Six

As soon as he'd decided she would live, he'd hurried them through their packing, and they'd set out downrift again. As if he'd been a Riftrunner all his life, the Doctor set a brisk pace. It helped, of course, that he was as tall and lanky as they were. He kept up a steady stream of conversation with the scouts and guards around them, and barely seemed to notice that in order to keep up with her hand, which the Doctor had been gripping tightly since they'd set out, Rose was having to trot along at a steady jog.

They were heading back to The Settlement. The Doctor had told her in bits and pieces, what he knew about these people, and how they lived. Had sounded rather impressed actually. Between the two of them, they'd been able to piece together as much as anyone knew about how these people had come to be here in this place that wasn't a place. Judging from the set of his jaw the Doctor had no intention of leaving here now until he'd solved the mystery and saved the day. She smiled. Wouldn't have it any other way.

"So what's the plan?" She gasped out beside him, trying not to sound out of breath.

"What makes you think I have a plan?" He shot her a sideways look, and frowned a bit, noticing her struggling to keep up.

"The smell of cobwebs burning." She sniffed, doing her best to give him a knowing glance.

"I can always tell when you're thinking about saving the world. Burning cobweb smell gives you away every time." She grinned, and did her best to make it look easy to talk and jog at the same time.

"Alright." He began, giving her hand a familiar squeeze as she continued to trot along beside him. "The plan, as it were, is to find out where this "Citadel" is, who's running it, how they've nicked pieces of dozens, if not hundreds of worlds out of time and space, inhabitants and all, and what for, then put a stop to it and send everybody home safely. After that, I would like a really decent cup of tea. How's that?"

"Sounds simple enough. All in a day's work actually." She couldn't quite keep her voice from shaking as she struggled to match both his pace and his casual tone. "Any idea how we're going to do all that then?"

"Haven't the faintest."

He stopped suddenly, still holding her hand. Rose, not expecting the move, was effectively clothselined, as her feet kept moving, but her hand didn't. She was twisted around to one side, and landed face down in a graceless heap at the Doctor's feet. She scowled up at him as he released her hand so she could sit up. He raised his eyebrows as he looked down at her.

"Stop." He said helpfully, grinning down at her.

Rose could never tell when he got like this, whether he was acting out of concern for her, or some strange pleasure he got from harassing her. No matter, she hadn't died on his watch yet, in spite of what he would say were her best efforts.

He helped her to her feet, but only long enough to point to a slightly more comfortable looking spot in the shade, very near the wall of the rift.

"You. Rest," It wasn't exactly an order, more like a strong suggestion.

She sat, leaning her back against the rock that was rapidly warming, even here in the crevice. Without missing a beat, the Doctor took off his battered jacket, and wadded it into a ball behind her head, before wandering off to talk to the others, who'd finally noticed he'd called a halt. He cast a quick look at the sky before he left her. They were closer to the surface here than when they had started early this morning. No one said anything, but Rose had noticed that all of them, including the Doctor, glanced skyward with far greater frequency now.

She was certain she'd only closed her eyes for a second, but startled when Aigon spoke.

"Here, drink." He handed her a canteen.

Rose smile gratefully, then, deciding that a man who'd witnessed her hauled unconscious through a desert yesterday was unlikely to care now about her table manners, drank deeply. Finally refreshed, she held the cool container to her face for a moment.

"You should have said something." He watched her face as he sat on his heels in front of her.

"You're much smaller than our desert women are here. No one noticed you've been running to keep up with us. Doing an admirable job of it by the way."

"I carry my own weight." She managed.

"Still, I'm sure Lorcan would rather rest once in a while, or slow down a bit, then carry you all the way back to the settlement."

She reddened visibly at the thought.

"Another thing." He said seriously, removing the scarf from around his neck again. He soaked it in water, then draped it over her head.

"Oi! Watcher doing!" She squawked indignantly, as he folded the front half back from her face and tied it behind her head.

"Rose, anyone can see you aren't from a desert."

"How do you know?" She turned up her nose, beginning to feel just a mite defensive. Aigon took her hand and held out her arm, which had been bare since she'd stuffed her hoodie into one of the packs this morning. He pressed his finger against the back of her arm. The white fingerprint stood out in sharp relief against her pink skin.

"Desert people don't get sunburn like that."

It was true. Even in the relative shade of the rifts, her arms, and, she imagined her face, were glowing pink. She hadn't realized how much of the surface glare the rocks must have been reflecting downward.

