Chapter Text
Jack Harkness liked to consider himself an expert on beautiful things, in all their glorious diversity. This dance club gave him many such sights to admire from his barstool while he sat out a song and let the sweat cool on his brow. Alien species, humanoid and otherwise, united in the pulsing of the dance floor, but he could easily be content watching Rose Tyler’s glowing smile in the swirling lights while she dipped and turned.
Not that he couldn’t spare a little time to appreciate the beauty in the bartender’s beautiful smile as well, and the way her long neck and shoulders were covered with shimmering down that looked like it would be quite pleasant to touch. He smiled back while she shook his drink. Definitely wouldn’t mind exploring more about her species, given time. She must have felt the same--she dragged her fingers across his while placing the glass in his hand, and leaned over to whisper a proposition in his ear.
“Sorry, darlin, I’m on friend-duty tonight,” Jack said, tilting his head toward the dance floor.
“Pity.” Her eyes lingered on his body, then returned to meet his. “I’ll be here tomorrow night. Off duty.”
“If my captain doesn’t insist we leave, I’ll be back.” He stood and held out a hand with a slight wink. “Jack Harkness.”
She took his hand and said her name--he'd need to repeat that to himself to get right. “I hope to see you tomorrow,” he said, kissing her knuckles before heading into the crowd.
He’d had his eye on a handsome, speckle-faced male humanoid, not for his own purposes, but because he’d seemed to be circling closer to Rose and the group of fellow travelers he and Rose had befriended, ever since Jack had left the dance floor. Playing it cool, maybe, Jack thought, but something about the way he’d hovered for so long while keeping his eyes on Rose had Jack’s back up. Still, nice rhythm, nice body--Jack briefly considered trying to pull him to avoid him bothering Rose, but his mind was still occupied by the intriguing downy lady at the bar.
Besides, as the alien man finally made his approach and worked in between Rose and one of her new friends, Rose turned and danced with him, happily. Her hands rested loosely on the man’s shoulders; Jack noticed she didn’t let her body get especially close. She turned her back to his front, bouncing with the music, flushed, a strand of hair caught in her wide smile. Jack smiled affectionately.
The whole point of this night was to show Rose a good time, give her a chance to dance her heart out. “Shore leave!” the Doctor had announced when they’d landed here on this intergalactic resort. “Go have yourselves some human fun.”
In spite of the dance moves he’d showed off on Jack’s first night, the Doctor had begged off coming with them, not disagreeably. “Repairs,” he’d said, tapping a spanner on the console, and continued in a casual voice, “Make sure she’s home safe.” But the hard look he’d given Jack made it clear messing that up might be the last thing he ever did. Jack half-expected Rose to be disappointed, but she’d only rolled her eyes and told the Doctor he’d miss out on all the fun. (“Countin’ on that!”)
He was pretty sure she didn’t see the Doctor’s eyes follow her to the door. Those two…
“Why don’t you meet us later, Doc?” he’d asked, one last time.
“Naw. No need.” He’d paused an extra second while Rose put on strappy heels. “I want her to have a good time. She deserves it.” And then a slight sideways grin at Jack. “Guess you do, too.”
Jack passed their new friends and continued dancing his way through the crowd toward Rose, who’d moved further away, keeping watch from the corner of his eye. Something about this guy still set his teeth on edge. He let his mind settle into agent-mode. Was he bothered by Rose’s possible interest in an outsider, or was there actually something more concrete in his behavior tripping Jack’s danger alarms?
Then--he caught it, the man was surveilling him--looking away just as Jack looked at him. So he’s determined Rose has someone watching out for her. Maybe he’s thinking she had to be removed from Jack’s view in order to get more agreeable.
Rose had been clear: she wanted to dance and maybe get a little drunk, but had no intention of going home with anyone. Jack wasn’t necessarily planning on stopping her if she changed her mind--as long as she was still sober, at least. She was a grown woman, clearly with some pent up needs, which the Doctor certainly wasn’t doing anything about. And in spite of their affection for each other, she wasn’t coming to Jack to start anything up either. (Besides, he valued his new situation on the TARDIS too much to risk getting thrown out on his ear, which he suspected might be where that would end.) So there they all sat at stalemate.
