The man pulled her behind him, gesturing for her to climb the chain link fence that blocked the alleyway off. With no other options, she climbed it.
The man began to climb beside her, glancing over at her every few seconds to make sure she was alright.
When she reached the top, she didn't hesitate to jump down to the other side, the man doing the same.
Now that she was no longer in danger, she turned to the man who swept her into a hug. "Big Ears was right." He muttered as he pulled back. "They never listen when you say not to wonder off." He scoffed, sticking one hand into the pocket of his jacket, pulling something out and tossing it to her.
She barely caught it in time. She looked down at it and saw it was a dog tag bracelet. Why the hell would he give her this? Her face scrunched up.
The man chuckled. "It's so weird to see you like this." He shook his head. "It's got the best way to contact me on it."
"Why would I want to contact you?" She said numbly, slipping the bracelet on her wrist after reading the five numbers on it, the leather cord attached to the dog tag sliding on easily.
"Because we're in the same boat, Vix."
She huffed. "Stop calling me that." She looked around to make sure none of the gasmask people were going to find them.
"Alright, Vix." He winked at her. "This was only meant to be a quick visit anyway." He grabbed her hand again and tapped something on his watch before they both disappeared.
Penny's first thought when she woke up was that she should check to see if she was still wearing the bracelet. She tried to remember the man's face as she did so, but all she could remember was the shit eating grin.
Obviously, she wasn't wearing it. But it didn't stop her from panicking over losing it. She tried to tell herself that there was no way she even had it in the first place, so there was no reason to believe she had lost it. But a small part of her told her to look for it.
Needless to say, Penny spent the early hours of the morning looking around her room for something she didn't think existed. She recite the numbers she had read off of it during her dream in her head as she worked. 876983. 87693. 87693.
In a final act of desperation, she picked up the back pack she had been found with from where it had sat by her desk. She poured the contents out onto her bed.
A wallet. A ID. A phone. A change of clothes. A bracelet. A head band.
Penny grinned to herself and snatched the bracelet up, shoving the rest back into the bag and dropping the bag off the side of her bed.
She turned the bracelet around and looked for anything that might tell her it was the same one from the dream.
And there, when she squinted, between the name of the owner of the dog tag (someone named Jack Harkness), the numbers '87693' could be read.
"Cardiff." The Doctor announced happily as he parked the Tardis.
"Cardiff?" Martha questioned, clearly confused as to why they were there.
"Ah, but the thing about Cardiff, it's built on a rift in time and space, just like California and the San Andreas Fault, but the rift bleeds energy." He briefly explained, glancing at Martha to see if she understood. "Every now and then I need to open up the engines, soak up the energy and use it as fuel."
"It's basically a pit stop." Penny summarized from where she had been standing at the Doctor's side, watching him pilot the ship. She crossed her arms over her chest, wondering if she'd ever learn to pilot the Tardis.
"Exactly, listen to Penny. Should only take twenty seconds. The rift's been active."
Penny winced slightly at a small headache forming, the Doctor shooting her a small glance.
"Headache." She explained.
The Doctor nodded, his gaze going down to her wrist when he saw light reflect off of a dog tag bracelet. He didn't get a chance to read it before Martha spoke up.
"Wait a minute." Martha began, not hearing their mini conversation. "They had an earthquake in Cardiff a couple of years ago. Was that you?"
"Bit of trouble with the Slithene." The Doctor shrugged with a grin. "A long time ago. Lifetimes." He smirked. "I was a different man back then."
Penny quirked an eye brow, recalling their conversation about regeneration.
"Finito. All powered up." He declared, happy to change the subject, even though he had brought it up in the first place.
The Doctor and Penny glanced at the monitor, seeing a man run at the Tardis.
Penny's eyes widened as the Doctor pressed a button, sparks flying as he sent the Tardis off.
"Whoa! What's that?" Martha shouted as she fell to the ground after the floor seemed to shift around beneath them.
"We're accelerating into the future." He read the monitor. "The year one billion. Five billion. Five trillion. Fifty trillion?" He looked up and then back down at the numbers. "What? The year one hundred trillion? That's impossible."
"Why? What happens then?"
"We're going to the end of the universe."
"That sounds ominous." Penny said with a forced smile.
