Title: Here With Me
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: 2
Prompt: 23, Lost
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Jack Harkness. Please do not sue.

***

The Doctor sighed and leaned back in Jack's arms, staring into the embers of the dying campfire they'd made. He liked being out here in the wilderness, with no one but Jack around; there was something intimate about feeling like they were the only two people in the vicinity.

Of course, that might not be true, the Doctor said to himself, glancing around at the darkness outside of the circle of light the fire gave out. There could be any number of entities out there, watching the two of them. This wasn't Earth, after all.

But even on Earth, there could be creatures that he hadn't dealt with before skulking somewhere in that darkness .Jack had told him all about what had happened when the Torchwood team had spent some time in the country, and it hadn't been pretty.

The Doctor couldn't keep back a shiver. He was certainly glad that he hadn't been around for that particular adventure.

Jack looked down at him, a slight frown marring his brow. "What was that shiver for?" he asked, his arms tightening a little around the Doctor's waist. "I know you can't be cold, so it must have been something you'd thought about that you didn't like much."

"I was thinking about the time you and the rest of the team were in a place like this," the Time Lord murmured, turning his head to the side to look up at Jack from where he rested against the other man's broad chest. "And being glad that I wasn't there."

Jack nodded in agreement, the frown turning into a grin just a few seconds after the words were out of the Doctor's mouth. "Yeah, I don't think you'd have liked it much," he said, shaking his head and chuckling. "Cannibals aren't .... to your taste."

The Time Lord couldn't keep himself from joining in Jack's laughter; the way the other man had put that phrase was funny, even though it had been a serious subject. "You always know how to lighten the moment, don't you, Jack?"

"I try, Doc. I try." Jack was still chuckling, the sound warm and throaty in the silence.

"I love hearing you laugh like that," the Doctor murmured, nuzzling his cheek against the soft, worn fabric of Jack's shirt. "It makes you seem so much more .... accessible."

"Since when have I not seemed 'accessible' to you?" Jack inquired, arching an eyebrow as he looked down at the man reclining in his embrace. "I've always been around, you know. I was always waiting for you, even when I doubted that I'd find you again."

"I know you were," the Doctor said, looking down, feeling a little embarrassed. And maybe even slightly ashamed. "I should have come back much sooner than I did. I realize that. It was cruel of me to do what I did -- but I can't keep apologizing for that forever, Jack."

"I don't want you to," the immortal told him, brushing a stray lock of hair back from the Time Lord's face. "That's all behind us. We've talked about it, and both of us understand how the other felt. It's ancient history, Doc. Let's not go back into it."

"There are times when I still feel guilty for leaving you behind," the Doctor told him, wishing that he could do as Jack said and just let the subject drop, but feeling that he couldn't. "I suppose that bit of guilt will always be there, even if neither of us want it to be."

"You don't have to feel guilty." Jack's voice was firm, almost authoritative. "I was a million kinds of pissed off at you for a while, but I don't think I ever hated you for it. After all, you gave me a life that nobody else has ever had."

"A life that you didn't ask for," the Doctor murmured. "And I didn't give you that. I just .... left you in a place where you'd be forced to live through too much."

Jack shook his head, sighing. "Hey, it's the past, okay? I don't want to rehash all that. We've been through it before -- and what's important is where we are now, and who we are now. We've both grown a lot since that time. You're even in a different body."

"One that I think you appreciate much more than you did the last one," the Doctor observed with a smile. "Not that you didn't like that one -- at least, not judging from the way you flirted with me -- but I think there's much more of an attraction now."

"How could there not be?" Jack was laughing again, looking down at the Time Lord with affection in his gaze. "The first time I got a good look at you, I knew that there would be something between us. There was no way I was going to let you get away a second time."

"I was a little reluctant then," the Doctor admitted, feeling a blush creep over his skin. He'd been far too reluctant, really, but that had been because he didn't want to admit to his feelings. The attraction had been so strong that it had frightened him at first.

After all, he shouldn't have felt that way about Jack. At least, that was what he'd tried to tell himself -- and because of his own stubbornness, he'd denied the two of them time that they could have spent together. Yet another thing to feel guilty about.

"Yeah, you were, but you eventually came around," Jack said, the laughter still in his voice. "You had to. I'd have made sure of it, one way or another."

"Oh, really? And how can you be so sure of that?" The Doctor raised his brows again, affecting a wounded expression. "You couldn't have thought I'd come around because of your charm and good looks. I was oblivious to them. Completely oblivious."

"Apparently not," Jack said softly, running a gentle fingertip down the Doctor's cheek. "Because you're here with me now, in my arms, and I don't see you wanting to leave. And I hope you never do. I'd spend the rest of eternity trying to get you back if you did."

The Doctor shook his head, swallowing hard as though he was forcing back a lump in his throat. "I wouldn't leave," he whispered, reaching up to stroke Jack's cheek. "I'd be lost without you. You should know that by now."

"I doubt you'd be lost -- but even if you were, you'd always know where to find me," Jack told him, his words barely audible, not meant for any ears but the Doctor's. "Right by your side. Where I'll always be, until you tell me that you want me to leave -- and mean it."

"I'd never do that." The Doctor's voice was still soft and husky, but his tone was firm. He obviously meant what he was saying; the words were decisive, resolute. "I've pushed you away once, Jack. I'll never be foolish enough to do it again."

"If you ever did, I'd still be there for you." Jack didn't want to admit that; he didn't want to give anyone that much power over his emotions. But he couldn't deny how he felt. The Doctor was the one man who'd ever been able to make him feel this -- and the one man who ever would.

The Time Lord didn't answer him; he only nodded, a small smile curving his lips, his dark eyes meeting Jack's. The expression in those dark eyes told Jack all that he needed to know.

"What do you say to spending some time in the Tardis -- away from any prying eyes that might be watching us?" Jack suggested, raising an eyebrow and smiling roguishly. That look left the Doctor in no doubt of what the immortal meant for them to do.

Well, he certainly wasn't going to argue with that. "I think that's a very good idea," he said, rising to his feet and brushing the wrinkles out of his suit. "After all, we wouldn't want to be .... observed. It might be a little daunting to have an audience."

Jack laughed as he doused the fire, and the two of them headed back towards the blue police box arm in arm, their thoughts traveling ahead to just what was going to happen once they were safely behind closed doors, hurrying to their destination as quickly as they could.

***