Doctor Who: ALBION - Countdown

Chapter 24 - Intermission

Disclaimer - I don't own nothing or nobody you know/recognize. Doctor Who is intellectual property of the BBC, afaik.

Characters: Gleeson!Doctor, Markham, River, Jack, OCs

It had been a month since Will Markham had last seen the Doctor and River, yet he kept a watchful eye out for that familiar blue box everywhere he went. He had spent most of that time setting up a nursery for the twins for their eventual stay. He actually feared the Time Lord would spend the agreed upon time with his family in a different time, then drop in unrepentantly on him to foster the boys. He kept in touch with Amy and Rory just in case. Luckily, neither had heard from the errant Time Lord or their daughter, which upset the young grandmother, who claimed she was missing out on the early days of her grandsons.

He was talking to her on his mobile in the shops, discussing what color paint she thought the boys' room should be when he was struck on the hip by an errant shopping trolley. He did a double-take upon seeing who it was. She was wearing the same dark pantsuit he first saw her in.

"I'll have to call you back," he lied. "I just ran into a friend. We'll discuss this later," he told her before ringing off. He looked his attacker in the eye. "Who are you? Why do you keep following me?"

She smiled. "I thought you might like some help painting."

The color drained from his face. "What?"

She pointed into her cart. "What do you think? Not blue enough?"

He glanced down to see several cans of specially mixed blue paint. The same hue as a certain box. "Who are you?"

"A friend," she smirked. "Who is also buying lunch and will tell you everything if you come along."

He hesitated, expecting a trap for his friends. "I'm busy."

"What you are, William, is a bad liar," she replied. "Come on, my treat."

He was tempted to run, but she was acting way too familiar with him. He pointed at the cans. "Why that shade?"

She turned the cart around to leave. "I'd tell you at lunch, but I think you already know," she winked.

He followed her through the check-out, keeping a cautious eye on her as she flirted with the young man cashing her out. She offered to pay for his, but he refused. He lost sight of her while he paid, but soon found her waiting for him by his car.

"And what the bloody Hades do you think you're doing?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I haven't got a ride."

"Well then, you'd be right out, lugging those paint cans back to wherever, then, wouldn't you?" he accused.

"A- I bought them for you. B- how do you think I knew you'd be here to begin with?" she countered.

"You tracked me? How?" he asked even as he realized the answer. "My cash card, wasn't it? Note to self, change my codes. Again."

"Will-"

"So, you're definitely a time traveler, then," he said as he loaded his supplies into his car boot.

"Do you want the paint?" she asked.

"Not really," he told her. "What makes you think I want that color anyway?"

"Like you said, I'm a time traveler. I already know what color it's going to be."

"So what am I having for lunch, then?"

She smiled.

Half an hour later, they were dining in a small bistro.

"So are you going to tell me your name, or do I have to guess?" he asked.

"Su," she smiled. "Su Smith."

"And how is it you know mine?" he inquired, eyeing her.

"You know us time travelers, never meeting in the right order."

"So this isn't our first date?"

She considered her answer a moment. "Yes and no."

"My first, your latest?" he offered. "If you know who I am, then you know I'm already married."

She grew quiet. "Yes. I know about Tosh. And Jack," she admitted. "You don't say much about Jackson or Charles, though."

"Charles was my cousin," he replied coolly. "My best friend, my liege, and the closest thing I had to a brother." She nodded. "Jack, you obviously know, so what is there to explain? We were each other's rebound."

"I don't know Jack all that well," she admitted. "Well, not Jack as you know him."

"Boe?"

"Boe," she echoed. There was no need to explain further between the two of them. "And Jackson?"

"That's... not a tale to be told in public."

"That racy, huh?" she teased, then saw the dark expression on his face. "Why don't we get dessert to go?" she offered. "You can tell me back at the estate."

"You're pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"I know you refused to tell Jack about that, um, birthmark," she winked.

"Check please!"

Two hours later, they had almost finished off their first bottle of wine. Su had kept her intake to a minimum, but Will needed it to open up to her. She had made it blatantly obvious that she would know him in his future. He wondered if it was because of that that he felt comfortable around her? Or was it because she reminded him of Tosh?

