A/N: Hello again. Well heres the next chapter. Thanks to my really cool beta Briar Elwood for picking up a few mistakes and helping with the title, I couldn't think of one. Go read Briar's stories, they're really good. Here goes then, hope ya like. I apologise if my history isn't perfect.
Disclaimer: yawn don't own it
The youth jumped up and bolted from the alley, leaving the other members of his gang unconscious, they could help themselves. For now, all he cared about was getting home to his mum.
Bria sheathed the other sai blade, and then stood up. Smiling, she stretched and began to walk towards the street. On the roof, the Doctor grinned broadly at the other two, a grin that clearly said; see I was right. Jack got the message and smiled back, "OK, Doctor, you were right. She's good. What now?"
"Now, we talk to her. One sec." Jack and Rose both jumped as they heard his voice in their heads. Bria.
Down in the alley, Bria had stopped in her tracks, she had heard. She moved her head from side to side as though trying to determine where the sound had come from. Again, the Doctor's voice sounded in his companions' heads.
It's me, Bria.
Doctor? The reply came, slightly uncertain.
Yup
It's not safe here
Bria began to run towards the street and turned a corner out of sight. Jack and Rose turned to the Doctor. "I take it that was the mind link," Jack said.
"One aspect of it anyway"
"Umm, Doctor" Rose spoke up "What are we going to do now? Bria's kinda' disappeared."
"We go where she told us to go."
"Huh?" Rose and Jack spoke at the same time, confusion clearly written across their faces.
"She told me where to find her"
"What like, she sent you a mental map?" Rose was curious.
"More like a picture of where we're going and a feeling of how to get there. Come on, let's go." He turned and headed for the ladder with Jack and Rose close behind.
As they headed towards their destination, Jack spoke. "OK, two questions." The doctor made a grunting sound in reply, so Jack continued. "Firstly, where the heck are we going?"
"An abandoned warehouse not far from here, second question?"
"Why could Rose and me both hear the thoughts that passed between you and Bria?"
"I projected them so you were included." The Doctor stopped a couple of meters from a large building "This is it."
Jack looked at the building. It was no different to the other warehouses in the area, apart from the fact that the door was slightly ajar. His first thought was that leaving the door open was asking for trouble; he shrugged the thought away with the realization that Bria was probably capable of dealing with unwanted visitors.
The Doctor lead the way into the warehouse and the others followed, looking around as they entered. They found themselves standing in a large space, the concrete floor was dusty and grey. There were deep shadows around the edge of the room, cast by the supporting pillars in the dim light from the single lamp that hung from the ceiling.
Bria, however, was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is she, Doctor?" Jack asked softly. He was feeling edgy, there were places for people to hide here and Bria wasn't around. Neither of these facts registered under good news.
"I don't know, she's closed her mind off to me, I can't find her."
"Um, excuse me?" Rose's voice had a high-pitched tone of worry to it as she spoke in a furious whisper. "Can't find her?"
"Does it worry you that you can't see me?" Bria's voice came from the shadows, a hint of amusement in her tone.
Suddenly the Doctor gasped in pain and clutched at his head. Rose and Jack ran to his side, worry etched on both their faces. The Doctor waved them off and stood straight again, taking in a deep breath as he did so. Jack was on high alert now; in his experience, it never turned out well when people invited you in and refused to show themselves, or when a companion suddenly experienced pains.
"Doctor what was that?" Rose looked at the shadows, trying to see Bria.
"That was Bria's way of telling me she's not very happy with me." The reply was low and tinged with pain. The Doctor motioned for the others to stay where they were and stepped forward. "It's not like you to attack without warning from the shadows, Bria."
"Normally I wouldn't. You however, Doctor, merit special treatment." Rose and Jack jumped slightly as Bria's voice came from behind them. They turned to see her emerge from the shadows. She walked across the room towards the Doctor, her entire attention focused on him. Jack watched her move, and despite the fact that she had just attacked the Doctor, he was captivated. She walked with the same motion as a cat, and Jack suspected, that like a cat, her claws were just below the surface and permanently ready for action.
"Thanks for the special treatment, but why me?"
"The surprise is because you left me without warning"
"And the mental slap?" as soon as he said it, the Doctor clutched his head in pain again. "OK, that one hurt" Rose could not help but smile slightly as she recognized the same tone of voice that had been present after her mother had slapped him.
