As soon as the sixth Doctor, Peri, and John "Lewis" entered the New Excalibur Hotel, the Doctor made a bee line for the front desk. He rang the traditional silver bell twice, even though the red skinned clerk was only a few feet away. "How may I be of assistance?" the clerk inquired, trying hard to control his annoyance.
"Has the woman with the preposterous name of 'Buffy' returned yet?" the sixth Doctor responded.
The clerk sneered at the man in the ugly, multi-colored jacket. "I'm so very sorry, sir, but the New Excalibur has very strict rules relating to privacy and giving out information," he replied. "Perhaps you could wait in the lobby for her," he suggested and then turned his back on the sixth Doctor.
Muttering under his breath, the sixth Doctor rejoined Peri and the man who they thought was Spike Summers. "They won't release any information," he huffed. "Don't they know who I am?" he asked indignantly.
Peri shook her head. It was times like these that she missed the fifth version of the Doctor she had traveled with initially. "No, Doctor, I suppose they don't," she replied.
John looked out across the lobby and saw an attractive human-feline who was swishing her tail seductively. He caught her eye and she winked at him before ducking into a bathroom. "Um… will you two excuse me for a moment?" John asked, clearly distracted. "There's something I have to take care of," he added. Without waiting for them to respond, John headed off to the same bathroom the cat woman had gone into.
The sixth Doctor looked at Peri, hoping she could explain what the other human was doing. Peri met his gaze and shrugged her shoulders. She plopped down into one of the large, comfy chairs scattered about the lobby. She squirmed as the chair took measurements of her weight and body shape, conforming itself to be the perfect seat for her. The sixth Doctor did likewise. He had a chair similar to the one he was sitting on back in the TARDIS, but that one had gotten stuck on his third incarnation who was both taller and thinner than him. After the chair had gotten stuck, it just didn't feel right.
After sitting for 10 minutes, Buffy, Spike, and a very handsome man Peri had never seen before strode into the hotel. The way the man simply walkedmade Peri tingly in places one didn't speak about in public. It took a moment before she was able to drag her eyes off of him and look at Buffy and Spike. Peri's eyebrow rose in surprise when she noticed Spike had bleached his hair again.
Before Peri could ask about Spike's hair, Buffy gestured towards the sixth Doctor. "Immortal, this is the Doctor and his Companion, Peri," she introduced.
Jack stepped forward and took Peri's hand. He held it to his lips and kissed it softly. Several different strategies for getting her gown off of her started to form in his mind before his lips touched her hand. He shook his head and forced himself to focus on the problem at hand. Jack dropped Peri's hand and turned to get a closer look at the Doctor. Disappointment was clearly etched on Jack's face. He had been expecting someone much more attractive considering how River spoke about him.
The sixth Doctor was about to say something snarky, but he was interrupted by his older self and Faith running up to them. The tenth Doctor placed a friendly hand on Jack's shoulder. "I didn't expect to see you here, but I'm really glad you showed up, Jack," he told his old friend.
Spike did a double take. "Jack? The Immortal's name is… Jack?" he demanded. "I always thought it would be something cool like Antonio or Victor… or…or even maybe William, but never Jack," he added, disappointed.
Jack blinked his eyes a few times to give him time to figure out what John's game was. To give himself even more time, he turned to face the tall, skinny man who had his hand on his shoulder. Jack looked him over from top to bottom. He had always been partial to men in suits and the brown pin striped one this guy was wearing really turned him on. "I'm sorry have we met before?" Jack inquired. He was certain he would have remembered meeting someone as delicious as this.
The tenth Doctor sighed in exasperation. "Cute, Jack," he muttered. "This isn't the time for my best friend to start playing games," he warned. Jack frowned in confusion at the Doctor's words. The tenth Doctor watched Jack's reaction and smacked himself on the forehead. "Oh… I'm thick… thickety, thick, thick," he swore. When he was done ranting, the tenth Doctor looked directly into Jack's eyes. "Whenare you, Jack?" he demanded.
