Ponds Don't Run

Chapter One: Angels and Baravan

It wasn't the obnoxious alarm that jerked her awake- it was the cup of water that was thrown at her face.

Rose jerked up, spluttering. "Bloody- Mickey! The hell?"

About two seconds later, the shrieking in her ears registered, making her all but forget her soaked pillow. Instantly she was on her feet, grabbing the knapsack that sat on the floor near her bunk bed. This was their third evacuation in a month; she wasn't even sure if Torchwood had managed to find their next location yet. Judging by the fact that no one was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, she'd say that they had.

"Where we headed?" she asked Mickey, just barely remembering to throw in a toothbrush.

"Dunno," he answered. "Jack told me that whatever set it off this time, it's a big problem. We've gotta get to one of the two MCs before they decide to take everyone without us."

Rose nodded, packing her blaster as well before hoisting the bag over her shoulder. She spun around to see that Mickey was ready to go as well, though he looked a bit more dignified than she did. He was wearing his uniform, while she remained in her pink pajamas.

She frowned. "Were you on watch?"

"Yeah. Sorry about the water, by the way. You sleep like a bloody log."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

They rushed out of the room into a crowd of personnel, all of whom were hurrying in the general direction of the bottom of the compound. Rose opened her mouth to ask Mickey a question, but was cut off by a sudden tremor that hit the station. It knocked several people off their feet; she barely managed to hang on by pressing herself against the wall. Without warning, the alarms were cut off.

A wave of dread swept through her. Well, that was new. "Why've they stopped?"

Mickey shrugged, looking just as nervous as she did.

They kept moving, knowing that just because the alarms had quieted they weren't necessarily safe. Confused faces surrounded her as Rose made her way to the stairs. She kept her ears open for signs that something had gone wrong. The floor shook beneath her again, and then the loudspeakers suddenly screeched, making both her and Mickey cringe and press their palms over their ears.

"...how this things works... is it on? Right, I'm gonna make this quick: get the hell out of here! Weeping Angels have gotten in, and we all know what that means!"

Her mum's voice seemed to echo through the sterile hallway, freezing Rose in her tracks. Blood pounded in her ears as she and Mickey exchanged glances. Every other member of Torchwood stared up at the speakers on the wall, before someone let out a shout and all hell broke loose.

What was formerly a steady flow of rebels turned into a mad dash as people tried to get out. Rose, on the other hand, shoved her way through in the other direction, ignoring Mickey's calls from behind her. The crowd thinned quickly, mainly because the direction of the communications room was nearest to the surface- and therefore closest to the attack. All she could think was no, no, no, and she raced to where she knew her mum was.

"Rose!" shouted Mickey, managing to grab her arm. She shook him off and kept running, back up the stairs, crashing to the ground due to another tremor before jumping back up again. The second time Mickey got her by the wrist, it was a bit harder to throw him off. Frustration was driving her onward, so she nearly screamed in his face when he refused to let her go.

"We've got to get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving her, Mickey! You go, but I'm getting my mum!"

"She wouldn't want this," he said, brown eyes full of worry. Rose stared at him, willing him to understand, before she yanked herself away and kept moving. She heard a curse, then footsteps as he ran after her. She couldn't help the small smile that worked its way onto her face.

Their latest headquarters were on an abandoned asteroid, where (she suspected) some sort of experiment had been carried out ages ago. The Time Lords typically tried to avoid old human habitations- probably because they were considered beneath their station- so they were easily the best places to for Torchwood to stay. Not to mention the fact that there were about a million different places where humans had lived at one point, so it wasn't hard to find new ones, either. This one in particular had the bonus of being built underground. The only problem was that underground was the last place where anyone wanted to be when the Weeping Angels were involved.

Rose rounded another corner and yelped when she came face-to-face with a demon, skidding to a stop. She avoided putting an eye out on one of the outstretched hands of the Angel, being careful not to blink even once. Mickey let out a low whistle next to her.

"Right. As long as we look at it, it's just a statue. It can't hurt us."

"Depends on how long they take to turn out the lights," Rose pointed out.

Mickey swore again.

"Okay." He was keeping his eyes firmly on the Angel, so she risked looking over at his tight expression. "You go on ahead and find Jackie. I'll stay here and watch this one."

Rose didn't like the sound of that. "What if there are more of 'em?"

"I won't let them get past me." He grinned at her, but Rose saw the nerves he felt. Aware that they were crunched for time, she didn't argue any further and gave him a quick hug.

"Don't blink,"she told him.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Taking a deep breath and trying not to think of how Mickey would be alone with the Angel, she hurried past.

The interior of the TARDIS felt wrong to Melody.

She'd heard enough rumors about Time Lords to know the TARDSISes were "alive", in a sense. This, however, felt like any other plane, train, or car that she'd been in. Only it wasn't nearly as nice as the bullet train that she'd once taken to France. Best ditch day she'd ever had.

