Doctor Who: ALBION - Countdown

Chapter 28 - Reflections

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


He sat there watching as his feet dangled off the edge. He wasn't aware of how long he sat there, but he was aware of the soft footsteps sneaking up behind him. "You're awake."

"I heard your...discussion earlier. I didn't want to intrude between you and your wife." She glanced out the open doors and saw the expanse beyond. "Where are we?"

He nodded to the planet below as she edged closer, fully aware that she could fall out. "Earth. My boys are down there. Somewhere," he said calmly.

Akasha inched closer, peering over the edge.

"You won't fall. I have a force field outside the doors keeping the atmosphere in."

"Nice view." She leaned against the other door, still wary. "We never got this high back home."

They were silent a minute, watching the world turn below. Will Markham could not (would not?) confirm if Su was who he suspected she really was, but she was obviously flustered on meeting him, and her story seemed off. Will trusted her, but was that enough? There were no remains in the ruins of the Torchwood Estate, but that didn't prove anything as to their survival. There was nothing left but hope.

Thoughts of all his former Companions flowed through his mind, from Barbara and Ian to Donna and Wilf, Craig and wee Stormageddon. And Brian.

"I had a friend. He didn't travel with me long, a few weeks, but...he liked to sit here and watch. Just sit here, maybe have his tea, and just watch the world turn below." He gave a heavy sigh. "He's down there. Missing his son and daughter-in-law. They're gone, now, too."

"I'm sorry."

"Hmm? Oh, no, I mean- they didn't- well, that is, when they left, they didn't die, they were just...lost."

"You couldn't help them?"

"No, not really." He was quiet a moment more. "Hindsight is twenty-forty-two, they like to say, down there." She gave him a confused look at the expression. "There are always thoughts about what you could have done, ways to avoid certain situations. But those two? He was taken and she made the decision to join him. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't let me. Even River allowed it to happen. She didn't even argue her choice."

"Where is she?"

"Gone."

Akasha wasn't sure which 'she' he meant she was asking after.

"Have you ever tried fighting a river? She was aptly named," he said, then gave a soft chuckle at some private joke. "Just like her mother."

"So your wife's gone off to find your children on her own?"

"Eh? Probably. Who knows? River will turn up when she wants."

"So what are you going to do? Sit here staring all day?"

"Who said I wasn't doing anything?" he snapped. "I was thinking. I'm always thinking!" He rolled onto his back and in one swift move, was on his feet. "Let's see what that leads to, eh?" he smiled and dashed up to the control panel and started throwing switches.

Akasha shook her head and, with a last glance at the alien world called Earth below her, closed the doors.


Will studied the patch. "These are edible," he noted, pulling the berries from the bush.

"What about these?" Alistair asked, examining some mushrooms.

Will eyed them for a moment. "Not unless you want to get sick, lad," he explained, recognizing the hallucinogenic fungus. He slipped a few in his pocket for later as soon as the boy turned away to inspect something else.

They had escaped the assault on the Estate with moments to spare, thanks to the last minute warning. They had landed at the turn of the fifteenth century to the sixteenth, somewhere in Gaul, Su had informed him. She was unable to pinpoint their location closer without announcing their arrival to the locals. The last few weeks, they had made a quiet life for themselves, keeping away from the towns and any travelers, using her TARDIS, now disguised as a large oak, as shelter while he repaired an abandoned cabin should they be chanced upon. He even let his beard grow out "just in case," he told Su, who was now put off by it. He, Su, and Jenny took turns teaching the boys, not just the expected learning for young Gallifreyans, Jenny included, but also survival skills in this era. Today, he and Alistair were gathering food while Jenny and Jamie fished and hunted, leaving Su to watch their TARDIS.

Of course, the boys resented calling it that, claiming that was the name of their father's home, and were trying to come up with a new name for their niece's craft, especially as she was unaware of who left it for her. Whatever hologram recording had been left for her was a one-time message and the file had auto-deleted. Su had drawn a sketch of what the woman had looked like, but the craft's computer was unable to identify her, other than "humanoid". He couldn't shake the feeling he knew her from somewhere, almost as if from a dream...or another's memory?

Will stopped his berry picking and looked around. Something was wrong. Alistair saw him react and raised an eyebrow. "Boy, when I say run-" he started but saw him pull something from his woolen breeches Su had sewn him from material on board which was course enough to pass for contemporary at a passing glance, but not actual inspection. "Fool!" he hissed. "If some local caught you with that, we'd all be burned as witches here!"