And he was right--that alien danced Rose out of Jack’s field of vision. Time to check in. If Rose told him to get lost, he’d get lost, but he was definitely going to scope out the situation. He casually skirted the floor in time to the music (truly a beautiful variety of people here!). He found them in on the dark side of the back wall, the speckled alien in front of Rose with a hand oh-so-casually on the wall next to where she leaned, chest puffed, not quite cornering her but close. Definitely attempting to look as alpha male as possible, in Jack’s opinion. Jack knew courting rituals in a lot of places and had pretty firm opinions about their relative merits. He had little patience with the ones that relied on pressure.
Still--Rose talked animatedly and laughed at whatever he was saying into her ear, so she might be fine. And maybe she liked the guy and Jack should butt out? A breather couldn’t hurt--he’d let her decide. He maneuvered around the guy’s back and slid a deft arm between them, took Rose’s hand and tugged her out.
“Hey, friend! Ready for our dance?”
Rose winked at him and turned to the alien. “Sorry, um, Londred, right? I promised him! Maybe I’ll catch you later.” She favored him with a bright smile and turned back to Jack, who spun them back into the dance floor, not missing the decidedly unhappy look on Londred’s face.
Rose leaned to Jack’s ear. “Thanks! He was a’right at first, but I was trying to have a conversation and he kept trying to talk me into getting out of here.” She rolled her eyes.
Jack gave her a light squeeze. “Yeah, I didn’t like the guy.”
“You wouldn’t! An’ the Doctor would hate him!” They both laughed.
The opening notes of the next song rang out and Rose shouted, “Oh yeah!” at the same time as Jack’s “a classic!” and they dropped into the beat.
Minutes later, stepping off the other side of the dance floor, Jack was surprised to find Londred hovering, with a smile Jack found less handsome and more creepy all the time.
“You are not her mate,” he said to Jack.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s the issue here.”
“Thanks, but--” Rose began.
“You want to go with me.” His eyes fixed on Rose. “Yes?”
“Look, I think it’s time you moved on,” she responded, and held Jack’s arm tighter.
Londred’s face flashed over with anger, then settled into an insincere smile. He rubbed a hand down Rose’s forearm and looked at her eyes with a strange expectant look, then frowned again when she shook him off.
Rose’s lip curled. “Jack, I wanna go now.”
Londred reached again, grabbing at Rose as Jack whipped her around to his far side and came back wielding a small aerosol device.
“Aaand, you’re done! Back. Off.”
Eyes never leaving her, Londred lunged and seized Rose’s arm. She yelled and wrenched it away. Jack shoved him toward the nearest blank wall, and sprayed him in the face. A scream rose above the music and more commotion started when security came running. Jack pointed them toward the man now crumpling to the floor, and swept Rose out the door.
“What the bloody hell was THAT about?” Rose asked, rubbing her shoulder.
“I think he wanted you to ‘go-with-him’.” Jack imitated the monotone delivery and Rose cracked up.
“He got creepy in a hurry. Why do creepers have to ruin everything for everybody else?”
“Oh, if only I could answer that question! You wanna try a different place?”
“Nah, we got some good dancing in. Though we didn’t say goodbye to anyone.”
“We might see them if we go back tomorrow.”
“Oh?” Rose gave him a teasing look.
“Surely the Doc’ll give us another night off. I might have a date.”
“Ohh, get you! Got something goin’ while I wasn’t looking?”
“Hey, I work fast!”
“Yeah, you do!” Rose hugged his arm. “Meanwhile, let’s go get drunk in the library. Put on Grease again or somethin’!”
Jack laughed. “Sounds like a plan!”
And a good plan it was, right until the moment they burst through the TARDIS doors.
The Doctor called out from under the grating, “Back already?” His head popped up, topped with his ridiculous headlamp (which had no right to be as attractive as it was). He looked at Rose with one of those indulgent closed-mouth smiles that made Jack want to laugh and scream.
Rose inhaled loudly.
“Had all the fun we could stand,” Jack said, as Rose dug her nails into his forearm.
“Missed me too much, I see!”
The Doctor looked so happy. Jack was pretty sure this would be one of those nights he would come and hang out with them while they got silly. He should get the blender and make--
“Jack!” Rose hissed, and he finally properly looked at her. Her flushed face looked stricken.
“Rose?”
