Author's Note: I don't know if this works right, so I'll be seeing what the reaction is to it first before carrying on. I was up until nearly six in the morning writing it, so tiredness might have messed things up. So, if I have, don't forget to review. I do read them.

If, though this is working okay, you can also review and tell me. Those give me a boost.

The New Guy

I stare at both Jane and the new guy, both looking at the other in disbelief. She's rubbing her temple. And squinting. Her head is craning forward. She's feeling the back of her head.

"You know, my eyesight is perfect. Brilliant, in fact. And yet, that guy is blurred. Quite badly, in fact. I'm still out of synch, but... yeah. It's damaged. I don't get it, though. The damage is isn't self healing. I can't seem to repair the ruptures... why? I need to find out what's going on..." She walks to a different Console.

"Someone's been redecorating," the new guy says in a clear American accent. He's approaching me and Derek. Jane is focussing on the screen.

"I wanted it all to fit in. The aesthetic is based on Castella Period architecture. I loved that design. And it fits with the tech upgrades – why can't I see right. Why? And I can't I see these results? I've increased the resolution. I think. Wait. Are these panels upside down? Got to get an answer..." her head lifts up, to stare at the domed wall. It's like staring at purple and blue marble. She starts speaking in a strange language. And she's getting a reply back from the Cathedral. She seems upset. She's speaking again. The reply seems to be with words that are based on grammatical roots that words in the previous sentence had. The reply seems to be the same. She's brushing her hair back with both hands. The man is unflapping this leather encased object strapped to his wrist.

"You're interesting. Got some strange brain damage. But what's really interesting is the fact you've got two hearts. And you're in this place. I thought you couldn't Regenerate into a female?" Jane spins around at him, her face screwed up in confusion.

"I've always been female," she says bewildered. "Regeneration... There's a thought..." She closes her eyes, and concentrates. After a moment, she opens them again. She squints a little.

"I used my fleshcrafting abilities to force-accelerate my healing. For some reason, the excess energy didn't do all that much. My sight's not back to normal, though. But, I'm seeing a bit better now... Right way up now, which is good." she walks back to the console, and starts tapping out options. A unit to the side is humming, and when it's over, she quickly opens it, and gets what's just been made, and puts them on. She spins round and looks at all of us. She suddenly smiles. Those glasses are the sort I've seen the geeks at school wear. She looks like one of them a little now.

"It'll have to do for now. But I don't get why I'm not healing. My blood's concentrating, and I've got enough potency now to do it..." She stares at the console again. "Oh. That's not good... we didn't extract the poison out of me. Not all of it. It's affecting me. My body is slowly extracting it, but it's impacting on me. This is going to be a pain..." The man in the coat is walking up to her. He hesitates before extending his hand.

"Captain Jack Harkness. And who might you be, then?"

"Jane Smith. And no, not my real name. And I'm not saying it, either. Oh, and two hearts is because I'm a hybrid. Part Lord of Time. But I think you've already guessed along those lines." She sizes him up. "You are a long way away from home," she comments. Jack gives her a once over.

"Like the dress. Very royal court. Glasses give you a kinda science geek element. A brains and beauty package."

"Science geek? They're not meant to be geeky. I specifically chose a Greek style. I thought a classical-" she's looking at the screen. "Oh. It says geek. Couldn't see the writing properly. I couldn't see it... I needed glasses before I was Embraced, or whatever the hell he did to me, but I wasn't half blind..." She's shaking her head. Jack is walking towards me and Derek. He extends his hand to us. I don't understand it. He's not right. There is something strange. Very strange. About him.

"Jack Harkness. And you two are?" I look to Derek for guidance. Derek is looking at him warily.

"Like the designer stubble. Gives you a Desperate Dan look." Derek frowns at this, taking a small step backwards. My head jerks between the two, uncertain as to what is going on. He turns to look at me.

"And you are?" I glance at Jane, who seems amused by all of this. She's not worried about him. I look at him, and offer my hand.

"Cameron." We shake hands, and I make sure I grip tightly. It's not enough to make the bones break, but I want to see him react to a sampling of my strength. He winces from the pain, but keeps his composure. In fact, he's smiling a little.

"That's one hell of a grip you have there," he comments. Jane is walking towards us. She reaches into her pocket, fumbling for something. She stops still, and looks at her ruined Kissie. She frowns in annoyance.

