Fic: Adrift In Time Chapter 3 (Torchwood Jack/Ianto NC17)
Title: Adrift In Time
Author: magikalrhiannon
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: NC17
Spoilers: All up to Season 2 Ep 11 Adrift
Summary: What happens if Ianto is taken by the rift, and Jack can't give up the hunt for him?
Word Count: 15952
Disclaimer: All rights belong to BBC and Russell T Davies. I'm just finger-painting in someone else's masterpiece. No infringement intended.
Notes: For kajmere, cuz she owns me. This is a victory fic for my darling baby kajmere because her goddamn Flames beat my beloved Stars in a shootout last week and as her reward for our bet... she got a fic of her choice. This fic, I believe meets the prompt she left with specific requirements, which I'm not going to list. I've added a few of my own for good measure, because I LOVE YOU. I hope you enjoy baby!
Prologue ~*~ Chapter 1 ~*~ Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Jack got a ride on a transport shuttle to Myrexlyia to start his search. It had the biggest information bank in the galaxy, and if anyone would be able to find a missing person, then chances are someone one on Myrexlyia would know where they were. But after checking with every source Jack knew of, he came up with nothing.
It was five Earth years the first time he gave in to loneliness and fucked someone else on Myrexlyia. He felt so sick and ashamed afterwards that he shot himself with his webby. It became a ritual. Find someone, fuck them - usually from behind so he didn't have to see how they weren't who he wanted, who he needed, and leave to wherever he was staying, only to 'cleanse' himself with a single gunshot to the head - or the heart, depending on how masochistic he was feeling that day. He lost count of the bodies he fucked, the times he 'cleansed' himself. He'd lost count of the times he'd read Ianto's diaries. He had them committed to memory.
For years, Jack searched for Ianto. Planet to planet, system to system. He scavenged and hustled for money and food. He gave in to loneliness when it was all to much. After Myrexlyia, he went to Pytho, then Krythra, Nuona, Fraswatha, even Barcalona to name but a few... but they were all dead ends.
Still Jack never gave up on ever finding Ianto. It was his promise to Rhiannon that kept him going. He kept Ianto's belongings with him, as they were his most treasured possessions, and every night before he went to sleep, he would stare at the photos of himself and Ianto, dragging a fingernail over Ianto's face. The colours had faded, the edges were dogeared, but still, he kept them carefully pressed in the pages of Ianto's diaries.
Jack was on Yasmynth when the Doctor found him. The Timelord had been wandering through a market when he saw a bar and a familiar RAF coat on the back of a human body that was vastly different of the frog-like inhabitants of the planet. The Doctor nudged his companions, a redheaded girl and her blonde haired husband, that he was going to go inside the bar and he'd catch up with them later. The redhead nodded, and pulled on her husband's hand dragging him on through the market.
The Doctor went inside the bar and stood behind his old friend. "Jack?"
Jack jumped and looked over his shoulder. "Oh. It's you." He turned back to his drink, uninterested.
"Well, I must say, that has to be the least welcoming hello you've given me in all the years we've been friends." He smiled as the Yasmynthian next to Jack vacated his stool. "Thank you, that's most kind."
"What do you want, Doc?" Jack sighed, tipping his hypervodka back. Today was a day he wanted to forget. 200th anniversary of Ianto's disappearance. He'd been searching, unsuccessfully, for 2 centuries.
"You recognised me then?" the Doctor smiled, but it fell off his face when Jack ignored him. "I've been looking for you, Jack. You're a hard man to track down these days," he chuckled but stopped when Jack glared at him. "Okay, seriously now, just what did I do to warrant this?"
Jack slumped against the bar. "Nothing."
"Well then why-?"
"You did nothing, Doc!" Jack exploded out with, rearing back to face the Doctor. "He was ripped from me and you just... prance around the fucking universe like a fucking God in that blasted blue menace... You did nothing! I needed you! I needed you to help me... I've been there whenever you've come calling... But when I needed you..." Jack looked away, broken and helpless. “200 Earth years I've searched for him. He's gone, Doc and yet I can't let him go.”
The Doctor frowned. “Let who go?” He shook his head. “I'm sorry Jack, I don't know what you're talking about!”
