InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Goin' down Hwy. 92!"

notethestripes (ex_notethest397) wrote in labyrinth_rpg,
@ 2009-03-09 23:37:00

Entry tags:

complete, day two, jack harkness, rose tyler

WHO: Jack Harkness & Rose Tyler
WHEN: Day Two, evening
WHAT: Two very old friends finally run into each other. Unexpectedly.
WHERE: Ren Faire. Why, no, Jack isn't checking out men in tights.
RATING: TBA
STATUS: Complete

Day one was mostly a blur as far as Jack Harkness was concerned. He'd gotten his key and his diary, met an interesting bloke or five and had quickly escaped to the room he was provided. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, with absolutely nothing familiar. No Hub, no Cardiff, no nothing.

While Jack may have been used to this whole bounding about through the galaxy thing he certainly didn't fancy being plucked from his bed and tossed to universes unknown. Rather rude if you asked him.

Still, after spending the whole of the first day in his room, prodding at his wrist strap and hoping that the King's warning about never leaving was nothing more than an empty threat (because, really, a 'space hopper' should have been enough to get him out of here), Jack knew he had to get out before he drove himself bonkers. The second day brought exploration, still meeting others and trying to make the best of the situation. By mid-evening, Jack found himself at the Ren Faire -- which wasn't a bad place to be as far as Jack was concerned.

Men in tights and women wearing corsets. It was a dream come true.

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-12 07:48 pm UTC (link)

And when Rose had met Jack, it had been at the height of his 'con-man' days. He may have taken the name of an RAF captain, but he had been banking on charm and good looks to get through the 1940s. It was only after Rose had changed him that he had become a new man. Taking control of Torchwood at the turn of the century (and even his involvement with the organisation through the previous hundred years) had changed the rest. Now, the title of Captain truly did fit him.

"Oh I don't know," Jack said, checking out a couple of performers as they walked by. "Might not be like anything either of us have ever seen, but it sure is beautiful to look at, you have to give it that." Would be nice to have the Hub around to really be able to analyse just what this place was. Guess they'd just have to do it the old fashioned way... whatever that was.

Jack whipped his head to the side, almost glaring at Rose. "Y'know, I thought I was the only one with the license to make bad puns." Jack dug through a pocket, finding the psychic paper and holding it up, knowing full well his mind was wandering to the thoughts of I still work out rather than Captain Jack Harkness. Punner Extraordinaire.

Hand around her shoulders, Jack led them back to his quarters and up to his room. With a smile that was half innocent and all Jack, he opened the door, extending his arm for her to go first. "After you, milady," he said, waggling his eyebrows at her.

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plusone
2009-03-13 04:28 am UTC (link)

"Oh, for God's sake, you never change, do you?" she commented, giggling to herself as his head jerked about checking out anything that moved. She was already prepared to wager that some weren't even human, but that had never slowed Jack down before.

Rose giggled even harder when she read the paper in his hand. She'd needed this. And desperately so. "No idea what you want that to say, love, but the abdominals under that shirt support it, I think." A wink backed up her statement and she snickered on being led to his dormitory.

"Were you here yesterday?" she asked, considering how settled in he seemed to be as he held the door for her. She stepped inside and glanced around with a mere shrug. As she'd figured, there weren't huge differences in the rooms, though knowing Jack, she already needed to be careful where she sat. "I don't remember seeing you. And I'm almost scared to ask if I'm the first brought up here." Another wink and a generous chuckle and she leaned against the wall with a smug expression.

Except she did remember seeing him. Only she'd sworn he was dead and it couldn't have been him. No one had survived Satellite 5, the Daleks had killed everyone on their way up to floor 500. She'd written him off and yet it really was him, and did the man with the roving eyes really miss seeing her in that small crowd? Perhaps, she'd give him the benefit of the doubt if he had. It wasn't as if they hadn't just suffered a huge shock.

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-13 02:11 pm UTC (link)

Jack gave her a grin that clearly said 'no, he would never change'. Even if there was a possible someone in the mix, he definitely would never change. It was like something ingrained in him and maybe it was embedded in the DNA of a 51st century man. And Jack wasn't sure if they were completely human or not. Didn't really matter in the end, did it?

The laughter was good for them both. Grinning and taking the paper back, sliding it into his pocket, he looked at it one last time before it went into the greatcoat. "Was supposed to be 'Captain Jack Harkness, Punner Extraordinaire'." Jack thumped his abdomen with a smirk. "Abdominals are, if possible, in better shape than the last time you saw them," he said with a slight leer in his voice.

