Author's Notes: Many many thanks to Aibhinn for all the help with this installment! This chapter refers to other stories in the Tracking Torchwood continuity; specifically The Midnight Clear, also archived here.

As always, Kit and Madhukar are mine; all else belongs to the BBC.

Chapter Seven – Shades of Grey

The Doctor felt Rose clutch his arm tightly and heard Jack's cry of anguished fear as Kit plummeted toward the ground. In a flash, the angel disappeared and reappeared, plucking her from the sky and spiraling down to land at the edge of the ravaged plain. Jack ran to them with his friends at his heels.

The angel knelt down, holding Kit with a tender expression. "D'hiraya'azvasa, Kit-kat," he was saying softly. Her face was buried against his chest, and she murmured something in return before letting out a long sigh and falling silent.

The angel looked up at Jack and gave him a slight nod. Jack knelt opposite him and reached out to take Kit and cradle her against himself. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. The angel stroked her hair, then stood again to speak to the Doctor. "I knew sending Kit to you was the right thing, Doctor," he said.

Rose exclaimed, "You're the one who threw her into the TARDIS?" When the angel nodded, she said sharply, "You know she showed up naked, bleeding, and in shock? We couldn't get her to respond for a long time, not even to Jack! Couldn't you have been a little more careful if you care about her so much?"

"There was too much going on at the time for me to worry about details," the angel answered, unfazed. His voice was somber, but there was just a hint of a twinkle in his eye. "I knew she'd be safe with you and that you'd be able to help us. Thank you for restoring the Music, Doctor. Thanks to all of you."

"You're welcome, but you have us at a disadvantage," the Doctor said.

"Ka'israfa'elazari'as, Teacher of the Third Circle," the angel introduced himself with a slight incline of his head. "But since Kit entrusted you with her heart name, I know I can do the same. Just call me Raf."

The Doctor cocked his head curiously. "Or Raphael?" he asked with a glint in his eye. When Raf gave him a slight shrug of assent, the Doctor said, "Well! Quite a day, Rose. First you took on the devil…and now you've scolded an archangel! I don't think even your mother would do that!"

Rose gasped a little in surprise. Raf winked at her and said, "Quite all right, Rose Tyler. It takes strength of all sorts to fight the good fight—and protecting your friends is always an excuse, even for scolding one of the First Circle." He leant forward and whispered, "I did see what you and the Doctor got up to in Judea on Christmas Eve, though. Tsk, tsk."

She blushed violently, and he laughed, standing back up to his full height. "But you have our thanks for helping us stop this one—" he gestured toward the Master "—and the one who was taken over by the one you call the Beast."

"What happened to him—Toby?" Rose asked.

She was answered by another melodic voice, this one deeper in tone. "The Circles will deal with that one," replied another angel that descended to join them. "He will be confined again, able to hear the Music but not touch it."

"That's all?" Rose demanded, incensed. "After everything he's done?"

The new angel looked at her disdainfully. "It is worse than you can imagine, human."

"Michael, they can't understand what they haven't been taught," Raf interjected. "Rose, there's no death for the First Circle. But he's condemned to a fate worse than that.

"Think'st thou that I, who saw the face of God,
And tasted the eternal joys of heaven,
Am not tormented with ten thousand hells
In being deprived of everlasting bliss?"

"I understand," the Doctor said thoughtfully. "Rose, remember when Kit first woke up in the TARDIS? Screaming because she couldn't hear the Music? For the Beast, who rejected it, hearing the Music again without being able to touch or use its power would be an eternity of torture."

Raf smiled. "You're a quick learner, Doctor."

"Doctor?" Jack called, his voice sounding panicked. "She's not waking up." He was stroking Kit's face with a worried expression. She was very pale, and her breathing was becoming slower. "She's cold…why is she so cold? She gave up the power."

Haughtily, Michael answered, "Simply taking it means her death."

Jack looked up at him, stricken. "No!"

