Episode 5 - An Unexpected Visit

Our travels through the Multiverse had been going on for some time when this story commences. Janias and Camilla were cuddling each other on the stairs near the TARDIS Control, waiting for me to bring us to our next destination. I was hard at work on the TARDIS controls. "So, my dears, where to next?", I asked. "Risa, perhaps? We've yet to party crash Emperor Vir, I wouldn't mind visiting Centauri Prime for that."

"It's your TARDIS," Cami remarked. "Just don't get us chased around."

"Where's your sense of adventure, girls?"

"I left it with those maniacs who wanted our skulls for a skull throne," Janias said drolly.

"Oh yes. Chaos types, not very fun at all, was that?" I sighed and pressed a switch. "Well, I shall try to give us a random..."

Suddenly the TARDIS shifted under us, a sudden tremor that might have knocked me off my feet. It began to shake. "Oi, what's wrong now?" I ran a hand over the controls while checking a screen. "What's wrong, dear? You normally run so well. You can tell your Doctor."

"You're talking to it again," Camilla laughed.

"Well, yes. She needs someone to," I countered, checking another switch. "Oh, a right knotty distortion in the dimensions. She's giving my girl a little indigestion. We'll just set her down and get our bearings." I flipped a couple of switches and pushed the lever to shift the TARDIS out of the Time Vortex. I stepped up to the TARDIS door and opened it.

I took only one step out to get my bearings, but by then the rest of my brain was processing my environs. To my left was a desk with a computer monitor on it, early 21st Century, and a colorful but featureless painting hung above it. As I looked around and noticed equipment and table space and cabinets, it occurred to me that the vista was eerily familiar. Beyond an open sliding glass door was another section, with visible shelving and equipment, and a door open to a corridor with brown - maybe brownish red or even a darker orange - siding.

"What is this, some sort of lab?", Camilla asked from beside me.

Lab. The word struck through me. The fact that I had to hear it over a constant background of heavy metal music made my mind connect the dots.

Before I could verbalize this, someone stepped around from the other side of the open sliding glass door. A woman, white lab coat, dark hair in pigtails, light green eyes, some fetching tattoos on the visible bits of her skin... yes yes, and the spiked dog collar too.

And, of course - of course! - a big red plastic cup straight from a convenience store with "CAF-POW!" written on it.

I remember thinking that this was not exactly a destination I had ever had in mind. The mere fact it was happening was bringing me a headache. This kind of world was really not compatible with a Time Lord running about with an alien Jedi girl and her girlfriend. Materializing in such a secure location was an extra headache.

I looked at our hostess and saw her struggling to find words. I forced a smile to my face. "Clearly, my dear, you have had far too much caffeine today and are seeing things. I really think you should lay off the CAF-POW! for a while, Abby."

That got me a confused stare. "How... how did you know my name was...?"

Beside me Camilla spoke up immediately. "Well, we're in your head, right? Why wouldn't we?"

Clever girl.

"Just go have a lie down for a while, get your blood sugar evened out. I'm sure you'll be fine." I backpedaled into the TARDIS and dashed up to the controls. I hit a couple of controls to make damn sure we materialized somewhere quiet and secluded and in another time period. And then I pulled the lever to get us out of there before the girl could do something like grab us before we dematerialized. "That was a close one," I breathed.

"Who was that, Doctor?", Camilla asked.

"Oh, someone I've heard of. Honestly, this world isn't quite the right place for us to be openly moving the TARDIS about..." I pushed open the TARDIS door and...

It was a primarily white room. There were three metal exam tables and a tray with various instruments that were used for the business of, well, cutting a dead body open. At a desk in the far corner, two men - one fairly young, the other late in his middle aged years - peered at us through their glasses. Looks of extreme befuddlement were on their faces.

I let out a deep sigh. "Well, clearly this isn't from too much caffeine," I said. "Perhaps you gentlemen have a gas leak or some such thing. Really should look into that, Doctor Mallard. Please, take care. And please, do keep the bowties. Bowties are cool."

And so I backpedaled into the TARDIS yet again and triple checked my coordinate settings and hit the lever once more.

When we stepped out, we were in an office, a big one, with a plasma screen and a picture of an African-descended woman and children... "Oh bugger," I grumbled, recognizing the office and just who inhabited it. The girls didn't get a chance to see outside of the TARDIS before I slammed the door in frustration and went back to the controls. "Why won't you leave?! This isn't the place for us, we shouldn't be here!" In frustration I shifted even more controls, targeting us back to Air Acolyte Island of all things. And then I pulled the lever.

I opened the door and for the briefest moment the appearance of sunlight gave me hope it'd worked. But that hope was dashed when I saw a clear view of a river and structures beyond... through the panes of windows set into a brick wall. Desks were arrayed in front of the TARDIS on either side, all four occupied, with at least one big plasma monitor to the left and other examples of decent technology for the early 21st Century.

Four sets of eyes focused on me. I looked into the faces of each and recognized every one of them. The one nearest to my left was holding his phone to his head. "Abby, I think I believe you now..."

And the man nearest to me on the other side stood and faced me directly. He said nothing. He didn't need to. His attention was enough to speak volumes.

I looked back up at my TARDIS and noticed other faces looking up and over cubicle walls or from other spots on the floor and the one above. I let out a breath and conceded defeat. For the TARDIS to be this bloody stubborn, something was going terribly wrong and it wanted me here to fix it.

So I looked back to the man. "Hello. NCIS Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, I presume?"

I got a laconic "Yeah".

"I'm the Doctor. And I'm afraid that something very, very wrong is happening to your world."

Everytime I've had to bring up the issue of six dimensions and everything existing and other such, I've found myself wishing I had Bob - as in the one living in a skull on Harry Dresden's lab shelf - with me to explain it. It gives me headaches.

So we're all there, in the main squadroom of NCIS Headquarters. I have the entirety of Team Gibbs focusing on me. Behind me the girls are still standing in the threshold of the TARDIS, trying to find out what's going on.

At that point, so was I. This... this did not work. I'm not sure why some cosmoses fail to explore ways to bend reality, technologically or magically, but some do. Perhaps they are more metaphysically "solid". But what I did know was that this cosmos was one of them.

I was literally not supposed to be here. It threatened existential issues of all sorts to crop up.

"I'm listening." The look on Gibbs' face didn't change.

"Right," I muttered. "Something's hinky in your world. Don't ask me what, I haven't figured that out yet." I stepped forward and looked over to Timothy McGee, still on the phone with Abby. "You. You're the one most likely to be open to these things."

"Open to what?", he asked.

"The Nerd Side of the Force, obviously." Down from him, Tony DiNozzo was smirking a little.

Behind me, Janias asked "Doctor, what's going on?". She stepped out with Cami behind her.

I heard Ziva David ask, "Why is she... green?"

Yes, Janias stepped out without her holographic belt.

I turned to glare at her over that, but she preempted me. "We appeared out of thin air, Doctor. I think it's too late. So yes, everyone, I'm a Mirialan, not a Human."

Naturally, Tony had to chime in with a remark. "You look Human enough to me."

Janias looked to him and narrowed her eyes. "I'm not going to like you, am I?"

"Probably not," I said. "Now..."

Gibbs' phone took the moment to ring. He answered it with his name and listened to the other speaker. "Yeah, Duck, I know."

