![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Follows this.
Somewhere fixed and somewhere sunny. And, the Doctor decided, somewhere they could have a good time. So, scratching off a number of natural disasters and wars, he picked out a particularly famous and particularly fixed large concert in New York.
He even had a tie-dyed tie that clashed beautifully with his suit.
"It's a bit muddy," he said as he attached an 'Out of Order' sign to the TARDIS. "But I think we're just in time to listen to Santana. Janis should be up in a bit, I might be able to introduce you two." A beat. "If she's met me yet, I can never remember, what with that whole mix-up with time..."
Still! No reason not to have a good time. He tinted his glasses and slipped them on, grinning madly at Jack as he did so. At least three days of fun, without the worry of something terrible happening, just so long as they stayed within the concert.
Somewhere fixed and somewhere sunny. And, the Doctor decided, somewhere they could have a good time. So, scratching off a number of natural disasters and wars, he picked out a particularly famous and particularly fixed large concert in New York.
He even had a tie-dyed tie that clashed beautifully with his suit.
"It's a bit muddy," he said as he attached an 'Out of Order' sign to the TARDIS. "But I think we're just in time to listen to Santana. Janis should be up in a bit, I might be able to introduce you two." A beat. "If she's met me yet, I can never remember, what with that whole mix-up with time..."
Still! No reason not to have a good time. He tinted his glasses and slipped them on, grinning madly at Jack as he did so. At least three days of fun, without the worry of something terrible happening, just so long as they stayed within the concert.
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
"I was in my element! Free love? See that's when I thought humanity was starting to get the idea! Enjoy life while you have it. Live and love and party. These guys? They've got it all right. More people should take a leaf from their books."
He turned around and walked backwards as he looked at the Doctor, still grinning at him. "Very nice. Not sure about the tie though. Looks more like you got dressed in the dark. But at least you're making an effort."
From:
no subject
He headed onwards and ignored Jack's comment about his tie. The Doctor liked this tie. He couldn't remember where he'd gotten it from, but he could probably make up a fantastic story about it later.
Music blared from the stage, and young people either too drunk, too high, or just too excited to care, danced and sang along around them. Quite the sight. How long had it been since the Doctor had made it to a concert? The last time he tried was with Majenta, when they'd aimed for the Beatles and ended up in Transylvania.
"You know who else I've never met?" he said. "The Beatles. That's another group on my list to meet, right under Bowie."
From:
no subject
"It's not love as in love. It's enjoyment! People letting themselves go. Just feeling good about themselves and having bit a fun. And don't pretend you don't know how to do that, I've seen you, I've got proof."
He smirked a little and nudged him again, laughing as if sharing a joke with himself.
Looking over towards the stage and squinting through the sun to see it, Jack smiled. This was great. This was Earth, somewhere wonderful, and with the Doctor. What more could he ask for?
"If you want to be under Bowie, I'm sure that could be arranged," he said with an eyebrow raised before belatedly agreeing. "The Beatles. Hey! Maybe we can meet Ravi Shankar here and get him to introduce us to George Harrison!"
He beamed another smile and nodded forward towards the spot the Doctor had gestured towards. "Come on, Doctor. We are starlight, We are golden and all that."
From:
no subject
A group of hippies swayed nearby. This was the sort of concert that defined the time period. He wondered why he'd never stopped off here before. The mud, most likely.
"So where are you now?" he asked. "Still in Cardiff? Staying firmly away from UNIT London?"
From:
no subject
He laughed and shook his head, but it wasn't at all funny, not really. Lucia had changed him in ways he didn't really know he could be. His experience with her had been bitter sweet.
"Seventies --'specially the late seventies-- I was a bit more... off the rails. Reaching for something, I guess. Not sure what though. Tried to have too much fun. And got fed up of Torchwood in the process. I was back and forth."
Jack looked over at some nearby revellers, a pair of people spinning in circles without a care in the world. It made him smile.
