White Coat was not happy, not because his property had once again slipped his leash, but also that it had to do it in such a public place. It puzzled him as to what had caused it. He could only think of one thing, it must have come into to contact with someone from Torchwood.
Torchwood...he really should destroy them. It was something he would address later, but first he had to find and retrieve his property.
That in itself was proving difficult what with all those police swarming over the store, but the readings he was getting were unmistakable, his property had used a rift portal. This meant he could be anywhere or any when, and this concerned him. His property knew every weapons store and every research facility within his little empire.
He let out a breath of frustration, if he didn't find his property soon, it would be too late, and that left only one option. He had no doubt that his psychotic property would come after him, once he'd settled its score with Torchwood.
He was glad now that he'd not given it access to his latest invention, to put that much power into the hands of something that was that deranged frightened even him, he was a greedy bastard, but not a stupid bastard. If it did try to access it, there would be no need for him to do anything.
He smiled to himself...using a sample of human DNA as the code to unlock it had been a stroke of genius. Even better, to whom the DNA belonged was something he was quite proud of, and he was sure his property would never guess who it was.
Feeling a little more secure, he turned away from the incident and stepped back inside his limousine.
"The airport, now," was all he said.
"No, you're coming back to the Hub. He came after you once he'll come after you again. If you're here we can contain him," Jack said.
Martha was looking at him, her arms crossed, a stubborn look on her face. "If you think I'm hiding Jack Harkness. I faced one psychotic Time Lord, I can face another."
Jack stared back at her, his face set in an equally stubborn mask. "Absolutely not, if the police hadn't turned up, god knows what he might have done. The Master was one kind of crazy, the Doctor is another. You stay here, even if I have to tie you down."
Martha let out a frustrated breath, not wanting to feel like very tiny bait in a trap for a big monster.
Jack relaxed a little when he saw Martha let out a resigned sigh. It wasn't that he wanted to use Martha as bait, but he didn't have a choice. He gave Martha an assuring smile.
"He won't get near you, I promise. I know it's not the most comfortable place, but you'll be safe here."
Martha nodded and yawned, the events of the day finally catching up with her.
"You can use my quarters," Jack said. "I'll be in my office, Gwen, Ianto, you know what to do. Find him. "
He turned away and climbed the steps to his office. It wasn't until he'd shut the door and locked it did he finally let go of the tight rein he'd had on his emotions.
He sank to the floor, allowing the tears he'd held back to flow freely. He'd been desperate to find the Doctor, find him and make him forget all the things that had happened.
Now he had to face the awful truth...his Doctor, although no longer infected by that thing, he was still as mad as a rabid dog...and he knew what you had to do with a rabid dog.
Silent tears ran down his face and eventually he cried himself into tiredness and was lost to sleep.
The figure slipped past the camera with ease and scaled the wire fencing, carefully avoiding the vicious spike that adorned the top. The figure landed quietly, but knew that the dogs would hear him.
Seconds later three dark shapes came running round the corner, no noise, trained as they were to bite first and bark later.
The figure stood his ground and straightened to his full height and stared at the trio of over-large Rottweiler's.
The lead dog slowed and hesitated, unnerved by the eyes of its target. What it saw made it stop and start to back away, its two fellows doing the same. With frightened whimpers they slinked back round the corner and hid in their kennels.
With a growl of satisfaction he strode across the scrap yard, heading for what looked like a small metal shed. But the figure knew better, he knew what and who was here.
He entered the small shack and moved to the centre of it, before crouching down and taking out a silver tube. There was a short whirring sound and the dark was lit blue for a few seconds, and a metallic 'shunk' filled the air.
The figure climbed down the metal ladder and into a sewer. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and hurried along it, trying not to think about what might or might not be in the water.
He slowed as he reached the end of the sewer and moved cautiously into a large room. He needn't have worried, the occupant of the room was snoring so loudly, he could have driven a herd of elephants through and he wouldn't have heard.
He walked up to the sleeping pile of bedclothes and leaned over, putting his mouth right next to the ear of the sleeper.
"Wake up, little toad," he whispered and stepped back.
The effect to his mind was rather amusing.
The occupier of the bed shot up looking round wildly, peering into the dark. "Wha...who!"
"Hello little toad," a voice said and someone stepped out of the shadows.
The occupier of the bed grabbed a pair of glasses up from off the bedside cabinet and placed them quickly on. When he saw who it was, he clutched at his bedclothes and whistled loudly.
"I wouldn't bother, they've got a new master now. Now little toad, you have something I want," the figure said and reached for the person on the bed.
With a squeak of protest the occupier of the bed was hauled out of the bed and deposited onto a chair in front of a PC screen.
"I need some cash and information little toad, and you are going to get it for me."
"My name is Archer, and shouldn't you be asking the boss for this."
He was rewarded by having his head smashed against the keyboard. "If I say you're a little toad, then that's what you are. And as for the boss, let's just say I've gone freelance. Now cash and a little information, little toad."
Archer breathed a sigh of relief when he'd finished, hoping that the transfer of cash and the removal of certain information would go unnoticed be both parties.
The figure behind him smiled as he watched the transfer and gave Archer a grin that wasn't at all comforting when he handed him a disc.
"Thank you little toad, I'll let you get back to your sleep, oh and..."
He grabbed a handful of Archer's t-shirt and pulled him right up to his face. "You will tell no-one about this, if you want to sleep at nights."
Archer nodded vigorously.
"Brilliant," the figure smiled. "I'll be seeing you then."
Archer didn't move, not until he could no longer hear the sounds of feet splashing in the sewer. Once he knew he was alone, he nearly fell out of his chair with relief.
No-one survived a meeting with White Coat's pet without some sort of injury. He should be thankful for that, but it puzzled him as to why he was going independent.
"Time for me to find new employment," he said and started packing his bags.
He climbed the metal ladder and moved outside into the scrap yard.
He'd only gone a few yards, when he heard the familiar growl of his guard dogs. He turned towards them.
"Fat lot of good you were..." he began, but his words were cut off by one of the dogs leaping at him.
The figure stood on top of the pile of rusting and broken cars. He saw Archer emerge from the metal shed and smiled coldly as he watched the dogs do what they were trained to do.
"You should have stayed in your sewer, little toad. Still you had your uses, and this looks like the perfect place for a little fun. Now, how do I attract your attention Harkness?"
His face lit up when the idea came to him and he took out the silver tube and seconds later the humming noise filled the air again. He settled down in the remains of a car seat and waited...it wouldn't be long.