It was probably the wildest ride they'd had on the TARDIS since he'd joined up, and it was too damn bad, Jack thought, that that wasn't a euphemism. They'd materialized in the air and bumped into several buildings on the way down, the Doctor's crazed laughter punctuating each impact. Jack was also fairly certain they'd nearly run down a couple of innocent bystanders, one whom he thought might have been Mickey Smith.
They'd no sooner come to a stop than the Doctor gave a gleeful little hop and raced out the doors. Jack made no move to follow and neither did Rose. Instead, they took a moment to collect themselves.
"Well, that could have gone better," Jack said ruefully, hoping to coax a laugh from Rose. She was clearly not taking the regeneration well. Jack supposed that could mostly be placed at the feet of the Doctor - and to some extent Jack as well - for not telling her about it before it became an issue. Especially since she had barely regained consciousness from absorbing the bloody Time Vortex when the regeneration happened. It was a difficult event to process even when one wasn't still regaining consciousness.
Rose managed a short and half-hearted chuckle. Wordlessly, Jack tugged her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. "It'll be okay," he said softly.
"If you say so," Rose muttered, the words muffled by Jack's clothing.
Jack glanced up at the monitor, which was helpfully showing what was happening just outside the doors. There was no sound, of course, but the Doctor was animatedly talking to Mickey and an older woman whose resemblance to Rose had Jack concluding fairly quickly that it was probably her mum. "Looks like I'm about to meet your mother," he said, gesturing to the monitor.
Rose pulled out of his embrace and looked up, sighing. "Just remember, her bark is worse than her bite." There was a beat, and then she added, "Mostly."
Jack was mid-chuckle when the Doctor suddenly collapsed. Without further comment, he and Rose immediately shot towards the doors, spilling out together.
"What happened?" Rose asked quickly. "Is he all right?" Jack dropped down next to the Doctor to check him over.
"I don't know," Mickey replied. "He just keeled over!"
"He's breathing," Jack said. "That seems like a good sign."
"But who is he?" Mickey asked, his tone suggesting that he was incredulous at the idea that Rose was now travelling with a third bloke. He glanced at the TARDIS doors, still ajar behind Rose and Jack, obviously expecting the Doctor to come barreling out after them. "Where's the Doctor?" he added.
"That's him," Jack said, getting to his feet and gesturing at the prone form at their feet. "That's the Doctor."
"What d'you mean 'that's the Doctor'?" the woman Jack had pegged as Rose's mum asked, a shrill edge to her voice. "Doctor who?"
Rose shrugged. "He's the Doctor. The same Doctor. Somehow. I don't understand it." She jerked her thumb at Jack. "He seems to, though."
"And who are you?" Rose's mum asked sharply, poking Jack in the center of his chest. "What are you doing in that box?"
Jack put on the best charming grin he could manage under the circumstances and held out his hand for Rose's mum to shake. "Captain Jack Harkness," he said smoothly.
"Jackie Tyler," she said, taking his hand. "Rose's mum."
"Nice to meet you, Jackie Tyler," Jack said, still smiling. "I'm traveling with Rose and the Doctor."
"Yeah," Jackie said, finally pulling her hand out of Jack's. "Mickey mentioned you. Didn't mention you were so good-looking though."
Jack turned to Mickey. "That's the most important part," he said. "What're you leaving that out for?" He offered his hand to Mickey for a shake, and after a slight hesitation, Mickey gripped Jack's hand and shook it briefly.
"Captain," he said.
"We should get him in to the flat," Rose interrupted from her position next to the Doctor. "People are getting curious," she added, gesturing towards a couple teenage boys standing at the mouth of the alley where the TARDIS had crashed. She stepped over to the TARDIS and pulled the door the rest of the way shut as if to emphasize her point.
"I'll get the feet," Mickey offered, resigned. "You get the shoulders?" he asked Jack.
Jack shook his head. "I can get him." He hoisted the Doctor up onto his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "It's undignified," he said, "but I don't think he's in any condition to mind, do you?"
Mickey chuckled. "'Spose not. Come on then."
They made their way up to the Tylers' flat, telling anyone who gave them interested enough inquisitive looks that the Doctor'd had a bit too much to drink and they were taking him up to sleep it off.
Jack deposited the Doctor on the bed in what he assumed was Jackie's room - Rose's room, he thought, would have more pink. He surveyed the Doctor's jeans, jumper, and leather jacket and noted a faint sheen of sweat on his brow.
"We should get him into different clothes." He looked at Mickey. "You think you've got some pajamas or something that would fit him?"
Mickey shook his head. "I don't wear pajamas," he said.
Jack waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Is that so?"
Rose slapped his shoulder lightly. "Oh, come off it," she said. "There's a time and a place."
Jackie, who had turned to rummage in her dresser when Jack asked Mickey for pajamas, returned to the side of the bed holding out a pair of light-colored striped pajamas. "Will these do?"
Rose gaped at her mother, and Jack adopted a businesslike manner. "Right, Rose and I'll take care of this," he said, taking the pajamas from Jackie and shooing she and Mickey from the room. Over protests from both of them, Jack shepherded them outside the door and shut it. A thought occurred to him, and he opened it again. "I don't suppose either of you have or could find us a stethoscope? Quick as you please," he added, and shut the door again without waiting for an answer.
He returned to Rose's side, dropped the pajamas on the bed next to the Doctor, and reached out to gently cup Rose's face.
"How are you holding up, honey?" he asked. She closed her eyes and leaned slightly into his touch, a small smile gracing her face. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again.