Jack took a step back. "I'm sorry, I don't know you well enough to answer that question," he stated, buying more time.
Buffy stepped in between Jack and the tenth Doctor. "Immortal, this is also the Doctor," she told him.
Jack pointed at the sixth Doctor and said, "I thought you said he was the Doctor."
The sixth Doctor spoke up. "I am, and so is he," he stated. "We're the same person at different points in our Timestream," he said, clearly irritated.
Jack dismissively shook his head. "That's not possible. The Blinovitch Limitation Effect makes it impossible for multiple versions of a person to be at the same exact place in Space / Time," he recited.
The sixth Doctor snorted in disgust. "For lower beings yes, but it doesn't apply to higher forms of life such as the Time Lords," he explained as if he were speaking to a particularly dense child.
Jack chuckled at what the sixth Doctor had said. "Time Lords, yeah right. They're a myth," he snorted.
"Jack, like I said, we don't have time for this. Use your Vortex Manipulator to scan my DNA," the tenth Doctor ordered.
Jack smirked again and decided to play along. He held up his wrist and switched the manipulator to scan mode. Jack's grin slowly faded to be replaced by a confused frown. The manipulator was taking an awfully long time to match this guy's DNA in the species database. Eventually, the device on Jack's wrist beeped and beamed a holographic representation of the Doctor's DNA above his wrist. Below the strange, ever shifting representation of this man's DNA were the words, "Time Lord."
Jack noticed that the group around him had become unnaturally quiet. He couldn't blame them. It wasn't everyday a being out of legend turned up in a hotel on the New Vegas strip. Jack looked up and saw that the others weren't even looking at the holo display, but rather at something behind him. Jack closed the leather flap over his manipulator and turned around. What he saw stunned him as much as it did the others.
John "Lewis" stepped out of the bathroom with a satisfied smile on his face. As soon as he got out the door, he used his finger to drag along the top of his tongue. "Great sex, but I hate getting fur in my mouth," he muttered. When he got the offending bit of fur off his tongue, he looked over and saw Jack with the big breasted woman and her dorky friend, the Doctor.
John hurried over to his partner and froze a few steps from him when another man stepped around Jack. The man looked like a mirror image of himself. The only difference between them was the color of their hair. The two men walked towards each other and stopped an arm's length away.
Spike raised his right hand at the same time John had decided to raise his left. They switched hands and waved in unison. To see if this really was a duplicate of himself, Spike changed and put his vampire game face on. His brows developed ridges, his eyes changed to a feral yellow, and his fangs descended. The other man yelped and backed away quickly, his face still human. John tried to reach for his sonic pistol, but Spike's hand moved inhumanly fast and trapped the other man's hand at his waist. "Don't," was the only thing Spike said before releasing John's hand and shifting his face to look human again.
The tenth Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and took readings of first Spike and then his look alike. He looked at the screwdriver and his eyes widen in shock for just an instant. "That's interesting," he muttered.
Spike and John replied in unison, "What's interesting?"
The tenth Doctor hastily put his sonic screwdriver back in his jacket pocket. "Um... I'll have to explain later," he said lamely. He had decided that he would wait until John was out of earshot to tell Spike what he had learned. "Right now, we have to go find a fat, blue man who has the segment on him," he explained.
Jack looked at the tall, skinny Doctor curiously. "Dorium?" he inquired.
The tenth Doctor smiled at Jack. "Yes, that's him. Some shark faced being kidnapped him with the help of some vampires," he replied.
"Vampires? What the hell are you talking about?" John swore.
In response, Spike put on his game face again and raised his hand. "Oh... vampires," John said hastily and backed away. Spike changed his face back and took Buffy's hand.
