Author's Note: Hey, sorry to all of my 27 readers that it took so long to update, but i've been busy and am just getting around to posting this. i hope you enjoy it and maybe i'll even get 2 whole reviews for it.
Jack walks up to the Doctor slowly. So many thoughts are running through the Doctor's still muddled head. How could Jack be here? It doesn't make sense. He tries to push these thoughts aside and remember why he has to leave. Jack stops right in front of him and extends his hand.
"Captain Jack Harkness." he introduces himself. Something clicks in the Doctor's head, Jack hadn't seen him since his last regeneration. The Doctor quickly grabs Jack's hand with his own.
"John..." he drifts off, Smith would give him away, "Jones." he says with an unnoticed glance at Doe.
"Nice to meet you John." Jack smiles at him. The Doctor represses the urge to tell him to 'Stop it.' "Listen, you really can't go out there." Jack tells him. Well that had done it, he'd been told what he can't do and now he has to do it.
"I'll bet you I can." the Doctor tells him and moves for the door.
"No wait!" Doe calls after him as he places his hand on the pad just like Doe had done to get in. The door moves aside for him and he steps outside. He doesn't notice that the sun had set until he is moving along the sidewalk at a run. He isn't entirely sure how he will get back to the TARDIS without one of those handy speeders that Ken had, but he'll figure something out. He hears foot steps behind him, getting closer as he rounds a corner. He turns around and is tackled to the ground by Jack. The wind is knocked out of him and he groans as Jack pulls him back on his feet.
"Wha-what was that for?" the Doctor wheezes out.
"Sorry about tackling you John, but you need to get indoors now." Jack tells him and begins half guiding, half dragging the Doctor by his shoulder back the way he just came. Doe and Don run up to them, apparently they also followed him but weren't as fast as Jack. Don gets under the Doctor's other shoulder to help support him better and they continue to move back toward the pub.
"No, I have to..." the Doctor tries to speak but a sudden pain in his chest stops him abruptly. When Jack tackles someone, they don't usually get up as fast as the Doctor did. "The grass..." he tries again but again pain shoots through his chest and stops him from speaking.
"What's he talking about?" Doe asks as she walks behind the three men.
"He's probably gone mad." Don tells her.
"Red grass only grows..." he winces again but tries to push through, "when orbiting a sun in the..." he winces again, "Kasterborous constellation." he looks at both Jack and Don and gets blank looks from both of them. "That means-" however he is cut off when Don and Jack abruptly stop. The Doctor looks up and sees a shady figure approaching them. His outline is hazy, blurred by a thin mist that had descended while the Doctor was talking. Jack steps out from under the Doctor's shoulder, forcing Don to carry a majority of his weight. Doe moves forward and takes Jack's place under the Doctor's other shoulder. She is shorter than Don so the Doctor is leaning in an odd way. Jack steps forward and pulls his pistol out from under his coat.
"Stop!" Jack calls out to the figure. Either the figure didn't hear Jack, or didn't care because he continued to advance. Jack pulls the hammer back on his gun and moves into a firing stance. "Stop and identify yourself!" Jack orders the figure, but it continues to advance. The figure is close enough to be identified as a medium sized man with pale skin. It's hard to determine anything else as he is wearing what appears to be a black cloak with a hood covering the top of his face. "Last chance, stop and identify yourself!"Jack shouts and puts slight pressure on the trigger. The man stops and smiles. Even from the distance two large, white fangs could be seen gleaming in the moonlight. Jack pulls the trigger and the man jerks backward as the gun makes a loud barking sound. The man drops to one knee and the Doctor looks at Jack incredulously.
"What did you just do?" He asks.
"Bought you time, now go!" Jack orders them and Doe and Don turn and drag the Doctor away. The two drag the Doctor and he hears the repeated bark, bark of Jack's pistol. The Doctor looks over his shoulder and sees the man advancing on Jack, despite the rounds slamming into his chest. He gets within arms reach of Jack and an arm shoots out faster than the Doctor could believe and grabs Jack's throat. He lifts Jack off of the ground and throws him back over his shoulder as if he were no more than a wad of paper. Jack's back hits the metal surface hard and bounces over the side, his hand just barely grabbing the edge in time. The man stops advancing and jumps high into the air. The Doctor tries to follow him with his eyes but the man is lost to sight. He looks forward in time to see the man land only a few feet away from them. Don gets out from under the Doctor's shoulder and faces the man.
