JE Fic
Author's note: this takes place near the end of JE -
But There Are Clouds In My Tea
He loved the hugs; he’d always loved the hugs. He tucked them all away against his hearts and, once the Earth was in her proper place, reached out and threw the lever that took them into the vortex. His other self raised a brow and sent him a look.
Tea, in the garden. Rose, Jack, me. He had to practically shout to get the message through. The other him was so … human. Rather disgusting, really, but he let that pass. Surely the other him had figured out how this was going to go, and was trying to do his best to prepare for the coming fallout.
Donna got the message, too. She laid her hand on the blue-coated Doctor’s sleeve and nodded toward the kitchen. “Alright, you lot,” her smile was real and warm. “Let’s have a bit of a meet-n-greet, yeah?” She looped one arm in Mickey’s and one in Jackie’s. “Come on, Space-Boy!” she threw over her shoulder as she breezed toward the kitchen. The other him crooked one elbow at Sara Jane, his other elbow at Martha and, with a wink at the three of them, swept past.
Rose and Jack were watching him. Oh, well, they weren’t exactly thick. He inhaled sharply, looking up and away and then back into Jack’s eyes. “Fancy a bit of a chat?”
Jack nodded slowly, “Yeah,” he drawled.
“Well, then.” He looked between the two of them. Jack had Rose’s hand firmly in his. He wondered if the ex-time agent had figured it out yet. He knew that Rose hadn’t. He felt his face soften as he looked at her. He wanted days, years, centuries - he swallowed and turned, shoving his need deep down and away. “I was thinking we’d have tea in the garden.”
He led the way, a left, a left and another left. Very funny, he thought toward the Tardis. The door to the garden was open and he could smell growing things.
His Third Heart had it all ready, a bright spring afternoon and a little gazebo all tricked out with twining roses and a silver tea service. But there was Rose’s favorite mug, the one with the crack in it, and Jack’s that he’d got from that potter he’d spent the week with on Hellinsport, and the mug that Rose had given him, that she’d said was the exact shade of blue as his eyes.
He had to take a breath when he saw those mugs sitting so comfortably together side-by-side.
***
Jack followed behind the Doctor as they wound through the garden to the gazebo. He’d been here just once before, he and Rose. He looked down at her and smiled to see her looking up at him. She returned his smile, memory dancing in her eyes. He pulled on her hand so that she bumped against his hip and let his smile turn into a grin. She grinned back, the tip of her tongue peeking out, and tipped her head. There she was, his Rose, the Rose who’d smeared his face with chocolate frosting at that silly ceremony on Velleria; the Rose who’d chased him around with a garden hose that time they’d been stranded outside of Lubbock and it was so hot; the Rose who’d got trashed and puked all over his favorite shoes. Oh, Rose.
The Doctor paused on the gazebo steps, his breath coming out in an inelegant whoosh. Jack looked over the Doctor’s shoulder and felt his own gut clench. Not fair, he thought to the Tardis, not fair, old girl.
He put a hand to the Doctor’s shoulder and the Doctor twitched, practically leaping up the remaining steps. Rose came up the steps and took the setting in with no more than a raised brow. She sat down and began to pour. “No coffee, Jack,” she murmured, handing him his mug. “You’ll have to settle.” Bending her head over the Doctor’s mug, she added cream and sugar, looked up at the Doctor, and stirred in another sugar. He noticed that she drank her own unsweetened, now.
He considered her over his mug. She considered him back.
Sudden unshed tears filled her eyes and she looked down. She took a long, slow breath, placed her mug carefully back on the table and folded her hands neatly in her lap. When she looked up, her eyes were clear and her lips creased into a small, sad smile. “This is the third time I’ve had tea with you today, Jack. I think I might float away if I have another.”
He blinked, letting the implications of that statement sink in. “Third time’s the charm, they say.” He tipped his head, wondering. “Long day?”
“Yeah. I kept running into you. ‘Though, come to think of it, it’s probably been more than a day. It gets all mixed up.” She sighed and rubbed her forehead.
“I remember. There was this one time I got stuck in a loop…But not like you. I mean, I was in the same dimension.” He sipped his tea, frowning. “I think.”
“I,” she started to blurt out, stopped herself, turning her eyes to the Doctor and then back to him, “I work at Torchwood, the one in my uni…that is, the other universe … I… I work for Torchwood Three, now, in Cardiff.”
He shook his head. “Torchwood. Well. Of course you do.”
She looked away again. “You say that,” her fingers twisted together and she stilled them. “You say it just like that.” Her eyes came up to his. “Every time.”
Oh, Rose.
