A/N: Thank you, once again, for all your wonderful reviews. I am really enjoying writing this and am a bit sad that it's coming to an end, but I will write more adventures for the three of them soon enough. Anyway, we've still got another chapter to go. Or maybe two, I haven't decided! xx

Panic gripped her as she stared bleary-eyed but wildly around the room.

No Jack.

Okay, just calm down, Rose told herself. Breath. He's probably watching telly or something.

She slipped out of bed and pulled on her dressing gown.

'Jack?' she said as she stepped into the living room.

He wasn't there. She checked the kitchen.

Not there.

Bathroom.

Not there.

'Jack!' she cried, scared.

A bustling sound came from her mother's room and the door opened.

'Rose?' Jackie said wearily. 'What's the matter, sweetheart?'

Rose ignored Jackie and scurried past her, flinging the front door open and running towards the wall of the balcony. She peered down over the edge.

No TARDIS.

Rose made a pained sound and slowly walked back inside, past Jackie's concerned face and into the living room. She slumped down on the sofa.

'Rose? What's the matter?' Jackie asked gently.

Rose looked at her, her face etched with hurt.

'He's gone. Jack's gone.' Her breathing quickened and her eyes become moist. 'He's taken the TARDIS and, and… he's left me.' She burst into tears. 'They've both left me.'

The three guards approached Jack with menace, their faces twisted.

Jack stepped back a few paces.

'Hi fellas. I was hoping you could help me.' He swallowed as the guards got closer.

'I'm looking for a friend of mine. He's about…' he gestured with his hands, 'yay high, a bit paler then you guys, extremely sarcastic,very stubbonand answers to the name 'Doctor'.'

The guards stopped in front of him and let out a low growl of contempt. They raised their spears at him.

'Nice,' Jack said, with false admiration. He looked all three of them in the eyes, a glint of mischief in his own. 'But not as nice,' he added, 'as this!' He whipped out the stun gun and took down the guard closest to him as the others wrestled him to the ground. His arm flailed about in the air as they tried to snatch the gun off him. He wacked one of them in the head with it, sending him flying into a wall and knocking him out. He pushed the gun into the ribs of the other and he yelped before falling face-first into the sandy floor. Jack scrambled up and ran towards the small cells. He had to work fast before he was found. He would have been very surprised if the noise hadn't alerted anyone and he didn't fancy taking any chances.

The Doctor's eyes snapped open. He had just started to doze when he heard the commotion coming from the far end of the stone passage. Was that…? No. He shook his head, convinced the conditions here were making him delirious. Nevertheless, he pushed his face up against the bars as he tried to get a look at what was happening. It was to be of no use though, and he instead listened intently as the angry cries became less and then faded completely. Footsteps started to walk hurriedly in his direction and he went on guard, ready to pounce if need be.

He needn't have worried though, for through the darkness a hushed voice called out urgently.

'I know this is a long-shot,' it said, 'but have any of you guys come across a funny looking guy called the Doctor?' There was no response. This part of the prison only help one captive.

Funny looking?

The Doctor shook his head. Now wasn't the time for that. Now was the time to thank the Lord that your arse was about to be saved because that voice belongs to someone you know, and it has never sounded so sweet. In fact, it was music to his ears.

'Jack!' he called out, ecstatic.

'Doctor?'

'I'm over here!' grinning insanely, the Doctor rapped against the bars of the small cell.

A figure loomed out of the darkness and crouched down, peering at him. 'Well, well, well,' Jack said teasingly. 'How the mighty have fallen.'

Still grinning, the Doctor ignored his comment and said, 'just get me out of here will you?'

Jack pulled out his blaster. 'Watch yourself,' he said as he aimed it at the bolt. It blew apart and the Doctor crawled out. Once on his feet he gave a small, manic laugh of victory and hugged his rescuer.

'Thank God you're alive,' Jack said. 'I didn't believe it you know, couldn't…' his face fell. 'Rose has been beside herself. We have to get back to her. I couldn't tell her I was coming here and when she wakes up and finds me gone -'

'We can't leave yet.' the Doctor stated. His faced had pained at the mention of Rose's name, and he would have given anything to get back to her right that second but they had to stop Semiseti from carrying out his plan and release the other slaves.

