**The Weight of Time**
Prompt: Before jack harkness became immortal het traveld with the doctor and rose on the tardis. During this time he got sick and tried to hide it because he was scared the doctor would make him leave. The doctor eventualy notices that jack is sick and takes care of him
The TARDIS hummed softly as it floated through the fabric of time and space, cloaked in its familiar blue exterior. Inside, the air was thick with the scent of adventure and the thrill of the unknown. Jack Harkness leaned against the console, his heart racing not just from the excitement of yet another journey with the Doctor and Rose, but from the tightness in his chest that had begun to plague him over the past few days.
“Where to next, Doctor?” Rose Tyler asked, her bright eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. She adjusted the controls, a cheeky smile tugging at her lips.
The Doctor, with his wild hair and even wilder enthusiasm for all things cosmic, scanned the readouts. “How about a nice little trip to 1920s Paris? Jazz, art, and a bit of mischief! I think we could use a bit of a soirée, don’t you?” His voice had a melodic lilt, full of the promise of adventure.
“Count me in!” Jack said, forcing excitement into his tone. Inside, however, he felt a gnawing discomfort. It was nothing he couldn’t handle, or so he told himself. The Doctor had been through so much, Rose bringing a buoyancy to his life that he desperately needed. Jack just wouldn’t allow anything to ruin that. Not now.
With a whirl of the controls and a jolt, the TARDIS landed. The doors swung open to disclosure a bustling Paris street, effervescent with energy. Jack stepped out, swallowing back a surge of dizziness, and planted a wide grin on his face. “Guys, let’s go make some history!”
As they explored the streets, the jazz music enveloped them, twining through the air like the very essence of life. Rose laughed, dancing beneath the twinkling lights adorning the cafés. The Doctor, full of exuberance, mimicked the musicians, charming everyone around them. Jack, however, continued to feel that simmering heat rush through him, coated with a layer of fatigue that made his joyful antics appear far more effortless than they felt.
Over the following days, they jumped from one adventure to the next, but while Rose and the Doctor reveled in the thrill of each moment, Jack began to notice that he was growing weaker. Every day, he forced himself to push past the pain, donning the charade of confidence that had always been his armor. He couldn’t show weakness; they’d been in tight spots before, and the last thing he wanted was for the Doctor to send him away. No, he’d never let that happen.
“Jack, you alright?” Rose asked one day as they sat on a rooftop, overlooking the Seine. The sun had dipped low, casting an amber glow over her features.
“Absolutely! Just a bit… tired. You know how it is.” He flashed a grin, topping it off with a wink to brush off her concern. “Too much dancing and not enough coffee!”
The truth was, he had started to feel sick—the ague that clung to him, the shivers that coursed through his body, a dull ache settling in his bones. He clenched his jaw, rehearsing his carefree persona to mask the weariness that threatened to crush him. As the days bled into one another, he grew more proficient in the art of deception.
But the Doctor, with his nose for trouble and an uncanny intuition, sensed something amiss. One night, as they returned to the TARDIS after a fraught encounter with rogue time-travelers, the Doctor turned to Jack, a concerned crease forming across his brow.
“Jack, you’ve been off lately,” he said, his tone far more serious than usual. “What’s going on?”
Jack hesitated, his heart pounding in his chest. “Off? Come on, Doctor, I just saved your life back there!” He laughed, trying to convince them both.
“Don’t be daft. You’re not fooling me.” The Doctor’s gaze bore into him, an ocean of compassion beneath his playful surface. “You look like you’ve been dragged through a time vortex.”
Jack opened his mouth to retort but choked back the words. He couldn’t shake the fear that the moment he divulged his illness, he would be cast aside—just another casualty of time. But the weight of the Doctor’s stare was too strong.
“I’m fine,” he whispered, almost pleading. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
The Doctor stepped closer, his tone softening. “Jack, just… let me help you.”
For a fleeting moment, Jack considered revealing everything—the fever that had taken hold, the relentless pounding behind his eyes. But pride swelled in his chest, rooting him to the spot. “I just need some rest.”
“Okay,” the Doctor said slowly, but the concern clinging to him was palpable. “You’ll get that, I won’t push, yet.”
Days passed, each one heavier than the last. Jack staggered about, fighting the grip of his illness with every ounce of will he had, though it drained him further. It wasn’t until they found themselves on a deserted alien planet, dust swirling in the thin atmosphere, that his facade collapsed.
Jack collapsed to his knees, engulfed in the harsh grip of sickness. The Doctor and Rose rushed to his side, their faces morphing from concern to alarm.
“Jack!” Rose cried, kneeling beside him, her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at her. “What’s happening?”
“Just a bit dizzy,” Jack mumbled, breathing heavily. But they could see the truth written across his pallid features, the sheen of sweat on his forehead.
“Stay here. Rose, look for shelter!” The Doctor’s voice took on a commanding tone, bolstered by urgency. He placed a hand on Jack’s forehead, frowning at the heat radiating from him.
Jack felt the world tilt, the colors around him blurring into shades of gray. “Doctor, please… I can’t…” he whispered, the walls of his stubbornness beginning to crumble.
The Doctor knelt closer, the strain of concern distorting his usually carefree demeanor. “You can’t do this alone, Jack. Let me help you.”
And with those words, the weight that Jack had carried for so long began to lift. He felt the warmth of the Doctor’s hand on his forehead, steady and reassuring, like the heartbeat he had sought all this time.
“I’m scared of losing this,” Jack confessed, his voice trembling as if admitting the fear would make it real. “You, Rose… this… everything.”
The Doctor’s face softened, filled with understanding. “You won’t lose us,” he vowed. “I promise.”
Wrapped in the Doctor’s care and Rose’s steady presence, the fear that had consumed Jack eased as they sheltered him from the storm brewing within him. For the first time, he didn’t feel alone in his battle against the darkness.
In the depths of sickness, amidst the shadows of vulnerability, Jack discovered something far more profound than immortality: the unwavering bonds that tethered him, heart and soul, to the time travelers who had embraced him as family.
