A/N: Can I sing praise for my reviewers? La llaah lllaaahh (Coughs, hacks, and coughs some more) … All righty then -- maybe 'Thank you' is better?
Thank you to those who bother to review.
For this chapter Jelly Babies go to: My Reflection, OtherMeWriter, Chibi of Many Names.
About Simon: His reaction will be forthcoming, once River figures out how to tell him. He's not quite gotten that he just might be related to this alien that he's so worried about, yet.
About the Doctor: He's getting an inkling that maybe things are not as 'over' with the Time War as he might like (So negative, I know), because he fears that every individual he locates with ties to his past might be matched by a Dalek somewhere… And, of course, we all know that he's right.
About Rose: Ok, think about the role she plays as 'Bad Wolf'. Who does she channel? What does she say? Major clues there. I've got a chart someplace that details all the six colors for the guardians, their elements, what they stand for, and all of that. In fact I think I've posted it in the forum. Will she be part of this Box? Yes. Which element is she? Well… The clues are already there. As for who the other missing element is… Um, I'm not gonna say. I'm not. Nope. Just have to read the entire series if you want to find that out.

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 Thirteen

Feint

The morning comes all too soon. For Jack it means another day of acting like he's in one piece when really he's in pieces. For River it means letting Verity step back in to her mind as a filter, and losing the intense close contact she shares with the Doctor. For William it's another day of acting grownup and tough when he's still a hyper kid inside. For Richard it's a day just like the last one with a single difference, he knows now where he belongs. Each of the survivors has their demon to carry. And all of them know that they survive this day or die based on how well they pull together and work like a team. It's almost like a line was drawn in the sand overnight and they are waiting to see which side crosses it first.

They do as they did the day before, breaking into groups and trying to stay occupied. Simon still wants the Doctor to stay down, and the Time Lord decides to play up his 'poor health'. Ali and Jack end up sitting with him as he and River orally teach them about various subjects. Imam prays. Simon scans Rich's eyes and searches through the database for the correct procedure to heal the half-ass eyeshine. Johns waits until Simon is fully absorbed in the research before he settles near the con. "So you really gonna have your eyes fixed?"

"Doc says it likely won't be a hundred percent, but there's a couple of things that might improve or correct what I let Cutter do to me. Why?"

"Curious is all. Why do you want to go under the knife again?"

The ex-ranger looks away, turning his entire head to indicate that he's not gonna answer. Johns thinks he knows the reason. It's got to be hard to picture the person you're falling for when you can't see the color of their hair, skin, or eyes. Particularly when you used to be able to. He opens his mouth to say something along those lines when Rich surprises him with a mumble, "It's no one reason."

"His eyes are blue," the redhead says. "Not like my eye color, though. Not pale ice blue. They are dark blue like the sky near sunset, almost navy, but a bit brighter. You remember that color, like right before the stars come out?"

The bronze head tilts toward the floor slightly, like he's trying to picture that. Finally Rich says, "Yeah."

"And his skin is pale, but kind of like newborn baby pale. Not sickly or nothing like that." The other man nods. "The hair is kinda hard. It's dark. A military seal-brown I guess. But there's some very light, colorless strands too, 'cuz it's very shiny."

"It's very soft," Richard says, "like baby-hair."

William sighs. "So it's naturally that length, then?" The ex-ranger nods. "Does he have hair other places?" The glare he gets makes him back up a bit, "Just curious. I mean, I've seen his arms and there's not hardly any hair there, is all. And you helped him shower. So I thought I'd ask." The glower doesn't change, "At least I'm not asking about his dick size, Rich. Come on, give a little here."

"Not much, no. Might be a little, but it's very blonde I suspect. I didn't exactly get up that close and personal."

The marshal nods. "Kinda expected as much. I never thought I'd feel sorry for you not being able to see small details like that. He's got stunning eyes. Can't miss 'em when he's pissed at you, that's for sure."

That gets an amused snort. "You deserved to be put over a knee and spanked until your butt broke for that stunt, Billy."

"No shit. I got off light. I'm lucky to be alive. I know that now. The Doctor and I had a nice long talk when I was puking my guts up. Well, he was talking and I was gagging – listening – anyway. He let me know that there was help for the flashbacks, for the shit I suffered growing up, for the shiv wound… All of it, if I wanted it." He pauses, "An' that's good. But you don't need me in your way. I'll look for help on Helion, once we get there. The shiv bit is fixed at least."

