Bounty Part Six

Notes: The song is by KT Tunstall. This chapter will be called Jack Plays A Harmonica. I think that it's high time there was some humour in this fic, am I right?

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Over the sea and far away
She's waiting like an iceberg
Waiting to change
But she's cold inside
She wants to be like the water

Rose was refusing to ask where Jack had produced a harmonica from because she really didn't want to know. She felt like telling him to shut up, or some such insult, but he was actually pretty good. Blues-y. Wondering where he'd acquired this particular skill, she allowed herself the luxury of a smile.

"Gotcha," said Jack happily, grinning at her as he lowered the instrument. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist."

"Very mature Jack," she said irritably, stretching. Sitting was better than standing, but after a while it hurt just as much when you were sat on concrete. Her back would hurt tomorrow. Well, if she actually lived until tomorrow. Dramatic, she thought, but probably accurate.

"Wonder what's happening to him," thought Jack aloud. "I can't imagine it'll be very pleasant."

"I told you not to come," she repeated. Her mind wandered.

The Doctor. In pain. Alone…

"I hope—" She stopped. Don't go there Rose. Don't let them hurt you again.

"Yeah, I hope he's OK too," replied Jack lazily. He knew what she'd been thinking. It didn't take a genius to work out how concerned she was. Classic body language. Furrowed brow, hunched over… "But there's not much we can do," he continued.

"I just can't believe Mert got the better of me again," she said without really meaning to.

All the muscles tighten in her face
Buries her soul in one embrace
They're one and the same
Just like water

Jack didn't say anything for a moment, just studied her face. She could feel his eyes on her skin.

"What did he do Rose?" he asked eventually. "You were terrified today."

"What does it matter to you?" she snapped harshly. She lowered her head.

"He didn't…he didn't hurt you?" Jack's eyes suddenly turned serious and solemn. And there he was again, the man behind the flirting and teasing who had always acted like her big brother, always tried to protect her.

"Jack, he barely laid a finger on me," she said, smiling. "But I was never very good with horror films, and the way he…changes…it just pushed me over the edge. And it's not like I've been in the best state mentally," she added dryly.

"The guy's possessed," he reminded her. "Ever seen The Exorcist? Possession is never pretty."

He shuffled a bit closer to her. "And just 'cause you were scared, doesn't mean you're a coward. I think you're brave."

"Thanks," she muttered. She smiled again. "This is just like the old days isn't it? Bunged in a cell."

"Yep." He stretched out, stroking the concrete almost fondly. "Good times."

"I almost missed this y'know," she admitted.

"Me too," he said, smiling. "And the Doctor?" he probed gently.

She sniffed. "Maybe I miss him too," she said grudgingly.

Jack pulled her into a hug. And for once, Rose didn't pull away.

The fire fades away
Most of everyday
Is full of tired excuses
But it's to hard to say
I wish it were simple
But we give up easily
You're close enough to see that
You're the other side of the world to me

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"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" asked the Doctor grimly, his chest heaving. They'd chained him up, Mert and his little friends, and now they were running electrical currents through him. Not enough for him to regenerate, but enough to cause a lot of pain. But somehow, it wasn't making him weaker. It was just pissing him off.

"Well it almost seems like you are Doctor," said the Tamathans through their little puppet. "No screaming, no begging…no 'help me, help me, it's hurting'…" Mert grinned sadistically as the demons' voices grew soft, and dangerous.

"I have one question though," said the Doctor, his breathing heavy and uneven. "Why electricity?"

"Well Mert got rather fond of pillaging," they said in a carefree voice. "And we thought electricity was quite a good idea for a race so primitive. We've been dying to try it out ever since. And don't forget, you're just a warm up, something to get us in the mood..." They laughed. "Soon we'll bring out your human friends."

"The Time Lords were right to banish you," he spat. "And doesn't it make your blood boil, knowing that?" His chains creaked as he stained against them, trying to really get in Mert's face. To an outsider, he looked like a man with a death wish.

Mert leant against a lever and the Doctor shuddered, his eyes rolling up into his head as electricity surged through him. "Oh, clumsy me," said the Tamathans, making Mert grin.

