fajrdrako: ([Torchwood] - Captain Jack)
[personal profile] fajrdrako
Title: Companionship
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters: Jack, Sarah Jane Smith
Challenge: Way back in May I accepted a challenge from [livejournal.com profile] neadods to write a 'first kiss' scene between Captain Jack Harkness and Sarah Jane Smith. I did not forget. I was not even slow to start working on it, as I loved the idea. But I wrote one scenario after another and discarded them as inadequate or unconvincing. It proved to be extraordinarily difficult. Here at last is a version I like enough to post.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine, no claims, all property of the BBC.
Notes: Spoilers for Doctor Who episode "The Last of the Time Lords", with a fleeting reference to "School Reunion". Cross-posted to galactic_conman and dwfiction.


Companionship

From the very beginning, Sarah Jane Smith did not trust Captain Jack Harkness. He'd come sailing out of nowhere, appearing on her doorstep with a smile full of promises and a mouth full of lies.

Clearly he knew some things about the Doctor. He'd met Rose, yes, that she could believe. He'd been on the TARDIS, obviously; his information was too good to have been acquired any other way. Beyond that, she believed nothing. There were too many things he didn't say, or couldn't, or wouldn't. He'd met the Doctor - that didn't necessarily make him any kind of a friend of the Doctor, least of all a friend of hers.

She did some research on him, and came up with an inescapable fact: there were no records of any American named Captain Jack Harkness being in the UK since 1941. He was false as a Titanian brisket, this Captain, and she intended to keep her eye on him.

His organization, Torchwood, was even worse. It seemed everyone with any actual power knew about Torchwood, but no one knew the important details. The whole institution looked like a powder keg. She had a good talk with UNIT; they were suspicious of Torchwood, too. "Weaponry no one should have," they said, and "too much power, too little accountability". It seems Queen Victoria set up Torchwood under suspicious circumstances, to guard the world against alien threats in general and the Doctor in particular.

This was an expose waiting to be written, even if it was another article that should never see the light of day. Since Torchwood under Harkness seemed to pose no immediate threat, and the rest had disappeared with the Battle of Canary Wharf, she let it go for the sake of more immediate matters. When Captain Jack again turned up on her doorstep, she told him to go away and not come back.

One day, more than a year after the Battle of Canary Wharf, he broke the silence. She received a telephone call from Captain Jack Harkness.

"I've seen him," he said, without preamble. "I have news. Do you want to hear?"

There was only one person he could be talking about. She shouldn't listen. It might be a lie. But she'd had no word for so very long, not since the Krillitanes had invaded that school. She said, "Very well. Come to my place."

"On my way," he said, and disconnected. It was probably literally true: he no doubt rang her from his car. She put the kettle on for tea, and tried not to pace in anticipation. Luke was off somewhere with Maria, and she was glad - she wasn't sure how to explain Captain Jack to Luke. She wouldn't lie about him, of course, she didn't lie to Luke. But she didn't much want to talk about the mysterious Captain, either.

When Jack tapped on her door twenty minutes later, Sarah Jane had already finished half of her own cup of tea. His smile was as she remembered. She ignored it. "Come in," she said. "Care for some tea?" She hoped she managed to sound sufficiently casual. Friendly but not gullible. Businesslike.

"I'd rather a glass of water," he said, and she got it for him. They sat in her living room, with Jack in the large, comfortable chair, while she sat on the sofa. He said, "The TARDIS came to Cardiff to refuel. I hitched a ride. On the outside."

As he continued, she saw how absurd it was, like all his stories. A severed hand, as some sort of Doctor alert? Riding the time vortex hanging onto the outside the of TARDIS - what was he, Spider-Man? Going to the end of time? Searching for Utopia? Well, that all sounded like the Doctor, right enough, he was always into wild extremes, and seemed to be more so inclined as time went on. Not that time ever just 'went on' for the Doctor.

Captain Jack's story got more and more outrageous. Meeting another Time Lord at the end of time, one who'd lost his memory, who turned out to be a friend of the Doctor, but insane and power-hungry. Harold Saxon and Archangel. Toclafanes and warfare. A year that never was, of imprisonment, enslavement and resistance. Martha Jones, saviour of mankind. Deceptions, tricks of the mind, and psychic magic.

Sarah Jane listened to him without interruption. "Quite a story," she said, mildly, when he stopped.

"Yes."

"If I didn't know him, I wouldn't believe any of it."

"But you know him."

"I was looking into the disappearance of Harold Saxon."

"Oh?"

"And the way he popped up a couple of years ago. He was almost as mysterious as you."

