The journey back to the UNIT camp was a quiet and sombre one.
No-one wanted to look at the sheet-covered body, nor at the unconscious figure propped up between two UNIT soldiers.
They landed and Ianto went with Jack's body; he wanted to make sure that no over-eager UNIT scientists go their hands on him.
Gwen and Doctor Stoneleigh attended to the Doctor; not that there was much to do. But they knew he wouldn't stay sedated for much longer and it only put of the ugly truth for a few more hours at the most.
They would have to force the Doctor to see the truth of it...Jack was dead.
"I wonder if we should do this." Gwen said. "He's not exactly been stable lately. This might push him over the edge again."
Doctor Stoneleigh pulled one of the Doctor's eyelids up. "We'll know soon, he's coming round."
The Doctor pushed his way past the sedative that clouded his mind. As he did a memory reared its unwelcome head and he came to with a start.
"Jack!" he cried and tried to get up.
A pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and tried to push him down.
"No...Jack!" he cried again and fought against the hands. He heard a woman's voice...a woman's voice, speaking softly but firmly to him.
"It's alright, ssh now," the voice said.
But he wasn't going to listen...he only wanted to know one thing...was it true...the one thing that was impossible.
He looked in the direction of the voice and saw Gwen.
"He's dead, isn't he?"
Gwen said nothing, unsure of what to say.
"Is he dead?"
Gwen nodded and moved back at the look that crossed the Doctor's face.
"I want to see him," the Doctor said in quiet voice.
"I don't think that's wise," Doctor Stoneleigh said, tightening his grip on the Doctor's shoulders.
The look directed at him would have burnt worlds. "I want to see him."
"I'm sorry, but no," Doctor Stoneleigh said.
"You don't tell me what I should do or not do," he snarled back.
He shrugged away Doctor Stoneleigh's hands and got off the bed. A UNIT guard moved to stop him and he snarled. "Do you really want me to force my way past you?"
The guard looked at Doctor Stoneleigh, who nodded and the guard stepped back.
The Doctor didn't even look back and left the med-tent.
Ianto looked up when the door to the temporary morgue opened and he started when he saw it was the Doctor.
However, he didn't like the look on the Doctor's face and the snarled "Get out!" confirmed the foul mood the powerful alien was in.
He knew better than to challenge him, plus he understood; he was probably closer to Jack than anyone else.
"I'll leave the water and cloth," he said as he left.
The Doctor moved the chair that Ianto had vacated and tested the water in the bowl; it was too cold. He took out the sonic and heated the water, not too hot, just the right temperature.
He soaked the cloth, wrung it out and started to wipe the blood from Jack. He was thorough and allowed no emotion to cloud his hearts, tried to not to see the livid bruises where whatever it was had crushed the life out of him...that was until he came to Jack's face.
He made sure the cloth was as clean as it could be and gently began washing the blood from his face. Until then he'd succeeded in remaining impassive and had not spoken a word.
"I was a coward, Jack. I ran when I felt you come back to life...it frightened me...you terrified me. I could feel you, wherever and whenever I went...a fixed point, always there. Until Utopia I tried, I really tried to avoid being in the same time as you but you were always there."
He gently cleaned the blood from around Jack's eyes and did his best to wash the blood from his hair.
"Then you did the impossible and clung onto the TARDIS, just so you could see me again. She's sorry by the way, the TARDIS, but she was acting on instinct. A bit like me, I suppose. But after the...well you know, it didn't seem so important then and I kind of liked having you around."
He finished washing what blood he could from Jack's hair.
"I'm giving you a Time Lord Burial of sorts...the washing is part of it. I don't have the spices and I can't build you a funeral pyre but I can at least give you entrance to the hereafter."
He closed his eyes and let out a breath and began speaking.
"Na ist mi t'asla tia si se'vaha. I ask you grant him entrance to the Plains of Eternity. He is not of my kind but he has the spirit of my kind. Grant him entrance and give him peace."
He stopped then, unable to bring himself to say the words as a wave of grief overwhelmed him.
His hearts lurched and his legs turned to water and he fell to his knees a groan that came from the depths escaped him.
He raised his head to the ceiling and let out a howl that was ripped from his very soul.
"It should have been me!" he roared.
Na ist mi t'asla tia si se'vaha -This is my plea to the spirits.
