The hub was unusually silent. Tosh sat on the floor, patiently re-circuiting various components in the last monitor. She knew they wouldn't last too long, and would have to be replaced, but she had nothing else she could do. She sighed and put down the small welding torch she was using, that had just snapped in her hands after weeks of strenuous use, stood up and straightened her legs. She made her way down to the storage vaults, where she knew she had a spare one stored.
Tosh shivered; the vaults were colder than the main hub, and smelt damp and earthy. Tosh keyed in the code and hurried into the main vault. Inside, there was a vast arrangement of parts of alien technology that had fallen through the rift, space debris which, like driftwood on the coastline, often washed up along the rift lines. Tosh reached up for the box she knew held the spare welding torch, and accidentally dislodged a box that was balancing rather precariously on the shelf below. It fell to the floor with a loud clattering clang, sending bits of alien technology skittering across the floor. She sighed and began picking them up and putting them back in the box, until she picked up one particular object. She recognized it as the Singularity Scalpel, from the incident at the Pharm, and the memories sent a shudder rippling down her spine. That was when Owen was shot, when he died. She shook the thought from her mind, but suddenly had an idea. They had used the scalpel to save Martha from a similar blood parasite to GUILT; Jack had even linked them when they did the research. Maybe it would work on The Doctor. The Welding torch forgotten, she ran back up towards the hub, a plan forming inside her genius mind as she went.
A deep rumble of thunder echoed across the bay, the sound reverberating off the buildings. The storm was closing in over Cardiff. Jack lay on the floor of the TARDIS' vast library, surrounded by various books. His head rested on the open pages of one, deeply asleep.
Ianto ran across the bay, the slab of concrete quietly clicking into place behind him. The TARDIS stood in the darkness, almost glowing in the sodium orange light. Panting, Ianto pulled open the door and stumbled inside, dripping rainwater everywhere. Looking around, he took in the vast space the TARDIS contained, and it took a moment to get his head around. He noticed that Jack wasn't in the main area and took off up the flight of steps he knew lead to the library. He had guessed right, and skidded to a halt amongst the books littering the floor, and saw Jack soundly asleep in the middle of the floor. Gently, he knelt by him, and shook him awake. "Jack, Jack! Wake up!" For a horrible second he thought Jack had gone into another one of those coma-like states, but was relieved when Jack opened his eyes and mumbled something indistinct. "Jack, we need you in the hub, its important" Ianto started pulling Jack up onto his feet.
Jack stood up quickly. "Is it The Doctor? What's wrong?"
"Just come on!" Ianto didn't have time to explain, and just grabbed Jack and lead him back out into the rain.
The darkness was a shock to Jack, and the cold hit his skin hard, raising goose pimples across it as he was half dragged across the bay. The last thing he saw was the TARDIS, door open and swinging in the wind as the invisible lift descended into the hub. The noise hit Jack first, the warmth second and then what was happening registered with him slightly behind. Tosh stood at the top of the medical area steps, waving something Jack couldn't quite see, and Owen was frowning very hard and looking from the monitor and the freezer pod. Gwen was looking at Jack as the lift descended, holding his Jacket and shirt and biting her lower lip. Ianto's grip tightened on Jack's arm and stepped off the platform, still dragging Jack with him. As they got closer to the medical area, Jack realised that Tosh was holding the Singularity Scalpel and his heart gave a jolt of both shock and expectation. What was she doing with it? And what did it have to do with The Doctor? Gwen smiled as He stopped by the stairs, and handed him his coat and shirt. Jack nodded his thanks and pulled them on, not bothering to button up the shirt and just wearing it open, coat over the top. He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, before absorbing the scene fully. Taking the Singularity Scalpel from Tosh, he inspected it and looked up at the team.
"What's going on?" He struggled to keep his voice calm and let his blue eyes meet each of the team's individually, finally resting back on the instrument he held in his hand. Owen was the first to break the silence.
"We could use it to try to save the doctor" His voce tailed off, sounding more like a question than an explanation.
Jack sighed, "does it even work?"
Owen sighed. "I don't know, Jack. We're getting desperate. We can't keep him frozen forever"
"We need to save him" Jack's voce shook; he was starting to lose it again. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, gathering his thoughts. "Do you think you could use it without blowing his head off?"
Owen hesitated. He hadn't used the scalpel since the incident at the Pharm. He was alive then. He shuddered and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. The scalpel had saved both Martha and Gwen. He nodded. "I'll practice on something first"
Jack nodded. "Have you still got that blood sample?"
"No, Jack, I'm not using you!" Owen shook his head, a deep frown on his face.
