Doctor Who fic: Someone to Watch Over Me (1/1)

[locker_monster]

Title: Someone to Watch Over Me (1/1)
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Jack, Nine, Rose, Jackie, implied Nine/Rose, mild Jack/Rose
Timeline: After The Doctor Dances but before Boom Town. Spoilers for Utopia.
Summary: Rose introduces Jack to Jackie and some realizations are made.
Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the good people at the BBC.
A/N: Many thanks togoldy_dollar for betaing. You rock! Inspiration taken from something said in Utopia but no major spoilers for that episode.

           The TARDIS had a scar. The gouge was deep in the wood, maybe a good two inches in. Jack ran his fingers over the new mark on the door, impressed that this was all the damage the ship had taken. It was easy forget the great magnitude the TARDIS possessed when her outside looked like an old relic from the 1950s.

           The doors opened suddenly and Jack was left standing there with his hand in mid-air.

           “Practicing being a mime?” asked the Doctor.

           While the comment sounded like a joke, his tone was cold. Jack shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Just checking on the TARDIS. How do you plan on fixing the door?”

           “Wood putty.” Turning away from Jack, the Doctor headed back to the console.

           “What’s taking Rose so long?” Jack was sure this was a topic the Doctor wouldn’t mind talking about. It was a cool winter day in London and though much warmer inside the TARDIS, Jack had preferred to wait outside where the atmosphere wasn’t as chilly.

           “She’s probably trying to fill every inch of her bag with dirty laundry. I keep telling her she doesn’t need to go home to get clean clothes.”

           Having raided the TARDIS wardrobe for a change of clothes after coming onboard, Jack knew this to be true, but clearly the Doctor was missing the true intention behind Rose’s desire to return home. Or maybe the concept of a washing machine never made it to the Doctor’s planet. Some days Jack didn’t know where the Doctor stood. It was beyond obvious the man was fond of Rose, but at the same time he didn’t like taking her back to her mother.

           “Sounds like we’re not staying long, then,” Jack ventured.

           “It’s up to Rose,” replied the Doctor noncommittally. He had busied himself with something at the console.

           Jack quietly took his leave.

           It was a change for Jack to see London as a thriving city rather than a bombed out shell. When he had been an active Time Agent he had visited Earth during multiple eras, past and future, but somehow he had never managed to see London recover from the devastation of World War Two. Tall buildings that would have been targets during the air raids were everywhere. Young children roamed the streets freely, excited for a new day. Stores with an ethnic focus stood side by side pubs and laundromats.

           Rose pointed it all out for Jack as they made their way to the Powell Estate. The red backpack she carried on her back bounced happily as she skipped ahead of Jack to show him the nearby playground she had often visited as a young girl. He listened as she recalled stories from her childhood, but Jack found his gaze drifting back to the Doctor. The man had fallen behind and appeared sullen.

           “He’s mad at me,” he said to Rose, interrupting her reminiscing.

           She glanced back over her shoulder. “Why would he be?” Rose didn’t seem concerned that the Doctor looked so grouchy.

           “We were nearly blown up yesterday.” Or more accurately he nearly got them blown up, but Jack didn’t bother to correct himself. “You don’t forget a thing like that.”

           Rose, however, appeared nonchalant. “Before you came on board I woke up an old enemy of the Doctor’s and it ended up slaughtering a whole facility.”

           “This is different.” By now, Jack knew Rose well enough to know that she had probably been acting out of compassion. He, on the other hand…

           “If you had made a major mistake, you would know. The Doctor only travels with people he can trust.”

           The Doctor trusted him? That was news to Jack. He didn’t exactly instil trust in others, being a con man and all. Hell, he would have wiped out the entire human race because of a con if the Doctor hadn’t intervened in time. By all accounts, the Doctor had reason enough to kick him out of the TARDIS.

           “Then why is he sulking back there?”

           A smile tugged at the corners of Rose’s lips. “He doesn’t like visiting my mum.”

           “Really?” Jack could only imagine how Jackie had met the Doctor. “Any particular reason why?”

           Rose broke out into a full-fledged smile. “She slapped him the first time they met.”

           “Mum?” called out Rose as she pushed open the front door. “We’re back.”

