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Chapter 5:
Jack stood once again on the roof like he did every morning. Just before Cardiff rose, he'd go up there and just stare out at the horizon on the Bay, looking back on his life, wondering what his life would be like if things were different: if he hadn't died, would he still be travelling in the TARDIS. And what he'd do if the Doctor ever came back.
Jack knew the Doctor would come soon. He couldn't explain, he just knew it. He had realised the Rift was spreading and increasing in the amount of energy it held. And if it wasn't drained then it would rip open the city and leave a big hole in the Earth where the UK once was. The Doctor was their only hope. Was his only hope.
Then there was Gwen. Whenever after work, the team had gone down to quiet little pubs, sometimes Jack and Gwen stayed a bit later on their own and talked. Jack opened up mainly about his life with the Doctor and Rose but not much about his life before that.
He thought of Rose and how hard it must've been for her to have been literally torn apart from her best friend. That was another thing he desperately wanted to ask the Doctor. Where was Rose? She was listed as officially dead and yet he had seen with his own eyes, on the CCTV being teleported out into God knows where. He realised, as he thought about it he was practically making a mental list of things he needed to know. Where was Rose now? Was she safe? Happy? Alone? How had he suddenly become immortal after his death back on the GameStation? What was powerful enough to enable him to survive such injuries as gun shot wounds, being shot point blank through his head?
And then Jack thought about questions he'd have to decide for himself. If the Doctor asked him back to TARDIS, would he say yes? Could he leave behind the life he'd built up for himself? He knew he'd always been a free-lancer, but he was respected now and he almost shuddered at the thought of what had happened. He'd settled down.
But could he though, leave behind the life he'd gotten past so many obstacles to get to where he was? Friends, lovers, acquaintances, passers by in the street. This life was now… home to him. This Time, this place.
He thought, if it came down to it, he might not be able to just drop it all as he could have done before when he first met the Doctor. He had a responsibility now for Torchwood, for Cardiff, for the Earth. Because until the Doctor came back to save them from a fate that wasn't that far away, Jack was all they had, armed with only his knowledge of the future and a loyal team behind him.
But then even if the Doctor didn't come, Jack would try and find any means possible to save them. He would fight all the extra aliens that the Rift threw out at them; he'd find a way to try and stabilize the Rift's energy and he'd save this City and its people if it was the last thing he ever did. Because if the Doctor ever did come back, even after what was going to happen happened and Jack was the last survivor if everybody else died, the Doctor would see that he had tried. And that he hadn't just given up and run away. But then also, if the Doctor came back and the Doctor saw everybody was safe, he'd know Jack had saved the world. But hopefully, Jack thought, the outcome will be the latter and we will all make it through this.