Jack shook his head, slipping the greatcoat off and hanging it up. "Was. I saw Jareth and then got the hell out of there. All right, so I didn't quite believe him that we were stuck here." Jack held up his wrist, pointing at the Manipulator. "Apparently, we are." He grinned, pouring himself into a chair, and gesturing for her to take a seat. "Surprisingly, you are. Figured I'd give myself at least a couple of days to give myself the lay of the land." Beat pause. "Pun intended."

He hadn't seen her on the first day, and if he had, he would have latched to her. The, at last, familiar face around here. Finding her on day two, however, was quite doable. At least he'd found her. That was the important bit, wasn't it?

Jack drew his lips into a thin line, arm resting on the back of the chair as he lifted a foot, resting his heel against the cushion. "I look pretty good for a dead man, don't I?" Jack asked softly, carefully watching her face. "Looks like the Doctor failed to mention a few things."

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plusone
2009-03-13 06:51 pm UTC (link)

One day he'd learn not to use the psychic paper with her. He wasn't very good on concentrating when it was in her presence, apparently. "Well, I for one am very pleased to hear the state of your muscle tone hasn't been affected by the years we've been apart," she began, but she was slightly more disturbed by his comment about not being able to use his transporter.

Rose took the seat across from him, looking considerably less comfortable. And even more so when he dropped his giant statement that probably should've been funny, but couldn't be considering the subject. "That's not funny," she admonished, her lips straightening into a tight, thin line. "The last time I saw you, you were kissing me goodbye and marching off to your death. No one survived that battle, Jack, I'm not stupid. I may not remember what was left when I got up there but..."

She shook her head, tears involuntarily springing to her eyes. "I've fought those damn things over and over and they've taken so much away from me and yet...you're here. And I know it's you because no one could impersonate you like this but... But then, it doesn't really seem like you, either. Like... Hell, I don't know, a different you, somehow." What was wrong with her? She was babbling to just about anyone who'd listen today, wasn't she? But then, after a year of near silence, maybe Rose was overdue to talk to someone who'd really listen.

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-14 01:37 pm UTC (link)

Perhaps, one day, Jack would learn better than to use his psychic paper on her. But it was hard to keep his mind on things properly when it was Rose standing before him. Oh, he'd always had one helluva weakness for her. "Can always show you if you want further proof," Jack said with a wink.

Pausing while she entered the room, sitting across from him, Jack grew silent when he saw the look on her face. For years Jack had learned to greet the situation with humour, but never quite realised how others would take it. The Doctor had known, so it was easy to feign amusement (mixed with annoyanceof being left behind). But Rose... this had to be done differently.

"I know I did. And I did, go to my death, that is." Jack turned, bracing his elbows on his knees. He laced his fingers together, resting his chin on them, giving Rose a long, hard stare. "And I was. Exterminated."

Jack remembered the void. More than any otherdeath, he remembered the first. Remembered being the last man standing, knowing that his death would give the Doctor that many more seconds. Jack swallowed hard, dropping his gaze from Rose's face to the floor.

"I was Exterminated and brought back to life. By the woman who absorbed the heart of the TARDIS." Jack finally lifted his gaze back to Rose's face, eyes searching her face and watching her reactions carefully. "I suppose a couple thousand years would change a man." Jack looked at her squarely, dropping the final bombshell.

"I cannot die."

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plusone
2009-03-14 11:12 pm UTC (link)

At first, his words just didn't make sense. And how could they have been expected to. A couple thousand years? Not die?

But it started to come together, and none too pleasantly. The woman who absorbed the heart of the TARDIS. Her. The Doctor had explained it, finally, after she'd recovered from the ordeal and he'd healed from his regeneration, but only briefly. But she knew what she'd done.

Only, apparently, Rose didn't know all that she had done. "Me? I.... How could I have... This isn't making any sense, you do know that, don't you?" No one had survived, but somehow, Jack had come back. Strange, really. Neither of them were supposed to be there at the end of that battle against the Daleks. He was supposed to be dead, Rose had been sent back to Earth during her own time, and the Doctor should've died from his own delta wave, or from extermination. But they'd all lived, despite it all, to tell the tale.

And, apparently, it was because of her. "What do you mean you can't die?" Rose asked bluntly, her voice mixed with concern and skepticism. "Everyone dies. Every thing dies. You've got to, it's a fact of life." Though...he really didn't look any older. Dressed better, certainly, looked more posh and put together. And his eyes. Oh, God. His eyes reminded her of the Doctor's. So much older than his face gave him credit for. "How long have you...been alive for. would you say?"