"But she did it to stop the Beast!" Rose protested. "You're angels! Can't you, I don't know, work a miracle or something?"

Raf began to answer, but Michael cut him off. "No, we cannot! This one chose to leave the Circles. Then she chose to take the power of the Vortex outside of the Music. Now she pays the price." He glared over at Raf. "You indulged her far too often, brother."

"What about mercy?" the Doctor asked harshly. "Certainly angels should know something about that!"

"Do not presume to judge us, Doctor," Michael said coldly. "She knows the laws of the Circles and chose to break them."

"Chose? Or was forced to choose?" Madhukar objected. "She did not take the power to rule! She took it to defend others! To stop Armageddon! If she hadn't done it, you would still be lost in discord. Surely that counts for something!"

"Mitigating circumstances!" the Doctor added, looking sidelong at his student and wondering whether it really was his student talking.

But the next words were definitely Madhukar's. "I was taught the Ekala are always correct in their judgment. But this is wrong, you are wrong, and we were wrong about you," he said. "The law is the law…" he glanced over at the Doctor and smiled, "…but now I see that sometimes it must be questioned."

The Doctor smiled slightly in return, despite the situation. "There are shades of grey."

Madhukar nodded. "Now I understand why you've sometimes broken the Laws of Time, Acarya. Strict obedience to the law sometimes makes you ignore the reason it was made." He turned back to Michael. "Your law was meant to prevent another rebellion in the Circles. Kit was trying to save the Circles. And you are going to punish her for that? If you let her die, how are you better than him?" He pointed over where the Master still lay, guarded by two angels, male and female.

The Master let out a harsh, ironic laugh. "They're not," he said. "But they find it convenient for you to believe in their divinity."

"We're different, not divine," Raf corrected. He made a motion with his hand, and the Master was suddenly talking with no sound. Raf looked back at the Doctor with an arched eyebrow. "He talks a lot and says absolutely nothing, so we'll let him say absolutely nothing." He turned to Michael. "You know the Seeker is right."

Michael grumbled, "It is not for mortals to question us."

"Khazala'ist!" Raf snapped in a tone that made the Doctor certain it was a curse. Raf drew in a breath, and said in a calmer voice, "It's a question of intent, brother. Let this one go.

"The quality of mercy is not strain'd…
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest.

"Wouldn't mercy best suit the mightiest of the Circles?"

The two archangels stared at each other in a contest of wills. Jack looked back and forth between them, his heart in his eyes. "Please?" he asked in a desperate whisper.

At last, Michael seemed to relax and let out a sigh. "All right, then, brother. You're the healer. Lead us, and we'll sing with you."

Raf nodded and resumed his kneeling position next to Kit. Jack held her, muscles trembling with the effort not to clutch her tightly to him, to allow the archangel to heal her properly. His eyes were on her face, and the Doctor could read his hope in his gaze.

Raf laid one shining hand on Kit's forehead, took her hand with the other, and then began to sing. Michael and the other angels joined him, creating a harmony so close, so complex, it made the Doctor's hearts ache with the beauty of it. He felt Rose lean against him, and looked down to see her eyes brimming.

As the angels continued to sing, golden light collected around Kit. Rose squeezed his arm and whispered, "Just like the heart of the TARDIS." The Doctor nodded and slid his arm around her.

Still singing, Raf lifted the hand that was on Kit's forehead and held it open, gathering the radiance that surrounded her into a globe. He passed the globe over her body, pausing over her heart for a moment and then moving up to her forehead again. With a turn of his wrist, he dispersed the energy, sending the radiance scattering. He passed his hand over her closed eyes, and ended his song. As the other angels sang their last notes, he leaned in to kiss her forehead and whispered again, "D'hiraya'azvasa, Kit-kat." He sat back on his heels and told Jack, "She'll sleep now. It'll be all right."

