CHAPTER ONE – IT ALL BEGINS AT HOME

OCTOBER 2011

The Doctor's piercing blue eyes snapped open as he jolted awake. Running a hand through his closely cropped white curls, he sat up, then turned to Sarah and could tell by her even breathing that he hadn't woken her.

Sliding slowly out of bed, he made his way to the living room, picked up his mobile phone and a pair of reading glasses from one of the end tables. Popping on the glasses, he looked through his phone contacts and dialled a number. At the almost incoherent answer, he quickly said, 'I need to know everything about the experiment you're currently working on.'

From her flat in Cardiff, Andy Smith groggily responded, 'Dad, couldn't this wait until daylight?'

'No, it can't,' the Doctor frowned before taking off his glasses and dangling them from his fingers before letting them drop to the table. 'Andrea, I think you're in grave danger.'

At that, her voice was instantly clear and awake. 'How so?'

'That experiment you're running on the rift. There's a temporal anomaly in flux over that area for the next three weeks, and your experiment could further destabilise things.'

'How do you know?'

He sighed and when he spoke, his voice was soft. 'Trust me.'

The tone of his voice was all Andy needed to hear. 'All right. I'll be super careful.'

'About your experiment,' he started.

'Dad, it's two in the morning.' Andy took a deep breath, and the Doctor imagined her running a hand through her curly hair, a habit she picked up from him. 'Why don't I call you at a decent hour tomorrow and give you all the details before I go into work?'

'Fine, fine, but don't forget. This is important.'

'I won't, don't worry.'

The Doctor sighed. 'I'll always worry, Andy.' After a pause, he continued, 'Go back to sleep and call me first thing in the morning.' He closed the phone and made his way back upstairs. Peeking in the bedroom, he smiled, seeing Sarah still asleep.

He made a point to carefully crawl back into bed so as not to disturb Sarah. Unfortunately, he wasn't successful. 'Is something wrong?' she mumbled.

'No, Sarah, go back to sleep.'

Sarah turned towards him and propped herself up on an elbow, watching him. She spoke after a minute, her voice still sleepy. 'I don't believe you. You're agitated, I can tell.'

He reached out and brushed Sarah's cheek with the back of his hand. 'And how can you tell?'

'It's the middle of the night, for a start.' She smiled and ran her finger from the centre of his forehead out along first one eyebrow, then the other. 'And I recognise the tightness, right here.'

A laugh rumbled through him. 'You keep doing that and I'll relax quickly.'

'I know,' she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. 'Now, are you going to tell me what's really wrong?' She let her fingers play absently in his hair.

'Andy's working on an experiment with the rift.'

Sarah rested her hand on the Doctor's chest knowingly. 'Ah. You had a time flash, didn't you?'

'Yes.'

'You've had a lot more of those since we starting pulling energy from the rift last Christmas.' She thought of something else. 'We were planning on going to Cardiff in a couple of days, but we could go ahead tomorrow instead.' She watched his expression for a moment before continuing. 'It would make you feel better, wouldn't it?'

'Perhaps. I just don't want to take any chances. Those rift fluctuations could do nasty things to me, Andy or the TARDIS if we're not careful.'

'That settles it, I'll clear my schedule.' She smoothed down the Doctor's pyjama top. 'You and Andy will figure out whatever it was that caused you to have the time flash, I'm sure. And I know Luke will be more than willing to help if you need him.'

'If we're not too late already.'

His tone worried her, as did the concerned expression that threatened to set up permanent residence on his face. 'Tell me what you saw.'

He took a deep breath and shifted slightly to look in Sarah's eyes. 'A series of temporal fluctuations have started building up around the rift. I saw a slip in space-time, some sort of gap in the walls separating universes. Andrea got pulled through.' At Sarah's gasp, the Doctor reached out and covered her hand with one of his. 'It hasn't happened yet, you know.'

'Can you prevent it?'

He smiled. 'Of course.'

