With some effort, Rose pulled Jack up into her arms. She knew what her mother had said about Jack's apparent immortality; she knew the Doctor didn't doubt it, and just a moment ago Gage had smiled and winked at her whilst the lunatic called Spence had his back turned. They all seemed confident that Jack was not going to stay dead, but right at that moment such a miracle seemed impossible to Rose. Right at that moment, Jack was just deadweight in her arm, and she didn't understand at all how he could possibly come back from this.

Trying to put a block on her grief, Rose focused her attention on Jack. He looked no different, really, from when she'd last seen him — right before all hell broke loose on Satellite Five. Even now, a year on for her, she recalled the bittersweet kisses he'd given her and the Doctor. Goodbye kisses, she'd realised afterwards. Indeed, she'd known that all along, even though she'd denied it at the time.

She trailed her fingertips down his face, his chest. He seemed thinner than she remembered, and his body was a testament to the obvious cruelty that he'd suffered. And his hair…

Rose stifled a giggle. She had no trouble recognising one of her mother's attempts at a haircut, although granted, it didn't look so bad on Jack. She couldn't resist rolling her eyes. This was Jack, she reminded herself. There wasn't much that didn't look good on him, dodgy haircuts included.

She rubbed her cheek gently against the top of his head, silently willing him to come back. Of course, she had no way of knowing how it was going to happen; whether it would happened gradually or suddenly, or whether there would be any warning at all.

A shadow fell across them, and she looked up to find a masked Torchwood soldier standing over them. She wondered briefly where he had come from, given that Spence had arrived alone, but then recalled the man had been there already when they stumbled into the room.

She scowled and was about to tell the offending individual to bugger off when she suddenly recognised the eyes that were visible beneath the black headgear.

"Mickey?"

Mickey Smith glanced around, but right at that moment, Spence was pre-occupied with the sphere, lecturing the bored-looking Singh with his theories. Assured at least briefly of privacy, Mickey dropped into a crouch and pulled down his mask to show her his face. There was genuine sorrow and regret in his eyes as he looked down at Jack.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I couldn't do anything to stop him without putting you at risk. I'm really sorry."

Rose didn't ease her grip on Jack's lifeless body.

"S'okay. I just hope he wakes up soon."

Mickey stared at her as if she'd gone mad.

"Rose, he's dead. He's not gonna wake up."

"No, he will," Rose insisted. She slid her fingers lightly through Jack's hair, and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. "You'll see. Any minute now."

Mickey shook his head in dismay.

"You've been travelling with him for too long, Rose. Gone mad, you have."

"No, she hasn't."

Mickey turned around as Ianto joined them, helped the short distance across the floor by Gage. The Welshman made his way to Jack's other side, opposite Rose, and he took Jack's limp hand in his own.

"He might panic when he comes back. We need to keep him calm... to try and stop Spence from just shooting him again."

Gage glanced around and rolled his eyes.

"Might not be an issue, Ianto. He's well occupied right now being a pompous know-all."

Ianto snorted, and didn't bother to look.

"It is what he's best at."

"You're all mad," Mickey muttered. "You all really think he's coming back? He's dead! There ain't no coming back from that!"

Ianto reached out to gently wipe away the blood from around the bullet wound.

"See for yourself."

Mickey leaned in to look, and his jaw dropped. Right before his eyes, the wound was closing and fading until nothing was left but clean, unmarked flesh. The only evidence remaining that there had ever been any type of injury was the blood that had been split.

Discreetly, Ianto laid a hand over Jack's mouth, muffling the sound of his resurrection moments later. Jack twisted in momentary panic, but it quickly faded as his eyes found Ianto.

"Be quiet, Jack," Ianto whispered to him. "Hush, love."

Tears of pain filled Jack's eyes, but he seemed to comprehend the need for quiet, and all that escaped his lips was the faintest of whimpers.

"It hurts him a lot, coming back to life," Gage explained while Ianto gently drew Jack out of Rose's arms and into his own. Jack responded immediately, curling in towards Ianto and clinging to him miserably.

"He really does love you, doesn't he?" Rose murmured in wonder. Gage smiled at her remark.

"Ianto was kind to him when no one else was. He treated him like a human when the rest of us were guilty of treating him like an animal. So yes, you're right, Miss Tyler. Jack does love Ianto, very much."

"Ouch," Jack whispered, and gingerly rubbed his stomach where he'd been shot. Ianto kissed him lovingly on the cheek and covered Jack's hand with his own.

