RP for rude_not_ginger The morning after...

[quitehomoerotic]

Follows on from this

When Jack woke it took him a while to realise where he was, a while to catch up with the night before.

But it soon came rushing back.

The sleep, what little he'd had, had still been more than he'd had in weeks. Though it still wasn't enough to relieve the ache he felt inside. An ache that only seemed to grow when he thought about the night before.

He felt like a fool. A fool for attempting to push aside pain. Guilty for it too. Guilty for trying. Guilty too for making a fool out of himself in front of the one person who might understand.

One thing he knew though, almost immediately; he should leave. The TARDIS wasn't the place for him. Not any more. It was once, when he was a man who could die, a man who could sleep a dreamless sleep. But he wasn't that man now. And besides, the Doctor had hardly asked him to stay, had he? If he left it would remove the need for the inevitable conversation that would only leave them both feeling awkward. And besides, Jack didn't want to have to hear the Doctor asking him to leave.

So he washed and dressed (and he had to admit he was thankful for the shower), and he made his way back to the console room. His feet padding as quietly as they could along the endless corridors.

He took one last look around the room, touching a light hand against the walls as he took his coat and put it back on. He smiled at it, at the memories this place and the man who owns it hold.

And he walked to the doors to leave.

Comments

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack ran at full pelt towards the escape pod. Luckily he'd already made this journey once; he knew where he was going.

He still had the sonic, so he opened the door and climbed inside, holding the device out towards the Doctor.

Inside he took a seat on the side benches and checked on the crew. "Everyone okay?" He rubbed his hand against one of the men's arms and smiled a little. It was a fake smile.

Looking to the low ceiling he took hold of the safety straps and motioned for the rest to do the same.

"Ready, Doctor!"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"This is your captain speaking," the Doctor said, snagging the sonic and finishing up the controls. "We'll be cruising at an altitude of 10 parsects over norm. No resfreshments will be avaliable, but there will be light music, provided by Jack Harkness."

He grinned over at his companion, the grasped the hand brake.

"Expect moderate turbulence---"

There was a sudden banging at the door. That man! Trying to break in!

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

As the Doctor began speaking Jack grinned from ear to ear. He was like a child in the presence of his idol, which in many ways he was. He laughed at the suggestion. "You expect me to sing? Doctor have you been spying on me?"

He beamed a little more but it was short lived as the door shook and a thud echoed as the man tried to gain access.

"Some people just don't give up, do they?! He's persistent. I'll give him that." Jack huffed out and was immediately at the door, holding it down, supporting it.

"Sorry, but this ship has sailed. Looks like you'll have to make your own fun." He struggled against the latch as the man kicked a the door making heavy dents, and tugged at the handle. Jack did all he could to keep it in place.

"Doctor," he said through gritted teeth, "A getaway might be good right about now."

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Just another minute, Jack!" the Doctor called back, flipping a few more switches. Another few minutes and even the wrist strap's power wouldn't get them out of this, the gravitational pull would be too strong. Another twist, another turn, and---

He smacked the side of the panel and everything came to life in a buzz of energy.

"Brilliant!" he cried. "Everybody, hold on---"

He turned the wheel on the panel and the ship shook, sidetracking the pull of the Wall and tearing away.

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"Sure! Because it's not like there's any urgency here or anything!" Jack held fast onto the door as it was being assaulted from the other side. He wasn't sure how much longer it would hold. But then...

Then they were away. The whole craft moved and Jack rolled back now the force wasn't being pushed against the other side of the door. He fell back to the floor and started laughing. This was adventure, this was the sort of thing that had been missing from his life.

"That'll do it," he grinned from the floor. "Everyone okay?"