"I'll be fine," she said firmly. "The question is whether or not he'll be fine." She sat down on the bed at the Doctor's feet and began untying his boots. "Let's get him into those pjs," she added.
They worked together in companionable silence, stripping the Doctor down to his skivvies - "Boxer briefs, I should have known," said Jack - and wrestled him into the men's pajamas Jackie had provided. When they finished, Rose sat down next to the Doctor, her hand lying just next to his without touching it, as if she wasn't sure she ought to take it. Not for the first time since he realized the Doctor was about to regenerate, Jack wondered how they were going to fix the fact that they hadn't told Rose about it beforehand, and how difficult fixing it would be.
Deciding it was best to begin as you meant to go on, he touched Rose's shoulder gently. "I'm sorry neither of us told you about regeneration," he said softly. "We get into enough life-threatening scrapes. One of us should have thought to tell you."
Rose looked at Jack over her shoulder, resting her chin on his hand. "How'd you know, anyway?"
"Time Lords are the stuff of legend where I'm from," he said simply. "And they were well known to the Time Agency."
Rose nodded slowly. "You're right," she said finally. "You should have told me."
Jack was saved from having to come up with a reply by a knock on the door, quickly followed by Jackie's entrance into the room. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of Jack with his hands on Rose, but she didn't comment. She brushed past him and sat down on the bed facing Rose, handing her the stethoscope.
"Here we go," she said. "Tina the cleaner's got this lodger, medical student. And she was fast asleep, so I just took it."
Rose shook her head and put the stethoscope in her ears.
"I still say we should take him to hospital," Jackie added.
"Can't," Jack said.
Rose nodded when her mum looked like she was going to object further. "They'd lock him up," Rose said. "They'd dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race. Just shush," she added, forestalling a reply from Jackie.
Rose readjusted the stethoscope in her ears and placed the end of it on the left side of the Doctor's chest. Jack waited, watching as Rose tested both sides of the Doctor's chest. She looked up at Jack. "Both working," she said simply. Jack sighed, relieved.
"What d'you mean, both?" Jackie asked, surprised.
"He's got two hearts," Rose explained.
"Oh, don't be stupid," Jackie replied contemptuously.
"He has!" Rose insisted. She pulled the stethoscope off of her head and tossed it down on the bed next to the Doctor. Rising to her feet, she stretched a little.
"I'll watch him," Jack offered, "if you want to get some rest, change your clothes, whatever."
Rose briefly linked her fingers with Jack's and squeezed. "Thanks," she said. "It's been a long day, hasn't it?"
Jack let out a rueful half-laugh. "It has at that," he murmured.
Jackie, who had been looking at the Doctor thoughtfully, piped up with "Anything else he's got two of?"
Rose sighed in exasperation. "Leave him alone," she said sharply, and left the room.
Jackie peered at the Doctor one last time before getting to her feet. She fixed a hard glare on Jack. "Don't think I'm done with you, either."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Jack said good-naturedly, smiling at her as she left the room. She shut the door behind her. Jack rolled his shoulders and stretched out his neck before sitting down in the spot on the bed Rose had vacated.
"Knew I'd get you into bed eventually, Doc," he said with forced cheerfulness. "Of course, I had hoped you'd be conscious when I did." He gripped the Doctor's hand in both of his own. "You know Rose and I will be stuck here with her mum if you don't wake up. You don't want to make me live with Rose's mum, do you?"
Jack was silent for a moment, wished the Doctor would wake up and talk to him. Tell him what to say to Rose to make things right, what to do for the Doctor to make him right. "I'll get 'round her, though," he continued. "I'm good with mothers." He grinned. "Speaking of which, did I ever tell you about the time I had drinks with the King of Zyklonia's mum? She was quite a woman."
Jack sighed. "Rose is quite a woman. You still need to explain to me precisely how she got back and saved our asses. Especially mine," he added, remembering facing down a Dalek and the sound of its laser charging up before firing. "I suspect you have to explain it to her, too. She's not happy with us for not warning her about regeneration. I want to fix that, but it'd be easier if you were awake."
It surprised him a little, the intensity with which he wanted to repair the damage to the relationship between the Doctor and Rose and himself. Jack had traveled with others before, had had partners at the Time Agency and been part of spaceship crews before becoming a Time Agent. Sitting on the bed next to the unconscious Doctor, Jack realized that it hadn't even crossed his mind to abandon Rose and the Doctor when things had gone pear-shaped at the Game Station, despite the fact that his vortex manipulator had been sitting in his room back on the TARDIS. He wondered if he'd have felt quite this loyal to anyone else before and thought maybe he hadn't, not even at the Time Agency before they'd wiped away two years of his life.
He'd never felt so much like he belonged before, though, and he figured that was the heart of the matter. Even at the Time Agency, where he'd felt - at first, anyway - like he was serving a greater good and doing important work, he still had felt a gnawing sense of things being not-quite-right. He had always had itchy feet and wanderlust, and until he stepped off of his self-destructing stolen ship and onto the TARDIS, nothing he'd done had made him feel like he'd reached his metaphorical destination.
Then he met the Doctor and Rose, and even as he watched the two of them dance around the console to music from Earth's 1940s, he had felt something inside him shift. He'd barely known them, but something inside of him had recognized them nonetheless.
He still wanted to travel, to see the universe. The beautiful thing about the Doctor and Rose was that they offered him the chance to do so while still belonging somewhere concrete and permanent.
"You're gonna have to get through this, Doc. You don't want me piloting the TARDIS by myself, after all."
The only response from the Doctor was a small stream of golden light issuing from his mouth.