Author's Notes: Alright, a bit of a boring chapter I'll admit but some things had to be done so...yeah. I hope you enjoy and please review! Nothing would make me happier!
A fire crackled beneath the cold hands of Captain Jack Harkness. He gave them a brisk rub. He had been looking for signs of life in this forest for quite a while. So far, nothing. He was a bit lonely although he'd never admit it. His hand brushed over the handle of his gun. He had come across a few wolves but their soft undersides had provided easy targets. One of them had also provided the meal he had wrapped up a few moments ago.
A branch cracked somewhere to Jack's right. His gun was out in a moment, pointed at the source of the sound. Both hands gripped the weapon until his knuckles were white with strain. "Who's there?" He called out, hoping for an English response instead of a howl.
"Jack!" A man with messy hair jumped out of the woods. His bow tie was askew and there were twigs in his hair. "Boy am I glad to see you!" The man ran up to Jack and threw his arms around him. "I've been wandering around trying to find someone forever."
"Not that I don't like to be hugged in the middle of the forest but who are you?" Jack didn't think this bizarre man was a threat but he figured that letting go of his gun would be a mistake.
"Oh, right sorry. New face. It's me! The Doctor!" The Doctor slapped his own cheeks to indicate the face was new. He grinned like the madman he was inside as Jack let out an exclamation of realization.
"Doctor!" Jack picked the light man off the ground in another hug. "You would not believe how long I've been waiting for this." Jack stuffed his gun into his pocket.
"Well, wait no longer. Where's your partner?" The Doctor looked around at the campsite, expecting a pretty young girl to pop out at any moment.
"She was... killed." Jack glanced down, momentary shame burning his insides. He could still hear her gasping breaths inside the cave as she struggled to breathe.
"I'm sorry, Jack." Together they sat down at the edge of the fire and began to relate their experiences to each other. The Doctor was sad to hear of Irene's death but he knew the arena would be a safer place without her. He could breathe easier however, that didn't make her death right. He mourned her death as well as Clara's and this Charlie girl's in his mind. This was getting out of hand.
"So you're saying that when Clara died there was a cannon shot?" Jack remembered the loud booms when Charlie and Irene had died.
"Yeah, sort of like a cannon." The Doctor affirmed, eating the cooked meat Jack had offered. He hadn't eaten anything but berries in days and he needed something with substance.
"This canon noise must mark someone's death because I heard the same thing when Charlie and Irene... you know..." Jack trailed off, trying to think if he had heard any other cannon shots.
"There was another sound earlier..." The Doctor remembered, adding a mental note that someone else had died. "There were about eight groups at the Cornucopia and with four cannon shots that means there are still twelve of us left. We can still save most of the people here." The Doctor didn't know if what he thought was true but he was certainly going to try and save them all.
"Tomorrow we can go and look for more people." Jack threw another stick into the fire. Embers flew up into the darkening sky.
"Yeah..." The Doctor adjusted his bow tie. He was going to save everyone he could.
"Well, I don't think that two men could possibly take on a professional assassin that tall unless one of them had some sort of training." River pushed aside a bush. She was careful to wipe off the berry juice that she got on her. She didn't know if they were poisonous or not. It was going to be night soon. They would need to set up camp.
"John was a former army doctor." Sherlock stated plainly. River had suggested that he tell her about some of the consulting detective stories about Moriarty. They helped both to pass the time and to inform her about the villain who had helped trap them in this place.
"A doctor. So we're both in love with medical men." River smirked a little bit at Sherlock's back.
"No, I'm not-" Sherlock stuttered and shook his head.
"Not up to me to pass judgment dearie." River stopped talking for just a moment. She thought she had heard voices. Sherlock disregarded his previous thoughts as he thought for a moment he too had heard something. He drew out his gun and turned to see River already had hers in hand.
They moved towards the tree line, guns in hand. They exchanged a look as they started leaving the faint path. The voices were coming from just behind a couple of trees that were interwoven closely. There was a small stream that flowed past.
Sherlock moved on one side of the trees and River moved to other, guns at the ready. All of a sudden, the voices stopped. Sherlock and River exchanged glances and moved to the front of the trees, guns aimed at the pair sitting beneath the tree.
Sam moved his arm instinctively in front of Rose, shielding her. She gave a startled little gasp, clutching Sam's arm. She had more been surprised by his arm but the combination of that and two people nearly materializing in front of them with guns had caused the sound. Sam gulped almost silently next to her.
"Look, we don't mean any harm." Sam raised his hands to show his good intent and Rose followed suit. Sam began to stand slowly Sherlock's gun followed his head while River kept hers trained on Rose. Sam rose four inches taller than Sherlock so he began to think of some other strategic advantage in case this got down to hand to hand fighting.
"What do you want?" Rose asked, feeling slightly safer with the enormous Winchester protecting her. The woman with the curly hair was giving her a very strange look that Rose didn't like. She scooted towards Sam slightly, his bulk pressing into her arm.
"We heard voices. We didn't know if they were dangerous or not." River didn't lower her gun as she spoke. There was something eerily familiar about the girl. Something she felt she must remember...
"We're not going to hurt you." Sam reassured though the other pair were the ones with the guns. He noticed that the blonde woman was giving Rose a funny look. He then stumbled upon the realization that a slightly frightened Rose was pressed into his side. "Let's just talk." He addressed this thought to the dark man who still had a gun trained on his head.
"You sit and we'll talk." Sherlock didn't like the odds of trying to take this man out if he had to. He had trained killer written all over him despite the fact that he seemed gentle on the outside. Sherlock had met too many killers not to know one on sight. However, the girl he was with was quite different. She was frightened although she was hiding it quite well.
Sam sat slowly, followed quickly by Rose. As a gesture of faith, River also sat. Sherlock sat last, gun coming down just slightly. He didn't trust this killer sitting opposite him but he didn't believe he would try and pull anything while the young blonde was next to them. River swung the backpack off of her shoulder and set it down beside her. This caught Sam's eye and an expression of surprise overtook his face.
"Where did you get that?" River followed his gaze and moved the backpack in front of her. The demon warding on the front was clearly visible to Sammy now. "Do you know what that is?" He asked her, resisting the urge to take it from her and search through it.
"No, I've been trying to decipher it but it doesn't make sense to me."
"May I see it?" River handed him the bag a little reluctantly. He tore it open and pulled out the first thing in there. It was a gun. Sherlock's hand tightened on his gun automatically and River sat up a bit straighter. Sam however, dropped it to the side of the bag and continued searching. "You guys have an arsenal in here." Sam exclaimed as he saw the mounds of salt and holy water.
"An angel blade." Sam breathed out softly. The best protection in the entire world. He pulled it out, wondering if it belonged to Cas. River stared at Sam who was transfixed with the knife. She had a glimpse into the bag and had seen nothing but salt. How was that an arsenal?
"Rose." The name clicked in River's mind. The Journal of Impossible Things. River had skimmed through it once. The Doctor kept it on his bedside table. There was a picture of this Rose girl there. The Doctor had talked about her sometimes but River had never met her. Until now.
"How do you know that?" Rose asked, bewildered by this bizarre woman. How could she possibly know Rose?
"I'm one of the Doctor's companions. He talked about you an awful lot." River grinned and Rose got excited. Another companion of the Doctor? The only thing more perfect would be if the Doctor himself popped out of the trees offering a way out. With that single introduction the two groups became allies, melding into one large group of four.