“What’s happening to me…? I feel all…” She broke off and stared at Jack, open-mouthed. He could only gape.
The Doctor climbed out of the grating, still chatting about something Jack now couldn’t focus on.
Rose stared at the Doctor, then back at Jack, and mouthed, “Help me?”
“Rosie, what is it?”
“Everything all right?” The Doctor’s face furrowed in confusion and he stepped toward them.
Rose’s eyes fixed on the Doctor. “Oh, no! I--I can’t!!” she gasped, and turned and sprinted from the console room.
The Doctor took a few steps toward the hall then whirled on Jack. “What did you do?” he shouted.
“Nothing! She was fine--”
“One job! Keep a young human entertained and safe for one night…” He stalked off after Rose.
Jack stared, heart in his throat. What the hell? Could something else have happened that she didn’t tell him?
The Doctor returned after a couple minutes, a bit flushed. “She won’t let me in.”
“Doc, I honestly don’t know what happened. There was this weirdo bothering her at the club. He did grab her at one point after she told him to get lost, but I took care of it. That’s when we left, and I swear all the way home everything was normal!.”
The Doctor glared, jaw tight. “And that was it? He didn’t hurt her?”
“Well, she had to pull away from him, but I didn’t think so. We made fun of him and his stupid voice and then started making plans.”
“She wants to see you. Go sort it.”
“I--” he regarded the Doctor warily. “Got it.”
As he passed, the Doctor grabbed his jacket. He hesitated, opened his mouth a couple times, then said, “Please let me know?” The anger had drained from his eyes leaving a vulnerability Jack rarely saw.
Jack nodded and patted his leather sleeve. “Yeah, of course.”
Rose flung the door open at his knock, and slammed it shut behind him. She dropped back onto her bed and crossed her legs. Jack sat carefully next to her.
“Honey, listen, whatever it is--”
“Something’s wrong with me! You have to help me.” She looked at her flexed hands and blew out a deep breath, controlling it.
“Of course, tell me, whatever you need. You know, the Doc thinks I did something to you--”
She grabbed at Jack’s tshirt. “I need...” Tears sprang from the corners of her eyes. “I need...the Doctor!”
“He was just here and you sent him to get me!” Jack sputtered. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me exactly what’s going on.”
She dropped her head to his shoulder. “I don’t even know how to say it--I need him. I want him. Ok, fine, I always want him, but I jus’ feel so strange. Do you understand what I mean? This isn’t natural.”
Oh.
Jack pushed her back by the shoulders and took a long look. Cheeks flushed, décolletage flushed. A sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead and upper lip...lips, fuller than ever. If he’d been looking, which he was NOT, because he would firmly keep his understood boundaries, he’d have thought she never looked more alluring, more kissable. Her chest expanded as she sucked in each breath, and he suddenly noticed the hardness of her--
“Dammit, Jack!” She thumped his chest with her middle finger. “Focus! Do you have it too?”
“No, I don’t!” He blinked. “I’m realizing how it’s affecting you. Actually, I think I know what’s happening here. Been awhile since I’ve seen something like this, but I should have guessed. Aphrodisiac.”
“But--that’s not a real thing? Is it?”
“Says the girl who lives in a time machine. It’s, uh, biotech. Manipulating adrenaline, dopamine, oxytocin. The Doctor could explain the science.”
Rose wailed and threw herself back onto a pile of pillows.
“In fact, I used to stop in at the Vega International Space Station where it was an underground recreational thing. Couples, usually. Supposed to be a good time, but I prefer natural chemistry, myself.” He winked and Rose glared.
“If you’re done going down memory lane, maybe you could help me figure this out. Kinda want to claw my face off right now to keep from going out there.”
“Ok, so it sounds like your mind has focused everything on the Doctor. And...I think that means something? About how you feel about him.”
She covered her eyes and groaned.
“Hey, sweetheart, look at me.” Jack rolled onto a pillow next to her. “I already knew. It’s kind of obvious.” (She groaned again.) “Your feelings are nothing to be ashamed of. And besides, I think it protected you. Do you see what happened? That arsehole must have dosed you. That’s why he kept acting like touching your arm would get you to change your mind.”
“It didn’t. Didn’t even feel anything until I heard the Doctor’s voice.”
