Chapter Six: The Conundrum

Jack expected to have awakened within an endless void of darkness after falling into the portal. But the first thing he had seen as he woke up was the familiar "police box" sign near the apex of the TARDIS. He figured the Doctor had saved him from whatever gruesome fate would have befallen him on the other side of the hat's portal. Of course, that hopeful possibility was abruptly discredited as soon as a woman with large, curly dark blond hair came into his view, aiming a gun directly at Jack while smiling devilishly. Judging from the alien tech of the gun, Harkness figured that she was not from Earth – nor was he on Earth that moment.

Returning her devilish smile, Harkness said, "Have I finally died and gone to heaven?"

The woman chuckled with amusement. "Don't flatter yourself, darling. You're not my type…plus, I'm married."

Jack nodded understandingly. "Must be a lucky man."

"He's the greatest."

"Then I'm certainly out of his league from your condescending perspective."

"Ooh! You're a fast one, aren't you?"

"We Time Agents gotta stay fast, don't we?"

"And what makes you think I'm a Time Agent."

Harkness pointed to the device on the woman's right wrist. "Vortex manipulator. I only know because I was once one, but I kept mine." He showed the same device on his left wrist to her.

"Nice observation, darling. But I'm no Time Agent. I merely stole the one I'm wearing from one in order to assist a good friend of mine on an important mission."

"Lemme guess…your friend's the Doctor?" The smile on the woman's face faded as astonishment swiftly took over. Jack gestured to the police box behind her and said, "Please tell me he's in there and you're like some one-time companion he picked up on the way."

The woman shook her head sadly. "No. Some powerful, invisible force separated us. I ended up here." She looked around the area along with Jack, who took notice of his new surroundings for the first time since reawakening. They were in a forest, but not like the one that he would see on the outskirts of Storybrooke; this one felt different to him – more foreign. "How do you know the Doctor?"

"We're old friends. Very good friends. And he's also the reason why that gun you're pointing at me isn't going to do you much good."

The woman raised an eyebrow with interest. "Is that a threat, darling?"

"Call it an assurance. Killing me is not gonna get you anywhere."

"You're right. That's why I'm not going to kill you." She holstered her gun to clarify this for him. "Instead, I'm going to ask for your help."

Curiously, Jack inquired, "In doing what?"

"Finding the Doctor. You say that you know him – then you know where to find him. Am I right?"

Harkness nodded as he picked himself off the ground and stood on his feet. "You're absolutely right. But I already found him and, unfortunately, he's still on the other side of the portal I came through."

"Portal?" Her face quickly registered shock and frustration. "The Mad Hatter! You trusted him with portal jumping?"

"Whoa, whoa. I don't know anything about mad hatters. All I know is that when we used Jefferson's hat, we…"

"You cannot trust that man's magic. And, because you already have, you're doomed just as much as I am here."

Jack was clearly baffled. "Wait. Hold on. We still have a fully functioning TARDIS in this world."

"This world?" The context of Jack's statement clued her in on a crucial fact. "You mean there's another TARDIS in the other world?"

"That's what it looked like to me when I saw the Doctor come out of it."

With this new information, the woman began to scientifically deduce, "The separation between worlds was so powerful this time that it created two TARDISes. It didn't just cancel out one this time, but duplicated another. This world must still be connected to the energy signature of the TARDIS." A hopeful smile emerged on her face as she realized, "We may have a chance in getting back to the Doctor – getting back to our world!"

Jack enjoyed the enthusiasm the woman was displaying. He was so enthralled over her intelligence that he could practically kiss her; but, first, he had to get to know her better. "What's your name?"

"Professor River Song. Yours?"

"Captain Jack Harkness."

River chuckled. "A professor and a captain working together to find a doctor. Quite the conundrum, isn't it?"

Jack had a clever quip of his own to respond with, but the sound of hoof beats in the distance directed his attention towards the foliage. Looking through it with River, the two of them were stunned to have seen Emma and Snow/Mary Margaret being pulled behind a horse by their bonded wrists, trying to make it over the difficult terrain. Two other women were riding on the horses – one who looked like a princess and one bearing ancient Chinese warrior armor. They were all making their way towards an island encampment from what Jack and River could make out.

Harkness, surprised to have discovered that Emma and Snow were there as well, discouragingly surmised, "Looks like we'll have to cancel our date with the Doctor. Our situation just went from a great escape to a rescue mission."