Chapter 2
It took Jack longer than he would have liked to fix the manipulator, anxious to rescue the Doctor from the hellhole he was in. His team wasn't sure what was happening, and he didn't give them the answers they were seeking, knowing the Doctor wouldn't want them to know. He worked night and day, until it was finally done. He was relieved, knowing the Doctor would no longer be tortured. He called a team meeting, and Gwen and Ianto, along with the newer members of Torchwood, Martha and Mickey, who had decided to join after freelancing for a while, gratefully hurried to the conference room, hoping Jack was finally going to tell them what was happening. Martha and Mickey had both travelled with the Doctor, so he knew he'd have to word it carefully, so they wouldn't want to come with him.
He waited for them to all take their seats, and all thoughts left his mind, and he had no idea what to say. He settled for, "The Doctor is in trouble, and I'm leaving to rescue him. I should be back soon."
Collective gasps spread through the room, because although Gwen and Ianto hadn't been companions, they both knew of the legendary Doctor.
"What happened to him?" Martha asked, fear in her voice. Mickey grabbed her hand in his, trying to comfort her at least a little bit.
Jack still didn't have the words. "Martha, I'm going to need you to have medical supplies ready…I'll try to teleport us as close to the medbay as possible."
"Medbay! Jack, is he okay?" Martha exclaimed, jumping up and immediately fearing the worst.
"He will be," Jack said, no longer wanting to wait. He thought hard, trying to remember the coordinates the Doctor had sent him, before rapidly typing them in.
"Hold on, boss. I'm coming," Mickey said. "Whatever has happened to the Doctor, he's my friend too."
"Me too," Gwen said standing. "If he's hurt, you're going to need backup."
"Sorry," Jack said, pressing the button before either of them could get close enough to hitch a ride.
He found himself inside a dark ship, and immediately knew he was in the right place. He pulled out his gun, and started down one of the hallways.
He passed many guards along the way, but spared none on his way to get to the Doctor. He could tell he was getting close, and was starting to hope he'd make it in time, before anything else happened, until he heard a scream that definitely was the Doctor's.
He took off at a run down the hallways, following the sound, panic in his heart.
The second the Doctor had felt Jack on the ship, he forced his way into the mind of the guard, and made him tighten all the chains an excruciating amount, so that they bit into his flesh and actually tore the skin, so much, that it actually seemed as if they had been that way the entire time. Then, he forced the guard to continue hitting him, making sure the thought would stay after the Doctor's presence was gone. He already knew the box around his neck would prevent words, but screams didn't count, so he got the guard to that on as well, before causing him to activate the neural dampener for real, so that Jack would see that it was real. Moments before the dampener was fully activated, he wiped the memories of turning the devices on, so the guard wouldn't be suspicious.
It was still around ten minutes before Jack reached his cell, blowing the door off its hinges. Jack stepped in, taking in the scene, and the guard with his hand raised, a club in his hand that he had been about to hit the Doctor with.
Jack reacted without thinking, immediately sending a bullet through his head. He then ran over to the Doctor, trying to undo the chain, but they were padlocked in place.
"Where's the key?" he asked.
The Doctor motioned towards the guard on the floor, acting the Doctor that Jack knew, although with the fear in his eyes.
Jack immediately rolled the body over, unclipping the keys and unchaining the Doctor, before trying to help him stand.
The Doctor found that he really couldn't, and realized he had been hurt more than he'd originally intended. He motioned towards the box at his neck, and at the keys in Jack's hand, and Jack caught on, removing both the dampener and the box.
"Thank you," he gasped out, as though he hadn't spoken in a while.
Jack just wrapped his arms around the Doctor, both as a hug, and to support him.
"You shouldn't have killed them Jack," he said, pretending to be sad.
"I should have known Doc, even after they did this," he motioned to his battered body, "you still value their lives. I don't regret it."
The Doctor just closed his eyes and nodded, pretending to seem tired, although inside he was proud of Jack for killing so many of them. His eyes snapped back open as an alarm blared, and he let his voice waver as if in fear. "We have to get out of here," he said urgently.
Jack nodded; helping the Doctor place a hand on his vortex manipulator, before bringing them both into Torchwood, just as the warden reached the door of the Doctor's cell, screeching the word, "No." Seconds before they teleported, the Doctor made eye contact with the warden, grinning triumphantly at an angle Jack wouldn't be able to see, before slipping back into the fearful one in time for him to be swarmed by Jack's team, and fading from consciousness as his body felt what his mind wouldn't.
Jack picked the Doctor up bridal style, carrying him the rest of the way to one of the beds in the medicine center, Martha's eyes widening in shock as she saw the state of him.
Jack could tell she had frozen, so he turned on her, and with a deep breath, said, "Right now, you need to be more than his friend. You need to be a doctor, because he needs you. If you can't handle it, tell me right now, because I will find someone else, although I don't know if he will be able to wait that long."
Martha took a shaky breath, and nodded, beginning to tend to the Doctor's wounds.
Jack was grateful, he honestly didn't know what he would do if she had been unable to calm herself down.
The next hours were painful for everyone, as Martha had shoved them all out of the room so she could work without and audience. Jack was terrified, not knowing if he had made it in time, and he could hardly feel Ianto's usually comforting arm wrapped around his shoulders. His head snapped up immediately however, when Martha entered the room, her head and shoulders slumped.
