Chapter One
White light filled his eyes, and he tried to close his eyes against it, but found he couldn't. He felt warmth surrounding him, but it wasn't blankets or heating, it felt like...something solid but not....what was it?
Whatever it was it felt warm and safe and he really didn't want to move. But something niggled at the back of his mind...what was it?
Something fuzzy and white filled his vision, and a voice that he wasn't sure was his own whispered in his head.
"Never mind, the warmth is safe...sleep."
Yes, the warmth was safe...he felt safe and so tired.
He opened his eyes again, that something, niggling at his mind again, and this time he knew what it was.
It was rage, not hot uncontrolled rage, but cold unfeeling rage, with contempt and arrogance as companions.
The warmth around him rippled and began to leech away, and he felt something odd, something in his mouth, something metallic, something restricting his breathing.
He started to panic, but it was soon replaced by the rage he had felt, and with a muffled roar of annoyance he tried to rip the metallic thing away.
He heard what sounded like the beep of machinery, and then he heard voices.
"Quickly, he's awake, remove the ventilator!"
He felt hands on him, and as a hand moved to the metallic thing in his mouth, he moved, his hand encompassing the one that trying to touch the thing obstructing his airway.
He squeezed and was rewarded with a cry of pain from the owner of the hand.
But it was only momentary, as a pair of strong hands levered his fingers, and wrenched his hand away from the unfortunate owner.
"Careful, don't damage him," the voice said.
Then a face came into view, a woman, her face set in a serious frown, that was until she saw he was looking at her.
She quickly turned her frown into a smile.
"Hello, I see you've recovered. Why don't you let my assistant take that out, then you can breathe," she said.
He looked at her, then thought about it and nodded.
"Good, now when I say cough, cough. It will be unpleasant, but only for a few seconds. Now cough."
"Jack!" the Doctor's voice echoed down the corridor.
Jack ran, following the echo of that desperate plea.
"Doctor!" he yelled, running down the corridor that seemed never ending.
"Jack!" the Doctor's voice echoed, the fear and terror in it ripping Jack's heart apart.
"Doctor!" he called out again, and tore down the corridor, towards the corner.
As he sped towards it, he saw a figure step out, a figure dressed in white. The figure smiled, a wicked sneer filled smile, and began to laugh.
Once again the corridor seemed to stretch and go on forever.
"Jack!" the Doctor's voice cried again, before fading to nothing.
Jack ran faster, straight towards the laughing figure in white, hell bent of snuffing out that mocking laugh and smile.
The corridor began to darken and the figure in white started to disappear into the gloom.
"Doctor!" he cried.
Gwen jumped as she heard Jack cry out the Doctor's name.
He was having the same nightmare he had for the last three months. She sighed and forced herself to look at the paper in front of her, deciding she wasn't cut out to be a paper pusher.
She would be glad when Ianto was back, so she could get on with more important things, like dragging Jack out of his own well of misery.
Jack had been next to useless since the events at the warehouse, engaged in a fruitless search for the Doctor.
The Doctor was no-where, he'd vanished. He might as well have been in another universe.
She finally gave up on the paperwork and decided it was time to go home. It was a big day tomorrow, not that Jack would notice.
Ianto would be back.
She walked past the step ladder that led to Jack's quarters and made her way down the steps to the storage levels.
She stopped outside one of the doors and placed her eye against the scanner.
After a few seconds it beeped and the door slid open.
The room was empty apart from one object. A blue wooden box stood silently against the wall, seeming to cut a lonely forlorn figure, if that were possible for a blue wooden box.
But Gwen knew that this was no ordinary wooden box, this box was the most powerful machine in the universe...and it was miserable. She walked up to it, and placed a hand on the wooden surface.
She didn't need to be an empath to feel the waves of sadness coming of its surface, it was near palpable.
"I know, and I'm sorry, but we can't find him. Can't you feel him?"
There was vibration beneath her hand as if in answer, and she thought she felt the box shudder under her hand.
"I'm really sorry," she said and turned away leaving the box to its misery.
*******************
The TARDIS reached out once more, searching for the golden thread that was her Time Lord, but finding only darkness.
She withdrew, sadness filling her great heart, and there was a void growing inside, a deep blackness, that only her Time Lord could fill.
Where was he? Why could she not feel him?
She dare not think the impossible. It was something she refused to even contemplate. She would not believe her Time Lord was lost.
The woman walked along the corridor, for once glad to feel carpet beneath her feet, so much nicer than cold sterile tiles.
