Rollercoaster Ride

For the rest of the team, the next day started very much the same: everybody trailed in around the same time; nothing exciting was going on; the strange man they had downstairs was still laying in the same position… The only difference was that Jack was now sleeping in the medbay—well, sleeping in a half-sitting, half-leaning against the wall, position—seeming to watch over whoever it was that was down there.

He hadn't so much as stirred when Owen came down to check on the Doctor (and Owen sure as hell wasn't going to wake him up), but just after 10, when someone upstairs dropped what sounded like a coffee cup, Jack's eyes shot open and he was immediately on his feet, looking like he was prepared to fight.

Owen also started at the noise, then noticed Jack's new (battle-ready) position, "Jack, it's nothing; someone just dropped a glass… You guys okay up there?" he shouted.

Gwen's voice echoed through the room as she stood above them, looking down, "Yeah, sorry, we're fine; I just knocked over my mug. How're you doing?"

Both men answered, "Fine," at the same time, Jack's a low growl; Owen's an exasperated response. Gwen backed off with nothing but a nod, seriously considering and happily complying with Tosh's earlier warning.

He was agitated. No, he was way beyond agitated. Jack spent the rest of the morning (and late into the afternoon) pacing, sleeping, or drinking in his office; the rest of the time he was either pacing in front of the TARDIS or pacing next to the Doctor. And, despite the fact that nothing had changed for either one of them, he didn't listen to reason—he couldn't.

He was volatile, prone to the smallest annoyance, and, unless there was an emergency—and he couldn't send one of the others to handle it—, his funny, flirtatious persona was all but lost. The team watched him worriedly, but they have no idea the gravity of the situation. They have no idea what will happen to the planet, to the universe, if he's gone—if he doesn't exist to protect us. They don't know him like I do—and how could they?—we've been through so much together, this can't be the end! Jack continued this train of thought and routine of actions without fail until Owen finally stepped in his path.

"Move, Owen."

"No. Jack, you have to stop. I've been with him all day and you coming back down here every hour isn't going to make him wake up. Jack—" he sighed, "Jack, it's been over 24 hours. He's still cold. And he's still not breathing…"

"That's normal—I think—just wait a little bit longer. I mean, how long was I dead for after Abbadon?"

Coming from anybody else it would've been a rhetorical question; but Jack seemed to actually want an answer, "Days," Owen appeased him.

"He isn't there yet. Just don't—… just leave him where he is."

Owen nodded at Jack's back, and a moment after he left he could just hear Jack bark, "Tosh," above him.

Both women flinched at the forcefulness in his voice—Toshiko especially, even standing up in order to face him better. She swallowed, "Yes, Jack?"

"I need you to take a look at something."

"Oh, uh, yes, of course. Where?"

"Basement." She nodded, briefly glancing back at Gwen before she followed him down. Out of earshot of the rest of the team he turned his head sideways to look at her. "What has Owen told you about the man he's taking care of?"

"Nothing, just that he's a friend of yours. Why?"

"Because—well, yes, that's true; but, more importantly, he's an alien."

She stopped suddenly, "What? But he looks human." She flushed when she realized how stupid it sounded.

"Some aliens do," he stated, somewhat condescendingly. "This one is special, though; and I need you to take a look at his ship to see if you can find anything that's broken."

"His spaceship? It's in Torchwood? How'd he even get it in here?"

"We carried it in. Doesn't matter; what matters is that you're the only one I know who has a chance to fix it, and the sooner the ship is fixed...there might be a better chance that he'll recover too." Fat chance, but good luck. "This is it," he said, pointing to the blue box standing conspicuously in the middle of the room.

"But...it's just a police box," Tosh replied, slightly stunned.

"So it appears. Trust me, though, it is So. Much. More. Problem is, I can't get in; he couldn't either. And I have to be able to get in if I stand any chance of knowing what's wrong."

"There's a lock; do neither of you have the key?"

