InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Ho hum."

notethestripes (ex_notethest397) wrote in labyrinth_rpg,
@ 2009-03-17 23:26:00

Entry tags:

complete, day three, jack harkness, the doctor

WHO:Jack Harkness and The Doctor
WHAT: DOOOOOOOOCTOOOOOOOOR!
WHEN: Day 3; Late Afternoon
WHERE: wandering near where the TARDIS landed
WARNINGS: None
STATUS: complete

The morning had been, in a word, interesting. Jack was finding he was more and more at home with each passing hour. Well, at least where people were concerned. The place they'd been abducted to was all together strange and foreign. But Jack was determined to make a go of it. Besides, wasn't as if he was leaving anytime soon. May as well make the best of the occasion.

Rounding a corner, Jack's brow furrowed, catching sight of something that definitely shouldn't have been there. Unless it was a trick of the light, Jack knew exactly what that blue box was.

Not a blue box. A police call box. Something that hadn't been there this morning (provided this was the street he'd walked down this morning). There was no way. No bloody way.

Picking up his pace, greatcoat whipping behind him as he ran, Jack made it to the TARDIS, about to fling himself onto it as he'd done the last time -- just in case it was about to depart and he could hitch a ride. All Jack managed to do was smack flush into it. Hissing in pain, Jack pounded on the door -- as if his running into it hadn't been enough of a 'knock'

"DOCTOR!" Jack didn't care how strange he must have looked, banging on the door of a Police Box. "DOCTOR!"

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-17 10:54 pm UTC (link)

When the door to the TARDIS opened and Jack found himself enveloped in a hug, he knew his moment of looking like a lunatic had been for a very good cause. Grinning widely, Jack held onto the hug, not quite wanting to let go of his friend either. It had been so long since he'd seen him.

While Jack had rather fancied the first incarnation he'd met, there was something about this regeneration that completely drew him in. Grinning, Jack gave the Doctor one final squeeze just before the other man pulled back.

Jack wrested one arm free, holding up his wrist. "Didn't teleport, promise you that. Though, not for the lack of trying. Bloody had to disable it. Nothing wrong with my space hopper I'll have you know. And it's not like I'd be going back to my old ways either." He chuckled, face alight. "What happened?"

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timelordlastof
2009-03-17 10:59 pm UTC (link)

The Doctor looked at Jack's little space hopper, as he called it, and shrugged. Normally, he'd make sure it was disabled, but if Jack could get it working, they could get out of this place, just maybe. It didn't matter much anyway.

"Same thing that happened to you, I reckon. I'd just dropped off you lot, and Donna, got back in the TARDIS and ended up here. Have you been here long? Do you know anything that might be useful?" he asked. "I haven't had much luck in getting decent information," he admitted, and by the look of it, admitting the shortcoming was costing him.

But still he grinned and clapped Jack on the shoulder. "Blimey, it's only been a day, but it's damn good to see you."

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-17 11:09 pm UTC (link)

Jack paused and looked at the Doctor, confused as hell and he knew full well that said confusion was evident on his face. Correct with the dropping off bit, but who the hell was Donna? All Jack knew were Rose and Martha. Hell, the man got around almost as much as he did. Emphasis on the word 'almost'.

Finally, curiosity got the better of him. "All right... who the hell is Donna?" Jack asked, brow furrowing. The crease between his eyebrows grew, Jack shaking his head slightly. "No idea. Got here about two days go and was addressed by a man who looked completely at home in leather trousers and said we were stuck here." He poked a finger at his wrist strap. "And no, it doesn't work. Not for lack of trying either."

The serious look inhis eyes faded slightly, Jack managing a half-smile. "Only a day? It's been the better part of a year for me." He nudged the Doctor playfully. "No wonder the last time it took you a good hundred years to need the refuel."

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timelordlastof
2009-03-17 11:16 pm UTC (link)

For a moment, the Doctor just looked at Jack, confusion mirrored between both of their faces. Sure, there should have been a joke about Jack and leather trousers in there somewhere, but forgive him, he was distracted. His Jack would definitely know who Donna was. His Jack wouldn't be talking about year long separations.

Telling Jack the truth went against the rules, but in this case...The Doctor was willing to make an exception. After all, they both needed all the information if they were going to get out of this place and back onto their lives.

Turning, the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS and pushed open the door, gesturing for Jack to go in before him. "We need to talk. You're...behind me, apparently. Cost of time travel." Once they were inside, the Doctor leaned against the control panel of the TARDIS and crossed his arms over his chest. It looked the same, though the control panel was void of it's normal blue glow, and Jack's "Doctor Detector" was gone. "What the last thing that happened? With me."

