Chapter 5
Despite Daniel’s demands, his captors declined to take him to Ives to discuss the situation. The men brought him into the Sparhendey complex and down into the basement. He tried to fight against them but to no avail.
“Relax, Gallagher,” Munroe told him. “We’re taking you to see your boyfriend.”
“If you’ve hurt him—”
“You’ll what? Talk at me some more?” He stopped in front a heavy door and unlocked it, pushing it open.
As the other two men shoved Daniel inside, he saw Jack sitting against a pillar in the middle of the room; his arms were cuffed behind him.
“Dan! What are you doing here?” He turned angrily to Munroe. “Let the kid go, and I’ll do what you want.”
“Sorry, Captain,” Munroe answered as Daniel’s captors shoved him over to the pole and re-cuffed him in the same manner as Jack. “That’s not my call or yours. We’ll be back for the two of you later.”
Jack pulled against his cuffs. “Wait! Let him go!”
Daniel slowly sat down next to him as the door slammed shut. “Nice to see you, too, Jack.”
Jack looked over at him. “Are you all right? Did they hurt you?”
Daniel shook his head. “I’m fine. What about you?”
“I’ve been in worse fights.”
Daniel noticed the bruise on his temple looked a little better. “Jack … I am so sorry for getting you into this mess.” He shoved back the tears he could feel rising in his throat. “This is all my fault.”
Jack moved closer to Daniel, so he could grasp his hand on the other side of the pole. “Hey. This is not your fault. I volunteered, remember? And like I’ve said, I’ve been in worse situations than this. How’d they get to you?”
“They called me and showed me they had you. You were unconscious for most of it. They threatened to kill you if I didn’t come.” Daniel was looking anywhere except Jack’s eyes. He was relieved to have him at his side again, even if they were in trouble.
“You shouldn’t have come,” Jack told him.
“What else was I supposed to do, Jack?!” Daniel exploded. “Let them kill you?”
“Yes!”
“Well, I couldn’t!” Daniel shouted back, much louder than he meant to. “What would you have done in my place?”
Jack paused. “The same thing.” He sighed and leaned his head against Daniel’s. “I’m sorry; I don’t blame you for any of this. We’ll find a way out. But if you see any opportunity to run, go. Don’t wait for me.”
“Jack –”
“Dan, I’m serious.”
“I won’t leave you behind. Look, we can’t just sit here arguing. We need a plan.”
“They leave you any slack on those cuffs?”
Daniel twisted his wrists back and forth, trying to escape the metal bonds. “No luck. Are they watching us in here?”
“No, I didn’t see any surveillance. So, we’re safe if we decide to make out.”
Despite the situation, Daniel chuckled at that. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Gotcha to smile, didn’t I?”
“Yes, Captain, but that won’t get us out of these cuffs.”
“True. I guess as there’s nothing within reach, we’re going to have to come up with a couple plans for when they come get us. They’re obviously not going to listen to reason.”
“Did you tell them what the Rift was?”
“No, just explained that we knew what they were doing and how dangerous it is. Did you tell them?”
“No. I don’t suppose knowing it’s a rift in time and space would do any good at this point.”
“Agreed,” Jack said, sighing softly. “So … how do we stop them without blowing up this place? Were you able to decode any of their schematics on this place? Do you know how it works?”
Daniel nodded. “If I could get to the control room, I could stop them bringing any more energy in.”
“Okay, that would be step one. Step two is getting rid of the energy they’ve already stored before they try to sell it.”
“There’s a master control for that as well. I should be able to release it; I’m just not sure what will happen if I do. If I release it all at once … well, I have no idea what that might cause.”
“Can you do it slowly?”
“Possibly. But both parts of our plan involve me being in the control room.”
“Sounds like we’re gonna have to pretend to go along with their plans then. Think you can fake them out? Make it look like you’re doing one thing when you’re really doing another?”
Daniel bit his lip. “I’m not sure. I don’t have the layout of the Control memorized.”
“You can do it, Dan. If they get suspicious, I’ll cause a distraction. You keep at it.”
“What’s the plan if we manage to complete parts one and two?”
“That’s the fun part!”
“Oh?”
“Run like hell.”
They both froze as they heard a key in the lock. Daniel grabbed onto Jack’s hand again, and the older man squeezed his reassuringly.
