Right, okay then. This is the last chapter to the Labyrinth. Thank you one and all for reading this little bit of fiction. And please, remember to drop me a note saying if you liked it or not.

TWL

They'd been walking around for hours, following the blue line along the walls. The novelty of strange glowing blue bacteria had worn off pretty quickly. A bright bioluminescent glow out of the corner of your eye tended to annoy. Jack scrubbed tiredly at his eyes, trying to stop them from watering. He'd been staring at the glow, and the strange hum of the sound waves creating it were starting to give him a headache. Just because he couldn't hear them didn't mean he couldn't feel them. They resonated in is head, bouncing against his brain and reverberating against his skull.

Jack sighed and dropped his hand, finished with trying to make his eyes cooperate with him. If they kept on watering, so be it. He hadn't had another hallucination yet, but he'd seen things, flashes, and heard sounds, like words, but not really. He couldn't distinguish them from the background, but he was fairly certain it wasn't the Minotaur. He didn't know what species of alien had crossed with a human, but that wasn't really the point. It didn't matter what sort of alien it was, only that the Doctor had locked it in there, and them indirectly along with it.

He couldn't imagine why the Doctor would do something like this, but what Barty had said made Jack believe the Doctor was the only option. Besides which, the design of the place fit him as well, and the hidden clue that led to the only way out. The Minotaur wouldn't be able to light the walls, were as, someone able to think would be able to solve the puzzle, with the correct technology. That didn't line up, however. The Doctor would have created a way for anyone to get out should they choose to use their minds.

For some reason, he wanted to believe it was the Doctor.

He wanted to think it was the Doctor, wanted to believe the Time Lord had created this place and stranded them here. He didn't know why he thought that, perhaps it was because he had two thousand years to think about the man while buried under the earth. The man who had never shown up, who had never known anything was wrong with the universe when the one universal fact had crossed his own timeline. Time Lords were supposed to know that sort of thing, weren't they? So, why hadn't the Doctor shown up, why hadn't he saved them?

Why hadn't the Doctor saved him?

It didn't matter now, not really. He only wanted to believe the Doctor had locked them here, if only because that meant he might realize something was amiss and swoop in and save them at the last second. He knew, logically, that the Doctor had nothing to do with the situation and wasn't going to save them. He knew it, knew it wouldn't happen, but that didn't stop him from wishing, hoping, and praying for a rescue. He didn't think he could save them. He didn't know how. It seemed impossible from where he was standing now, but that didn't matter, he had to be strong for Gwen and Ianto, they'd had enough of his weakness in the face of their grief as it was. He couldn't add any more to it, didn't want to.

"Jack?" Gwen interrupted his thoughts. She pointed straight ahead and Jack stopped dead when he saw a shadow cross their path about a hundred yards in front of them. "What was that?"

"I don't know." Jack said softly. He drew his gun and saw Ianto mirror his action. "C'mon, let's go see what it was."

"You want to go closer to it?" Ianto demanded tightly following closely after Jack.

"You're following me, aren't you?" Jack asked smartly, eyes focused on the empty space where the shadow used to be.

"Yes, unfortunately," Ianto muttered disingenuously under his breath.

"Oh, cheer up, Ianto," Gwen said, gun also held at the ready. "At least we can be sure it isn't the Minotaur, that shape looked like a man."

"In our job, just because it looks human does not mean it's even remotely similar." Ianto told her snappishly, nerves balancing precariously on a torn tether.

"True," Gwen acknowledged, now sounding distinctly nervous. Ianto almost regretted saying anything. Almost.

"No need to get nasty." Jack reprimanded absently, mind focused on figuring out exactly what had darted across their path. Gwen was right, it was most likely another trapped college kid, but that didn't stop him from being careful.

They crept up on the corner, each one of them praying that something nasty was not on the other side. With the way their luck had been running lately, though, Jack was sure something was going to kill them the moment they got close. Bummer for him, tragic for Gwen and Ianto. He'd live though, just like always. He didn't have a choice. Forcing his deep philosophical thoughts to the back of his mind, Jack gripped his gun tighter and pressed his back flat against the wall.

He peered cautiously around the corner, barely putting his head out far enough to see. The room was dark, but Jack could see a glowing blue line running along the wall that told him they would have to go that way to get out of the maze. Gathering his courage, Jack stepped slowly around the corner, gun leveled where any normal person's head or chest would be. No surprises for him this time. Once had been enough, thank you. When no one jumped out with a cry of promised pain, Jack relaxed a faction, his senses focusing on the dark.

