Fic: Doctor Who: Fields of Gold (2/4).
Jul. 28th, 2010 06:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
x_moonshine_xTitle: Fields of Gold (2/4).
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cloudysky
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood.
Characters/Pairing: Eventual Jack/Eleven, Amy, Rory.
Spoilers: Up to 5x13 of DW and CoE of TW – so basically everything.
Rating: PG (PG-13 overall).
Word count: 3,385.
Summary: When the TARDIS gets rerouted and the Doctor, Amy and Rory end up in the middle of nowhere on Earth in 2063, the Doctor soon finds they’re not the only ones. While he works to figure out what (or who) brought them there, it quickly becomes apparent that the situation is more complicated than he first thought... and the same can be said for his volatile relationship with Jack, too.
A/N: Massive thanks tomorbid_sparks for the awesome beta job. Remind me I owe you a cupcake (or two) when I next see you lol.
Other parts: Here.
When they get back to the TARDIS, there isn’t much time for chatter and the Doctor is straight through the door and up the stairs, racing around the console room until he’s found what he’s after. As soon as he does, he doesn’t pay anyone else much attention and is engrossed, darting here, there and everywhere.
It isn’t until he hears a high-pitched yelp from outside that he comes to a standstill. This is shortly followed by the sound of Amy Pond yelling... loudly.
‘Right,’ he says to himself. ‘Tandem’s are a bad idea. Must remember that.’
Stepping away from the console once again, he hops back down to the doors and looks out, finding both Rory and Amy and the tandem in a heap on the ground. Jack is leant casually against the side of the police box, a bemused expression on his face and clearly fighting laughter.
‘Is everybody all right?’ the Doctor asks.
Unfortunately he receives a glare for his troubles as Amy scrambles back to her feet and brushes the grass from her skirt. ‘Do I look all right?’ she demands.
‘You look all right to me,’ Jack says, and this time he does laugh.
The Doctor glances between the pair, and then nods. ‘There we are then,’ he supplies before ducking back inside. ‘Safe and sound.’
It isn’t long before he’s joined by Jack, with Amy and Rory taking up the rear a couple of minutes later after another rather heated slanging match outside. By the time they make their way back through into the TARDIS, Amy is already in the process of ridding herself of her mud trodden boots and she flings them in Rory’s direction as she ascends the staircase.
‘I’m going to get changed,’ she announces just before disappearing from view. The Doctor hears her footfalls begin to fade shortly afterwards as she races off down the corridor.
He watches after her at first, but then turns to Rory for clarification. ‘What just happened?’
‘I got off the bike without warning her first,’ he says, now looking slightly guilty. ‘Turns out that’s not a very good idea when you’re on one of those things.’
‘Really? And what would have been your first clue?’
Rory shrugs, placing Amy’s boots neatly beside the staircase before starting up it himself. ‘I’m going to go and...’ he trails off and points down the corridor, waving his hand around awkwardly. ‘I’ll check on her, apologise or... something.’
‘Or something,’ Jack chuckles and raises a playful eyebrow.
The Doctor refuses to answer that, rolling his eyes instead.
It’s quiet for a while after they’ve gone and he returns to what he was doing; almost – but not quite – forgetting that Jack is there with him in the console room. He doesn’t force the conversation, knowing that the Captain will open up when he’s good and ready. They’ve done that dance before and it’s not worth repeating.
‘You did some redecorating in here,’ Jack finally says, shattering the silence with small talk. ‘It’s nice! I like it.’
The Doctor turns to face Jack as he moves to the other side of the console and smiles, his gaze settling on the other man’s face briefly. ‘I may have protested a little during my last regeneration,’ he says. ‘She didn’t accept it too well and... KABOOM!’ He throws his hands in the air, laughing.
‘When I last saw you,’ Jack says tentatively, taking a step closer, his boots echoing against the console room floor. ‘You were saying goodbye, weren’t you?’
‘Yes and no.’ With a shrug of his shoulders, he sighs and turns to the screen beside him, and then begins to tap away on the typewriter keys. ‘I always knew I was going to see you again, Jack. It’s never really going to be goodbye. At least, not for a long time yet,’ he continues. ‘When you live as long as us, you have all the time in the world, the universe even. Literally.’
‘But you were regenerating...?’
Nodding, the Doctor looks to him. ‘Right in the middle of it and I wasn’t too pleased about it either. Felt like my life was really ending,’ he says. ‘But that was a long time ago and it’s done now. This new me isn’t so bad.’
As he reaches the TARDIS console, Jack looks down at it, taking a moment. He clearly wants to say something else, but is doing an awful good job at restraining himself. ‘What do we do now, then?’ he questions.
