Once again, a big thank you to everyone who is keeping up with the story and reviewing. I'm glad to see I've tugged at your heartstrings. There will be more of that to come. Good or bad? You'll have to wait and see!

Love and hugs xx

'Faster, slave!'

The Doctor growled at the man who was giving him orders. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to take this.

Eventually, after what seemed like a lifetime, he was ordered to sit with the other slaves for their scrap of an evening meal.

Sitting at the large, stone table, he surveyed the food in front of him. It was the same dire meal he had been forced to eat every night since he arrived. Slices of dry, flat bread and something which looked like dark honey - but didn't taste like it - and was sickly sweet. A cup of water and a piece of manky fish completed his 'feast.'

This was the first night he had been allowed to sit with the other slaves, and he now noticed that the table he was on was set far away from the rest. He frowned as he wondered why this was.

A fellow worker caught his look.

'You are wondering why we have been set apart from the others.' It was a statement rather than a question.

The Doctor gave him a sideways glance.

'Do you know why?' He asked.

The man looked about cautiously, then leant closer to him.

'Semiseti went on a mission to pick out the strongest men he could find rather than just sticking to the locals. He has been searching the whole of Egypt, sneaking us out under the blanket of night. He said - '

'Anukmose!' A second worker warned. 'You know we are forbidden to talk about it.'

Anukmose snorted. 'Do you not think it strange, my friend, that we all know apart from him?'

The worker glared at him and was hushed.

'Know what?' the Doctor asked, intrigued.

'His plan to take over the throne, to murder the pharaoh. He took us away from our families, threatening to kill them if we didn't comply. He wants the pyramid finished quickly, so the ritual can begin. He says he is sacrificing the pharaoh to the gods. He thinks it will make him invincible.'

The Doctor stared at him, wide-eyed and confused.

'Why would Semiseti risk telling you he was about to commit murder? You could just blab it to anyone and that would be the end of him!'

'The guards here are all on Semiseti's side. There is no one to tell. We are watched constantly. Besides, who would believe the word of a slave?'

'I knew he wanted to kill the pharaoh,' the Doctor admitted, 'but I wasn't told why, and I didn't know how you all came to be here, about this tight selection process. I didn't arrive in quite the same way.' He nodded towards the other tables. 'I'm guessing the locals have no idea of what's going on?'

'No, they don't.' Anukmose shook his head. A confused look swept across his features.

'How did you come to be here then? You're certainly not one of us.'

'I was travelling with a friend,' the Doctor said, treading carefully. 'They took me away from her, then told her I was dead and sent her away.' His voice strained slightly and he turned away from Anukmose, his face betraying his emotions.

'She is travelling alone? That is not safe.'

'No, she's… yes, well, I suppose she is. The TARDIS would have protected her.'

'TARDIS?'

'Yes, my, er, travelling machine.' The Doctor stared at his plate.

Anukmose thought on this a moment, then something struck him.

'You have magic!' he asked, eyes like saucers.

'Well, kind of. To you anyway.'

'So you can get us out?' he asked expectantly.

The Doctor looked downhearted.

'Sorry, no can do, mate. Without the TARDIS, I'm stuffed.'

'What is your name, my friend?'

'I'm the Doctor.'

'Doctor.' he chewed on a piece of bread thoughtfully. 'Semiseti bewitched your friend.'

'I know,' said the Doctor sadly.

'She means a lot to you?'

'Yes. Yes, she does.'

'I think… maybe you love her?'

The Doctor didn't offer a reply, his expression unreadable. He went back to his dinner.

Jack spent the whole of the next day with Rose, making sure she was okay. He was beginning to feel like a Siamese twin, but felt he couldn't begrudge her anything that made her feel comfortable.

The suspicions he had been having were growing stronger. Rose wasn't the kind of girl who would just except a stranger's say-so without seeing any evidence.

He was planning to steal away during the night. He didn't want to raise Rose's hopes by telling her his thoughts. If he'd told her, she probably would have done everything in her power to make him stay. After all as far as she was concerned, there was nothing to go back for. And even if she did let him go just to satisfy his curiosity, she would have insisted on going with him and as much as he adored Rose, now was not the time for him to be hampered.

