CHAPTER THREE

The NCIS team stepped past the open cog wheel and Tony looked around with a smile. "Nice place. A bit of London Underground meets Star Trek."

He flinched, waiting for the slap from Gibbs but was surprised when it didn't come. The reason being was that Gibbs was being shown up to the boardroom and into Jack's office, with Ducky in tow. Tony nodded up there to Ziva, Tim and Abby. "What do you make of that?"

"Something is clearly complicating our case," said Ziva as she followed them up to the boardroom where they all unpacked what gear they needed as a travelling office.

The rest remained in their packs. A man with coffee coloured skin, close cropped hair and vaguely military clothing came in and looked them over. "You must be NCIS. I'm Mickey Smith."

Tony shook his hand. "Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, Special Agent Timothy McGee, Probationary Special Agent Ziva David, and Forensics Specialist Abby Scuito. Our team leader and Medical Examiner seems to be with your Director at the moment."

"Yeah, this case is a real complicated mess. Glad to have you around to help sort it."

At that moment, a few others joined him. "Here, let me return the favour, seeing as Jack is otherwise busy, this is Dr. Martha Jones, our medical expert. Gwen Cooper, now administrative but used to be field agent. Ianto Jones, no relation to Martha, our administrative management. Alonso is the one in the back, and he's a field agent as well. You may also see a woman that wanders by every so often. She's with Ianto and her name is Autumn. Don't bother asking for more, we have no idea what her last name is and Ianto here maintains she doesn't have one."

"Well, she doesn't," answered Ianto. "And she doesn't come by often unless she feels I've been working myself too hard."

"Yeah, a right mother hen she is."

At that moment, Jack, Gibbs and Ducky entered the boardroom. "Great, you've met each other," said Jack. "I'm glad to say that we've managed to hash out who will do what and in what role we'll conduct this joint investigation. Obviously, if it's English, its Torchwood. If its American, its NCIS. Everything else is split down the middle and shared. Understood?"

There were nods from Torchwood, and with a glance from Gibbs, also from NCIS. With a smile, Jack continued. "Great, here's the deal."

Gwen moved out of the way of the large LCD screen on the wall. "Ordinarily, had the attack not resulted in death, we would have retconned them and let them get on with their lives. Unfortunately, there were too many of them and someone died. Not to mention retcon is safer on the healthy, and we didn't want to risk it on the injured ones. This is what we know. At approximately two in the morning our time, a group of United States Navy and Royal Navy went to take in some sights with the Royal Navy showing the USN officers around. They were on their way back from a pub when they were attacked by an alien whose species is unknown to us at the moment. One was mauled to death, others, in trying to save him, were severely mauled and thus injured, but are expected to make a full recovery."

"Aliens." This from Tony. "Seriously?"

"This is what Torchwood does... and, as part of the UN, that is what UNIT does. Ask your colleague Dr. Mallard about his time in UNIT," retorted Jack. "Back to business. Because it involves USN personnel, you were brought in. And I know you're good at this. Help us find out what exactly happened that night and piece it all together. We'll take it from there. I wish I could give you something for JAG to pick over, but unfortunately, that's not the way it works with us."

There were looks around the table but Gibbs quelled them. "If that's the way it has to be, then fine. I don't like it though."

"Noted," answered Jack. "But it is the best way to deal with it. I wish we had another option but unless you'd like to see everyone start freaking out then it's just the way it's gotta be. Now, it's late and I don't like working all night. I wouldn't suggest wandering around given the circumstances of the case, but perhaps we should see if we can get you settled in for the night."

As usual, Gibbs stayed up far longer than them all. He found he never needed as much sleep as others did. Oh, he would eventually simply crash and sleep a full night or two in a row, but not like the others. He was surprised to find that he wasn't the only one on the balcony overlooking Cardiff. Jack was also leaning on the rail. "You ever sleep?" asked the other man.

Gibbs shrugged, but didn't answer.

"Yeah, neither do I. Leadership can suck that way. The worries always running around. You ever lose members of your team, Gibbs?" asked Jack and he was surprised when the stoic mask slipped for a moment to show a deep and great sorrow hiding beneath, but the mask was slammed down back in place as quickly as it had slipped out of place. "I'll take that as a yes. Never gets easier."