"What the hell is Teeth doing here?" Spike moaned. He had borrowed some "currency" from the shark faced creature back when he was still missing his soul. The fact that said currency had been a dozen adorable kittens was one of the things Spike was least proud of. Spike had paid off his debt and had hoped that he would never have to see the chum breathed bastard again.
The tenth Doctor cocked his head to the side and looked at Spike. "You know this creature?" he inquired.
Spike looked down at his shoes, ashamed of his dealings with the loan shark. "Teeth is a shark demon that I hoped I would never have to meet again. I had made a deal with him and it would have been dishonorable to kill him after I paid off my debt," he explained.
The sixth Doctor rolled his eyes. "Demons...," he scoffed.
The tenth Doctor shrugged his shoulders and stated, "Trans-dimensional aliens." The sixth Doctor responded with a knowing nod of his head.
Jack chuckled before speaking. "The boss always warned me that whenever you showed up, things got... complicated," he told the tenth Doctor. When he saw the Time Lord start to ask a question he added playfully, "Sorry, Doc... spoilers." Jack sobered up and asked, "Any idea where they took Dorium?"
The tenth Doctor pulled out the segment tracer and watched the blue end of the needle swing to the left and then down. "That way," he told the group.
The sixth Doctor shook his head gravely. "That's not good," he muttered. He looked at his older self who was straining to remember the layout of the New Vegas drift station. "Senile... I knew it," he muttered when the tenth Doctor drew a blank. Before he could sense she was moving, Faith had stepped behind the sixth Doctor and smacked him on the back of the head. "Owe!" he swore as he rubbed the rapidly appearing bruise.
"I've had just about enough of your shit," Faith told the sixth Doctor. "Tell me what's down there in five words or less or I'm going to jump start your next regeneration early," she warned coldly.
The sixth Doctor didn't have the courage to try a response like the one Spike had given Buffy during their last year in Sunnydale. Instead, he sheepishly replied, "Docking bays."
Buffy and Faith looked to the tenth Doctor for a better explanation. John butted in and was able to sum things up concisely. "Nice place to dispose of a body. Air is evacuated out of the landing bay and whoosh, the body is shot out into space," he explained.
"Come, on," the tenth Doctor suggested. "I saw a service lift a few blocks from here," he explained as he ran out of the hotel. The rest of the group hurried after them.
********DrW********
Faith and Buffy took turns leap frogging down the passage way that led to the private docking bays. Buffy was in the lead when she halted suddenly and held up her right fist. Faith crept up next to her and looked down the side passage they had reached. They saw two vampires standing guard in front of a large blast door. Both halves of the retracting door had a small window in it that the vampires were blocking with their bodies. Faith was about to rush down the long hall, but Buffy stopped her with a hand on her chest.
"Look at the vamp on the right," Buffy suggested. The vampire had his hand resting near a mauve colored panel. They had both traveled with the Doctor long enough to know that where humans used the color red as a warning, the rest of the universe preferred to use mauve. "They'll press the alarm long before we can get to them," Buffy groused.
Spike silently made his way up to the slayers. His vampire hearing had picked up on their conversation. "Don't worry. I've got this one," he told his wife. He pulled out a wooden stake he had stored in a special pocket of his jacket, much like the one the Doctor used for his sonic screwdriver. "May I borrow 'Mr. Pointy', Pet?" he asked Buffy. Without even a hint of hesitation, she handed her husband her favorite stake. Spike tucked a stake up each sleeve of his tuxedo jacket and then put on his game face.
Spike strolled around the corner like he hadn't a care in the world. He smiled and nodded his head at the other vampires. The two guards nodded back in reply. "I just got off a transport and heard this was the place to go if a bloke like us needed work," he lied. Spike kept his smile plastered on his face until he stood right in front of the guards.
The vampire on the right smiled at Spike, showing off a perfect set of white teeth. "You got that right, brother. All the blood we can drink and a fairly decent dental plan," he replied.
