The Escape

The tunnel was pitch black when the opening closed, prompting Jack to dig out his issued flashlight to illuminate their way.

"This is seriously one of the most amazing things I've ever seen! Why didn't you do this earlier? You could have been free so much sooner." Jack asked as he clutched tightly to broad, furry shoulders.

Aster's legs pumped and his claws dug for purchase in the earth that surrounded them. "Needed to know where my ship was. Couldn't sense it when I reached out."

"Like kenning? You can do that?!"

"Word's not familiar, Jackie."

"It's like… extending your senses. Like being able to hone in on a specific things wavelengths, or something."

Aster huffed as he skid to a halt and dropped again, this time out another hole and landing behind large, black crates that effectively shielded them from view. He crouched down, helping the agent off his back and looked him in the eye, smirking. "Then yes. I can."

Jack stifled a chuckle behind a slender hand before grinning widely at Bunny. "You're amazing, Bunnymund."

The Pooka's ears dipped in embarrassment. "Eh… Bunnymunds my clan's name. My, ah- given name is Aster."

Jack's eyes lit up. "You're amazing, then… Aster."

~*~*~Line~*~*~

Jack clamored up the towering stack of crates, peering over the top. Soldiers and agents meandered about the hangar. Some working others while others just observed. There were a few crafts littering the floor, Aster's ship being the closest. That's convenient, Jack thought.

"Aster!" Jack whisper-yelled down to his companion, smirking as a large ear twitch in his direction before the Pooka looked up. "Trust fall!" He said and let go his grip and letting himself fall.

Aster scrambled, quickly turning and raising his arms up and open to catch his agent before the boy plummeted to his… well not death, but grievous injury.

"Are ya daft? What were ya thinkin'?" He berated as he gingerly set Jack to his feet.

"Relax, bunny foo-foo. I knew you'd catch me." Jack said, slinking over to the edge of their wall of crates and taking a fast glance at their target. "Ok, your ship is the closest to us. Maybe forty yards or so. Got anymore tricks hidden in all that fluff?"

"One or two, nipper. What'cha needin'?"

Jack explained to his that the patrolling guards made random walk-abouts in the hangar, so they wouldn't know when or if a guard would see them should they try and make a run for it.

"Can you make another tunnel? That would be the easiest and safest rout that I can see." Jack asked, frowning when Aster shook his head.

"No can do, mate. This atmosphere is messin' with me. Might be able to open one, but don't think I'd be able to open the second… I'd just get us stuck underground."

Jack cursed under his breath. There was no way he was getting stuck underneath the hangar he was trying to get out of. He glared out at the expanse from behind their crates, noting the few lights hanging high from the ceiling and one of the few breaker boxes next to a door. Jack smirked. A door he could still lock.

"Ok, here's what we can do." Jack pulled Aster from the corner of the crates by his forearms. "If I can make it to the breaker box on the wall over there I can get the lights off to this section of the hanger. And I can lock the door next to it to buy you some time to get to your ship. Do you need-" Jack paused, and then gasped as the hangar lurched upward. "Oh no… we're moving. Why are we moving?!" He panicked.

Aster frowned at the bitter scent that filled his nose, also catching the spicy smell of adrenaline again, though this time it wasn't from the agent. He placed a forepaw onto the floor and extended his senses, kenning, Jack had called it.

There were footsteps, a lot of them, coming this way. They were heave. Aster furrowed his brows and thought. They had to be soldiers, and in full gear judging by the weights. He jumped when the intercom blared to life, honking three times in a row before a male voice came over the speakers.

"Attention all personnel. There has been a security breech. Agent Jackson Overland-Frost is wanted for the release of Specimen 482-K. Attempt to capture alive. I repeat, attempt to capture alive."

The two were silent, Aster sat on his haunches daring a cautious look at the agent. Jack was tense. His shoulders were taught and his back was rigid, his fists were clenched at his sides; Aster hopped to him, gently nudging the young man's hand with his nose.

"'s alright, mate. We'll just be as non-threatening-"

"Agent Overland-Frost, you are under arrest-"

Jack tensed and was still for half a heartbeat before grabbing Aster by the ruff of his shoulder and pulled, "Run!" He shouted.

The two bolted from around the crates, dashing for Aster's ship. Shouts ordering them to stop and gunshots filled the air as the soldiers rushed after them. Aster made it to his ship first, being the stronger and faster of the two and placed his forepaw on a smooth section and a hiss followed the opening of a hatch.

"Jack, c'mon-" Aster started, halfway into the ship when he noticed Jack fall just feet from the safety of the ship. The boy was shuffling weakly onto his knees and groping at the side of his chest, pulling out a handgun.

"Bunny, go! This is your chance! Get out of here!"

Aster rushed to the agent's side, gently picking him up. Gunshots rang, hitting his ship and bouncing off; Aster hissed as one grazed his ear as he bolted for the open hatch. Once inside with his partner in crime, the hatch closed with a near silent hiss and Aster quickly made his way to the control center with Jack securely in his arms.

The control bay instantly bloomed with light at Aster's touch, various readings popping up as detailed holograms. Aster swiped his forepaw across the panel brushing against one, two, and finally three blazing spheres; he tensely smiled as two click-whirrs sounded above and behind him.

"Don't worry, Jack. I got somethin' that'll fix ya right up." Aster whispered, his ears falling back at the pained whimper that came from his new passenger.

The pods were something that came standard with every star-jumper, as trips were always long, so they were built in hibernation chambers that were equipped with a certain deep cave moss that created a healing liquid that enabled the user to not only breathe it while submerged but to heal any hurts the liquid encountered. He knew how well it worked with his kind, but he was nervous about putting Jack into the pod. He had no choice… he couldn't let Jack die because of him.

