A/N: Not proofread or beta-ed or NOTHING! Mainly coz I don't have a beta. Which is probably why it's so crap. I was very lucky with it, I pre-wrote most of this a while ago XD Next chapter will probably be the last.

Oh, just a note - for anyone whose seen the rumours about the series four finale I know it sounds very me, but I assure you, I didn't write it. Really. :D

Chapter 6 – Life Rhymes With Knife

"JACK!" Rose could hear herself screaming but still no one came. "JACK! HELP ME!" Could they even hear her down here? Were they completely isolated? "PLEASE!"

"Damn, you're sexy when you scream!" he growled, before throwing his head forward and shoving his tongue down her throat. She had to do something fast, so she braced herself, gritting her teeth and launching her head forwards straight into his nose, a move courtesy of Captain Jack Harkness.

The force knocked him off of her and he staggered backwards, hitting the wall with his hand over his nose. Rose quickly got up and tore away across the cell to the door, screaming for Jack all the way. She could hear footsteps running after her, making her chest tight and heart pump even faster, forcing her on.

The door infront of her suddenly exploded open, startling her as she stopped dead in her tracks. Two arms instantly grabbed her from behind, one folding around her neck whilst the cupped her chin. One jerk and he could cleanly break her neck. Rose wept in fear as she fell still in the Doctor's deathly grip, staring ahead at the crowd that had just filtered into the room.

Jack raised his gun towards the two. "Let her go, and get the hell out of the Doctor."

"Oh, so you finally figured it out." The Doctor's apparent form spat, tightening its lock on Rose. "Took you long enough!"

"Whatever you are, let her go and get outta him," Jack repeated resolutely.

"I'm hurt you don't know what I am yet. Rose knows."

Jack stared at Rose, confused. Evidently she was as puzzled as he was.

"Don't think I haven't been doing my own poking about in his memories. Oh, some of this stuff is brilliant. I'm so glad I met you!"

"Gelth…" Rose whispered. "But…how? We got rid of you…"

"The rest of my race, maybe. But not me. I am the last of the Gelth on your world, but there are more of us in the next universe. With the TARDIS I could break the walls and let us through, where we'll take over your world forever!"

"You needed him dead…" Rose was figuring it all out in her head. "So you killed him and took his body…" It nodded.

"But although his body was dead his mind lived on, which is strange. He's in here somewhere." It gestured remotely towards its head. "He's a fighter, I'll give him that. I feel terrible for him. He's having his life energy drained out of him, slowly and painfully as he sits inside watching himself do things he has no control over…" It paused for a moment, drawing in a breath through gritted teeth as it winced. "Nasty. But your Doctor, ooo, he won't let go."

"So it was him who stopped you from killin' me?"

"Yes, actually. He's reallyvery annoying."

"Look, just let Rose go and we'll compromise," Jack tried to reason it out, loosening the grip on the gun slightly to signal negotiation.

"I don't need a compromise," the Gelth said, but to Jack's surprise it laxed its grip on Rose and threw her into the wall on its right. She clambered onto two feet, running to the Torchwood crew behind Jack.

"Doctor, if you can hear me we're gonna save you, okay?" Jack said firmly.

"Oh how touching," It smiled. "Best friends forever!"

"One more step and I'll shoot."

Its eyebrows rose. "But would you really, Jack? Would you hurt the man you love? He's still in here y'know. I can hear him screaming."

Jack fumed. "Get out of him!"

"Ooo, touched a nerve?" it mocked, moving to take the step forward. "He's in so much p-"

Jack pulled the trigger.

"NO!" Rose screamed, moving to run forward to the Doctor's form but Owen held her tight. "Get off, GET OFF!"

The Gelth had stopped dead in its tracks; looking down at the vague area Jack had shot it.

"Hey, that wasn't nice," it said simply.

Everyone blinked, Rose falling silent and shocked as the Gelth once more began to advance with a terrifying aura of power, completely unharmed by the bullet. Jack moved infront of the girls to protect them with his weapon raised, but already knew it would do no good.

"I'm already dead, Jack! You can't kill me again!"

The Gelth strode nearer and nearer, murder in its eyes. It began to speed up with its arms outstretched towards Jack's neck, laughing with joy at the helpless humans infront of it.

Then it stopped, its expression suddenly assuming one of utter shock.

"Oh yeah?" Jack asked as he stepped slightly back, revealing to the others the Life Knife sticking out of the Doctor's abdomen, Jack's hand clamped around the handle. "It's not called the Life Knife for nothin'."

