Fear (Eternity-verse 6)

[amythest_n_ice]

They could be mine, that would be very nice, but, sigh, they ain't.

http://amythest-n-ice.livejournal.com/3922.html
Link to Prt 5 New Companions

http://amythest-n-ice.livejournal.com/4573.html
Link to Prt 7 Home for Christmas

Fear

*****************
Ianto paced the console room, a grizzly seven month old baby in his arms, watching the screen intently for any sign of Jack and the Doctor coming back.

"Oh Bobby, where have they got to?" He asked, bouncing the baby lightly in the hopes he'd stop crying. He desperately hoped that nothing had happened to the two men. Traveling time and space was one thing, but being stuck on an alien world, alone apart from a small child, not his idea of a good time. He saw something dark flash across the screen and jumped, but a moment later he heard a key being thrust into the lock, and the Doctor all but fell in, pale, panting, and looking scared out of his wits. He slammed the doors shut and collapsed to his knees while he tried to catch his breath.

"Where's Jack?" Ianto asked, his eyes going back to the screen. The Doctor looked up at him wide eyed, and pushed himself to his feet.

"There was a landslide a couple of miles back, carried him over the edge of a cliff. He's alive, I can still feel him in my head, but he's injured, and I think, unconscious."

"What are we going to do?"

"We have to get to him, he'll die if we don't, and I don't think any of the natives seeing him resurrect is a great idea. They killed their Gods to ensure fertility."

"All right, so how do we do that? Go back and climb down to him?"

"Either that, or we take the TARDIS and land where he is."

"But, uhm, you don't usually.... uh.... you know." Ianto stuttered, uncertain how to say that the Doctor's aim usually sucked, without insulting the man.

"Ianto, I know that we more often than not don't quite end up where we plan, but as a rule, we end up where we need to be. The old girl won't let anything happen to Jack." The Doctor assured him. He lifted the baby out of Ianto's arms for a moment, and tapped his nose lightly with one finger.

"Bobby, you need to sleep. I need Uncle Ianto to help me with Daddy." He told the infant, weaving a very gentle thread of telepathic suggestion into the child's mind. He whinged for a few moments more, then drifted to sleep against the Doctor's shoulder.

"Is that safe?" Ianto asked, concerned.

"Yeah, he never would have slept otherwise. It's Jack's pain bleeding through that was making him upset."

"So poor Bobby was feeling Jack's pain?"

"No, just the very strong feeling that something was wrong. Probably through Jack's link to the TARDIS. The same thing will be what had you subconsciously on edge." The Doctor said, referring to the fact that Ianto had been pacing when he came in.

"OK, so what do you want me to do?" Ianto asked.

"Can you put him in his crib, and then start setting up the medbay? I'll get us moving." The Doctor said, letting Ianto lift the baby away from him again. Ianto hurried out of the room as the Doctor turned to the controls.

Ianto had the medlab ready by the time he heard the TARDIS start to materialize, and he hurried back to the console room.

"The medbay is ready." Ianto said.

"Good, we're there, Jack is about five meters from us now. Watch your footing while we're out there, and your head, none of these rocks are particularly stable." The Doctor said, handing Ianto a torch and picking one up for himself, along with a large emergency kit.

They stepped out, clicking on their lights, and saw Jack lying in a pile of rocks, red splashed liberally around him, and they could hear his harsh breathing, a liquid bubbling sound indicating a probable punctured lung. They picked their way over to him cautiously, slipping and sliding a little on the lose rocks underfoot. Jack was conscious when they reached him, just about. The pain and fear obvious in his usually clear blue eyes made the Doctor want to cry for his mate, and when he knelt beside him, he leaned down and kissed his forehead lightly.

"Ianto and I are here Jack, we'll get you back to the TARDIS very soon now." The Doctor promised. Jack coughed, blood trickling from his mouth, and the Doctor winced.

"All right, Ianto, we need to start moving the rocks that are pinning him. Be careful we don't cause any more of them to slide." The Doctor said. Ianto nodded silently, and knelt across from him. They worked quickly but carefully, and managed to clear all the loose rocks out of the way.

"OK, I'm going to immobilize him, and hook up an antigrav, then we can move him to the TARDIS." The Doctor said. He looked down at Jack, gratefully realizing that he had lost consciousness. He needed to spare his lover any more pain.

It took another half an hour to get Jack securely immobilized, and hooked up to an anti grav, and then they could move him. Between the two of them, they moved Jack from the rockfall, carrying him into the TARDIS. The Doctor closed the doors, and they took Jack deeper into the TARDIS.

Jack forced heavy eyes open, wincing against the light overhead. His mouth felt like he had been on a bender, and everything ached. He heard a movement to his left, and a cool hand took his, a thumb lightly stroking the inside of his wrist.

"You scared the hell out of me." The Doctor said, quietly, leaning over him, and lightly kissing him on the lips.

"What happened?" Jack croaked.

"You tried to body surf on rocks during a landslide." The Doctor said, letting go of Jack's hand to slip a hand under his head and spoon some ice shards into his mouth. Jack sucked on them gratefully, letting the cool liquid trickle down his raw throat.

"How do you feel?" The Doctor asked, taking his hand again.

"Everything aches." Jack complained.

"It will do, you broke pretty much every long bone in your body. Even you are going to take a while to heal from that." The Doctor said. He leaned down to kiss him again, then stroked his fingers through dark hair.

"You still need rest Jack. Try to sleep." The Doctor ordered gently.

Jack shifted on the couch, and his breath caught at the wash of fresh pain.

"Do you need more pain meds?"

"No, it's OK. I can sleep. Don't sit here all night Doctor, go and spend some time with Bobby. Oh, and tell Ianto to stop worrying."

"How do you know he's been worrying?" The Doctor asked, startled.

"I know him too well." Jack smiled faintly, fading out again.

"How is he?" Ianto asked, pouncing as soon as the Doctor stepped out of the medbay.

"He woke up for a while. He's mending, and he said to tell you to stop worrying." The Doctor grinned.

"Sounds like him all right." Ianto said, smiling back.

"Come on, let's go and get Bobby his breakfast." The Doctor smiled, leading the way back toward the nursery. Ianto followed, reassured that everyone was safe.