As much as I love the synopsis behind Utopia and Last of the Time Lords, I often wonder what would happen if the Rani did return during the Eleventh Doctor's reign. This will be completely AU, and very timey wimey, and contains spoilers. So, try not to think about where certain scenes in this story fits in with the show. Your brain will explode. This story is written in memory for Kate O'Mara, because, without her brilliance we wouldn't have the Rani. I've also borrowed George RR Martin's style when it comes to chapters. :) I don't own anything apart from Lydia Hart.

Chapter One: Jack Harkness.

The life of the immortal man wasn't one to be proud of. The rest of the world grew older, as he stayed the same. Every waking moment he'd watch the skies, hoping the sound of the TARDIS would once again warm his heart. The Doctor left him on Satellite Five, waking from a Dalek extermination. His mind was a blur, it took him several deaths before he realised that he simply could not die. It was a terrible burden to bear, and every time the Doctor visited Earth, Captain Jack Harkness missed the Time Lord by mere seconds. It was as if he wasn't meant to find the burning question in the back of his mind. Why.

Torchwood had been abolished in Cardiff, with all relevant data that could be retrieved off its servers being sent to the United States under orders from the Queen herself. The whole Miracle Day incident had Jack constantly wishing in the back of his mind that the Doctor would turn up and help. Jack felt powerless as the rest of the world became immortal, while he was now vulnerable. In a moment of weakness, as he lay naked against a barman he had picked up, Jack was certain he saw the Doctor. Tall and skinny, with hair sticking up as if it were a lion's mane. There was a look of sadness in the Doctor's brown eyes, almost as if he were apologising. As Jack cried out, his breath ragged with alcohol, the Doctor had disappeared. He knew he had the strength to save the world. He just had to.

Now, he was sitting in his apartment, clutching the rim of a beer bottle. The effects weren't doing anything to him now that he was once again immortal, and with an election once again occurring, he honestly wished that he felt light headed. Jack was alone and miserable, with Gwen and her family hiding on the outskirts of Cardiff. He ensured that all records of her existence had been wiped off, so she could live in peace raising her daughter and sharing her moments with Rhys. The thought of Gwen made Jack drop the beer bottle as his hands lifted to his face. He realised how many people he had failed – his daughter, murdering his own grandson for the sake of the Earth... Grey, Tosh, Owen, Susie. Their faces filled his mind. He murmured softly an apology between his fingers, as they raised to his hair. Jack was incredibly unkempt, a bristly beard thick upon his face – his hair long and shaggy. He stood, certain that he felt someone else was in the room with him. He reached for his revolver, loading it, and pointed it down the hallway. "What do you want, John?"

Jack's eyes hardened as he watched his former partner emerge from the darkness, still wearing his trademark getup of a camel coloured shirt and his regimental red jacket with braids down the front. His hips swaggered as he walked, his fingertips groping the holsters of his pistols. A Katana hung across his back, as the shorter dark haired Time Agent walked toward Jack with a quicker pace. John stopped, his eyes glancing upward to meet Jack's.

"I've always admired the rugged look. Feeling sorry for yourself are we?" John plucked some bread crumbs that were stuck to Jack's beard, as Jack snapped his fingers around John's wrist. "You could do something about the breath though."

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked in a low growl.

"I can't surprise my lover with a visit?" John replied, as Jack remained silent. "All right. Word got around about that whole Miracle incident. I merely came to warn you that you're a rather pricey target on the Black Market."

Jack pursed his lips together as he removed his grip from John's wrist. "I'm a target? Why?"

"One reason being that little party trick of yours. Another reason is the fact that you pissed off a lot of people when the Miracle was destroyed, one woman in particular was willing to pay a large amount of money if I brought you back." John shrugged and folded his arms. "She's as frigid as anything mind you."

"I don't believe you." Jack turned his back on John and sat back down. "Just... get out of my life."

"What do you know about Time Lords?"

A freezing grip grabbed Jack by the throat. He turned his head sharply. A Time Lord was after him? Surely it wasn't the Doctor. He was quite certain the Doctor had said his race had become extinct at his hand. "Did they give a name?"

"Yeah. She calls herself the Rani, and I do believe she's in town."

Jack got to his feet. "Let me deal with this." He turned and wandered down the hallway, realising this was the perfect excuse to get cleaned up. If John was telling the truth, a vengeful Time Lord wasn't something the Earth needed right now, for it was still reeling after the effects of the Miracle and the human race was incredibly fragile. He could tell John was following him.

"Lydia says hello by the way." John called. "She would have come, our threesomes were something."

Jack halted in his step. John's twin sister was indeed... something. He hung his head, It was a good thing that John didn't know what happened during their time at the Time Agency. Lydia had joined the agency as well, and she was... something. Jack craved her touch to the point where it became an obsession. John was quite happy to join in, but he didn't pick up on the day when Lydia presented Jack with news he never expected to hear. She was pregnant, but, unfortunately lost the child while on a mission when she received a violent punch to the stomach. He turned to face John, masking the emotions flickering behind his eyes. "How is she?" He asked, furious at himself for even thinking of asking that question.

"Fine. Look, I know what happened. You can quit that poker face of yours."

Jack was baffled. "What? She told you?"

"Of course she did."John smiled a little. "Lydia is my twin after all."

"Yeah... that... twin thing." Jack sighed. "As soon as we deal with this Rani, I want you out of my life. For good." Jack shoved his finger in John's chest. "I want you and Lydia to forget about me. I never existed. Understood?"

"Come on, Jack... don't be like that. You always come crawling back to me..." SMACK. "...still got it." John clicked his jaw as Jack's knuckles burned. "Oh, by the way!" John called after Jack as he turned for the bathroom. "I met that Doctor of yours. He's also in town."

Jack slammed the bathroom door, furious that John always had the last say.