I looked to him. "If that's Doctor Mallard, can you ask him up here with his stethoscope?"

"Hey Duck, bring your stethoscope up to my desk. Got something for you." He hung up and looked back to me. "I'm still waiting, Doctor."

"Yes. Well, the short of it is that I was going through the Time Vortex with my TARDIS, we hit a dimensional distortion and I took her out of the Vortex to get our bearings and here we are. My TARDIS now refuses to leave your offices. And the only reason she would do that is if..."

"Wait, you mean your wooden box is alive?", Tony asked.

"Yes, actually," I replied. "As I was saying, a pan-dimensional disruption of unknown origin led me to stop here. I'm now imagining the two are related, so..."

"Oh my God!"

I breathed in a tolerant sigh at the new interruption. Abby, it seemed, had made her way up and was in sight of the TARDIS now. "Is that it? is that really...?"

Gibbs stepped back from the entrance where he had been looking inside. "It's smaller on the outside," he remarked, looking up at the top of the TARDIS.

I smirked. "Yes, you would be the one to put it that way, wouldn't you?" In the distance I heard the elevator open. "Before we start getting too chaotic... yes, Abby, it is the TARDIS. Yes, you can look, Janias will make sure you don't get lost." I looked over at Gibbs. "Presuming you are given permission."

"Not at the moment, not until you give me some answers."

Now you can imagine that the scene was getting more and more chaotic. I had eyes looking at us everywhere and voices rising up shock. I was already trying to figure out what had happened; now I was letting the sheer insanity of the situation become distracting to the pressing issue.

A loud whistle broke through the clamor. "Hey!" All eyes turned to Gibbs. "We'll handle this. Get back to work."

He was obeyed. Of course he was. The man's reputation was enough to cause that.

"Thank you," I breathed.

"Don't, I'm not through with you yet," Gibbs replied.

Before I could ask more, Doctor Mallard - who for simplicity's sake I shall call Ducky for now on - rounded the corner. He looked at me and to the TARDIS. Our eyes met. "Well," he said, "I should be thankful that you are actually there."

It occurred to me that for a man who's mother was suffering from, among other things, severe dementia, seeing the TARDIS would have prompted all sorts of unhappy possibilities for the actual cause.

"Yes. I'm afraid I'm having difficulty with my TARDIS today."

"I liked you better when you had the scarf."

"I sort of liked the leather jacket that the Ninth wore," Tim added.

"Just what are you talking about?", Ziva asked them.

"Our good Doctor is supposed to be a television series character," Ducky explained. "One that I grew up with. So it makes me wonder just what his explanation for this is."

I smiled thinly. "Understandably. I shall enjoy explaining, but I think it best if we confirm my nature." Because of my height I leaned against Tim McGee's desk and partially unbuttoned my shirt. "If you would please listen to my hearts beat?"

Ducky put the instrument over his ears and applied the sensor end to my chest. At my indication he put it on the other side as well. I saw his face go blank. "Oh dear."

"What?" The question was from Ziva, who looked the most lost. I recalled her upbringing in Israel probably left her the least likely to know who I was supposed to be.

"He has two hearts," Ducky said. "How is that possible?"

"I'm a Time Lord. Well, a TIme Lord now..." I sighed. "Honestly, it's a very long story and Agent Gibbs is more interested in why I'm here, a question that I'm admittedly fairly vexed in as well."

"Maybe it was Professor Ratigan," Tony proposed humorously, his emphasis including a very bad impersonation of my voice. When we all looked at him he sat up in his chair. "Come on. Barrie Ingham, 'The Great Mouse Detective'. Vincent Price himself as the nefarious Professor... " Gibbs leveled a Look toward Tony. "Shutting up now, boss."

"If only sewer rats were the extent of the problem," I muttered. I had to admit... thinking of my voice at the time, I did sound fairly close to how Ingham voiced Basil of Baker Street. I found that profoundly odd. "Has anything bizarre happened lately?", I asked. Seeing their looks, I quickly amended, "Besides me."

"Define bizarre, sir," Ducky said.

"People who look like they're in the wrong time period," I replied. "Mysterious security breaches or computer behavior, some indication that someone has time traveled or that there is a temporal rift of some sort."

"That's not really something in our jurisdiction," Tim pointed out. "Unless you're suggesting that an aircraft carrier is about to go through a time warp or something, I'm not sure we'd have anything to do with it."

"'Final Countdown', Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen. Good reference, probie."

"Is he always like this?", Cami asked Ziva. She was answered with a nod.

"Have there been any recent incidents with particle colliders?", I asked. "It's a long shot, but there's always a possibility that they could have caused a space-time tear."

Tim shook his head. "Uh, none that I've heard of."

"Maybe you're not just thinking fourth-dimensionally," Tony suggested in his best Christopher Lloyd voice.

I turned my head toward him. "I give you credit for the Doc Brown impersonation, but I'm a Time Lord. Our brains are made for thinking fourth dimensionally. Besides, I don't think you're one to talk. The only dimensions you're interested in are Jan's and Cami's. You shouldn't bother, Agent DiNozzo, they're not your type."

"And how would you know, Doctor?", he asked.

Ziva beat us to the answer. "Because they're already together, Tony."

"Very observant, Agent David," I concurred.

My Companions let out a giggle and held hands.

"Both. Hrm." Tony seemed to give it a thought. "That would be tricky."

"Drop it, DiNozzo," Gibbs said. "So, Doctor, care to explain just what you are?"

"I'm a Human from an Earth much like your's," I answered. "I was abducted by an unknown force, planted in a situation where I was sure to get killed, and then getting killed caused me to regenerate and become a Time Lord. I've been mentally violated so that I slowly lose my personal memories of my old life and provided the means and tools to cause me to intentionally and unintentionally transform into a psychological doppelganger of the Doctor. So yes, Doctor Mallard, I am probably quantifiably mad at this point."

It's surprising how hard it hurt to say that, to remember the memories slipping into that black hole in my head. I made myself focus on the issue at hand.

"Maybe you should find another name then," Ziva said.

I didn't answer. I didn't want to answer. I focused on the problem, staring at their blank plasma screen. "The TARDIS wants to be here. Something about the problem, or the solution to it, is here. Are you sure there is nothing bizarre going on?"

"The only thing bizarre around here is the weather," Tony scoffed.

I hmphed... and then I stopped. "The weather," I said. I whirled around and faced Tony. "What's wrong with the weather?"

"Record lows across the Mid-Atlantic," he replied. "We're in May and we hit freezing last night."

Tim nodded. "Yeah, it's been real weird. It's warmer in Maine right now."

"So you're having colder temperatures than normal." I started moving my right hand index finger. "For how long?"

"About two weeks," Gibbs answered.

"Then... that might be something. I need to see weather data." I turned to where Abby was standing outside the TARDIS doors, a pleading look on her face. "Abby! I need your lab!"

"Do I get a ride?", she asked.

"That depends." I looked to the man who was her boss in spirit if not in truth. "Does she get a ride, Agent Gibbs?"

"So long as you get that thing out of our squadroom," Gibbs replied.

