for rude_not_ginger Terra Novus: Outpost 7

[quitehomoerotic]

Follows this.

Smack.

Jack landed on the marbled floor with an unceremonious fall.

"Yeah, but you missed it," he said finishing the sentiment the Doctor started before he activated the manipulator.

He pulled himself up from the floor and stretched himself out, looking over to the Doctor to make sure he was okay and all in one piece.

"We're about 800 years to the left," he said as he checked his wrist strap. "Set it on random, thought it'd be more fun that way."

He grinned over at him, and stretched his neck out a little more as he looked around.

What he saw, was nothing short of spectacular.

The walls looked to be made of stone and were decorated with gargoyles and elaborate gold filigree flourishes. Ahead of them, up on the wall, was a vast round glass stain window. Small lights illuminated it around the circle, but just about visible through the other side was the vague starlight in the distance. They were still in space, not on a planet surface.

"Well this is new... what is this, some sort of space monastery?"

Comments

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"That's all right," the Doctor said. "She prefers it when you talk to her. Not enough of my companions can get it 'round their head that she's alive and can feel."

She felt joy when she saw them, when she knew her Doctor was happy. And jealousy, of course, when she saw Jack lean in and kiss him. The Doctor leaned back, deepening the kiss very slightly, if for no other reason than just because he was happy to be alive, in that moment, with Jack.

He broke apart, pressing his forehead to Jack's.

"That question. The one you asked me before." He wasn't even sure if Jack would remember, but the Doctor continued on. "I do. I still---I never stopped."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Yeah? Well I'm no ordinary companion," Jack said with a grin and a dash too much inflated self importance. Mostly false, of course, but not entirely.

It was right, when it was like this. Him, the Doctor and the TARDIS. It made him feel like he had a genuine reason to keep going. Not just because he had to, but because he wanted to. The Doctor made him want to.

The kiss ended and he stroked his fingers gently along the Doctor's cheek, keeping himself close.

Hearing the words meant more than even perhaps he realised they would. He felt warmed from the inside, and he needed that. He'd needed to know that, even if deep down he already did. He needed to hear it.

And he remembered, oh of course he remembered. He remembered the question clear as a bell, and the response that had shot so painfully through him.

"I know," he smiled back, squeezing tighter on his hand, "I always knew," and he pressed his lips down for another kiss, giving more than he could really say with words.

In the distance, the serene calm seemed to change. Barely perceptible, and not at all to those not tuned to it. But a distant sound, like a white noise or a radio transmission. A crackle far away that seemed to fizzle and get closer. And at the same time (though with eyes closed he didn't notice it), the pink sky faded and turned to white.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Do you feel that?"

Time moved, shifted around them. Something rippled along the timelines, pulling and changing things. The Doctor turned to Jack, but even the fixed man seemed to move, like a pebble rocking through a brook.

"Run." The word came out as a breath, a reaction, an uncertainty. Things were changing, and that was bad. They had to get out, they had to---

They had to--

Time was bending, shifting, changing, far too fast.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack took a deep breath and the air that filled his lungs had an almost metallic tang. His eyes opened quickly, and his body and mind were alert.

"What's--"

He saw the sky. The sky had gone.

"Doctor!" he called as he sat up sharply. "Doctor's that's..." he felt a tug inside and it hurt. It was as though something was trying to change but he couldn't change. It was forcing the impossible and somehow achieving it.

He swung his head around to look at the Doctor, but he saw nothing there, he saw nothing at all. No rich green grass or bright pink sky.

In a desperate attempt to stop this, he pulled himself to standing on whatever surface he was on, and he ran. He thought for a moment that there was someone he shouldn't be leaving behind, but the thought was short. He couldn't remember who.

He ran. Ran and ran until...

He fell.

His foot tripped and he fell down. Down and down and down until he landed.

And when he opened his eyes, the grass was a thick rich green and the sky was a bright pink.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor had his eye on the sky. It wasn't right, it changed completely, he was certain. He knew this wasn't right.

Then, he was racing across the grass to where the other man had fallen. It had to be the sky. It had to be whatever changed.

"You all right?" The Doctor asked, placing a hand on the unfamiliar man's arm.

Time bent around him, like a fixed point in time. Like Adelaide Brooke or Charley Pollard, except stronger. It was nauseating, and the Doctor recoiled unconsiously.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack pulled himself up from the floor and dusted himself down.

"Fine," he said sharply, a quick and automatic reaction followed by, almost as an afterthought, "Thanks."

Must have just tripped. He'd been taking a walk in the field after arriving here from the Dama cluster where he'd been helping someone out with a small infestation problem. He was taking a day off.

He kept his face straight and unreadable as he regarded the man next to him, looking him up and down in his suit and long coat. Trying to learn something about him by just looking at him. Sometimes it worked.

He saw him shift back, but he didn't know why. He stored the information though, and raised an eyebrow in the man's direction. "Problem?" he asked as he picked a blade of grass from his sleeve and threw it back down to the ground.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Nope." The reply was immediate. The last thing he wanted to do was tell a fixed point that he was a fixed point. Even though it felt...wrong. Very wrong. He couldn't feel fear or disgust from the TARDIS, though. Why not?

