*Stumbles in with a bottle of jager* Ayyy, what's up? So uh, it's been 4 years. Happy 2019 everyone!

"Four days?" Jack demanded, his hand raised to his temple, and his eyes squeezed tight. "You have got to be kidding me! You haven't eaten in four days?"

The Doctor, who was sitting on Jack's sofa, didn't respond, he was busy picking at the food Jack had given him, which was heated up takeout from the nearby mini fridge. He didn't like it much, the noodles were underdone, and didn't have any flavor. He wished he could just get some food on the TARDIS, but his beloved time machine had locked him out, leaving him in Torchwood with Jack. It was late there and Jack had sent his staff home hours ago, leaving the two men quite alone.

The Doctor took another, rather unappetizing, bite of the noodles, and tiredly set the takeout box on the coffee table, resolving to eat it later. He waited for his old companion to finish his rant.

"I honestly thought you could take care of yourself," Jack went on, "but no, you've stopped eating, you've stopped sleeping You've stopped taking care of yourself! You can't live that way Doctor, I don't care if you're a timelord, you still need to, to," the ex-con spotted the tabled takeout box and went silent. He took a deep breath before picking up the box and setting it into the Doctor's hand. "Eat, or so help me I will force it down your throat." He threatened.

The Doctor frowned, "I'm fine jack." He lied, taking a bite of the microwaved noodles, "really, timelords don't need as much food as humans. I could go for a week without food if I had to."

"But you don't have to." Jack sighed, sitting heavily down on the couch beside the timelord.

The Doctor sighed, he knew Jack had a point. By 'less food than humans' the Doctor actually meant he could live comfortably with one meal a day, although two meals a day were considered healthy. He'd eaten last maybe 97 or 98 hours ago, at a small resturant in turn-of-the-century England. Since then he had been in constant adventure mode, running from place to place, never slowing down and never having time for food or sleep. He'd just go and go and go until he reached his limit and passed out. Then he'd get up, dust himself off, and do it again.

He'd like to say that all that running had been in pursuit of saving people, exploring new lands, and having fun. But really, he had been running from silent moments where his thoughts found him. Like now. Behind his quiet, exasperated demeanor, his mind was racing.

Why was he here? Sitting next to a man whose life he had destroyed? The immortal man who had to bear the curse of watching his friends die, and dying again and again himself. The Doctor didn't deserve to be cared about by Jack. He had made Jack's life a living hell. He had hurt him. He had hurt his friend. Then he had left him on his own. The Doctor was sure he didn't deserve the ex-con's concern. He didn't deserve much of anything, he thought.

"You're shaking." Jack said, cutting through the Doctor's spiraling thoughts. Jack's voice was tired, but he was forcing it to remain steady and soothing.

"Oh," The Doctor looked down to see the tremble in his hands, the box shook slightly so he planted the takebox on his lap, steadying himself. "I suppose I am, hmm, not something I normally do. Must be from sitting still too long. We should do something, I-"

"Drop the act." Jack said exasperated, "Please, I'm sorry for yelling. You can talk to me you know." Jack put a hesitant hand on the Doctor's shoulder, and the Doctor didn't try to shake it off, which concerned his friend even more.

The Doctor nodded mutely. "right." He said, "I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to end up at your door all sad and such, the TARDIS just decided I needed a break I suppose. I can get out of your hair in no time, I doubt she'll let me back in for a while, but I have things I can do in this time period, you don't have to put up with me for long."

"You're the most idiotic genius I know." Jack said, a small smile playing at his lips "You're not going anywhere until you're healthy again. You're stuck with me."

The Doctor frowned, "what precisely do you mean by healthy?" He asked, shrugging off Jack's hand, "If memory serves, you're not one to judge on the concept. I don't see a medical license on you." He took another bite of noodles.

Jack looked right at the Doctor and gave a dashing smile that almost scarred the time lord, "No, but I know someone who does have a medical license." Jack said, his voice cocky, but soft like silk.