He hid his own face in his mug and then brought it down, cradling the warmth of it in his hands. He didn’t know what she might have found out, what his other selves might have told her. “How long has it been for you?”
“Four years, I suppose. Give or take.” He risked another look at her, but her eyes were locked with the Doctor’s. “Been a bit longer for you, hasn’t it, Jack?”
Ooh, she does know. He was glad not to be on the receiving end of those simmering Rose Tyler eyes. Mmm, that’s gotta hurt. But the Time Lord was all … raised brows and distant, in that infuriating not-letting-anyone-in Time Lord way of his. She knows … and he knows that she knows, and he knows that I know that she knows…
He laid his hand on the Doctor’s knee. “Hey,” he squeezed, asking for attention, “this is me; this is Rose.”
The Doctor’s gaze sharpened. Jack watched the other man’s eyes go dark with emotion and then stop. “Damn,” he said quietly, “how can you do that? You’re so … so …”
“Alien?”
***
Rose thought for just a moment that Jack might toss his tea in the Doctor’s face. Instead, he sat back and sighed. “I was going to say repressed.”
The Doctor smiled, dark and ironic at first, but then easing into something lighter. “Repressed?” He shook his head. “Really, Jack.”
Rose looked back and forth between the two men. The mood had shifted, and she was glad. “Aw,” she chuckled, “don’t tell me I’ve been missin’ all the good stuff?”
“Good stuff?” Jack set his hand in his chin and studied the Doctor. “Intense, maybe. Definitely traumatic. And, well, life altering. But good?”
The Doctor raised his brows. “It wasn’t good for you?”
She lost it, then, her laugh catching her by surprise. She met the Doctor’s eyes, saw the twinkle of manic glee that always lurked right below the surface, and let herself go, bending forward in her laugh. She stood, still chuckling, and without a word, took their hands and pulled them down the steps and into the tall grass.
Plopping herself down on the warm ground, she yanked them down, one on each side of her, and looked up into the sky. After a moment, she pointed. “Look,” she waved her fingers, “that one there! A dragon, yeah?”
The Doctor scrunched his nose. “A dragon? But where’s its hind legs?”
“Charkoloo Six,” Jack nodded. “Remember those fellas that had us pinned on that island?”
“Oh,” the Doctor agreed, “yes!”
“And that one there,” Rose pointed, “’S like those cat-horse things on Veeblin….”
Much later, Donna smiled and brushed the grass from his hair.
-End-
But There Are Clouds In My Tea
He loved the hugs; he’d always loved the hugs. He tucked them all away against his hearts and, once the Earth was in her proper place, reached out and threw the lever that took them into the vortex. His other self raised a brow and sent him a look.
Tea, in the garden. Rose, Jack, me. He had to practically shout to get the message through. The other him was so … human. Rather disgusting, really, but he let that pass. Surely the other him had figured out how this was going to go, and was trying to do his best to prepare for the coming fallout.
Donna got the message, too. She laid her hand on the blue-coated Doctor’s sleeve and nodded toward the kitchen. “Alright, you lot,” her smile was real and warm. “Let’s have a bit of a meet-n-greet, yeah?” She looped one arm in Mickey’s and one in Jackie’s. “Come on, Space-Boy!” she threw over her shoulder as she breezed toward the kitchen. The other him crooked one elbow at Sara Jane, his other elbow at Martha and, with a wink at the three of them, swept past.
Rose and Jack were watching him. Oh, well, they weren’t exactly thick. He inhaled sharply, looking up and away and then back into Jack’s eyes. “Fancy a bit of a chat?”
Jack nodded slowly, “Yeah,” he drawled.
“Well, then.” He looked between the two of them. Jack had Rose’s hand firmly in his. He wondered if the ex-time agent had figured it out yet. He knew that Rose hadn’t. He felt his face soften as he looked at her. He wanted days, years, centuries - he swallowed and turned, shoving his need deep down and away. “I was thinking we’d have tea in the garden.”
He led the way, a left, a left and another left. Very funny, he thought toward the Tardis. The door to the garden was open and he could smell growing things.
His Third Heart had it all ready, a bright spring afternoon and a little gazebo all tricked out with twining roses and a silver tea service. But there was Rose’s favorite mug, the one with the crack in it, and Jack’s that he’d got from that potter he’d spent the week with on Hellinsport, and the mug that Rose had given him, that she’d said was the exact shade of blue as his eyes.
He had to take a breath when he saw those mugs sitting so comfortably together side-by-side.
