As I was uploading this onto FF, I noticed the expiration dates for most of my other chapter docs are all 7 days apart. I suppose that should've been obvious but it's 4am and everything fascinates me right now.

Quick! I have a game for everyone! It's called Spot the Obscure Classic Who reference.


The silo turned out to be a compound built into the mountain itself. Outside it looked like normal rock and dirt, but underneath was a labyrinth of metal and cement tunnels. It was only slightly warmer inside the silo than it was outside.

The four travelers and the refugee man were delivered to a man with dark skin called Lieutenant Atillo near the entrance of the silo for registration. He took down their names, and assumed from appearances, that they were all human—no one bothered to correct him. Not that his definition of human would quite match the time travelers' anyway. The Doctor's name, however, he wouldn't accept.

"Doctor's a title, not a name."

"Well, it's my name and I am a doctor." the Doctor said haughtily.

"Of medicine?"

"Well…of everything, really."

Atillo gave him a funny look, told them to wait, then walked over to one of the other men. He leaned close and spoke quickly and quietly for a few moments.

As the seconds ticked by, Rose noticed it was getting easier to stand next to Jack. No one but the Doctor and she seemed to realize there was anything off about him. The Doctor had a number of senses that humans did not. That was probably why he could tell, but the only thing she had that others did not was her connection to the TARDIS. Whether it was Jack's distance from her, or just her body building its own resistance to this…problem, however, was difficult to say.

Atillo returned, smiling, and handed them each a small metallic strip. "These are your identification cards. You must keep them with you at all times as they'll be required for getting your meal rations and hygiene time slots."

Rose held hers up for a look. Rose Tyler was etched into the smooth surface above a small line of symbols that didn't translate.

"Head down the hall to your left, and you'll enter the passenger areas. We have limited bunk space so we're on a rotating schedule for the beds so everyone has an opportunity. You'll be added to the list for that but I'm afraid you'll have to be near the bottom. So in the meantime, I suggest you find a nice spot in the halls. You might be able to find a corner, if you're lucky. Increased meal rations, hygiene time, and supplies will be allotted to those who sign up to work. That's everything, I think."

"Uh, hang on a tick. I've got a problem. Something very valuable of mine is still out there." The Doctor jerked his head towards the tunnel they'd come down. "I'm gonna need it back."

"Yes, and please, can you tell me if my family made it?" Padra pleaded.

"It's a box, a big blue box. I'm sorry, but I really need it back. It's stuck out there," interrupted the Doctor.

"I'm sorry," Padra insisted, "but my family were heading for the silo. Did they get here? My mother is Kistane Shafe Cane. My brother is Bilto."

Atillo held up his hand calmingly. "The computers are down but you can check the paperwork. Creet!" he called.

A tiny boy with a headful of wavy blonde hair poked out from behind a piece of machinery.

"Passenger needs help."

"Right," said the boy. He pulled out a clipboard that was about a third of his size. "What do you need?"

Padra lunged down to the boy's level and seized the clipboard.

"A blue box, you said?" Atillo asked the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded. "Big, tall, wooden. Says 'Police.'"

He considered him for a moment. "We're driving out for the last water collection. I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

"Yes, thank you," Rose agreed empathetically.

The Lieutenant's eyes flicked between them, he nodded once, and then walked away. Rose and the Doctor glanced at each other, and she saw the same tension she was feeling reflected in his shoulders and the hard set of his mouth.

Creet led Padra away, and Martha followed after him. "Sorry, but how old are you?"

He glanced back. "Old enough to work. This way."

Not seeing anything else to do, the others followed after. Creet lead them down into a wide series of hallways. They were filled to the brim with people in everything from rags to dilapidated remains of once fine clothing. They were all dressed for warmth. Every single original human ethnicity and every single variation of was there: dark skins, light skins, and skins every shade in between; blue eyes, green eyes, brown, hazel, yellowish, gray, black red, purple, and there was even one guy with bright orange. They all regarded the newcomers with the same uninterested curiosity—recognizing new faces as well as their mutual plight, but not caring beyond that. Just a handful of more lost souls seeking salvation.