Spike made a face that showed he was interested. Without warning, he relaxed the hold he had on the end of his sleeves and the two stakes dropped into his palms. The other vampires had just enough time to give Spike a startled look before he drove the stakes through their hearts. Twin clouds of dust settled to the floor as Spike spun the stakes around in his hands. "Coast is clear," he called out behind him.
Buffy skipped down the corridor, took "Mr. Pointy" back, and kissed her husband on the cheek. "I love you. Even if you did use to cheat at kitten poker," she whispered.
The rest of the group caught up to them and they took turns peeking through the windows. "I count 35 fang boys in there," Faith told the others after she stepped away from the window.
Jack looked through the window and verified Faith's count of the enemy. "Yep, I see a whole bunch of 'vampires', a level 6 aquatic humanoid, and a blue guy who needs to cut back on the calories," he relayed before stepping away himself. "So, anything special we should know about vampires?" he inquired.
Buffy pointed to Spike. "They're about 4 times as strong as an average human, almost that much quicker, and the only way to kill them is a wood stake through the heart, decapitation, or burning them," she responded.
Jack and John shared a smile and then drew out their sonic pistols. They made a few adjustments before John said, "Decapitation it is."
The tenth Doctor put his hand on John's arm. "Sorry, John, but I need you to stay here and keep an eye on the other me and Peri," he told him.
The sixth Doctor sputtered and stamped a foot in anger. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "I can be of tremendous use in there," he protested.
Faith stepped in front of the sixth Doctor and for once her eyes weren't hostile. "You're not a warrior," she pointed out. "This needs to be quick and clean if we want to rescue the blueberry in there. You would only slow us down," she told him.
The sixth Doctor wasn't about to give in that easy. "Oh... and I suppose that heis a warrior?" he asked sarcastically, pointing at his older self. The tenth Doctor locked eyes with the sixth Doctor. The tired, pain filled look in the tenth Doctor's eyes shut up the sixth one like a mute button. The sixth Doctor was the first to look away, scared of what he had seen.
Buffy stepped forward and took charge. "Here's the plan. Our Doctor rescues the fat guy. Faith will cover him while the rest of us draw the vamps off them," she told her friends. When no one disagreed, she turned around and reached for the door control.
The shark demon known as Teeth, chuckled as two of his vampire henchmen held Dorium by the shoulders. "Let's see... what part of you I should bite off first?" he chuckled. "I hear that your species has exceptionally tasty fingers," he taunted.
One of the vampires grabbed Dorium's hand and held it out for Teeth to snack on. The vampire's face suddenly looked surprised. Both he and Teeth had time to glance down and see the point of a wood stake sticking out of his chest before the vampire turned to dust. Once the dust settled, Teeth saw the far hatch was open and a group of humans were running into the cargo hold. Teeth took one look at the blond vampire standing shoulder to shoulder with a petite, blonde woman and ran off to hide behind some cargo crates. He had no idea how they were at this point in Time and Space, but the loan shark still remembered what Spike and the Slayer looked like.
The vampire that was still holding onto Dorium spun around just in time to get kicked in the stomach by Faith with a flying side kick. He was knocked back several feet, giving Faith ample time to regain her balance and snatch up the stake she had just thrown.
The vampire noticed the tall, skinny man who casually walked up and stood next to the brunette with the stake. "I wouldn't if I were you," the tenth Doctor warned.
"Yeah, why not?" the vampire asked sarcastically.
The cold look in the tenth Doctor's eyes made the vampire pause. The tenth Doctor indicated Faith with his hand. "This is Faith Lehane," he said simply. Turning slowly, the tenth Doctor pointed out the rest of his team. "Over there is Spike. Next to him is his wife, Buffy Summers. The bloke on the other side of the room is the Immortal," he said nonchalantly. He made eye contact with the vampire again. "I'm the Doctor," he said, his voice as cold as the Void.
The vampire thought for a brief moment and then jerked his thumb over his shoulder at another door. "I'm... going to go now," he said slowly, stepping backwards. When he was certain he was out of Faith's arm reach, he turned around and ran as fast as his undead legs could carry him.
