oh boy it's been a while since i've updated this one, to people who follow i apologise for taking so long i have been swamped under the combined efforts of a new job moving out and accumulated stuff and such. but now that things have settled slightly i had time to finish this. and all i can say is that it was a pain in the ass to write. it also features a brief cameo appearance from some guys that are going to appear in a doctor who story i'm working on. without further rambling please enjoy

it was a chilly evening and out of the shadows stepped a tall man in a long black coat. his features were sharp like an eagle. the man moved like a bird of prey. stopping in the centre of the alley he waited for a few moments. from the other end of the alley came a young boy in his teens. his features were softer and he wore a small smile. he moved patiently stopping a few feet away from the other man.

"you've chosen an interesting battleground little brother. are you sure it's wise holding our game on earth. I mean if it was a millenia earlier perhaps would have had a chance . those were the days of great heroes but no longer"

the young boy flashed a fierce grin at his brother.

"oh come now brother they may not ride around in armour fighting with swords but these people live in a world filled with heroes. i have chosen my champion and i think he'll prove himself braver than anyone i've met so far"

the older brother simply rolled his eyes.

"yes i have also chosen my champion and now it is time i chose the game" he paced around in a circle a few times a thoughtful expression on his face "ah there is one here on this world, he has one foot in the darkness and another in the light. my game little brother will be to tip the scales drag him into one side or another"

the younger brother nodded solemnly. he hated involving others in this but he had already lost one game. he had to win this game or the balance may tip completely.

"oh and one more thing little brother" he pointed to the young boys heavily bandaged hands "no interfering this time"

the young boy sighed and nodded his head, he had broken the rules last time trying to save his champions life, if he did it again...

"in the words of this world big brother. bring it on"

they both walked in opposite directions. the game was on.

sunrise on planet earth. Marcus slowly untangled himself and silently got dressed. Luke had been depressed ever since he had spoken to his mum regarding his decision.
she had accepted it calmly with acceptance and understanding but something was still off. Luke really had hit a rut and despite Marcus's best supportive efforts Luke just wasn't himself. slipping out of the door he reached for his phone.

"hey Jake are you there?"

he had struck upon his plan a few nights ago. it was a fact that you couldn't be mopey and miserable around Jake. and a little party was just what the doctor ordered

"yeah i'm here, operation super-secret-cheer-Luke-up-until-his-mouth-hurts-from-smiling-party is a go"

Marcus had to surpress a fit of giggles not only was Jake whispering but he sounded deadly serious

"alright i have arranged transport and will be there shortly agent Jake"

hanging up the phone Marcus indulged a fit of giggles before stepping out into the cool early morning air. this was going to be one heck of a day. several hours later Luke woke up feeling Marcus shake him gently

"morning sleepy-head i've got a surprise for you"

Luke gave him a half-hearted smile while he blinked the sleep out of his eyes

"i'm surprised you're up early, there surprise done time for more sleep"

Marcus ignored him and pulled away the covers making Luke gasp as the cold air hit his skin

"get yourself dressed and go down to the kitchen, me and an accomplice of mine are throwing you a party but he needs some help preparing cause he can't reach the top cupboards and i've already been recruited to buy supplies"

Luke sulkily pulled a shirt over his head

"is there a particular reason for the party?"

Marcus knew from experience that Luke was always a bit grumpy in the mornings, but there was something else in his tone that made Marcus sad

"i'm worried about you"

Luke sighed and tried to ease up on his depressed mood, he stood slowly and gave Marcus a gentle kiss

"ok a party sounds like fun, i'll go help in the kitchen"

satisfied for the moment Marcus headed back out the door

"excellent i'll be back in about 20 minutes, you go help Jake"

Luke smiled as he watched his boyfriend disappear down the hall, until he was hit with a terrifying realisation

"wait you left Jake in the kitchen unsupervised!"

Marcus just laughed and Luke redoubled his efforts to get ready before dashing out of his door. he dreaded to think what state the kitchen was in. after a few minutes running he made it to the kitchen. he couldn't see Jake at first until he moved round the counters

"Jake!"

the little guy was laying on the floor hands over his ears

"there you are Luke, i've been waiting"

all Luke saw was a flash of green from a ring before he passed out with a painful screeching in his ears. he wasn't sure how long he was unconcious but when he woke up it was dark

"oh good you're awake, i was beggining to think you would sleep through all the fun"

Luke could see a glint of green coming off of the ring, and the voice definitely belonged to a woman. she was hidden just out of sight

"what are you doing here Mrs Wormwood? how did you survive the portal"

the woman let loose a peal of laughter

"Mrs Wormwood isn't here right now Luke, but i managed to barter the plans for this rather stylish and rather deadly ring from the bane, our ravenous hunger is something in common, so i took the designs and in return told them the location of a few choice morsels"

Luke felt a chill in his stomach

"Ruby"

more laughter echoed from the shadows and an unfamiliar woman stepped out of the shadows

"in the flesh, someone elses to be exact, but my face or not i'm still the woman that you and your meddlesome mother nearly killed!"

the last words were brimming with venom and accompanied by a blast form the sonic ring. Luke felt it burn throug him. every nerve ending was on fire. she relented after a few seconds and continued prowling around what Luke realised was a cage.

