Chapter one
The TARDIS came to a halt with a grinding crash, throwing its three occupants around the console room.
"You do make the nicest landings Doctor."
Captain Jack Harkness told his friend as he helped Martha to stand. The last of the time lords chose to ignore that comment and studied the screen that was showing their out side surroundings.
"Oh," The Doctor muttered as the picture fizzled out into noisy static and lights grew noticeably dimmer. "That's not meant to happen."
"Why? What's happened?" Martha asked him.
"The crash land has damaged the TARDIS' circuit main frame and parts of the electrics have gone up the spout. It'll take at least a fortnight to repair, if not longer."
"So… we're stranded?" Jack voiced the precise words they had all been trying to avoid speaking.
"'Fraid so."
Silence took over for a few moments until Martha spoke up. "Where are we stranded then Doc'" she asked jovially, in an attempt to brighten the glum atmosphere. The elder zipped back around and tapped at the scanner impatiently.
"Well… from the information I got before this conked out- mid 20th century Russia. My guess would be somewhere in Siberia, there's about 40 miles or so between us and some form of civilisation. Whichever way you go. Ooh, and on that thought I had better make sure the heating system's not going to walk out on us."
The Doctor disappeared in to the labyrinth of the TARDIS in a blur of pin stripes and plimsolls; his two companions watched him leave.
Martha grinned at Jack and he returned the gesture.
"You want to go outside and explore, don't you?" Jack said.
"What a fabulous idea Mr Harkness. I'll go and get my coat."
Minuites later, the pair were trudging through the deep snow, throwing the occasional snow ball.
"Oi!" Martha shouted as Jack succeeded in hitting her with a lump of snow. She hastily bent down and grabbed a handful of the cold powder before hurling it haphazardly at the man. It missed.
"You can't catch me!" he taunted Martha with a laugh. He soon shut up, however, as she got a bulls-eye on his shoulder.
"You were saying?" she smirked; spotting a wild look come into Jack's eyes, Martha turned and ran off through the snow. With the former time agent hot on her heels.
"You're gonna get it now!" jack called after Martha as he hared after her.
"Only if you can catch up to me!" she retorted, continuing to run.
They carried on their mad chase until; finally, Jack decided to end it and tackled the young woman to the ground. "Gotcha!" he laughed breathlessly.
"Uh, yeah, and just how long did it take you?"
"You just got lucky, plus I gave you some leeway and you got a head start. Any other day and I would have caught up with you in less than half the time that it took. Care for a rematch?"
"Fine with me, I'll be over the moon when I manage to out run you twice in one day!"
"In your dreams."
Just then, the Doctor called to them, breaking through their friendly banter. "You two! Come on! You'll freeze out there, in your excitement you forgot to put on some suitable clothing!"
As if on cue, Martha started shivering. "He's right; it's well cold out here."
"Wanna borrow my coat?" Jack offered the woollen garment to her.
"But then you'll be cold instead." She pointed out.
"Nah, I've been out in colder places like this for hours and I haven't been affected in the slightest."
"Well, ok, if you're sure." Martha gave in; after all, she was very cold.
The pair walked back to the TARDIS in a comfortable silence. However, Martha stepped through the blue doors alone. The Doctor glanced up from where he was fiddling around with some gadget or other. "Where did Jack go?"
She glanced back round and saw that, indeed, the elder man hadn't followed behind her. She hadn't even been aware Jack was missing until then. "I don't know, he was right behind me just a second ago."
"Then where could he be?" the time lord pondered, a frown forming on his face.
"D'you think he's alright?" Martha asked him worriedly.
"Yeah," he dismissed the thought, "Most likely he's just gotten distracted by something. He'll soon be back. Jack wonders off sometimes to clear his head. If he isn't back in half an hour then I'll go looking for him."
"He hasn't got his coat with him! He could get seriously sick!" she protested.
"Ok, twenty minutes then." Martha nodded- though still worried- slinging jack's coat over the coat rack and retreating to her bed room. Well away from the cacophony emitting from the console room.
The Doctor – in spite of the cool and collected façade that he had presented to Martha- was deeply
worried about his male companion. Jack had been acting out of character ever since there departure from the planet Ra son kea eglee dot frost metabellion fifteen one hundred. Never before had the captain been so broody for such a long period of time. It was unusual to say the least and it was worrying the Doctor. So much so that he was beginning to rethink his original plan and go searching for Jack.
He patted the console in a comforting manner.
"I'll be back in a minute old girl, just as soon as I've found Jack." Before he does something incredibly stupid. He added silently, grabbing his coat, the Doctor headed out in to the frozen landscape beyond.
A/N: SO WHAT DID YOU THINK? ALL REVIEWS ARE WELCOME; PLEASE TELL ME IF I CAN MAKE IT BETTER IN ANY WAY WHAT SO EVER. AND I AM REALLY SORRY FOR HOW IT'S SET OUT. FOR SOME REASON MICROSOFT WORD HAS COCKED UP AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIX IT! IF YOU KNOW PLEASE TELL ME! I'VE ALREADY WRITTEN THE NEXT CHAPTER AND AM HALF WAY THROUGH THE THIRD. I'LL UPDATE AS SOON AS I CAN!