"You should be thankful, Doctor" all traces of amusement had left Bria's tone. "That was nothing compared to the consequences I suffered when you left." She seemed to have vented her anger, her eyes lowered and she turned her head away. Jack could see her face; she appeared to be remembering something, her dark eyes seeing events from the past. The Doctor move towards her, concern on his face.
"What consequences?"
Bria shook her head, still not looking up. "Not now, for now I'm just glad you came." She took a deep breath and shook her head again as though to remove the last vestiges of the memory. "Who are your friends?"
The Doctor gestured the others forward. Jack had decided that, as the Doctor wasn't concerned there was no need for him to be, and besides, he wanted to get to know this girl. Rose was a little more wary, not only because Bria had attacked the Doctor, but there was obviously a history between them.
The Doctor motioned to Rose first. "This is Rose Tyler, my traveling companion." Bria smiled and nodded politely, the Doctor motioned to Jack. "This is-"
"Captain Jack Harkness, pleased to meet you" Jack jumped in, giving his most friendly smile. Bria appeared to relax and smiled back, glancing at the Doctor out of the corner of her eye. The Doctor merely rolled is eyes.
"Good to meet you too. Now I'm starving, are you hungry?" All three nodded "OK, I need to get changed then we can go and get something. Pizza sound good?" again they nodded. "OK wait here." She walked off, leaving the companions alone.
Rose and Jack turned to the Doctor. "What was with the sudden mood changes?" Rose asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well first she was attacking you, then she was upset, then she was fine."
"Bria's always had fast mood changes, but this is the fastest I've seen her go from angry to fine. It's gotta' be something to do with the 'consequences' she mentioned."
"And what was with the head pain?" Jack asked.
"That was the equivalent of a very hard slap. Bria has the advantage of being able to attack from a distance."
Rose smirked "And I thought my mum hit you hard."
"Oh believe me that was worse than your mother."
"Just remind me never to annoy …" Jack stopped in mid sentence. Rose and the Doctor followed his line of sight; a broad grin immediately fixed itself on the Doctor's face as he saw why Jack had stopped talking.
Bria had walked into the room. She was wearing tight, dark jeans that drew attention to long, powerful legs. However, Jack's eyes were not on her legs. He was looking instead, at the leather corset she wore. Jack found himself catching his breath as he took in the black leather, split up the front over her stomach, the gap laced with red ribbon. Beneath the corset, Jack could see pale, creamy skin and elegant curves.
Jack was jolted out of his daze by a sharp jab to the ribs; he turned to see Rose grinning broadly. Realising his mouth was open, he quickly shut it.
Hiding her smile, Bria walked towards the door, no longer predatory. Jack watched her hips sway as she moved and felt his throat go dry. He wasn't sure if the long black jumper she was wearing was a good or bad idea. It was open, revealing her front, but concealed her back. However, it left his imagination to work.
Bria led them through the streets until they came to a row of shops. "Well there's the pizza place, any preferences?" Both the Doctor and Jack shrugged, neither having much experience with pizza.
"Ooh, meat feast" Rose suggested.
"Ok, cool. Wait here." Bria began to walk towards the shop.
"Do you need money?" the Doctor called after her.
Bria merely smiled at him over her shoulder and shook her head. "Nope."
They watched as she walked across the street. The two men noticed with a twinge of jealousy that the men behind the counter had noticed Bria. As she entered the shop, more men came out from the back. The three companions could hear them chattering in Italian. Jack and Rose were surprised to hear Bria replying in fluent Italian.
"She speaks Italian?" Jack asked
"Along with about five other languages."
"Um, Doctor, why can we hear Italian, not English?" she was surprised when the Doctor laughed.
"The TARDIS is getting picky in her old age, she…well, she doesn't like translating, um, certain kinds of conversation."
"What kind of conversation would that be?" Jack asked. He watched as she tossed her hair, catching the attention of all the men in the shop.
"Oh come on, Captain, look at what's going on. Your not so naïve that you can't figure out the sort of things they're saying are you? The TARDIS is connected to all of us. If she thinks the conversation might upset us without reason, then she won't translate."
Jack's hotheaded reply was cut off as Bria came out of the shop and headed towards them, bearing a bag containing two large pizza boxes and two paper bags.
"What's in the bags?" asked Jack.
