They hovered in the trees and waited.
They saw their Chosen One being attacked and every fiber of their being cried out to defend him, yet they held back. This being held incomparable power, though he did not yet realize it. What if he put up a struggle against them? Better to let him learn to hate the human world a little. He would be more than willing to come away with them if he did.
They hovered in the trees and waited.
X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X
"…and it was the strangest thing," Donna continued telling Jack of her experiences since she had been left back on earth. "I just felt like something wasn't quite right. Like something was missing. And when I thought about it too much I would get this awful headache."
Jack's phone rang. He and Donna looked at each other. Was this it? Was this the call they were waiting for? Jack put the phone to his ear. "Speak," he blurted out.
"He's run off again, Jack, or got lost, or something, I looked up and he was just gone," Rhys said, clearly in panic mode. "I only had my eyes off him for minute! The kids were in the way, and when I stood up to check he was all right he was bloody gone!" Jack heard Rhys make a choking sound. "What if he got taken? Jack, he left his donut half-eaten on the swing. He never leaves a pastry half-eaten."
"He was in the forest before. Don't panic. Just go and look. I'll be right there. I can track him with my wrist comp. Just go, Rhys!" Jack looked at Donna grimly. "Doc's missing. Run off or lost or…something. I think that might be the call we're waiting for, Donna. You got that watch on you?"
"I have it, and I'm going with you." Donna said. "If he's run off I'm going to wring his skinny little alien neck!"
X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X
Rhys had reached the woods but didn't see Doc. What he did see—and a fellow didn't have to be a detective to recognize it—were signs of a struggle. Leaves and loam had been freshly disturbed. He could see multiple footprints and two furrows, as if someone had dug their heels in and was being dragged. His heart felt like it went in two different directions: up to his throat and down to the pit of his stomach. He felt the blood drain from his face and gritted his teeth in rage. He followed the signs. He heard sounds of a struggle coming from behind a stand of brush and the cries of his friend. Too angry to think clearly, he rushed to help his friend, picking up a fallen branch to use as a weapon. He rounded the brush and saw two men holding Doc face down. His friend's jeans had been rucked down around his ankles, leaving his bottom half exposed.
Rhys roared, enraged. He saw Doc's eyes widen in horror. That was the last thing he saw before something crashed into the side of his head and he fell heavily to the forest floor, starbursts of white blotting out his vision.
X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X
Still they waited.
Let the horrific scene play out for just a while longer. Let the humans hurt the Chosen One just enough to make him turn away from them. It served their purposes all the better that way. A new human had come, but the others now had him bound with their belts, and he lay there helpless with another human pressing a knife to his throat. The one with the knife laughed.
Still they waited.
X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X
One of the wonderful things about being a rich lottery winner, Donna discovered, was that if you needed to you could take off your expensive heels and toss them when you had to run. She was having a hell of a time keeping up with Jack. He didn't seem the type to lose control easily but clearly he was frightened half to death. She caught up with him as they entered the forest.
"Something's happened to him," Jack said grimly. "He's calling me telepathically. He's scared. Ah, fuck, it's hurting my head! He must be terrified." A little trickle of blood ran down from Jack's nose onto his upper lip and he wiped at it with his hand, more annoyed than alarmed. "If anyone has done anything to him…"
"Jack, look," Donna said, pointing to the signs where obviously someone had been dragged deeper into the forest.
"I know," he said. She looked at him. He was positively seething.
X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X
"Now we have your friend," Desmond said. "And if you don't do everything we say Jake is going to cut his throat and you can watch him bleed to death. And we'll still do what we bloody well want to you. Let him go, Drew."
"Don't hurt my friend," Doc half-whispered. "Please, I'll do anything!"
"Get on your knees, faggot," Desmond smirked. "You should be used to doing that." Doc did as he was told. Desmond stepped closer and pulled his penis out of his trousers. "We're going to let your friend watch while I feed you my cock. You're going to suck me off, and you'd better swallow every drop." He grabbed Doc by the hair and brutally held him in place. "Now, I'm going to teach you some manners. Ask me. I want you to say 'please, sir, may I suck your cock?'"
"No!" Doc said. "I won't say that. My Jack would never do anything like that to me. And I won't let you make me say it."
Desmond back-handed him. "Doesn't matter to me if your lip is split while it's around my cock. But you'll do it or Jake will use that knife."
Doc glanced over at Rhys helplessly.
"Fucking bastards!" Rhys said. "You're dead. You're dead and you don't even know it."
"Shut up," Jake snapped, pressing the blade harder against Rhys's neck.
"No, I won't fucking shut up," Rhys said. "You go ahead. Cut my throat. You harm either one of us and you'll pay. And do you know why? My little pally there has some very powerful friends. We both do. No one is supposed to know about them, but everyone does. You do too. Ever hear of Torchwood?"
Behind him, Rhys heard Jake moan. "Oh, fuck," he said. "Desmond, what if he's telling the truth?"
Desmond kicked Doc in the stomach. His victim curled up in pain on the forest floor. "It's a lie," Desmond growled. "You honestly think Torchwood gives a shite about a couple of queers?"