From:
no subject
A girl with a big bundle of daisies walked by, handing one to the Doctor and one to Jack. the Doctor tucked his in a buttonhole on his jacket and grinned. A little more mud and they'd properly fit in.
Lucia. That was his daughter's mother, wasn't it? He was never very good following his own lineage, much less Jack's. There was a lot of pain in his relationship with his daughter. He didn't know if Jack wanted to bring that up now.
"Now, Italians, that I can understand," the Doctor said with a nod, deciding to give Jack an out to talk about other things, should he want to. "I once knew a Roman soothsayer. Blimey, she was beautiful. I said it would never work out. She said she knew. Well, she would. Soothsayers and all that."
From:
no subject
He took the flower from the girl with a smile and a wink, and he tucked it up behind his ear. Rather belatedly he considered that a military coat was perhaps not the best dress for this sort of occasion. Oh well, never mind.
Jack was glad of the out, whether it was intentionally provided or not, and he laughed, "See! Sly old fox! Just how many mouths have those lips kissed, Doctor? Because they're certainly well practised." He teased him slightly, and grinned.
"See, I've got you worked out," he continued, still teasing, "this whole aloof thing of yours, it's all just a big old rouse really isn't it?"
From:
no subject
He shrugged. "Oh, I've been around 900 years, Jack. I'd like to think I've practiced once in a while."
He looked over to the concert stage. Ah, Santana. He knew he'd landed at a good time. Not when he'd really wanted to, but the TARDIS was being difficult. Well, more difficult than usual. A light hit the sky just above the stage. Brief, momentary, shattering the fixed nature of the concert for only a moment, before it solidified. No one seemed to notice.
"Aloof? What?"
From:
no subject
He shook his head. Time was those facts haunted him. He was there and he should have stopped it. He should have helped Alex. But he'd had so much more tragedy since that it almost seemed to blend together. He could almost pretend it wasn't him. Just an observation on some other life.
"Oh come on, you're the most aloof guy I know, Mister Time Lord. Mind you, guess current evidence suggests otherwise." He winked at him slightly, and went on. "Aloof like I am. Well, not quite like I am. You do it better than I do. Usually."
He wasn't quite sure he was getting across what he meant, so instead he changed the subject by tapping him on the arm and pointing towards a spot of grass that managed to be more green than brown. "Come on, lets sit down."
Shrugging out of his coat, he lay it down on the ground and sat himself down on it.
From:
no subject
"No," he mumbled to himself. "I am not getting involved this time. We're here to see a concert. That's all."
But what was it? What could it be?
He stepped towards where Jack sat, then looked back to the stage.
"Let's get a little closer, yeah?"
From:
no subject
"Fixed and sunny, remember? Can we not just for once sit and relax and maybe meet some musical legend that we can later brag about. And I'm tired! I only had one hour of sleep. Do you have any idea how cold the TARDIS made my room last night?"
He moaned but it wasn't real complaining. In truth if there was something worth checking out, he'd want to be right there beside the Doctor giving it the once over, and he was sure that he knew that.
Walking along he continued, "And you know there's food too. And we coul--" he stopped, and frowned. A noise entirely out of place for the era, and apparently emanating from the Doctor.
"-- are you ringing?"
From:
no subject
"What?"
He fumbled in his pockets for a moment, eventually producing the slim mobile that had once belonged to Martha Jones.
A UNIT number.
"Oh, she just had to pick now, didn't she? Right in the middle of 1969." He popped it open. "Hello?"
After a moment, he sniffed. "All right." He handed it to Jack. "For you."
From:
no subject
She. There was only one she that Jack suspected that could be. A she that had left her phone on the TARDIS. And that she, Martha Jones, Jack had neither seen nor spoken to since seeing her at her wedding. Nor had he spoke to her after it happened. He ignored calls and attempts to contact. He ignored everything any everyone and now...
"--Hello?"
From:
no subject
Martha found herself grinning at the familiar voice. Finally someone who would at least be somewhat amiable.
