preserved_ginger

Title: Crossed Wires
Character(s): Ten. Jack. Mention of Rose.
Pairing(s): Ten/Rose, implied Jack/Ten
Rating: PG-13
Beta(s):

brilliantomega
Disclaimer: I am not the BBC!
Setting/Spoilers: Post Doctor/Rose reunion, no spoilers.
A/N: Not only can I write fluff, I also appear capable of writing crackish fluff! This is for anyone who wondered what the Doctor meant when he asked Jack if he ‘might have a word’ in Visiting Jack. Crackish. You have been warned.
Summary: Perfectly easy mistake to make, happens all the time.

After the door closed behind himself and the Doctor, separating them from Rose so the two of them could speak privately, Jack watched the Doctor get straight to the point. It was obvious that he still felt somewhat guilty about the whole “wrong” conversation, and Jack would wager that he didn't want to leave Rose any longer than he had to, either. In the short period of time he’d seen the two of them since they’d arrived, he’d seen nothing that suggested they actively liked being apart from each other.

“Jack?”

“Doctor?”

“Will you marry me?”

After seeing how the Doctor had been with Rose only seconds ago – looking at her with an expression on his face that said that all his Christmases had come at once – when the Time Lord had asked ‘for a quick word’ Jack had not seen this coming.

“Lemme get this straight. You want me to marry you. Is that right?”

“That’s what I said, Jack. Will you? Marry me, that is?”

Jack was starting to feel rather flustered.

“This is all rather sudden. I wasn’t expecting this. Have you told Rose yet?”

“Rose?”

“Yes. Rose. You know – the beautiful girl in there who loves you more than life? That Rose.”

Jack saw something unreadable flash across the Doctor’s expression before he turned his attention back to him. He looked slightly confused, so Jack clarified things for him a little. “Doctor, I'm not marrying you without Rose’s consent.”

“But it’s supposed to be a surprise!” The Doctor appeared to be getting more confused by the second.

“You call breaking her heart a surprise? I don’t know about Time Lords, but let me tell you this – it’s not what humans would call a ‘nice’ surprise.” It was then Jack's turn to be surprised as he saw the Doctor’s face fall.

“You mean she doesn’t want to marry me?” The Doctor’s voice was small and his tone heart-broken and for just a moment Jack saw a vision of a young, unsure little boy rather than the man with all of time and space at his fingertips.

And then what the Doctor had said finally registered with his brain and he felt himself blush as the penny dropped.

“Wait … I thought you wanted to …” Jack trailed off miserably as the Doctor blinked at him, as he too seemed to realise what Jack had been thinking.

"Jack, flattered as I am —" the Doctor got no further as Jack interrupted.

"No, no, it's quite all right. Perfectly easy mistake to make, happens all the time. Of course I will marry you. To Rose." Jack couldn’t look the Doctor in the eye; he just wanted this conversation to be over. And then the Doctor seemed to decide that he’d been away from Rose for quite long enough, thank you very much, and walked back into the room where she was waiting for him.

Jack took a moment to calm himself down before following the Doctor back in. It was his Hub, after all. He could go where he liked.

He just wished he didn't feel quite so much of an eejit.