"It's just a sonic!" he protested under his breath as something began crashing through the underbrush.

Will shoved the boy behind him and drew the dirk from his belt as the noise drew closer. A hart and her two fawn came jumping through the brush.

Alistair let out a sigh of relief. "See? You got all riled up for nothing!"

"Shh!" Will chided, keeping his defenses up. "She was running away from something. Something close!"

Will thought he could hear something else close by, but nothing else came running through near them. He held out his hand. "Give me your toy." Alistair reluctantly handed over his sonic. Glancing between the device and the direction the hart had come from, he adjusted it into a microphone to hear what was coming better.

The device detected a faint mechanical whirring, but it stopped before the source could be centered. It then began to source another sound from a different direction, but this one Will could easily tell was a small caravan of horses and carriage. It was headed in the general direction of the first sound, the area the hart had come from.

"Boy, go back to the TARDIS. Wait for me." Alistair started to protest, but Will was already moving toward the caravan.

He came upon it a short distance away, along a rough and rarely traveled path through the forest. One man on horseback rode ahead of the larger group, his attention on his surroundings slacking as he was paying more attention to the path being clear ahead of them. The carriage in the midst was obviously carrying someone of import, but all the drapes were drawn, hiding the occupants. Even out of his own world and time, Will could tell they were out of sorts for this region.

Will stayed low and hidden, but drew Alistair's device once more, trying to locate the mechanical sound which the troupe headed in the general direction of. He almost missed the pile of fur on the far side of the carriage driver suddenly rise and look at him, the dog obviously hearing the soft whine of Alistair's device. He shut it off just before it barked, and froze.

The driver and one of the riders glanced in his direction, thinking it was just random forest prey that caught the dog's attention. To his luck a couple crows happened past. The rider drew his crossbow, but the driver shook his head and obviously told him not to waste his quarrels on the birds. Neither noticed the dog wasn't looking that high as they rode past Will's position.

Will waited a minute after they passed to move, intent on heading back to their camp, but then he heard the dog barking excitedly in the distance and someone shouting. Against his better instincts, he went in search of the caravan. Just in case, probably nothing to worry about, you bloody old fool.

When he caught up to the caravan, he was surprised to see they were surrounded by men cloaked in leaves, nearly blending into their surroundings and probably had until the travelers happened upon them. Luckily for Will, the telepathic translator circuits of the TARDIS were a standard feature and allowed him to understand the two parties.

"We seek the inventor," one of the cloaked bandits demanded in a monotone voice. Almost mechanical Will realized.

The guard denied knowing what the man wanted and warned him to leave the troupe pass. The dog would not stop barking at the bandits.

"You will give us the inventor," the man demanded and raised his lower arm so the flat hand was pointing at the guard.

"We have no inventor!" the guard claimed. "Leave us on our way!"

Those were the last words the man said as the bandit's arm suddenly grew a blade which crossed the distance between them and lodged itself in his throat. The other bandits then took up a similar stance, stiff arms pointed at the other riders, who now drew their swords and crossbows.

The lead bandit made a small twist of his arm during this and the man was beheaded. His body fell off his startled horse to the forest floor. The blade retracted back into the bandit's arm.

"We seek the inventor," the other bandits now demanded in the same mechanical voice.

A voice within the carriage called out "Cease!"

Will watched as the door slowly opened and two men emerged, one in worn finery, the other dressed similarly to the riders. Both looked road worn, as did the others in their troupe, but the second man had a full beard to the others' unkempt scruff. He guessed the first to be the man in charge, and the bearded other his personal body guard.

"We seek the inventor," the lead bandit demanded again.

Will was now close enough, he could tell these were no ordinary bandits, but automatons of some sort. Something that should not exist in this period for centuries, yet. Then he realized the man obviously in charge was taking up a defensive posture, placing himself between the bandit and the other man. Will stayed hidden as the scene unfolded, while still trying to get a read on the bandits with Alistair's sonic. It was far easier than he realized it would be.

"There is no inventor among us, friend," the leader declared of their attackers.

"We seek the inventor," the bandit declared again. Several of his fellows repeated the demand.

"We are but common travelers, bound for Paris, and then to Florence," the man declared. "We have no inventor."

"You are recognized," the bandit now decided. "You are Cesare Borgia. You are known to be traveling with the inventor at this point in time." His blade had now emerged once more as the bandit faced the pair.

