Title: Burning Flame
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG
Table: 2
Prompt: 21, Flame
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.

***

Jack leaned back against the tree trunk, trying to let himself relax. He'd brought the Doctor here after the last planet they'd been to, thinking that they needed somewhere to be undisturbed, and wanting to get away from the confines of being in a city.

Maybe being out here in the middle of nowhere wasn't the greatest thing in the world -- but the Tardis was only a few feet away, and he'd needed time to unwind. Besides, it felt safe here, with nothing around but the quiet of the grove they were in. It was a feeling of peace and solitude.

He'd never been much for camping, but the quiet was restful, and they had the Tardis if they needed anything. There wasn't a sound to disturb the peacefulness of their surroundings; nothing but the quiet rush of wind through tree branches, and the soft crackling of the small fire he'd made.

It had been a long time since he'd had to make a fire, but he still hadn't lost his touch, Jack thought, a small smile tugging at his lips. Some abilities came back so easily, even when you were out of practice.

Jack looked down at the Doctor, his gaze resting on the Time Lord's pale face. The other man had fallen asleep with his head in Jack's lap, and the immortal couldn't resist running his fingers through the softness of the Doctor's tawny hair.

Their last little adventure had taken a lot out of the Time Lord, Jack thought, his brow furrowing with worry. It hadn't been particularly dangerous, at least not on their end of things -- but the Doctor was weary from constantly being expected to carry what seemed like the weight of the world on those slender shoulders.

Jack couldn't help but feel more than a little guilty that he wasn't much help to the Doctor in doing that. He was supposed to be a companion, wasn't he? Not just there to keep the Doctor company, but to help him when it was needed. And it seemed he didn't do that very well.

What did he do for the Doctor, anyway? He was there to crack jokes, and to watch the Time Lord's back. He sighed, leaning back again and looking up at the sky. And he was there to be the Doctor's lover, which was probably what the other man needed more than anything else.

Of course, it wasn't just physical between them. They were connected by a powerful emotional bond, one that Jack wouldn't ever break. One that he never wanted to see broken, not by anyone.

But still .... there were times when it seemed he was more useful to the Doctor as his lover than as being a companion. He didn't seem to do anything but add to the Doctor's ability to get into trouble -- and Jack was the one who seemed to be leading them into that trouble lately.

At least when he led them into a bad situation, he could generally be relied on to help the Doctor get out of it, he told himself, with a wry smile. And as long as the Doctor wanted him around, he'd be here. He could no more leave the Time Lord than he could tear out his own heart and survive.

If he was honest with himself, the Doctor was his heart. Wasn't this man the reason he'd hung on through all those long, dreary years he'd had to live through after the last incarnation of the Doctor had left him? Of course, he'd been driven by anger then ....

But not any more. It was impossible to stay mad at this man -- especially when Jack had fallen head over heels in love with him. He hadn't expected that, hadn't wanted it -- but it had happened, and he couldn't say that he was sorry it had.

He gazed down at the sleeping man again, his expression softening. There were times when allt he years he'd had to live in the past faded away, all pinpointed in the moment when he'd seen the Doctor again and he had become someone else. A new body. A new face.

In that first moment, that first shock of realizing that this was now the Doctor, he'd fallen. He'd been careful not to let the Time Lord know it, and he hadn't wanted to admit to it himself. But he'd tumbled hard, losing his heart to the person he'd least expected to give it to.

And what was miraculous was that the Doctor seemeed to feel the same. He loved Jack just as fiercely as the immortal loved him. Jack didn't doubt the strength of that love, not for a second.

He hadn't really felt this way when he'd first met the Doctor; the man he'd originally known had seemed too withdrawn, too caught up in his own feelings, in fighting his own personal demons. But when the Doctor has changed bodies -- ah, then it had happened.

Jack couldn't pinpoint a moment when he'd fallen for the Doctor -- well, no, that wasn't necessarily true. It had happened when he'd first laid eyes on this face, this body. When those huge brown eyes had locked on his for the first time, those eyes that hid so much in their fathomless depths.

Ever since that first glance, he'd been lost -- and he had no intention of ever finding his way back to wherever he'd started. He had everything he wanted in this one man; there was nothing more that he could ask of the rest of his life than to be with the Doctor.

If he was honest with himself, he knew that he'd give up everything in his life to be with this man. He might say that Torchwood needed him, and that he couldn't travel in time and space forever -- but he didn't mean it. He'd stay with the Doctor until the end of time, and do it gladly.

What was it about them that drew them so irrevocably to each other? Jack couldn't say, but whatever it was, he didn't want it to change. He didn't want to think about living any part of his life without the Doctor by his side, now that they were together.

Did the Time Lord feel the same way? Jack smoothed back a lock of the soft, tawny hair from the sleeping man's forehead, smiling a little as he did so.

Of course he did. The Doctor had never been one to let his innermost feelings show, at least not when Jack had first known him; but the man who was with him now was different. The same, in some ways .... but so different in others. So much more willing to give way to his emotions.

Well, maybe not -- when other people were around. But with Jack, he held nothing back, and the immortal considered that an accomplishment on his part. If the Doctor could trust him enough to let down his guard so completely -- then he had to be in love.

He wondered idly just when it was that the Doctor had realized how he felt, and if the Time Lord would ever tell him when that moment of revelation had come to him. He'd never asked, because he didn't feel that he had the right to ask the question. But still, he was curious.

When had it started for the other man? The day that they'd met? The first time they'd looked into each other's eyes, when the Doctor had been in another body? Or had it been something that had grown over time, that hadn't come to fruition until the time had been exactly right?

There was some spark in each of them that reached out towards the other -- some tiny flame that, no matter how far apart they might be, no matter what their differences were, would always draw them together. Jack didn't doubt for a moment that the flame would never die out.

What if it did? he thought to himself, a sudden chill catching at his heart. What if, at some point, the two of them drifted apart and never managed to find each other again? What then?

No, he reassured himself, pushing the thought firmly away from him. It wouldn't happen. What he had with the Doctor was something that couldn't ever be turned away from; it was a bond too strong to be broken, something more than friendship, even more than love. Just because he couldn't put a name to it didn't make it any less strong and enduring.

That flame within each of them would keep burning, Jack told himself, letting his gaze rest on the Doctor's face, taking in the curve of his cheekbone, the sweep of his dark lashes against his pale skin, the delicate planes of his face. He couldn't look at that face without the flame leaping even higher within him.

The Doctor was his heart and soul. More so than Torchwood, more so than anything else had ever been in his life. That flame that reached out to the Time Lord burned higher every day that they were together, and Jack knew that nothing was going to extinguish it.

No matter what happened, his destiny was with this man. Jack couldn't say what might happen in the future, but he knew himself well enough to know that once he'd made a choice, he didn't back out on it. He'd made the choice to be with the Doctor. And he was sticking to that choice, come what may.

He sighed and rested his head against the tree trunk, closing his eyes. The small fire that he'd made to keep the two of them warm was gutting, sputtering, the flame dying down. He knew that he'd have to get up in a few minutes and get it going again, and probably wake the Doctor up in the process.

Jack shook his head, smiling ruefully to himself as he shifted slightly, trying his best to move without awakening the Time Lord. Leave it to him to nurture the flame within himself -- and let the one that had to be put to more practical use diminish.

But then .... he'd never been practical. And in spite of all his many faults, he knew that the Doctor wouldn't have him be anything other than what he was.

With that comforting thought in his mind, he bent to brush his lips across the Doctor's. Maybe, he thought with an inward grin, they'd be able to start their own version of a fire -- and they wouldn't have to rely on the small campfire to keep themselves warm.

***