He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, for what it was worth at that moment. He crept forward slowly, noticing Gwen and Ianto following just in his peripheral vision. He inched forward, shuffling his feet incase what they had seen was lying on the floor instead of huddled fearfully against the wall. Whomever or whatever it was could have had a seizure just like Barty had. There was enough time to allow for it, Jack knew. He swallowed hard, reining in his nerves. He was starting to get impatiently scared. Looking around a dark room that was not empty but devoid of signs of life was enough to make anyone start to get nervous.

"Hello?" Jack called out, trying to sound friendly. "Is anyone in here? We saw you running. It's okay, we're not gonna hurt you."

"That's what you think," a hoarse voice said from Jack's left.

Jack yelped in surprise, gun swinging around to aim point blank at the person who had spoken. His chest heaved as he gulped in copious amounts of air, trying to fight the surge of adrenaline flooding his veins. His hands tightened around the gun and he barely stopped himself from pulling the trigger and shooting whoever it was that had scared him half to death.

"Who are you?" Jack demanded tightly.

"You think you aren't here to hurt, do you?" the voice was familiar and Jack felt a feeling of dread settle in his stomach. The voice laughed mockingly. "You'd be right. I'm the one who does the hurting. You know that, don't you, Freak?"

"Get. Out." Jack growled out around clenched teeth.

"Hello?" Another voice whimpered. It sounded distantly like a child to Jack's ears. He could hardly hear around the rush of blood pounding through his skull.

"Who are you?" Gwen called out softly, trying to locate the source of the voice. "Where are you, sweetie? We can't help if we can't find you."

"Over here!" the young voice shouted from the left corner.

"Over here!" the voice mocked. Jack's eyes bulged when the owner of the voice stepped into the blue glow coming from the bacteria on the wall. He noted it with a grudging bit of satisfaction. "Nice catch, Jackie boy. Wouldn't have thought you'd notice my brilliant trail of bread crumbs. It's simply ingenious, don't you think?"

"You aren't here." Jack stated, his desperation bleeding into his voice. He swallowed hard and forced his anger and fear to the back of his mind. The mist preyed off of fear, he was coming to realize. "I know you aren't here. Leave. Now."

"You forgot to say 'please'," the man sneered, tapping a familiar gadget against his head in a sickening; tap, tap, tap, tap, pause, tap, tap, tap, tap.

"As if I would beg you for anything," Jack snapped, eyes flashing dangerously. He leveled his gun at the man, venom in his voice tangible in the air. "I'll shoot you, hallucination or not. Damn the Doctor and his merciful tendencies to hell, Lucy was right in shooting you. If she hadn't, I would've, mark my words."

"Oh, and such brave ones they are," the man laughed, eyes sparkling with madness. He sneered again. "Say my name, Freak. Say it. C'mon, say it!"

"No!" Jack snarled. He swung, lashing out wildly at the apparition, not caring if it was a figment of his twisted mind or not.

The man vanished into the air like vapor, malicious laugh echoing in the dark chamber and freezing Jack's blood in his veins. He knew that laugh and no matter what he told himself, real, fake or imagined, that sound would always chill him to his core.

"Mister, are you alright?" a young, child-like voice interrupted Jack's racing thoughts.

He frowned down at the boy, who was no older than eleven. He was dirty, bruised, and looked like he hadn't eaten in days. The child was clutching Gwen's hand tightly as he looked up at Jack with bright blue eyes. His blond hair was matted to his forehead, but he was obviously putting on a brave face. He must have been snatched from his family while they were picnicking in Bute Park, he looked far too young to have gotten there on his own, Jack noticed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Jack told the boy with a smile. He crouched down in front of the child. "What's your name, kid?"

"Ryan," the boy answered, arm wrapped around his middle. His jeans were torn at the knees and Jack once again marveled at the fact the boy was still alive. "What's yours?"

"Jack," Jack answered kindly. He gently ruffled Ryan's hair. "Were you with your parents before, Ryan?"

"Yeah," Ryan answered, looking homesick. He sighed and gave Jack a small sideways smile. "We were on a picnic. It was nice and sunny out. Then, I saw this bubble, I guess. It grabbed me, then it was cold and then I was here. There's a monster here. They don't live under your bed, do they? They live in this place, don't they, Jack?"

"Yeah, Ryan, they live here." Jack replied sadly. He pushed to his feet. "We'll get you outta here, Ryan. You have my word."

"Shake on it?" Ryan asked, smiling impishly. He held out his grubby hand and looked into Jack's eyes, as if seeing through the Captain.