"Besides." He said, smiling at her as he straightened the scarf to cover her neck and shoulders as well, "Doctor's orders. He says you don't take another step until you've rested, and covered up."

"He would." She snorted.

He patted her arm, then stood up to go rummage through their packs nearby. He returned with a cloth wrapped piece of something sticky and brown. It smelled sweet. He handed it to her.

"Eat. You'll feel better."

"Why is everyone treating me like a child?" Nothing got up Rose's nose like being patronized by a handsome young man. She briefly imagined Aigon with a trap door in his forehead, and it made her feel just slightly better.

"For starters, because you're the same size as one. It's a gut reaction I can't help. There aren't many women or children left among us, Rose. That makes you somewhat of a rarity." He ignored her apparent irritation and chatted as amiably as if they were discussing the football scores. "Besides," he went on, "It's not my doing anyhow. Doctor's orders." He flashed her a brilliant smile before walking away to join whatever discussion was happening just slightly downrift of them.

She glanced over to where he stood, talking with Lorcan. He caught her eye for a moment and raised one eyebrow at her. She stuck her tongue out, then leaned back against the jacket to rest, resolutely shoving a piece of the sticky dried fruit into her mouth and pretending to ignore him. With her eyes closed, she didn't see the shadow pass overhead.

"Rose!" His shout shook her out of a light doze.

She opened her eyes to see men scurrying to the edges of the rift. Packs were stashed, and in seconds, the entire center was left bare. Quickly and silently the men lay down flat in the junction between the floor and walls of the rift, many had pulled earth coloured blankets over themselves. There was absolute silence when the unearthly cry split the air as the shadow passed over them a second time. Rose struggled to grasp what was happening.

She'd heard that sound before, but where?

The next instant he was dragging her over sideways, pressing her into the floor of the rift, right against the wall. All she could see was the rock in front of her face as his weight slammed into her, knocking the breath out of her, as he covered her with his own body, and pulled his jacket over their heads.

"Doctor…" she whispered.

"Shhhh! Rose, not a sound!" His voice was right in her ear. She could feel him grinding his teeth as they huddled under the rocks, holding their breath and waiting.

She shivered as the shadow passed a third time. The raptor-like cry was ear splitting, and sounded very close. The Doctor swallowed hard, but didn't move. No one so much as twitched for an eternity.

The cry sounded once more, but not as close as it had been.

Still they waited.

After another long silence, finally, she felt him exhale.

He rolled onto his back and stared pointedly at the sky for a moment, before turning to see that she was alright. Satisfied, he leapt to his feet to go and speak urgently with Calbach and some of the others.

Rose spat out a mouthful of sand and sat up. All around them others were quietly standing to gather their hastily stashed provisions. While the immediate threat seemed to have moved on, the air of casual camaraderie had definitely gone. Everyone was tense. Judging from the urgency with which the men were repacking their gear, Rose guessed that rest time was over. Aigon appeared at her side, and helped her to her feet. They joined the circle of men standing around the Doctor.

"What you call Guardians," he was saying "the creatures from the skies. My people know them as Reapers. They appear whenever Time is damaged. Usually they act like antibodies, and clean the wound by consuming everything that's out of its timeline. But here…"

He wasn't really explaining anything now, Rose knew. He was thinking out loud with an audience. Still, judging by the shock showing on the faces of these men, what he was saying was news to them.

"But here," He continued, "Here, something is making them behave differently. They're hunting, but not killing, at least, not just killing. Why? What's different? Rose!" He looked right at her.

"What's different?"

Her mind worked. This was a game they played. He joked about them sharing a brain sometimes. What was different?

"We're not in any one timeline!" She knew she had hit on part of it.

"That's it!" He beamed.

"Clever Rose! We're not in a single timeline!" He looked around at the puzzled faces of the men watching their exchange.

"We aren't in a single timeline. The bits of all the worlds that are here aren't just from different places in space, but in time as well. Whoever is behind this is leaving little holes in time all over the universe! There must be things falling through all the time! Rose! I bet there's at least one piece of your planet here! Ever wondered about the Bermuda Triangle? All these bits of worlds leaving great gaping holes in time and space where they've been swiped from their nice cozy timelines. The Reapers don't know what to destroy because there isn't a single true timeline in the lot! It's like a patchwork, but it's changing all the time!"

"Alright Doctor." She said evenly, aware that all eyes were on them.

"So what do we do about it?"

He glanced once more at the sky. Then turned to address Lorcan.

"I think it's time we visited this Citadel."

High above them, unseen, the shadow circled again, then vanished into the sun.