I have a bad feeling that this is somehow evolving into some type of series. With that in mind, this little oneshot was written with the events of my previous fic "Don't Stop at Hello" in mind. Thus, Jack and Eleven already know each other. This is likely a bit more serious than my last two forays into this AU character interaction, so I hope that's not too upsetting. At any rate, enjoy!

Dobby's Polka-Dotted Sock

Fixed

Jack's mind was a delightful buzz and his smile an easy one as he shook hands, gave hugs, and accepted sloppy kisses from friends and revelers. Ah, the joys of a stag party. Why had he never had this idea before?

The night was winding down at last as one by one his friends, most more drunk than he, said their goodnights and headed home. As a host, however, Jack remained until the last had stumbled from the bar, and with a contented sigh he went to pay the tab.

"It's already covered, mate," the bartender told him.

"What?" Jack wondered if he was a bit tipsier than he'd originally assessed. He certainly didn't remember any of the others offering to pay, and he'd forbidden his fiancée from doing so as well.

"I'm not joshing you," said the man behind the counter. "You're tab's been paid, and an extra drink thrown in to boot." One of his favorite cocktails was placed in front of him, and Jack downed it almost immediately, thinking that if he was already this far gone, he might as well continue. "If you want someone to thank, he's sitting in that corner booth. Tell him to get his boots off the table."

Jack turned to see the man indicated. Two well-worn boots, crossed at the ankles, were indeed propped up on the wooden surface with long, rather lean legs in dark trousers attached. A long, deep green overcoat made it had to tell whatever else he might be wearing, and if the shadows produced by the lighting and corner weren't bad enough, the head was bowed with a Stetson of all things resting on top, completely obscuring everything from the neck up.

But he thought he knew just who might be hiding behind all that anyway.

Jack quietly made his way over to that table and dropped into the booth next to his surprise benefactor before his 'wrongness' might be perceived, grabbing the boots at the ankles and lifting them off the table to place in his lap. The Time Lord gave a rather startled yelp, uncrossing his arms to catch himself from slipping off the beat-up plastic material completely.

"Jack!" The Stetson was at an odd angle now and the feet, still in his grasp, squirmed and kicked a little. The face, like the voice, broadcasted how caught off guard the alien was.

"Hey, Doc," he greeted, "thanks for footing the bill."

"Well you can thank me by not holding my feet hostage," his friend replied just a bit testily.

"Oh, but I thought you were resting these traveler's legs," Jack returned with an unabashed grin, "And I've got to be comfier than a table."

"Right, next you'll be telling me a bed would be even comfier," the Doctor guessed.

He smirked. "Well it would. And you said it, not me." Inwardly, he was quite surprised it had been the Doctor out of the two of them to say it. He hadn't thought it too likely, but was it possible that he had taken his advice? Was he seeing a side of the usually refined, almost prudish, Time Lord that his own counsel had somehow brought about?

And yet, even with this potential flirtation to take part in, Jack could not help noticing a true weariness in his friend's posture and eyes. He had a feeling there was much more behind this new Doctor now than a possible romance with a woman he'd yet to meet.

Jack let the feet drop back onto the floor and asked as the Doctor straightened up in the booth, "How have things been, Doc?"

"Oh, just fine. Same old story, really," was the typical answer, but it lacked even more enthusiasm than usual. "Really, very old."

"Got to wonder where that hat fits in the story," he remarked, gesturing to the Stetson which the Doctor finally righted.

"Gift from a friend."

"Oh, from- Amy, right?" He guessed, remembering the woman's name from last time they'd met, also in a bar.

But the Time Lord laughed. "Oh no, she'd sooner knock it off my head." The chuckles subsided, and the accompanying smile faded. "No, I haven't travelled with her and Rory for some time."

"Really? Didn't you just pick them up recently?" He questioned.

His friend shook his head. "From your perspective, yes. I suppose it's only been a short while since my last visit."

"How much of a while has it been for you?" Jack was more than suspicious now. After all, he knew the alien's various incarnations showed his age even less than he did.

"Just under two-hundred years, Jack. I'm eleven-hundred and three," the Doctor told him, with a solemn weight to the words that definitely warned off any rounds of 'Happy Birthday'.

"That's a ripe old age," he half-joked instead, and though the Doctor smiled it seemed to hold a darker edge to it. "Why do I get the feeling you're here for some other reason than wishing me a long and happy marriage?" His friend snorted at the word long, which Jack chose to ignore. "Are you back for more advice? How's things with River Song?"

"River!" He seemed strangely amused and yet incredulous at the idea. "No, no Captain, that's done with."

"Why, did something happen to her?" He hadn't meant to touch a nerve, but it was hard not to when the Doctor was giving him almost nothing to go on.

"No, she's fine. As fine as she can be, I suppose. Or will be, rather. Can't guarantee it for you or anything."

"Uh-huh," he said to this less than inspiring answer. "Not like you can't just check or anything." He looked askance at the time traveler. "You really can't, can you? Alright, what's going on?"

"Nothing," his friend dismissed, not quite meeting his eyes. He then began to scoot around the other side of the booth as if to get out. "You know what, this was a terrible idea. Enjoy your marriage, Jack, I should've left it at that."

