They had appeared in Cardiff. After Jack had left, Ianto died, and her child born, the mouthy redhead and clever skinny man had appeared on her doorstep.
Actually the middle of the living room in a big blue box.
She knew them from the computer. When the daleks had attacked, they had saved all of reality. The Doctor and Donna Noble.
They had opened the door, and asked for her best friend. And she had broken down in tears in her husband's arms. She had told them that he had left, and her husband had repeated what Jack had said, on one of the worst nights of her life. Gently, they had coaxed her into the blue box, which was bigger on the inside. She was a temporary pessimist, and had declared it smaller on the outside, as oppose to half empty/half full. They had taken her to that bloody hill, and when she confirmed it was where Jack had last been seen, they had hurriedly dumped them back home, and flew away, tracking the signal.
She had asked the Doctor why he was so determined to find Jack, and he simply replied,
"He's running away. He's taken a leaf out of my book. And he should really put it back."
Now all Gwen and Rhys could do is wait. Wait for them to bring Jack home.
~DW~TW~
It had taken two whole years. Granted, they had been distracted somewhat. Now the Doctor was different, younger and equipped with a childlike joke and bow tie for every occasion. They had picked up too strays, Amy and Rory, who had joined the hunt. But finally, finally, they found him. They found the immortal, incredible mystery man, with features like a god. They found him behind a derelict dance club with a broken bottle shoved in his neck. In somewhat of a rut, as soon as he woke up, he died again, apparently over and over for three whole months. He was covered in dirt and slime, with BO capable of killing a horse. When they found him, Donna ran up to him, and put her hands on his chest, peering at his face. She recoiled at the bottle, and between her holding his head in place, and Rory pulling, they finally managed to get the bottle out. They sat there in silence for a bit, Rory looking completely repulsed at the bottle he was still holding. Eventually Jack gasped madly for breath, and sat up a bit, causing Amy and Rory to frantically scramble back. He looked around, taking the Doctor, Donna, Amy and Rory into his sights, before slumping back into Donna's arms, and grumpily muttering,
"Oh, I'm still alive then."
Donna smiled sadly, and handled the introductions, and re acquainted him with the Doctor, who proceeded to babble, occasionally stopping to declare their sorrow and regrets. Donna picked a snap lock bag from the pocket of her leather jacket, retrieving a wet cloth, and wiped Jack's face of the grime and muck. The whole time, he stood there, staring off into the distance, as though he had just stopped. Eventually, the Doctor noticed this, and stuck his head in front of Jack's line of vision. Jack, who did not respond, suddenly found himself being hoisted off the ground, and carried into the newly decorated TARDIS. He yelped and struggled, but not too hard. The Doctor might have found a way for him to die. Jack wouldn't want to miss that. He lapsed back into his act of silence, and continued to stare blankly.
~DW~TW~
Amy pulled Donna up the stair, and out of the control room, where Jack was sitting on the floor, still staring. Amy worriedly bit her lip, casting her gaze back to the control room, before turning back to Donna.
"That's Jack?" she asked, eyes wide. Donna simply nodded. "Your Jack, your naughty, cheating boyfriend?" Donna nodded again. "Wh-what happened?" Amy asked. This was not the Jack Donna had raved about. This man was... empty.
"His best friend died. He was forced to kill his own grandson. His daughter hates him. He was killed in the most horrible of ways. He...he... it killed him on the inside." She paused, fighting back tears, pressing her face into a tissue, which the TARDIS handily produced right next to her. She breathed deeply, then forced a smile onto her face. Once Amy had confirmed she looked tearless, they had made their way down the stairs again. The Doctor and Rory had given up conversation, and simply sat on the other side of the console, looking about awkwardly. Donna breathed inhaled deeply again, then sat down next to him. She curled her hand around his, but he just continued to stare. After five whole minutes, Donna stood up, hauling her lover up too.
"You," she declared loudly, "Stink to high heaven!" Jack suddenly found himself in a tiled room, being wrestled out of his clothes, and forced under a hot spray of water. As soon as Donna left to fetch him some clothes, he leant back against the wall, sliding down into a sitting position, and fell asleep.
~DW~TW~
He woke up under a dark purple duvet, hanging off the edge of the bed. He rolled over, smashing his hand on the iron bed frame as he did so and wincing in pain. As his senses returned, he realised he was caked with a layer of sticky sweat, and the top sheet was tangled around his legs. Suddenly, a voice next to him, a gentle kind voice, murmured,
"Nightmares." He rolled over to see Donna, leaning against the bed frame with a glass of cold water in her hands. As he sat up, she pressed the glass against his lips, delightfully cold liquid crept down his sore throat. Hands gently guided him out of the room, down the corridor, through the control room, and to the open doors. She firmly held him, in case he got any bright falling ideas, and let him breathe in the cool night air. As he washed away the sweat, Donna was changing the sheets. With help. A dark haired woman had slipped out of the wardrobe, and was silently helping Donna change the sweaty sheets. When the job was done, she sat in Donna's arm chair, and waited. Soon enough, her father slouched into the room, and stopped when he saw her. In a second, she had thrown her arms around him, and whispered in his ear,
"I love you Dad."
~DW~TW~
They had risen early, and congregated in the kitchen, before the others were up, to cook breakfast. He helped flip eggs in a frying fan, and smush peanut butter in Donna's ear, much to her chargin. They played some music, and he wolfed down his breakfast in record time, before hurrying away. Alice sighed, and rolled her eyes, but continued eating. Soon, the Doctor joined them, then Rory, then Amy. They all sat around the formica table, when Jack wandered in, dressed in his usual uniform, complete with grin and spring in step. He settled down next to his girlfriend, and stole food off her plate, driving her mad. His cocky smile, at breakfast was forced, but as he lay in bed that night, with Donna curled up against him, it was real. Life, he mused, could be wonderful, and could turn around and bight you on the arse, but it did, and it would get better.