Once Rose was safely sleeping, Jack gently kissed her cheek and crept out of the flat.

Upon entering the TARDIS, he couldn't help but notice how eerie it seemed, all empty and unused. Walking over to the monitor, he pressed a few buttons that would bring up details of the previous flight course. He set the original flight date forward a few days and then fired her up. The TARDIS groaned into life once more. Jack held on to avoid being thrown to the floor.

I hope I'm right, he thought. For Rose's sake, I hope I'm right.

He knew she would be distressed at finding him gone; and he also knew how angry she would be if he came back with nothing to show for his desertion of her.

But he had to go with what his gut was telling him.

The lurching came to a grinding halt. He planned to make his usual, fired-up entrance. He wasn't really one to pussy-foot around. Then he thought about it, and decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea if he was going to be outnumbered. After all, he would be of no use to the Doctor or Rose then, and he couldn't do that to them. He still made sure he had every weapon he thought he would need on him though (the Doctor would highly disapprove of the guns, but anyway, he wasn't in charge at the moment, so sod him, and besides, Jack was doing it to save his life and, in some way, Rose's).

He stepped outside. It was dark and the stars were twinkling. A faint smell of spices was carried in on the low breeze.

Where to start?

Frowning, he set off towards what looked like the town. He pulled out a flashlight, needing more light than the moon offered him. Swinging it around, he saw a magnificent stone structure standing tall and ominous and the river Nile, still as death and as dark as a bottomless pit.

He swung the torch back round to the direction he was headed.

Getting closer to the town, he saw a large stone building looming in the background, a few flickers of flame lighting it up enough for Jack to tell it was a building of great importance. He stopped, and looked downwards.

'Well, gut?' he said aloud, his voice booming in the silent darkness.

His gut told him to go towards the impressive edifice.

'Okay, but if you're wrong, I'm not feeding you for a whole week.'

His stomach grumbled, as if in reply.

'Okay, maybe not a whole week, maybe for like… half a day.'

A short while later, he reached the palace walls. He inhaled sharply.

'My, my,' he said, and went and hid behind a tree so that he could spy on the entrance. There were fewer guards than there had been when the Doctor and Rose were there. In fact, only two covered the entrance, one on either side.

Should be easy, Jack thought.

He stole towards them, pushing himself flat against the ground and then squashing himself against the wall, managing to hide until he reached the light of the guard's flame-lit torches.

At exactly the same time, the guard's heads snapped round to the right. Before they had time to react, Jack had pulled the stun gun on them and they both sank rigidly to the ground. Jack smirked.

'Sorry, guys.'

He stepped inside, keeping himself as well hidden as he could. After hearing the strange noise the gun produced, several guards were now running towards the entrance. Jack threw himself behind a large statue.

The guards muttered to one another, pulling the stunned guards inside. Two of them stayed by the entrance whilst the others split into two groups and went off in search of the intruder.

Jack had only gone a few paces before he heard a low, threatening growl behind him. He spun round, just managing to miss the guard's fist. Jack grabbed his arm, twisted him round and then threw a punch to knock him out. The guard sank to the ground like a stone.

Jack dragged him into the shadows, and looked around quickly, spotting some stone steps in a corner, heading downwards. He ran as fast and as quietly as he could, and flung himself down them. Once at the bottom, he found himself in a dimly lit, dusty stone passage. Walking along a little bit he came across another guard. This one was asleep, his head propped against the wall, snoring loudly. Jack froze for a second, then silently skipped round him.

After a minute or so, the corridor forked. Left or right, Jack wondered. Going again on his gut, he went left. Left also happened to be lit, which had probably helped his decision more than his gut had. Going even more into stealth mode, he finally reached what looked like a prison. He pushed himself up against the darkness as three more guards came into view. Dotted along the walls behind them were a series of barred holes, just about big enough to fit a person through.

The dust started to tickle Jack's nose. Before he could stop himself, he sneezed.

The guards looked round at him.

'Oops,' he said aloud.