The Doctor held Jack for several hours just letting him rest as he played video games against Mickey. When it became obvious that Jack had no intention of waking, however, he turned off the game carefully laying Jack on the couch. As much as he wanted to stay holding Jack, there was still other work that needed to be done around the TARDIS. Sending a silent command to the TARDIS, he asked her to inform him when Jack was awake before leaving him to rest. Going to Steven's room, he sat down in the chair by Alice to discuss his findings. He wasn't surprised by her unhappiness with her father's active involvement, even if she did understand the need for him to help.
Slowly, over the next few days, she came around as Steven began to wake more often. Each time he woke, he would complain for his mum, complaining that he didn't feel good. He never seemed to remember their previous conversations explaining that he had taken ill or be able to piece together that he was lying in what seemed to be a hospital bed because of his illness. Worried, the Doctor ran another MRI and CT scan on his head but it showed nothing they weren't already aware of. The evidence was clear, even before he woke, that his body had been badly damaged due to his involvement in stopping the 456. Only time would tell if the little boy that Alice knew and loved would return fully to her but in the meantime, she was just thankful to have her son back. Even if she wished that just one morning she would open her eyes to find that it had all just been a horrible dream.
"Are you listening to me, Alice?" The Doctor questioned as he distracted her from her thoughts.
"No," Alice admitted with a yawn. It was early on the TARDIS and as far as she knew the only two people awake at the moment were her and the Doctor. Martha had yet to join them for Steven's early morning stretches, nor her father to give Steven his energy boost for the day.
"I was saying that after Martha is up, I think it is about time that we tried to get Steven up out of bed for a little while," The Doctor informed her. Based on his examinations Steven was healing well and the stitches would be able to be removed from his abdomen in the next few days.
"He won't be able to walk on his own," Alice argued on her son's behalf, bewildered by the thought that the Doctor wanted to get him out of bed.
"I understand that and I am not expecting him to run a triathlon on Ursa Major yet. I just think it would be good for him to have a change of scenery and the gardens upon the TARDIS are perfect for a walk. I even have a wheelchair that we can place him into that will support his body as well as his head," The Doctor explained to her.
"I don't know," Alice dragged out the words showing her hesitance. While she agreed that the gardens were beautiful, she was reluctant to move Steven yet. Least of all because he became easily confused and twice in the last week the Doctor had to put him back to sleep in order to calm him.
"Martha, Jack and I will be right there with you the entire time and if it becomes too much for him, we will immediately return to the medi-bay," The Doctor reassured her.
"Can I think about it for a moment?" Alice wondered.
"Take your time. I am going to wake Jack and make breakfast. Hopefully, by then, Martha will be awake so that we can give Steven his daily energy transfer. I would like to take Steven out shortly after that while he is still awake and aware," The Doctor informed her. Alice nodded as she reached as she reached out to her son, resting her hand on his arm. She wasn't sure about moving him but then again she wasn't sure about anything involving his care recently. She just had to trust that the Doctor and Martha were doing what was right for her child. She heard the door open, then close as the Doctor left the room leaving her alone with her child. Watching him sleep, she could almost pretend that when he woke up she would have her son back.
-DW-
Jack laid on the beach of his childhood home. He was alone except for the birds calling in the distance. The place had been abandoned ever since the Sitarikira had attacked their peaceful village killing many of the adults and taking their children. His own brother had been taken that day as he failed to hold on to his hand. Later he found that his father had lost his life as well. His mother couldn't cope with their losses, retreating into herself and causing Jack to grow up quickly as he cared for her. He had once hated this beach that had claimed his family, running for so many years from the peninsula. After joining the Time Agency, however, he often found himself returning to the last place he had called home. Even if it was just to relieve the memories of when he had been happy.
Closing his eyes, he could hear his father and brother nearby. His father was explaining to Gray how to properly tie the net in order to catch the proper sized fish. If the holes were too large all the fish would escape leaving their nets empty but too small they would get the young fish ruining the population. Jack listened as his fingers moved in the familiar pattern.
"You have to forgive yourself for their deaths. It wasn't your fault that you couldn't save them," Ianto whispered.
"He was just a child and I was supposed to protect him. Instead, I let go leaving him to the Sitarikira to take and mold as one of their own," Jack answered. He could no longer hear his father and brother speaking as the voices faded leaving him alone once more.
"You were just a child yourself, Jack," Ianto reminded him.
"I was his brother I should have," Jack argued opening his eyes to find that he was back on the TARDIS laying alone on the couch. "Protected him." He finished to the empty room. Turning over, he pressed his face into the Doctor's pillow breathing in his scent as he closed his eyes trying desperately to return once more to the beach and happiness that he had lost so long ago.