He looked at her and could tell she had seen the sadness in him before. He wondered how much she really knew him.

"You were asking about Jackson?" She squeezed his hand and nodded. "When I first met him, he was working for my father, for Torchwood. Our Torchwood was the Royal Guard, you could say. No one knew who he really was then, not even Jacks, himself. He was already over a century old, by then, de-aged once more by that bastard I knew as Geoffrey Greaves. You would know him better as Jack Harkness. Well, a twisted version of Jack, at any rate," he explained.

"Anyway, I was fresh out of the Academy and eager to prove myself, to my father and the rest of, Hades, bloody everybody," he chuckled. "Unfortunately, we found ourselves in the middle of a bad one, with a high priority. Some sicko had been stealing kids. You don't want to know what for." He wandered off for a moment before shaking off the memory. "Dad thought I was too young, too fresh, so he put me on research, paperwork. Jacks argued he couldn't coddle me, then we found...we found the first one."

Will choked up again at the thought. Su waited patiently for him to continue.

"Dad tried to maintain his composure, but the case became his entire life the next few months. He wouldn't admit it, but Jacks and I could see it eating away at him. He tried to get Gran to read it, but she was already losing it. I think they call it senility or Alzheimer's here? He always said she had the gift like no other he had met besides her grandmother, Gwyneth. Unfortunately, she lived through the wars, and it took a toll on her. I had been too busy with the Academy to realize how bad she had gotten by then. Dad never really had it, the gift, but would have the occasional insight. He said it was nothing like when she would have her visions back when he was a lad," he explained. "He was glad that I had it, but there was also a sadness in him. He said I would understand, someday, that my Gran Gwyneth had said I would do something special, but she never told him what." He looked at Su and chuckled. "I guess I'll tell you about that later, huh?" he said, recalling meeting her as a girl while traveling back in time on his world with the Doctor. He had left his great-grandparents and their friend in the care of Jackson before they left.

"This is going somewhere?" Su asked.

"Right. We lost Gran during the case, which only drove Dad harder. Jackson and I tried to help pick up the slack, but he shut us out. He decided he had to solve the case, himself. It nearly cost him his life."

"What happened?"

"The long hours, living the case...the drinking. It was wearing him down," he explained. "He thought he had one break and nearly killed himself chasing down some perp which turned out to be a false lead. Jackson finally stepped in and pulled some strings, made him take some time off. I guess in hindsight, it was Greaves who made him do that?" He paused only to drain his glass and refill it once more. "In the meantime, we had six more kids gone."

Su gasped, not realizing the full scope of the case.

"Jackson took over, made me his second. We were determined to solve it even more every time another child was reported missing. It was stupid, really, the big break. In all the time we were working together, Jacks and I became attached at the hip, and one night we were blowing off steam and spitballing when one of the other guys, Jonesy, misheard something we said and it turned out to be the most random of coincidences." He grew quiet again for a moment.

"You found the kids?"

He took another large gulp of wine. "I went to talk to this guy, ask him to clarify something he had said when- was it the third or fourth kid went missing? When I got to his place, the front door had been left ajar, so I called out to him, but no one answered. There was this hill behind his place, it was a row of houses, you know? There were these crows in a tree, something about it just felt off. Why were they all in one area and not spread out, you know? Then they got all jumpy, like something disturbed them in the tree. Jacks was supposed to have met me there, but he was running late. I was a fool for not waiting for back-up, but like I said, I knew I had to prove myself on this case."

He paused once more and drained his glass again. He reached for the bottle and missed. Su could see his hands shaking, so she poured him another glass and handed it to him. He stared into it.

"I was too damn young and proud and stubborn. I could have been killed," he said. "I went over the hill and found this old barn. I didn't know whose it was, but there were more crows perched on top of it and a tilled garden beside it. Any other time, I would have dismissed it, but those birds? They drew me in. They were showing me the way."