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-17 11:33 pm UTC (link)

Lord, they were about to start treading on some dangerous ground, weren't they? Jack, for all his faults, managed to keep from violating the one rule the Time Agency stressed above all else: don't mess with time. Only slightly less important than the main rule: don't fuck with time under any circumstances. Jack could have made a small fortune in tiny bets or by playing the American stock market.

But he didn't. He confined his fame and fortune to attempting to con people out of money they didn't need. But that was definitely impossible.

Jack entered the TARDIS, taking in the sights as he did every time he stepped into it. Fantastic piece of equipment it was, and Jack couldn't help but think of Tosh. How she would love to go over every centimetre of this place with a fine-toothed comb. "I'm behind you? Oh, that could be arranged quite easily," Jack said with a cheeky smirk, happier than words could ever say at having his Doctor around once more.

"Last thing I remember?" Jack suppressed a shudder. Saxon." The bloody bastard. "The year that never was. And returning home to Cardiff with you and Martha... and finding my team once more." Jack looked at the Doctor curiously. "How much time have I lost?"

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timelordlastof
2009-03-17 11:41 pm UTC (link)

At this point, the Doctor didn't care. The only thing he had left, the TARDIS, was as good as junk right now, and he'd just clean up whatever mess was left when he got things working again. Being kidnapped, however kindly, wasn't something he was keen on repeating, and it had happened far too many times for his liking. Jack's joke, however, had the Doctor smiling and shaking his head at his friend, but not commenting.

"Near a year, give or take," he said with a sigh. After all, it was hard to catalog exact time when you bounced in it so often. "Martha left for home not long after you did, and I got a new companion, Donna. She's gone now too," he said with a shake of his head and a look at the grating beneath his feet. Everyone was gone. But, he'd been gifted with Jack, however misinformed, and so that was at least something.

"Let's just say that we all got together again." His lips pressed tight together and he looked like he might need a moment before he breathed again. "All of us. Rose too. She's back where she should be now. Things got bad. And then worse. And then...complicated. Then I ended up here."

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-22 10:30 pm UTC (link)

Damn, the Doctor hadn't risen to the bait beyond a smile and a slight shake of the head. Jack smirked wide enough for the both of them, clapping the Doctor on the shoulder once more before glancing around the interiour of the TARDIS. Just as he remembered it. At least this was one bit of familiarity he could take comfort in.

"A Year!?" Jack's surprise was evident in his voice, even if he had intended to think the words rather than say them aloud. "Fucking hell, what happened in the year that has you, dare I say, spooked?" Jack's brow furrowed, his expression almost mirroring the Doctor's. Jack knew when he looked concerned it was disconcerting to his team. Take that feeling and multiply it by a thousand and that was the sinking feeling Jack had seeing the expression on his friend's face.

"I... well..." Jack drew out the word, forcing a smile to his face. "Don't be so s ure about Rose being where she needs to be, come to think of it." He lifted an eyebrow. "Just how bad is bad? Worse than the Master?" As, nothing could be worse than that.

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timelordlastof
2009-03-22 10:37 pm UTC (link)

The Doctor nodded. Spooked was a word for it. Heartbroken was another, but he was grateful that that one wasn't as obvious on his face. Even though he could feel the weight of it laying on his heart like a small moon.

"Different than the Master. But just as..." he trailed off and made a face, drawing a finger across his throat. "It all came down to Donna, really. The 'temp from Chizzek' as she always called herself...she saved us. Us, Earth...two dozen other planets...the entire universe..." he trailed off and sighed. "It was too much for her, what she had to do. What happened to make her able to do what she did. I had to wipe her memory completely," he said with a shake of his head. Walking out of that kitchen with her dismissing him so casually had been one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do. Next to leaving Rose with his doppelganger.

"Wait, what?" he asked, popping tall from his slouched position and looking at Jack intently. "Where is she? What happened?" he asked, looking for all the world like he was going to tear the universe apart to get to wherever she needed him to be.

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-22 10:49 pm UTC (link)

There was something else lurking on the Doctor's face, but there was no way Jack would have been able to assign the label of 'heartbroken' to it. For men who had lived as long as they had, it was much easier to hide true feelings when the situation called. Jack knew he could (for the most part) put on whatever expression he needed and he had a fair idea the Doctor could do the same.

