Title: Advice

Rating: K+

Summary: Crossover with Torchwood. Jack and the Doctor share some mutual advice.

Pairings: Doctor/Rose, Jack/Ianto

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or Torchwood.

Author's Note: This is my explanation to Jack's changed attitude to Ianto in Series Two of Torchwood. Because he and the Doctor share a lot in common now...

Advice

It was a brave move when Captain Jack Harkness decided to confront the Doctor. He knew the older man liked to keep his distance, and certainly to keep his personal life very personal. But ever since joining the Doctor and Rose in the TARDIS, Jack had been eager to have this talk.

"Doc," he said slowly.

"Don't call me 'Doc'," said the Doctor from beneath the TARDIS console. "What do you want?" Jack sighed.

"I want to know where I stand," he said. "Where I stand ... between you and Rose." The Doctor stood up from his position.

"What do you want with Rose?" he asked.

"I don't know," admitted Jack. "I know I like her. But I also know that you like her. A lot."

"Jack..." began the Doctor.

"I could see it when you danced together," continued Jack, despite the Doctor's protests. "You two just seemed to fit. And I don't want to jeopardise that." The Doctor sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"I do... care for her," he said. "But I'm a Time Lord, Jack. 900 years old me, and she's a human, still in her teens. Do you realise the complications that arise from that?" Jack scratched his head.

"No offence Doc...tor," he added the rest of the word before the Doctor could say anything, "but where I come from it's sorta anything goes, as you know."

"But anything could happen," said the Doctor. "She could die tomorrow. She could be taken from me. I could be taken from her."

"Maybe you wouldn't," reasoned Jack.

"Exactly," said the Doctor, swallowing. "In which case, she'd get old. She'd age, and wither, and die, right in front of me. While I have to live on, alone. Can you understand that, Jack?" Jack put his hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

"No, I can't," he admitted. "But I don't believe in thinking about tomorrow. I believe in thinking about today. And if I wanted Rose Tyler as much as you wanted her now, I wouldn't waste another minute." He sighed. "Anyway, I'm going to bed. Night."

As Jack left, the Doctor thought about his words.

After defeating the Master, it was a while before the Doctor took Jack back to Cardiff. While Martha was off meeting some friends, the Doctor and Jack sat down to have a talk.

"So everything's back to normal, huh?" said Jack. The Doctor sighed.

"Yeah," he said. "But how are you? After everything you've been through?" Jack shrugged it off.

"I'll get over it," he said. "I like to think I'm fairly resilient when it comes to being imprisoned, tortured and killed on a daily basis." The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Does that imply that you're not resilient when it comes to ... other matters?" he questioned.

"You could say that," replied Jack. "I'm what, 180 now? You may still be a few years my senior Doctor, but I'm catching you." The Doctor smiled.

"Anyway," continued Jack, "I know what it's like now. To live on, while everyone around you dies. Everyone you care about, everyone you love." The Doctor nodded in understanding.

"You've found someone, haven't you?" he said. "And you're afraid of getting close to them."

"Well, what's your definition of 'close'?" asked Jack. "Cause there was this one time with a stopwatch..."

"Okay Jack, spare me the details," said the Doctor, raising his hand. "I mean spiritually. Emotionally. Allowing yourself to admit that you have deep, genuine feelings for this person." Jack put his head in his hands.

"I've done it so many times before," he said. "I've been married, you know. But it always ends the same way. They die - I live. And after all this time, I don't think I can do it anymore. It seems like the only way I can save myself is by stopping myself from giving in." The Doctor nodded.

"I thought I could live that way with Rose," he said. "But it ended up hurting me more than ever. If there's one thing I regret, it's that I never told her. And now she'll never know."

"Oh, I think she knew," said Jack. The Doctor swallowed, and changed the subject.

"Who is she?" he questioned.

"He," corrected Jack. "Ianto. Ianto Jones. We've had some rocky times, to say the least. But I've forgiven him, and he's forgiven me. I want him Doctor, so bad. But I don't want another heartbreak tomorrow." The Doctor nodded, and stared deep into Jack's eyes.

"You know," he said, "a wise man once told me that you should go through life not thinking about tomorrow, but thinking about today." He grinned. "And if I wanted this Ianto Jones as much as you want him now, then I wouldn't waste another minute." Jack closed his eyes, and nodded.

"Best advice I've heard in a long time," he said. "Whoever thought of that must be a really smart guy..."

"Now don't you start!"

Okay, so I know this kinda contradicts the Doctor's behaviour towards Rose in Journey's End ("Does it need saying?" Of course it does! You're never going to see the poor girl again! Anyway...)

Hope you like. Please review.