He put the glass down without taking a sip. "I went in and didn't see anything at first. Two of the crows had made it inside, sitting up in the rafters, cawing. They were calling me, I could just feel it," he shuddered. "They were also trying to warn me. I don't know what he hit me with, but the first blow landed square in my back, knocking the breath out of me, the next should have taken my head."

He glanced over to Su, who offered her hand and waited for him to continue.

"When I came to, he had me trussed up in some underground sex dungeon, gagged and stripped to my smallclothes," he admitted. The memory of being held helpless made him shiver, he could still feel the restraints holding him. A collar around his neck, cuffs for his wrists, a belt at his waist, and several more cuffs on his thighs and ankles all chained together, what was holding him up he never had gotten a good look at, refusing to relive it through the crime scene photos. He vaguely remembered two posts to either side, which he guessed his hands and feet had been bound to. He shook the memory off even as he absentmindedly rubbed his wrists.

"I'm sure Jack would be all to familiar with everything, but it put me off that for good," he said, forcing a chuckle before growing serious again. "I could taste the blood on the ball gag. I still didn't know if it was mine or not, but it tasted old. I could see two kids across from me, a boy and a girl, they weren't even into their teens," he shuddered. "They were locked up in a small cage, barely big enough for one, let alone two. Both had been bound in leather cuffs, wrists and feet, tied to the top of the cage. The only other thing they wore were leather hoods, leaving them blind to what he was doing." He choked up again.

He remembered there had been a pair of small costumes hanging by the cage. A white blouse and blue dirndl dress to go over it next to a matching lederhosen and shirt. Crumpled on the floor was a mass of white fur, which he remembered from the follow-up report had been identified as some sort of sheep costume. The boy remembered nothing of the costumes, but there were pictures and film found that Will heard turned the staunchest stomach in it's depravity.

"I never saw his face," Will continued. "That bastard wore a black cloth hood with a collar holding it to his head, and a full body suit, like for scuba diving, y'know, not one of those proper kinky leather and latex sex gimp suit things this lot have here," he continued, forcing a chuckle. "He saw I was awake and shook his finger at me, never saying a word. He slapped my face, splashed me with what I hope was water. Then, I don't know, it was some sort of electric stun pole. Not unlike the 'cattle prods' they have here. He began shocking me. All over. My chest, my arms, legs, and-" Will couldn't force himself to finish the thought. Su gripped his hand tight and allowed him to take his time.

"I couldn't even scream, not with that gag," he finally said. "I could only think of Jackson, where he was, why he didn't find me, yet," he told her. "Somehow, he heard me, though. My empathy somehow connected us for a minute, he told me later. He said had felt drawn to the crows, to where we were being held. I had passed out from the pain, and when I woke up, I heard fighting. I looked up to see Jackson wrestling with the freak and I had apparently managed to pull my hands free, tearing the cuffs out of whatever he had attached them to. I don't know if it happened when he shocked me or what, but they told me they had been pulled out with force. My legs were still bound and too far to reach. That's when I realized I had a collar around my neck, too, which had been chained to something behind me," he explained. "Now that I had my hands free, I was able to pull my gag out and tried to unhook my neck. I looked up after hearing a crash, and saw Jackson had been thrown against the bars of another cage. My captor was going for his stun prod again and I screamed at Jacks to look out. That surprised the bastard and distracted him long enough for Jacks to tackle him instead. He nearly beat the man to a pulp in his anger."

"So you two managed to save at least two kids, then?"

"I...I'm getting to that," he said and reached for his glass again, but didn't drink. The liquid shook as he forced his hands to quiet. "Once Jackson had the guy cuffed, he came over to free me. That's the first time we kissed. He was glad I was still alive and I was so relieved to see him and to be free, we almost forgot about the kids for a minute," he admitted with a smirk. "I didn't realize it at the time, but he tasted old. I mean, I had had a couple lovers before then, but I just passed it off as how he tasted, you know? I never picked up on his true self in all the years I knew him," he grimaced. "I should have, though. That's what should have tipped me off, I could never read him."

