A/N: Okay, no longer a chapter up. And an essay down. Screw that. (plays Final Fantasy)

Chapter 18 - Malum

Flashback…

Jack Harkness marched into the bandit camp, covered head-to-toe in dung with his clothes ripped and torn. In his grip he held Rose Tyler, tied at the wrists, desperately struggling to get free. The other bandits suddenly stopped dead, not recognising the new face.

"What yer lookin' at?!" Jack demanded, affecting the appropriate accent.

One of the bandits stepped up to him in a threatening manner, cracking his knuckles. "Who the hell are yer?!" he grunted.

"I'm…" he paused, but not long enough to cause suspicion. "…John… Malum!"

The bandit suddenly stopped dead. "Yer the boss' brother?"

"Damn righ' I am," Jack replied, giving Rose a little shove. "Caugh' this beauty in der woods. Get out meh way, I'm gonna go 'ave some fun. Where's a free tent?"

The bandit inclined with a hand, staring at Rose with a lustful look in his eyes. "Dere."

Rose struggled appropriately in Jack's grip as he dragged her off in the direction the bandit had pointed, straight into a free tent. As soon as they were in, Jack made sure there were no gaps in the fabric of the door before he turned to Rose, grinning.

"Stage one complete!" he whispered lowly, undoing the binds around her wrists. "Dunno what you think, but I think Malum's tent is the posh lookin' one next to the river with the guards all over it."

She nodded. "Me too. So what happens now?"

Jack suddenly stiffened, a look of intense concentration on his face. He turned to Rose. "Make noises!" he whispered.

Rose looked confused. "Huh?"

"Orgasm noises!"

She stared at him for a moment, before realising why. "Oh…" she paused, clearing her throat. "Oh, oh, yes! Don't stop!" She lowered her voice again, "so you're goin' off to find it?"

Jack was examining the back of the tent. "Yeah. Escape isn't likely to be silent. As soon as you start hearin' people yellin', you get the hell out, all right?"

She nodded, before raising her voice again. "Oh, John… JOHN! OH!" She looked back to Jack, but instead found a gun being offered to her. She stared in shock.

"There're six bullets in here, no refills. If you're cornered, if they start tryin' anythin', use it."

Rose was still staring, her eyes wide. "I can't, Jack… I don't even know how…"

"Aim and pull the trigger. This one's automatic, so you can keep shootin' until you're out."

"Jack…"

"Rose, please. Even if you don't use it. It'll be a weight off of my mind, knowin' you've got protection. These men only want one thing from you. Please don't give it to them."

After a moment's consideration, Rose took the cold object from Jack's hand and held it in both of hers. The look in Jack's eyes spoke a thousand words.

"Thank you," he said. Then he was gone.

Martin was the one to carry the now dressed Doctor to the cart, setting him on the soft straw. Donna clambered onto the cart next to him, smiling and waving at the bystanders who'd gathered to wave them off. Donna couldn't see Joshua amongst them. Soon they were off and out of the village, and the waving people disappeared. Donna turned to the Doctor, who was lying on the straw unable to move much.

"Told you this was a bad idea," Donna said, moving up to sit next to his head. He rolled his eyes.

"I'll be fine. The painkiller should last the journey," he said, before they jolted over a bump and he winced, badly. Donna sighed, quickly checking his hearts. Well, at least they were both beating now.

"Hi Donna! Hi Doctor!" a voice suddenly said from the side, and the adults almost jumped out of their skin as the small brown-haired boy they'd come to love sat up next to them, covered in straw. Evidently he'd buried himself in it. "Are we there yet?"

Flashback…

Jack had learnt some very good lessons from the Doctor concerning infiltration… Walk about like you own the place… Give plenty of eye contact… Smile at any passer-bys… Within moments he was entering Malum's tent, leaving two very confused guards still standing outside.

It was dark and silent inside even though the bright midday sun shone outside. Jack blinked; trying to adjust to the light before he suddenly heard a small whimper from across the tent.

"Doctor? Gabrielle?" he whispered, and the whimper turned into a gasp.

