Hello! I'm sure all of you have forgotten about this story by now, I'm so sorry! It's been about a million years since I updated, I know!

I'll try and do regular updates from now on, RL has sort of calmed down, leaving plenty of room for fic writing, so…

"Look, Ms Hartman, be reasonable. He didn't take anything, so you can't…what's that supposed to mean?…No…we need him back here…well of course we're capable without him, but…Ms Hartman…Ms Hartman?" Ben slammed the phone down. "Fucking bitch hung up on me!"

"I take it she won't give Jack back?" Samina asked.

"No." he sighed. "No, she won't."

Ianto groaned in frustration. Why was Yvonne Hartman always so bloody stubborn? In under two days he was going to die, unless Jack could do something.

He wasn't sure why he felt so certain that only Jack could do something. It wasn't like everyone else wasn't doing everything they could to help him. But for some reason he couldn't quite fathom he knew that without Jack he would die.

He frowned.

Something had changed.

Something in the air felt different, like when you go outside and there's a storm due. Slightly too hot, slightly too thick, slightly too damp. He looked round to see if anyone else had noticed it, but they seemed fine. Was it just him then?

"Steven?" He heard Josie's voice but it sounded muffled, as though she was talking through a blanket or something. He blinked and she came into clearer focus. "Steven, are you ok?"

"I don't feel so well." he choked out through gritted teeth. In seconds, Josie was all professional.

"Steven what is it?"

"I don't know. I feel….wrong."

"Wrong how? Are you in pain, or…?" but she never got to ask about any other symptoms, because at that second he collapsed into a dead faint. "Oh, shit!" Josie fell to her knees beside him. "Steven? Steven can you hear me?"

"How is he?" Ben asked, looking up. Josie sighed.

"He's awake. But I don't like this, Ben, he's getting weaker." she ran a hand through her hair. "He's just a kid. This shouldn't be happening to him!"

"He's not a kid though is he? Not really."

"That's not the point." Josie snapped.

"Sorry." Ben looked at his feet for a few seconds. "You want some pizza? Just been delivered."

"Thanks, but I'll pass. I'm not sure I could eat at the moment."

"Josie, you're doing all you can. I've seen all those machines going down there, you're running yourself ragged. There is nothing else we can do."

"Jack would know what to…" Josie broke off abruptly, eyes widening.

"Jose? You ok?"

"There is something else we could try…" Josie said hesitantly.

"What?"

"Give me a couple of hours." she told him, standing up and walking away.

"Hold on!" Ben called after her, "Aren't you even going to tell me your plan?"

She hesitated, then turned her head back to him. "I'm going to ask Jack."

Ben snorted. "Good luck with that. That bitch Hartman isn't gonna let you anywhere near him."

"No. She isn't, is she?" Josie said, walking off. Ben shrugged and went back to his pizza.

"This is a bad idea. Oh, this is a really bad idea." Josie glanced at the doorway to the morgue as if expecting someone to be watching her. "This could go so, so wrong…"

In spite of her reservations, Josie steeled herself, and then slowly raised the temperature. It was a lot simpler unfreezing Jack than it was with Tommy, because (assuming Steven could be taken at his word) Jack couldn't die. They could have just shoved him in a block of ice and he'd have been fine.

She watched as the skin became less pale, the lips lost their blue-ish tinge. She almost cried out when Jack opened his eyes and sat up. Josie put a hand over Jack's mouth before he could make any sort of noise. Jack regarded her with shocked eyes. Once she thought it was unlikely Jack would yell, she removed her hand.

"What…?" Jack began. He blinked and seemed to take her in properly. "J-Josie?"

"Um…hi."

"How're you…?" He looked around. "What the hell am I doing here? This is supposed to be 2008! I need you to freeze me again. Freeze me now."

"I cant just yet, so you might as well get up. Jack, listen to me, we have to be quick. Steven needs your help."

Jack paused. "What?"