Richard looks back at the redhead. They have been through so fucking much together. Friends, fighting partners, comrades, enemies, and partners in crime… everything they have experienced knits them together like brothers. He has never loved Johns, but he has hated him, passionately. He couldn't love him, because – he couldn't. He'd never loved anyone in this life. And he'd just taken that inability as a given, not questioning why. Now he knows the reason, even if he doesn't remember it. He claps a hand on the man's shoulder, "I'm gonna miss sparring with you, but I suppose another asshole will come along."

"A dime a dozen, we are," Billy admits.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It's rather late in the afternoon when the mercs finally show. They remove the privacy barrier to reveal that the Shrill are gone. With them are two securing tables, the heavy kind for cyber-freaks and hard core druggies with super-human strength. The hired guns look battle hardened enough to be slightly scary, but not enough that Johns thinks they are unbeatable. "You're all being moved. It's assumed you would have slipped the cuffs, so… We brought tables. Boss said, 'I don't care how they are moved, just move them,' so… play nice or I'll move a few of you in body bags. Understood?" It doesn't take much to have this group's attention the fella notices. "So here's how we're gonna do this. All of yous up against the wall. Palms flat. Now."

Riddick has been through this enough times to know the position. "We got a sick man," he says as he moves over to help the Time Lord to his feet. Simon steps up to help, even though it looks ridiculous for him besides the two taller men. Mentioning the disability seems to soften the mercs slightly. "Here, just put your hands against the wall like this, Doctor." They share a glance. Don't even open your mouth, Thete. These guys will shoot first and listen never. Trust me here.

Believe it or not, I've dealt with this sort before, Amadak.

Abu hustles the two boys against the wall as well, not wanting to risk them.

Fry follows the men's example without protest although it leaves her and River far more open to manhandling then it does the males. The Doctor's face tightens when the brute leader of this large quad steps up and frisks the blonde woman down. His jaw clenches when the dirtbag touches River, and Rich swears the Time Lord is growling. He knows the pale hairless man is making a guttural sound when the merc moves to feel up the boys. Wisely, the commander orders the Doctor strapped down to a table first although the ex-ranger is not overly sure the device will hold him should the alien reveal his real strength which is far beyond anything a human could manage even with drugs.

Don't do it, Thete.

Antonia Chillingsworth will die.

Well, yeah. Okay. Richard allows himself to be placed on the other table. Apparently these fellas have heard about his little display before capture. All the others are placed in stiff cuffs, rather high security. It looks positively laughable on the boys, not to mention the petite adults, River, Carolyn, and Simon. Rich wonders if the merc commander found the sonic screwdriver on River, and if not why he overlooked it. Hah. She's slipped it into her boot that's why. Clever girl. The brute was more interested in coping a feel than actually searching her. She kept him interested in the upper part of her body, and away from her feet somehow. The ex-ranger wasn't watching her too close so he's not sure exactly how she did it but he applauds her for it anyway.

The problem with the stiff cuffs is that they use a different locking mechanism. Richard wonders if the settings Thete has the screwdriver set to will work on these new locks, and if not, will River be able to alter the dials to make the screwdriver work? He sure hopes so, because if she can't they are gonna be in a world of trouble. He's got a funny feeling that he knows where the Shrill are too, and that's gonna be bad news, for them. He'll rip them all apart if they threaten Thete.

Once they start moving it's pretty easy to tell that they are being taken someplace new. This is a 'main hall' affair, as the tables are too wide to fit down the service passages. The mercs outnumber them twenty-four to nine, bristling guns every which way, because frankly there are too many of the hired guns to be effective. The general route seems to lead down and center, Rich can tell. He's always been able to get directional bearings inside ships fairly easy. So where are they being taken? And more importantly, why?

He's given plenty of time to ponder this, as the mercs escort them through the Kubla Kahn. Then they turn a corner, and he's shocked out of his pondering by a sight that totally blows him away. What exactly is Chillingsworth doing out here in wild space, anyhow? He's never seen so many sleepers in one location aside from Deep Storage. The room, or hall, rather, is multi-storied, huge and packed to the gills with layers of cryo tubes. There are so many that it must be an automated system of some sort.