‘Firstly, we need to--’ the Doctor pauses to pull a lever and glance at the screen ‘—scan for any alien tech that may have pulled us in, anything out of the ordinary that doesn’t belong. There was nothing obvious in sight, so this is the next step. If we can pin-point it, figure out what it is, we can stop it happening to anyone else. Always good. Don’t like bystanders getting caught in the crossfire.’ He stops, turns to Jack again curiously. ‘Weird to be listening to someone else map out the plan?’
‘Strangely, I think I could do with the break,’ responds Jack. ‘Call it a refreshing change.’
Laughing, the Doctor returns to the typewriter, tapping away uninterrupted for a minute or two. ‘Shouldn’t take more than an hour... or three,’ he says, tilting his head. ‘There’s a lot of ground to cover. Don’t have much else to do, may as well be extensive. Didn’t you say you’d been here a few days already?’
‘Since Tuesday. Nice little place if you like the quiet – which I don’t.’
‘Yes, must have been horrible for you,’ the Doctor says dutifully. ‘Now, how were you getting along with the locals?’
Jack smiles, moving to relax into one of the jump seats, legs crossed at the ankle in front of him. ‘Just fine,’ he responds. ‘The little lady who runs the pub is particularly accommodating. Let me stay on the cheap, all I had to--’
‘Jack,’ he interrupts, shooting the Captain a look. ‘We’re on the lookout for anything unusual and I’m pretty sure, as far as you’re concerned anyway, that is definitely not unusual.’
‘Nothing suspicious to report then.’ Jack shrugs and folds his arms behind his head, stifling a laugh. ‘Believe me, I would have said.’
The Doctor nods, turning to lean against the console and face Jack.
‘Your companions, interesting pair you’ve got there,’ Jack says. ‘Amy looks like she can be a bit of a handful.’
‘Only in the most magnificent way.’ Smiling, he looks to the staircase where both Amy and Rory had disappeared earlier and shakes his head thoughtfully. ‘I wouldn’t be here anymore if it weren’t for her.’
‘She’s sounds pretty special,’ Jack contemplates.
‘You have no idea how special.’
Another silence follows, although it doesn’t last all that long.
‘He’s a lucky guy.’
Chuckling lightly, the Doctor simply says, ‘Rory’s more than lucky. He won the jackpot. She’s pretty lucky, too.’ He moves across the TARDIS and hops up onto the rail beside Jack, looking at him from behind his mop of hair. ‘What about you, Jack?’
Jack looks skyward and runs a hand through his hair, response coming easily, ‘If you’re talking about Alonso, it didn’t work out.’
‘Not exclusively. But it doesn’t pay to be alone too long. Believe me, I should know.’
‘Were you offering?’
Typical Jack.
The Doctor ignores that, turning his attention to a scuff he spots upon his left boot as he swings it into the air. Sometimes it’s easier to say nothing than to encourage or deny, and with Jack that is definitely the case.
‘Had the time to road test this new body of yours yet?’
But apparently Jack isn’t done.
‘Highly inappropriate time for a conversation like this, Captain.’ He smiles, gaze turning to the man beside him, who is now looking him up and down with no shame. ‘Lots to do. Saving the world type things.’
Leaning forward in his seat, Jack returns the gaze, his elbows coming to rest on his knees. ‘You didn’t answer the question,’ he says.
‘Later!’
Jumping down from his seat, the Doctor settles himself back at the TARDIS console, hands moving smoothly over the controls. It’s going to take a while for any data to come back to him, but it doesn’t hurt to try and get a bit of a head start while he has the time. Besides, he’d really rather not continue this conversation, he’s not entirely sure he likes where it’s heading.
‘Kitchen’s in the same place,’ he supplies offhand, glancing over his shoulder when he realises the Captain hasn’t moved. ‘May as well make yourself at home, we’re going to be here a while.’
-
It’s several hours before anyone disturbs him again and when peering up from beneath the TARDIS console, the Doctor comes face to face with Jack’s heavy boots (as he expected to), he immediately puts a stop to his tinkering. He’d been elbow deep in wires and other bits he’d yet to identify when he heard the familiar footsteps getting ever closer and knew to expect the Captain sooner or later. It had been the former in the end, but he doesn’t mind.
He clambers back up onto the platform, abandoning his jacket on the jump seat closest to him and pushing his sleeves back up to his elbows. ‘Jack,’ he says simply.
‘Doctor,’ the Captain replies, eyes glittering.
