So here we are again. This is a sequal to a sequal. I think I should make this into a mini series or something. :)
This is my third Jack fic. It's AU with the 10th Doctor.
If you are reading this and it doesn't make sense go check out; 'When Freinds Return' and 'Stepping Out Into the Unknown' That would make things make sense.
I hope you all enjoy this.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Sadly.
Times Gone By
Part 1: The Past.
Jack and the Doctor sat waiting for Rose; "You had enough of Jackie Tyler then?" Jack asked with a slight smirk.
The Doctor shot him a withering look; "You're really pushing it you know that?" he asked his tone verging on harsh. Jack simply grinned at him cheekily, his high spirits not dampened.
There was a loud knock on the TARDIS door and the Doctor and Jack quickly got to their feet to answer it, the Doctor wondered why Rose knocked, she did have a key. Jack and the Doctor stepped out; "We ready?" Jack asked smiling at Jackie who blushed. The Doctor rolled his eyes.
"Oi that's my mum!" Rose said indignantly as she elbowed him in the ribs. Jack laughed good-naturedly and the Doctor smiled, Rose looked healthy, better than healthy she looked radiant. Rose glared at Jack and nodded saying; "Yeah I'm ready, lets go!" she grinned at the Doctor who only seemed too pleased to be leaving, the Doctor and Jack stepped back into the TARDIS as Rose said goodbye to Jackie.
Rose soon stepped into the TARDIS; "Right!" she said loudly dropping one of her bags. Jack smirked at her; "You are so for it mister!" she said loudly, he giggled like a girl and received an odd look from the Doctor.
"What!" Jack said feigning innocence. The Doctor shook his head, he wasn't amused.
"So, Rose, where do you want to go?" he asked her directly.
"Ooooh, ummm…" Rose paused thinking; "I want to go backwards in time…" she paused again.
"How far?" Jack asked moving so he was sitting on one of the TARDIS' two chairs. Rose frowned as she began thinking hard, how far. Now that was tough.
"Ooooooo…no not then…" the Doctor rolled his eyes and Jack laughed at her. She glared at him again and he smiled sweetly at her; "Umm ok…18…54" Rose said resolutely.
"Are you sure?" the Doctor asked, he couldn't think of anything exciting happening in that time, Rose nodded; "Ok fine, but before we go I think we should all be aware, don't drink the water…there was a cholera epidemic spreading throughout London many people died, you still sure you want to go?" he asked hoping maybe she had decided against it. She smiled and nodded.
The Doctor set in the date and set the TARDIS off ready for them to arrive on the; 23rd of May 1854. In no time Rose found herself bracing ready for the TARDIS to come in to land with a thud.
"Right, shall we go see what 19th century London in the midst of a Cholera epidemic has to offer!" Jack smiled at the Doctor's sarcasm he could tell that the Doctor's tone had not gone a miss with Rose. She smiled at him unapologetically.
"Yes lets!" she grinned taking his hand and dragging him from the TARDIS.
What met the Doctor's eyes shocked him, they had landed in a clean decidedly white street; "What the?" the Doctor stopped walking, this couldn't be right; "1854…should be a filthy time…or…king Cholera won't get to play…" he muttered Rose shrugged it didn't bother her if it was clean.
Jack stepped out onto the street and frowned; "Uh…you sure we're in 1854?" he asked watching as some old women walked past them.
"Perfectly. I was careful about the date and time…" he paused as he hopped back into the TARDIS and checked the date and time; May 23rd 1854, 2:05pm give or take a few seconds. He strolled out again.
"Nothing wrong in there, it's correct…I don't understand…" he paused pulling out his sonic screwdriver. Rose frowned at him.
"They'll think that's witch craft." She whispered to him.
"You shouldn't believe everything they tell you at school!" he said smiling; "Witches, and witches being burned at the sake were purely myths, in fact only about 3 women were convicted of witch craft…convicted and killed that is." The Doctor stated switching the sonic screwdriver on. Rose sighed defeated. Sometimes he really was a pain.
"Well Doc?" Jack asked walking closer to him.
"I'm not sure there are about three weak electrical signals, North, North east, and West." He said pleased with himself.
"Why is this so important?" Rose asked; "There's nothing wrong with things being clean!" she said simply.
The Doctor gave her a look; "Because it's clean there are many more people in this world than there should be and we know what happens when there's one more person in the world, think of that on a massive scale…in the London alone 2783 people were killed by Cholera…" he paused as horror washed over her face; "you see my point! We can't let this happen, ok." He smiled; "I'll go North, Jack you go North east and Rose you go West." He said simply.
Rose smiled; "You're letting me go off on my own?" the Doctor breathed in sharply.
"Yes." He said, his heart was screaming no, she'd get herself into trouble get herself killed, she wasn't very good at staying out of trouble. Granted neither was he. But at least he tried. "I want you to be so very careful though, ok?" he asked and she nodded, he was talking to her like you would a small child. Rose wasn't stupid.
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North led the Doctor to an imperious looking building, the sign on the door read; 'The John Snow Institute' this made little sense, John Snow was only supposed realise the link between the dirty water and Cholera in this year. It wasn't possible that they had built an institute in his name so quickly. There was meant to be an epidemic. Something was wrong, very wrong. Something or someone was clearly changing the timeline. They may have had a good reason for it, but it would surly wreak havoc in the future. He strode forwards towards the front door maybe he would find something inside that would help him.
"Magnificent isn't it?" a voice stopped him in his tracks.