"Alright! A ride it is." I went to the TARDIS door. Abby hopped through - yes hopped - with Gibbs behind her and my Companions following, Ducky taking up the rear. "Welcome aboard the TARDIS," I said. I looked back to Ducky. "I'm no Tom Baker, but I hope you'll forgive me."

"I was a Pertwee lad myself," Ducky answered.

"Ah. And a Sarah Jane lad too, I imagine." I went to the controls. "Everyone loved Sarah Jane."

Tim stood at the door and began peeking in. Moments later Tony and Ziva were right behind him.

Before I could invite them, Gibbs looked back. He breathed what seemed to be a sigh of resignation. "Come on."

And so I had everyone piled aboard the TARDIS at that point. They spread out around the Control Center while I began tweaking very carefully with the coordinates. Janias was kind enough to close the door. With the Force, admittedly.

"Wait, how did she do that?", Ziva asked.

"I was a Jedi Padawan once," Janias answered.

That earned her the attention of both Tim and Tony. I raised a finger. "No, DiNozzo. No Sir Alec impersonations, no Yoda. Harry Dresden was bad enough." I was privately thankful that after the whole business with Harry Dresden and some of his Jedi remarks I'd finally sat down with Janias and Camilla to explain things involving six dimensions of space-time and the power of thought.

"Whatever you say, Doc." Tony went up toward the controls.

I only noticed this afterward; one moment I was busy locking in the coordinate change to take us to Abby's lab, the next a wailing came from the TARDIS systems. I looked over to see Tony's hand still toggling a knob, now moving it the other way. I went over, hit a switch, and took the knob myself to move it back into place. The wailing stopped before I let myself take a breath. I brought my finger up toward Tony's face. "This is not a toy," I said through clenched teeth. "You almost disengaged the locks on the Time Vortex. That would be a very bad thing."

"How bad?", he asked.

"The Eastern Seaboard would stop worrying about the weather because there'd be a black hole big enough to destroy Belgium in here," I answered. "General announcement for everyone: If I have not personally shown you how to operate the TARDIS, do not touch anything."

With the exception of Gibbs, everyone found themselves pulling their hands back to their sides. Even Ducky.

"Now. On to Abby's lab." I pulled back on the lever and allowed the VWORPing of the TARDIS engine to speak for itself. When we were done I opened the TARDIS door. We were right where I'd first arrived in this cosmos. I didn't bother looking back to see everyone off. I went right into the main part of the lab and the computers. Abby was right on my tail. "I need weather data for the past two weeks."

"What kind?", she asked.

"Everything. Temperature, air currents, storm activity."

"Just give me a moment."

While she did that I took out my sonic screwdriver and went to her other computer. I brought the screwdriver up to the monitor and turned it on. A small purple light played over it and the monitor flickered. "Wait, what are you doing to my computers?", Abby asked, sounding rather territorial.

"Nothing permanent, my dear," I answered. "I'm establishing a link to the TARDIS and her systems. We're going to need it."

"Okay. Well, I'm getting your weather data."

I looked over at her computer while, on the other side of the table, the rest of the team and my Companions were seeing the result up on the big monitor. "Look at that." I pointed my finger to the map. A ridge of cold air was stuck in the Eastern Seaboard region, roughly from Massachusetts to the Carolinas, but only a few hundred miles wide.

"It's got meteorologists across the world stumped," Abby told me. "They can't think of what's wrong."

"I can," I said. "Something's drawing thermal energy from the atmosphere. Abby, can you run a time lapse from the start of the weather pattern? I want it in a continual loop."

"Already on it, Doctor," she answered. She let out a giggle. "This is so cool."

"Oh, it's always cool," I agreed. I used the sonic to finish the hookup and tie the weather data into the TARDIS' own sensors. "Look at that..."

"It's actually growing," Ziva said, watching the big screen with the others.

"Yes," I said. "And now..." I ran the sonic over it one more time, merging the time loop data with the data from my TARDIS.

"What are you doing?"

"Thinking fourth-dimensionally, Agent DiNozzo," I answered. "I'm using the TARDIS to determine the flow of temporal energy, quantum fields... various timey-wimey stuff that happens when you move in six dimensions."

Before our eyes the patterns merged. The change in winds, the change in temperatures, the storm activity from warm air hitting cold... it all flowed in with the data from the TARDIS, with a growing patch of reds and yellows right over the Eastern Seaboard.

"I was afraid of this," I murmured. "It's a temporal rift of some form. It's literally sucking the heat right out of the atmosphere."

"Then why aren't we popsicles yet?", Tony asked.

"Because the energy flow isn't high enough yet," Tim answered before I could.

"That's the key word, Timothy. Yet. It's getting bigger, and it's going to keep getting bigger and drawing out more thermal energy. Ladies and gentlemen..." I drew in a breath. "What you're looking at is nothing less than the end of life on Earth. When it grows big enough it'll draw up every bit of thermal energy on the planet. The Earth will become a frozen, lifeless ball. And then your solar system will be next. Granted, you won't be around to worry about it..." I looked over at the assembled quartet of Team Gibbs, all of whom were quite speechless at the moment. "Not exactly tracking a drug smuggling ring on a naval base, is it?"

"Yeah," was the laconic reply I got from Gibbs. "Although that doesn't explain why your... doodad wanted to come to us."

"I know. The weather data is something I could have gotten elsewhere." I was examining the map closely, thinking of it. "Unless... the epicenter is here, see?" I pointed to what looked to be a suburban area under a splotch of dark red. Abby, from her controls, zoomed in on it, showing us streets. "If I can find the origin point of the tear I can think of how to deal with it."

And then I thought of it. I realized what I'd been missing.

"Your databases," I murmured. "You keep an updated database of current and former military personnel, correct? For people who were involved in cases that may yet require contact with them?"

"Yes," Tim answered. He looked over at me. "You think the answer is in there?"

"Abby, run a search on that area." Gibbs pointed to the map. "Inactive, active, retired, I don't care. We need the name now."

"Running it now... woh, I already have a match."

"I had the TARDIS give you a little extra processing power through the link," I confessed.

"Alright, we've got a couple hits in the area." I heard Abby's keyboard clacking. Dots appeared on the map. Most were centered around the epicenter.

Only one was dead on the center.

"I need that one, Abby," I said, pointing to it.

"Okay, bringing it up now. Wow, I've got two hits on that address."

"Let's see 'em," Gibbs said.

We stood side by side as the images appeared on the screen. Recognition flickered in Gibbs' eyes and I know they did in mine as well. Tony looked over at us. "Hey boss, haven't we met that guy before?"

"Yes we have, DiNozzo," Gibbs answered.

I nodded. As I did so pieces fell into place and I realized I'd forgotten something.

Despite my earlier remarks about the NCIS team living in a cosmos that was more "metaphysically solid"... in truth there had been instances of metaphysical power used in this cosmos before. They just hadn't been linked to Gibbs and NCIS.

"According to our records, that address is the home of two retired officers," Abby announced. "Captain Harmon Rabb and Lieutenant Colonel Sarah MacKenzie Rabb, formerly of the Judge Advocate General's Office."

"Well well well," I murmured. "Now things are getting interesting."

I credit Gibbs for his decisiveness. In seconds he was looking to his people. "Grab your gear," he ordered.

They all went straight for the elevator without a moment's hesitation.

I turned toward him as he went to follow. "Quite a drive," I remarked.

