The Doctor is standing, frozen, numb to his surroundings as his TARDIS dematerialises along with the man who was Professor Yana.
Jack pushes against the door, trying to keep Futurekind back.
"Doctor! A little help here!"
Martha screams as, en masse, Futurekind lunge.
The Doctor suddenly swivels around, returning to them from wherever he'd been.
He snaps, "Cover your ears!"
They do so, quickly, stumbling away from the door.
A high pitched screech fills the room and Jack doubles over in pain, his head in agony. Dimly he's aware of Martha collapsing.
A firm hand grabs his arm and hauls Martha and him through the now cleared door. Jack catches a brief glance of Futurekind writhing on the ground.
And they flee, half falling, half running, the Doctor dragging them when they slow.
Abruptly they stop and there is blissful silence as the noise cuts off.
"What the hell was that?" Jack hears himself gasp.
The Doctor doesn't answer, he swiftly checks the exits and barricades the doors, brushing off Jack's still feeble attempts to help.
Job finished, the Time Lord turns to him, tone crisp and surprisingly cold.
"Your Vortex Manipulator. Where is it?"
Jack blinks.
"What?"
"I can modify it. You have it on you?"
"Uh, yeah." Jack fumbles in his coat pocket. "Got it."
He hands it to the Doctor who takes it without a word and retreats to a rickety camp-bed.
Jack exchanges his baffled gaze for Martha's concerned one.
Several minutes passed in silence save for the bleep of the device and the buzz of the Doctor's screwdriver.
"Damn it!"
The Doctor nearly slams the Manipulator down, and then clearly thinks better of it, gently placing it on a nearby table.
"Doctor?"
Martha tentatively asks.
The Doctor looks at them and Jack feels his gut twist at the emotions revealed in the Time Lord's gaze. Fear and pain and hurt and exhaustion.
He looks so...vulnerable.
On something like instinct, Jack is up and moving beside their friend. Sitting on the old bed he puts his arms around the Gallifreyan and just holds him.
The Doctor remains as stiff as starch for a long while, but, even as Jack considers giving up and letting go, the alien melts into the embrace. Presses his face in the crook of Jack's neck and makes a sound caught somewhere between a sob and a moan.
Jack wonders what it says about him as a person and his relationship with this paradoxical crotchety alien, that that sound, combined with their closeness, turns him on immeasurably.
He hugs the Doctor closer, and is surprised but pleased when Martha places her arms around the both of them.
It's awkward, yeah, and a little uncomfortable, but it's comforting for him, and, he hopes, for their infuriating friend as well.