The man came into the room and closed the door after himself; it was the one who sat in the passenger seat of the Jeep Daniel had been brought in.
“You’ve got no right to keep us here,” Jack snarled, making Daniel jump. “You’re in serious trouble once people find out what you’re doing. Why don’t you make things easy on yourself and let us go?”
The man was taken aback. “I … this wasn’t the plan.”
“You know, in the end, everyone will go down for this. Even the people that just went along with it. Dan and I were just trying to warn you people –”
“I know!” the man said finally. “That’s why I came to talk to you.”
Daniel instinctively took the “good cop” role. “What’s your name?”
“Shane. I just need to know … are we really causing the earthquakes?”
“Yes, you are, Shane,” Daniel answered. “And it will only get worse if this continues. More people will be hurt.”
“We can help,” Jack added. “Just let us go, and we can help stop this.”
“I never meant for any of this to happen! I didn’t want to hurt anyone! I’m a scientist, for god’s sake!” He pushed the brim of his black baseball cap up, rubbing his eyes. “I’ll help you. But first, how do you know so much about this thing?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Daniel said. “Just trust us. The energy is completely unstable.”
“I thought it was, but they kept telling me not to worry and just concentrate on how to contain it and make it usable.”
“Shane, can you get to the control room? We need to stop the process drawing energy from the Rift,” Jack said.
Shane looked up at them both. “That’s what it’s called?”
“There’s no time explain,” Jack continued. “Let us go, and we’ll help you put an end to all of this. No one will get hurt.”
Shane nodded and knelt behind the pole, unlocking the cuffs. “I really am sorry about all this. I tried to get them to stop, but they refused to see reason.”
Daniel and Jack stood up, rubbing their wrists.
“Yeah, we got that impression,” Jack agreed. “New plan. Shane, you go to the control room and shut down the mining. Keep them busy. Dan and I will go into the storage room and start emptying the batteries. If we release the energy slowly, there hopefully won’t be any side effects.”
“They’re gonna see you guys in there,” Shane pointed out.
“We’ll start at the back,” Jack explained.
“What happens when they notice what we’re doing?” Daniel asked.
“That’s what we want. Hopefully, we get pretty far along before they notice. Once we lure some of them out of the control room, Shane, you need to destroy the controls for the mining.”
Shane nodded, looking nervous.
“And what do we do about the guys coming towards us?” Daniel asked, trying not to look nervous.
“Here, this might help,” Shane said, taking a gun from under his jacket.
Jack didn’t hesitate before taking it and tucking it into his waistband. “You’re doing the right thing, Shane.”
“Jack, wait,” Daniel said firmly. “No killing.”
“I’m a good shot; I can just wound them,” Jack said. He turned back to Shane. “How many are there?”
“There’s four of them. They’re all in the control room, trying to rush plans to get some of the batteries off the planet and start selling them. Wait, how do you know about how this place is set up?”
“We were here investigating,” Daniel explained. “And I took the liberty of downloading and decrypting most of your files. Seems like you didn’t spend much time here until recently.”
“The earthquakes scared the guys. They wanted to get moving quickly, but they refused to consider the possibility that we might be causing them.”
“How many of them do you think we can get to leave the control room, so you have the best chance of destroying that thing?” Jack asked.
“I think it’ll most likely be half and half,” Shane answered. “Look, I’ll have to deal with the other two. We’ve got to get moving.” He looked at Daniel. “If I point you in the right direction, can you find your way to the back of the storage room?”
Daniel nodded.
“Okay, then let’s go. They’ll be coming for you soon. Don’t worry. I made sure to leave the same time Todd went out for a smoke. They won’t be sure who let you out.”
“Good thinking,” Jack said. “Lead the way.”
~~~
Jack checked his watch. “All right, let’s give Shane one more minute. He should have the mining shut down by then.”
Daniel nodded. They were standing outside the door to the large storage room.
“Jack?”
“Hm?”
“Is this going to work?”
Jack grinned down at him. “What kind of attitude is that, Dan? We’ll make it work. It’s high time these guys were shut down.”
“I get the feeling you do this a lot.”
“Practice makes perfect.” He leaned down and kissed Daniel. “Thanks for looking out for me, Dan. I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier.”