Creet and Padra continued to call out the names of his family. The people around them either did not respond, or simply shook their heads.

"It's like a refugee camp," Martha murmured.

"It's stinking!" Jack said. "Ooh, sorry. No offense," he said to the large man who was scowling at him.

The Doctor, even with his superior Time Lord senses, did not seem too bothered by the stench at all. In fact, he seemed rather happy about it. "Don't you see, though? The ripe old smell of humans. You survived!" He chirped and slung his arm around Rose's shoulders. "Oh, much better than a million years evolving into clouds of gas. And then another million as downloads. But you always revert to the same basic shape. The fundamental humans."

Ahead of them, Creet and Padra continued to search for his family.

The Doctor's arm tightened around her shoulders. "End of the universe and here you are. Indomitable! That's the word!" He smiled at Rose but she didn't miss the bit of pain in his eyes. He let go of her and walked ahead of them towards Padra. "Indomitable! Ha!"

"Is there a Kistane Shafe Cane!" Creet called once again.

From the end of the hallway, a woman in tattered clothes rose to her feet. "That's me." She said and then she gasped. "Oh my God."

"Mother?" Padra murmured. He abandoned Creet, and ran towards his family. The little boy scurried after him. "Bilto?!" exclaimed Padra.

Padra raced into his mother's waiting arms and, weeping with joy, and pressed her face against his shoulder. His older brother Bilto came up behind them and put his arms around them both.

Rose smiled and Martha made a happy little series of bounces. "It's not all bad news!"

Both women watched the reunited family for a moment, each of them feeling the familiar pang of longing for their own families. Rose longed for her mum, Mickey, Pete, and the little brother or sister she would never meet. Martha thought of her parents and siblings and she wished they had not detoured to Cardiff. She had really wanted to see them today, but she knew they were only a TARDIS ride away. Rose's were on the other side of an unbreakable wall.

Rose looked away in time to see Jack approach a man with quite a handsome face. Jack stuck out his hand. "Captain Jack Harkness." he greeted. "And who are you?"

The man smiled and shook his hand.

"Stop it!" The Doctor barked without looking away from the panel he was attempting to sonic open. "Give us a hand with this."

Jack turned, mouth open in protest, and then looked at Rose for help. She grinned at him, tongue between her teeth, and raised her eyebrows. He gave the man an apologetic look, tapped his hand, and then went to help the Doctor. Rose and Martha followed.

"It's half deadlocked," the Doctor reported, stepping away from the panel. "See if you can overwrite the code."

Jack nodded curtly and set to work on the keypad.

The Doctor ran the sonic across the side and top of the door. "Let's see where we are."

The door slid open and he took a step forward into empty space. He yelped and his arm shot out, grabbing onto the door, and he swung himself around. Rose shrieked once in alarm, lunging forward, but Jack beat her to it. He grabbed the Doctor by his coat sleeves and hauled him back onto solid ground.

Rose exhaled loudly "Are you alright?"

"'m fine. Don't worry. Thanks, Jack." the Doctor said.

"How did you cope without me?" Jack muttered.

Martha gasped in awe. "Now that…is what I call a rocket."

The room before them was enormous, easily half a mile from top to bottom, illuminated by rings of lights placed intermittently along the wall. Gangplanks and catwalks ran along the walls and across the room. In the center, stretching from the top to as far down as they could see, was a massive rocket. It was not like any of the many advanced spaceships Rose had seen in her travels, or even like the rudimentary ones of her time. It wasn't sleek or pretty, just a hulking mass of machinery covered by dull metal plating.

But what good would a rocket do?

"They're not refugees," the Doctor murmured. "They're passengers."