"Sorry, he's never more than a few words on the---and I figured he might be the only one who would know where you are." Martha said in a rush. She didn't honestly expect the Doctor knew where he would be, it was just a last-ditch effort.
From:
no subject
"Hi, Martha," he said quietly, wiping a hand up over his face. It was nice to hear her voice, he had to admit. He'd missed Martha, like he'd missed so many people.
"Yeah, we're... he found me."
He took a deep breath. So she'd been trying to find him? She must have been in contact with Gwen, she must have known he'd gone completely, so what could she possibly want to find him for? What would matter?
"You're looking for me?" he asked, more businesslike than chatty, as though he's not sure how to be casual with her like he once could.
From:
no subject
"It's Alice."
From:
no subject
He hardened, both inside and out. Building walls quickly. His back straightened and he looked up, staring briefly at the Doctor then away. He took another few steps over on the muddy grass.
"Tell me," he said, a firm instruction.
From:
no subject
"But someone leaked the information about your relationship to her. I don't know who, we're still tracking them down. But whoever it was passed it on, and she's been targeted."
Martha bit her lip. "Jack, she's been taken by beings we've never seen before. They say they're willing to negotiate, but they want to negotiate with you. The oldest resident of Earth."
From:
no subject
How? How even when he ran this far away did he still manage to be a curse on Alice's life? How now when she was only a few months down the line of recovering from losing her son could she have to go through that.
It was all his fault, as it always would be.
"I can't come back," he said with conviction but it was really no more than cursory. A protest he felt he had to make. "I can't."
He didn't want to go back. Not yet. Not for many reasons. Not least of all which being the man a few feet away from him. He wanted to stay with him.
But this was his daughter. This was his Alice, and he'd do just about anything for her, especially now. "Fine," he said, a little colder than he meant to. "They want to negotiate with me, then fine, they've got my attention. Guess they're not leaving me with much choice."
He glanced over at the Doctor again and nodded, "We'll come," he knew the Doctor would take him as soon as he explained, "but you're not to tell anyone I'm there. Nobody is to find out, you hear me?" And of course by nobody, he meant Gwen.
From:
no subject
But there were more important things.
"Jack, your family needs you. We need you. The whole world needs you." Again. The last time the world needed him, she was trapped on an exotic island without so much as a plane or a mobile to get her back to help.
She nodded, though he couldn't see her. She took a few steps away from the control booth and lowered her voice. "But the Doctor can't help. UNIT has a lot of questions for him about the 456 and I don't think they'll let him go once they've answered them. He has to stay away, Jack. Just while you're here. You two can meet at my flat afterwards and go back off into the stars. But he can't stay on Earth. It's not safe for him, now."
From:
no subject
The thought's about Alice raced through his mind. What might be happening to her, if she was safe. She had to be, so far, he deduced. If they were willing to negotiate then it stood to reason they'd be looking after her. But Jack didn't want negotiations. Oh he'd deal with this. But he wouldn't stand back and let some species dictate to him. That was a mistake he wouldn't make again.
It couldn't get any worse, he thought. Couldn't get any worse than that, but then it did. Oh it did.
"I can't leave--" Jack started but how could he go on. He couldn't possibly explain, and he wouldn't really want to. But the thought of separating from the Doctor filled him with as much dread as hearing about Alice.
But Martha new what she was talking about, and Jack trusted her on that. If she thought the Doctor should stay away, then he should stay away. Jack wouldn't put him in danger. He wouldn't.
He glanced over at the Doctor again and took a deep breath. "Three weeks," he said. "I'll come back for three weeks to fix this and then I'm going again. Three weeks, that's all. Three weeks and we'll go. I'll meet you in London. I'll send an address to you when I'm there."
Without waiting for a response, he hung up the phone and for a moment stood fast to his spot. The revelry and excitement around him was dull now. He was numb and he felt sick.
With a deep breath, he stepped back to the Doctor, and looked at him through red eyes.
From:
no subject
(Right, not fully. Partially. The other part was on the light in the sky, the TARDIS not too far from them, and the buzz from the fixed-ness of everything around them.)
