Sorry, this is a rather short chapter. I've been busy revising, but just one more week to go! Nearly there!
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
xxx
For a long time, all that could be heard in the TARDIS control room was the hum of engines.
"But…" Rose said finally, "How…?"
"I don't know," the Doctor answered, turning back to the screen. "If the TARDIS was working properly, I could do a scan of the solar system, but with the limited amount of power we've got I can't." He ran a hand through his hair, staring at the screen. Then suddenly his eyes light up. "But there is one thing I can do," he said, then hastily started pressing buttons. "I can scan for anything that's left the planet in the last hour," he pulled a lever, and there came a beep. "Aha! Here we are, seven minutes ago there was a teleport, right into this building. Onto a spaceship, and by the looks of things that teleport was activated on the spaceship. Which means," he turned to Rose and Martha, "Jack's been kidnapped." After a moment of shock, Martha broke the silence.
"By who?" she asked.
"Don't know," the Doctor replied, turning back to the consol, "but if we're lucky, I may just be able to trace the teleport and land on the ship." Rose and Martha watched in excitement as he attacked the controls, but all his enthusiasm was suddenly gone. "We're not lucky," he muttered, leaning against the consol.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked.
"We haven't got enough power, not yet anyway. I can program the TARDIS to extract power from this building, but it'll take a while to convert it into useable energy." He bit is lip and shook his head in defeat. There was a solemn silence for a long moment, broken suddenly by the electrical thrill of a mobile phone. Rose quickly pulled hers out of her pocket, glanced at the screen and held it to her ear.
"Mum," she greeted.
"Rose! They've found us!" came Jackie's distressed voice, still loud enough for the Doctor to hear, "so much for the Doctor's advice, we stayed in public places and now we're in a high-speed chase through central London!" Rose looked up at the Doctor, whose mind was racing to think of a solution. In the background they could hear the sound of sirens and screeching tires.
"Where are they?" he asked, turning to the consol and turning on the engines.
"Mum, where are you?" Rose asked.
"Hang on…" there was a moment of silence, then Jackie's voice came back, "Sturt Street, Islington," she answered. The Doctor started plotting a course. A second later the TARDIS jumped to life and they were all knocked aside as the engines kicked in. The Doctor clung onto the consol as the room rocked and juddered. He looked up at the screen as he did so, his gaze switching constantly from screen to consol.
"There she is!" he said suddenly, pointing at the screen. Rose and Martha ran up next to the consol, and saw on the screen a bird's eye view of the street that Jackie was on, and racing down one of the roads was a black van, followed by numerous other vehicles, including police cars.
"How do we get to them?" Martha asked, watching the screen. The Doctor hit a lever down, and sparks began to fly from the consol as the engines groaned and lurched.
"Sorry old girl but there's no other way," the Doctor said to the TARDIS, rubbing the side of the consol with one hand as he navigated with the other. "Rose, tell Jackie to open the back doors of the van," he ordered. Rose looked at him oddly for a moment, then did so.
"Mum, open the back doors of the van," she said into the phone.
"Why?"
"Just do it!" There was a pause on the other end of the phone, as the room lurched more and more. The engines groaned as the lights began to flicker.
"Oh my god…" Rose heard Jackie say, "you are kidding me."
"What? What is it?" Rose asked. She looked up at the Doctor, who was pointing at the doors.
"Open the doors!" he ordered, then turned his full concentration back to the consol. Rose and Martha watched him for a few moments, then ran towards the doors. Rose put the phone in her pocket, then hesitantly opened the doors…
Rose and Martha nearly screamed at what they saw, but their breath had already been taken away. The TARDIS was physically flying behind the van. Jackie and Mickey were both staring at them wide eyed, in as much awe as them.
"Get them in here!" the Doctor shouted from the consol. Rose held onto the rail with one hand and reached the other out.
"Jump!" she shouted, "Mum, Mickey, come on!" Jackie was staring at them in fear, slowly backing away from the doors. Mickey ran up to the edge of the van and held onto either side, bracing himself. Martha too held onto the rail and held her hand out. "Jump!" Rose shouted again, and Mickey did so.
