Jack woke with a start and for a few moments wasn't sure where he was; then it came back to him, those frantic minutes in the bathroom.
He sat up and ran his hands over his face. Cracking his neck he stretched taut muscles and went back to the bedroom.
He opened the door quietly, not wanting to disturb the Doctor and slipped into the room.
The only light was from the street lamps as he moved over to the bed.
The Doctor was still sleeping so he carefully sat on the bed, but the Doctor stirred and let out a yawn and gave Jack a sleepy smile.
"Morning," Jack said.
"Is it, can't really tell. It's all a bit fuzzy," then frowned when he moved and his chest and his legs hurt.
"Oww."
"About that," Jack said.
The Doctor listened to Jack's explanation of the event of the last few weeks and his frown became deeper and his mood darker.
"I take you have recordings?" he asked as he shifted his legs, hissing at the pain that shot through them...but any pain was a good sign; his body was doing what it should.
"Yeah, "Jack replied. I'll get Ianto to bring them over."
"No!" the Doctor said sharply...his guilt at what had happened stabbing him.
"No," he said less sharply.
Jack nodded. "I'll get them."
There was a companionable silence between them.
The Doctor shifted his legs again and winced as more pain shot through them.
"A massage might help," Jack said, his eyebrow rising in a suggestive manner.
The Doctor snorted. "Captain Innuendo...but the massage sounds good. It's just a massage mind, so get your mind out of the gutter."
Jack smiled and moved off the bed. "Be back in a tick."
The Doctor smiled but as soon as Jack was out the door, the smile vanished.
The lie had been easy enough, but hiding the reaction to the flashes of memory was not. The smell of his own burning flesh came unbidden into his nostrils and the feel of ash on his skin.
But most of all, it was that voice...soft, enticing...telling him that it could all be over. He closed his eyes and tried to push the images away.
But that voice was there again. "A clean slate, to start again...no more painful memories..."
The voice was cut off by the reappearance of Jack, an apologetic look on his face.
"No oil, sorry."
The Doctor raised an eyebrow at Jack's disappointed face. "Next time, Captain."
Jack seemed to accept that and let out a breath. "How about breakfast in bed instead? I'll put the TV on, might take your mind off the legs."
The Doctor wasn't really looking at the station that was on. He had half an ear on the sounds of Jack and what sounded like Gwen in the kitchen.
Their words were just murmurs, but they were soothing and so normal and he sighed and turned his attention to the TV.
It was one of those religious programmes that often pervaded television at this time of the morning; preaching hell fire and damnation and please can you spare as much money as you can for our good work.
The Doctor watched out of amused curiosity...humans.
He could see the attraction, the preacher was eloquent and presentable and his smile almost rivalled the Doctor's own.
"About a sincere as a Sontaran peace envoy," the Doctor snorted, but kept watching.
"Do you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? Do you feel like my friend Michael here?" the preacher said, smile beatifically.
The camera moved to frame a nervous looking man, who looked like he wanted to be somewhere else.
"Tell me Michael, you have served time in prison?
The man nodded and looked nervously at the camera.
"Michael here has had a very violent past and his family and his local church have turned against him, condemning him as un-saveable. But you want to be saved, don't you Michael?"
The Doctor snorted again. "About as much as I want to eat a pear."
The unseen congregation let out a murmur as the man nodded.
The preacher smiled again and put a hand on the man's chest, just over his heart, the Doctor noted.
Oh...this should be interesting, let's see how much of an actor Michael is.
"Michael, do you renounce your violent ways?"
"Yes," Michael whispered.
"Louder, Michael. Do you renounce your violent ways?"
"Yes!" Michael yelled.
"Oh this is getting better and better," the Doctor said.
The preacher closed his eyes and shouted. "Then wipe the slate clean, let go of your sins and walk in the path of enlightenment and forgiveness!"
There was silence as the congregation held its collective breath and the Doctor narrowed his eyes as he spotted something.
