Title: Five Times Jack Harkness Never Interfered With Rose Tyler's Timeline (and One Time That He Did)
Author: travels_in_time
Rating/Characters: G / Jack, Rose
Spoilers: Minor for DW S1; a few lines from "Utopia".
Summary: See title. :D A more detailed summary might spoil for "Utopia".

Note: Beta'd by jadesfire2808 and miss_zedem. Many thanks to them for Brit-picking, fixing sentence structures, and starting the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to the Common Semi-colon.



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"I went back to her estate...just once or twice. Watched her growing up. Never said hello. Timelines and all that..."

--Jack Harkness, Utopia


*********************************


Jack glanced up at the sky. It was overcast, although as yet there was no threat of rain. He could feel something building up, though. Nothing as prosaic as a thunderstorm; what he felt was a disturbance in time, a fluctuation in the fabric of the universe.

The Time Agency had machines, gadgets, instruments to detect all sorts of anomalies. He hadn’t needed anything like that since he’d woken up on the Game Station. He was his own detector. Major events scraped on his psychic nerves like fingernails on blackboards.

Whatever sort of sense it was had drawn him to London this time, and he was wandering aimlessly, searching for any kind of clue to what was happening, when the world suddenly went black.

He wasn't sure how much later it was when he woke up and staggered to the curb, just in time to be violently sick. Finally looking up, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his face, he glanced around. It wasn't much darker; he must not have been out for too long, even though it had felt like an eternity. An eternity of darkness, nothingness...

He shook that thought off, trying to concentrate. What magnitude of problem would it have had to be, to have caused this sort of reaction in him?

It was difficult to think with the increasing noise. Some sort of major commotion seemed to be happening nearby. He headed towards it, rounding the corner to find himself in front of a church. An ambulance was parked in the middle of the road; this seemed to be where most of the noise was coming from. There were various people in what looked like wedding attire, most of them gathered around one blonde woman who was motionless, staring at the stretcher being loaded into the back of the ambulance.

Jack followed her gaze. The body on the stretcher was completely covered. He didn't think that was a good sign.

One girl stood a little ways from the others, holding a baby tightly, tears streaming down her face, also watching the ambulance.

"What's going on?" he asked her. "Is everyone all right?"

She turned, seeing him for the first time. "It's Pete," she said, gulping. "Pete's--he's dead."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry. Everyone else is okay, though?"

This couldn't be what had caused him to black out. There was no reason that one man's death would have had that kind of impact on the timeline. There had to be more to it than that, but he couldn't figure out what.

She nodded, sniffing. "It was a car. Just came right out of nowhere--he didn't have time to get out of the way--"

The baby she was holding met Jack's eyes and babbled suddenly, and Jack grinned at her. "Hi there, sweetheart. Yours?" he said to the girl.

Evidently it was the wrong question. Through a fresh outburst of tears she managed, "No. This is Pete's daughter, Pete and Jackie. Poor baby, her dad..."

Pete and Jackie? Jack looked for his handkerchief for a moment, his mind racing, before remembering what had happened to it and deciding not to offer it to the girl. "This is Rose? The baby?" He did some sums in his head. Yes, it would be the right time frame...

She nodded. "You know them?"

He shrugged noncommittally; apparently that was enough for the girl, though. "I'm sorry, but would you mind?" She indicated Rose. "They asked me to take her, obviously Jackie can't, but I absolutely have to go right now before I burst."

He found himself with an armful of baby before he could protest, with the girl dashing off towards the church, calling back, "Won't be a minute, I promise!"

He looked down at the baby, raising an eyebrow at her as her face puckered up. "It's okay, sweetheart. I've got you." She calmed as he spoke, watching him with huge eyes.

He couldn't believe it. After a hundred years, here it was--proof that he hadn't dreamed the whole thing, proof that, regardless of the Daleks and the nightmares that still haunted him after all this time, Rose Tyler really did exist. Which meant that everything else he'd nearly given up on was true, too.

The girl returned quickly, and he passed Rose back to her. At least he tried. The baby caught hold of one of his braces and held on tightly.

"It's all right," he told her, disentangling the tiny fingers gently. "You'll be seeing me again."

He smiled as he turned away. The girl was heading towards the others, who were arranging transportation to the hospital and clean-up of the wedding festivities. No one was paying any attention to him.

"You'll definitely be seeing me again. I'll make sure of that."

He still didn't have any idea what had caused the time disturbance, but it would be a good idea to keep an eye on Rose in the future. Strictly for her own good, of course.

