Title: A Matter of Trust

Chapter 10: Welcome Aboard

Characters/pairings: Nine/Jack/Rose

Chapter Rating: PG-13

Spoilers/warnings: none that I can think of.

Disclaimer: Still not making money out of this. Characters are still belonging to RTD and the BBC.

Plot: From the end of The Doctor Dance and Boomtown, Jack and the Doctor went from hostile suspicion to reliable friendship, how did this happen?

Previous chapters' summary: Jack had promised to teach the Children of Acaba how to protect themselves from others by rising mind shields. But of course that meant to stay on Acaba, and give up on travelling with the Tardis' crew.

Author's note: This is the End of this fic, however there is a sequel written for OT3 hurt/comfort challenge: The Missing Tardis.

Beta: imzadimylove

Jack didn't escort them back to the Tardis. He'd held firmly on his decision against the Time Lord. Of course, the Doctor could have lied and claimed Jack's interference would have a negative impact, but to be true if Jack could provoke a temporal paradox, this one was meant to be.

"I can't believe you didn't know Humans would in the future become telepathic and would have to use these techniques in everyday life," Rose said to the Doctor when alone with him back in the Tardis.

"Let's not generalise, Jack's coming from one of the most remote place of the Universe, on the other side of the Garp System borders. A wilderness area that was, or at least, will be settled by refugees from very different backgrounds for only a very few millennia before being abandoned again. Time Lords were never truly interested in investigating it."

"Oh, so you're saying that so far you have based your claim on A Priori?"

The Doctor was stunned; as if his eyes had just discovered the tip of his nose. Was it Rose's choice of words or the charge? He couldn't tell.

"So, in the end, what do you know for sure about that Time Agency of his?"

That was a very good question and one he couldn't answer the way he would have liked. He didn't know much about the Time Agency, because of its activities; it was very difficult for Time Lords to focus on it. That sector of space was dangerous even for them to travel; way to much paradox potential.

"To begin with, what must be taken into account is the fact the Agency as well as all the sector around it is unstable over time."

"The sector Jack is coming from, right?"

"Right, it's a zone of temporal turbulences, and the Agency is certainly the source of these disturbances."

"And this certainty would be based on what exactly?" Rose asked, suspecting that certainty lacked foundation.

"During several centuries the Agency sent hundreds of agents lacking temporal consciousness through time," the Doctor tried to point out.

"Agents such as Jack?"

"Jack may be a good guy, but he lacks the means to measure the consequences of what he does."

"But you do, right?"

"I was born like that, I'm a Time Lord, and despite all his knowledge and good will, Jack is only a Human. By the way, even Jack agrees that Time Agents are no angels."

"So?"

"What?"

"So what will happen, then? What will be the result? Will it matter? Or is Jack just giving himself to a lost cause?" Rose was already missing him; Jack was fun, always in good mood.

The Doctor displayed one of his favourite grins. The fact was Jack's decision had surprise him. "Why?" The Doctor had asked him.

"Because I can, and also because, as far as I can see, I'm the only one available to do it, Doc."

"Doctor?" Rose called him out of his reverie. "What do we do now? Where do we go?"

"Let's have the Tardis chose our next stop," the Doctor suggested.

...

Jack woke up between Kardis and Tavlen, two nurses of sector four. It had been a short night after a busy day. Kardis quickly joined him in the shower, a little taller than Rose, she had long black hair hanging down to the bottom of her back, Tavlen on the other hand was a big redhead guy, all studded with gilded spots. In six months, Jack had managed to make a few new friends, but he was still missing the Doctor and Rose very much.

They had done a good job. Most of the kids were now able to develop a mental shield between them and others at least temporarily. They still would need much practice and training before they'd be able to maintain this protection. Some of them, the less affected and most talented, could hope to one day be able to enjoy an almost normal life. For the others, it would at least allow them to leave their permanent isolation once in a while.

Jack was able to form a full Human team of caregivers and stakeholders with these techniques in order to demonstrate it was doable. Some were telepaths who had no awareness of their gifts and the opportunities it offered. The time traveller he was, had indeed asked himself whether it was wise to teach them the rudiments of what would become a full technique for medical assistance, and then he remembered that no one was really sure of the actual origins of those techniques.

