The One You're With
Title: "...The One You're With"
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Pairing: Ten/Captain Jack Harkness
Rating: NC-17 for explicit sexual content. And a swear.
Spoilers: The Doctor Dances, Parting of the Ways, Utopia, Last of the Time Lords
Disclaimer: I don't own anything; if I did, Doctor Who would have to be shown after the watershed. Or sold on DVD in specialist shops.
Warnings: Explicit M/M slash, light sub/dom
Comments: Slightly angsty at first, and a bit fluffy, but this is mostly just a good old-fashioned PWP. I think it fits into continuity quite neatly, though... ;)
Um... also, it's a bit long. I was gonna post it in two parts, but I didn't want to interrupt the flow.
The Doctor began to shake his head, but Jack cupped the Doctor's face with both his hands to stop the movement. "Please..." he said. "I've always followed your orders. You never asked it of me, I always wanted to. That's how I want it to be now. That's how I..." Jack swallowed, as if a little embarrassed. "That's how I always like to imagine it."
Captain Jack Harkness glanced at the Doctor again through lowered lashes. The Timelord was tinkering with switches and levers, hopping round the console, pretending to be cheerful, but Jack knew he wasn't his usual self. He looked like he didn't really know what to do with himself. Then again, it wasn't surprising he was a bit out of sorts; he'd not long since cremated the body of The Master; his old friend, worst enemy, and the only other being of his species left in the universe. The Doctor's last hope of ending his eternal loneliness... gone.
Jack was sitting on the tatty long seat next to the console, one leg raised comfortably, toying with some electronic components he'd found abandoned in the corner of the room. He didn't really know what to do with himself, either. They'd just dropped Martha off and said they'd wait for her to return; she'd said something about wanting to buy flowers for somebody, and they hadn't questioned it. It had been a few days since they'd destroyed the Paradox machine and the world had gone back to normal, normal for everyone except for them and Martha's family, of course, for whom the past nightmarish year was a permanent and painful memory. Life went on, although the world was still reeling from the shock of the US President having been assassinated by aliens, live on global television. There was still a whole lot of mess to be cleared up, Jack knew, but the three of them had done enough and it was up to the authorities now. Although maybe Torchwood would have to get involved.
Ah. Torchwood. Jack was torn, eager to get back to his team and get stuck into whatever work needed to be done, but reluctant to leave the Doctor after he'd spent over a century waiting to see him again; waiting and hoping.
Jack cleared his throat. The Doctor looked up, surprised out of his reverie. Jack tried the hearty approach, it usually seemed to win people over. "You okay there, big fella?"
The Doctor smiled thinly and nodded a little too enthusiastically. "Yeah. Always."
Jack nodded. "Wouldn't be surprised if you weren't." The Doctor looked down at his Converse trainers.
There was a painful silence.
Jack took a deep breath. "Did you love him?"
The Doctor back looked up at Jack sharply, but didn't speak. The expression on his face, for once, was indiscernible. Jack stood up, crossed over to the Timelord and put a comforting hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "Forgive me, but it was pretty obvious. To me, anyway."
To Jack's dismay, the Doctor's eyes filled up and he let out a sob. Jack bit his lip. All he'd been able to do the last time he saw the Doctor crying, the moment The Master had died in his fellow Timelord's arms, was look on helplessly. He couldn't do that again. Jack placed his hand on the Doctor's cheek and gently ran a thumb under his eye, wiping away a single tear.
"How lonely do you have to be, to want to spend the rest of your life imprisoned with your worst enemy?" Jack spoke softly, almost to himself. The Doctor shook his head minutely, but didn't dislodge Jack's hand. "He wasn't always my enemy..." the Doctor whispered brokenly.
Jack swallowed hard. He couldn't quite believe he was saying this. "You don't have to be alone," he said simply. "I can't die... remember? I'm gonna be around forever. There's nobody else in the universe you could spend the rest of your life with."
The Doctor's eyes widened. He suddenly gave Jack the shadow of a smile. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were hitting on me."
Jack grinned. "As if..." The Doctor smiled back through his tears. They stared at each for a moment, Jack was aware that his breathing had quickened slightly and it seemed to him as though the Doctor's chest was rising and falling at the same increased pace.
The Doctor had been gnawing his bottom lip with anguish, Jack had noticed. It looked a little reddened. Jack couldn't help himself. He leaned into the Timelord, softly brushed his tongue against that hot, slightly swollen, inviting bottom lip. The Doctor stepped back a little, but didn't look offended, just a little... lost.
"Oh Jack, I... I don't know if I..."
Jack nodded, looking abashed, and took a step back. "Hey, I'm sorry. I... I don't know what I was thinking. You're upset, and I shouldn't have..." he floundered. Of the many things Jack could say he was, he knew he wasn't the kind of guy to take advantage of somebody when they were distressed. Even if he did... Jack swallowed. Yeah. He loved the Doctor. He always had.
The Doctor looked down at the console. "It's alright, no really, it is. I..." the Doctor broke off, and sighed.
Hell, this was awkward. The TImelord looked at Jack with his bright brown eyes and despite himself, Jack felt himself drowning in them, felt a tingle work its way slowly down his spine. He licked his lips subconsciously.
The Doctor crooked his arm at a right angle and began to fiddle with his hair, something he always did when he was agitated. "When we had that conversation... oh, such a long time ago... when I said you were 'wrong'..." Jack nodded impassively. "Well, firstly, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. I mean... it's true in a way... you make my brain itch..."
The corner of Jack's mouth twitched. The Doctor continued. "But... I don't mind that. You making my brain itch, I mean. It's... sometimes quite a welcome distraction." Jack raised an eyebrow. The Doctor swallowed visibly. "But the fact is... that's not the only reason I ran away from you, back when we were on Satellite 5."
"No?"
"I was scared... of you. No, no, no... not of you. Of... how I felt about you. That time you kissed me... well, the old me, and then you disappeared, off to shoot at Daleks, and I thought that was it. I thought I'd never see you again." Jack nodded, his brow furrowed. The Doctor reached out, ran the back of his fingers down Jack's face. "When Rose resurrected you, I knew instantly what she'd done. I could feel you. You were dead, and then blam, there you were, back in the universe. In a pretty permanent kind of way. And I knew... well. You know how you want something, and then when you think you might just get it, it scares you, because you don't know if you can actually handle it?"
Jack shook his head, confused. "When I want something, I get it. And it's usually just fine." The Doctor laughed. "That's so... Jack." Jack shrugged.