“It’s okay,” Daniel answered, feeling irrationally mushy. “I just panicked. I didn’t want them to hurt you.”
Jack checked his watch again. “Time to go.”
“Jack, wait.” Daniel impulsively grabbed his arm and stopped him. “I need to ask you something. Once I’m finished with – school … I – I want you to travel with me. I don’t want to be alone.”
Did I really just say that? Daniel thought, feeling ridiculously lightheaded. Must be the adrenaline.
Jack looked surprised. “Dan, we’re gonna get through this.”
“I know. That’s not why I’m asking; I’ve been thinking about it over a week now, and it makes sense. I want you to come with me.”
Jack broke into a smile and kissed him again. “Yes. I will. Now we’ve got one more reason to finish this thing together.”
Daniel nodded, his concentration finally coming back into his grasp. He took a few quiet deep breaths as Jack drew the gun from his belt and slowly opened the door. Once he made sure the way was clear, he stowed the gun and nodded at Daniel.
The blond followed Jack into the storage room, quickly running behind the first row of shelves. Daniel started pressing buttons on the keypad of the first battery he could reach. To his relief, the unit flickered off and the nearly invisible energy dissipated. He looked over to see Jack completing the same process; they’d gone over it on their way to the storage room.
“How do we know Shane’s turned off the mining controls?” Daniel whispered as they worked down the line.
“Well, nobody’s come to get us yet, so I’m taking that as a sign,” Jack replied.
They got faster as they went along and moved on to the second row of batteries. Daniel wanted to keep talking, keep the edge off the seriousness of the situation, but he knew that they shouldn’t speak unless necessary. He was looking forward to being able to answer Jack’s questions, tell him everything, once this was all over. And he hoped Jack would reciprocate.
It was maddening not knowing what was happening in the control room. The Sparhendey men could just be toying with them, ready to leap out and shoot them at any moment. Daniel shook his head to stop that line of thinking. He wondered, not for the first time, what kind of life Captain Jack Harkness had led to be so calm in the face of danger.
They were onto their fifth row of batteries, when the control room glass window shattered and bullets started raining into the room.
“GET DOWN!” he heard Jack yell.
Daniel ducked down behind some of the engines. Sparks were flying as bullets pinged off the metal shelves. There were a few small explosions near the control room as they impacted the batteries. Daniel felt panic swallowing him whole; all of his future plans with Jack seemed to be evaporating in front of his eyes.
And then Jack’s voice was very close. “C’mon, Dan, get up. Shane needs our help. We’ve got to keep turning these things off before they get down here to stop us. Use the batteries for cover and keep your head down.” He felt Jack’s warm hand around his, pulling him to his feet. “You can do this, Daniel.” He was steered towards the nearest battery. The routine came back to him easily, punching in the appropriate key commands to empty the energy.
They finished the row they were on. Just as Daniel was wondering how they were going to get to the next row, Jack grabbed him, shielding him from the line of fire and dragged him forward to the new row. Daniel forced his brain back into the game, emptying the batteries as fast as he could.
It was suddenly quiet in the room as the gunfire stopped.
Jack froze and then drew his gun, moving to the end of the row.
“What now?” Daniel asked.
“I’ll keep them busy. You get to the control room and find the master switch to empty the rest of these things.”
“But we don’t know what that will do, Jack! This room might explode!”
Jack looked back at him. “What choice do we have? Obviously, something happened to Shane. It’s up to us! I’m counting on you, Daniel. You can do it. Don’t worry about me.”
“But Jack –”
He was cut off as they heard doors opening in the storage room. Daniel stood in the middle of the row, his back to the batteries, breathing fast.
Jack motioned for him to move towards him. “I’m gonna clear the way for you.” Hearing the crunching of glass, he leaned out and fired down towards the control room. A series of pained cries indicated he’d hit his mark. Daniel moved to the edge of the row, but Jack stopped him, nodding towards the back of the room. He waited, staring at Jack’s face, for his orders.
Jack darted out from behind the shelf and started firing. “RUN!”
Daniel sprinted towards the control room, panic blurring the edges of his vision. He heard gunshots and shouts and fervently hoped Jack was on the winning end. He reached the man Jack had shot in front of the door to the control room.
“You little fuck …” the man growled, clutching his bleeding leg.
