Title: Don't Say You Love Me
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: prompt_palooza
Prompt: 81, Temporary
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 looked out over the bridge that he and Jack were standing on, shading his eyes against the setting sun. He wasn't entirely sure why they'd decided to come here; neither of them had any particular destination in mind when they'd landed the Tardis.

He always enjoyed coming to Earth, but at the same time, this planet had a tendency to make him uneasy when he was with Jack. There were so many people here, people who Jack would find attractive. People he would want to flirt with.

Before they'd become lovers, the Doctor hadn't really had a problem with Jack's constant flirting. It had annoyed him at times, and made him uncomfortable, but the way he'd seen it, that had been Jack's choice. It had nothing to do with him.

After they had confessed their growing feelings for each other and had embarked on a relationship, his attitude towards Jack's flirting had changed. If anyone had so much as looked at his lover in any kind of speculative way, he'd wanted to unleash his full fury upon them.

Of course, he hadn't done that. He'd contented himself with snide remarks, some of them directed at his lover -- and he'd refused to be affectionate with Jack for quite a while afterwards. It usually kept Jack in line -- at least for a while. But that was only temporary.

But he had always strayed again. And the Doctor hadn't been able to keep the thought from his mind that when Jack had left, it was more because he was bored with being tied down in a relationship than because he wanted to work with Torchwood.

Sighing softly, the Doctor looked over at his companion; no, not only a companion, he corrected himself. Jack was the only one of his companions who had ever become his lover. No one else had managed to come close, though many had wanted to.

"What was that sigh for?" Jack asked, turning to look at him with an inquiring brow raised. "It sounds like you've got something on your mind, Doc. If you do, you should spill it." Jack took his hand, leading him to a bench not far from where they'd been standing and sitting down.

The Doctor sank onto the bench, feeling tongue-tied now that the time had come to say something to Jack about his fears. He could put his thoughts into words with no trouble in his own mind, but it was much harder to actually put his feelings into words with his lover.

"Hey." Jack hadn't let go of his hand; those long, slender fingers were gripping his own, twining their fingers together and squeezing his hand in a way that was both reassuring and worrisome. Jack had always squeezed his hand like that when he felt guilty about his flirting ....

"I know you're probably thinking about something from the past," Jack said, his voice soft, his gaze still on the Doctor's face. "You always get that contemplative look when you are, only this time you've got a little bit of a frown going, too. I don't like seeing you frown."

"I was thinking about .... us," the Doctor said, his words hesitant. "How we used to be. How you used to flirt with anyone who caught your fancy -- and how it made me feel. I don't want to go through that again, Jack. I can't deal with being a temporary lover to satisfy your ego."

"You won't have to," Jack told him, his fingers tightening around the Doctor's. "I'm not going to make the same mistakes I made before, Doctor. I love you. I'm not going to be stupid enough to mess things up between us again now that I've got you back."

"Are you sure, Jack?" The Doctor turned to look at Jack, his anxiety clearly written on his face. "Don't say you love me unless you mean it. Don't tell me you want to be with me if you're not going to stay. I can't bear to see you walking away again if you change your mind."

"I won't change my mind." Jack's voice sounded strong and assured, sure of himself. "I didn't really do that the last time, you know. I just felt like you'd be better off without me -- and I was kind of being a martyr. And being stupid, too."

"Don't make me fall in love with you again if you're only going to take it away," the Doctor whispered, unable to look Jack in the eye. He knew that he was being weak, and that he shouldn't say all of this here, but the words were tumbling out before he could stop them.

"I'm not going to leave you again, Doc. I promise you that." Jack was moving closer to him now, sliding one arm around his waist and pulling him near. The Doctor was sure that they were getting some strange looks from people; he didn't look up to see their expressions.

He didn't care how anyone might be looking at them. He needed to say these words, needed for Jack to know exactly how he felt. He wasn't going to hold his emotions back this time; he'd spent far too long trying to do that, and it had gotten him nowhere.

"You've made promises before that you didn't keep." The Doctor knew that he was being childish, that he should try to accept Jack's words at face value and trust his lover. After all, how could he say that he loved someone who he didn't trust?

But it was so hard to put his trust in Jack, even though he desperately wanted to. This man had let him down in the past; Jack had been the one person who had made his hearts shatter by his desertion, an abandonment he'd thought that he would never get over.

"I know I have." Jack's voice was still soft, but now it held a pleading tone, an inflection that the Doctor had never heard there before. "I won't make those same mistakes again, Doc. I've learned from them. I know that I don't want to be away from you again."

"Don't say you love me unless it's forever, Jack. Not unless you're absolutely sure this time," the Time Lord managed to say before his throat seemed to close, refusing to let any more words be spoken. If he tried to force out another word, he would cry. He knew it.

"It's forever this time, Doctor." Jack was still speaking softly, but his voice was firm, his words steady. He obviously had no doubts about his own intentions; the Doctor told himself that he shouldn't doubt those words, but put his trust in Jack and the feelings they shared.

Jack raised one thin hand to his lips, pressing his mouth against the Doctor's fingers. The Time Lord's eyes widened; the look in Jack's eyes wasn't one of desire. He wasn't teasing; he was entirely sincere in his words and his actions.

This man loved him. In spite of all the ways they'd managed to hurt each other, in spite of the fact that he'd turned his back and walked away at one time, the love between them was still as strong as ever. It had never faded away, never died for either of them.

He would be foolish not to accept the love that was being offered to him. If it once more proved to be only a temporary love, then at least he would have had it for the time that was allotted to them. But this time, he had a feeling that things were going to be different.

This time, they were both older and wiser; they knew what it was like to live without each other and to regret the past. They would be closer this time around, knowing how it felt when there was an empty space inside them that no one else could fill.

Only Jack could make him feel this emotional. Only Jack could bring out that side of him, the side that he'd always kept carefully hidden even from his closest friends. Only this man could reduce him to nothing more than a man in love -- a man who needed to be loved.

"I love you," Jack whispered, bowing his head to brush a kiss against the Time Lord's cheek. "I always have, and I always will. I know I've said that in the past, but I've always meant it. And I mean it more than ever now."

"I love you, too," the Doctor murmured, his dark gaze meeting Jack's. All the love in the world was in their gaze; no further words needed to be spoken between them. The promise they made to each other went deeper than mere words. This time, it would indeed be forever.

***