"Thought I saw--" he looked back to the sky, and then shook his head.

No, no. He was here on holiday, coming back from his latest adventure on Christmas Planet with...no one. Just himself. Why did he think he was with someone?

"Anyway, I'm the Doctor."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Good," Jack said back, but his tone wasn't believing. He didn't like being looked at like someone knew something about him, and the look in this man's eyes seemed to say it did.

"Nice to meet you 'The Doctor'. Captain Jack Harkness."

He offered his hand out towards the man for him to shake, and in the back of his head he wondered why the name sounded familiar. Why it struck a chord and... no, no it didn't, it was just his mind playing tricks.

Glancing sideways, it struck him too that he wasn't entirely sure where he was. Must have taken a wrong turn somewhere.

"You a local?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pockets to avoid touching the other man. He was sure his action was rude, but he didn't care. It wasn't as though he had to worry about hurting anyone, not while we traveled alone.

"Nah," the Doctor said. "Just a freelancer."

Funny, though, that name meant something to him. It tugged somewhere in his hearts. Maybe an old piece of history, a fixed point somewhere.

"Well! But if you're going towards town, I'll follow along."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack withdrew his hand when he saw the Doctor wouldn't take it. Well, if nothing else, he was rude. Ruder than Owen Harper on a bad day. But it wasn't as though Jack really cared either way; he didn't have to spend any time with this man.

Though, looking at him, he wouldn't mind spending time with him.

"A freelancer?" Jack questioned with a smirk. Well he could get behind that idea at least.

He turned his head and glanced over to the ridge where he assumed the town would be beyond. He nodded before looking back to the Doctor.

"Why not," he said. After all company for a short while wasn't a bad thing.

"So what brings you this way?" He asked as they started to walk. He attempted to sound casual but beneath that air he was probing. Trying to learn about this 'freelancer'.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

What did bring him this way? Something about the randomizer. Randomizer and running.

Running from the knocking, from the Ood. That had to be it, of course. It didn't feel right, like the fear for himself had faded, but there was fear. It had to be for himself. He didn't have anyone else.

"Traveling. Causing a bit of trouble, you know how it is." The Doctor didn't imagine Captain Jack did (he only barely accepted the fact that the man was a captain at all). But time felt different, and it moved differently around him.

Best to stay close. He led the way, only half aware of the fact that he didn't really know where the nearest town was.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Mmm, I do," Jack said and didn't do much to conceal his rather self important smirk. He did know, of course, but he very much doubted the Doctor truly did.

As they walked, Jack reached down to discreetly check his wrist strap. Where exactly was he? It could be the manipulator, after all it was old and temperamental, but that didn't really explain the utter confusion.

"Here alone, I take it?" he asked, continuing the small talk, continuing his probing.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the question. Oh, but he was becoming far too trusting in his old age. Pick up some young, strange creature in the wild, it was more likely than not that he'd try to do something stupid, like rob him.

"Yeah, well, figured I might take in a few sights without anyone to hold me back. Getting a bit too old for companions." He sniffed loudly, and nodded out to the horizon.

"Don't often see a pink-light horizon, not unless you're in the Retrestria sector. It's the referberations of light along the outer core of the sunsphere." A rather random bit of trivia, but it was nice to have someone around to say it to.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

At the raised eyebrow, Jack raised his own right back. He could give as good as he got. In every circumstance. He'd make sure that was known. He didn't take things lying down.

"Oh 's that so?" he asked, looking at him again. "You don't look so old to me." But Jack knew age wasn't always visible on the surface. He knew that more than most. He'd lived more than most. He'd have bet much more than this man.

His head turned to him as he spoke. And oh, well that was interesting. He knew his stuff, at least, or some stuff.

Discreetly, he poked again at his wrist strap, glancing down at it for confirmation. "Yup!" he said with a nod, "Retrestria Two, to be precise." And he got a year too, 6860. Further than he thought. Why had he come out this far? Oh it was that explosion he was escaping, wasn't it?

"Like the aurora borealis," he added. He knew quite well of course what an 'Earth' concept that was, but then old habits died hard. He'd been on Earth too long.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Ooooh, nothing quite like those in the universe," the Doctor said with a wide, nostalgic smile. "The ones on Venus are fairly nice, but the ones on Earth. Ooooh, they're beautiful."

Aurora Borealis didn't translate well with the TARDIS circuits. Meant the man he stood next to spoke English at some point. Which meant he'd been to Earth. He felt himself relax a little. People from Earth could be ruthless, but it was good, being around someone who knew what his other-home was like.

"There's actually a fantastic chip shop on Retrestria Two," the Doctor said. "If you like Earth food which, well, I have to admit I'm fond of. Best chips on this section of galaxy. Which isn't saying much, but it's better than the clob-hobble they sell to eat on this world."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"You know Earth?" Jack said with surprise in his voice. Hm, well maybe this guy was more than just a pretty face. Earth was a long way from here, and such a small lump of rock in the grand scheme of things. But it had been his home. His home more than any other planet really. It was nice to think the man beside him might know it too.

