El lay on the ground, shivering, crying. The universe had ended. The Autons had, for whatever reason, simply… keeled over, turning to stone.

El didn't care. She was too focused on the fact that something had broken into her mind and made her use her powers to kill Sarah Jane.

She had no idea what to do. The TARDIS was exploding, a quick peek down into the underhenge revealed that the Doctor was gone, River was nowhere to be seen…

The situation was hopeless.

The girl was about to close her eyes, let the cold of the night take her, when something caught her attention.

A beeping. High-pitched and rapid, coming from her pocket.

El reached into her pocket for the culprit and pulled out the sonic screwdriver. The one her future self had given her.

El pressed the button, and, instantly, the tip lit up, something projecting across the way.

"Ah, El!" A violet-tinted hologram of her older self appeared across the way. "Listen, she's not dead! Well, she is dead but it's not the end of the world. Actually, it is the end of the world. Actually, it's the end of the whole universe. But never mind that!" The hologram continued before El could speak. "You need to get dad out of the Pandorica."

El spluttered. "He's in the Pandorica?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" The hologram replied in a rush. "Those guys locked him up in there without realizing they were dooming themselves. Idiots."

"But, how!?" El questioned.

"Oh, come on! Remember what I told you when I first gave you this thing?" The message questioned in response. "'There's a door out there only this thing can open.' The people who built the Pandorica hardened it against sonic tech knowing dad likes to use it, but that," The hologram gestured to the screwdriver, "Has a built in override. I programmed it to activate and this message to play when it detected the Pandorica's closing message."

"Wait," El rubbed her face, "You're just a message? But you're talking back."

"Come on, El, use your head! I remember this conversation from your point of view, so I already know everything you're going to say." The hologram rolled her eyes. "But don't worry about that. It's very easy to use just point it and press the button. Good luck."

The emitter went dark, and El blinked as the hologram vanished.


El stood there, holding the buzzing screwdriver of her own, watching as the Pandorica slid open, the Doctor looking out with a look of extreme puzzlement.

"…How did you do that?" The Time Lord questioned, frozen in place.

El held up the sonic she got from her future self. "Had this."

The Doctor got to his feet, slowly walking up to peer at the unfamiliar device. "Where'd you get that?"

"I got it from me." El answered. "Me… from the future."

"You from the future?" The Doctor repeated, bouncing on the tips of his toes. "You have a future, that's nice." The Time Lord looked at something across the way and pointed. "That's not."

The girl turned, looking at a Dalek made of stone. "Yeah, the Romans outside are stone too. What are they?"

"Afterimages." The Doctor replied. "You know how the Weeping Angels turn into stone when they're seen?" El nodded. "It's technically them falling out of time while they're in sight, before falling back in. It's the same basic principle here." The Time Lord flicked the Dalek's eyestalk. "Whole species have been deleted from history; these are just the after-images. Fossils in time… echoes of the never-were."

"The stars went out." El swallowed, following the Doctor.

The Doctor nodded. "Total Event Collapse, the whole universe didn't just end. It never happened."

"So…" El began shakily. "Why are we still here? What's keeping us safe?"

"Nothing." The Time Lord answered. "Eye of the storm, we're just the last lights to go out. Wait," Hw turned back to her, "If you're down here… where's Sarah Jane?"

El swallowed, tears prickling at her eyes again.


The Doctor knelt on the ground by the woman, sighing as he looked her body over. "Oh, Sarah… I'm sorry."

"I… I tried." El cried. "I couldn't stop it."

"…I knew it was a mistake." The Doctor shook his head. "Letting that giant shadow alien escape into space. Should've just sealed it on the other side, still," The Time Lord looked up at the dead, black sky, the only celestial body up there being the moon. "It's gone now. That's something at least."

"Can we fix it?" El asked. "Help her?"

"Yeah, probably, if we had the time." The Doctor stood, stepping over the body. "Then again… it's not like I'll get another chance if things go pear-shaped and I can't fix everything else. Right!" The Doctor clapped his hands. "We need to get her downstairs!"


Sarah Jane's body limply slumped in the Pandorica's chair.

"So, there's a plan." El recognized, as the Doctor placed Sarah Jane's arms into place.

