My Doctor Who Story

[seren_ccd]

Thought it might be good idea to put this here.



Title: Satisfied?
Rating: M-ish
Summary: Post The Doctor Dances. The Doctor gets irritated. Rose and Jack get drunk. And someone gets kissed.
Email: claire_ccd@yahoo.com

It did it again. Once again, the Tardis was on the fritz, sparking every time the Doctor attempted to adjust the knobs.

'Come on girl,' he said. 'Just--show me what's wrong.'

He circled the console, moving levers here and there and passed Rose as she perched on the metal bar.

'Maybe she got singed when we left the Agara system yesterday,' she offered. 'It was a bit of a, uh, rushed exit.'

The Doctor looked over at her. 'I seriously doubt that she got singed. And, for the final time, my last visit there was absolutely uneventful. I think we can blame Captain America over there for the speedy exit.'

Jack leaned on the console and watched the screens flashing various readouts and replied, 'How was I supposed to know they consider bargaining an insult? In every other marketplace on every other planet, you haggle with the shopkeeper. Who knew they would come after us with guns blazing?'

'Phasers blazing actually. And, I knew,' the Doctor said glaring at Jack. 'Next time, wait for me to explain the particulars of the place we are visiting. I don't want a repeat of today. Got it?'

'Sure fine, whatever you say,' Jack said still looking at the screens. 'Maybe you need to calibrate something. It felt a little bumpy when we landed yesterday.'

Rose snorted. '"A little bumpy"? That wasn't bumpy, that was normal. Actually, it was smoother than usual. For once, my bum isn't black and blue.'

Jack looked over at her grinning, 'You sure 'bout that? Happy to check and make sure everything is in tip-top shape?'

Rose rolled her eyes and could've sworn she heard what sounded like a growl from the Doctor as he hunched over the console. She looked over at him. His eyes were narrowed and his forehead was creased. Jack had been traveling with them for about a week in Earth time and for the most part, the two men got along. Well, if you considered 'getting along' to mean comparing and criticizing their respective ships and methods of time travel. But, the Doctor had been on too much of a high from saving the world without any casualties to be bothered by any silly comments or criticisms Jack tossed his way. Their hasty exit to the tune of guns - no, wait - phasers fired in their general direction brought the Doctor off his high. He was tense all over as he reached for another tool to help fix the ship.

"He's going to start hitting it soon," she thought with a small smile. "Then he'll start cursing in Gallifreyan. At least I think its Gallifreyan. Definitely not English."

'So, Doc what do you think?' Jack asked. 'Re-calibrate the whole thing? Adjust the power cells? I don't think you're gonna fix it by randomly hitting it. Hey, you know what, maybe you should give it a banana. They're good for you aren't they?'

Jack threw a wink at Rose and against her better judgment, she giggled.

'That's it. Would you please just get out?' the Doctor yelled. 'I cannot fix her when you,' pointing a mean-looking spanner at Jack, 'are wandering around my ship questioning me. And you,' now glaring and pointing the spanner at Rose, 'are encouraging him. So, out! Now!'

With a slightly melodramatic spin, he began to...do something that sounded a lot like banging the spanner against the metal grate.

'He's never yelled at me before,' Rose thought staring at the Doctor's back. 'I always tease him when he fixes the Tardis. He never yells...' She shook herself slightly. 'Fine, he wants us out, we'll get out.'

Rose hopped off the bar and turned to Jack who was, for once, quiet. She walked up to him and smiled brightly.

'Fancy a drink?' she said. The rhythmic banging coming from the direction of the Doctor faltered at her words.

Jack looked at her and his lips twitched into a familiar smirk. 'Why? You buyin' angel?'

She just laughed and took his arm and led him out of the control room, away from the banging which for some reason had just picked up in volume.




Finally locating a stash of alcohol in the kitchen that was hidden behind an industrial sized jar of pickles, Jack and Rose made their way to the billiard room, which Rose could've sworn had not existed two days ago. They played four games(Rose winning three out of four), finished off two bottles of what they supposed was red wine, ate what was left in the fridge (leftover Chinese take-away and olives) and laughed over stories Jack told. When Jack refused to lose again to Rose, they moved over to some chairs and a small table in the corner of the room.

