Disclaimer: I don't own what you recognise; the drill should be familiar to you by now

Feedback: I'd appreciate it; I'm trying to do something a bit different here

AN: This turned out to be a bit shorter than expected, but for what it's worth, I have a few good twists planned for the final confrontation, and I drop one key hint towards the end…

The Age of Paradox 2.5: Miracle Day

Esther wasn't sure when things had changed for her, but even though she'd started facing this crisis as a CIA agent, the longer everything played out the more she felt more invested and comfortable in her role as an unofficial part of Torchwood and whatever the Doctor was then she'd ever felt in her previous job.

It wasn't as though anyone had ever treated her badly back there, and Rex in particular had always made it clear that he trusted her insights, but there was also the sense of being more of a cog in the machine then an individual player. She knew that everyone played their part in the agency, but it was easier to really get a sense of what she was doing here as an individual, rather than feel like she was just one part in a wider system. She wondered if that view made her sound arrogant, but she preferred to think of it as wanting to know that she had helped people.

Granted, she wasn't comfortable getting back in touch with the CIA after the way Friedkin had nearly betrayed them all, but she had to hope that Rex was going to take more care selecting the field team for this particular mission. Amy and Natalie had assured them that the Doctor had his own plans, but apparently it was also important that they keep doing things as though the existing plan was all they had. Any possible leads Rex might have found at the CIA had basically dried up, so if there were any further moles they just had to hope none of them were on the current team. Apparently their current liaison was Captain Federico Santos, with the whole event being classified as an American incursion to keep the legal issues from getting too difficult, but left them with the challenge of finding where they were going at this end of the 'pole' that they were looking for.

What does it say about me that I'm enjoying this?

Again, Esther knew that she didn't like the idea of everyone being in danger, and she was definitely going to make it clear that she expected to be given a good chance to relax once the current threat had been stopped, but there was still something in the idea of knowing that you knew something about the world nobody else did… that you were the one holding the line against this kind of threat…

She knew that she couldn't go back to the CIA after this.

She'd obviously never abandon her sister- God, she was grateful that the Doctor's friend had been able to check in on her these last few weeks- but she was definitely going to look into moving jobs even if her name was cleared.

"How's things?" she looked over at Amy as the young redhead sat by the laptop, staring grimly at the screen.

"Stock markets continue to fall, Doctor Juarez's anti-module campaign continues to stumble when asked for an alternative even if everyone agrees the existing system is horrible, Gwen's dad isn't getting much better, there's a lot of concern for pregnancies that are going to give birth to some very screwed-up kids now that the defective foetuses won't just abort themselves, countries are either proposing peace or preparing for eternal war…" Amy closed the laptop with a sigh. "It's a good thing we're ending this soon, or things would really start to get complicated."

"You think it's going to be that simple?" Esther looked at Amy. "Just because the Doctor's involved?"

"I'm not saying he's infallible, but this is one of those cases where the stakes are too high for him not to find some way to win," Amy observed, before she looked more cautiously at Esther's computer. "How are things going at the CIA?"

"They're chasing up some leads based on foreign investments here; the Families might be smart, but there's only so much effort they'd put into hiding a lead they couldn't have known we'd find."

"And that's going to work?"

Esther was saved from answering that particular question when the phone rang, the ringtone one she already found far more comforting then the calls from her old CIA employers.

"We're coming along here," Jack said, sounding as positive as anyone would be when he was dealing with whatever this thing was trying to 'summon' his blood (Esther was glad that Rex was taking a break). "Gwen followed the blood and found an alley behind a shop that the owner suggests has a reputation as a 'bad place'. Granted it's not evidence of anything, but we're dealing with a pretty unprecedented situation already; she's keeping an eye on things until we can join her."

"At least you've got a target," Esther observed. "Our response team's still checking options at this end."

"Options?"

"The CIA are apparently tracking money sent from outside," Amy explained. "Gives us some ideas, but there's a lot of options to rule out, and we have to be sure where we're going in case a wrong guess tips someone off…"

"You can do it, Pond," the Doctor said, his voice confident as he took over the conversation. "Just remember to be there at the final moment; if all goes well, you'll be there when everything ends, and if it's not…"

"Your security measure?" Amy said.