Jack shook the boy's hand. "Deal."

"Deal," Ryan echoed. He dropped Jack's hand and his grin seemed to fall from his face. He frowned, looking at the walls as if noticing the blue glow for the first time. "Why's the wall glowing?"

"That's our way out," Jack told him, leading his team once more. He walked through a second doorway and out into yet another passageway.

"Have you ever heard the story of Hansel and Gretel?" Ianto asked Ryan, smiling at the boy.

"The blue light is bread crumbs?" Ryan said excitedly. "That's so cool! What is it, mister?"

"Ianto, my name is Ianto," Ianto told the boy with amusement. "The blue is bacteria," he leaned in conspiratorially, "it's from someplace in a galaxy far, far away."

"Really?" Ryan's eyes were positively glowing now. "It is? Which galaxy, where from? I was so right, aliens are real! No one believes me when I tell them I met one, well, that my Grandpa did. My Grandpa, Timothy Latimer, he met an alien, the Doctor; he gave Grandpa a watch that used to hold DNA! Isn't that neat? No one believes me when I tell them, even my Dad, but Grandpa gave me the watch before he died."

Ryan dug around in his pocket for a moment, letting go of Gwen's lax hand. They were all shocked by what the boy was saying. He pulled out a tarnished fob watch and showed it to Ianto. "See, look! It's got funny designs on it. Grandpa said; don't give it to anyone but my son or the Doctor. He told me to pass on the story, so I will."

"Ryan," Jack said slowly, "can I see the watch? I promise not to keep it, I just want to look. I think I've seen one just like it before."

"You have?" Ryan asked eyes wide. He carefully passed the watch to Jack. "When? Where?" the boy gasped, "Do you know the Doctor?"

Jack chuckled, turning the watch over in his hands a few times before passing it back to Ryan. It was definitely a chameleon watch. "Yeah, I know the Doctor. He and I are good friends. I traveled with him once, in his blue box, but then something bad happened and I got left behind."

"Did he come back for you?" Ryan asked innocently, once more pocketing the watch.

"No, he didn't," Jack answered honestly. He sighed. "But I found him again, a year ago. We did some amazing things. He asked me to stay, but I didn't. I wanted to come home."

"You did?" Ryan goggled. He smiled, mood considerably lightened by the conversation. "What's the Doctor like? Grandpa always said he was fire, ice, rage and peace all at once. Is he really?"

"He's the Oncoming Storm." Jack said with a smile. "The Lonely God. The one who'll save you when no one else will, the one who cares when no one else does," Jack chuckled, strangely honest for once. "He saved me, stopped me from committing a fatal accident. I can't thank him enough for that."

"Wow," Ryan breathed. He sighed, suddenly looking sad. "I miss my Mom."

"I know, kid," Jack commiserated. He ruffled Ryan's hair again. "You'll see her again, soon. Hopefully in the next few hours, maybe a day."

"Thank you," Ryan whispered. He slid his smaller hand into Jack's larger one. "Take me home, spaceman."

Jack laughed.

His joy was abruptly cut short as Gwen yelped and pointed at the end of the hallway. There, glowering and growling threateningly at them, was the Minotaur. Ryan screamed, voice high-pitched as he ducked behind Jack, clutching to the Captain's long coat. Jack aimed his gun at the creature, fighting to keep his hands from shaking. A long, disgusting string of salvia slid from the creature's mouth, falling lazily to the floor. The Minotaur's yellow eyes seemed to glow in the dim light, even from its spot twenty yards away. Jack could hardly believe they hadn't seen it sooner. He had the irrational notion that it was billowing black clouds of evil into the air, but that must have been the mist.

The glowing blue line on the right wall pointed straight towards the Minotaur. It was standing where they needed to be. Perhaps guarding it, even. The thought was disturbing and Jack refused to think about it. Instead, he pulled the trigger on his Webely. The sounded reverberated through the passageway as the bullet sped towards its target. The Minotaur roared and charged towards them just as Jack fired his weapon. The bullet hit home and the Minotaur howled the sound coming dangerously close to a squeal. Jack felt his heart rate pick up as the creature didn't even slow. The bullet might as well have gone right through it.

Jack fired again, hands sweating as fear began to take hold and cloud his mind. The bullet hit home, and this time, the bull-creature lost its footing, falling head first onto the stones and sliding right up to Jack. Harkness jumped back, stumbling over Ryan and the creature's arm as it clawed viciously at him. Jack kicked out wildly, boot connecting with the Minotaur's elbow joint with a satisfying crack. Jack leveled his gun point blank at the creature's head, and without even a thought, pulled the trigger one final time. The sound bounced painfully around the corridor and Jack watched in a detached state of shock as the creature's brain matter splattered.