He was quiet a minute, steeling himself for the next part. "When he freed me, I was too weak to do anything more than collapse in a heap, but when Jackson opened the cage...she...she was already cold, poor thing. The boy we managed to get to hospital, but he was starved and pumped so full of drugs, they didn't think he was going to make it. I was in recovery two full days, myself," he told her, fighting back tears. "Dad and Jacks barely left my side, except to check on the boy."

"So who was it? The kidnapper? Anyone I would have heard of?"

Will hesitated to reveal the name, knowing he was a well known face in this world, albeit less ...damaged than his version. "It was...he knew- my dad knew him. I don't know how well, but it made Jacks question if he knew more than he had let on. He thought it might explain the drinking. The man was a 'person of interest' early on, but someone higher up decided he wasn't the one they wanted for this. We never really got a chance to question dad on that, as he was assigned to security on the cruise, right after. Most of the squad were, in fact. It was supposed to have been their 'reward', but..."

"Cruise?"

"The one for the Royal Family," he told her, finally tearing up. "The one no one survived. The one that Greaves and Wilf passed on, allowing them to argue who would take the Crown next, damn them."

"That's when it was decided Charles was to be elected Regent?"

"mm," he acknowledged before giving a silent salute with his glass and draining it once more.

Su realized this was a touchier subject. "The boy who survived? Did he make it?" she inquired.

Will shook his head. "Bloody Hades that kid was tenacious. Funny thing is, Owen wound up working for us under Martha in castle hospital wing."

"So something good did come out of all that, then?"

"Be glad you never met the rat-faced creep," Will chided her. "Kid knew his medicine, but Martha refused to work with him alone," he informed her then began to laugh at some private memory he chose not to share. He was quiet a moment before continuing. "I don't know if something was damaged from his captivity, but there was something wrong about him after. Jack tells me he was part of his Torchwood crew when Gwen signed on. Turns out he and this world's Tosh had this whole unrequited thing going on and Gwen even slept with the creep for a bit, cheating on Rhys before they were married!"

The pair broke out laughing, and fell into one another. They locked eyes and suddenly found themselves kissing.

Will forced himself to break it off. "Who are you, Su Smith? Why can't I keep myself from liking you?"

She smiled and kissed him again, biting his lip, then dragging two fingers across his close cropped beard, pinching the soft flesh under his chin. "I'm not that far ahead of you, Will, in fact we've never even-" She left the implication open.

"Why do you remind me of her, Su? Why do you look like Tosh?"

"I didn't always look this way," she admitted.

A sad look crossed his face. "I know. I...I keep getting these flashes from you. You looked so different, so young, and you were. You really were that young, and you ran away, didn't you?"

"With him, yes," she admitted. "Then he left me behind. In 2168."

Will nodded, then realized what she had said. "Wait, 2168?"

"He left me behind, said it was time to find my own way," she told him, now fingering the rim of her glass. "There was this man, David. I thought I loved him, but...I was still young, relatively speaking, still foolish to think it would work. We tried, but... I still think of him, sometimes. He was good to me, to our kids."

"You have kids, too?"

"These were adopted," she clarified, nodding. "Although one looked remarkably like him, and...I never asked, but I knew he knew the mother. I couldn't begrudge him that, as we couldn't-"

"It took a few years for me and Tosh," he admitted. "Then we had the boys back to back, barely a year apart." He grew quiet again, lost in his thoughts. "I miss them."

She wrapped an arm over his shoulders and held him close. "I miss my family, too."

He turned to say something else and almost bumped her nose. The next moment, they were kissing. He remembered thinking she tasted old, now that he thought about it, and pulling her closer before the darkness took him.

He woke with a groggy start, not immediately recognizing the room. He blinked away the bright light before realizing it was sunlight. When his eyes finally adjusted, he saw he was in a spare bedroom. The one closest to the Library where he and Su had been talking and drinking. His head pounded as he tried to sit up. He was still feeling the wine, but there was also something else to it. He'd drunk far more in the past and felt far less haggard than he did right now.

"She slipped me something," he muttered to himself.

