Jack woke up and momentarily forgot where he was. He tried to get up but was still strapped down. He rattled the fixtures angrily and let out a low moan. Then it all flooded back. The intense emotion coursing through him, and just wanting to be dead. Permanently. The gun in his hand, the shot of pain and darkness, the knife in his chest, Owen and Ianto's shocked worried faces. He turned his head and saw the freezer pod. "Doctor" he whispered, and a tear slid down his face. "What's happened to me?" he longed to be in The Doctor's arms, to be sharing anecdotes of the universe, to be travelling time, to be safe and happy.
"Jack" Owen jogged down the steps, followed by Ianto.
"Owen" Jack looked up at him, "I'm sorry"
"Why did you do it?" Ianto stepped into Jack's field of vision, hair messy and a coffee in his hand. "You sort of…went insane"
"I know" more tears welled up and spilled down his cheeks. "I can't, I couldn't take it.
I couldn't deal with it!" Jack sobbed and Ianto sort of hugged him. Jack sniffed and coughed. "I'm sorry"
"It's ok, we're here now" Ianto smoothed back Jack's thick black hair, the same thing Jack had done The Doctor on this very same bench. More tears spilled down his cheeks.
"Come on, stop crying…there we go" Ianto produced a tissue from his pocket and wiped Jack's face.
"Can I get up now?" Jack tried to raise his head.
Owen sighed. "You promise you won't go on an angsty suicide rampage again?"
Jack nodded. "No more suicide" he chuckled. "That's a sentence I never thought I'd say" Owen smiled and undid the straps holding the captain down. Jack groggily sat up and sighed. "I'm sorry"
"It's ok" Ianto hugged him and Jack hugged him back.
"What time is it?"
"Quarter past nine, in the evening" Ianto checked his watch.
"I've been asleep all day?"
"Yeah" Ianto broke the hug. "Want a coffee?"
Jack nodded. "Industrial strength. Have I missed anything important?"
Ianto paused. "Tosh made a major discovery during research. When Owen's finished checking you over, go and see her"
"Is she still in then?"
"Yeah, she's doing the Jack-sitting duties tonight" Jack rolled his eyes and waved Ianto off to get his coffee.
"You really gave us a scare, Jack. We thought at one point you were going to…shoot one of us" Owen finished checking Jack over. "it was quite scary to be honest"
Jack looked at the floor. "I'm really sorry. I just….I don't know." Owen nodded and patted Jack on the back.
"It's okay, just…don't do it again, okay?" Jack nodded.
"I'd better go see Tosh" Jack heaved himself off the medical bench and jogged up the steps and over to see Tosh.
Tosh gave Jack a sympathetic look and waved him over. "Are you okay, Jack? I mean…"
"No, if you're asking if I'm gonna go off on a suicide rampage again. And I'm okay"
Tosh nodded. "Ok, good. I did some much deeper research, and found some more information, though I'm not sure if it's valid."
Jack read the text on Tosh's monitor.
'GUILT, also known as 'Gangliated Utrothropin Immuno Latency Toxin', is a parasite that causes immense muscle and organ damage upon its host. Originally discovered on the planet of Raxacollicofallapatorius on a species pf plant known as Ragweed, it was soon genetically modified to be used in the culling of certain species. It has been known to have been used as a form of medical genocide. Once infected, a victim suffers excruciating pain and severe internal bleeding until, eventually; the parasite reaches the heart and brain. More often than not, a victim has it injected into them or, in most cases, slipped into food or drink, as the toxin is odour and tasteless. The parasite at first is so tiny it can only be seen with a microscope, and is often transferred inside the toxin it produces. Once inside the body, it begins to grow and reproduce' Jack couldn't read any more. Anger bubbled up in his chest.
"Someone did this deliberately" he growled. "Someone infected him deliberately!"
"We can trace it"
"We can't" Jack sat down on the floor, all his energy seemed to have disappeared, along with hope for The Doctor. "We don't have the technology to do that." Tears welled up in his eyes and he started to cry. Tosh helped him up and comforted him, hugging him as best she could.
"It's okay. Owen says the antivenom should be ready soon, and I'm doing all the research I can, and so are Gwen and Ianto. We can save The Doctor, we can" Jack sniffed and gulped back another bout of sobbing. He had to be strong, for The Doctor if anyone. He straightened up. At the same moment, Ianto came in, expertly balancing a tray of mugs. He handed Jack his coffee, and Tosh her tea and left a plate of biscuits on the side.
"I thought you might be hungry" he explained, and then wandered up to the sofa to do some more research. Jack took a biscuit and nibbled it. He hadn't eaten in days, and realised how hungry he was. He ate the biscuits ravenously and had soon polished off ten. He left the others for Tosh.
"Jack, look at this" Owen stood at the top of the medical stairs and waved him over. Jack put the plate back on Tosh's desk and walked across to Owen. He lead Jack over to one of his workbenches in a kidney dish was a thick, clear, yellow substance.
"What's that?" Jack went to poke it, but Owen stopped him.
"Don't, it's corrosive" he demonstrated by putting a wooden splint into it. The wood just dissolved. "See"
Jack frowned. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure. It's what came out of the centrifuge, you know, the antivenom. I separated off all the lumpy bits and this is the result" Owen looked at it dismally. "I don't know what to do with it really; I don't think it'll work"
"What are you going to do with it?" Jack put the wooden splint in and watched as the end of it burnt away.
"We could add The Doctor's blood to it, and see what happens" Owen opened the heated flask and took out a small vile of The Doctor's blood. It was practically moving with GUILT. The sight of it made Jack feel sick and angry. Someone had done this to The Doctor. His beloved Doctor. He nodded and watched as Owen poured some into the substance. Almost immediately it started to foam, and gave off a putrid smell that made Jack retch. The two liquids seemed to have reacted, and had created a rusty, reddish brown colour. It no longer moved, but gently bubbled.
"That stinks" Ianto stood at the top of the stairs. "What is that?"
"A non-functioning antivenom attempt" Owen seemed down. It was obvious the 'antivenom' wasn't going to work.
"Well, we've had a call. Some weevils are running loose, better go sort them out."
Jack sighed. It was better than doing nothing he supposed, and it would keep his mind off The Doctor for a while.