Jack smiled at that. "No one is as mysterious as me."

"...But your ego is bigger."

"Not just my ego," he murmured, but she pretended not to have heard him.

She tried to picture the scene he described. The gunshot, the woman in red. The Doctor in tears. "He loved him?"

"The Master was the only other living Time Lord. The Doctor wanted to save him. It was his last chance... He couldn't save the others, back in the Time War. He thought he could maybe save this one. Just this one."

"Chivalrous nonsense," she snapped, and found herself on the verge of tears herself.

"Not nonsense. It's what he is. It's why we love him."

She looked at him quizzically. "We?"

"You. Me. Rose. Martha, too. How could we not?"

Jack was a con man, an actor. She knew that. But looking at him now, she believed that he knew the Doctor, believed that he loved him, that the Doctor had touched him in the same way he had her, and triggered a soul-deep change. Some people, after meeting the Doctor, would never be the same again.

Jack reached over and took her hand, squeezing it.

"How could we not?" she echoed. "I wish... How he must be hurting. I wish we could help."

"He'll find us if he needs us," said Jack. He kissed her hand, comforting her. Then he kissed it again.

She looked at him suspiciously, though didn't pull her hand away. "Jack Harkness. Are you coming on to me?"

He did not let go of her hand, which he had lifted to his lips. She could feel his warm breath against her knuckles as he held it there. Without moving his lips away from her skin, he lifted an eyebrow and said quizzically, as if it were another question rather than an answer, "Yes?"

She pulled her hand away quickly, and tried not to wish she hadn't. "Idiot man. I'm too old for flirtation."

He laughed - not at her, but in a warm sort of way that made even the air around him feel good. "Sarah Jane Smith, how old are you? Fifty at most? I have a century on you, and I'm not too old for flirtation. We both know someone pushing a thousand. Doesn't he make you feel young?"

"I miss him," she said bluntly. She felt like crying again. She was the idiot, a weepy old fool. She was usually more careful than this. But Jack's news about the Doctor had unsettled her, and Jack himself.... She realized how badly she had misjudged him before, and was furious with herself for it. He had needed her friendship, and she had coldly withheld it. Had she turned into such a suspicious old curmudgeon that she didn't know a friend when she met one?

"I miss him, too," said Jack gently. "Every day. Always. But it makes life worth living, you know? He's out there, doing his thing. And one day he'll return." He stood. So did she. He pulled her into his arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and Sarah Jane let herself accept it. He was a link to the Doctor. A link to her past and the planet's future, even if he and she hadn't shared that time together. A link to a world out there of planets and aliens and adventures and dangers and doing things that must be done.

He had a very comforting hug.

She said, "What's this about you being more than a hundred years old?"

"A hundred and fifty. But looking good, don't you think?"

"Are you human?"

"Completely."

"Then how...?"

He kissed her, lightly, on the lips. "It's a long story. It involves the fifty-first century, and the Time Agency... or maybe the year 200,100 and a Game Station... or maybe a girl hanging from a barrage balloon in the Blitz. Tell you what. Let's order Chinese and I'll tell you the story of Captain Jack Harkness and how he became immortal."

"Immortal?"

"And hungry! Have a heart. I drove all the way from Cardiff and I haven't had any lunch."

"There's a really good Chinese place just around the corner. I'll call them - Luke loves it."

"Luke?"

"I can tell you a story or two as well, Captain. Did you know I'm a mother now?"

He sat, laughing. "You're full of surprises."

"It comes with the territory. Egg rolls, do you think?"

"Definitely egg rolls," agreed Jack.

- end -


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Date: 2007-10-19 08:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
I'd say Boe clearly wasn't human, and that makes it all the more anomalous for him to be Jack, because it means Jack becomes something other than human. Sure, just about anything can happen in this universe, but for people to change species is just a little too nonsensical.

As for Jack's pregnancy - who knows what he meant! They cut that line from the Canadian airing of the episode.

the utter lack of reaction by the TW team makes me think he said that sort of bizarre thing all the time and no one ever takes him serious

So it seems.


Date: 2007-10-19 08:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com
Changing species seems a bit much!

They cut it on the CBC airing? I have no idea if it was cut from BBCAmerica, my cable co doesn't carry it.

If tptb (the powers that be) ever delve into Jack's backstory there are a thousand aspects of it I'd rather hear about other than the possible mpreg bit. Starting with the missing two years.

Date: 2007-10-19 08:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] raissad.livejournal.com
Excellent! If you do another one, I like to see Jack's reaction to the sonic lipstick, given how he reacted to the screwdriver.