Martha looked over sharply. "He said they were going to Utopia."

"I don't understand. What's Utopia?" Rose asked.

"It's an idea from long ago," the Doctor explained. "From even before your time. A utopia is basically an Eden. The ideal society. No hunger, wars, or disease. No corruption or wickedness. The perfect place. 100 trillion years and it's the same old dream." To Jack, "Do you recognize those engines?"

"Nope," the other man said. "Whatever it is, it's not rocket science. What about you, Rose? Ever seen anything like it?"

Rose blinked in surprise. She knew next to nothing about spaceships. "I dunno. 'S hot though."

"Boiling," the Doctor agreed. They took one last look around then stepped back. Jack used the keypad to reseal the door. "But if the universe is falling apart, where do they expect to find a utopia?"

An elderly man with white hair, wearing dark trousers, a smart dark vest, and a white shirt with long, voluminous sleeves, came jogging up to them, breathing heavily. He looked between the two men and settled on Jack. "The Doctor?"

"That's me," the Time Lord said as Jack pointed.

"Oh, good!" The man grabbed his hand. "Good!" He jumped once in glee then started pulling the Doctor down the hall. "Good. Good," he repeated over and over. "Good, good, good, good, good!"

The Doctor looked back at his companions. "It's good apparently!"

The man led them into a long flight of stairs and headed down. "I'm so glad you've come! We've been working for so long—months and months non-stop! There's only so much I can do—but now you're here—a scientist—we may just make it!"

"Who are you?" Rose asked. "Where are you taking us?

"I'm Professor Frey Yana! I'm taking you down to my lab!" He called over his shoulder. "Hurry, hurry!"

The professor led them down no less than a dozen flights of stairs, deeper and deeper into the silo. The further down they went, the closer they got to the engines, and to the planet' s core, the warmer it got. The stench of hundreds of unwashed bodies faded away, replaced by the smell of well-used machinery, gas, and grease. The air tasted very stale and dry, similar to recycled air on a ship in deep space.

He pressed a button on the wall and a large metal door slid open, revealing a huge room filled with an assortment of machines and equipment. Wires, pipes, tools, and bits of things Rose could not name were strewn every which way. A blue-green humanoid that looked very much like an insect stood in the door wearing a lab coat.

"Chan—welcome—tho!" said the insectoid.

The professor pulled the Doctor right down into the thick of things, and started gesturing and talking at a mile a minute.

"Chan—welcome—tho!" the female greeted again with a small bow.

"Hi," Rose replied with a smile.

"Hello," Martha said. "Who are you?"

"Chan—Chantho—tho," answered the woman.

"Chanchanthotho?" Rose repeated slowly, nose scrunching up.

"Chan—no, just Chantho—tho."

Rose ran that through her mind again. "Chantho?"

"Cha—yes—tho."

Jack grinned saucily and held out his hand. "Captain Jack Harkness."

"Stop it!" the Doctor barked, glancing up.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Can't I say hello to anyone?"

"Chan—I do not protest—tho!" The woman grinned broadly, as affected by his charm as everyone else.

"Maybe later, Blue." He winked.

Chantho exhaled quickly, her mouth forming an 'o' and she grinned once again, flustered.

"Oh, stop." Rose elbowed him

"You're as bad as him," Jack protested.

"You've gone and flustered the poor thing," accused Rose.

Jack winked again, and then clapped his hands together. "So, what have we got here?"

He headed for a small area in the corner filled with chairs to set down his pack. Martha made a curious expression and followed him. Rose cast her eyes around the room once, taking in all the machines, and decided she would not be of any help at the moment, so she followed Martha over to the little homey corner. Her friend was frowning down at Jack's backpack with her arms folded.

"What is it?" Rose asked.

Martha licked her lips. "Don't you hear it?"

Rose cocked her head to one side, listening. Above the hum of the machinery and the air blowing through the vent above them, there was only one sound that stood out: a bubbling noise, like the bubbles when you blow air through a straw into liquid… and the sound was coming from Jack's pack.