"I know, sweetheart. I know it hurts. Just try and be as quiet as you can."

"We have to get him to the TARDIS," Rose whispered. "It's the only place where he'll be safe."

"That may be," Ianto answered, "but first we do actually need to get him there, just as you said." He glanced around surreptitiously at Spence, who continued to be oblivious not only to Jack's resurrection, but to the war council that was taking place right under his nose. "First we need to deal with him, or all we'll achieve is to get all of us shot."

A grin spread across Mickey's face as he finally saw something that he was capable of dealing with.

"Leave it to me."

"Mickey..." Rose hissed, but he shook his head.

"Trust me, Rose. I can handle that clown. Just stay here, and don't move."

Rising up, Mickey lifted his gun and walked over to where Spence had all but taken over and was examining the read-outs on the sphere. Nearby, Singh was looking angry and frustrated, and utterly helpless to do anything about it.

Mickey joined him briefly.

"You got a gun, mate? Or any sort of weapon?"

"Of course not! Why would I need a bloody gun down here?"

Mickey smiled unpleasantly.

"Just checking. I'd hate to have to shoot a scientist."

"What...?"

He didn't give Singh a second glance as he stepped forward and, in a swift and sure move, pushed the barrel of the gun up against the back of Spence's head. The other man froze.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Neutralising a nutjob," Mickey answered. "Put your gun down and move away from the computer."

"Who are you?" Spence demanded to know. "You're not Torchwood."

"The name's Mickey Smith. And I am Torchwood. Just not this Torchwood. Now, do as I say, please."

For several seconds, Spence stood frozen. Then, with a snarl, he thumped the gun down on the desk and stepped away as ordered.

"Smart man," Mickey retorted. "Now, on your knees."

"Going to execute me, are you?"

Spence sounded nonchalant, but there was an undercurrent of fear in his voice as he spoke.

"It's no less than you deserve," Gage said, coming over. "We know what you did to Tomas, you bastard."

Spence sneered at Gage.

"Poor little Tomas. Died begging like a coward..."

Spence's head rocked violently to the side as Gage struck him hard.

"Shut up," Gage snarled. "We know exactly how he died, and it wasn't begging or crying. He died with honour, and that's more than we'll ever say about you. Now, on your knees!"

"Or what?" Spence hissed. A cold smile spread across Gage's face.

"Or maybe we'll give Jack a chance to get even for every time you've ever hurt him. What d'you say, Doc? Ready to take a bit of payback?"

And right there, for the first time, visible fear lit up Spence's face.

"You keep that freak away from me, Adams! I'm warning you..."

"No, we're warning you. On your damn knees, or we'll let Jack do what he likes to you."

Spence sank to his knees without further protest, although the sullen resentment never left his face.

"Now, you just stay right there, and don't move," Mickey warned him.

"So what do we do now, then?" Gage wondered. Rose joined them, eyeing Spence with disdain.

"We get this one secured, and then we get Jack and Ianto into the TARDIS. Then I can find the Doctor and Mum, and we can get out of here."

Mickey stared at her with a frown.

"That's the only reason you're here? Because of Captain Cheesecake over there?"

Rose thumped him none-too-gently on the arm.

"Don't call him that! And yes, he's why we're here. Wait... Why are you here? How are you here?"

Mickey lifted a large disc on a chain from underneath his jacket.

"Dimension jump. Can only carry one, though, so I can't get you out of here."

"Doesn't matter. I'm not going anywhere without Jack, and I don't think he's going anywhere without Ianto."

Mickey glanced over at the two of them, still huddled together in the corner of the room. Jack remained curled up against Ianto, who appeared to be talking to him quietly. Neither appeared immediately concerned with what was going on around them.

"What happened to him, anyway? I thought you said he was killed fightin' them Daleks."

A shadow cross Rose's face.

"Turned out he wasn't."

There was silence as Mickey turned that over in his mind.

"You left him behind, didn't you? Bloody hell, Rose..."

Rose bristled at his tone, and reacted defensively.

"What do you care about it? You never even liked Jack!"

"No, maybe I didn't," Mickey conceded. "Bit too much flash, if you ask me. But that doesn't matter now, and it doesn't mean I think it's right, either. Was it like that Adam bloke you told me about? He do something the Doctor didn't like, so you decided to ditch him?"

Rose did a double-take, trying to work out how they had reached this point, with Mickey speaking on Jack's behalf. Given how the two had clashed when they first met, it was surreal to say the least.

"It's complicated, Mickey. Just leave it, all right?"

