A/N: Last time we left Junner he'd managed to dig himself a deep pit that might function as his grave, question is, who will be the one to end him? I think the Doctor will let Richard have the honor, not to say that he won't enjoy seeing the man get his just reward.
MeOtherWriter, BalrogsBreath, and My Reflection: thank you for the reviews.
cdallas, thank you for the favorite story/ story alert. keight-T thank you for the story alert.
Notice that I have not said that this Furyan found here is the one to complete the box, but rather that he's in an unjust situation that the TARDIS feels needs correction. Look closely and you might see who really would be the one to help the Doctor. I've already given some hints. And don't worry, River is not going to be outnumbered here.

Summary: The Doctor, reeling from the effects of the TimeWar as the last surviving TimeLord, stumbled into a situation he could not ignore when the TARDIS landed him inside a ship that was clearly in trouble. After the rescue, he's left with eight survivors that he must somehow get to safety. But the situation is not as cut and dry as he might like. His people may be gone, but the stamp he's made on the universe is still there, and he finds himself caught in a web spun of the choices he's made in the past…

It's 2517. Something in history has prompted humanity to explode out from their home world. Could the events of 2164 be responsible? Was Earth a myth or was it real? In fleeing Earth-that-Was, humanity scattered to the stars across the galactic arm. Initial survey teams targeted likely planets and systems for habitation and not all of them ended up on the same side of the sector. Blue Sun exists on one side, separated by a patch of 'wild space' filled with exotic binary and triple star systems, from the rest of civilized space.

Few ships brave the route. But luck had it that one ship did. Risking a ghost run, the only contact that the two sides have, the Hunter-Gratzner crashed midway through the journey. Original Port of Departure: Eavesdown Docks, Persephone. Mixed Sino-Anglo culture. Original Port of Call: Tangiers-5. Darkside. Mixed Islamic-Anglo culture. Crew complement: Four. Passengers: Forty. Living 'Cargo': Two. Survivors: Eight plus One

So what happens to Dr. Simon Tam, his brilliant but damaged sister, a convicted murder by the name of Richard B. Riddick, and the other survivors from the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner at planet M-344/G-2 now that they are on their way home? They end up slightly out of their own Time, on a ship filled with living sculptures… And just how is this related to the TimeWar?

A Doctor Who / Firefly / Riddick crossover.

Features Doctor 9, Pre-"Rose"; Simon and River Tam, Pre-"Serenity" Firefly episode 1 and the survivors from Pitch Black: Carolyn Fry, William J. Johns, Imam Abu al'Walid, 'Jack B. Badd', Ali Abdullah, and Richard B. Riddick…

Doctor Who and the Ties that Bind.

Part Ten

Wishes

Verity, the form of a dark haired, fairly pretty, young woman that the TARDIS could take, came to the Doctor in his dreams mostly, although she was usually with him in other ways. Her mental bond with the Time Lord was so strong that it transcended that of normal time capsule–pilot bonds. They were much closer than most of their ilk had been. Two halves of the same soul, perhaps? Or perhaps it was just that they thought alike, and could feel each other's emotional states after nearly a thousand years of being partners. She suspected that their 'conception' within the Looms of Gallifrey had happened at the same moment, making them 'Twins' within the planetary womb. Whichever the case, they had both survived; held together by the strength of their ties, within the grace that was the Doctor's will. He had refused to give up at that critical moment, and she had rejoiced at his decision.

But the Time War had not eliminated the stamp of the Time Lords on the 'Verse. It was still there, faint embers of what had been. To find an ally in the state she'd located the Tesh in was beyond heartbreaking. Although he seemed calm enough at first, the more used to her he became, the more erratic and disjointed his ramblings were. He delighted in seeing her emotions because he had given up on his own, and he cared little if the display was positive or negative as long as it was intense and strong. Thus he provoked her as much as possible, honing in on the correct buttons to push to make her upset, distraught, and angered. And try as she might she wasn't able to keep the feelings from spilling into her link with the Doctor.

The timing could have been better though. Her distress about the Furyan's mental state was enough to pull the Time Lord out of his jealous rage and plunge him into a murderous one. Upsetting the TARDIS was quite hard to do, and in this case both of them were teetering on the brink already. Neither had even begun to deal with the war, or their losses. The ignored grief was like a raw wound for Time Lord and TARDIS alike. But she hadn't planned on his reaction to her feelings. He was like a force of nature spinning wild, and her emotions were like power for the storm the brewed inside him. He needed to vent some of this excess energy.