The Doctor looked him straight in the eye. "When you kissed me back then on Satellite 5, just that sweet peck on the lips, I knew I... But then you turned into this... paradox. And rather than face up to it, I just left you. Twice. I shouldn't have done that, either."
Jack took a breath. "It's a good thing I never gave up hope of seeing you again, then." The Doctor nodded. "I'm glad you didn't... now. But then he turned up," Jack didn't have to ask who "he" was as the Doctor continued, "...and all hell broke loose, like it always does... did. And... I remembered how we used to be with each other. Back when were young, on Gallifrey. And I wasn't sure what I felt, and for whom. I thought... if he agreed to stay with me... I don't know. I didn't know what else to do. I thought we'd be alright. Thought we could even go back to how we were when we were young. Thought I could change him. Only, there was no help for him, was there? Not in the end. It just..." the Doctor sighed.
"It messed your head up." Jack said simply. The Doctor brushed an invisible piece of lint from his suit jacket to avoid having to look at Jack. "A long time ago, back in the Academy, he and I were... well, I don't have to elucidate further, do I? Ooh, elucidate, that's a good word, I like that..."
"It doesn't have to so complicated, y'know." Jack reached out and placed both his hands on the Doctor's shoulders, forcing him to face him. "There's an old Earth saying..." Jack murmured. "If you can't be with the one you love..."
The two men stared at each other in silence for a full ten seconds.
"...love the one you're with?" the Doctor finished. Jack nodded, holding his breath. Without even looking, the Doctor reached an arm across the console and flicked a switch. The rotor began to rise and fall and the familiar sound of the TARDIS dematerialising filled the console room. "Just put her in orbit..." said the Doctor, not taking his eyes off Jack. "We can materialise back the second after we left... Martha will never know we were gone."
"Ooh. I love secrets..." whispered Jack, as his hands moved slowly from the Doctor's shoulders down his arms until he took the Doctor's hands in his and squeezed. The Doctor's fingers squeezed back gently in response.
"Can I have this dance?" joked the Doctor with a small smile. They never did have that dance back in 1941, Jack remembered. Rose keeping the Doctor all to herself again.
"Thought you'd never ask..." breathed Jack, and he leaned forward, his heart fluttering like a nervous schoolboy's, as he pressed his lips against the Doctor's mouth and kissed him, slowly and carefully. The Doctor resisted for a second, as though he was still making up his mind, but then after a moment it was as though a dam had broken... and the Doctor suddenly let go of Jack's hands and wrapped his arms firmly around Jack's waist, pulling his body closer towards him, leaving Jack with his arms dangling in surprise while the Doctor's tongue moved softly around Jack's lips, moistening them, and then slipped into Jack's mouth. The Doctor tasted the inside of Jack's mouth hungrily, stealing his breath and making him feel deliciously light-headed. When they came up for air, Jack stared wide-eyed at the Doctor, breathless and awe-struck.
The Doctor grinned, looking almost like his old self. "Been wanting to do that since I had the last body..." he murmured. Jack smiled shyly. "You too, huh?" They laughed. Jack shuffled slightly. His body was deliciously close to the Doctor's and he could feel twin beats thumping against his chest. Rather quicker than normal, he fancied. Jack placed his hands flat on the Doctor's back and pressed himself further against the other man. Yeah. So very, very close. He could feel rather distinctly that the Doctor was as excited as he was, and not only because of the quickened heartsbeat.
Jack leaned in and pressed his lips to the Doctor's again, and this time their kiss was a hurried, frenzied thing as Jack began to undo the Doctor's tie, pushing back on the lapels of his brown suit jacket, hastily unfastening the buttons of the Doctor's shirt, trying to get rid of every piece of clothing on his torso as quickly as possible, whilst at the same time shucking off his own braces, almost ripping off the buttons off his own shirt trying to remove it... What Jack would have given for a defabricator at that moment.
Once they were both half-undressed, down to nothing but trousers and footwear, Jack pushed against the Doctor until the base of his back touched the edge of the TARDIS console and the Doctor bent his elbows behind him to brace himself. Jack gently took hold of the back of the Doctor's neck with one hand, tilting back the Timelord's head as he ran tongue, lips, teeth over the Doctor's neck and throat, and downwards, stopping to linger over the Adam's apple, and when the Doctor groaned, Jack felt the vibration on his lips. Jack ran the edges of his teeth over the Doctor's prominent collarbone, his fingers playing over the ridges of the Timelord's ribs like he was playing classical music on a harp's strings. Jack had never touched such a slender, pale torso before; the elegant beauty of the Doctor's naked body made Jack's breath catch in his throat.
The Doctor pushed himself forward so that his hands were free to caress Jack's shoulders and Jack took the opportunity, while the Doctor was standing free of the console, to remove the rest of the Doctor's clothing, including his trainers which slipped off easily along with the brown suit trousers. The Doctor looked slightly flushed now, a little unsure about being entirely naked in front of the Captain, but Jack looked entirely relaxed and really rather pleased with the entire situation. "Oh... I do love secrets..." gasped Jack in awe as he gazed at the Doctor's naked body and the Doctor couldn't help but give him one of his cheekiest grins in return. The Doctor reached for the waistband of Jack's trousers, but Jack took a step back. "Nuh uh. Not your job." Jack took the Doctor by the upper arms and manoeuvred him around and pushed at him gently until he was sitting in the middle of the long seat by the console, where Jack had himself been idly lounging only minutes earlier.
The Doctor looked a little confused. "But..." Jack shushed him with a quick kiss. "I want it to be like it's always been... You're in charge. Sir." The Doctor began to shake his head, but Jack cupped the Doctor's face with both his hands to stop the movement. "Please..." he said. "I've always followed your orders. You never asked it of me, I always wanted to. That's how I want it to be now. That's how I..." Jack swallowed, as if a little embarrassed. "That's how I always like to imagine it." The Doctor's eyes widened slightly, and a slight bloom of colour appeared on his cheeks, but he didn't reply. The Doctor didn't say a word as Jack took a step back and slowly began to remove his trousers. The Doctor's eyes followed every movement of Jack's nimble fingers as he unfastened and unzipped, and soon the dark blue trousers, the shucked-off braces still attached to the waistband but trailing either side of Jack's thighs, slipped down to the ground; Jack elegantly stepped out of them and used his foot to slide them out of the way. He hadn't been wearing any underwear, of course.