She stopped outside a set of double doors, admiring the intricate carvings on the oak. Money does buy you some exquisite things.
She knocked on the door and waited.
A few seconds later a man's voice floated through the wood. "Enter."
The woman opened the door, and stepped into the room that served as her lover's office.
"He's awake and fully recovered," she said as she sat down on one of the antique chairs.
The man behind the desk smiled.
"Good and how would you gauge his mood?"
"Let me see," she said and started counting on her fingers. "Cranky, ill-tempered, tendency to crush bones before speaking. I'd say the implant has taken nicely, you have your Rottweiler back."
"Excellent, then perhaps you would be so kind as to tell him that dinner is at seven, and dress for dinner, we will have company."
****************
Jack surfaced slowly, only opening his eyes slightly. He shut then instantly, the effects of drinking two bottles of whiskey all too obvious, not just to his head, but to his stomach, which was roiling like he was in a dinghy riding a tsunami.
He finally managed to haul himself out of his bed and climbed the ladder very slowly and deliberately up it.
He could hear voices, and wondered for a minute who it was, and then with a flash of panic he remembered......Ianto was back today.
He quickly climbed down the ladder and into the small shower cubicle, letting out a gasp as the cold water hit his skin.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he kept repeating, until the water had washed away the alcohol and the nightmare.
Try not to think of him, not now, think of Ianto Jack thought as he climbed the ladder again, clean, freshly shaved and cleaned clothed.
Three people looked up as he entered the central hub.
Martha and Gwen smiled at him, but Jack's eyes were only for the third person, who looked pale and fragile....Ianto.
"Yan...." he began.
"Ianto if you don't mind sir," Ianto said.
Jack was taken aback by the formality in Ianto's voice, but then realised it should be expected.
He hadn't visited Ianto once in the three months since he'd been injured; he'd been so wrapped up in finding the Doctor, not caring about anything else.
He didn't blame Ianto for being hurt, in fact, he wouldn't blame him if he hated him, he probably deserved it.
"It's nice to have you back," Jack said, carefully avoiding Ianto's gaze.
"Thank you sir," Ianto said. "If you don't mind, there's a tonne of paperwork that needs doing."
Jack nodded and Ianto stood up slowly and disappeared down the steps to the filing room.
**********
Jack watched him and let out a sigh. "He hates me."
"No he doesn't," Gwen said.
"Give him time, "Martha said. "Any news on the Doctor?" she asked, steering the conversation away from hurt feelings.
Jack shook his head. "Nothing, nada, zip. It's like he's fallen off the edge of the world. I don't know where to look."
Martha smiled. "Jack, you know the Doctor, he's like the proverbial bad penny. He'll pop up where we least expect it. White Coat can't keep him hidden forever."
*****************
"There, that's better, we won't have to shoot the tailor after all, very nice," the man said as he adjusted the bow tie, and ran his hands down the dinner jacket.
His hand lingered a little too long on the spot where the jacket ended and the trousers began.
The wearer of the suit grabbed one of the hands and hauled the person towards his face.
"No touching without permission, or are you a toy sent to amuse me?" the wearer of the suit growled.
The other person tried to break the grip the wearer of the suit had on him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean......"
The blow sent the man reeling, and he would have hit the floor if the other person hadn't had a tight grip on his suit.
"What was that, you're sorry? Aren't you forgetting something, what comes after I'm sorry," the other person snarled.
"Please, forgive me," the other man begged as the other raised his hand again.
"Forgive you, only if you call me by my name," the other man said.
The other man let out a whimper of fear.
"Please....Doctor."
The Doctor looked down at the man cowering in his grip, disgust washing over him.
"Get out of my sight, you disgust me," he snarled and shoved the man away.
The man scrabbled up and fled, glad to have escaped with further injury.
The Doctor stood still for a few seconds, allowing his temper to cool. He looked at his watch, it was five to seven.
"Hmm, still time, now where is my phone?"
*************
Ianto looked at the piles of paperwork in front of him and sighed, nothing had changed.
He hadn't meant to so formal with Jack, but he couldn't just let the last three months pass as if nothing had happened.
Every day since he'd regained consciousness he'd waited for Jack, until bitterness and resentment had stopped him from caring.
He shook his head, and turned back to the paperwork and began filing it away.
He jumped when his phone rang. He looked at the screen, but didn't recognise the number.
He wasn't worried, he'd forgotten quite a few things due to his injury, so he wasn't unduly concerned.
"Ianto Jones."
His blood chilled and his heart almost stopped when he heard the voice that replied.
"Hello pretty boy."