I just realised I haven't updated this story in, like, forever; and even though it's not one of my more popular ones, I hate to abandon stuff! So, here we are! Update!


"Ok. Let's go." Jack said with a grin, cocking his weapon. With a nod, Rachel followed him into the room. Instantly, the creatures began roaring and waving weapons about. Now that she was in the middle of them, Rachel could see that not all of them had guns after all. There was a collection of items, ranging from guns to swords to big sticks. She could also see that no matter how many she shot, there didn't seem to be any less trying to catch and kill her.

She ran, and jumped, and tried to bring down as many of the creatures as she possibly could, but something was wrong. She felt slow. Sluggish. Like she was moving through something just that little bit thicker than air.

She heard Jack's yell of pain as he was killed, and glanced round.

It was at that moment something grabbed her by the neck and slammed her into the wall. Her eyes opened wide as she stared into the creature's face. It growled, wrinkling up a hairy snout to sniff her. Rachel swallowed, and felt a sharp blade forced against her neck.

She'd let herself get too cocky. Now she was going to pay the price.

She felt the steel press even further into her throat; felt something warm and wet run down the front of her shirt. I'm going to die. She realised with a jolt. I never even said goodbye to the Doctor.

Oh God, the Doctor. The last thing she'd said was that she would leave him. How stupid and insignificant the argument seemed now she would never see him again. So Rose was there, who cares? She was just his friend. Rachel wished she could see him again.

She squeezed her eyes tight shut, unable to take the sights around her anymore. She could barely feel the sting in her throat, it was more like a numbing pain. She saw a burst of blinding light from behind her eyelids and felt a sudden falling sensation.

I'm so sorry, Doctor.


"She'll come around you know."

"Hmm?" the Doctor looked up over his cup of tea and smiled at Rose.

"Rachel. She'll get over it."

"I know. I know she will. But…" he sighed.

"But?"

"What about the next time? Or the time after that? She's just so…young."

"She's the same age I was!" Rose protested.

The Doctor smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. And she's not normally like this; so insecure and childish. But…" he puffed out his cheeks and sighed again. Then he frowned. "She's in trouble."

"What?"

"Rachel. She's in trouble."

"How the hell do you know?"

The Doctor breathed in sharply through his teeth. "You remember how I used to tease you about my spidey-senses tingling?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…it wasn't exactly teasing. When I'm close to someone I can pick up on their…emotional…wave frequencies."

"Right." Rose thought about this for a second. "Doesn't that get…I dunno…annoying?"

"Sometimes."

"I'm sure she's fine."

"Yeah. Probably. She is with Jack." he said. But he didn't sound convinced.

"Exactly. Jack can look after her."

"It's not that I'm worried about, Rachel can look after herself. It's just…" he broke off. "Oh. It's gone."

"What?"

"The distress signal. It's just completely died. There's nothing there anymore."

Rose nudged him with her shoulder. "See? You're worrying over nothing."

"Yeah." he sighed and frowned into the distance. "Nothing."


Gwen glanced around the tourist office from her vantage point behind the desk. "Um…hello?" she said quietly. She instantly felt really stupid. "Oh God, I'm talking to thin air." she took a breath. "Owen? Are you there, can you here me?" there was no reaction, but then again she'd been expecting that. "Owen, are you there? I don't know. Look, if you are I just wanted to say…oh God, I miss you. I miss you so much, it hasn't been the same without you and Tosh. It just seems so unfair that Rachel can see you and I cant. Why her, Owen? Did you pick her? I don't know how this works." she shrugged, wiping her eyes. "I wish you could talk to me sweetheart." she whispered.

From over her shoulder, Owen placed a hand against her unfeeling cheek. "I wish I could too."


It took Rachel a good few minutes to realise she wasn't actually dead. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped as she took in the scene around her. Every single one of the alien creatures were unconscious. She raised a hand slowly to her neck, gingerly feeling the cut. It didn't seem as deep as she'd feared. She picked up her fallen weapon and looked around. First things first: she needed to find Jack. She stepped around several bodies, then froze when she heard a crash. Her elation at finding herself alive was quickly replaced by fear of what the hell had knocked out all these things. "Jack?" she called, then winced when she felt a fresh wave of blood run down her front. Ok; maybe the wound was deeper than she'd first thought. No talking.

She looked down at her shirt. It was ruined. It was her favourite one as well…still, couldn't be helped. With a regretful sigh, she tore a thick strip off the bottom of it and wrapped it securely around her neck. that should stop it bleeding so much she thought as she looked round for Jack. Then she felt a gun pressed against the back of her neck and cursed silently. What was wrong with her today?

"Tell me the name of your commander." hissed a voice from behind her. Rachel swallowed nervously. "Your commander!" it insisted, louder this time.

"Forget it, these primitive pigs cant talk." came a second voice. Higher. More feminine. "The thick one showed us that."

"I can talk fine thanks very much." Rachel said indignantly. "Can I turn around?"

After a second she heard a murmur of assent. She turned slowly on the spot and stared at the new comers. They were almost the exact opposite of the other creatures. They could almost have been mistaken for human if it weren't for the strange markings on their faces and the red gleam of their eyes. They also held Jack, tied and at gun-point. "Who are you, pig?" asked the female.

"Less of the 'pig' thank you." she snapped. "You're on Earth. That makes me human."

"Human? Not much higher."

Rachel decided she'd probably have more luck talking to the other one. "why're you here?"

"You brought us here. Your Rift, pulling us off course and into an ambush of these…things."

"Ok, that wasn't us. We don't want these things here. Or you, no offence." she licked her lips. She was beginning to feel dizzy. "Look, I have a friend. He can get you out of here. He's called the Doctor."

"Doctor?" the male's head jerked with interest. "The Doctor? Tall, scruffy, stripy suit?"

"That's the one. You know him?"

"Yes, I…" he studied her again. "Rachel?"

She blinked. "Ok, that was weird."

"Is that you? Rachel?"

"That's me, yeah. Who are you?"

He smiled. "Jor-Och. This is my sister, Mei-Och."

"Jor…" she frowned. Then her expression cleared as she remembered. About a month ago she and the Doctor had landed on a small planet under a vast war. Och was the name of the king's family. Only the Jor-Och she remembered was a weedy child. This guy was at least 25 and…well…hot. "Oh my God!" she stepped forwards and hugged him.

Jack cleared his throat. "Erm…if you've quite finished hugging the people who've tied me up?"

"Oh. Sorry." she pulled back. "Jor, this is Jack. A friend of mine."

"My apologies." he said with a nod, releasing him. "I thought you were a mere pig."

"Yeah, well." Jack looked incredibly put out.

"Ok, we need to get these guys back to the Hub. And then I need to…to…" she reached up a hand to her throat. She felt suddenly incredibly dizzy, and could see stars dancing in her vision. "Jack?"

He turned to look at the young woman, just in time to see her crash to the floor, completely unconscious.


I know nothing about neck wounds, so I'm just gonna pretend it's survivable to have one that deep. Reviews are loved!