The TARDIS was quiet, almost too quiet for the Doctor. It was weird being alone, traveling alone. Rose was with the other Doctor, she was happy now, and Martha has her life, her fiancé, her job; that was fantastic. And Donna, well Donna was fine at home with her grandfather.

But now The Doctor was on his own and it was…okay, he supposed, but not perfect. He looked around. The place was empty. Was it time to find someone else? Or did he have to learn to travel alone for a while?

The Doctor sighed and sat down in front of the TARDIS' control panel. Where to go? What to do? For a moment he didn't know what to do exactly. Then, a sound surprised him. The Doctor recognized the sound, but he hadn't heard it in such a long time it surprised him.

He turned around, and there he was standing, looking at him, as if being there was the most common thing for the Captain.

"Doctor."

"Jack? Oh my god, what are doing here?" The Doctor said as he stood up, smiled as usual. There he was; his old friend, the impossible man inside the TARDIS, right there looking at him.

But for a moment, Jack said nothing, he was there, he needed to be there; because there was nowhere else he could go. He was broken from the inside; he was desperate. He wanted to die more than anything else and there was only one person in the universe that could help him. Only the Doctor could understand the way he was feeling.

"Jack, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just came to make a visit," he was lying, but Jack wasn't ready to tell the truth yet.

The Doctor eyes confronted his, and Jack could barely defend against them. The Doctor could always see inside him, his feelings, his memories and the most important; his biggest secrets.

"Well, actually," Jack said with a big and poorly truthful smile. At that point of his existence, lying to the Doctor was more than impossible. "Doctor, would you mind if I stay here with you for a while?"

"That would be perfect!" The Doctor enthused. "You, me, The TARDIS and the whole universe waiting for us. Why not?"

The Doctor knew there was something wrong with Jack. Something was wrong with the captain and he was going to find out. Maybe it was his voice, which was more lifeless than he'd ever heard. Maybe there was something inside his gaze, there wasn't any brightness at all, or perhaps it was just his entire body looked almost devastated.

That wasn't the Captain Jack Harkness he knew, that wasn't the man who'd jump onto the TARDIS and go with him to Utopia, that wasn't the man who had died so many times to save the world and the entire universe. There was something definitely wrong with him.

"Thanks, Doctor."

"But, hey. What's up with Torchwood, with your team?"

"There's no team anymore. There's Gwen and she'll be fine without me," Jack thought for a moment. He supposed Gwen would hate him because he had left her on her own, but at least, far from him, she would be safe.

"And what about those other obligations you have back there? You know, what about…oh, what's his name…oh yeah, what about Ianto?"

Jack paused for a moment. It was the first time someone had named him, Ianto, his little office-man, the man of his life; he had thought more that once. "He's gone and I'm sure he's happier now," he answered in a closed voice.

The Doctor knew his friend was lying to him again. But what for? What was the reason for Jack to be so cold with him?

"I need some time to think and maybe, I don't know," Jack sounded unsure of himself as he went on. "Maybe I'll never go back."

"Okay," The Doctor said gently. "You know, you can stay here as long as you want, as I told you before, it'll be great not being alone."

Jack smiled sadly. He was alone; he had left nothing behind. Gwen was fine; she had a husband, and the Captain was sure she would be a perfect leader for Torchwood's new generation. There was nothing else, Jack had destroyed everything that mattered anything to him, including the man he loved. He was alone but he thought that maybe, in time, The Doctor would fill the gap.

"I need to do something first if you don't mind," he said.

The Doctor nodded. He didn't now why but he was sure the captain needed some time on his own, some time to drift around.

The Doctor watched as the captain left the room. "What's wrong with you, old friend?" The Doctor whispered.

He started following Jack.

- o -

The library inside the TARDIS was huge. Jack looked around. "You would love this place."

"You don't have to do this, Jack." The captain turned around and his expression showed a wide smile. "Please, Jack. This has to stop now."

Jack looked at the figure in front of him. He had done a good job and the technology from the 51st century had helped him quite well.

The captain stood in front on Ianto. He was gorgeous, as handsome and pretty as ever.

"Ianto…"

"Please, Jack. You have to let me go. It's been three months, you can't be this way for the whole of eternity."

Jack raised his hand; he wanted to touch his young lover one more time. But then he realized he wasn't there for real. This Ianto was an illusion, a hologram that he had created from his ghost.

"I don't care about eternity. Why would it be so important now that I have nothing? I killed you Ianto; you died because I didn't stop those things. You could still be alive if I had done something."

"Shut up, Jack! Stop torturing yourself."

"But it was supposed to be me, not you."

"I made my choice when I ask to be on Torchwood. I knew perfectly well what happened to most of the agents. I knew a lot of them had died young, just the same as me."

"But not you," Jack tried not to cry, he didn't want to, not in front of Ianto.

"It was my moment and now you have to let me go, Jack."

The Doctor was by the door, quiet, listening to their conversation. So that was what had happened to the Captain…

"I can't, you know that. I love you, maybe I hadn't told you enough, but I love you."

Suddenly the Captain felt a hand on his shoulder and as he turned around Ianto's image disappeared.

"I'm sorry," The Doctor said, saddened because of his friend grief and anguish. "I'm so sorry, Jack."

"Yeah, I know. But…" Jack didn't move, just put the small device on his coat's pocket. "And where are we going?"

"What did you said?" A confused Doctor said. "Jack I don't think…" The Doctor looked concerned at Jack. Obviously the captain was totally destroyed, but if the Doctor wants his friend to talk, he needed something else. "Well we can go to that pub, Do you remember it? That place in Green Moon."

"Yeah, it sounds good."

"Yeah, really good. I remember that you told Rose and me about that you had never been really in love. You said that when you would felt in love you will love that someone forever, that when you gave your heart to one person that love would be eternal."

"Stop it, I know what are you trying me to say and it's not going to work." That would sound really truthful if his voice wouldn't have cracked.

"I don't pretend anything Jack, I just want to know if have you talk about Ianto after he passed away."

"What for? He's dead."

"Jack listen to me, I not perfectly what means to loose the love of your life. I have lost so many people and every time I thought I wouldn't be able to go on. Do you know does really help?"

Jack smiled. The Doctor, he always knew how to talk to him, how to touch his heart. The captain folded his arms. "Ok, you're not going to be happy until you tell me. So, go on, tell me your remedy."

"Talk to me about Ianto."

Eyes wide open, the captain felt there weren't words left to speak. He was breathless; he couldn't speak about Ianto, because he wasn't able to think about him without felling his whole body in pain. Jack averted his eyes from the Doctor and tried to breath.

"Jack you talked to me about him, remember? Just before you went back to Cardiff, I saw in your eyes how much you loved him. You can't keep all this memories inside of you forever or they will destroy you sooner or later."

"I can't. I can't talk about someone I loved so much and then I killed." The Doctor kneeled in front of Jack and looked at him. He almost saw the tears at the corner of his eyes and his lips trembling.

"Jack, tell me, you need to do it, you have to do it for your own good."

"I…" His hand, inside his pocket touched the ghost device again and suddenly he felt a really nice warm on his hand. "Ianto… he" His voice trembled again.

"Take your time; I wont go anywhere."

"Ianto was so kind and beautiful. When I looked at him I felt so much peace; and his smile, his lovely smile… If you had only seen it..."

The Doctor looked at Jack, at last he was opening himself, he was letting go everything that was tormenting him for almost three months. And at that point, the Doctor knew that was going to be a very long day.