That's when everything went to hell.
Suddenly Jake was knocked off his feet as something hit him from behind. It felt like a tiger had got a hold of him. He lost his grip on the knife and it fell to the forest floor as teeth sank into his neck and a well-manicured nail slipped into his eye socket. He screamed, a high-pitched, girlish sound that echoed through the forest. He heard a woman's voice in his ear screaming at him.
"I'll kill you, you bastard," she shrieked, and sank her teeth into his ear.
The air shattered with the sharp report of a firearm and Desmond's foot suddenly disintegrated. He dropped to the ground screaming. Drew took off running, but he didn't get far. A man in a big gray coat was suddenly on him, had him down. The man grabbed his arm and he heard the bones break with a sharp cracking sound. His arms were twisted behind him and he felt the cold steel of handcuffs as they snapped closed around his wrists. A big, booted foot connected with his ribs, shattering three of them. The man pointed to him.
"You fucking stay put, or before I allow you to die, I'll break every bone in your body," the man snarled. And Drew…well, Drew believed him.
The man went to Jake and pistol-whipped him, his arm swinging in a powerful, back-handed arc. He got a kick in the mouth, shattering all his front teeth. He curled up on himself, but soon found himself cuffed as well.
"Jack!" Doc cried. He held out his arms like a child wanting to be picked up by a parent. Jack went to him and helped him up. He tenderly wiped the blood from Doc's mouth, then helped Doc get his jeans back up and fastened. Doc buried his face in Jack's chest. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I got away from Rhys, it's my fault, it's all my fault! They hurt Rhys!"
Jack gently cupped his chin, tipping his face so that he could look into his husband's eyes. "Rhys is okay," Jack soothed. "You're all right now," he said gently. "Did they—"
"No, but they were going to," Rhys said.
Doc looked over at Rhys. Someone was behind him, untying his hands. It was a woman. It wasn't Martha, and it wasn't Penguin. She stood up and stepped around Rhys.
"Oi, Space Man," she said gently, her eyes brimming with tears. "Aren't you going to say hello?"
Doc looked at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come out. She was so, so beautiful, leaves and twigs caught in her thick, red locks. She wore an expensive-looking dress, now torn from her fight with Jake. She wiped Jake's blood from her chin with her sleeve.
She walked towards him where he stood sheltered in Jack's arms and put her arms around the both of them. Jack let him go so that Donna could hold him.
Finally he could speak. "Donna," he gasped. "Oh, my Donna!" He trembled in Donna's arms and she rubbed his back lovingly, kissing his tear-stained cheek, making soft, motherly nonsense sounds, soothing, comforting, and loving.
Jack watched them as they clung together: brother and sister reunited at last. Donna kissed Doc's cheek tenderly. She reached into her bosom and drew out a fob watch with one hand. She pulled away from Doc, took his hand and placed the watch in his palm. "From the Doctor," she said tenderly. "I think you should open it now."
Doc looked at the watch in his palm. "It's warm," he observed.
"Yeah," Donna said softly, a gentle smile on her lips. "I kept it right next to my heart. The Doctor fixed me. I can remember everything now."
Jack went to him. He placed a hand on Doc's cheek. His blue eyes brimmed with a mixture of happiness and sadness. "I'll miss this you," he said softly. "But it's time, sweethearts. It's time for you to be whole again."
Doc looked at him. "What about the puppies?" he asked.
"Puppies?" Jack said.
"There aren't any god damned puppies, you fucking retard!" Apparently Desmond had found his voice. "It was a lie! A trick, to get your retarded arse where we could get you. And you fell for it, didn't you, you fucking faggot dummy!"
Jack strode angrily to Desmond and stood over him. He placed a booted foot on top of Desmond's wounded one. He slowly lowered the toe of his boot, applying pressure. Desmond screamed. "Say 'sorry' like a good boy," Jack sneered.
"Sorry!" Desmond cried, his voice a high-pitched whimper. "Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry! Please, please stop! Please! Please!"
Doc ambled over and stood next to Jack. He smiled grimly. "Now look who's saying 'please'." He looked at Jack. "You can stop now," he said gently. With his free hand, he slipped his fingers into Jack's hand, lacing their fingers together. "Jack?"
"Yeah, baby?"
"I want you holding my hand. When I open the watch. I want you to hold my hand. Will you?"
Jack looked away from the bastard writhing on the forest floor. He looked at his lover, and all the fury drained from his face: a maddened bull suddenly gentled by a loving touch.
They heard Donna laugh softly. "Well, someone has Mister Jack Harkness wrapped around his little Martian finger." Once more, she stepped closer and put her arms around the both of them. "Go on, then," she whispered. "Open the watch."
Doc looked once more at the watch in his palm. After everything that had just happened, he somehow felt safe and loved, here with Jack and Donna, his husband and the woman who could have been his sister. Jack kissed his cheek again. "It's okay sweethearts," he said. "Go ahead. Open the watch."
Doc nodded solemnly. He looked at Jack and Donna. "Okay," he said, his voice tremulous. "Here I go."
He opened the watch.
All hell broke loose again.
