Jack's Agenda Part Five
Notes: Dan Butler is bad! What a revelation…actually, I was just looking for a bad guy and thought it would be cool to link it back to the start. Yes, I know the last chapter was too short, but that way you don't get bored! And I post more chapters! And I get more reviews! (this should happen)
Bookz: I agree.
Morph: Thankee sankee! Ah well, you can't always rely on the Doctor…hint hint. Nope! You didn't get it! Keep looking…I've pasted the corresponding extract at the bottom…look again, morphy my dear!
Banshee: Banshee, did you spot it? And aren't you loving the Chubby Chub Chub Chub thing, lol? If you don't understand that, I say only 'Tracey' and 'Pokemopolis'. Thank you, thank you, I'm a comedian at heart.
Mei: Though it isn't! Yay! We completed it! Cookies for you! I know, I've had about five GCSE lectures from my teachers in a week…you'd think they'd organise it so only one of them had to say it. I know, I love a good villain myself.
Cloudhaven: The best kind of Time Agents I think!
Dingbatt: Oh goody, a gripped reader…just as long as you keep reviewing. Thanks for reading and reviewing my other fics by the way, it's really touching and supportive of you.
Uh.yeah: Speak out my dear, and you may win the award! Ah well, as I keep saying, you can't always rely on the Doctor!
Cossie: Yeah, good reasons but I don't think Jack has a chance with Rose really. Maybe now the Doctor's regenerated, but never before. Thanks so much for betaing this, it helped LOADS! I will use you again! Although I'm open to suggestions if anyone else wants to beta (I'm not giving you previews just for the sake of it though, you have to put some work in!) Thanks for your reviews Cos, ttyl.
Spaci: Yes! That is the point! If you don't like him, that means I've written a good villain, am I right?
Tai: Your reviews are so excellent they're almost better than my fic. Speaking of, when are you going to reclaim your muse and start writing again? Anyway, it's a difficult award to win because I'm a master of concealing quotes, but keep trying!
Big huzzahs to Cossie, who betad this for me for the first time ever! Beating is the way forward peeps…try it! I'll beta anything for anyone, and Cossie'll tell you how ruthless but just I am!
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"I lost my shoes again," moaned Stella, huddling into a blanket and sniffing.
"More important things to worry about," the Doctor reminded her.
"Yeah, but it's the second time," she said. "Doc Martins aren't cheap you know!"
"We know Stella!" snapped Rose, who was cold, had a headache from being knocked out and was seriously fed up. Stella slumped.
"Sorry," she said humbly.
They all sighed. They were back on the TARDIS, which was great, but they were missing a member of its crew. They sat in the control room on the grated floor, Stella still wet and dripping from her watery encounter.
"OK. It's obvious how we can do this, isn't it? We just fly the TARDIS into his jail cell and whisk him away," she said. "You two were there, so you know where to land it."
"Oh gosh, what a great idea that I hadn't already considered about a billion times," said the Doctor irritably, who also had a headache and was feeling slightly woozy.
"Oh I'm so sorry I only have limited powers of telepathy."
"They'll be expecting us to do that," said the Doctor, ignoring her. "We need to try something else."
"Like what!" said Stella. "That whole place is probably riddled with traps! I'm not loosing any more footwear!"
"She's right Doctor. What options do we have?" asked Rose. She looked exhausted.
"Look, why don't you two have a rest or something?" he suggested. "That'll give me some time to think."
"Finally, a good suggestion," said Stella, flashing them both a smile as she padded away to her room. "G'night." Rose looked hesitant, tired though she was.
"You won't try anything without me, will you?" she asked him, looking him square in the face. The Doctor chuckled and reached out to her, ruffling her hair. She grabbed his hand and pushed it away, grinning at him.
"Still wearing my ring?" he asked, hoping to sound nonchalant as he caught a flash of gold.
"Never take it off."
"Your finger'll go all mouldy and then I'll have to chop it off…"
"You're crazy."
"I'm a genius!" Rose laughed at that.
"I agree. You're a one-of-a-kind genius." The Doctor looked pleased, even though he knew she was goading him. "Now put that big brain to work and help Jack, OK? Just don't go without me."
"I couldn't," he teased. "You're my sidekick." Rose kicked his shin and escaped to her room.
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I could blast the guards with the laser I hide for emergencies.
I could blast the door.
I could blast all the other people in the building including Dan Butler. Then I could kick him.
But I couldn't blast a hole through the outer walls unless I want to die in thirty seconds.
OK.
New plan.
I could blast everybody and the door, then find some way to communicate with the TARDIS.