It’s a familiar greeting and he smiles easily, leaning back against the railing. The lights are lower than usual, like the TARDIS knows that they should all be sleeping by now, and he struggles to see as Jack crosses over to the other side of the console, mapping out a path in the darkness.
‘She’s looking good, you know,’ he supplies a moment later. ‘A little disco maybe, but good all the same.’
The Doctor can hear Jack’s laughter as he continues to explore, his ancient hands moving over levers and dials, reacquainting himself with the now unfamiliar. As he strokes and caresses, the lights flicker in recognition, the TARDIS passing on her own sentiments of thanks.
‘You should get some sleep.’
Jack looks over at that, a small frown crossing his features. ‘Don’t sleep much these days,’ he says, hand reaching out as he dings the bell in the middle of the console. ‘There doesn’t seem much point.’
Exhaling slowly, the Doctor moves to fold his arms, his eyes following Jack as he circles the room again and again. ‘Bad dreams?’
‘You have to ask?’ Jack stops dead and looks up at him. His gaze is piercing, but the Doctor doesn’t look away and holds his resolve. ‘Every night,’ he admits a moment later. ‘Or as close to every night as you can get anyway. In the end I gave up trying.’
‘I could fix that for you, easily...’
‘Oh no.’ His laughter seems a little too loud and a little too restrained given their ease so far. ‘The last thing I want is you in my head. I trust you, Doctor, but I don’t want you coming in here. Not ever.’
Dropping the subject, the Doctor moves away from the railings and over to the console to join Jack. He pulls the screen into his line of sight, checking a reading or two before saying anything more. ‘An hour or so and we should be pretty close to figuring this out,’ he says, keeping his voice soft. ‘Must say, it’s a relief, wouldn’t want to be stuck here any longer than we need to be. Earth’s a little on the boring side round--’
‘You kept the coat stand.’
The comment comes out of nowhere and the Doctor blinks, looking around the screen to find Jack on the other side of the console room again. ‘Wouldn’t be without it.’ He watches quietly, and then adds, ‘I may talk a lot, Jack, but I am capable of listening, too. If you need me to, that is...’
‘Didn’t you say no more wallowing?’ Jack asks, glancing back and smirking lightly.
‘I did! And I meant it... mostly.’ Yanking the screen back to its original position, he looks to the console a second before smiling and flicking a switch with unashamed enthusiasm. ‘How about a flying lesson? It’s been a while!’
He doesn’t need to ask again, Jack has rolled up his shirt sleeves and joined him in record time, the smile on his face possibly the first true one the Doctor has seen since they met up earlier that day. ‘Where do we start?’ He chuckles. ‘I’ve been waiting for you to offer since we stepped through the door. Which knob do you need me to fondle?’
‘Jack.’ The Doctor’s attempt to sound authoritative is lost as he too starts laughing, his body sagging against the console.
‘Too easy,’ Jack says simply. ‘Sorry.’
With a shrug, he decides against justifying that with a response and instead directs the Captain in comfortable silence. The TARDIS doesn’t object to having another pilot for half an hour or so and, in fact, she seems to welcome it. As they dance around each other, the Doctor shouting out instructions, Jack following everything to the letter with a smile, it soon becomes apparent that all isn’t as it should be.
‘Of course, you’ve noticed the obvious fault in our plan by now,’ the Doctor says calmly as his fingers, betraying him, tap away ferociously.
‘What?’ With his elbows coming up to rest on the console, Jack knocks idly against the speedometer in front of him and lets a breath go excruciatingly slowly. ‘You mean aside from the fact the TARDIS doesn’t seem to be able move anywhere?’
‘No, no, that would be the one I meant.’
‘Think it’s the same thing that pulled us in?’
He doesn’t reply, attention moving quickly to the scan he’s been running as he pulls his sonic screwdriver from his pocket. Jack accepts his silence and steps up beside him. He looks back for a moment, thrown by their sudden closeness, but tells himself to not let it bother him and points the screwdriver at the screen, numbers suddenly dancing across it.
Muttering under his breath, the Doctor double checks several things before declaring, ‘Oh, I am stupid!’ He taps the sonic screwdriver against the screen once more and looks over at Jack. ‘It’s a magnetic field. Well, not an actual magnetic field, but that’s the best way to describe it. What’s pulling us in; it’s so incredibly strong that whatever it manages to catch a hold of is getting stuck fast. It’s attracting anything alien, sucking in space junk.’
‘So, it’s like a big intergalactic magnet?’ says Jack.
‘It’s exactly like a big intergalactic magnet.’
