Hello again! Important things first: special thanks go to TrueBlueTardis14, Myste-maus and Verity359 for your great reviews! It really means a lot to see what my readers think!
Good God this chapter was a pain in the ass. First of all it didn't want to be written, and the secondly it went in the complete opposite direction of where I wanted it to go!
I'd planned to really jump ahead with the plot in this one to make up for the Utopia retread… and instead we get buckets of character development!
*Sigh* those plot bunnies are tricksy devils but the character development ones have a bigger bite!
Hehe, enjoy!
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Chapter 8 – Hunted
With her body practically tingling with excitement, Jackie Tyler stepped out of the safety of the TARDIS, and set out alone into the year one hundred trillion. The desolate landscape was, in its own way, breathtakingly beautiful. Jackie gaped at the vastness of it. Just of the ridge which the TARDIS stood on, she could see what she could only describe as a giant beehive carved into the rock face. Only, it wasn't a beehive, it was more like a city. Jackie could just make out where roads and what she could only describe as houses were cut into the stone. She spun on the spot trying to take it all in. No wonder Rose wanted to keep traveling, she thought. If this is what it was like to step out of the TARDIS each time (although Jackie supposed she would normally have had a chattering tour guide telling her exactly what she was looking at) Jackie could understand why. Maybe trouble was just the bits in between. Maybe the Doctor was-
Jackie tripped over something and landed ungracefully on her rear. She had been stepping backwards, looking around in amazement when her trainer caught on some sort of squishy rock by the side of the TARDIS and she had, quite inelegantly, fallen over it. Jackie turned her head to see what she had fallen over when she caught sight of the sky above her. She hadn't thought to look above her head when she stepped out of the TARDIS, but now from her prone position she couldn't do anything but. It was blank. Complete unending night. Jackie couldn't see a single star in the sky, only blackness that almost seemed to suck and pull at her from where she lay. It almost made her dizzy, that emptiness. It was like she had suddenly gone blind. There were no clouds that she could see, or anything that looked like it might be covering the night sky… just emptiness. Jackie suddenly felt very small.
Shaken by the feeling of emptiness, Jackie turned her head to where she knew the TARDIS would be, suddenly needing the reassurance of the odd little blue box. It was as she turned her head that her eyes caught the soft, squishy material that she had fallen over.
And she screamed.
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"So when are we then?" asked Rose, stepping up to the Doctor's side. He absent-mindedly took her hand again as he pulled out a pair of brainy specs.
"Ah."
He sat back onto the jump seat, pulling Rose with him.
"Well?"
He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "The year one hundred trillion."
Rose glanced towards the door, excitement sparkling in her eyes. "So what's out there?"
The Doctor lowered his hand and removed his glasses. "I don't know." He said.
Rose gaped at him in amazement, a light smile teasing around the corner of her mouth. "Say that again. That's rare."
He smiled half-heartedly. "Not even the Time Lords came this far. We should leave. We should go. We should really, really go."
"Oh, if you think there's going to be trouble, we could always stay inside and go somewhere else."
They turned to face each other. Rose's mouth twitched. The Doctor's eyebrow raised. Rose spluttered against her mirth and they lost control on their laughter.
"Should we go investigate then Lewis?" the Doctor asked, offering Rose his arm in a gentlemanly way.
Rose grinned. "An excellent idea, Sarge." She replied, taking the offered appendage. "Maybe we should go an' tell my mum first though?"
The Doctor shrugged carelessly. "Weeell… we could." He grinned a devilish smile. "Or we could go outside, have a bit of a poke around, you know, check it's safe, and then we could go find your mother."
Rose's grin matched the Doctor's. "The old team?"
"That's more like it!" he cheered, pulling her towards the doors. "Hope and Glory, Mutt and Jeff, Shiver and Shake."
"Which one's Shiver?" asked Rose, mildly concerned that the Doctor was, in his own clever way, calling her an elephant.
"Oh," he grinned, eyebrows waggling. "I'm Shake."
Rose was tempted to give him another wallop on the arm when a scream came from outside. The grin fell from Rose's face. She knew that scream.
"That's my mum!"
Without another word, the pair of them dashed out of the TARDIS doors and into the endless night.
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"Mum!"
Rose sprinted out of the TARDIS doors to where her mum lay shaking on the ground. "Mum! Wha' is it? Wha's wrong?" Rose wrapped her arms around her trembling mum, her back to the TARDIS and their unexpected guest.
The Doctor slowed to stand next to her. He caught sight of the dark blue greatcoat and slipped his hands deep into the pocket of his long trench coat, a sigh on his lips.
"Hello again." He muttered softly, looking uncomfortable. "Oh, I'm sorry."
Jackie was babbling semi-coherently in Rose's arms. "An there's this city…thing! Just over there! An' it's huge, an' empty an' the sky! The sky, Rose! There's nothing in it! It's just… empty."
Rose hugged her closer, glancing over her shoulder at the oddly silent Doctor, who was looking disdainfully in their direction.
"Leave off!" Rose hissed at him. "It's her first time!"
The Doctor didn't reply, still looking past the Tyler pair to Jack.
"An' then I fell over tha' alien thing!" She paused, turning to look at what she fell over and frowning thoughtfully. "It's a bit odd, though." She continued. "Not very hundred trillion though, is it? That coat's more like World War Two. Frightened the life outta me 'e did!"
Rose briefly glanced over towards the object of the discussion, half catching sight of deep blue before turning to face the Doctor. His face was frozen into an odd mix of distain and a slightly pained look.
"Doctor? What's wrong?"