           Jack followed her into the apartment, the Doctor trailing behind him. With Rose’s giant backpack in the way he couldn’t see much beyond the small nook. In fact, when the Doctor closed the door, there wasn’t much room at all. The Doctor bumped into the Jack as he turned to face forward.

           “I like this place already,” said Jack, grinning despite how things were.

           “Would it kill you to use that phone?” came a voice from within the apartment. “This place is a mess.”

           Rose quickly slipped off her backpack, dropping it into Jack’s arms, before she rushed forward to hug her mother. Jack let out a muffled oomph as the full weight of the bag hit him. The Doctor took the moment to push by him as he stumbled back a step.

           “Mum, I want you to meet someone.” Jack dropped Rose’s backpack to the floor and came face to face with Jackie Tyler. Blonde like her daughter, Jackie looked welcoming but Jack had heard the fierceness in her voice and the woman probably had a fiery attitude to match.

           He flashed her one of his charming smiles. “Captain Jack Harkness,” he greeted, hand extended for Jackie to shake.

           “They drag you into this, too?” Jackie asked instead.

           “Mum,” muttered Rose, drawing out the word.

           “Hard to resist after meeting Rose. Can I just say that you’ve done a great job raising her. And I can see where she gets her good looks.” Oldest trick in the book, but there was some truth to it, too.

           Jackie silently regarded Jack for a moment before giving him an approving nod. “You’re definitely an improvement over him.” Undoubtedly Jackie was referring to the Doctor. “At least he knows how to give a compliment,” Jackie shouted into the other room as Rose led Jack further in.

           Jack left Rose with her mother to argue laundry and joined the Doctor in the living room. The apartment was small but the Tylers had done what they could with the limited space. Over an electric fireplace was a mantle loaded with pictures. Jack walked over and picked up one featuring Rose when she was nine or ten. Her hair was in pigtails and her grinned showed off her white teeth.

           “Cute kid,” Jack said to the Doctor, indicating to the picture. The Doctor had moved to stand by the window and with the curtains pushed aside he stared out at the other nearby towers.

           “It’s a defence mechanism,” the Doctor replied absently.

           Jack returned the picture to the mantle. “What is?”

           “Cuteness. Stops the higher predators from eating the young.”

           It was hard to tell if the Doctor was joking, making small talk, or trying to trap Jack into sounding dumb. Another picture of Rose as a teenager caught Jack’s eye and he gratefully snatched it up as a distraction. The inescapable awkwardness that came with the age was evident in the shaky smile gracing Rose’s face, but underneath it all the confident young woman who travelled the universe could be seen emerging.

           “So how long are we staying?” At the Doctor’s question, Jack put down the photo and turned around. Rose had entered the living room and Jackie could be seen in the kitchen through the cubby hole.

           “Couple of hours at least. It’s a lot of laundry,” Rose added before the Doctor could make a comment. “Mum’s making tea in the mean time. You boys fancy a cuppa?”

           The Doctor crossed his arms, making him look like a stubborn child. “I’d love a cup of tea,” answered Jack and he happily followed Rose into the kitchen.

           The washing machine was nosily spinning away as Jack brought in the used tea cups and the saucer with the leftover milk. He placed them in the sink and started to go back for the teapot but Jackie was already entering the kitchen with it.

           “I can do that,” offered Jack, taking the teapot from Jackie’s hands. “You should spend your time with Rose.”

           Jackie stared at Jack and he wondered briefly if he had overstepped a boundary. Then the woman shook her head. “Your face looks so familiar.”

           “I think if we had met before it would be something both of us wouldn’t forget.” Jack added a grin for good measure. The truth was, it could have been possible he had met Jackie before through his duties as a Time Agent.

           “Bringing home complete strangers.” Jackie shook her head again. “I’d be worried for Rose if this had happened last year. But now…”

           Jack walked over to the sink and dumped out the dregs at the bottom of the teapot. Through the cubby hole he could see Rose and the Doctor sitting on the couch, watching T.V. The volume seemed loud enough that this would be a private conversation so Jack replied, “Meeting the Doctor can definitely change your life.”