He also trained educators not only to take care of the children and teach them how to protect themselves, but also to train the parents and other educators. The process was begun, nothing would stop it. He wasn't needed anymore. And if he didn't want to get registered in the history of a time he didn't belong, it was more than time for him to leave. He resolved to take the next shuttle to Dagobah*, a large multispecies colony in full expansion process.

He'd packed his bags and prepared to leave discreetly by the back door. He hated goodbyes and preferred to flee like a coward to return to his life and adventure. He went to leave his keys with the Hospital concierge's when a big fuss attracted his attention: The Tardis was very discreetly materializing in the facility wide hall.

Jack froze on the spot, cold running down his spine, his heart, after a furtive dip in his shoes, was pumping so hard back in his chest that it threatened to explode. He must have provoked a new disaster; why else the Doctor would be there? On the other hand, he was really happy to see them. He felt the urge to run for his friends, but was stuck terrified by what their presence might imply.

"Captain," the Doctor greeted him. "Why am I not surprised?" he asked glancing back at Rose who was displaying a very happy smile. The Tardis had taken them directly back to Jack without the slightest detour.

"What's going on? Are you just here for a check or did something I do go wrong? What's the matter?" Jack asked miserably.

"It's up to you to tell me, Jack," the Doctor said disapprovingly. But seeing Jack's sad puppy eyes he took pity on him. "What if you take us on the grand tour?"

Jack obeyed, leading them through the facility and despite the knot of apprehension gripping his stomach, he couldn't help but feel pride for what he'd done with the staff and children. His entire life he'd never had undertaken something as important to him.

Aside from asking about some technical issues the Doctor was surprisingly quiet during the visit, to the point that even Rose began to feel the tension. What made it worse was that Jack had done a fabulous job.

"Fantastic," the Doctor finally commented to Jack's and Rose's relief. "Absolutely fantastic."

"Seriously?" the Captain asked like a child wondering if he'd already passed the test or if the teacher was still testing him.

"Completely and deadly serious, Captain, you've done a great job."

Rose felt so relieved she threw herself at both men to hug them. "Great, really great," she kept on saying. "Fantastic; you're fabulous both of you, I love you."

"Where were you going Captain?"

"On my way to take the next flight for Dagobah."

"Dagobah? At this time of the year? Not such a good idea. Why won't you come with us, instead?"

Jack's heart made a new dip to his shoes, and hopefully Rose was there to help, because he wasn't able to give a coherent answer.

...

Epilogue

Jack and Rose were having tea in the library. It was, after the bridge, Jack's favourite room. He was telling Rose naughty stories about his stay. Rose was laughing; listening to her laugh was fantastic. He'd missed that laugh.

"Here's your key," the Doctor said when he came in to join them.

Jack was left speechless looking at it without really daring to reach out and take it, as if he was afraid it would disintegrate on contact.

"Take it. It's yours," the Doctor insisted with one of his almost scary ear to ear smiles. "You did a great job, Captain."

"Do you really think it will make a difference?" Jack asked.

"Of course it will," Doctor replied. "And a big one." The Time Lord hesitated a moment, then added, "In fact, the echoes of what you've done will spread across space and time."

"Seriously?" Jack asked horrified. "So why didn't you prevent me from...?"

"As a time traveller, I hope you are aware that time isn't linear, Captain." the Doctor said, frowning.

"Yes, but I was also told adding nodes to the ball isn't appropriate either," the Captain replied.

"No, of course. But some of these nodes are essential."

"Are you saying, you knew from the beginning I would provoke a temporal paradox?"

"I knew there was, at that point in space and time, the birth of a paradox. However, I didn't know you were the source of it until you made that decision," the doctor said putting the Tardis key in Jack's hand. "Now, Captain, you're officially a member of the Tardis crew."

Jack stayed once again speechless staring at his key, not knowing how all this was going to impact the rest of his very very long life.

End.

(*) In Children of the Past, Dagobah is a colony and Jack explains it must have been named by some of Lucas's fan.