Aster gingerly maneuvered the agent into the pod, gently helping the moss to curl around lanky limbs, even as the young man tried to protest. Aster nosed Jack's sweaty forehead as weak, pained noises slipped through his lips. Jack tried to nuzzle back into the comforting warmth as Aster began to purr, finding comfort in the closeness of the Pooka. He watched as the moss began to curl around Jack, settling in a spongey heap over the gunshot wound in Jack's chest.

This was going to be a long flight.

~*~*~Line~*~*~

Aster had been in and out of his pod seven times now, nervous to about Jack's condition. All in all, the Agent was all healed up. The wound wasn't even visible any longer, no scar would be marring the young man's pale skin on Aster's watch, but he was on edge on waking Jack up. It was bound to be different- after all… humans were not Pooka.

He swiped his paw across the hovering spheres, two glowed softly as he touched them, and maneuvered back to the pods. He gazed critically at the liquid levels currently encasing Jackson and pushed the drainage button. The tinted waters slowly receded, taking small chunks of exhausted moss with it. If one were to look, the near instantly frozen water would make a pale, icy-green trail behind the traveling ship, but Aster had more important things on his mind.

Slowly the remaining plants inched away to reveal a damp, and dripping Jack. His eyes were closed and Aster breathed a relieved sigh as he heard the gentle rise and fall of his chest as the young man breathed on his own.

The Pooka carefully picked him up and placed him in a poor excuse for a nest, but it would have to do until they landed.

It seemed to take an eternity to finally enter the Ellipses quadrant, passing through numerous asteroid belts and stardust hazes that were as hazardous as they were beautiful, but Gallifrey finally sparkled in the distance as the starjumper continued on.

Jack had stayed unconscious for the equivalent of six days on his home planet, but was still breathing on his own. It was a small victory on Aster's part.

~*~*~Line~*~*~

He was warm and surrounded by something incredibly soft that smelled like hay and clover and damp earth. It was a heavenly smell, one that Jack wanted to snuffle up and keep it locked away forever. As he drifted, the events of his last conscious excursion came floating back; the running, the target his own government had painted on his back, how the bullets felt as the ripped through him-

He was shot!

Jack bolted up, hands frantically searching his chest and face as he gulped in breath after breath. As he patted himself down confusion settled in his mind. Not only were there no gunshot wounds, which there should have been at least two, he was also not in the hangar any longer.

The small, circular room was metallic; if Jack had to hazard a guess, he would say it looked like brushed bronze. And he was in a pile of… moss? And tufts of fur. It was dark, but Jack would guess…grey, maybe?

"Aster!" He hissed, and tried to scramble to the edge of his makeshift bed. A click-whir caught his attention, stopping him mid lunge, and Aster flung himself through the new opening.

"Jack! Yer awake!" He exclaimed. "How are ya feelin'?" He hopped next to the nest and maneuvered the agent to a kneeling position and ran his paws over the bullet holes in Jack's jacket.

"I'm okay." He murmured, looking down. His hands followed the paths of Aster's paws. "It's like they were never there, like I was never shot. Aster, what did you do?"

The Pooka settled a level gaze on him and explained what he did to save his life. Jack listened carefully, but silently. He processed every word and filled in what he could with the bits and pieces of memory he could recall. He thought he took the news of traveling across the galaxy remarkably well.

"You kidnapped me?!" He hissed, satisfaction blossomed as Aster's ears swung back to press firmly against the back of his neck.

"I did what I had to so I could save yer life." Bunny murmured, looking to the side. "You were as good as dead, Jackie. Ya took those bullets fer me… I wasn't about to let your light die when I could do something to save it."

Jack paused, anger momentarily abating as he cocked his head to the side and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Light?"

"Every being in the universe that breathes has a light. It's their life. It's what we Pooka protect. After you were shot… yours started to dim and flicker. I had to do somethin', Jackie. I wasn't gonna leave ya there, they would'a just let ya die. So I took ya with me." Aster murmured, quickly losing confidence as he ended his little speech, ears twitching against the back of his neck as he looked away.

"So… I'm… You're taking me home? Like some sort of pet?" Jack hissed, his mood darkening once more as he abruptly stood and flung his arms wide. "You kidnapped me-"

"I saved you!" Aster roared, springing up in tandem with Jack and lunging forward; he snarled as Jack lay sprawled beneath him, the bitter scent of fear flooding Aster's nose. Good, the brat should be afraid. "You think they'd let ya live? You were as good as dead back on that miserable planet. Ya seemed so curious about where I came from, what my people were like. I thought maybe you'd like to see it for yerself." He snarled and then sighed.

The boy might be stubborn, and thick headed as it seemed, but he didn't want Jack to be afraid of him. If the agent was to survive on Gallifrey he'd have to learn the hierarchy of Pookan culture-

A cautious and cool hand touched his chin, feather light. Jack stared up at him with wide, worried blue eyes. He no longer smelled of terror, still cautious, but not near as scared. It stopped Aster's worried rant mid-sentence. Those thin fingers worked their way up, carefully avoiding his whiskers to stroke along his nose and over his cheeks to card through the denser fur there.

"I know you did, Bunny." Jack said lowly, as if speaking to a wounded animal. "And I'm grateful that you did. You're right, I'd be executed for aiding and abetting a hostile, and sentient, being. It's just a shock, ya know?" He shrugged and looked away. "I don't know anything about your home- how is everyone going to react to you bringing me back?"

That… was not something he'd thought of. The Elders would no doubt be intrigued. They'd love a chance to learn about the culture that had blossomed on Aster's planet. His clan on the other hand… It would be hard to say. But he had no doubt that Jackson would be safe.

He would see to it personally.