Daniel took no notice, jumping over him and picking up his gun before flying out the door and running up the stairs.
It occurred to him that he’d never fired a gun before; he had grabbed it out of instinct, realizing that the control room may not be empty. As far as he knew, Jack was only contending with two men in the storage room. Daniel stopped in front of the door to the control room, taking a few deep breaths. He held onto the gun tightly and quietly opened the door, aiming the gun into the room.
His entrance went unnoticed by Munroe, who was frantically punching at controls. Daniel held back a gasp as he noticed Shane sprawled across the mining controls, blood pooling on the floor; he wasn’t breathing. Though his hands were shaking, Daniel kept the gun trained on Munroe.
He heard more shouting and noise coming from the storage room and worried for Jack.
“Step away from the console!” Daniel commanded, gathering all his courage.
Munroe froze and then turned around slowly. “Gallagher. I don’t know how you managed to convince Shane to help you, but I hope you’re happy he paid the price for it.”
Daniel ignored the remark. “I said, step away.”
“Or what? You’ll shoot me?”
“That’s the general idea, yes. Now move.”
“As you wish,” Munroe said with a sinister smile. He stepped back, allowing Daniel to step forward, keeping the gun trained on him.
Daniel stole a glance down at the controls; they were smashed. “No!”
“Now you can’t get all the energy out unless you empty those batteries one by one.”
Daniel held his aim steady. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
“Daniel … how’s your boyfriend?”
Daniel looked out the window just in time to see Ives push over a shelf full of batteries. Jack fell with a cry as one of the heavy storage units landed on top of him.
“JACK!” Daniel screamed. He turned around, found that Munroe had snuck up behind him, and fired the gun.
It seemed louder than the first time, as his vision blurred with tears. Munroe gurgled, grabbing onto him as he slid to the floor. Daniel shook him off and ran back out of the control room and down the stairs. There was only one man left standing: Ives.
The storage room was half-destroyed, with units that had exploded or toppled over from the gunfire.
“Jack! Jack, can you hear me?” A bullet whizzed by his ear, impacting the wall behind him. Daniel ran down the aisle, cursing himself for giving away his position. He could hear pounding feet on the other side of the room.
“Dan!” Jack shouted weakly from a few rows away.
“Hang on, Jack!” Daniel yelled back. He pushed harder; looking to his right, he could see that Ives was pulling ahead of him. His worst fears were realized as Ives turned into the fallen row and fired. Jack cried out in pain.
“JACK!” Daniel ran behind the fallen row, saw the movement of Ives’s coat, and fired at the nearest battery.
It exploded with a small burst of flame and white energy, throwing Ives into the next row, knocking it over. The row after that fell, knocking the rest down like dominoes.
“Jack! Talk to me!” Daniel cried, throwing his gun away and crawling under the fallen shelves. He crawled around two empty batteries and found Jack in the middle of the row, a battery on top of him and blood pouring from a new bullet wound in his thigh.
Jack looked up at him, struggling to focus. “Dan? Did we do it?”
Daniel impatiently jabbed at the tears on his face. “Well, not all of the batteries are empty, but, yes, we did it. I have to get you out of here.” He wedged himself between the battery and the shelf, lifting up one side with all his might. Just when he thought he couldn’t push anymore, the balance shifted, tipping the battery off of Jack and into the next row of shelves. The shelf tilted over their heads creaked dangerously.
“Dan,” Jack gasped. “Get out! It’s gonna fall!”
“Not without you,” Daniel said. He tried to ignore the way Jack’s other leg was twisted and blood was soaking through his shirt. He grabbed his companion under the arms and dragged him inch by inch to the end of the row. He just managed to get them both clear when the tilted shelf gave way with a final crash.
“Nice timing, kid” Jack said, coughing up blood.
“Jack!” Daniel leaned over him, hands wandering aimlessly, trying to do anything useful. “Jack, stay with me!” Even as he said it, he knew there was no way to stop the blood flowing onto the floor or the massive internal bleeding. “Oh God … please, don’t leave me. Don’t leave me alone.” His tears were dripping onto Jack, and he didn’t care. He drew Jack to him, cradling him.
“You’re amazing,” Jack whispered, lifting a bloodied hand to stroke Daniel’s cheek. “Knew you could handle it.”