Her color was returning to normal. Jack held her closer and said, "She's getting warmer already." His voice was shaky, just on the edge of tears as he looked back up at the angels. "Thank you. I know I'm not worthy of an angel— "

"You don't give yourself enough credit, Jack Harkness," Raf interrupted gently. "Kit wasn't yet worthy of any of you. You, Rose, the Doctor…all of you know what it is to lay down your life for another. Even the Seeker knows a form of self-sacrifice. Kit was afraid to take that step until now." He smiled as he stood, looking at the destruction she'd wrought on the plain. "But once she did take it, she was going to take all the enemy with her. She never does anything halfway." He looked over at Michael, and said formally, "Thank you for indulging me, Ra'emicha'elatha'in."

Michael snorted and shook his head. "I don't know which one is more spoiled, you or her. I must see to the Deceiver. You will take care of this other one?" He motioned at the Master. When Raf nodded, Michael looked down at Kit one more time, shook his head again and disappeared in a flash.

"Not exactly approving, is he?" the Doctor asked. "And I notice he didn't offer his heart name."

Raf gave him a lopsided smile. "Not to a mortal, he wouldn't. If people knew what an ass he can be sometimes, they wouldn't be so quick to name their children for him." He held a finger up to the remaining two angels, who were grinning themselves. "That does not get back to the Circles, is that clear?"

"Perfectly, Teacher!" one of them said, clearly trying to control his smirk.

"Crystal clear!" the other added.

Raf nodded and looked down at the Master. "Now for you." He motioned to the other angels, and they got the Master on his feet. "We don't need that any more. You're not going anywhere," Raf said, waving his hand. The metal binding disappeared. "Now, you have something that doesn't belong to you. There's a spirit in your mind that should've been allowed to rest long ago." He reached out toward the Master's temple.

Watching closely, the Doctor saw a calculating flash in the Master's eyes. He was about to utter a warning when the archangel touched the Master. The next moment, the Master was flung unceremoniously backwards, slamming down into the dirt. The two angels moved to stand over his unconscious form.

Raf shook his head with a tsk. "Very rude, trying to get into my head like that. Our minds are dangerous places!" he said. "As I believe you already know, Doctor."

The Doctor chuckled. He was still a bit sore from being literally tossed out of Kit's mind back in the TARDIS.

Raf held up his hand and considered the small silvery cloud floating in it. "I know Bruce is ready. What about Tremas?" He looked over at Madhukar.

The Seeker's stance changed slightly as Tremas used his voice one more time. "Doctor, you know how much I appreciate all you did for Nyssa. If you should see her again, please tell her that her father's love is always with her."

"I will," the Doctor promised.

Tremas/Madhukar turned back to Raf. "Larana and Kassia are waiting," he said. "I have been ready for a long, long time."

The archangel smiled and stretched his free hand out to touch Madhukar. The Seeker swayed a little as another silvery cloud gathered around Raf's hand and was drawn away. Raf held both hands in front of himself, the clouds cupped in his palms. "Be at peace," he said softly, and released the clouds with a slight flick of his wrists.

"Goodbye, old friend," the Doctor murmured, watching as the clouds floated skyward and dissipated. Rose slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze. When the last bits of mist had disappeared, he looked back at Raf. "What about the Master?"

Raf looked thoughtful. "He wants to rule, right?" He turned back to the other angels. "Kes, Vheen, why don't you build him a little kingdom here in this Mediary? Be sure to give him plenty of…ah…challenges. Be creative. But keep the technology level low. Hmmm….Bronze Age, I think. See how he handles ruling a world without indoor plumbing." He gave the Doctor a grin. "They say you have to be careful what you wish for."

"He won't be able to get out, will he?" Rose asked as the two angels began to speak softly to each other in their own language, gesticulating as they began to make plans.

Raf shook his head. "Not without help from the Circles, and not one of us will give it after what he did. But even if he did find a way, that body won't last outside this Mediary. The power here is all that's keeping him whole now."

Jack looked up sharply. "Is that power why I came back to life after he shot me?"

