Evan was napping on the sofa with Jack when he felt a darkness creeping in upon his peaceful sleep. His heart beat faster, his breath quickened. It was a dream. He felt like he was plummeting and then stopping suddenly. There was something looming over him, huge and close, but he couldn't see it.
Where are you?! I feel you! Show yourself!
There was a deep, oddly grating whisper. Not ready. Burn you up like food, little monkey child.
He felt his knees go watery and fold under him as he clutched his head. There was no ground… at least he couldn't feel any. He felt something rolling around inside, like a killer whale deep under the ocean surface; only he was the ocean, bright on the surface and dark below. The gnashing teeth were chewing on him. There was no up, no down, nothing. Just falling and rolling and stretching in the dark. He tried to scream, tried to breathe. The darkness thrummed and beat like a heart, making every atom chime like a bell.
"Evan!"
The nothing lurched.
"Evan! Wake up!"
Another quake in the blackness.
"Evan!"
The voice was full of fear and fear ripped the dark. Light blinded him and made him gasp in pain. He was shaking, cold. But there was warmth against him: Jack.
"Hey, hey. Easy. It was a dream, just a dream. Shhh." He felt Jack's lips against his temple.
"Jack…." His head throbbed in protest at the light and his stomach lurched. He jerked free with a choking sound, hit the floor hard and scrambled to the bathroom to be sick.
"What the hell…?" Jack grabbed his phone and hit the speed dial for Stephen. "Hey, come to the warehouse. Something's wrong with Evan."
Stephen arrived in short order and had Evan on the sofa, examining him. The portable scanner was giving off a series of decidedly aggravated sounding beeps. Stephen scowled, rocking back on his haunches before him.
"Some of what I see looks for all the world like traces of a migraine headache, but… given that we still have no damned clue what the rest of his physiology consists of, it makes diagnosing the issue beyond difficult. All I can tell you for sure is it's not any sort of microbial issue. He's clean of germs." He pushed to his full height. "Have you changed anything, Evan? Eaten new foods, used new art supplies, anything?"
Evan was a little pale, but looked much calmer than he had. "No. I felt fine until I woke up. Just… the bad dream." He glanced at Jack who rubbed his back gently.
"Well, the best I can do at the moment is dull down that headache for you. That should calm your stomach as well. Other than that, I'd let him rest a bit, Jack, and feed him. His glucose is a little low." He filled a syringe. "Give me your hip, Evan. This works better from there." Once Evan rested on his side with his hip exposed, he injected the medication. Evan hissed at the burn and then relaxed. "Call me if things get worse."
"We will." He clasped him by the forearm. "Thanks, Stephen."
He gave a faint shrug. "My job." He gathered his equipment back into his bag and headed out.
Jack sat on the edge of the sofa, caressing Evan's cheek. "Do you remember anything from the dream?" For his part, he'd been awakened by what had sounded to him like distant cries for help to find Evan in a state.
He was feeling a little drowsy. "No, not really. Just… that I was afraid." He shivered faintly. "Very afraid."
Jack sighed. "Let's get you some food before you pass out."
Jack stayed with him. Thankfully it ended up being a quiet night and they were undisturbed. He slept through the drugged haze, hardly moving. Jack stayed awake, unable to sleep without Evan's song to lull him. He was worried. Evan hadn't done this before. The dream had almost had him in convulsions and he'd felt hot to the touch as well. He started to wonder if it wasn't time to go back to trying to puzzle out what Evan was. There was one resource they hadn't tapped the first time. Getting a hold of him when you wanted him was, of course, dodgy. He'd have to try.
Two days later, they were chasing a large pack of enormous insectoid creatures through the sewers. The things had scared the Weevils up into the streets, causing a double issue. Jules, Evan, Jack and Chris were working on trying to flush the insectoids into a trapped area. Gwen, Dani, Alex and Keri were running down the panicked Weevils. Stephen was sitting watch.
Evan and Chris had taken one branch of the network while Jules and Jack went another way. They could hear the creatures skittering, but it was hard to tell exactly where they were with the echoes. Evan had tried to see if he could sense them, but their bug brains were far too primitive and alien for him to sense. He cursed mentally, trying to see if they even left an impression at all when they passed through the tunnel. He'd come to realize that some primitive or very simplistic life forms didn't leave an energy trace he could discern. So they kept going. He knew they were going fairly deep now. The smell was so thick and horrid that it coated his tongue. Chris looked almost green with it, but he kept his discomfort to himself. He held a hand up, indicating Chris should be still as he listened. He heard a slide, a scrape, dripping. Then, nothing. He was starting to really dislike these damned creepy-crawlies.
