Public Service Announcement

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

['Ryotarou' appears on the Plane, megaphone in hand. He turns it on, then begins addressing what is assumed to be everyone else within hearing range]

For those of you who are not yet aware, me and Ryotarou have switched bodies. 'Me' being Jack Harkness. We're hoping it's only temporary, but until then, here's the deal:

If you wish to drink my blood, kiss me, sleep with me, harm my body just because you can, or flirt with me, wait until things go back to normal. Same goes if you want to talk to me about something sexual, important, private, supposedly-secret, or have any conversation you don't feel could be taken seriously with Ryotarou involved.

Comments

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

As far as any of us can tell, it's another experiment from the Twins.

[Then he pauses a moment, and looks thoughtful] You....don't feel repulsed.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

How predictable.

[tilts her head] No. Should I?

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

And annoying.

No, you shouldn't...[He half mumbles it, as if he's too caught up thinking of something to properly respond]

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

That, too.

[blinks] Is something the matter?

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

[Slowly, a smile starts to appear on his face, until it becomes a full-blown grin] I missed this, being able to be near you without feeling like trash.

I just wish he had at lest some measure of psychic ability; then it'd be like things were before.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

This body is not unnatural; it does not pain me.

'Before?' What do you mean?

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

I know. I'm glad.

When I used to travel with you and the Doctor, back when I was human. My abilities weren't quite as developed, but they were enough; there was always this sort of...background hum, almost like the one your machinery made. Not quite though, and I could only hear it in my head.

Then again, maybe I just remember things differently; it's been a long time.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

[yeah, she's just ... staring at you] You have never travelled in me. The first I learned of you was upon my appearance here when the Doctor told me of your existence. I do not know you, nor have I ever touched your mind.

[tilts her head] You ... believe me to be the Tenth Doctor's TARDIS?

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

[Jack just stares at her for a moment, the grin replaced by an expression of surprise and hurt. When he speaks, the words sound weak even to his own ears] You don't.....you don't know me.

[Its not even a question, just a simple fact. And at the moment, it's breaking Jack]

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

No, I do not. I have not reached that point in my time line. You are the product of my future, that is all.

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

Might not even reach that point, if we're from diverting realities. {[It's the Ninth Doctor all over again, and all Jack can do is force himself to shut down his emotions, his face becoming a mask lacking any expression]

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

[shakes her head] No, I believe we are from the same time line. The events of my present are remembered by your Doctor.

[frowns, considering him] You are ... bothered by my lack of knowledge? Why?

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

So you'll get to meet me eventually.

I don't....I miss what it was like to be human. Traveling with you, the Doctor, and Rose. Being normal and fitting in among people I grew to love.....neither you nor the version of his Ninth regeneration remember me.

It's as if the Doctor one day forgot all you'd gone through with him, and just knew you as you are now.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

I will. [thoughtful] I will have the opportunity to love you, as the TARDIS you once travelled in did. And I will have the opportunity to lose you, also as she had to.

Without the Doctor, I am nothing. I would be dead centuries past were it not for him. Him not knowing me is akin to a death knell.

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

[The smallest of smiles appears on Jack's face] I hope you can understand, then, why I'm so loyal to both you and the Doctor. That was the best time of my life, human or Fact. I'm interested in knowing what you'll think then; I'll still be around.

That's exactly why it hurt, when I was told he didn't remember me. When you told me that.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

I do. And I am certain it was, as it has been for so many others before you. But I ... cannot change my biology, child. I cannot love what harms me, even if I so desperately want to.

[trails off, turning away, before sighing]

Perhaps. His is a changed universe, however; mine is a mere disparance in the time line. It is of no consequence.

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

...I understand. I don't blame you, not really. I know how I acted when it happened before suddenly, but believe me...if giving up my immortality would mean being able to be with you and the Doctor, I would give it up in a heartbeat.

...when you do meet me, you and the Doctor. Don't hold against the me of then what I am now, if you can.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

...I think, perhaps, I would like your company.

It will not sway me, I promise.

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

While I'm in this body? I couldn't think of anything better.

Thank you. It...means a lot.

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

[nods and, without speaking, reaches out to take his hand, squeezing lightly]

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

[He threads his fingers through hers, smile wider and more real than its been in a very long time]

[brigadiertardis.livejournal.com]

[returns the smile] Tell me what it was like? Tell me of your adventures?

[saythistostart.livejournal.com]

There's a lot to tell, with the Doctor involved. Not every day consisted of saving the Universe, but when we would run around, all three of us....there was no better feeling in the world.

He made a stop in 1942, followed a distress signal from a ship hurling through time. The Doctor had already picked up Rose by then, and at some point they must have gotten split up. I found her hanging from an air balloon above London, and she was the one that led me to him.