"Yeah, I hear it," Rose replied.

Martha bit her lip then, shrugging, crouched down to unzip it. Inside was a large container with a handle on top. Martha gripped it and lifted it out of the bag. The container was filled with clear liquid, and in the center was something pale and fleshy with five distinct appendages—

Rose gasped out loud. "What the hell?!" At the same time Martha said, "Oh my God!"

Everyone came rushing over to see what the commotion was as she set it down on the table. "You've got a hand!" exclaimed Martha.

Rose tore her eyes away from the hand to look at Jack. He looked very much like a kid caught with something he shouldn't have.

"A hand in a jar!" Martha continued, gesturing to it. The Doctor sat down in one of the chairs, glasses on, and peered at the jar. "A hand in a jar in your bag!"

"But that's—that's my hand!" the Doctor sputtered.

"What the hell?" Rose repeated.

Jack leaned against the wall. "I said I had a couple of Doctor detectors."

"Chan—is this a tradition amongst your people—tho?" the alien woman asked nervously.

"Not on my street!" Martha exclaimed and put her hands on her hips. "What d'you mean that's your hand? You've got both your hands—I can see them."

"Remember when those aliens came on Christmas Day a few years back? Lost my hand in a swordfight with the Sycorax leader."

"Oh," Rose breathed, remembering. That had been a terrifying minute. Seeing the sword come down and sever his hand, that brief time of utter fear, sure he was about to die any second. Then he had grown another hand, like it was nothing.

"What?" Martha laughed sarcastically. "And you grew another hand?"

"Um, yeah. Yeah I did. Yeah." He said matter-of-factly.

Her mocking smile faded into a disbelieving scowl.

"Hello!" The Doctor wiggled the fingers of his second hand at Martha.

The professor took a step forward. "Might I ask, what species are you?"

The Doctor took a deep breath and straightened up like he was preparing for the response he was sure to get. "Time Lord. Last of."

Both natives stared uncomprehendingly.

"Heard of them? Legend or anything?" he asked, expectantly.

They shook their heads.

"Blimey, end of the universe is a bit humbling." He frowned petulantly. Rose chuckled quietly and patted his shoulder.

"Chan—it is said that I am the last of my species too—tho."

"Sorry, what was your name?" asked the Doctor.

"My assistant and good friend, Chantho," the professor answered. "A survivor of the Malmooth. This was their planet, Malcassairo, before we took refuge."

"The city outside—that was yours?"

She nodded. "Chan—the conglomeration died—tho."

"Conglomeration!" the Doctor crowed, throwing his hand up as he leaned back in the chair. "That's what I said."

Rose kicked him in the leg. "Doctor!" she hissed.

"What?"

"You're supposed to say sorry," Jack stage-whispered.

"Oh, yes." He leaned forward and gave the Malmooth woman a serious look. "Sorry."

Chantho ducked her head. "Chan—most grateful—tho."

Martha, it appeared, had not been paying attention to anything said in the last few minutes. She was still caught on one thing. "You grew…another hand?"

The Doctor wiggled his fingers. "Hello again!"

She gave him an annoyed look.

He smiled and stood up. "It's fine. Look, really, it's me." He held out his hand and wiggled his fingers one last time.

She accepted his hand and shook it slowly, then laughed nervously. "All this time and you're still full of surprises!"

He grinned broadly, clicked his tongue, and winked.

"Cha—you are most unusual—tho!" Chantho giggled.

"Oh, you've got no-o-o idea," Rose told with her a laugh.

Jack had apparently had enough distractions and decided to get them back on a more important subject. "So what about those things outside? The Beastie Boys. What are they?"

"We call them the Futurekind," the professor explained. "Which is a myth in itself, but, uh, it is feared they are what we will become. Unless we reach Utopia."