Ryan screamed again, landing on the floor as he fell, hands bracing him as he went down. His eyes were wide as he scrambled backwards, away from the dead creature. The entire thing had happened in the space of three seconds, but to everyone involved, it had seemed like a long and tiring year. Ryan's chest heaved and he couldn't look away from the still twitching corpse of the Minotaur.

Jack shot it again, one more time for good measure, and the twitching stopped entirely. He lowered his gun and sheathed it, not minding nor noticing the black, vicious blood now decorating the front of his clothing. Throwing caution to the wind, Jack walked over and checked the creature, looking for a pulse or any other signs of life. Finding none, he relaxed, all of the previous tension bleeding out of him and making him feel empty and tired. He was so sick of this insanity. He wanted to go home to his own bed, make one hell of a meal, then sleep for a week.

"Oh my god!" Gwen breathed, pulling in great gulps of air. Her hand was pressed to her chest as she was unable to look away from the morbid spectacle of the creature.

"Is that the only one?" Ianto voiced the question that had been lurking in the deep, dark recesses of everyone's minds.

"Yeah," Jack replied. "There was only one in the picture in the well room. I think we're safe. From this thing, anyway, not from ourselves."

"Why-why would we be a danger to ourselves?" Ryan asked timidly, climbing to his feet. He grabbed Jack's hand for comfort.

"The mist in the air," Jack answered him. "It shows you your deepest fears and what you most regret. It twists your mind, Ryan."

"I haven't seen anything." Ryan told him, sounding relieved. "Does that mean it doesn't hurt me?"

"I dunno," Jack told him truthfully. "I wish I did, Ryan, but I don't. If we start shouting at the air, you stay away, understand?"

"Yes," Ryan acknowledged quietly.

"Jack," Gwen started, finally wrestling back her composure, "we should keep moving. There's only so long we can stay here. We don't have any supplies."

"I know," Jack nodded, stepped over the Minotaur's carcass and led the way down the hallway. "Time to follow the light."

"So long as it's not in some random bog somewhere," Ianto muttered darkly under his breath.

"No, we wouldn't want that, would we?" Jack's head whipped around to stare at the source of the familiar voice. The man smiled charmingly at him, but his eyes were empty. "Gollum was right. Don't follow the light. Oh, that's good. Nice rhyme, I should have thought of that earlier."

Jack swallowed hard, eyes drawn to the laser-screwdriver that was tapping out the annoying, hypnotizing rhythm. "It's not a good one. Get out of here, Master."

"Oh, you said my name!" the Master exclaimed, he grinned, eyes crinkling and hiding the crazy light in his eyes. He affected a pleased air, putting far too much sweetness into it. Jack felt sick just looking at him. "I do love it when you say my name, Jackie boy." He suddenly clapped his hands together, making Jack jump. "So, what's on the menu for today, Freak? The boy going to die anytime soon, because, whoa!—annoying much?"

"You have room to talk!" Jack snapped, glaring at the smug figure of the Master.

"Only in your mind," the Master said, voice disarmingly friendly. He shrugged, "which, if you think about it, is where we are. Well, where I am, anyway."

"I don't care." Jack stuffed his hands in his pockets and focused his attention forward, ignoring the concerned looks his teammates and Ryan were giving him. He refused to give in to the Master, even if he wasn't real; it was the principle of the thing.

"No, of course you don't," the Master continued to chatter, tapping his laser-screwdriver against his other hand absently. "You wouldn't even care if they all dropped dead, hell, you want them too, don't you, Freak? You just long for them to die."

The tapping got louder and Jack resisted the urge to press his hands to his ears. It wasn't real, it wasn't. No one else could see him, Jack knew. Gwen and Ianto would recognize the dead former Prime Minster, Jack was sure. They'd been tasked with handling it, if he could remember properly. His mind was so fuzzy right now. He blinked his eyes harshly, trying to force the cotton-stuffed sensation away. He needed to focus right now, not listen to the pounding sound of drums. That wasn't right. Something wasn't right.

The blue line led them to a door. The pounding was getting louder. He couldn't stand this, he couldn't. They needed to go back. Back!

"Yes, see, listen to that, Jack." the Master cooed in his ear.

