Title: Dare Me
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: R
Table: G1, 5_prompts
Prompt: 4, You wouldn't dare
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!" the Doctor gasped. "You wouldn't!" He wrapped his arms around himself as though he were cold, a visible shudder moving through his slim body. He glared at the other man, taking a few steps back toward the corridor that led into the depths of the ship.

The immortal raised an eyebrow, tilting his head and studying the Time Lord. "Want to bet?" he asked with a grin. "It wouldn't be hard for me to push you out of the Tardis completely naked at all. And I bet there would be a lot of people who enjoyed the view."

The Doctor scowled at his lover, pulling the silk robe he was wearing more tightly around his body. Too late, he realized that the tightening of the fabric only accentuated the curves it was supposedly covering -- and that Jack's eyes were moving over his body.

"Stop that!" he snapped, fumbling for the sash of the robe and tying it with jerky movements. "That's not something to joke about, Jack. I've dealt with something like that before, and it wasn't the high point of any of my lives."

Jack's brows drew together in a frown as he moved from where he was leaning against the console; he looked startled by the Doctor's words. "What? You mean somebody's thrown you out of the Tardis naked before? When did this happen?"

"Never mind," the Time Lord mumbled, taking another step back into the corridor. "It happened in this body -- but it was before you were with me, and it's not something you need to know about. It's past history. Just forget I said anything."

"C'mon, Doc, tell me!" Jack's eyes were sparkling with laughter; he didn't notice that the Time Lord's dark eyes were growing stormy, or that the other man was obviously reluctant to expound on the subject. If he did notice, he was ignoring the fact.

"No!" the Doctor snapped, looking over at Jack and grinding out his words between his teeth. "It's not something I want to remember. It wasn't a good experience, and it certainly wasn't funny, even though you seem to find the idea hilarious."

Jack sighed, shaking his head and spreading his hands out to either side of him in a gesture of surrender. "No, I don't think it's funny if it's something that hurt you," he said, the laughter gone from his voice and his expression. "Tell me. Please. I won't laugh."

The Doctor looked down at the floor, his voice hesitant when he spoke. "The Master was holding me prisoner. Here, on my own ship. It wasn't as though I had a choice -- it was either do as he said, or let Earth be destroyed. I had to let him do what he wanted with me."

The other man frowned, all levity leaving his countenance. "Doctor, what did he do to you?" He crossed the room to stand in front of the Doctor, reaching out to place a hand under the Time Lord's chin and lift his face to look into his eyes. "Tell me."

The Doctor turned his face away, obviously not wanting to look at Jack as he spoke. "He .... had me stripped naked and tied up -- and he gave me to the inhabitants of the planet we were on at the time. He left me with them for .... a while."

Jack had to suppress a shudder at the idea of what could have been done to the Doctor during that time. "How long is 'a while'? A week? A couple of days? What?" He didn't realize that his voice had grown sharp with tension.

The Time Lord flinched and took a step back. "I'm not sure. It could have been as much as a week, but it was hard to keep track of the days. I was ...." His voice trailed off as he gulped and then took a deep breath. "I was a sex toy for them until the Master returned."

"What?" The words hit Jack like a blow to the stomach; of all the things he'd expected the Doctor to say, that hadn't been one of them. Images danced before his eyes, pictures that his mind conjured up against his will, mental images that he didn't want to think about.

Stepping forward, he pulled the Doctor into his arms, burying his face against the Time Lord's hair. More than anything, he wished that he hadn't threatened to throw the Doctor out of the Tardis naked; he hadn't realized what connotations that would have for the other man.

If only he could take those words back, even though they'd been spoken in jest. The Doctor had to know that he wouldn't really have done such a thing. And he certainly wouldn't even consider it as a joke now, not knowing what his lover had been through.

"I'm going to kill that bastard one day," he whispered through clenched teeth, holding the Doctor close against him. "For everything he's ever done to you, in this body and in all the others, I'm going to make him suffer ten times the pain he's caused you over the centuries."

"I don't think that's possible," the Doctor said, his wry laugh sounding forced. "You coudln't inflict all of that pain on one person, Jack. And you wouldn't want to. I know that you can be vengeful, but you don't have that sort of cruelty in you."

"You think so?" Jack almost snarled the words; his anger was flaring as he thought about what the Doctor had told him. It was bad enough that the Master had simply turned him over to people who had abused him, but to know what he was going to be used for ....

The fact that the Master had dared to do something like that to the Doctor made him see red. But of course, it was probably something he should expect from that monster. The Master didn't have a shred of kindness or decency in him.

Especially when it came to the man who he desperately wanted to exert control over. The thought made Jack clutch the Doctor more tightly against him, almost as though he was afraid that the Master would burst through the door of the Tardis at any moment.

"He's never going to touch you again," Jack vowed, brushing his lips across the Doctor's cheek. "He's not going to get near you as long as I'm around. He wouldn't dare try to tangle with me. And if he does, then he'll regret it."

"You can't say that, Jack," the Doctor sighed, disentangling himself from his lover's embrace. "Neither one of us know what the Master might dare to do next. Or when he might strike at us. All we can do is be ready to stand against him when the time comes."

"I'm sorry I freaked you out with that threat," Jack said, his voice soft as he caught the Doctor's hand in his own. "I wouldn't have done it, you know. I don't want anyone looking at that beautiful body but me. No way am I giving anybody else a free show when it comes to you."

The Doctor gave him a wan smile, nodding. "I know you wouldn't have, Jack. But that brought back some memories I'd rather forget. You didn't know about them, so I don't blame you .... I'd just appreciate it if you'd think before you make those kinds of threats, even in fun."

Jack nodded, squeezing the Doctor's hand. "I will." He leaned close to the other man, whispering into his ear. "But what if I threaten to chase you to the bedroom, strip your clothes off, and make love to you as a kind of apology? You want to dare me to do that?"

"You wouldn't dare!" the Doctor responded, his dark eyes widening for a moment. Turning, he headed down the corridor, throwing a playful glance over his shoulder to see if Jack was following and letting a satisfied smile settle onto his features when he realized that Jack was right behind him.

***