super short chapter but the next one is huge and is mostly all new writing (this and ch16 were finished when I originally started this fic in 2012 but just never uploaded)

xxx

Jack was waiting for Owen in the Hub's center console. He straightened from the monitor he was peering at and turned when he heard the siren and the sound of the doors rolling open.

"Owen, what the hell happened?"

Owen had an unconscious Alice in his arms, and he looked pale and shaken. He deposited Alice gently on to the couch before approaching Jack, his jaw set.

"I haven't got a clue what we're dealing with here, Jack," he said grimly. "It's all beyond me."

Jack deftly picked up the silver flask sitting on the table near one of the monitors and offered it to Owen. Owen unscrewed the top and drank, grimacing.

"Tell me what happened."

Owen passed the flask back to Jack. "There was this…purple lightning. Going from the exact spot marked on the map to the sky. One bolt, over and over. That was strange enough, but Alice…her eyes started glowing. She looked alien, Jack. Like, really, properly alien. And when she spoke she sounded like someone else. It was her voice but there was something else there. Like someone was speaking through her."

"What did she say?" Jack asked, grabbing Owen's arm. "I need her exact words."

Owen blanched in discomfort but Jack didn't care. "She said…she said that a storm is coming. From…beyond the seas of Time. There was something about the collision of past and future ripping the world apart. And then she said that the Doctor's daughter will destroy the universe. Jack—" he cast a furtive look at Alice—"What does it mean?"

Jack was silent for a long time. He stared hard at the floor and took a swig from the flask. Finally, he sighed heavily.

"Owen, I want you to go home and get some rest. Tell the others"—over Owen's spluttered protests—"Tell the others to be here bright and early tomorrow morning."
"Jack, what the hell is going on here?" Owen exclaimed.

"I haven't been entirely honest with you. With everyone."

"About what?" Owen asked, aghast.

"A lot of things. Including—" he glanced at Alice's sleeping form—"her. Look, I'll explain everything to you and the rest of the team tomorrow, and we'll decide the best way to proceed together. But until then, you need to go home and get some rest. You look like you had quite a nasty shock on that hill."

"Yeah," Owen muttered. "Sure, alright." Without another word, he turned and stalked out of the room. Jack watched the doors close behind him and sighed again. He approached the couch on which Alice was lying. Asleep, she looked completely human, even with the prematurely white hair.

"Oh, Doctor," Jack said softly, "Just what have you done?" Gathering Alice up in his arms, he carried her up to his office and laid her in his bed. Then, he retreated to his office for a strong drink and a long ponder as to what was in store for him and his team.