He narrowly got on, as Rose and Martha helped pull him further in. He ran into the room, breathing heavily.
"Mum, jump!" Rose shouted, but Jackie wasn't going to do it.
"There's no way I'm jumping that!" she shouted, clutching Aurora close to her, watching the TARDIS in fear. Rose turned back to the Doctor.
"We've gotta get closer!" she shouted to him. He groaned with the TARDIS and slowly the TARDIS flew closer to the edge of the van. "Mum, now!" Rose shouted. Jackie swallowed her fear, closed her eyes and ran. As she jumped, Rose and Martha managed to grab her and pull her onboard.
Jake was having a lot of trouble. He couldn't decide what to concentrate more on – the road, the cars chasing him or the big blue box that had flown down next to him. He could vaguely hear Rose's voice calling his name from behind.
"Jake! Come on!" she shouted to him. He tried to turn his head while still looking forward.
"How?! I can't just stop driving!" he shouted back.
"Yes you can! Just run and jump!" Rose shouted back. Jack stared ahead of him for a moment.
"This is crazy," he muttered to himself, then unplugged his seatbelt and jumped out of his chair. He ran awkwardly across the van as it skidded out of control and jumped out towards the TARDIS, just managing to reach with the help of Rose and Martha. They both pulled him onboard and pulled the doors closed behind them.
The policemen didn't quite know what to make of the blue box that had been flying behind the van they had been chasing. They'd never seen anything like it, and could only stare in amazement as it flew upwards into the sky.
xxx
Rose, Martha, Mickey, Jackie and Jake stood in the TARDIS, their hearts racing, trying to get their breath back. They'd landed somewhere, and as they did the lights hand completely shut off, leaving them in almost completely darkness. Jack was still staring around him in awe. Not only did the strange blue box fly, it was bigger on the inside. This was utter madness.
"Where are we?" Rose asked, breaking the silence that had fell on them. She expected the Doctor to answer, but he didn't. So she decided she'd have to find out herself. She walked to the doors and opened them, allowing light to flood into the room.
As her eyes adjusted, she found herself looking into her own living room. She walked out and looked around. It was exactly as she'd left it, save the odd knocked over table or chair. It was completely deserted. As she walked further into the room, the others began to follow her out. She turned back and saw the Doctor exit the TARDIS last.
"You brought us home?" she asked, and he nodded vaguely. He didn't seem to be paying much attention to her. "Didn't it occur to you that they might come and look here?"
"Oh but that's the brilliance of it!" he said, suddenly perking up and running towards her, full of energy. "Think about it, you're chasing after a group of rebels who have stolen from you and broken the law. Where's the last place you're going to expect to find them?" Rose nodded and smiled as she saw the sense of his plan. "Right then," he said, clapping his hands, "you lot make yourselves comfortable, I've got to fix the TARDIS," and with that he ran up to the blue box and disappeared inside it.
xxx
Twenty minutes later, and no sign of Torchwood. The group had agreed to stay in the house in case they were spotted outside, and to stay out of the TARDIS so as not to get in the Doctor's way.
Rose wondered into the living room, and saw Martha sitting on the sofa, seemingly glaring at the floor. Perplexed, Rose decided to go and sit next to her.
"What's up?" she asked, sitting down. Martha sighed and sat up.
"The Doctor says there's not enough power to get to Jack, yet there's enough to go flying through the centre of London," she muttered bitterly.
"Well I'm sure he has his reasons," Rose replied, "If he could save Jack he wouldn't even hesitate." Martha didn't reply. Rose sighed and looked up at the TARDIS. "I'll got see how he's doing, and how long 'til we can get Jack," she said, standing up and heading to the TARDIS.
xxx
Rose opened the doors of the TARDIS, and when she looked in, she could have mistaken the control room for a church. Scattered around the room were candles that she recognised as being ones nicked from the kitchen providing the only light in the room. One of the happened to be scented, giving the air a sweet smell. Expecting to see the Doctor buried under the consol, she walked up to it, but instead found him sitting in the chair on the other side, staring at it. She smiled at him and walked round the consol to him, but as she got closer she saw his solemn looked and her smile faded. She sat down next to him, watching him in concern. He didn't even look at her.