"i didn't try to kill you and neither did mum, now let me go"

before he could try and sit up she let loose another blast from the ring

"no you didn't kill me, that would have been a kindness, instead you set me drifting again, but after what you did to my stomach, i couldn't feed anymore, do you know what it's like Luke Smith, to be starving and unable to eat, it nearly drove me mad, and now i have to exist in this pathetic body just to survive"

he almost felt sorry for her but a fresh wave of pain drove all thoughts from his mind. he recovered enough to get a good look at ruby. she was in the body of the magicians first assistant. Ruby must have been the other body switcher.

"hey you leave him alone!"

Jake had woken up and was shouting from his place in an adjacent cage

"no, he is mine to do with as i will because i want your mother to suffer, and hurting him will make that happen, and i want him to suffer, killing you little boy will make that happen with pain to spare"

Luke found himself on his feet before he knew what was happening fists slamming against the bars

"don't you touch him Ruby!"

he noticed Jake take a half-step back, the little guy was afraid, Ruby watched and smiled with glee

"oh there's the Luke i've been hearing about, the killer, the murderer, even your own friends are afraid of you, this is going to fun"

Luke turned away from Jake and sank against the side of the cage, he felt shame washing over him

"now i have you two, it's time to collect Sarah-Jane, you boys have fun"

she stalked away leaving Luke alone,

elsewhere Marcus and K-9 were searching

"i can't believe this, 20 mintues i leave them alone and they managed to get kidnapped, K-9 are you sure the teleport trace leads this way"

K-9's nose extended and he continued forwards

"trace is weakening, i will only be able to lead you within and estimated mile of their location"

K-9 moved faster and Marcus jogged alongside to keep up

"that should be close enough for me, i can find Luke's mind if i'm close enough, just keep following the trace K-9, i need to make a call"

he slipped his phone out of his pocket. he just hoped Sarah-Jane was in a good mood. back in the cage Jake had sat down close to Luke

"what did she mean when she said you were a murderer, did you kill someone?"

Luke ignored the cuffs around his hands and turned to look at Jake

"i killed something, a creature called the survivor, i didn't want to, but it would have killed Marcus if i didn't"

he hadn't told his mother about it, she only knew the rough details, he dreaded to think how she would react

"and you think that makes you a bad guy?"

Luke nodded his head slowly

"you're being silly Luke, you can't be a bad guy"

there was something about the total confidence in his voice that made Luke turn his head

"i did a very bad thing Jake"

evil or not he had killed the survivor. Luke was sure that was something he would never do

"so what everybody is naughty sometimes, i know mum gets angry at me when i don't listen, but she says you're only really bad when you hurt the people you love"

Luke looked at Jake. his supercharged mind was tying strings together in his mind.

"maybe you're right. i keep telling myself there should have been a better way but if i hadn't acted the survivor would have hurt Marcus"

Jimmy's mouth split into an enormous grin

"see you aren't a bad guy"

Luke returned the grin, it was hard to be depressed with Jake around

"but i nearly became a bad guy. i wasn't going to hurt my friends on purpose but they are going to get hurt if i stop the work that i do. I can't stop just because i'm afraid to act, if i do my friends will get hurt and then i will be a bad guy"

jimmy nodded in agreement

"right we won't have long, we need to find Ruby and stop her else she will try and hurt your mum"

Luke half expected the door to their cells to bounce of their hinges in agreement with Jake, when it didn't he reached into his pocket and found the comforting shape of his sonic pen

"well Jake we're in luck because Ruby didn't know about this"

aiming the sonic pen at his handcuffs he heard a satisfying click and could finally move his arms again. they were stiff but the sonic ring had done no lasting damage pointing his pen at Jake through the bars he heard the second pair of handcuffs fall off, then he pointed at his cell door and watched it swing open

"oh cool can I try that?"

ignoring the part of his brain that told him it was a bad idea, Luke gave his pen to Jake. pointing it carefully at his door he pressed the button and it slid open

"yeah i did it"

Jimmy's hands shot into the air in excitement and the small light exploded above their heads

"oops"

grinning despite the noise Luke took Jake's hand and guided their path with the light from his pen. after following the twists and turns he remembered from being dragged to the cell they arrived in the small dimly lit room where Ruby had teleported them. he was barely concious but the burnt metallic smell of the room was still fresh in his mind.

"naughty boys aren't you, trying to escape" Luke whipped his arm around and pointed his pen at Ruby, she had the bane-made sonic ring primed between her fingers sonic pen, not quite as stylish as your mothers lipstick but it suits the geek in you, now put it down"

Luke didn't hesitate, the two sonic frequencies clashed together in an overwhelming noise. Luke held the pen for a few seconds before collapsing to the floor. Ruby in her human body didn't do any better she was clutching at her ears

"Jake run!"

he wasn't certain Jake had heard him but the little guy staggered to his feet and tried to walk to the door

"oh i don't think so"

a deep red flash of light was the only warning Luke had. the weapon flared and Jake fell to the floor. nearby Marcus felt a surge of emotions. anger. fear. pain. Luke's mind was a blaze of them. Marcus reached across the connection and felt the fire burning there. he tried to soothe the emotions, calm them, but Luke lashed out and forced him away, he didn't want to calm down.