But Verity was more concerned with the physical pain he was inflicting on himself in his effort to strangle the man under his fingertips. This alarmed her further. It was like he didn't care about the agony flowing through his nerves. She alerted him to the pain shooting up his arms from the force field and beseeched him into pulling them back into the cell as the object of his anger scrambled to his feet and scurried out of the privacy barrier with a hurried pause to straighten his glasses. Doctor you must calm yourself.

You brought me here because they had one of our allies, he thinks to her. His emotions spilled into the link. She knows it is not directed at her. She sends him the information about the ship, how it's laid out, what technology it uses, and where this individual is being kept. Then she shows him the other Furyan's mental state. Belatedly she realizes that perhaps that had been a mistake. Letting him know she wants to help him, the TARDIS begins relaying to him how the cryo-system of the Kubla Kahn works.

If it weren't for Amadak grabbing him, her Time Lord would have injured himself by taking out his aggression on the cell wall. She's never seen him this angered before. Filled with despair, delirious with grief, calmly chillingly determined, perhaps, but never this enraged. Her Doctor shakes off the restraining hands and glares at the offending individual. It is Riddick. The ex-ranger knows this depths of anger. He's felt it often enough himself, actually. There's no easy way to calm the man, but he needs to try. "Don't. I have no idea what has gotten you so pissed off, Doctor, but whatever it is, don't take it out on me." Rich is very tempted to force the Time Lord into a corner and make him take a time out.

The Time Lord catches himself before he strikes out at someone that he knows will take it the wrong way. His ship tries to sooth him, and he knows she understands, no matter how shocked she might be, "Let's just say that Ms. Chillingsworth crossed that line, the one few of my enemies manage to find let alone step over. I warned her and she didn't listen."

"What? Because her lap-dog threatened to stick his dick where it doesn't belong?" Of course Richard doesn't know about the other Furyan being held aboard the Kubla Khan.

The Doctor shakes his head, "Not that, no. That falls on Junner's head. I won't stop you next time." He decides to not mention the information about their hostess's rather unique fetish.

The ex-ranger was in awe over the sheer power that he could feel radiating off the tall pale gent. Once he'd managed to keep the man from breaking his own hand, wrist, or arm against the solid bulkhead, and avoided getting punched for his trouble he noted that it really made him like the Doctor. He already knew that he trusted and needed the alien, but to have his emotions ping against something so familiar and come back unscathed… that was new to his experience. The need was evolving into respect at the very least. Then Johns spoke up.

Johns has been listening and watching. He's pretty sure that something else is going on with the Doctor. Then again, he had said that his ship was alive. Maybe it told him something? Whatever it was, the marshal is certain that the white-haired bitch is in a heap of trouble. He won't get between the Time Lord and his target. No sir. He's been on the receiving end of the man's anger too many times already. But Junner is another issue; "Can I shoot 'im?" Billy asks. Both Riddick and the Time Lord look at him. "Well?" The question seems to cast a bit of humor, a bit dark perhaps, but humor all the same, over the situation. The wrath seems to leech out of the Time Lord, leaving him with a chilling hard edge that makes Johns shiver if he looks too close at it.

Sidetracked from his thoughts, Rich shrugs, "If you wanna."

"Yeah, I want to… in the stomach. Not to kill 'im, mind. I'll leave that to you," the redhead, for all his teasing, figured that Rich and the Doctor were his to torment and didn't exactly approve of Junner's moving in. "Hey, how did you breach the energy barrier?"

The Time Lord raised an eyebrow, "I can see the individual lines of it and seeing as all living things have their own energy, William, I just encouraged it to flow around my arms. But before you ask -- no. I can't use the same trick to step out. It take a tremendous amount of willpower to even push my arm through."

"So – Nah. I don't think I want to come under your ire again. Look, if anyone tries to molest any of our party I'm with you both that they need to die."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Antonia took the news fairly well. Truth be known, she'd been a bit worried when Junner's bio signal had spiked into the 'danger' range. To teach him to not scare her, he was currently being punished. She'd leave him where he was hanging and meet with the Doctor. Now she just had to figure out where. The conservatory was her favored place for this sort of thing, but she disliked bringing in mercs as it sullied her precious work. That left the prison cells, which was not her favorite place. To go there would be below her, and she was determined to not stoop to his level.

So where else could this meeting take place? She decided on one of the smaller conference rooms, used to prep the mercs that were pulled out of cryo. Stat Room Three had a built in security screen. It would work for this. She contacted the head of the merc squad, "Commander Harley?"