Blood began to spill out from around the wound and all over Jack's hand, yet still there was silence. He gave it one last jerk before the Gelth began to scream, and he let go of the knife. The Gelth fell helplessly backwards onto the floor, thrashing around in utter agony.

"Doctor!" Rose yelled, breaking free from Owen's grip only to be halted by Jack.

"Wait, Rose!"

The Gelth was choking, and it took Rose a few moments to realise the Doctor's lungs were trying to breathe. Activity suddenly burst through his body and the Gelth was left helpless, unable to host an alive body.

"Get out!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, gasping from air as his back arched, coughing and spluttering to expel the Gelth. "I'm alive!"

"NO!" the Gelth screamed from the Doctor's mouth. "This cannot be!"

"I told you to get out!"the Doctor yelled, and it was more than bizarre to see two people speaking out of one mouth. He was still shaking and thrashing around, howling through both effort and the pain of the Life Knife. "Get out, get out, get out!"

The Doctor's mouth opened in a glow of bright energy, and a blue apparition swam out into the open air, screaming all the way. It span around the room in a whirlwind of screams, only halted once Rose suddenly heard the suction of a vacuum cleaner and helplessly the Gelth was sucked within. Her jaw dropped open as she stared at Gwen holding the vacuum, looking around at the gang with a hint of innocence.

"Thought it might come in useful," she said with a shrug. Jack grinned at her before following Rose across the corridor, who was already crouching next to the moaning Doctor.

"What did you do?" she asked the ex-Time Agent, trying to block out the Doctor's painful rasps of air as she held his head.

"Life Knife," he answered, peeling the shirt away from the mass of blood. "Long story. I'll explain later. He's bleeding fast, get the med kit, quick," the latter was to Owen, who fled.

"Oh, I wonder why I'm bleeding Jack? Maybe it's 'cause you plunged a knife straight into me!"The Doctor began to laugh genuinely, followed by a chain of hacking coughs. Jack ignored him, concerned only with stopping the bleeding. "Y'know there were these three sisters who lived in a treacle well, their names were…"

"He's delirious."

"You think?" Rose asked, rolling her eyes at the ex-Time Agent.

"But I don't feel like dancing la-la-la-la something-something la-la-la…" the Doctor said with a tune, "no sir, no dancing today!" He looked up at Rose, grinning slightly. "Rosie will you help me pick the flowers? Ooo the flowers smell nice like you ha, did you know you're vegetation?"

"D'you want him sedated?" Jack asked the London girl suddenly, sounding hopeful. She laughed and shook her head.

"Nah, this is actually pretty good."

"Agh I'm all sticky," the Doctor moaned, staring at his blood-coated hands. "Told you chips were uneatable without tomato ketchup…" He proceeded to lick the palm of his left hand, frowning slightly as he swirled the substance around in his mouth. "Eww. It's off." He clamped his hand back over his wound, moaning softly.

"Doctor, move your hand!" Jack took his wrist and pulled his hand gently, yet firmly off of the wound.

"You're not the boss of me!" the Doctor spurted out, making to move his hands back but Rose resolutely held them out of the way. He began to moan again, holding onto Rose's hands tightly.

"Waaaait…" he murmured, blinking up at Jack. "Didn't I marry you once?"

"I wish, Doc."

"Rose!" the Doctor suddenly yelled, bolting up and almost knocking himself and Jack out in the process. "Rose where are you?!"

"Here, Doctor!" she called instantly, taking his blood-coated hand. "What's wrong? What is it?"

"I'd like to marry you, you're funny," he said, grinning. "Can we play Sardines?"

"I wonder if he'll remember any of this later?" Jack asked mildly, before raising his voice to Owen now back in the room, "better sedate him and get him to the Med Bay. Get it sown together, else he'll bleed out." Owen nodded, already having brought a stretcher with forward planning. Together he and Jack lifted the delirious Time Lord onto it, who was staring at them both in awe. Rose stroked the Doctor's cheek as he giggled at the insertion of the needle in his right arm.

"So we've been told and some choose to believe it…I know they're wrong, wait and see…" he was off on a song again, eyes closing slightly as the sedate took hold. "Some day we'll find it…the Rainbow Connection…" He yawned, settling down in Rose's arms. "The lovers…the dreamers…" He stopped altogether, opening his mouth to whisper, "…and me."

"Let's go," Jack said, moving towards the Medical Bay with Rose in close pursuit.

A/N: I always knew it'd be something possessing his dead body, then I watched the Unquiet Dead...call me thick, but didn't really link the two things together for a few hours...I mean, we've seen the Gelth as a uniformity, but what about on their own in their true form? ...I thought it was interesting, anyway :P