“Shut it! You’re coming with me, understand? You said you’d travel with me!”
Jack closed his eyes. “I will.”
“Don’t get metaphysical on me, Captain! You’ve got to hold on!” When Jack didn’t respond, he shook him. “Jack! Please!”
Jack opened his eyes, convulsing in pain.
“I’ve got you,” Daniel said, holding him as tightly as he dared. “Jack, please don’t leave me! I – I love you!”
Jack quieted in his arms, looking up Daniel with a soft smile. “Hey … don’t worry. I’ll be back. I promise.”
Daniel felt the world stop as Jack’s eyes closed, and his body went slack in his arms.
He slowly realized the screaming in the room was coming from him, trying to will Jack back to life.
“JACK! Don’t do this to me! You can’t! WAKE UP!” He clutched Jack’s body to him, sobbing violently into his jacket. He didn’t know how much time had passed when he felt someone pulling him back. Daniel held on more tightly.
“Listen to me!” a new voice shouted. “I can help!”
Daniel looked up to see a man with brown hair and long brown coat kneeling next to him.
“Put him down,” the man said gently. “I can help.” He took a stethoscope out of his pocket. “I’m a doctor.”
Daniel did as the man commanded, letting him listen for Jack’s heart and breathing.
“Can you … can you do anything?” Daniel asked, barely daring to hope.
“I think so. But I need you to go back to town to get help.”
“What? I can’t leave him –”
“I told you; I’m a doctor. Now go! Quickly! Use the Jeep round the back!”
Daniel scrambled to his feet and ran for the door.
~~~
Jack gasped, breathing life back into his body. He looked around the storage room. “Dan?”
He sat up slowly and saw the Doctor pacing around the shelves, pressing buttons on different batteries.
“Doctor! What are you doing here?! Where’s Dan?” Jack cried.
The Doctor turned to fiddle with a device he had attached to one of the shelves that was still standing. “I sent him back to town; he’s safe. That’s all that matters. TARDIS is that way,” he said with a vague wave to his left. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Jack stood up. “Nice to see you, too. But I can’t just leave. What are you doing, anyway?”
The Doctor moved aside, pointing to the device. It was counting down from two minutes. “I’ve rigged this to destroy the batteries and dissipate the remaining energy from the Rift, but it’s going to level the building. We have to go now.”
“No. I’m not leaving. For all you know, Dan might turn back halfway and get caught in the blast. I won’t leave him.”
“Trust me, I know. He’ll be fine.”
“God, you are so arrogant sometimes! How could you possibly know?! You don’t know anything about him!”
“I know more than you think, Jack.”
Jack slowly shook his head. “No. You don’t. You fly around in your little blue box, and you think you know everything and everyone. You don’t. How long’s it been for you? An hour? Two? It’s been a month for me.”
The Doctor scoffed, turning away. “It’s been a lot longer than that for me. Anyway, you’ve had your fun. Let’s go.”
“You think this has just been fun?!”
The Time Lord rolled his eyes. “Of course not. You, stuck on a planet with cute young thing in need of assistance? That must have been awful.” He gestured towards the TARDIS again. “So, come on, I’ll take you away from all this. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
“Yes. No! I mean, I spent all this time trying to send a message to you –”
“Message received. Let’s go.”
“No. I’m not leaving. Things have changed. I can’t just leave Dan like this.”
The Doctor turned to him again angrily. “I told you, he’ll be fine.”
Jack took a step forward, bringing him nearly right in the Doctor’s face. “And how could you possibly know that?! How do you know he won’t turn back?!”
“BECAUSE I DIDN’T!”
Jack took a half-step back, completely baffled. “What? What’ve you got to do with this? You didn’t what?”
The Doctor looked down at the floor. “Thirty seconds, Jack. I’ll be in the TARDIS. Do what you want.” He turned and walked down the aisle, disappearing into the blue box.
Jack could not for the lives of him understand what the Doctor was talking about or why he was so angry. Deciding that he didn’t want to be blown up, he followed the Doctor, closing the doors after himself.
~~~
Daniel, along with the others, had felt the explosion on their drive back to the Sparhendey complex. He firmly denied the possibility that it was too late.
The Jeep pulled to a stop in front of the smoldering remains.