Will recognized the name, but had never bothered to study much history of this world in the years since he had found himself trapped upon it. He was, however, aware that the only 'inventor' of note could only be one man. The loss or kidnapping of him now, before his famous works were created could alter this world even more than his world had been altered by Jack's alternate self, Greaves.

Before Will could act, the bearded man stepped forward. "I am Lionardo di Ser Piero," he declared. "I am no inventor, however."

"You will come with us," the bandit declared. "The rest will be killed."

"No!" Borgia cried, drawing his own sword in defense of his friend as the bandit's arm blade drew closer.

Will knew he had to act to save these two men, if not the rest of their retinue. He set the timer on Alistair's sonic and took up a different position several yards away.

As the lead bandit moved to strike Borgia, the sonic erupted in a piercing cry, forcing the travelers to cover their ears. The bandits merely looked around in curiosity for the source as Will jumped into action, rushing and toppling the lead bandit as Borgia's men took his lead and attacked the others as the siren died away.

Will was almost surprised at how quickly the bandit gave way under him as he wrenched off it's own head with his hands. The body seemed to be attempting to walk, but was trapped beneath Will's weight upon it.

"They disappear!" one of the other men suddenly shouted.

Will looked up and saw the last of the other bandits give a slight shimmery glow before they vanished. "Teleporters," he hissed under his breath before reaching down to break the blade arm of his victim.

He looked up to see the pointed end of Borgia's blade inches away from his face. "Who are you, stranger?" he demanded. "What witchcraft is this?"

"You are welcome, Sir Borgia," Will replied and tossed the broken blade arm away from the bandit's body.

"Are you the leader of these- these-?"

"Automata?" Will offered, picking up the head again to examine it. The rough wig fell away as did the mudded mask to reveal an oblong shaped clear skull with gears inside. "Clockworks," he corrected.

"You work witchcraft," Borgia accused.

Will glanced to Lionardo and tossed him the skull casing. "At least there was no bomb inside," he said rising. He now saw the robot was dressed in manufactured threads not of this era.

A faint memory from the Doctor surfaced of a blonde woman and a horse. He briefly wondered how much of the Time Lord's memory he did grasp when they collided back in his native Albion. At least this fragment was partially useful, in that it identified the attackers, but the Doctor never did find out who sent them originally. The only fact he did know was that they had access to time travel technology.

"Fascinating," Lionardo commented, examining the inner workings of the skull. "A clockwork manikin? What wonder is this?" he asked.

"I thought you might like a look at it," Will chuckled.

"What hell created such a thing?" Cesare demanded.

"I do not know, but they were obviously after your friend," Will answered him. "We should burn the remains and send it back to hell, don't you think?" he suggested, hoping the men would agree to destroy the evidence several centuries before it should exist.

"This is no demonspawn, my liege, but the work of man," Lionardo noted. "I would take this back to my workshop, to examine it further."

"That's not wise," Will countered. Lionardo and Cesare looked at him suspiciously. "The others vanished, but they may return for their lost companion," he explained.

"What of the wailing animal you distracted them with?" Cesare inquired, looking around. "Where has it gone?"

Will gulped hard. "There was no animal," he answered truthfully. "I- uh, I-"

"Will! There you are!"

The group turned to see a young blonde approach from the forest, two young boys in tow. One stopped and picked up something from the ground, and shot Will an annoyed look as he shoved it into his pocket.

"Who is this?" Cesare demanded.

"My, uh, my friend, Genevieve," Will informed him loud enough for the trio to hear, "and her young siblings, Albert and James. They are under my protection." He hoped they would answer to their modified names, especially Alistair with the local pronunciation of Al-bear.

The boys stopped as they neared and gave Lionardo an odd look. "Tio Lionardo?" Jamie asked.

"Eh? Have we met before, young lads?"

Will nearly panicked. The Doctor had made no mention of introducing them to da Vinci before he left, and neither boy had made mention in the weeks they had been here, either.

Jamie seemed to realize his mistake. "My apologies, you reminded me of a friend of father's."

"A man resembling me with the same name?" Lionardo asked.

"The name is not uncommon," Jenny pointed out. "My brother is young and is often confused." She gripped his shoulder tight, causing the boy to squirm. "He meant no offense, good sir."

Lionardo and Cesare eyed the quartet cautiously. "What do you know of this clockwork automata?" Borgia inquired, pointing to the broken robot lying before them.

"Cool!" Alistair blurted.

"Pardon? What does the temperature have to do with this creature?"

"Both boys are still recovering from the fever," Will hastily explained. This caused the other pair to take a half step back from the boys. "They often say strange things still. We worry over them so."