"He needs your help. He's dieing, Jack."

"You woke me up to tell me that?! Look, he doesn't die, ok? I know that, because I've been through it already. How the hell did you know I was here, anyway?" Jack asked, climbing out of the drawer and stretching.

She shrugged. "Steven showed me."

Jack froze. "Steven? How did he know?"

"I don't know. All I know is that he called you 'his' Jack. I assumed it happened in his time."

"I don't…"

"Look, we don't have time for this!" she snapped. "You've lived through this, right, so you know how to cure him! How to send him home!"

"You…it was you. You discovered a formula, a cure. Either that or you killed him." Jack shrugged. "Either way, he turned back into his usual teenage self."

"Me?!" she looked horrified. "But I don't even know where to start! I mean, what do I look for?"

"You know, checking out his cell structure and whatever. You did it before, you can do it again. Can I be put back to sleep now please? You really have no idea how important it is."

"Cell structure? But…" she looked panicked. "I don't think I can do this!"

"Josie, calm down. You've done it before, you can do it again." he smiled. "I know you can."

She breathed deeply, calming down. "I suppose you're right." she half smiled. "In order to see the silver lining, you have to get through the rain."

Jack turned his head quickly towards her. "What did you just say?" he asked quietly, frowning.

"Hmm? Oh, it's just something Steven said."

"Steven?"

"Yeah. Told me his dad used to say it to him."

"Steven's dad? But that is…" he suddenly let out a hoot of laughter. "Oh Jack Harkness you are a fucking idiot! How could you be so blind?"

"What are you on about?"

"How could I not have realised? How could I not have noticed?"

"Jack!"

He looked back at her. "Sorry." he hesitated. "I um…I know the formula."

"What?"

"I know it."

"But surely you can't…" suddenly the frown on her brow disappeared. "Oh my God."

"What?"

"I never found a formula in the first place! You did!"

"Oh!"

"I knew the cure because you told me what to do!" she looked puzzled again. "But…you can only give me the formula because I told you about it, and I only knew to tell you about it because you'd already told me, but you only knew because I…my head hurts."

"Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey." Jack told her with a grin. Josie merely blinked at him.

"Huh?"

"Never mind." he looked up quickly. "Do you have pen and paper? Because this is going to need to be written down."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Josie whistled softly. "That is bloody complex. No way would I have been able to formulate that myself in a few days. A few months maybe…"

"So now you have to freeze me again."

"Ok."

"Oh, and Josie? About getting me back from Torchwood one…"

"Yeah?"

"Tell Yvonne you know what happened to Diane. And ask her…ask her how she got hold of that particle loop rod."

"What does that mean?"

"It means she'll let me go. Talking of which, you have to do the same."

Jack lay back down in the drawer. Josie reached for the controls, then hesitated.

"Jack…when does it happen?"

"When does what happen?"

"When do I die?"

Jack looked up at her, his expression guarded. "Who says you've died?"

Josie smiled wryly. "Steven let slip that I wasn't the doctor anymore. And given what it is we do I'm guessing I wasn't promoted."

"Josie you know I can't tell you that."

"Jack please! What about Lee, my brother? I'm all he's got Jack. If I just disappear one day what'll he do? He'll have nothing."

Jack studied her. "Josie…"

"Jack, I'm not stupid. I won't try and stop it from happening. But I want time to prepare."

Jack bit his lip, his eyes not leaving hers.

"Please, Jack."

"Ben!" Josie yelled, hurrying back into the main area. "Samina!"

"What is it? Honey, are you alright?" Samina asked, concerned.

"I've got it! I know how to send Steven home!"

"How?"

"I…I just formulated something, that's all." she grinned. "And that's not all I know." she walked passed her shocked colleagues into Jack's office and picked up the phone, dialling a number. "…Hello, Yvonne? Josie, Torchwood three. I believe you have our boss?" she laughed lightly. "Yeah, about that…"

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