"A little bit of a plan, yeah." The Time Lord placed his hands on the woman's temples, closing his eyes. "I'm leaving her a message when she wakes up, that way she knows what's happening." The Doctor's eyes snapped back open, and he stepped away from the Pandorica, sonicing it shut with the screwdriver from El. "Nice screwdriver. Good taste, your future self."

El frowned. "Why are you locking her inside?"

"The box is the ultimate prison, can't even escape by dying." The Doctor answered. "Contains a restoration field, that'll keep her body from decaying to the point of uselessness. All it needs now is a sample of her living DNA and it can bring her back. Which it will get," The Time Lord checked his watch, "In about 2000 years."

"…two-thousand?" El repeated.

"Yep, but you and I, we're taking a shortcut." The Doctor procured River's Vortex Manipulator, fastening it to his wrist. "Vortex Manipulator, cheap and nasty time travel. Ridiculously inaccurate, but, the universe is so tiny now that doesn't matter anymore."

"So, Earth's fine?" El inquired.

"Mostly fine. Earth without stars." The Doctor held out his arm. "Put your hand there."

El was about to do so, stopping before she looked to the Pandorica. "Is she going to be fine?"

"Oh yeah, totally," The Doctor tapped the sides. "Nothing in the universe can get in here… well… most nothing. Pretty much nothing. Almost nothing… good point. She needs someone to watch over it."

"For two-thousand years? Who?" El questioned.

"Don't have a spade, but your powers should come in handy, come on!" The Doctor held out his arm. "No time traveling, just a hop across the continent."

"To where?"

"Cardiff." The Doctor answered. "There's someone there who I think who can help."


The sonic screwdriver buzzed as the Doctor pointed it at the ground, scanning. The device bleeped, before the Doctor's senses went crazy.

Looking to El, he nodded.

The girl held her hand out, as twenty feet of dirt and debris pulled itself from the ground, falling nearby, as a man in a WWII trenchcoat was deposited on the side.

"Dad, he's…" El looked to the Doctor, feeling absolutely nothing coming from the man. "He's gone."

The Doctor watched, not replying.

Before the man suddenly gasped loudly, drawing in a big gulp of air.

"AH!" The man gasped, looking around. "I'm out… I'm out!?" His eyes glided over to the Doctor, before his confused stare turned into a handsome, salacious grin. "Hello… Captain Jack Harkness."

"Oh, for god's sake." The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Not even five seconds and he's already flirting."

"Sorry," Jack got to his feet, looking at the Time Lord in confusion. "Been 'round the block a few times. Do I know you?"

The Doctor held up the sonic screwdriver, pressing the button.

"No…" Jack gasped in awe, looking to the Time Lord. "No way… Doctor?"

"Yep!" The Time Lord bounced.

"Jesus Christ…" Jack muttered, looking the Time Lord over. "You look like a kid! I'm half worried I'll get arrested being seen with you…"

The Doctor snorted. "You look great too, Jack."

The man flinched. "Yeah… got buried alive. Long story." He glanced over at El. "Who's this?"

"El." The girl answered. "His daughter."

The Time Agent stared at the Time Lord. "You didn't…"

"Didn't what?" The Doctor asked.

"You didn't tell me you finally hooked up with Martha!" The man answered, looking El up and down.

The Doctor spluttered. "I didn't-! Does she look anything like Martha!?"

"Yeah, good point, so who's is this?" Jack inquired.

The Doctor scowled. "You know about a woman named Terry Ives?"

Jack flinched. "Oof." He turned to the girl. "So, El as in…"

"Eleven." The girl finished.

"If it's any help… I knew what was happening and tried to stop it." Jack apologized.

"You knew…" El repeated with a furrowed brow. "How did you know?"

"Well, don't go telling anyone this, but…" Jack lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I'm kind of a secret agent. Shh…"

The Doctor snorted. "Yeah, a secret agency that plasters its name on the vehicles, orders pizza under the name 'Torchwood,' and everybody knows where its headquarters are."

"I said kind of." Jack stated, brushing dirt off his face. "So, how'd you know I needed help? Who sent you?"

"Ah, well," The Doctor threw an arm around Jack's shoulders, "I didn't come here to rescue you. Well, I technically did, but that's only after another mess went down."

Jack huffed sarcastically. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." The Doctor smiled. "Anyway, see, I knew you were down there because you told me… you from the future. Who didn't get out until…" The Time Lord checked his watch. "1901."