Three weeks. Why would Jack agree to three weeks? Of course, in the grand scheme of things, three weeks wasn't all that long. But the Doctor's feet always itched when he had to stay put for too long.
"Allons-y?" he said to Jack, nodding to the TARDIS. He put a mark in his internal memory to come back to this time, figure out what happened here.
From:
no subject
So he walked quietly beside the Doctor for a few steps without saying anything at all, until he broke the silence (and considering where they were, it was no silence at all).
"They've got Alice," Jack said. It didn't matter who 'they' were. Those were details that seemed to fade into nothingness.
"They've got Alice and apparently they'll only negotiate with me. 'Oldest resident on Earth' she said," Jack all but scoffed the words out. he didn't like speaking them.
But that wasn't everything, and Jack couldn't hide the truth. If he looked how he felt he was sure it would be written all over his face.
"And Martha tells me," Jack started overly casually, "apparently UNIT have a few questions to ask you. Few questions and a few things you really should avoid."
He looked over at him, eyes sore and feeling so very weary. He couldn't say it, he couldn't, but he hoped the Doctor would see what he meant.
From:
no subject
He had a feeling this conversation wouldn't end with them and a plan to avoid UNIT and save Jack's daughter. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like what three weeks meant.
Three weeks. That was about how long Martha stayed on Earth before she decided it was time to give up traveling. The Doctor wanted to think that wouldn't happen again. Not with---no, not with Jack.
From:
no subject
He looked over at the Doctor again and shook his head. If he could have him there, he would, in a heartbeat. But it never was that easy, was it?
"You know I don't want to go, don't you?" he said instead. "You know that not for a minute-- but it's my daughter I can't-- I don't--" he shook his head again.
"I told her I'd go for three weeks," he went on. "Three weeks and we'll pick a date and you come pick me up. You hear me? You come straight to pick me up. Don't you go running off from me, okay?"
From:
no subject
And three weeks wasn't that bad. He could hop that easily, maybe even take a quick detour back here to figure out what the light in the sky was. Then, pick him up. Like no time had passed at all.
Three weeks would probably be good, too. He was becoming far too attached to Jack. The space might be good for them.
"But if you need me," he said, opening the TARDIS door. "You call. There aren't any other grand spaces in time where I can't help, not for at least fifty more years."
From:
no subject
He took a long breath and stepped inside, a hand on the handrail for support (which luckily this time didn't burn or freeze, or if it did he didn't recognise it).
"I think..." he started, "I think though maybe this is one I have to do alone. I need to put things right. I owe her that, if nothing else. I'm not going to make the same mistakes again."
Taking the extra steps forward he looked up and around the TARDIS. He didn't want to leave. Not one bit, and his heart clenched tight at the thought of it.
"So," he sighed, "back to London, I guess."
From:
no subject
He crossed past Jack swiftly to the controls. Everything was already set to London, 2009. He felt immediately relieved, and then suspicious. The TARDIS was never this easygoing when it came to taking his companions where they wanted to go.
He couldn't even pretend she was doing it out of some loyalty to Jack. She was far too bitter right now. Maybe a few more months or centuries and she'd get over her jealousy.
"Yup," the Doctor called over to Jack. "Hold on."
He pulled the parking brake and the TARDIS smoothly glided down the vortex. Far too smoothly. She was almost humming in approval.
From:
no subject
But three weeks. He could do three weeks, couldn't he? Of course he could. For Alice he could. And then the Doctor would come back. They'd be right back and they could go again. It'd be fine. He had to believe that.
He gripped onto the rail at the Doctor's instruction, but barely shook as the TARDIS moved.
With a glance over he watched the Doctor move. He wanted to say things, but he wasn't sure what.
"I--," he started, and took a deep breath. "I'll miss you, you know." Too honest, maybe? Too truthful? Oh but they'd got past the point of pretending hadn't they.
From:
no subject
He turned and plastered a smile on his face. "And you won't be waiting a hundred and some odd years to see me again, right?"
