Disclaimers: same as Ch 1
Spoilers: The Shakespeare Code, Utopia, Last of the TimeLords, Tooth and Claw, The Runaway Bride and any 'Bug' episode from Atlantis
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Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla raised their weapons but the Doctor put his arm out to stop them
"No" he said
"There is a chance to save your friend before it is too late" said Teyla as her finger hovered over the trigger
"No, trust me Jack will be perfectly ok" said the Doctor.
"What do you mean 'perfectly ok' you saw the bodies, they'll suck the life out of him and then come for us" said Rodney, the Doctor stood in front of them
"Trust me" he said. Martha and Donna watched in horrified fascination as the handsome captain grew older in a matter of seconds.
"Doctor you've got to stop this" said Donna as she buried her face in Martha's jacket
"Doctor please, I know Jack can survive anything, but this...it's sucking the life out of him, look" retorted Martha. The Doctor turned to them and smiled
"Trust me, this needs to happen" he replied,
"Oh my God look, Donna look" said Martha; everyone looked at Jack and the Wraith. Jack's features were slowly returning to normal while the Wraith was aging
"How is that possible?" said Teyla in wonder, the Doctor grinned
"You can't keep Jack down for long" he said
"How'd he do that, how did that happen, why isn't he dead, how come the Wraith had the life sucked out of him?" said McKay as the bodies of the Wraith and Jack fell to the ground. The Doctor turned to stare at him
"You don't half talk a lot" he said, Martha ran over to where Jack had fallen, she looked up at the Doctor and laughed
"You've got a nerve, talk about pot, kettle, black" she said
"Are you saying I talk too much?" retorted the Doctor. Donna and Martha nodded
"Yes" they said in unison, Teyla touched the Doctor's arm
"I am so very sorry about your friend" she said
"Thanks but there's no need, you'll see" he replied with his trademark grin. Donna strode over and slapped him
"Donna!! What was that for?" he said rubbing his face
"You didn't have to make him suffer like that, I know he'll be ok in a bit but that was uncalled for you bastard" she yelled,
"It was necessary, it needed to happen" retorted the Doctor.
"I'm with Donna on this, you didn't have to prolong it" said Martha, the Doctor sighed
"I know but remember what Jack said in Cardiff, when we dropped him off that time" he said
"About being the Face of Boe?" replied Martha, the Doctor nodded.
"You don't think he changed overnight do you, it needed a catalyst, a cell introduced into his system to start the change" he said
"You mean Jack's going to change into one of those things? And what do you mean the Face of Boe" said Donna
"Big head in a jar, I'll explain later" said Martha.
"No, it's going to take millions of years for Jack to change into the Face of Boe so the cell that the Wraith introduced into his body will evolve as Jack's changing, the Face of Boe is the result of Jack being eaten by the Wraith, probably" said the Doctor
"Probably?" said Donna, looking like she was going to hit him again
"What I'm saying is, Jack and the Face of Boe are import to the timeline, nothing must get in the way, so we can't interfere in what happens to him, we have to let nature take it's course" the Doctor replied. Donna looked mollified
"I'm sorry" she rested her head on his shoulder "I just hate seeing anyone suffer" she said, the Doctor hugged her
"I know" he replied.
"What the hell just happened?" said Sheppard
"Haven't a clue" said the Doctor
"Will he evolve into Wraith the Next Generation, like the iratus bugs became the Wraith" said Rodney
"Nah, Jack's going to become a giant head in a jar" replied the Doctor.
"How did you know, that this was the moment Jack became the Face of Boe?" asked Martha, who was sitting beside Jack's body writing in a small notebook
"I don't, but I can't take the chance that it won't be and do you mind not doing that, honestly you treat him like a lab rat, every time he dies you make notes" said the Doctor
"Sorry but I've noticed a trend, Jack's taking longer to come back, only by a second or so but it's definitely taking longer" Martha replied.
"Can you explain all that again" said Rodney in bewilderment, he didn't like it when people knew things he didn't "I got lost around the time you got slapped by her", Sheppard's eyes widened
"That's something you don't hear everyday" he said to Ronon, who just chuckled. The Doctor sighed
"In a million or so years Jack'll be a big head in a jar" he said, Sheppard smirked
"Serves you right for asking Rodney" he said, Rodney folded his arms in a huff and ignored Sheppard
"I want to know what he's talking about, none of it is possible" he retorted, the Doctor ran his hand through his hair and looked up at the sky
"An idea I got when I saved Queen Victoria from a werewolf" he said absentmindedly,
"Werewolves, right" said Sheppard sarcastically
"You met Queen Victoria?" said Martha.
"Yeah, me and Rose met her when we were on our way to see Ian Dury but the Tardis landed us in Scotland one hundred years too early, there was a band of mad monks who wanted to use her as the new host for their pet Lycanthrope" the Doctor smiled fondly at Jack. "Right after she banished me from the Empire she formed the Torchwood Institute, to look for aliens and technology to keep the Empire safe and to keep track of me" he looked at his companions "we've all got Torchwood in common, it was founded because of me"
"Adeola, my cousin, worked at Canary Wharf and I've done Jack a few favours" said Martha to Donna.
"I worked for HE Clemens, they were part of Torchwood, a front" replied Donna
"And Jack and his motley crew are pretty much what's left of the front line" finished the Doctor. Donna stared at the Doctor
"You met Queen Victoria and she banished you from the Empire?" she said, the Doctor nodded as Martha laughed
"You should have been there when we met Elizabeth the First, I thought she was going to yell 'Off with his head'" she said. Sheppard scowled
"I've had enough of this, we're sitting here watching a corpse while you're talking about stuff even Rodney doesn't know about, I've got a man down out there and the enemy closing in, you said you were going to help, so help" he yelled. Martha and Donna looked at each other then at the Doctor, who seemed to be in a world of his own
"Three, Two, One" he murmured, his eyes widened "minus one, you're right Martha, it is taking longer"
"I mean it, start making sense" said Sheppard. Suddenly Jack inhaled a deep breath and sat up, Sheppard grabbed for his weapon, missed, staggered backwards and fell over, Ronon pointed his gun at Jack while Teyla stared open mouthed at him, Rodney fainted.