           “It’s not the aliens I’m worried about – you can see stranger things in the South End – it’s the life he leads.” Going through the motions, Jackie put the stopper in the sink and turned on the tap. Jack reached for the dish soap and squeezed in a liberal amount of the liquid, quickly causing foam bubbles to form. “Rose isn’t safe, no matter how brilliant she thinks the Doctor is. He can’t protect her all the time.”

           “The Doctor really cares about Rose.” There was no question about that in Jack’s mind. Whether Rose knew it or not, the Doctor would do anything for her. The near destruction of the TARDIS wasn’t just about him risking their lives; Jack had risked Rose’s life.

           “If he really cared about her, he would drop her back here and never come back.”

           The last of Rose’s laundry had finally been moved to the dryer and that had seemed like an ample excuse for the Doctor to head back to the TARDIS. “Need to warm up the engines,” he had claimed before leaving the apartment. Letting her mother iron the rest of her clothes, Rose took Jack around the rest of the neighbourhood.

           They ended up back at the playground after a whirlwind tour. Seated on a bench, they watched the children from the Estate chase each other around. Without any provoking, Rose scooted closer to Jack and laid her head on his shoulder. He smiled and wrapped his arm around her.

           “I like your mother,” Jack admitted to Rose, breaking the comfortable silence.

           “She didn’t slap you. That’s a good start.”

           “It must have been a scene, the first time Jackie met the Doctor.”

           Rose giggled softly. “You shoulda seen his face after Mum slapped him. He brooded for awhile on the roof.”

           “I think you’re the only one who can make him smile.” Usually by now Jack would have been able to weasel his way back into someone’s good graces, even without copious amounts of alcohol, flirting, or a combination of the two. Either he was losing his touch, a thought he didn’t even want to entertain, or the Doctor only had eyes for a certain girl from Earth and didn’t have time for a wandering con man.

           Lifting her head off his shoulder, Rose looked Jack in the eye. “The Doctor doesn’t hate you.” She said the words with so much conviction that Jack could almost believe her.

           “So why is he hiding out in the TARDIS? He can’t hate your mother that much.”

           They held each other’s gaze for a moment, the wild shrieks of children filling the void, before Rose broke away. She laid her head back down, tightly gripping the front of Jack’s jacket with her left hand. “The Doctor doesn’t hate Mum. He hates coming back here because it might be the last time.”

           Jack pulled Rose closer. “What do you mean?”

           “Right in the middle of aliens attacking London she asks him if he can promise to keep me safe. And you know what the Doctor said? He said nothing. Because he can’t. I could die on the next planet we visit and my mum will never know. She’ll just keep waiting and run to the door every time she hears a knock because it might be me. It’s not just me the Doctor has to worry about. He could bring me back to London everyday but it would be a good-bye every time.”

           It seemed obvious to ask Rose why not stop travelling with the Doctor, but Jack already knew the answer because he wouldn’t want to stop either. Life with the Doctor was just better. He made it better.

           In that moment, Jack knew in his heart he would give anything to protect Rose and keep her safe. Rose Tyler of the too small apartment with her protective mother who had the strength to face each day not knowing where her daughter was in the universe. Rose Tyler who travelled the stars and saw the good in anyone no matter who or what they were.

           He would watch over her. Jack made that promise to himself.

* * *

           An hour after Rose left with the Doctor and Jack, Jackie remembered where she had seen Jack’s face before.

* * *

           It was the third day in a row Jackie had seen the man in the coat.

           The first time had been out in the street while she had been walking back to the estate with Rose. He had watched them cross the street. At the time, Jackie thought he was quite handsome, but when she looked back, the man had disappeared.

           The second time had been at the park. She and some of the other mums at the estate had gotten together to have a picnic. Rose had been running around with Mickey when Jackie saw the man from the corner of her eye. It had been fleeting enough that she simply dismissed it and she turned back to serving potato salad.

           And here he was today at the playground in that damned coat of his. Who wore a heavy wool coat at this time of the year? Other children were on the swing set or climbing on the monkey bars, but his attention was solely on Rose as she scampered up to the top of the slide. Jackie glanced around to see if any of the other parents noticed but they were too busy watching their kids or chatting with each other.

           Putting down her magazine, Jackie marched over to the man, keeping out of his sight until she was right on top of him.