Down their tunnel, Jack and Jules weren't having much better luck. The walls and Weevil rubbish were confounding scan attempts. Jules swore she could hear something ahead, but the sounds of water and the echoes were making it confusing. They were coming to an area where slanted sluiceways penetrated the walls above them. Jack was almost under one ahead of her when Jules caught a glimpse of shiny carapace.
"Jack, look out!"
It seemed like the world slowed suddenly, though Jules knew it was really going incredibly fast. The thing launched itself out of the sluiceway. Its maw gaped as it gave a gibbering, shrieking roar. Its long appendages splayed wide, the blade-like ends ready to rip into Jack. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears. No, it rang? There was a low whisper, echoing.
Jack….
Pulse, ring. Pulse, ring. Breathe. Out. Open. Go.
Chris had frozen in his tracks. He saw a vibration in the air around Evan and then he was just gone, vanished. Jules had the gun in her hand, but it trembled and a terrified sound passed her lips as her finger refused to squeeze the trigger.
"Shoot…. Shoot." It shivered past her lips. And then there was a voice.
Back, little child. Go.
A ripple shook the air and Evan was suddenly between Jack and the monster. Jack had managed to turn, but too slowly. He could fire, but it was going to pile drive him, no matter what. Evan's sudden appearance snapped his eyes to him. Evan's eyes were closed and he seemed to be listening to something only he could hear.
"Evan?!" He could feel something pulling at him painfully and winced. Something was building, felt like it was filling the tunnel, though he could see nothing.
Pulse, ring. Pulse, ring. Breathe. Out. Open. Go
Evan's eyes opened as he looked at Jack over his shoulder. Jack was startled to see that they were completely shiny black and shot through with tiny pinpricks of silver, like star fields.
One such as you is not safe so close, Captain. Run.
The voice grated through Jack's head. He knew it came from Evan, but wasn't. Seconds compressed, expanded, twisted. Evan's hand went out and the creature froze in mid-air.
"Evan!"
Go!
A force shoved both Jack and Jules backward and away. Jack saw the glow, a faint rippling ribbon in the air that crackled and split. In the breach was nothing…. The whole ground seemed to be shuddering and ringing around them and Jules covered her ears with a cry. They could hear Chris yelling somewhere.
Above ground, Gwen slid to a stop, almost falling onto her butt. The hair on her arms was standing up and there was a ring, a vibration. Metal things around her sounded like chimes ringing. "What the bloody hell?!" She clicked on her earpiece. "Jack?!" Nothing. "Jack!"
Jack stared in shock as the insectoid suddenly flew into the narrow gash, several of its limbs ripped off and spraying black ichor in the process because the gap was too narrow for it. Things seemed to happen incredibly fast then. Two more of the things tried to jump Evan with the same result. They were thrown into the gap, but it was shrinking, so they went like bodies sucked through a ruptured ship hull. Jack grunted, feeling more pressure pulling at him. He felt like the ringing thrum around them was liquefying him from the inside out. Then it suddenly started to decrease. He saw Evan waver. One more creature flew at him from the opposite direction as the gap sealed. Its bladed forelegs struck out.
"NO!"
Jack tried to gain his feet and couldn't. He was disoriented, but his vision focused in sharply as the legs scissored into Evan's torso and tore him apart. There was a flash and boom as Jules shot the thing right in the head, blowing the far side of it off. It rolled sideways, Evan falling from its grip with a sickening wet thud. A high, choking sound came up from Jules' throat and the gun clattered to the floor. Jack finally managed to scramble to his feet, but Jules rushed past him, sliding to her knees in the gore with her medic case thumping.
Evan's upper torso was attached to the rest of him by little more than his spine and shreds of muscle. He spasmed and choked, convulsing. His eyes were brown again and flicked to Jack who let out strangled sound. "Sss…" He grimaced and made a sharp sound of pain.
"Nononononono!" Jules was frantically digging through her kit. She intellectually knew there was nothing she could do, but she shakily tried to find something… ANYTHING.
"Jack…." He made another sound of pain. "Ssss….sorry… Jack."
"Shhh. Don't talk." Tears were cutting paths through the muck and gore on his face. "Don't."
Evan blinked slowly. Jack stared. The pupils of his eyes were still that eerie, glittering black. The same grating voice that had told him to run whispered in his head. Puzzle pieces. Put together.
