Title: Never For Granted
By: nancy
Pairing: Jack/Rose/the 9th Doctor
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Nine will never take Rose and Jack for granted.

The Doctor was fiercely protective of all his companions whether they were actually traveling with him or not. Whether it had been five minutes, five years, or five centuries since he’d seen them last. He admitted to bias regarding certain companions, however, that some were more precious to him than others. In some ways, it was like a parent favoring one child over the others.

In the most important ways, though, it involved nothing of parental feelings.

Of all his companions, not many had actually been his lover and only two in recent memory; Rose Tyler and Captain Jack Harkness. Rose’s fearless and impulsive nature countered by her inherent warmth and kindness. Jack’s brash confidence and innate command tempered by a hidden vulnerability. Both so very beautiful, inside and out.

They had the singular distinction of being his lover at the same time, something that had never before happened to him. It was a strange confluence of events, both steamrolling into his life one right after the other. Rose first, though some could argue he’d steamrolled into her life what with blowing up her job, and then Jack with his clever scheming and con games.

Seeing them in action spurred him to do better, be better, to perform miracles when necessary and even save whole universes. They could dodge bullets, talk their way out of trouble or start it with just a mischievous look at the wrong being.

Watching them make love was something to behold, all strength and vying of wills to join and dominate and submit and consume. He could watch them for hours; had done, point of fact, memorizing every drop of sweat gliding down smooth skin and each soft grunt or moan. The Doctor knew that something, someday, would part them from one another and stored up each and every encounter as vividly as he could.

The only thing to beat that was watching them sleep. Right now they were twined around one another, Rose’s hair splayed across Jack’s broad chest. She laid tucked in neat against his side, an arm over his waist, legs tangled together. They looked more beautiful than anything he could think of and he drank in the sight of them for a couple of hours before Rose stirred with a small sigh.

Blue eyes opened and she smiled slowly at him, sleepy and warm and perfect. “You been watchin’ us sleep again?”

The Doctor nodded and reached out to brush her hair from her face. “Can’t help myself.”

Rose caught his hand and laced their fingers together, using the hold to tug at him. “My turn, lover.”

The Doctor smiled in return and climbed over Jack and her to stretch out behind her. Rose’s turn in the middle. There was an actual rota posted on the bedroom wall of who got to be in the middle, Rose or Jack. It didn’t matter to him, of course, since he got to hold whichever of them it was as they slept.

He settled easily behind her, breathing in her musk and warmth with something akin to starvation. He was starved for love, though he would never admit it to anyone under any circumstance. His ninth incarnation and he still couldn’t manage to say three simple words to someone who filled the holes in his hearts and soul.

Jack mumbled in his sleep and then yawned, rubbing at his eyes and complaining, “Now I’m cold.”

“You lot. There’s only one of me to go around you know,” the Doctor teased.

Jack made a face at him and scooted closer until Rose could wrap her arms around him.

She made a contented noise and stretched without moving much as she said, “Now this, is what I call living. How long we here for?”

The Doctor thought about it a moment and then answered, “World’s not supposed to end for another month.”

Jack snorted and said, “So we’ve got a few days, then.”

“Oi!” he protested. “My timelines are not at fault when things sometimes go sideways.”

Rose laughed outright at that, echoed by Jack’s deep chuckle. “Sometimes?”

The Doctor grumbled, but only squeezed her in admonishment and said, “Sleeping now. Volcanoes later.”

Still giggling a bit, she settled down between them and tugged his arm tighter around her waist. He obliged, pushing up right against her at as many points of contact as he could. He took hold of Jack’s hand in his free one and knotted their fingers together, getting a soft, warm smile from him in return.

The Doctor didn’t know how long they had together; he was greedy enough to want forever though that wouldn’t, couldn’t, happen. The Universe just didn’t work that way, nothing was ever fixed in time, but he would keep as much of them as possible and never take them for granted.