"Wow," Carolyn says, totally awed. She's never seen such sophisticated technology before. She had no clue that such a thing even existed. And every square inch is glittering and polished clean. The chamber is so large that the lights only illuminate the center of it decently. The sheer size humbles Ali, River, and Simon into shocked silence. The Doctor just glares. It's that Look. The one that makes Daleks self-destruct instead of face him. Of course these mercs are too dense to understand the danger they are in.

Johns shrugs. This is fancy but nothing he's not seen before during the Wailing Wars. Troop transports often were built this way. So the Kubla Kahn was an ex-military, custom rebuild. Big fuckin' whoop.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Abu asks him. It's clear that he's got a reason to ask such questions, however obscure the reason might be.

"Sure, Kovan Military Troop Transports are built this way. Kova's got the tops on cutting edge Cryo tech. Then again, that's been their focus for centuries, you know? How machines and biosystems interact," the marshal says.

"But these are all guild members, are they not?" The holy man further inquired.

"So?" The redhead shrugged. "She said she hand hundreds she could being down on us. Gotta keep 'em someplace."

Jack says, "So this is a merc ship?"

"Why did you think I asked if you were becoming psychic, Jack?" Riddick says to the boy. Jack shrugs. "It's got nothing on Revas' operation. Remember any of that, Johns?"

"The Dark Athena? Only in my fuckin' nightmares."

"I take then that you have seen things like this?" Imam rephrases.

Rich looks at him, "Merc ships? Plenty. Just trying to figure out how it all goes together."

Silence descends on the group for a bit. They are about halfway down the hall when the holy man speaks again, "It is a plantation operation. A boat like this loads up at port, signs on as many men as it can hold, then goes out for months, sometimes years at a time. However long it takes to fill their stores."

"I've heard about those," Fry says. "Company used to warn students to not sign up if they actually wanted to finish their education before the curriculum went out of date. Kinda scary that the owners of these boats can keep someone on ice legally for decades. Can't even do that in prisons, can they?"

The marshal shakes his head, "Law says that Deep Storage inmates have to be given fifteen minutes a day of wake time. Even if it drives costs up for security, healthcare, and maintenance on the automated systems. Being pumped full of the reviving drugs every goddamn day really shortens a lifespan. Which I suppose is why they do it."

"For the sake of being seen as humane? That's barbaric," Simon sputters in shock. "That sort of repetitive shock to the body will kill a person in less than five years."

"Yep," Johns agrees. "But it ain't my law. I just enforce it."

"Which makes you part of the problem, Bill," Carolyn says.

He looks at her, "Hey, you know what you need to do to about that. I'm offering to change."

"Think the morphine fried what few brain cells you had. I sure hope your plans don't include a set up like this."

"Why? High-classed operation like this could really rake in the UD's. There's a reason Merchant Rigs use these old Kova ships, after all."

"Not much of a change then," Fry retorts.

"Actually it's a huge change for a man like Billy, Carolyn. A merchant rig's usually harvesting ore, maybe crops, not people," the bronze-skinned man tells her. She blinks at him. "What? You really believe that most sane mercs sign up for shit like this?"

"Fuckin' hope not," Johns says, "I wouldn't, ever. I liked being independent, able to follow my hunches. Can't do that if you're just someone's hired muscle."

Simon glances around, "You think all these people are guild mercs?"

"Nah," the ex-ranger responds.

Abu further expands, "Captured bounties on one side, contracted manpower on the other." Billy and Rich both nod.

"Recipe for a war zone, if you ask me," Fry states under her breath. Something sparks in the Doctor's eyes at that.

The honey-haired boy walking beside her says, "Just add heat."

What Thete?

It's just – a plan, forming. Don't you worry.

Your plans better be good ones or I'll worry all I want. Richard can feel Thete darkly chuckling, like he's going to enjoy unleashing the carefully contained havoc onto the creator of this rickety system. He wonders exactly what this 'plan' entails.

"Soon." River says. "Fire will burn, after all." Simon looks over at his sister and raises an eyebrow. He gets a similar look reflected back with a slightly cocker attitude. She seems awfully chipper for a girl in chains. He wonders what she knows. The brown eyes twinkle at him like it's a secret that she can't just tell him. He rolls his eyes and looks away.