Jack was very hard. The Doctor reached out a hand to caress him but Jack caught it before he could reach. Jack entwined his fingers with the Doctor's. Then he took a step forward, knelt on the floor in front of the Doctor, nestling in-between the Doctor's thighs, his skin prickling at the sudden contact of flesh against flesh. He let go of the Doctor's hand but let the Timelord slide both his arms around Jack for a moment, holding him close for a moment, feeling their hearts beating in a similar rhythm. Jack was almost close enough to whisper into the Doctor's ear, he just had to raise his head a little. "Tell me what you want..." he whispered. "I'm yours, all yours... just tell me what you need and I'll obey. Please... Sir." He felt the Doctor let out a long slow breath, the warm air ruffling his hair, felt the Doctor tremble slightly in his arms. When Jack pulled his head back so that they were looking at each other again, their lips centimetres apart, the Doctor spoke softly. "Is that really what you want?" Jack nodded eagerly. "Please..." he said again, a husky plaintive tone to his voice, and the Doctor closed his eyes briefly, breathed out through his nose, made the very faintest of moans. Jack's cock twitched in appreciation.
The Doctor pushed Jack backwards until he was kneeling back down and then Jack gasped as the Doctor placed one hand on the side of his face, his fingertips touching Jack's temple, the thumb pressed gently into the curve of Jack's left cheek, and after a second or two there was... something... like a spark igniting in his mind, and all at once... "Ohhh..." said Jack slowly, and the Doctor closed his eyes in concentration. The Doctor was in his head, not quite... no, he wasn't reading his mind, he was just... "Oh. Wow..." the Doctor's lips had curled into a faint smile now as he telepathically pressed a series of images into Jack's mind... very clear, detailed, moving images of exactly what he would like the good Captain to be doing to him. Jack accepted the images greedily with no resistance. He was used to low level telepathic communication, and it didn't phase him. Jack also his eyes closed now, a radiant smile on his face.
When the Doctor pulled his hand away and the images faded, Jack felt bereft. Jack caught the Doctor's hand as it was still in the air, inches from his face, took those long slender fingers in his own and kissed them all over. With both his own hands, he separated the fingers of the Doctor's hand while they were pressed against his lips, singled out the Doctor's index finger and adjoining middle finger and pushed them both into his mouth, his tongue moving in tight circles around the digits, pushing them deep inside his mouth as he stared into the Doctor's eyes and then suckled on them, teasingly gently and slowly.
The Doctor opened his mouth but it took a few seconds for the sounds to emerge. "Ah... yes... it was... something like that..."
Jack released the Doctor's hand with a shy smile. Down to business now. Jack was wriggling on the floor to get into a comfortable kneeling position between the Doctor's thighs. Then he placed the palms on his hands on his own thighs, bowed his head slightly, his eyes looking down at the floor. Jack's chest and beautiful face was flushed, his hair tousled. He presented the perfect image of willing submission. The sight made the Doctor's lips part, his breathing quicken. The Doctor leant forward in his seat, took hold of Jack's chin and pulled his face upwards and kissed his lips softly. "Thank you, Sir," whispered Jack, and carefully he pushed at the Doctor's chest until the Timelord was sitting back in his seat. The Doctor stretched out his arms until they were resting along the edge of the seat's backrest. The Doctor let out a sudden cry and his fingers gripped at the worn fabric of the backrest as Jack's hands grasped firmly at the insides of his thighs, and the hot touch of a talented tongue flicked at the head of his desperately hard cock.
Jack couldn't resist doing that, but now he forced himself to take some self-control as he wrapped his hand round the base of the Doctor's cock, holding it out of the way as he tilted his head and concentrated on running the flat of his tongue across the scrotum in slow strokes, moistening the whole area with his warm saliva. Jack glanced up at the Doctor; he was gripping on to the backrest for dear life, his head thrown back, lips parted, his breathing ragged and audible. Jack lips curved into a smile against the Doctor's hot flesh, the joyful feeling of giving the Doctor such pleasure formed a hot ball of excitement inside him, and as his tongue began to make its way along the Doctor's hardness and the Timelord let out a moan, he couldn't help but briefly touch himself with his free hand. The Doctor was gasping out Jack's name, over and over, as Jack raised himself up on his knees a few more inches and took the Doctor's considerable length into his mouth, taking as much of it into his relaxed throat as he could, suckling him while his throat muscles and tongue worked around the Timelord's hardness in wonderful, inventive patterns that had the Doctor's long fingers clutching feverishly at Jack's hair, his limbs shaking, wordless sounds emerging from his lips. Jack ran his hands up and down the outer aspects of the Doctor's trembling thighs, his fingers scraping at his flesh almost painfully with excitement. He groaned deep in his throat, and the resulting vibration round the Doctor's cock nearly sent the Timelord over the edge.
Dimly Jack heard the Doctor calling his name, his voice hoarse, telling him to stop, fingers pushing shakily at his head. Jack, with some effort, pulled himself back into focus and obeyed, letting the delicious flesh slide from his wet mouth. The Doctor leaned forward in his seat again and then, gripping Jack by the elbows, stood up, bringing Jack up off his knees into a standing position with him. The Doctor's chest was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and Jack resisted the urge to lick at it. The Doctor ran his hand softly down Jack's damp face. "You know what I want," said the Doctor. Jack saw an excited glint in his eye. He was enjoying this game now, he knew. Jack put his hands behind him, straightened his back, lowered his eyes to the floor. "Yes Sir. May I please fetch something first?" The Doctor nodded, bouncing very slightly on his heels with a slight note of impatience. Slightly teasingly, Jack walked slowly over to the coat stand in the corner of the room, knowing that the Doctor's eyes were following his every movement, and when he reached the coat stand, he took a shy glance at the other man, pleased to see that the Doctor was obviously appreciative of the sight of Jack's buff naked body, muscles under the glistening skin flexing as he moved.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow as Jack paused for a moment to fumble in the inside pocket of his greatcoat and extracted something from it, keeping it tight in his hand. When he returned, he held out his hand to show a tube of lubricant lying on his palm, which the Doctor took from him with a faint blush in his cheeks. The Timelord glanced back at Jack's greatcoat hanging on the stand and raised an eyebrow. Jack smiled shyly. "You never know..." he said with a shrug. The Doctor laughed and leaned in to kiss Jack's face and neck, his hands stroking him all over, and this time Jack didn't stop him, just leaned back against the console and breathed out slowly as the Doctor pressed against him, covering his skin with bites and licks and kisses.
