Jack came rushing back to life with a gasping scream and panicked momentarily as he realized he was behind the controls of a ship hurtling through space. Before he could get his bearings, the ship piloted itself into a bay in a cold-fusion cruiser. The hatch opened and Jack stumbled out.

Looking around him, he started to remember what was going on. It was the shockwave from an exploding planet that had killed him, though it had left his ship intact. There was something heavy in the pocket of his greatcoat. A sealed test tube filled with a bluish liquid.

Jack broke into a run as mechanics came to secure the small ship. The end of the corridor from the ship bays opened to a control room.

"Martha!" Jack shouted, "I've got it. Come on!"

"What did you do to get it?" asked a frowning Doctor in a bow tie.

Jack's face hardened. "Only what they deserved," he said darkly.

"You're better than that, Jack," the Doctor said quietly.

"Not anymore," Jack muttered. He and Martha hurried on to the cruiser's laboratory where Jack handed her the tube. "Is it viable?" he asked impatiently.

"I don't know yet, Jack. You've only just handed it to me," Martha pointed out gently. "Let me check this and get it into a syringe. And then we can prep for the procedure, ok?"

Jack took a deep breath. "I know, Martha. It's just that… I'll do anything…."

"I know that, Jack. Just try to stay calm, alright? Take a walk, I'll get you as soon as we're ready, I promise."

Jack sighed and nodded. There wasn't much he could do with the technical side of things anyway. He tried to tell himself not to pace the corridors like an expectant father, but it was hard to even think of going out of earshot.

He wasn't surprised when the first person to cross his path was the Doctor. Everybody else onboard the cruiser was sensible enough to give the Captain a wide berth.

"So… the whole planet, Jack?" the Doctor asked casually.

"I did what I had to do. If it was something terrible… well, what the hell else is new?"

"I thought that was the sort of thing you tried to avoid."

"My world for theirs, Doctor. Seems fair enough. Especially considering it was trying to save one planet that caused all this."

The Doctor shook his head slowly, sympathy in his eyes.

Jack glared. "You don't understand this."

"Jack," Martha called, looking around the corner with a nod.

Jack turned and ran back toward the lab. The Doctor just gave Martha an unhappy look.

"Jack, you're really sure about this?" Martha asked, catching him up after a moment.

"Yes. Absolutely. I have to try."

"Alright. Everything is ready."

"Martha… will it…?" Jack made a vague gesture to which Martha could only reply:

"It should be okay. I don't see any potential complications."

As Martha prepared the two injections needed, Jack took up a place beside the narrow bed and stroked the stiff hair of the man who was still so, so cold.

"It will probably take a little while to get things going, just with the cryonics...," Martha said.

"I can wait forever if I have to," Jack said.

Martha administered the first injection and waited for the machines to begin picking up signs of life before administrating the one Jack brought back.

Jack sat, hoping frantically that it worked. There was only the one chance. The monitors indicated a pulse, respiration, and resumed brain activity, but Jack wouldn't relax until he knew everything was ok, the way it was supposed to be again.

At some point, Jack fell asleep at the bedside. When he woke up there was a hand loosely holding his arm. Not just touching, Jack registered definitely… holding. And the touch was warm. Jack was wide awake instantly.

"Ianto?" he called in a strained voice. "Please tell me you're there…."

Ianto opened his eyes just a little and let out a breath that sounded enough like "here" for Jack.

"It worked," Jack whispered on a sob he couldn't hold back, "thank god it worked."

"Jack…?"

"I'm right here," Jack promised, stroking Ianto's cheek.

"Why you crying?" Ianto whispered.

"I'm happy," Jack said, moving closer and keeping a tight hold on Ianto's hand. "You're alright again."

"Don't remember what happened…."

"We don't have to talk about it now. You need to rest for a while. I won't leave, I promise."

"Jack? I love you."

"I love you, too, Yan," Jack whispered, as steadily as he could at that moment. It was what he'd been aching to say to Ianto for so long, the words that never seemed enough, or that he worried were too much, the words he needed to say but couldn't in those moments at Whitehall. He doubted Ianto even noticed it now. Later, Jack told himself, when he's better.