Daniel felt Mrs. Miller’s hand on his shoulder. “Oh my God. Daniel … I’m so sorry.”
Daniel didn’t notice the tears streaming down his face. “No. He survived getting hit by a double-sized hovertruck. He can survive anything! JACK!”
Hands tried to pull him back, but he wriggled out of their grasp and started scouring the wreckage, screaming Jack’s name. Charred remnants of batteries and equipment were scattered everywhere.
Mrs. Miller tried to talk to him again, convince him to come back to town. The others he had brought to help out tried as well, but Daniel wouldn’t listen to anyone. He started digging through the wreckage.
Days passed. Daniel refused offers of assistance, rest, food, and water. He didn’t stop until the construction vehicles arrived to clear away the wreckage and dispose of it. It took four construction workers to pull Daniel from the site; they had to load him into a police vehicle to drive him back to town. Mrs. Miller sat next to him, holding him as he finally broke down and sobbed helplessly like a child.
~~~
Jack glared at the Doctor as he worked the TARDIS controls. “We have to go back.”
The Doctor didn’t look up. “Why would we go back? Did you forget something?”
“What is wrong with you?!”
“Nothing’s wrong. Why would anything be wrong?”
“Don’t give me that. What did I do now? I’m sorry about this, all right? It was an accident.”
The Doctor’s hands stilled. “An accident?”
“Yeah,” Jack answered, missing the edge to the Doctor’s question, “an accident. I shouldn’t have opened the TARDIS doors in flight. I said I’m sorry.”
“Right. The doors,” the Doctor answered, going back to what he was doing. “Apology accepted.”
Jack leaned forward on the control panel. “What is your problem?! I’m the one who should be upset here!”
The Doctor slammed both his fists into the console. “You?! Why should you be upset?! You’re back on track, Jack. I spared you from having to make a commitment, and now you’re back where you want to be. The eternal bachelor!”
Jack was stunned. “That’s what this is about? You’re jealous?”
“Of course not. Why would I be jealous of another one of your flings?”
“It’s more than that. This one’s different. You have to take me back there. I want to be with him for the rest of his life –”
“Tell me why!”
Jack wavered. “It’s complicated –”
“WHY?! WHY IS THIS ONE ANY DIFFERENT!?”
“BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!”
The Doctor stared at Jack, dumbfounded. “What?” he whispered.
Jack shrugged, turning away. “You heard me. I’m sorry if that hurts you, but I mean it. I … I need him. You have to take me back there.”
The Doctor still didn’t move. “I can’t.”
Jack turned back to him, furious. “WHY NOT?!”
“Because you never came back, Jack!”
Jack stared at him.
“I’m sorry,” the Doctor said, moving back to the safety of the console.
“I don’t understand.”
“Five days.”
Jack had to strain to hear him. “What?”
“I drove back to town and came back with help. But when we got there, the building had been destroyed. I spent five days digging through the rubble with my bare hands. I searched, but I couldn’t find you.” The Doctor cut himself off as his voice broke.
Jack felt his stomach drop into his boots. “No, that’s impossible.”
The Doctor gave no reply, obviously trying to compose himself.
Jack sat down on the pilot’s chair, as he felt the TARDIS enter the Vortex. “It was you,” Jack said, unable to believe it.
The Doctor walked out from behind the control panel to face Jack. “That was my past. I was still in school then, hoping to get assigned to a TARDIS after completing my project.”
Jack’s brain was reeling; he was trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle and the two men he loved into one. “You … pretended not to know me when we met.”
“The second I saw you, I realized that we’d meet in your future. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that, so I had to pretend I didn’t know you.” The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, looking anywhere but at Jack. “When Rose brought you back to life … I realized that you couldn’t die, and you hadn’t died on Azamarya. After years of mourning for you, I got angry. I couldn’t understand why you’d left me. Then shortly after I regenerated into this body, I realized that the reason was me. I was going to go back into my own history to protect the timeline. But what I didn’t know was why you let me.”
“You thought I left you,” Jack whispered.
“I started to think ‘Daniel’ was just another one of your flings. Another notch on the bed post for Captain Jack Harkness.”
Jack stood up and stepped closer to the Time Lord. “It wasn’t like that. He – you – have always been more to me than that.”
The Doctor refused to meet his eyes, absently fiddling with dials on the console.