"I know of some remedies, if you would like?" Lionardo offered. "I have found they work better than some more civilized treatments," he said with a slight sneer directed toward Borgia.

"Thank you, but no," Jenny told him. "They have been doing better these last few days and this is the first they have been out in weeks."

"I see," Lionardo replied, eyeing the twins and stroking his bristled chin. He tossed the clockwork skull to the twins. "What make you of this, lads?"

Alistair scrambled to catch it before Jamie. He glanced at it a few seconds before tossing it to his brother. "It's just a toy," he said, disappointed.

Will watched Lionardo raise an eyebrow in response, while Cesare continued to watch them suspiciously.

Jamie caught this as well and was more cautious in his response. "It looks like the insides of that clock father once had that someone broke," he said.

"A clock is an costly item to have, especially out here," Cesare challenged. "How did your father come to acquire such an expensive thing?"

"He was a Doctor," Jenny replied before her brothers could. "It was payment from a minor noble before my brothers were born. I do not know which one, as I was a young maiden, myself." No sense in telling complete lies to these men, she realized.

"And are you still a maiden?" Cesare inquired, glancing toward Will. "Surely your father would not have left you all alone in the woods without husband to raise your brothers?"

"He travels often, that is true," she replied. "But we are not alone, not with Will, here."

"I am betrothed to her sister, who waits for us at home," Will quickly half-lied.

"Are you now?" Cesare asked.

"Their father tried to help my late family, who I lost to fever after my wife gave birth," he lied. "It struck not only her, but our child and my brother, Charles." He did not have to fake the sorrow in his voice. "All were lost to me and I despaired until he brought me home and introduced me to his daughters. Their mother had recently passed, as well, and we bonded over our shared grief."

"And where is this doctor of yours, now? Traveling the countryside, I presume?" Cesare inquired.

"Unfortunately, it is so," Jenny answered. "We have not seen him for months and pray for his swift and safe return."

"We have been traveling as well, my dear," Cesare told her. "Tell my his name so that I may know if we have encountered him already or, perhaps, in the future?"

The twins choked down snickers at this. Borgia eyed them warily again.

"His name is Jean, son of the smith of Gallifrey, a small village long abandoned, unfortunately," she informed him, still sprinkling truth and a necessary lie. "I do not know where it was, as he never told me more than that."

"I see," he said. He glanced to Lionardo. "I feel you are lying to me for some reason, but there is enough truth in your falsehoods. Your dialect is not local, nor is it even close to this region. I ask again, from whence do you come?"

"Albion," Will answered truthfully. "I lived in Londinium before moving here. I would think that my actions in your defense would buy us some leniency, milord."

"What were you doing in this forest before the attack?"

"Picking berries," Will said, turning to Alistair, "Where is the basket, boy?"

He shrugged. "I left it when you told me to run." He pointed back in the direction they had come from. "I was just asking about some mushrooms which he said would make me sick right before we heard you," he explained to Borgia.

"Why would you tell the boy to run?"

"Bandits," Will answered. "I know some pass through here, and this road is seldom used, so it surprised me when we heard you coming. I had no weapons other than this dagger with which to defend myself and the boy, whom I had promised his father to watch over as part of my betrothal to his sister."

"And where is this sister?" Borgia demanded again.

"Back in our home," Will said and turned to point the general direction. "A short distance, uh...I'm sorry, I got turned around with your distraction? I'm not entirely familiar with this immediate area?"

"A good ten minute hike in that direction," Jenny offered, covering for him. "Would you like to escort us back safely?" she added. "If you were attacked by these strange bandits with an armed escort, then a young woman and two young boys should be an easier prey. I shudder to think what they would do to us!"

Now it was Will's turn to choke down a laugh, as the thought of someone attacking Jenny, with her knowledge of defense that were ages ahead of this era, even this world, would send many a man reeling even in his brief time in what his new world called the early 21st Century.

"Do you mock me, woman?" Borgia accused. "I would have all your heads-"

"Calm yourself, Cesare," Lionardo cautioned. "Our new friends may seem strange, but I assume we would seem just as strange to many, as well." Borgia gave Leonardo a warning glare. "These are simple country folk, not used to our ways in the city, am I right?"

"I admit I grew up in the city under a minor noble," Will said, biting back the irony had their situations been reversed, having served his cousin and regent as the mentor of a future king. "I have given that life up for a simpler one in the country. I find life much easier on me out here after my losses," he said, then glanced to the twins in annoyance, "for the most part."