"Ah. That is something quite different, Jack," Raf said in a low voice, looking over at the other angels. Seeing that they were deep in their conversation, he went on quietly, "This was only known to the First Circle. When Rose brought you back on Satellite Five, you were changed. You can't die without consenting to it."

"But everything dies!" the Doctor protested.

Raf smiled. "Sometimes we have to break a few rules in service of what must be. This is one of those cases. A little more fallout from the Time War. When the Dalek Emperor fell through time, he disturbed the Music, changing it to something that never should have been."

"That's why Satellite Five never seemed right!" Rose said.

"Exactly, Rose. Everything that happened when you were brought there was part of setting the Music right again. Jack, we needed to bring you back. Earth needed you. Immortality was, well, an unintended side effect." Raf grinned over at Rose. "We can't quite work miracles. Even angels have their limitations. Jack, you have the choice to give back the gift when you're weary at last." At Jack's look of confusion, he said, "Eventually, you'll understand that immortality is a cruel fate for someone who's not born to it as we are."

Jack gazed down again at Kit, cuddled against him. "What about Kit?"

Raf reached out and removed the earpiece she was still wearing. "She can't hear the Music now. Not even with your help, Seeker," he said to Madhukar, who removed his own earpiece. "She can't see what must be anymore. But there will be compensation. Some of her senses will become stronger to make up for what she's lost."

"She was born to immortality," Jack said. "Has she lost that? Am I going to lose her someday?" The last question came out in a whisper.

Raf gave him a sympathetic smile. "Will she break your heart again? Jack, you know I can't tell you the future. But I will tell you this. There's always hope." He made a motion, and a red leather bound book appeared in his hand. "When she's up to it, this is a last assignment from me. Purgatorio will be quite relevant." He passed the book to the Doctor. "There will be some gaps in her mind when she wakes. She'll only remember the things she's seen or studied personally. The TARDIS will help you keep her from crossing her timeline accidentally, but there are a few things I can tell you to avoid. London during the Blitz, the 2004 World Series, movie openings at Grauman's Chinese Theater…"

"Any in particular?" the Doctor asked in an amused voice, completely unsurprised.

Raf grinned. "All of them. I'm afraid I did spoil her. Teacher's privilege." He knelt down to press one more kiss into Kit's hair. "Ka'isata ka'ala, Kit-kat."

"Whenever I call her that, she threatens me with dire consequences," the Doctor observed. When Rose laughed, he protested, "Remember Judea? Coal in one's Christmas stocking is a dire consequence!"

Now everyone was laughing at him. With a chuckle, Raf said, "Using her child name is also a teacher's privilege. And, I think, a lover's." He bent his head close to Jack's and murmured something too softly for the Doctor to hear. When he stood again, Jack was grinning broadly. "Tell her the Circles will miss her laughter," Raf said. He turned to the Doctor. "My thanks again. And some advice, one teacher to another?" When the Doctor nodded, Raf went on, "It's all right to doubt yourself. Not even the angels have all the answers."

He waved his hand, and there was a bright flash. When the Doctor's vision cleared, he was standing with his companions in the console room of the TARDIS. He could feel her relief and happiness, glowing like summer sunshine in his mind as the time rotor began to move. He concentrated for a moment, and saw the Web of Time restored to its normal state.

Madhukar moved to the console and looked at one of the monitors. "We're in the Vortex again," he said. "And the Song…Rose, listen." She took his outstretched hand and listened with him.

"It's different," she said after a moment, opening her eyes again. "Happy, but also just a little bit sad. Sort of the way I felt when I came home, Doctor. So happy to be with you again, but sad to leave my family behind." She left Madhukar's side and wrapped her arms around the Doctor. "But like the angel said, there is compensation to make up for what I lost."

Slowly, Jack stood up, carefully lifting Kit in his arms. "I hope the compensation is enough."

Rhythm.

That was the first thing she was aware of. It wasn't the rhythm of the Music that she'd always known. This was different, steady and reassuring, standing alone, not part of the complex harmony of Time.