"Buggar. Well, I'll have to scan you the old fashioned way," she says. She holds him by the shoulders, and squints at him, her head swaying slightly.

"Well, he's being honest. As to him actually being Jack Harkness... well, that's not his name." His face becomes serious. I stare at him, my head tilting slightly. What is his name? And how does Jane know this? She gives him a a small smile.

"That's thrown you... And got your attention." She's still staring at him. "Wow. It's incredible. Staring at you. You are so wrong... Really. It's like you're solid in time. As if you're an unchanging fact. It's a challenge to even look at you..." she's shaking her head, and as she turns to walk away, I see her amazed smile.

"So you know, I call this place the Cathedral of Time. I'm partly Lord of Time. And the guy you thought was me is the Lord of Time." she looks at him again. "And you are so wrong..."

"Well, what does it mean? Because if you're part Time L- Lord of Time, then surely you know." she gives him a puzzled smile.

"I've got no idea as what's wrong with you, let alone as to how to fix it... You need to understand. I'm all that's left of Gallifrey, and the Lords of Time. But I don't have their knowledge. I only know so much, because of my Kindred and Arcadian heritages. And in this universe, that knowledge isn't so useful. Oh, that reminds me... how did you get here?" she's walked off and started to examine the robotic arm whilst she was talking. Jack is staring at it from where he's standing.

"You said 'this' universe. And that's an interesting arm you have there. Seen that type before. And what's usually attached to those arms are not good conversationalists." Jane is looking at Jack.

"You're not in your native universe. I'm not, either. I need to know how you got here. Because I get the feeling this is one huge jigsaw, waiting to be put together." she looks at me. "Cams, I said when we first found this place that someone was playing us. You have a place that goes through time and space – ideal for a base in a Time War. You're altered, and are a Tin Miss now. I've been altered further, and I've got experience in combat and politics. And now, we have a guy whose dealt with all sorts of problems. Whose dealt with these," she says, lifting up the arm, "And these," she says, lifting up the dome. From the corner of my eye, I see Jack stiffen and straighten massively. He's pointing a finger at it.

"No. That's not possible! They should all be dead!" he shouts. Jane is ignoring him, staring at the arm again. Her face is screwed up, as if she's trying to grasp something wispy in the air. Her face gains realisation. She looks at Jack, serious. I sideways glance at Derek. He seems to be having trouble understanding what's going on.

"Who should be all dead? No offence, but right now, I want answers." Oh. He's got his hand guns out, one pointed at Jane, the other at Jack. Jack is standing straight, feet slightly apart. Jane is standing up, tossing the arm to the floor, her face on the verge of hysterics.

"Captain, is he threatening us?" she says, her voice failing to be serious. Jacks looking at her.

"I do believe he is," Jack replies in he clear American accent. Jane is now losing it, and is creasing up from half sniggering laughter.

"If you two don't talk, I'll kill you both. And if you get up, I'll know you're Metal."

"Metal?"

"Slang for Terminators. This universe has Terminators in them." Jack is now facing Jane, who is walking beside him.

"You serious?"

"Yep. Skynet, John Connor, the whole deal. I've yet to see platoons of Arnies yet, but it's true."

"A platoon of robotic Arnies. Giving me a few ideas right now." Jane is looking at him, bewildered.

"Does everything for you lead to sex? Flames, it's like having Sir Shagalot next to me." Her face grows serious. "Can we focus now on the upset guy pointing guns at us?" her face blanks, her eyes widening in realisation. "And no comments about pointing guns. Men," she mutters, irritated.

"What about the dangers of firing blanks?" He asks with a smile. Jane just cringes. I'm tensing up, assessing if I should intervene, and if so, what the best strategy would be. Jane looks at me, and subtly shakes her head. She glances at Jack.

"Worse than Daniel," she mutters under her breath.

"Whose Daniel?"

"An ex-boyfriend of mine. He was always eager to screw me. With hindsight, probably to get me pregnant, so he could dump me and get me to be a single mum." Jane's now staring at Derek. "He's in prison now. Charged with my murder. When I Awakened, I found a week had gone by. I was looking like a cute little china doll, and everyone was convinced I was dead, because of all the blood found at the crime scene. I couldn't go and set things straight, because I'd have to go and explain my new look, the blood drenched room, and the O negative diet I'd picked up. Oh, and the lack of body heat and lack of heartbeat would have made for fun conversation pieces, too."

