Silencing the Drums

IN WHICH THE DOCTOR RECEIVES SOME RELUCTANT HELP FROM AN OLD FRIEND


"I need your help, Jack."

Jack set his pint glass down on the scuffed chrome bar top and flashed the Doctor a grin. "You must, if you found me all the way out here."

"Last outpost with TARDIS parking," The Doctor said with a shrug and a thin smile. "I don't think you come here by accident."

"You know me, Doctor. Always waiting for you." Jack signaled the bartender for another drink and drained the dregs from his glass. "Like the new regeneration, by the way. Nice nose. Not sure about the bowtie, though."

The Doctor snorted and turned his attention to the bright blue cocktail in front of him. "What is this? If I recall correctly, it is never a good idea to let you order the drinks. Last time I did that I woke up with a cat on my head and no pants on."

Jack laughed. "It's harmless. Favorite cocktail of the Blue Binders of Delta Scorpi Eleven. Little vodka, little distilled Norgoglr, nothing a Time Lord can't handle. Me – I prefer a little old-fashioned earth whisky."

The Doctor sniffed at the drink and stuck a finger in, tasting cautiously. He wrinkled his nose and shook his finger dry, then pushed the glass away from him. "Like I said, never a good idea."

Jack shrugged and took the glass, setting it down next to his own. "Your loss. So what'd you come here for, anyway? Not very often you ask for my help."

"I need to borrow something, and I hope you still have it. Now, you're not to ask questions or make assumptions or anything like that. I promise you, it's not what it sounds like." He took a deep breath, looked intently at his own hands folded on the bar top, and said, "I need the Atraxian lead, if you don't mind."

Jack stared at him a moment, then burst out laughing. "The Atraxian lead! You want the Atraxian lead, and you want me not to make assumptions. Sorry, Doctor – too late for that." He leaned over and set his shoulder against the Doctor's, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "So, who's the lucky lady? Or man? Can't say I'm not jealous-"

"Jack, leave it," The Doctor grumbled, shaking him off. "I told you, it's not what you think. I have a… guest. A rather meddlesome guest, and I need the lead to keep an eye on him."

"You going to share names?" Jack asked with an edge of seriousness, all teasing aside. "I like the lead for kink factor myself, but that's a pretty hefty piece of equipment for 'keeping an eye' on someone."

The Doctor glanced up at Jack, then looked away again. "You would be so disappointed if I told you."

"Try me."

"First, tell me that you still have what I need."

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Kept a little collection back on Earth, stuff that I thought I might need after... after I lost Torchwood." He took a swift drink, then followed it up with the blue cocktail, grimacing at the alien burn. "You'll have to take me there – vortex manipulator's on the fritz again."

"I can't take you inside the TARDIS," The Doctor replied abruptly. "Not with my… guest. That would be such a bad idea."

"You're starting to worry me, Doctor. If you're asking me for the lead now, how exactly have you got this thing secured now?"

The Doctor shifted in his seat, looking sheepish for a moment. "He's locked in my spare room. Behind a cabinet." Seeing the sudden look of horror on Jack's face he added, "It's a very heavy cabinet, I promise. No chance of shifting it."

"A cabinet." Jack leaned back, surveying the Doctor warily. "You need the Atraxian lead to control this thing, and you have him locked up behind a cabinet."

"He's in no fit state to escape," The Doctor countered. "Can hardly stand up. He's been through hell and back again, suffered a forced regeneration that seems to have stopped short and- oh dear, now I've ruined it."

Jack jumped off his barstool and backed away, looking left and right as though he expected the Master to leap out of nowhere at him. "That's not possible. He died, and even if he hadn't, you wouldn't dare-" He squinted at the Doctor incredulously. "But you would, wouldn't you? That's what you were going to do with him, if Lucy hadn't shot him. You were going to keep him."

"What would you have done?" The Doctor snapped. "Honestly, Jack, if the very last, the very last member of your species showed up at your door, broken and dying, would you have left him there?"

"Do you know how many times he had me killed?" Jack demanded, lowering his voice a notch. A few of the other bar patrons were looking their way, bemused. "He's going to get away from you, and when he does it's going to be bad. He had the entire planet hypnotized in, what, six months? You know what he's capable of-"

"I know!" The Doctor started, surprised by his own intensity. "Look, are you going to help me or not? I don't need a lecture."

"Maybe you do." Jack sat back down, though he still seemed wary of getting too close to the Doctor. "Sure, I'll help you. You always know what you're doing, right? Let me just finish this drink." He tossed back the rest of his whisky and the blue cocktail in two bracing swallows, then slid a few bills across the counter and stood up, holding his coat around himself like a shield.

"You're not coming with me, Jack."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Then you're not getting the lead. I told you, I can't get myself back to Earth right now. The TARDIS is my only ride. Trust me, I'm not looking for it either, now that I know you've got a crazy ex-Prime Minister in your back room."

The Doctor weighed his options, looking from Jack to the door and back again. He shifted, clearly agitated, then nodded towards the exit. "You should be fine as long as you don't go wandering. Just one short hop, Jack – you're on your own after that."

"Thanks, Doctor," Jack said, clapping him on the shoulder, a grin creeping tentatively across his features. "Just like old times. You promise me one hop, I get a couple more centuries under my belt."

The Doctor gave a wry smile and pulled the door open for him. "Just, look, whatever you do – steer clear of the library pool, alright?"