Here's another chapter! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

What?

He was a mess. Worse than Jack had ever seen him. But by the way he slouched on the wooden steps in the church and his attitude about the whole ordeal, Jack would have bet his life—though what was that worth now, anyway?—that the Doctor didn't even realize it. Jack approached him like he would a wild animal: cautious, slow, and fully aware of the damage that either party could do in such a delicate situation. "Doctor?" To his dismay the Doctor's eyes snapped up in fear, surprise, and anxiety despite his best efforts to avoid all of those things. He held his hands up placatingly and took a step back, "It's just me. Jack. You called me, remember?" Jack thought he would have remembered, but he also wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't—there was a bump the size of a golf ball on the right side of the Doctor's head, blood still slowly dripping from it.

The frightened look in his eyes disappeared, replaced with a sort of indignation that Jack could tell was mostly for show. "Yeah, of course I remember; why wouldn't I?"

"I... I don't know, Doc." He slowly walked over and sat down on his left side on the stairs. "You just seemed surprised to see me." Jack was walking on paper-thin ice, and he knew it: but he was torn between knowing how the Doctor looked and not knowing how to treat him—physically or emotionally.

"Yeah, sorry... It's—it's been a long night." The Doctor's voice cracked, and Jack felt his own heart crack at the sound.

He didn't know what he was doing—well, okay, maybe he did, but it was instinct—and while he probably should have asked first, or not even done it in the first place, he wrapped his arm around the Doctor and pulled him under his chin. He minded his wounds, though, knowing that, regardless of Time Lord anything, they'd still hurt like a bitch, "Don't be sorry, you have nothing to be sorry for." His breath hitched, and soon Jack could feel the tears staining his shirt; he honestly didn't even care about the blood that would also be there. The choked back sobs and small jerks made Jack just hold him tighter, hoping against logical reason that he could protect him from all the pain he's ever endured. Finally he was able to breath more deeply, and, although it was beyond broken, tried to give Jack a smile. "Can you tell me what happened? You never know, we might be able to fix her."

The Doctor's face creased in despair, "I don't know. I can't remember what happened—" See? told you it was a possibility, Jack's mind chimed in, "—or why we crashed. But, Jack, she—she's dead. I would feel her, and I can't."

"Maybe she's just resting, okay? Or recovering like you do when you're in a healing coma. Doc, you can't jump to conclusions like that; it could be any number of things and we'll figure out what it is. Do you trust me?" He nodded, albeit with tears in his eyes from denial and disbelief. Jack swallowed, stood, and offered his hand to the Doctor. "You know where she is?" He simply nodded again and led the way out of the church. Jack took a deep breath in and out then followed.

He silently trailed the Doctor, wanting to say something, wanting to comfort him, but not knowing how. They had to make their way through three different fields before they hit the outskirts of a forest; then another half-mile into that there was a clearing of felled trees with deep skid marks on the ground. The TARDIS was eerily silent and dark, and, upon setting eyes on it, the Doctor looked like he would break down again.

"Maybe it's her healing process," Jack tried again. "Or there's so much physical damage she doesn't want you to go in and get hurt." The Doctor looked at him with heavy skepticism but didn't say anything. "Doctor, I brought one of our vans... I think it'll be the easiest way to transport her—if you want to, of course," he quickly added.

"To Torchwood." It wasn't a question, nor was it spoken with any venom (well, not that much venom)—it was more exhaustion—but his voice, nonetheless, made Jack stop.

"I know you're wary of them, Doctor, but it's safe. I promise I can protect you and her," he gestured to the TARDIS, "if you come with me and let me and my team help."

"You mean you're not going to arrest me?" His lips curled up slightly, and the rarely-seen bitter expression on his face made Jack wince. And while he knew the Doctor was just deflecting his pain and anger onto him—not that he minded—, his words stung a bit, regardless. The Doctor immediately wished he could take it back, "I didn't—that wasn't—I'm sorry, Jack, I didn't mean that."

He nodded his head, "yes, you did. And you're right. But I won't let that happen. Not now. Please, Doctor, trust me."

His tone was one of honesty and sadness, of loyalty and guilt. The Doctor swallowed and looked away from the compassion in his eyes. "Can you drive over here?"

Jack looked around him, "Farmers might get a little upset I ran over their crops, but yeah, I'll take the chance. You wanna come with while I get it?"