Well. I could try.
But one laser against countless guards and robots…OK.
New plan.
I wait for the Doctor.
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"Come on old girl…I know you like being a police box, but just this once…"
The Doctor was attempting to do something he'd attempted many times before: fix the chameleon circuit. There was a small chance that if he could do that, then land the TARDIS inside Jack's cell, that maybe he would have the element of surprise.
Just a few seconds before people started shooting at him to drag Jack inside.
It was worth a shot.
"Come on TARDIS…just have a go at being an agency filing cabinet for once…maybe even invisible…just anything but a police box…"
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"Still wearing my ring?"
Rose grinned in the darkness and twisted the ring on her finger. The Doctor was almost certainly crushing on her, and though she would never admit it out loud, she could feel the attraction herself…
"Still wearing my ring?"
That was the sort of thing your boyfriend said to you. Well, if you lived in America. Teenage couples traded rings in America, or so TV had lead her to believe.
And, of course, engaged couples around the world swapped rings.
"Still wearing my ring?"
It was the way he said it that had really given her the hint. Actually, not so much a hint as the final straw. She piled up the evidence in her head. The hand holding. The hugging. The way he protected her at all costs. And, of course, making a ring for her from scratch and taking her to a truly beautiful location to give it to her.
And the way he'd said it…like he didn't really care…it was the way all men spoke to all women across the globe when they were nervous about their feelings.
"Still wearing my ring?"
Yes. She would wear his ring. As long as he spoke to her like that.
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Although she had gone to her room to 'rest', Stella had inexplicably found herself skating again.
I guess it's just what I do when I'm nervous, she thought.
It wasn't just nerves though. Stella was completely beating herself up inside.
If I hadn't fallen through that wall, I could have helped Jack. We would have thrashed the guards together and gone back to the TARDIS to celebrate…
Stella shook her head. She was being completely irrational, which meant that she was over tired. She skated slowly back to her room.
She guessed this was what people referred to as 'survivor's guilt'. Only no one had died and…
Stella flopped onto her bed. She definitely needed to go to sleep.
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"Yes!"
The Doctor did a little jig of happiness. It was working! Oh he was so clever!
"I am so clever! So very clever! Fantastic! Fantastic!"
He fumbled for the intercom.
"Rose! Stella! Wake up! I've done it!"
Stella groaned. Why oh why did the TARDIS have an intercom?
Rose, after looking around blearily for the source of the noise, stumbled out of bed and made her way to the control room.
"What have you done?" she said, looking excited but a little scared.
"I fixed the chameleon circuit!" said the Doctor, grabbing Rose and leading her into another dance of happiness. "The disguise is working! We can go in and rescue Jack!" Rose laughed. She couldn't help it. The Doctor was acting like a kid, and his joy was contagious.
"That's excellent!" she said, beaming up at him as he dipped her to the ground.
"It's not just excellent Rose, it's absolutely completely fantastic! We can go anywhere now, anywhere at all and we'll blend in! No one will ever suspect us again! No more 'Follow that police box'!"
"Calm down," said Rose, as he swept her back up again and hugged her. "You're not making sense!"
"I may never make sense again!" crowed the Doctor. "I've never been this happy!"
"Are you sure it works?"
The Doctor's face fell.
"You don't believe me?"
Rose studied his face. Something was different, but she couldn't quite place it. This was the Doctor. He never danced if he could avoid it. His eyes were too bright, and he felt…
"You're really hot."
He beamed. "Thank you!"
"No, I mean…" Rose held up a hand to his forehead like her mum used to when she had a fever. The Doctor had mentioned to her once that Time Lords had different body temperatures to humans, but even to her untrained hands he felt as if he was burning up. "You've got a temperature."
"It's just the dancing," said the Doctor carelessly.
"Are you sure? You're OK?" Rose searched his face. Something definitely wasn't right. "Look, I know you're really…really eager to get Jack back, but why don't you get some rest now?"
"But why?" demanded the Doctor. "Rose, you're acting like I'm a sick five year old."
"I'm serious Doctor! You're not one hundred per cent!"
"What's going on?" Stella stood hesitantly in the doorway, dressed in an oversized T-shirt and baggy shorts. "Are you two arguing again?"
"Does he look well to you?" demanded Rose.
"I dunno…" Stella struggled to see what Rose could so clearly. "He does look a bit…a bit weird maybe?"
"Don't talk about me as if I'm not here, you know it only upsets me," babbled the Doctor. "I just fixed the TARDIS Bella!"
"It's Stella," growled the teenager.