Faith watched the vampire run off and casually staked another vampire who was trying to sneak up on them. "It's cute how you always try and give the bad guys a chance," she told her boyfriend.
Teeth watched the mayhem being dished out to his henchmen. Buffy and Spike were working together like a well-oiled machine. The dark haired human standing alone was blasting off head after head with his sonic pistol. He estimated it would all be over in minutes and it wasn't going to be his side that won. His enormous mouth widened into a huge, pointed teeth filled smile when he came up with a way to save his own skin before one of the Slayers decided to turn it into a pair of matching handbags. He sprinted to the door where his attackers had come through. When he reached the controls next to the door, he slammed down on the glass covering the emergency fire alarm. The glass broke and Teeth pushed the button as he hopped through the door way. The sliding doors sealed behind him. Teeth turned around and watched through the window as the station responded to a "fire". It was a shame to lose all of his henchmen, but his life was worth way more than theirs in his opinion.
Faith looked up at the ceiling when an alarm sounded and mauve flashing lights started to strobe. She didn't notice the tenth Doctor dropping to the floor and grabbing a hold of a cargo chain bolted into the floor. After a few moments, the gravity in the cargo bay switched so that "down" was now the wall where the exterior bay doors were located. With a thunderous rush of air, the cargo bay door on the wall slid open, evacuating all of the oxygen into space. As she fell towards the open door, Faith managed to turn over and grab the tenth's Doctor leg. Unfortunately for the Doctor, Dorium had done the same thing with his other leg.
Air continued to rush past them as Faith looked up at her boyfriend. She saw that he was starting to lose his grip on the chain that was the only thing keeping them from being blown out into space. Faith shouted over the rushing wind, "Are you sure he has the segment on him?" The tenth Doctor managed to nod his head while he threw everything else he had into keeping them alive. Faith met her boyfriend's eyes and gave him a sad smile. "I love you! Now go save the Universe!" she yelled.
Before the Doctor could say anything, Faith let go of her lover's leg and fell towards the doors and the vacuum beyond them. To the tenth Doctor, Time seemed to slow to a painful crawl. He watched Faith drop towards her death, her eyes glued on him the entire time. She didn't see the man in the black tuxedo dive out of the doors with a cargo strap tied around his chest.
Faith thought her arms were going to be torn out of their sockets when Jack grabbed them. She used her Slayer strength to pull herself towards him and wrap one of her arms around his chest. Together, they pulled themselves out of the doorway and up onto the wall that was now acting like the floor.
The tenth Doctor thanked the Vortex and used his free hand to pull out his sonic screwdriver. He pointed it at the fire suppression controls and hit them with a blast of charged sonic energy. The panel blew apart, spewing sparks in all directions. The main station computer read this as a malfunction of the fire suppression system in cargo bay 78 and decided to override the system. The exterior doors slid shut and the gravity went back to normal. A second rush of air was heard as the room was filled with a breathable atmosphere.
Once there was enough air to waste on things like speaking, the tenth Doctor called out, "Buffy… Spike… are you two all right?" He was worried when he didn't receive an answer. His worries were calmed however when he looked over to the other side of the room and saw Buffy and Spike engaged in a "We just cheated death again" snog.
Teeth watched in horror as the main computer put things back in order. He knew it was only a matter of moments before the doors to the rest of the station would unlock and he would have two very irate Slayers out for his blood. Turning to run, Teeth found himself facing the business end of a sonic pistol. "Wait… what?" was all Teeth managed to say. He had just seen Spike sucking face with the Slayer and now here he was pointing a gun at him. Deciding to try and figure out that trick later, Teeth improvised. "Spiiiike, buddy, pal… you wouldn't shoot an old business associate, would you?" he pleaded.