'God, I miss that bar,' Jack said shaking his head and reaching for a bottle of white wine. 'Best-looking bartenders in the universe.'

'Male or female?' Rose asked grinning.

Jack grinned back. 'Aaah, that's the best part.'

'What?' she asked.

'Guessing,' Jack replied. 'And then conducting an experiment to see if your hypothesis is correct.'

'All in the name of scientific exploration of course,' Rose said trying to keep a straight face.

'Absolutely,' he grinned and then turned thoughtful as he took a drink. 'Yeah, been awhile since I conducted any experiments.'

Rose sighed. 'Yeah, know what you mean. But, you know what I haven't done in forever that I miss the most?' Rose said staring into her glass.

Jack took a drink and popped an olive in his mouth. 'What?' he asked.

Rose sighed deeply and went for it.

'It has been at least over a year since I was kissed. I mean really kissed, good and proper,' she said still staring into her glass. 'I don't miss the whole sex thing, to be honest. Well, I do, but, I can, you know,' she said waving her hand in the air. 'I can take care of myself, but kissing...'

She sighed again and downed the rest of her drink and coughed. 'That's really good wine.'

Jack smiled and reached for the bottle. 'An entire year? I thought I heard the Doc mention a boyfriend, Ricky?'

Rose snorted and watched as Jack filled up her glass.

'Mickey. God he's obnoxious,' she said as she reached for her drink.

'Who? Your ex?' Jack asked popping another olive.

'No, no,' Rose said shaking her head and taking a sip. 'The Doctor. He never gets his name right. So, so...arrogant. Coming from a guy who doesn't even have a name. Prat.'

"Ah ha," Jack thought. "I knew it."

'So, you had this boyfriend, Mickey, what, as in mouse?' Jack asked.

Rose glared at him over her drink. 'Not funny,' she said. 'And yes, we went out for, God over a year or so.' She frowned a little. 'You know, I'm not sure if we ever actually broke up. Talk about the ultimate long-distance relationship. I mean, what phone plan allows for billions of miles and years?'

She took another drink.

'So, yeah, we were together and he was great. Sweet and funny and kind...' Rose trailed off.

'But...,' Jack prompted. 'How was he in the kissing department?'

Rose raised her glass and mumbled something before taking a big gulp.

'Sorry, what was that?' Jack said smirking.

'He's a terrible kisser,' she said loudly. She slumped in her seat a little. 'His lips were too, too...weak and it was always so fast. Like it was just something to get over with before actually having sex. Just sloppy and rushed and...weak. And he always tasted like really watered down orange juice.'

'I see,' Jack said. 'Why does it matter? This whole kissing thing? You say he's sweet and funny and you were with him for a long time, so he must have been doing something right.'

'I know,' Rose said taking another drink and feeling quite light-headed. 'He was good to me and I just kept telling myself so what if he can't kiss. Not every guy is Jimmy Stones.'

'And who is Jimmy Stones?' Jack asked as he took drink.

Rose took a deep breath. 'Jimmy Stones is the biggest mistake I ever made. Well, second biggest, the first has to be getting the Doctor eaten by a Reaper.'

'What?' Jack spluttered after choking on his drink.

'I was 15 when I met him and he was...dreamy,' Rose said propping her head up on the table on her fist. 'A walking Jewel song. You know, 'dark eyes and careless hair' and he was so, dangerous.'

She frowned and took another drink.

'I dropped out of school for him. I thought he was gonna marry me and carry me off to live in a nice apartment in the middle of town. Turned out he was just shagging me for kicks while he killed time in London before moving on to, wherever he took off to, ' she said. Jack watched her as she took a big sip and a grin slowly spread across her face. Her eyes narrowed as the corners of her lips curved up, fixing on some memory.

'Yeah, Jimmy was trouble, but damn the boy could kiss,' she said and took a slow sip from her glass.

Jack's eyebrows raised and he too began to grin. 'That good?'

'Yeah,' Rose said. 'He was that good.'

'Sooo,' Jack drawled. 'How good?'

Rose set her glass down and leaned over the table fixing Jack with a look.

'Have you ever been kissed by someone and felt it? I mean, really felt it? In the weirdest places, like...the back of your knee or the tips of your fingers and you can feel your skin tighten,' Rose's eyes closed remembering and Jack watched her face.