"I imagined you'd be driving, Doctor."

"Ah." I nodded. "Very well. I have to wonder just what you're intending to do, however? Arrest it?" At that moment I supposed that if anyone other than Sir Samuel Vimes would try to arrest a temporal tear, it'd be Agent Gibbs. "Temporal rifts are not known for their chattiness no matter how hard one glares at them."

"Yeah." He looked at me and smirked. "What I'm wondering is how else you're going to get two ace lawyers to open their doors to a crazy English guy with a police box."

He had a good point, I had to admit. "Touchè."

Gibbs went on to get his own gear. Abby looked at me with hopeful eyes. I had to shake my head. "I need someone here, Abby, monitoring the rift while I look for the source."

"Awww."

"If we stop the planet from freezing I'll take you for a ride. Promise." I winked at her and brought my sonic out. "Your phone?" When she handed it to me I ran the sonic over it for a moment. "I added the TARDIS to your contacts. It'll work so long as I'm in range of the cell network. Keep me appraised of any change to the rift." I put my hands on her shoulders. "I can't stress this enough, Abby. I need you here, hyped up on Caf-POW!, keeping an eye on this thing. The fate of the world may depend on it."

"Uh, yeah." She nodded. "Fate of the world, wow."

"I know. Exciting, isn't it?" I winked and nodded to Ducky. "Doctor Mallard, I believe in being prepared. Would you mind joining us? Camilla will show you our medical kit."

"With stakes like this, how could I refuse to help the Doctor?", Ducky answered with a knowing smile.

"That's a good chap."

He walked past me. I was looking toward the elevator when I heard him ask, "Say, before you were a Time Lord, where did you come from?"

I smirked. "Florida." I turned to see his face. "Yes, Doctor Mallard. I was a Yank. Still am a bit of one, I imagine. I have to admit, I prefer my voice and accent now to what I had then."

"Who wouldn't?" He let out a laugh and let Camilla show him into the TARDIS. I followed with Janias.

When Gibbs and his people returned, carrying their packs for field investigations, I was already finishing the coordinates. "Alright everyone, hold on. This isn't a short hop and we may have some turbulence flying so close to the tear's center."

"Ha!" Tony smirked. "We ride military transport aircraft, it can't get worse than that."

I rested my face in my palm for a moment. "Don't say that, please, it's like you're asking for it to go bad." I took the lever on the controls and pulled.

Immediately the TARDIS bucked under my feet. Everyone grabbed for rails; Tony missed it and fell flat on his face. "Hold on everyone!", I shouted, pulling myself back to the control. The TARDIS shook like it was in the fist of an angry God.

"I think this is worse than military transports!", I heard Tim shout.

"Doctor, is everything okay?", Camilla asked. "I've never seen it this bad!"

"The tear is rippling into the Vortex, I'm trying to stabilize it!" I wrestled with a control and twisted a knob into place, struggling to stay on my feet. My screens flashed yellow and then to green. "There we go!" I pushed the lever and shifted the TARDIS back into normal space-time. The shaking stopped. "And here were are. Everyone okay?"

I heard a chorus of affirmative replies. Tony got back to his feet and looked toward me. "You're right Doc. Shouldn't have spoken too soon."

"I get the feeling, Agent DiNozzo, that not speaking is something you do only at great difficulty." That got me a "Ha!" from Ziva.

We stepped out of the TARDIS and into chilly weather, far too chilly for the season. I found myself looking at the front of a fairly nice house. It was an older one but with attention paid to it that made it clear that it was a cherished home. "Boss, I'm having trouble with the GPS," Tim said.

"The tear is starting to affect other wavelengths," I said. "That's not a good sign."

"You just told us the world was going to freeze," Ziva pointed out. "There can't be any worse signs than that, Doctor."

"Good point, Agent David. Good point. Well, Agent Gibbs, you indicated you know Rabb, perhaps you should knock on the door."

"Sure. And how do you think I should explain a full NCIS team at his door?"

"I suppose Doctor Mallard can always lend them the stethoscope to listen to my two hearts," I replied. "That always seems to do the trick. No, not this time... I just need a moment to scan with the sonic. At the door will be fine."

"And if you need to go inside?", Gibbs asked.

"I'll just have to be charming," I answered. "With you along to foster some trust, perhaps."

"Rabb and I didn't exactly see eye to eye."

"Yes, but isn't Mrs. Rabb one of your fellow teufelshunde? Sure some camaraderie there..." We got up to the door. I had the sonic out and was already running it around the frame of the door. There were telltale traces of temporal energy, a bit higher than I would have imagined.

The door opened. Harmon Rabb looked like the years were being kind to him, with just some sign of wrinkling around his eyes to mark his age as over forty. He was, unsurprisingly, in a gray T-shirt and brown sweatpants - casual wear for working around the house. I could see he was fairly tired and formed ideas as to why. "Can I help you?", he asked, looking toward me as I ran the sonic over the gap in the door.

"Captain Rabb, I'm..."

"NCIS Agent Gibbs. Yes, I remember." Harm didn't take his eyes off me. "And... okay, what are you doing?"

"Scanning," I replied. Seeing Gibbs' look I lowered the sonic. "Oh, hello Mister Rabb. I'm the Doctor. We apologize for bothering you today but we've come on a matter of great importance. May I speak to your charming wife?"

Harm stared at me for a moment. He looked at Gibbs. "Is there any reason you've brought half a dozen field agents to my house, Agent Gibbs?"

"Only four, actually," Gibbs corrected. "We're here to help him." He nodded his head toward me as I examined the sonic's readings. "I need you to trust me, Captain."

"Right now, Agent Gibbs, I'm not in the mood," was the reply. Harm crossed his arms.

"Mister Rabb, I understand your profound confusion and irritation, but if I may just speak to..."

A second figure came up to the door, standing only as high as Harm's knee. A boy stared at out us, sharing eyes but not hair or coloration with Harm. His child with Mac, I presumed. "Who are you?", the child asked.

"A visitor," I answered.

"Go back inside, AJ." Harm put a hand on his son's head. "I'm afraid, sir, that my wife isn't feeling very well at the moment. Gibbs, do you have a warrant? If not, I want you to..."

"She's been having headaches for the past two weeks," I said, interrupting him. "And bad dreams when she sleeps. Very bad dreams. Some might even say they are apocalyptic in their content."

That got Harm's attention.

"And furthermore... this was her childhood home, was it not?" I put the sonic away, satisfied as to my readings.

For a moment we stared at each other. "Alright," Harm said. "You can see her."

There was tension in the air as we made our way up the stairs. Harm held an arm out, only permitting Gibbs and I to proceed to the door of the bedroom. "Mac," Harm said softly from the door. "Someone says he needs to see you."

"Yeah?", I heard a tired voice within say. "Tell him to go away."

"He knows about your nightmares, Mac."

There was silence. "Come in," I finally heard her say.

Gibbs and I entered with Ducky at the door. They had the kind of bedroom you imagined an upper middle class American couple would have, maintained with the fastidious neatness one would expect of former military officers. Pictures of their comrades and friends from their days at JAG were on shelves; family pictures were preserved for the main mantle. I recognized their son; there was also a slightly older girl of about four years of age.