He turned and smiled at the old man who was a few paces behind him; "Yeah it is…can you tell me anything about it?" the Doctor asked stepping nearer to the old man.
"They say it just appeared out of no where one day…John Snow a name that no one had heard of until this thing arrived, the man was made an instant legend…he's a Doctor of some sort, can't remember what, nice man…" the old man trailed off and the Doctor looked up at the building once more, now that he looked at it, it was quite clear that this building didn't belong here. It just didn't look right.
"Do you think you could get me in there?" the Doctor asked looking down at the man.
"Uhh, I'm not sure, you ain't got no business in there why should I?" he eyed the Doctor suspiciously.
"Because I myself am I Doctor and I wish to learn more about Dr. John Snow!" the Doctor said convincingly. The man nodded slowly as he walked up to the front door, the Doctor in tow. The old man pulled a handle to his left and a loud dinging noise followed, it was quickly followed by the sound of footsteps, and the door was pulled open by a man with greying hair.
"This young man is a Doctor and is here to see Dr. Snow." The old man stated. The Doctor smirked slightly at the use of 'young' he was anything but that. The man who had answered the door nodded and opened the door a little wider for them to come in. The Doctor smiled warmly, this was going quite well.
"So…" he began smiling at the room around him; "Where's Mr Snow?" he asked eager to meet him.
The old man surveyed him carefully clearly calculating this stranger who claimed to know nothing of Dr. Snow, that though was very unlikely; "He'll be along shortly." He replied frowning slightly at the Doctor's lack of patients.
"Ahh good!" the Doctor said grinning as he took a seat even though he was not invited to do so; "'Cause I have so many things to ask him!" he said still grinning.
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North East took Jack to a factory, it looked run down useless. But this is where the signal had led him so he headed towards the building.
"Oi! Oi you!" an old woman was shouting at him, he turned swiftly on his heals to face her.
"Yes?" he said, his accent took her by surprise, and her eyes went wide with shock.
"You…umm, don't wanna be pokin' your nose round 'ere. Ain't safe is it!" her cockney accent made Jack wince slightly, it was so very harsh on the ears.
"What isn't safe?" he asked pronouncing the words properly hoping she would follow his lead.
"This place, they say it's 'aunted don' they, they says an evil lives 'bouts in these parts!" she was looking around her as if she were scared something were going attack from any which way. When she said; 'awnted' Jack assumed she meant 'haunted'.
Jack wrinkled his nose an odd habit he had picked up off of Rose; "What you mean, ghosts?" he asked looking around playing along. The woman smiled a toothless grin.
"That's what they say!" she whispered, putting a finger to her lips, she turned and walked away from him, no trace of fear left in her expression or her walk. Jack shook his head, ghosts. It was nonsense. But then again. The ghosts could have been causing the electrical signals, somehow…he was thinking too fast, that woman had got to him, all her stories of things being; 'haunted' and he was already starting to worry. But he was Captain Jack Harkness and nothing scared him. He thought as he strode towards the old factory.
"Doesn't look haunted…" he said out loud to himself. He shrugged, and pushed the door that creaked loudly in objection. It opened ever so slowly, until he we stood in an abandoned entrance hall, every surface in the room was covered in dust. He covered his nose and mouth so he didn't breath any in as he took a step deeper into the ancient building.
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West was the market, Rose was of course delighted about this. She wandered through the market stalls looking at different items, wondering to herself if any of them could emit an electrical signal, she of course knew they couldn't, she was just having too much fun to think about the task at hand. When sadly Rose came to the end of the market she noticed a small back street. It was like every other street in London, clean and white no sign of dirt or grime nowhere for germs to manifest. Rose wondered if they were doing the right thing. If finding a way to kill all these people was right. She shook her head thinking, these people were meant to die. –Just like my dad- she took in a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. Back to the task at hand. She walked towards this back ally that seemed to lead nowhere, until Rose noticed a small door in the side of the wall, it was a brick red colour and was almost invisible. Rose walked towards it. This was obviously what she was looking for.
"Excuse me, are you hear for the…'meeting'?" A man asked coming up behind her. Rose couldn't help but jump, turning around she still clutched at her chest.
"I…umm, yes, yes of course. Am I late?" she asked trying to fit in. The man produced a key shaking his head.
"No, no, I'm sure you're the first to arrive." He said as he pushed the door open for her. She smiled sweetly at him as she stepped though. Not sure what she was letting herself in for. Once inside the man closed the door again and flipped a light switch on the wall. "Your first meeting?" he asked smiling at her. She nodded. He was creeping her out.
"I'm Mr. Lock by the way. The owner of this establishment, but of course you know that already, otherwise you wouldn't be here. Would you!" he said smiling. She wished he'd stop it was getting really annoying.
"Yes," Rose said, smiling back looking around her; "It's a…lovely place you have here." She said nodding slightly to the room around her. She didn't know what to say, she was slightly lost without the Doctor.
If Rose had been with the Doctor, he would have commented on the electric lighting. But Rose being as she was, unfamiliar with this time period would have been unaware that electricity wasn't a commodity that many people, if any had. Rose wouldn't and didn't know that the light bulb wouldn't be invented until 1879, so she didn't pick up on the anachronism. Mr. Lock though didn't miss the fact that she was unperturbed by the light bulbs, and he knew he had someone exceptional on his hands.
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A/N: Well now what's going to happen here? Hmmm Review please and part 2 will arrive that bit quicker.