'He would kiss me, in a hallway, at the movies, anywhere and I would just...feel. I would just...tingle all over. He tasted so good, like sugared popcorn,' Rose said opening her eyes to Jack's grin.

'So,' he said. 'That good.'

Rose smiled and picked her glass back up. 'Yeah,' she said softly before sipping.

"God, she is so young," Jack thought. "No wonder he bristles when another guy shows interest and won't make a move himself. Fair enough."

He watched as Rose played with her glass. Her fingers tracing the rim. "And her," he continued in her thoughts. "Just how much does she want to - dance with him?"

Jack took a drink and came to a decision.

'Rose,' he began. 'I would like to think we're friends.'

'Course we're friends,' Rose said finishing her drink and reaching for the bottle. 'I don't beat just anyone at pool you know? You gotta be a friend first.'

'In that case, I would like to propose an experiment to you,' Jack said grinning.

Rose stopped mid-pour.

'An experiment huh?' she said looking at Jack. She set the bottle down. 'What kind of experiment? I already know what sex I am and unless you're not telling me something, I'm pretty sure you're male.'

'Oh yeah,' he laughed. '100% male, I think. But, don't think of it as an experiment, more like a friend helping out another friend.'

Rose arched a brow.

'I'm not sure if I'm drunk enough for what you're proposing,' she said. 'It's been awhile, but I don't know if I'm willing to just jump into bed with you.'

'Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of a kiss,' Jack said grinning.

"What?' Rose said eyes opened wide.

'Not being properly kissed in over a year is practically a medical condition and I think you would feel better if you got that taken care of,' he said in a serious tone. 'Just one kiss between friends, that's all.'

Rose looked at him and thought, "Well, it is just one kiss. And it has been a long time. God, what would he think. He'd freak out, that's what he would think. Am I drunk? Do I need to drink more? You know what, who cares what he would think. It may be okay for a Time Lord to go for eons without kissing, but I'm in the prime of my life and I deserve this. It's just a kiss and I trust Jack. Mostly."

She nodded her head, picked up her glass and took a big gulp.

'Okay,' she said as she put her glass back down and leaned across the table. 'What've you got?'

Jack smiled and leaned over the table. His hand came up and cupped her cheek gently tilting it. Rose's eyes fluttered shut as she felt his breath on her lips. She felt his lips brush over hers once, twice, slowly coaxing her mouth to relax and open. His lips were strong and his tongue slowly entered her mouth. The hand on her cheek moved to cradle her head as he deepened the kiss. It was slow and steady and nice. He tasted like olives and it felt...nice. It felt...just...nice.

Rose pulled back as Jack did. He kept his hand on her cheek as they both caught their breath.

'Well,' he said. 'How did I rate?'

Rose tried to smile and really wanted to say that it was great and would he do it again...but...she couldn't. It wasn't what she wanted. The mouth was too sure and the hand on her face was too warm and calloused in all the wrong places.

'Not what you want is it?' Jack said removing his hand.

Rose shook her head, a lump having found its way into her throat.

'Right,' Jack said sighing. 'You're in love with him aren't you?'

Rose's head snapped up and looked at him with wide eyes, her mouth opening just a little.

"In love?" she thought. "Of course I love him. He's the Doctor, he's shown me so much, he's given me the greatest chance of a lifetime. I care about him and we flirt and we tease each other and...of course I love him. But, love - love him. He can't... I mean, can he? I, I..."

'Oh God,' she gasped. 'I think I need another drink.'

"And that hypothesis was just proved correct," Jack thought as he reached for another bottle of wine.




He stopped banging the spanner against the grate about ten minutes after Rose and Jack strolled off down the hall.

I shouldn't've yelled, he thought leaning against the console, holding the spanner loosely. He shook his head. The Doctor wasn't intimidated by Jack exactly, he just didn't trust him. He had proven himself after the Blitz as someone who learned from his mistakes, but he was obviously a person who was out to enjoy himself anyway he could.

The Doctor frowned.

He wouldn't worry though. It was Rose. She had fended off that drunken Tho'rath without breaking a sweat or losing her smile that time. And they were persistent little buggers when they had knocked back a few. She could handle whatever Captain America had to offer. Unless...

He shifted his weight a little and gripped the spanner.