It warmed him to him a little, despite his preposition not to trust people. And he didn't trust him, of course, but that didn't matter. He didn't have to.

"Oh see now you're talking!" Jack said, piping up with more enthusiasm than the situation really warranted. He smirked a little, looking at the man walking beside him. "Asking me to lunch already? Don't waste much time, do you."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Time on what?"

Oh. Bit of a flirt, this one. The Doctor didn't trust flirts. Still! No real harm in it. He'd been a bit of a flirt himself, once. A few years ago. Same regeneration, but it felt like a lifetime had passed.

"Well, you'll know I'm being terribly serious if I buy you a drink," he promised. "And it'll take you more than a smile to earn that from me."

"We should be---" he pulled out the sonic and checked for alien tech. The action felt strangely familiar, especially around this Captain Jack. They were heading in the right direction, at least.

"Allons-y."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"I was always told never to accept drinks from strangers," Jack smirked back, enjoying the back and forth. "But don't you worry," he leaned towards him a little, as if to tell him something confidential, and he whispered, "I'm much more than a pretty face."

He frowned when he saw the screwdriver. It looked familiar. Maybe he'd seen one somewhere before. "What's that?" he asked, pulling a slight face and gesturing a hand out towards the device.

"Wait is that French?" He found himself following behind the Doctor at a quicker pace. It's a good job he didn't notice it. Jack Harkness didn't do the following.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Yep," the Doctor said, breezily. "It means 'let's go.'"

As for the sonic, he was getting fairly tired of explaining what it was and how it worked, especially to people he didn't know particularly well. This young man, well, he'd figure out the sonic through practical observation, or he wouldn't. Right now, the Doctor had---

He had---

He felt like he had something to do, beyond going out for dinner and drinks with some strange man. He was running from something. Running from something very bad.

"Did something happen here?" he asked aloud. "Something...to run from."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"I know what it means!" Jack snapped a little. Of course he knew what it meant. And he'd probably spent much more time around native speakers than this man, thank you very much.

"How should I know?" he added, waving his hands slightly. "He wasn't used to being spoken to as though someone was a superior, demanding information. He didn't want to become used to it either.

"I just got here," he said, "you saw that."

He let out a huff though, as if it was a great effort to assist at all. But despite the show of it, assist he did. He lifted his wrist strap and opened it up, looking at it.

"It looks like there's no-- No, wait..." he frowned as he looked at it, that was odd, why hadn't he picked up on it before? "There is something. Some sort of temporal distortion, and not very long ago. Right here."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Temporal distortion."

The Doctor waved a hand. "No, that was me. My ship, coming through, she tears little holes in space for a very brief amount of time. Probably leaking time radiation. No, no, this is something different. Something's changed."

What was it? What altered?

He leaned forward, putting his hands to his knees. He felt oddly nauseated, like he'd been traveling without a capsule recently. Idiotic idea, of course. He never flew by any means other than TARDIS, unless absolutely necessary.

"How did you get here?" he asked, straightening.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Your ship tears holes in space and lets out time radiation?" Jack pulled a face, far from impressed. "Perhaps it's time you thought about getting a new ship!"

But that'd be a ridiculous idea, wouldn't it? He was sure it would, even though he wasn't sure why. He was sure too, that his words were vaguely insulting, though that was never the intention, and he couldn't really for the life of him think why they would be.

"None of your business," he said, straightening up his back a little and crossing his arms over his chest. Why in the universe should he tell some guy he doesn't know that he's got a... "vortex manipulator."

Okay, that's a bit odd. He was quite sure he hadn't intended to tell him. It was almost as though telling him was more natural than not.

He tapped his wrist strap as if for emphasis and nodded, "top of the range."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Ugh," the Doctor said, shaking his head. "Can't stand them. Time travel without a capsule's a killer."

And that's what it felt like. Like he'd just been pulled inside out through a vortex of time. Like he'd stood too long at the doors of the TARDIS in flight.

"And my ship happens to be a brilliant piece of technology," he added, defensively. "Time radiation only leaks during dire emergencies, but it could explain the temporal distortion."

Unless...unless there was something the Doctor was missing.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"What, and you're the expert on it are you?" Jack scoffed a little, and moved his wrist strap away, standing with his arms hooked behind his back.

"So if your ship is so fantastic," he asked, "where is it? Because I don't see any ship. All I see is you, me, a hell of a lot of grass and that wooden little box ove-- Wait. Wait don't tell me that thing is your ship?" He laughed. It was ridiculous and completely unplausible but at the same time it was somehow completely obvious. Of course it was his ship.

"Oh yeah. Impressive. Really impressive."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"And you don't stand out like a sore thumb, Captain?" the Doctor demanded, more irritated at the insult on the TARDIS than the jibe on his expertise. "That TARDIS has seen more space travel, more universes, and more of time than you ever would."

He expected a swelling of pride from her (she did so like it when he bragged about her brilliance), but instead there was nothing. Nothing but a confused silence.

The Doctor spun around and headed towards the blue box. Why was she silent? Why was she confused? What happened?

He put a hand to her wooden exterior. "What's going on?"