"Security measure?" Esther asked in surprise. "You have a security measure?"

"It's one of those things that's only going to come up if we need it and I wouldn't resort to if it wasn't a truly desperate situation," the Doctor said, his tone particularly grim before he suddenly brightened. "Anyway, let's go; if all goes well, normality will be restored in the next few hours."

"Good luck," Amy said, her expression soft as she looked at the phone. "I'll let Natalie know you're ready."

"And you'll be ready too," the Doctor said, the approving grin on his face somehow audible even across the phone line. "See you soon, Pond."

"Sentimental," Danes looked at the Doctor with an edge to his voice as the Time Lord ended the phone call.

"We all have our reasons for getting up in the morning, Danes," the Doctor looked back at the killer with a cool stare before he indicated the room. "We should get going; if you don't need anything, leave it behind."

"You don't think we're coming back, do you?" Danes said, looking between the Doctor and Jack.

"I don't know," Jack said, fixing Danes with a particularly pointed stare accompanied by a bitter laugh. "So much for your death fetish when it all gets too real, huh? Still, that victim of yours, Susie Cabina… how much choice did she have?"

For once, the Doctor wouldn't criticise Jack for being dismissive of another man's feelings; he might not want to push Danes too far, but Jack's darker past as a Time Agent gave him a better insight into the psychology of men like Danes.

"Who are you?" Danes said at last.

"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack replied simply.

"The Doctor," the Time Lord added.

"No," Danes shook his head, as he looked between the two time travellers. "I spent a long time in prison, and I know the smile of a man who's done terrible things… and the gaze of one who's more obviously haunted by their mistakes. And your friends… I've been watching them. Sometimes they like you both, sometimes they love you, and sometimes, just once or twice, glittering away in those tiny little gaps, they fear you."

As much as the Doctor didn't like to agree with Danes about anything, he could understand what the killer meant by that observation. He and Jack did their best to blend in and be at least a temporary part of the worlds they visited or chose to live in, but in the end there would always be a gap between them and the others, and even Jack and the Doctor each had their own lines that the other wouldn't cross.

As the Time Lord exchanged a glance with Jack, they both came to a quick decision. Danes didn't deserve the more detailed answer to that question, but if they were going to rely on him for what was coming up, they had to give him something more than some basic response.

"We're from the future," Jack said at last.

"Well now," Danes said, looking between the two men with a thoughtful smile, as though assessing their honesty. Not wanting to encourage the idea that he could look further, the Doctor just gave a nod of acknowledgement; he had been to the future often enough that it was far from a lie to say that he was from there, even if he didn't come from it in the same sense as Jack had.

"Then you must know…" Danes said at last, a cautious smile on his face for a moment, "do we make it through this day?"

"The future can change every time someone comes back to get involved in it," the Doctor said, his tone solemn. "And right now, there are greater parties than usual working to change the course of time into something that none of us wants to see."

"But there's one thing we can tell you," Jack said, his voice low and almost worshipful. "I've seen the stars. The Doctor has seen the Universe. We have both seen the human race become vast and magnificent and endless. And I wish you could see it, Oswald. I wish you could see that too. Because then you'd know how small you've made your life."

As much as the Doctor liked to praise humanity's ability to adapt and grow beyond their usual limitations, he could agree with Jack taking the more brutal approach when dealing with someone like Danes. If the man had spent this long being basically happy about the fact that he was most famous for being a murderer, regardless of his intellectual potential, Danes deserved to have it made clear that he was one person who was never going to be more than what he was now.

The Doctor couldn't be sure what was coming up, but even if it involved violating his normal rules on several levels, he had to be sure that this plan would restore normality. The stakes were too high to play by the usual rules; as Amy would say (ever since she watched that film during one of their time travel film marathons), it was time to Bill and Ted this mess.

But what has the universe come to when I need to resort to this to save the world…?