The Found
Fandom: Doctor Who
Pairing: Donna/Jack, Donna/Doctor, (or Jack/Donna/Doctor?)
Rating: PG13

A/N: I wasn't supposed to write a second part to this, but Jack made me sad!

It comes out of nowhere and yet it's not a surprise. Not even a little.

Donna slips from the bed, still warm and rumpled, and Jack's arm slides from her waist. He wasn't asleep, but he likes to close his eyes and absorb the peace of her company over the nighttime hours. So when he feels her move he opens his eyes and sees she's already slinging a thin robe over herself, her movements sure and unhurried as a very distinctive sound fades into the night.

The TARDIS.

Something clenches in Jack's chest, equal parts joy and grief. They've waited so long. And yet it could have never been long enough.

He's going to lose Donna tonight.

He swings his legs over the side of the bed, drawing trousers on with measured slowness, and then he pads out of the flat.

Donna is standing under a streetlamp, arms folded under her breasts, head tilted to the side.

When the TARDIS doors open, a man neither of them recognizes steps out. He's young-ish, at that indecipherable age some people seem to keep where a person can either be a weathered twenty-something or a very well-kept forty. And, well...alluring might be a better descriptor than handsome. But Jack knows it's the Doctor in the feeling of centuries that clings to the man, regardless of the features or the age upon his face.

The Doctor catches sight of Donna and freezes, panicked as an animal trapped by oncoming headlights. Several emotions crowd the unknown face - shock, joy, fear, pain- before he backs up slowly into the TARDIS and quietly shuts the door, as if perhaps by not making any sudden moves Donna may not notice the appearance of a big blue box right in front of her.

Donna huffs; Jack can already imagine her rolling her eyes, although all he sees is the amused set of her shoulders.

The TARDIS doors are flung open again, suddenly this time, with no regard for the loud, indignant creak of wood as they bang against the sides.

"It's 2260," the Doctor says in a rich, deep voice.

"Yehhhhp," Donna replies, drawing out the vowel.

"Its 2260," he repeats, eyes wide, "which means you shouldn't be here."

"It's like you're a regular Sherlock - nothing gets by you," deadpans Donna.

"No, but, Donna," the Doctor says again. "You don't understand. You're...you...you shouldn't..."

And then that face crumples, all pretense of youth shed aside as lines (Jack would call them laugh lines, but he knows better) appear 'round the Doctor's eyes, chin wobbling dangerously. The Doctor brings a hand to his mouth and just stares, silent tears dripping down his cheeks.

Donna makes a sort of aborted movement, as if she would go to him, but holds back.

The Doctor has no such restraint, and in a handful of long strides he reaches her. His arms wrap around her tight, engulfing her as he curves over her shorter frame.

Donna wiggles, her arms trapped. Jack watches her turn her head and whisper something in the Doctor's ear. The Doctor reluctantly loosens his hold, preparing to step back. But that's not what Donna wants and she tugs him back close, arms wrapping over his shoulders properly so she can hug back.

Over Donna's shoulder, Jack watches the Doctor's shocked face, eyes bright and unseeing, until they slide shut with something like relief. As if he finally believes that this is real.

And Jack is overjoyed for them, and miserable.

Finally drawing back, the Doctor clutches Donna's shoulders, fingers white with the force of his desperate grip. "I...I have so much to tell you. So much to show you! Oh, Donna, the TARDIS is going to love having you back. You'll-" the Doctor falters, a sudden thought occurring to him.

Jack watches the Doctor steel himself for the question that could - it only occurs to the Doctor now - result in a denial. The Doctor clears his throat roughly, continuing, "Of course, assuming you want to come back with me."

Donna isn't going to say no, Jack knows. But it gives him a bit of petty joy to watch this Doctor squirm. By the set of the man's shoulders, he wouldn't be surprised if the Doctor is planning some "emergency" that requires Donna's assistance, regardless of her answer.

But Donna doesn't leave him unsure for long. "Just let me grab something!" she says, voice as bright and excited as the first time she was invited along. She pirouettes and marches back to where Jack stands, hidden by the shadows.

Jack startles, not having realized that Donna knew he was there.

She grabs Jack's hand and marches him up to the Doctor.

The Doctor blinks in surprise. He truly had no idea Jack was standing there; his eyes had only been for Donna.

"Jack..."

"My something," corrects Donna, rubbing her thumb over Jack's knuckles to indicate she means no disrespect. Then she kisses the mute Doctor on the cheek, takes his hand and leads them both into the TARDIS.

And so a new, beautiful part of Jack's life begins. One he never dared hope for.

They travel to far-off stars. Both Jack and the Doctor take pains to protect their Donna - unwilling to risk finding out if she has any regenerations in her. Jack loses track of how many times he dies in her (and the Doctor's - though they don't speak of it) place, the Doctor and he in tacit agreement that her safety comes first.

She always responds to such displays with equal parts exasperation, fear and relief, holding them close to her hearts, pounding scared but sure beneath their heads.

Until, after many years together, they travel to a tiny colony on the edge of a newly-discovered galaxy. It's all gray sand and turquoise waters and reminds Jack poignantly of Boe. More poignant is the reminder of Ianto, reflected in the clear eyes of a young man who greets them.

He falls in love. A different kind of love, the kind that yearns for children and stability after his very long life. Different than the kind of love he finds in Donna's warm arms and the Doctor's willingness to share her embrace. Donna sees it grow in him, and takes his face between her hands to kiss him sweetly before she says, "Go. Build us a family. Call us when the children are born."

He and his lover watch the two Time Lords leave. Hand-in-hand as always, the Doctor gives him a final wink and calls "Name one after me!" from the door as the TARDIS begins to disappear, and through his tears Jack has to laugh as he sees a feminine hand reach out and yank the Doctor back inside.

Thousands of years pass. The Doctor (in a handful of various faces) and Donna stop by when they can to visit his expanding family. There's a little red-haired girl in there that he names Donna, and he watches as Donna's soft eyes fill with emotion.

He doesn't name any of the boys "The Doctor," as much as the Doctor pleads. He does name one John, and the Doctor's chest puffs out with pride. It's close enough!

And so now here he is. His family is spread throughout the stars. He is old now, so very, very old. Through the water of his life-support device Jack watches a slim, young, wild-haired Doctor prance around with his lovely Martha. Oh, dear Martha! It's been so long.

The Doctor's eyes are full of forced cheer. This is a Doctor fresh from the Time War. This is a Doctor who doesn't know it can get better, and Jack smiles at the knowledge of everything in store for him.

"You are not alone," he tells this Doctor, watching as the Doctor's face fills with confusion and hope. He knows the Doctor in pin-stripes will misunderstand, will think Jack refers to the Master. But Jack doesn't mean the Master, and he holds this knowledge close to his heart as his eyes shut for the last and final time.

Blessed darkness, at long last.

After the Doctor and Martha leave and Novice Hame heads out to make sense of her new world, the whirl of a TARDIS echoes through the room.

A man and a woman - both beautifully redheaded, for once - walk up hand-in-hand to the large container holding the Face of Boe. He looks asleep and peaceful. The man wraps an arm tight around the woman, drawing her close to his side, as he lays a hand on the container. The TARDIS rematerializes around the three, and then disappears.

Fin