There was an alarming bleep, and the Doctor tutted and then stretched an arm across to the far right for a second, flicking a switch that rendered the controls on the side of the console that Jack was leaning against inoperable, to avoid them accidentally activating something that might cause a universal catastrophe. Then he returned eagerly to Jack's flesh, nibbling at his shoulder now. The Doctor's hands gripped tightly on to Jack's hips and with surprising strength, he suddenly hoisted Jack upwards and backwards so that he was perched on the console, and now he was raised high enough for the Doctor to lean forwards and bury his teeth and lips into the tight muscles of his flat stomach. Jack threw his head back and groaned and he couldn't help but to reach for his own cock, he just needed something, some stimulation, it was all getting too much to bear... but the Doctor slapped Jack's hand away and told him to put his hands behind his head in such a firm manner that Jack felt a flush of fresh arousal warm his body from forehead to feet.
Jack obeyed, with a muttered "oh God...oh yes, Sir, I'm sorry Sir, but please..." The Doctor growled. Jack was dimly aware now that 'please' was obviously a word that, when said in the right situation, was a very attractive word indeed, especially when it issued breathlessly from the warm inviting lips of Captain Jack Harkness. Jack put his hands behind his head, entwining the fingers into his hair to give him something to pull on, something to do with his hands, as the Doctor took firm hold of his legs, pulling and shifting and grunting slightly as he manoeuvred Jack so that he was half-sitting, half-leaning against the console with his thighs parted, his right leg draped over the Doctor's shoulder, and now the Doctor turned his head and began to lick at the inside of Jack's thigh, even giving him an impatient little slap to the underside when Jack dared to loosen one hand away from his head, so desperate for attention to his twitching and leaking cock...
"Here... keep your hands busy... open this..." said the Doctor breathlessly, handing Jack the tube of lubricant that had been propped on the edge of the console with his free hand. Jack obeyed, his chest rising and falling rapidly, as he pulled off the top and squeezed clear jelly onto the Doctor's outstretched fingertips, and then flung the tube carelessly to the floor.
Jack clutched at his hair again, letting out a deep, grateful moan as the Doctor carefully sank two greasy fingers into him, to the second knuckle, biting slightly too hard into Jack's thigh with the resulting surge of excitement, and then he was gently stretching, scissoring his fingers, his eyes closed with his damp cheek resting against Jack's leg. Jack panted and whimpered, his mouth pursing to make the initial 'p' sound of the Doctor's new favourite word as the Doctor added a third finger. Now the long elegant digits were sliding in all the way, and both men were panting, and suddenly the tip of the Doctor's index finger scraped once, maddeningly, wonderfully, against Jack's prostate and he couldn't wait any longer.
"Oh... please... please... now... please Sir..." he babbled, but the Doctor was already extracting his fingers, hitching Jack's free leg under his right arm to support it and leaning forwards, the leg draped over the Doctor's shoulder being bent back towards Jack, but the stretching pain in his thigh muscles was only turning Jack on more as the Doctor braced himself against Jack's body and slid into him, slowly and to the hilt, and both of them let out a groan. The Doctor steadied himself for a moment, not moving, waiting for his breath to settle down as his brown eyes bore deeply into Jack's blue ones and Jack gazed back, his lips parted, glistening cheeks reddened.
"Ask me..." the Doctor said softly. "Beg me." Jack's eyes were wide, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He licked his lips.
"Please. Please... Sir." Jack's voice... oh Rassilon... the Doctor closed his eyes and his cock, buried deep inside Jack, twitched.
"Again. Beg me," he whispered. Jack's voice was cracking. "Please. Sir. Fuck me. I want you to come inside me. Please? I beg you, Sir... please... p..." his voice faltered, Jack was writhing slightly, anything, anything to make the Doctor move inside him now. And the Doctor looked at Jack, and smiled, and he began to thrust at last, slowly and deeply. After a moment the Timelord released Jack's left leg from under his arm, guided the foot to a place on the console where Jack could brace his leg, leaving his hand free to take a firm hold of Jack's cock for the first time... and Jack cried out as he began to stroke him, matching the rhythm of his thrusts.
Jack's hands unfurled from behind his head, not caring about the game anymore, and the Doctor did not admonish him as Jack reached out with his hands, touching and stroking and grasping at very part of the Doctor's body he could reach, as the Doctor stroked him with his hand and with his cock and Jack strained his head upwards, the muscles in his neck screaming, but he didn't care because if the Doctor reached up on the very tips of his toes he could lean far enough to kiss his lips, and before too long Jack screamed into the Doctor's mouth as he came, strings of white semen splattering his chest, both their chests, and covering the Doctor's fingers. The Doctor's whole body shook, and Jack pushed him back, far enough away so that he could clearly see his face. Jack's lips curved into a blissful smile as the Doctor cried out, a long shuddering cry, and his face contorted with absolute naked pleasure... oh... oh... so prettily as he emptied himself hotly into Jack, and as soon as he was beginning to come down from his orgasm, all of their straining muscles finally gave way and they both slid down and collapsed in a sweating, laughing leap on the console floor.
A few moments later, and Jack had made his way shakily over to the coat stand and had produced a pack of wet wipes from his greatcoat pocket ("You never know"), and now they were cleaned up and dressed, and... somehow, the slight awkwardness in the atmosphere was back. Jack chewed a fingernail as he sat back down on the tatty old seat and watched the Doctor setting the console back to rights. The Timelord certainly looked like he was back to his old self again and he was humming cheerfully.
Jack thought about joining him at the console, maybe even wrapping arms around him, kissing his neck... but somehow the moment was gone.
"We'd better go back. In case... I don't know. Martha..." Jack floundered slightly. The Doctor nodded. The Timelord absent mindedly rubbed the back of his head. Jack took a breath. "I'm always gonna be here, y'know. Making your brain itch."
The Doctor smiled. "Like I said... I don't mind. Will you...?" Jack scratched his ear and shrugged. "Let's not talk about it now, OK?"
The Doctor pursed his lips and nodded. Then he was moving around lightly on his feet flicking switches, and as he banged a well aimed fist at a certain tricky spot on the console, the room was filled once again with the noise of the TARDIS materialising, back to the spot they had vacated - by Earth's time, only a second ago. The Doctor was humming something by Snow Patrol under his breath.
Jack's face lit up with a smile. The Doctor looked... like the past year might never have happened. "Hey big fella. You look... you gonna be OK?"
The Doctor stared at him for a moment. Then he nodded. "Thank you," said the Doctor simply.
It was spoken sincerely, and Jack was filled with a strange mixture of emotions he couldn't quite sort out in his head just yet.