With an arm pressed against the floor he lifted himself up and moved over to the Doctor. Pushing a hand against his back he looked over at the controls. "She holding?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

The Doctor kept his hands on the controls, but nodded. Jack's presence was a comfort, though he'd never admit that aloud. "Looks like. But we'll have to see what happens next when---"

As if on cue, the main ship hit the Wall. Through the display monitor, the Doctor could see the rippling mass begin to absorb the machine. Seconds later, there was an explosion, and the Wall began to ripple more. A hole began to form in the center of the mass, then another. Like a piece of paper going up by fire, it was quickly being consumed.

But not fast enough. The claw at the end of the wall extended, reaching out for them through the pain of its destruction.

"This is...yeah, this isn't good," the Doctor said, spinning the tiny pod faster. "I have to get to maximum velocity before I can hit the time vortex----"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

Jack stared at the monitor and watched as the wall began to fight against the power of the radiation. A life form desperate for survival, just like they were really.

He didn't have time to sit and contemplate though, not unless they wanted to end up as food, and Jack hadn't come this far to end that way.

A hundred different ideas cycled through his mind. He could do this. He'd hijacked enough crafts in his time to know the technology and how to work with it.

"We... We could re-route the polarising circuits to bypass the secondary fuel cell and push it right to the primary? That should give us more power, might give us the speed too?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, if it doesn't blow a hole in our rerouted engine structure!" But it was a clever idea and really, as a lone space pod next to a huge, disintegrating wall, a clever idea was all they had.

He yanked out the side panel and began rerouting wires. He pulled out a pack of chewing gum from his pocket, popped a piece in his mouth and tossed the pack to Jack.

"I've got two wire packs to weld, the gum'll work," he said around the gum. "Reface that subdrive net over there! Should keep us stable!"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"It's that or get eaten by that thing! Which would you prefer?!"

Jack caught hold of the gum and gave the packet a quizzical look, "Banana, seriously?"

He did just as he was told though, re-aligning controls and underwriting subroutines, using the gum as a handy fix all.

"Okay. Okay that's done it. That's all I can get. Has it given us enough power?"

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"Banana is a fantastic flavor," the Doctor insisted. "A little sweet, not a hint of tartness. I'm beginning to wonder if there is a flavor better than banana. I doubt it."

He tore the sticky gum into pieces and welded together wires. The power flow was there, but it wasn't transfering.

"Better reverse the polarity, flush it out..."

He pressed the sonic to the wires and a bolt of electricity shot up, powering the ship into a sudden, quick movement, just out of the way of the Wall's grasp.

"I think that's it---"

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

"You know, Doctor that's a borderline obsession you've got there. You need to be careful about obsessions. Tricky little things-"

The ship jolted and so did Jack along with it. He raised a hand and held on tight to the walls, instructing the others to do the same.

"Not much of a pilot, are you, Doctor?" Jack complained, but it was good natured, and as he tugged himself back to the window he grinned. "Looks like we've cleared it. And it looks like the Wall is retreating. Nice work, Doctor. Very nice work."

He grinned wide, forgetting momentarily that they were far from out of the woods yet. They still had a TARDIS to find and four people to return to safety.

But of course he was confident of all that.

[rude-not-ginger.livejournal.com]

"No, not bad at all," the Doctor replied. His voice was a little solemn, though. Despite everything they did accomplish, they still hadn't arrived in time to save the rest of the crew. All those lives, and for what?

"Looks like we can skip the time stream and land on Gamma Beta 9," he said. "Think you lot can find your people on Gamma Beta 9?"

They nodded.

The Doctor set the course, then looked back to Jack. "I only hope we can, too."

[quitehomoerotic.livejournal.com]

At the Doctor's reply, Jack cleared his throat. All wasn't rosy, no, and he'd overlooked that. A coping mechanism, maybe. There were always people who couldn't be saved. It seemed the only constant.

He turned his eyes towards the Doctor and nodded, insistent, "We will. Not even a question. We will. Just a bit of hide and seek. Simple."

He hoped it would be as easy as he tried to make it sound. But really, they'd got out of worse, hadn't they?

Looking to the window he gauged the distance to the ground. "Want me to take her down, Doctor? I've been known to be quite the pilot in my time."