Jack was the first to find his tongue again:
"What? But that's impossible! I mean... I thought..."
"He's managed to break through the barrier," the previous Doctor went on.
"He?" asked Jack, 'presentiment of danger' written all over his face.
"It's him, isn't it?" growled the Doctor.
"The Master."

There was a pause before the Doctor added:
"That wasn't actually a rhetorical question. Is it really the Master?"
His former self nodded.
Unconsciously, Jack clenched his fists.

"His escape caused the imbalance..." the Doctor deduced and his eyes started to gleam, as the answers rushed through his head, "Oh, yes, of course... if he's managed to leave the place, then his sudden non-existence equals anti-presence, his absence is not only misbalancing the universe, it's creating some kind of osmotic pressure which means... no, no, it's not only an unequal distribution of energy, it creates negative pressure, causing the universe to try to suck itself in... which means..."

He turned to face his previous incarnation and Jack, both gaping at him.

"You needed something to fill the absence," concluded the Doctor sourly, staring at his former self,
"So much for the child."

Jack, still gaping at the Doctor, was dumbstruck by the Doctor's sloppy reply; eventually he found his voice to ask the question that seemed to linger in the air.
"But why him? Why the Doctor?"

"He means: why me?" explained the Doctor, rolling his eyes at Jack, "Some beings just lose their heads when some time-line crossing happens."
"I'm not losing..." Jack began before taking a deep breath and cooling down his head, "I'll pardon your constant nagging remarks but only because of the maternal postnatal paralysis or whatever it is you're currently going through. But believe me under different circumstances this, this here, would be just what I've always been dreaming off."

The two Doctor's exchanged glances; the present Doctor froze while his previous incarnation shook his head in disappointment.
"You can't help it," the current Doctor tried to explain to his former self, "Some things just never change."
"Just like your good-heartedness," added the previous Doctor.
The Doctor stared at him in wonder.

"You wanted to know why I did that to you? You asked me 'why me?'. But you know why: Because I know that it's me. And because I know that I can endure it. Just like you."

The Doctor's hazel eyes became wider and he stared at his former self as one of his hands rested on his shoulder.
Two eyes, both deeper and older than the universe itself, melded.
And the Doctor began to understand.

"You... because... I... no, that... I mean..." the Doctor stammered.
In his head, the thought was turned this way and that way, was twisted and squashed and stretched like a chewing gum caught in gear-wheels.
"Well, after all this I'm... oh, yes... oh..."
Jack's face radiated alertness as he watched the Doctor reconsidering and distilling the answer he'd been looking for all these months.

"I'm a genius!"
Both Jack and the former Doctor flinched at the Doctor's sudden outburst as realization dawned.

Totally ignoring his injuries the Doctor jumped up and down in excitement.
"Yes, that's brilliant, that's fantastic! And I've done it myself. All this time! It's been me all this time!"

Jack leaned closer to the Doctor's former self, whose eyes were still fixed on his future regeneration, whispering: "Is this normal?"
The Doctor's former self stared at him for a moment, before shrugging eventually: "I've never been normal. But seeing him... knowing that I'll become him one day... that's a disturbingly unattractive prospect."
"Disturbing... possibly," agreed Jack, "but I wouldn't call it unattractive..."
"Just look at him!" insisted the Doctor's former regeneration, "He's ridiculous! He's a laughing stock."

Jack tumbled a bit as the Doctor jumped on his back, hugging him intensely.
"How could I've been so thick? I've suspected the Master and Borusa knows who. But myself? Hah! I'm brilliant!"
Jack sighed and tried to smile as the Doctor nuzzled his neck.

Slowly the Doctor seemed to return to normal (or at least as normal as you could expect him to become).

"So" he began in a level voice, facing his former self "as I know myself, you'll try to pack your bags and sneak off as soon as I turn my back on you. Well, it's what I'd expect you to do; well, I know that you'll do it because I've been you before and therefore know what you'll do... But before you go to throw the wretched child into the untempered suction I'd like to have a word with your so-called surgeon."

The Doctor's former self nodded and was about to turn as he lifted his gaze to look the Doctor deeply in the eye.
"Don't wreak it on him. You know he's not to blame," the previous Doctor said, touching his future self's wrist fondly, "He's just like us."

The Doctor stared at him penetratingly and nodded glumly.
"The last of his kind, I know. By the time he leaves you there will be no one left of his race. But no, that's not it..." added the Doctor, lifting the mood a bit.
"He was kind enough to perform the surgery under your... my instruction. In return...there's something I want to give him."