"What's wrong?" she asked quietly, almost afraid to break the silence. For a moment he didn't answer. "Doctor?" Finally he sighed and leant back.
"I don't think I can fix her," he said sadly, still watching the consol.
"But… can't you do what you did before?" Rose asked.
"Nope, all the power's gone. Used it all to chase the van. Flying like that is bad enough in our universe let alone this one," he ran a hand through his hair, "I was worried this would happen if we went to get Jack now without letting the TARDIS fully charge up." He buried his face in his hands, sighing in defeat. Rose watched him sadly, unsure of what to say. In the end she decided there was nothing to say, so she simply hugged him. It had always worked for her when she was upset.
As she held him in her arms, she looked around the room for some inspiration on what to do next, thinking for a moment that the candles almost made it look like a shrine. She then frowned as she saw a light that certainly wasn't a candle. Craning her neck to see what it was, she suddenly realised that it was the orb containing the message.
"What about the message?" she asked, "Can you read it yet?" his head snapped up and he looked up at the consol.
"It's glowing," he said, mesmerised. He stood up and walked towards it. "It wasn't doing that before, I swear," he leant in towards it, inspecting it. He blinked at it several times, then hovered his hands over it and closed his eyes. A few moments later he whipped his hands back and stared at it. "Cheeky thing!" he said with a grin.
"What?" Rose asked, a smile creeping on her own face.
"It's sucking all the power, no wonder I couldn't fix the TARDIS."
"But it didn't suck the power before," Rose said, "Why's it doing it now?" his smile gently faded.
"You're right," he said, "that means it's getting more urgent. Whatever it needs to tell me is getting more important and it's doing anything it can to recharge enough to tell me the message," he paused, staring intently at the orb. "It's sucked all the power from the TARDIS, let's hope it's ready," he said, reaching out towards it and placing his hands on it.
Rose watched as once again he began to glow brightly. She had to cover her eyes as the light intensified, then suddenly died down moments later. She lowered her arms and looked at the Doctor, who was staring at the orb with wide eyes, an expression of shock on his face.
"What'd it say?" Rose asked quietly. He continued to stare for a moment, until he finally answered, and when he did she couldn't quite tell if he was happy or horrified.
"They're alive."
xxx
Jack groaned as he came round. He blearily opened his eyes, but couldn't see anything. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he began to register where he was. For some reason he appeared to be strapped to wall. A cold, metal wall. Just as his eyes adjusted and he began to see faint outlines, a light suddenly snapped on, blinding him. He squinted as his eyes began to readjust, and saw he was in a small room surrounded by various machines. The ceiling rose high above him, with what looked vaguely like balconies at the top. But it wasn't the room that interested him. It was the man standing just in front of him.
"Who are you?" he demanded, "And what am I doing here?"
"Most people would ask where here is before asking what they were doing here," the man replied. Jack looked at him for a long moment. He was wearing all black, with slicked-back black hair, and was looking at him in such a way that he found disturbingly familiar.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"All in good time," the man replied, "but first I have some questions of you, Jack Harkness."
"How do you know my name?" Jack demanded.
"I've been watching you, ever since you came here. It wasn't you who I was looking for originally, of course. Oh no, it was you're Time Lord friend, who seems to have appeared out of nowhere. Do tell me, where did you all come from?"
"You seem to know enough about me, how about you tell me a bit about yourself?" Jack retorted. The man laughed and shook his head.
"Pity you're so unwilling to cooperate. Well, I'll have to find out from your friends when they get here, which I'm sure won't be long. But they probably think you'll be ok, what with being immortal and all," he turned his back and began to walk to a control panel.
"How do you know so much about me?" Jack demanded angrily.
"I told you, I've been watching you. And scanning you. I never would have thought a human could have such a power." He reached the control panel and started fiddling with the controls. "You really are going to be part of something big, Jack. Something even your friends wouldn't want to save you from," he said, then looked back up to Jack. "Too bad you'll be dead before you can find out what it is," he gave Jack a sinister smile, before pulling down a lever.
Suddenly all Jack knew was pain, an intense agony that felt surprisingly similar to when Abbadon was feasting on him.