"Whatever. Can we go now?" he pleaded. Rose shook her head firmly.
"Go to bed!"
"You can't boss me around! I'm a Time Lord!"
"You heard me Doctor!" said Rose, trying to use her mum's most commanding voice. "Go to bed!"
The Doctor giggled. "You look cute when you're angry." Rose watched him leave, stumbling a little as he tried to find the right doors.
"Was he drunk?" asked Stella, gaping after him. Rose shook her head.
"No, I don't think so," she said. She bit her lip. "So what's wrong?"
"You don't think…" Stella swallowed. "Look, this is a long shot and I'm not very good at detective work, but do you think that maybe they did something to you while you were locked up? Can you remember?"
"I don't remember anything," confessed Rose. "I was unconscious pretty much the whole time."
"But the Doctor's not human, right?" continued Stella. "Maybe he came round before you and they…I dunno…sedated him or something. Tranquillisers."
"And he's getting weird because they used human drugs," said Rose, a hand flying to her mouth. "He never takes human drugs, not even aspirin!"
"He could get really ill!" cried Stella. "And we'd be stuck here! What if this means—"
But she was interrupted by a crash coming from the general direction of the Doctor's room. Rose sprinted down the corridors, Stella on her heels. The Doctor was lying in a crumpled heap, half groaning, half giggling.
"He must have collapsed," said Rose immediately. "Help me prop him up." Stella gently placed one of his arms around her shoulders and helped Rose hoist him to a standing position.
"I don't know what happened," said the Doctor, giving a sudden laugh. "It's the TARDIS…" he mumbled. "She tripped me up…and these socks…" He tried to tug at them, but Stella knocked his hand away and slung it around her shoulder again. He whimpered.
"Shush," said Rose absentmindedly, trying to concentrate on keeping him upright. They reached his bedroom door and Stella kicked it open, making the three of them sway dangerously. They dumped him on the bed, and he lay there, staring at the ceiling.
"I do not feel well," he announced suddenly, dashing for the bathroom. The girls winced as they heard him throw up.
"Rose, this is really bad," whispered Stella urgently. "Jack's going to be moved soon for a trial, one of the guards said so when they fished me out of the whirlpool of torment. We only have twenty four hours to save him, and the Doctor's the only one who can fly the TARDIS."
"Ten hours," corrected Rose, doingsome fast clac. "Only ten hours left."
"What are we going to do?" asked Stella. Rose's mind raced desperately. She thought back, thought through everything she knew about the TARDIS. It was impossible. The TARDIS controls were immensely complicated, because even the Doctor sometimes had trouble controlling it. She was completely helpless, they all were…and if they were helpless, who would help Jack?
Suddenly Rose's thoughts settled on something that had happened all too recently. It was an answer. It was a solution.
It could also create massive problems.
"This is what we have to do…"
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Lots and lotsa plot twists there! Make sure you review…reviews keep me ALIVE. I'm WILTING! Wilting!
REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!
By the way, I've noticed that no one (as yet) has won the Chubby Chub Chub Chub Award for Master of Observation! I must say I'm surprised…you must be uncultured! But, to give you another chance and a hint, I've pasted an extract below from the previous chapter. If you can find the quote, I will award you the Chubby Chub Chub Chub Award for Master of Observation! Don't worry if you still don't get it, there'll be more chances to win this coveted award in other Eevee fics (maybe even in this one). Keep looking, observers! Hint: Jack noticed the quote. It's from a film I'm guessing he'd enjoy.
'"Wouldn't want to make it easy for you," said Jack with venom. "You bastard. You tricked me into coming here by giving me the coordinates. You pretended to be my friend and you tricked me."
"Well, you've done it many times before yourself Jack, and you make it sound so ugly," said Dan lightly.
"It is ugly. I brought women here, good friends of mine," said Jack. "And if you hurt them…"
Dan brushed aside his threat like a fly. "Now now Jack, no hard feelings. But you are a criminal, so you could hardly expect us to welcome you."
"My friends aren't. They're innocents!"
"Breaking and entering? I think not," said Dan. "And speaking of women, were you aware that a young female wearing black stepped into one of the marvellous traps we had set for you?"
"What have you done to her?" demanded Jack, his heart dropping somewhere through the floor.
"Oh well, nothing really," said Dan. He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Why, do you think I should?"
"Oh leave it out," said Jack with distaste. Dan's eyes went very cold.
"Very well," he said. "I will show you." He pressed a button on his desk and a large screen behind him revealed Stella, seemingly unconscious, about to be sucked into a whirlpool.'
Got it now? Keep trying, observers!