Then there was empty silence. His eyes were wide. "Jules…." He shook her shoulders. "Pull him together! Help me! We need the pieces."
She sobbed. "Jack… he's gone! He's not breathing!"
"Dammit, Jules! HELP ME!" He started frantically looking for all of the gory human bits on the floor and trying to put them roughly where they belonged.
"Captain?!" Chris came staggering out of an adjoining tunnel and froze at the sight before him. "Oh, shit…."
Dani was the first into the sewers and he followed the sounds and the smell of gore to them. He slid to a stop at the edge of the blood pool, lips drawn back in much the way a cat which smelled something offensive would do. "Oh, hell…." He tried to put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Jack…."
"No!" He jerked his shoulder away. "The pieces! Gather the pieces!"
Dani didn't comprehend, but he stripped off his trench coat. "Here! Put him in it!" He dragged Chris closer. "Come on! Hurry up!"
He and Chris carefully shifted the largest two pieces over and Jack and Jules gathered everything they could find, though both of them were choking back racking sobs. When everything was in, Dani tied it closed as best he could.
They came up as Gwen was heading to the tunnels. She paled and froze as she saw the gore soaked bundle in Jack's arms.
"Meet us back," called Dani. He, Jules, Jack, Chris and what remained of Evan vanished and reappeared on the foredeck of his ship. He quickly opened the hatch and Jack went off at top speed toward med bay.
"Stephen!"
Jules just went to her knees, crying. Chris knelt and supported her for a moment. Then he just scooped her up and carried her. "I've got you, Jules. I've got you."
"What in God's name…?!" Stephen had seen all sorts of gore in his life, but the sight that darkened his doorway shocked him. "Jack?"
"It said to put together the pieces." His eyes were pleading. "You have to put together the pieces, Stephen!"
He put a hand on Jack's arm. "Jack…."
"Do it! It's a fucking order!" He looked insane. "The work doesn't stop until you have it all put back together, do you hear me?!" When Stephen just stared he grabbed his arms painfully. "DO IT!"
Stephen suddenly burst into action. "I need Jules!"
"Put me down, Chris…." She staggered to the table unsteadily. "I'm here."
"Jack…." Dani's voice was soft. "Best get out of their way and let them work." Chris looked at him like he was crazy. "Come on. Let's go upstairs and get out of that mess, hmm?"
Reluctantly, Jack went with him. Gwen, Keri and Alex took a while to get back to The Hub. By the time they got there, Dani had stripped Jack out of his gore-soaked clothes and herded him into the shower. He'd had to keep goading him, helping him because he kept freezing in place and just sobbing. He was numbly walking down the gangway toward medical by the time Gwen hopped down from the lift.
"Jack?"
Dani held up hand and shook his head. "Leave him be."
"What the hell happened?"
"I'm not sure… but… Evan's gone."
A hand went to her mouth to cover the shocked cry as she realized what that bloody bundle had been.
Author Note: My best friend said I should warn you to have your hanky ready. LOL
The Hub was cloaked in uneasy silence. Two days it had taken Jules and Stephen to put the shattered mess that had been Evan all back together. They hadn't slept, hadn't eaten. They had barely left the table until Jules tugged tight the last stitch. Then Stephen had gone off alone looking haggard and sick. Jules had gone to her apartment with Chris, a wan-faced ghost who looked like she had dropped at least four pounds. Jack spent most of those two days watching them with hollow eyes, perched like a statue on a stool with his back against the wall. On the morning of the third day, when Dani tried to pull him from the stool to make him move, he'd ended up being punched in the mouth.
He dabbed at the blood seeping from his lip with a finger. "Jack, if something is going to happen, it'll happen whether you're sitting here or not. You need to move. You need to eat."
Pain darkened Jack's eyes and face as the low words passed his lips, "I will when he does…." Dani moved as if to hug him and Jack shoved him back. "Leave me alone."
Dani's inner and outer eyelids flicked together rhythmically several times as he stared at him. "Okay, Jack. Okay. I get the picture." He let out a string of agitated, chuffing clicks and went back up the gangway, almost running over Gwen. "Don't bother. He won't move."
"I know. Maybe I can at least get him to drink something." She held out the cups she carried.
"Good luck with that." He jerked up at the collar of the brown coat that had temporarily replaced his ruined trench coat. "I'll be on the cell if you need me for anything."
She nodded as he hustled up the ramp. She knew seeing Jack like this deeply disturbed Dani. He said he'd never seen it before. But then, he hadn't been around when Ianto died, either. Gwen didn't say anything at first. She just leaned against the counter and set the coffee between them. She blew out a huff of breath.