"Well then... mission accomplished. Sir."
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Pairing: Ten/Captain Jack Harkness
Rating: NC-17 for explicit sexual content. And a swear.
Spoilers: The Doctor Dances, Parting of the Ways, Utopia, Last of the Time Lords
Disclaimer: I don't own anything; if I did, Doctor Who would have to be shown after the watershed. Or sold on DVD in specialist shops.
Warnings: Explicit M/M slash, light sub/dom
Comments: Slightly angsty at first, and a bit fluffy, but this is mostly just a good old-fashioned PWP. I think it fits into continuity quite neatly, though... ;)
Um... also, it's a bit long. I was gonna post it in two parts, but I didn't want to interrupt the flow.
The Doctor began to shake his head, but Jack cupped the Doctor's face with both his hands to stop the movement. "Please..." he said. "I've always followed your orders. You never asked it of me, I always wanted to. That's how I want it to be now. That's how I..." Jack swallowed, as if a little embarrassed. "That's how I always like to imagine it."
Captain Jack Harkness glanced at the Doctor again through lowered lashes. The Timelord was tinkering with switches and levers, hopping round the console, pretending to be cheerful, but Jack knew he wasn't his usual self. He looked like he didn't really know what to do with himself. Then again, it wasn't surprising he was a bit out of sorts; he'd not long since cremated the body of The Master; his old friend, worst enemy, and the only other being of his species left in the universe. The Doctor's last hope of ending his eternal loneliness... gone.
Jack was sitting on the tatty long seat next to the console, one leg raised comfortably, toying with some electronic components he'd found abandoned in the corner of the room. He didn't really know what to do with himself, either. They'd just dropped Martha off and said they'd wait for her to return; she'd said something about wanting to buy flowers for somebody, and they hadn't questioned it. It had been a few days since they'd destroyed the Paradox machine and the world had gone back to normal, normal for everyone except for them and Martha's family, of course, for whom the past nightmarish year was a permanent and painful memory. Life went on, although the world was still reeling from the shock of the US President having been assassinated by aliens, live on global television. There was still a whole lot of mess to be cleared up, Jack knew, but the three of them had done enough and it was up to the authorities now. Although maybe Torchwood would have to get involved.
Ah. Torchwood. Jack was torn, eager to get back to his team and get stuck into whatever work needed to be done, but reluctant to leave the Doctor after he'd spent over a century waiting to see him again; waiting and hoping.
Jack cleared his throat. The Doctor looked up, surprised out of his reverie. Jack tried the hearty approach, it usually seemed to win people over. "You okay there, big fella?"
The Doctor smiled thinly and nodded a little too enthusiastically. "Yeah. Always."
Jack nodded. "Wouldn't be surprised if you weren't." The Doctor looked down at his Converse trainers.
There was a painful silence.
Jack took a deep breath. "Did you love him?"
The Doctor back looked up at Jack sharply, but didn't speak. The expression on his face, for once, was indiscernible. Jack stood up, crossed over to the Timelord and put a comforting hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "Forgive me, but it was pretty obvious. To me, anyway."
To Jack's dismay, the Doctor's eyes filled up and he let out a sob. Jack bit his lip. All he'd been able to do the last time he saw the Doctor crying, the moment The Master had died in his fellow Timelord's arms, was look on helplessly. He couldn't do that again. Jack placed his hand on the Doctor's cheek and gently ran a thumb under his eye, wiping away a single tear.
"How lonely do you have to be, to want to spend the rest of your life imprisoned with your worst enemy?" Jack spoke softly, almost to himself. The Doctor shook his head minutely, but didn't dislodge Jack's hand. "He wasn't always my enemy..." the Doctor whispered brokenly.
Jack swallowed hard. He couldn't quite believe he was saying this. "You don't have to be alone," he said simply. "I can't die... remember? I'm gonna be around forever. There's nobody else in the universe you could spend the rest of your life with."
The Doctor's eyes widened. He suddenly gave Jack the shadow of a smile. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were hitting on me."
Jack grinned. "As if..." The Doctor smiled back through his tears. They stared at each for a moment, Jack was aware that his breathing had quickened slightly and it seemed to him as though the Doctor's chest was rising and falling at the same increased pace.
The Doctor had been gnawing his bottom lip with anguish, Jack had noticed. It looked a little reddened. Jack couldn't help himself. He leaned into the Timelord, softly brushed his tongue against that hot, slightly swollen, inviting bottom lip. The Doctor stepped back a little, but didn't look offended, just a little... lost.
"Oh Jack, I... I don't know if I..."
Jack nodded, looking abashed, and took a step back. "Hey, I'm sorry. I... I don't know what I was thinking. You're upset, and I shouldn't have..." he floundered. Of the many things Jack could say he was, he knew he wasn't the kind of guy to take advantage of somebody when they were distressed. Even if he did... Jack swallowed. Yeah. He loved the Doctor. He always had.
The Doctor looked down at the console. "It's alright, no really, it is. I..." the Doctor broke off, and sighed.
Hell, this was awkward. The TImelord looked at Jack with his bright brown eyes and despite himself, Jack felt himself drowning in them, felt a tingle work its way slowly down his spine. He licked his lips subconsciously.
The Doctor crooked his arm at a right angle and began to fiddle with his hair, something he always did when he was agitated. "When we had that conversation... oh, such a long time ago... when I said you were 'wrong'..." Jack nodded impassively. "Well, firstly, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry. I mean... it's true in a way... you make my brain itch..."
The corner of Jack's mouth twitched. The Doctor continued. "But... I don't mind that. You making my brain itch, I mean. It's... sometimes quite a welcome distraction." Jack raised an eyebrow. The Doctor swallowed visibly. "But the fact is... that's not the only reason I ran away from you, back when we were on Satellite 5."
"No?"
"I was scared... of you. No, no, no... not of you. Of... how I felt about you. That time you kissed me... well, the old me, and then you disappeared, off to shoot at Daleks, and I thought that was it. I thought I'd never see you again." Jack nodded, his brow furrowed. The Doctor reached out, ran the back of his fingers down Jack's face. "When Rose resurrected you, I knew instantly what she'd done. I could feel you. You were dead, and then blam, there you were, back in the universe. In a pretty permanent kind of way. And I knew... well. You know how you want something, and then when you think you might just get it, it scares you, because you don't know if you can actually handle it?"
Jack shook his head, confused. "When I want something, I get it. And it's usually just fine." The Doctor laughed. "That's so... Jack." Jack shrugged.