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-14 11:34 pm UTC (link)

It was one hell of a bombshell Jack had dropped and this was exactly why he had brought her back to his quarters to tell her. Because he knew the shock that would result and the last thing he wanted was for her to have to deal with this while others were around. Jack kept a careful watch on her, making sure she wasn't going to do anything as dramatic as faint. Jack knew Rose to be made of stronger stuff than that, but still, it was a lot to take in.

"I know it doesn't make sense, Rose," Jack spoke, attempting to keep his tone light but failing miserably. "But it happened. I don't know what exactly you did that day, only however you killed the Daleks, whatever you did wielding the heart of the TARDIS as you did, it changed me." Jack gave her a playful wink. "And here I didn't e ven think one could tamper with perfection like that."

All Jack could do was sigh, shaking his head sadly. A strange expression fell on his face, the same look that had been there when Owen asked him once if his Doctor could fix him. It was the look of a man who had lived through too much and knew he would live through more. "I die," Jack said after a long pause. "I enter the void and then I come back. Like being dragged over broken glass every time." He drew his lips into a thin line. "Including what my brother did to me, I've been alive for two thousand, one hundred fifty-five years... give or take a few years."

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plusone
2009-03-14 11:44 pm UTC (link)

She couldn't breathe. Rose inhaled, but didn't feel anything actually happening. She'd done this to him. Over and over he died, and he could never rest in peace, and it was her doing. She'd only meant to save the Doctor, and get back in time for the others if she could. And instead....this. Because she already knew the ways one who could live forever would be cursed. Immortality was no gift.

'You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you.'

The words were still fresh in her mind. Still fresh, and they still hurt, and God, now Jack, too. How many people who'd meant something to him had he had to watch die? "I..." Swallowing hard, she tried again. "I suppose it's a good thing you were never the type to settle down, then," she tried to joke, but somehow, it still felt wrong. It felt horribly, dreadfully, painfully wrong. In the short time they'd traveled together, Rose had grown to love the flirtatious bloke with the American accent. And she'd cursed him, unintentionally, of course, but still!

She couldn't meet his eyes. Burying her face in her hands, she attempted to breathe instead.

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-14 11:58 pm UTC (link)

The longer Rose fell into silence, the more Jack worried. He didn't like seeing Rose like this: the woman he had seen time and time again was so strong, so unflappable. What other woman would have worn a union jack t-shirt, flying over London during the blitz? True it had been poor timing on her part, but she had still worn it, not found something else.

"Suppose it was," Jack said with a grin that didn't quite meet his eyes. "So many species so little time, I believe the Doctor once said about me. Gives me the chance to try them all on for size."

Jack rose from his chair, moving to kneel in front of Rose. He took her hands away from her face, covering them in his own larger hands. "Rose, look at me," he said, voice taking on a more forceful tone. "I don't blame you for what happened so don't you go blaming yourself either."

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plusone
2009-03-15 12:05 am UTC (link)

She hated when he looked at her like that. All serious-like. Like he was so wise and so smart. Like he knew her. And he did, she supposed. Probably a hell of a lot better than she knew him just then.

Rose pulled one hand away from his, but instead of using it to hide, she reached out and touched his cheek lightly. "You don't deserve this," she said softly, her index finger tracing the lines on his face that were the only sign of aging. And certainly not two thousand years worth of it. "I mean... You deserve to live but... You were a hero that day, Jack. Leading everyone, rallying support. If you'd died...just died, a normal, every day death..."

And yet, would she have traded this? Having him here, being able to hold him and talk to him and have someone on this God forsaken place who actually understood her? She wasn't sure she was selfless enough to say that. "I'm sorry. But then...I'm not sorry, either. Does that make any sense at all?"

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-15 12:19 am UTC (link)

But Jack did know her far too well -- at least, most of the time. There were certain people he could read easily and Rose was one of them. There was just something about her that awoke that need and desire to take care of and to protect.

Jack allowed her to pull a hand away, gently squeezing the one that was left in his own. Closing his eyes for a moment, he leaned his head into her too gentle touch, Jack would have given anything to know what she was thinking. Anything. "Dying at the hands of the Daleks is not a normal, everyday death. I've died the normal deaths and the not so normal." He winced, thinking of the javelin.

Turning the hand he held over, Jack brushed his lips across her knuckles. "Yes, it makes sense. For the longest time I cursed this, what had happened to me. And then I realised what a blessing it was at the same time. Here, I can help people. I can do what the Doctor would do. There are times... it's been worth it."

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