"Jack?" It was Gabrielle. Jack moved forward, eyes still trying to adjust to the light. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," he replied softly, moving forward. He could see the outline of two figures just ahead of him, crouched in the corner of the tent. "Are you okay?"

"The Doctor, he…" she choked, and now Jack was closer he could see Gabrielle was sat beside the Doctor, holding him. "Malum… He's…"

"Shush," Jack said gently, kneeling down next to them. He could see the pair's faces now – Gabrielle's was full of pain, terror and anxiety, the Doctor was still unconscious. "Did they hurt you?" he asked the woman as he reached for the Doctor's neck, checking his pulse.

She evaded the question. "It… It doesn't matter. The Doctor won't wake up."

"No, he's in a coma," Jack replied, deciding not to pursue the matter. "I've got the holy water, though. Gimme a hand…"

As Jack and Gabrielle pulled the Doctor to lean up against a support strut, Jack's fingers brushed something cold around the Doctor's arms. His eyes were now fully adjusted to the minimal light, and he turned the Doctor over to find chains wrapped around his arms from his elbows to his wrists. Jack was pretty sure if the Doctor were awake he'd be more than a little uncomfortable. Now Jack was looking, he could see more around the Time Lord's legs, from halfway up his thighs to his ankles. Someone really hadn't wanted him to get away. He felt just the tiniest hint of anger at whoever had done this to his best friend. His eyes flickered up to Gabrielle, but she didn't have any restraints. He frowned.

"If you're not tied up, how come you didn't run away?" he asked, genuinely confused.

She shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't want to leave him," she whispered back. There was a brief pause of silence. "…Don't tell him."

Jack sighed. Another blonde girl in love with the Doctor. Was the cycle never-ending?

"Okay," he said, reaching inside his pocket and taking the nanogene water out, lifting it and pressing the top to the Doctor's lips. "C'mon, Doc, c'mon…" Jack coaxed, tipping it down the Doctor's throat until the entire tube had been used.

He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing recovering would be long, but at least they were out of the woods. Next he reached into the Doctor's jacket pocket and thankfully found the sonic within. He pulled it out and flicked to setting J98 – having become very familiar with it since he'd started travelling with the Doctor again. He was about to buzz at the lock on the chains when suddenly the sound of heavy footsteps rang out from outside the tent, and murmur of deep voices.

Malum had returned.

Jack cursed, slipping the sonic inside his pocket and looking around the tent as to any place to hide. He panicked as he couldn't find anything, but then he spotted a cupboard over the other side of the room and he quickly ran and dove behind it, hidden from view.

Seconds later the material door opened and light streamed into the tent. Jack fought the urge to cry out as his eyes exploded with pain. As they readjusted to the new light Jack peered around the edge of the cupboard, to get a good look at their enemy and almost cried out in surprise.

Old, feeble man. Walking stick. Cataracts. Malum. Matthew Malum. It was the man who had tried to make the villagers hate them. He was the bandit leader? Behind Malum stood another figure, a much younger and stronger man who was eyeing the Doctor in contempt.

"He's still not awake?" Malum asked in disbelief. The man standing behind him stepped forward towards the Doctor, placing a few kicks to his stomach. He didn't even make a sound. "Almost dead. Bury him, finish him off."

"No, no, please…" Gabrielle begged, but all she got for her pleas was a slap around the head. Jack could only watch, helpless, as the young man behind Matthew Malum stepped forward towards the Doctor and threw him over his shoulder, stepping back out into the camp.

"And now for you…" Malum said to Gabrielle, eyes sparkling with delight. Gabrielle whimpered in fear, and Jack chose his moment to attack. He jumped out from behind the cupboard and grabbed Malum from behind, hand clamped over his mouth.

"Make a sound and I'll rip your damn head off, I swear," Jack grunted down his ear. Malum remained silent. "You're gonna show me where your little bandit buddies have taken my friend, then you're gonna order them to let him and Gabrielle go and then we are all gonna walk out of here, unscathed. Is that understood?"

Malum nodded silently.

"Good. Let's move."