'Is this going to hurt?' Lyn couldn't help put stare at the array of items Owen had placed onto the table in front of them. She was scared, of course she was; what if she wouldn't be able to get Jack to listen to her, why would he want to listen to her? It was fair to say that her anxieties were finally drawing themselves to the surface and she was suddenly wishing she had just kept her mouth shut. But then would she ever forgive herself if she failed her best friend?

'Do you want the truth?' Owen's voice interrupted her thoughts as he fiddled with the wires on the headpiece he was adjusting for Lyn's head. He had only met Lyn not half an hour ago, but he knew there was no way he would be able to lie to her. Although he had never used the equipment himself, his mind flashed back to when Tosh had used it the other week. He remembered her passing out almost instantly and the sharp intake of breath when she woke up, swallowing down gulps of oxygen to get her system back to working order. It reminded him of seeing Jack come back to life, the urgent need for the body to take in the life giving gas. What was it like? He tried to shake off the thoughts as he turned to face Lyn, a disgruntled and agitated Ianto standing close to his friend.

'I'll take that as a yes then,' Lyn managed to let out a shaky laugh as she took a seat in the metal chair Tosh had brought into the room. She turned to face Ianto as he took hold of her shoulder. She stroked his hand and gave him a warm smile. 'I'll be fine, I promise. I'm going to get him back.'

'It should be me in that chair,' Ianto said as he looked deep into Lyn's eyes. 'You shouldn't be involved in any of this. I didn't want you to...'

'Look,' Lyn interrupted him, placing a finger to his lips. 'I'm the one who ran after you when you left the pub. I followed you and Tosh here and I didn't leave in a fit of panic when I saw the inside of this place. I got myself involved in this. Not because of you, but for you. You and Jack.' She felt a tear fall down her cheek and cursed herself internally for being ruled by her emotions at a time when she had to be strong. She closed her eyes as Ianto bowed his head and kissed her forehead, feeling the love and friendship they had kept for nearly twenty years.

'I love you,' Ianto murmured into her hair. He meant it; Lyn had been the only thing constant in his life and he owed her his love, even though he knew he had no future with her. They were friends, just friends. He had seen too many of his friends fall in love or marry each other, only to result in a quick divorce or a monumental break up several months later. Jack had his heart, undoubtedly, so he rationalised that Lyn would have his life, his love of life outside of Torchwood. It was the least he could give her.

'I'm entering Jack's brainwaves into the PDA,' Tosh said as she pressed several buttons on her hand held device, trying to make herself useful. She wasn't entirely certain that this would work. She had only said locking on to Jack's thought patterns could help bring him back to make Lyn feel better. Tosh had been able to lock onto the Hueon particles that had sent Jack to Hell because it was an actual being, a thing she could lock onto. With Jack's brainwaves though, they fluctuated and spew out different data each time it would be impossible for her to get a firm lock on them. Truth was, it all depended on the young woman she had only just met to bring Jack out of his state, making it possible for Tosh to calibrate Jack's resurrection from the device. That was the reason she couldn't look Lyn in the eye. 'Also, the device should lose power when Jack detaches himself from it, so any power drain should give me a clear indication of what is happening.'

'Then let's do it,' Lyn stated as she looked to Owen to begin everything. She watched as the medic walked towards her and placed the headpiece on her. She tried to control her breathing as Owen readied the injection of Jack's blood and prepared her arm.

'Remember, you've got a few minutes at the most.' Owen didn't want to scare her, but he knew that she needed to know exactly what was going to happen.

'Lyn, promise me,' Ianto began as he looked down into his friend's deep brown eyes. 'If you can't get Jack back, make sure you come back to me. I can't lose both of you.' He tried to keep the sob buried deep in his throat, but it managed to hitch the pitch of his voice at the end as he stared at Lyn with teary eyes.

'We're both coming back,' she said firmly as she took one final glimpse of Jack, now lying on his side and silently sobbing in his comatose state. She turned to Owen and gave a nod, feeling the needle prick her skin.

She didn't feel anything after that as the world around her turned black and silent.

*****

Jack Harkness lived in a world of shadows, a world of voices that would haunt him for eternity. As he lay curled up on the ground, was it the ground- Jack couldn't remember anymore. He had no idea if he was on the floor, the wall; the world around him lay dark and desolate, without any indication of exact space or time. He was alone and that, Jack knew, would happen eventually, whether he was here or back in the real world. He would lose them all; Owen, Tosh, Ianto, Gwen, The Doctor. They would all die and he would be there to see it all. He would be there and go on, all alone. At least, this way, he wouldn't have to go through the pain and heartache of seeing them die, being snatched away from him and being plunged into the darkness of the afterlife. He finally understood why the Hell dimension he had been sent to had manifested a similar environment; it was not his fears, but his future.

All alone, Jack. All alone with no one to save you. The voice had been singular at first, but then had become two voices, then five, and then ten until it multiplied to such a level that he began drowning in them. He could almost feel them choking him as they poured into ever molecule of his being. He knew the voices were right and that was the reason he never fought back. Never fighting back would mean he would be locked in this world forever and Jack consented to it. So much so that he was almost unaware of the new voice that had come.

'Jack? Jack?' The voices around him began to fade as a single female voice called his name. He didn't understand; who could it be and why would they be so keen to talk to him? Suddenly, a wavy outline of a human form began to form in front of him, slowly turning from translucent to opaque as the form shaped itself into a young woman, her eyes darting from left to right, uncertain of her place within this fabricated world.

' Jack?' The voice grew lighter, clearer as the being suddenly became solid, allowing Jack to catch a clear view of her.

*****

'Jack? Jack?' Lyn shouted the name as loud as she could, not bothering whether the world she had left behind could hear her or not. She wasn't entirely certain herself whether she was speaking, the world around her had remained dark ever since she passed out and she was worried that it might not have worked. She had promised Ianto that she would be okay and that Jack would come back to him. There was no way she was leaving this limbo state without a good looking man.

As if on cue of her wish, the figure of a lonely man began to form in front of her; he was crouched down low, his head bowed but Lyn could recognise him straight away; the blue shirt, the red braces and the dark brown hair were clear indications that she had found the man she was after. She let out a small laugh at her triumph and tried to press on further, knowing she only had a few minute.

'Jack?' She tried to edge closer to him, but when he raised his head, she almost stumbled over her feet. The man in front of her was dishevelled, eyes red from crying and a ghostly pale hovering over his face. The man had now raised his head fully to look at her and, without warning he...

*****

'Jack?' Ianto let out a shaky sigh as Lyn whispered his lover's name, knowing that she had found him. He was happy, relieved and giddy with the thought that Jack would be back soon. He couldn't help but grin like mad at Tosh and Owen, who in turn were sporting the same smile.

But it didn't last for long, as the body of Captain Jack Harkness sat bolt upright on the table and screamed in absolute terror.