Jack jerked his head away and reached out for the door handle, hearing nothing but the incessant pounding and the muffled sound of human voices from behind him. He was sure Gwen and Ianto were kicking up a fuss, but he couldn't bring himself to care right at that exact moment. The Master had said not to open the door, so that's exactly what he should do. Open it. If only to piss off the narcissistic megalomaniac. Was that redundant? Jack couldn't really gather the facilities to work it out just then. All he could hear was the drums. Drums, drums, drums; drumming away without care for his mind and pounding the inside of his skull. His head hurt in places that were usually numb.

"No you know how I feel," the Master hissed, putrid breath filtering across Jack's nose. "Not so nice, is it, Freak?"

Jack felt his fingers close around the strange bow-shaped handle with an abstract sense of detached clarity. He could see it happening, knew that it was, but the pain in his head was consuming his every thought and action. He'd never hurt like this before. Gritting his teeth, Jack pulled at the ancient handle, praying distantly that it wouldn't simply tear off. The door groaned and the old hinges seemed to buckle before it came loose with a startling jolt. Jack stumbled backwards, not expecting it to give in so easily. He frowned, the pounding in his head only increasing for having opened the door.

"Oh, now you've gone and done it, you stupid ape!" the Master berated from Jack's right, voice clear as a bell. "You shouldn't have done that. Now the whole universe is gonna burst at the seams! Congratulations, Freaky, you've managed to single handedly destroy the world. Not even I managed that, and that's saying something, don't you think?"

"Shut up," Jack muttered absently, walking boldly through the door way and into the glowing blue room.

The bacteria in the water coated the entirety of the room. The floors, ceiling, walls, everything was covered in the glowing blue alien bacteria. Jack spared a moment to admire the wonder of it through the muted haze of the drumming before walking to the mushroom shaped dais in the middle of everything. There were jagged, perfect lines with exact ninety degree angles running along the floor, emanating from the center and touching the walls evenly. They seemed to glow brighter than everything else around them. The lines were a strange mix of the purple fungus and the blue. Jack thought they were the most beautiful part of the entire room, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. The thrumming in his head prevented most conscious thought.

However, he didn't miss the strange, see-through tube floating ten feet in the air above the dais in a purple shaft of light. Jack could see a circular shaped device attached to the ceiling, radiating the light. It was obviously some sort of levitation field. The tube and field weren't what was important about the sight, though, it was what was in the tube. A winged man, with silvery skin and obsidian colored, feathered wings, was chained in the tube. His arms were stretched upwards, manacles around his wrists and ankles. His head was bowed and the only covering he had seemed to be half of a toga-like thing. Jack froze, staring up at him with no small amount of awe.

It was Deadalus.

In his blue box, or rather, room.

"Oh," Jack mumbled, discovery not quite registering in his fogged mind. "This must be what Barty meant. Deadalus fell from the sky, not Icarus."

Jack staggered towards the mushroom-shaped dais, giving it a brief once over as he did so. It was silver, reflecting the blue light of the walls and floor. Jack blinked harshly, trying to clear the blur from his vision. Looking at the same color of bright light tended to distort vision dangerously. Jack lost his footing just as he reached the dais, collapsing against it with a pained groan. He vaguely felt something trickle out of his nose and distantly noted that his nose was bleeding. He braced himself against the console, arms shoulder length apart and hands at awkward angles as they rested on the curvature of the mushroom head.

"Oh, shit," Gwen breathed, rushing up to the dais. She looked down frantically at it, not understanding any of the strange symbols etched onto its surface. "Jack, how do we work this? We can't just leave him floating up there!"

"Sure you can!" the Master cheerfully announced. He ignored Jack's pained groan. "You leave all sorts of things to die, what's one timeless myth added on to everything else?"

"Go away," Jack grunted, lifting his head to glare at the Master. "You aren't welcome here."

"Jack, who are you talking to? Who do you see?" Ianto asked worriedly, looking from the empty air to Jack again.

"No one," Jack replied through gritted teeth. He pulled in a deep breath, trying desperately to work around the pounding in his head. He looked up at Deadalus. "We need to get him outta there; he's the only one who can operate these controls."

"How did he get in there?" Ryan asked; jaw slack as he stared up at the encased man. "Who is he?"

"Deadalus," Gwen answered Ryan. "You remember the story about the boy with wax wings who flew to close to the sun? This is his father, Deadalus, the man who made the wings and told Icarus not to fly to close to the sun."

"Oh," Ryan mumbled, entranced by the sight of Deadalus floating in the tube. "He's an alien?"

"Yeah," Gwen replied, eyes locked onto the gruesome sight, "he is."