'Are you sure?'

'Sarah,' he replied with that reassuring tone that always made her smile, no matter the circumstances. He reached up and held her cheek in his hand before leaning forward to give her a quick kiss. 'Between Andrea, Luke and I, we'll be fine. I promise.'

'Good.' She nodded before turning back over and putting her head back on her pillow. 'Then there's nothing I need to worry about.'

'Wait a minute.' The Doctor slipped an arm around Sarah's waist and pulled her back towards his chest before leaning in close to her ear. 'I thought you were going to help me relax,' he whispered in her ear with a smile.

She looked back over her shoulder and returned his smile. 'I don't know, you seem pretty relaxed to me.'

~!~!~!~

The following evening, as the Doctor and Sarah headed towards Cardiff by car, the Doctor stared out the window, lost in thought while Sarah drove. He inhaled sharply, causing Sarah to glance over at him, concerned. 'Something's wrong,' the Doctor said gravely after a moment. He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. 'I don't like this.'

Sarah's grip on the car's steering wheel tightened even as she kept her eyes on the road. 'Andy? The rift?'

'I'm going to assume so until we get there and I see for myself that things are all right. It felt like a temporal explosion of some kind. Like a large rock dropped in a pond, there are ripples I can sense.' His eyes remained closed as he concentrated. 'I can't sense her either.'

Sarah sped up the car, but said nothing. Thirty minutes later, she pulled their Nissan Figaro into the car park of Andy's flat in Cardiff. Just as she shut off the ignition and turned towards the Doctor, her mobile rang. Recognising the number, she exchanged a pointed look with the Doctor before hitting the hands-free button. 'Captain Harkness, to what do we owe the pleasure?'

'Pleasure's all mine, Ma'am,' Jack responded smoothly.

'Harkness,' the Doctor rumbled as he kept his eyes closed and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. 'Stop flirting with my wife and tell me what's happened.'

'Sorry Doc. How'd you know something happened?' The question was obvious in his voice. When neither the Doctor nor Sarah responded, Jack continued. 'Anyway, it's Andy. There's been some sort of accident here at the lab and she's disappeared. We don't have a clue what happened.' Jack's voice got quiet. 'Given what her lab looks like, some of the guys don't think she could've made it through, but I know she did.' There was an obvious stab of pain in Jack's voice. 'She has to. Andy told me this morning that you were coming in tonight, so I wanted you to hear it from me before you got to her flat.'

'We actually just pulled up. The Doctor suspected something happened a little bit ago,' Sarah responded. 'He felt it.'

'Why am I not surprised? It couldn't have been more than thirty minutes ago by my reckoning. I don't really know what to tell you over the phone, other than it sounded like a sonic boom and the lab's been totally trashed. I know it's late now, but I'd appreciate it if you could come by tomorrow and take a look around. I'll show you everything I've found. I've also stationed a guard on Andy's flat, just in case, so don't be surprised.'

'Thanks, Jack. We appreciate it.'

'And Harkness,' the Doctor added. 'Until we get there, stay away from the lab, barricade it off, do whatever you need to do. If I'm right and I usually am, there are rift fluctuations in the area. Most likely concentrated in the lab. We want to keep everyone out of danger as we possibly can.'

'Will do, Doc.'

'Harkness,' the Doctor growled.

'Doctor, sorry. Habit. I'll see you both in the morning, but let me know if you need anything before. Bye.'

'Bye,' Sarah responded before disconnecting the call. She took a deep breath. 'So you were right.'

'Our daughter's in trouble.' His voice softened. 'And I couldn't protect her.'

'It's my fault too. If I could've cancelled that other interview, we would've gotten here earlier.'

'The fluctuation was too strong, we wouldn't have been able to stop it. If we'd been here, I might've gotten pulled across with her, and who knows what might've happened to you.'