The intercom crackled, "Yes, Madam?"

Chillingsworth smiled, "Set up stat room three, positioning a squad of your best, and escort the Doctor and one of his minions there. Tell him I'm willing to have that 'face to face' with him.

"Yes, Madam. Do you want him restrained for your arrival?"

"His current binds should be sufficient with the armed presence, commander. Inform me when all is ready."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

They waited. Really there wasn't much to do in the cell, plain as it was. Only the toilet and the doorway interrupted the even whitish walls. Johns had returned to pacing. Carolyn had joined Simon and Abu and was reading. River, Jack, and Ali had turned their lesson into a game. Richard had returned to his post at the door, but because of the extra energy barrier could see nothing past it. He suspected that the block was for the Shrill's comfort, not theirs.

The Doctor was leaning against the wall, just behind where Riddick was crouched, with his eyes closed. To anyone watching it looked like he was perhaps resting, but in reality he was hard at work planning the end of this reign of terror that the Kubla Kahn was holding. The Time Lord had spent plenty of time, over various lives, in prison cells. He'd dealt with egomaniacs before. By the time he was done with this one, no one on this ship would dare cross him again, unless they were very stupid.

Not to say that they might all be brilliantly smart.

Hey, Thete?

The Doctor opened his eyes, Looks like our hostess decided to play the game, eh, Amadak? The thought got a nod as Richard had stood at the ready when the first merc stepped inside the privacy barrier. Shortly, there was an even dozen, and one woman stepped forward. She wore a pseudo-military styled outfit, with combat boots, and suspenders. Her pale blonde hair was held back with a headband and was caught into a ponytail. "Ah, Commander Harley, I believe it is. What is going on?"

"The boss agreed to speak with you, 'face to face' just like you requested. She's even allowing you one of your own party to accompany you. Now, I'm going to treat you like you are a decent chap, and hopefully I won't have to shoot anyone," the platinum blonde said.

"And the others?"

"Been told to leave them be. Look, mister, I don't care what happened, or how it happened. All I care about is doing my job. Pick someone to come with you and let's go. The Boss doesn't like to be kept waiting."

The Doctor only hesitated a moment before saying, "Richard."

Commander Harley looked at the bronze-skinned man, "You're gonna be a problem, ain't you?"

"Not unless you force me to be," Riddick knows this drill. He puts his arms out and Harley drops the force field. The other guns train half on the individuals behind the two that they have been instructed to move and half on the pair being moved. Johns and Abu both stand in front of the others just in case the mercs decide to start shooting but none of the Doctor's group are foolhardy enough to try anything.

She unlocks the broken restraints and places new ones on the ex-ranger. Then she checks the Time Lord's cuffs and raises an eyebrow at the fact that they haven't been tampered with. "Awright, let's go. Nice and easy like."

Both men act reasonably, stepping out of the cell and pausing for her to reactivate the energy barrier. The remainder of the guns from her helpers immediately move to cover them. They decide that silence is the better part of valor here, both focusing on the ship and studying it as they are led out into new areas of it. The path they are taken down is still back halls, narrow and dimly lit. But unlike before they are being taken up into the main areas. Just before they reach the room that Antonia is meeting them in they catch a glimpse of the main hallway. The wide empty passage doesn't tell them much.

Harley ushers them into the conference room and behind an energy screen. "The Boss will be here shortly. Don't do anything stupid, huh?"

"What we do depends on Ms. Chillingsworth, commander," the Doctor tells her. "I consider myself fairly mild mannered, until I'm pushed." Harley believes it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The owner of the Kubla Kahn rarely showed her face to her employees. They knew her by the white hooded cloak she always wore. It was this that she entered the conference room in. The security screen ran down the length of the center table. The chairs were unoccupied, which didn't really surprise her. She let the garment covering her fold back into an elegant dress and looked at the two men who were watching her. "I took the liberty of doing identity checks on your companions, Doctor. I got the most puzzling results. Most of these individuals with you don't have much of a record. A few come up as children and the children don't come up at all. The Imam has a history of good works although I expected him to be younger. Your current escort came up with quite an interesting record. I'm most anxious to share it with you." She glided over to the computer terminal and inserted a data card. She ignores the hard look she is getting from the Time Lord, as the records appear on the main wall screen. "One-point-one-two-five million UD's for Richard B. Riddick," she says. "Coming out of Q9, PEF Aquila, that is fairly impressive. And according to this you escaped from there almost seven years ago. You've aged well."

