Title: Jealous Again
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: 100moods
Prompt: 55, Jealous
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.

***

The Doctor glanced over to where Jack was standing, talking to that .... that woman. Smiling at her, flirting with her, acting as though she was the only person in the world. Completely ignoring the man he was with.

Of course, he was only doing it to get information. But still, it was galling to see his boyfriend apparently chatting up someone else.

And someone of the opposite sex, at that. Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course; he himself had been interested in women when he was in some of his other bodies. But things were different now; he knew more about who he was and what he wanted.

Though Jack apparently didn't. He scowled, kicking at a pebble that had the audacity to be in his way. He hated this, hated watching Jack work his magic on someone else, someone that he didn't even know and couldn't possibly want.

Or was he wrong about that? Did Jack want the people he flirted with? He didn't want to think about that; it was all too apparent to him that he wasn't enough to keep his lover satisfied. It wasn't a subject he wanted to mull over, not at the moment.

But he couldn't help doing so. What else was he supposed to do, when Jack was making it so clear that his interests were elsewhere?

He should have known better than to come along with Jack. Torchwood wasn't his business; it hadn't been so long ago that they were hunting him, not just any kind of alien activity. He should have known better than to get involved.

The Doctor recounted the conversation with Jack in his head, the words that the immortal had used to persuade him to come along today. Come on, you've never seen me in action. Not with what I'm doing these days. It'll be fun.

He almost winced as he remembered the other words Jack had said, words that he'd believed, the words that had made him decide that it wouldn't be a bad idea to go with his lover. It'll give us more time to spend together.

Oh, yes, that had been truthful, he thought sourly, glancing over at Jack again. He was still talking, looking animated, flashing that winning smile.

Jack couldn't help it, could he? He just had to flirt with any decently attractive person, male or female, wherever he went. And they were always attracted to him, of course. They couldn't help it. Jack drew people like bees to honey.

And where did that leave the Doctor? Exactly where he was, the Time Lord though, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking down at his feet, scuffing the toe of one trainer along a crack in the pavement. Standing here doing nothing, and feeling insignificant.

He wanted nothing so much as to walk away, to leave Jack there doing whatever the hell he was trying to do. To go back to the Tardis, enter his ship, and take off to some faraway planet, some place where Jack couldn't follow him.

Some place where Jack's nature couldn't hurt him any more.

It was ridiculous for him to feel like this. Jack didn't mean to hurt him by flirting; to the other man's way of thinking, what he was doing meant nothing. And maybe if he'd been in another incarnation of himself, the Doctor wouldn't have minded it.

But he wasn't in another body. He was in this one, the one that Jack said he loved and wanted more than he'd ever wanted anyone. Which was obviously untrue.

If he could flirt with other people so casually and not care that the Doctor was right there to see it, then he couldn't care so much, could he? The Doctor kicked another pebble, narrowly missing the wall of the building that he was standing next to.

Jealous. He was jealous. He'd never thought that he would feel such a very human, emotion, but there it was, right in front of him. He was almost surprised at himself for letting his guard down enough to feel such a thing.

He'd spent time with Jack before, and he'd never felt like this. Of course, when Jack had been traveling with him, they hadn't been lovers. Maybe that was what had changed his perceptions of the immortal's tendency to flirt. It hadn't been personal before.

But now it was, and the Doctor hated it. He wanted to keep Jack away from all these people who seemed to pose a threat to their relationship, put a barrier between them and his boyfriend.

He couldn't do that, of course. It was ridiculous to even think that such a thing was possible. Jack had to do his work with Torchwood, and that involved talking to people. And it was a part of who he was to flirt and be charming. He couldn't stop himself from doing it.

The Doctor sighed, hating the thought but knowing that he had to get used to it. Flirting was as natural to Jack as breathing. There was no way he'd stop. It was impossible.

He looked up with a startled gasp when Jack touched his arm; the immortal had moved away from the woman he'd been talking to and was standing beside him, so close that the Doctor could feel the heat from the other man's body.

"I think I've found out what I needed to know," Jack told him, flashing him that grin that always seemed to charm anyone he used it on. The Doctor could feel his heart turning over in his chest, but he looked away, a scowl settling over his features.

"Good. Then maybe we can go back to the Hub and I can take my leave of you," he said shortly, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't going to let Jack get away with thinking that he was going to be ignored, not when Jack had convinced him to come along with him today.

Jack sighed, shaking his head. "Look, I know you don't like me being charming to other people. But I have to do it if I want to get any answers. It always helps."

"Then why did you bring me along today, if you knew that you were going to be doing things like this?" the Doctor burst out, hating the petulant sound of his own voice, but unable to keep the words back. "You know how that makes me feel."

"Because I don't see you enough. Because I wanted to spend time with you. Because I wanted to have my gorgeous boyfriend with me." Jack's voice was soft, his tone gentle. "Because I couldn't stand not to have you around where I can look at you and know how lucky I am."

"Lucky?" The Doctor looked over at Jack, a puzzled frown on his face. "Why would you say that?"

"The luckiest man in the world." Jack stepped closer to him, his arms sliding around the Doctor's waist and pulling the Time Lord against his body. "Don't think I don't know it, Doctor. I've known that ever since the first time I kissed you and you said you wanted me."

"That doesn't excuse you flirting with other people," the Doctor protested, shaking his head. But he couldn't bring himself to pull away from the other man's arms.

"You know that nobody else means anything to me," Jack told him, placing a finger under the Doctor's chin and tilting his face up to gaze into his eyes. "Don't be jealous, Doctor. I might flirt a little, but it's all business to me. Nothing more."

"And you don't mix business with pleasure?" the Time Lord inquired, raising an eyebrow. He was almost smiling now; Jack's charm never failed to work on him just as it did on others, even when he felt that he had every right to be angry.

"Never," Jack laughed, shaking his head and pulling the Doctor closer, close enough to barely brush the Time Lord's mouth with his own. "Business is over for the day. And now I'm going to devote myself to pleasure."

"Does that mean that there'll be no more flirting, then?" the Doctor said in a mock-severe tone. "That I'll have you all to myself for the rest of the day?"

"And the night, too," Jack whispered into his ear, his breath hot against the Doctor's skin. "And no more flirting. Only if I have to do it in the line of duty, and there'll be nothing more to it than that. I promise. Cross my heart."

The Time Lord closed his eyes, sighing softly, his knees weakening. Jack always knew how to get to him; his jealousy had disappeared, replaced by a very different emotion. One that was making him weak in some places -- and hard in others.

"I was hoping you'd say that," he murmured, letting his boyfriend take his hand and lead him back in the direction of the Tardis.

***