Jack left that morning with Carys strapped to his chest to help with the building of the homes. Even if the planet was dark at least he was out in the open and not in the stuffy caves which made him feel catastrophic and reminded him of being buried in the earth for thousands of years by his brother. It had taken most of his willpower not to run from the caves but to follow the men in to mine the ore that was required for their daily quota. Injuries were normal in the caves and he had died on more than one occasion due to cave-ins as there were no safety standards on the planet. Not that he admitted any of the deaths to the Doctor. He just hoped that building homes were safer not just for the sake of the men who were helping but the little girl who was strapped to his chest. He adjusted her as he made his way over to the small group of men who were gathering by a partly finished home.
"You must be the new guy," One of the men called out.
"Captain Jack Harkness and you are?" He introduced himself. He could almost hear the Doctor telling him to stop it and he smiled to himself.
"I'm Adrian," The man answered. "Dustin tells me that you are currently feeding an infant so rather than have you up on the roofs with the rest of the team, I am going to have you help Kyle and James in making new bricks for the walls." He gestured to where two men were standing over by lines of burning wood. He joined them and was quickly shown how to make the bricks by mixing two different kinds of soil, straw, and water before forming them into the bricks and putting them by the fire. It was simple but tedious work that allowed him to tend to his daughter while he worked. No one questioned when he would take a short break to adjust her or change her nappy. He noticed that James also took frequent breaks from his task as James limped around slowly.
"Did you hurt your leg working on the homes?" Jack questioned.
"No, I broke it years ago and it never healed correctly. One of the other villages cast me out because I was useless to them and this one took me in," James answered.
"Was it from the leader's village?" Jack questioned. James shook his head no.
"The village I came from is to the west of here," James answered. Jack nodded wondering how many villages were actually out there and if the Doctor was right. Could they eventually find a place that they could escape from this planet before reuniting him with his TARDIS. He was eager to get back to the Doctor and tell him about the other village but he had to wait. Instead, he tried to focus on the task in front of him. It wasn't working though and he found his mind wandering. He thought about the people he had left behind on Earth. His daughter who hated him since he caused Stephen's death, Gwen who had been by his side at Torchwood and various others. He found himself missing Ianto and he promised himself once more that he would never forget him before forcing his mind back to the present.
When the end of the day bell finally rang, he collected his vouchers before heading out for the day. He went first to the market to collect a couple of bottles of water, two bananas, a serving of meat each, and a loaf of bread as well as a couple of vegetables for their evening meal. He planned on making rice as well to make the meal more filling and hopefully stop them both from feeling hungry for the first time since they arrived on this horrible planet. Going back to their home, he found the Doctor sprawled out on top of the blankets sleeping soundly on his stomach. He didn't stir as Jack let himself in, closing the door tightly behind him. He took off his overshirt and removed the sling that held Carys carefully laying her down in her cot. He found two dresses hanging off the cot and he picked them up looking at them with interest as he wondered briefly where they came from.
He took the dresses with him as he moved to the other side of the room. He laid them down away from the fire as he pulled out a bowl and began cooking the rice. He laid the meat down near the fire. It sizzled as it hit the hot clay bricks filling the room with the delicious aroma of cooking meat. His mouth water and he thought briefly of running back to the market to buy more. He stopped himself as he used a sharp rock to cut the vegetables into chunks and put them in another bowl of water to boil and soften. Once everything was done cooking he cut up the meat as well. He took out three plates and first dished the rice on to the plates. He then used the third plate to hold over the bowl of vegetables straining the water into the now empty rice bowl. He cut each of them a thick slice of bread and plated everything before picking up the two plates and taking them over to the bed where the Doctor continued to sleep.
"Wake up, sweethearts. Supper is ready and you need to eat," Jack cooed. The Doctor groaned rubbing his face against the blankets as he turned his head away from the sound of Jack's voice. "I know you are tired but you can sleep more after you eat." The Doctor grumbled something that Jack didn't understand and Jack chuckled. "I'm sure whatever you just said wasn't very nice but that isn't going to stop me from bugging you."
"Fine," the Doctor yawned. He used his good arm to push himself to sit up. Jack waited until he was sitting before handing him the plate of food. It was more food than the Doctor had seen at once since coming to the planet and he forced himself to take a bite of it knowing that Jack was right and he needed to eat.
"Did you have fun exploring while I was gone today?" Jack questioned.
"I did. I found the market and I met Mrs. Synder who can repair our clothing as well as make clothes that fit Carys. I also examined the tower at the center of the village. It is old and needs to be repaired but once it is it will provide more oxygen to this village as well as the surrounding area," the Doctor explained.
"That's a good thing. Maybe it will make breathing a little easier," Jack responded.
"It will," the Doctor agreed. "How was working on the houses?"
"They only have me making bricks due to having to have Carys with me. If we are still here when she is old enough to eat solid food, I may be able to actually help with the building of the homes. I found out, though, that you were right. There are likely other villages around here including one to the west. We should probably avoid it, though, as they also don't like people with long term injuries there and would look down on Carys," Jack answered. The Doctor nodded. He pushed the rest of his small plate of food aside having barely touched it.
"Not hungry still?" Jack wondered as he looked at the Doctor's uneaten portion.
"No. I just need to sleep," the Doctor answered moving so that he could lay back down. "Tomorrow night we need to fix Carys's leg and change out the cast. I am going to talk to Dustin to see if he has any suggestions that will make it easier on her and allow us to keep her foot in place after the cast comes off."
"Do you think he will?" Jack wondered. The Doctor shrugged letting his eyes drift closed. His breathing quickly evened out. Jack finished his own meal and thought briefly about finishing the Doctor's portion but pushed it aside as he picked it up bringing it with him. He covered it with a clean cloth and put it in the cool cupboard to keep until the Doctor was ready to try again. Thoughts were surfacing again and he pushed them down as he moved back to get Carys out of her cot instead. He picked her up cuddling her close to him as he took a seat on the floor at the end of the bed. "Have I told you yet about your older sister, Alice?