The Doctor worked long and hard trying to come up with a cure for Jack, but the longer he worked the less likely it seemed he'd find one before Jack… well he didn't want to think about that.
Rose was staring into space hugging her child and hoping silently that nothing would happen to him. This was the reason the Doctor had been reluctant to have kids in the first place, not because he didn't want them but because of what might happen to them.
Jack and Charlie still stood in the corner, talking in low voices. Neither knew how to help though they wanted too. Then a thought hit Jack and he suddenly remembered a vital piece of information.
"I think I can get you the cure!" He said running a hand through his hair.
"What?" Asked Rose, the Doctor and Charlie in unison.
"I've only just realised but I think I know where the cure is," Jack said again his mind racing. "I can fetch it only…"
He stopped realising that the security at Torchwood would have been tightened ten-fold.
"Only if you go back to Torchwood they'll kill you," the Doctor finished. "But not if they've got a distraction that warrants a lot of attention."
Rose stood up then, still cradling her son.
"No," she said. "You're not leaving."
"Rose," the Doctor turned to look at her and pulled out some glasses he hadn't had in his previous incarnation, pushing them onto his nose. "If I don't our son will die. I can't let that happen."
"But if you leave, you'll die," Rose said barely audibly, her eyes threatening tears.
"It's a chance I have to take," the Doctor replied cupping her cheek briefly. "I'm old Rose. I've had far too long in this universe; Jack's barely had three years. If I die, then I die."
"But how will the universe cope without its lonely angel?" Rose asked the desperate tone in her voice making the Doctor's hearts ache. He didn't say anything more, just looked at her for a moment then walked towards Jack.
"How long do you need?" He asked looking at the ex time agent carefully.
"Ten minutes," Jack replied quietly, trying not to look at Rose.
"Right," the Doctor nodded. "Let's go then."
As they left the infirmary, Rose almost broke down. Charlie wandered over hesitantly, sitting next to Rose and putting an arm around her. She leant against him, rocking her baby in her arms.
"I'm sorry," Rose said quietly.
"What for?" Charlie asked. "If it was my kid I'd be exactly the same."
"Yeah, but you're not used to this whole thing," Rose said smiling slightly. "Domestic seems to be our hobby, despite the Doctor's constant reminders that he doesn't do domestic."
"Nah, I know all about domestic," Charlie grinned. "I live with Jack remember?"
"He told me that he was glad he got picked up by Torchwood," Rose replied. "'Cause he found you."
"Yeah," Charlie sighed. "I sometimes wish he acted more like it."
Rose looked at him confused.
"What?" She asked.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm living alone even though Jack's there," Charlie said sadly. "He spends a lot of time in a world of his own."
"That's our fault," Rose said realising that Jack must have been more affected by suddenly being dropped back on Earth than they'd thought. "From what he's said he didn't cope very well when we left him."
"Yeah, but you thought he was dead," Charlie glanced down at baby Jack.
"But we could've checked," Rose sniffed. "We were too busy worrying about ourselves to even stop and think that Jack might still be alive."
"Rose," Charlie stopped her from going any further. "You had more pressing matters to deal with. I guess Jack just needs time to move on."
She nodded looking down again at her child. He didn't seem to have got any worse, but neither did he seem to have got better.
Meanwhile Jack and the Doctor had stepped out the TARDIS to find that this time there were no guards outside, but they were in a room rigged with alarms.
"They'll go off the minute we leave," Jack said. "They're silent so you won't hear them, but it'll take security less than a minute to get here, so you need to run but give them something to follow or they might find me."
The Doctor nodded smiling slightly. Jack was still the adventurer they'd left behind. He hadn't lost any of his old spark.
"You haven't changed," the Doctor said quietly. Jack smiled.
"Two and a half years of waiting," he replied. "I've been ready for an adventure all that time."
The Doctor frowned slightly to himself then.
"You mustn't put your life on hold for me," the Doctor walked towards the door and opened it.
"I know," Jack said before running one way, leaving the Doctor to take the other. When he was out of sight of the Doctor he groaned to himself knowing how sad and desperate that must've sounded and knowing the Doctor would've twigged how hard it was on people around Jack. "I know…"