They'd been given black pants and black, long-sleeved shirts to wear before being told to go change. Melody silently took in how sterile the corridor was and once again got a sense of wrongness from it all. The outfit wasn't exactly ugly, but it made them all look like they were heading for a funeral. Of course, it was perfectly possible that they were all going to their own funerals, so perhaps their garments fit perfectly with the atmosphere. Her ponytail was neatly sliced off, leaving her dark red locks short and uneven, much like the other women on the prison ship.

They had been given no instructions on conduct before departing, but not a single person spoke. After changing, they'd all been put into harnesses that gave them a view of the six Time Lords piloting at the console. Melody sniggered inwardly, debating about whether or not she should yell, "You're doing it wrong!" just for the hell of it. That probably wasn't the best idea ever, though, considering the stripe of pink that was on her breast pocket.

It was as though the realization of what had happened simply hadn't caught up with her yet. She wondered if it ever would.

The journey took longer than she'd expected it to- weren't TARDISes supposed to be able to take someone somewhere almost instantly?- but once they embarked, they were told to exit in a single file line. They weren't picky about the order that they went in, the reason for which turned out to be a little robot that zoomed around their heads, listing their crimes when the time came for them to step out the door. Melody raised an eyebrow at some of the charges she heard. All of them were exceptionally extreme (that was the only reason why Time Lords would send anyone to a prison planet), but she thought that the accusation of someone who tried to drown his world in ice cream to be a little much.

"Melody Pond," came the cool voice from the robot. "Pink class. Attempted murder of the Counselor of the planet Earth. Sentence: life on Baravan."

They all got life on Baravan.

Sounds like the name of the book, she thought to herself, winking cheekily at one of the Time Lord guards, who gave no indication that he'd seen it whatsoever. With that, she stepped out into her new life.

First impression: it smelled.

She guessed that that was the Raxacoricofallapatorian next to her, who she quickly tried to distance herself from. It was like a scene from a Western, only with far greater amounts of other alien species. Already this was a new aspect to her life; back in the 'legal world', as she'd started to dub it in her mind, members of different species were strictly segregated, not allowed to interact with one another. She found it amusing that the Time Lords thought it was a good idea to lump all of the universe's greatest criminals on several designated planets in spite of that rule. It was almost appealing to her. Melody began walking down the street, taking in the ramshackle buildings and structures, many of which were unfamiliar. The people, on the other hand, were not so unfamiliar, thanks to her studies. Sontarans, Silurians, Ice Warriors, Judoon, humans... quite the motley crew.

She suddenly realized that no further instructions had been given to her. What did that mean? Now that she was here- now that she couldn't leave- she could do whatever she wanted? Not much of a prison, was it?

"Are you just going to stand there?" came a bark behind her.

Melody turned around and found herself facing an angry-looking Sontaran. They were probably bored without all of their rules of 'honor' and 'justice'. It occurred to her that they wouldn't know what to do with themselves in a place like this, where lawlessness appeared to be law. Her fists clenched slightly. Perhaps it was a prison, after all.

"Don't plan on it," she answered, deciding that today wasn't the best time for a fight. She moved on, wondering how long the town went on. Other questions were bouncing around her skull now: where did they get food from? How come no one appeared to have any diseases? Would she be able to find a place to stay, or would she have to sleep outdoors, at the risk of get gutted in her sleep?

She had no way of getting answers, so she kept walking.

She began to notice other details of Baravan, too. The sky was overcast. The temperature was right on the threshold between warm and cool. There was a toothless man picking his nose on the porch of one of the buildings... lovely.

Melody was shoved from behind before she could take another step. She swore colorfully, rolling over to see it was the same Sontaran as before. Letting out an annoyed growl, she asked, "Do you want me to bash you on the skull? It's getting very tempting."

"Face me, boy!" he snapped.

Melody felt her face go blank. "Now that's just asking for it."

Before she could make a decision about what to do, the Sontaran launched himself at her, his weight pinning her down. She smacked him on the back of his neck, momentarily stunning him and enabling her to slide out from under him and get back on her feet. Using peripheral vision, she could already see that a crowd was beginning to gather, calling out wagers over who would win. Melody snorted, tossing her hair, but inwardly she knew that she stood little chance against a Sontaran, whatever martial arts lessons she'd had in the past.

"Strax!"

The sharp voice rang out, causing the Sontaran to freeze. Melody raised an eyebrow, placing her hands on her hips and seeing just who decided to interrupt. Not that she wasn't grateful, but the comment about her being a boy still stung.

Her eyes landed on a tiny girl in the brightest red dress Melody had ever seen. It was nearly blinding, compared to the drab colors that everyone else was wearing. Complete with said dress was a utility belt, full of unusual gadgets that Melody suspected were from various time periods. Her brown hair was long, but still cut jaggedly much like Melody's. The two women appraised each other in silence, while the Sontaran protested.

"But I swore to challenge all with scarlet rank or higher!"

"Physical strength isn't everything, Strax." The crowd began to disperse, muttering in disappointment that they didn't get their entertainment. Melody raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"Nice friend you've got here," she commented.

The girl shrugged. "Sorry about him. Not the brightest bloke ever, but pretty dependable. Most people who're challenged here run away from him, which means two things: you're new, and he called you a boy, didn't he?"

Melody's other brow climbed to join the first. "Does he do that a lot?"

