"Oi, you're not up yet?" Donna's voice had the unpleasant, but probably intended, effect of scaring the hell out of me as I jolted from my comfortable nap. My body had molded into an awkward position in one of the library chairs, the same chair she had found me in ten minutes earlier. At least, I was pretty sure that's what happened. It was hard to know for certain since I only remember nodding with whatever she had said, and then promptly falling asleep again. Apparently, my recovery was taking more time than initially thought. That sort of thing tends to happen when someone tries to use you to power up two portals to rip a hole through space and time. I suppose it didn't help that I had nearly died in several escalating circumstances over the span of the past few months. It was probably a miracle that all I needed was some aggressive napping. Although, it was nice to finally be good at something. I was pretty sure I had trained most of my life for napping. Now I was at the sleep Olympics and I was freaking killing it. My mother would be so proud.
Or devastated. It would be hard to know if she'd be able to get past the whole 'nearly dying' part. Mothers were such babies about that sort of thing.
"Is the plan just to sleep through the boy's departure then?" Donna again, not nearly as impressed as she should be with the fact that I was literally putting myself back to sleep…by thinking about how great I was at sleeping.
"No," I mumbled, my mouth a cottony wasteland. "No, I'm up." I stretched in the chair to be extra convincing and she gave a satisfied nod as she headed out the door.
Which was just the opportunity I needed, because this chair was really comfy and now it was all warm from where I had been sleeping.
No. No dammit. Nap later. Sending off Jack and Rhysik now. My self-loathing, as always, didn't let me down. It got me sitting upright at least. I shook my head to try and get some sense of alertness going, lurching out of the chair like an ogre. It probably wasn't entirely my need to sleep that made me hesitate to leave the library. As nutty and vulgar as Jack was, and insane, and really vulgar, I kinda liked him. Having him going on this potentially dangerous, and quite possibly pointless mission, wasn't something I was especially eager to send him off on. I mean, me not saying goodbye wasn't going to stop him, but somewhere in the part of my brain that wasn't ruled by logic, I sorta hoped it might.
Especially since this mission was with Rhysik. I'm sure Jack probably had the best intentions in mind when he offered to help. But I had also seen the little nod between Jack and the Doctor. They were worried about what Rhysik might do. So was I. After Rhysik had woken up, the Doctor had reluctantly explained what had happened. I suggested we just tell him that Ailla freaked out and vanished one day, but no one seemed to appreciate that. He had been quiet for a long time, and then announced that he would go find her. It was an ambitious plan, considering even the Doctor couldn't really claim to know what had happened to her, or even if she'd survived her trip through…well, wherever she'd gone.
But Rhysik was determined, and so Jack offered his help, and the resources at Torchwood. Help to track down the woman who had completely lost her mind and tried to kill everyone. Sure, that seemed like a good plan. Especially when you were tracking her down with, possibly, the only friend she had left in the world. A friend who might be, understandably, still hung up on the whole 'loss of his species' business.
Maybe I was paranoid, but then, so was everyone else. I wasn't even sure the Professor was trying to hide it, but then again, he glared at people recreationally, so it was hard to tell if the daggers he sent in Rhysik's direction was distrust or just business as usual. But Donna was doing her best to be extra cheerful, and even the Doctor, on occasion, would give Rhysik a wary look when he thought no one was paying attention. That's when I became certain that sending Jack along was less of a kindness, and more of 'shit, if things work out we might be in a lot of fucking trouble. Better keep an eye on this.' plan. You know how those kind of half baked plans generally worked out? Badly. So far, my arguments had been ignored. Probably because I had yawned through most of them, and possibly dreamed up the rest. It didn't help that I didn't have any better ideas. I didn't want Rhysik out there on his own either.
Still, I could argue my point at least once more before they left. Why couldn't we find one of those nasty robot sentries to keep an eye on him? I started to plan my argument in my head, along with accompanying facial expressions as I walked out of the library. Only to run directly into Rhysik himself. Which was especially rude, since he seemed to be hauling a rather heavy box along with him. He was so huge though, that instead of knocking him over, I sort of bounced off his arm and nearly back into the doorway I'd come from.
"Sorry!" I blurted, my eyes going wide. He could totally tell I'd been worrying about him kidnapping Jack and stealing his powers in some kind of Highlander fashion. Wait. Okay, he probably couldn't. But the apology followed by a suspicious glare had made me seem somewhat insincere. "Sorry, I'm still a bit groggy. Do you…uh, do you need help with that?" I realized quickly how futile the offer was when it occurred to me that the box he was carrying looked heavy enough to crush me like a grape. He had the decency not to laugh directly at me, though the corner of his mouth curled ever so slightly as he considered my offer.
