Title: Wrap Myself Around You
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness
Fandom: Torchwood, post-1.04 Cyberwoman
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4 10_hurt_comfort
Prompt: 9, Fear
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 sat bolt upright in bed, his dark eyes wide, one hand pressed against his chest. Beside him, Jack blinked, sitting up much more slowly and wrapping his arms around the Time Lord's waist, letting the other man lean against him.

"Bad dream?" he asked, his voice soft, one hand stroking through the Doctor's hair. The Time Lord nodded reluctantly, and Jack pressed his lips against his lover's cheek, hoping that his nearness would make the dream dissipate quickly.

"Hey, I know all about those, Doc. I've had them too many times to count." He didn't add that he'd been awakened by the Doctor's scream, and that he'd been worried about the other man for the past several night, as he hadn't been sleeping well.

The Doctor had spent nearly every night tossing and turning, muttering in his sleep. But this was the first time that he'd been awakened by a nightmare; they must be getting progressively worse, judging from the Time Lord's reaction.

Jack wanted to know what it was that was so disturbing his lover's dreams, but he was hesitant to pry. He didn't want the Doctor to think that he was worrying too much; that hadn't been his way when they were together before.

But now, the Doctor had become much more dear to him, now that he knew what it was like to be away from the other man. He wanted to take care of the Doctor as much as he possibly could, and this was obviously one way of doing so.

"Want to talk about it?" Jack asked, keeping his voice soft and soothing. He didn't want the Doctor to feel as though he was being treated like a child, but sometimes that was the best way for someone who had just had a bad dream to feel, he assured himself.

The Doctor shook his head, then sighed and looked up at Jack. "I suppose I should," he said, his voice cracking a bit on the last words. "It was about you -- well, about the two of us, in a way. It's a dream that I've been having a lot lately."

"Whatever it was, it seems like it sure scared you to death," Jack said, keeping his voice sympathetic. He knew what it was to have a bad dream, after all. He'd had enough of them himself after some of the things he'd seen and done.

"It was terrifying," the Doctor told him, taking a deep breath. "You were .... dead, Jack. Maybe that doesn't seem so frightening to you -- but knowing that you can't die was what made it so scary. Knowing that you shouldn't be dead."

"But I do die, Doc," Jack protested, shaking his head. "Every time I'm killed and I come back to life, I die. Even if it's only for a few seconds, I'm dead. At this point, I've probably experienced death more times than you have."

"No, that's not what I mean," the Doctor sighed, leaning against Jack. "You were really dead this time, Jack. No coming back. You weren't going to resurrect. And I was alone, more so than I've ever been in my life. That's my worst fear, you know. It always has been."

Jack nodded, raising a hand to stroke the Doctor's hair back from his face. He knew that the Doctor was afraid of being alone; it wasn't an irrational fear, in his eyes. Even though he'd grown to enjoy solitude in some ways, he could understand how the Doctor felt.

He'd learned the hard way that when a person had an unusually long life, companionship was one of their strongest desires. There was a need to form a connection, even if that closeness would eventually have to end with someone's ultimate passing.

He himself had drawn away from companionship for a while; it always hurt too much to lose people he became close to. But he'd reconciled himself to that, and now, he was at the point where he wanted to have the people who meant the most to him near.

Well, the one person who meant the most to him, at any rate. He wasn't about to let the Doctor go again; he'd made that mistake once, and he'd regretted it more than he could put into words. So he was going to be there for the Time Lord in whatever capacity he was needed.

"So, is being alone your greatest fear -- or my death?" he said softly, almost surprised at himself for voicing the question. He hadn't meant to ask it so bluntly, but maybe it was a good thing that it had come out so spontaneously.

That was something he needed to hear -- it would tell him so much about the Doctor's feelings towards him. He knew that the other man loved him, but he couldn't having a shadow of doubt in his heart that the Time Lord couldn't quite forgive him for leaving.

The Doctor was silent for a few moments before he lifted his face to Jack's, his dark eyes meeting the immortal's steady gaze. "Your death," he said hoarsely, his voice strained. "I don't want to be alone; you've always known that. But I'm terrified of losing you."

"I can't die, Doc," Jack whispered, pulling the other man close against the warmth of his body. "And I don't want to. There was a point when I thought I'd be glad to die -- but not now that I have you back. I've got more reason than I ever have to stay alive."

"I know that, Jack," the Doctor said, sighing. "At least, I know that when I'm in my conscious mind. But dreams like that .... it's very easy to believe what my mind presents to me there. I suppose humans would say that I have a very vivid imagination."

"What, Gallifreyans wouldn't say that?" Jack joked, trying to relieve the mood a little. "Didn't your mom ever tell you that when you were a kid? Mine did, all the time. She'd probably be pretty shocked to find out what kind of a life I've lived."

The Doctor smiled weakly, letting himself relax into Jack's embrace. "No, my mother never told me that," he murmured, shaking his head. "She told me that I aimed too high, with my ambition of being a Time Lord -- and she was amazed when I achieved that goal."

"I don't think I'd have liked to meet your parents." Jack leaned back against the pillows, pulling the covers up more closely around the Doctor's bare shoulders. "Seems to me they weren't as encouraging as parents are supposed to be."

"It was a different sort of life on Gallifrey than what humans are used to," the Doctor said absently, one hand moving to rest on Jack's chest. "I need to feel your heart beat, Jack. I need to know that you're alive, that you're safe, and that you're here with me."

"I'm here, Doc." Jack laid his own hand over the Doctor's, curling his fingers around the other man's. "And I'm going to stay here. I'm not leaving you again. I know that's a part of your fear, and I swear it's not going to happen again."

"There are times when I wish that I could wrap myself around you and never let you go," the Time Lord whispered, closing his eyes as his long fingers splayed over Jack's chest. "That way, I'd at least know that you were protected to the best of my ability."

"You can't wrap me up in cotton wool and protect me from everything in the world that could hurt me," Jack told him, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "But I have to say that I like the idea of you being wrapped around me. That appeals to me a lot."

"Would you like to start now?" the Doctor asked, looking up at his lover with a smile curving his lips. "It would probably do a lot to assuage my fears, you know." The look on his face was anything but fearful; Jack thought that the Time Lord looked positively devilish.

"You bet I would," he murmured, shifting their positons so that the Doctor was lying on his back, with Jack leaning over him. As he lowered his head to kiss the Time Lord, Jack vowed to himself that he was going to do everything he could to banish the Doctor's fears once and for all.

***