It's all AU.

John was feeling good. More than good. In fact it could be said that he was feeling positively radiant.
( cut for length )

"Hey, outta' my light," he said squinting up, shielding his eyes, trying to make out who the culprit was. "Man's tryin' to work here."

The Master had acquired pastries and coffee, and was in search of Jack, in rather a cheerful mood. Things were on the mend with Jack, he hadn't seen the Doctor since he came here - though he thought he'd spotted his TARDIS at one point - and his mind was delightfully quiet.

He headed for the hotel, hoping that Jack had come back last night, even with him absent from the room, nearly running into someone unfamiliar in the lobby.

"Oh, sorry about that, a bit distracted," he said brightly, sidestepping rapidly, careful not to spill the cups of coffee he was holding.

( Cut for length and relevence )

A brilliant burst of orange and silver and gold lit up the landscape below him enough that he spotted movement, and Jack shifted, sprawling out so he was less visible, watching the person. He doubted he was completely hidden, but he would be harder to see like this, anyway.

Koschei peered over the shoulder of the server he'd coaxed out to the lake, nodding to himself at the charcoal, and the plates of meats waiting to grill to the demands of party guests. He grinned as he turned away, watching the path leading towards town for anyone who'd come down for the party.

John had spent a fun couple of hours with the Master, trying to investigate the bar droid further, then finally putting the damn thing back together. They hadn't found out anything more, but the time spent playing with electrics with a like-minded enthusiast had settled him. A lot. And the droid still worked. Which was. A bonus.

In fact, he was feeling so much more relaxed, he'd gone back out to the lake when they were done. Walking around the lake a bit from his usual haunt on the beach, he'd  found a sheltered area where a stream joined the lake.  He'd set up a kind of makeshift swing rope over the water, hung from a tree whose branches overlooked the lake, and was currently tugging hard on the rope to test it's strength before using it.

He saw a figure vaguely at the periphery of his vision, some way back from him, and called out to them, "Care for a swim?"

John had finally managed to get his hands on one of the hotel bar droids. So to speak.

He was currently sat cross-legged up on the bar, brow furrowed, muttering to himself around the screwdriver he had between his teeth, hands inside the droid's back. Out on the bar in front of him was his useful little bunch of metal toolkit pieces, his wriststrap, several random bunches of wires, and a bottle of an odd-looking pink spirit. 

He jumped back suddenly, narrowly avoiding a large electrical spark from inside the droid. The screwdriver dropped from his mouth, and he cursed loudly.

It was nighttime, or what passed as night round here anyway. John was at the lake. A lengthy swim had helped to shake out some of the cobwebs. He was currently lying back against the shoreline, stark naked, arms crossed above his head, staring up at the stars, wondering if any of the constellations up there were real. He didn't recognise any of them, which unnerved him slightly.

He let his eyelids close softly, and didn't bother opening them when he heard footsteps approaching.

"Hey gorgeous," he said quietly. "Come to join me?"

Continued from here and here.

Jack unlocked the door of the TARDIS and pushed it open, more relieved than he'd have liked to admit to see the Doctor and Romana in the console room.

He crossed to the Doctor without a word and just gathered him into a strong hug. Then eventually he let him go enough to look him over. "You all right?" he asked in a low voice.

After a moment's surprise, the Doctor hugged him back, but there wasn't much strength in his arms. "I'm fine," he told Jack, with as much of a smile as he could muster.

Then he looked over Jack's shoulder. "Hello John," he said, surprised again.

John had been standing under a tree out by the woods, sharpening his knife, when he felt a very distinct pull. He dropped the blade onto the floor, and held his hand to his forehead, eyes squeezed shut. His mind skittered as he tried to place it, but it was too garbled and faint to make much sense. Like a radio tuned to the wrong frequency. Too many snatched voices, and not enough clarity. He slumped down the tree until he was sitting at the base of it. 

He thumped the ground with his free hand and he growled low, as a strong twinge of pain racing through his head made him wince.

What the ever-loving fuck was that?

He was aware dimly that footsteps were approaching, and his eyes shot open to see..

Jack, standing over him.

"What the.." he managed to croak out, before letting his head drop back into his hand.

John had managed to extricate himself from the tangle of limbs that was himself and Jamie in the bed in his room. John'd been woken by a nightmare. It'd faded as soon as he was fully conscious, just leaving him feeling vaguely uneasy.

