Just Another Story

Run. That was the only thing that was going through the Doctor's head—and thus Jack's head now too. Run away; run fast; don't turn around; don't look back; don't stop. Run.

A few more feet. Just a few more feet and he'd be back in the TARDIS, back in the safest place in the universe. The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't knock down those doors he'd once told Rose.* But he had to make it there first.

Red-orange blood trickled down his head, gathering at his hairline, and it took all his remaining energy to focus on the blue box in front of him. So close in front of him. His key was already in his hand, and when he reached the ship he jammed it into the hole and pushed against the doors. Finally.

He thought he got away, he thought he was safe, he thought he had closed the doors so quickly that there was no way anyone or anything could make it through… But the impossible is what he lives to defy. He was so disoriented he didn't even consider something could get through. He was so disoriented he didn't see or even hear the cube as it rolled across the grated floor, stopping under the console, just waiting for the proper moment—and person.

That was enough danger for one day, enough of an adventure (and that's rare coming from him). He considered going somewhere else; considered visiting a "relaxing" planet; but somehow he always manages to make even the calmest place in the universe dangerous. Except the Vortex. The only place he couldn't endanger himself—or anyone else. Right?

He initiated the dematerialization sequence and left the planet behind him; he was never going back to Ralcor again. He could feel the ship moving, casting herself off into space, and he leaned over the console muttering to himself that he should probably do something for his head. (The TARDIS nagging him for the same reason didn't help.) But then he saw it, the innocent looking object glistening on the floor. He bent down to pick it up for further inspection, noticing its pristine condition. He tossed it back and forth a few times,* thinking about what it was and where it could have come from, just seconds before his face fell and he dropped the cube in understanding. Just seconds before the world around him exploded.

He was thrown against the railing behind him, and, while he could see, and hear, the ship shattered and broken, he couldn't muster the strength to stand up. But, almost immediately, the TARDIS changed flight paths; they didn't need the Vortex, they needed help.

Her flight was flawless. Well, it was almost flawless. Well, better than the Doctor usually does. She meant to hit the Plass—it should have been easy (especially without him driving)—and it was going fine, really, until she hit Earth's atmosphere. With all those gaping holes you'd think it wouldn't be a problem; but no, she just had to bounce off one of the sides, missing her target by a long shot—in her eyes, anyway.

Jack looked over at the Doctor, "She obviously tried to get as close as she could," he offered.

"An hour out of the way isn't bad. Considering."

"Considering how you drive?" he joked, "too true."

"Excuse me, I drive fine."

"Of course you do," Jack mollified.

It was a rough landing. Probably one of the worst they've ever endured. It hurt, and her pilot was only just getting up when he was knocked back down—she couldn't do anything about it—and now there was more smoke, and it tasted slightly toxic, and the only thing she could think of was to get him outoutout. As soon as he could stand the TARDIS pushed him towards the exit; and before he really knew what was going on, she shut and locked the doors behind him. No point in both of them dying, right?*

But he didn't react the way she'd thought: That he'd understand and leave. No, he acted surprised. He acted worried. He acted like she had just betrayed him, while what she did was the opposite. How rude, banging on her doors. They were locked for a reason, the idiot.

Ha! And now he's walking around, like he thinks the damage is external. Stupid Time Lord. Yes, there are a few chips around the edges, and yes, there may be something stuck under her panels—and of course that disgusting liquid now crusted on her bottom—, but, please, like that was worse than what he had just walked out of.

Good. Finally, he left. That was good. He'd find help; that's what she meant to do. She just… overshot it by a little bit.

The Doctor's voice cut through the memory, "Okay, that's good. That's enough."

Jack stopped and they returned to the neutral ground of the Doctor's head, "You remember?"

"Yes, I do. Everything. But now I need you to leave."

"You said—"

"Jack, I need you to leave." His calm, hard voice echoed through the limitless space, and Jack was gone. He didn't even try to argue.

Instead he woke up on the table, Owen's concerned eyes staring at him while the Doctor's were hidden, motionless behind closed eyelids. "You okay?"

"Yeah… Yeah, fine." He shook his head to clear the invisible fog clogging it. "Watch him for me? I have to talk to Tosh."

"Sure."

He remembered to make a lot of noise so that he didn't startle Tosh, and, fortunately for him, he didn't. Whatever algorithm she was running before—how long had it been?—was still going, and Jack suddenly realized that he never finished what he was going to tell her when he was called away. If only he could remember what it was... She turned to look at Jack as he approached, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, perfect. How's it with you?"

She rolled her eyes but swiveled back to point at the screens, "It's still working on the samples, but I have no idea how long it'll take. Did you have a way to narrow it down?" She asked cautiously.

"Maybe... But first, did you examine the entire exterior?"

"No, not yet... I, uh, I thought I'd start with these."

She anticipated being yelled at for waiting, but Jack just nodded, "Okay," he said, turning on his heels and almost running downstairs.

"Jack?"

"I have to look at the TARDIS; come if you like!" He shouted over his shoulder.

She quickly grabbed her laptop and hurried after him.

Despite the fact that Jack was standing right next to her, the TARDIS still felt... Well, still. Okay, that sounded stupid, but it was the truth. Even Jack had some connection to the TARDIS, and all he could feel was a cold and dark and consuming emptiness radiating off of the shell. Wait, that was it: it felt like an empty shell. "Jesus."

"What?" Tosh asked, worried.

"I think she might—" he lowered his voice, knowing that if the Doctor was awake, he would probably be able to hear them, even down here. "I think he was right... I think she might actually be dead."

Tosh swallowed, "Why? I mean, why do think that?"

"You can't feel it, can you?" He asked curiously. Jack took her hand and laid it on the ship, holding it there with his hand on top of hers. And suddenly she understood; and what she felt—or rather what she didn't feel—made her fight off Jack's hand and pull it close to her body, sheltering it from the cold. "You felt it?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"Now imagine feeling that all the time."

She lost her breath for a moment, "Your friend, downstairs…"

"Yes."

"Oh my God." She shook herself and straightened, "Why did you want to see it?"

"Not sure yet."

Oh, helpful. "Well, why now?"

"Something he said." Kind of. Jack squatted down, resisting the urge to shiver as he ran his hand down the wood. He reached the bottom of the ship and he pulled his hand back, rubbing his fingers together.

"What is it?"

"The panels at the bottom. They're deformed."

"How do you know? They look fine."

He shook his head at her, "I just do." After spending days on repairs?—making sure everything was untainted inside and out—he knew this ship almost as well as the Doctor. He sat down cross-legged and bent down slightly farther to get a better look under the wood. Soon enough he had lifted the panels enough to grab what was underneath, mumbling an apology to the ship.

He held it up to the light and smiled—finally, a clue.

TBC

* Pretty obvious: Doctor Who, 1x1 ("Rose")

* I swear it was a total accident, but I just realized I basically stole the idea of a cube from the Doctor Who episode, "The Power of Three." So, my bad, but I must have come up with the idea subconsciously because I seriously only connected the two where I placed the asterisk...

* Doctor Who 2x8 ("The Impossible Planet") when Rose and 10 are talking about him having to settle down if he doesn't have a TARDIS: "Me! Living in a house!... Now that, that—that is terrifying."