1Summary: Jack comes to London on business and sees someone he didn't expect to, short of a disaster happening.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Doctor Who other than some DVDs. Just borrowing the characters and not planning on doing them any harm, promise.
A/N Just a short ficlet in the Best Mates 'verse. I'm trying to jumpstart my muse on the other fics I have lined up for this series. Hard to do when one is sneezing one's head off, right? Ugh! *sniffle*
Jack Harkness was in London at a very nice restaurant, treating himself to an expensive dinner because of having just finished up with the bosses of Torchwood London a couple of hours before. He figured he deserved it for the headaches they induced.
Having paid already and gotten up to leave, the laugh of a pretty redhead behind a low wall got his attention. Looking over, he was startled to see a friend he'd not seen for a while, a particular Gallifreyan.
Surprised to see the Time Lord, he was very curious about the woman with him, so he hung back and watched the pair. It was obvious to him that the Doctor cared a great deal for her and Jack was even kind of shocked to see his friend hand the pretty redhead a present.
He slipped a little closer to get a better look at this situation. When she opened the box, Jack's jaw nearly hit the floor. A wide bracelet that, if his eyes didn't deceive him, was Geravic diamonds set in palladium. A LOT of Geravic diamonds. That was a small fortune that the Doctor was putting around the ginger's wrist. She gave him an enthusiastic hug for it, too. Then there was the fact the bracelet was put on over an interesting tattoo on her right wrist that he'd really have liked to have gotten a closer look at as well.
When she left the table to go to the ladies room, Jack walked over from behind the pillar where he'd been standing, "Hello, Doctor, fancy meeting you here!"
The Doctor gave him a surprised double-take and then a glare as he growled, "No, absolutely not, you will not ruin her birthday!" He made shooing motions, "I'm enough of a trouble magnet alone, the two of us in the same place at the same time is just asking for it and I promised her there wouldn't be any adventure today. Go away, Jack Harkness, go away right now!"
Jack backed off in shock at how serious the Time Lord sounded, "Whoa! Since when do you admit that you're a trouble magnet?"
When the Doctor just upped the level of glare, he relented, "Okay, okay. Just wanted to say hi and meet the new companion, that's all." He backed up and turned away.
"Another time," the Doctor said. He then also muttered under his breath, "After I've had ample time to warn her about you in advance."
As he walked away, Jack wondered if he'd been supposed to hear that last remark, but chose not to comment on it. The first thing he did once he was outside the restaurant was to call a friend.
While the phone rang he looked back inside through the window at the Doctor and his companion, who appeared to be ordering dessert from a trolley and he grinned at that. Once the phone was picked up on the other end, he said, "Martha, how are you? I'm good, just in town on some Torchwood business. No, nothing like that, just bureaucratic red tape."
He paused and laughed, "You know me so well. Okay you got me. I'm curious about the Doctor's redheaded friend."
The squeal on the other end of the phone made him pull it away from his ear before he said, "She's that redhead? Really?" He hurriedly continued, "Well I'm looking at them right now. They're in a fancy restaurant finishing their dinner and ordering dessert. The Doctor said something about ruining her birthday and too many trouble magnets in one place and ordered me to leave."
He paused again and then laughed, "That's what iI/i said, but he just glared at me more."
He listened again and asked, "What do you mean, he said it was her birthday and I saw him give her a very expensive bracelet, how should I know?" Then something occurred to him and he snapped his fingers, "I've got it. They've probably been traveling together so much, this is when her birthday should be, instead of a couple of months by the calendar." After listening to Martha some more, he grinned and used his sexiest voice, "So, is there any chance I can get you to let me be your plus one for that little party without you telling the Doctor I'll be there?" He chuckled, "Thanks, gorgeous!" His grin was from ear to ear.
The grin morphed into a smirk when he looked back in the window to see the redhead giving the Doctor a bite of her desert and then the Doctor doing the same for her with his. A speculative gleam entered his eye as he answered the obvious question put to him, "If you had heard the tone he used and could see them right now, you'd agree with me that he's being downright territorial over this Donna Noble. It really looks like they're a, dare I actually say it? A couple!"
Another pause and he nodded, "Yeah, it could just be protectiveness over what that jerk Lance tried to do to her, but I'm not so sure. I'd like another opportunity to study their chemistry in a different setting. You can call it an experiment," he chuckled lightly.
His eyebrows shot to his hairline, "She said that? Yeah, I guess he actually iis/i that skinny, but how he manages to stay that way eating cookies and cake all the time is something I've never figured out."
He sighed, "Yeah, it was good talking to you, too. I'll see you in about six weeks then," he hung up and took one last look at the laughing pair before he walked away.