 He wasn't really sure whether it had been his own dream, or even if it'd been Jamie's. Jamie didn't seem too disturbed, apart from still frowning at something in his sleep. Either way, John was awake, and needed to take some time out, some fresh air, and a wee breather as it were.

Padding over the the chest of drawers, he found a pair of sweatpants. He would've been happy just leaving the room with no clothes, but oh no, we don't want to upset the locals now, do we? John rolled his eyes to himself as he put the pants on. He grabbed a rug from the bed, as he was a bit chilly, and pulled it round his shoulders. Moving quietly across the room, John opened the door, wincing as it creaked slightly.

Taking a look down the corridor, he saw a water cooler. Grabbing himself several plastic cups worth, he settled down in the doorway to his room, door open. John tilted his head back, eyes shuttered, just thinking things over.

Jamie woke suddenly, but without movement, eyes snapping open and. Inspecting the Doctor's shoulder. Okay. He exhaled carefully and slowly pulled away, not wanting to wake the other man, especially after he dealt with Jamie's hysteria the previous night.

He dropped to the floor and pulled on his trousers and shirt in the dark with the ease of some serious practice. He then headed out of his room and down towards the dining room. He hadn't made it very far before he saw a familiar head of hair, "John."

John had woken up in Jamie's room, well their room, wrapped up in strong arms and sheets. 

He was walking through the lobby when he spotted Lucy. He waved over at her, smiling broadly.

Jamie was heading to breakfast when he heard the shouting. He recognized that voice and groaned, switching directions and heading into the lobby.


Where he promptly burst into laughter and stared. Openly.

Ianto rubbed his forehead and sighed, flopping down on a random bed that was just sitting in the lobby in all it's four poster glory.

"bugger."

Jamie woke up with his face buried against the back of John's neck, arms around him and basically locked on to the other man like the jaws of life. He groaned, grumbling as he woke.

She looked quizzically at him. “What the hell?”

“Short version? Pocket universe hun, lots of different versions of people, mostly stunning by the way, psychically malleable atmosphere. Just what the Doctor ordered.” He started bouncing on his heels, suddenly excited, “Lots to explore, you'll love it.” He saw a figure approaching, and made to wave them over, not sure how much time, if any had passed since he'd been here last.

Carried on immediately from here, still in the Master's office building:

Walking out of the lift to the lobby he saw the cameras turn on him. Flipping them the bird, and blowing them an exaggerated kiss, he turned and walked out into the evening air a free man. He couldn't resist a swagger as he walked. He headed towards town, towards the hotel, exhausted but alert, looking out for the Master at every turn.

( Cut for length )

He'd gone swimming in his new pool, hauling himself out of the water when he heard the ping from the lift announcing someone had decided to visit. He made a mental note to add motion sensors and an alarm to the lobby. Careless not to have done so already, but nothing to be done about it now.

He wrapped a towel around his waist, heading for the door out of the pool as the lift opened to let out its passenger. The Master smiled serenely, pushing open the door. "Ah, John, how good of you to return. I expect you've been behaving yourself?"

John had headed out to the lake, with the intention of working through some mental exercises, attempting to get rid of the crippling headaches, as the Master had suggested.

He'd stripped off, and swam for a good long time. It'd done wonders for clearing his head, and shaking off some tension from his knotted muscles.

He was currently lying on his back on the jetty, still naked, eyes shut, arm across his face, and making the most of the late afternoon sun. Listening to the water lapping gently around the jetty, and on the stony shore, he was focussing on it, allowing the sound to lull him, and strengthen him. 

Letting it build up his mental barriers again in layers, the noise was shoring him up steadily but surely. It felt good to be working on a mental level again. The more he worked, the more he could feel the release, as the pressure in his mind caused by the headaches started to leave him. Goddess that felt good.

He smiled beatifically, as he wriggled out in pleasure.

John had showered and changed his clothes up in his room, before heading out from the hotel in search of some fresh air to clear his head a little. He walked out towards the edge of town, not really noticing which way he was headed.

A lot on his mind, he found a small cafe out in the middle of nowhere. He sat down outside, ordered a large plate of pastries and doughnuts, and started poking at them disinterestedly when they arrived. He sighed, and sprawled across his chair, starting to pick at his nails with his blade when he saw a figure approaching.