Yay! Another chapter within a day! Anyone else feel amazingly proud of me? On a side note: I'm too lazy to reread this and edit, so if you find any mistakes feel free to point them out and laugh. I won't blame you at all.

Jack listened to the muffled voices of his sisters and the shop girl that floated through to the front room. He shook his head slightly at the giggles emitting from the girls. It was nice hearing his sisters getting along so well with another woman. They really didn't have enough female companions while they traveled. The poor girls were probably going nuts from all the testosterone they were constantly surrounded by.

He turned back to the window at the slow roll of a drum. Outside he spotted a small army of men dressed in new pressed uniforms marching in time down the street. For a moment he thought it might be the parade again, but nothing followed the men as they halted outside, standing at attention as a superior officer looked them over. He had known that life for a long time. Longer than he cared to admit. The Time Agency hadn't started out as an army, but by the end of his career, it sure as hell felt like it.

"Handsome, aren't they?" Phoebe's voice roused him. He turned to smile politely down at her as she joined him at the window. "The army has just come to Moulin Rouge. They're worried about the war spreading here and destroying everything we've built. My fiancé just enlisted you know. Wants to make a name for himself before we settle down and start a family."

He smiled at the story of her fiancé for a second before her other words caught up with him, "War?"

She hummed, not really paying attention as she watched the soldiers.

"I'm sorry," Jack placed a gentle hand on her arm to get her attention, "What year is this exactly?"

Her brow furrowed, "2567, of course."

He cursed under his breath, spinning to take in the soldiers, praying that they weren't doing what he thought they were. Sure enough the men had formed two lines. One faced the shops across the street while the other faced their side. They stood still as statues, guns held tightly in their hands, waiting for orders.

"Come on," he growled, grabbing Phoebe's hand as he led her quickly to the back. She only protested for a moment as they came to a stop just outside the dressing rooms where his sisters were twirling in front of a mirror and laughing together.

"Oh, you two look lovely," Phoebe said with a smile.

"Thanks," Josie grinned.

"Jack," Billie's smile had slipped off her face at her brother's stressed expression. "What's wrong?"

"We need to go. Now. No time to change," he said when they reached for their clothes. "Grab your phones and let's go."

It said a lot about their chosen lifestyle when, without hesitation or questions, both girls dug out their superphones from their pile of discarded clothes. Phoebe was sputtering out protests which he ignored as he took her elbow and pulled her away. The sound of heels behind him were the only indication that his sisters followed as he refused to glance behind. They quickly went out the back door and into an alley where he led them on till they reached the end of the block.

And then the shooting began. They all crouched down behind a large dumpster as screams and shots filled the air. Phoebe whimpered lightly but realized she had to hold her tongue to escape the danger. He glanced at the three women huddled together, Billie gently shushing the distraught shop girl as Josie glanced around, looking for an escape.

"Stay here," Jack told them as he pulled out his gun. "Stay low and in the shadows till I come get you, understand?" They all nodded.

"Jack," Josie whispered before he could move away. "What about the Doctor and Professor?"

"They'll be fine. Just wait here, alright?"

He didn't wait this time for an answer, instead he inched his way out, his back pressed against the wall and gun at the ready. At the mouth of the alley he could spot civilians running up and down the street, trying to escape the army men marching unstoppably down the road, shooting at anyone that crossed their path. He flinched when he saw a large blonde man shoot down a young girl. She couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen. Jack narrowed his eyes as the man then continued to move on down the street without pause. Something just wasn't right here. The man's motions were almost robotic they were so stiff. Peeking around the corner to keep the man in his line of sight, he watched him walk under a street lamp, the bright yellow light shining oddly against the man's pale skin and flaxen hair. Shit. He really hoped he was seeing things, even while he formed a plan.

There had to be some way to get out of here without being spotted. Moving back deeper into the shadows, his eyes trailed across the street to where steam was rising from the ground, seemingly from nothing. He nearly face-palmed when he realized what it was. And it was the perfect escape. Well, maybe not perfect. They still had to make it across the street. But it was the best shot they had.

He stayed where he was, waiting until the numbers of people running around died down and the dead bodies piled up alarmingly. He forced himself not to look at them, to not see any of their faces. It was the only way he knew how not to get personally involved. He just hoped the girls would be alright. Phoebe especially wasn't used to this kind of sight.