Throughout the conversation, Spence had watched the two of them like hawks, and now his gaze came to rest on Rose.

"You knew the freak."

Rose rounded on him angrily.

"Don't call him that! His name is Jack! Captain Jack Harkness!"

Spence sneered.

"Captain? Of what? That freak couldn't captain a paper boat."

"That's Torchwood's fault, you slimy bastard," Gage said angrily. "After a hundred and six years of being treated like a wild animal, what else do you expect?"

"Everything Jack has done would make you weep," Rose told Spence coldly. "He's a hero."

Spence snorted.

"He's unnatural, and he shouldn't exist."

All present winced at the sound of flesh striking flesh as Rose slapped Spence hard enough across the face to raise a blistering red welt on his cheek. He stared up at her in shock for a moment before hatred filled his face.

"You fucking little bitch, you'll pay for that. You're all going to pay for this! When Yvonne gets down here, you won't know what hit you. You're all going to die, and I'm going to be the one to pull the fucking trigger. And then we'll lock the freak up in the darkest, tiniest little hole we can find, and he'll never..."

Anything else Spence had planned on saying was lost as Ianto suddenly appeared behind him and struck him across the back of the head with the butt of Spence's own gun, knocking him out cold.

"Nice one, Ianto," Gage said approvingly. Ianto handed him the gun, unwilling to continue holding it himself.

"Just wanted to shut him up. He was upsetting Jack."

Mickey rolled his eyes.

"Wouldn't want that, would we?"

"Shut up," Rose growled. "Don't be a prat. You can see he's not the same as he was when you met him in Cardiff."

Mickey's expression softened as he watched Jack huddling in the corner and watching them with wide, frightened eyes.

"Yeah," he admitted softly. "I can see that."

Ianto looked between the two of them, acutely aware that there were two people present who were both capable of giving him a real insight into Jack's character, pre-Torchwood. He had a thousand questions he wanted to ask them, but right at that moment he could only find the voice for one.

"What did you call him before, Rose? Captain...?"

"Captain Jack Harkness," Rose answered with a small, sad smile. "That's how he introduced himself when I first met him. The Doctor made a joke about him bein' defrocked, and... Well, I won't go into that now. But yeah, that's the name he gave us. That's what we called him. Well, I called him Jack. The Doctor sometimes called him Jack, sometimes 'Captain'." She looked pointedly at Mickey. "He wasn't like Adam. He fitted in on the TARDIS. The Doctor was even teaching him to fly her by the end. The Doctor cared about Jack..."

"Cared about him enough to leave him behind on a dead satellite," Mickey cut in softly. "Hope he never cares that much about you, Rose."

Rose flinched, but she had nothing to say to that. Grimacing a little, Ianto turned his attention to Jack.

"Jack, come over here," Ianto called to him, and Jack got up and padded over to the group. He stepped into Ianto's outstretched arms without hesitation, and hummed contentedly when Ianto hugged him close.

"Jack, do you remember Mickey? You do, don't you?" Rose asked. Ianto winced. He recalled all too vividly the last memory involving Mickey, and braced himself for yet another embarrassing outburst. Jack didn't disappoint.

"Mickey the idiot!"

Rose and Ianto both reddened, while Mickey rolled his eyes.

"Hasn't changed that much, has he?"

"Sorry," Ianto apologised. "He doesn't understand that he's being insulting. He just doesn't have any concept of that at the moment."

Finally, a crooked grin broke across Mickey's face.

"Hey, it's okay. Means he at least remembers me, right?"

"That's true," Gage agreed. Mickey grinned broadly at Jack, who smiled back tentatively.

"Don't you worry, Captain Cheesecake. We'll get you safely to the TARDIS. Mickey Smith is on the job now."

"Yan too?" Jack asked, and Mickey nodded.

"Yan too."

Jack grinned in satisfied delight, but as Mickey started to turn away, Jack reached out and prodded him.

"Yeah?" Mickey asked. "What is it?"

"I'm Jack," Jack said firmly. Mickey glanced at Ianto quizzically before nodding.

"Yeah, mate. I know that."

"Not a cheesecake."

Gage turned away quickly, but not quickly enough to stifle a snort of amusement. Rose didn't even try to hide a giggle, while Ianto rolled his eyes in fond exasperation.

"He knows that, Jack," Ianto reassured him. "But him calling you that is a little like when I call you cariad. It's a nickname, that's all. It's just teasing."

Jack's brow furrowed as he tried to understand.

"He's teasing me?"

