Author's note: This story follows almost directly after Zildafontahexazist. You should really read that one first.
.
.
The Caretaker
.
.
Chapter 1
.
Two bodies tumbled through the doors of the TARDIS in a flurry of limbs and kicked the door shut, laughing hysterically. It took a moment to untangle their long coats and sort themselves out, but they were still laughing when they regained their feet.
"I think they were a bit mad," the Doctor said innocently.
"What clued you in, the pitchforks or the torches?" Jack asked.
"No, no, it was the look on the foreman's face!" the Doctor crowed and they both dissolved into laughter again.
"No! Not the Phorillian Pollen!" Jack mimicked in a high and desperate voice, causing a fresh wave of laughter to overtake them. They sagged weakly against the railings, trying to catch their breath.
"I hope you two had fun out there," Martha grumbled half-heartedly from the jump seat. She sat sideways with her injured leg stretched across the seat. The edge of a white knee brace peeked out from the edge of her skirt. "I was worried!"
"Aw, Martha, there was nothing to be worried about! It was just a bit of industrial sabotage!" the Doctor said. "Boring stuff, really."
"Yeah, you guys look bored. Staying home while you two have all the fun…it's rubbish!" Martha said.
"Well you certainly couldn't run on that knee quite yet," the Doctor pointed out as he took the TARDIS into the vortex.
Jack put his arm around her shoulder with a charming smile. "You saved us all last time, you deserve a break." He helped her up and began leading her toward her room.
" Jack," the Doctor warned.
"I'm just giving her a hand to her room! You wouldn't want her to fall, would you?" Jack asked innocently.
The Doctor gritted his teeth. "It's barely lunch time."
"Right. Well, I just thought she'd like a little…nap," Jack said.
"I don't mind!" Martha giggled despite herself.
"Oh, for pity's sake! It's time to eat," the Doctor said, steering them toward the kitchen.
"That was the plan," Jack muttered under his breath, causing Martha to blush. The Doctor pretended he was deaf.
A ball of Huon energy shimmered in the control room, lengthened, and resolved into the shape of a man. This was the most risky part of his plan, but it seemed luck was with him so far. The control room was empty and he could hear the sounds of cutlery clinking on dishes and laughter drifting from the hall. He swiftly crouched on the far side of the console, hidden from sight of the doorway, and removed the access panel.
He took out his laser shears and in moments he had wired a remote access conduit into the controls. It took a moment to sync his wrist unit to the conduit, and then it was done. Control of the TARDIS was his unless someone managed to physically remove the conduit. The man accessed the layout controls on his wrist unit and crept into the hall. The door to the control room disappeared behind him.
Now all he needed was leverage.
Martha shook silently with tears slipping down her face.
"Breath, Martha," the Doctor said. "You're turning purple."
Martha just shook her head and continued laughing. Jack handed her a napkin and she mopped at her face. Finally she managed a deep breath and sagged back in her chair. "You two are trying to kill me!" she said. "You didn't really leave them like that…"
"Well, we needed their clothes!"Jack defended.
"And you couldn't have tied them up separately?" Martha asked.
"Well, we only had the one bit of rope," the Doctor said. "It was better than the alternative."
"Don't play all innocent with me. You two were laughing like a couple of muppets when you came in," Martha said.
The Doctor and Jack were suddenly sober as they looked past Martha. They started to stand.
"Almost made my tea come out my nose. Thanks for that," Martha continued, not realizing anything was wrong.
"Martha," the Doctor said warningly. "Come away."
Jack reached for her but it was too late. The intruder who'd entered the room snaked an arm around Martha's neck and pulled her backwards. Her chair fell to the ground with a clatter and she struggled for a moment, choking as her injured knee gave out. He pressed his laser shears against her neck in warning and she froze.
Jack cursed as he reached for his Webley and found his holster empty. The Doctor had made him leave it behind when they'd gone to Zildafontahexazist.
"Who are you?" The Doctor's voice was low and dangerous.
"You can call me the Caretaker," the man said. "Don't worry, I'm just here for information. Give me what I need and no one gets hurt."
"What sort of information?" Jack asked.
"You will tell me exactly how Gallifrey was destroyed, omitting no detail," the Caretaker said.
The Doctor looked like he was going to be sick. "How did you find out?"
"I'm a Time Lord. I travel through time. You must be thick if you thought no one would ever notice their entire planet is missing in the future," the Caretaker said. "And you, the only Time Lord who's personal timeline doesn't suddenly end at the same time. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."
"If you're so clever, then I'm sure you've looked up the Time War," the Doctor said. "The events are Time-Locked. There's nothing you can do."
"It hasn't happened for me yet," the Caretaker said. "I can still fix it. It doesn't have to happen this way."
"It happened a thousand different ways," the Doctor said with anguish. "Two races killing each other over and over again, caught in a deadlock. They just kept going back and starting over until time was turning to mush. Do you understand that? Soldiers caught in an endless cycle of death as their commanders failed, went back, and failed again. And again and again." His shoulders drooped with defeat. "I was the only one who could end it. So I did."
"There could be a way to win. You don't know that it would've gone on forever," the Caretaker protested. "They would have eventually got it right."
"There were circumstances. Everything was threatened," the Doctor said. "I can tell you no more. Now, release my friend."
"I think not," the Caretaker said, stepping back into the corridor and taking Martha with him. "You will tell me what I need to know to save everyone, or your friend will pay the price." He pressed a button on his wrist and the kitchen doorway disappeared.
Jack ran forward and pounded on the blank wall. "What the hell was that? Where's the door?" he demanded.
The Doctor was rooted to the spot. "He's hacked into the layout controls," he said with horror. "We'll never get to her."
.
Author's note: This is going to be a shortish adventure, but I already have ideas for even more adventures after this.
Special thanks to everyone who reviewed the final chapter of Zildafontahexazist: WhoNewbie, SenatorSolo, barbara7413, sadhappygirl, angnay, and PhoenixWytch.