"Been with him... say, two years? He still doesn't know that I'm a woman. Oswin Oswald."

Melody couldn't help but grin slightly, noticing the way "Oswin"'s eyes shifted while she said this. "That your real name?"

"Nope. Well, Oswald is. Oswald for the win. Oswin. You learn to leave your old life behind here."

Melody was about to introduce herself when she saw the stripe that Oswin had on her dress. Her breath caught in her throat.

Mauve. Bloody hell.

She coughed a bit and moved her eyes elsewhere, hoping that Oswin didn't notice her slip up. Judging by the expectant look the other woman was giving her, she was successful in covering it. She strode up and held out a hand, which Oswin took. "Melody Pond. And that is my real name. I'm a bit fond of it."

"Am I to assume that this is yet another one that is off limits?" Strax looked disgruntled.

"You assume correctly," Oswin told him, not taking her eyes off of Melody. "Look, I'm a bit of a sucker for the newbies. You're welcome to stay with me for a bit, at least until you've gotten settled in. Besides, I like you. Not many people I like here."

"I'm flattered, really," Melody drawled, batting her eyelashes. Ignoring her own trepidation as she glanced at the mauve stripe, she followed Oswin further into her new life on Baravan.

"And if you think for one second that I'm gonna blink, you can bloody well think again!"

Jack couldn't help rolling his eyes, careful to keep his gun trained on the Weeping Angel in case the creature succeeded in turning out the lights. They were nearing their goal, if the way the light was flickering was anything to go by. Jackie Tyler, not one to be put down by anything, had been spewing a nonstop stream of insults and challenges at the Angel in front of them, which merely bared its fangs at her in return.

Once Jackie paused for breath, Jack said, "Yeah, you're making such a difference there."

"I won't hear it from you, Jack Harkness!" she snarled, opening one eye and closing the other. "What're you looking at, Stoneface?"

Just then, Rose skidded into the room, causing Jackie to shriek and Jack to almost pull the trigger in surprise. He came close to blinking, trying to recover while Rose threw herself at her mom, sobbing with relief as she hugged her.

"You're okay!"

Jackie, if anything, just looked more livid. "What're you doing here? You should be gone by now!"

"I wasn't about to leave you-"

"Now you listen here-"

"It's Weeping Angels, mum-"

"Ladies, not the time," Jack cut in. The light was getting dimmer, and he really, really didn't fancy being sent into the past to live out the rest of his days. "Where's Mickey Mouse? I know he'd never let you go on your own, Rose."

She jerked her head at the door. "Back the way I came, not too far. He's watching another one of the Angels."

"Then we'd better hurry. The lights aren't going to last much longer."

They ran out of the room, Jack slamming the door shut and magnetizing it using a device from his tool belt. It wouldn't last forever, but it would hopefully be long enough to get back to Mickey and run for it. He grinned at Rose while they sprinted, showing her what he had strapped to his wrist.

Her eyes narrowed, the fact that they were all out of breath doing nothing to dampen her disapproval. "You got a Vortex Manipulator? Were you pick-pocketing Time Agents again?"

"Maybe." He winked.

"Where was your other hand? Down their trousers?"

"Oi!" Jackie shouted. "Not another word!"

Jack saluted her, before turning back to Rose and whispering, "I was actually handcuffed at the time."

When they reached Mickey, Rose hurried over to give him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Jack clapped him on the shoulder with a grin, before spinning to face the group as a whole, keeping the Angel in sight. The lights at the far end of the corridor were going out one by one, even as he started to key in the coordinates to their destination.

"All right, everyone," he said, sticking out his left arm. "Grab hold. We're getting out of here. Ladies, try not to swoon at being able to touch the Harkness."

Rose, used to his flirting by now, didn't hesitate. Both Mickey and Jackie, on the other hand, paused long enough to shoot glares at him before complying. Jack felt another tremor through the floor, and knew that the real trouble was just arriving. After all, wherever the Lonely Assassins were, the Time Lords weren't far behind.

He double checked to make sure everyone was ready, then pressed the button.

Immediately they were thrown into the whirl of color and time that was the Vortex. It was never a pleasant experience, especially when a time traveller had three other people attached to them. It felt as though every atom of himself was being pulled apart from one another. Still, there was a kind of beauty in this form of travelling that it made it worth it- aside from the fact that it was Torchwood's only way of keeping ahead of the Time Lords.

A scream shattered the Vortex, then they suddenly landed. Rose was pivoting wildly on her heels, eyes wide with panic. Jack, momentarily disoriented from the travel, looked at Mickey in confusion. They both realized at the same time that a member of their party was missing.

"Mum!"

A/N: Chapter one be done. Yup. More of the plot outlines itself in my head every day. Don't worry, I know where I'm going with this. The Doctor should be showing up relatively soon. I know that there wasn't all that much Melody/Oswin interaction there, but there's going to more.

By the way, anyone seen Star Trek Into Darkness? I gotta say, there were some MAJOR feels in there. Absolutely loved it to death. Plus, Benedict Cumberbatch? Dat voice alone...

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review! I'd love to hear your feedback!