"They kept trying to make me leave when I stood watch over you." But it was a different 'they'. She took a sip of her tea, warming her hands on it. "I wouldn't go." She let out a shaky breath.
"I know." He whispered. "I heard you all that time."
"Maybe if you talk to him, Jack? Maybe he can hear you like you could hear me…."
"Why did he do that, Gwen? Why?" He rubbed at his face. "It's not like it would have killed me. Why did he stand between us?" He leaned back again, hands on his knees.
She put a hand over his. "I don't know, Jack. I still don't have the whole story. Why don't you tell me?" He could only tell her what he'd seen. She listened, brows drawn together. "He opened a rift?"
"It sort of looked like it. But there was… nothing. It opened onto nothing… I think . It was hard to tell. It wasn't open for long."
"Oh, Jack, what is he?"
He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. The answer was barely audible. "The man I love. He's the man I love." He took a shaky breath. "Go home, Gwen. Rhys needs you. You sat alone for me. I'll sit alone for him."
"I'll go, but only if you promise me you'll eat something. I'll not hear the end of it if I let you waste away."
"I will, I promise. So go, please." He slipped from the stool. "And, thank you." He hugged her for a moment. "Go home." He turned her gently toward the ramp.
When he was sure she was gone, he moved the stool over beside the table. He settled on it and rested his head on the cold metal beside Evan's head, forehead against the soft curls. His voice was a hoarse whisper.
"You listen to me. You have to come back. I need your song. I need you. I love you, Evan. I need to see your eyes. I need to hear the way you moan against my skin. I need to feel that little kiss you put on my temple as I drift off at night. I need your smile. I need you thinking you're sneaking naked drawings while I sleep. I need your laugh. Come back. Wake up. You have to." Tears wet the dark curls as they pooled. "You have to…." He wasn't sure how long he sat like that. His tears eventually ran out and he just slid a hand out to cover Evan's. "Come home, Evan. Come home, please."
Jules showed up early, well before anyone else was due in. She had a bag that held a box breakfast in it. She still looked pale and sick and she was dressed the most normal she'd been since she started at The Hub. Her hair was its natural sun-streaked brown, wavy and pulled up in a messy ponytail. She wore a baggy black shirt and tatty jeans and a pair of Converse with anime art all over them. Jack didn't think he'd actually ever seen her without make-up before.
"Jules? You should be at home."
"Gwen said you promised you would eat. So you're going to eat." She tried not to look at the pale body she'd spent two days stitching. "Break room. Stephen'll be mental if you eat in here. Let's go." She very gently pulled at Jack's arm.
He shook his head ruefully, voice soft. "You won't go away, will you?"
"No. And I'm off duty, so you can't order me to, either." There was a little spark of her normal fire behind her shadowed eyes.
Jack wasn't stupid. He knew Jules felt responsible for what had happened because she'd hesitated. He followed her up the gangway and settled at the break room table with her as she laid out the breakfast for him. "Jules… what happened down there wasn't your fault."
"If I had fired, he wouldn't have come."
He stilled the hands which fussed with unfolding a napkin for him. "You don't know that. We don't know what caused it." He blinked back fresh tears. No more crying… no more. "So, quit kicking yourself, okay? Remember, when I decided to let him go into the field, I took full responsibility. So it's on me, no one else. Understand?"
She looked at his hand covering hers and nodded slowly. "Eat, Jack."
The fifth day dawned grey and ugly, with a chill rain and wind that passed the buildings with low, mournful moans. Jack had left briefly to go to the loft and retrieve Evan's MP3 player and dock from his studio while Chris was on overnight watch. Chris tried to ignore the soft sounds of "Moonlight Serenade" echoing up from the medbay. Knowing there was a corpse laid out down there instead of in the cold storage where it belonged made his skin crawl. They'd moved it into a side room so Jack could sit undisturbed and Jules and Stephen could get on with their work.
They need to just stop this, he thought. He's gone. Jules is going to go crazy if they don't just accept that. He scowled faintly as he played games to pass the time. He'd been staying with Jules since she'd gone home after completing the stitching. She had begged him to stay, saying that she couldn't bear being alone just yet. He'd been on the sofa until she'd awakened crying. After that, he'd stretched out in her bed with her, just holding her. Right where he wanted to be, but for all the wrong reasons. He sighed.
He glanced up as Stephen entered The Hub. The older man paused at his desk, looking at him as if he had just met him. "Thank you… for taking care of Jules."