"you!"

Ruby recoiled as the gun was kicked out of her hands, she tried to raise the sonic ring but found her hand trapped under Luke's foot. genuine fear flicked across her face.

"please!"

her words came out as barely a whisper, Luke reached over her and took the weapon she had dropped aiming it down carefully. he held it in a shaking hand.

'you can't be the bad guy'

Jimmy's words echoed in his head. he wasn't a bad guy, he didn't hurt people. killing Ruby wouldn't protect Jake. behind him he heard a light cough

"Luke my chest hurts"

he turned to Jimmy in surprise the weapon dropped to the floor forgotten. he crouched down carefully beside him. the little guy's shirt had an ugly hole burnt in it but his chest only had a small bruise

"yeah you've got a bruise, but that's all, you're gonna be fine"

Jimmy gave him a small smile and with Luke's help sat up just in time to see Ruby prime the ring on her finger

"oh no you don't"

Marcus struck out with his mind and Ruby fell to the floor head in her hands. he covered the distance between them and quickly grabbed her hand to take the ring off her finger

"you're late"

Jimmy was grinning from his place on the floor and Marcus gave him a playful glare

"yeah well i stopped to pick up some friends"

from the door behind him two police officers appeared followed closely by Lisa and her mother. the two officers made quick work of handcuffing Ruby and she barely made a noise as they carried her out of the room. Jimmy meanwhile found himself being hugged by his mother and sister

"oh Jimmy, you had us so worried, and when Sarah-Jane contacted me i though the worst, thank you for keeping him safe"

Luke and Marcus both found themselves on the receiving end of hugs then they all gathered themselves up and followed the police officers outside. several hours later they were finally done giving statements. Jake had long since fallen asleep and an officer gave him and his family a ride home. after assuring the policeman that they would be fine Marcus and Luke finally left the station.

"is it really alright though, letting them arrest her like that, i still can't believe your mum called the police of all people"

Marcus didn't know her that well but he was willing to bet that Ruby could cause an awful lot of trouble even in a human body

"it's fine, she's human now and has to live with it, she also has to live with the kidnapping charges filed against her and i suspect she's going to have to do a lot of her living from behind bars"

Marcus let loose a little snort of laughter at the idea, one of their most dangerous enemies defeated by regular policemen

"thanks for saving me, again"

Marcus rolled his eyes and pulled Luke close giving him a gentle kiss

"it's what i'm here for, and besides i did the easy part. I'm proud of you for doing the hard part and not killing her"

Luke turned away shame on his face

"I know you wanted to Luke, and i know you're scared that some small part of you wanted to kill her, what's important is that you didn't"

Luke didn't move so Marcus pulled him closer

"i thought if i quit i wouldn't have to deal with it. but if i stop fighting you and mum and everyone else is going to get hurt"

he pulled away slightly and fixed Marcus with a determined gaze

"the future can throw whatever it wants at me, there are too many people on this world that i care about for me to stop fighting now"

they carried on walking, it had been a whole year since their meeting with the future Luke, River was coming

"well i'm glad to hear you say that because living a calm human life is so boring, seriously i don't know how people do it"

Luke gave him a playful shove and they broke apart laughing

"i didn't think it was that boring, i mean it did give us more free time for other things"

they both broke into a fresh burst of laughter and continued down the street

"one thing i don't get though, i saw the mini-man's shirt, he shrugged off a direct hit from a level 5 disintegrator how did he manage that"

Luke paused to consider it

"i don't really know, but he did and that's what counts"

unseen across the street the two brothers watched

"yes little brother how did he manage that"

his younger brother just smiled

"who knows, human children are tougher than they look"

his older brother grabbed him by the front of his shirt before he could blink

"you interfered in the game, you should know the consequences of interfering with your champion"

a flash of light accompanied the younger brothers movement as he threw his brother back

"as should you brother, there was no way your champion could have made that shot, she was barely concious" the older brother looked at him, anger concealed behind a scowl "i simply did what i always do. balanced things out, now get lost, this game goes to me"

the older brothers anger disappeared and he turned to leave

"there's always the next game little brother, don't forget it"

elsewhere Marcus and Luke had finally made it back to their room. Luke pushed open the door wearily and stepped inside

"hello boys, i've been expecting you, don't you know it's not good to keep a girl waiting"

River song sat in his computer chair smiling at them both

"hello River"

cliffhanger. sorry couldn't help myself, don't worry in the next chapter River is finally going to reveal what she has in store for Luke. as always reviews are appreciated and i always look forward to them, especially the ones from TKLee and DannyP, and most amusing of all my mum, who has started reading from the very beggining. all i can say is lol.