Jack was quiet for a moment. “How did you find me?”
“Your wristband.”
“What? I thought you broke it!”
“You had a Doctor detector, so I decided I needed a Jack tracker,” he said with a slight smile. “Good thing too. I went a bit spare when you fell out of the TARDIS until I traced the signal to Azamarya.”
“So, until the Game Station, you thought I died on that planet.”
The Doctor nodded, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.
“Doctor, I’m sorry …”
“Don’t be. In the end, I was the one responsible for my own heartbreak. I’m the one that pulled you out of there. You would have stayed otherwise. I know that now.”
Jack stepped a little closer, the pieces finally coming together. “You were heartbroken. You said you mourned for years.”
The Doctor tried to backpedal. “Did I?”
Jack nodded. “That’s why you never let anyone in, isn’t it? Your companions … that’s the reason why you’ve always been so guarded?”
“I never used the name Daniel again,” the Doctor said, sidestepping the question slightly. “Not after you. I started going by John Smith.”
“You didn’t want to get hurt again,” Jack pursued, stepping towards the Time Lord.
“Who does?” the Doctor exclaimed, throwing his arms out to the side.
Jack closed the distance between them, staring into the Doctor’s eyes intently. He had the Time Lord backed up against the console. Slowly, he raised his hand and laid it against the Doctor’s cheek.
“Daniel?” he whispered.
The Doctor’s eyes closed. “No one’s called me that in nearly eight hundred years.” He opened his eyes again, meeting Jack’s gaze.
“That leaves just one question, then.”
“What’s that?”
“After nearly eight hundred years … do you still love me?”
The Doctor looked at the floor, looking slightly ashamed.
Jack could feel his heart hammering in his chest.
Finally, the Doctor raised his head, his eyes filled with tears. “I never stopped.”
Jack pulled him into a fierce kiss, merging his love for Daniel and the Doctor. The Time Lord kissed back, releasing so much tension and passion that Jack felt almost overwhelmed.
He loves me, Jack thought joyously. Tears leaked from his closed lids, and he could feel the Doctor’s tears splashing onto his fingertips. He’s always loved me.
When they finally came up for air, the Doctor was sagging against Jack and the console for support, his shoulders shaking slightly.
Jack held him close, stroking his brown hair softly. “I’m sorry you had to go through so much pain. But I’m here now, and I won’t leave you again. I love you, Doctor.”
“I love you, too, Jack,” the Doctor murmured, muffled against Jack’s shoulder.
“You know what happens now, right?” Jack asked, smirking.
The Doctor lifted his head and wiped his eyes. “No?”
“Eight hundred years … I’ve got a lot of time to make up for.”
The Doctor grinned back at him. “So you’re thinking … bedroom?”
“Bedroom,” Jack agreed.
“Whatever you say, Captain.”
They started to leave the control room, when the Doctor stopped. “Wait. There’s one more thing we need to do.”
~~~
The next few days were hazy, dotted with memories of being nursed by Mrs. Miller back at the tavern and informed that the construction team hadn’t found any identifiable human remains.
Daniel had nothing, nothing to remember Jack by. Not one shred of him, not one piece of information that could lead him to a friend or relative.
“Daniel,” Mrs. Miller said to him a week later. “Sweetie, I think it’s time for you to go home. Can we call your parents? Or a friend?”
“I can’t leave him.”
“Daniel, the dead can’t get left. It’s the living that are left behind. And I know that it’s painful. Believe me, I know. But you can’t stop living. Jack is gone. You can sure come back and visit any time you want to, but you need to move on. You need to go home. Who should we call, sweetheart? I can do it, if you want. I won’t even say what happened.”
Daniel hiccupped back a sob. Mrs. Miller handed him a mug of tea, and he sipped it slowly. He didn’t volunteer any information.
“I know I didn’t know Jack very well,” Mrs. Miller said carefully, “but I think anyone around here would tell you the same: he wouldn’t want you to just stop and give up living. He’d want you to go on.”
“He told me … not to go alone. And now I am.”
“You won’t always be. Call home. Have someone come pick you up. You don’t have to be alone.” She stroked his tangled blond hair. “And Jack will never be forgotten, you can count on that. He’s the hero of this colony now, and we won’t soon forget it.”