"I did not!" came a voice from the chair in the corner of the room.

The glare from the window kept her hidden until she stood and crossed to the bed. He saw she was wearing one of his shirts. And little else. He smiled as she handed him a cup of coffee.

"I know you wanted to slip me something," she teased, "but we weren't ready for that."

"We weren't?" he asked, taking a sip.

"No," she said, running a finger down his bare hairy chest.

"Where are the rest of my clothes?" he asked motioning toward her with the mug. "How'd you even get me to bed, anyway?"

"I'm stronger than I look?"

He gave her a look that essentially said You really expect me to believe that? "Pull the other one then, lass."

Before she could answer, there was a loud THUNK! from a nearby room. He glanced to her and saw a flash of panic in her eyes. "Will, wait!" she exclaimed, reaching out to hold him back, but he was already moving.

He threw off the sheets and realized he had been stripped almost naked. Tossing her an annoyed look, he grabbed a towel draped over a chair to cover himself as he sprinted out the door. He crept down the hall towards the direction of the sound as Su followed him into the hall. He grabbed one of the decorative swords off the wall and approached the room where he could hear hushed voices. He realized it was the room he had set aside for the nursery.

"Will!" Su hissed behind him. "Don't go in there!"

He ignored her and kicked in the door. No one was in the room, but it was apparent someone had been. Most of the room had been painted. He chanced a glance back to Su. "Been busy while I was sleeping?" he whispered, then turned back to survey the room once again. Nearly stepping on a still wet paint tray, he threw open the closets. Empty.

"Who are you?!" he called out. He glanced back to Su, who looked like she had seen a ghost. Without turning away from her, he pointed the sword at the open window behind him. "There's a breeze coming in the other one!" he called out then turned to look at the end of the blade.

He could see trees beyond, but they shimmered as if being reflected in water. Before Su could say anything more, he quickly knelt and threw the pan of paint at the window. It splattered on something just beyond and the tray bounced back into the room, splattering on the floor. "You're replacing that carpet!" Will exclaimed.

After a moment, a door opened just beyond the window. A furious looking young blonde woman looked out. "What the bloody hell kind of thanks is that supposed to be?" she yelled at Will.

"Who are you and why are you here?" he demanded, holding the sword point at her.

"Ohh, he's kinda cute," the trespasser told Su. "Did you two do it?"

"Jenny!"

Will chuckled, amused, then motioned with the sword for her to enter. "Flattery will get you places, m'dear," he said then dropped the humor. "Inside. Now."

The blonde followed his order and glanced around the room. "Not the shade I remember," she mused.

"Bloody time travelers," he groused. "Into the Library, the both of you."

The two women did as told, not realizing he had stepped back into the bedroom to grab a robe until they arrived. He came in a minute later and glared at the pair of them. "One of you mind telling me who you are and what in bloody Hades is going on?"

"Will, we're only trying to help," Su begged.

He eyed her cautiously. "I was more honest with you last night than I was with my wife. Then you knock me out, steal my shirt, and for what?"

"To paint the nursery," she offered.

"Why?"

"Because we have a vested interest in what happens here, Will," the blonde spoke up.

"Jenny, right?" he asked. She nodded. "If you are so invested, then why did you hide and deceive me? Who are you two? Does Jack know you? The Doctor? River?"

The pair were silent, but he saw Su flinch slightly at the second name. "What is he to you? You said he left you behind in, what was it, Twenty-one-?"

"2168," she confirmed. "Yes."

"You traveled with him, the both of you?"

Su nodded. Jenny replied, "No, I never traveled with him, but he knows me, which is why I have to hide. He thinks I'm dead."

"Why does he think that?"

"Because I was, when they left."

The memory of what Greaves had done to Jackson flashed through his mind. "Who revived you?" he said quietly.

"No one. I woke up after they left."

"Eh?"

"What do you know of the Doctor?"

Then he realized what she meant. "He can regenerate, change his appearance," he said. "When I first met him, he was this scrawny young man, but shortly after, he was wounded. We carried him back to the TARDIS, where he became that big ginger." He left out his part in the wounding.