Sarah MacKenzie Rabb - still "Mac" to even her husband - was sitting up in bed in a nightrobe and nightgown of lime green. As I remembered, her features spoke of a rich blend of ancestries: Native American, Caucasian, and Iranian, and all contributed to make her a beauty. Wrinkles around her brown eyes and at the sides of her mouth told of the march of time... and perhaps other things more in line with stress. I walked up to her, keeping my sonic in my pocket for the moment. "Hello, Mrs. Rabb. I'm the Doctor. May I call you Mac or would you prefer Sarah?"

"I would prefer "Mrs. Rabb'," she answered testily.

I did not find her hostility unexpected. She was clearly in a bad sorts. "It's been two weeks since the nightmares began. You dream of your family frozen in death and the world covered in frost and snow until there's nothing left alive. Everything is freezing around you. Sometimes you can see it in your waking hours. It's giving you headaches."

The look in her eyes told me I was on the right track.

"You've always had a gift for visions, you couldn't explain it. Past lives, the future, simply things you could not have reasonably known," I continued. "Sometimes you wonder if it's just in your head, but the proof is right there and that sharp legal mind will not let you file it away as delusion."

That earned me a nod.

I had a hunch. "Mrs. Rabb... was this your room when you were a child?"

"Yes." She shook her head. "How do you know all of this?"

"Because I'm familiar with these kinds of things," I answered. "Now, please excuse me." I pulled out my sonic and moved it around the room. The pulsing of the purple light grew as it came upon a wall, now covered by their dresser. "Was there something behind this?", I asked. When they both nodded I added, "May I move it?"

"Here." Harm went to one end. Gibbs looked to the door and barked "DiNozzo, McGee!". They entered and, at a hand motion from Gibbs, went to the other end while he took up the same side as Harm. There were light grunts of effort as they moved the dresser out of the way, blocking the window as they did so.

I looked at the wall and drew in a breath. "And that's always been there?", I asked her.

"Since I was a kid," Mac answered. "My Dad could never fix it. And when we couldn't, we just covered it up."

"Just what is that?", Timothy asked. Everyone was looking at the wall now.

"It's a Crack, Timothy," I replied. "A Crack in the Universe, six dimensions deep." I swallowed. "And it's responsible for this." I looked at it further. It was smaller than the one I'd found in Undertown back on Harry Dresden's Earth. But it was connected to a far larger, far nastier one.

"Wait, what?" Tony shook his head. "You're telling me that little crack is making us freeze in the middle of May. Give me a break, a little work and..." He reached for the Crack to put a finger on it, ignoring the slight white light on the brim.

Or rather he tried, but I grabbed his hand and pulled it back. "Do not touch it," I warned. "If any residual time energy leaks through it could erase you from the world."

"As in kill me?", Tony asked.

"As in make it to where nobody knows you ever existed," I clarified. I turned to face Mac and pointed to the Crack. "That explains you, Mrs. Rabb. It explains the visions. You grew up with this. Every night as you slept, the Crack seeped gentle amounts of temporal energy into your room and straight into your body and your brain. It's given your brain a sort of temporal flux, allowing you to see things that could be, things that are but which you are not in the presence of. This is why you have been having nightmares for the past two weeks. You are linked to it, Mrs. Rabb, and you know what it is going to lead to."

"Just how is this thing responsible for that huge rift you showed us on the map?", Tim asked.

"It's an extension, Timothy," I explained. "Imagine a window crack that has a smaller crack leading off to the side. This is that smaller crack. But it's connected to the larger one." I pointed above us.

"But... why is it starting to freeze us now? If that large Crack has always been there, why did it start drawing in the atmosphere's thermal energy two weeks ago instead of two years ago?"

"I haven't figured that out yet," I admitted.

"I don't believe this," Harm said.

"He's right, Harm," Mac said, rubbing her forehead. "I don't know how, but he's right."

"I hate being right over things like this," I said. "So now we have the problem."

"Yeah, a big one," Gibbs agreed. "How do we fix this thing before it freezes us all to death?"

"Exactly that, Agent Gibbs." I crossed my arms. "And right now I'm not sure how I 'm going to do that."

So, we have a Crack big enough that it made a smaller side Crack that causes a perfectly ordinary woman in a metaphysically "solid" world to experience mental temporal dislocation - psychic visions, if you prefer. The Crack itself has finally manifested in the common spatial dimensions and is busy sucking the heat out of the atmosphere at an increasing pace.

We had stepped out of the bedroom to give the Rabbs some privacy. I was running the numbers in my head, thinking of the data I'd seen so far and what I knew of the cracks and sixth dimensional physics. Remember that just because I make this look effortless sometimes doesn't mean it's not rather difficult. "The TARDIS does not have the power to close the Crack," I outright stated, preempting the question I knew was coming.

"I don't suppose you can nuke it?", Tony asked.

I leveled a look at him. Even as I went to answer, Gibbs' hand came up and whack, it smacked the back of Tony's head. He winced and said, "Sorry, boss, just a thought."

I shook my head. "No, DiNozzo, we cannot nuke it. it would simply feed the Crack more energy."

"Well, just because you can't close a crack doesn't mean you can't seal one," Ziva pointed out. "Could you do that?"

I tapped my finger against my lips, as if telling someone to hush up. "I'm not sure. The key is..."

We were interrupted by Gibbs' phone ringing. He picked it up and answered. After a moment he held it toward me. "For you."

I took it, already expecting who it was. "Abby, what are you seeing?"

"Dark red. Really, really dark red," she answered. "And we're getting reports of cell phones and radios not working anymore. "

"So it's taking in energy on more bandwidths now." I put my free hand on my face, leaning against the wall as I did so. "If it continues to expand into the lower spatial dimensions it may even start drawing in matter."

"It'll be like something out of..."

"If he makes another reference to a movie I'm going to fall to the Dark Side," Janias muttered.

"It's getting worse now. Why..." I looked up. "Of course. Of course. It's the TARDIS! The proximity to the Time Vortex must be accelerating the Crack's development."

"So you showing up is making it worse?"

I had to wince a little at Gibbs' blunt appraisal of the situation. "Yes, I'm afraid," I answered. "And I honestly would not be surprised if the disruption that made me stop here was the interaction that made it open in the first place."

"But I thought that was two weeks ago? You just showed up!"

"Think fourth dimensionally, Ziva." I wondered if Tony would ever stop doing the "Back To The Future" references. "He's got a time machine, not hard to guess that he could have caused this thing to get bad two weeks before he actually ran into it."

I smirked. "You're rather quick when you make the effort, DiNozzo." With this new data in mind I felt a thought come into my head. I grinned widely. "Aha! Yes! This is perfect!"

"You're causing the whole planet to freeze and you think that's perfect?", Gibbs asked rather testily.

"Well, not that part," I admitted. "But this means that we have a chance with the TARDIS." I looked up the stairs. "But it's going to be tricky. And I'll need help. Lots of it." I drew in a breath to give a shout upstairs. "I need to ask you both something!"

Moments later the door opened. Mac was in an old Marine shirt and sweatpants now. "We're listening," she said.

"We're going to save the world," I announced to all present. "But I need you, Mac, to make it work. In fact, I need all of you."

That got their attention.