Date: 2007-10-19 08:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
Maybe the Christmas special won't suck... but I don't have high hopes.

I try not to have expectations, especially low ones. At the time "The Last of the Time Lords" aired, it was hard to feel very optimistic about the ending. But now, with a lot of rationalization applied to the subject, and my sense of ipatience/withdrawal kicking in, I'm looking forward to any kind of a new Doctor Who episode.

I can't believe how the Doctor did it so dismisively! Making jokes like Jack's not responsible enough to have that sort of tech!

You'd think he'd be entrusting him with more, if anything. Jack has earned a lot of faith and respect on the Doctor's part, I'd say. And doesn't seem to be getting it.

Still, it's the Doctor, and most of all it's Ten, who doesn't seem to have a handle on either manners or gratitude. I try to take it as a kind of tease between two people who know and love each other so well that neither takes it amiss, and Jack is happy enough to have the Doctor exile him exactly where he wants to be, and where the Doctor can find him whenever he wishes.

Still. If Jack has earned anything (and he has), it's the right to freedom of choice.

Date: 2007-10-19 08:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
Oh, what a good idea! Yes, I'd like to do something about that... That's a lovely point to mull over.

Thanks for the nice comment.

Date: 2007-10-19 08:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
Changing species seems a bit much!

Especially when Jack so clearly enjoys being human.

They cut it on the CBC airing?

Yes. Not much, but they cut the whole "estrogen in the water" speech, and the scene when the boyfriend comes after Owen and kisses him. I'm not sure what else. I know the uncut stories so well my brain tends to edit them in as if they were there, even when they're not.

If tptb (the powers that be) ever delve into Jack's backstory there are a thousand aspects of it I'd rather hear about other than the possible mpreg bit. Starting with the missing two years.

If it's a comfort, I think you are much more likely to get something about the missing two years. That's a plot point that's been hanging in our faces for a long time now. I hope Stephen Moffat gets to write it.



Date: 2007-10-19 08:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com
it's the Doctor, and most of all it's Ten, who doesn't seem to have a handle on either manners or gratitude.

I really wondered if I was the only one who was thinking that. It goes along with what you were saying about the faith and trust Jack should have earned by now. I find myself liking the Doctor a bit less and less by these actions.

Jack is happy enough to have the Doctor exile him exactly where he wants to be, and where the Doctor can find him whenever he wishes.

Someone (can't remember who, sorry) pointed out that maybe that's why the Doctor disabled it, so the Doctor would be able to locate Jack whenever HE needed Jack.

Date: 2007-10-19 08:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com
I know the uncut stories so well my brain tends to edit them in as if they were there, even when they're not.

Lol, that happens to me with sci-fi channel's airings of DW, especially "Utopia" and "Sottd" There were some cuts that nearly gave me whiplash with those two.

I hope Stephen Moffat gets to write it.

Oh please, yes. If anyone gets to write it, let it be Moffat. Moffat=God. what a writer!

Date: 2007-10-19 08:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
Moffat is amazing. I don't think Captain Jack would be nearly so interesting if he hadn't got off tp such an intriguing start in a Moffat story. And then other other writers had to live up to the good start.

I remember all of a sudden that I forgot to set my DVD recorder for Torchwood tonight, and I almost certainly won't be home in time. Drat!

Date: 2007-10-19 08:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com
*eeek* do they reshow it later in the evening?

I seriously hope Moffat gets another crack at Capt Jack. It would be amazing.

Date: 2007-10-19 09:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
It goes along with what you were saying about the faith and trust Jack should have earned by now. I find myself liking the Doctor a bit less and less by these actions.

Yes. Having endured a year of captivity for the Doctor's sake, Jack deserved a little less casual treatment from the Doctor after waiting for him for 138 years. An apology for being told he was 'wrong'? Thanks for his help? I'd have been happy if he'd had as much of a 'thank you' as Martha got in "The Family of Blood". After all... the last time Jack saw the Doctor, he died for his sake. In good faith, and willingly. And now the Doctor has the nerve to be angry with him because of Torchwood! Hard to please, or what.

My ray of hope in the matter is that the 'big picture' story isn't over yet and there may well be a story later on that gives us a more satisfying angle on the relationship between Jack and the Doctor. (Which is, for me, a central focus.) But it does change my sense of the balance between them. The mentor no longer has the role of any kind of moral superiority.

Someone (can't remember who, sorry) pointed out that maybe that's why the Doctor disabled it, so the Doctor would be able to locate Jack whenever HE needed Jack.