Or maybe it was part of it. She wasn't sure, because all she could hear was the rhythm. The harmony was gone.

That didn't disturb her as much as it probably should have. But, cocooned in softness, Kit was far too warm and comfortable to think disturbing thoughts. They could wait until later. With a content sigh, she tried to burrow deeper in the softness, but found herself blocked by something firm and unyielding. She gave it a little push, and a grunt disrupted the rhythm. Frowning a little, she pushed again.

"Angel, if you want me to move, just ask."

Her eyes flew open, and she found herself in bed in a darkened room, nestled in Jack's arms with her head pillowed on his chest. The rhythm that had woken her was his heartbeat. Her soft cocoon was actually a silken duvet wrapped around them. Disbelievingly, she moved her hands up to his face. He closed his eyes as she ran her palms over his cheeks, and kissed her fingers as they traced over his lips. "I thought I imagined you, but you're here," she whispered. "I don't understand. I saw him kill you. And I should be dead." She studied his face, just barely visible in the meager light from the digital clock on the nightstand. "Maybe I am dead."

He chuckled. "You and Rose, never believing what you see. She thought she was dead when we rescued her. Now, how did the Doctor convince her? Hmmm…oh, yes. Like this." He drew her up for a long, loving kiss that made her heart skip a beat.

The dead can't feel their hearts beating, she thought.

"Does that feel like you're dead?" he asked softly as he drew back.

She sighed. "If I am dead, I don't want to know it yet," she whispered, and snuggled back against him, breathing in his scent. The dead can't smell sandalwood and spice. "We're in the TARDIS…this is your room," Kit said. "How...how am I here, Jack? How are you here?"

"Well, I could have put you in your own room," Jack answered, "but you've only got the single bed, and…I needed to hold you while you were sleeping." His voice broke a little. "I thought I'd lost you."

"So did I," she replied in a whisper. She closed her eyes and listened to his heart again, felt him kiss the top of her head. Then she summoned up the courage to ask again, "How are you here, Jack? I saw him kill you."

"Remember helping Rose to hold the power of the Vortex on Satellite Five?" he asked. When she nodded, he continued, "She brought me back to life, but that wasn't all. She changed me. If I get killed, I come back. It hurts like hell, but I still come back." At her surprised gasp, he tightened his arms around her. "It's all right. I have it on good authority that it's just another part of what must be."

Kit raised her head to look at him. "Who—?" She could just vaguely remember a shining figure reaching out to her as she fell, and a musical voice telling her everything would be all right.

She could just make out Jack's smile in the dim light. "Your teacher. He caught you. And don't you ever, ever scare me like that again!" he mock-scolded, touching his forehead to hers and giving her another squeeze.

She didn't answer, focusing instead on what the Vortex power had done to Jack. "If you can't be killed, does that mean you've become immortal?"

"It means I can choose when and how I leave this life," Jack answered. "Puts me one up on the Doctor."

She realized that she hadn't even asked about the others. "Is he all right? What about Rose and Madhukar?"

"Everyone is safe and sound," he assured her. "The good guys won again."

"But at what cost?" she asked. "Jack, you didn't really answer me before. How am I here? I took the power of the Vortex outside of the Music. That…that should have killed me."

He cupped her cheek and said, "It almost did. But you took it for all the right reasons, and that saved you." He laughed a little. "If the Time Lord thing doesn't work out, Madhukar should consider being a lawyer. He made one hell of an argument in your defense, and Michael agreed to help heal you."

Her eyes widened. The First of the Circles almost never bends! "What's the catch, Jack? There has to be one."

He stroked her cheek. "Tell me what you feel."

He still wasn't answering her directly, but the sensation of his hand against her cheek was so exquisite. She leaned into the touch, closing her eyes and relishing the contact. "I feel…it feels so good to be here with you like this. I feel warm. Safe. Loved."

His lips covered hers in a tender kiss. "You are," he told her. "But focus on your senses."