The Doctor looked him straight in the eye. "When you kissed me back then on Satellite 5, just that sweet peck on the lips, I knew I... But then you turned into this... paradox. And rather than face up to it, I just left you. Twice. I shouldn't have done that, either."
Jack took a breath. "It's a good thing I never gave up hope of seeing you again, then." The Doctor nodded. "I'm glad you didn't... now. But then he turned up," Jack didn't have to ask who "he" was as the Doctor continued, "...and all hell broke loose, like it always does... did. And... I remembered how we used to be with each other. Back when were young, on Gallifrey. And I wasn't sure what I felt, and for whom. I thought... if he agreed to stay with me... I don't know. I didn't know what else to do. I thought we'd be alright. Thought we could even go back to how we were when we were young. Thought I could change him. Only, there was no help for him, was there? Not in the end. It just..." the Doctor sighed.
"It messed your head up." Jack said simply. The Doctor brushed an invisible piece of lint from his suit jacket to avoid having to look at Jack. "A long time ago, back in the Academy, he and I were... well, I don't have to elucidate further, do I? Ooh, elucidate, that's a good word, I like that..."
"It doesn't have to so complicated, y'know." Jack reached out and placed both his hands on the Doctor's shoulders, forcing him to face him. "There's an old Earth saying..." Jack murmured. "If you can't be with the one you love..."
The two men stared at each other in silence for a full ten seconds.
"...love the one you're with?" the Doctor finished. Jack nodded, holding his breath. Without even looking, the Doctor reached an arm across the console and flicked a switch. The rotor began to rise and fall and the familiar sound of the TARDIS dematerialising filled the console room. "Just put her in orbit..." said the Doctor, not taking his eyes off Jack. "We can materialise back the second after we left... Martha will never know we were gone."
"Ooh. I love secrets..." whispered Jack, as his hands moved slowly from the Doctor's shoulders down his arms until he took the Doctor's hands in his and squeezed. The Doctor's fingers squeezed back gently in response.
"Can I have this dance?" joked the Doctor with a small smile. They never did have that dance back in 1941, Jack remembered. Rose keeping the Doctor all to herself again.
"Thought you'd never ask..." breathed Jack, and he leaned forward, his heart fluttering like a nervous schoolboy's, as he pressed his lips against the Doctor's mouth and kissed him, slowly and carefully. The Doctor resisted for a second, as though he was still making up his mind, but then after a moment it was as though a dam had broken... and the Doctor suddenly let go of Jack's hands and wrapped his arms firmly around Jack's waist, pulling his body closer towards him, leaving Jack with his arms dangling in surprise while the Doctor's tongue moved softly around Jack's lips, moistening them, and then slipped into Jack's mouth. The Doctor tasted the inside of Jack's mouth hungrily, stealing his breath and making him feel deliciously light-headed. When they came up for air, Jack stared wide-eyed at the Doctor, breathless and awe-struck.
The Doctor grinned, looking almost like his old self. "Been wanting to do that since I had the last body..." he murmured. Jack smiled shyly. "You too, huh?" They laughed. Jack shuffled slightly. His body was deliciously close to the Doctor's and he could feel twin beats thumping against his chest. Rather quicker than normal, he fancied. Jack placed his hands flat on the Doctor's back and pressed himself further against the other man. Yeah. So very, very close. He could feel rather distinctly that the Doctor was as excited as he was, and not only because of the quickened heartsbeat.
Jack leaned in and pressed his lips to the Doctor's again, and this time their kiss was a hurried, frenzied thing as Jack began to undo the Doctor's tie, pushing back on the lapels of his brown suit jacket, hastily unfastening the buttons of the Doctor's shirt, trying to get rid of every piece of clothing on his torso as quickly as possible, whilst at the same time shucking off his own braces, almost ripping off the buttons off his own shirt trying to remove it... What Jack would have given for a defabricator at that moment.
Once they were both half-undressed, down to nothing but trousers and footwear, Jack pushed against the Doctor until the base of his back touched the edge of the TARDIS console and the Doctor bent his elbows behind him to brace himself. Jack gently took hold of the back of the Doctor's neck with one hand, tilting back the Timelord's head as he ran tongue, lips, teeth over the Doctor's neck and throat, and downwards, stopping to linger over the Adam's apple, and when the Doctor groaned, Jack felt the vibration on his lips. Jack ran the edges of his teeth over the Doctor's prominent collarbone, his fingers playing over the ridges of the Timelord's ribs like he was playing classical music on a harp's strings. Jack had never touched such a slender, pale torso before; the elegant beauty of the Doctor's naked body made Jack's breath catch in his throat.
The Doctor pushed himself forward so that his hands were free to caress Jack's shoulders and Jack took the opportunity, while the Doctor was standing free of the console, to remove the rest of the Doctor's clothing, including his trainers which slipped off easily along with the brown suit trousers. The Doctor looked slightly flushed now, a little unsure about being entirely naked in front of the Captain, but Jack looked entirely relaxed and really rather pleased with the entire situation. "Oh... I do love secrets..." gasped Jack in awe as he gazed at the Doctor's naked body and the Doctor couldn't help but give him one of his cheekiest grins in return. The Doctor reached for the waistband of Jack's trousers, but Jack took a step back. "Nuh uh. Not your job." Jack took the Doctor by the upper arms and manoeuvred him around and pushed at him gently until he was sitting in the middle of the long seat by the console, where Jack had himself been idly lounging only minutes earlier.
The Doctor looked a little confused. "But..." Jack shushed him with a quick kiss. "I want it to be like it's always been... You're in charge. Sir." The Doctor began to shake his head, but Jack cupped the Doctor's face with both his hands to stop the movement. "Please..." he said. "I've always followed your orders. You never asked it of me, I always wanted to. That's how I want it to be now. That's how I..." Jack swallowed, as if a little embarrassed. "That's how I always like to imagine it." The Doctor's eyes widened slightly, and a slight bloom of colour appeared on his cheeks, but he didn't reply. The Doctor didn't say a word as Jack took a step back and slowly began to remove his trousers. The Doctor's eyes followed every movement of Jack's nimble fingers as he unfastened and unzipped, and soon the dark blue trousers, the shucked-off braces still attached to the waistband but trailing either side of Jack's thighs, slipped down to the ground; Jack elegantly stepped out of them and used his foot to slide them out of the way. He hadn't been wearing any underwear, of course.