Jack looked to the Doctor questioningly. "You're crossing my timeline?"

"Relax, I know exactly what I'm doing." The Doctor patted Jack on the shoulder. "And even if I didn't… it doesn't really matter now anyway."

Jack frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Look up." El directed for the Doctor.

Jack glanced at her, before doing as he was told, freezing. "No… no way." His eyes desperately searched the empty night sky for something, anything, only coming up with the moon. Arguably, that made it worse, as it verified he wasn't staring at an overcast sky. "Doctor… please tell me I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing."

"Unfortunately," The Time Lord sighed, "You are."

Jack whipped to face the Doctor, "What did this?"

"…the TARDIS."

The Time Agent stopped, looking incredulously at the Doctor. "What?"

The Doctor rubbed his face. "The TARDIS was hijacked, led to the Eleventh of November 1983. And then, she exploded… Total Event Collapse."

"No, no…" Jack vehemently shook his head. "That isn't possible!"

"It happened." The Doctor calmly retorted.

"No but think!" Jack replied. "If all it took to cause a Total Event Collapse was a single TARDIS exploding, it would've happened a thousand times over by now! The Time War alone would've done the job, but we're still here."

The Doctor shook his head. "Tell me, what else do you think could've done the job?"

"…the Key to Time." El spoke up, the heads of both snapping to her.

"The Key to Time…" Jack breathed. "You found it?"

"The Daleks did." The Doctor replied. "I stopped them. Hid the key away in the TARDIS in a room even where I wouldn't be able to use it."

"You said the Key was more powerful than anything." El recalled. "Could that have caused this to happen?"

"Possibly. Or, probably." The Doctor considered. "Makes sense… the Key to Time doesn't just control time, it is time. The fourth dimension of the universe in physical form. If it were destroyed…"

"And what if we fix it?" Jack asked. "Power like that… could I ever be able to die?"

"Die!?" El repeated.

"He has a… condition." The Doctor replied.

"I'd say it was more than that." Jack shot back.

"He died. A long time ago, in a place far, far from here." The Doctor exposited. "A friend of ours brought him back, but…"

"I've been shot, beaten, bruised, stabbed, irradiated, dropped off a cliff, run through by a javelin, trampled by a crowd…" Jack told the girl. "Every time, I come back. I always just… come back. No matter the damage."

"Even if none of his cells were to survive," The Doctor continued, "The component atoms would just knit themselves back together again. Which means," He tapped El's nose, "He's just the guy we need."

Jack looked to the Doctor inquiringly. "Need me for what?"


"Oh, Romans." Jack looked at the stones. "Nice…" His eyes glided over to the stone Neverweres. "And Demogorgons too."

El frowned. "You have a name for them?"

"Yeah, they're sort of like the cockroaches of the far future." Jack answered. "Always turning up in the least expected places exactly when you don't want them to. They're easy to deal with, just mindless pests after the controlling intelligence behind them got shot into a star by the Shadow Proclamation." He turned to the Doctor. "What're they doing here?"

"They were here for that." The Doctor pointed to the cube in the center of the chamber. "The Pandorica."

"The Pandorica…" Jack repeated in awe. "My mom and dad used to tell me the story about it when I was a kid… The Great Demon and the Good Wizard…" Jack looked to the Doctor. "What? Did they want whatever was inside?"

"Not quite." The Doctor replied. "They wanted to trap me in it."

"Oh…" Jack breathed. "I get it… But why do you need me?"

"Because," The Doctor placed two hands on Jack's shoulders, "There's an old friend of mine that's locked in there now. I need you to keep the Pandorica safe until we can find a pristine sample of DNA to use to revive her, got that?"

"But wait, I've been on Earth before." Jack replied. "I lived through the eighteen hundreds, remember? And then there was the time we visited Cardiff with Rose."

"Not anymore." The Doctor replied. "Total event collapse means your homeworld never existed, and by extension, neither did you. You'll be the only Jack Harkness in existence."

"That simple?" Jack asked.

"Anything but simple, but it's easy to understand, yes." The Doctor replied. "Now, we've gotta go. Come along, El."

"Doctor, wait!" Jack's hand shot out, brushing only against empty air as the two vanished.

The man sighed, flopping back against the Pandorica. Grabbing a cyberweapon that one of the Cybermen had dropped, he prepared to be in it for the long haul.