"I sense you have had much contact with nobility," Cesare noted. "Your bearing is like many at court, but I fear you overstep your bounds with the familiarity with which you entreat your rightful lord."

"Pardon?"

"You claim to take the king's berries and likely some game, as well," Cesare noted. "I could have your heads for that."

"Patience, my friend," Lionardo advised again. "They were not the ones who assaulted us."

"How do we know they were not the ones behind these automata?" Cesare countered. "This man causes a wail like the banshees of Eire, the children seem unimpressed by the manikin, and their bearing is too familiar for my liking. I would have them in chains." He pointed at Alistair. "And this one steals from the forest in plain view! I will see what you took, child!"

"I took nothing," he said defiantly.

"I will have your hide, boy! Show me what you hid in your breeches as you approached!" He pointed to the spot where Alistair had stopped for a second.

"What? Oh this?" he said, pulling his sonic device from his pocket. "I built it." With a glance to Jenny, he flicked it on.

Borgia's men covered their ears in pain as the quartet began running. Will lead the way, the boys behind him, and Jenny brought up the rear in case they were pursued. They were nearly back to their cabin before they stopped running.

"We need to go back," Will insisted. "We can't leave that Clockwork behind, not even with da Vinci."

"We can't," Jenny told him. "We've just ticked off Cesare Borgia, himself. He'd kill us all on sight."

"Then what do you suggest?"

She huffed. "We have to trust him to destroy it."

"I already suggested that to him, but he'd rather tear it apart and learn from it!" Will told her. "That could start a mechanical revolution centuries before it should happen!"

"What about we sneak into their camp tonight and steal it then?" she offered.

"You have a way to track them and then get into and out of their camp without being seen, toting an android out?"

She gave him a smug smile.


The prisoners had worked out a code of communication, part Morse code, part sign language, to converse in their soundproof cells. John Hart was directly across from Rhys Williams and told Martha Jones in the cell next to Rhys what he could see about the injured man. There was little to tell, other than the man barely moved and seemed to be in pain.

Martha feared he had gone septic, as he had gotten no medical attention since they had been taken prisoner by the man now in charge of the combined Torchwood and UNIT forces. Martha told her husband Mickey Smith who passed on what little he could to Gwen Cooper about her husband.

Gwen remained hopeful, but she also saw the nearly full food tray being taken back twice a day, when the guards didn't simply toss the remains into the other cell with the seventh and more feral prisoner.

The feral could sense their sorrow over their situation, but preferred those times when they were visited by their captor. It had already come to associate his presence with the smell of blood from his prize captive, Jack Harkness. Gwen saw it stir first, before the main door even opened.

The man called Abaddon entered, flanked by Gloucester and Belew and followed by a retinue of six guards. He made no notice of the first five cells, but stopped at the sixth. Rhys' cell.

Hart could barely see across to Martha, but she didn't resist when Abaddon made a motion to open her cell and Rhys'. "I'd hate to lose one of our assets, no matter how useless," he told her as he held the door to Rhys' cell open for her.

Martha got the hint and was eager to check on the health of her friend's husband, herself. "His wound definitely looks septic," she informed them after examining the injury. "If he doesn't get immediate medical attention, he'll die."

"Out."

Martha grimaced, reluctant to leave Rhys' side. Two of the guards pointed their weapons at her before she conceded and was led back to her cell. She managed to toss Gwen a worried look signifying how bad her husband was. Abaddon then motioned to two guards to stand outside Rhys' open cell as the rest proceeded to the end of the hall and Jack.

"To what do I owe the honor of today's visit?" Harkness inquired.

Abaddon said nothing but allowed one of the guards to approach and begin implanting an IV drip into Jack's leg. He collected four bags of blood in all before he was done. Jack never stopped trying to chat them all up, but his words fell on deaf ears.

When the bagged blood was collected, Abaddon had them leave the needle in Jack's leg and left the cell with the blood collector. John Hart signaled to Martha that they went into Rhys' cell and began feeding him one of the IV's.

Abaddon waited patiently as the bag slowly emptied into the injured man. John saw him examine the bullet wounds several times before he returned to Jack. He stood there and watched the helpless immortal for several minutes before he spoke.

"I remember being told a tale long ago, about a man who could live forever. He had magic blood, they said. It could cure almost any wound, rejuvenate the elderly, among other things." He paused and turned to Gloucester. "Kneel."

