Chapter Four
The Crater
"So this is it?" the Doctor asked as they reached a clearing which was almost completely torn up, the result of some sort of collision.
"Yep," Allie said, carrying her shotgun so that it was pointed downward, but prepared to shoot at a moment's notice.
The Doctor walked to the edge of the crater before sliding down the edge on her feet. She whipped out her Sonic Screwdriver to scan the area before her frown deepened. As Allie approached the edge of the crater, she could spot the redheaded alien crouch down and grabbed a handful of the dirt and sift through it with her hand before sniffing her hand and giving it a lick.
"Were you ever this gross before?" Allie asked.
"Just had to be certain my nose wasn't playing tricks on me," the Doctor said with a frown, "we should hurry away from this place as fast as we can.
"And why is that?" Allie asked as the Doctor ran up the side of the crater.
"Because I don't like what I found out," she stated, "a part of me should be happy but, to tell the truth, none of me is. In fact, all of me is rather terrified and I think the only way I could be the slightest bit more comfortable is if I'm holding your shotgun."
The Doctor held out her hand, looking at Allie. She hated how her hands were shaking and she was mildly curious if it was entirely because of what she discovered or if it was a combination of her terror mixed with the fact that she was still in the middle of her regeneration cycle. She knew she would be capable of withstanding just about everything for the next ten or so hours, but she knew that Allie wouldn't let her run off. She wondered if Allie would even just hand over her gun as she received a rather pointed look from the human.
"Tell me what's going on first," Allie stated, frowning at her.
"Okay, while we're walking," she said, giving into the human girl's demands as the two walked back into the treeline.
"It wasn't space debris that crashed there," she stated, "well, I guess it kinda was, but it wasn't a rock. I wish it was. Or even a figment of the Nestene Conscious. But no, nothing like that. My Sonic Screwdriver managed to detect a faint amount of Artron energy. While I was scanning, I came across a familiar scent and one I both wanted to smell again and wished it never would. By picking up a handful of the soil, I managed to find small shards of a specific material, which I further checked by licking my hand afterwards."
"Do you always dodge the details?" Allie asked as they reached a small paved road.
"You wouldn't understand what I'd be saying otherwise," the Doctor stated lightly.
"Try me," Allie almost growled at her.
"Okay, Artron energy is a specific type of energy that is built up through traveling by a very specific means. The scent I detected is the scent of multiple Time Lords. The shards I saw were shards of a plasmic shell."
"Time Lords? You mean that you're not the last of your people now?" Allie asked, "Isn't that a good thing?"
"No," the Doctor stated, dead serious, "they were consumed by war. The last time I saw my people, I barely survived the encounter. Wound up regenerating anyways to save a human's life. So no, this is so very, very bad. Who knows what they're up to. Especially in such a sparsely populated area. They could do who knows what out here and no one could catch them because we're far from a major population center."
"So what will you do when you catch them?" Allie asked as a black van crested the hill behind them and slowed as it passed them and stopped.
The doors to the van opened, revealing that only one man was in the van. He had a rather distinctive chin, thick brown hair and was wearing a grin, a gray longcoat and rather plain clothing.
"And what are two beautiful women doing walking down a country road all alone?" the man asked, his demeanor friendly enough before saying, "Name's—"
"You can stop it you know, Captain Harkness," the Doctor stated, somewhere between friendly and annoyed.
"Doctor?" the man asked, eyebrows rising as he looked up and down her, "I can't say I don't like this new regeneration."
"Two dates and then we'll see," the Doctor said, half teasing half joking.
"That's even more work than the last time I asked!" Jack exclaimed, laughing before approaching the redheaded Time Lord.
"Still the same old Jack," the Doctor said fondly as she was hugged tightly by Jack.
"Friend of yours?" Allie asked the Doctor as Jack let go of the Doctor.
"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack said, taking Allie's right hand in both of his, "and who are you?"
"Allie. And flattered," Allie said lightly, pulling her hand free from the man's grasp.
"Met him back in my ninth regeneration," the Doctor said, pointing her thumb at the man, "since then he's either stalking me or our paths just happen to cross. Still trying to determine which it is this time, but seeing as how I haven't lost any more hands on this planet, I doubt you're stalking me."
"There's been a massive influx of Artron energy in the local area since the fireball. Torchwood's been keeping a watch on the local area. I hoped that the most recent spike was you," Jack stated, "I figured it was when I saw you wave your screwdriver around in the middle of the crater."
"So you followed and decided to offer us a ride on the off-chance that she wasn't," Allie stated.
"Yep," Jack answered with a grin.
"And if we weren't who you thought we were, you were probably hoping to get lucky," the Doctor added.
"I'm not that bad," Jack stated.
"I seem to recall an incident on Hiraxis Prime," the Doctor said with a grin.
"That was a long time ago!" Jack exclaimed defensively.
"Like that makes any difference?" the Doctor asked before Jack started to laugh.
"So which number is this one?" Jack asked.
"Thirteen," the Doctor said, getting Jack to lose his mirth.
"Thirteen? That's—"
"I know. Still trying to come to terms about it. And here I thought being a girl for once is going to be the hardest part about this," the Doctor said.
"I could help," Jack stated.
"That was awfully straightforward for you, Captain Jack Harkness," the Doctor stated with a grin before frowning, "I think we'll take you up on your offer for a lift as long as you also get me every piece of information you have."
"This is like old times again, isn't it?" Jack asked as he and the rest of them headed towards the van.
"So I take it he's always this much of a charmer?" Allie asked.
"Some people never change. I already have seen the day he will," the Doctor said quietly, hoping that Jack didn't pick up the last bit.
Author's Note 3/5/13
So it's been two days. I won't be doing much work on this for about a week because I have a major project due next Tuesday. And since I won't have much in the way of finals during Finals Week (in two weeks), I would be able to write like mad. At least until April because that's when Camp NaNoWriMo happens (and my birthday). I also have writing to do for a video series I'm doing. It doesn't help that I'm still recovering from crud (my throat was inundated by a tsunami of mucus which is now turning into a trickle).
I decided to throw in Jack during this adventure because I can and because no one knows when exactly in his timeline that he has that encounter with the Headless Monks. This is before that event in Jack's point of view but obviously not from the Doctor's.
For 13, I'm trying to write her as being a bit grim. Oh, she's doing all she can to hide the fact that she's run out of respawns and that besides the 15 hour regeneration cycle, if she gets killed or wounded badly, she's screwed. I just hope that I'm succeeding at writing a grim character since mine are either hyperactive balls of sunshine or complete emos who just want to curl up into a ball and die. I've had a character who was both. At the same time. It was scary.
I don't know when I'll come out with the next chapter, but it will happen. I've got this whole adventure planned out on top of the next one and a half (which will be fun). Oh and yes, Allie is not going to let the poor Doctor ever keep her out of the loop, even more so when said Doctor is acting all scared.
But for now, see ya!
~Gregora