“Ianto Jones,” Jack breathed out.
The Doctor looked confused for a moment and then the moment of realisation showed on his face. “Ah. Your young lover.”
“My partner,” Jack corrected.
The Doctor smiled. “Ah. You made a commitment Jack? That's very commendable, I must say. Especially for you, flirting with everything that breathes.”
“Not so big on the flirting these days,” Jack said glumly.
“No, I don't 'spose you are,” the Doctor agreed. “Well, perhaps it was for the best?” Jack glared at him again. “Or perhaps not. Okay. So. What happened?”
And with a deep sigh, Jack launched into the story of the worst day of his life. Followed by a detailed recount of the next 200 years worth of searching across the galaxy for Ianto. The Doctor listened and nodded and hummed and hawed and clarified pointed and said, “Right, right, right...” as he did when he understood.
“Well, Jack, you've had quite the journey over the last bicentenary.” The Doctor ordered them both a drink. “I'm sorry I wasn't there to help, but really there would have been nothing I could have done, you know that, right?”
Jack sighed and slumped. “Nothing?”
The Doctor shook his head. “I'm sorry, Jack.”
“But-”
“Jack. If he was taken by the rift, he could have been taken anywhere in time and space! It could have aged or de-aged him, manipulated his very DNA! You have no idea if he's even alive! It's impossible to say where or when in time he would have come out.” The Doctor sighed. “Look. Why don't you come travel with us for a while, hey? Might do you some good to be with friends for a while, hmm? It's been a while since you've been with people you could trust, hasn't it?”
“Us?” Jack asked.
“My companions. They're around here somewhere. Ms Amy Pond and her husband, Rory Williams. I forget.”
Jack contemplated it. “I don't know, Doc. I... I'm still looking for Ianto. And I'm not ever going to give up on him.” He shook his head. “Thanks for the offer though.”
“Jack, you haven't found him in 200 years. Do you think he'll even be alive?” the Doctor asked gently.
Jack stared. He hadn't thought of that. “What?”
“C'mon Jack. Surely you must have thought about it!” Jack crumpled. It was like losing Ianto all over again. “Oh dear. You really hadn't thought about it?” The Doctor put his arm around Jack's shoulders. “There, there, now.” Jack started to cry. “Oh Jack.” The Doctor hugged him. “C'mon now. It'll be alright.”
“No Doc...” Jack sobbed. “I miss him so much.”
“He really meant that much to you?” the Doctor asked, skeptical. Jack nodded into the Doctor's neck. “Well... he must have been something special. C'mon, let's go talk.”
Jack pulled back, and wiped at his eyes. The Doctor ordered them a couple more drinks and led them to a secluded corner booth.
“Tell me about him, Jack,” the Doctor implored, once they were seated.
For the first time in 200 years, Jack talked about the man who had stolen his heart. The Doctor sat there in rapt attention as Jack told him stories about Ianto, and Torchwood, but also stories that no one else knew. Stories that only Jack knew. Like the cake Ianto made and let Jack eat off his stomach. Or the time that Ianto had hunted through every second hand store in the country to replace his RAF great coat when it had gotten ripped beyond repair on a weevil hunt. He described in detail the taste of Ianto's coffee, which he could still remember the taste. He told him about the time that Jack and Ianto babysat for Rhiannon - though Rhiannon didn't know that Jack was there with him and the kids. Jack became the third kid of the night, and they successfully drove Ianto nuts as Jack got the kids hyped up on ice cream.
Jack hadn't smiled about Ianto in so long. He hadn't laughed about Ianto in even longer. The Doctor asked questions and laughed and smiled along with him.
“You really do love him, don't you?” the Doctor asked in awe, holding one head up with his hand, his bowtie askew, and his hair all mussed up from his hands.
Jack nodded. “Yeah, Doc. Of all the people who've come into my life... he's the one who really left a mark.”
“It's hard to believe that you only had a few short years together, Jack.”
Jack sighed. “I know. But I can't let him go, Doc. I just … I can't. I don't know why. I know I have to keep looking. He's... he's out there. I-I can't explain it. I just … feel it.” Jack looked miserably at the Doctor. “I just don't know where.”