Jack shuddered involuntarily at the motion. Well, so much for being able to school his emotions. Or, perhaps, it was because he'd always felt so comfortable with the Doctor. While Jack had no knowledge of any of this, he knew the pain of sending others away. Of what he had been forced to do over the years. Jack crossed to the Doctor, wanting to extend a hand in comfort, but holding back for reasons passing his own understanding. "You did what you had to do," Jack said softly. "No one could fault you for that."

He was glad he hadn't put a hand out, otherwise he may have lost it with how quickly the Doctor moved. "She's... well..." Jack shrugged ever so slightly. "She's here."

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timelordlastof
2009-03-22 11:03 pm UTC (link)

The Doctor nodded. "I know I did, Jack. It just kills me to think that Donna was, for that one shining moment, the most important person in the universe. No joke, she saved every species on every planet. And she can never know. She'll never know that she's not just a temp. Her family can't tell her, I can't tell her...It's a terrible loss," he said, shaking his head.

Here. Rose was here. For a moment, he was completely frozen, not reacting, not able to even blink, let alone head for the door, which was what he wanted to do. But then he realised how terrible that could end up. "What does she remember? Where is she on the timeline?" he asked, almost demanded. If she was as far along as he was...it was better that he not show his face at all.

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-24 09:28 am UTC (link)

Jack tilted his head to the side, wrapping his arms around himself as he so often did. "Knowing those who have been touched by you? I'm sure there's some bit of her deep, deep down that knows. She may never realise it, but it's there," Jack offered. Jack chuckled softly, even if the sound was a bit out of place given their conversation. "None of us were ever the same after knowing you. Even if she can't remember it."

He watched the Doctor's reaction almost curiously, smiling to himself. The Doctor almost looked ready to dart out the door and leave Jack standing in the dust. Well, that would have been interesting. Jack lifted a brow at the Doctor's tone and almost was enough of a bastard to make him wait for the answer. Almost. "To be honest, I'm not really sure. She said she's working for Torchwood herself, so it's some point after I found you again. When you told me you dropped her in some parallel universe is my best guess."

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timelordlastof
2009-03-24 09:38 am UTC (link)

The Doctor shook his head. "I hope not, for her sake. She'll die if she remembers, even one little detail," he told his friend. "Her brain will burn up." Plain, simple, to the point. Bar-be-cue gray matter. Not pretty at all. But then again, that was the same way he'd put it to her family. It was important for them to know that, and hell. For Jack to know that, just in case they ever got out of this mess.

"So she's somewhere between your now and mine," the Doctor said slowly, nodding. That was good. No, wait, it wasn't. Oh bugger, he didn't know if it was good or not. At least he didn't have a one-hearted twin running around to deal with. Because that had gotten seriously confusing. Settling down a bit, the Doctor forced himself to resume his reclining position, crossing his arms over his chest. "Anything else I should know before it ends up giving me a heart attack?" he asked with a little smirk.

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ex_notethest397
2009-03-24 09:48 am UTC (link)

All right, that gave Jack pause. His mouth hung open ever so slightly before he caught himself, quickly snapping it shut. "Glad to know you haven't lost your powers of description," Jack muttered. "Or your bluntness." He shuddered ever so slightly, picturing said bar-be-cued grey matter. Yes, he could definitely pass on that one.

"You know, I think it would have been easier if we all were from the same time period. There's enough of a danger of paradox and completely screwing with things as it is. Though, I suppose, the notion that we're never getting out of here also changes things." Jack grumbled a few choice words under his breath, sighing. He knew his training from the Agency. Things they were talking about should not be discussed for fear of damaging the Universe. At this point, how much more damaged could they get? "Anything else?" Jack asked. "Well, in your case, at least you can have a heart attack with your backup," he teased. "Outside of the supposed inability to leave? Can't think of a thing. I'm still dashing and I still can't die, so nothing's changed there."

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timelordlastof
2009-03-24 10:27 am UTC (link)

The Doctor saw that look of shock and nodded. "It's that serious," he promised, and then laughed at Jack's comment. "Well, if I don't have that, I don't have anything," he joked.

He didn't like being stuck there any more than Jack did, but at least the Doctor had the TARDIS. Eventually, he'd get her out of her coma, and they'd all be out of there. He let out a snort at Jack's comment and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you haven't changed a bit," he agreed.

The Doctor wondered what to do now. Normally, he'd go off to find Rose, but somehow, now didn't seem the time. "No one else we know is stuck here then. That's good." Less people to corral, and less chance of him seriously fouling things up by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. "So what's the deal around here? Aside from substandard rooms and dodgy journals?"

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