A/N: This fic assumes that the history and events of Joss Whedon's Firefly are factual in the Doctor Who universe. You shouldn't need to be familiar with Firefly in order to read it, though.

By the 51st Century, the Church has become a faith-based military organization responsible for interstellar security and the protection of human populations, among other things.

I have not watched past season one of Torchwood, and to be frank, I don't intend to – the show quite failed to hold my interest. As such, anything about Jack or the Time Agency revealed in a later season may very well contradict this entire fic. Please don't try to correct me about any such contradictions. I like my version, and I hope you will too.

"Shiny" was a 26th Century slang word, essentially meaning "awesome."

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its components. I do own Abby, though.

xxx

Time Is Not A Straight Line, Chapter 01: Abigail Patience Holmes, Student Number 01472

"In the year 2501, many of the core planets – including Londinium and Sihnon – formed the Alliance, a powerful authoritarian government and law-enforcement organization that soon sought to bring all colonized worlds under its control. In an attempt to maintain their freedom from the Alliance, many of the outlying planets joined together to form the Independent Faction (or Independents), and by 2503 the Unification War, also known as the first 34 Taurian Civil War, had broken out between the two groups. On page 547 of your textbooks, you will see a list of those planets involved, and their allegiances," Professor Langley lectured, as she casually paced back and forth at the front of the room, the click-clacking of her high heels lending a strange sense of rhythm to her words.

Maybe we should take a leaf out of the Independents' book and try our own rebellion, Abby thought to herself sourly as she jotted down the page number in her notes, to be looked up later. She was a good student, but there were days when she found it hard to care. What was the point? None of the universities she had once dreamed of attending would ever see her marks now.

"Technologically, the war was fought with every weapon available. Though they didn't have access to the same sort of technology as the Alliance, the Independents did have their own warships and gunships, as well as heavy artillery and small arms. The Alliance, on the other hand, is known to have had additional access to bioweapons, mortars, tanks (often referred to as 'rollers'), and seekers."

And of course, you don't bother to mention the fact that seekers had already been banned from use in civilised warfare (now there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one), on account of their being inhumane and hitting non-combatants about as often as they hit actual enemy soldiers. It didn't help when you already knew more about the subject than your teacher likely did, either. Abby wondered if she should alert Professor Langley to the fact that her slip was showing... Nah.

"Though the war was played out on many worlds, its most infamous battle took place on Hera in 2511. The Battle of Serenity Valley was nothing short of a bloodbath, in which both sides sustained heavy casualties, before the Independents, outmanned and outgunned, were forced to surrender. The Unification War ended shortly thereafter, with the Alliance emerging as the victor and assuming control of the entire system."

No mention of Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds, either. She'll probably let the heroes go unnamed when she tells us about Miranda and the fall of the Alliance, too, Abby thought, blue eyes flashing with irritation as even her expression turned a little sour this time. How could you give a lesson on the history of the Union of Allied Planets without mentioning Sergeant/Captain Reynolds and his crew? Especially River – River was just cool.

"For your homework tonight, I want everyone to compile a five-page report about the underground resistance movement which remained after the end of the war. Class dismissed."

Abby watched as her classmates eagerly filed out of the room, before finally gathering her notes and following them out with a sigh – out to where her 'escort' was waiting to take her back to her room.

Nobody attended 'the Academy' by choice; the entire school was no more than a front to keep the Church from getting involved. In truth, it was home to the Time Agency's hostages – the loved ones of Time Agents in danger of potentially turning rogue and creating trouble for the Agency, kept there to keep said Agents in line. Except for Abby (officially designated Abigail Patience Holmes, Student Number 01472); she was bait, plain and simple. Two years earlier, her big brother had successfully escaped from the Agency altogether, and they wanted him back (his escape being a blemish on their records, and all), so the security around her was tighter. She didn't get to go to the common room after classes like the others, to socialize and have fun – she just got to go back to her room, with its 24-hour guard and top of the line security systems. And she was bored to death of it.

She also missed her brother.

Pointedly (and routinely) ignoring her Agent escort as he joined her, Abby resignedly headed straight for her room, her mind once again desperately trying to come up with some sort of escape plan. She still rather liked the last one she'd come up with, but it required hallucinogenic lipstick – the acquiring of which would require a plan all on its own, and she was decidedly stuck on that one. It would have been awesome if she could make it work, though. Jack would have been so proud... unless, of course, he got into one of his weird, overprotective big brother modes.