"You saw him change?" Su asked.

He shook his head. "Jack and Rhys carried him inside, blocked us from following, but there was this-this glow already coming from his wound. We never saw it actually happen, Prince Will and I. It was almost an hour later, Rhys came running back out followed by Gwen, Jack, and a man we hadn't met. They insisted it was the wounded man they had carried inside." He didn't mention that the Time Lord's blood he had on him had been tingling where it touched his skin.

"How did you know it was still him?" Jenny asked.

Will gave a soft chuckle. "When I first met him, I literally ran into him." He tapped his temple. "Massive mental download when that happened. He took me by surprise running out of the brush, otherwise, I normally would have blocked it. I was still trying to process it for days after, but I knew it meant I had to leave everything behind to set things right." Bitterness crept into his voice at this last admission.

The girls remained quiet for a moment before Su spoke up. "Will, I never meant to betray you, but you must believe me, we mean you no harm."

"But we can't have you telling him we were here, or that you have met us," Jenny added.

"You're Time Lords, too, aren't you?" he asked before correcting himself. "Time Ladies?"

Another silent exchange. "Yes," Su answered.

He shook his head. "I should have known. The day I arrived here, the whole bloody planet was shifted galactically. There was some invasion by these flying robot orbs," he informed them. "Then everything felt different, as if some large reset button had been pushed. The orbs were gone, but everyone could feel it. Something had changed."

"Saxon," Jenny gasped. A dark expression crossed Su's face. They had done some research into recent history, looking for the Time Lord.

"After that, there was this toxic attack caused by some sort of 'green' emissions adapter for the cars here, then those flying pepper pots moved the bloody damned planet!"

"Sontarans, Daleks," Su said with a hint of menace.

"It wasn't long after that, when you lot celebrate Solstice day late, that everyone else took on the appearance of that Saxon, who was supposed to have died," he told them. "I don't know why I was spared, but I locked myself up that day. Athena knows what else, it felt like the world reset itself again not long after. I assume he was behind saving the day all those times?"

Jenny had an amazed look on her face. Su nodded. "All that and more. Most people have no clue what he really does for this world, and he seems to like it that way. You could say the same would apply to us in this situation."

"You two are really interested in the boys, aren't you?"

"More than you could ever realize, Will," Jenny replied.

"That day you said everyone became Saxon?" Su inquired. "Did you see it? I hear the whole of Gallifrey appeared in the skies that day." The tone of her voice was hopeful and full of dread at the same time.

"You really are Time Ladies, aren't you?" he accused before answering. "So I heard. Like I said, I locked myself away in case I was found out and exposed or worse. What of it?"

"You never saw it?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, no. Why?"

"I miss it, Will," she said. "I've dreamed of returning there one day, but then something happened. I could feel somehow that things had changed in the universe. That Gallifrey was no more. I never knew why."

Jenny grabbed her hand. "I told you, it was the Time War."

Su nodded, fighting back tears. Her mind drifted back to the day her release from the late 22d Century had come. She heard the craft land and went running to it, hoping to see her grandfather once more. What she found was an empty TARDIS and a holographic message from a strange but familiar face. She had said this was the last chance she had to help him, that she had sent that TARDIS for her, to reunite with him once more. It had taken Su years to track him down and when she did, she found only Jenny drifting in space, her own life support on the edge of failing. The two soon found their own way, creating the family they had lost. Their path had lead here. She glanced back up to Will, realizing no one had said anything in a while. He was giving her a strange look.

"What?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"So you two want to help me raise the boys, is that it?" he asked. "But you want to do it from the shadows, so the big man doesn't know you're here?"

Jenny nodded. "Essentially, yes."

Su reached over and took his hand. "Will, you know you can trust us, right?"

He squeezed her hand. "As well as anyone else in this crazy world none of us really belongs in," he told her. "One thing though, if you're going to stay, you can't park that invisible TARDIS outside the nursery window, especially when we're trying to paint the room. Fumes and all, you know?"

Jenny rolled her eyes as Su leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. "Of course."