The ex-ranger gives his best blank poker face. He's never even heard of Q9. It must be a prison station like Q4, Ursa Luna's 'Slam City'. These little double max stations are scattered all over the place, the remnants of the Company's science research programs. Slam City was based off of the Newtownian Institute's biological research branch. PEF? Psychological evaluation? That would fit with the Aquilan research thrust to make 'better' people. Although Richard knows that he would only be eight years old at the current time. So what the fuck is going on?

"The point you are trying to make, madam?" the pale hairless gent cuts in.

"I've spent the latter half of my life in this line of work, Doctor. I specialize in keeping dangerous elements away from civilized space. It just figures that you, with the reputation you've gained, would hang about with madmen, murders, and thieves…"

The Doctor scoffs. "My, what a hypocrite you are. Sending fifty lives to their end just so you could get your jollies off. Oh don't look so self-righteous. I know exactly what you did in that bay after we were escorted out, Antonia."

Riddick can tell that Thete hit his mark dead on. How the man had known what she was about was a mystery to him, as he had not spent that much time considering her motivations. But it was clear that the Doctor had spent a fair amount of time thinking about that. The white haired woman looked scandalized, as if the words handing in the air were the most offensive things she had ever heard. There's quite a long pause as she tries to figure out how to salvage the situation to her advantage. "Regardless, Doctor. You requested this little chat, and insulting me will not resolve anything."

He's going to give her one final chance to see reason before he unleashes his rage on her. "Let us go, and I might see fit to leave you and your little enterprise functioning. I've already warned you."

There's a tinkling laughter, "Such humor. You act as if you have the advantage here. I'm sure it hasn't passed your notice that I'm the one in control of this situation, not you."

"Look again, Antonia." The Doctor leans over the table on his side of the energy field; "Did your crew ever find that Furyan bomb? No? Believe me, I will use it."

She froze and then checked the readouts. "You are bluffing."

"I never bluff. Your Dalek allies should have shown you that." The Doctor stood quite sure of himself.

Antonia Chillingsworth called in the mercs again, "Take them back to their cell. Search them all. Look for a remote detonator."

"Yes, Madam," Harley replied.

"There's no remote, Antonia. It's a mentally triggered bomb set to my brainwaves. There's no way to stop me, should I decide to blow it up. Really, wouldn't it be easier to just let us go?" He really wants her to be reasonable, but he knows already that she won't be. He has yet to meet a foe with her characteristics that has been sensible when confronted with the truth that they didn't want to see.

The Kubla Kahn's owner ignored him, "Take some of the Shrill and have the search the sector where the Doctor was found. Find that bomb."

"Touch any of my companions, and I will wipe your ship out of existence, am I clear on that?" He called upon the TARDIS to funnel him a portion of the energy to do what he needed to do next. Verity tried to talk him out of it, telling him that the use of their shared power would strengthen the parasite. Besides his body was still damaged from the Time War, even with the regeneration. This would weaken him further. It scared her, that he was willing to risk himself like this. Just this one time, I promise, he acknowledged her fear, I must do this or she'll never stop. It was the only way to get his point across that Antonia had no idea what she was dealing with. Verity agreed with his point and began feeding him a line of their capability to manipulate time itself. She just hoped that it didn't kill him in the process.

That made Antonia hold up her hand to stop the mercs, "Excuse me?"

"I'm the Last of my kind. That secret power the Daleks were looking for, Ms. Chillingsworth, I hold. You want to test me on this?" The woman locked eyes with him. Defiant and disbelieving, Antonia didn't think he could do anything to her. She was wrong. The Doctor delved into her mind and aged her to the point that she looked all of her eighty-three years. Her skin wrinkled and spotted. Her hair turned brittle. Her brilliant green eyes clouded over. She raised on aged hand, glanced at it and then frantically moved over to the shiny surface that would function as a mirror. She was old. This shocked her and set her to shaking. He reversed it before speaking again, "Do you? I can make that permanent."

She shook her head, "Don't bother to search them, Commander."

They were escorted out into the hall and back toward the cells, leaving a much less sure owner of the Kubla Kahn behind. Riddick was watching the Doctor closely. He was heating up again, so whatever it was he had tapped into to pull that last trick hadn't been healthy for him to do. It was when Commander Harley stopped and ordered her men to pick up floor pads and blankets for the group that the Time Lord's knees gave way. Rich didn't even stop to think about it, he just caught the gent and picked him up.

The seven mercs without their hands full pointed weapons at him. Harley brushed her men off, "It's not like he can attack you if he's carrying someone. I don't think it's a problem here. Lets go."