Chapter 2: Déjà Vu

Jack wasted three entire seconds gawking at both his friends, alive and well and laughing, before the Muerton behind Rose caught his eye.

"Doctor!" he said urgently, "Muertons!" He pointed.

"What?" the Doctor replied. Then he followed Jack's finger to the Muerton right behind Rose. He drew in a sharp breath.

"What's wrong?" asked Rose, still grinning.

Jack swung his elbow back behind him, and grunted in both satisfaction and pain as it hit flesh. His fingers wrapped around his blaster –

And dropped it immediately as something slammed him into the floor. The blaster spun and slid away from his grasp. Jack reached desperately for it, but the heavy weight digging its knees into his spine made it a struggle to breathe, much less crawl towards the blaster.

Jack twisted to try and see the Muerton on top of him, but all he glimpsed was the dirty bag it shoved onto his face. Rose's muffled shrieks and the Doctor's yelling filled Jack's ears, but he couldn't see and he couldn't move and he couldn't, shouldn't breathe –

At last, his lungs betrayed him and gulped in chloroform-flavored air, until Jack knew no more.

"Jack? Jack?"

Jack groaned and opened his eyes. Rose's face hovered over him, glistening with tears. He shut his eyes, unwilling to face her. He'd blown it. He hadn't changed anything.

"Jack, please wake up…"

He opened his eyes again, but didn't bother sitting up. "How bad is he?"

"He's alive," Rose said hopefully.

"Too bad he's only got one heart working."

Rose blinked. "You haven't even looked at him. How do you – "

"I've been through this already," Jack groaned, finally sitting up. His eyes flickered towards the beaten Doctor before looking away.

"What, like déjà vu?" she asked.

Jack shook his head. "More like a time loop. I've been trapped in one before, but that was two weeks long." He briefly remembered the Doctor staggering out of the cell with the Muertons, and he gripped Rose's arms. "We gotta get out of here. Last time they took the Doctor."

Rose's brow creased. "Who took him where?"

Jack shook his head and gave a half-shrug. "Muertons, don't know where. And a couple hours after they took him away, they came back for you."

"But – " Her eyes widened. "They wanted him to do something, didn't they?"

Jack nodded grimly.

"But you know what's gonna happen," Rose reasoned. "So we can get it right this time, yeah?."

"I already blew it. We searched, last time. There's no way out of this cell."

Rose's jaw set. "There's gotta be a way to fix it. That's why you've been given a second chance."

"Sometimes, time loops just happen, Rose."

She shook her head. "I don't believe that."

Jack bit back a scathing reply. Let Rose keep her hope for just a while longer. He watched as she sat at the Doctor's side, rubbing his hand and waiting anxiously for him to wake up.

Jack stared at the wall, not wanting to face either of them, until a groan consumed his attention. "R – Rose?"

Jack rushed over to his friends. The Doctor hissed as he opened his eyes and tried to stand, ribs straining to take his weight. He collapsed and fell back to where he was, gasping for breath.

"We're here," Rose assured him, squeezing his hand. "Try to rest."

"What…happened?"

"We're caught in a time loop, Doc," Jack informed him, "Or at least, I am – Rose doesn't seem to remember. Don't tell me you don't, either?"

The Doctor shook his head. "We can't be. I'd feel it, I'd know – " His head started to droop, and Jack shook him back awake.

"Well then how else do you explain that I know we've been captured by Muertons, and in a few minutes some of them are going to come back and take you?"

Gripping Rose's arm tightly, the Doctor manoeuvered himself to sit up straighter. "Take me where?"

"I don't know!" Jack shot back angrily. The Doctor looked sceptical, eyebrows raised high. Anxiety gnawed at Jack's stomach. The Doctor had to believe him; it was vital. If not to their escape, at least to Jack's sanity. "They just took you, and then they came back for Rose, and then I was back in the restaurant!"

"I believe him," Rose said softly. "He knew about you being hurt before he'd even seen you."

The Doctor considered Jack for a moment. "Well," he said lightly, "Don't think I'd like to stay here either way, thanks." Gritting his teeth, he pushed off the wall, legs gradually taking his weight. Rose and Jack stood quickly to help him up.

"Right, then," the Doctor gasped. His eyes were clenched shut as if trying to hold back a scream. Slowly he drew his sonic screwdriver from his breast pocket and flicked it to the right setting. "Door." He took a step towards the door and plummeted immediately. He cried out as Jack threw out his arms to catch him.

"Careful!" Jack ordered, lowering him down to the floor.

"How – do – you – humans – function?" he groaned, clutching at the right side of his chest.

"With difficulty," replied Rose in exasperation. "Rest. I mean it."

The Doctor slipped the sonic screwdriver into Rose's hand. "Try it."

Rose aimed the screwdriver at the door and flicked it on. The blue light shone and buzzed, but the door remained impenetrable.

"Ah, well, worth a shot," groaned the Doctor, laying still on the floor. His eyes started to close.

Jack patted the Doctor's face until he stirred. "Come on, don't fall asleep on us now. You've got a concussion."

The Doctor cracked his eyes open. "No, I don't."

Jack let out a snort. "Yeah, you do."

"Maybe a little one…" he started to drift off again, then opened his eyes wide. "Do you hear that?"

The Muertons were returning. Gingerly the Doctor used Jack for support to slowly get to his feet. Rose wrapped an arm around his other side just as the door opened and several Muertons poured in, a vast array of weaponry in hand.

"Take the Time Lord."

"NO!" cried Rose, tightening her grip on the Doctor.

"Look, you can't have him," said Jack desperately, "He's hurt, he needs – "

"Are the non-Time Lords required?" asked one of the Muertons.

"Orders say they are not, but they are preferred."

The Doctor took in a sharp breath. "No, no, don't hurt them, I'll come willingly."

Shivers of déjà vu crept through Jack as Rose hissed, "Doctor, they've got guns."

The Doctor attempted a cheery smile and nudged her away. "And I haven't, which makes me the better person, don't you think?"

Jack wrapped an arm around Rose as they both watched the Muertons take the Doctor away. He winced as the Doctor once again stumbled, and was carried more than marched out. The slam of the door sounded just as final as it had the first time.

"Alright, we've got about an hour and a half," said Jack determinedly.

"Before what?" Rose whispered, still staring at the door.

"Before they come back for you."

Rose nodded. "If the screwdriver doesn't work on the door, maybe it'll work on the wall, yeah?"

They ran the screwdriver over every centimetre of the wall. They'd even tried picking at the wall with their fingernails, trying to make a dent, but an hour and a half's work had produced only a shallow dent scarcely noticeable to anyone who didn't know it was there. The wall was made of some hard plastic Jack couldn't identify.

He yanked at fistfuls of his hair. "There's got to be something. A crack, or a switch, or a hole…"

He could hear stomping outside their door. The Muertons were coming back.

Just as it had before, the door swung open, and the enormous Muertons poured in.

Rose stepped forward, eyes filled with fury. "Where is he? What have you done with him?"

"Take the girl."

"No!" Jack shouted, pulling Rose behind him. "Don't – "

But the impact to his stomach came just as it had last time, and Rose screamed for him as the Muertons dragged her from the room. Jack staggered to the shut door, forehead pressed against it desperately.

He sat like that for several moments, thoughts churning in his mind. If time had looped once, it probably would again, right? A sort of desperation gnawed inside him, and his face set in a grimace.

He'd get another chance. And this time, he'd be ready.