"I have to save him," Jack rambled, reaching out to press one of the circular buttons in the center of the mushroom-head. He pressed down as hard as he could, but no matter what he did, nothing seemed to happen.

Jack banged the console angrily with both fists and nearly lost his balance for his bout of temper. "Dammit! Work! I need to save him. I need to save him!"

"Face the facts, Jack," the Master taunted. He smirked. "Ooh, I like that. Jack the Fact face the facts. Catchy, don't think? Never mind, moving on. Face the facts, Jack, you can't save anyone, anywhere or any-when. When are you gonna learn, Freak?"

"That would have carried more weight coming from the Doctor." Jack informed the hallucination snappily.

"Oh, really?" the Master said with a shrug and an easy look. "Fine, your wish is my command, Jackie boy."

The Master snapped his fingers dramatically and suddenly, where he used to be, the Doctor now stood, blue suit, brown over coat, wild hair and all. He stuffed his hands into his pant's pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Okay, so where were we? Oh, yeah, you can't save anyone Jack." He frowned comically and Jack found himself chuckling at the absurdity of it all. The Doctor set a stony expression on his face, eyes going hard and manner radiating resigned disappointment.

"You can't save anyone, Jack. Never could. Always had to do it for you, you're that sad." the Doctor sneered. "Now I know why I left you on Satellite Five. I don't tote around failures like you. You didn't measure up then and you don't measure up now. All of eternity and I'll never love you. How does that feel, Jack the Fact? Does it hurt?"

Jack gasped, a pained noise escaping before he could stop it. "I know that. I know! But it doesn't matter, none of it does. Just get us out of here, Doctor, please!"

"Oh, you beg pretty," the Doctor faded away to be replaced by the Master. He smirked triumphantly. "Took quite a bit of work, but ooh, look Jack, I got you to beg for me. A year, do you believe it? Such a sense of accomplishment to go with this, don't you think?"

"It's not real!" Ianto shouted, grabbing Jack harshly by his shoulders. Ianto shook him forcibly. "Jack, focus on me. I'm real. I'm real! Here, now, not wherever you are and not whoever you're talking to. Focus on me!"

"Ianto," Jack breathed. He forced himself into an upright position, drums chipping away at his skull. He looked up at Deadalus again. "We have to save him. Help me save him, please."

"I don't think we can, Jack." Ianto told him sadly. "He's been in there for thousands of years. Taking him out would most likely kill him."

"Exactly," Jack said hoarsely. He reached out and pounded the only red circle on the entire dais. "If I can't save him, I'll set him free. No one deserves to live like this."

Jack licked his dry lips and forced his right hand to press down on the pulsing dark red circle in the top of the console. He pressed down harshly, then screamed, the pain in his head exploding even though it seemed to him that it couldn't possibly get any worse. He collapsed onto the floor, the pain in his head taking over all of his thought functions. He could barely remember his own name, much less how to work an alien life-support system. Sparks exploded from the levitation plate in the ceiling, and suddenly, the tube Deadalus was encased in burst, glass flying everywhere and imbedding itself into the walls.

"Look what you've done now," the Master clicked his tongue and wagged his finger mockingly in Jack's face. He seemed smugger than Jack had ever seen him. The Captain wanted to brutally rip the expression from his face in a shower of violence and blood. "Naughty, naughty, Captain. Then again, telling you that could only make you hard for more. Perhaps, good doggie should be the phrase of choice. Of course, with you fifty-firsters, who can tell if you'd rather have the dog than a human being?"

"Piss off," Jack growled angrily; mustering all of the venom and contempt he could at the moment, which wasn't much. He wasn't sure if he even understood his own words. For all he knew he could have said, light the toaster.

"Oh, ladies and gents we have a live one!" the Master exclaimed, laughing as he did so. He grinned down at Jack, eyes cold and hard. "Think you can keep it going, Jackie boy? No?" he sighed dramatically. "Didn't think so. Humans. So pathetic, you lot."

Before Jack could continue his internal argument, a body impacted his upper back and shoulders. He shouted in pain, collapsing flat on the floor underneath wings and a cold, silvery body. He lay there, panting and groaning, lacking the energy to haul himself up. The pounding in his head had vanished the moment the cold body had landed on him. Jack swallowed hard and rolled over, the dead weight of Deadalus sliding off of him and onto the glowing blue floor. Jack turned his head and blinked blearily at the body, more surprised than he had been that entire day when the body blinked back.

Golden orbs stared out from half-lidded eyes.

