Title: Heaven Must Have Sent You
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, fanfic50
Prompt: 25, Heaven
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 opened his eyes, looking up at the ceiling above the bed he shared with the Doctor. How many times had he woken like this alone in his bedroom at the Hub, wishing that he was in the very place that he found himself in at this moment?

Too many to count, he told himself wryly. He'd never thought that he would be in this position again; he'd been so completely certain that his cheating had driven the Doctor away from him for good, and he'd bitterly regretted everything he'd done to cause that separation.

But somehow, by some miracle of fate, the Time Lord had come back to him. He hadn't expected to be given another chance, and he was going to do everything he could to show the Doctor that this time, he'd be everything that the Gallifreyan needed.

No more cheating. No more flirting. No more even looking at other people as anything more than a way to get information if the two of them needed it. He might have to flirt to achieve that end, but that was all it would mean.

Why had he ever wanted to flirt with anyone else, or sleep around, when he'd had the Doctor in his life? Why had he been stupid enough to feel that he needed more than what he'd had? The Doctor had been a gift, one that he should have appreciated much more than he had.

But he'd been a fool -- and as a consequence, he'd spent three long years without the man he loved. He had wanted nothing more during that time than to have the Doctor back in his life, but he'd been afraid to reach out and ask for what he needed.

Jack almost wanted to snort at that thought. Who would ever have imagined that he could be afraid of anything? But when it came to the Doctor, he was afraid of a lot of things. And losing the man he loved again was highest on that list of fears.

Anyone else might have been able to turn their back on the love that he'd shared with the Time Lord and made themselves feel that it was some kind of once-in-a-lifetime thing and go about their lives without taking a backward glance and feeling regret.

He'd never been able to do that. Even when he'd been involved with other people, telling himself that they could replace the Doctor in his life and in his heart, he'd known that he was lying to himself. No one could ever replace the love of his life.

When he'd seen the Doctor that rainy night at the Hub, he'd thought at first that he was dreaming. He hadn't believed that his former lover would come back to him; he was sure that the Doctor was a vision he'd conjured up from his own aching heart.

Jack let his eyes roam around the room, as though he was trying to memorize everything about it. This room hadn't changed much in the time he'd been away from the Tardis -- in fact, his first night here had felt more like home than the Hub had.

The only thing that had changed was the man in his arms. The Doctor was still the same man, but now, he seemed softer somehow, more vulnerable than he had when they were first together. Jack wasn't sure just why that would be, but he had his ideas.

He'd put the Doctor through far too much pain by leaving. At the time, he'd thought that he was doing the right thing -- but he hadn't been happy with the decision he'd made. If only he'd had more courage and less pride, he would have told the Time Lord so long ago.

They had spent far too much time apart, Jack told himself firmly. That was over now. He wasn't going to leave again -- and he was going to do everything in his power to prove to the Doctor that this was the only place he wanted to be.

It wouldn't be hard to give up sleeping around. If he was completely honest with himself, ever since he'd first been with the Doctor in this body, no one else had lived up to the Time Lord. He'd compared every lover with the Doctor, and they'd all come out wanting.

No one could be what the man he was holding in his arms was to him. No one else could ever take the Doctor's place, or satisfy him in the way that the Time Lord did. They were meant to be together; Jack was sure of it. This man had always been his destiny.

Heaven must have sent the Doctor into his arms, Jack reflected, looking down at the man who was even now sleeping soundly in his embrace. He couldn't help smiling as he watched the Time Lord sleep; there was something so beautifully peaceful about his slumber.

That was a peacefulness that he'd never managed to find in the time he'd been away from the Doctor, Jack thought with an inward sigh. He hadn't been able to sleep at night; he'd eventually given up on it, for the most part, and gone out to bars.

How much time had he spent trying to find other people who he'd mistakenly thought would assuage his need for one person? He didn't want to think about that; he hated to remember that time of his life, when he'd been doing something so misguided.

If he'd listened to his heart, he would have realized that no one was ever going to replace the Doctor. His heart had tried to tell him that, but he'd ruthlessly pushed those feelings down, refusing to believe that he had been in the wrong when he'd left.

Yet somehow, by some miracle -- or chance -- he'd been given a second opportunity to keep the Doctor in his life. He didn't deserve it, not after the way he'd treated the man he loved by turning his back and walking away. But some deity must be smiling down on him.

Jack sighed softly, raising a hand to stroke the Time Lord's hair. Why had he been given another chance? He'd probably never know -- but whatever had decided to grant him that chance, he'd be forever grateful for having received it.

He'd never been much of a believer in heaven, or angels, or anything of the sort. A higher power? He'd never seen any evidence of that, not in all of the times that he'd died and come back since he'd been given the "gift" of immortality. He simply wasn't a believer.

But he was absolutely sure that heaven must have sent the Doctor back to him. Probably more for the Time Lord's peace of mind than his own, Jack thought wryly. No deity or fate in existence would smile on him and think that he was worthy of a gift like this.

And the Doctor was indeed a precious gift, Jack said to himself, looking down with affection at the man in his arms. How could he ever have thought that he would be happy away from this man, without being able to hold the Doctor in his arms?

He hadn't been happy. He had tried to be noble and do something that he'd mistakenly thought would be best for both of them .... No. Jack shook his head, sighing aloud and looking up at the ceiling again. He had to stop telling himself that particular lie.

He'd left because he was afraid of his own feelings. He'd been terrified of loving someone as deeply and completely as he'd loved the Doctor -- and he had run as far away from that love as he could get. He just hadn't thought the emotions would stay with him.

They'd only grown stronger over time. He had loved the Doctor even more the longer that they had been parted; he hadn't been able to get the Time Lord out of his mind, or out of his heart. And after a while, he had realized that he didn't want to.

The Doctor was a part of him, and always would be. If heaven hadn't sent this man into his life, into his arms, then he didn't know what had. The Doctor was his by destiny, fate, karma -- whichever of them he chose to believe in.

Whatever kind of fate had sent the Doctor to him, he was sure of one thing, Jack told himself as he pulled the Doctor closer to him and snuggled further into the comfortable pillows. He was never going to let this man go again -- either from his arms or from his heart.

***