The Doctor snorted despite the situation as the Tardis finally seemed to calm down. "Well, we've landed."
"So what's out there?" Martha asked as she looked at the door.
"I don't know." The Doctor replied just as grimly.
"Say that again. That's rare." Martha smirked.
Penny smirked as well, it seemed her snark was rubbing off on the others.
"Not even the Time Lords came this far." He shook his head solemnly. "We should leave. We should go. We should really, really go."
Penny nodded, fighting to keep a straight face. "I'm with the Doc for once." Both turned to her in confusion. "We really should go." She paused before letting an easy smile rest on her face as she walked to the doors, calling over her shoulder as she went. "We really should go out, that is."
She pushed the doors open and blinked at the body in front of the box. It was the man who had been running towards the box.
"Oh my God!" Martha shouted when she saw him, running to check his pulse. "Can't get a pulse. Hold on." She spoke to the man, trying again. "You've got that medical kit thing." She got up and sprinted into the Tardis.
"Hello again." The Doctor said quietly, trying to remain unheard by Penny. "Oh, I'm sorry."
"Here we go." Martha said as she hauled the medical kit out of the Tardis, pushing past the Doctor. "Get out of the way." She got to work. "It's a bit odd, though. Not very hundred trillion. That coat's more like World War Two." She pointed out.
"I think he came with us." The Doctor said after a moment of hesitation, avoiding Penny's gaze for some reason.
"How do you mean, from Earth?" Martha asked.
"Or did he latch onto us in the vortex?" Penny asked, hesitant to share her theory.
"Martha's right on this one, Penny. Must have been clinging to the outside of the Tardis all the way through the vortex." While Martha looked shocked, the Doctor muttered something so that only Penny would be able to hear. "Well, that's very him."
"You know him?" Penny asked, not as surprised as she felt she should be.
"Oh, forgot you didn't meet him, Penny." The Doctor snorted. "He's a friend of mine. Used to travel with me, back in the old days."
Penny nodded, deciding to ask about the 'old days' later.
"But he's-" Martha cut herself off, looking a bit choked up. "I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat. There's nothing." She avoided the Doctor's eyes. "He's dead." As if waiting to prove her wrong, the man shot up with a loud gasp, reaching for whatever was closest, which happened to be Martha, who screeched in shock. "Oh, so much for me." She muttered, turning back to her new patient. "It's all right. Just breathe deep. I've got you." She tried to calm him down, but it didn't seem like he needed the help.
"Captain Jack Harkness." He introduced, making Penny's blood run cold as she traced that same name on her bracelet." And who are you?" He blatantly flirted at Martha.
"Martha Jones."
"Nice to meet you, Martha Jones."
The Doctor scoffed from beside Penny. "Oh, don't start."
Jack looked over at the Doctor with what could only be described as a bitchface. "I was only saying hello."
"I don't mind." Martha grinned, not looking away from Harkness. She got up, helping him up as he did.
Harkness winked at Penny as if sharing an inside joke with her. "Doctor." He greeted.
"Captain." The Doctor replied tensly.
"Good to see you."
"And you. Same as ever. Although, have you had work done?"
He scoffed. "You can talk."
"Oh yes, the face. Regeneration." Martha was the only one of the four who looked confused. "How did you know this was me?"
"The police box kind of gives it away." He shrugged and sent a discreet glance over to Penny. "Plus, my Vix told me." He paused before turning to Penny. "And I see you've finally met her!" He grinned, rushing forward to hug Penny.
"Hi, Jack." Penny greeted, awkwardly hugging him back.
"My lovely Vixen." He smirked as he pulled away wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "This is hardly the date I planned for us."
Penny could tell he was joking to get on the Doctor's nerves, which made her automatically like the man. Plus, his name was on her bracelet, she figured she could trust him. "This is better than what you planned, dear, admit it." She flirted back easily, shooting him a wink for good measure.
Jack was forcefully pulled away from Penny. "Stop it." The Doctor drew out, and neither could tell who it was directed at.
They both glanced at each other with a look of mischief in their eyes. As soon as the Doctor let go of Jack, Penny jumped on his back, Jack easily catching her and smirking at the Doctor, who closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, massaging his temples. "Have you-" He seemed almost hesitant to ask. "Have you two met before?"