"Thank you, but I have this in hand. Though, there is another box with some of my personal items if you could bring that outside?" I nodded eagerly, possibly a little too eagerly, especially since I'd never actually been to Rhysik's room, and didn't know where it was. But it kept me from looking like I secretly suspected him of being some kind of villain with nefarious purposes, so it worked. He smiled his thanks and continued down the hall as I turned around and hoped the ship was feeling helpful today.
A look into his room was exactly the opportunity I needed. Well, probably would have been smarter to get around to it before he had packed everything up. Whatever, I had one box to investigate, that would have to be enough. After the third or fourth incorrect door, I did manage to find the room. It was bland, and empty. For some reason, I had expected it to be similar to mine. Weird changey furniture, and overflowing closet, and somewhat of a mess. Though I think the mess thing was only allowed because I had shouted at the TARDIS when she kept putting my shoes back into some 'shoe organizer'. Which was ridiculous because everyone knows that's what the floor is for.
Anyway. His room was clinical. There was beige carpet that went along with an equally uninspiring bed. A closed door that led to a bathroom. This empty white-walled room absolutely matched the personality of a cold-blooded lunatic.
Or the ship had already picked up on the fact that Rhysik was leaving, and had gone back to default.
Nah, sticking with my original suspicion. There was a small wood crate on the bed, the lid skewed halfway off already. I eyed it suspiciously, and then the door. I approached the bed and bumped the box with my elbow casually. It stayed on. I sighed, and checking the door once more, bumped the box so hard I nearly tipped it over. It was still shut. Rolling my eyes, I pulled the lid off and tossed it on the bed. It only counted as a crime if he wasn't plotting on rejoining Ailla and ripping holes in the universe to get Gallifrey back. At least that's what years of watching cop procedurals on television had taught me. Although there was that thing about evidence being inadmissible if I didn't have a warrant prior to searching the suspects-
I shook my head and got busy with the detecting. I wasn't taking him to court, I was just trying to keep Jack, and the universe at large, safe. There wasn't really much in the box though. It shouldn't have surprised me, since he and Ailla had shown up with the clothes on their back and a duffel bag between the two of them. I always assume the bag had been full of guns. There was some kind of laser looking pistol at the bottom of the box, and a book on top of it. I picked up the book, which was alarmingly plastic. All the pages were blank until I started to flip through them. Words and light flashed across them as my finger touched the page, but it looked like something resembling an encyclopedia as opposed to a journal to keep all diabolical plans in, so I put it back down. There was only one more thing in the box, what looked like another plastic page that may have fallen out of the book.
But the plastic was hazy, unlike the clear book. They both looked older, but this page looked as though it had seen decades of wear, where the book still was bright and shiny. I picked it up, the view through it like a warped magnifying glass. It slowly flickered to life, colors and lights trickling through the plastic to create an opaque image.
It was dodgy at best, going in and out of focus. Occasionally, a streak of white would blot out a section of it completely. But it was definitely some kind of video, the movement's sometimes going way too fast, and then not at all.
There was a woman with curly black hair and a warm smile in the center, her arms wrapped around a small boy who squirmed playfully in her grip. His grin matched the woman's, but his green eyes were familiar for a completely different reason. They both jumped around the frame, until the boy reached out and the world spun wildly, making me dizzy for a moment until I realized I recognized Rhysik in the frame. The same solemn green eyes looking out at me. And then he sucked in his cheeks and did an immaculate impression of a fish as he crossed his eyes. The video grew fuzzy as it moved, but I suspected part of that was due to the cameraman's age, as the woman appeared in the frame again, laughing while being chased by Rhysik the fish. I snorted, this version of Rhysik something I had been completely unprepared for.
"That was my wife, Cassandra. And our Tristan." Rhysik's low voice from over my shoulder startled me so badly I dropped the picture on the floor. I swallowed as I spun around, spotting him in the doorway. His face was unreadable with the bright hall light masking him as little more than an enormous shadow. So…this was probably bad.
"I didn't- Sorry. The lid fell…" no it didn't you lying liar. "I was curious." The ounce of truth in that saved me from having to explain that I had really been looking for some kind of incriminating evidence that he was planning on stabbing us all in the back.
