Drabble: Out Of Step

[bk_forever]

Title: Out Of Step

Author: badly_knitted

Characters: Jack, mentions the Doctor and Martha

Rating: PG

Written For: Challenge 304 – Time Zones at tw100

Spoilers: Tiny for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Doctor Who: Last of the Time Lords.

Summary: Jack knows where he is, but has no idea when.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.

Jack stood in the Plas, alone and feeling exhausted. The Doctor and Martha had left, fading away in the TARDIS and he realised he had no idea what day it was, or even what time of day. He couldn’t even work it out from the position of the sun, currently hidden behind heavy clouds.

He’d travelled all over the universe, was accustomed to jet lag, but this was far worse than crossing time zones. He was out of step with the rest of the world. A whole year had ceased to exist; it never happened. He needed time to readjust.

The End

Comments

[jedi-harkness.livejournal.com]

I must admit it always bugged me that after that year, Jack had to just step back into life just like that. Poor lamb must have needed to at least sleep for a few days. *hugs him*

[bk_forever]

Yes, it must have been so disorienting, coming back to a world that knew nothing of the year he'd just been through and trying to figure out how much time had passed since he left.

I like to think that when they had to avoid themselves after they got rid of Hart, Jack got some sleep clinging to his Ianto. Since he arrived in daylight but didn't catch up with his team until late at night, maybe he booked into a hotel and got some sleep then too.

Thank you.

[black59.livejournal.com]

It's so true!!
Fortunately, there Ianto

[bk_forever]

And Ianto will help Jack adjust, once Jack finds his team.

Thank you.

[jo02]

So very good - I could feel the exhaustion coming out of this.

[bk_forever]

Thank you so much!

I felt for Jack after the Doctor and Martha left him there. There were hours between him being dropped off and then catching up with his team, it must have been so disorienting returning to a world where the year had never happened. I figure he must have spent those hours working out exactly how long he'd been gone and what happened during that time, trying to readjust to the normal world again.

[tardisjournal.livejournal.com]

I can't even imagine how disorientated Jack would feel. And yet by the time he shows up to shoot the blowfish, his smile is as bright as ever, no doubt hiding everything once again.

Great job! :)

[bk_forever]

Thank you. I think he must have spent the intervening hours doing what he could to find out what had gone on while he was away, maybe catching a few hours' sleep so he could put his mask back in place for the sake of his team.

[too-beauty.livejournal.com]

it is so sad to see poor Jack so disoriented and what was worst was that he had to catch up really fast to the present!

[bk_forever]

I can't really imagine how difficult it must have been for him, after everything he went through, coming back to a world untouched by the events of the year.

Thank you.

[red-day-dawning.livejournal.com]

I've often thought that it must have been so difficult for Jack to readjust to his life after a year of torment and nightmare. He seemed to do it with a big wide grin pasted on his face.

[bk_forever]

That was typical Torchwood though - completely ignore the after-effects of traumatic events and carry on as if nothing happened. There was never any emotional continuity on the show, especially if it had to do with Jack. He dies horribly and comes back to life equally painfully and it's like "He's alive, he's fine, it doesn't matter." So unrealistic it was painful to watch sometimes, the way his deaths were tossed aside as inconsequential. He must have had a horribly difficult time readjusting to the normal world after what he'd been through, but it's left to fanfic writers to show that and explore how it affected him.

Thank you.

[milady-dragon.livejournal.com]

Oh, poor Jack.... *wraps him in cotton and huggles him*

[bk_forever]

Yeah, he's had a horrible time and the Doctor didn't care. Ianto will look after him as soon as he understands how traumatised Jack is.

Thank you.

[asia27.livejournal.com]

I just taped these eps to watch, having never seen them before. What I have learned is from reading you and others plus chatting with a friend who's a Whovian, but it just seems that the Doctor really wasn't paying attention to Jack's emotional condition after all Jack had been thru on his behalf. Medically, I'd have had Jack tranquilized to sleep for the next six months after what he'd suffered to give him time to heal. Yeah, he's immortal, but even the intense, sustained trauma to body and mind would still require him to have time - no pun intended - to recover!

You paint a picture here that I can see of Jack practically radiating fatigue, helplessness emotionally and something in him indefinably lost or broken...

[bk_forever]

Thank you *hugs* That's what I was aiming for.

The Doctor is completely dismissive of everything Jack suffers, as if it doesn't matter because he heals and comes back to life. But the emotional and mental trauma every time must be immense, even if his body physically resets I doubt that carries over to his mind. The Doctor resents Jack for being a 'fixed point in time' but apparently has forgotten that it's largely his fault that Jack IS that way. Jack sacrificed himself to buy time for the Doctor to defeat the Daleks, but the Doctor's companion (Rose) used the Doctor's spaceship to resurrect him and made him immortal by mistake. Jack didn't ask to become immortal, he doesn't want to be, but the Doctor treats him as if it's all Jack's fault. I like Ten a lot of the time, but I loathe his inhuman treatment of Jack and will never forgive him for it. He's being punished for something that wasn't his fault.

[jsks.livejournal.com]

After everything that Jack, Martha and family went through for the Doctor I admit feeling the need to thump the Doc a mite.

[bk_forever]

Join the club! The Doctor's treatment of all the victims is appalling, the only person he cares about is the Master, despite all the horrific things he did. The Doctor needs to get his priorities right. The humans who suffered so terribly deserved better than to have to watch the Doctor fawning over their torturer, the man who enslaved and abused them.

Thank you.

[owensheart.livejournal.com]

It will be hard for Jack to readjust after that terrible year.

great drabble.

[bk_forever]

Thank you. Yes, it will, but I'm sure Ianto will help him.

[iantojjackh.livejournal.com]

Aww poor Jack. He really did need some rest after that.

Are I've been so bad about keeping up with comments lately. I need to kick my butt into action

[bk_forever]

Thank you.

Yeah, he went through so much and now he just has to try to step straight back into his old life. It so unfair to him.

We all get like that sometimes.

[timelordshines.livejournal.com]

Perfect.
I love the tone of this.
Poor Jack. Once again just expected to deal with whatever life throws at him without any real time to adjust. And he just plasters on a smile and gets on with it.

[bk_forever]

Thank you.

Yeah, poor Jack. He just soldiers on because he has no choice. =(