The ground shifted again and the air filled with a metallic groan. The scrap pile nearest the gate swayed and started to collapse.
Ianto and the Doctor stared at the swaying pile of metal, but they reacted in different ways.
Ianto sprinted away from the gate, skidding to a halt when he thought he was far enough away, whipping round to see where the Doctor was.
The Doctor however seemed rooted to the spot, as if daring the metal to fall on him, a less than sane grin on his face.
Ianto went to shout a warning, but stopped, a not so good thought running through his head...wouldn't it be better if he was dead?
His thought was interrupted by the sound of the Doctor climbing the gate. He dropped effortlessly to the ground.
"Later, pretty boy," he growled, smiled that insane smile and headed towards the SUV.
Ianto suddenly smiled and put a hand in one of his pockets. "Go on, try the door...please," he said quietly.
The jolt when it came still made him jump and the thud of the Doctor hitting the floor a few feet from the SUV made him wince. He quickly ran back to the gate, climbed it as quickly as he could, and slowly approached the fallen Time Lord.
Definitely out cold, but for how long was another matter. "Then don't waste time," Ianto said out loud and dragged the dead weight of the Doctor back over to the SUV. He took out a set of handcuffs, ones he knew would deadlock once closed.
He snapped one cuff round the Doctor's wrist and the other to the handle of one of the SUV doors.
"Stay," he said and once again climbed the fence and began searching for Jack and tried to ignore the feeling that something Doctor- shaped had happened to him.
Jack thought he heard his name being called, but it sounded muffled, like he was underwater. Then like he'd surfaced too quick, his ears popped and he heard the voice clearly...it sounded like Ianto, and the muffled effect had been the hissing of his comm in his ear.
"Jack!" he heard Ianto call again. He sat up and a sharp pain in his head told him it wasn't a wise thing to do.
"Over here," he finally managed to say, and a few second later Ianto appeared over a pile of cars and rusting exhausts.
Jack frowned. "They weren't there before," he said absently.
Ianto held out his hand and hauled Jack up. "That'll be the earthquake," he said.
"Earthquake, what earthquake?"
"The one that happened about ten minutes ago."
Jack shook his head. "I was out cold, didn't feel it. We don't have earthquakes in Cardiff."
"Well it was one, well it felt like one. All the comms are down, landlines and mobile. But there's something more important Jack," Ianto said.
Jack looked at Ianto. "What?"
Jack looked at the handcuffed figure, still thankfully out cold. He couldn't believe it, after three months of hopeless searching...he was back. His heart should be soaring, but instead it was sinking.
This wasn't the Doctor that he wanted...this was a twisted broken version, just a black hole, void of any of that spark and joy of life he loved so much.
"How did you?" he asked as they maneuvered the still unconscious Time lord into the back of the SUV.
"Anti- theft device, I upgraded to include rouge Time Lords. I don't know how long he'll be out," Ianto replied as he re-cuffed the Doctor to the metal bar designed for such a purpose.
Jack said nothing, but checked the cuffs and then checked the Doctor's pulse. He then joined Ianto in the front of the SUV.
"So, you said something about an earthquake?"
The scene was like something you saw on the news. Buildings had either collapsed or were dangerously teetering to one side. The wail of emergency vehicles filled the air and the taste of smoke bit at their throats as they stopped in front of a barrier.
They weren't surprised to see a UNIT soldier approach the SUV.
"Sorry sir, but the city's out of bounds, it's a mess in there."
"Sorry, I need to get inside, I have a prisoner to deliver," Jack said.
"Sorry, but you'll have to take him somewhere else," the soldier replied.
"Oh I don't think so," Jack said and flashed his ID at the man.
The soldier paled slightly and snapped a salute. "Sorry sir, but be careful, the roads are broken up and there's gangs of looters."
Jack nodded. "Any idea of where the epicenter of the quake was?"
The soldier frowned. "You don't know, I think you better speak to the Colonel."
Jack looked at Ianto, then at the still unconscious Doctor. "Alright, but we have to be quick. I really want to get this prisoner locked away before he comes round, and I have my own people to worry about."
"We can guard him while you're busy sir."
Jack thought for a moment. "Fine, but if he wakes, don't talk to him, don't let him talk to you, and don't let him persuade that it's all a mistake. In fact, if he tries to talk, gag him."
"Yes sir!" the soldier and motioned for a stationary jeep to move. "Follow me."
Colonel Mogambo still couldn't believe the data she was reading...it wasn't possible. Pluto was gone, swallowed by what looked like a black mass. What was even more impossible was that it was heading for Neptune.
UNIT scientists had hazarded a guess that Cardiff had felt the destruction, due to the temporal rift that ran under it. Pluto was too far away to have any effect on Earth, but if this thing started devouring other planets, planets closer to Earth, then what.
Then god forbid, what if it targeted Earth, or went straight for the sun.
She looked up when someone knocked on the door of her temporary office. "Come," she said.
"Ma'am, there's a Captain Jack Harkness outside, do you want to speak to him."
She smiled, at last, someone who might be able to contact the one person who might be able to help. "Yes, yes, show him in."
She stood up and let a small smile cross her face as the aforementioned Captain Jack Harkness stepped in.
"Thank god, I need your help, can you contact the Doctor?"
She frowned when she saw the look that passed between the captain and another man.
"That maybe a bit of a problem."
The Doctor had surfaced about thirty-seconds after Jack and Ianto had disappeared in the colonel's office and he was not happy.
"You will let me out of these things!" he yelled at the soldier, who completely ignored him.
He began kicking the door, buckling the metal slightly in his anger and frustration at being ignored.
He only stopped when he saw three people emerge from the office, and then he started again when he saw who it was.
"Harkness, you let me out of this thing, or so help me..."
"See, I don't think he's going to be helping anyone."
Colonel Mogambo looked at the frankly insane person kicking hell out of the door of the SUV.
"Then who the hell is going to help us."
The thing that had no mass, no weight glided silently across the velvet blackness of empty space, swallowing stars as it went...but it never felt full.
It had touched briefly on something so tasty as it had passed by this little start system, that it had changed its course.
It wanted more than just a taste...it wanted to devour it.