"We're all going to the TARDIS," I continued. "It's best if the little ones join us, we'll find them a room." Seeing the Rabbs preparing to raise a protest I looked them in the eye. "It's no safer here or anywhere on this planet. They'll be better off on the TARDIS."

There was a momentary pause by the parents before they relented. I felt like I was on a roll as I let my thoughts race, figuring out how, just how, I was going to pull this off.

And so we set off back to the TARDIS.

It wasn't just cold outside now; winds were picking up and pulling against us. I was into the TARDIS first and went straight to the phone on the console. I turned on the speaker phone feature and shouted, "Abby, call the TARDIS now!" into the cell phone before hanging up. As you can imagine, I made sure to give Gibbs his phone back as soon as he stepped in. The Rabb family looked around at the inside of the TARDIS. I heard Harm say, well, the expected line and cracked a smile. "Everyone says that. Well, almost everyone." I looked at Gibbs, smirking. The phone rang and I hit the receive button on it. "Abby, can you hear me?"

"Yeah! Listen, the colors are changing again, they're going..."

"Purple," I answered. "Normally I like purple."

"And purple means what?", Mac asked.

"It means the Crack's manifesting enough to draw in matter. We're almost out of time." I looked at the control console. Why was this one acting differently from the one I'd found in Undertown? That one had been emitting energy, not sucking it in.

A question for another day, I suppose.

I turned to my Companions. Janias' Force power meant she already knew what was in my head and had relayed it to Cami; they went straight to work with the equipment I needed and attaching it to the TARDIS control console's underside. That left me with the others.

"Okay. Fun fact about a TARDIS. It can be flown by one person, but if you need precision, you need more pilots." I stood at one side of it and motioned to Ziva. "So... I'm going to bring you all in as my pilots. Agent David, I need you to watch this knob. Rotate it clockwise every time this color..." I pointed to a display. "...turns blue. Make it go green again. If it turns yellow push down on this button. And Doctor Mallard! I need a surgeon's steady hand..."

One by one I assigned four of them, leaving Tony, the Rabbs, and my companions. I looked to the couple. "It's not exactly a jet fighter, Mister Rabb, but it is rather simpler." I gave him directions.

"I wanna help Dad," their little girl, Patricia, declared.

"I have a very special job for you and your little brother," I said. "Go below and watch the bottom of the controls. It's very important that I know if anything starts smoking. Just make sure that you don't mess with what the green girl and her friend are doing, okay?"

"Okay!" With the boundless enthusiasm of a four year old she skipped off with her toddler brother in tow.

Mac leveled a look at me that told me I was about to experience pain if I had actually put her kids into danger. "They'll be fine," I assured her in a low voice. "Just giving them something to do so they don't try to 'help' in another way. And this brings me to you." I showed her a very important control. "This is the Time Vortex regulator. I need you to control it. You're the only one who can."

"I'm not sure what a Time Vortex is," she pointed out.

"Something... very complicated. But even if you don't know what it is... the fact is that you have a connection to this thing, Mac. It's been seeping into you for years. You're going to feel what's being done. I need you to make sure we're not putting too much energy into it. Turn clockwise to open up the regulator, counter-clockwise to tighten the valve..." Okay, the truth is it wasn't a valve, but even now I'm not even going to bother trying to explain how this thing worked.

With everyone in position that left Tony as the odd man out. "So what do I do?", he asked.

"Oh, you get to help me," I answered. "You're spry and you've got a good eye. This is the best place for you, really."

Janias came back up from the bottom with two devices. "Cami stayed to keep an eye on the connections," she informed me.

"Good." I took one and had her hand the other to Tony. "Try to keep everyone focused," I murmured to Janias, who nodded and stepped back up to the controls.

"What is this thing?", Tony asked. It was, well, a device, something like a tube with a black plastic casing and blinking displays on it. I had a silvery emitter in my arms.

"Quantum field manipulation emitter. And I have a retrofitted temporal energy..." I stopped. "They're... how should I put this in a way you'd understand?" I smiled. "You want to talk Doc Brown? Where would he have been without Marty McFly? Or, more accurately..." I hefted the emitter. "I'm Egon and you're Peter."

Understanding dawned in Tony's face. "Oh, nice one Doc. But don't you think I'm more of a Winston?"

"Well, yes, being the layman and all, but I thought you'd appreciate the comparison to Bill Murray more," I replied. "Anyway, it's fairly simple. You point and pull the trigger until I tell you to stop. Ready?"

"This Crack is toast," he answered in his best Bill Murray voice, or so I thought anyway.

"That's the spirit!" I pushed out the TARDIS doors, giving us enough space to work. We were hovering high in mid-air. The dark and swirling clouds around us had a streak of white through them now; the Crack had begun to spread into the visible dimensions.

"And we don't cross the streams, right?"

"Oh, it probably won't do anything," I replied. After considering the issue for a moment I added, "Or the quantum and temporal stuff forms a wibbly-wobbly ball and the resulting energy release... you know what? Don't cross the streams."

"Right."

Well, that is the setup. It's rather hard for me to describe what happened next in any really exciting terms. It's not really as impressive as the Tenth Doctor towing Earth back to its proper place but, of course, he wasn't standing at the open door facing a Crack in the fabric of Reality that was starting to draw in matter too. It wasn't so much that it was sucking us in personally but rather it was drawing air in, enough air to create a vacuum. I felt the pull as I swept my emitter over the glowing white crack.

The gold and blue beams of our respective devices pierced the white light. We ran them around the rim and the middle, taking care not to tangle our beams up. Janias was linking to my mind and letting me sense the others. As incredible, as mind-shattering, as this situation was for the members of "Team Gibbs", they never faltered. When their day had begun the world had been normal; now they had met me and seen my TARDIS and were averting the destruction of their planet. And they did it with the quiet calm I would expect of the experienced. Harm and Mac reacted in much the same; the years of quiet civilian living had not dulled their edge, it seemed.

"Abby!", I shouted. "Colors?!"

"Still purple, Doctor!"

"That's bad, isn't it?", Tony asked.

"It may not happen immediately, the field has to take form," I answered, holding my remitter steady. Through Janias' eyes I saw Mac leaning against the controls, her eyes opening and closing as she focused upon the task at hand. She twisted the knob this way and that way, regulating the temporal energy coming from the Time Vortex in line with how her expanded senses felt the Crack's power ebb and flow.

"Red!," I heard Abby shout over the phone. "It's turning red!"

"It's working," I answered. I could see the white light begin to dim as the seal took form, shifting the Crack back into the higher dimensions where it wouldn't effect the Earth.

"It's turning orange now! Okay, sorta yellow..."

"It's going fast." I thought on that for a moment. "It's going really fast. Tony, get ready to grab onto something!" I shifted the weight of my emitter and used my free hand to open the phone box on the door beside me.

"What?"

"I said bloody well to..."

I didn't get the chance to finish my warning. With a distant thundercrack sound the Crack faded completely from view, sealed away from contact with the main three dimensions.

Of course, that meant that the space it had been taking up in three-dimensional space was suddenly unoccupied. It was, in other terms, a vacuum... and we all know what nature thinks of vacuums, right?

So of course the rest of the air around us rushed in to fill the gap. The Crack had been taken up quite a bit of space and had depleted the local atmosphere before we sealed it so, given our proximity, it is no surprise it drew in air from all around it. Including air in the TARDIS.