The Doctor looked genuinely regretful. “Well... I wish I could help you with that. But Jack, you've spent the last 200 years looking. Perhaps its time to stop for a while, hmm?”
“I can't, Doc. I can't just stop and start travelling through time and space as if he doesn't exist!” Jack slumped in his seat, looking defeated. “He deserves better than that. He deserves better than to be forgotten.”
The Doctor tilted his head. “There's always... but no, you wouldn't be interested.”
“What?”
The Doctor smiled. “Forget it. It's not your thing.”
“Doc.”
“Well, it's just, the Time Agency is reforming on the planet Daelynea. They're in need of teachers for their Academy.”
Jack looked surprised. “You want me to teach at The Time Agency? Are you out of your freakin' mind?”
The Doctor laughed. “Oh Jack, I think you underestimate yourself. You have a lot to offer, you know. And I think you have a lot of insight into the human culture, especially those who are looking to go to Earth... perhaps if you taught the Earth History course it might be something that you'd enjoy.”
“I dunno, Doc. I'm more of an action kind of guy, than research. That was more Ianto's gig.”
The Doctor smiled. “It would be a nice way to honour him, don't you think?”
Jack was quiet for a long time. Suddenly he drained his drink and stood up. “Set it up,” he said as he slid out of the booth. “I'll be at the Yasmynthian Arms when you want to leave. Room 313.”
“Where are you going?” The Doctor asked, frowning.
“I have something I need to do,” Jack said, suddenly cagey. “I can leave in about an hour, if that's okay?”
“That's fine, Jack.”
Jack nodded and disappeared.
~*~
The Doctor was walking up to Room 313 with Amy and Rory in tow when a door on the floor they were after opened and closed, and a black haired humanoid hurried past them. Amy checked out the humanoid as he passed, carrying half his clothes as he brushed past them in his haste to leave.
“That was weird, don't you think?” she asked, looking back at him.
“No,” Rory replied. “Looked like he was in a hurry to leave after a shag.”
“Hmmm,” the Doctor, frowned. As they reached room 313, the Doctor looked back at the man who was leaving. When a gunshot rang out, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and burst into the room. “Stay here,” he ordered Amy and Rory.
“What? No! You can't go in there by yourself!” Amy protested.
“I can and I will,” the Doctor stated adamantly. “Jack would never hurt me, but he doesn't know you from Adam, so just stay put.”
Amy, clearly unhappy, was restrained by Rory. “Whatever you say, Doctor,” the blonde man said.
“Thank you, Rory.” The Doctor entered the room carefully and shut the door behind him. He made his way over to the bed in the lamp lit room, and found Jack lying there in a pool of his own blood, brain matter splattered everywhere, naked except for the sheet that covered his waist. A black book lay open, leather cover side up, and a photograph on top of the book, clutched in one of Jack's hands, the other held his gun and had fallen off the bed the moment he died. “Oh Jack,” the Doctor sighed. He plucked the photograph up and looked at it. It was Jack and the man that Jack had described in detail earlier. Ianto Jones. “Yes, he is quite striking isn't he?” the Doctor mused to himself as he took in their matching smiles at one another, though Ianto was pushing Jack away in the photo.
Jack gasped back to life violently. “Ianto?!”
“Jack,” the Doctor reached for his hand and took the gun out of it. “Jack, it's okay. It's me.”
“Doc,” he said disappointedly.
“Yes, sorry.”
“S'ok,” he sighed.
“Is it always that painful?” the Doctor asked, frowning.
“Yeah,” Jack murmured, slightly amused. “Thought it was more bearable when Ianto was there. He would always wait with me whenever I died on Earth. Never let me die or revive alone if he could help it. He was stubborn that way.”
“He sounds like a remarkable man, Jack.”
Jack nodded. “He is.”
“So what is this nonsense about shooting yourself?”
Jack looked away. “It's nothing.”
“Come now, Jack. Let's not play games. I think you and I are both past that stage in our relationship, don't you?”
Jack huffed. “Fine. I do it after I fuck someone else, okay?” He sat up. “I don't want to talk about it. Look, I'm all packed, I just need to have a shower and get dressed.”