"Doe, take him and get back to the pub now!" Don tells her.
"But-" Doe protests but is cut off.
"Now!" Don orders. The Doctor pulls away from Doe, confident he can carry his own weight again and the two back up. Don is a good head taller than the Doctor and a well built man. He takes a step forward and throws a punch that lands square on the man's jaw. He is hardly phased by the blow and bridges the distance between them in a flash. He places one hand on Don's face and turns it, exposing his neck. He uses the other to steady Don's shoulder. Don tries to struggle, but the man is to strong. He bares his fangs and sinks them deep into Don's throat. A gush of blood shoots out and splatters on the floor. The Doctor grabs Doe's Hand and begins to run. The Doctor doesn't look back, but he doesn't have to. They reach Jack, who had just pulled himself up.
"What happened?" Jack asks. The Doctor glances back to see the man separate himself from Don and throw his lifeless body over the edge of the sidewalk and let it plummet to the earth. The man looks over at the trio and begins to walk calmly toward them.
"No time to explain." the Doctor says and pulls his sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket and points it at the nearest door. He presses a button and a whirring noise erupts from it. The door slides open and the Doctor guides both of them through it. Once all three of them were through the door, the Doctor points the sonic screwdriver at the door and closes it. Almost immediately there is a banging noise and a small dent appears, no doubt created by the man's fist. Doe leaps over to the door and opens a panel. She flips a switch and a red light begins to glow from outside the door. Immediately the banging stops and a frustrated cry is heard. There are foot steps as the man walks away.
"What is that?" the Doctor asks.
"Laser shield, comes with every house." Doe explains, "We should be safe as long as we don't leave and that shield doesn't go down before dawn."
"Why wait until dawn?" the Doctor asks her.
"Whatever that thing is, it doesn't like sunlight." Doe tells him.
"You don't know what it is?" the Doctor asks.
"No, we just know that people disappear at night and that thing is what causes it." Doe tells him. "Do you know what it is?"
"I might, i've encountered some similar species but I couldn't tell you now." he admits.
"Maybe later then, but now we need to make sure it can't get us first." Jack adds
"Is there any other way in?" the Doctor asks.
"There might be a back door, I'll go check." Doe says and walks off into the house. The Doctor walks over to what looks like a chair and plops into it. 'I'm getting to old for this' he tells himself. Another form plops down next to him and the Doctor looks up into the eyes of an expecting Jack. Neither say anything and the room goes silent.
"Last time I knew you," Jack starts, breaking the silence and eye contact as he turns his gaze on the wall, "you went by John Smith when you didn't want anybody to know who you were."
"Well, you're not just anybody, Jack." the Doctor replies, also facing the wall.
"You regenerated." Jack says, still not making eye contact.
"Again." the Doctor adds, likewise keeping his eyes facing forward.
"Donna?" Jack asks.
"Safe." the Doctor tells him.
"Rose?"
"Back in her parallel universe."
"Still running?" Jack asks, finally chancing a glance, a small grin forming. The Doctor turns his head slightly and matches Jacks gaze.
"Of course." He laughs lightly. They jump up and embrace in a hug. Jack pats him hard on the back and they pull away.
"Good to see you again." Jack says, smiling.
"You too!" the Doctor agrees. At that moment, Doe walks in looking tired.
"There's no back door." Doe says in a sigh and drops onto a chair.
"Hey, who lives here? You'd think we'd have woken up the owners by now." Jack asks.
"It's Don's house." Doe says, immediately becoming upset, "Or rather, it was Don's house." a tear streaks down her face slowly followed by others. The Doctor walks over to her and realizes what she's wearing. She's in a navy blue uniform with a green crescent on her shoulder. He remembers being on New Earth with rose and seeing the green crescent there as well.
"You're a nurse." the Doctor says with understanding.
"No, I'm part of an emergency response team, the same team that pulled you out of that wreck." Doe snaps angrily.