Jack was very hard. The Doctor reached out a hand to caress him but Jack caught it before he could reach. Jack entwined his fingers with the Doctor's. Then he took a step forward, knelt on the floor in front of the Doctor, nestling in-between the Doctor's thighs, his skin prickling at the sudden contact of flesh against flesh. He let go of the Doctor's hand but let the Timelord slide both his arms around Jack for a moment, holding him close for a moment, feeling their hearts beating in a similar rhythm. Jack was almost close enough to whisper into the Doctor's ear, he just had to raise his head a little. "Tell me what you want..." he whispered. "I'm yours, all yours... just tell me what you need and I'll obey. Please... Sir." He felt the Doctor let out a long slow breath, the warm air ruffling his hair, felt the Doctor tremble slightly in his arms. When Jack pulled his head back so that they were looking at each other again, their lips centimetres apart, the Doctor spoke softly. "Is that really what you want?" Jack nodded eagerly. "Please..." he said again, a husky plaintive tone to his voice, and the Doctor closed his eyes briefly, breathed out through his nose, made the very faintest of moans. Jack's cock twitched in appreciation.
The Doctor pushed Jack backwards until he was kneeling back down and then Jack gasped as the Doctor placed one hand on the side of his face, his fingertips touching Jack's temple, the thumb pressed gently into the curve of Jack's left cheek, and after a second or two there was... something... like a spark igniting in his mind, and all at once... "Ohhh..." said Jack slowly, and the Doctor closed his eyes in concentration. The Doctor was in his head, not quite... no, he wasn't reading his mind, he was just... "Oh. Wow..." the Doctor's lips had curled into a faint smile now as he telepathically pressed a series of images into Jack's mind... very clear, detailed, moving images of exactly what he would like the good Captain to be doing to him. Jack accepted the images greedily with no resistance. He was used to low level telepathic communication, and it didn't phase him. Jack also his eyes closed now, a radiant smile on his face.
When the Doctor pulled his hand away and the images faded, Jack felt bereft. Jack caught the Doctor's hand as it was still in the air, inches from his face, took those long slender fingers in his own and kissed them all over. With both his own hands, he separated the fingers of the Doctor's hand while they were pressed against his lips, singled out the Doctor's index finger and adjoining middle finger and pushed them both into his mouth, his tongue moving in tight circles around the digits, pushing them deep inside his mouth as he stared into the Doctor's eyes and then suckled on them, teasingly gently and slowly.
The Doctor opened his mouth but it took a few seconds for the sounds to emerge. "Ah... yes... it was... something like that..."
Jack released the Doctor's hand with a shy smile. Down to business now. Jack was wriggling on the floor to get into a comfortable kneeling position between the Doctor's thighs. Then he placed the palms on his hands on his own thighs, bowed his head slightly, his eyes looking down at the floor. Jack's chest and beautiful face was flushed, his hair tousled. He presented the perfect image of willing submission. The sight made the Doctor's lips part, his breathing quicken. The Doctor leant forward in his seat, took hold of Jack's chin and pulled his face upwards and kissed his lips softly. "Thank you, Sir," whispered Jack, and carefully he pushed at the Doctor's chest until the Timelord was sitting back in his seat. The Doctor stretched out his arms until they were resting along the edge of the seat's backrest. The Doctor let out a sudden cry and his fingers gripped at the worn fabric of the backrest as Jack's hands grasped firmly at the insides of his thighs, and the hot touch of a talented tongue flicked at the head of his desperately hard cock.
Jack couldn't resist doing that, but now he forced himself to take some self-control as he wrapped his hand round the base of the Doctor's cock, holding it out of the way as he tilted his head and concentrated on running the flat of his tongue across the scrotum in slow strokes, moistening the whole area with his warm saliva. Jack glanced up at the Doctor; he was gripping on to the backrest for dear life, his head thrown back, lips parted, his breathing ragged and audible. Jack lips curved into a smile against the Doctor's hot flesh, the joyful feeling of giving the Doctor such pleasure formed a hot ball of excitement inside him, and as his tongue began to make its way along the Doctor's hardness and the Timelord let out a moan, he couldn't help but briefly touch himself with his free hand. The Doctor was gasping out Jack's name, over and over, as Jack raised himself up on his knees a few more inches and took the Doctor's considerable length into his mouth, taking as much of it into his relaxed throat as he could, suckling him while his throat muscles and tongue worked around the Timelord's hardness in wonderful, inventive patterns that had the Doctor's long fingers clutching feverishly at Jack's hair, his limbs shaking, wordless sounds emerging from his lips. Jack ran his hands up and down the outer aspects of the Doctor's trembling thighs, his fingers scraping at his flesh almost painfully with excitement. He groaned deep in his throat, and the resulting vibration round the Doctor's cock nearly sent the Timelord over the edge.
Dimly Jack heard the Doctor calling his name, his voice hoarse, telling him to stop, fingers pushing shakily at his head. Jack, with some effort, pulled himself back into focus and obeyed, letting the delicious flesh slide from his wet mouth. The Doctor leaned forward in his seat again and then, gripping Jack by the elbows, stood up, bringing Jack up off his knees into a standing position with him. The Doctor's chest was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and Jack resisted the urge to lick at it. The Doctor ran his hand softly down Jack's damp face. "You know what I want," said the Doctor. Jack saw an excited glint in his eye. He was enjoying this game now, he knew. Jack put his hands behind him, straightened his back, lowered his eyes to the floor. "Yes Sir. May I please fetch something first?" The Doctor nodded, bouncing very slightly on his heels with a slight note of impatience. Slightly teasingly, Jack walked slowly over to the coat stand in the corner of the room, knowing that the Doctor's eyes were following his every movement, and when he reached the coat stand, he took a shy glance at the other man, pleased to see that the Doctor was obviously appreciative of the sight of Jack's buff naked body, muscles under the glistening skin flexing as he moved.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow as Jack paused for a moment to fumble in the inside pocket of his greatcoat and extracted something from it, keeping it tight in his hand. When he returned, he held out his hand to show a tube of lubricant lying on his palm, which the Doctor took from him with a faint blush in his cheeks. The Timelord glanced back at Jack's greatcoat hanging on the stand and raised an eyebrow. Jack smiled shyly. "You never know..." he said with a shrug. The Doctor laughed and leaned in to kiss Jack's face and neck, his hands stroking him all over, and this time Jack didn't stop him, just leaned back against the console and breathed out slowly as the Doctor pressed against him, covering his skin with bites and licks and kisses.