The pale man in the blue suit stopped to check his appearance in a reflection before he entered the hall. His close cropped hair and goatee were a pale blond, adding into his ghostly appearance. Only his cobalt blue eyes stood out, and he noted long ago this particular shade of color for his suit seemed to make them pop. He winked at himself proudly before proceeding.

He strode past the various cells, barely noting the occupants within as he passed until he reached the one on the far end. The one containing the most dangerous of the lot. Far more dangerous than the two large green aliens with the long arms and neck. One of the first days they had been captive, an inattentive guard had been skewered by a finger bone projectile from one of them. Ever since, these two were forced to wear metal mesh gloves, just in case.

Then there was the feline trio who tried to make the best of their situation by acting as if they were on vacation. They had even asked to be able to paint the walls into a tropic beach, and the males even wore flowery print shirts and she wore a loose sundress to complement it. (He actually felt bad about these three, as they were most accommodating and one of the males tried to appease him as often as he could.)

The other cells were full of occupants just as odd: silver robots; the plastic mannequins; the savage humanoid with sharp teeth and beady eyes recovered in Wales; the ghostly white unformed humanoids who tried to mimic anyone they saw; the lizard woman; and even the creature that refused to come out of it's tank-like shell. All would have killed him on sight if given the chance. All stayed their hand because of the man at the end of the hall. It was obvious they feared him, but none would say why.

The man in question ignored the man in the blue suit as he read the morning paper by his cell door.

"There's been activity on the Estate," he informed the prisoner in a cheery voice.

The prisoner ignored him.

"It seems our mystery woman is back, seduced the caretaker, and was joined by another woman. A blonde, this time."

The prisoner turned the page of his paper, indifferent.

"It seems she climbed into a window despite not having appeared anywhere outside the building?"

The prisoner raised an eyebrow at this. Whether it was for something he had just read or from his captor's report, it was hard to tell.

"Unfortunately, nothing fun happened, unless you count a late night painting party by the ladies fun? Once again, identification has proved impossible on either woman. Either way, the blonde missed an interesting bedtime story between the caretaker and his date, last night. Would you like to read the transcript?" He held up his PAD. "It is quite horrific and racy at the same time. Of course, whatever event he related has turned up untraceable, much like the man, himself, before a few years ago."

The prisoner glanced over to the man in the blue suit.

"I'm sorry. I'll have someone print it out for you. No sense letting you have any technology after the last time, is it?" he taunted.

The prisoner scowled. A lock of hair fell down in front of his eyes. "I don't suppose you could schedule me a visit to a barber, could you? I feel the need for a trim," he finally said, brushing the long brown curl from his face.

"I'll see what my superior thinks," Mr. Belew replied with a smirk.

"Don't worry, I know you will try to analyze it for whatever you can, but it will be a waste of time. Again."

"Yes, curious that. I don't suppose you would be so kind as to tell us why? Not a single trace of DNA recovered from any sample we've tried to take from you. What secrets are you hiding?"

The prisoner smiled. "As I have told you many times before, I am a master of many secrets." He folded the paper and handed it the his captor through the service slit in the clear door. "Here. Tell the kitties not to fill in the New York Times crosswords in ink in the future, would you? There's a good boy."

Mr. Belew took the newspaper with a hint of disgust, turned and marched back the way he had come. The lab boys would once again comb over the paper for any trace of DNA, coded message, or whatever. They would, of course, find nothing once again.

Once outside the hall, he would place it into one of the usual inventory processing bags and drop it off before reporting to his superior. He usually ignored the seeming random placement of the black uniformed soldiers in the halls as he walked, but he would occasionally make a game out of where the day's rotation would place them. Of course, they were always placed flanking the boss' office. Even with the extreme security measures, he often felt intimidated by the way the usual guards always seemed to size him up as a threat and eager to throw him to the ground when he swiped his access card too fast for the reader.

He was almost surprised to see the man had someone in his inner office as he entered, a woman with mocha colored skin. His superior's personal assistant made him take a seat until they were finished. He thought she looked familiar, somehow, and she seemed to be on at least friendly terms with the man in charge judging by her relaxed stance as she talked to him.