"And what's Utopia?" Rose asked.

"Oh, every human knows of Utopia. Where have you been?" asked the professor.

"Um…"

"We're sort of…hermits," the Doctor said. It wasn't exactly a lie, either.

The professor was baffled. "Hermits with, uh, friends?"

"Hermits United. We meet up every ten years. Swap stories about caves. It's good fun…for a hermit. So, um, Utopia?"

The professor arched his eyebrows, not believing a word of it. But when the Doctor mentioned Utopia, his mouth twisted into something resembling a grin and he crooked his finger. He led the group over to one of the terminal screens. On the screen was some sort of map labeled Gravitational Field Navigation System, made with rippling and morphing areas surrounded by green. In the top right corner was a blinking, red light. Other windows showed various coordinates and calculations.

The Doctor studied them intently as the professor explained. "The call came from across the stars over and over again. Come to Utopia. Originated from that point." He pointed.

"Where is that?" the Doctor asked.

"Oh, it's far beyond the Condensate Wilderness. Out towards the wild lands and the dark matter reefs. Calling us in. The last of the humans scattered across the night."

A small shiver rushed from the crown of Rose's head to the tip of her spine. The way he described what was left, the darkness in his voice—the universe really was ending all around them. She and her friends could escape it with the TARDIS, back into the safety of the distant, distant past. But for the professor, Chantho, and all the people and creatures around them, time was running out. Their days were numbered, their breaths finite. All the nebulas had been consumed, black holes must be raging all around them, and the remaining stars would be gone soon. Planets would freeze and crumble. Soon there would be nothing left at all. And no one could stop it.

But there had to be something after the end, right? Something new? Everything couldn't just…stop.

Could it?

"What do you think's out there?" the Doctor murmured.

"I don't know," the professor replied. "A colony, a city, some sort of haven? The Science Foundation created the Utopia Project thousands of years ago to preserve mankind—to find a way of surviving beyond the collapse of reality itself. Now perhaps they found it."

"But," Rose interrupted, "an' I'm not a scientist or anythin', but—but if it's all ending—time, space, reality itself—if it's all gone, then that—that sounds like the Void. That's nothing. How could you survive that? It makes no sense."

The Doctor was smiling at her proudly. Jack, too. Yana and Chantho, however, looked troubled.

"Sorry," she apologized. "Didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's not that," the professor assured her. He sighed. "Trouble is, I agree with you. But no one can deny that time is running out. If we go, we may die. If we stay, we will die. Here we have a place, but we're running low on supplies and resources and, frankly, morale and while the Futurekind may be primitive, they are not stupid. Sooner or later they'll find their way in. Out there is a possible future. Utopia is hope. It may end up that Utopia can't save us, but at least we made it, at least we aren't left wondering. So it's worth a look, don't you think?"

Rose hesitated before nodding.

"I agree," the Doctor said. He looked at the computer screen again. "The signal keeps modulating, did you notice? So it's not automatic. There's a good sign. Someone's out there. And that's…oh, that's a navigation matrix, isn't it? So you can fly without stars to guide you."

The professor didn't appear to be listening. He had his eyes squeezed shut, mouth twisted in pain, and seemed to be struggling with something.

"Professor?" Rose asked quietly.

He didn't respond, other than to squeeze his eyes tighter.

Alarmed, Rose reached out to touch his arm. "Professor!"

He jumped at the contact and stepped away from her, shaking his head as if to clear it. "I um— Right, that's enough talk! There's work to do. Now, if you could leave, thank you!" He stepped through their group, walking around the machines.

The Doctor studied him critically. "You alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine. And busy!" He and picked up a little piece of equipment with a series of wires attached.

"Except…" The Doctor leaned on the machine in front of him. "That rocket's not going to fly, is it?"

The professor sighed. Chantho lowered her head.

"This footprint mechanism thing, it's not working," stated the Doctor.