Long ago Jack lost any sense of modesty - not that he ever had any in the first place. He stood up stark naked and padded into the bathroom to take a quick shower. When he exited, the Doctor kindly turned his back while Jack dressed and gathered the diary.
“Ah, Doc have you seen a...?” the Doctor held up the photograph in his hand. “Yes. Thanks.” Jack took it and carefully placed it inside the diary in his hand, bushing his finger over Ianto's face before snapping the book closed and including it in his bag of Ianto's belongings as well as his own meagre possessions in the sports bag he owned. “Right. I'm ready to go.”
The Doctor sighed. “Okay then.”
And he lead the way out of the hotel room.
“Oh yes,” he said when he opened the door to find Amy and Rory leaning against the door and stumbling into the room. “Ms Amy Pond, Mr Rory Williams -”
“Captain Jack Harkness,” Jack said, winking at Amy and holding out his hand to Rory.
“Ah, Jack, just … don't.”
“What?” Jack protested, innocently looking at the Doctor. “I'm just being friendly! Honestly. You spend the first 5 or 6 years travelling with this guy and flirting every now and then-”
“Try with everything that moved, and it wasn't the first 5 or 6 years, it's been every year you've been alive more likely,” the Doctor clarified.
“And suddenly you can't be friendly.” Jack shook his head. “I'll have you know that Ianto never minded my flirting.”
“Yes, well, Ianto, apparently, was a saint.”
“Damn right he was,” Jack agreed heartily, then sighing. “Damn right.” He shook his head. “Sorry.”
The Doctor looked at Amy and Rory. “We're going to give Jack here a lift to Daelynea where he's going to take up a teaching post at the Time Agency Academy.”
“Oh, awesome!” Amy grinned, linking arms through both Jack's and Rory's as they followed the Doctor towards where the small group had left the TARDIS parked. “So you've travelled with the Doctor before then?”
“Uh, a long time ago,” Jack replied nervously.
Amy's smile turned devious. “Excellent. You can tell me all the things he won't, starting with, how do you get the TARDIS to make a good cup of coffee?” Jack froze, and the Doctor looked pained. “Something I said?” Amy asked innocently.
Chapter 4
Author: magikalrhiannon
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: NC17
Spoilers: All up to Season 2 Ep 11 Adrift
Summary: What happens if Ianto is taken by the rift, and Jack can't give up the hunt for him?
Word Count: 15952
Disclaimer: All rights belong to BBC and Russell T Davies. I'm just finger-painting in someone else's masterpiece. No infringement intended.
Notes: For kajmere, cuz she owns me. This is a victory fic for my darling baby kajmere because her goddamn Flames beat my beloved Stars in a shootout last week and as her reward for our bet... she got a fic of her choice. This fic, I believe meets the prompt she left with specific requirements, which I'm not going to list. I've added a few of my own for good measure, because I LOVE YOU. I hope you enjoy baby!
Prologue ~*~ Chapter 1 ~*~ Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Jack got a ride on a transport shuttle to Myrexlyia to start his search. It had the biggest information bank in the galaxy, and if anyone would be able to find a missing person, then chances are someone one on Myrexlyia would know where they were. But after checking with every source Jack knew of, he came up with nothing.
It was five Earth years the first time he gave in to loneliness and fucked someone else on Myrexlyia. He felt so sick and ashamed afterwards that he shot himself with his webby. It became a ritual. Find someone, fuck them - usually from behind so he didn't have to see how they weren't who he wanted, who he needed, and leave to wherever he was staying, only to 'cleanse' himself with a single gunshot to the head - or the heart, depending on how masochistic he was feeling that day. He lost count of the bodies he fucked, the times he 'cleansed' himself. He'd lost count of the times he'd read Ianto's diaries. He had them committed to memory.
For years, Jack searched for Ianto. Planet to planet, system to system. He scavenged and hustled for money and food. He gave in to loneliness when it was all to much. After Myrexlyia, he went to Pytho, then Krythra, Nuona, Fraswatha, even Barcalona to name but a few... but they were all dead ends.