When he was sure they wouldn't be ambushed unexpectedly he turned back to the girls, waving them forward. "We have to move quickly," he told them once they were directly behind him. "Stay together."

He turned back to the street and paused to check for soldiers one last time. A small hand grasped the back of his coat, alerting him to the others' presence. They moved as a unit onto the street, jogging at a fast clip that was probably too much for the girls in long skirts. It couldn't be helped, however, as he dropped to the ground beside the grate covering the manhole. Billie moved forward first, climbing down without being instructed. Her heels made a hollow clicking sound as she hit the ground below.

"Torch?" she called up hopefully.

Without a word, Jack dropped down a pocket torch before turning to help Phoebe get down. Tear tracks stained her cheeks but she looked oddly composed. There was a determined glint to her eyes that made him simultaneously proud and worried. It was good that she wasn't being too affected by her surroundings, but he wasn't sure what exactly had put that look there. Something niggled at the back of his head, but he pushed it aside for later. Instead, he turned to help Josie down after the shop girl. Once they were all safely down, he gave one last look around before following them, pulling the grate back over the hole as he went.


Phoebe wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to keep warm. She stood with two strange women on the path workers used down in the sewer while soldiers were up on the surface killing, quite literally, everyone.

She just didn't understand what was going on. Who were these people she was with? Why were people being shot? What was wrong with those soldiers? What about Harlan? Oh dear God! What had happened to her fiancé? She had to get out of here and find him.

The man, Jack landed next to her at the bottom of the ladder and turned to take in their surroundings.

"A sewer," Josie said, lip curling in disgust. "Again. Why me?"

Jack laughed, "Not the worst we've ever been in."

"What are we…" Billie trailed off as her eyes glazed over. Both of her siblings stared at her expectantly, waiting.

Phoebe wanted to ask what was going on, but none of them seemed to notice her whatsoever. She really wasn't sure if she could trust these people, but they had gotten her to relative safety and seemed pretty sure of what they were doing. They were probably her best chance of survival at this point.

Billie smiled slightly, "They're alright. The Professor and Doctor said to head north. They'll meet us at the City Hall."

"Okay, explanation time," Josie ordered, hands going to her hips as she faced her brother. "What the hell is going on?"

Jack sighed and waved them down a side tunnel heading north, "Let's walk while I explain." Billie waited half a second to make sure Phoebe was following, grabbing her hand reassuringly. The shop girl was glad at least one of them hadn't forgotten her. "In 2567 a war between humans and Autons was brewing. It was just in the beginning stages still. A couple battles here or there, but nothing huge. But the main goal for the Autons was to take over Moulin Rouge. They're a race of living plastic. They feed off of smoke and oil, all the toxins and dioxins in the air. Moulin Rouge, as a purely industrial planet, has more of that than any other planet in the universe."

"So the Autons want it for their own," Josie supplied with an exasperated sigh, as if they dealt with this sort of thing all time.

"Why didn't they just make a deal with the humans?" Billie asked. "It's not like humans want all those toxins in the air."

Jack flashed a smile over his shoulder at his sister, "Unfortunately, not everyone thinks that logically, Jeanie."

"But those soldiers," Phoebe finally found her voice which sounded harsh and raspy. "They were from our army. Not the Autons."

Jack sighed, "I guess no one here knows yet about how Autons can duplicate humans. They probably captured a small fraction of the army and made duplicates to fool the locals. The real soldiers would be kept alive, though, to keep the duplicates going."

"Do you think the Doctor and Professor know all this too?" Josie asked.

"Probably," Billie answered. "Or at least they know enough. We'll find out soon. The Professor said City Hall isn't too far."

"It's about a half mile away," Phoebe said helpfully in a small voice. Her mind was drifting toward Harlan. Was he safe? She hadn't seen him amongst the soldiers on the street, but that didn't mean he hadn't been captured. She shook her head slightly. She couldn't think like that. Not right now. Right now, she had to figure out a way to escape this craziness. Then she'd find Harlan and they'd move far, far away. Moulin Rouge would be a thing of the past. Where it belonged.