A/N: The sequel to Picking Up The Pieces. This is just a teaser chapter to kick things off.

Spoilers: Doctor Who, especially seasons 2, 3 and 4. Torchwood season 2, especially the last episode.

Please review!

Together Again

Jack woke up, and sat straight up in bed. He had a feeling that there was someone else in the room besides him – but when he looked around, he saw that he was alone. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, and started to get dressed. It was early, but there was no point trying to get back to sleep now.

He'd just have the dreams again. They weren't bad dreams, not really. He was always happy in them. It was the waking up that spoilt everything.

--

The Doctor was staring at one of the screens on the TARDIS' console.

"What the…."

Donna came in with a cup of tea. "You alright, Doctor?"

"What… oh, yeah."

"What're you doing, then?"

"Looking at something. It's… weird."

"I thought weird was normal for you."

"Nah, that's just your kind of weird. This is… I don't even know what this is… it looks like a Rift…"

"A what?"
"A Rift. Like the one in Cardiff. It looks like that… but…"

"But what?"
"Nothing. It's impossible. It can't possibly be what it looks like."

"You should be used to impossible by now, too."

"True."
"So what is it with this… thing?"
"It looks like a Rift. It's emitting energy like a Rift. But it's not on a planet. It's not even in normal space."
"Eh?"

"Normally, Rifts are… tears in the fabric of space-time. Stuff slips through from time to time – energy, aliens, you name it. But this… this is a Rift in the Vortex."

"The Time Vortex?"
"Uh-huh."

"So… what does that mean?"

"I don't know. As far as I know this has never happened before. This could be… really bad. Or it might be harmless."

"Well, that's good to know."

They didn't get a chance to say anything else, because suddenly there was a bright flash of light. When the light had faded and they could see properly again, they noticed a person sprawled, unconscious, on the floor of the TARDIS. A person with shoulder-length blonde hair, who was clutching a familiar-looking key on a length of brown string.

Next time, on "Together Again": What's Jack been dreaming about? What's up with the weird "feelings"? And who is the mysterious blonde who just materialised inside the TARDIS?