'Why not?' Jack asked.

The Doctor explained about what Semiseti was up too, that he had bewitched Rose and built up an army of the strongest men in Egypt so he could kill the Pharaoh and take his place on the throne.

'We have to stop him,' he said. 'But first,' he added, looking around, 'we have to get out of here'.

Jack smiled. 'No problem.'

'Okay, it's all clear,' Jack said as he and the Doctor gave the area a quick sweep upon reaching the top of the steps. Miraculously, the sleeping guard Jack had encountered on the way in was still snoring his head off, blissfully unaware that one of the High Priest's most prized slaves was making a bid for freedom. They scurried up to a statue and pressed themselves against it.

'Over there looks good,' the Doctor announced as he spotted flickers of light coming from the temple across the courtyard. Checking that the guards on duty at the entrance were doing what they were supposed to be, they ran towards a wall on the other side and flattened themselves to it.

'Right, what's the plan? Jack asked.

The Doctor studied him for a moment, seemingly lost for words.

'Plan?' he finally said, somewhat dumbly for a man such as himself.

Jack stared incredulously at him.

'I haven't got a plan,' the Doctor admitted. 'I was just gonna burst in.'

Jack blinked at him. 'Isn't that what I'm supposed to do? Rush in guns-a-blaze while you yell at me for causing a riot?'

The Doctor grinned widely at him. 'It won't hurt just this one,' he said. 'Besides, I'm in a hurry.'

He did, however, quickly change his mind when they reached the opening to the temple and found it to be more heavily occupied than he had expected.

'Okay, too much of a free-for-all,' the Doctor said after Jack had raised a questioning eyebrow at him. 'Here's the plan.'

Jack smirked and the Doctor rolled his eyes at him.

'We wait,' he said simply.

'Wait?'

'Yeah, wait. Then when this lot desides to crawl off for the night we can go in and do what we do best.'

'Which would be…'

'Saving the world of course.'

They both slunk down the wall and sat with their backs to it, the stone still warm from that day's scorching heat.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before the Doctor asked the question he'd been dreading.

'How's Rose?'

Jack looked at him, his eyes tinged with sadness. The Doctor swallowed heavily. He didn't think he was going to like this.

'Devestated,' Jack finally answered, after what seemed an eternity. He inhailed deeply. 'We buried you, you know. Well, who Rose thought was you anyway. In the TARDIS garden. I knew it wasn't you, I don't know how, I just did.' He paused as the Doctor stared at the gound.

'It was all just a bit strange for my liking. But I couldn't tell Rose about my suspisions. I supposed something must have happened to make her think that way, because it seemed weird that she hadn't put up any sort of argument against it. You know what she's normally like.'

The Doctor smiled slightly. Yes, he did.

'She just excepted it and brought whoever it was home with her,' he continued. 'She hasn't let me out of her sight since I got back. She was scared I'll leave her as well. But I had to do this. God knows what she's going through right now, waking up to find me gone, but I had to. For you and for her.' Jack's face fell slightly.

The Doctor saw this and smiled at him reassuringly. 'She'll understand. Once we're back, she'll understand.'

'I know.' He sighed heavily. 'And I know you two are close, I know she adores you. But I didn't realise just how much you meant to her until she spoke at your grave. She doesn't know I heard her, and I didn't like invading her privacy, but she wanted me to be near. I couldn't help but overhear. What she said broke my heart. She said she'd live for you, because it's what you would want, said we'd both make you proud.' He looked the Doctor straight in the eyes, the strain of the last few days beginning to show. 'Said she loves you.'

The Doctor had a pained look on his face.

'She's broken, and you coming back is the only thing that will fix her because try as she might well do, she can't live without you,' Jack finished.

Before the Doctor could offer any kind of response, they heard chatter and peered carefully round the doorway to see a large group of guards walking in their direction.

'Right,' the Doctor said in a low voice, reluctantly pushing Rose to the back of his mind. 'Let's get in there and see what my old pal Semiseti has to say for himself.'

They kept themselves well hidden until everyone had filtered out and then crept in. Semiseti and a few guards were standing by the alter. Semiseti seemed to be talking to them urgently.