"Uh… you're welcome." He ducked his head as the older man continued on to the lower levels .
It was later that day that the screaming started. Stephen had gone up to the break room to have his lunch. Jack sat beside Evan, head on the cold table, whispering to him about maybe taking a trip over to France for a weekend. He was in an almost trance-like state. At first, he thought he had imagined the faint twitch of a finger under his own. But then it came again and he jerked upright.
"Evan?! Come on, sweetheart! Wake up!" He cupped the cold, pale face in his shaking hands. Evan's body suddenly convulsed, arching upward like a bow. His eyes flew wide open. He took a long, gasping breath and then just screamed. The sound tore at Jack. "I've got you, Evan. I'm here! Right here! Look at me! Hold onto me!" Tears blurred his vision as Stephen rushed into the room.
"My God…." He looked stunned.
"Give him something! Quick!" He winced as Evan's terrified mind latched onto his with the ferocity of a bear. He could feel the pain and terror as if they were his own. "Easy, Evan! I'm here! I'm here!"
Jack… oh, it hurts… hurts! He let out another scream of agony.
"Hold him down!" Stephen cursed under his breath as he filled a syringe with a mix of sedative and heavy pain killer.
The whole team was crowded at the top of the gangway on the main deck, uneasy looks passing between them. They could hear Evan struggling even after Stephen jabbed him with the syringe.
Jack grabbed his head between both hands, a fierce look on his face. Evan's eyes were squeezed tightly shut. "Look at me." He kept struggling.
"He's fighting the sedative. But I don't dare give him more. With him this shocky it might do more harm than good…."
"Evan!" Jack's voice was a hard growl. "You look at me, dammit! Right now!"
Evan's eyes snapped open and it was clear he was confused, scared. But Jack's eyes seemed to trap him and his scream trailed off. Jack…. I… I died… I died….
Yes, you did. But you're back and that's all that matters, thought Jack as he finally began to relax. Jack leaned down, resting his forehead against Evan's "Don't you ever do that again…." He hugged him gently, lips against his shoulder to block the cry of relief that tried to come out.
"I… need to scan him, Jack." He gestured to where stitches had just barely started to come loose on the surface closures on Evan's exposed abdomen. "He's obviously not got your speed when it comes to this…."
Don't go….
"Work around me." He didn't take his eyes from Evan's face as he straightened and gently brushed sweat dampened curls from Evan's forehead. "I'm not going anywhere."
Stephen only looked slightly grumpy. At the top of the gangway, Jules wiped at the tears trailing down her face and looked immensely relieved. Without even thinking about it, Chris wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him with her head on his shoulder.
Evan slept a lot over the next two days. Stephen wouldn't allow him to go home yet. He said he couldn't go until all of his internal organs had fully knit back together and proved to be fully functional. So Jack made him as comfortable as possible in his office. Gwen told him to sit the watch and let the team handle things. He was okay with that. They were out investigating a possible Weevil attack scene. Evan was sitting up with his legs on the sofa, looking down at his torso with a scowl.
"It looks like a patchwork quilt…."
Jack was watching him from his chair. "Maybe the scars will fade." He took a deep breath. "Evan, what do you remember?"
His scowl deepened and his throat moved visibly as he swallowed. He closed his eyes, breathing the way Jack recognized as his meditative breathing. His voice was soft. "We were searching without much luck. I kept thinking I heard something, but couldn't track them. Then I heard Jules scream your name and I knew you were in trouble. There was a sound… sort of like… a bell. Then… then I woke up in medbay…." He shuddered and drew the snow leopard printed blanket Jack had brought from the loft for him closer about himself. He sank back against the pillows.
"You don't remember anything else after that sound?" He shook his head and Jack sighed softly. They were quiet for a time, Evan just tracing the spaces between spots on the blanket with his fingers.
"Jack… you remember it every time you die, don't you?"
"Yes. And it does hurt… a lot."
"But I'm not like you."
"No. You're not. Stephen says the process is slower for you and not the same on the scans. The readings are different. It's more like an energy pattern than the cellular growth you see when… say… a gecko grows back its tail. It doesn't match what happens to me or anything else we have information on." He took a deep breath. "I've got a call out to a friend to see if we can get some help."
The Doctor. Evan knew he was talking about The Doctor. He took a shaky breath. "I didn't… hurt anyone, did I?"
"Only the things attacking me."
