A/N: Sorry, bit of a gap, wasn't it? Don't know why O.O

I just discovered Trock! Thank you DWM! It RULES!

Chapter 3 – Step Back In Time…

Flashback…

"My name is Larec."

"'Ello Larec," the man greeted. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose." The woman gave Larec a small wave from next to the man, at least a head shorter than he was.

"Ahem!" came a loud voice from behind them and the man called the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, and this is Jack."

Another tall man appeared behind the Doctor and Rose, short black hair and bright blue eyes. He had an accent Larec was unable to place. He smiled at Larec, moving forward towards the man to shake his hand.

"I'm Cap'n Jack Harkness… he announced. "And who might you be?"

"Jack!" the Doctor warned, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder and pulling him back. "There's a time and a place!"

"Ten o'clock, your room?" Jack suggested, looking at the Doctor with a shiny white-toothed grin. The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Anyway," the Doctor said, turning back to Larec. "We're merely travellers, passing through."

"You'll have to present yourself to Father Jace first," Larec informed them, gesturing towards a grand looking church off to the right – out of place in the surroundings of wooden huts and vegetable patches. "It will only take a moment."

Rose and Jack looked at the Doctor, who was nodding at Larec.

"Sure, no problem."

Larec lead them towards the church, the doors already open and inviting them in.

"Larec?" a voice came from the altar the other side of the church. The Doctor, Rose and Jack all focused on the figure kneeling on the floor, now turned around to see who had entered.

"Father Jace, this is the Doctor, Rose and Jack." Larec pointed to them each in turn.

The priest got onto his feet, turning around to face them with his hands together in prayer. "Welcome to our village, strangers. What do you require of us?"

"We're travellers from a far off distant land," the Doctor supplied, feeling Jack and Rose's eyes on him. "We're just passing through, but we'd love a quick look around whilst we're here."

"Certainly, I shall arrange a guide for you." Father Jace bowed courteously. "Do you require any form of nourishment or a bed for the night?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah don't worry, we'll be out your way soon enough."

Father Jace smiled gently. "Of course. Larec, would you mind taking them on a walk around the village?"

"Of course not, Father," Larec replied, smiling. He gestured towards the door. "Come."


The more and more they explored the tiny little village, the more and more the three realised just how much of a community this was. It wasn't a large village – thirty people, maybe less – and everyone treated everyone else with upright courtesy. People left bags of gold open outside their door, unafraid of thieves.

"In our village we worship a unique God," Larec explained, "the Goddess Mondrith. Whilst other Gods command, she does not. She merely suggests and we choose whether to obey or not."

"I noticed you have no gallows," the Doctor remarked, hands in pockets as he gazed at his near surroundings.

"We do not have crime here," Larec replied simply as they entered into an aisle of more wooden houses. "Anyone proved undoubtedly to have committed a crime is exiled from our commun-"

Then someone screamed.

The Doctor was off in an instant, tearing through the village with the others hot on his tail. He burst in through the door of a random house coming face-to-face with an unnerving sight. A brown-haired woman was lying on a dirty-sheeted bed with tears running down her face, with what must've been her husband – a tall, well-built blond-haired man – holding her in comfort. At the foot of the bed stood another woman: blond, blue eyed, but those blue eyes were awash with sorrow as she looked down at the small bundle of cloth in her arms. It was clear the woman on the bed had just given birth.

"Gabrielle?" Larec was addressing the woman holding the bundle of cloth. She didn't manage to muster a reply. Rose bit her lip, somehow already knowing what had happened before the Doctor moved over to check the bundle, then gave a shake of his head. Tears began to well up in her eyes and Jack extended his arm, drawing Rose into a supportive hug.

"I'm so sorry," the Doctor said.

"It's fine," the man replied, still holding his wife close.

"You just lost a baby," Rose whispered, shocked they could be so casual.

"It is our third," the man sighed. "One is to be expected. Twice is unlucky. But three times… that is fate. Maybe Mondrith never intended for us to have children."

The Doctor moved forward towards the woman, smiling gently at her as he reached out. "Do you mind?"

She shook her head, gesturing for him to sit down. He did so, checking her over.

"Sorry, what's your name?" the Doctor asked, maintaining her gaze.

"Elizabeth," she answered.

"I'm Martin," the man offered. The Doctor shot him the same reassuring smile.

"I'm the Doctor, these are my friends Rose and Jack." He nodded to them each in turn still standing in the doorway. "We were just being given a tour by Larec here when we heard you scream and came to help."

"I thank you," Martin nodded courteously to the Doctor. The Doctor reinforced his reassuring, casual smile as he got up from the bed, hands in pockets.

"I suggest you get some rest, Elizabeth," the Doctor said and she nodded, about to settle back against the pillows of the bed but the Doctor spoke once more, turning to Larec. "Does Father Jace have a clean bed in his church?" He inclined with his head towards the mud and blood streaked sheets of the bed Elizabeth currently occupied. Larec paused for a moment, before nodding.

"Of course."

"I'll repay you if it's any inconvenience."

"No, none at all."

"Thanks," the Doctor said with another smile, slipping through the doorway and back onto the street, Rose and Jack following behind him. He led them towards a deserted corner of the district, turning to face a wall before drawing his hands out of his pockets and bringing with it a scanner. He studied it for a moment.

"Yeah, that stillbirth was inevitable," the Doctor said to his two companions. "Genetic problems. She'll never have children."

"That's…" Rose began, still shaken from seeing the dead child. "That's not fair, though. Can't you do somethin'?"

He shook his head. "This day and age with her, never."

"Did you bring us here just to get depressed, Doc?" Jack suddenly inputted from the side.

"No, sorry…" the Doctor muttered, studying the scanner again. "Well, we'd better get back to the TARDIS then…" he suddenly trailed off, staring at the scanner.

"What is it?" Rose asked anxiously. The Doctor's eyebrows slowly rose to his hairline.

"Something that just made things a whole lot more interesting." He gave the scanner a hard shake, holding it to his ear before checking it again. "Alien interference."

"There's somethin' alien here?" Jack asked. The Doctor nodded, still abusing the scanner. "Bad or good?"

The Doctor took a deep breath. "Dunno, yet. Looks like our visit got longer."


They'd barely been waiting ten minutes before Larec popped his head around the doorframe to meet the gaze of Martin, Joshua and Father Jace.

"Father, can I have a word?" Larec asked. Confused, Father Jace nodded and got to his feet, slipping inside the room. Donna had since disappeared, no doubt to calm down and clean up.

Larec didn't say a word as he led Father Jace over to the body of the now clean and bandaged man, pointing at him. Father Jace's hand rose to meet his mouth in a silent gasp.

"By the Goddess Mondrith!"

"What are we going to do, Father?" Larec questioned anxiously, his usually calm demeanour flying out of the window. "Why is he back here?"

Father Jace pulled himself up to his full height. "We shall heal him to the best of our abilities and then as soon as he is well enough he shall be advised to leave immediately."

"What should we tell Martin?"

Father Jace paused for a moment, a great sadness overcoming him. "We shall tell him that the stranger has passed away."

Larec nodded, understanding. "It is for the best."

Father Jace slipped back out the door and Larec turned his attentions back to the injured man, muttering under his breath as he worked.

"Why did you come back?" he asked the unconscious man, "what were you hoping for? There's nothing left for you here, Doctor."

The Doctor laid still, even breaths arriving periodically to reassure Larec he was still alive through the battering he endured. Who was this Donna, though? Where were Rose and Jack?

He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind, prioritising his healing duties.