"It's alright." He said as he walked forward, picking the picture up from the floor delicately. He watched the remaining image for a moment, and then pressed his finger on the corner so it went clear once more. He swallowed as he stared at the empty page, focused only on his internal thoughts. Hopefully, not ones of snapping my neck. "He was brilliant. Must have gotten it from his mother, I could not even fathom some of the things that boy designed at the academy. It was hard to keep up. I was always just a soldier." He smiled sadly as he placed the picture back in the box, replacing the lid gently.
"So…they're still waiting, if you find Ailla-" My mouth went suddenly dry. It only occurred to me as I said it, that maybe telling him what I'd figured out wasn't one of my better plans. Telling Jack, that had been the plan. Now I had told him, where we were alone.
I took a subtle step toward the door.
"No," he said softly, closing his eyes as his hand lingered on the box. Probably the moment I should have used to make a dash, but I stood there frozen. "They did not survive the war."
Oh. I felt like he had taken one of his massive arms and punched me straight through the chest. "So they were…they were gone before the Doctor…" I was going to win some kind of award for being an insensitive jerk one of these days.
Rhysik took a deep breath. "Yes. The Daleks had sheer numbers on their side for a long time. Early on in the fighting, they constantly threw themselves at our defenses. Sometimes, they were lucky and broke through. My family was one of the unlucky ones. I wasn't even on planet when it happened." He shook his head, holding onto the box now like it was the only thing keeping him upright. "I would have given anything to spare Gallifrey this war." He finally looked up at me, the anguish in his green eyes so painfully clear that I wondered how I'd never seen it before. "I threw myself into finding a way to end it. It was all I had left. Stopping the destruction, and the death. I thought the Unwritten could be that answer. But they were not. Ending war with more war is not the solution. It is fighting a war that has no winner. Ailla wants to reopen that wound, but I cannot support that. I think, deep down, she does not either. She is hurt, and lost. All she wanted to do was save us, and now, she cannot."
So my paranoia had been a whole lot of wasted energy. That was good to know. Maybe it would be better if I improved my 'reading people' abilities, since I apparently had none. "So you're trying to stop her." I said with a sigh.
He nodded. "I will find her, help her to see reason. She is all I have from my life before. She is a good friend, and a strong soldier. I am not sure I am prepared to deal with the consequence of losing her as well."
"Yeah," I added, dully. I wondered how exactly he would go about finding her, or more importantly, where. The last I'd seen, she'd been sucked into some kind of portal that managed to lead to fucking nowhere, if the Professor's math was to be trusted. Then again, maybe Rhysik didn't know either. Maybe he just needed to believe that he could find her, at least until he was certain his mind was able to deal with the fact that she was really gone. That was a technique I could sympathize with.
"I'm sorry, Rhysik." Sorry for thinking you were on a mission to destroy everyone when you were actually just doing your part to save your friend, along with everyone she plans on potentially killing. Sorry your family died in the war that I'd never heard of prior to meeting time lords. Sorry that your life took a turn for shitty and you're still remarkably well adjusted. There was a lot going on in that sorry, I just hoped he was aware of them all because I would feel dumb saying it out loud.
"You are not at fault, Fitzgerald. But I appreciate the sentiment." He offered a small smile as he finally picked up the box and turned toward the door. "Perhaps we should go before Captain Harkness believes I have changed my mind."
"I bet he'd be disappointed." I smirked as I followed him out of the room. The trip was shorter than I expected. It was hard to tell how much of it was Rhysik knowing where he was going, and how much was the ship adjusting because she was feeling cooperative. Someday I'd go back to normal buildings and the laws of physics. Probably.
Outside, it was bright, but chilly. That meant it could be September, or April, I really had no way of knowing. Trying to guess made my head hurt so I dismissed it as unimportant. Especially since I couldn't precisely recall when I had rejoined the TARDIS and her crew. There was a small metal cart outside piled with three boxes, and Rhysik placed the last box on top. The Doctor was circling the TARDIS, his sonic pointed up at the sky where he was scanning something I couldn't see. Or possibly nothing.
"Well that's odd." He said, as he glared at the screwdriver.
"Of course it is," I rolled my eyes.
Rhysik turned back to me with a tight smile. "It was an honor to meet you, Fitzgerald. I hope we may cross paths again." He took my hand and kissed the back of it, his towering form still taller than me, even as he bowed. He squeezed my hand tightly as he looked up, somehow less formal, but more meaningful a gesture. A goofy grin started to pull at my lips, those green eyes of his really were mesmerizing. Along with the rest of him. All suspicions aside, maybe we could keep him around for the eye candy factor. I got the feeling both Donna and Jack would be with me on that. I saw the Professor watching the exchange curiously and I tried to wipe some of the giddiness from my face.
