died on her lips. “Jack?”
“Geez, Rose. Some things will never change. My khakis still remember the time when you dropped half the container of Slitheen goo onto them.”
Jack. Jack Harkness here. Jack Harkness, here in parallel London.
In her world.
*********
Half an hour later, sitting by one of the small round tables at the end of the room, Rose could still not believe who she was talking to. Yet it was true, it was real. He was real. His story, on the other hand, was surreal.
“Travelling through different dimensions is no walk in the park,” he told her again, obviously annoyed by her careful reaction to his presence by her side. “But I swear to you it’s still possible.”
“The Doctor closed the rift,” she argued.
She didn’t want to believe in what she’d spent so many months convincing herself was impossible. She’d worked so hard at forgetting about the other universe and the impossibility to go back. And where was the proof that the Jack that was sitting across from her was *her* Jack, and not his alternate universe counterpart somehow trying to con her?
“Not all of it. Proof is, I’m here.”
On the other hand, only her mum, Pete, Mickey and Jake knew about the parallel universe and what she’d left there. How could Jack know if he was really trying to fool her?
“I can see you don’t believe me.”
She didn’t deny it. “If travelling across both universes is possible, how come the Doctor hasn’t come back to get me?”
“You’re too high maintenance for him.”
She gaped.
He laughed. “Rose, where’s your sense of humour?”
She opened her mouth to reply. Frowned. Closed it.
“Gone with your words.”
He grabbed a handful of peanuts and popped a couple into his mouth. Only way to silence him, she supposed. “Let’s get out of here,” he said anyway, not bothered by political correctness.
He seized her hand and started towards the large doors to the patio. She followed mutely, too dumbfounded to say more. It was the Jack she knew. Incorrigible, irresponsible, and incredibly irritating.
Irresistible.
Her legs got tangled in her gown, and she stumbled in her step. Immediately, Jack’s hand was on her back, steadying her and guiding her towards the door. She smiled gratefully and hurried, anxious to get out of the stifling atmosphere of the ballroom.
The cool air made her shiver, and Jack’s arm shifted to her shoulders. She didn’t shrug it off. He was the first man to touch her since... She forced the thought to a stop.
“Nice view,” Jack commented, oblivious to the turmoil in her mind.
“I know you like being on top.”
A familiar grin, one she’d very much missed for the past couple of years. Jack. He was here. He was... *alive*. She could still recall the acrid smell of burnt flesh that had signalled deaths on Satellite Five. She had very few memories of what had happened on Level Five-hundred, bar what the Doctor had agreed to tell her once he’d finally confessed Jack had died.
He’d been working on the delta-wave to rid the universe of the Daleks, and Jack had been the last barrier protecting him from the deadly tin cans. The last man standing, ready to die for a cause he believed in. That was what the Doctor had wanted her to know; her last recollection of Jack.
But now her Captain was here, alive and solid and tall and just as breathtakingly handsome as she remembered.
She reached out a hand and laid it on his arm. Oh God, he was real. And warm.
“What is it?”
“You died.”
“Takes more than a handful of Daleks to rid the universe of me.”
“I know you died. The Doctor told me.”
Jack turned around and seized her by the shoulders, forcing her to look up into his eyes. “Rose, you of all people should know that there are many more possibilities in the universe than what humans think. Time travel, dimension hopping...”
“Resuscitation? Don’t tell me you also walk on water!”
“You gave me life, Rose. I mean, literally. Don’t you remember?”
She blinked, confused. “Remember what?”
“I s’pose the Doctor didn’t tell you everything that happened on Satellite Five. He’s probably got his reasons, too. Good reasons.”
“Oh no, you don’t!” Rose shook her head. “Don’t you start on something and then suddenly stop just because the Doctor wouldn’t tell me. The Doctor is not *here*, for all I know. Talk.”
Jack raised both hands in mock-surrender. “All right, all right!”
Then he told her everything, or at least, everything he knew, and his knowledge came from what the Doctor had agreed to share. The Doctor had sent her back to London, but she’d been her usual stubborn self and tried everything to get back. She’d managed to tear the TARDIS heart open and she’d looked into the time vortex, which had brought her back to where the Doctor was about to die. She’d got rid of the Daleks and brought Jack back to life. Then she’d almost died.
“How come I’m still here, then?”
“You’re a tough girl.”
“I’m serious.”
“The Doctor wouldn’t tell me how you survived. That seems to be a sore point with him. You two might wanna talk about that someday.”
She lowered her head. “Now you’re not funny.”
“I’m sorry.” Jack reached for her hand and grasped it tightly. “I’m really sorry, Rose. I know how you feel about him.”
“Felt.”
The moment she said the word, she knew it was a lie. She’d told herself many times that she was fine, that she was over him, that she could go on with her life on this side of the Rift.
What a lie!
She still missed him every bit as much, even months after being thrown into this world.
She looked down at her fingers, entwined with Jack’s. She’d missed him, too. He’d been gone from her life for almost two years, and he’d been a taboo topic with the Doctor when she was still travelling with him. Jack was dead, and the Doctor’s feelings for him had still been too sore to be talked about.
Jack raised their joined hands to his lips and kissed her fingers softly.
“How long...” She cleared her throat. “How long have you been with him?”
“You mean, back on the TARDIS?”
She nodded.
“A couple of weeks.”
“How?”
“Long story.”
“Did the Doctor save your life again?”
She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed the deep sound of Jack’s laugh. “Nah,” he said. “More like the opposite. Then he just couldn’t throw me out.”
“You’re hard to get rid of.”
“Even when I die.” He winked. “Don’t worry, Rose, I’m not mad you guys left me alone up there... Okay, maybe I was a little mad in the beginning.”
“Try again.”
“Infuriated?”
“That’s better.”
“But it’s all good. The Doctor and I talked it out.”
Rose let go of Jack’s hand and turned away from him. She couldn’t look him in the eye, couldn’t face him when she asked her next question. Part of her didn’t even want to ask what she’d been obsessing about ever since Jack had burst back into her life - and over and above her cup of punch. She was scared of the answer and its consequences on her life.
She had to know.
“Can you take me back?”
*********
tbc...