Right?
But if Jack reconciled with Alice, he might want to stay. The Doctor would allow him that, of course. He'd give him all the space he needed. He wouldn't presume to--wouldn't think to--he just wouldn't cause any sort of problems for Jack.
He wouldn't cling. Even if he wanted to.
"Besides, knowing you, this won't take more than a few days at most."
From:
no subject
He stepped over, closer. "You know I will," he urged. "You know where I want to be." He looked down, feeling oddly sheepish, or maybe just too heavy. He had thought he was better, a lot better since the Doctor had taken him from that bar. But not better enough to go back, not better yet.
"Yeah," Jack tried his own smile for size, false and wide and it felt wrong to lie like that. "Over and done with and back in time for tea," he said with a nod. "And speaking of, don't I still owe you that drink? We'll do that. First thing when we're off again. Pick a bar, any place anywhere."
Reaching a hand up he wiped it over his face. He wondered if the Doctor would miss him too, but... no, no that'd be silly to imagine, wouldn't it?
"Doctor, will you-- where will you go?"
From:
no subject
He nodded. "I know a fantastic bar at the end of the universe." He had a feeling he would be going there alone. Nothing good lasted. This was really just the beginning, wasn't it? Wasn't there supposed to be more?
"I think I'll let the TARDIS decide for a while. She's feeling a bit neglected. Might do a little repairwork, cause a bit of trouble. You know me."
From:
no subject
"But you won't forget, right?" he questioned, worried that he might. "You'll remember to come back for me?"
Jack had had experience in the past of being left by the Doctor. Things may have changed, but well, old habits died hard.
"That is-- I mean, you do want to, yeah?"
Why was he so worried? He wasn't sure. But worried he was. Worried for many reasons.
From:
no subject
"What makes you think I'd forget?" he demanded. "I promised I wouldn't leave you behind, and I'm not about to change that now."
From:
no subject
"I know," he sighed, "I know, I'm sorry I just-- This is all a bit unexpected and I guess I just... I just don't want this hiccup to change anything between me and you."
And that was the honesty of it. He wanted him and the Doctor to be... well, him and the Doctor. Or at least the him and the Doctor they'd become.
It was a terrible thing really, to call it a hiccup, considering it was saving his daughter's life, and likely the lives of a lot more. But that didn't matter, or at least it didn't seem to.
From:
no subject
He tilted his head to the side, to point to the door. "You should go save her. And call me, if you need me."
He wanted to hug Jack. He wanted to show, somehow, that he cared. More specifically, he wanted to park the TARDIS not far from here and keep an eye on him, because the last time he left him alone, he found him dying of alcohol poisoning in some pathetic bar.
"You and I know Doctor Jones. She'll already be on her way here."
From:
no subject
"No," Jack agreed, glancing down again, feeling guilty for having said it, "no, it's not. But I'll fix it. I'll fix things this time. I'll do it right."
The Doctor was right, Martha wouldn't be far away, so Jack had to go. He had to go now. Do it quick, like pulling off a plaster. Quick and sharp.
He turned as if to move to the door, but stopped again and turned back. "Three weeks," he said again, "three weeks, and I'll meet you here. And if you need me too, Doctor, you call me, okay? You know where I am."
Repeating his movement he made for the door, a couple more steps before again stopping and turning back, this time striding the few steps back to the Doctor. He approached him quickly and without questioning or speaking at all, he kissed him. Just one kiss, brief but with pressure behind it, before pulling back and nodding.
"See you soon, Doctor."
And with a tight smile, he turned and left the TARDIS.
From:
no subject
He stepped over to his coat and plucked the mobile from his breast pocket. Jack might not call him if things went wrong, but the Doctor was ready if he did.
He stepped over to the console and laid a hand against the coral. She seemed to be buzzing with excitement. He sighed and tugged back the hand brake. Quick trip. He'd be right back.
"Where to next, old girl?" he asked, checking the monitor. "Back to Woodstock?"
No, no, she'd already set up another destination.
"Mars?"