The man did as ordered. Abaddon loosened the man's tie and began to remove it, but stopped and used it to blindfold the subjugated man. He then removed the man's suit jacket and shirt, hanging them on Belew's arm, as he stood stoically by with a goblet in his other hand. Abaddon then seemed to examine his now half-naked thrall.

"Not bad, but not exactly prime material, is he?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Is there a reason for this?" Jack inquired.

Abaddon turned slowly and faced the immortal again. He slapped Jack hard. "I wasn't asking you." He then grabbed a knife and stabbed Jack in the heart again. Taking the goblet from Belew, he held it up to the blood flowing from the wound. Once filled, he drank deep once more.

Filling it a second time, he turned and offered it to Gloucester, pressing it against his lips. Instinctively, the man began to drink. Attempting to pour it down the man's throat, Abaddon grabbed a handful of the man's hair and pulled his head back, spilling more blood down the man's bare chest as went in his mouth. Only when the man choked and gasped for breath did Abaddon relent. He then handed the goblet back to Belew and nodded. Belew drained what was left in a few dainty swallows then licked the crimson from his lips.

Jack had briefly lost consciousness during this, but had woken once more by the time Belew finished his drink. He watched Abaddon then stand behind Gloucester and rub the spilled blood all over the man's upper body.

"Why are you doing this?" he gasped.

Abaddon stopped and gave Jack a curious look. "Because I can. Because he can't stop me. Because you can't stop me. Isn't that reason enough?"

"He? Who's he?" Jack asked. "Please, tell me and maybe we can help you."

Abaddon stepped over to Jack, placing one bloody hand on either cheek. He whispered softly. "You know who he is, Jack. You've always known who he is."

Jack's face twisted in confusion. "The Doctor?!"

Abaddon slashed his throat open with the knife once more and left him gurgling in his own blood. The guards pulled Gloucester to his feet and followed with Belew. Abaddon gave a slight smile as the others saw the wet crimson dripping from his hands and Gloucester.

"Bring the dead man upstairs," he commanded the two guards outside Rhys' cell. They drug the near lifeless man along by his arms at the rear of the procession. Gwen's cries of despair for her husband were lost behind her plexiglass.

Abaddon led his gruesome troupe to the medical wing and ordered Rhys and Gloucester to be kept under strict observation, noting any changes that happened. Ordering all but two guards to stand watch, he left with Belew to his office.

"Have we found out how Hart infiltrated the premises yet?" he inquired of his toady.

"It seems he was already on staff when Your Eminence took control of the facility, Sir," Belew replied. "We believe he had little alternative after discovering he had no means to return to his own time period."

"He was a Time Agent and a rather intimate associate of Harkness, before and after, during their period of service," Abaddon noted. "I should have had you screen all the rank and file immediately. Luckily, he exposed himself after he learned of his friends' fate in a clumsy attempt at rescue." Or was it? he wondered.

"I shall endeavour to cross-examine all current and former employee records once more, Sir," Belew offered.

"Yes, see to that after we have an update on the other project. Is the Doppler ready again?"

"You mean the pseudo-form Ianto Jones?" Belew clarified, checking his PAD. "Yes, he should be ready again in a few hours."

"Have them inject this one with one of the blood samples we just took. A second one is to stand ready for Mr. Williams, should it come to that. The third I want tested for any abnormalities, no matter how inconsequential. If they need more, I will fetch it myself. No one is to touch Harkness without my say so. Not even his feeders."

"Very good, Sir. Will there be anything else?"

"Any sightings of the Nemesis?"

Belew checked his PAD again, flicking to a different file. He glanced down the reports to the one he wanted and opened it. "There doesn't seem to be any new sightings save for the monitors we left at the former Torchwood Estate. Those detected a spike in Artron energy only a few hours after we had departed."

"And the other energy spike? Has she been spotted?"

"I'm sorry, sir, none of the sensors have reported any readings of the other energy signature you asked for."

He waved Belew off. "Very well. Be gone." Once the man had left, Abaddon scrolled through his computer files from UNIT and Torchwood once more and scowled. "Where are you, old man? Where are you hiding? I know you won't stay hidden for long. I remember that much, you soulless fat bastard."

Halfway back to the medical bay, Belew felt dizzy and stopped for a moment as his vision blurred. The events of the last few weeks came rushing back to him as if waking from a dream. He felt like he had been used. The sudden realization of his present situation scared him, but in remembering, he also began to form a plan of rebellion. He rushed the rest of the way to his destination to find James Gloucester arguing with the staff and demanding a shower. He quickly grabbed the man and pulled him aside.