"Yeah. Maybe a little less chaos next go around." I suggested. That would be some kind of a miracle. "Thanks for all the, saving my ass." I smiled sheepishly. Reminding myself yet again what a rude asshole I was for thinking he was out to get us.
Rhysik chuckled. "It was my pleasure." He nodded and released my hand.
"Take care of yourself, ya big lug." Donna had sidled up and squeezed Rhysik's arm. Longer than necessary. And then slid her hand down the rest of the way while wearing a pleasant smile. Damn she was smooth. Why hadn't I thought of that?
"And you as well."
"The grouchy one there with the clipboard is Richard," Jack said, pointing toward a tall sculpture that had suddenly grown a door. And there was, in fact, a disgruntled looking man waiting there. "He'll help you get sorted downstairs." Rhysik nodded his thanks and took the cart with him as he marched that way.
"Well kiddo, looks like this is it." Jack turned back to me, a grin on his face.
"Or…you could stick around." I suggested casually. Now that I knew Rhysik didn't really need a babysitter, I was especially reluctant to have Jack go off on his adventure. "It's always nice to not be the one who causes the most trouble."
Jack threw back his head and laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. Donna snorted too, but noticing the look I gave her, covered it up with a cough as she walked away, suddenly interested in what the Doctor was up to. "Thanks, I needed that." Jack said, finally catching his breath. "Sweetheart, no one can take that title from you." I made a face at him, letting him know he wasn't nearly as funny as he seemed to think he was. "Besides, what else do you need me around for? I taught you everything I know about dancing."
"Besides your hilarious sense of humor?" I glared at him. "You could keep an eye on me, since apparently, I'm a volcano of chaos."
He snorted and looked in the Professors direction. He was busy trying to not look bored by whatever the Doctor was telling him. "I think that position has already been filled. And I get the feeling he's going to be pretty good at it. Even if he is a bastard." I stopped myself from rolling my eyes that time. The history between him and Jack was actually pretty dark, and I was hardly in a position to judge Jack for holding a grudge for it. "But he's an alright bastard, as far as bastards go." Jack added with a shrug. "And he seems to like you." He teased. I rolled my eyes then, if only to prevent myself from turning a bright shade of pink.
"Alright, I changed my mind. Go." I insisted.
"Yeah, as much fun as tormenting you is, I think Rhysik could use the help. Better than trying to go it alone, anyway." Jack looked over his shoulder to where Rhysik had disappeared. There was some distrust there, but it also looked like Jack kinda knew where he was coming from. It probably would be best if Jack was there, especially if it turned out Ailla really was gone. Damn. Guess that meant I couldn't continue to try and guilt Jack into staying. Being a grownup is such bullshit.
"Guess you're right," I admitted. "Just keep an eye out on each other. And stay safe. No more of that blowing yourself up shit. I don't care how indestructible you are, alright?" I nudged him with my elbow hard and glared to make sure he knew I was serious. I could hope that whatever darkness had possessed him to pull a stunt like that had passed, but the truth was, I had no way of knowing. Especially with Jack. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who took special care to lie about how I was doing to the people who only wanted to help.
"My lady," he bowed dramatically. "I swear it." He was probably trying to make fun of Rhysik, but he only succeeded in looking like a dork himself. "Circumstances allowing, of course." He winked. That wasn't the vote of confidence I'd been hoping for, but it was something. "Make sure you're around for a while still yourself. You made an excellent drinking partner, and those are difficult to come by."
"Yep, that's me. A special souse-y snowflake." He grinned and pulled me in for a tight hug. I returned it, feeling my eyes start to go misty despite my general loathing of feelings.
"See ya around, kid." He said with a smile. He saluted everyone and headed for the sculpture.
"Are you alright?" The Professor had approached without me noticing, probably because I was busy trying not to turn into a sobbing wreck. I hastily brushed at my eyes as he raised his eyebrow, as though it were completely insane that I might miss Jack.
"Oh shut up," I swatted at him. "It's perfectly normal to get upset when people leave. You know, if you're not a robot." There was a hint of a smirk on his lips as he watched Jack disappear behind the metal doors.
"I'll defer to your expertise."
"Please, if I went with them you'd bawl like a baby." That was completely untrue, but I liked the visual of the Professor sobbing with snot running down his face. It kept me young.
