Ianto looked at Jack as he slept. The blanket had slipped down, revealing his bare torso. One arm dangled off the edge of the sofa. He couldn't move, because Jack was using him as a pillow, and was worried that if he moved he would wake Jack. Tosh and Gwen had gone home, so he had decided to stay and look after Jack, to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. Owen was busy looking after The Doctor in the medical area and didn't need to be worrying about Jack as well, he didn't have time to.
Suddenly, Jack's eyes flew open and he started to buckle and thrash, moaning and screaming as he did so. Quickly, Ianto moved the blanket and bunched it under Jack's head and called for Owen. Jack was still shaking and writhing, as if he were fitting, his face contorted into a twisted scream of agony.
Owen rushed up to them, armed with a syringe. He knelt by Jack and shone a light into Jack's open eyes. The pupils didn't respond. "Shit" Owen put the torch down. "Jack, can you hear me? Jack!" Jack didn't respond, and continued fitting-Owen couldn't describe it as anything else-and moaning. Without hesitation, Owen plunged the syringe into Jack's arm and waited with baited breath. Ianto looked at him.
"What did you give him?"
"adreanal-" But before Owen could finish, Jack let out a scream and rolled onto his side, curled in a tight ball. The fitting seemed to have stopped, but Jack stayed unconscious, spasming occasionally. "Shit" Owen got up and thundered back down to the medical area.
Ianto crouched by Jack, stroking his thick black hair and reassuring him that he was going to be okay. He knew Jack wasn't hearing him, and was still gripped by whatever it was that had caused him to be like this. He could feel Jack's heartbeat hammering inside his chest, like his own, which felt like a bird was trapped inside his ribcage. He felt his reassurances were for himself more than anyone.
Owen thundered back up from the medical area, syringes in each hand. Without pausing, he injected one straight into Jack's neck. He removed it and waited. Nothing happened. "Oh for the love of god and everything holy!" Owen desperately injected the second syringe, and looked at Ianto.
"I don't know what this is, I've given him painkillers now, it won't stop it but it will make it less painful. We're going to have to move him down to the medical area; it will be easier to treat him there."
"Okay" Together, they lifted and carried Jack down to the medical area. Owen looked at The Doctor, who was beginning to stir. He sighed; he would have to deal with him after they had sorted Jack out. Working fast, He set up one last cocktail of drugs and injected it into Jack. Almost immediately, the spasming stopped, and Jack let out a low moan.
"Jack!" A slurred voice sounded from the medical bench. The Doctor was sitting up and staring at the immortal on the floor. "What happened?" He swung his legs over the bench and slid off, stumbling. He flopped to the floor beside Jack and stared at his unconscious body. He was ill, and had almost no strength, but The Doctor managed to summon up the energy to connect with Jack. Gently, he placed his shaking and pale hands on either side of his head. He looked up at Ianto and Owen. "I haven't got much energy left, but I know what's happening" The Doctor looked down at Jack. "He's seeing what I've seen." He murmured, and then went quiet, staring directly into Jack's open, vacant eyes.
Jack couldn't pull himself away. He stood, eyes fixed upon himself standing in the bay, a look of intense pain and fear on his face. The snow was falling around them both in thickening drifts, the chill spreading through him like ice.
"Jack" The Doctor's voice pierced through the silence. "Jack, hear me, follow my voice" Jack was listening.
"Doctor" He murmured
"Yes, I'm here. Follow me, let me draw you up" Suddenly, there was a sharp jolt filled with blinding light. Jack gave a scream. "Sorry, Jack. One more, be brave for me" Another sickening jolt came, accompanied by the blinding flash of light and suddenly Jack was in the hub, lying on his back in the medical area. He looked up and met The Doctor's dark, brown eyes.
"Doctor...I...you...Oh, Doctor!" Jack sat up and threw his arms around the Timelord.
The Doctor weakly hugged him back. "Jack, I'm so sorry"
Jack broke the hug. "You've seen so much" Tears spilled over and ran down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry" The Doctor whispered, his eyes had lost their shine altogether. "I love you, Jack" he seemed to crumple, and slumped onto the floor, all colour gone from him and a dull sheen seemed to cloud over his eyes. Jack knew what had happened immediately.
"NO!" he screamed and hugged The Doctor close. "NO! No no no! Doctor! Don't leave me! You can't leave me!" tears poured down his cheeks, running onto The Doctor's and falling down his cheek as well. "Doctor, Doctor!" Jack gently rocked the dead Timelord back and forth, sobbing as he did so.
Ianto knelt down by Jack and put an arm round him. "Oh, Jack..." He didn't know what to say. "I'm so, so sorry"
Jack didn't answer, and just kept rocking The Doctor, hugging him to his chest in a way that reminded Jack, with a jolt of pain, of the way The Doctor had cradled The Master's body. Jack let out a scream of frustration, and sadness, and fear. The Doctor had been his beacon of hope in a dark tunnel, his candle in the dark, his comfort in sadness. The only Timelord left in existence, and it was gone. The Doctor was everything Jack had lived for, and now he was gone. It stilled a bitter resentment in him, and reminded him that the things you love in life, eventually you lose them.
He looked up at Owen and Ianto. "I'm bringing him back" he announced, his voice shaking, holding back another round of sobbing. "I'm bringing him back!" he bent over The Doctor and kissed him. They stayed like that for several minutes, before Jack broke the kiss and stroked The Doctor's fringe out of his eyes. The Doctor gasped, and coughed, before screaming. "Shhh, Doctor, its Jack, shhh" He picked The Doctor up, surprised and shocked at how light he had become. He looked at Owen. "Freeze him; I don't know how long he's got. I'm not losing him, not again, not now, not ever!" Jack looked down at the broken Doctor, who returned his gaze with dark, frightened eyes. Owen opened the freezer pod. Jack lowered him in as Owen quickly set up the sedatives.
"Jack" The Doctor murmured. "I'm scared...don't..."
The Words shattered Jack's heart. "I'm sorry, Doctor. It'll save you. I'm not losing you." Tears rolled down his cheeks once more. The Doctor reached up and stroked them away.
"Okay" He paused. "Look after the TARDIS"
"I will" Jack nodded at Owen, who injected the sedatives. He held The Doctor's hand as they took effect and The Doctor sank into cold unconsciousness. Owen set the cryogenics and Jack turned away. He couldn't stay in the hub and ran out and up into the bay. The rain hadn't stopped and it stung his bare torso as it hammered down on him, driven relentlessly by a bitter wind. Ominous clouds hovered in the twilit distance, threatening another storm. Jack kept running through the rain and skidded to a slippery halt outside the TARDIS. He put his hands flat out against the wood. It felt cold. He took in a deep breath and pulled the door open.
The TARDIS was cold. It made Jack shiver and goose pimples break out over his bare skin. He looked around the space. It hadn't changed much, but the lighting had dimmed, and it had an icy coldness. Jack sighed, and sat down on one of the staircases, thinking about the disturbing insights to the things The Doctor had seen. "I won't lose him" Jack said, to nobody in particular. The TARDIS gave a creak and a shudder, as if in response. "I know" He patted the staircase he was sitting on and stood up. The TARDIS groaned again. Jack sighed and trudged wearily towards the library, he was determined to find a clue to the cure, determined not to lose The Doctor.