Chapter 7:
"Adventure time?" Alex asked.
Jack nodded. "I think so, yes."
"We should tell the team we're going this time," Alex declared.
"Sounds like a plan," agreed Jack.
They walked to the Hub.
"Where have you two been? It's been days!" Maria shouted as they stepped off of the invisible lift.
"Days?" repeated Alex. She whacked Jack's arm. "You're almost as bad as heis!"
"Amy did tell you he missed by 12 years once, didn't she?" Jack countered.
"You missed by over a hundred once," she replied.
"HARKNESSES!" Maria yelled, preventing Jack from responding. "I will say this one more time: Where Have You BEEN?"
"Out of town," they replied in unison.
"And we're only here to pick up some things and tell you we're leaving again," added Jack.
"Jack," Gwen said.
"Gwen," Alex replied half-mockingly. "Look, there's something we kind of need to do. And by kind of, I mean really."
"With you two gone, there's only three of us," Caleb complained.
"Oh good, he can count," commented Alex sarcastically. "Jack, why'd you even hire him?"
"I've worked here longer than you, Harkness," snapped Caleb.
"Ooh, are we using surnames now, Flynn? You'd better watch it, 'cause I share that name with your boss," Alex replied venomously.
"Tara, Caleb, cut it out," Maria ordered. Caleb, who had been about to respond, closed his mouth.
Can we just leave now, Jack? Alex thought. Jack nodded. "We're leaving now," he announced. "We'll try to be back within a few days."
"Wait a minute, Jack, you haven't even told us where you're going! Will we be able to contact you?" Gwen said.
"We're going away," Alex answered. "And while I'll have my mobile with me, I don't think contacting us would be a particularly good idea."
"We might just turn up before you'd called," explained Jack.
"What?" Caleb and Maria responded in unison.
"I wasn't going to mention the time travel bit," Alex whispered to Jack.
Jack shrugged. "It makes it easier to explain when we're late."
"Have some experience with that, do ya?" Alex teased, elbowing him.
"Shut up," responded Jack.
—
They'd spent nearly five months on the run.
At Demons Run, Alex had suspected a connection between her kidnappers and Amy and Melody's.
Now they were sure that it was the same organization.
"GOD DAMN IT!" Alex shouted as they ran. She waved her hand in front of her eyes, and for once she didn't miss a step. Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her forwards.
They crashed – at relatively high speed – into something very very solid.
"Jack, you can see! YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO PREVENT ME FROM RUNNING INTO WALLS!" exclaimed Alex.
"It wasn't there before!" responded Jack.
"So you're saying it just materialized?" Alex said sarcastically.
"Yes!" Jack replied.
Alex rolled her eyes. "Well what the hell is it?"
"It looks like the TARDIS," Jack answered.
"Tara makes a sound when she appears!"
"Sorry about that, River changed the settings," the Doctor's voice said.
"You idiots," Alex said, whacking Jack.
"I didn't do anything this time!"
"You let me run into a big blue box!"
The Doctor chuckled. Then Alex hit him, too. "Ow, what was that for?"
"Putting the box there to begin with!"
—
About 45 minutes and two showers later, the Doctor, Jack and Alex sat in the TARDIS's kitchen. The Doctor slid a blue envelope, vaguely reminiscent of one Jack had received a long, long time ago, with the number 5 on it across the table.
"I need a favour."
Relevant shorts:
- Don't Forget