"We've known each other for years!" Jack said at the same time that Penny said:
"I've never seen this man in my life!" She grinned happily from her spot on Jack's back.
The Doctor sighed. "And yet you're on his back." He said simply, as if he expected better.
Penny smirked slyly. "I ran off with you after knowing you for a few hours. You could have been a serial killer."
The Doctor flushed. "That's different!"
"No it's not." Penny said in a sing song voice.
"Yes it is!" The Doctor argued. "Jack is- he's- Jack's-"
Martha cut him off, obviously tired of the argument. "Jack's not the jealous one, Doctor. Now can we please get back on track?"
"I'm not jealous." He huffed.
Penny snorted and tapped Jack's chest with one of her hands, silently asking to be put back down. He did so and winked at her again, Penny smirking back at him.
Penny walked over to the Doctor, who reached for her and wrapped an arm around her waist, immediately pulling her into his side and shooting a smug smirk at Jack.
"Sure you're not jealous." Penny muttered, but the blush on her face was evident as she felt his cool palm against her waist.
"I've been following you for a long time." Jack told the Doctor, his smile fading. "You abandoned me."
"Did I? Busy life." Penny rammed her elbow into his side, happy when the Doctor winced and glared down at her. "Moving on."
"Just got to ask." Jack began hesitantly. "The Battle of Canary Wharf." Both her and the Doctor stiffened, his grip on her tightening the smallest amount. "I saw the list of the dead. It said Rose Tyler."
His grip only seemed to tighten, but he put on a big fake grin that only she seemed to see through. "Oh, no! Sorry, she's alive."
Jack grinned. "You're kidding."
"Parallel world, safe and sound." The Doctor breathed out. "And Mickey, and her mother."
"Oh, yes!" Jack cheered, pulling the Doctor into a hug.
Martha walked to Penny's side. "Good old Rose." Martha scoffed.
Penny shook her head at Martha. "You do realize that they were friends, right?" She asked. "That Rose isn't a villain and that he lost his friend." Penny sighed.
She loved Martha, but there was no reason for her to be jealous of his friends.
Penny caught up with the Doctor and walked beside him, Jack beginning a story. The Doctor glanced down at her and tilted his head when he saw her frown.
Penny shook her head. She didn't want to talk about it.
"So there I was, stranded in the year two hundred one hundred, ankle deep in Dalek dust, and he goes off without me." Jack paused and held up his wrist to show off his watch looking bracelet. "But I had this." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I used to be a Time Agent. It's called a vortex manipulator. He's not the only one who can time travel." Jack smirked, winking at Martha.
"Oh, excuse me. That is not time travel." The Doctor huffed, looking down at Penny as if waiting for her to back him up. Instead, Penny was trying not to laugh. "What?"
Penny shook her head fondly at her friend. "I didn't realize how jealous you get."
Jack cackled and smirked at the pair as Martha fought a snicker.
"I am not jealous. I've got no reason to be! If anyone is jealous here, it's him. It's like, I've got a sports car and he's got a space hopper." He whined at Penny.
"Oh ho. Boys and their toys." Martha snickered.
Jack rolled his eyes. "All right, so I bounced." He said to appease the Doctor. "I thought 21st century, the best place to find the Doctor, except that I got it a little wrong. Arrived in 1869, this thing burnt out, so it was useless." He admitted, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Told you." The Doctor said smugly.
"I had to live through the entire twentieth century waiting for a version of you that would coincide with me." Jack complained.
"But that makes you more than one hundred years old." Martha said, not believing a word he said.
Penny smirked. "You're looking good on it, Jackie." She winked. The Doctor huffed and Penny rolled her eyes at him.
"Right?" Jack agreed. "So I went to the time rift, based myself there because I knew you'd come back to refuel. Until finally I get a signal on this detecting you and here we are."
"But the thing is, how come you left him behind, Doctor?" Martha suddenly asked, looking a bit cross.
"I was busy." The Doctor easily dismissed, turning his nose up at Jack, who looked at Penny as if to say, 'How do you put up with him?'
Penny shrugged. He didn't normally act like such a child.
Martha glared at the Doctor. "Is that what happens, though, seriously?" Penny blinked in confusion. What the hell was she going on about? "Do you just get bored with us one day and disappear?"