Air that hit us with all the force of a hurricane gust.

I lost my footing, but I had at least been ready. My hand flailed out and caught the phone. It came loose from the cradle but the wire was more than strong enough for me to hold onto as I fell outside the TARDIS door.

Being rather less prepared, the only thing Tony had to grab was my ankle.

I felt his fingers wrap around my foot. "Doc, I can't...!"

And then I felt them slide off.

"Tony!" Ziva's head appeared over the edge of the TARDIS opening as I tried to scramble up. Gibbs and Tim were right behind her.

"Don't look! Get me inside!", I shouted. We were fairly high in the atmosphere but I couldn't afford them creating a fixed point by observing Tony's fall for too long. "Don't look at him! It's the only way to save him without creating a paradox!" I reached out for the bottom of the TARDIS and missed. On the second try I found Gibbs' hand and wrist instead. He barely made a grunt as he pulled me up and into the door. "Get away from the door!", I shouted, rushing right to the TARDIS controls. "I have to shift where it goes!" I barely glanced to make sure they'd stepped away enough before I hit the control for it. The door literally disappeared.

Tim was the first one to get it. "You shifted the exit somewhere else inside the TARDIS?"

"Into the library's swimming pool. And now for the tricky part." I went from one control to the other, making the TARDIS buckle. "Gibbs, Ziva, back to your controls! Same principle as last time! Mac, close the valve completely!" They moved back into position while I brought up the TARDIS' monitor and worked my own controls. I pulled on a knob and twisted carefully and hit the nearest lever afterward. A steady VWORP VWORP VWORP came from the TARDIS engine.

You can imagine my plan. The tricky thing was that I knew, I just knew, they'd peeked at Tony enough for him to gain velocity, a dangerous amount of it. So not only did I have to catch him with the TARDIS while he was flailing around in mid-air, I had to be moving it in the process so that it matched velocity enough that the swimming pool broke his fall. Not as precise as keeping the TARDIS steady in range of the Crack, but enough that the extra pairs of hands were desired.

In the distance I heard a splash. "Alright! Bringing us in for a landing. And putting the door back."

The door re-appeared but no one used it for the moment. They all followed me down the corridor of the TARDIS to the library and the swimming pool within. The water was churning near the side of it where Tony was busy paddling his way to the edge. "Ha ha!", I shouted in exultation. "Got him!" I went over to the edge he was approaching.

"A swimming pool inside the library," I heard Gibbs remark. I could imagine his eyes rolling.

"I rather like it, actually," Ziva said.

"It's nice, being able to get in a soak and a good read," I heard Camilla say.

I stepped up to where Tony was finally reaching the edge. "Gave us a bit of a scare there, DiNozzo."

He shot a glare at me that spoke volumes. I squatted down and extended an arm toward him to help him out of the pool.

I didn't see the twinkle of intent in his eye until it was too late. He grabbed my arm and pulled hard, so hard that I easily lost my balance and fell forward, straight into the pool. Water almost went down my throat from the cry of surprise I was making. I pushed myself back up to the surface and fixed a glare at him as he laughed. I looked up to see almost everyone was laughing or smiling, even Gibbs.

So, yes, I joined in. It was rather funny, truth be told, even if I was soaking wet in my favorite suit.

A short time and a change of clothes later we exited the TARDIS again in front of the Rabb house. It was still cold and the sky above retained its clouds from earlier. Unfortunately we did not get the picturesque sun shining through the clouds that drama would have otherwise demanded.

Although she still looked tired, Mac was certainly doing better, holding her son while their daughter held onto her father's hand. "The sealing would have extended to the Crack in your bedroom wall," i said. "Your home should be safe."

"It's not something I expected when I suggested we buy it," Harm said.

"So that's it?", Mac asked. "No more dreams or anything?"

I looked at her and shook my head. "I'm sorry, Mac. But I can't undo what the Crack did to you. Your mind will always get these glimpses. They just won't get worse."

"So Mommy can see the future?", Patricia Rabb asked.

"Only occasionally." I looked to Harm. "It should at least keep the marriage honest if you don't want to be sleeping on the couch."

He laughed in reply. He extended his hand and I took it. "Thanks... what was your name? Doctor who?"

I let out a laugh. "Just the Doctor, Harm. Now you take care. Both of you." I reached out and took Mac's hand as well. "An honor and a pleasure to meet you, Mac. I'm sure you'll be keeping the flyboy in line."

"A tough job, but someone's got to do it," she laughed.

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Agent Gibbs." Harm turned and offered a hand.

"Captain Rabb." Gibbs accepted it.

"Hell of a way to see each other again," Harm remarked.

"Yeah."

Ah, Gibbs. Always the laconic one.

I stepped into the TARDIS and allowed Gibbs and his people to give goodbyes. Ziva and Tim had only just met the Rabbs, of course, but this was the kind of thing that built camaraderie. And they would be people to talk to now that Team Gibbs had done the impossible, so to speak.

It was the kind of meeting that felt right, honestly. Granted, the Roberts family wasn't here, nor was Chegwidden or that Marine fellow who briefly replaced him... but it was still a pleasure to see these groups interacting and meeting. Despite this, the adventures of the Rabbs had long ended; Team Gibbs had the torch now, and they were running with it.

When they filed back into the TARDIS I smiled and finished setting the controls. "Well, I think it's time to be getting back to Abby's lab, yes?"

"Just don't make us pop into the squadroom again," Gibbs requested.

"Right."

I opened the TARDIS door and Abby rushed right in, beelining for Tony. "Tony! You're okay!" She threw her arms around him.

Ah yes. The speaker phone had been on. She'd overheard everything.

"Yeah, did a little skydiving. Without a parachute."

"So that's why are you all wet?"

"I landed in the swimming pool. He's got a swimming pool in his library." Tony shook his head. He was actually in a suit of clothes I'd found were too small due to my height; a brown button down shirt and trousers of dark blue. "And not one movie in sight."

"Little need for them," I remarked. "Ziva seems to appreciate it."

"She would."

After everyone filed out I stood in the doorway of the TARDIS. "Just what are you planning on telling Director Vance?"

"As much as the truth as he'll believe," Gibbs answered. "We've got the footage to confirm that thing appeared."

"Good luck with that. I think I'm going to make myself scarce first," I answered. "The TARDIS isn't meant for this world, Agent Gibbs. I can't stick around."

"Yeah, I know."

I looked to the others. "Ziva." I smiled at her and extended a hand. "A pleasure."

"Doctor," she replied, accepting my handshake.

"Tony..." I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'll get you back for that, you know."

"Would love to see you try, Doc." We shared a laugh and a handshake.

I exchanged handshakes with Tim next. "It was good to work with you, Doctor," he said.

"Even if I'm not rhe real thing?", I asked.

"You're close enough for me," was the answer I got.

"And for me." Ducky stepped up next with his hand extended. "I think Pertwee's Doctor would have approved."

I remember thinking that I certainly hoped so. At that time I had yet to run into the Doctor in any of his lives. "I'm happy you think that way, Doctor..."

"Ducky," he interrupted. "You may call me Ducky."

"Ah... Ducky, then." I smiled. "Thank you, Ducky. A pleasure and an honor."