She concentrated for a moment, then said, "Everything is so much more intense than it was before—" She stopped and opened her eyes. "Wait. Touch…smell…" She leaned forward to kiss him again, her tongue sweeping delicately over his lower lip to take in salty sweetness before she drew back. "Taste." Her senses were sharper, heightened to an acute level. It was a near-overload that had drawn her attention away from what was missing. The disturbing thought that she'd shoved aside before now came roaring back. She looked back at him with wide eyes. "Jack, I can't hear the Music. There's just…nothing."

His other hand moved up so he could cradle her face gently. "I know. That was the cost, Angel. But Raf told me to tell you there's always hope. And he had one last assignment for you."

She chuckled. "There's always one more thing with him."

Jack grinned and reached over to take a book off the nightstand and flick on the bedside lamp. She closed her eyes against the sudden brightness, and cuddled back against him as he shifted back into place. "He said 'Purgatorio' will be relevant for you.

"E canterò di quel secondo regno
dove l'umano spirito si purga
e di salire al ciel diventa degno.

"Now I sing the second kingdom
There where the soul of man is cleansed
Made worthy to ascend to heaven."

She thought about that for a moment, her eyes still closed. "Dante," she said. "And you read it in the original Italian. Figures you would be able to speak a Romance language."

"More than one," he laughed. "Foreign languages were a requirement at the Time Agency, and…well, what else would you expect from me?"

"'To thine own self be true,'" she said with a smile. She thought about the verse and Raphael's message. "So…this is my time in purgatory." She opened her eyes and looked up at Jack. "Serving it with you isn't so bad."

He stared at her in surprise. "Something wrong?" she asked self-consciously.

"Your eyes," he said in wonder. "I couldn't really see them until I turned the light on." He slid out of the bed and held a hand out. "Come and see."

He led her to the mirror over his dresser. She stared at her reflection, and gasped when she realized that blue eyes were no longer staring back. "They're purple!" She shook her head and leaned closer. Her irises had darkened to a deep violet. "I've been marked by the Vortex."

Jack slipped his arms around her from behind and looked at her in the mirror. "They're gorgeous," he murmured into her ear. "And the soul behind them is still the one I fell in love with."

She turned in his embrace to face him, running her hands up his chest and winding her arms around his neck. "I love you, Jack." He kissed her gently. When they parted, she whispered, "There's nothing to hold us back now."

He just held her, one hand tracing light circles on her back. "Are you sure? You've been through a lot." He bent his head lower to look searchingly into her eyes. "I want our first time to be more than just a reaction to adrenaline overload."

Understanding, she nodded and hugged him closer. "This isn't adrenaline backlash, Jack. I want you. Need you."

He kissed her again, not gently this time but wanting and loving and needing, leaving them both breathing heavily when he pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. "I've done a lot of things, but I've never made love to an angel before," he said.

She smiled slightly. "I gave up the Music, Jack. I'm not an angel any more."

"Sez you," he told her, eyes twinkling. "As far as I'm concerned, you'll always be an angel."

Her smile got wider. "That has to be the sweetest thing I've ever heard," she said. "And quite possibly the sappiest."

Laughing, he swept her up and whirled her around to the bed, dropping her back on the duvet and pouncing, his legs straddling hers as he hovered over her. "Sappy?" he demanded teasingly as he tickled her sides. She giggled and grabbed at his hands to still them, but he caught her wrists instead and pinned them on either side of her head. "Sappy? You'd better watch yourself, Giggles."

She froze and stared up at him in surprise. "Raf told you that?"

He kissed the tip of her nose and said, "Lover's privilege, he told me. And at the risk of sounding sappy," he winked at her, "your giggles are the second most beautiful sound in the universe."

"What's the first?" she asked with a smile.

He bent his head to whisper huskily into her ear, "You calling my name when I make love to you."

Raphael's first quote is from Marlowe's The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus. The second is from The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. Purgatorio is the second section of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.