Still Jack never gave up on ever finding Ianto. It was his promise to Rhiannon that kept him going. He kept Ianto's belongings with him, as they were his most treasured possessions, and every night before he went to sleep, he would stare at the photos of himself and Ianto, dragging a fingernail over Ianto's face. The colours had faded, the edges were dogeared, but still, he kept them carefully pressed in the pages of Ianto's diaries.
Jack was on Yasmynth when the Doctor found him. The Timelord had been wandering through a market when he saw a bar and a familiar RAF coat on the back of a human body that was vastly different of the frog-like inhabitants of the planet. The Doctor nudged his companions, a redheaded girl and her blonde haired husband, that he was going to go inside the bar and he'd catch up with them later. The redhead nodded, and pulled on her husband's hand dragging him on through the market.
The Doctor went inside the bar and stood behind his old friend. "Jack?"
Jack jumped and looked over his shoulder. "Oh. It's you." He turned back to his drink, uninterested.
"Well, I must say, that has to be the least welcoming hello you've given me in all the years we've been friends." He smiled as the Yasmynthian next to Jack vacated his stool. "Thank you, that's most kind."
"What do you want, Doc?" Jack sighed, tipping his hypervodka back. Today was a day he wanted to forget. 200th anniversary of Ianto's disappearance. He'd been searching, unsuccessfully, for 2 centuries.
"You recognised me then?" the Doctor smiled, but it fell off his face when Jack ignored him. "I've been looking for you, Jack. You're a hard man to track down these days," he chuckled but stopped when Jack glared at him. "Okay, seriously now, just what did I do to warrant this?"
Jack slumped against the bar. "Nothing."
"Well then why-?"
"You did nothing, Doc!" Jack exploded out with, rearing back to face the Doctor. "He was ripped from me and you just... prance around the fucking universe like a fucking God in that blasted blue menace... You did nothing! I needed you! I needed you to help me... I've been there whenever you've come calling... But when I needed you..." Jack looked away, broken and helpless. “200 Earth years I've searched for him. He's gone, Doc and yet I can't let him go.”
The Doctor frowned. “Let who go?” He shook his head. “I'm sorry Jack, I don't know what you're talking about!”
“Ianto Jones,” Jack breathed out.
The Doctor looked confused for a moment and then the moment of realisation showed on his face. “Ah. Your young lover.”
“My partner,” Jack corrected.
The Doctor smiled. “Ah. You made a commitment Jack? That's very commendable, I must say. Especially for you, flirting with everything that breathes.”
“Not so big on the flirting these days,” Jack said glumly.
“No, I don't 'spose you are,” the Doctor agreed. “Well, perhaps it was for the best?” Jack glared at him again. “Or perhaps not. Okay. So. What happened?”
And with a deep sigh, Jack launched into the story of the worst day of his life. Followed by a detailed recount of the next 200 years worth of searching across the galaxy for Ianto. The Doctor listened and nodded and hummed and hawed and clarified pointed and said, “Right, right, right...” as he did when he understood.
“Well, Jack, you've had quite the journey over the last bicentenary.” The Doctor ordered them both a drink. “I'm sorry I wasn't there to help, but really there would have been nothing I could have done, you know that, right?”
Jack sighed and slumped. “Nothing?”
The Doctor shook his head. “I'm sorry, Jack.”
“But-”
“Jack. If he was taken by the rift, he could have been taken anywhere in time and space! It could have aged or de-aged him, manipulated his very DNA! You have no idea if he's even alive! It's impossible to say where or when in time he would have come out.” The Doctor sighed. “Look. Why don't you come travel with us for a while, hey? Might do you some good to be with friends for a while, hmm? It's been a while since you've been with people you could trust, hasn't it?”
“Us?” Jack asked.
“My companions. They're around here somewhere. Ms Amy Pond and her husband, Rory Williams. I forget.”
Jack contemplated it. “I don't know, Doc. I... I'm still looking for Ianto. And I'm not ever going to give up on him.” He shook his head. “Thanks for the offer though.”
“Jack, you haven't found him in 200 years. Do you think he'll even be alive?” the Doctor asked gently.
Jack stared. He hadn't thought of that. “What?”