"A book?" asked Jack.
The Doctor rummaged through the books, thumbing through endless leaves while scattering pages all over the floor.
"Make yourself useful and help me find it," snapped the Doctor while tossing aside a tome; it floated before rupturing in mid air, showering both of them in yellowed pages.
"But I don't even know what kind of book you're looking for," lamented Jack.
"It's a script, Jack. Dr. Neakahla's script. So be so kind to step aside, you might be standing on some of its pages right now..."
"You mean... it's not even bound?"
"Just hold that for a moment, will you? And I told you, don't step on those pages, they're invaluable! Well, the books were invaluable... well, most of them... well..."

Jack sighed and held the huge tomes the Doctor had handed him; the Doctor, sweeping the room like a whirlwind, passed Jack and piled up the books in his hands consistently.
"Stop pushing me!"
"You're in my way, Jack."
"Run that past me again, will you?" said Jack.
"What?"

The pile of books in Jack's hands collapsed; they didn't as much fall as explode on the ground, spreading their leftover pages everywhere.
Jack folded his arms and snorted.
The Doctor had felt the change in Jack's mood; he stopped, halfway through a pile, staring at Jack.

"All of this time... all of this time I've supported you, I looked after you, I cared for you, I really did... and you don't even bother explaining to me what's going on? You think you don't have to tell me, after all I've done for you?"
"Jack please," said the Doctor levelly, slowly arising.
"No, no more, 'Jack please'! I'm not gonna stand there and let you keep doing what you always do; you're not gonna get rid of me that easily. If I hadn't followed you I know, I know, that you would have left an hour ago without even saying a word, Doctor. And I've had it. You never... You didn't even... I've just...I..."
Jack stopped in mid-sentence, continuing in a low growling noise.
"Jack," the Doctor was standing in front of him by now, caressing his cheeks, "It's been a long day. For all of us. And don't think that I wouldn't know what you've done for me."

Jack breathed in deeply, trying to sort out his thoughts; somehow the Doctor always managed to calm him down.
But this time it wouldn't be enough.

"What will happen to the child?" Jack asked the first question that came to his mind right away.
The Doctor shrugged.
"It will serve its purpose," he replied.
"Meaning?" snapped Jack.
"Meaning that the Doctor will throw it into the threateningly expanding suction that occurred due to the Master's escape."
"He's going to take it to Gallifrey?" asked Jack.
The Doctor nodded.
Jack went on, a bit more reluctant.
"Will it... survive?"
Again, the Doctor shrugged. "Oh, worse things happened to me when I was young. A few broken bones, some ruptured organs... but you know, for a Time Lord... it's not that complicated..."

"Wait," Jack gaped at him, "This child is a Time Lord?"
The Doctor sighed. He knew why he didn't like talking to Jack... oh well; you better let the cat out of the bag before it gets time to realize what's going on.

"Yes, Jack," said the Doctor quietly and guided him to the uncomfortable chair in his library, "I'll try to explain it and put it as bluntly to you as I can, alright?"
Jack nodded.
So, this is it...

"You see Jack... this child... the wretched thing I've been carrying around with me for the last months is me...No, don't start, let me explain it first; you see, Jack, Dr. Malohkeh, that's the Silurian surgeon, needed another being, a being similar to the one that had escaped, which was in fact the Master, but that's beside the point. So anyway... Yes, of course, the loom. I've told you about the loom, haven't I? I didn't? Didn't I tell you about the loom and how you can create new life forms? No? Blimey, I always skip the exciting parts in my life... Well, the loom is a... a thing. It's Time Lord technology. You can create new Time Lords with it.
Stop it Jack, I saw you smirking there for a moment.
In fact, the Loom doesn't really create Time Lords; it duplicates them, but rearranges the DNA before doing so. It's like... Imagine a cell; a tiny little cell; that's you after your procreation.
And soon the cell will start to divide. And it will grow and duplicate its DNA until it forms what you could roughly call an embryo.
Now, imagine you duplicate the first cell, the cell that's been you. It's still you in fact, but... it fissures and forms differently. That's just what cells do, they have no concept of what they'll become. They'll become a being. But it's not gonna be you. It's possibly not even gonna be like you.
So yes, Jack the child is mine, it's been created from my DNA. In a way you could say it's me... in the same way that you could say that an amoeba is your brother. It's all... a matter of perspective."

Jack stared at the Doctor, obviously having trouble to digest what he'd just been told.
But the Doctor went on, knowing the questions on the tip of Jack's tongue.