"I'm sure. On that note, I wanted to speak with you about something." His face was serious again, that was worrying. Well, he was always worrying, but especially so right now. "The Doctor and I had a discussion earlier, and we thought it might be best if you took a break."
"A break?" I wasn't sure what part was more alarming. That they had been talking about me, or that they had come to an agreement about me needing a break.
"Yes. With your unique condition, it's unclear exactly how well you're recuperating. The Doctor thought it would be best to spend some time away from the TARDIS and the time energy it emits. He also admitted that travel with him has frequently been a little… hectic, and perhaps your health would recover more in a conventional setting."
They were kicking me out of the club is what I was hearing. Probably because I was an agent of fucking chaos. I couldn't really blame them for that, and really, I could use the break. But all I wanted to do about it right now was weep and whine about the unfairness of it. And take a nap. Which was probably a clue that I really did need the break. "And what did you think?" For some reason, it felt like it would be less of a blow if I knew he had at least argued for my sake.
"Well, considering I was the one who suggested it. I agreed, naturally."
Now, of course, it was infinitely more of a blow. Not only did the Doctor think I was too much trouble to be around, but so did my new boyfriend. He had come up with the plan to get rid of me. Peachy.
"You." Was all I could say for a moment. "You suggested I should leave?"
"Yes. I thought it was time for you to return home." He frowned at me.
"You…you who kidnapped me in the first place, when those crazy blue vampire freaks showed-"
"To be fair, I remember very little of that-"
"Shut up." My crazy eyes made it very clear that I was being serious. "You dragged me along, on your little psycho adventure, and I almost died six hundred different ways. But I didn't, and we ended up…whatever. Then I came back home, for a break, and because you took a train to 'forget me-ville'. Then for two whole months, I was angry I didn't stay. And you showed up out of nowhere, and threw me back into it all over again." I may have been shaking a little at this point. It was hard to tell. "Now, I'm not saying that I couldn't use a break. But you? You who have continually brought me back to the TARDIS over and over again? You who brought me out here, suddenly thinks I need a break? That is so not what this is about."
"No?" It was more than a little infuriating the way he could stay so calm in the wake of my rage.
"No. This is about you, and whatever weird little hang up you have with relationships. If you can tell me you don't want to do this," I gestured between the two of us. "That's fine. But you need to tell me. Not just come up with some made up plan about me needing a 'break' so you don't have to explain why you're too chicken shit- Why are you laughing?" My eyes narrowed as I realized the longer I continued my rant, the more he had started to smile. His shoulders had actually started to shake, in what I assumed was laughter, which didn't really make much sense to me.
"Well," he cleared his throat. "Naturally, since you are incapable of staying out of trouble on your own. I planned to remain with you as opposed to the TARDIS."
"You'd…" I was still in shouting mode, which is why my mouth hung open as all the gusto I'd built up sort of melted out of me. "You did that on purpose you ass." I hit him square in the shoulder, but this time he was definitely laughing.
"I've no idea what you mean." He wiped most of the grin from his face, looking nearly the perfect picture of innocence. That only confirmed my suspicions. "Now, you may have misunderstood my meaning, which explains some of the amusing faces you were making just now. But I assure you, if I had known, I would have taken care to be clearer."
I nodded, not buying it for a second. "Make sure you do, because next time I'll be carrying something heavy and blunt." I reassured him.
"I look forward to that," he said, still smirking.
"In the meantime, you can make it up to me by doing all of my laundry, forever." I went to punch him again but he caught my arm this time. Though to be fair, the aggression had mostly vanished at this point.
"Oh, let's not be drastic," he said, pulling me forward so that I was trapped against him. Not that I minded in the least. "I had something else in mind." My mouth was close enough to his own that he could probably feel me smile more than he could see it. Damn him, damn him straight to hell. I hovered over his lips, letting him think that he could get my blood boiling and then just seduce me with that damn voice of his.
"We'll see." I murmured into his cheek. He chuckled deep in his chest and brought his hand beneath my chin, lifting my mouth to his own before he skillfully wiped that smug grin off my face once and for all.
The End
A/N: And that, ladies and gents and the rest, is all she wrote! Sorry for the abysmal update times. I'm thinking there will be a follow up story, but it may be a while (shocking, I know) so if you are interested, I'll keep you posted. I can't remember how I updated people last time... I presume another chapter add or something. I'm not sure. I'll figure that out. But later. Much later. After my eyes stop bleeding. Thank you everyone for their support and their reviews! I really really appreciate it! Along with your patience. I soooo appreciate your patience. Thank you guys, you are the best!