Mrs. Miller caught the mug of tea before it hit the floor as Daniel started to sob. She sighed a little and took Daniel firmly by the shoulders. “Daniel Gallagher, what would Captain Harkness say to you right now, if he were here?”
Daniel took a few shuddering, deep breaths. “He’d … he’d tell me not to give up. That I needed to stop being so negative.”
“Then do that for him, Daniel. It’s what he would want, and you know it.”
Daniel nodded. “I’m sorry; I’ve been such a burden.”
“No, it’s all right. I … I lost my own son years ago. Looking after you brought back some memories. Good ones. Now, go freshen up and call home.”
Daniel nodded again, letting the blankets slide off him as he shuffled towards the bathroom.
He would do what Jack said; he wouldn’t travel alone. But somehow, he knew that he would still always feel alone, no matter who was with him.
After he showered and called home, he started to pack his things. When he touched one of the laptops, the screen suddenly lit up.
An image of Jack smiling at him came on screen, and tears immediately stung his eyes.
“Hey, Dan. I know this is kinda silly, but I thought I’d record a little message for you as a surprise. I always try to keep you on your toes, you know,” Jack said with mischievous grin. “Though I suppose I prefer you on your knees, if I’m being honest.”
Daniel nearly laughed at that.
“Anyway, all kidding aside, I just wanted to tell you something that I know would be kinda hard for me to say face to face. I want to say thank you. I was all but devastated when I landed on this planet all alone, but you saved me. You kept me from getting discouraged; you gave me hope, as clichéd as that sounds. And … whatever happens, wherever we each go from here, I’m so glad I met you, Daniel Gallagher. You really are brilliant, and you’re one in a billion. So … thanks. For everything. “
The laptop screen blinked off, and Daniel picked it up and cradled it to his chest, crying anew.
~~~
“How was that?” Jack asked after he had finished his third take of the message.
“That’s the one,” the Doctor answered, wiping a tear from his eye. He knelt down in front of the laptop. “Let me just set this, so it will play the minute I touch it.”
Jack stood up, looking around the slightly earthquake-damaged room he’d left about twelve hours earlier. “This is so weird. It was just today for me … but it seems like it was another life.”
“All set,” the Doctor announced, standing back up. “We’d better go in case someone comes in here.” He headed towards the TARDIS parked middle of the hotel room.
“You sure you don’t want one last romp on the bed?” Jack asked cheekily, trying to peek into the bedroom.
“You mean the one that the ceiling collapsed on during the quake?” the Doctor replied with an ironic smile.
Jack groaned. “That’s just not fair,” he grumbled as he followed the Doctor into the TARDIS. “Did you ever go back?”
“Hm?”
“Besides right now, did you ever take the TARDIS back here? Check to see how the colony did?”
The Doctor blushed slightly and nodded. “I can show you.”
~~~
When Jack opened the TARDIS door again, he found he was standing in front of Leighton canyon. It was the first time he’d the sun set over it from this angle.
“It looks pretty much the same,” Jack said, leaning on the railing.
“It might look it,” the Doctor said, “but it’s not the same.”
“Yeah, the Rift energy is a lot more stable now. I can barely even feel it.”
“That’s not the only difference, Jack.” The Doctor pointed to the information sign to the left of the railing.
Jack blinked. “What the – Harkness Canyon?”
“They renamed it,” the Doctor said softly, “after you. You were – are – this planet’s hero. Once I had my own TARDIS, I came back here. Just once. They did well. The colony – and then the planet – prospered. Believe me, they would have heard from me if it hadn’t, if anything had happened here to tarnish the memory of your sacrifice.”
Jack was taken aback once again by the Doctor’s tone. He softly touched his shoulder. “I appreciate that. I really do.” He couldn’t bite back a sad smile. “You were a sweet kid, Doctor. I’m sorry –”
The Doctor turned to face him and managed a weak smile of his own. “Don’t, Jack. What happened wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was always meant to happen. And … I guess, as much as it hurt, I still wouldn’t change it, even if I could. You were – are – worth it.”
Jack felt tears trickling down his face as he embraced the Time Lord again. “Don’t say that. No one is worth that much pain. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.”
The Doctor smiled as Jack held him tightly and watched the sun sink into Harkness Canyon. He closed his eyes. “You already have.”
The End