"I know that you're mad at me because I didn't tell you what was going on. And I'm sorry Jack. I'm really sorry.
I've... my former self really opened my eyes. It has been my plan Jack.
My plan.
I planned this whole thing. When I used to be him. I... Back then I dreaded the consequences. Give the universe one little ripple and it tears like a poppy blossom.
It's delicate. And very, very dense.
And I knew it. I had to prevent things from happening. Basically I did nothing; I mean, what I did I did to myself. So no-one had to suffer.
When I used to be him... my previous form... I used to do it to my future self. Right now, I'm the future one. And the past one knows that one day it's going to happen to him. "
"It's a Time Loop," concluded Jack.
"Yes, Jack."
"But why you?" asked Jack; his pleading voice was like a knife thrust into the Doctor's chest
"I mean why did you do it to yourself? You could have asked me for help! You're... You mean everything to me! And I'm practically immortal, I can't die! I would have endured it..."
"For you," he added quietly, obviously ashamed of his romantic vein.

The Doctor smiled fondly; then he said those tender words Jack would die (... well, probably die and die again) for to hear them:
"I know Jack. I know that you love me. And I'm sorry for all the pain you had to suffer, for everything I did to you. I tried to protect you; I never wanted anybody to suffer but me. And all I did," and when he smiled this time, Jack's heart skipped a beat, "I did for you."

Jack nodded quietly, both rage and bewilderment rushing through his veins.
He stroked the Doctor, who was sitting in his lap, tenderly before searching his gaze:
"You really did mean that, didn't you?"
The Doctor sighed, replying a weak ,"yes".
Jack couldn't hide his excitement.

Jack was content with the situation; and that after hearing that the Doctor had given birth to something, most closely described as his clone.
Somehow the Doctor always managed it to make everything seem alright...

Jack patted the Doctor's hand softly whilst smiling like a maniac.
"You're still wearing it," he sniggered.
The Doctor looked down on the engagement ring Jack had given him what felt like years ago.
"Couldn't get the bloody thing off my finger," he mumbled ,"You did that on purpose, didn't you? You gave me a ring that shrank as soon as I put it on; no wonder it's said that fifty-first century engagements are indissoluble."

Jack caressed the Doctor, rocking him forth and back in his arms.
"You wouldn't want to marry me, would you?" asked Jack unobtrusively.
"What kind of a question is that?" snapped the Doctor "Are you trying pre-emptive cuteness on me? Well, actually I don't care, because no matter what you wanted it to be, that, Jack, was the worst proposal ever."

Jack's heart sagged a bit; but something, deep down inside of him, asked:
What did you expect him to say? The Doctor never answers a simple question with a simple answer.
Starting a hare he asked instead: "A Time Lord and an immortal human being from the future... Do you think we could get legally married?"

The Doctor stared at him, replying unabashed:
"If it's not forbidden, then it should be."

Jack laughed, feeling stress-relieved for the first time in months.
Nevertheless he tried to shove the Doctor from his lap.
"Oh come on, that wasn't too mean, was it?" the Doctor kept smiling.
Jack didn't seem to pay much attention; he arose quietly from his seat before turning around and lifting the blanket that covered the thought-to-be chair.

"There's nothing wrong with the seat..." said the Doctor, "It's always been like this, entirely made of... books..."
The Doctor knelt down, rummaging through the leaves and miserably bound scripts.
"The only chair you own is made of books?"
"I didn't know it was... it was just uncomfortable, that was all."
"Then why didn't you throw it away?"
"You can't just throw things away because they make you feel uncomfortable," said the Doctor with a cheeky smile on his lips, "Otherwise why should I keep you?"
"Doctor..." sighed Jack, though he didn't finish the sentence. The Doctor pushed him aside and grabbed some scripts, thus causing the so-called chair to collapse.

The Doctor smiled like a rocking horse on prescription medicine.
"Hah!"

"What?" asked Jack.
"I knew it! I knew it had to be somewhere around here! Hah!"
"Doctor?"
Jack snatched the paper from the madly shouting Time Lord to stare at a bunch of scribbles.
"What is that?"

"It's Doctor Neakahla's script! I knew it! I knew it!"
"So?"
"Now I can give it to the Silurian surgeon. You know, just in case he decides he wants a rerun. Everything you need you can find in that book. Everything. For Time Lords, that is."

"Do you think that's wise, Doctor?" asked Jack wonderingly, "You don't want to give him the wrong ideas, do you?"
"If he ever has to perform any kind of operation on a Time Lord ever again," said the Doctor firmly, grabbing Jack's hands, "Then I want him to do it properly."
He sighed, resting his head on Jack's shoulder, "I've got a feeling that he's going to need it."
"I've got a feeling that you're going to regret it," snapped Jack.
"Naw, don't be like that, Jack," said the Doctor dismissing the thought immediately.

"Everything's going to turn out alright. I just know it."