Notes: And here we are. The last chapter of the last story of the Shelter series. It's been a long, rough road for the Doctor and Torchwood, and for me, and for a lot of you, too. But no matter what, I really think it can be, if not okay, at least better. At the very least, survivable. We find homes, maybe where they were all along. We find friends. And when it's all we can do, we keep breathing.

As always, enjoy.

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In which there is a departure.

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Toshiko knew, the instant the Doctor walked through the door, that there was going to be trouble. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, practically vibrating with restless energy.

Jack could see it too. It was obvious from the way he hovered, hands twitching as if to reach for him. It wouldn't do any good. Jack could be an immovable object but the Doctor was an unstoppable force, and he had ways to make Jack crumble.

Toshiko was a little bit in awe of that.

The Doctor's hands twitched, his eyes shifted, and she watched Jack's heart sink a moment before the Doctor said,

"Well, time I was going."

And Jack, with his mouth and his eyes and every aspect and fiber of his being, said,

"Don't you fucking dare."

And with his mouth, the Doctor said,

"Jack,"

But with a warning undertone and pleading look he said,

"Don't try to stop me. Please."

And Jack said, "Doc," and Gwen said, "Don't," and Owen said something she couldn't hear because she was busy watching the stars start to burn again in the Doctor's eyes and because someone was saying "Can I come with you?" and it took her a moment to realize that the someone was her.

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Owen hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours and this probably wasn't the best time to be making decisions, but the Doctor was leaving now, alone, and Owen had spent years and years in this Cardiff sewer among the lost and broken scraps of infinity and here was the real thing, shining and whole, inside a blue box and a wild smile, and he heard himself saying,

"I'm coming with you."

And someone else said,

"Can I come with you?"

And the Doctor froze with his hand on the TARDIS door, and everyone was staring at Owen, and Owen was staring at Tosh.

"What?" he said, and Tosh said,

"I –"

And the Doctor still hadn't said anything at all.

The Doctor turned, slowly, into the startled silence. Hs eyes were dark and his face was pale and when he spoke, his voice was low and serious.

"I can't promise you'll come back."

"Right," Owen agreed, and Tosh nodded wordlessly.

"If you do, you won't be the same."

"I'm counting on it," said Owen, and Tosh said,

"Good."

And Gwen was staring at him like she was rethinking her entire understanding of his character, and Ianto was nodding to himself like it was only to be expected, and Jack was looking at the two of them as if they had saved him and condemned him in a single motion. But the Doctor –

The Doctor was grinning.

The Doctor was grinning and it looked like a cliff dive, looked like the shining surface of a water so dark and deep that it held things beyond any human imaginings, looked like everything Owen was about to plunge himself into and something swooped in his stomach like falling.

He wondered if this was what courage felt like.

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The Doctor was grinning and Jack's stomach was sinking into the floor as his heart rose into his throat. The Doctor was grinning his come with me grin at Owen and Toshiko, of all people, and Jack was feeling a horrible sort of empathy with Jackie Tyler. Owen and Tosh – his people, his – running off with the Doctor –

Huh. It had been a while since he felt jealousy.

The Doctor caught his eye, and his grin faltered.

"Jack –" he began, an apology in his voice, but Jack surprised himself by letting out a bark of laughter.

"Don't bother, Doc," he said, waving off the unspoken words that he had heard too many times for any lifetime. Everyone was staring at him, now, but he couldn't wipe his own grin off his face. This was so goddamn typical it was hilarious. "I said you shouldn't travel alone, right? God."

He laughed again, and the Doctor gave him a crooked smile, eyes sparkling.

"That you did."

Jack stepped forward, took the Doctor's hand, and pulled him into a tight embrace. Lips beside his ear he said, softly,

"Don't forget to come home again."

When they pulled apart, a cool hand lingered in his.

It took two minutes for Gwen and Ianto to say their goodbyes, with hugs and admonitions. It took less than half that for the Doctor to usher Owen and Tosh into the TARDIS, with Owen asking where in Time and Space a person could get a stiff drink. The Doctor's gaze caught on Jack for a moment, and then he disappeared inside. The door snapped shut. The wind picked up. And then, with that old familiar groan, they were gone.

Silence reigned. Until, at last, Ianto said,

"Those three are going to be a disaster."

"They'll kill each other," Gwen agreed.

"They're going to start wars," Ianto predicted.

Jack grinned.

The Doctor had no idea what he had gotten himself into.