His companion is quiet for a moment, studying the readings on the screen. ‘Clever,’ he concludes eventually. A second later he blinks and becomes quickly offended. ‘Wait, are you calling my vortex manipulator junk?’
‘No.’ The Doctor turns away and tuts. ‘Well, yes, but that’s beside the point. The important part is that we can stop it and get out of here quite easily. We just need to shut it off.’ He hits several keys on the typewriter and grins. ‘Fancy a trip to the wind farm?’
‘If it means we can get out of here, I’m down for anything,’ Jack says confidently. ‘Back to the village?’
He nods and flips the switch on the screen, watching as it goes black. ‘Back to the village,’ he replies.
Darting over to the jump seat behind him, he picks his jacket back up and slips it on. He checks the pockets quickly to make sure he has everything he needs, and then bounds towards the doors. Jack is right behind him, greatcoat flying and as enthusiastic as ever.
‘Where are you going?’
The Doctor stops suddenly and looks back, boots squeaking as he skids across the floor. Amy is stood at the top of the staircase, leant casually against the rail in naught but a t-shirt – Rory’s t-shirt from earlier by the looks of it. Smiling when his eyes fall onto her, she bounces slightly on the balls of her feet almost hopefully. There’s no way they can leave now. Too much hassle.
‘Well?’ she adds when no one answers her.
‘We’re getting us out of here, the Doctor had his eureka moment,’ Jack tells her as he pulls open the TARDIS doors, saving the Doctor the need to speak, even though he decides to anyway.
‘No we’re not,’ he says, stepping over to where Jack is stood and pushing the door closed again. ‘Rethinking the plan – not that it ever was a plan. We’ll wait until morning.’
‘What?’ Jack questions bluntly. ‘And wait until everyone wakes up again? I say we go now.’
‘Well, it’s a good job you’re not in charge then, isn’t it?’
He’s greeted with silence, but ignores it and whirls around to face Amy. ‘Not important enough to risk one of us killing ourselves in the dark,’ he says. ‘Definitely not.’
Amy stares him down at first and when he opens his mouth to say something else, she suddenly comes racing down the stairs and darts into the storage room just off to the side of the console. When she remerges, she has her hands full and there is a ridiculous grin on her face. ‘Wuss,’ she comments playfully. ‘We have torches. You really should use your eyes, Doctor.’
‘Fine. Fine.’ Throwing his hands in the air, he gives up, deciding he’s clearly going to be outvoted on this one. He would have preferred to have gone when there were people around, the whole breaking into places at night when they were empty seemed a little too Torchwood for his liking. But what did he expect when Jack was involved? Honestly?
As he double checks the coordinates to make sure he’s got them spot on, Amy hands out torches, tucking one into his pocket for him.
‘Were you planning on waking Rory, or just leaving him here?’ he asks shortly afterwards.
Her eyes widen and she bites on her lip guiltily. Apparently she forgot about him, and races off a second later to cries of, ‘Put some clothes on while you’re at it!’
By the time Rory’s awake and Amy has dressed herself (jeans and a jumper, she’s not making that mistake again – or so she says) another thirty minutes have passed and both the Doctor and Jack are getting impatient. The former has returned to his tinkering, with the latter watching over him and making the occasional comment.
‘So… are we going or not?’
Amy’s voice floats down to where they’re sat beneath the console and, glancing upwards, the Doctor slips his sonic screwdriver into his pocket and calls out, ‘Well, if you will insist on going through the whole wardrobe.’
‘I didn’t!’
He glances to Jack, laughs, and then follows the Captain back up to the main floor of the console room. Pulling his torch from the confinements of his back pocket, he takes a second to check if it’s working, and then nods. ‘Captain,’ he says firmly, allowing the other man to take the lead.
‘Oh, so now you call me Captain,’ Jack laughs, perking an eyebrow at him before striding over toward the doors.
This time when he pulls them open, the rest of the group follow with torches at the ready.
Two minutes later, they come to an abrupt halt as Rory falls over the bikes they’ve left lying outside the TARDIS. He hits the ground with a strangled, ‘Oof,’ his torch rolling away from him.
‘See, I told you going in the morning would be a better idea,’ the Doctor chips in immediately.
The full beam of Jack’s torch is suddenly on him. ‘Where’s your sense of excitement, old man?’
‘I believe I left it somewhere at the end of the Universe.’ He shoots a pointed look in Jack’s direction. ‘And don’t call me old. I look a darn sight younger than you do.’
‘You’re so charming.’
‘I am a bit.’
Jack’s about to cut in with another response, but Rory beats him to it. ‘Oh, I’m fine, don’t worry about me. You carry right on.’
And so they do.
