Yaaaayyyy! Another chapter! :) So there are flashbacks from earlier in the story—they're relevant, I swear—but I edited them, cuz I'm assuming you already read those chapters ;) Just an FYI that they're "quoted" but not completely.

Flashback Setback

Jack somberly trekked upstairs, over, then down another level to where Tosh and the TARDIS were. Problem was, Toshiko wasn't there. "Damn it," he muttered under his breath. He found her at her desk, however, furiously typing something on her multiple screens. "Hey."

Tosh jumped at his voice, apparently so focused on her work that she didn't even hear him coming up behind her, "Ah! God, Jack, can you not?"

"Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"How's it going?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Fine."

She rolled her eyes at his tone, "Okay, well, by using that scale, I guess I'm doing slightly better than 'fine.'"

His eyes lit up, "Really?"

"Kind of. See this algorithm?" she pulled up a window, "My computer's running the composition of his ship so I can see any discrepancies. So, no, nothing's come up yet, but it's something. Also..." she clicked another tab, "I found a weird residue around the bottom; I'm running that too."

"Tosh…"

"It's safe, Jack. I moved everything to a secure server; only you and I have access so far. I know what I'm doing."

"Sorry, I know. Thanks, Tosh."

"Do you know where he was or what he was doing before this?"

"Kind of? He said he left Ralcor, but—"

"Wh—"

"—I have no idea where that is. Or what species inhabits it. The TARDIS could identify all that information, but…"

"But it won't let you in. I'm working on it Jack."

"Yeah. Hey, you might be able to narrow down the process if you—"

"Jaaack!" Owen's call rang throughout the hub, followed by a few curses then stressed reassurances to match his tone.

"Shit," he said, already stumbling over his own feet, ready to run, "Sorry, I'll be right back. Hopefully," he added wryly.

"I'll be here," she called to his back.

He took the steps 2 at a time, watching the Doctor squirm under Owen's hands. "Alright, alright, you're fine. See? He's here. I swear it's fine."

The Doctor seemed to come out of a trance and, ignoring Owen's reassurances, looked at Jack like he was an apparition. "Hey, hi, I'm here, Doctor, what's wrong? Do you remember what happened? Do you know where you are?"

"Jack, how are you—… No…"

Fuck! He took a deep breath, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"The TARDIS crashing."

Wellllll, closer than before. Jack swallowed. "You—you called me after that. You're in Torchwood, Doctor." The Time Lord's jaw clenched, his hands curled into fists, and Jack could see him start to shake from the effort not to run. "It's mine, Doctor. It's safe. I swear," he quickly added, taking a step forward to support him from falling off the table. The Time Lord's shoulders relaxed minutely, and Jack heard more than saw Owen take another step backwards. He pulled himself up onto the table and reenacted what his movements were to the Doctor before, "Can I show you?"

Just as before, the Doctor hesitated, looking at him concerned, "You don't—"

"Can we skip this conversation? I'm sorry, but I've already had it once, and I hate redundancy…"

The Doctor's lips quirked up, "Since when?"

Jack smirked, then sobered, "I know where they are, Doctor—" he said more softly, "—your memories? I can show you if you let me in."

The Doctor silently nodded after a tense moment. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Go ahead." Jack scooted forward a little more until the Time Lord was within reaching distance and put his hands on his temple.

With Jack in the lead they managed to make it to the same spot rather quickly, much to the Doctor's disconcerted expressions. "How… How did you know where to go?"

"I told you, we did this earlier. I'm sorry, Doctor, really I am, but you've been in Torchwood for a while."

"Then why can't I remember it?"

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "Before we do this, though, I need you to promise me something, Doctor." The Time Lord cocked his head to the side, "Don't lock me out. If you need me to leave, tell me; but don't lock me out if I try to get back in."

The Doctor just stared at him with that, 'I don't really have to promise/ there must be a loophole in here somewhere' expression, but closed his eyes and nodded, "Okay."

"Thank you." Jack inspected the boxes again, wondering if the collections had moved around—if that was possible?—or if he should start with what he assumed would be the most recent memories to help the Doctor understand what had happened since Jack picked him up.

"Show me how I got here," the Doctor said, seemingly reading Jack's mind.

He nodded back and reached for the first cabinet he came to (gotta start somewhere), watching the Doctor's expression before opening the first file. Like before, however, the Doctor's only response was an expectant gaze. Jack rolled his eyes and mentally prepared himself.

For everything that had, was, and could have gone wrong, that Jack actually opened the file from the last few hours was beyond relieving.

"Can I see?"

"You don't want to see."

"But it'll help."

"It'll hurt."

"You or me?"

He closed that file.

"You weren't kidding when you said we'd had that conversation."

"Nope."

"So what did you find?" He opened a folder closer to the front and crossed his fingers it was the right one. But sure enough…

Smoke followed him out and after the Time Lord inhaled a few breaths of clean air he turned around to go back and the doors slammed. The Doctor checked himself out, then the police box, then turned towards the nearest road.

He closed the folder.

"Do you remember it?"

"No, you have to open the rest of them; I need the whole story."