"We'll find a way!" the professor insisted resolutely.

"You're stuck on this planet." The Doctor went on. "And you haven't told them, have you?" The professor looked away and sat down on the edge of one of the consoles. "That lot out there, they still think they're gonna fly."

"Well, it's like I told your friend—erm, what was it?"

"Rose," she said.

"Yes, Rose. It's like I told you. Utopia is hope. As long as they believe they can one day reach Utopia then they can live in hope. It's better that way."

"Quite right, too!" The Doctor declared. "And I must say, Professor—" He shucked his coat and Jack took it from him fluidly. The Doctor glanced at him surprise before continuing. "Um, what was it?"

"Yana."

"Professor Yana. This new science is well beyond me, but all the same, a boost reversal circuit, in any time frame, must be a circuit, which reverses the boost. So, I wonder what would happen—" he took the circuit from Yana and pulled out his sonic screwdriver "—if I did—" he aimed to sonic at it and it whirred for a few seconds "—this!" He flipped the switch.

The reaction was immediate. All around them, lights that had been dim and machines that had been simply idling suddenly flared to life. A siren began wailing. They all looked around in amazed delight.

Chantho gasped in awe. "Chan—it's working—tho!"

Professor Yana rose to his feet and turned in a full circle just to confirm that everything really was working. "But how did you do that?!"

"Oh, we've been chatting away. I forgot to tell you—" the Doctor grinned broadly. "I'm brilliant!"

A smile to match the Doctor's slowly spread across Yana's face and in his eyes weariness of years of tirelessly working gave way to a new spark of hope and determination. "I should say so! Ha! Ahaha!"

Rose sauntered over and nudged the Doctor with her shoulder. "Good job that worked. After that build up, woulda been kinda awkward if it hadn't."

The Doctor smiled and winked at her. "Well, you know me." He kissed the top of her head and raced over to one of the consoles, studied the screen for a moment, and began typing away.

Rose noticed Yana staring at her in her peripheral vision. She glanced his way, arching her eyebrows.

"Married hermits?" he asked.

She smiled, not bothering to correct him. "Well, it's better with two."

"Hmm. I suppose so."


Martha and Chantho had gone off to get more circuits, the Doctor and professor were busy working together, so Rose, without anything of use to do, drifted over to Jack. She was curious about him, about this long life he had lived since she had last seen him. How he had seemingly come back from the dead, and…she wanted to know why there was something off about him. Was he even aware of it?

He glanced up at her and smiled. "Hey, Rosie."

"Hey, Jack." She leaned against the edge of the desk just a few feet from him and lowered her gaze, fiddling with the sleeves of her brown jacket.

"You two match." He noted.

Rose smiled a bit. "His idea. We were meant to go visit Martha's family today. I thought it would be funny. Really like these though." She nodded to her pink converse.

Jack laughed. "Very you."

She smiled at him, her eyes lingering on his face for a moment before she had to look away. He did not seem bothered by her unwillingness to look at him, thank goodness. Maybe he had not even noticed. She watched him work out of the corner of her eye for a minute. Jack had always been good at this sort of thing. Computers and machines, and he had even been good enough that the Doctor had allowed him to assist in TARDIS repairs and maintenance. She was impressed that he had managed to transfer his skills to this far-future equipment.

"I've missed you," she murmured.

Jack paused and she saw his eyes close briefly. He set down the screwdriver and turned, holding out his arms. She took a deep breath and made herself breach the bit of space between them for a hug. The TARDIS hummed darkly in her mind, a quiet warning.

Why? She asked. What's wrong with him?

The TARDIS did not answer.

"Missed you too." Jack replied quietly and let go of her. He went back to the console he was working at. "How have you been?"

"Good." She answered automatically. He deserved more than that. "Fun and hectic and amazing, y'know? But 's been hard, too, and we've had some rough spots, but, yeah, 's all good now."

"And how're things with him?"