“C'mon Jack. Surely you must have thought about it!” Jack crumpled. It was like losing Ianto all over again. “Oh dear. You really hadn't thought about it?” The Doctor put his arm around Jack's shoulders. “There, there, now.” Jack started to cry. “Oh Jack.” The Doctor hugged him. “C'mon now. It'll be alright.”
“No Doc...” Jack sobbed. “I miss him so much.”
“He really meant that much to you?” the Doctor asked, skeptical. Jack nodded into the Doctor's neck. “Well... he must have been something special. C'mon, let's go talk.”
Jack pulled back, and wiped at his eyes. The Doctor ordered them a couple more drinks and led them to a secluded corner booth.
“Tell me about him, Jack,” the Doctor implored, once they were seated.
For the first time in 200 years, Jack talked about the man who had stolen his heart. The Doctor sat there in rapt attention as Jack told him stories about Ianto, and Torchwood, but also stories that no one else knew. Stories that only Jack knew. Like the cake Ianto made and let Jack eat off his stomach. Or the time that Ianto had hunted through every second hand store in the country to replace his RAF great coat when it had gotten ripped beyond repair on a weevil hunt. He described in detail the taste of Ianto's coffee, which he could still remember the taste. He told him about the time that Jack and Ianto babysat for Rhiannon - though Rhiannon didn't know that Jack was there with him and the kids. Jack became the third kid of the night, and they successfully drove Ianto nuts as Jack got the kids hyped up on ice cream.
Jack hadn't smiled about Ianto in so long. He hadn't laughed about Ianto in even longer. The Doctor asked questions and laughed and smiled along with him.
“You really do love him, don't you?” the Doctor asked in awe, holding one head up with his hand, his bowtie askew, and his hair all mussed up from his hands.
Jack nodded. “Yeah, Doc. Of all the people who've come into my life... he's the one who really left a mark.”
“It's hard to believe that you only had a few short years together, Jack.”
Jack sighed. “I know. But I can't let him go, Doc. I just … I can't. I don't know why. I know I have to keep looking. He's... he's out there. I-I can't explain it. I just … feel it.” Jack looked miserably at the Doctor. “I just don't know where.”
The Doctor looked genuinely regretful. “Well... I wish I could help you with that. But Jack, you've spent the last 200 years looking. Perhaps its time to stop for a while, hmm?”
“I can't, Doc. I can't just stop and start travelling through time and space as if he doesn't exist!” Jack slumped in his seat, looking defeated. “He deserves better than that. He deserves better than to be forgotten.”
The Doctor tilted his head. “There's always... but no, you wouldn't be interested.”
“What?”
The Doctor smiled. “Forget it. It's not your thing.”
“Doc.”
“Well, it's just, the Time Agency is reforming on the planet Daelynea. They're in need of teachers for their Academy.”
Jack looked surprised. “You want me to teach at The Time Agency? Are you out of your freakin' mind?”
The Doctor laughed. “Oh Jack, I think you underestimate yourself. You have a lot to offer, you know. And I think you have a lot of insight into the human culture, especially those who are looking to go to Earth... perhaps if you taught the Earth History course it might be something that you'd enjoy.”
“I dunno, Doc. I'm more of an action kind of guy, than research. That was more Ianto's gig.”
The Doctor smiled. “It would be a nice way to honour him, don't you think?”
Jack was quiet for a long time. Suddenly he drained his drink and stood up. “Set it up,” he said as he slid out of the booth. “I'll be at the Yasmynthian Arms when you want to leave. Room 313.”
“Where are you going?” The Doctor asked, frowning.
“I have something I need to do,” Jack said, suddenly cagey. “I can leave in about an hour, if that's okay?”
“That's fine, Jack.”
Jack nodded and disappeared.
~*~
The Doctor was walking up to Room 313 with Amy and Rory in tow when a door on the floor they were after opened and closed, and a black haired humanoid hurried past them. Amy checked out the humanoid as he passed, carrying half his clothes as he brushed past them in his haste to leave.
“That was weird, don't you think?” she asked, looking back at him.
“No,” Rory replied. “Looked like he was in a hurry to leave after a shag.”
“Hmmm,” the Doctor, frowned. As they reached room 313, the Doctor looked back at the man who was leaving. When a gunshot rang out, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and burst into the room. “Stay here,” he ordered Amy and Rory.