"Yeah, I get it. You're a monster." A single tear betrays Jane's thoughts at Derek's words.

"Really? If you think that, then just shoot me." Jack is looking at Jane now.

"Wait. You're part Vampire?" he asks incredulously. Derek is cranking back firing pins with his thumbs now.

"In my universe, there's a lot of supernatural creatures and stuff. I was born a half-breed. My mother died, never knowing that inside us is part leech. My father's millennia old. He bred my family, and others for centuries. I've no idea as to how extensive the interbreeding is. Don't ask, we've little time, and it's a lot of back-story. A fair bit of it I'm still working out." She steps forward, her arms outstretched.

"Last chance. Start answering and explaining." Jane looks at him, disgusted.

"Do you know what I feel every time I drink blood? Shame. Guilt. Embarrassed. Dirty. I don't usually drink human blood, unless I really have to. It's tolerated in Kindred society, because they know that if for a split second I feel the slightest desire to kill, I'll feel that person. I once had to kill some people, because they'd seen too much. I was having to end people's lives.

"During the fight, I ended up out of control. I was brand new and badly hurt. I was terrified. And I lost control. I bit into this guy's throat, and I couldn't stop myself. I felt him die. We were joined, seeing his past, and his future, and I couldn't pull away. I felt his terror as he was dying.

"Wanna know something? If I hadn't killed him, he'd have raped countless women. Gotten a taste for sadistic murder, working for the Russian Mafia. I hate myself for killing him, but I know that I gave all his future victims a chance." She's crying now, sniffling as well. "I'm not a monster. Because a monster would never hate killing. What about you? Can you say that you sleep easy at night after killing people?"

"You're lying." Oh. This is going badly. Very badly. I know Derek. He's going to shoot. His emotions are building up inside him, and I know what he's like when this happens. Jane's looking at me, silently telling me to not to do anything. Jack is walking forward now, clearly having lost patience.

"This is getting out of hand. Just put the guns-" deafening shots ring out, echoing in the large domed chamber. Jack falters, blood filling his mouth. His eyes are wide with pain, and I know what they are seeing. I've seen it before. When people are about to die. He falls to his knees, and Jane is screaming in anger and shock, rushing forwards to help him. Derek's too much on edge. He's now firing freely at the two of them, clearly not processing the situation properly. I'm too shocked to move. I see the bullets cut Jane down, collapsing limply to the floor, Jack has fallen back first, eyes wide and blank of life, his mouth slightly open. I swallow hard. Derek is looking at them, his brain processing everything that's happened. He's looking shocked and horrified, his hands trembling.

"I... I..." I feel anger and hate swell up inside me. I pull out a gun, and point it at his ear-hole.

"Drop them to the floor." I say as calmly as I can manage. He lets go, letting them clatter on the floor. He's there, trembling from the drain of adrenaline, stricken at what he's done.

"I just wanted answers," he says weakly. He sinks to the floor, guilt wracking him. I put my gun away. Too much blood has been spilled. And it's pooling around them both. I just close my eyes. Jane was my friend. Now she's dead. I can't believe it. I can't-

I hear a loud gasp for breath. I open my eyes to see Captain Jack propping himself up on his elbows, mouth wide as he's desperately, his eyes bulging with renewed life. It takes a moment for him to start registering where he is, and what's happened. I hear a thudding sound next to me. Oh. It's Derek. He's fainted. I think I'm either unable to simulate such a response, or I'm too used to strange things happening. I tilt my head slightly, and then extend a hand to him, crouching down to the best position to help him up.

"You should be dead," I say matter-of-factly. He just smiles as he accepts my hand.

"Thousands of times," he says as I haul him up efficiently. He looks at me, interested.

"You're too strong to be a human."

"I'm a Tin Miss. A cybernetic organism." He's looking at me, as if evaluating possibilities for something.

"I'm fully capable of fighting Metal, and whatever the... things were that came through the tear. If that's what you're evaluating." he smiles.

"No, but it's good to know. Well, she was right," he says ruefully. I tilt my head, and frown slightly?

"Who is 'she'?" He looks at me, his eyes full of sadness, and... old. Like he's much older than his apparent age.