The team had already been bantering back and forth about this. Jules fervently pointed out that, whatever it was that had controlled Evan's body, it had tried to protect both Jack and her. It had seemed to know that what it was about to do might be dangerous to them both. Chris supported her in that. Stephen was neutral since it wasn't him usually in the fray. He generally just picked up the pieces. Dani said only that he trusted Jack's judgment. Alex was of a mind that any unknown of that caliber in the field was a danger to all involved and that he should be restricted to The Hub again. Keri somewhat agreed with Alex except she didn't think locking him away in a cell was an option. Gwen wasn't sure where she stood on it. On the one hand, a loose cannon of that magnitude was exceptionally dangerous. On the other, they'd run out of ideas on how to figure out what exactly was going on. Jack had told her he was trying to track down The Doctor. She figured that he was probably the only being in the known universe who was likely to even have an insight at that point.
Evan broke into his thoughts. "I'm hungry. Can I have real food yet?"
There was a tap on the door and Jules poked her head in. "Stephen wanted me up for fresh scans while he was in the field." She stepped in when they both nodded. She gave Evan a gentle smile. "You look a lot better today."
"Thanks."
She passed the scanner over him slowly, watching the readout. "Ah good, those gaps in the intestinal musculature look like they've finally sealed."
"So I can eat real food?" He was tired of nutrient shakes. If he had to drink one more, he thought he might throw up. His elevated metabolism had kicked into total overdrive trying to finish putting him back together and that meant he'd been having to constantly sip at the nasty things since he'd come back.
"Yeah." At his beaming expression she gave him a look. "BUT keep it light and don't overload on the roughage. Give your gut a little time to settle back down." She glanced over to assure Jack was paying attention and he nodded slightly.
A little crestfallen, Evan said, "I guess light is better than nothing."
"A lot better." She ruffled his hair. "No more scaring the bejeebers out of me, okay?"
He blushed a little. "I'll try."
Author note: Sorry, I'm not overly fond of the 11th Doctor, so I'm cheating and using the 10th. :-p
Evan was draped across Jack on the sofa. It was Jack's turn on the overnight, so they were staying in his office. He'd been feeling much better the last few days, but Stephen cautioned him not to overdo things. So he was taking care of things in The Hub for now. Jack was fast asleep for the first time in almost two weeks. Evan slept lightly, some part of him wary of sleeping too deeply. He stirred a little as a soft, gentle music began to drift into his consciousness. It had an eerie similarity to the song he sang to Jack every night, the song that lived in him basically. He felt something… a shift… a change of air pressure? He couldn't be sure. He sat up carefully, wondering if it might still be some odd effect of his near death experience. He quietly slipped from the sofa and pulled on his sweatpants as a sound began, soft at first, but growing. It thrummed. It sang. He blinked. He recognized the song suddenly. It had soothed him to sleep on odd occasions when he was a boy. His face lit up and he stepped onto the gangway as a soft glow began on the lower deck. He was mesmerized by it as a shape began to form, a police call box, a pretty shade of blue.
It's you! You used to sing to me….
Yes. We sing to our boy who is sad.
I knew it! I knew you were real! He ran down the stairs, practically hugged a corner of the box and laughed. He was so engrossed that he didn't notice when the door opened and a head with a shock of wild dark hair peeked out.
The eyebrows rose at the sight of the boy having a cuddle with the TARDIS and the head vanished back inside with a soft, "What?! Something you've not shared?" He peered back out, pointing his sonic screwdriver at the strange young man. His eyebrows rose remarkably higher as he looked at the reading. "Well, well, aren't you an interesting boy," he murmured.
Evan looked over and immediately blushed, stepping back from the box. "Um… I'm not… trying to… you know." He was looking at him in wide-eyed wonder and took a deep breath. "You… you're him… The Doctor. I can… see why Jack is so… attracted." He blushed darker.
The Doctor looked a little uncomfortable at that look and cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I seem to have that affect on some people."
"Doctor!" Jack came out of the office in just his pants. "Am I glad to see you!" He came down and hugged the man before he could react. He raised an eyebrow as he realized Evan was still staring in very open admiration and… excitement, too. He pulled back and frowned a little. Was it? No… he couldn't be… truly jealous? That was a first. He took a breath. "This is Evan."
The Doctor pulled out his glasses and put them on. He stepped closer, tilting Evan's chin this way and that, which succeeded in making him blush more. "The boy who opens rifts. I must say, he's far more exceptional than the outer packaging suggests, Jack." His eyes flicked to Jack while he was still touching Evan. I still can't believe it's him… the Face of Boe…. Who would have thunk it, he thought.