Sympathy is hard to come by today.
Author:
cloudyskyFandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood.
Characters/Pairing: Eventual Jack/Eleven, Amy, Rory.
Spoilers: Up to 5x13 of DW and CoE of TW – so basically everything.
Rating: PG (PG-13 overall).
Word count: 3,385.
Summary: When the TARDIS gets rerouted and the Doctor, Amy and Rory end up in the middle of nowhere on Earth in 2063, the Doctor soon finds they’re not the only ones. While he works to figure out what (or who) brought them there, it quickly becomes apparent that the situation is more complicated than he first thought... and the same can be said for his volatile relationship with Jack, too.
A/N: Massive thanks to
morbid_sparks for the awesome beta job. Remind me I owe you a cupcake (or two) when I next see you lol.Other parts: Here.
Fields of Gold
2.
When they get back to the TARDIS, there isn’t much time for chatter and the Doctor is straight through the door and up the stairs, racing around the console room until he’s found what he’s after. As soon as he does, he doesn’t pay anyone else much attention and is engrossed, darting here, there and everywhere.
It isn’t until he hears a high-pitched yelp from outside that he comes to a standstill. This is shortly followed by the sound of Amy Pond yelling... loudly.
‘Right,’ he says to himself. ‘Tandem’s are a bad idea. Must remember that.’
Stepping away from the console once again, he hops back down to the doors and looks out, finding both Rory and Amy and the tandem in a heap on the ground. Jack is leant casually against the side of the police box, a bemused expression on his face and clearly fighting laughter.
‘Is everybody all right?’ the Doctor asks.
Unfortunately he receives a glare for his troubles as Amy scrambles back to her feet and brushes the grass from her skirt. ‘Do I look all right?’ she demands.
‘You look all right to me,’ Jack says, and this time he does laugh.
The Doctor glances between the pair, and then nods. ‘There we are then,’ he supplies before ducking back inside. ‘Safe and sound.’
It isn’t long before he’s joined by Jack, with Amy and Rory taking up the rear a couple of minutes later after another rather heated slanging match outside. By the time they make their way back through into the TARDIS, Amy is already in the process of ridding herself of her mud trodden boots and she flings them in Rory’s direction as she ascends the staircase.
‘I’m going to get changed,’ she announces just before disappearing from view. The Doctor hears her footfalls begin to fade shortly afterwards as she races off down the corridor.
He watches after her at first, but then turns to Rory for clarification. ‘What just happened?’
‘I got off the bike without warning her first,’ he says, now looking slightly guilty. ‘Turns out that’s not a very good idea when you’re on one of those things.’
‘Really? And what would have been your first clue?’
Rory shrugs, placing Amy’s boots neatly beside the staircase before starting up it himself. ‘I’m going to go and...’ he trails off and points down the corridor, waving his hand around awkwardly. ‘I’ll check on her, apologise or... something.’
‘Or something,’ Jack chuckles and raises a playful eyebrow.
The Doctor refuses to answer that, rolling his eyes instead.
It’s quiet for a while after they’ve gone and he returns to what he was doing; almost – but not quite – forgetting that Jack is there with him in the console room. He doesn’t force the conversation, knowing that the Captain will open up when he’s good and ready. They’ve done that dance before and it’s not worth repeating.
‘You did some redecorating in here,’ Jack finally says, shattering the silence with small talk. ‘It’s nice! I like it.’
The Doctor turns to face Jack as he moves to the other side of the console and smiles, his gaze settling on the other man’s face briefly. ‘I may have protested a little during my last regeneration,’ he says. ‘She didn’t accept it too well and... KABOOM!’ He throws his hands in the air, laughing.
‘When I last saw you,’ Jack says tentatively, taking a step closer, his boots echoing against the console room floor. ‘You were saying goodbye, weren’t you?’
‘Yes and no.’ With a shrug of his shoulders, he sighs and turns to the screen beside him, and then begins to tap away on the typewriter keys. ‘I always knew I was going to see you again, Jack. It’s never really going to be goodbye. At least, not for a long time yet,’ he continues. ‘When you live as long as us, you have all the time in the world, the universe even. Literally.’
‘But you were regenerating...?’
Nodding, the Doctor looks to him. ‘Right in the middle of it and I wasn’t too pleased about it either. Felt like my life was really ending,’ he says. ‘But that was a long time ago and it’s done now. This new me isn’t so bad.’
As he reaches the TARDIS console, Jack looks down at it, taking a moment. He clearly wants to say something else, but is doing an awful good job at restraining himself. ‘What do we do now, then?’ he questions.