"Not if you're blonde." Jack half joked.
"Oh, she was blonde?" Martha scoffed, glared at the Doctor. "Oh, what a surprise!"
Penny tried her best to understand where Martha was coming from, but frankly, she couldn't understand why she was being so harsh. The Doctor had been nothing but kind to Martha since they had met, even taking her across galaxies and all she could think about was Rose and how much she didn't like her for some reason.
"Martha, I don't know what's gotten into you, today." Penny snapped. "Stop acting as though it's unreasonable for the Doctor to have other people in his life. He would never expect you to drop all of your other friends just because he's your friend, so stop thinking he has to do that with his." She shook her head, face flushed with anger at one of her closest friends.
She turned on her heel and kept walking, the other three having no choice but to follow her, Jack racing to catch up and draping an arm across her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.
"I'm fine." Penny denied, knowing what he was trying to do.
Jack hummed in acknowledgment, but clearly didn't believe her. "And that's why you snapped at Martha?" He questioned lowly so that the others wouldn't overhear it.
"You can't look at me in the eyes and tell me she didn't deserve it." Penny whined, keeping her voice low as well.
Jack let out a small laugh. "Maybe so, Vix."
"You said you've known me for years?" Penny asked, looking up at Jack.
"Technically, I've known you longer than I've known the Doctor."
Penny's jaw dropped. "Really?"
Jack nodded. "But that was before you lost your memory."
Penny nearly fell over in shock, but Jack caught her and steadied her. "I'm sorry, could you say that again?" At this point she was speaking a normal volume.
Jack smirked proudly. "I knew you before you lost your memory."
"How-?"
"It's a very long story that I tell you in the future."
Penny blinked in confusion. "Why can't you tell me now?" She whined.
"Because I was with a future you a while ago, and that's when I told you."
"You two!" The Doctor called, cutting off their conversation. "We're at the end of the universe, all right?" He gestured to a cliff that he and Martha were standing at. "Right at the edge of knowledge itself and you're busy... blogging! Come on." He gestured them over.
Jack and Penny made their way over, rolling their eyes at the manchild.
"Is that a city?" Martha asked, looking over the edge.
"A city or a hive, or a nest, or a conglomeration." The Doctor confirmed Martha's thoughts. "Like it was grown." When Penny was within reaching distance, he pulled her in front of him so she could see. He pointed to what looked like an alley. "But look, there. That's like pathways, roads? Must have been some sort of life, long ago."
Penny couldn't think properly while she was stood in front of him, feeling his breath fan across her ears. She could only nod and hope he didn't notice the blush creeping up her ears.
Martha turned to the Doctor. "What killed it?"
"Time." He sighed. "Just time. Everything's dying now." Penny could hear the sorrow in his voice. "All the great civilizations have gone. This isn't just night. All the stars have burned up and faded away into nothing." He looked up at the empty sky, everyone else doing the same.
"They must have an atmospheric shell. We should be frozen to death." Jack said solemnly.
"Well, Penny, Martha and I, maybe." The Doctor interjected. "Not so sure about you, Jack."
Penny didn't know if the Doctor was intentionally being a dick to Jack, or if he was actually so clueless as to think his tone wasn't rude.
Or maybe it was a bit of both.
"What about the people? Does no one survive?" Martha looked back down the edge of the cliff.
"I suppose we have to hope life will find a way." The Doctor admitted.
"Well, he's not doing too bad."
We all turned to Jack, who was no longer looking at the cliff. Rather, he was watching a running figure being chased by a group of something.
"Is it me, or does that look like a hunt? Come on!" He grabbed Penny's hand and pulled her into a run.
"It's not just you." Penny agreed.
"Oh, I've missed this." Jack laughed, following them. Martha followed behind him. They caught up with the man, Jack attempting to calm him down. "I've got you."
"They're coming!" He hollered, looking at the group approaching franticly. "They're coming!"
Jack pulled a revolver out of his pocket and aimed it at the group.
"Jack, don't you dare!" The Doctor scolded.
Jack aimed at the sky and fired once, scaring them away.
"What the hell are they?" Martha asked the man.
"There's more of them. We've got to keep going." The man shook as he spoke, looking exhausted.