Sarah could hear the painful echo in the Doctor's voice, and knew that not only was he upset at the turn of events, but the rift fluctuations pulled on his internal energy as well. She reached over and put a reassuring hand on his arm. 'Let's go take a look around her flat, see if there's anything that stands out, then we can take a look at the lab whenever you're ready. We'll get Andy back. I know we will.'

Once the Doctor gave her a reassuring nod, they both exited the car and made their way to the front door of Andy's flat where an armed UNIT guard waited. The Doctor stepped up to him. 'Corporal.'

The soldier quickly snapped to attention and saluted, causing the Doctor's frown to deepen. 'Doctor,' he then nodded to Sarah. 'Mrs Smith. We've been expecting you.'

Sarah put her hand on the Doctor's arm. 'So we've heard.'

'Yes, Ma'am, so you know about the accident?'

'We just got off the phone with Captain Harkness,' the Doctor replied, even as Sarah nodded.

'Very good, Sir.'

'We're going to start our investigation here Corporal, then come into the lab first thing in the morning. Harkness is expecting us.'

'Of course, Sir. Would you like us to maintain a presence here, Sir?'

The Doctor shook his head. 'That really won't be necessary. We can handle anything that comes up on this end.' The Corporal stood aside as the Doctor pulled out his key and unlocked the flat door. He took a quick peek inside before giving Sarah a slight nod and dismissing the soldier with a short, 'Thank you, Corporal.'

The soldier saluted once more and waited to leave until the Doctor and Sarah had both entered Andy's flat and shut the door behind them.

The Doctor walked into the living room of Andy's flat in Cardiff and began scouring the room, intently examining every detail, leaving Sarah to glance through the other rooms. He couldn't help but notice the various pieces of scientific equipment scattered about in various stages of assembly. It reminded him of the way he and Sarah had various tidbits from all over the galaxy filling the attic. He picked up a small metal piece of equipment and began to study it as he sank into an overstuffed chair.

'At first glance, nothing looks out of place anywhere.' She sat on the sofa, then winced and leaned slightly to one side, reaching behind her and pulling a small metal device out from between the cushions before sitting back upright. 'If it was a temporal explosion like you said, you'd think that things might appear disrupted.' Sarah set the device on the coffee table in front of her.

'Not if it was centred at the lab. Those things tend to be very narrow in spatial scope. If she would've been home at the time, instead of at the lab, we might not be in this predicament. Although, if we find that the experiment she was working on is what triggered this.' The Doctor's voice dropped as he held up the piece of equipment in his hand. 'Andrea obviously tended to bring a lot of her work home.'

Sarah shook her head at him, giving him a reassuring smile. 'Wonder who she learnt that from?' She watched as the Doctor became engrossed by the piece of equipment in his hands. Reaching into his inside jacket pocket, he pulled out his reading glasses and popped them on the end of his nose. Sarah recognized the look on his face and stood up, heading towards the kitchen to make some tea. As she walked past him, she comfortingly put a hand on the Doctor's shoulder, but he didn't seem to register it.

~!~!~!~

In the lab at UNIT's Cardiff base, heavy equipment had been tossed around like toys. Various pieces of machinery were strewn to the far corners and nothing was left in place. Even the workbenches were overturned and one lone hat stand rested at an odd angle across a broken piece of equipment. It looked as if a bomb had been detonated.

The Doctor held a small scanning device in his hand and walked around the detritus while Sarah held a different device in her hands and scanned another part of the room, each of them careful not to disturb anything. A soldier rushed in and spoke before he could see their faces. 'I'm sorry Sir, this room is off limits pending an official UNIT investigation.'

The Doctor turned to him and noted his rank insignia. 'I think you'll find I am the official investigation, Sergeant.'

Once they turned towards him, the soldier recognised both the Doctor and Sarah immediately and snapped to attention. 'I'm sorry Doctor, Mrs Smith. We were told you would not be arriving until tomorrow.'

Sarah gave the Sergeant a curt nod. 'Well, under the circumstances, we thought it best not to waste time.'

