REVELATIONS
TWELVE
Jack left a post-it note stuck to Ianto's computer monitor. 'Back Soon!' it read. 'XOX'.
With more than a little trepidation the Captain walked through the doors of the TARDIS, shutting them behind him.
Moving up to the console he was trying to remember if he'd ever been in the TARDIS when the Doctor wasn't at home. He didn't think he had and he stood, hands deep in his coat pockets, looking around the control room. Jack pursed his lips and his eyes welled up with tears. 'I'm getting emotional in my old age,' he chastised himself. 'I wonder what I'll be like in five billion years…?'
Rose was sitting on the chair – the only chair – and he went over and scrunched in beside her.
"What now?"
She took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. "Wait for it," she murmured.
It didn't take long.
"Captain?"
Jack looked around and then saw it. "Jesus," he said.
"No, guess again." The hologram looked right at him and smiled.
Rose's fingers tightened around his.
"Doctor?" Jack half-whispered.
"Right. You've got it. Now, I'm not sure who's taken me but I think they've been following us for quite some time and hopefully Rose has an idea because she saw them."
Jack glanced sidelong at her, she sadly shook her head.
"If not, then you're going to have to go looking. It's a big universe and I've made a few enemies in nine-hundred years. To help you I've left a list in the database. I alphabetized it!" Jack thought The Doctor looked particularly proud of himself. "It starts with the Abzorbaloff and ends with the Zygons. Erm, it's a pretty long list…"
The hologram was quiet for a moment; Jack and Rose looked at each other wondering if that was the end of the message, but then The Doctor cleared his throat and continued.
"There is someone else, of course, who might be able to help – in fact I'm certain she can. I don't know if she'll be happy to see you and you may not even be able to find her, but it's worth thinking about."
The Doctor turned his head to the side and then quickly looked back at them. "I gotta scoot. Good luck!"
The hologram disappeared with a flash of light and a loud pop that made Rose jump.
"Wow!" she exclaimed. "It's never done that before!"
She looked at Jack and continued to grip his hand. She knew what he was feeling; it was always difficult when the image disappeared. It was lonely. She was certain Jack was feeling that peculiar emptiness and sought to bring him back to the present.
"Was he talking about who I think he was talking about?" she asked.
Jack pried his eyes from the spot that had held The Doctor's image. He nodded slowly as he looked at her.
"Our final option, but first let's look at this list of his. How bad can it be?"