Chapter 9: Hollow Victories

Now, if he were a brilliant Time Lord – which he was – he'd realise that he might've just fallen into a classic blunder. Most famous of which was to never get involved in a land war in Asia. The other was never go in against a Sicilian when death was on the line. No, wait, that was the Princess Bride.

He made a mental note to attempt to avoid classic Earth movie references in the future. Rose had turned back time. Five days all told. It was a classic paradox. Another one. What was it about his recent regenerations – or, perhaps, it was Rose? – that tended to bring them about? No, he couldn't pin this one on Rose. He'd done the same with Charley, after all.

Three people remembered the past five days. Well, technically, they remembered the passage of two days and some hours. The three days that led up to the full moon were instantaneously passed thanks to Bad Wolf. Question was whether or not the rest of the world recalled those days. And whether the massive temporal mangling that had taken place at Bad Wolf's hands had caused a large enough tear in the space-time continuum to attract the Reapers.

That was when he realised that the others were all staring at him. Rose and Jack actually looked somewhat guilty. Which was rather confusing. "What?"

"You gasped," Gwen explained, since it seemed apparent that neither of his companions would say anything.

"I did?" Strange, he didn't recall that. Well, must've done.

"Yes, you did," Rose replied, finding her voice. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just thinking about Time Lord-y things." He wrinkled his nose. That didn't sound right. "Time Lord-y." He enunciated the word carefully before shaking his head. "A word I should try to never use again."

"Doctor." His name was both a warning and a question. Rose's capacity for using his name to say so much was amazing, really.

"We need to get back to the TARDIS," he said, giving in. Only way to make sure. If the interior still existed, brilliant. If it didn't, well, he'd cross that particular bridge when they came to it. If they came to it. Which they wouldn't.

Hopefully.

No, wait. Problem. It was, once again, one day after they'd first arrived in Cardiff. The TARDIS was still inaccessible. But maybe, just maybe, the old girl might be able to give him some sort of a clue as to whether his fears were founded on anything sound. Since, technically, if he couldn't open the door – the interior must still be there. If he could, and the interior was gone, that'd be bad.

"What's at the TARDIS?" Jack asked.

"Answers." Admittedly it wasn't the most forthcoming of responses, but it'd have to do. He'd prefer not to give voice to his fears unless they were true. And, if they weren't, no harm done.

He realised his mistake the instant he saw Jack's expression shutter. It was almost physical in its effects. Even after all this time, after what had happened, Jack still harboured a grain of insecurity and disbelief. Admittedly, he deserved some of it. But...

Oh, bollocks.

No choice. He'd have to share what he knew or, at least, suspected. "What do you know about Reapers?"

Rose turned alarmingly pale and, without bothering to wait for Jack to reply, he crossed the short distance between them and gathered her into his arms. He hated doing this to her because he knew she'd only blame herself. She was rather good at that. Almost, he admitted, as good as himself.

"Only some stories," Jack said, looking uncomfortable with the subject or, perhaps, the company. He shot Gwen a nervous look before he seemed to come to a decision. "They're parasites, aren't they? Feed off paradoxes and such?"

He nodded. "Exactly. And, problem is, we've got several nice juicy paradoxes right here, right now. Which means we might be getting some uninvited guests for breakfast." He had no idea how to stop them, provided that they were coming. Last time, he'd barely been able to save the people in that church and, even then, he'd ended up getting consumed. It was only because of Pete Tyler that the world had been saved. Otherwise, everything would've been erased. The Earth, Time, the entire cosmos.

"And you've got something that can stop them in the TARDIS?" Jack asked.

He shook his head. "No. Can't get in at the moment. At least, I can't if everything's as it should be. If I can, well, that'd be bad. At least it's a sure-fire way of knowing whether they're coming or not." Though what he'd do if they were coming was a good question.

"Say what?" Jack asked.

"Oh, right. Didn't I tell you? We were pulled out of the Vortex. Got knocked around a bit and the TARDIS had to kick us out to make repairs. We've got another twenty-four hours in this lovely city of yours before we can leave. Well, when I say lovely, I really mean its okay. Well, when I say okay, I..."

"I think he gets it," Rose interrupted him. Why did everyone interrupt his prattle, especially just before he reached the interesting bits?

"You said they erase paradoxes. What sort of paradox?" Gwen asked, apparently confused.

He sighed. Humans. "Temporal paradoxes. And this one's a particular beauty. The last five days have been erased, Gwen. They didn't happen. There isn't any evidence of them happening besides up here." He tapped the side of his head.

Gwen's brow furrowed in confusion. "But how's that possible? And, if it's five days ago, what happened to the version of me that should be travelling to the office right now? Or am I in two places at once? And this is giving me a headache." She pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead and winced.

"'S all right," Rose said, smiling sympathetically. "Happens to me all the time."