'Of course, Ma'am. I'll notify Captain Harkness that you've arrived. Please let us know if you need anything,' he saluted before rapidly leaving the room.

Sarah sighed and reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. 'It's just like you said. Everything points to it being a temporal explosion.'

'And not triggered by the experiment she was working on. Not a good sign.'

The machine in Sarah's hand started to emit a high-pitched squeal. She glanced down at the readings. 'Temporal spike!' She jumped out of the way just as one of the pieces of detritus on the floor bounced a good metre in the air and emitted a shower of sparks before disappearing. Sarah turned to shield herself from the sparks.

The Doctor was at her side in an instant, his arm around her shoulder, pulling her away and sheltering her. 'You all right?'

Sarah nodded. 'You?'

The Doctor didn't answer her question as he reached out to take the scanning device from Sarah. He looked down at the display. 'Fortunately, this was active during the spike, so it should give me some interesting readings.' He stepped across to the far side of the room, leaving Sarah watching him, a concerned look on her face. 'It appears to have originated from the rift itself, just like expected.' He compared the readings on Sarah's device to his own. 'I'm going to need both the TARDIS and Mr Smith to calibrate these closely enough to find out exactly where and when the time slip originated.' He took the devices and put them in opposite pockets of his coat.

'And if those spikes continue, it's probably best that you not be in the nearby vicinity.'

The Doctor looked at her and saw her knowing expression. 'Correct.'

She tilted her head as she continued to regard him, waiting for him to continue.

'I can sense the fluctuations at a quantum level while we're here. I felt the pull across the void when the spike occurred. While I can't change that, I am more concerned about the varied nature of Andrea's quantum signature.'

'I hadn't thought about that.' Sarah walked over to one of the nearby overturned stools and up-righted it before sitting down. 'This has been an incredibly long day.'

The Doctor came to stand beside her, reaching out and rubbing her back soothingly as she leaned into him. 'The longest in a while,' he agreed. 'However, I think we're going to have quite a few long days before we get this resolved.'

'I just want our daughter back, safe and sound.'

The Doctor gave Sarah's shoulders a comforting squeeze. 'At least we know that Andrea is still alive, contrary to the reports these nincompoops came up with.'

She gestured across the room. 'Well, they didn't exactly have much to go on. This place is a wreck.'

'Well, fortunately, I was able to talk to Andrea beforehand, so at least she had some warning. I'm sure she'll be trying to figure out a way to reach out to us too. However, it's going to take her some time to adjust. I'd venture to say that wherever she is, she's got one nasty headache.'

Jack rushed into the lab, not surprised to see the Doctor and Sarah deep in hushed conversation. 'I didn't expect you both tonight.' Sarah turned towards him. 'Hey Beautiful.'

'Harkness,' the Doctor warned.

Jack winked at Sarah. 'And hello to your lovely wife as well.'

Jack and Sarah ignored the Doctor's glare as Sarah walked over and reached out to hug Jack. Sarah saw the concern in Jack's eyes. 'Hey Jack, you doing all right?'

He sighed. 'Honestly, I'm worried for Andy.'

'That makes three of us.' Sarah glanced back at the Doctor before returning her attention to Jack. 'Nothing seemed out of place in Andy's flat, so we didn't want to waste any time before investigating the scene of the crime.'

Jack looked around the room. 'I hope you can make some sense of it. Anything UNIT has is at your disposal, Doctor. Whatever you need, just yell.'

The Doctor looked up. 'I'm going to need to take some of this equipment back home, but we only have the Figaro.'

Jack nodded. 'Not a problem. I'll help you get it packed up myself, and then have a truck and a couple guys come with me to follow you home and get it unloaded.'

The Doctor nodded, 'Thank you, Captain.'

'You can call me Jack,' he mock-whispered, with a smile for Sarah's benefit.

The Doctor only frowned. 'Captain.'

~!~!~!~