When she did leave, she barely glanced in his direction. He noted that she wore a military uniform similar to UNIT, but there were no markings to identifying her branch or allegiance. He was finally allowed in a few minutes later.

"And how is our guest of honor this morning?" the man's superior inquired.

"He seemed intrigued by the report at the Estate, to be honest, but annoyed the cats are trying to solve the Times crossword in ink, again."

"Do they even know what they are writing?"

"It's hard to say, sir," Mr. Belew replied. "The code breakers know it's a language, but have yet to decipher it."

"Have they asked the cats to read it?"

"They have, but they revert to their native language, claiming it's hard to translate to human terms?"

"And what does he do with the crossword?"

"He apparently doodles circles, sir. If it's a code, it's far more advanced than anything we have on Earth."

"Circles?" the man behind the desk mused. "Compare it with any and all crop circles, see if there's any correlation."

"Of course, sir," Belew nodded.

"Is there anything else?"

"If I may be so bold, sir? The woman who just left?"

The man behind the desk gave him an unappreciative glare.

"Dr. Jones is of no concern to you."

"Yes, sir. Sorry to bother you, sir."

"Dismissed, Agent!"

Belew nodded and saw himself out, making a mental note to look into this mysterious "Dr. Jones" woman and making a joke to himself about her being a world traveling adventurer. He had no clue her travels took her much farther than that.

In his office, the man in charge rolled his eyes at the departing man in blue, then turned to his computer and opened a communications channel. The familiar T-hexagon flashed for a minute before an obviously distracted man appeared, still pulling up his suspenders.

"Good morning, handsome!" Jack Harkness cheerily quipped upon seeing who was calling him.

"There have been some visitors to the Estate, Jack," the man informed him. "Two young women, one was dark-haired, possibly of Asian descent, the other was a blonde, both unknown. Martha claimed she had no clue as to their identities, either."

"Will is allowed to have guests, you know," Jack reminded his associate.

"One of the women apparently appeared out of nowhere, when she climbed into a window. I'm sending you the security footage now," he replied, tapping the command into his keyboard.

Jack looked away to another monitor, watching it for a few minutes. He looked slightly amused at several parts. He finally turned back to his caller. "Thanks, James, I'll pop by and see how things are going, later. It looks like nothing to worry about."

"The woman climbed into a window out of thin air, Jack," James reminded him. "Surely that requires some looking into?"

"Let me worry about that, won't you?" Jack snapped. "No one sets foot on the Estate without my consent. Not even Martha. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir. My apologies."

"Was there anything else?"

"No sir."

Jack thanked him for the update and turned his connection off. James leaned back in his chair and let out a heavy sigh. The Ministry allowed Torchwood more than enough leeway, but allowing a loose cannon like Jack Harkness to run his operation? Not bloody likely.

He knew Harkness went into hiding after the 456 Incident, only to turn up during the chaos of the "Miracle Day" event and immediately disappear again until most of that mess had been cleaned up. Such an unreliable man was not going to be put in charge of the operation he had been running for years, no matter the cost. His department had salvaged most of the equipment from the Torchwood Hub under Roald Dahl Plass and had been put to good use in the name of the British people since that time. In James' opinion, Harkness had lost the right to the equipment and any chance of redeeming himself being allowed to run any organization by his actions and with his disappearances. It was James' show now.

Three weeks later

Will made his usual run into town, not expecting anything unusual until he chanced upon a familiar face sitting at his favorite bench.

"Hello, lass," he greeted, dropping beside her. "I didn't expect to see you so soon. Fancy a bit of lunch, then?"

She turned and gave him a confused expression. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Very funny, Su Smith," he chided her before seeing her alarm at using the name. "This is going to be our first date from your perspective, isn't it?" he asked.

"From my perspective?" she repeated. "Have we met?"

"Bloody time travelers," he muttered before offering to buy her lunch again and explaining who he was. He didn't realize until after they had eaten that she never mentioned Jenny once.

TBC...