The bronze skinned man looks at Abu, "You know a lot about this shit… For a holy man."

Imam's dark eyes scan everyplace but the goggles that are focused on his face. After a moment he makes an aborted dismissive motion, "I hear things."

The question is, from where? Rich has to wonder what the mild mannered priest is hiding, because for a man from sheltered Helion Prime, who has lived a comfortable life, it would appear, Abu knows way more than is reasonable. In fact, if the ex-ranger had to guess, he'd say the man wasn't a priest at all, but for his unshakable faith. He studies the dark skinned fellow for a long while as the group lapses into silence. But then the mercs around them are annoying Carolyn and one is leering at Jack; he don't go for this shit. "Must be a special kind of desperate dick signs on to this."

He targets the overweight rather pig-like fellow that is eyeing the green-eyed boy with something that makes Rich's stomach churn. The man snaps his attention away from the kid and catches the deadly look on the restrained man's face. "Shut up!" he orders as he rifle-butts the con in the face.

The bronze man turns his head with the blow and catches the Doctor's eye. He can feel the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. He licks it off and feels the wound, Not that bad, Thete. Keeps him from raping Jack, so it's worth it, right? The pale man's eyes settle on the merc like he's going to feed the man his own balls. Richard is happy to see that the Time Lord shares his protective streak toward Jack. That's a good sign. To keep the merc's attention off the boy he says, "You're the exception, of course. For you it's life experience."

Sadly, the man is too dense to comprehend the threat. He does maintain his attention on Riddick for the rest of the trip though, giving Jack some breathing room. The kid is holding up quite well, considering. The end of the hall comes up rather soon though, and it branches off at an intersection into two directions. There is another ten mercs waiting. "Took you long enough, Carver. Junner is waiting for those two, you remember where, right?"

"Conservatory," the merc commander barks out, "I fuckin' remember, you high and mighty asswipe. I'm above you now, jerkweed, so I best be seeing some respect outta your shit-for-brains mini-squad, got that?"

"Bite me. Commander Harley sent me to link up with you, because the Boss herself has her doing something special. Since Harley's above your ass, and I'm just below her, I think you need to be the one groveling." The two mercs challenging for leadership stare at each other.

Jack steps up to the tables, knowing that they are going to be separated. "So, what's the plan? It's not like we haven't gotten out of worse. The way I see it, we can take these jerks when—" He interrupted when one of the other mercs, a guy with hair almost as red as Johns, snags him by the shoulder. The boy is hauled back away from the tables, "Hey!"

"This is where we get off Kiddies."

Jack shakes free, "Fuck off!"

"Jack!" It's the first thing that the Doctor has said the entire trip out loud. The boy freezes. "I need to know that you are staying with River and Simon. Will you do that for me?" The green eyes meet intense dark blue and the boy nods, fighting back tears. The Time Lord just nods at him.

Jack glares at the merc. "I'm goin'! Don't fuckin' touch me."

Another merc points his weapon at Carolyn, "You too, princess." She looks at Rich and gets a nod.

Johns and Fry begin herding the Tams, Ali and Jack, keeping them together. Soon only Imam is left standing there. Something about this is objectionable on a level he can't articulate. One of the more reasonable guns-for-hire finally says, "Come on, preacher. We haven't got all day here."

Abu finally says, "I will pray." He sounds resigned.

Both the ex-ranger and the Time Lord say, in unison, "Not for me." Then they look at each other and actually snicker about it. Imam manages a slight smile as he's hauled backwards.

"What happens to them?" The Doctor called.

"Going free, as far as I know. That was the deal, wasn't it?" the merc in charge of the smaller group answers.

Jack begins to struggle again. One of the mercs grabs him, "Let's go!" Jack knees him in the groin and he lets go with a groan. Another merc, more careful than the last, catches the boy.

"I won't leave without you, Doctor! Riddick! I'll find you both! I swear I will!"

The pale hairless gent calls back to him, "Stay with River and Simon, Jack. That's an order. Dong ma?"

Rich is reminded of his words that Jack is gonna be trouble. If the boy is not careful he's gonna be dead. They are wheeled away, until the sounds of Jack's cries fade into the distant dimness of the tunnels. Please Jack, he thinks, do like Thete wants and stay with the Tams.