“See, you must have had a pretty powerful hormone cocktail already going in his direction, eh, eh?” He tapped her playfully and she finally smiled. “And the drug sort of focused it.”
“Jack, ’m gonna crawl out of my skin! Ever have the feeling like you’re going to freak out about something and you stay real quiet thinking, ‘don’t start, don’t start,’ ‘cause if you make one move, you’ll completely lose it?”
“I know what you mean.”
“’M tryin’ to keep calm, but it’s like all my nerves are on fire. ‘Specially, you know,” she waved a hand over her lower body. Jack nodded. “And I can’t go on. My mind is turnin’ circles. All these wishes. Like everything I’ve ever...fantasized...takin over my head. His voice, saying things, dirty things, to me, begging me. What he looks like underneath his clothes. His kiss. Oh my God, what would it be like to kiss him, like really snog?!” Her arm flung out and almost clobbered Jack and he caught her hand and squeezed it.
“I know, honey, I know.”
“I’ll go take a shower, maybe, y’know, do something for myself. But it’s like I don’t even want to do that.” Her voice cracked. “How long before it’s over?”
Jack thought back to his days on Vega and the people he’d known who indulged--including a couple unlucky ones who didn’t get to be with the ones they wanted. “Well, it’s over a lot faster if you’re burning it off with the object of your desire. A pretty great few hours! And as I recall they wouldn’t have much energy for a couple days afterward.”
Rose shivered, whispering, “Oh, my God.” Then sat up, “Whaddaya mean, ‘over a lot faster’? What if you don’t get the person you want?”
“If you don’t...do anything about it--a couple days? Forty-eight hours, if it’s like the one I’m thinking of.”
Rose wailed into her hands. “There’s no way. I can’t go on two days like this! What’s it been? Half an hour. I’m already thinking about how I need you to handcuff me here so I don’t go attack him, which only makes me think about handcuffs on the Doctor, like right here.” She pulled on two slats in the headboard. “Like, on his back, hands over his head, totally under my control...”
Her soft voice had trailed off and she stared at the headboard for a minute, then seemed to snap out of it and looked at Jack with alarm. “This is the most embarrassing problem I’ve ever had!” Her face crumpled and she dropped to the duvet.
“Hey, hey, it’s ok. Seriously, he would want to help you out..”
“‘Help’ me out! Ok, that sounds pathet--sounds sexy, actually. Shit. But that’s the worst thing that could ever happen--if he only did it because I’d turned into some sex maniac! You can’t tell him.”
“Really? The worst thing? I can think of worse--”
“Shut up, Jack! He’s not like us! He’ll feel disgusted and...and invaded to even suggest it and he’ll take me home first chance.”
Jack held her shoulders until she looked him in the eye. “He definitely will not take you home. And, I don’t know if I should tell you this or not, but it might get worse before it starts getting better.”
Rose looked genuinely panicked now. “Ask the Doctor to knock me out for a couple days. Or I’ll lose it! I’ll be stark raving bonkers!”
“I very much doubt he’ll agree to put you in a coma. It’s dangerous. And he especially won’t if he doesn’t know why.”
“Do not tell him! Swear it, Jack!”
“I can’t avoid telling him the general situation, no way. First of all, he’s out there waiting to hear you’re ok. I think you scared him when you wouldn’t let him in.”
“I know. I feel bad for yellin’ at him, but I couldn’t stand it.”
“Don’t worry about that. He can take it.” Jack sighed. “Then there’s the problem of some bloke running around using aphrodisiacs without consent. On Vega it’s not only illegal, it’s highly taboo--he’d have gotten his arse kicked by the crowd if he got caught.”
“I wanna go kick his arse.”
“We’re gonna have to go handle him. I’ll try to do it myself, since I’m afraid the Doctor would kill the guy and get arrested.”
Rose closed her eyes and flopped back against the headboard. “He won’t actually kill anybody.”
“For you? I’m not so sure.”
“He won’t. That’s not a problem. Ok, fine, if you have to tell what happened, but Jack, please, please, don’t tell him it’s him. I just can’t. I couldn’t live. Or look him in the face again.”
Jack exhaled a deep breath. “I really think it’s ok--”
“Promise me!”
“I promise to try and handle this without telling him everything, ok? I’m gonna go talk to him. Go get the shower, see if it helps.”
TBC