Oswalds and Roses | A Doctor Who Fanfic

►Chapter 1 - Reunion◄

Shaking his shoulders to hype himself up the Doctor strutted towards the door. Nearly non-existent eyebrows were raised by the Doctor at the sight of the TARDIS. In the way one might caress a person they love the Doctor stroked the side of the TARDIS with rough fingertips. She was nowhere near good condition. On the outside she may have appeared okay, but he sensed the truth of her condition. There was no more drive in her. "I'm so sorry sexy, we'll fix this, like we do every time, eh?"

"Step away from the TARDIS," The voice was familiar, the cool steel of a gun pressed to his neck was not. The Doctor couldn't move, his confusion at why that voice would be here stopped him from making any moves. On his heels he twisted around, causing his coat to snap behind him.

"Jack?" The Doctor asked and beheld the curves and lines of Jack's face. "Jack!" He exclaimed and moved to give him an embrace. However, Jack was not reciprocating his excitement, instead Jack's fingers tightened on the trigger. The Doctor noticed this, for a moment he couldn't believe that Jack could think that he would hurt him. However, the Doctor soon understood. A smile came over his face and he gestured to his own face. "No Jack it's me! I've got a new face but its me!"

A long pause came about. The air held still, nothing moved. Nobody breathed and the Doctor's smile was fading. Jack didn't appear happy; his eyes were bloodshot from crying. There were still red marks on his face from where he must have been roughly wiping away tears. Something was upsetting Jack and the Doctor a hug again, this time Jack lowered his gun and accepted it. Grabbing the Doctor around the chest like a child grabs their mother's leg. In a shaky breath Jack whispered in the Doctor's ear. "He's dead Doctor, he's dead."

The Doctor was intimately familiar with the feeling that Jack was experiencing, and her face scrunched together at the thoughts that came next. Jack would experience this emotion in plentiful amounts in the future, as the Doctor had. Emotional scars would take up Jack's whole heart by the time he got to the Doctor's age. The Doctor wished he could save Jack from that pain. He wished it so strongly that for a twinkle he believed that he could save his friend from the pain he would endure in the future. He believed he could protect Jack from it all if he just tried hard enough. If the Doctor just put in enough effort Jack would not have to go through the pain he went through everyday. However, the Doctor reckoned that those scars would help Jack, they would teach him lessons that only an immortal could ever learn. "Hey Jack, hey. It's going to be okay alright. . . I'm not going to lie and tell you that the pain is going to go away, because it isn't. You'll carry it with you in every step you take but the pain can make you better. You can take that pain and turn it into beauty. I know you can do it Jack."

After the eternity trapped in the second they stayed embracing Jack took a large breath and separated from the Doctor's grasp. Jack's eyes gave the idea he was holding back tears, but a light smile was on his face. "You've gotten younger Doctor,"

Both chuckled, but the Doctor still noticed the small tear that Jack flicked away. They could talk more about it later, but now the Doctor had to question why Jack was here. And where here was? The Doctor observed their surroundings. Trees towered leagues above them, they weren't on Earth. These trees were nearly three kilometres tall, and had branches packed full of dark green leaves in triangular shapes. The light from a yellow sun still somehow managed to get through the thousands of leaves obstructing it. Meaning that the ground was still able to sustain life, the most common seeming to be a deep purple moss that covered most of the ground and the sides of the trees. Sprouting through the grass were tiny white and green flowers with purple stems. None of the wildlife present around them was of Earth, although it did seem that the air had a high oxygen content. From what he could hear there was also a small stream nearby. This planet would more than adequately sustain life. Which was why it was so strange that there were no trademark animal sounds, no chirping of birds, no grazing noises, no mating calls, nothing. Complete quiet was all around them.