Jack opened another file and looked around to find the Doctor in the TARDIS. On the floor, there lay a box. Jack didn't have to wait long before the Doctor bent down and knitted his eyebrows together, noticing the cube with interest and stepping forward to snatch it up. Jack didn't have to wait long for the world around him to explode.

It was a harmless looking box that seemed to be touch sensitive: Not going off quite as soon as it was held, but instead when it was played with like a child's toy…

The Doctor was thrown against the railing, sparks flying and metal shards breaking off and lodging themselves in his skin.

Jack returned to the present, "Look at me, Doctor."

"Get out."

"What? Why? What's wrong?"

"Jack, do it now. Get out!"

"How?" he asked anxiously.

The Doctor looked at him then, "I'm sorry," he breathed, before he straightened slightly and gave Jack a shove so strong that it sent him sprawling...

Jack closed the file.

"You made me promise to let you back in…" he said, understanding finally dawning.

"Yes." Jack thought about leaving that as a simple answer, but nothing compared to a reenactment. "Can I project my memories to you?"

The Doctor frowned in suspicion at such a question but nodded nonetheless. "You should... Open a box with what's in your mind. Imagine it, I suppose?"

Jack smiled once again at the Doctor's lack of confidence—it happens so rarely that you can't afford to take it for granted—but did as instructed…

The Doctor straightened slightly and gave Jack a shove so strong that it sent him sprawling into an abyss, only to revive with a gasp and a residual force that pushed him back so hard he would have fallen off the table if it wasn't for Owen behind him. Owen, who was desperately repeating his name and trying to shake him awake. "Jack. Jack, you with me? Answer me, damn it! Jack!"

"Shhh, I'm here, I'm—" his eyes shot open, "Is the Doctor awake?" The Time Lord was curled in on himself, lost in his dreams. "Doc? Doctor, wake up." Jack shook him harder when he got no response, fear flooding his veins. But Owen was saying something else: "...what happened...didn't know what you were doing...tried to wake you up…"

"Huh?"

"Did you hear anything I just said?"

"Yes. No. Sorry, what?"

"What the hell happened?!"

"I don't know, he forced me out… God, Doc, c'mon."

Jack started moving towards the Doctor again, brushing off Owen's hand on his shoulder and protests with a vague, "Something's wrong; I have to help him."

But Jack couldn't get back in. He concentrated harder, blocked out everything else, but soon realized that the Doctor had locked him out. He wasn't getting in until the Time Lord let him in. "Don't do this," he barely whispered, "Please, let me help."

Jack sighed, easing back out from the darkness, dropping his head into his hands.

"Jack, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. He—I—we found part of the memory that led to now, but he pushed me out before I could find the rest. I don't know why; he said I had to open all of them before he could remember..."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Jack asked, confused.

"For locking you out. I'm sorry. I can't explain it now—not in here—but it wasn't right and I'm sorry."

"...I was just worried."

"I know. So!" he instantly brightened. Once again, Jack had to blink at his sudden mood change—he still hadn't gotten used to them. "Since we didn't get to finish earlier, shall we try again?"

"Sure?"

The Doctor sobered, "Jack, you don't have to if you don't want to. I can meditate or try to find another way."

"No, it's fine; I just don't want to hurt you."

He frowned, "How would you do that?"

Jack quickly imagined a box and opened it; picking up the one and only folder inside.

After calling his name, asking if he was alright, trying to help him stand, Jack gave up—he scrambled to get to the folder, hoping to go back farther, find out where the cube came from.

But he returned to the Doctor on his knees, curled up on himself, his hands pressing his head together like he would crush it. "Doctor! Doc, stop it!" Jack pried his arms away from his head, holding them firmly by his sides. "Look at me, Doctor, talk to me," he pleaded.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"You know I have to see the rest of it, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." The Time Lord waited for Jack to continue; it was his move after all. Jack moved toward what looked like a familiar cluster—though didn't they all look the same?*—, aiming for the memory bank of—and more specifically the events before—the accident. He grabbed a stack of files and briefly opened and closed each one, looking for the information only pertinent to the current situation. He continued his quick search, but after shouting a triumphant, "Ha!" he slowed down his investigation and put the rest of the pile down, marking his spot. The Doctor simply raised an eyebrow at him. "I think I found it," he explained, holding up the folder. "It looks like it was before the cube exploded." The Doctor hummed in response as Jack stared at him, "You know you promised?"

"Yeah, I know. I won't lock you out." Unless it's necessary. Jack narrowed his eyes but didn't comment, instead opting to just open the folder...

TBC

*Finding Nemo (2003), Marlin: "I have definitely seen this floating speck before."

Also, holy [inserts every expletive I know, that I really shouldn't post]. I have to thank A Ghost WoooOOoo because those are the comments that make me keep writing. I kid you not, it doesn't matter how many times I reread comments like yours, I grin every time. They instantly make my day better and while no one else around me understands that, the simple action of saying, "I like this story," restores faith in my writing and myself. It sounds cheesy, but I want ALL of you to know that. :)

Also a big thank you to British Lass—sorry, my email's been acting up so I got your review after I posted this lol—go enable your PM feature!

On that note: If you are a guest and want to leave a review (which I'd love!), if you leave it on Archive of Our Own I can actually reply to you there. :)