"In my universe, there was this race called the Sontarans. They were converting Earth into a clone world, which would have killed everything alive on the planet. Me and my team were fighting it. And two people I really care about died. I got captured, and because I can't die, they'd started sending me back to their homeworld, to see if they could add some of that into their people. In my cell this woman in black battle armour and this really funky sword just materialised, and got this" he points to his wrist, and the item strapped to it, "To work properly again. She told me to get back to my base, so I did. Except I woke up in a storage cupboard in this place."

"Oh." That's all I can say to that. Jack is kneeling next to Jane. After checking her, he looks up, and shakes his head. I frown slightly, tilting my head forwards a little.

"She might be okay. She's been through much worse." I look at him in the eye. "Why can't you die?"

Jack stands up, and walks to the discarded dome, and picks it up.

"I was travelling in this place, with the Lord of Time, as you call him, and this really nice blonde. Great person to know. Anyway, we ended up on a space station orbiting Earth. The year 200,100. We ended up finding a fleet of them hidden away, invisible, and when we revealed them, they started to invade. We mounted a defence, to buy time for the lord of Time to build a weapon to stop them." he looks at the dome.

"I was the last man standing. I had fired every last bullet at them. I stood there, and challenged them to exterminate me. And they did. Thing is, I suddenly woke up, and all of them were just piles of dust. I rushed back, to find the TA-Cathedral disappearing. So, I used this," he says, showing the item strapped to his wrist. "To teleport me back to early Twenty First century Earth, to settle down, base myself. Find the Lord of Time, get answers. Problem is I got things a little wrong. So, I end up in 1869, and it burnt out. Then I started discovering I can't die. Couple of accidents were the first clues. Couple more accidents, and I got the message: I can't die. And I'm no closer to finding the answers." Jack exhales noisily. I give him a small smile.

"I'm sure that Jane can find them for you. She may not be the Lord of Time, but she is clever. I believe in her." Suddenly, there's a small growl from Jane's body. Her head jerks up, and moves around in a feral, primal fashion. She's on her feet in a blur of motion, working out where she is, looking for threats. After a couple of seconds, she's realising where she is, and starts to relax. She looks at the floor, and sees the blood. There's a flash of recognition, and she swiftly kicks Derek in the bottom, making him grunt.

"Pathetic moosehead! Americans! Always thinking with guns and bullets!" she screams. She walks around the mess, and leans forward on the console to calm down.

"He's damned lucky we weren't normal humans... We'd be dead by now." She's deeply upset. She looks at the blood soaked clothes, and without a thought strips out of them, leaving her lacy black lingerie and garter-held stockings on. She ties her hair back, still clearly angry.

"I hate wearing clothes soaked in blood." She says it like it is a regular thing for her. Maybe it is. Jack is giving her a though examination, looking up and down a few times, eyebrow raised.

"You know, that is quite a nice lace pattern there. And it shows off your womanly shape beautifully." She looks at him, irritated.

"I'm trapped in the body of a teenager. Womanly isn't too likely."

"Still have nice curves," he comments. She rolls her eyes and blushes. I look at her nearly naked body, and I think of marble statues carved by skilled artists. I feel my food processing systems jump and twist as I look at her. She suddenly winces.

"Ah... I think I tore a muscle or something in my back," she says, annoyed. Jack walks to her, and places his firm hands on the small of her back. Oh. He's massaging her. I feel something as I watch him do that. Oh. I want to eject the contents of my food processing systems. And there is something wrong with my diagnostics. They are telling me my throat is clear of obstructions when I feel there's something stuck in it. Jane gasps, her eyes closed and screwing up, her head lifting up. There's a look of peace, happiness.

Her eyes snap open, as if she's realised something, and her face turns to horror. She spins round, and pushes Jack away, like she's a frightened child. She waves trembling fingers at him.

"Don't ever touch me like that again! Ever! Not like that! Not..." she looks away from him. I move closer to her, upset and worried for her. Oh. She's crying, and rubbing the base of her left ring finger. Jack is looking at her, as if understanding perfectly what's happened. Like he knows through experience.

"I won't." she shoves her glasses back up her nose. She suddenly turns and half runs out of the chamber.

"I'm going to bed!" she half sobs. I start to follow her, but a hand holds me back. I turn, and move my head up to look at Jack's face. There is a tenderness smoothed over it.

"Leave her be. She needs to be alone." He says gently.

"Why?" he looks at where Jane went with a pained look.

"Because I stopped her repressing the memory of her dead fiancée or husband." he says quietly. Oh. She was rubbing her ring finger...

"Oh." It's all I can say.