But Jack stood and leaned over, bracing his hands against the booth on either side of the Time Lord, effectively trapping him. "Doc, what's this about?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"It's a fixed point, nothing to be done about it anyway, so if I tell you, you'll just be upset. It's bad enough Amy and Rory are going to end up mixed up in this, I refuse to do the same to you." The Doctor's eyes were blazing with that power and anger that was always hidden, just below the surface, and it made him retract his arms. For a long time they just stared at each other, Jack standing there and the Doctor not moving to leave like he'd been intending.

"Fixed point, huh?" He finally fell back into his seat. "Should I be jealous?"

"I should think not," the Time Lord remarked, the slightest smirk helping to ease the tension.

"So what can I ask about then? You said River was 'done with'. What'd you mean? Not love?" He couldn't help the slight teasing tone, but the Doctor's laugh was more bitter than anything.

"If it were that simple…" his friend sighed.

"Ooh, rejection?" That had to hurt. The Doctor would pick the one woman who'd say no, too.

But the alien surprised him. "I wish that were the case, for her sake."

Jack blinked. "Doc, I don't know if anyone's told you, but when you happen to like someone and they like you back, that's generally considered a good thing. What's the problem?"

"The problems are many, Jack. You already know River and I don't meet linearly. It took me some time to decide, ah, how I felt. And that has caused me to hurt her- future versions of her."

"Oh." He hadn't really thought much about the logistics of such a thing. Although now that he considered it, he could just picture the headaches it might cause. But also the fun. "So do you prefer the sexy Dr. Song or the foxy Professor Song?"

Somehow, the Doctor managed to choke on air. He slid around the booth and helpfully patted him on the back while he recovered. Afterwards he let his hand linger there a moment, and then reached his arm around until he had it slung over the Doctor's shoulders.

"There'll be talk at your wedding tomorrow," the Time Lord protested weakly, voice a bit hoarse.

"Like there wouldn't have been anyway? You should have a drink."

"No need; got something from Napoleon back in the TARDIS. Been saving it for a special occasion. This seems as good as any."

"Boy, do you know people. Well, what would we toast to? Getting kind of tired of hearing my own name—never thought that'd happen." He grinned when the Doctor chuckled, but tightened his grip on the alien as he casually suggested, "How about to that fixed point of yours—what was it about again?"

"Jack," the Doctor said warningly, instantly tense.

"Telling me it's bad doesn't scare me, Doctor. Not telling me does."

"There's nothing you can—"

"I know, believe me, I do. You know I understand fixed points better than anyone. I won't try to intervene. I promise." He met the Time Lord's gaze head on, determined. At last the Doctor swallowed and looked down, the brim of his hat hiding his eyes.

But his voice was sad and weary as he said, "You're a fool."

And deep down a quiet dread was growing in him, but Jack said firmly, "I know."

The Doctor sighed. "I said there were several problems with River's and my relationship. Well, one of them is that I've found out I'm to be at a very specific point in her past. April 22nd, 2011."

"Her past?" He couldn't help questioning the date, but when the Time Lord's head fell back against his arm so he could fix Jack with a look, he realized, "Right, time traveler. What happens in April?"

"She commits the murder that puts her in Stormcage." It was spoken lightly, like murder was just an average thing. But Jack didn't just hear the words, he saw them in the Doctor's eyes. And he saw what they really meant.

"No." He was numb, completely, feeling nothing except that dread that now rose up in him like a tidal wave. His friend slipped out from under his arm now that it had gone slack, and stood. "No, Doc—" He had the presence of mind to reach out and grab at the Time Lord's green coat, but the Doctor gently pried his hand off and placed it on the table, patting it twice.

"This is why you listen when I say don't ask, eh?" The alien smoothed out the wrinkles in his coat his hand had caused.

"Why is she going to—" He couldn't finish, but the Doctor understood.

"That's not really the issue. The issue is more why I have to die." Jack flinched. "That's what I'm going to find out first."

"I'm going with you." He half-rose from the booth, but his friend placed an arm out, signaling him to stop.

"No you're not, you're getting married. A companion is not what I came here for, Jack. Never again." His tone brokered no argument.

"Then what did you come here for?" He couldn't help demanding.

The Doctor took a breath. "Same as the last time you saw the last me, I suppose. I've been making a bit of a tour of it, Jack, but I thought I might give you a proper farewell." Jack sucked in a sharp breath at those words, and for some reason his friend smiled softly. "And another thanks for your previous advice. A fixed point isn't the only reason I'm doing this."

That only made him think of the infamous River Song, and something twisted painfully in his gut. "Why—"

"It's all become far more complicated and frustrating and wonderful, Jack, and I really don't have the time to explain it to you. But this is the only way she'll ever be free—yes, even in Stormcage," the Time Lord's eyes shone in amusement at that oxymoron.

He thought he might hate this woman.

"It's just as fixed for her as it is for me, Captain," the alien reminded, as if guessing at his thoughts. "But take this, wedding gift." A TARDIS-blue envelope was shoved in his hands, with far too many stamps along with his name on the front, and an infinity symbol on the back flap.

Infinity; always; a constant; fixed; him.

Jack opened it and two tickets to a cruise in the Caribbean fell out. "What, covering the tab wasn't enough?" He looked up, but found there was no one there to hear it.

His shoulders slumped, and with nothing left to do he trudged back home in the dark. His mood barely improved when he realized that that all-important April 22nd date happened to fall right in the middle of the cruise. Just making sure he was out of the way, then.

Ok, so this one was much more heavy on the sad, sorry about that. I'm just going to promise already that I'll write another one post-Wedding of River Song soon, to make it up to you guys. So yeah, thanks once more for reading and please review!