He grinned at his companion and let her go only enough to entwine their fingers. Turning toward Gwen, he nodded. "That's it exactly. A paradox. If the last five days hadn't happened, we wouldn't be here right now. As for how it's possible, well, Bad Wolf turned back time. That's how it's possible. However, the burning question is whether or not we can expect Reapers to crash into this particular parade. Therefore, to the TARDIS! Or should that be batmobile? Or the Torchwoodmobile?"

Without waiting for any responses from the others, he started for the door, pausing only when he realised that no one was following him. "What?" he asked, looking back at the others.

"Doctor, if we're five days in the past, we never came out here in the first place. Which means we don't have a car," Gwen replied.

"Ah," he said, resisting the urge to slap the palm of his hand against his forehead. "Should've thought of that."

It'd be, Jack realised, nearly impossible to hail a cab at this time of the morning, especially this close to the docks. Either they were all engaged by young executives intent on reaching work on time or their drivers had decided to sleep in. Good thing he always had backup. Pulling out his cell, he dialled the main Torchwood number.

"Hello, you've reached the offices of..." A machine-generated voice began.

He interrupted the message. "Harkness. J. 55-99-162."

"Transferring."

The phone clicked as it was answered. "Jack? What the hell are you doing calling in at this hour?" Toshiko asked incredulously.

"Could say the same thing," he teased. Toshiko was well known for her propensity to stay overnight when something had caught her interest. "I need a team out at the old Gerard & Co. warehouse by the docks. Usual group – forensics and investigators. Arm them with crossbows. Gwen and I found the source of our little exsanguination problem. Two vehicles."

"You never sleep, do you?" Toshiko asked. "Right. Dispatching a team now. Do you need a clean-up crew?"

"Not just yet, but keep them standing by. The team leader can make that determination when they're done with the investigation," he replied.

"They'll be with you in ten minutes. Want to tell me how you found the source this fast?"

"Luck, Toshiko. Pure luck," he said. "I'll talk to you later." And he ended the call. Turning to the others, he continued, "Company in ten. We'll commandeer one of the Torchwood cars to get back to Millennium Centre. From there, we can get to the TARDIS."

He still wasn't certain what good visiting the TARDIS would do, especially if they couldn't enter the time-ship, but he was willing to indulge the Doctor. The day or, rather, the days had been long and emotional ones.

"You're gonna take care of the rest of the vampires, right?" Rose asked. "I mean, two of 'em got away but there's got to be more out there, yeah?"

He wanted to promise her that they'd get them. That they'd be able to stop the vampires – all of them – but he couldn't do that. There were no guarantees, not in his line of work. Not even in Rose's, come to think of it. Anything could happen. Anything would happen. So, he settled for the truth. "We'll try."

She didn't look happy with the answer, but he could tell that she understood. That would have to be enough.

By the time that the other Torchwood agents arrived on the scene, he was certain that the Doctor was about to climb the walls. Patience had never been a particular virtue of the Time Lord in either of his incarnations.

"Stay here," he instructed. The Doctor made a move to follow him, but he shook his head. "I mean it, Doctor. I need to see who's out there. Gwen, if-"

Gwen nodded. "I'll get them out of here." Good.

He waited for the last of the car doors to slam outside before he started for the door, motioning for the others to keep back for the moment. He wasn't certain who was on duty this particular morning and, if it was who he feared, he didn't want them anywhere near the Doctor or Rose.

The door creaked loudly as he opened it enough to slip outside. He nodded to the agents that he recognised, but he had yet to see the team leader. They must be on the other side of the SUV. As he rounded the vehicle, he finally spotted who it was and bit back a curse.

Jeremy Saunders. Had to be him.

"Hear you've got something interesting for us, Jack-o!" Jeremy boomed and he winced. Jeremy had one volume – a shout.

"This is the source of all the exsanguinations and attacks that we've seen around town for the past few months. I'm going to need your team to investigate the warehouse. Two vampires escap-"

"Vampires? You're kidding, right?" Saunders asked.

He shook his head. How the man had managed to survive in Torchwood this long was a mystery to him. "No, I'm not. Two vampires escaped. I heard what sounded like a manhole cover being removed. You'll need to take a few men after them. During the day, they're vulnerable. Sunlight, removing their head, or stabbing them through the heart will kill them. I have no idea how many vampires there are in this particular nest. It'll be up to your team to figure that out. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Got it. Where's Gwen?"

"Still inside. I'm going to need one of your vehicles to get back to the Institute. The home office'll want to hear about this." That he had no intention of letting the home office know anything of what had happened in Cardiff wasn't mentioned.

"Sure," Jeremy replied, tossing him a set of keys. "Get someone to drive it back out here. We're going to need to get back somehow."

He nodded, trusting his actions to speak louder than words. He started to turn to go back inside when Jeremy continued, "Jack, did you hear about what the cameras spotted this morning in Millennium Centre?"

A sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach told him just what the other man was about to say. He hadn't been in yet, hadn't had the chance to grab the images off the printer, hadn't had the chance to prevent anyone else from seeing them.

"It's the TARDIS! Can you believe it? He's here! After all this time, he's here!" Saunders sounded incredibly cheerful and he bit back another curse.

"No, I didn't hear about that. Did anyone – " His words were cut off again. Jeremy was always far too fond of the sound of his own voice.

"We called London 'bout twenty minutes ago. They're scrambling some of their top scientists now. I hear that Yvonne's narked that it happened here and not in London, can you believe it?" Jeremy asked.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. "Yeah. Amazing. Tell you what, I need to grab Gwen and get back to the Institute. I'll leave you to it, then. Good luck." Without bothering to wait for a response from Saunders, he hurried back into the warehouse. Thankfully, Rose and the Doctor were no where to be seen.

Gwen smiled tightly at him as she brushed past several of the incoming agents to reach his side. "Back to Torchwood?" she asked and added, under her breath, "Around the back."

"I hate paperwork," he groused for the benefit of any in hearing distance. Thankfully, they were mostly ignored as they left the warehouse.

The car was sadly located near Saunders, but the man was distracted when they reached the vehicle. He unlocked it and motioned for Gwen to get inside.

Knowing London, they'd bring out the helicopter to get to Cardiff as quickly as possible. Which meant that they were running out of time. As soon as the doors were shut and he'd started the car engine, he sighed and pulled away from the warehouse. They had a few minutes before they'd reach the Doctor and Rose and in that time they had to come up with a plan. "Gwen, we've got a problem."

"Why is it that whenever you say that I know I'm not going to like whatever it is you're talking about? Oh, yeah, I know. That'd be experience. What is it?" she asked.

"Someone's called London," he told her, knowing that she'd be able to fill in the blanks with ease.

She pulled in a whistling breath between her teeth. "How much time?"

"Maximum? An hour, maybe two," he replied.

"We can get Toshiko to move the TARDIS out of the Centre, but we wouldn't be able to get it out of Cardiff without their noticing. They can tap into the city camera system just as well as we can," Gwen cautioned.

He knew that. Damnit, he knew that. But what else could they do? The instant Torchwood got their hands on the TARDIS, they wouldn't let go. Especially since it would inevitably draw the Doctor to them.

Right. No choice then. "The bed and breakfast. Do you remember if there was a shed behind it?"

"Maybe. I didn't pay much attention the first time we were there to tell you the truth. Too busy keeping someone from doing something daft," Gwen responded and, though he kept his eyes on the road, he could tell that she was looking at him. Probably with her patented 'told you so' expression, too.

"We'll have to ask the Doctor." If there was a shed or someplace that they could hide the TARDIS, and keep the Time Lord off Torchwood's radar for the next twenty-four hours they'd be safe. The Doctor and Rose could head off in the TARDIS on another adventure and he...

Well, he'd do what he always did.

Survive.

She gnawed her lower lip as they waited for Jack. What if something had gone wrong? What if Jack was stuck with the Torchwood blokes and he couldn't join them? She'd seen Gwen's face just before she had ushered them to the back door. She knew that look. Something was wrong. She just knew it.

When she stole a glance at the Doctor, she could tell he felt much the same. He would alternately shove his hands into his pockets, run his fingers through his hair, sigh, check the corners of the building, look at her, and grab her hand. However, he wouldn't stray far from her. He seemed to have a need to at least be close enough to see her, if not touch her.

She really had frightened him, hadn't she?

"This must be our ride," the Doctor said as a black car slowed to a stop in front of them.

As they climbed in, she noticed that Gwen was on her mobile and Jack was unusually silent. He didn't even turn around. Instead, he waited for the door to shut before he pulled away from the curb.

Once Gwen was off the mobile, Jack spoke, "We've got a change of plans."

"What sort of change of plans?" she asked. She trusted Jack, of course, but something in the tone of his voice did little to reassure her.

"Doctor, does Evelyn's bed and breakfast have a shed? Someplace large enough to fit the TARDIS?"

What? Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Why do you ask?" the Doctor asked suspiciously.

Jack sighed. "Someone called the London branch of Torchwood. They're supposed to be our home office, but we've pretty much been a solitary entity for some time now. But, problem is, they've heard that you're in town, Doctor. And they want the TARDIS. And, by extension, you."

"Whatever for? Alien technology? You've got that in spades. To play a game of chess? Have a nice cuppa?" He looked as confused as she felt.

"There's something about Torchwood that you don't know, Doctor," Jack reluctantly said. "Its charter has two main goals. One is to capture and use alien technology to protect the United Kingdom. The other is to protect the United Kingdom from you."

His nose wrinkled as he uttered the same word that she was thinking. "What?"

To be continued...