‘Firstly, we need to--’ the Doctor pauses to pull a lever and glance at the screen ‘—scan for any alien tech that may have pulled us in, anything out of the ordinary that doesn’t belong. There was nothing obvious in sight, so this is the next step. If we can pin-point it, figure out what it is, we can stop it happening to anyone else. Always good. Don’t like bystanders getting caught in the crossfire.’ He stops, turns to Jack again curiously. ‘Weird to be listening to someone else map out the plan?’
‘Strangely, I think I could do with the break,’ responds Jack. ‘Call it a refreshing change.’
Laughing, the Doctor returns to the typewriter, tapping away uninterrupted for a minute or two. ‘Shouldn’t take more than an hour... or three,’ he says, tilting his head. ‘There’s a lot of ground to cover. Don’t have much else to do, may as well be extensive. Didn’t you say you’d been here a few days already?’
‘Since Tuesday. Nice little place if you like the quiet – which I don’t.’
‘Yes, must have been horrible for you,’ the Doctor says dutifully. ‘Now, how were you getting along with the locals?’
Jack smiles, moving to relax into one of the jump seats, legs crossed at the ankle in front of him. ‘Just fine,’ he responds. ‘The little lady who runs the pub is particularly accommodating. Let me stay on the cheap, all I had to--’
‘Jack,’ he interrupts, shooting the Captain a look. ‘We’re on the lookout for anything unusual and I’m pretty sure, as far as you’re concerned anyway, that is definitely not unusual.’
‘Nothing suspicious to report then.’ Jack shrugs and folds his arms behind his head, stifling a laugh. ‘Believe me, I would have said.’
The Doctor nods, turning to lean against the console and face Jack.
‘Your companions, interesting pair you’ve got there,’ Jack says. ‘Amy looks like she can be a bit of a handful.’
‘Only in the most magnificent way.’ Smiling, he looks to the staircase where both Amy and Rory had disappeared earlier and shakes his head thoughtfully. ‘I wouldn’t be here anymore if it weren’t for her.’
‘She’s sounds pretty special,’ Jack contemplates.
‘You have no idea how special.’
Another silence follows, although it doesn’t last all that long.
‘He’s a lucky guy.’
Chuckling lightly, the Doctor simply says, ‘Rory’s more than lucky. He won the jackpot. She’s pretty lucky, too.’ He moves across the TARDIS and hops up onto the rail beside Jack, looking at him from behind his mop of hair. ‘What about you, Jack?’
Jack looks skyward and runs a hand through his hair, response coming easily, ‘If you’re talking about Alonso, it didn’t work out.’
‘Not exclusively. But it doesn’t pay to be alone too long. Believe me, I should know.’
‘Were you offering?’
Typical Jack.
The Doctor ignores that, turning his attention to a scuff he spots upon his left boot as he swings it into the air. Sometimes it’s easier to say nothing than to encourage or deny, and with Jack that is definitely the case.
‘Had the time to road test this new body of yours yet?’
But apparently Jack isn’t done.
‘Highly inappropriate time for a conversation like this, Captain.’ He smiles, gaze turning to the man beside him, who is now looking him up and down with no shame. ‘Lots to do. Saving the world type things.’
Leaning forward in his seat, Jack returns the gaze, his elbows coming to rest on his knees. ‘You didn’t answer the question,’ he says.
‘Later!’
Jumping down from his seat, the Doctor settles himself back at the TARDIS console, hands moving smoothly over the controls. It’s going to take a while for any data to come back to him, but it doesn’t hurt to try and get a bit of a head start while he has the time. Besides, he’d really rather not continue this conversation, he’s not entirely sure he likes where it’s heading.
‘Kitchen’s in the same place,’ he supplies offhand, glancing over his shoulder when he realises the Captain hasn’t moved. ‘May as well make yourself at home, we’re going to be here a while.’
-
It’s several hours before anyone disturbs him again and when peering up from beneath the TARDIS console, the Doctor comes face to face with Jack’s heavy boots (as he expected to), he immediately puts a stop to his tinkering. He’d been elbow deep in wires and other bits he’d yet to identify when he heard the familiar footsteps getting ever closer and knew to expect the Captain sooner or later. It had been the former in the end, but he doesn’t mind.
He clambers back up onto the platform, abandoning his jacket on the jump seat closest to him and pushing his sleeves back up to his elbows. ‘Jack,’ he says simply.
‘Doctor,’ the Captain replies, eyes glittering.
It’s a familiar greeting and he smiles easily, leaning back against the railing. The lights are lower than usual, like the TARDIS knows that they should all be sleeping by now, and he struggles to see as Jack crosses over to the other side of the console, mapping out a path in the darkness.