"Sir, you need to calm down!" he hissed. "We're in deep trouble and Jack Harkness may be our only way out of this mess!"

"What the bloody hell are you off about, Belew?" James demanded. "What's going on here?"

"We need to play along, as if we're still under his control!"

"What? Whose control?"

"Abaddon."

The word sent a shiver down Gloucester's spine. The horror of the last few weeks came rushing back to him now, as well. "Bloody hell!" he gasped.

"You need to keep it together and keep playing subservient to him," Belew insisted.

"I will not!"

"Sir, if you don't fake being his zombie, we could all be killed," he insisted. "This man is mad enough to destroy the planet, and with the arsenal we possess, he could do it, too."

Gloucester's jaw clenched at this. He nodded, then seemed to take account of his appearance. "I need a shower. What is this all over me, anyw-" he stopped as he recalled the last few hours. He slapped a bloody hand to his mouth. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"I would be, too, but it's probably the only thing that freed us from his control," Belew whispered, taking note of the aliens now in the medical wing.


Will and Jenny carried the limp automaton threw the dark forest. As they finally reached their camp, dawn's light was beginning to creep into the sky. Will shrugged the body off his shoulders at the base of the thick tree disguising their TARDIS.

"Next time, remind me to send the boys along with you," he panted. "That thing may not look like much, but it's definitely heavier than it looks!"

"Of course, it's all gears and metal, old man," she smirked, opening the doorway. "Now come on, we've still got to get it inside."

He grunted as he picked it up again, finally giving up and hauling it inside by it's feet. Su and the boys were there to greet him. She handed him a hot cup of coffee while the boys began poking at it, trying to inspect it closer.

"This is so cool!" Jamie bleated.

"My sonic helped defeat it!" Alistair boasted.

"I'm the one who tackled it and tore it's bloody head off!" Will reminded them.

"My big brave warrior!" Su teased, kissing him on the cheek. "bleh! I'm still not liking these whiskers!"

He ran a meaty hand into his now bushy beard. "I'm blending in!" he declared, then dropped to a whisper. "Besides, I didn't hear you complaining, when-"

"EW!" came a duet of young male voices.

"Leave off, you lot!" he sniped as Jenny chuckled in amusement. "Help us get this thing down to the workshop, right quick like." The boys grumbled their dissent, but did as they were told, Jenny leading the way. Su stayed behind to check the exterior monitor before joining them.

No sooner had she left than two of Borgia's guard came into the small clearing, following the haphazard trail Will and Jenny had left. They searched the cabin, but found no sign of inhabitants outside of a table with benches and a cold hearth. Thinking it abandoned, they pressed on with their search for the stolen clockwork and the family that had saved them from it and it's compatriots earlier. They would eventually report back that there was no sign of anyone living in the forest before Lionardo pressed his associate they had better move on in their journeys. After all, he had studied the clockwork enough and taken as many notes as he could.


Abaddon returned to the cells that night. Only John Hart was awake to see him enter Jack's cell again. The man didn't say anything to Harkness as he placed devices into his ears, which he used to shock Jack's entire body as he interrogated him again.

"The first time I saw these used, it turned a man inside out, nearly killing him," he explained.

Jack was grim faced. He knew exactly what the devices were, having used them himself in his own past, the far future. "What do you want?"

"Tell me how to use the strap!" he demanded. "Why won't it respond to me?"

"W-what strap?" Jack smirked before his body seized.

"Your vortex manipulator, Jack," he repeated. "Why can't I use it? I was there at it's creation!"

Jack shook his head. "N-No idea. S'Not iso-isomorphic that I kn-know of."

Abaddon triggered the device again and let Jack writhe for two full minutes before he relented. "Don't play me for a fool, Harkness, or whatever you're calling yourself, now."

Jack forced his head up to look at the man. "Who are you? Why do you think we've done you some ...wrong?"

"You aren't the only time traveler around here, Harkness," he replied and touched his control again.

Jack braced himself for the pain, but none came. He cautiously opened one eye and saw a familiar face before him. "D-Doctor?!"

The man stabbed him again. "Never use that name in my presence!" He stepped back and Jack saw him touch another switch. The image of the ginger Time Lord flickered off, so he returned to the man with dark curls in a pinstripe suit. "I only used his face to wreak havoc before, causing him more grief than he or his heir expected."

Jack wasn't sure he heard right. "Heir? Don't you mean-?"