There was an alarming bleep, and the Doctor tutted and then stretched an arm across to the far right for a second, flicking a switch that rendered the controls on the side of the console that Jack was leaning against inoperable, to avoid them accidentally activating something that might cause a universal catastrophe. Then he returned eagerly to Jack's flesh, nibbling at his shoulder now. The Doctor's hands gripped tightly on to Jack's hips and with surprising strength, he suddenly hoisted Jack upwards and backwards so that he was perched on the console, and now he was raised high enough for the Doctor to lean forwards and bury his teeth and lips into the tight muscles of his flat stomach. Jack threw his head back and groaned and he couldn't help but to reach for his own cock, he just needed something, some stimulation, it was all getting too much to bear... but the Doctor slapped Jack's hand away and told him to put his hands behind his head in such a firm manner that Jack felt a flush of fresh arousal warm his body from forehead to feet.
Jack obeyed, with a muttered "oh God...oh yes, Sir, I'm sorry Sir, but please..." The Doctor growled. Jack was dimly aware now that 'please' was obviously a word that, when said in the right situation, was a very attractive word indeed, especially when it issued breathlessly from the warm inviting lips of Captain Jack Harkness. Jack put his hands behind his head, entwining the fingers into his hair to give him something to pull on, something to do with his hands, as the Doctor took firm hold of his legs, pulling and shifting and grunting slightly as he manoeuvred Jack so that he was half-sitting, half-leaning against the console with his thighs parted, his right leg draped over the Doctor's shoulder, and now the Doctor turned his head and began to lick at the inside of Jack's thigh, even giving him an impatient little slap to the underside when Jack dared to loosen one hand away from his head, so desperate for attention to his twitching and leaking cock...
"Here... keep your hands busy... open this..." said the Doctor breathlessly, handing Jack the tube of lubricant that had been propped on the edge of the console with his free hand. Jack obeyed, his chest rising and falling rapidly, as he pulled off the top and squeezed clear jelly onto the Doctor's outstretched fingertips, and then flung the tube carelessly to the floor.
Jack clutched at his hair again, letting out a deep, grateful moan as the Doctor carefully sank two greasy fingers into him, to the second knuckle, biting slightly too hard into Jack's thigh with the resulting surge of excitement, and then he was gently stretching, scissoring his fingers, his eyes closed with his damp cheek resting against Jack's leg. Jack panted and whimpered, his mouth pursing to make the initial 'p' sound of the Doctor's new favourite word as the Doctor added a third finger. Now the long elegant digits were sliding in all the way, and both men were panting, and suddenly the tip of the Doctor's index finger scraped once, maddeningly, wonderfully, against Jack's prostate and he couldn't wait any longer.
"Oh... please... please... now... please Sir..." he babbled, but the Doctor was already extracting his fingers, hitching Jack's free leg under his right arm to support it and leaning forwards, the leg draped over the Doctor's shoulder being bent back towards Jack, but the stretching pain in his thigh muscles was only turning Jack on more as the Doctor braced himself against Jack's body and slid into him, slowly and to the hilt, and both of them let out a groan. The Doctor steadied himself for a moment, not moving, waiting for his breath to settle down as his brown eyes bore deeply into Jack's blue ones and Jack gazed back, his lips parted, glistening cheeks reddened.
"Ask me..." the Doctor said softly. "Beg me." Jack's eyes were wide, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He licked his lips.
"Please. Please... Sir." Jack's voice... oh Rassilon... the Doctor closed his eyes and his cock, buried deep inside Jack, twitched.
"Again. Beg me," he whispered. Jack's voice was cracking. "Please. Sir. Fuck me. I want you to come inside me. Please? I beg you, Sir... please... p..." his voice faltered, Jack was writhing slightly, anything, anything to make the Doctor move inside him now. And the Doctor looked at Jack, and smiled, and he began to thrust at last, slowly and deeply. After a moment the Timelord released Jack's left leg from under his arm, guided the foot to a place on the console where Jack could brace his leg, leaving his hand free to take a firm hold of Jack's cock for the first time... and Jack cried out as he began to stroke him, matching the rhythm of his thrusts.
Jack's hands unfurled from behind his head, not caring about the game anymore, and the Doctor did not admonish him as Jack reached out with his hands, touching and stroking and grasping at very part of the Doctor's body he could reach, as the Doctor stroked him with his hand and with his cock and Jack strained his head upwards, the muscles in his neck screaming, but he didn't care because if the Doctor reached up on the very tips of his toes he could lean far enough to kiss his lips, and before too long Jack screamed into the Doctor's mouth as he came, strings of white semen splattering his chest, both their chests, and covering the Doctor's fingers. The Doctor's whole body shook, and Jack pushed him back, far enough away so that he could clearly see his face. Jack's lips curved into a blissful smile as the Doctor cried out, a long shuddering cry, and his face contorted with absolute naked pleasure... oh... oh... so prettily as he emptied himself hotly into Jack, and as soon as he was beginning to come down from his orgasm, all of their straining muscles finally gave way and they both slid down and collapsed in a sweating, laughing leap on the console floor.
A few moments later, and Jack had made his way shakily over to the coat stand and had produced a pack of wet wipes from his greatcoat pocket ("You never know"), and now they were cleaned up and dressed, and... somehow, the slight awkwardness in the atmosphere was back. Jack chewed a fingernail as he sat back down on the tatty old seat and watched the Doctor setting the console back to rights. The Timelord certainly looked like he was back to his old self again and he was humming cheerfully.
Jack thought about joining him at the console, maybe even wrapping arms around him, kissing his neck... but somehow the moment was gone.
"We'd better go back. In case... I don't know. Martha..." Jack floundered slightly. The Doctor nodded. The Timelord absent mindedly rubbed the back of his head. Jack took a breath. "I'm always gonna be here, y'know. Making your brain itch."
The Doctor smiled. "Like I said... I don't mind. Will you...?" Jack scratched his ear and shrugged. "Let's not talk about it now, OK?"
The Doctor pursed his lips and nodded. Then he was moving around lightly on his feet flicking switches, and as he banged a well aimed fist at a certain tricky spot on the console, the room was filled once again with the noise of the TARDIS materialising, back to the spot they had vacated - by Earth's time, only a second ago. The Doctor was humming something by Snow Patrol under his breath.
Jack's face lit up with a smile. The Doctor looked... like the past year might never have happened. "Hey big fella. You look... you gonna be OK?"
The Doctor stared at him for a moment. Then he nodded. "Thank you," said the Doctor simply.
It was spoken sincerely, and Jack was filled with a strange mixture of emotions he couldn't quite sort out in his head just yet.
"Well then... mission accomplished. Sir."