Jack stood, rushing over to her. "What's wrong? Is he okay?"
Martha breathed in deeply. "I'm pretty sure he is going to be okay. He's asking to see you, Jack."
He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, and he practically ran into the medbay where he knew the Doctor would be laying. He missed the expression on Ianto's face, too eager to see the Time Lord.
"Jack," he heard the Doctor call.
"I'm here, Doc," he grinned, coming up beside his bed and sitting in a chair Martha had set there.
The Doctor looked way better now that all the crusted blood was removed and bandages were covering all the cuts from the chains and cuts on his face, stiches in the particularly deep wounds. Jack still noticed however, how pale he looked, his skin white enough for his freckles to stand out, making him look younger and even more fragile.
The Doctor smiled a little, looking tired. "Thank you," he whispered, holding out his hand.
Jack took it, and tried not to let it show how worried he was at how cold it was. "It's okay, Doc. Everything is okay now. They won't hurt you again, I promise."
He watched as the Time Lord's blinks grew longer, and recognized the signs that he was falling asleep, but when he tried to get up, to let him rest, his grip grew tighter, and his eyes opened again, fear flooding them until Jack promised he wouldn't leave. And he didn't. Jack stayed with the Doctor, holding his hand for hours, watching as the fear faded from his face and a look of peace fell across his features. He watched the rise and fall of his chest, and the monitor hooked up to him, showing his twin hearts beating, and he felt relieved. He had made it in time.
Lying in the bed, he forced himself to look tired, and forced his expression to smooth afterwards. He needed Jack to truly think he was still the same person, otherwise when the warden began to hunt him down, and he would definitely try, then Jack might realize he had chosen the wrong side, and help with his imprisonment. He knew if there was anyone that could get him back into that cell, it would be the immortal man. The first time they had been lucky, and caught him unaware, but he still managed to kill more than half of the men before he was overwhelmed. Not to mention he still needed to find his TARDIS. She could be anywhere, and he wouldn't find her without Torchwood's help.
With the opportunity to think uninterrupted, he began to arrange his thought, form an exact plan, when he thought of something, and almost grinned before remembering to keep his expression smooth. Jack had more than a little crush on him. He figured it wouldn't be too bad to be with the immortal man, and if Jack thought he loved him, then he would fight tooth and nail for him. And he would also love to see the expression on Teaboy's face when he realized he really was just a plaything to Jack. Satisfied, the Doctor allowed himself to drift off for real, his mind slipping into dreams, and images of his first victory fled through his brain.
Jack looked up from the Doctor as Martha walked into the room. She had been in several times, checking up on the Doctor. This time she handed him a coffee, and sat down next to him. He nodded to her gratefully, taking a sip.
"I'm worried about him Jack. He is still sleeping…For anyone else, it would be normal, but it's been hours, and he never sleeps more than a couple…" Martha sighed. She was right, and Jack knew that. The Doctor had been asleep for almost 8 hours now, and Jack was worried too.
He heard a soft knock on the door, and he looked up again as Ianto entered. Ianto walked over to him, wrapping his arms around Jack's neck comfortingly.
"From what I've heard of him, he will be okay."
"He was on a prison ship being tortured! You can't know that for sure," Jack snapped.
"A prison ship?" Ianto narrowed his eyes. "You broke him out of prison? Who is he Jack? When is the last time you saw him? How can you know for sure he is innocent?"
"I know him," Jack said angrily. "He has saved this planet more times than I can count. He is not a bad person, and he never will be. Who knows how long he was in there for, and when I killed the man who was torturing him, do you know what he did? He told me I shouldn't have killed them. That's what kind of man he is; compassionate even to those who don't deserve it."
"Six months," a voice said softly, and they all turned to look at the Doctor.
"What?" Jack said softly, all signs of anger gone.
"I was there for six months," the Doctor repeated, taking a deep breath.
Jack squeezed his hand, turning his back on Ianto. "It's okay, everything will be fine now," he whispered, as he saw the pain still in the Time Lord's eyes.
The Doctor closed his eyes in thanks, still gripping Jack's hand.
"Why did you wait six months to contact Jack? And why him? You must have had other friends that were closer and could help you with less hassle," Ianto said.
Jack shot him a look, but the Doctor shook his head at him.
"It took me six months before I was able to. They put a neural dampener on me so I was unable to get a message out to anyone. Even with the heightened powers of a Time Lord, it was six months before I was able to overpower the machine enough to get a message through. It went to Jack because…" the Doctor paused, a slight blush coming over his cheeks, "because I trust him, more than anyone."
Jack looked at the Doctor, feeling his heart swell, his eyes widened in shock. He had thought the Doctor had contacted him because it was easier with his vortex manipulator, or that it was because he couldn't die so there would be no risk of him getting hurt. He saw the truth now, in the Doctor's face. It was because the Doctor trusted him. Jack smiled widely, no longer caring that he had been sitting by the bed for hours, no longer caring about himself. The Doctor trusted him.
The others left the room, leaving the two men alone as the Doctor began to drift off again, and Jack was so consumed in watching the Doctor, he missed Ianto's angry glare at the Doctor as he left the room.