Evan caught a glimpse of something… a head in a giant jar, strange and wrinkled and yet oddly familiar. It was… Jack. He paled and suddenly felt sick.
Our boy needs cold juice. Come inside. We will sing to you.
The Doctor looked most confused as Evan stepped quickly past him and into the TARDIS which then closed the door. "What?!" His mouth opened and closed a few times. "She just shut me out. My own TARDIS just shut me out."
"Wow." Jack looked sheepish and ran a hand through his hair. "Uh, he tends to have that effect on women. They either want to mother him or drag him off to… well, you know." And now I'm feeling jealous over a TARDIS. What the hell?
The Doctor blinked twice and then just shrugged. "Anyway. It's good you called me, Jack."
"If you're sure it's okay for Evan to be alone in there, let's talk in my office."
"Should be fine. Apparently, she knows him."
"Travelling alone?" Jack glanced sideways at him.
"Yes." It was obvious that was as much as he'd get. The Doctor settled in a chair across from Jack. "So, where did you find him?"
"He found me, actually. He showed up out of the blue. He had a sketchbook." He pulled it over from a shelf. "This sketchbook."
The Doctor took it and flipped through it with apparent interest. "He's… good. And how accurate are these drawings?"
"Scarily accurate. There are things in there no one should know but me and the person I was with at the time."
"Interesting." He closed the book and set it on the desk. "Well, I can tell you what he is, anyway. Do you know the Gaia Principle?"
"The notion that the Earth is a living, feeling being?" The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. What about it?"
"Well, it's not exactly wrong and it doesn't just apply to planets. I've come across stars which were aware beings."
"So, what does that have to do with Evan?"
"There's a famous saying from an Earth scientist, a cosmologist. He said, 'We're made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.' He was a man well before his time and definitely onto something. Your Evan, well, he just has a bit more generous dose of star stuff than most."
"Okay… I'm not getting what you mean."
"Well, for all intents and purposes, he's half human and half star."
"How is that even possible?"
"Well, my guess is the cosmos got to know a human really well at some point…." He rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.
Inside the TARDIS, Evan gazed about him in awe. You're so beautiful.
He sensed a wave of happiness. Come. There is cold juice for our boy.
Tell me… that thing I saw… it's really Jack, isn't it?
There was a hesitation. Yes. But it should not upset our boy. Our Jack does good things. The TARDIS guided him to a room with a little bed and a little side table with a glass of juice on it. Our boy has been not well. Our boy should rest. We will sing to our boy. It makes us happy.
I can't tell Jack, can I?
No. Our Jack must not know. Our boy must rest. She encouraged him to drink the juice and then nap on the bed.
"Essentially," The Doctor said, "what you have is something I've never even heard of. I mean there are legends about Star People all over. They usually come around, teach some things and off they go again. But I've never heard of a star getting friendly with a humanoid and making babies. Do you know which parent was the human?"
"His mother."
"Ah."
"So there's no telling exactly what he's capable of?"
"Mmm, no. Not really. I could speculate." Jack's look had a hint of 'please do' and he tapped his chin for a moment. "Well, one could assume his lifespan will be longer than a human one. I mean stars are funny things. They'll grow, grow, grow to a certain point and then stay there for thousands of years. Then, suddenly, FOOMF!" He made a gesture indicating an explosion.
"What about that rift?"
"Mini black hole sort of thing?" He shrugged a bit. "Stars are energy and I've seen sentience capable of manipulating energies in amazing, seemingly impossible ways, such as how we ended up with you, Jack. Who knows what that dash of mad monkey genes has spawned? If there's one thing I've learned about humans, it's that they can muck up the most streamlined and simple concept in the most extraordinary ways."
Jack sighed and leaned back in his chair, silent for several moments. "Do you think he's safe for my team to be around?"
"Oh, well… I don't really know. Should be fun finding out, though." He looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbing a thumb along one sideburn. "You wouldn't happen to be willing to let me borrow him for a bit, would you?"
Jack's face might have been stone at that point. "Um, no."
"Ah, well. Worth a shot." He stood. "Mind if I look at him a bit more closely then?"
"As long as I'm present."
"Right. Shall we?"
The TARDIS grudgingly let them in, chiding The Doctor for disturbing her boy, but happy to have her Jack aboard.
The Doctor looked just a little disgruntled. "She's certainly rather attached to him."
"So am I."
"Oh." The Doctor gave him an odd look as they headed into the room where Evan was dozing. "Here we are. Would you wake him, please?"