***
Jack followed behind the Doctor as they wound through the garden to the gazebo. He’d been here just once before, he and Rose. He looked down at her and smiled to see her looking up at him. She returned his smile, memory dancing in her eyes. He pulled on her hand so that she bumped against his hip and let his smile turn into a grin. She grinned back, the tip of her tongue peeking out, and tipped her head. There she was, his Rose, the Rose who’d smeared his face with chocolate frosting at that silly ceremony on Velleria; the Rose who’d chased him around with a garden hose that time they’d been stranded outside of Lubbock and it was so hot; the Rose who’d got trashed and puked all over his favorite shoes. Oh, Rose.
The Doctor paused on the gazebo steps, his breath coming out in an inelegant whoosh. Jack looked over the Doctor’s shoulder and felt his own gut clench. Not fair, he thought to the Tardis, not fair, old girl.
He put a hand to the Doctor’s shoulder and the Doctor twitched, practically leaping up the remaining steps. Rose came up the steps and took the setting in with no more than a raised brow. She sat down and began to pour. “No coffee, Jack,” she murmured, handing him his mug. “You’ll have to settle.” Bending her head over the Doctor’s mug, she added cream and sugar, looked up at the Doctor, and stirred in another sugar. He noticed that she drank her own unsweetened, now.
He considered her over his mug. She considered him back.
Sudden unshed tears filled her eyes and she looked down. She took a long, slow breath, placed her mug carefully back on the table and folded her hands neatly in her lap. When she looked up, her eyes were clear and her lips creased into a small, sad smile. “This is the third time I’ve had tea with you today, Jack. I think I might float away if I have another.”
He blinked, letting the implications of that statement sink in. “Third time’s the charm, they say.” He tipped his head, wondering. “Long day?”
“Yeah. I kept running into you. ‘Though, come to think of it, it’s probably been more than a day. It gets all mixed up.” She sighed and rubbed her forehead.
“I remember. There was this one time I got stuck in a loop…But not like you. I mean, I was in the same dimension.” He sipped his tea, frowning. “I think.”
“I,” she started to blurt out, stopped herself, turning her eyes to the Doctor and then back to him, “I work at Torchwood, the one in my uni…that is, the other universe … I… I work for Torchwood Three, now, in Cardiff.”
He shook his head. “Torchwood. Well. Of course you do.”
She looked away again. “You say that,” her fingers twisted together and she stilled them. “You say it just like that.” Her eyes came up to his. “Every time.”
Oh, Rose.
He hid his own face in his mug and then brought it down, cradling the warmth of it in his hands. He didn’t know what she might have found out, what his other selves might have told her. “How long has it been for you?”
“Four years, I suppose. Give or take.” He risked another look at her, but her eyes were locked with the Doctor’s. “Been a bit longer for you, hasn’t it, Jack?”
Ooh, she does know. He was glad not to be on the receiving end of those simmering Rose Tyler eyes. Mmm, that’s gotta hurt. But the Time Lord was all … raised brows and distant, in that infuriating not-letting-anyone-in Time Lord way of his. She knows … and he knows that she knows, and he knows that I know that she knows…
He laid his hand on the Doctor’s knee. “Hey,” he squeezed, asking for attention, “this is me; this is Rose.”
The Doctor’s gaze sharpened. Jack watched the other man’s eyes go dark with emotion and then stop. “Damn,” he said quietly, “how can you do that? You’re so … so …”
“Alien?”
***
Rose thought for just a moment that Jack might toss his tea in the Doctor’s face. Instead, he sat back and sighed. “I was going to say repressed.”
The Doctor smiled, dark and ironic at first, but then easing into something lighter. “Repressed?” He shook his head. “Really, Jack.”
Rose looked back and forth between the two men. The mood had shifted, and she was glad. “Aw,” she chuckled, “don’t tell me I’ve been missin’ all the good stuff?”
“Good stuff?” Jack set his hand in his chin and studied the Doctor. “Intense, maybe. Definitely traumatic. And, well, life altering. But good?”
The Doctor raised his brows. “It wasn’t good for you?”
She lost it, then, her laugh catching her by surprise. She met the Doctor’s eyes, saw the twinkle of manic glee that always lurked right below the surface, and let herself go, bending forward in her laugh. She stood, still chuckling, and without a word, took their hands and pulled them down the steps and into the tall grass.
Plopping herself down on the warm ground, she yanked them down, one on each side of her, and looked up into the sky. After a moment, she pointed. “Look,” she waved her fingers, “that one there! A dragon, yeah?”
The Doctor scrunched his nose. “A dragon? But where’s its hind legs?”
“Charkoloo Six,” Jack nodded. “Remember those fellas that had us pinned on that island?”
“Oh,” the Doctor agreed, “yes!”
“And that one there,” Rose pointed, “’S like those cat-horse things on Veeblin….”
Much later, Donna smiled and brushed the grass from his hair.
-End-