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He wasn’t sure why he’d said it. He’d been so caught up in the joy of the moment, before Rose reminded him about the Captain. He just wanted to see her reaction. And of course, since it was something she remembered, he now had to make sure he delivered on it, or risk a paradox. And really, what a silly thing to cause a paradox over.
So, while he watched Jack and Rose share a (non-romantic, appropriately distanced) dance together, he planned his next move. Rose yawned, and he seized his opportunity.
"Rose, why don’t you go get the Captain settled in, then head to bed. It’s been a long night."
"Yeah, suppose it has." she walked around to give him a hug. "Night, Doctor. Come on, you. I’ll get you sorted out in the wardrobe room while the Tardis finds you a room."
"Finds me a room? What do you.." Jack started, looking perplexed, before she interrupted him, grabbing his arm and tugging him along after her.
"I’ll tell you on the way, let’s go."
He smiled after them, enjoying Rose taking charge and leading their new guest around the ship. He frowned at the thought of Jack being a guest. But he wasn’t sure what else to do with the man. He’d proven himself to be fairly reliable, but that was after he’d attempted to con them, seduce Rose and nearly destroyed the world in the process. He supposed he could take him back to his own time, but with what Jack had told them of his past, that might not be the best, or safest, option.
He shrugged, deciding to leave that for later, and turned back to the console to set the coordinates for the Powell Estate, 1998
***
Jack lay in bed, unable to sleep, his mind plagued by guilt over the the day’s events. After about an hour, he gave up and decided to see if he could find his way back to the console room and see if the Doctor needed help with anything.
When he arrived, he saw that the exterior door was open, a cold breeze blowing snowflakes in from the outside. He could hear grunting and went to investigate. He saw that they were parked in a courtyard between residential buildings, and a short way away he could see the Doctor attempting to maneuver an oversize box through a doorway to a stairwell.
"Need some help with that?" he asked, approaching at a leisurely pace.
The Doctor looked up, startled, then frowned and refocused on the box. “No, thank you. Think I can manage.”
Jack watched him manage to get the box on the stairs, but wasn’t able to get it to slide up. He rolled his eyes and jogged the short distance between them and up the stairs to the top of the box. “On three, then. One, two, three.”
They lifted the box between them and started navigating up the stairs. A few flights up, the Doctor said “Through there.” and they maneuvered through the door on their left and down a row of doors. Jack moved too quickly and the Doctor’s end of the box dropped onto his foot, causing him to curse loudly in a language Jack wasn’t familiar with.
The door in front of Jack opened and a blonde woman exited, pulling a dressing gown around herself. “Oi! Keep it down, would you? Some of us have kids tryin’ to sleep. Hard enough to get her in bed on Christmas Eve as it is, without the whole world stomping by at all hours of the night.”
"Jackie Tyler?" asked the Doctor, shifting his face slightly so that she wouldn’t get a good look at him. "Rose’s mum?"
"Maybe, who’s askin’?"
Jack stepped in. “Mrs. Tyler, we’re with one of the charities Rose’s school works with. They signed her up for a surprise Christmas gift.” he said, feigning a London accent and a charming smile. “Sorry it’s so late, only just managed to get the last of ‘em delivered. I’m Jake Hart, this is my partner, Joe.”
"When you say partner..?" Jackie began, but the Doctor interrupted her, glaring at Jack.
"Yes, well, we can’t stick around all night gossiping, got more deliveries to make. Can we drop this off with you?"
"You can bring it in, yeah." she said, opening the door up wider so they could fit through.
They followed her inside, setting the box down in the sitting room where a half sized Christmas tree sat on one of the end tables, with a small pile of gifts around it.
"Right then, that’s us off. Merry Christmas!" the Doctor flashed her a quick smile, then turned to exit the flat as fast as he could.
"Wait!" she cried, running after him. He paused at the door back to the stairwell. "Thank you. Whoever you are. Really. I wasn’t able to get very much for her, and I know this is going to mean so much."
The Doctor grunted a reply, before turning back to the stairwell.
Jack had paused on his way out, there was a bedroom door open and he could just make out a little blonde head peeking out from under the covers, brown eyes wide and staring up at him. He saluted young Rose, then turned to follow the Doctor back to the ship, accepting Jackie’s hug and hearty thanks along the way.
He jogged the rest of the way back to the Tardis, watching the Doctor set the controls to take them back into the vortex as he closed the door.
"What was that about, then?" he asked, with a grin.
"Saving the world isn’t all life and death, Captain. You should get back to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow."
"Yes, sir!" he said, stifling a laugh, as he turned to try to find his way back to the room Rose had set him up in.
***
Back up at the flat, Jackie had just finished checking in on Rose and closing her bedroom door when there was a light knock at the front door. She pulled her dressing gown back on and checked through the hole to see who it was.
"You, again. Forget something?" she asked, as she pulled the door open.
A different Jack Harkness stood there, wearing roughly the same outfit as his younger self. “Thought you might need help setting up the you-know-what.” he said, grinning as he saw young Rose, who had been peering out behind her mother’s back, turn quickly and shut her bedroom door.
"Yeah, all right. Thanks, then. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas."