Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Doctor Who
Three
Jackie sat by her daughters' bed, moonlight falling on her face. Every night without fail since he left for good, either herself or Pete sat with Rose as she slept, stroking her hair. Offering her comfort in the only way they knew how. She hadn't been the same since he'd left. Or rather since she'd left him. She hadn't been eating properly, and sleep...well she was still haunted by something, having nightmares. Not for the first time Jackie found herself cursing the Doctors character, even though he wasn't the one responsible.
In her sleep Rose tossed and turned, murmuring intelligibly. Ever since Norway, she'd been worse than ever. Jackie was incredibly concerned for her daughter. What if she was never alright again? It was like she'd lost part of herself that day, like she'd come with Jackie in body but left her soul with him.
A gentle knock at the door drew her attention away from her blonde haired child. As she turned, a tall, fair haired young man slipped into the room. He smiled weakly at her, his gaze drawn to Rose. "How is she?" he asked, taking a seat at her side.
"I don't know." Jackie shook her head. "Where's Mickey?"
"Torchwood." Jake responded simply. "Dunno when he'll be able to get over here next." he looked at Jackie. "Look, don't take this the wrong way Jackie, but you look exhausted. Go and get some sleep, I'll stay with her."
"No, I'll stay."
"Jackie," Jake whispered, as Rose began to toss and turn even more violently. "She needs you to be there for her, fully functioning, not half cocked, suffering from over exhaustion."
Jackie rounded on him furiously, but before she could retaliate Rose called out. "Jake!" They both looked down at her in surprise.
"Why is she calling for you!"
"I...I...I don't know..." Jake moved forward and perched on the edge of her bed. "Rose, I'm here." he placed a hand on her arm. "What is it?"
"Look after Mickey for me wont you? Help him keep going, help him forget me."
"What do you mean?" Jackie screeched, pushing Jake aside. "What do you mean Rose!"
"Jackie, sit down!" Jake pushed her gently back into her seat. " It doesn't mean anything. Not now."
"What do you mean? Of course it does! She could be leaving me again!"
"She's not." Jake enveloped her small, smooth unblemished hand in his large, rough
calloused one. "They are old words, empty, hollow. That's what she said to me when they first fell through here, just before they left and Mickey decided to stay. She knew then that they would probably never meet again. She wanted me to give him a chance." he looked round at Jackie. "She's not going anywhere Jackie, there's nowhere for her to go, or at least no way for her to get there. Jackie, go get some sleep, she's calmer now, look." and it was true, Rose was no longer thrashing around in her sleep, she was perfectly still, her hand still encompassed by Jakes' larger paw.
"Well...alright." Jackie consented hesitantly. "Promise you wont leave her."
"Jackie." Jake raised his eyebrows, genuinely hurt by her remark. "You ought to know me better than that. I wont desert my post." he forced a smile. "Now go on." he got to his feet, gently removing his hand from round Roses' and shooed her from the room.
"Wake me if there are any..."
"I will. Now go on, go." Jake closed the door gently behind her and resumed his night time vigil. "Hey Rose. It's me, Jake. How are you doing?" It was just pointless chatter to fill the silence, yet it seemed to have an effect on the girl. She visibly relaxed, no longer thrashing violently as she slumbered. He didn't understand why he had the effect on her that he did, nor did he really want to know. He merely held her hand as she slept, talking about everything and nothing at once, all the new alien activity they had recorded during his shift. He hadn't seen Rose for a long while now, he'd been away on Torchwood business, yet as she slept, he could see minute changes in her face. It was no longer full of the joy that he remembered, her skin was pale, almost greying. She looked drained and he knew, without seeing them that her brown eyes would have lost their sparkle, would be dead, hollow, empty. He'd seen it happen before.
The long hours dragged by, yet still he held her hand, stayed by her side. His eye lids were just beginning to feel heavy, when he heard her speak. It was Roses' voice, yet at the same time it wasn't. It was harsher, deeper. "The Oncoming Storm approaches."
Her eyes flew open...
Jack watched the Doctor carefully. He'd dozed off about an hour ago, eventually succumbing to exhaustion right there at his beloved consoles. He'd never seen the Doctor so wired as he had been earlier. He was apparently unable to cope with keeping still for more than a few seconds. He bounced on the balls of his feet, he dashed from console to console making minute adjustments as he saw fit, rocked back and forth, all the while making no move to speak to Jack.
Then he'd just zonked out, one minute bouncing off walls, the next, dead to the world. He was murmuring to himself once more. He couldn't bring himself to wake him as he looked so peaceful, well, more so than whilst he was awake. Instead Jack began to wander the corridors once more. He found himself in the TARDIS medical bay before he knew it. He smiled as he ran his hands over various contraptions and unfamiliar technologies. He felt like a child in a sweet shop, surrounded by all those blinking, winking, brightly coloured machines.
"Welcome back Captain." came a voice in his mind. After several panicked glances about him, he recognised it. It was the TARDIS.
"Well thank you, it's good to be back." Jack, even after all his years as a Time Agent, still felt uncomfortable with telepathy and insisted on giving his responses out loud. Had anyone chosen that particular moment to walk into the medical bay, they would have been confronted with Jack seemingly talking to himself...anyone that had said urge would most likely have been told that Jack was rather tapped in the head anyway so it probably wouldn't change their perceptions of him really.
"How's it going?"
"The Doctor is not himself." it replied, traces of sadness in its' 'voice'. "He misses the Rose child greatly."
"Yeah I kinda realised." he glanced over his shoulder, towards the control room, where said Doctor was currently resting. "How long has he been like this?"
"Many days now. He said final goodbye...about two months ago. There was a period between the closing of the breach and this so...about three months, give or take a few hours."
"Three months!" Jack exclaimed incredulous, whistling. "Jeez Doc'..."
"But he can't continue like this." The TARDIS cut across him, sounding sharper, more businesslike than Jack had ever heard her. "The storm is brewing...soon it will break."
"The storm..." this stirred something inside Jack, but he couldn't quite pin point the source. "What storm? What do you mean?"
"I only repeat the words of another." the TARDIS 'shrugged', or at least that is what Jack pictured she would do if she had a physical form. "A traveller like the Doctor..."
"The Face of Boe!" Jack gasped.
The TARDIS made a noise of ascent." That is true..." a sudden crash cut across her.
"The Doctor!" they both gasped and Jack practically flew though the corridors. He had a feeling that the TARDIS was shifting things so he could get back there quicker. As he skidded to a halt by the consoles he had to fight the urge to vomit as the metallic scent of blood assaulted his nose.
The Doctor was sprawled on the floor, almost under one of the consoles. Blood was slowly pooling beneath him as it trickled from a gash across his forehead. Jack watched transfixed for a couple of seconds as it trickled down between the mesh floor and pooled on the power cells below. He found himself, for the first time ever, afraid of approaching the Doctor, afraid of touching him
"Doc'?" he crouched, supporting himself on the console. "Doc', c'mon, don't do this to me, not now..." he fought down his fear and reached for the nearest limb. An arm. "Doctor..." he shook him vigorously as his vocals had failed to gain a response. "Damn it." Jack threw caution to the winds and pulled the Doctor into a sitting position. After several more experimental pokes and prods, he came to the conclusion that the Doctor really was in SERIOUS trouble, and to be honest, given Jacks' intellect, this was a rather swiftly reached conclusion.
"Bravo Captain Jack." came a sudden voice, dripping with sarcasm. "Now do you think you can act upon this and get him to the medical bay!" The TARDIS.
Jack swallowed the smart alec remark that was building and gathered the Doctor in his arms. Thankfully this regeneration was slimmer than the last, which therefore meant he was somewhat lighter. He was also fractionally shorter, so all in all quite an easy patient to carry down to the medical bay.
He just lay where Jack left him. There was no life, no fight in him now, and Jack didn't know what to do. He could re build the Earth, that was easy. But when it came to helping the Last Time Lord...Jack had no idea. He figured that the lack of sarcastic remarks meant that the TARDIS was more concerned with helping him than goading him, at least for the moment.
He was just about to slope off back to the consoles to keep an eye on things whilst the Doctor was otherwise indisposed, when he heard a voice.
It was the Doctor. He was muttering in his sleep again...only...no, that wasn't right. Jack turned back. The Doctor was still out cold, yet his voice was as strong and clear as it would have been had he been in full possession of his faculties.
"The Bad Wolf approaches...coming before the Dawn of Darkness..."