"Owen, I'm the only living person who can withstand anything, I'm your only option" Jack moved towards Owen and put his hands on his shoulders. "I'll do anything to get him back, Owen. You are testing that thing on me, and that's an order"
Owen looked at the team and shrugged. "What can I do?" he mouthed and moved forwards, taking the small vile of blood he had taken from The Doctor. Gently, he transferred half of it into a syringe. Jack shrugged off his coat and sat on the medical bench. Owen sighed and brought the syringe over. Gently, he injected it into Jack's arm, and waited. A few moments passed, and, just like before, Jack seemed to crumple. He slid off the bench and began writhing on the floor, moaning in pain as the parasite raced through his bloodstream. Acting quickly, Owen took the singularity scalpel and powered it up. As it started to work, Jack was gasping for air desperately as the parasite started to destroy his lungs. A shape appeared. It fit Jack's and moved with him. It showed millions of whitish images of GUILT, all raging inside it. Jack's breaths were becoming more ragged now, and he was barely conscious, a trickle of blood dribbling down his chin and from his nose. A larger shape was forming in the centre of Jack's body, and it grew as Owen watched. Owen hit the button on the scalpel and Jack stopped moving. A scream escaped his lips and all the images disappeared. Jack sat up and looked around, breathing heavily. Using the medical bench for support, he hauled himself up, panting and retching.
"It...worked" he panted
Owen nodded. "Yeah" He looked towards the freezer pod. Could he really save The Doctor? He looked back at Jack, who was now pale, but okay, and gazing over at the freezer pod which contained The Doctor. He nodded. "Let's do it" He shakily raised the scalpel and nodded at Tosh.
Tosh gingerly stepped up to the controls, and set the cryogenics do defrost. The machine beeped, and the pod glowed orange as it began to warm up. Jack stood by Ianto, who squeezed his hand in sympathy. Jack squeezed it back. The freezer pod beeped again, indicating that it had fully defrosted. Jack raced forwards and opened the pod.
The Doctor lay, looking even more gaunt and pale and dead than before. Jack hadn't noticed it till now, but the freezer pod resembled a coffin. Jack couldn't bear the thought of him staying like that permanently. Gently, Jack lifted The Doctor from the pod and laid him on the bench. He looked at Owen and nodded. "Do it, I don't know how long he's got"
Owen nodded and once again powered up the scalpel. The Doctor's outline flickered on the screen, filled with thousands of white images of the parasite. There was one huge one in the centre, which looked almost ready to burst from The Doctor, killing him stone dead. Owen looked at Jack and pressed the button. The Doctor's body arched and a scream pierced the silence. His body slammed down onto the bench and was still. Owen checked the image the scalpel was now showing, and it was free of the images. Jack looked up at him. "Did it work?" His voice was full of hope and expectation.
"I don't know...The parasites seem to have gone, but...He should be conscious" His voice trailed off.
"It didn't work" He moaned, and rested his head on the Timelord's chest. "It didn't WORK!" he shouted, his emotions breaking from the restraints Jack had put on them. He screamed in anger and pain. He wasn't going to get The Doctor back. He had got his hopes up just for them to be shot back down.
"Jack?" A small voice broke through Jack's anger. He stopped, and looked down at The Doctor.
"Doctor. Oh, Doctor!" Jack smiled, wiped the tears from his face, and pulled him into a sitting position, and then into a hug. "Oh, Doctor!" he repeated over and over. He eventually and rather reluctantly let The Doctor lie back down. He looked up at Jack with his dark eyes. The light was back, but it was still dull. Jack knew it would take him time to recover, but he didn't care. He had his beautiful Timelord back.
"Doctor, you're still not out of the woods, I'm going to sedate you, so that I can help you to recover." Owen was already placing the heart monitor electrodes on The Doctor's chest. The Doctor nodded and Owen started setting up a sedative. He then administered it and The Doctor looked up at Jack.
"I'll be here when you wake up, I promise" Jack planted a kiss on his forehead and ruffled his hair.
"Love you Jack" The Doctor's words were slurring and then he was asleep. Jack sighed, turned and took Owen into a huge bear hug. "Thank you, thank you so much, Owen. He means so much...and I don't know what I would have done if..." He couldn't say it.
Owen nodded modestly. "It's not me you need to thank; she found the Scalpel in storage and suggested it"
Jack turned to Tosh, who was still standing by the computer. She smiled shyly. "It was-" she didn't finish as Jack had pulled her into a bone crushing hug.
"Thank you, Tosh. So much" He smiled down at her.
"I know how much he means to you" She squeezed his hand. "We all do. We're all here to support you, Jack. You know that." She smiled and went up into the hub. Jack sat down on the stool by the medical bench and held The Doctor's unconscious hand. Owen got out the scanner and ran it over The Doctor; it worked much like an x-ray and an MRI scanner together. It showed his major organs, still badly damaged by the GUILT parasite. Jack gasped.
"That's..." He didn't want to say it. He knew those injuries were causing internal bleeding. Owen looked at him.
"He's going to need surgery. Now"