"Thank you," the rough voice was issued forth from Deadalus' still form. He swallowed thickly, trying to wet his throat. His breath rattled in his chest and Jack knew he wouldn't last much longer. "Thank you. I didn't want to live like that. So this is my final farewell…"

His eyes slid fully shut and Jack just stared, chest moving steadily up and down as he looked on at Deadalus' now dead body. He could hardly believe what had just happened to him. Moaning softly, Jack pushed to his knees, thankful that the pounding in his head had vanished completely. He didn't think he could have stood another second of it. He brushed Deadalus' wing from his shoulder and pulling himself into a standing position, leaning against the console for support.

"Oh, wow," Ryan said, eyes wide and eyebrows climbing towards his hair line. He gulped. "Is-is he dead? I mean, really dead?"

Jack reached down and checked the body for breath. He didn't find any. "Yeah, he's dead, Ryan. I'm sorry."

"Oh," Ryan muttered. He ran out into the hallway and promptly threw up, unable to take the horrors he had witnessed in the space of fifteen minutes.

"Poor boy," Gwen sighed out. She watched on in silence as Ryan wiped his mouth then trudged back into the glowing blue room, studiously avoiding looking at the body lying on the floor. "Are you alright, Ryan?"

"Can I get back to you on that?" Ryan asked her sincerely.

Gwen nodded sadly. "Yeah, you can."

"Oh, how sickeningly sweet that is," the Master said derisively.

"Shut up," Jack snarled. He glared daggers at the Master. "You aren't real, leave me the hell alone!"

"But this is so fun!" the Master jovially informed Jack, hands pressed together in an imitation of a prayer. He fixed Jack with a pleading expression. "How can I stop?"

"Figure it out," Jack snapped at him. "I thought you were a genius?"

"Jack," Ianto said, warning obvious in his voice. "It's not real. Focus," he sighed and pointed to the console. "Now, how does that work?"

"Gwen, bring Ryan over here and stand within the silver circle. It's the only way to get back home." Jack instructed, turning his attention to the console.

"Jack, are you alright?" Gwen asked. She gently guided Ryan into the silver circle on the floor.

"Yeah, never better." Jack joked, eyes fluttering closed before he forced them open again. He focused on the console; steadfastly ignoring the apparition of the Master to his left.

"Liar," Ryan called him on it.

"Not for long," Jack told him with a smirk. He swallowed. "I'll be alright, Ryan. Don't worry about me."

"We all will, as soon as we get out of here," Ianto interrupted tersely, quite ready to go home.

Jack smiled and reached out, hand shaking and pressed the small thrumming silver vein in the middle of the dais. The console began to glow, the light bright against the background of blue. Jack squinted and turned his face away, not wanting his eyes to be completely burned out. He felt his body begin to pull apart, then everything went black for a short, frightening moment. He gasped, stumbling forward when the dais he was leaning on evaporated into the air. Jack stumbled, pitching forward and landing on his knees in the wet grass. He breathed in deep, fresh clean air assaulting his senses.

He blinked, blue eyes focusing on the brilliant clear sky and vibrant grass. The faint smell of rain clung to the air and the grass was still moist under his hands. The water seeped into the knees of his pants, staining them with green and bits of grass. He grinned, slowly pushing to his feet as the realization that they were home slowly sinking in. He turned, smiling to look at Gwen, Ianto and Ryan. They were all grinning and Ryan was still on his knees, trying his level best to hug the grass.

"Happy to be back?" Jack asked them, moving to walk towards their SUV, which he could see in the distance.

"I didn't think I'd ever kiss the floor." Ryan said, standing. He grinned widely at Jack. "Can I call my mum?"

"Yeah, you can. Ianto, do you have a phone?" Jack told him, amusement shining from his eyes.

"Here you go," Ianto tossed the phone to Ryan, who barely caught it before it hit the ground.

"Thank you," Ryan said, hurriedly dialing his phone number.

"What just happened?" Gwen asked, jogging to catch up to Jack as he walked towards the car. "One minute we were there, you were hurt, Deadalus was on the floor, then the next we weren't."

"Teleport," Jack answered her truthfully. "I was hallucinating, I think I was about to have a seizure. That room was designed to keep Deadalus locked away and to push people out so no one would get the bright idea of rescuing him. Did you feel it?"

"Yeah, I felt it." Gwen replied, looking disturbed. "I almost didn't make it into the circle in time." She paused, thinking. "What would you have done if I didn't make it, Jack? Would you have gone back?"

