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Wolves sleep in packs and in shifts. They will huddle for warmth and keep anything from sinking its teeth into their family. Much like how Jack was with Rose. He wouldn't shut his eyes until she was safe and asleep, and she wouldn't move for the world. If he didn't have to be a lone wolf any longer, he had to earn his place first.
Rose was never one to stay alone for long. Always surrounded by love, always returning it in spades. At times, she'd pretend to sleep so Jack would finally shut his eyes. She'd seen it on The Doctor too, that deep tiredness that no sleep can take away. But it seemed to fade when they got to rest their heads for a while. Sometimes Jack would see her lashes flutter and know she was still awake. However, Rose could have a stubborn streak worse than his. It felt much better to make her happy anyway.
Jack got a room on the TARDIS, as did Rose. But after Rose welcomed him home, Rose's room was seldom used. It wasn't his idea, but who was he to turn her away? Especially when she'd saved his life.
And there was that ever so familiar thrumming sound, a low vibration that seemed to work its way through Jack's body. The same noise that saved him. It was the kind of vibration that can make you nauseous if it lasts too long. But if that sound welcomes you home, you could listen to it a million times over, and Jack had every intent to do so.
Except this was not a welcome, this was closer to an eviction notice. Because as he came closer to those beloved blue doors, they faded away before her, before she could even touch the handles.
Left alone in a graveyard of Dalek parts and fallen warriors - his warriors - with a single rose petal in his pocket, and a gun in hand. The Doctor hated guns. Is that why he was left behind?
And the rose petal, and lovely, amazing Rose. It was like he had an image of her singed onto his eyelids. Like every time Jack blinked, something burned through her blood and made her think of Rose.
He could barely remember what had happened, but he could've sworn he was dead. In fact, his heart was still beating out of her chest, like it was trying to make up for lost time. A whisper of Rose’s voice in his ear and suddenly he was no longer cornered. Maybe a God took a liking to him, he thought. Why else would she get to survive? He could never know for sure.
In watching the TARDIS go, he watched his home fade away. His home, his Doctor, and his beloved Rose. In Jack's mind, he'd never met a person with a more fitting name. A symbol of love since the early days of humanity, a favourite of the goddess of beauty herself. And Rose may as well have been love itself.
What would he be doing now if not for her? What things would Jack never have gotten to see, what joys could she never have experienced? Once you had met the Doctor, you could never forget him. But once you had met Rose Tyler, it felt like she would always be there. It'd be impossible to forget her.
How could Jack ever forget the eyes that looked at him like he hung the stars, the eyes that he would very well hang the stars for. And that beautiful face, the face he could kiss until the end of the world, and even then he wouldn't let go. The hands that touched her like she was precious, and the words that made her believe it. Her Rose Tyler.
Maybe travelling time and space wasn't for Jack anymore, that could be what the Doctor wanted him to see. He could find a way back to earth and keep it safe, keep her safe. Anything rather than letting her believe he died alone in battle. Jack was a fighter, a warrior. But Rose was a hero. And the world needed more of her, Jack was absolutely certain of that.
A deity must have sent Rose to Jack, and only a deity had the strength to pull them apart. Even if it wasn't meant to be, Rose would be in Jack's heart for as long as it stayed beating. And even if that memory of her started to hurt, like the thorns of a rose piercing her lungs, she wouldn't dare remove it. Rose Tyler had given him a life after all, there were worse ways to go than by her hand.
Lone wolves don't have the luxury of anyone to watch over them. But that's something they get used to, they adapt, just like Jack always did. Still, as his eyes fell shut, it didn't feel like he was back to being alone. Not this time, not while that single rose petal was still in his hand. He could only hope that Rose might be feeling that way too.