Chapter Twenty-One
Jack let out a startled gasp as he felt and saw the silver thread wink out of existence...no not quite, it was still there, but only a small glimmering line in a world of darkness.
He was overcome by a feeling of joy...joy that the Doctor was alive, joy that there was a way of finding he was also overcome by rage, not hot uncontrollable rage, but cold unpredictable rage.
He was going to find and save the Doctor, and then he was going to do what he should have done a long time ago.
He was going to kill White Coat.
Martha had been the first to hear the TARDIS and began the dash back to the room where Jack was, if the TARDIS was coming, that could only mean one thing...the Doctor.
She was quickly joined by Ianto and Gwen, both hoping the same thing.
They burst into the room just as the wooden blue box was fading, and stopped in stunned silence, staring at the empty space.
Ianto sat down heavily on the now empty bed. "He left, he's abandoned us!"
Martha sat down beside him. "No Ianto, I don't think he has. Why would the Doctor come just for Jack? I know him better than that. There's something else going on, I'm sure there is, I can feel it."
"She's right Ianto, if he'd left us, he wouldn't have left these," Gwen said, holding up his holster with his gun still in it. "Whatever happened, it was quick and unexpected."
The Doctor struggled against the darkness and the pain, and against the thing that was trying to squeeze through the crack that it had made in his mental defence.
He wanted, needed to find that silver thread, find Jack again and never let go.
Wading through the darkness was like pushing through treacle. He used what strength he had to push the thing back, not stopping to think it was too easy, so intent was he on grabbing hold of that silver thread.
He opened his eyes slowly and froze...something was wrong, why was it still dark...no please, he couldn't be...he was blind!
He jumped when the door to his cell opened and didn't struggle when he was dragged up and out of the knew he was going somewhere, but relying on just your hearing wasn't flinched when his hearing was assailed by the sounds of metal and footsteps and many voices.
Wherever he was, it wasn't the submarine.
He didn't struggle when they dragged him along a corridor or protest when he was slammed against a wall and heard and felt the chains as he was shackled.
He listened as the footsteps retreated and the door was slammed shut, and once he was alone he let himself hang from the shackles.
He let out a misery filled sob, he didn't have the energy to seek out that silver thread, nor did he have the strength anymore to fight the thing inside.
If this was to be his fate, then let it...he couldn't fight anymore.
Jack once again reached out to the silver thread, but reeled back when the TARDIS suddenly shuddered.
He didn't need the connection to feel what came next.
The misery slammed into him like a physical blow and he suddenly found himself seeing through the Doctor's ran down Jack's faces unbidden...the Doctor was blind, in pain and dear god...he'd given up.
"No, please don't Doctor. I'll find you, just hold on. I'll find you."
White Coat was not best pleased, the retrieving of his property had been a debacle. The captain of the fishing vessel had managed to get off an SOS.
Sinking the vessel would put the authorities off, they would think it was just a foolish captain who got too greedy and paid the he knew it wouldn't put off either UNIT or Torchwood, or whoever was after his property. He wasn't particularly worried about them; they would soon no longer be a problem.
However, the whereabouts of Captain Harkness was another thing, and that was a problem that would have to be dealt with.
It was a given that he wouldn't have died in his foolhardy jump after his property. He just had to hope that he was too far away to find either this base or his matter, he would be dealt with, he was sure the Cynrog or some other race would find a use for an immortal.
He looked up as a group of armed men approached."Is it secure, I don't want it escaping again."
"Yes sir, it won't be a problem, he's blind."
White Coat gave the man a sharp look. "Blind? Well that's not good. Have it brought to my laboratory, and inform Dr Michaels that I need her."
"Yes sir!" the man saluted and the group of men hurried away.
White Coat stood watching the activity below, lost in thought. He would have to move quicker than he thought...no matter, everything was in order.
He looked once more at the activity below, before walking were thing to do.
Jack sat on the pilot seat, a picture of utter misery. The Doctor's sadness and utter defeat had overwhelmed him.
He had tried to reach the Doctor, but the silver thread was hardly a glimmer. He didn't have the psychic strength to grab hold of it and strengthen it.
He sat, statue still, until a mental nudge from the TARDIS caused him to come back to reality. The Doctor's emotions and pain faded away, and his own senses pushed their way forward.
Letting out a huge sigh, he blinked several times, allowing his eyes to clear the blindness.
"I will find you," he whispered.
He stood up and looked up at the central column.
"Can't you find him? I'm not strong enough," he begged the TARDIS. "He needs you."
The TARDIS groaned and the lights dimmed again.
After a few moments, Jack felt and heard a change in the ancient engine, like she'd shifted inside the felt a sharp pain deep inside his head, and the silver thread flashed lightning bright, before turning more gold than silver.
The TARDIS groaned again, and the engine sound changed once more, and seconds later he felt the thud of the TARDIS as she landed.
They were here, wherever here was.
Martha, Gwen and Ianto sat in silence, still not able to make sense of what may have happened.
Martha suddenly frowned...there was something not quite right, she could feel it...what was it?
Then with sudden clarity, it dawned on her...the TARDIS, it hadn't sounded right, it sounded...distressed.
"Oh, I am so thick!" she yelled. "It wasn't the Doctor that came for Jack, it was the TARDIS. She came for Jack's help!"
Gwen and Ianto looked at Martha in disbelief.
"Can it do that, it's just a machine, isn't it?" Gwen said.
"The Doctor always said she was sentient, so why couldn't she. That means..."
"The Doctor is still alive," Ianto finished.
"But we have no way of finding him or the TARDIS," Gwen said.
"But we have," Martha said.
The other two looked at her.
"The Cynrog," Martha said.