Jack frowned over at her, confused by the question. "Of course, why would you ask me that?"

Gwen gave him an incredulous look. "With the way you were before, Jack, I'm surprised you came after me at all."

"Is this the part where I apologize profusely?" Jack asked her, looking even more confused.

Gwen laughed. "After nearly two centuries on Earth and you still haven't figured that out yet, Jack?"

"I'll take that as a yes?" He said cheekily. He sighed. "Consider that an apology, Gwen. You know me, I don't usually say that."

"My mum will be here soon." Ryan informed them, interrupting the conversation. He pulled the fob watch from his pocket. "Should I give this to you? To give back to the Doctor?"

"Huh?" Jack said intelligently. He shook his head, frowning at Ryan. "Why would you give me that?"

"Grandpa wanted to give it back to him." Ryan informed them in the solemn way children have about them. "He wanted me to pass it along until it got back to the Doctor. He believed it would, one day. You know the Doctor, you can give it back."

Ryan thrust the watch at Jack, hand held open as he stared into Jack's blue eyes. He seemed to be imploring the Captain to take it from him. Ryan swallowed hard, obviously fighting with himself to hand it over in the first place.

"I owe you." Ryan finally said after it became apparent that Jack wasn't going to take the watch. "You saved me. My parents are never going to know, but I will. I always will. Even if I don't want to remember some of it. And maybe, someday, you can tell the Doctor about Grandpa and give him back this watch. Grandpa wanted that. Take it, please. I have to do this for my Grandpa."

"Go on, Jack," Gwen encouraged, eyes kind. She smiled softly. "He wants you to have it, to do what he can't. Go on, take it."

"But—it means a lot to you." Jack protested. He shook his head. "I can't take it, Ryan."

Ryan grinned. "Yes, you can," he shook his hand gently. "Go ahead. Give it back to him, Mr. Jack."

Jack took in a deep breath and carefully took the watch from Ryan's open hand. He held it up to his face, looking closely at it, then smiled. He could feel something, just a glimmer, that faded then got stronger the longer he held it. It was as if the Doctor was passing through time close to this watch, close to him, just for a moment. Jack felt his smile turn fond as he pocketed the watch, giving Ryan a thankful look. The boy really had no idea what he had just done, or why, but he had done it. Jack reached out and ruffled his hair, grinning when Ryan made a noise of protest.

"Thank you," Jack told him sincerely. "I mean it. I'll give it back to him, one day, when he's ready to get it back. You have my word, Ryan."

"One day, after the Bad Wolf has gone on its way." Ryan said, eyes sparkling. "I get to go home soon."

"Bad Wolf?" Jack quoted, happy mood plummeting the distance to the core of the Earth in less than a second. "Where did you hear that? Bad Wolf?"

"Everything has its season." Ryan replied, voice sounding oddly mature all of the sudden. "Bad Wolf returns."

"Bad Wolf returns? What do you mean she returns?" Jack demanded voice tight with emotion.

"She is returning." Ryan told him, eyes going glassy. Suddenly, he brightened, as if nothing had ever happened. "I'm sorry, what did you say Mr. Jack?"

"I said--"

"Ryan!" a high-pitched female voice interrupted Jack's question.

"Mum!" Ryan exclaimed, turning around and running towards his mother. She grabbed him in a hug and carried him off, leaving the Torchwood team to stand there and watch him leave.

It was a comfortable silence as they walked back towards their vehicle. Gwen paused, hand on the door handle and looked over to the hood of the car at Jack. "Jack," she started slowly, "what's Bad Wolf? What does it mean?"

"I haven't heard that in years," was Jack's cryptic reply as he climbed into the SUV. He fingered the watch in his coat pocket. "I think I have a phone call to make."

With that, he started the car, put it in gear, then pressed down on the gas. The SUV sped out of the parking lot, spraying gravel as it went. Ianto turned his head and rested it against the window as they drove away. He didn't know the entire story, but Jack had told him enough. The Gamestation, Rose Tyler, the Doctor and Bad Wolf. Rose was a paradox and created herself, leaving clues throughout all time and space. Perhaps, they had just found a remnant, the last little bit of a dead woman in this reality. Ianto sighed. He'd never understand time travel, no matter how hard he tried.

With that resolve, Ianto closed his eyes and prayed for sleep to come. He couldn't remember ever being this tired. Tired and hopeful, he thought with a vague smile. Jack had held his hand…

El Fin

And everyone said; "The End!" So, what'dya think? Well, lemme know, 'cause I really wanna know. Review! And farewell (for now)...