Jack leaned into the Doctor. 'I know you don't like guns, but how would you feel about one that stuns rather then kills? Knocks 'em out for a good few hours.'

The Doctor didn't say anything, mearly holding his hand out. Jack placed the gun in it.

'Ready?' he said. The Doctor nodded.

'Now!' they lept forward and charged towards the small group. Semiseti and his guards looked up just in time to see a lazer beam - that was intended to warn them, not kill - burn the ground in front of them.

Semiseti walked forwards and came to a stop in front of them, a self-righteous look on his face. He put a hand up to tell his guards to stay where they were.

'Time's up for you, Semiseti. It's game over,' the Doctor glared disdainfully at him.

The High Priest smirked. 'Is that a threat, Doctor?'

'No, it's a fact. I know all about your plans and why you brought all those men here. '

'Do you now? Well, since you seem to be so well informed, I suppose you'll know that having a place on that throne is my birthright?'

'In what way?' The Doctor demanded.

'My father had many women, my mother was one of them. Only my mother was not the one chosen as queen, even though I was his first-born son. So he pushed me to the side, forgot I existed.' He was irate.

'What a shame,' said the Doctor, unsympathetically.

'But now,' Semiseti continued, 'now I can claim what is rightfully mine.'

'No chance, not while I'm around.'

'You think so, do you?' He met the Doctors cold, intense stare, finding the ice-blue depths hard to penatrate. So he simply did what all evil masterminds did.

'Kill them,' he commanded.

'I thought you needed me?' said the Doctor with mock hurt.

'The pyramid is nearly complete. We can do without you now.' He turned to his guards. 'Now!'

Semiseti stood by and watched as the guards launched their attack, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. He wasn't, however, prepared for what was to happen next.

The Doctor and Jack sprung to action, bringing about yelps of pain and shock as the burly men ran into the electrical currents. Fists flew and noses were bloodied. There was a struggle between Jack and one of the guards. Jack managed to send him flying and Semiseti only had time to gasp in shock as the guard fell into him, spear first. Another guard yelled and everyone froze. Semiseti stumbled forward, coughing up blood. The spear had pierced straight through his chest. He gasped for air before his life was taken from him, and he fell to the ground.

The one guard left standing stared open-mouthed at the body of his master. He threw a look to the Doctor and Jack and then legged it.

'Well,' Jack sighed. 'That didn't take long.'

The Doctor looked down at Semiseti briefly, and then walked out of the temple. Jack ran after him.

'The other workers are being kept in cells down there,' the Doctor said, pointing to a set of stone steps in the opposite corner to the ones they had come from earlier.

'Doctor -'

'We'll have to work quick,' he said, cutting Jack off as he strode purposefully towards them.

Suddenly, the sound of pandemonium hit the air.

'Run!' Jack cried.

They reached the steps, throwing themselves down them. They took out two guards that were down there as they went, coming to a halt in front of the cells.

'Anukmose!' The Doctor called out.

'Doctor?' a reply boomed through the darkness.

The Doctor made his way to Anukmose's cell.

'I've come to set you free. Semiseti's dead.'

'How -'

'No time to explain. Just run for it.'

Jack blasted the door open and Anukmose crawled out. He set about releasing the others as Anukmose took the Doctor's hand.

'Thank you, my friend. I knew you had magic.' He grinned.

The Doctor smiled. 'Go and take care of your family,' he said. 'And be careful up there. Semiseti's minions will be on the hunt.'

'Ha! They are no match for me!' And with that he ran off with the others.

'All done?' The Doctor called to Jack.

'Almost!' Jack gave a cry of triumph as the last door blew apart.

The Doctor beamed. 'To the TARDIS!' he cried, starting off. Then he paused. 'To Rose,' he said, then took off again.

A fight had broken out in the courtyard. But not with the slaves. The guards were lashing out angrily at each other and those who were imprisoned had seemingly skipped around it more or less unscathed. The Doctor could see them running ahead of them as they raced out of the palace entrance.

They didn't stop until, breathless, they reached the TARDIS.

The Doctor jumped in and patted the central column. 'Hello, old girl,' he said affectionately. He looked at Jack.

'Let's go and bring our family back together again.'

Jack smiled. If there was one thing the Doctor had learnt from all this, it was just how lucky he was.