           “Who do you think you are?” she demanded, getting right up in his face. He was taller than her but he still took a step back. “Does watching ten year old girls get you all bothered? Can’t find a real girlfriend? I’ve seen your face, mate, remembered every detail. If I see you ’round here again I’m phoning the police!”

           The man said nothing. He took one more glance at Rose, which nearly drove Jackie to drive her fist into his face, then left the playground at a steady clip.

* * *

           Jackie slammed down the phone and ran out of the flat. Bloody Jimmy Stone. If she ever got her hands on that tosser… Twenty years old and the best he could manage for a girlfriend was a sixteen year old girl. While she wanted nothing more to lecture Rose about leaving family behind for some dodgy musician she knew foremost that her daughter needed her mother more right now.

           The sound of Rose in tears on the phone haunted Jackie at the back of her mind as she headed for the playground. They had agreed to meet there, calling it neutral territory.

           She spotted her daughter sitting on one of the benches, a suitcase sitting at her feet on the ground. She looked small and vulnerable in an oversized hoodie that probably belonged to Jimmy Stone. When Rose reached up to wipe away her tears, the sleeve of the hoodie completely covering her hand, Jackie was overcome with the need to run over there and gather her daughter in her arms.

           Jackie nearly did, but then she saw a man watching Rose.

           For a second she thought it might have been Jimmy Stone, there to try and get Rose back, but the man was taller and older than that ponce. He wore a long grey coat and stood a ways back from the playground, keeping out of sight by standing in the shadow of a nearby tree. A feeling of recognition tickled Jackie at the back of her mind, but she couldn’t place it.

           Before she could think on it any further, the man looked in her direction. Jackie froze. Then the man smiled and turned to walk away.

           Jackie soon forgot the whole thing when she sat down beside Rose and hugged her tightly.

* * *

           Sitting down on the couch, Jackie went over the memories. There was no mistaking it. The man who had been watching Rose when she was ten and then again when she was sixteen was Jack Harkness. It was impossible, of course. That had been ages ago and he didn’t look any older.

           But he had looked different, now that Jackie thought about it more. The Jack she had met today had been smiling and carefree. The man from ten years ago had seemed more… removed. There had been a sadness in his eyes that had only gone away when he smiled. When he had been watching Rose.

           If she hadn’t met the Doctor and knew what he did, Jackie would have thought she was going insane. A man she had only met today present in her past. What did it all mean? Had Rose and the Doctor picked up Jack in the past? Or was this some future Jack? It was enough to give Jackie a headache.

           One thing was clear. Whoever that man had been, he had been watching Rose, watching over her, maybe even looking out for her and making sure she was safe.

           Jackie switched on the T.V. That was good enough for her.

* * *

           An Olympic sized swimming pool. Inside the TARDIS. Jack closed the door, holding back a sigh. He wanted to find the kitchen but every turn he took he ended up some place else. He was sure the time machine was purposely shifting corridors, messing with him for almost getting her blown up into a million pieces.

           “If we’re playing games,” he said aloud, looking around the corridor, “why don’t you drop me in Rose’s room. Or the Doctor’s. I’m not a picky guy.”

           “Talking to yourself, Jack?” Jack turned to find the Doctor casually leaning against the wall, like he had been there the entire time.

           “I’m talking with your ship. She’s a lousy conversationalist.”

           The Doctor pushed off from the wall. “You just need to learn how to listen.” He started to leave.

           “Is that a friendly piece of advice or an order?”

           The Doctor paused and looked back at Jack, his gaze steely. “More of a suggestion for the next time I ask you not to pull your gun on a group of civilians.”

           Jack didn’t flinch under his scrutiny. “They were going to attack us.”

           “They were, but we could have reasoned with them, stopped them from running to the local constabulary.”

           “I didn’t mean for the TARDIS to be damaged. I was trying to protect us.” They fell silent as actions were made clear. “I’ll give up the gun,” Jack offered.

           Rather than answer, the Doctor walked over to Jack. He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and returned with a key held in his hand. Wordlessly, he handed the key to Jack. The surface of it felt slightly warm, like it was alive.

           “I’ll look after her.” Jack knew his meaning was obvious.

           A smile lit up the Doctor’s face. “I know you will.”