God, she even missed him being all weird and overly protective of her. Like that time when she'd wanted to get those knee-high boots with the three-inch heels, and he'd flipped out about her being too young and blah, blah, blah – he'd reminded her of a mother hen, squawking and running about in a panic. It had been kind of funny, really (even if it had meant she didn't get the boots).

xxx

"During the process of DNA replication, errors occasionally occur in the polymerization of the second strand. These errors, called mutations, can have an impact on the phenotype of an organism, especially if they occur within the protein coding sequence of a gene..."

Good God, but Abby hated Professor Blake's classes – nobody could make a lecture as mind-numbingly boring as he could. She was also fairly certain that his voice had been specifically engineered to put people to sleep; more than half the class was gone already.

I should have brought a book or something, the young teenager couldn't help thinking. She was currently reading a really interesting one about the most notorious crimes of 20th Century Earth, and it (unlike this class) was fascinating. Just the night before she'd started a chapter on the assassination of some important leader in the United States – what had been his name again? She remembered his initials (they had used those a lot), but what had his name been... Oh! Kennedy! John F-something Kennedy! Apparently there had been some huge conspiracy theory surrounding his death, which Americans had obsessed over for well over a hundred years (seriously!).

Abby liked history – especially that of the early 20th Century, and the 26th. The last time she'd seen her brother, he had actually taken her to Hollywood in 1942 for her birthday (with special permission from the Time Agency, who had still favoured him at the time, of course); they had gone to the premiere of Casablanca, where she even got to meet Humphrey Bogart. She still considered it to have been her best day ever – and Casablanca was still one of her favourite movies.

Jack had even promised to take her to meet River Tam and the rest of Serenity's crew for her 16th birthday, given how much she idolized them – but of course, he'd already disappeared by then. Unrealistic though it may be, Abby secretly continued to hope that he would still take her there someday, after he came back to rescue her from the Academy. Preferably sometime before she died of boredom.

"...Mutagenic chemicals promote errors in DNA replication, often by interfering with the structure of..." Professor Blake was still droning on.

You may want to pick up the pace a bit there, big brother – I don't know if I'm going to make it to the end of this lecture, Abby thought to herself morosely, resting her white blonde head on her desk in resignation.

xxx

Abby had officially given up paying attention in math class – she'd even gone so far as to inform Professor Smeaton that she'd given it up for Lent last year (he had been somewhat less than amused). It simply wasn't her subject, and he was even more boring than Professor Blake. Besides, she already knew the basics – what possible use could she have for the drivel they were trying to force upon her now? None whatsoever, that's what. So she used that class for daydreaming and working on her escape plans.

Today, she was hoping to come up with a new escape plan; so far, though, it wasn't going too well. If she only wasn't so damn tiny, she might have been able to try for the nice and direct, physical assault approach – overpower the Agent guarding her, get his vortex manipulator, and disappear to another time and place entirely. Physically, she knew how to do it, too; Jack had always made sure she knew how to handle herself in a fight, and she was confident she could win against anyone her size. Unfortunately, standing at about 5'2 and weighing less than 110 pounds, there just weren't any Time Agents her size.

I suppose I could always just knee one of the guys in the groin, the painfully bored teenager postulated. Of course, if that didn't successfully take them out, she would then be up against an extremely pissed off Time Agent. Really, the Hallucinogenic Lipstick Plan was just vastly superior (and safer) in every respect – if she could only get her hands on some! If she ever did manage to get out of here, she was going to buy some first thing, just in case the need for it should arise again.

"Miss Holmes!" an apparently rather irate Professor Smeaton exclaimed (presumably not for the first time), interrupting her musings.

A very bored and monotonous "what," was all the reply he got; Abby didn't even bother turning it into an actual question.

"Either you will start paying attention, or you will remove yourself from my classroom," he declared.

"Shiny," Abby announced with a little more feeling, quickly grabbing her unopened textbook (she hadn't even bothered to bring anything for note-taking) and removing herself from the room before he could manage anything more than some indignant stuttering.

She instantly regretted it as, a second after she stepped out the door, her escort grabbed her by the arm and began to haul her back to her room.

Jack had been sighted again, then - meaning the security around her would be tighter than ever, the restrictions surrounding her stricter and more numerous (she wouldn't even be allowed to leave her room for meals or a bit of exercise), and all the while, no one would tell her anything about her big brother.

Where is he? Abby wondered to herself desperately. When is he? Did he know where she was, and that she needed him? Was he coming for her? Please, Jack! Please get me out of here!