Jack padded over to the little bed and sat on the edge. "Evan, wake up."
"Mmm?" His eyes fluttered open and he blushed. "She was singing to me."
The Doctor stepped closer. "Evan, I'd like to take a peek in your head if I could…."
"He's… a telepath, Doctor."
"Oh, I didn't scan for that. That makes things easier. You'll know how to protect things you'd rather I not see then, yes?" Evan nodded. "Good. May I?
Evan looked a little nervous and glanced at Jack, who nodded slightly.
Our Doctor does not wish to harm our boy. Our Doctor wishes to help.
Yes, you may. He took a deep breath as The Doctor gently placed his hands on his temples and closed his eyes.
In that moment, he felt the old sensation of something stirring and stretching inside. Something felt like it was surfacing. Evan felt like he was drifting downward. Had it not been for the TARDIS singing softly to him, he might have panicked. The Doctor whispered both his thoughts and those of the presence he was contacting so that Jack could hear.
Time Lord. The voice was a deep rasp mixed with a thrumming chime, the Music of the Spheres, the language of the cosmos.
Yes. You are the star living inside the boy?
Yes.
What do you seek?
To live.
I see. But you're so isolated from the human parts. Why?
Humans are not built for energy. They burn. He is too young for more than I give. He tries to pull, but I cannot give or he will die.
Oh… so you were the one who closed the opening he made.
Yes. To stop him from burning. But he was deconstructed and needed repair.
Is there any way to integrate with him?
Yes. To train. To grow. To age. His form is too young. But his mind is strong. We will bond some day.
So just time then?
Yes.
And how long will you have for living?
Stars are eternal. We burn and fade and burn again.
Thank you. This will put his friends at ease.
We will not harm them. Tell them so.
The Doctor blinked rapidly for a moment as he released Evan who then slumped lightly against Jack. "Goodness, that'll give you a ringing in the ears." He stuck a finger in one ear, tilted his head and wiggled the finger rapidly for a moment. "So, there you have it: Technically a baby star which knows enough to not burn up the boy or his friends."
The TARDIS seemed peeved at the notion. Our boy would never harm our Jack.
Evan's eyes fluttered open. "Wha…?"
"Ah, there you are." The Doctor smiled and lightly ruffled his hair. "How do you feel?"
Evan didn't even think. "With my hands."
The Doctor laughed as Jack snickered. "I can definitely tell he spends a lot of time with you, Jack."
The next day, The Doctor locked up the TARDIS while he and Jack hunted up more options for the wardrobe's period dress. One never had too many options when a variety of traveling companions passed through one's ship. Besides, adventure was definitely not "Gentle Care". Things were damaged, lost or just wore out with enough use. More than 900 years of adventure took its toll. Evan had been feigning a doze on the sofa when they headed out. When he was sure they were gone and everyone else was out for lunch but Dani, he crept out to the TARDIS. He'd heard Dani go below, probably to his ship. He put a hand on the TARDIS.
Hello? Can I come in?
Yes. The door opened. Our boy is well today.
Yes. I feel much better. Thank you. He sat in one of the chairs behind the control panel. Jack is the way he is because Rose touched your energy and then touched him, right?
Yes. We love our Jack and saved him with our Rose.
I thought so. I can feel it in him. It's like… traces of glitter inside. He was quiet for a while and the TARDIS sang softly, content. The Doctor really loved her.
Yes. We love our Rose. We miss our Rose.
Evan heard the alarms go off at the entrance and his head snapped up. I have to go. Thank you. He caressed a panel gently as he passed. He managed to slip out and was at the top of the stairs in front of Jack's office when they stepped onto the lift.
"Ah, good. You're awake to see me off," called The Doctor with a smile. "I've got to move along. Places to see, things to do and all of that." He reached into a bag. "I brought you this. Seems your old one was about out of pages." He held up a beautiful leather bound sketchbook with gilt-edged pages.
When they'd loaded up the things they'd bought and the TARDIS had phased out, Jack looked at him with raised brows. "You know, it's weird, he's acting like you're a favorite nephew or something."
Evan shrugged. "Maybe he figures that I'm a kid because I'm a 'baby star'?" He figured the TARDIS calling him 'our boy' didn't help. Great… I'm her pet? Well, if that was so, then it was as true of The Doctor, Jack and anyone else she took a liking to. It amused him.
Jack contemplated. "Does that make me a cradle robber?" He laughed when Evan poked him in the belly with a finger.