Was there the faintest of glows coming from the preacher's hand...then Michael cried out and the Doctor suddenly felt like his chest was on fire.
The shock of the pain caused him to move suddenly as his legs screamed at him in protest and he fell off the bed with a loud thump, unable to catch his breath.
The last words he heard were "The Church of Enlightenment and Forgiveness Clean Slate programme is available to all. Find out more on our website...then his world turned black.
He came too with a gasp to find himself back on the bed with the concerned faces of Jack, Gwen and Martha swimming into blurry view.
"There you are," Martha said and placed a stethoscope on his chest and smiled.
She put it away and said to Jack. "He seems fine, but he does have one hell of a bump."
The Doctor frowned at her.
"You must have tried to do something and fell out of the bed," she answered his unspoken question.
"What were you doing?" Jack asked, concern written large on his face.
"It doesn't matter," Martha said. "Just don't try it again without someone helping you."
The Doctor shot her a sharp look and snapped. "I'm not an invalid or a child!"
"And on that, I think we should make our exit," Gwen said, seeing the Doctor was clearly embarrassed at doing something he couldn't remember.
"I'll get those recordings for you Jack," she said and left.
Martha nodded. "Yes, you need to rest."
"I'm sorry," the Doctor said. "I didn't mean to snap...it's just..."
"You're frustrated and so want to get on your feet again," Martha finished for him.
She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Give it time," she said gently. "I'll be in the Hub, if you need me."
Jack turned the TV off; he wanted the Doctor to have complete quiet.
"I'm afraid breakfast is burnt, but if you're a good boy, I'll wheel you out to lunch. Do you want anything?"
The Doctor shook his head but as Jack was making for the door he said. "Wait, can I borrow your laptop?"
"Sure, but no looking at porn...not without me."
The Doctor rolled his eyes and thanked him when he brought the laptop and placed it on the bed.
"I'll be scraping the bacon off the grill if you need me," Jack said.
The Doctor switched the laptop on and connected to the net and typed in The Church of Enlightenment and Forgiveness and Clean Slate.
Back in Quantico a computer beeped as another hit registered on the Enlightenment and Forgiveness site.
This set of a warning mail to the same agent who had started an investigation into said church.
He was reading it when he partner whistled. "Wow, ten million hits."
"I hope you've got something to confess, because we're going to find Enlightenment."
The Doctor skimmed through the blurb about the church's beliefs and dogma and moved onto the linked sights.
"Now that is interesting," he said as he read various conspiracies regarding the church; how its website was rapidly becoming the site with the largest amounts of hits ever.
But what caught his attention was the warning from various sites about people that had joined the church and had dropped out of sight.
There were theories about it being a front for people trafficking or it was some evil death cult.
This was something he should be investigating as the truth was usually something far worse.
He rubbed absently at his chest.
He closed his eyes and centred himself on his legs. He forced healing energy into his legs and within minutes he felt muscles knit and nerve ending fuse.
They wouldn't be perfect, but he could at least walk on them.
He carefully stood up and nearly overbalanced but managed to right himself. He dressed as quickly and as quietly as he could.
He left the bedroom and paused for a moment by the kitchen, where he could hear Jack.
"I'm sorry," he whispered and with stealth born of experience at escaping unnoticed, he slipped out of the apartment.
The Church of Enlightenment was about to get itself another hopeless sinner to save.
Jack finished cleaning the grill and decided to make the Doctor a cup of tea. Humming a happy tune he made the tea just how the Doctor liked it.
He laid the tray with two cups and a plate of Jaffa Cakes and went towards the bedroom. He could hear some kind of video playing; the Doctor must be watching something on YouTube.
He opened the door with a foot and found an empty bedroom.
"Doctor?" he said.
He put the tray down and a feeling of dread came over him. He turned and then noticed that the Doctor's clothes were missing.
Any joy he would have felt at realising that the Doctor could finally walk was swallowed up by heartbreak.
He turned and then saw that the front door was open...the Doctor had run again.