Yes. I like that better than any other explanation, but it has two problems. (1) It feels like fan-wank, true though it may be. and (2) It still implies high-handed choice-making on the Doctor's part. It isn't as if Jack had been avoiding him for 138 years - more a case of, in all that time, Jack would come running if only he whistled. The Doctor could have just said, "Keep in touch." Or given him a cell phone.





Date: 2007-10-19 09:03 pm (UTC)
ext_120533: Deseine's terracotta bust of Max Robespierre (Default)
From: [identity profile] silverwhistle.livejournal.com
Perhaps originally aquatic, hence jar?

Date: 2007-10-19 09:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
*eeek* do they reshow it later in the evening?

No. I wish they did. I phoned a friend and begged her to copy it for me. She says she can. I hope so!

I would love to see Moffat write another story featuring Jack. If only.

Date: 2007-10-19 09:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
He doesn't look fish-like, but at a pinch one could imagine some kind of octopus/squid/jellyfish like biological arrangement. Or maybe - going with your idea that he's an animal/vegetable mix, something that's a little bit like a squid and a little bit like seaweed. Sort of like Jabe and her people being humanoid-type trees.

Date: 2007-10-19 09:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com
Yes. Having endured a year of captivity for the Doctor's sake, Jack deserved a little less casual treatment from the Doctor

Absolutely and no doubt about it. While fics about about what Jack went through during the year that wasn't it no matter how off base they may be the Doctor still should acknowledge what happened (and why) to Jack on the Game Station, his own part in what happened to Jack afterwards (all those deaths, all that waiting) and the horrors of whatever happened on the Valiant. When Jack nearly begged for understanding over heading Torchwood I wanted to smack Ten.

It's totally fan-wank and high-handed... The Doctor could easily have come up with 100 ways to keep tabs on Jack, but instead he sucker punches him. Nice.

Presumedly the big picture isn't over. I can't imagine RTD not having Capt Jack crossing over to DW again

Date: 2007-10-19 09:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com
Thank heavens for your friend!

Moffat's has mentioned he wants to write for Jack. Originally John Barrowman was supposed to be in DW 10-13, not 11-13 and Moffat was happy because he was in charge of episode 10, but then things happened and JB was only available for 11-13. Let's hope he's given the opportunity some other time!

Date: 2007-10-19 09:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
When Jack nearly begged for understanding over heading Torchwood I wanted to smack Ten.

Yes - and Jack looked so desperate, and hurt, trying to explain himself. I wanted to shout at the Doctor: "You ungrateful wretch! It's so clear he's done it all for you, all these years, and you don't even get it."

The Doctor could easily have come up with 100 ways to keep tabs on Jack, but instead he sucker punches him. Nice.

Yes. It's more like something you'd expect from the Master. Not that the Doctor hasn't been high-handed in the past, and not that he necessarily shouldn't be, but it would be nice to see him do it with people who deserved it, rather than the person who most deserves better from him.


Date: 2007-10-19 09:18 pm (UTC)
ext_120533: Deseine's terracotta bust of Max Robespierre (Default)
From: [identity profile] silverwhistle.livejournal.com
Yes! I wasn't thinking 'fish', more sea-anemone type-thing. Animal, but slightly plant-ish.

Date: 2007-10-19 09:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
Such a near miss! And I can't even be sorry, since I really loved "Blink." But all the same.... I can't think of much I'd rather have than another Stephen Moffat story about Captain Jack.

Date: 2007-10-19 09:20 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
It fits the hybrid theme that was prevailing when we first saw the Face of Boe in "The End of the World" - humanoid plant creatures, metallic spider creatures, and so on.

Date: 2007-10-19 09:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com
I just have to tell you how happy I am to read that someone feels the same way! Usually everyone is singing the praises of Ten and I just cringe over some of the things he's done to Jack!

Date: 2007-10-19 09:23 pm (UTC)
ext_120533: Deseine's terracotta bust of Max Robespierre (Default)
From: [identity profile] silverwhistle.livejournal.com
Yes: and we don't know what kind of planet he comes from, environmentally.

Date: 2007-10-19 09:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com
I absolutely loved "Blink" as well, especially for being a second unit episode. And it's interestingly based off of a story Moffat wrote for a DW magazine ages ago (although much more scary and updated). But Moffat writing for Jack? Donuts and light, all rolled into one.

Date: 2007-10-19 09:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
But Moffat writing for Jack? Donuts and light, all rolled into one.


Well said! Makes me drool just to think of it. All that is really interesting about Jack, he set up in that first episode, and did it beautifully.

Date: 2007-10-19 09:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
I've various scenarios for a 'planet of heads' sort of thing, mostly in comic books. I like the idea of making it aquatic, which fits what we've seen.
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