‘She’s looking good, you know,’ he supplies a moment later. ‘A little disco maybe, but good all the same.’
The Doctor can hear Jack’s laughter as he continues to explore, his ancient hands moving over levers and dials, reacquainting himself with the now unfamiliar. As he strokes and caresses, the lights flicker in recognition, the TARDIS passing on her own sentiments of thanks.
‘You should get some sleep.’
Jack looks over at that, a small frown crossing his features. ‘Don’t sleep much these days,’ he says, hand reaching out as he dings the bell in the middle of the console. ‘There doesn’t seem much point.’
Exhaling slowly, the Doctor moves to fold his arms, his eyes following Jack as he circles the room again and again. ‘Bad dreams?’
‘You have to ask?’ Jack stops dead and looks up at him. His gaze is piercing, but the Doctor doesn’t look away and holds his resolve. ‘Every night,’ he admits a moment later. ‘Or as close to every night as you can get anyway. In the end I gave up trying.’
‘I could fix that for you, easily...’
‘Oh no.’ His laughter seems a little too loud and a little too restrained given their ease so far. ‘The last thing I want is you in my head. I trust you, Doctor, but I don’t want you coming in here. Not ever.’
Dropping the subject, the Doctor moves away from the railings and over to the console to join Jack. He pulls the screen into his line of sight, checking a reading or two before saying anything more. ‘An hour or so and we should be pretty close to figuring this out,’ he says, keeping his voice soft. ‘Must say, it’s a relief, wouldn’t want to be stuck here any longer than we need to be. Earth’s a little on the boring side round--’
‘You kept the coat stand.’
The comment comes out of nowhere and the Doctor blinks, looking around the screen to find Jack on the other side of the console room again. ‘Wouldn’t be without it.’ He watches quietly, and then adds, ‘I may talk a lot, Jack, but I am capable of listening, too. If you need me to, that is...’
‘Didn’t you say no more wallowing?’ Jack asks, glancing back and smirking lightly.
‘I did! And I meant it... mostly.’ Yanking the screen back to its original position, he looks to the console a second before smiling and flicking a switch with unashamed enthusiasm. ‘How about a flying lesson? It’s been a while!’
He doesn’t need to ask again, Jack has rolled up his shirt sleeves and joined him in record time, the smile on his face possibly the first true one the Doctor has seen since they met up earlier that day. ‘Where do we start?’ He chuckles. ‘I’ve been waiting for you to offer since we stepped through the door. Which knob do you need me to fondle?’
‘Jack.’ The Doctor’s attempt to sound authoritative is lost as he too starts laughing, his body sagging against the console.
‘Too easy,’ Jack says simply. ‘Sorry.’
With a shrug, he decides against justifying that with a response and instead directs the Captain in comfortable silence. The TARDIS doesn’t object to having another pilot for half an hour or so and, in fact, she seems to welcome it. As they dance around each other, the Doctor shouting out instructions, Jack following everything to the letter with a smile, it soon becomes apparent that all isn’t as it should be.
‘Of course, you’ve noticed the obvious fault in our plan by now,’ the Doctor says calmly as his fingers, betraying him, tap away ferociously.
‘What?’ With his elbows coming up to rest on the console, Jack knocks idly against the speedometer in front of him and lets a breath go excruciatingly slowly. ‘You mean aside from the fact the TARDIS doesn’t seem to be able move anywhere?’
‘No, no, that would be the one I meant.’
‘Think it’s the same thing that pulled us in?’
He doesn’t reply, attention moving quickly to the scan he’s been running as he pulls his sonic screwdriver from his pocket. Jack accepts his silence and steps up beside him. He looks back for a moment, thrown by their sudden closeness, but tells himself to not let it bother him and points the screwdriver at the screen, numbers suddenly dancing across it.
Muttering under his breath, the Doctor double checks several things before declaring, ‘Oh, I am stupid!’ He taps the sonic screwdriver against the screen once more and looks over at Jack. ‘It’s a magnetic field. Well, not an actual magnetic field, but that’s the best way to describe it. What’s pulling us in; it’s so incredibly strong that whatever it manages to catch a hold of is getting stuck fast. It’s attracting anything alien, sucking in space junk.’
‘So, it’s like a big intergalactic magnet?’ says Jack.
‘It’s exactly like a big intergalactic magnet.’
His companion is quiet for a moment, studying the readings on the screen. ‘Clever,’ he concludes eventually. A second later he blinks and becomes quickly offended. ‘Wait, are you calling my vortex manipulator junk?’