“What? No! You can't go in there by yourself!” Amy protested.
“I can and I will,” the Doctor stated adamantly. “Jack would never hurt me, but he doesn't know you from Adam, so just stay put.”
Amy, clearly unhappy, was restrained by Rory. “Whatever you say, Doctor,” the blonde man said.
“Thank you, Rory.” The Doctor entered the room carefully and shut the door behind him. He made his way over to the bed in the lamp lit room, and found Jack lying there in a pool of his own blood, brain matter splattered everywhere, naked except for the sheet that covered his waist. A black book lay open, leather cover side up, and a photograph on top of the book, clutched in one of Jack's hands, the other held his gun and had fallen off the bed the moment he died. “Oh Jack,” the Doctor sighed. He plucked the photograph up and looked at it. It was Jack and the man that Jack had described in detail earlier. Ianto Jones. “Yes, he is quite striking isn't he?” the Doctor mused to himself as he took in their matching smiles at one another, though Ianto was pushing Jack away in the photo.
Jack gasped back to life violently. “Ianto?!”
“Jack,” the Doctor reached for his hand and took the gun out of it. “Jack, it's okay. It's me.”
“Doc,” he said disappointedly.
“Yes, sorry.”
“S'ok,” he sighed.
“Is it always that painful?” the Doctor asked, frowning.
“Yeah,” Jack murmured, slightly amused. “Thought it was more bearable when Ianto was there. He would always wait with me whenever I died on Earth. Never let me die or revive alone if he could help it. He was stubborn that way.”
“He sounds like a remarkable man, Jack.”
Jack nodded. “He is.”
“So what is this nonsense about shooting yourself?”
Jack looked away. “It's nothing.”
“Come now, Jack. Let's not play games. I think you and I are both past that stage in our relationship, don't you?”
Jack huffed. “Fine. I do it after I fuck someone else, okay?” He sat up. “I don't want to talk about it. Look, I'm all packed, I just need to have a shower and get dressed.”
Long ago Jack lost any sense of modesty - not that he ever had any in the first place. He stood up stark naked and padded into the bathroom to take a quick shower. When he exited, the Doctor kindly turned his back while Jack dressed and gathered the diary.
“Ah, Doc have you seen a...?” the Doctor held up the photograph in his hand. “Yes. Thanks.” Jack took it and carefully placed it inside the diary in his hand, bushing his finger over Ianto's face before snapping the book closed and including it in his bag of Ianto's belongings as well as his own meagre possessions in the sports bag he owned. “Right. I'm ready to go.”
The Doctor sighed. “Okay then.”
And he lead the way out of the hotel room.
“Oh yes,” he said when he opened the door to find Amy and Rory leaning against the door and stumbling into the room. “Ms Amy Pond, Mr Rory Williams -”
“Captain Jack Harkness,” Jack said, winking at Amy and holding out his hand to Rory.
“Ah, Jack, just … don't.”
“What?” Jack protested, innocently looking at the Doctor. “I'm just being friendly! Honestly. You spend the first 5 or 6 years travelling with this guy and flirting every now and then-”
“Try with everything that moved, and it wasn't the first 5 or 6 years, it's been every year you've been alive more likely,” the Doctor clarified.
“And suddenly you can't be friendly.” Jack shook his head. “I'll have you know that Ianto never minded my flirting.”
“Yes, well, Ianto, apparently, was a saint.”
“Damn right he was,” Jack agreed heartily, then sighing. “Damn right.” He shook his head. “Sorry.”
The Doctor looked at Amy and Rory. “We're going to give Jack here a lift to Daelynea where he's going to take up a teaching post at the Time Agency Academy.”
“Oh, awesome!” Amy grinned, linking arms through both Jack's and Rory's as they followed the Doctor towards where the small group had left the TARDIS parked. “So you've travelled with the Doctor before then?”
“Uh, a long time ago,” Jack replied nervously.
Amy's smile turned devious. “Excellent. You can tell me all the things he won't, starting with, how do you get the TARDIS to make a good cup of coffee?” Jack froze, and the Doctor looked pained. “Something I said?” Amy asked innocently.
Chapter 4