"Oh, the same here. As a boy I dreamed of getting to help the Doctor. And now I have." He leaned closer and brought his voice to a whisper. "If you need to talk about what's going on in your mind... my door is always open."

"I'll remember that, Ducky. Again, thank you."

That left Abby and Gibbs, even as the others went on to giving goodbyes to Janias and Camilla. She gave me a tight hug. "Thank you so much, Doctor. I really enjoyed meeting you."

"Ah, is this the infamous Abby hug I've heard so much about?"

"Yep." She leaned her mouth toward my ear. "Are you going to give me that ride you promised?"

"Expect me when you see me, my dear," I answered, invoking Gandalf intentionally.

"You'd better." She let go and went on to give my Companions hugs.

That left me to face Gibbs. We eyed each other for several seconds. Then the hint of a smile kept across his face and he offered his hand. "Nice working with you, Doctor," he said as I took his hand. "I hope it doesn't become a habit though."

"Yes. It's for the best." Granted, it wasn't very fun to say that. And my Time Lord intellect would have enjoyed some of the cases they were due to get while what was left of my older personality, well, that would have simply enjoyed working with Team Gibbs, headslaps and all. "Still... that Crack is just sealed now, it's not gone. Things might still happen relating to it." I reached into my pocket and brought out a cell phone, one I'd picked up during a particularly one-sided scuffle with the Red Court of Vampires on Harry Dresden's Earth. I ran my sonic screwdriver over it for a moment before holding it out to Gibbs. "Here."

"Already have a phone," he replied.

"This one I've configured to be able to call the TARDIS directly. And unlike the modification I made to Abby's phone, this will work no matter where I am in space-time. If anything bizarre happens, anything beyond the ken of normal for you, if there's anything that you can't deal with on your own... don't hesitate to call."

Gibbs nodded in reply and accepted the phone.

"Right then. Off we go." At my nod the girls piled back into the TARDIS and I followed.

As I stepped in I had a thought and looked back. "I hope you all understand how much I appreciated to work with you. It's not very often that one finds a team like your's and even more rarely does one get to work with them. That has been my pleasure today. I hope you don't let today's excitement and stakes get to you, though, when you go back to your normal jobs. As the saying goes... 'one who saves a life saves the world'."

"It's a Hebrew saying," Ziva pointed out.

"That it is," I agreed. "Take care, everyone."

"See you around, Doctor," I heard Gibbs reply as I closed the TARDIS door.

I went to the controls, found a lovely quiet spot for us in another cosmos, and pulled the level, departing their world for the time being.

I was in the library checking my clothes to see how well they'd dried when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to face Camilla who was... rather immodestly dressed in what looked to be a bikini. "Ah. All ready for the Hot Springs planet?"

"We're looking forward to it," Camilla said. "You're not coming?"

"Oh, heavens no. If I came, why, odds are we'd end up mixed up with space pirates and a rather lecherous young outlaw and his misfit crew. And that wouldn't be relaxing at all," I answered. "You two enjoy a fun, romantic week, live a little, that sort of thing."

Camilla smiled and nodded. "Doctor, why would that Crack be so much bigger? And why would it suck in energy instead of emitting it?"

I stopped what I was doing and looked off at the wall. "I'm not sure," I finally answered. "It puzzles me. It bothers me."

"I'm bothered by thinking of all of the other worlds that may have already been destroyed by similar Cracks," she said. "What is going on? Do you think it's linked to, well..."

"Is it linked to me? Possibly. But I don't know enough yet. I need to learn more." I sighed. "I need to learn a lot more." I turned in place and smiled. As I did so, Janias bounded into the room wearing a bikini that was... even more immodest than Camilla's. Honestly at first glance I thought she was undressed. So unfair.

Janias went right to Camilla and planted a kiss on her. "Come on, those springs are calling to us," she said.

Cami smiled and returned the kiss. "I'm coming, lover." She gave me a final look before running out of the room. After a couple of minutes I heard the TARDIS door close in the distance.

Seeing my suit was almost dry, I took a seat and sighed. What were these Cracks? Where were they coming from? I had a feeling I wouldn't enjoy it when I found out.

And no, I didn't. The cause of the Cracks was... horrifying. But I have much to tell before we get that far into the story. Oh so very much to tell.

After napping a bit and finding my clothes finally dry I gave them a good ironing and switched into my nicest suit, a black jacket with a blue silk shirt underneath and black pants. I even put on a black bowtie because, as Eleven put it, bowties are cool. And with that done I left my dear Companions to their vacation and headed elsewhere.

I was leaning against the TARDIS when the object of my intentions walked up to the apartment building. I smiled as I saw Abby's jaw almost drop. "Hello Abby," I said. "Still a bit nippy, I'm sorry to say it'll take a little time for your atmosphere to go back to normal. But the TARDIS is nice and warm."

"You came." She finished walking up. "You actually came! And so quickly, I mean, I imagined..."

"Time traveler, my dear. Remember?" I winked. "Now, I believe I promised a TARDIS ride if the planet didn't freeze. And as I don't see icicles hanging everywhere it appears to remain unfrozen, if still rather chilly. So it's time for a TARDIS ride."

I thought Abby would explode with excitement. She threw her arms around me and gave me the tightest of Abby hugs. "And you can go anywhere in it, right? And be at any time? So, like, even if I have to be at work in the morning we can be out all night and I can still get a full sleep?"

"I can take you for days and bring you back to the moment we leave," I confirmed.

And that settled it. "Okay, I'll be right back!" She rounded a corner and went straight to what I presumed to be her apartment.

When she returned with a couple of bags ten minutes had passed in which I waited patiently. She looked ready to explode with excitement. "Okay, I'm ready! I'm just thinking of where I want to go first!"

"Well, while you plan, I have a couple of suggestions," I said.

"Oh?" She followed me into the TARDIS.

I went up to the controls as she closed the door and looked back to her. "Oh, yes. First suggestion is somewhere I know you'll love! The planetoid Nocturnia." When she smiled at the name I continued. "It's in far orbit of a dark star."

Abby was startled. "They exist?!"

"Oh yes. And on Nocturnia they have the Obsidian Prisms. Every shade of black the mind can imagine!"

Abby did a little excited hop. I reached over to the TARDIS controls. "And then?!"

I laid out a few more ideas and put my hand on the trusty lever control for shifting the TARDIS. "Are you ready, Abby?"

She nodded in excitement.

"Well then... Tally ho!" I pulled the lever.

So we went off and we saw the Obsidian Prisms. And we went to see a concert by a Graxian rock group led by a girl named Arisia Rrab (before she joined a rather different organization), and then a metal concert by a race called the Oodrax who had four arms and who, upon learning of the music style from Humans, proceeded to adopt it wholesale and outshine any and all Human efforts in that style (at least to most objective observers, art being in the eye - or ear in this case - of the beholder).

And then there was that whole business on Layom Station, but that was entirely not my fault. I just hope Abby never lets it slip to Gibbs or I'm going to have to avoid that cosmos for the next, oh, half century.

It was, all things told, a fun week. And it helped me get my mind off of the Cracks.

This entire encounter was one of my most surreal, but it would be surprisingly important. The question of why the Crack in their cosmos was larger and behaved differently would lead to an answer, an answer that would bring me to the final cause of the entire mess... and of what had been done to me.