"I've got a ship nearby." The Doctor told him. "It's safe. It's not far, it's over there." He pointed over at the cliff they had been at, where another group of things were coming towards them at an alarming speed. "Or maybe not."
"We're close to the silo. If we get to the silo, then we're safe."
The Doctor looked at Jack. "Silo?"
"Silo."
"Silo for me." Martha readily agreed.
"And you, Penny?"
"I'd prefer a McDonalds, but that'll do."
And they were off again.
After even the Doctor began to grow tired, they finally caught sight of the silo. There was a tall chain-link fence separating it from them, which Penny classified as a problem.
The man sprinted and crashed into the fence. "It's the Futurekind! Open the gate!" He screeched to a guard.
"Show me your teeth!" The guard yelled over and over.
The man did so, telling the others to do the same as he did so. "Show him your teeth."
Not risking their chances with what was chasing them, they all did as told.
"Human!" The guard confirmed, gesturing for the gates to be opened. "Let them in! Let them in!"
The gates opened and the four ran through. They watched the gates close just as the Futurekind caught up with them, grinning in a disturbed manner, showing off their pointy teeth.
"Humans." The lead one said. "Humani. Make feast." It demanded.
"Go back to where you came from!" A guard ordered, pulling out a gun and aiming at them. "I said, go back. Back off!"
"Oh," Jack scoffed. "Don't tell him to put his gun down."
"He's not my responsibility." The Doctor stated.
"And I am?" Jack challenged. "Huh, that makes a change."
"Kind watch you." The Futurekind said. "Kind hungry." It threatened before leading the rest of them away.
"Thanks for that." The Doctor said seriously, looking aound.
"Right. Let's get you inside."
The man walked up to him and bean talking quickly. "My name is Padra Toc Shafe Cane. Tell me. Just tell me, can you take me to Utopia?"
The guard grinned. "Oh yes, sir. Yes, I can."
"It looks like a box," The Doctor explained to someone as they walked inside. "A big blue box. I'm sorry, but I really need it back. It's stuck out there."
Penny grabbed his hand in an attempt at comfort. The Doctor tried to smile at her but it was more of a grimince.
"I'm sorry, but my family were heading for the silo. Did they get here?" Padra asked a guard. "My mother is Kistane Shafe Cane. My brother's name is Beltone."
The man thought for a moment. "The computers are down but you can check the paperwork." He looked over his shoulder. "Creet!" He called, a young boy with a clipboard running in. "Passenger needs help."
As the boy helped Padra, one of the other guards responded to the Doctor. "A blue box, you said."
"Big, tall, wooden. Says Police." The Doctor responded, his hands moving as he spoke, unintentionally tugging Penny's hand with his.
"We're driving out for the last water collection. I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you." The Doctor sighed in relief.
"Come on." Creet said, leading the group into a corridor filled with people.
"Sorry," Martha began. "But how old are you?"
"Old enough to work. This way."
Penny had a bad feeling about this trip.
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A/N
HannahHPandDWfanJones: I know you were wondering about the connection between Jack and Vix, so I think this explains a bit, lol. I totally agree with you about them needing to be happy with eachother, but it's my job to make it as frustrating as I can for the reader :3
:CJ/OddBall: I love Donna too! But my favorite is definitely Bill or Graham, lol. I'm glad you like the story so much! And I can't tell you much about River, but I can tell you this: Penny doesn't first meet her at the library ;)
ShelBell25: Thank you so much! Sometimes half the time it takes to write the chapter is spent finding a title that fits it!
afionna262: I really hope you liked this one and thanks for commenting!
Nyxrae: I'm really glad you loved it! Hope the update was worth the wait! :D
Hello!
I'll be honest, I never really liked these last episodes of Martha's season. The only thing that makes me re-watch it is Jack XD
I hope you all liked this chapter (which is one of my longest ones yet, I ended up cutting off the last part because it was longer than I wanted it to be, but don't worry, that part will be in the next chapter)
Tell me how you think Donna and Penny will interact! I'd love to see your predictions!
Any theories? If you comment them, I might be able to push you in the right direction ;) A lot was revealed this chapter, so I'm excited to see what you draw from it!
I'll see you wonderful humans next chapter!
-Jamie