"Yes, but he doesn't mean to be nasty," Ianto reassured him. "Isn't that right, Mickey?"

"Yeah, that's right," Mickey agreed. "Absolutely. We're mates, aren't we, Jack?"

Jack nodded slowly, though his expression suggested he was less than certain. As Ianto led Jack over to sit down on a nearby chair, Mickey turned to Gage and Rose.

"How long's he been here?"

"Around a hundred and six years," Gage said sadly. "He was captured by Torchwood in Cardiff in 1899. They started the process of dehumanising him, and Torchwood London completed it. It's only because of Ianto that he's gotten this far."

"It's like he's only five years old, or something," Mickey murmured.

"At the moment? Pretty much," Gage confirmed.

"Bet your precious Doctor never thought he'd have to face a consequence like this, huh?" Mickey said abruptly to Rose. "Left Jack behind and never looked back, I'll wager. And while you and he were swanning about the universe together, Jack was right here, locked up like an animal."

"Mickey, stop it," Rose whispered. He had no intention of stopping, though.

"Look at him, Rose! The bloke I met in Cardiff was a pain in the arse, but at least he had all of his faculties! This guy is half a loaf short of a picnic! And your ruddy Time Lord is to blame!"

"I thought he was dead!" Rose choked out. She and Mickey were so caught up in their argument that neither was aware that Jack, who had been idly spinning himself around on the chair, was now staring at them with wide eyes.

"He told you that, yeah?" Mickey asked.

"Not at first, but eventually, yeah."

"And you think he really believed it?"

By that time, Rose was looking distinctly uncomfortable."

"Well... I thought he did..."

Mickey huffed angrily.

"But now you know differently, don't you?"

"Mickey, please stop..."

"No, Rose. He doesn't deserve to have you defending him. Not this time. He calls himself a Time Lord, and you're the one who bragged to me that he can see all of time. Okay, so maybe he didn't know Jack was here, but I don't believe for a second that he thought Jack was dead. He knew, Rose. He knew, and he left him behind on purpose."

Rose had no argument for that, knowing full well that Mickey was right. The Doctor, after all, had admitted as much back in her mother's apartment that very morning. She was still trying to work out what she could say that might possibly help when a soft cough alerted them to Ianto's presence. He looked unimpressed, to say the very least.

"If you don't mind, could you please stop? Jack's maturity may not be up to par with the rest of us, but he's not a fool. He can understand you, and I'd prefer it if you didn't upset him so badly that he won't want to set foot inside the Doctor's ship."

Both Rose and Mickey looked, and sure enough, Jack was watching them with tear-filled eyes.

"And just so you know," Ianto added in a low voice, "he does remember being left behind by the Doctor."

"Oh god," Rose whimpered. She walked quickly over to Jack and gently took his hands in hers. "Listen to me, Jack. I swear to you, you won't be left behind again. I promise. Not by Yan, not by me and not by the Doctor."
Jack stared at her long and hard for several seconds before smiling innocently at her.

"Okay."

Rose blinked in surprise and looked to Ianto in confusion as Jack went back to spinning himself around in circles on the chair.

"He trusts you," Ianto said with a shrug. "You've made him a promise, and he doesn't have any reason not to believe you. Please, Rose. Don't give him a reason."

"I won't," she swore, both to Ianto and to herself.

"Listen, shouldn't we get going?" Gage asked. "Yvonne said she was coming down here after the next ghost shift, and that's due to start any minute. Personally, I'd like to be somewhere else when she arrives."

Ianto started to agree when Singh, who had been very quiet up until that point, uttered a startled yelp.

"What's the matter with you?" Mickey demanded.

"The sphere!" Singh exclaimed in a tone that was borderline hysterical, with a combination of fear and excitement. "It's active! Oh my god, it's active! It's registering off the scale! Height, mass, weight... Everything!"

Mickey's expression hardened. Ignoring Singh, who had turned the computer link back on and was shrieking at the screen in a state of panic, he urged Rose, Gage, Ianto and Jack towards the back of the room.

"Mickey, what's going on?" Rose asked, her eyes fixed onto the sphere.

"Don't worry, Rose. I can handle this. We're ready for 'em this time."

"What? Ready for who?"

"The Cybermen! Why do you think I'm here? We had the Cybermen all rounded up, see, but then they disappeared. They found a way to get through to this world, and we followed 'em. Now, stay back, all of you, and let me do what I came here to do."

Rose didn't argue further. Instead, she gazed up at the sphere fearfully with the others, and watched as it slowly began to open.

to be continued...