John's jaw tightened in anger. "You need to know two things before I send you off to that big sushi bar in the sky," he stated coldly. "The first thing is that you just tried to kill my partner and lover," he snarled.
When John didn't go on, Teeth took the bait and asked, "What's the other thing?"
John smiled at Teeth with all of the warmth of midnight stroll on Pluto. "I'm not Spike," he said sweetly as he pulled the trigger. The sonic energy dissipated the molecular bonds holding Teeth's head together. A red mist hung in the air where the shark demon's head used to be as the rest of him fell to the floor. As soon as the doors unlocked, John strode into the cargo bay, not caring if the sixth Doctor or Peri were following.
Faith brushed herself off and pulled Jack to his feet with one hand. She took a moment to brush off his tuxedo as well. "Thanks, Jack," she whispered to him. "It's no wonder why skinny over there thinks of you as his best friend," she told him, indicating the tenth Doctor with a jerk of her head. Jack just flashed his famous smile and walked over to where Dorium and the skinny Time Lord were standing.
Since the tenth Doctor was busy pointing a device with a blue glowing end at the fat man, Jack decided he might as well get his part over with. "I want the data cube you have on you," he told Dorium sternly.
Dorium frowned in confusion. The only data cube he had on him was his weekly grocery list. "Why? What possible use can it be to you?" he inquired.
Jack was thankful Dorium actually had a data cube on him. It had been a calculated risk starting out things like that. "You know exactly which cube I'm talking about," Jack said with a sneer. "In case you've forgotten, it's the one with all of the secret files the Time Agency doesn't want falling into the wrong hands," he told him.
Dorium's frown deepened. He had never liked the Time Agency and wished he really did possess something like that. He could think of at least three do-gooder organizations that would pay handsomely for that kind of information.
"Hand over the data cube… now!" Jack demanded.
Dorium sighed and held out his grocery list cube. Using the skills that had helped him become head of the New Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Dorium kept his expression neutral as Jack palmed him a second data cube when they exchanged the grocery list. "Well I hope you're happy, Time Scout. I was hoping to sell that here in the near future," he pouted.
Jack locked eyes with Dorium. "I'm sure you would have sold it as soon as you could," he stated, letting Dorium know that some of the files would only be relevant for a short time.
Dorium blinked his eyes a little slower than normal to acknowledge he understood what the Time Agency traitor was telling him. Changing gears, Dorium turned to look at Faith and the skinny man pointing the strange contraption at him. "I owe you both my life, and I hate being in debt to anyone," he pouted. "What can I offer you to repay the debt?" he asked, hopeful they would want something easy.
Faith had been watching how the blue end of the segment tracer had moved while her boyfriend had moved it back and forth. The tracer stayed still as long as it was pointing at the floor length robe Dorium was wearing. "I'll take your robe," she said simply.
Again, Dorium found himself frowning in confusion. While the robe had been in his family for as long as they could remember, it had gone out of fashion centuries ago. He only wore it around his quarters went he felt a bit chilled. He slipped off the robe and gladly handed it to Faith. He turned his face and made the mistake of looking the tenth Doctor in the eyes. Dorium's race was mildly Time sensitive and the terrible energies he saw behind those eyes told him exactly who he was dealing with. There was nothing he possessed that could be of any worth to a Time Lord. With a heavy sigh, Dorium crossed his arms over his chest with his palms flat. "I acknowledge life debt to the Lonely God," he said as if the words were extremely sour in his mouth. He could only pray to the great Profit Maker that Destroyer of Worlds would never call in the debt.
The tenth Doctor crossed his arms over his chest with his palms out. He recognized the ritual and knew it would have been a horrible insult to the blue fat man had he not accepted the offering of a life debt. He had no intention of ever calling in the debt, but a small part of his mind filed away the information just in case. When the tenth Doctor dropped his arms, Dorium hurried out of the cargo bay, eager to start lining up buyers for his new acquisition.