There was, of course, no answer from Gibbs. Jack was realizing why Ducky liked him so much. Ducky could talk the man's ear off and he'd simply listen in silence. "So, what do you do to keep it all at bay?" asked Jack, trying to get at least one word out of the man.

"I build boats in my basement," came the simple answer, and there was no further explanation as Gibbs fell back into his silence.

"Seriously?"

A side glance, one that showed he was very serious and not pulling Jack's leg on the matter. "Wow, that's some basement."

There was only a soft chuckle in response, but again, the man was silent. "Am I going to have to carry this conversation or are you going to add anything to it?"

"Thought I did already."

"Yeah, but with no explanation? Now you have me wondering. Not to mention what goes on in that head of yours. Are you sure you're the silent and mysterious type? Oh wait, no, you have it in spades." Jack sighed. "Man, I miss the Doctor. He could talk your ear off. I feel like I'm filling a space that no one can fill."

"The who?"

"Oh, right... remember I was talking to Dr. Mallard about this friend of ours who went missing eleven months ago?"

Gibbs nodded, and Jack continued. "His name was the Doctor. He was a time traveler... the best... his people only created time travel. He was the last of the Time Lords. An alien from the planet of Gallifrey, in the solar system of Kasterborous. He was at least 900 to 1000 years old, but so young at the same time. Saved the Earth more times than anyone cared to count. Worked with UNIT, evidently with Dr. Mallard. And had his twin hearts broken more than I care to count too. Finally got too much for him to bear and he... well... I'd say ran but that would be cruel. He'd reached his limits and needed to decompress the only way he knew how, I guess."

"And his name was the Doctor?" asked Gibbs.

"Well, yeah... I imagine he had a birth name or something, but he never used it. I'm pretty sure the Doctor is a translation. Like Jethro means something. Like Jack means something. Only instead of using the translation like we do, he used the meaning of his name. That's my theory, anyway," answered Jack. "I suppose it's as good as any. Not like he's around to tell me I'm wrong anyway."

Again silence fell and Jack simply looked over the city before sighing again. "He didn't leave in a good way. He said his good byes and then took off. Said he was drowning in sorrow and he needed to forget to move on before he drowned. If he'd only said something earlier maybe we would have been able to help him."

Gibbs didn't say anything to that, but his own thoughts were running through his head. Finally, he broke the silence. "I can understand his reasoning."

"Oh yeah?" asked Jack, and he wasn't surprised when all he got from Gibbs was another blue eyed glare.

It wouldn't be for hours until Jack realized that Gibbs, who had formally been the most adamant in his disbelief that aliens existed, had accepted his explanation of the Doctor without so much as a batted eyelash.

Again, that feeling of deja vu swept over Jack. Again, he forced it down, even while he filed the instance under suspicious.

As it was, it didn't take very long for things to go from bad to worse. Gibbs had sent Ziva and DiNozzo with Martha and Mickey to talk to the officers at the hospital when the cog wheels spun open and uniformed soldiers walked in. Gibbs looked up and instantly recognized the red berets of UNIT. What seemed more out of place was the elder man who walked with a cane, although he wore the same crisp uniform only with far more insignia. Jack looked up at the man's entrance and Gibbs got the feeling Jack happy to see him. "Brigidier!" exclaimed Jack.

"Greetings Jack, I heard that you may have found something of import in relation to our missing friend."

"We did," Jack answered, then he turned to Gibbs. "Give me a sec, I have to deal with this."

Jack gathered up the crate in his office before leaving the room to head to what served as the morgue. Ducky also was there, and Gibbs found himself wondering what his old friend was involved in that it required such secrecy. A moment later, Ducky called, "Jethro, since you decided we would help when not working on the case, perhaps you would like to be included in this?"

Gibbs stood up, closed the laptop so that it automatically password locked, and walked into the autopsy room. On a table was two items that seemed strange and unrelated to each other. Both also appeared dead. The Brigidier and Ducky were poring over them. "I recognize this technology as from his world, but this appears almost human…" The other man put the alien technology down gently, almost with a sense of reverence. "You said he was a bit depressed… He must have been to do this."

"Alistair, you saw the recording he left. He was more than depressed. I'd say shattered," clarified Jack.