"No, I'll wait here. I'll be alright." Jack looked at him wearily but took a few steps backwards before fully turning around and walking the short distance back to the SUV. "I'm always alright," he whispered to himself as he slid down the wooden frame.

Jack kept walking and pretended he didn't hear him.

Jack returned to the Doctor and was shocked at how much blood there really was on his face, visible only because of the growing light. But Jack's frown deepened at a red spot in the middle of the doctor's white shirt—something he hadn't noticed before but was bleeding almost as bad as his head. "What happened to your stomach?" Jack asked, pointing to the stain.

"Nothing," he replied calmly, pushing himself off the ground. He wavered slightly and put a hand against the TARDIS to steady himself, Jack moving forward to catch him; but he held the other hand out to stop him and leaned against the TARDIS for a moment instead. "I'm fine, Jack."

"As you ever are," Jack retorted. He knew it wasn't fair (nor the right time) to bring up this kind of conversation now, but the Doctor truly looked terrible—not just from the crash—and if he left subtle hints behind maybe it would make it easier to bring it up later? The Doctor didn't look at him, instead opting to walk to the back of the van to see how much space there was. Jack figured he would let the Doctor look for himself—maybe he would be able to find a way to make it fit. "Doctor, I'm sorry." He just shook his head—in acknowledgement as much as in defiance—so Jack took the hint and changed the topic. "If we lay her on the side—well, will anything… y'know, tip over?"

"No, she should be fine." His voice was rough, clipped, and quiet. Jack hated it.

"Okay. Then how do you want to do it?"

Jack still has no idea how he managed it. How the Doctor managed to fit a full-size police box into the back of a standard SUV. But somehow the he did. Jack wryly thought to himself that he must be able to make everything he touched "bigger on the inside". So, although that meant that his van (for the time being) was all but disassembled, it's fixable; plus it meant that they didn't have the risk of losing the TARDIS off of the roof. But that then—well obviously that meant that the TARDIS was... in the car. Which you would think would have made the Doctor happier… But not when he can't feel her. Not when all he has to do is turn around to see that the only link he had left in the entire universe to his planet, people, and past life, was severed in one landing.

But she can't be. It can't possibly be that bad. Even if the Doctor can't feel her, there must be some other logical reason for it. He's lost so much already, why does he have to lose more?

The first real signs of daylight were showing along the horizon as they finally loaded the ship into the back and closed the doors. Jack shook his head in disbelief while the Doctor simply walked around the left side. "Wait," Jack called. The Doctor turned to him with a sort of exasperated (exhausted) glare. "Are you in any pain?" It was a stupid question, but he truthfully wanted to know the answer. Either the Doctor was ignoring his injuries, or he was in shock and couldn't feel them—either way they had to do something about it.

He sighed heavily, "I told you, I'm fine. Why?"

Jack raised his eyebrows at him, "I was simply wondering if you felt as beat up as you actually look."

"No, it's fine. Can we go?"

"No. Come here," he gestured to back and reopened the rear doors, pulling out a first aid kit and laying it on the bumper. "Come on, the sooner you let me look at you the sooner we can leave." The Doctor gave in and leaned against the door. "Turn your head to the left. Please?" He added when the Doctor didn't comply. He cleaned the wound, knowing Owen would want to treat it later, then just bandaged it slightly. (He figured the Doctor would rip off whatever he put on mid-trip anyway.) "I'm just a field medic—and an out-of-practice, inexperienced one at that—so just know now that you'll probably need stitches from our actual doctor when we get back." The Time Lord just ignored him, mumbling something along the lines of I am a Doctor. "Now, what happened to your stomach?" The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes at him, but wordlessly started to undo his buttons. Jack inhaled sharply when he saw the metal shard jutting from his abdomen, but otherwise said nothing.

"You need to leave it in. I can pull it out myself later, but not here; not now."

"So, then, you did know about it."

The Doctor opened his mouth like he was about to tell him off—How could I not have noticed it!? Do you think of me as an idiot!?—and while Jack could see every one of those emotions pass over his face, the Doctor eventually settled with a calm, practical, closed expression and a hardened, "Yes." Jack narrowed his eyes but accepted his answer and started re-packing the supplies. The Doctor took this as a sign that he was excused, and went and sat in the passenger seat, waiting for Jack.

The back doors slammed shut and Jack jumped in and started the engine, briefly looking at the Doctor before pulling back out towards the road and heading to Cardiff.

TBC

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