*****************************

It was the only patch of green near the estate; he figured she'd show up there eventually, and sure enough, on the first dry Saturday in March a horde of children descended on the playground, completely ignoring the man sitting on the park bench, reading.

He picked her out of the crowd with ease. Her hair was light brown, but he recognized that wide grin, even upside down. She was practicing handstands and cartwheels, falling down giggling whenever she overbalanced.

He stayed focused on the book he was holding for the most part, careful not to draw attention to himself. He wasn't even sure why he was there, really. He told himself he was just checking the timelines, making sure everything was on schedule to happen as he already knew it should.

Despite himself, he glanced up as he heard her calling to the slightly older boy who stood behind her at the swings. "Higher! Push me higher!"

Obediently, the boy did so, and Rose squealed with excitement, her hair blowing loose around her as she swung. "Look at me, I'm flying!"

Smiling, he closed the book and stood up, walking away without looking back, as the sound of her laughter followed him.

**************************************

There really was no excuse for the next trip. It was just an exercise in time-travel mechanics, Jack decided; a concrete confirmation of an abstract theory. He didn't even expect to see her.

Rose had told him of that off-hand remark the Doctor had made, once when they were discussing the inherent difficulties posed by linear humans travelling non-linearly through time and space. They'd laughed and resolved to ask him again, to make him tell them about it. Then they'd gotten trapped in the carnivorous forests of Cheem (after they'd become sentient, but before they'd adopted civilization) and by the time they got out, they'd forgotten all about it.

But stuck on Earth during those endless years, Jack had remembered, and worked out the dates, and now he stood out in the alley behind a large rubbish bin, hands stuck in the pockets of his warm coat and still shivering.

He didn't have long to wait. He felt rather than heard the vibrations rumble through the space-time continuum and closed his eyes, fighting the urge to run toward the sound. He couldn't. Not yet. It wouldn't be the right time, not for a few years to come. Linearly speaking, of course, which was the point, wasn't it?

He opened his eyes, trying to remember what the point was, and saw the figure in the black leather jacket wrestling a bicycle up the stairs of the building. He was completely unprepared for the surge of longing he felt upon seeing the familiar figure. He ducked his head, swallowing hard, and didn't see the Doctor freeze suddenly, peering out into the darkness. Apparently he saw nothing untoward. After a moment, he turned his attention back to his task.

Jack heard muffled cursing as the tires of the bicycle caught momentarily in the railing, and grinned, looking up again.

The Doctor had deposited the bicycle outside the Tylers' door and was headed back downstairs, quickly but quietly. Jack shrank back against the bin, intending to wait until the Doctor went back to the TARDIS before coming out of hiding.

Instead, the Doctor was standing still, looking at the alleyway. "I know you're there," he said, quietly but clearly. "I can feel you." He frowned. "You're causing some sort of major disturbance to the Time Vortex, and that can't be good." He waited. Jack stayed frozen, barely daring to breathe.

"You don't have to be afraid," the Doctor said, still quietly. "I can help you."

Neither one of them moved for a moment; then the Doctor sighed. "All right, I'm coming in. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." He headed for the alley entrance, with that determined look that Jack knew so well on his face.

Jack broke and ran, bolting down the alley in the other direction, hearing the Doctor's voice calling over his pounding feet and racing heartbeat, even after he was streets away.

He knew he'd hear it calling him in dreams for a long time.

************************************

Rose was fifteen before he dared to go back. She was blonde now, mostly; inexpert streaks and dark patches testified that she'd probably done the job herself. She was quiet and sullen, and Jack watched her, and her surroundings, for several days before contriving to be casually sitting on the park bench again as she wandered by.

She looked at him cautiously and made a wide bypass around the bench, heading for the swings. He waited until she settled into one before speaking. "Rose Tyler?"

She met his gaze, frowning. "Yeah?"

"Everything all right, Rose?"

"Who are you?" She was still frowning, her full attention fixed on him.

He already knew what he'd have to do, but there was no point in causing more disruption than necessary. "Just a friend."

"A friend of whose?" She was suspicious, and probably right to be, he thought.

"That's not important. I just have a few questions about your mother's new boyfriend."

"Kenny?" Rose's eyes lifted to his for a moment, unguarded. What he saw made him forget any shreds that were left of the resolve he'd had to not get involved. "What about him?"

"There've been some complaints about him. We're just checking, seeing if anyone knows anything."

Rose left the swing, came over to stand in front of him, a cautious distance away. "Who are you?"