Unless of course, she wanted what Jack had to offer. Which was fine. Really. Who was he to tell her who to, ah, dance with. She was his companion, his friend. He would never...never want that to change. Really.

The Doctor looked down to see why his hand was hurting and loosened his grasp on the spanner. He looked at it for a moment and put the spanner on the ground.

I should go look for them, he thought. Not to apologize or anything, just to - see what they're up to. Besides, a drink right about now sounds, rather like a good idea.

With that thought, the Doctor headed into the hallway.

Three hours later, he had given up the search and was heading back to their rooms. If he was in a bad mood earlier, now he was fuming. And he wasn't just angry at Rose and the flyboy, oh no, the Tardis was obviously picking on him too. Every corridor was different that it had been in the past. The kitchen was empty and whoever got to the leftover Chinese was really in for it. The Doctor had no idea where they could be. He stopped in front of Rose's room and raised his hand to knock and hesitated.

Did he want to know if they were in there together? Did he really want to actually see that? Did he want to even face her after yelling at her so unnecessarily? Did he...what was that?

The Doctor turned around and peered down the corridor looking for the source of the heavy footsteps. Was that- oh, that was fantastic - she was giggling. The Doctor's jaw set and his lips thinned. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall next to Rose's door and waited.

Jack and Rose stumbled into view. She had an arm thrown over Jack's shoulders and one was grasping the front of his shirt. Jack had both arms around her waist helping her walk. They were both laughing and kept falling sideways into the wall.

Rose caught sight of the Doctor first and a bright, wide smile exploded over her face.

'Doctor!' she said in a high-pitched voice. 'How are you?'

Not waiting for an answer, she continued. 'I am great. But,' her voice switching to a very loud whisper. 'I think I might be drunk.'

A muscle twitching in the Doctor's jaw was the only movement he made. Rose and Jack made it to Rose's door and slumped against the wall. Rose removed her arm from Jack's shoulder and placed it on his arm patting it.

'Am I drunk?' Rose asked him leaning close to his face.

Jack with an arm still on her waist laughed.

'Without a doubt, you are drunk as a skunk,' he told her.

Rose giggled and turned to the Doctor. 'Hear that. I'm a skunk.'

The Doctor, not amused, focused on Jack, who began to realize that all may not be well.

'I let the two of you out of my sight for a couple of hours,' he said in a low voice. 'And you go and get her drunk? Planning on doing anything else Captain?'

Jack slowly removed his arm from Rose's waist and weighed his options. Be smug and tease the angry alien or just 'fess up. Tell him that it was Rose's idea to drink, that he hadn't laid a hand on her and that he was just helping her to her room and was planning to sleep it off in his own room. Jack decided on the second option, but of course, Rose beat him to it.

Launching herself off the wall to stand -well, sway - in front of the Doctor, she said, 'Now, wait a minute. You told us to get out. We were in your way. So, if anyone did anything bad, it was you. You yelled.'

Rose's face crumpled a little. 'You yelled at me.'

The Doctor's anger faded a little at her words.

'And you shouldn't yell at Jack. He's my friend. He is a good person who cares about me. He is a good dancer and, and a good pilot,' Rose thought for a second. 'And, I think deep, deep...deep down, he is a really great person.'

Jack smiled at this and the Doctor began to relax.

She's right. I did yell and she would never do anything with him. This is Rose, she can take care of herself and he would never take advantage of her. He isn't a complete scoundrel, he thought, anger fading away.

'Yeah, he is a good person and a lousy pool player,' Rose continued warming up to her subject. 'And he's a good listener...Oh and he is a really good kisser.'

And - the anger was back.

The Doctor's jaw tightened to the point of actual pain as he switched his glare from Rose to Jack. The Captain was smirking and looking amusedly at Rose, but when he caught the Doctor's glare, the smirk fell off his face. He straightened up and kept the eye contact.

'And, just how do you know he is a really good kisser?' the Doctor asked Rose keeping his eyes on Jack.

Rose leaned back against the door and started to check her hair for split ends, oblivious to the tension between the alien and the man.

'Well, I just told him how long it had been since I had last been thoroughly kissed and he said he would kiss me,' Rose said. She dropped the lock of hair she had been inspecting and looked up at the Doctor. 'It has been a really long time since I was kissed you know. A medical condition, right Jack? It was really nice of him to help.'