"Yes. Heir. The only one they wanted. The only one that mattered to them. The one who wears his father's face. They must both perish at my hand." He turned back to face Jack once more. "Too bad neither of them are here for my revenge, so you and your friends will have to do."

"Who are you?" Jack demanded once more, the truth dawning on him.

"Your deliverer from your eternal curse."

"Which one?" Jack demanded before his body was racked with pain once more.

"You know too much, Harkness," he said and drew his blade across Jack's throat once more. Watching through Jack's open cell door from his own, John Hart grimaced.


Will Markham had snuck away to the small patch of mushrooms Alistair had found a few days previous, before they were interrupted by Borgia's entourage and those Clockwork Assassins. He had taken care to make sure he had not been followed. He briefly regretted not inviting Su or Jenny along, but he wasn't sure how the fungus would affect their alien physiology. The boys were much too young to partake.

He settled down with his bottle of wine and pulled out a small device he hadn't used in a while. It was one of the few things he had brought from Albion, it's closest comparison in 21st Century Britain had been an mp3 player, but this music player had a visor to cover the eyes instead of the usual band over the head to hold the earpieces. A few focused eye movements and a person could play videos or allow the music to create kaleidoscopic images. The device was a favorite among those who liked to partake of these mushrooms and other hallucinogenic back in Albion. Even Charles had kept a small room set aside so the two of them could "chillax" as the regent put it.

Will chased a couple mushrooms with a pull of wine and turned the device on. He soon began to feel the effects, which combined with his music list and eye-pod, soon started his trip. He had no idea how long he had been there when the computer images pulled away, only to be replaced by distorted faces of two young boys.

"Will? Will, can you hear me?" Jamie pleaded. He gave the man a light slap on his bearded cheek. The man laughed it off. "Is he sick?"

Alistair looked up from Will's stash. "He told me these mushrooms would make me sick?"

"Go get Jenny and Su, we need to get him back," Jamie ordered his brother.

"Why don't you go get them and I'll stay with Will?"

"Because I asked you to, first!" he retorted before being pulled off his feet into a bear hug by the giggling older man. "Here's another reason, I can't now!"

Alistair started to say something back, but ran back to their camp as he was told to get their sister and niece.

"Will, I can't breathe!" Jamie declared as the man hugged him tight.

"m'sorry, kiddo," he now sobbed. "m'so sorry I left you! I miss you boys and your mother and Charles and Lil'Will and Jacks and Martha and even Miranda!" he cried. "m'sorry I left you all behind! F'give me! You gotsta f'give me!"

"Will, wake up! I can't forgive you if you strangle me!" Jamie pleaded.

Will didn't seem to hear him and now went through a litany of apologies that Jamie had to endure as he fought for breath. He was glad he heard the others rushing to his aid and began calling out to them. Will was now a blubbering mess.

"Will? Are you alright?" Su asked, pulling his thick arm off her entrapped uncle.

His head lolled and then he seemed to focus on her. Before she could react, he grabbed her arm as well and pulled her into a hug, releasing Jamie, who scrambled away.

"m'sorry, luvyu, f'give me, s'sorry," he begged.

"Will, get off me!" she now demanded, as he rolled over on her and began planting sloppy kisses where he could. She slapped him. He sat up, as if waking up for a second, then collapsed, half on her, totally unconscious.

"Will someone get him off me?" she asked of her companions.

Jenny and the boys rolled him off her, and tried to pick him up. Seeing it was no use, Jenny had them assemble a litter to drag him back home on. As they left, Alistair collected his discarded things, Su quickly grabbing the empty wine bottle from him. He trailed along behind, Will's mushroom warning still on his mind and it was now joined by the sight of the man's responses to his brother and niece. This was something he knew was not easy to forget.


TBC...

A/N: regarding the "eye-pod", I was thinking some sort of sunglasses with attached headphones over the ears. Personally, I can't stand those tiny earbuds they sell with iPods these days, as they hurt my ears. The "kaleidoscopic" imaging would be any random setting found on older Windows Music Players which resemble the "acid trip" of 60s-70s TV and movies. I think everything is pretty much iTunes and YouTube online, these days? I know my earlier references to PADDs (iPads) seem dated, already. Oh well.

11/26/12

ETA-1/10/13: Conan O'Brien just had (Ricky Gervaise in the bath and) Deepak Chopra on with his "Dreamweaver" invention which is basically what I had in mind, altho more refined. His glasses look more like regular sunglasses with a silver band reminiscent of Geordi LaForge's VISOR strapped over it. I need to play the lottery more often or something! LOL