"Hey, it wasn't a wreck, and I climbed out thank you very much." the Doctor replies. Jack just glares at him. "Sorry, not important." the Doctor says and hesitantly puts an arm around Doe, trying to be comforting.
"I've seen death before." Doe says, "I've seen people die in awful crashes and horrible accidents, but that's all they were, accidents."
"It must be hard for you." the Doctor admits and tries awkwardly to do more good than harm in the situation.
"Let's just talk about something else." Doe prompts and wipes her eyes quickly on her sleeve.
"Right," Jack agrees. "Starting with why you are so determined to get off of this planet."
"Because," the Doctor hesitates, unsure of what to say exactly, "The grass is red." he says.
"What's that got to do with anything?" Doe asks, "The grass has always been red."
"Red grass can only be found in one constellation." The Doctor tells them.
"What do you mean?" Jack asks.
"Socius is located on the edge of the Kasterborous constellation, the only constellation containing stars capable of producing red grass." The Doctor elaborates.
"Yeah, everyone on Socius knows this, it's basic stuff." Doe tells him.
"Wait," Jack says, realization and fear mixing on his face, "please tell me there is more than one Kasterborous constellation."
"No, just the one." The Doctor tells him, "The same constellation that once held Gallifrey, home of the Time Lords."
"So what?" Doe asks. "The Time Lords are long dead, they're no threat."
"Well, I'm still here, but you're right the Time Lords themselves aren't a threat."
"Wait, you're a Time Lord?" Doe asks him.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor." he extends his hand to Doe.
"Doctor, back to the point." Jack urges.
"Right well, at the end of the Last Great Time War, between the Time Lords and the Daleks, the Time Lords were losing. In order to save themselves they proposed the Ultimate Sanction. It would destroy all of time and space, but save them. I had to stop them, so I used this weapon called The Moment. It put the war into a Time Lock and removed all of it from reality." The Doctor explains
"Is anything really that powerful?" Jack asks.
"Yes, but it came with a price, it destroyed Gallifrey and both of its twin suns. I did my best to contain the blast, but I couldn't get all of it." the Doctor continues.
"What are you saying?" Doe asks him.
"I'm saying that Socius should have been destroyed in the blast, or at least so radiated that it eradicated all life from the surface." the Doctor tells her.
"Then, why are we still here?" Jack asks.
"Something incredibly strong must be protecting Socius." the Doctor answers.
"How strong are we talking here?" Jack asks him.
"Something strong enough to pull a TARDIS out of flight and force it down here." he tells him.
"What could do that?" Jack questions him.
"I don't know, but I think I have an idea." the Doctor assures them.
"You think you have an idea?" Doe asks incredulously. "Are you telling me that Don, my friend, died for a guess?"
"Doe, I'm sorry about Don, but I can't tell you anymore. We'll have to get back to the TARDIS so I can figure some things out."
"But Doctor, you said we should be radiated." Jack reminds him.
"I know, something must be blocking a majority of the radiation. When we get back to the TARDIS I can do a scan for energy shielding and try to find the source."
"Hold on, you said a majority, but not all?" Doe asks.
"No, Socius is definitely feeling some form of fallout, that's why my head was so cluttered, I couldn't think straight with all of this radiation clouding my thoughts." He tells them.
"Is that the only side effect?" Doe asks.
"No, it's effecting the physical anatomy of the Ludens. When you took me to see Doctor Sho, he checked both of my hearts, why would he do that if Ludens only have one?" the Doctor asks.
"I... well... I hadn't noticed." Doe admits.
"Exactly, not only is something protecting the planet, it's disguising the fact that things are changing with a low level perception filter." the Doctor tells her.
"Well, what do we do now?" Doe asks him.
"Well, if we can't go anywhere or do anything until morning, as soon as the sun comes up, we'll get on one of those flying ovals and head over to the TARDIS."
"You mean speeders?" Doe asks.
"Whatever, let's just get some sleep, I think we're going to need it." The Doctor tells her and moves over to what looks like a couch. He flops down on it and falls asleep. Doe and Jack follow his lead, looking for comfortable places and drifting off into sleep.
Thanks for reading, hope you liked it, now some reviews would be kind of nice.