Jack withdrew his phone and the Doctor nearly choked, "You wouldn't…" he trailed, figuring out what Jack was doing almost immediately.

Jack typed in a number and brought the phone to his face, the dashing smile never leaving his features. The phone rang once.

"Jack, no, there is no reason to..."

The phone rang twice

"...bring her into this, really, I'm..."

The phone rang a third time, the Doctor heard a faint voice answer, "hello?"

"...fine." The Doctor said the last part in a strained whisper.

"Martha!" Jack greeted in a charming, joyous voice. "I have the Doctor sitting on my sofa."

"What?" The voice, Martha Jones asked, "No way? He's there with you?"

"Against his will, but yes." Jack said, before putting the phone on speaker, not that the Doctor and his expert hearing needed him to. "Say hello," Jack said, looking pointedly at the Doctor.

"Hi Martha." The Doctor croaked, fear on his face but trying to keep his voice chipper.

There was a beat of silence, "are you alright?" Martha's voice sounded concerned, "You sound a bit hoarse. What did Jack mean when he said you were there against your will?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "good to hear you too." He gave a strained laugh, "How have you been?"

"We can catch up later." Jack said before the Doctor could derail the purpose of the call. "Jones, I need you over at Torchwood ASAP. How fast can you get here?"

"I can be over in the morning," She answered, "I'm working late tonight at the morgue, but I can swing by sometime around noon. I actually have a few vacation days set aside, if you want me to cash them in."

"Actually," Jack said, "we can make it a business trip! UNIT shares its workers with Torchwood all the time, it'll only take a few calls. Hows a paid vacation sound?"

The Doctor could hear the smile in Martha's voice as she replied, "brilliant idea," she said, "keep me in the loop, but whether or not we can manage that, I'll still swing by tomorrow."

Just then a garbled voice came from the phone, "Oh," Martha said, "that's one of my co-workers, got to go." She said something to the other voice that neither Jack nor the Doctor could hear, then said, "Good to hear from you boys! Both of you get some sleep, alright? I'll see you in the morning."

The line went dead and Jack pocketed his phone.

The Doctor felt trapped. In a single day he had messed up royally, he had been kicked out by the TARDIS, and he had somehow found himself as a ward to the leader of Torchwood and a UNIT mortician.

Then, Jack took a deep breath "So," he said, "before we go any further, I would like to ask you a few things."

"Like?" The Doctor asked. He picked at his noodles and refused to make eye contact.

Jack's next words were phrased carefully, "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Fine." The Doctor said without hesitation.

Jack nodded, expecting the answer, "if you want to talk, about anything, I want you to talk to me. I'm here for you, and I'm open to anything you have to say. I won't judge you, and I won't hurt you. You're safe here. Do you understand?" He was very sincere, the Doctor could sense that.

The Doctor nodded, "Alright." He muttered, "I'm fine though, you don't have to worry about me. The TARDIS was overreacting. I just skipped a couple days of lunch is all,"

"Doctor," Jack said, "Your medical read out said.."

The Doctor tried for a smile, shaking his head, "every one has dark thoughts now and then." He shrugged, "It doesn't mean I'll act on them. You don't have to worry about me."

Jack looked uncertain, but he shrugged, "Maybe I don't. But, Doctor, to tell you the truth," He leaned back on his couch and focused his eyes on the lamp on his nearby desk, his expression was distant, and when he spoke, the room took on a sadder, colder feeling that accompanied painful memories. "I've been alive for a very long time, not as long as you, but still, I've seen people who hurt themselves. I've witnessed, and experienced, depression, loss, and pain. I know what it all looks like." His eyes scanned over the Doctor, there was no pity in the ex-con's face, nor was there shame, or anger, or judgment, just honest compassion, "I believe you're hurt and tired. I want nothing more than to help you get better. You've helped me. It's the least I can do to return the favor."

The Doctor wanted to shake his head and inform Jack about how much harm the Doctor caused on a daily basis, and how much grief, and pain he brought to others, how much he had meddled in people's lives, how much of a danger he was, but he couldn't find the words. Jack was so honest, and he just wanted to help.