"I'd like to see this recording you keep referring," said Ducky.

"No you don't." This was from both Sir Alistair and Jack, although Jack was the one who further explained. "He wasn't the same at all."

"Duck finished out another course in psychology. It serves to see into the mindset of criminals, so it could serve another purpose as well," pointed out Gibbs. "Maybe it might be a way to find a way to help, or find your friend."

"Jethro, whatever happened to not getting involved in something outside of our case?"

"Call it a secondary case that we just happen to have the expertise to help with. And we're here. Good enough for me."

Ducky turned to Sir Alistair and Jack, "So, about this recording?"

"We took a recording of it," answered Jack. "Seeing as it was related to a missing persons, technically, we put in evidence." Jack led them out of autopsy, and Gwen, who had heard everything was already bringing up the video recording of the holographic recording.

Moments later, the computer screen showed a flickering image, the holograph, of a young man in a tweed suit and a bow tie. Behind him defied explanation. "What the hell is that?" asked McGee.

"That is the inside of the TARDIS, the missing man's ship," answered Jack. "Listen."

They did. And Ducky rewatched the video a few more times before he finally let Gwen stop the video. He took his glasses off and wiped his eyes before turning to Jack. "What does he mean by the loss of Gallifrey?"

"He fought in a war. His whole world, and his people – all of them – were destroyed save for him and that TARDIS. It's all that remains," answered Ianto. "I can't imagine what that must have felt like… what it still feels like. But knowing that I can see why he'd want to forget it all."

"And the items in autopsy were found where and when?" asked Ducky.

"Torchwood Toronto said they found them not far from Sault. Ste Marie, in Ontario… it's a border city separated by a river. The US city is Soo Michigan," answered Jack. "They found them in the eighties. And before you tell me it's impossible – the man was a time traveler. So, while it's been eleven months for us, it's been at least thirty for him."

"Hell of a crossroads," said Gibbs. "But easy enough to start over."

"The poor man," murmured Abby.

Ziva and Tony followed Martha and Mickey through the hospital to a special wing where it was clear UNIT held sway. "Plenty of security on your patients," mentioned Ziva.

"It was necessary," answered Mickey. "Not that it came back to finish the job, but it case it does…"

"Very prudent," agreed Ziva.

Finally, Martha motioned them inside a room. A young man was lying on the bed, but he was reading a magazine. Both Ziva and Tony saw that he was badly hurt. "Good afternoon Lieutenant Sanchez," greeting Martha. "These are Special Agents DiNozzo and David of NCIS."

"NCIS… they said you were coming but I didn't believe it until now," said Sanchez. "Are you even going to believe me?"

"That depends, what do you think we won't believe?" asked DiNozzo.

"Just tell us what you saw and we will interpret and investigate it," said Ziva. "It doesn't matter what you think you saw… that can lie. We will find out the truth of the matter."

Martha lifted her brows and looked pointedly at Mickey. In one sentence, Ziva had not only put the lieutenant's mind at ease enough to actually get him to open up, but also come up with a viable explanation of how to convince the lieutenant that perhaps it wasn't as it seemed, making it possible that they would not have to use Retcon.

"All right," Sanchez agreed. "It literally came out of nowhere. Monica didn't have a chance. At first it looked like it was part of the shadow, then it was all teeth and claws. She was right there… and then there was nothing but bits. At first we tried to save her and then we knew all we could was run and hope we weren't next. I heard one of the English fellas scream, and then it had my leg. After that, Torchwood showed up and… well… I don't remember much after that. I might have passed out."

"And then what?" asked DiNozzo.

"I came to in the ER. I passed out. Woke up in recovery, I guess… then woke up again here and been here ever since. When can we get back to the ship, Special Agent DiNozzo?"

"Hopefully soon," answered Tony. "You rest and heal up. Your country needs you back on your feet."

With a nod, Ziva followed him out into the hall, closely followed by Martha and Mickey. "Well?" asked Martha.

"I can definitely see why Torchwood was brought in," said Tony, scratching the back of his neck.

"Let us continue talking to the others before we head back so that we have more to give Gibbs," suggested Ziva.

"Not to mention Jack," murmured Mickey.