Carlos ran a hand through his significantly-longer, somewhat unruly curls of hair and stared at the vial of blood in front of him. While the DNA of the subway-riders had been washed out, he had to wonder if their blood had changed at all. So far there was definitely something different, though he couldn't guess what. A frown creased his forehead as the red liquid in the vial began to ripple. Earthquakes weren't all that uncommon in Night Vale, what with the government-created ones (which were always announced in advance by his beloved Cecil), but something about this one seemed different. For starters, Cecil hadn't announced it. What Cecil said next only confirmed his fears- "this doesn't seem to be a standard government-created earthquake."
"Don't go into the subway tunnels," he said quietly to himself, though part of him was also saying it to Cecil. Now there was a kind of whooshing sound outside the window, and when the scientist ventured outside to investigate, he found a blue wooden Police Box. What on earth was it doing here? Did it have something to do with the subway? Was it just another Night Vale oddity or was this strange even for Night Vale? He reached for the door but then stopped cold as the radio managed to reach his ears.
"I must go investigate." Carlos gasped and, forgetting his work and the mysterious blue box, ran for the radio station on the other side of town. He knew that he'd be too late but maybe, just maybe, he could still manage to save Cecil before too much damage was done.
It was the strangest thing- the subway entrance had shimmering waves of heat above it, as well as clouds of large black insects swirling around above. The earthquake was still going on, making it hard to stand, but Carlos had to go down there. Cecil was there and he couldn't survive on his own. Despite his mind telling him not to, Carlos descended into the subway.
Gold, glimmering dust swirled in a horizontal column along the length of the subway. There were people all around standing and just staring at. Some had aged. Others had not. And still others seemed to be glowing the exact same colour as the dust. Carlos found himself staring at it, unable to look away. And he saw...
He saw the fall of countless civilisations. Saw the discovery of new civilisations. Beautiful planets burning. Stars burning out and dying. The sun itself... dying. And then a hand clamped around his arm and pulled him roughly away from the strange dust.
"Don't look into the Time Vortex," a man in a long coat warned him. His brown eyes were so serious yet so full of care at the same time. "It's easy to get stuck staring into it, but don't. If you do, there's no telling what could happen."
"Is that why everyone's DNA has been washed out?" Carlos asked. He didn't feel too different, luckily.
"Yes, probably," another man shrugged. "Hi, I'm Captain Jack Harkness." The other man had run off somewhere, so Carlos shook Jack's hand that had been offered to him.
"I'm Carlos," the scientist replied, taking note of Jack's blue eyes. His dark blue great coat made them seem somewhat bluer.
"Carlos, huh? Exotic name for an exotic face," Jack winked at him.
"I have a boyfriend," Carlos informed him, taking his hand back from Jack's grip and looking around for his boyfriend amid the masses of people just standing and staring.
"So do I but a little harmless flirting never hurt anyone," Jack replied with a grin.
"Jack!" the other guy called sternly. Jack mock-pouted.
"Speak of the devil," he laughed, and turned to walk to the other guy with a "Yes, Doctor." Somehow, the way he said Doctor made it sound a whole lot like 'mother'.
"Doctor? Doctor who?" Carlos wondered. He still couldn't find Cecil so walked further into the crowd, heading towards this Doctor and Jack.
"Just the Doctor," the brown-eyed man responded. "Jack, stay here, I'm going to get the TARDIS to try and do something about this time energy. Can't have more little Wolves running around." A dark cloud seemed to pass over his features, but then he ran out of the subway.
"So can I do anything to help?" Carlos asked. "Maybe I can help drag people away from this Time Vortex?"
"Go find your boyfriend. Don't let your love get lost in time like mine did," Jack advised him. "There isn't enough time to get them all out, just go get him before it's too late. Anything could happen to him." Carlos nodded and went searching for Cecil again with renewed vigour, pushing through the crowd that couldn't part willingly.
At last, there he was- one partially-glowing, but still very much okay, boyfriend.
"Cecil!" he called, running to him and tugging on his arm. "Come on, stop looking at the Time Vortex and get out of here!" But something was keeping him rooted to the spot. Groaning his frustration, Carlos walked around in front of Cecil and stood between him and that golden beacon that was apparently as deadly as it was beautiful.
Cecil still shone with a golden colour, even his eyes were shining golden.
"Kiss him," Jack suggested. "It seems to always snap my guy out of whatever time-related thing he's stuck in." Carlos didn't need telling twice- he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Cecil's, hoping that this would work and that Cecil would be back to normal with no lasting damage. Time seemed to slow down and then stop altogether, leaving everything silent but for the sound of his heartbeat in his ears.
When he finally pulled away, the subway was dark, as was his formerly-glowing lover. Exhaling a sound of relief that was almost a sob but also almost a laugh, Carlos hugged his boyfriend tightly and kissed his face several more times out of sheer gratitude that he was still okay.
"I thought that'd work," Jack commented with a grin in his voice. Carlos turned, expecting to find that Jack was looking at him, but instead he found that Jack was looking at the Doctor like Cecil often looked at him. The adoration was clear to see in his eyes, as well as on his almost-glowing features.
"Redirect the flow into the heart of the TARDIS, fix the leak that was causing it to flow through here, put some explanation about trains into the heads of the people, no problem," the Doctor explained easily. "Now, that took a bit of energy so I'd say it's time to recharge the old girl." He stroked the wooden side of his box lovingly, the way one would treat a lover. Jack almost looked jealous.
"Wait, so you're just leaving? Just like that?" Carlos asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. "You're a hero, you saved all these people from whatever could've happened to them."
"I would love to stay and explore this place, I really would, but I don't trust Jack not to flirt with anyone here," the Doctor explained.
"Hey," Jack interjected. "I only flirt with the cute ones."
"And you would probably find something dangerous 'cute'," the Doctor retorted, and grabbed Jack's hand. "Now c'mon, let's go." The two of them soon disappeared inside the blue box and a whooshing noise began as lights flashed in the windows of it and also on the top of it. It slowly became more transparent and then disappeared completely. Carlos blinked in confusion but then returned to the present. It had been a strange day, surely worthy of documenting in a report, yet strangely he could remember nothing since walking in here. How had he ended up here next to Cecil? Putting it down to just another strange happening in a strange town, Carlos walked out of the subway and made his way slowly back to his lab. He had work to do.
When Cecil mentioned the time thing in the subway tunnels, all I could think of was the Time Vortex.