The Doctor had meddled in a way that forced Jack to live on, maybe Jack trying to care for him was a form of cosmic justice, an eye for an eye and a continued existence for a continued existence.

"Alright," The Doctor said finally, "I trust you Jack," and he did, "I'll stay with you, as long as you want me here." It was the least he could do. "I'm sorry for any trouble I've brought." An apology wasn't enough.

Jack's face said that there was nothing to forgive, that he had made peace with his life, that he was happy that the Doctor was here and alive, but the ex-con had promised he would respect what the Doctor had to say, so he said simply "I forgive you." He gave the Doctor a hug, then stood from the couch, "Finish eating, do you want some water? Tea maybe?"

"Tea, if you wouldn't mind."

Jack nodded, then frowned a bit he reached down to the Doctor's hair, there was a leaf tangled in it, one from the godforsaken forest where the Doctor had nearly jumped. "You could use a shower too." He said.

The Doctor nodded, "ya, I could."

"Right, I'll make a quick call to Ianto, I'll have him set up a room for you in a spare office space." He smiled and leaned on his desk, "You'll like Ianto, he's my boyfriend."

The Doctor gave a wry smile, "I'm sure he's lovely." He said.

Jack went to the door, but stopped, "Hey doc, sorry to do this, but," He turned on his heel and held out his hand, "I'll hold onto your sonic for now. You're here to relax and get better, not to sneak off and save the world."

The Doctor frowned, "what if the world needs saving?" He asked.

"Then we'll talk." Jack allowed, "but for now…"

The Doctor sighed dramatically and handed over his sonic. "What makes you think I'd sneak off to begin with?" He asked.

"You always sneak off." Jack said. "I'll be right back." The ex-con pocketed the Doctor's sonic and disappeared behind the door.

The Doctor took the last bite of his noodles, and found himself feeling the need to run again. He was alone, and needed something to do, as his thoughts were already racing, desperately trying to come to terms with what had just happened. He couldn't stand it. Maybe, just maybe, the world did need saving after all. The Doctor found himself eyeing Jack's personal computer, he saw no harm in checking up on current events.

When Jack came back with a glass of water, he wasn't exactly shocked to find the Doctor on his computer.

"How many times did you try a password?" Jack asked, placing the water beside the Doctor.

"Only twice." The Doctor said. "You really should use pass-phrases from here on out, they are much more secure."

"I'll keep that in mind." Jack sighed. "Drink your water."

The Doctor complied. He spent an hour or so browsing the web, news sites, conspiracy sites, and even some youtube videos. Jack watched him from the couch. Occasionally, the immortal would make phone calls. The first was to Ianto, the next few were to various branches of UNIT. Eventually, Jack convinced them to let Torchwood hire Martha for a week. For a few minutes Jack left the room to greet Ianto, but he returned quickly. The whole time the Doctor was painfully aware that he was being monitored.

"Any reason to save the world?" Jack asked finally, after a long stretch of silence between the two.

"A couple, yes." The Doctor lied. He tabbed over to a conspiracy site. "Have you heard of the Tic Tac ship? It's a sort of spaceship that's been sighted several times around the west coast of America, some by citizens, but surprisingly by members of both the navy AND the airforce. How odd." He leaned back in his chair. "They say it looks like a tic tac, a type of candy." He snickered at that. "America is such a big country you know, and I haven't even begun to explore it all! The West Coast is supposed to be very nice. Let's see," He tabbed over to a few sites, "Voodoo Donuts in Oregon, Space Needle in Seattle, LOTS of trees. I could get behind that place."

The Doctor stood from his seat in a flurry. "That settles it then! I'm going, really should be off."

"No?" Jack said with his usual sass.

"Well you can come with me." The Doctor insisted "You me and Martha, big adventure just like old times."

"Sure. Once you're better." Jack shrugged. "Plus I'll have to find some leave days, could take weeks to get that to go through."

Now they were both lying. And each one knew it.

The Doctor huffed. "Fine. Later then. Now, where is this shower…?"