"Chips."
"How much did it cost you?" The Doctor asked.
"Nothing" came the reply accompanied by a grin. Bria led them back through the streets. Rose went to walk beside her, Jack and the Doctor followed behind.
"How did you get all that for free?" Rose was curious.
"It's easy when you know how. Mainly it's flirting, the boys in there are so busy trying to impress that they don't charge. Can be quite funny at times."
"So basically, it's typical men. Thinking with their…um…"
"Wedding tackle?" Bria offered.
"Yeah." Rose only just managed to get the word out before both girls broke out into fits of laughter.
"What's so funny?" The Doctor inquired, coming up behind them. One glance at the men only served to make the girls laugh harder.
"What?" Jack was confused. The Doctor took his arm and drew him back.
"I don't think we're gonna' get much sense from them. Let's just be thankful that they're getting along."
Finally, they stopped laughing just as they reached the warehouse. Once they were all inside, Bria led them up a flight of stairs to a room, with two sofas, a fridge, a shelf with some glasses on it, and a small table. A short while later, they were seated and tucking in to pizza, chips and orange juice from the fridge.
As they finished, the Doctor leaned forward in his seat. "So why did you ask for my help?"
Bria rose from the sofa and gathered the empty boxes and bags from the table. She carried them to the bin and dropped them inside, before turning to answer. "I need your help in destroying the things we were fighting."
"Why me?"
"You saw what happened the night I asked for help. It killed Kira, I can't fight the ones that come after me now on my own. I don't even know what they actually are. All I know is that they were hunting us, now they'll be coming after me."
"Have they attacked since Kira was killed?"
"No, but that's always the way. When someone dies, they wait for about two weeks before starting to hunt again."
The Doctor sat back in the chair before replying. "OK, I'm gonna' help. There's probably some information in the library on the TARDIS."
"I'll help too." Said Rose.
"And me." Jack was not to be left out.
"Thank you" Bria smiled appreciatively. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to change, this top is only comfortable for so long. Feel free to explore."
When she had gone, the Doctor stood. "May as well take up the offer."
As they walked through the warehouse, Jack turned to the Doctor. "So, where did you meet Bria then?"
"Or should that be when?" Rose interjected.
The Doctor nodded. "Both good questions actually. I met her somewhere in England, not entirely sure where though."
"How could you not know where you were?" Rose was incredulous.
"Hey, not my fault. It all looked the same. Mainly trees, some open spaces and a few settlements."
Jack's expression was confused "OK, Doctor, I'm not an expert on Earth history 'cos I never went to class at school. But even I know that it's been a long time since England was like what you just described. When the hell did you meet her?"
"Not long before the Romans left, so about 51 AD."
Jack's mouth dropped open.
Rose pushed Jack's chin up and turned to the Doctor. "So is she a time traveler too?"
"Nope" He could not stop himself from laughing as Jack's mouth dropped open again, this time Rose joined him. "You seem to be spending quite a bit of time with your mouth hanging open at the moment, Captain. I'm sure Bria was flattered, but I'm really not."
Jack recovered his composure enough to mutter something under his breath before asking his next question. "OK, so you met her almost two-thousand years ago if you go by Earth time. So how did she survive, and why does she look about eighteen?"
"Bria is a Vrexian, from the planet Vrexia. Quite a nice planet actually, as long as you're not on the wrong side of the occupants. Bria came to Earth with one of the clans, some of them scattered to other countries, and some stayed in England. They fitted in well with the Celts, or Woads, depending on which side you were on."
"Why did they fit in so well?" Jack asked.
"Warrior race. They introduced quite a few fighting techniques."
"OK, so she's an alien." Rose said. "But why does she only look eighteen?"
The Doctor seemed to be remembering something as he replied, his eyes seeing distant things. "Vrexians stop aging when they're fully mature, in Bria's case when she was eighteen. Then they live until they're killed. Simple really."
They continued walking along the corridors of the warehouse, talking about various things. As they neared a corner, Rose turned to the Doctor. "So how long did you stay with Bria then?"
The Doctor was about to reply when he stopped in his tracks, staring ahead with a look of horror on his face.
A/N: ooh cliffie, hope that makes you want to review. Oh yeah and there has been a nasty person going round flaming on lots of stories, if thats you then don't bother, constructive criticism yes, flames no.