Jack watched Dorium waddle away and saw John was standing in a corner with his back turned towards the rest of the group. A blue glow peeking over his shoulder told Jack that John was speaking to their boss over a holo link. Eventually, the blue glowed snapped off and John turned around. His expression was a mix of sadness and anticipation. "New assignment?" Jack asked once John was standing with him.
John nodded his head and looked over his Victorian tuxedo. "At least now I know why the wardrobe guys gave me this suit," he chuckled. He looked up at his partner. "The boss said she wants to talk with you about something back at headquarters and is sending me off on a solo mission," he explained. John input the coordinates into his Vortex Manipulator as he spoke. "At least this is a pretty easy assignment. All I have to do is go back to the 19th century of old Earth, seduce, marry, and then abandon some poor woman. The nice part is the Agency has already set up a large bank account in my name during that period," he said. With a flourish, John pressed the activator button and the orange and white energies of the Vortex started to form a portal off to one side.
Jack kissed his partner before he left. As John was stepping into the portal, Jack shouted, "What's your name for this mission in case I get bored and want to look you up?"
John was fading from view and the group was barely able to make out his reply. "Pratt… John Pratt," he shouted back. Everyone else stared in shock as John vanished into the Vortex.
********DrW********
Buffy and Spike ushered the sixth Doctor and Peri into the TARDIS to give their Doctor, Faith, and Jack some privacy. "Thank you again, Jack," the tenth Doctor told his old friend. "I can't imagine what life would be like without my Slayer," he chuckled.
Faith kissed Jack's cheek. "I owe you one," she told him. When Jack gave her a suggestive smile, she punched him the arm.
Jack rubbed the sore spot while he laughed. "My pleasure. I figured since you're almost as good looking as me, it would have been a crime to let you get blown out into space," he teased. Faith rolled her eyes, kissed Jack's cheek again, and took Dorium's robe into the TARDIS.
Jack watched Faith's butt the entire time she walked into the strange blue box. "If either of you need a bit of variety…" he stated, offering his services.
"Some things never change," the tenth Doctor chuckled. "Before we go, there is something I would like to do for you," the tenth Doctor offered. He rolled his eyes at the eager look Jack gave him. He placed a hand on either side of Jack's head and closed his eyes, concentrating.
Jack winced in pain as he felt his mental shields brushed aside with a ridiculous amount of ease. When the Doctor dropped his hands, Jack shook his head to clear it. "What the hell was that for?" he demanded.
"I just made a secure backup of your memories," the tenth Doctor replied. "Because they're encrypted, the memory wipe will just pass them by," he explained. "Eventually your own mind will decipher it and you'll regain your memories," he told him.
Jack looked around to make sure there was no one in ear shot. "You know then… what's going to happen," he surmised.
The tenth Doctor put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Yes, and for what's it's worth, your plan works. The Time Agency is dismantled," he promised. Jack's shoulders relaxed. "One other thing, Jack," the Doctor stated. "I just want you to know that I'm proud of you," he said and pulled his friend in for a hug.
When they broke the hug Jack was awestruck. The last Time Lord had just told him that he was proud of him. Jack felt like he could accomplish anything. As the tenth Doctor walked into the TARDIS, Jack called out, "How long will it take for my memories to return?"
The tenth Doctor stopped in the doorway. "I had to ensure the memory wipe wouldn't find them, so I had to encrypt them pretty heavily. It could take up to 2,300 years for you sort them all out," he replied.
Jack looked crestfallen. "Fat lot of good that will do me then," he sighed.
The tenth Doctor smiled cryptically at Jack. "Oh… I don't know about that. You have all the time in the world," he said and ducked into the TARDIS.
Jack stepped back a few steps when he heard an odd sliding and grinding noise coming from the blue box. The odd conveyance slowly faded out of sight revealing a poster than had been blocked by the TARDIS. It read, "The Time War Museum. See artifacts from the legendary war including the remains of the last Dalek. Coming soon to the New Excalibur Hotel."