"You're pathetic!" yelled the Doctor. He glared at Mert, breathing heavily. It was beginning to work though. The Tamathans were getting angry, and Mert was getting restless.

"Stop it, stop it, stop it," he said, scratching at his head feverishly. "It's hurting, get out…"

"SILENCE!" screamed the Tamathans, and Mert cried out as his face began to stretch, demons fluttering in his eyes.

The Doctor smiled cruelly. "Looks like you're losing control." Electricity surged through him, but he was past caring. He grinned, laughing now. "You're finished, Tamathans…did you think you'd be able to keep it up? Fumbling your way into this dimension uninvited, did you think you'd be able to stay? You're losing your grip."

"Aren't you losing yours?" asked the Tamathans, throwing open the lever again and laughing as he jerked, his mouth open and screaming. They released the lever and his head flopped onto his chest, defeated for the moment.

"Get the humans," ordered the Tamathans. "I think he could use some company."

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"…So I end up completely naked, surrounded by nuns, who start praying for my soul…it was complete madness."

Rose felt weak from laughing. "Nuns?"

"Fifty of 'em," said Jack proudly. "And I'd slept with ten by the end of the week."

"You devil child!" gasped Rose, teasing him. They were interrupted by the clank of a key in the lock. The heavy iron door was pulled slightly ajar.

"You two. Out," grunted a Praztof.

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"Time Lord? Doctor?"

He raised his head and peered into the darkened room as it came into focus. Mert was sat behind the control panel with that cursed lever on it. He was shaking.

"What?" said the Doctor, his voice hoarse and dull.

"I'm scared," he said. "They're in my head. It itches…" He whimpered, scratching his skull.

"Release my friends and I'll help you," he growled. "Otherwise, I don't care."

"They're coming back, they'll hurt them," said Mert, his voice trembling. "Do you care about that?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't care about much anymore Mert," he said wearily.

"Awww. Poor Doctor," said the Tamathans, regaining control of Mert. He got up, stretching. "That feels better. We almost lost you then, didn't we? Thinking about bargaining with our prisoners? Never do it again!"

"You're losing him," warned the Doctor. "You keep wasting the energy you have on those pathetic transformations, and pretty soon you'll run out completely."

"Oh, so that's your little game," they said. They turned Mert's head as Rose and Jack were marched in, then focused their attention back on him. "Trying to get us angry."

"Doesn't matter what I do," he said. "You're going to lose anyway. You were banished by the Time Lords. And as long as one of us still lives, you will never escape. You're playing with ancient fire."

"No Doctor, you are playing with fire," they replied, grinning. "And your little friends, and their precious planet of apes, are about to get burnt."

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"An arsonist," said the Doctor, standing over a middle aged, slightly balding human man who was staring in fear at the TARDIS. "Not what we usually get. But people don't usually set fire—"

"Look, whoever you are, it wasn't me!" cried the man, his voice trembling.

"Look, whoever you are, I know for certain that it was! So stop lying to me," he said, getting out some handcuffs.

"Y-you can't take me to prison. You're not a police officer," he said.

"No. I'm a bounty hunter. We're much worse," said the Doctor grinning.

"I have a w-wife and children!" he said desperately. The Doctor paused.

"Children?"

"Yes! Two of them," he said. "I'm their world. If you take me away, they're as good as dead!"

"And how many people do you think you killed when you set fire to your boss's house? All the people at that dinner party. Their children, their families…Don't you think he had children too?" asked the Doctor coolly.

"He deserved it, the jackass! He fired me!" The man spat on the ground.

"Hmm, interesting choice of words," mused the Doctor, locking the man's arms behind his back. "Well let me tell you what happens if you play with fire. You get burnt."

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Bit of nasty insane Doctor there…I guess I was drawing on some of the stuff from Dalek. That really frightened me, that episode. (shudder) Scary Doctor. Now it's time to review…or face POLLINATION by my remote controlled Dalek, Hilary. (Yes, he does the sexy Dalek twisty dance, and a very nice booty he has too)

And a special note to all you folks in America and Australia and the like who haven't seen it…the Christmas special was bloody fantastic…(laughs her head off)

See you in the next dimension…don't be late!