Discussions, and a potential enemy is found
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While she slept, the two men talked, taking time to get to know one another. Oh you could say they already knew each other, but there are subtle differences there. They have stories with different endings, especially true with how off balance this universe had become. This Jack had never known the Doctor in his current form. He has had a hand in Torchwood from its inception. This Doctor had a bit more touch of humanity about him. The bits of Donna would make him into a slightly different man.
The Doctor was fidgety for the first few hours, but then something happened and he calmed. What exactly caused it is hard to say. Perhaps the rush of the regeneration finally wore off. Another reason might be due to the fact; he has a hand to hold. Shortly into their vigil, he chose his own seat at her right side, and he placed one hand in hers. He used his free one to fiddle, gesture, and otherwise express excess enthusiasm. But he kept that one hand in hers, and eventually calmed.
They watched over her, this strange golden woman who has brought them together. There was no way of telling what will come from this, but it was a peaceful time. At one point they stopped talking, when they realized that a couple of tears had trickled down from the corner of her eyes. However they don't try to wake her when they see the slight smile on her face. Instead, Jack just took her left hand, and they sat, in quiet thought. Finally after ten hours of sleep, her eyes opened and she started to sit up. Blinking rapidly, she used a released hand to rub her face.
"Welcome back beautiful, pleasant dreams I hope. Well if they were of me they would have to be." Jack's flirtatious greeting made her smile.
"Sorry to disappoint, I don't really remember much of what I dreamed. How long was I out?" She turned towards the Doctor as she asked the question.
"Ten hours, four minutes and 23 seconds, give or take a few seconds. How do you feel?" The Doctor checked a few readings on the monitors he had there.
"Down to the second, were you worried? I feel good. You know I think I'm actually hungry." She seemed a bit surprised by that fact.
"You know so am I, forgot to eat while we were in here." Jack's grin went a bit lopsided as he realized that fact.
Brows knit she looked back and forth between them. "Did you stay here this whole time? You didn't have to do that."
Before she can start scolding them more, the Doctor broke in. "Well we wanted to be here, plus it gave Jack and I time to catch up. Besides you are awake now, and we can go get some nibbles."
She gave him a look, and then scooted herself off the bed. "Alright, I just want to check something first."
She cupped her hands together, and then pulled them apart. Lifting them up as she did so to draw out the paths of life. They came into sight, a beautiful web of lines. Some spots still knotted, but much better than her first look at them had been. She had a small smile on her face. Although both men had seen something like it before, they were still a bit amazed by the view. When the lines started to become blurry, with a sigh, she dismissed them.
They exchanged a look and then turned their gaze towards her, questions clearly on their faces. "Why did it get indistinct?" The Doctor was the first to ask.
Looking over at them she shifted to head towards the door out of the med lab. "Because I am becoming part of what makes up the solution. I have started taking up the pathway of Rose Tyler in this universe. The closer I am to things, the less can be seen. If I was further way, I would have more clarity."
They followed behind her as she explained, heading towards the galley. She easily found it, and they slipped inside, moving around each other to make up a meal. Void Walker started up the tea, and then lightly rapped the Doctor's knuckles with a spoon when he tried to use his fingers in the jam jar. Jack chuckled, pulled food out of the refrigerator, and set it on the table as the Doctor got out dishes. They were all hungry, so were looking for quick and easy food. Yet how they moved was as a cohesive unit, as if they all knew the steps to the dance.
When they settled at the table, the topic started back up. "Not unlike when I have looked at timelines, my own I can't really see, or anyone's close to mine. "
She gave the Doctor a quick smile. "They are virtually the same. I just see them a bit different."
Jack waved a fork at them as he talked, before stabbing it in his food. "So in plain speaking, that means as we get closer to this event, neither one of you are going to be able to see what's going to happen?"
The Doctor nodded before grabbing a banana. "Correct-o-mundo, oh, never let me say that again." That got a soft chuckle from the other two.
"Jack?" Void Walker looked over to him. "I was meaning to ask, is there a collection, or some way for me to see these legends of the Big Bad Wolf? All things considered, they might be important. More and more I have wondered if I'm being woven into this universe."
"I actually thought you might want that, and I had a collection put together for you. I had some of my people analyze the stories for commonalities in case that would help. What do you mean by woven, are you becoming a part of this universe?" He spoke the last words slowly, considering over the ramifications.
Void Walker gave a soft hum as she thought. "In essence, yes. It is one of the reasons I rarely visit a universe more than once, why I keep my interactions to a minimum. I don't belong there."
Taking his dirty dishes to the sink the Doctor looked back at her. "If I understand correctly, you have been doing a lot here, so perhaps you are supposed to belong in this universe?" His tone was conversational, curiosity evident.
"It is certainly possible, I really won't know that for certain until after we fix things here." She set her silverware down, done with food for the moment. A sudden smile flickered on her face, remembering a point in one of the many path lines she had come across.
"Stuck with you two, that's not so bad."
The Doctor straightened up at that turning around. He knew that moment, even if Jack didn't.
"Yeah?"
She smiled at him. "Yes."
Finished up with their meal, they made their way out of the Tardis into the Hub. Jack drew attention right away, his team came up to him with reports. He brought the other two into the conversation. It appeared the Rift activity was spiking, not dangerously so yet, but it was building.
Quickly, he assembled the team in the conference room to hash out everything. Jack also had someone bring the report for Void Walker, so she could skim through it. The Doctor immediately immersed himself in the information. Everyone is startled when Void Walker started swearing in multiple languages, tossing the report down.
They stared at her as she threw her hands up, path ways swirling into sight above her. She continued to curse as she waved her hands, and the lights moved. Finally the display stopped and she stared at it, her hands clenched tight. There was some more swearing and she dismissed the display with a harsh wave before sitting down heavily in her chair.
The two men moved to her side both concerned. The Doctor spoke first. "Rose what is it, what's wrong?"
Startled she blinked at that. "No one has called me that in a very long time."
He just shrugged. "It is still your name. What is it?"
She stared at him, and then slowly answered. "I think I might know what we are up against. Doctor, could someone somehow use the Rift to create a new Temporal Schism?"
He looked at her and then shot around the table to check some of the monitors. Mumbling under his breath about various calculations and stress he finally stopped and looked up, even paler than usual. "Yes, I think they could."
Jack looked back and forth between the two. "One of you two mind telling me what's going on?"
She took a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm. "I think I found our enemy, and he's very dangerous." Her voice was soft. "His name popped up all through the report you gave me. Jack, put a trace out for one Harold Saxon. Anyone going after him should have top level physic training. He's to be considered extremely dangerous, and he can sway people's minds."
She looked over to the Doctor and lapsed into Gallifreyan. "Theta, I think we are facing Koschei, and possibly Rassilon. "
Frustrated Jack called out to them. "In a language we can understand please."
Void Walker's eyes turned to him, and there are gasps across the table as they see that her eyes shimmered with a golden light. "Harold Saxon was an alias used elsewhere by a sociopath Time Lord, who would enjoy ripping the universe apart."