Rose grinned impishly.

Jack glanced up, saw her an expression, and a filthy smile spread across his face. "Never slept with a Time Lord—"

"And you're never gonna."

"—so you gotta tell me: what's he like? Is he any good?" Jack asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

Jack frowned petulantly. "Aw, c'mon, Rose. I've spent the last century and a half wondering if you two ever hooked up. And if you're never gonna let me sleep with him, you gotta at least throw me a bone. So come on. Spill."

Rose leaned closer to him, her voice dropping to a soft murmur, "He's amazing."

His filthy grin came right back. "And do I get to hear any details?"

"You know…" the Doctor interrupted loudly from across the room. "I can hear everything you're saying."

Jack craned his neck to see him, grinning unabashedly. "And? Do I have to get it all from Rose or are you planning of sharing?"

The Doctor glared at him for a moment before going back to work.

"Moody old bastard," Jack muttered. "At least that hasn't changed."

"He's not like that all time," she promised. "Not anymore. He has his moments. He's a lot more…" She paused, licking her lips, and tried to decide how to articulate it. "He's happier. Hyper. Manic sometimes. He's got one hell of an oral fixation, too. He's still a jealous sod, though."

"And you?" Jack looked her up and down. "You've changed too. You've grown up."

Rose shrugged. "Had to. Spent three months living on Earth recently without him. Got a proper job, flat, everything. Didn't like it much."

Jack nodded. "Bridgeton, Kentucky, USA, March 2003."

Rose jerked her head up in surprise.

"What? I told you I've been looking for you guys. I got there three days after the incident. I would've gotten there sooner but when UNIT found out someone from T—well, when they heard I was coming, they did their best to slow me down. I work for a different agency than theirs and, well, we don't exactly get along."

"That's the day we left. You must've just missed us." She sighed. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Jack told her firmly. "But in case anything like that happens again, or if you ever need me for anything in the early 21st century, anything at all, go to the Road Dahl Plass in Cardiff. The place where we landed back with that Slitheen woman? There's a tourist office by the waterfront, just down on the docks. Go in and tell whoever's at the desk that you need to see Jack."

"Road Dahl Plass, Cardiff." She nodded. "Got it."

He stared at her intently for a moment longer then nodded. "Good."

"Oh those damned galaxies!" Yana said loudly from across the room.

Jack and Rose looked his way.

"They had to go and collapse. Some admiration would have been nice. Just a little. Just once."

"Well, you've got it now." The Doctor replied. "But that footprint engine thing. You can't activate it from onboard. You're staying behind."

"With Chantho," he confirmed. "She won't leave without me. Simply refuses."

"You'd give your life so they could fly."

"Oh, I think I'm a little too old for Utopia. Time I had some sleep." Yana smiled.

"Professor!" a man's voice said over the intercom. "Tell the Doctor we've found his blue box."

Jack looked over Rose's shoulder at the monitor she was sitting in front of.

Rose hopped down to have a look and smiled. "Doctor! It's the TARDIS, she's in the silo."

Yana and the Doctor came over to have a look at the screen and the Doctor grinned. "Professor, it's a wild stab in the dark, but I may just have found you a way out." He patted Yana on the shoulder then headed off to fetch the TARDIS.

Yana stared at the screen for a long moment then jumped, shaking his head, and went to sit down on a stool. Jack and Rose watched him go, glancing at each other. Jack shrugged and went back to work. Rose, however, approached Yana cautiously and leaned down to have a look at his face. His eyes were shut and he was taking quick, pained breaths.

"Professor?" she murmured.

"They never stop…" he whimpered.

"What never stops? Professor, what's wrong?"

He made a pained sound and waved her away with a gruff, "I'm fine!"

Rose sighed and took a step back. Trillions of years and men never changed. Yana winced again and even though she did not try to approach him, she kept her eye on him.


Ooooh Jack. *shakes head*

Y'all know what to do!