Jack withdrew his keychain and searched for the right key, then handed it to Tosh, indicating for her to try to open the door. She tried, to no avail—just like the Doctor had done in the field and Jack had done a dozen times since they got here. "I don't know why she won't let us in. Maybe her circuits are fried; or the D—his illness," death, "has something to do with it." Jack tried to keep names...species...any clue about who he was away from the other two members of the team until he could think of a better way to tell them; just showing Tosh the police box was probably too much. "Either way, I need a way in—preferably without forcing it open."

"Yeah, I'll try. Is there normally only one way in and out? There isn't another side panel; or the top doesn't come off?"

"No, that's it. I have to take care of something, but can you start now?"

"Sure. I have to go get a few more materials—my computer for starters—but then I'll get right on it. I'll let you know if I get anywhere."

"Thanks, Tosh. Oh, and can you keep the files closed? I don't want anything you find on record." She nodded at him as he simply left her there to look at it.

"I'm going back to the park," he told the team in general. Owen could still hear him from the autopsy room, Gwen was at her desk, and Ianto was coming up from the archives.

Ianto frowned, "Jack, that's an hour-long drive…"

"I can't just sit here useless; I have to do something."

"Fine. Fancy some company?"

He hesitated... "Sure, I suppose so."

Going back to the field turned out to be a complete waste of time. Then again, maybe that was the point: It was just a way to waste time; to feel like he was doing something, even if only for a little while. He thought there might have been a clue, something they missed between the dark sky and the dark possibilities, but nothing else they found seemed like it would be important. The Doctor would probably know what to look for, Jack thought dully.

He sulked the whole ride back, but when Jack's phone rang just as they pulled into the garage he opened it eagerly, "Owen? Did something change?"

There was a strange background noise that Jack couldn't quite place—almost like a fight was breaking out—, while Owen ground out, "Jack, I don't care where you are or what you're doing, get your ass back here now."

Jack opened the door and started into a sprint from the car, ignoring Ianto's shout about Jack not even waiting for it to fully stop, "Why? What's wrong?"

"He's going ballistic, Jack! I told him he was in Torchwood and now he won't calm him down! He needs you."

Jack didn't even reply, simply hanging up on Owen as he raced through the entrance and down to the lab where the rest of the team had already gathered around the Doctor. Tosh and Gwen were at the head of the table, each putting pressure on a shoulder in attempts to make him stop moving and trying to calm him down, while Owen had his legs secured to make sure he didn't kick anyone or rip out the few stitches he had left.

"Move," he commanded the two girls, pushing past them and planting one firm hand just below the Doctor's collarbones where they had needed four. With how much thrashing he was doing, though, that Jack only needed one hand clearly showed how weak the Time Lord really was.* Jack held him down hard as the Doctor looked around unseeing. Please be able to hear me... "Doctor." His movements didn't cease completely, but he showed the slightest hesitation, so Jack tried again, "Doctor, stop. It's Jack, you need to listen to me, Doc, you have to stop."

The Time Lord's actions made a reluctant transition—his struggling slowed, then eventually stopped; after a while his panicked breathing turned into deep breaths (albeit how forced they were); and finally his glazed eyes cleared for the most part, finding Jack and tiredly blinking up at his face.

Jack inhaled deeply, trying to set an example, then relaxed his grip into something more gentle. He tilted the Doctor's head the rest of the way to face him, hoping to get him to focus on Jack completely, "Doctor, do you remember what happened?" He opened his mouth, looked around at the other people in the room, then closed it again, pointedly staring at Jack. "Out." He shook his head at himself and turned to face them, "I'm sorry... Thank you for helping," he said more sincerely, "but, please, go upstairs."

Knowing it wasn't their place, the two women followed behind Ianto as he immediately made his way up the steps, leaving Owen, Jack, and the Doctor alone again. The Doctor started to sit up as Jack raised his eyebrows, softly questioning the Doctor, "What do you remember?"

TBC

Whoviangirl1452 called me out on the fact that it was essentially all code here, so thank her for you getting a legit chapter this time lol :)

*totally not a direct quote, but late into The Princess Bride Westley tells Fezzik and Inigo, "I'll beat you two apart! I'll take you both together! ... Why won't my arms move?" Random, sorry, but that was just what was going through my head in that scene lol