The phone call came, and Jack didn't believe it.

It rang on the day after Christmas, while he was watching the news about how the Thames had been drained with no explanation and the Christmas star that had started killing civilians all over London, wondering if the Doctor was mixed up in this, suspecting that he probably was – and long gone by now, no doubt.

And then his personal phone rang and everyone in the Hub stared at him, because no one knew that he so much as had one. Jack picked it up carefully and stared at the number before answering. There were very few people who had his number.

"Yes?"

"Captain Jack Harkness?" The voice on the other end of the line sounded shaky, uncertain.

"That's me. Who is this?"

"This is – UNIT. We are aware of – there are certain-"

"Spit it out, what the hell do you want?" Jack snapped. He could feel the muscle between his shoulders winding tight, a sense of foreboding washing over him.

Three words. That was all it took for the world to stop. "What?"

"I'm sorry, sir," the man said, then self corrected, "Captain. We've – confirmed it. There's no mistake. They said it must have happened too fast for him to regenerate."

"Bullshit," Jack snapped. "Drowning is slow enough that he could have – survived." And then the words popped into his head: if he wanted to.

Rose Tyler, deceased, he remembered, and closed his mouth.

"That's all. Goodbye," he said, and hung up the phone. He stood very still for long moments, and just as he could hear someone taking a breath to ask, wheeled then threw the phone with an incoherent yell into the center of the Hub.

The Doctor's dead.

"Jack?" Someone asked. "What is it? Some kind of invasion?"

"No," Jack said tightly, but even as he said it he thought, we're all screwed. It wasn't fair, of course it wasn't fair, and the moment passed, but the thought remained. "No, it's not that. Just – never mind." He stalked for the stairs, heading for what passed for his office.

"Did someone die?" That from Gwen. Of course it'd be from Gwen.

"Yes," he said, shortly, after a moment's pause. "Someone very important," and decided enough was enough and left it at that, closing the door hard behind him.