"I could tell you I'm with Social Services." He smiled up at her. She didn't smile back. "But that wouldn't be the whole truth." It wouldn't be any truth at all, he didn't say. "Let's just say I'm interested in Kenny, and I need to know if he's been bothering you."

She crossed her arms and turned away. "He's my mum's boyfriend."

"This has nothing to do with your mother," he assured her. "This isn't official. Nothing you say will go on any record, anywhere."

She looked back at him, narrowing her eyes. "Then why are you asking? What's going to happen?"

"I'm asking because I want to know. As for what will happen--well, that depends on what you tell me."

She sighed. "He hasn't done anything."

He felt the tension drain out of him, tension he hadn't even realized was there until after it was gone. He controlled his reaction, nodded at her to continue.

She sat down tentatively on the other end of the bench, moving the water bottle that was there out of the way. "He makes me nervous. It's the way he looks at me, I dunno, it's creepy. He's all the time coming over when Mum's at work, lying around with no shirt on. He says things...I've started staying out of the flat when he's there." She looked up at him. "What are you going to do? You won't tell Mum, will you?"

"I won't tell her," he assured her. He felt that tight grin cross his face, the one that meant something very bad was going to happen to someone. "As for what I'm going to do--I'm going to take care of Kenny."

To his surprise, Rose grinned back. "Good."

"He won't bother you again, Rose. I promise you that." He stood up. "If your mother asks, you don't know anything at all."

"Course not." Rose picked up the water bottle as he turned away. "You've left this."

He smiled at her. "You can have it."

She checked the seal, then twisted the cap off, taking a sip as he walked away. He didn't go very far before turning back to look at her; she was slumped, half-lying on the bench, eyes fluttering closed even as he watched.

He went back to prop her up more comfortably. "You're far too trusting, Rose Tyler," he murmured into her ear. "Don't talk to strange men. Don't accept drinks from them, either, even if they look safe. And for goodness' sake don't go wandering off with them."

He stepped back, glancing around to make sure no one was watching. "Well," he amended. "Only if they have a big blue box that can travel in time."

He waited from a safe distance until she began struggling to sit up, blinking and looking around groggily. Then he double-checked the gun on his hip and the retcon in his pocket, and went off to find Kenny.


*************************

He didn't see Rose when he came back the next time, at least not up close. He caught glimpses of her, but she seemed to spend most of her time holed up in the flat, on the phone with one or another of her friends.

He did see Jackie, up far too close. Evidently he'd been careless about being seen, and she stormed towards him one night shouting something about one of Rose's ex-boyfriends sending stalkers around.

He was retreating, protesting that he didn't know what she was talking about, wondering if it would help if he flirted with her, when she hit him with the bag of groceries she was carrying.

Judging from the weight of it, there was a tin of something or other in there. Holding his eye in disbelief--and it was going to be a beautiful black eye, he could feel it coming on already--he stared at her as she shook the bag at him threateningly and finished, "And stay away from her, too, I mean it, or it won't be your pretty face that gets smacked next time!"

She stomped off then, huffing over her shoulder at him, and he grinned despite the pain. Under other circumstances, he thought, he'd have quite enjoyed getting to know Jackie Tyler.

************************

The last time, he didn't go to the estate. He went to Henrik's. It was a bit of a struggle, but in the end he left his greatcoat behind, not wanting her to have any memories to connect to him later. He pulled on a baseball cap and sunglasses and wandered around the store for a while, watching her.

She chatted with colleagues, was polite to customers, pulled faces at supervisors behind their backs, stacked and re-folded endless piles of clothing. It seemed incredibly mind-numbing. He couldn't imagine how she could possibly manage to summon up the same smile for the last customer of the day that she gave to the first one.

It was a normal, ordinary day, and he watched her move through it unseeingly, never noticing him.

Tomorrow, he knew, would be her last day there. Tomorrow she would find plastic mannequins threatening her in the basement. Tomorrow there would be terror and death and destruction and unexpected adventure.

After tomorrow he wouldn't see her anymore. There would be a year when no one would see her, when Jackie would be frantically searching and posting her face all over town. After that it would be too dangerous to go searching for her--for them--for some time, until the timelines finally caught up with each other. There would be too great a danger of finding a version of himself still travelling with them. And after that...he couldn't predict. That was where his knowledge ran out.

So he watched her on this last normal day, and memorized her face, the way she smiled, the way she tucked a random strand of hair behind her ear, the way she giggled at something whispered behind a hand as she passed a colleague.

"Good luck, Rose Tyler," he whispered, turning away finally. "Safe journey."