'Oh, yes,' the Doctor said in a low voice. 'Very nice of him.'

'S'not like I was gonna get kissed anytime soon you know?' Rose said sadly looking down at the floor. 'I needed to be kissed.'

The Doctor moved from glaring at Jack to stare at Rose.

'Did you?' he said quietly.

'Yep,' she said looking up at him. 'And Jack here is my friend. You can kiss your friends. Like I could kiss you if you were my friend.' Rose frowned. 'Not that you aren't my friend... You are... But, see I just found out something.'

She pushed herself off the wall and her eyes were opened wide.

'You wanna know what I found out?' she said excitedly. 'I just realized that I think I might be really, really in lo--'

'Okay!" Jack interrupted. 'Enough chit-chat Rose.'

He opened her door and turned her to face him. There was no way he was going to let her spill her heart to this guy when she was three sheets to the wind. She would definitely be feeling horrible in the morning as it was.

'I think it is time for all little good boys and girl to be in bed, don't you think?' Jack asked.

Rose smiled.

'You are absolutely right,' she said. 'Good night Jack, my really good friend.'

Rose whirled around to the Doctor who still hadn't moved.

'Good night Doctor, my, umm...Doctor!' Rose said with a smile.

She went through the door to her room and closed the door. The next sound the gentlemen heard was a whumpf as she fell onto her bed.

Jack took a deep breath and faced the Doctor.

They stood there in the hallway for about three minutes studying one another. Finally Jack broke.

'So,' he said. 'Gonna chuck me out for drinking with the lady?'

The Doctor just looked at him.

Jack chuckled a little and looked away.

'You know, I never did thank you for letting me come along. For helping me off my ship. You certainly didn't have to. I screwed up in a big way and it would've served me right to just be blown to Kingdom Come. Karma and all that. But, the two of you popped in and got me out. So here goes,' Jack said turning back to look at the Doctor. 'Thank you. I mean it thank you. You're one of the good ones, I can tell. And Rose - God, have you ever met a nicer girl? So kind and open and, just loving.'

He smiled at the Doctor.

'That girl has so much love and affection inside of her just aching to be let out,' he said.

'And you decided that she could let some of it out onto you?' the Doctor said fiercely.

'Yes,' Jack said matter-of-factly. 'I did.'

The Doctor felt his hearts begin to thump wildly. He was going to hit him. It was going to actually happen, he was going to lose it.

'But,' Jack said sensing the eminent melt-down and held his hand up. 'That's all it was. It was affection. Simple affection. No lust, no taking advantage and certainly, no love.'

Jack lowered his hand and stared at the Doctor. He stared back.

'You mean to say, you kissed Rose - Rose - and felt nothing? Didn't entertain any thoughts about sneaking back to her room and,' the Doctor stopped, not really wanting to say it out loud.

Jack laughed.

'What would you like me to say? Of course thoughts were entertained. How could they not be?' he said. 'But, I am not going to take advantage of a friend. And that is what she is. A friend. Probably the first friend I've had in a long, long time. At least that I can remember. And if you aren't going to hit me or throw me out the front door, I'm gonna go to bed. It has been a long day and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be miserable in the morning. So if you will excuse me Doctor.'

Jack turned to go to his room down the hall. The Doctor uncrossed his aching arms and relaxed his jaw. He looked at Rose's door.

'By the way,' Jack called from his doorway. 'One of these days, Rose is going to find that she wants to be kissed by someone who isn't just a friend. She's gonna want to give all that love to someone who'll return it. Completely. You might want to think about that.'

He started to go into his room when the Doctor called out, 'Why tell me that?'

Jack turned back with a know-it-all grin on his face.

'Cause I saw you dance,' he said.

The Doctor stood there in the hallway long after Jack's door closed and the Tardis had dimmed the lights.

Comments

[taraljc.livejournal.com]

I have mine set to email me comments, and I get turned around sometimes, trying to remember where I've posted comments...

I'm still poking story idea, mainly concentrating on the group dynamic and how Jack relates to both ROse and the Doctor, and how that affects the Doctor & Rose's relationship. I love how the character has been smoothly integrated into the pairing without turning into just a rival or a yenta. It makes me go "squee."