‘No.’ The Doctor turns away and tuts. ‘Well, yes, but that’s beside the point. The important part is that we can stop it and get out of here quite easily. We just need to shut it off.’ He hits several keys on the typewriter and grins. ‘Fancy a trip to the wind farm?’
‘If it means we can get out of here, I’m down for anything,’ Jack says confidently. ‘Back to the village?’
He nods and flips the switch on the screen, watching as it goes black. ‘Back to the village,’ he replies.
Darting over to the jump seat behind him, he picks his jacket back up and slips it on. He checks the pockets quickly to make sure he has everything he needs, and then bounds towards the doors. Jack is right behind him, greatcoat flying and as enthusiastic as ever.
‘Where are you going?’
The Doctor stops suddenly and looks back, boots squeaking as he skids across the floor. Amy is stood at the top of the staircase, leant casually against the rail in naught but a t-shirt – Rory’s t-shirt from earlier by the looks of it. Smiling when his eyes fall onto her, she bounces slightly on the balls of her feet almost hopefully. There’s no way they can leave now. Too much hassle.
‘Well?’ she adds when no one answers her.
‘We’re getting us out of here, the Doctor had his eureka moment,’ Jack tells her as he pulls open the TARDIS doors, saving the Doctor the need to speak, even though he decides to anyway.
‘No we’re not,’ he says, stepping over to where Jack is stood and pushing the door closed again. ‘Rethinking the plan – not that it ever was a plan. We’ll wait until morning.’
‘What?’ Jack questions bluntly. ‘And wait until everyone wakes up again? I say we go now.’
‘Well, it’s a good job you’re not in charge then, isn’t it?’
He’s greeted with silence, but ignores it and whirls around to face Amy. ‘Not important enough to risk one of us killing ourselves in the dark,’ he says. ‘Definitely not.’
Amy stares him down at first and when he opens his mouth to say something else, she suddenly comes racing down the stairs and darts into the storage room just off to the side of the console. When she remerges, she has her hands full and there is a ridiculous grin on her face. ‘Wuss,’ she comments playfully. ‘We have torches. You really should use your eyes, Doctor.’
‘Fine. Fine.’ Throwing his hands in the air, he gives up, deciding he’s clearly going to be outvoted on this one. He would have preferred to have gone when there were people around, the whole breaking into places at night when they were empty seemed a little too Torchwood for his liking. But what did he expect when Jack was involved? Honestly?
As he double checks the coordinates to make sure he’s got them spot on, Amy hands out torches, tucking one into his pocket for him.
‘Were you planning on waking Rory, or just leaving him here?’ he asks shortly afterwards.
Her eyes widen and she bites on her lip guiltily. Apparently she forgot about him, and races off a second later to cries of, ‘Put some clothes on while you’re at it!’
By the time Rory’s awake and Amy has dressed herself (jeans and a jumper, she’s not making that mistake again – or so she says) another thirty minutes have passed and both the Doctor and Jack are getting impatient. The former has returned to his tinkering, with the latter watching over him and making the occasional comment.
‘So… are we going or not?’
Amy’s voice floats down to where they’re sat beneath the console and, glancing upwards, the Doctor slips his sonic screwdriver into his pocket and calls out, ‘Well, if you will insist on going through the whole wardrobe.’
‘I didn’t!’
He glances to Jack, laughs, and then follows the Captain back up to the main floor of the console room. Pulling his torch from the confinements of his back pocket, he takes a second to check if it’s working, and then nods. ‘Captain,’ he says firmly, allowing the other man to take the lead.
‘Oh, so now you call me Captain,’ Jack laughs, perking an eyebrow at him before striding over toward the doors.
This time when he pulls them open, the rest of the group follow with torches at the ready.
Two minutes later, they come to an abrupt halt as Rory falls over the bikes they’ve left lying outside the TARDIS. He hits the ground with a strangled, ‘Oof,’ his torch rolling away from him.
‘See, I told you going in the morning would be a better idea,’ the Doctor chips in immediately.
The full beam of Jack’s torch is suddenly on him. ‘Where’s your sense of excitement, old man?’
‘I believe I left it somewhere at the end of the Universe.’ He shoots a pointed look in Jack’s direction. ‘And don’t call me old. I look a darn sight younger than you do.’
‘You’re so charming.’
‘I am a bit.’
Jack’s about to cut in with another response, but Rory beats him to it. ‘Oh, I’m fine, don’t worry about me. You carry right on.’
And so they do.
Sympathy is hard to come by today.
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Date: 2010-07-29 08:39 am (UTC)Haha yes, it would be that part.