He blinked, tearing his eyes away from his wrong friend and towards Rose. "I think he came with us."
Jackie looked appalled. "'ow d'you mean, from Earth?"
The Doctor shrugged and raised his arm to rub the back of his neck, uncomfortable. "Must have been clinging to the outside of the TARDIS all the way through the vortex. Well, that's very him."
Rose's head snapped up in surprise, but Jackie beat her to the question. "What, do you know 'im?"
Rose released her mum from the hug and sat back onto her knees to get a good look at the mysterious figure. Humanoid. Fairly tall. Sturdy black boots.
"Friend of mine." Replied the Doctor, tugging his ear in agitation. "Used to travel with me, back in the old days."
Great blue overcoat, in a very World War Two like style. Dark hair.
Jackie gingerly placed a hand on the man's chest. "Well 'e 'asn't moved since I fell over 'im." She flinched, pulling her hand back as quick as she could. "'e's freezin'! Oh god! 'e's not dead is 'e? Oh my god! I jus' touched a dead body!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes at her hysteria. "No Jackie, he's not dead. He's just-"
The Doctor's lecture was cut short by the man of the hour gasping desperately and grabbing hold of the elder blonde, struggling to sit up. And by doing so, frightening the life out of one Jackie Tyler, who screamed loudly. The Doctor winced.
"Captain Jack Harkness. And who are you?"
Jackie's mouth flapped like a landed fish. "I'm… I'm Jackie." She squeaked.
"Nice to meet you, Jackie." Jack replied, smiling winningly.
The Doctor rolled his eyes again, huffing in annoyance. "Oh, don't start."
Jack glared at the Time Lord. "I was only saying hello."
Jackie, who had gotten over her panic fairly quickly all things considered, smiled somewhat dreamily, "I don't mind."
The Doctor was suddenly reminded of the first time he had met the elder Tyler woman.
"There's a strange man in my bedroom."
"Yes, there is."
"Well…" she paused, adjusting her short dressing gown in a flirtatious manner. "Anything could happen."
The Doctor shook his head quickly, still smiling awkwardly. "No."
Was he really surprised about her reaction?
Rose, meanwhile, had been watching the conversation in a state of shock, still kneeing on the ground. Her mum, from the Powell Estate, was standing on a dark planet in the year one hundred trillion, helping one of her best friends, who she had thought was dead, to stand up after he had clung on to the side of the TARDIS, as she flew through the vortex, hitching a lift from Cardiff, her own time period, despite the fact the last time she'd seen him had been on Satellite Five in the year two hundred one hundred.
Fair to say, she was a little stunned.
After Jackie helped him to his feet, Jack squared up to the Doctor, all traces of good humour gone from his face.
"Doctor."
"Captain."
Jack paused, nodding stiffly. "Good to see you."
The Doctor returned the gesture just as stiffly, even his voice seemed strained. "And you. Same as ever." He couldn't quite stop the snide remark. "Although, have you had work done?"
Jack snorted. "You can talk."
The Time Lord looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh! Oh yes, the face. Regeneration. How did you know this was me?"
Jack smirked, knowingly. "The police box kind of gives it away." The Doctor laughed briefly, but the humour dropped out of the Captain's expression. "I've been following you for a long time. You abandoned me."
Suddenly the Doctor was incredibly interested in the blank sky above them. "Did I? Busy life. Moving on."
Rose was suddenly jolted out of her shock and quickly stood, whirling to face the Doctor, her blonde hair flying out behind her.
"You said he was dead!"
The Doctor took a step backwards in surprise at her outburst. "I didn't! I said he was busy rebuilding the Earth!"
"Well you weren't exactly convincing!"
"I was a bit distracted!"
"And who's fault was that?!"
The Doctor blustered. "Well, yours actually! If I hadn't had to take the time vortex out of you, I wouldn't have needed to regenerate!"
"Well if YOU hadn't have sent me home, I wouldn't have needed the time vortex would I?!"
"Well-!"
Jack cut the two of them off. "Are you too still not together then?" He sent a cocky grin in Rose's direction. "Because Rosie, you'd always be welcome in my place!"
"Oh, you… Jack!" Rose beamed, ignoring the Doctor for the moment in favour of reuniting with her long-lost sort of brother. "God I missed you!" she grinned, practically diving into his open arms.
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The rocky underbrush made it difficult to run. Pebbles skittered out from underneath his boots and sprayed across the path, tapping loudly against each other. The thunderous roar of the pursuing Future Kind echoed through the night. Padra leapt across a bank of pointed rocks, quickly changing direction again, hoping to lose the hunt in the hazardous terrain. He could still vaguely see where the Silo stood across the surface. It was a safe sanctuary for all those heading to Utopia, if only he could get there.
His breath tore through his lungs, burning a path through his chest. His legs were like jelly, barely supporting his weight. His head spun with a mixture of adrenaline, fear and panic and it looked like to Padra that the Silo was getting further away rather than closer.
But as any hunted animal knows, as much as fleeing burns and hurts, stopping would be worse.
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The rocky underbrush crunched underfoot as Captain Jack Harkness (with a Tyler woman on each arm) and the Doctor strode away from the TARDIS. The Doctor stood off slightly to the side of the group, trying to avoid Rose's glare that she kept shooting his way.
"So there I was," Proclaimed Jack, in full story telling mode. "Stranded in the year two hundred one hundred, ankle deep in Dalek dust, and he goes off without me." Rose winced and Jack gently patted her arm reassuringly. "But I had this."
He lightly shook the arm Jackie was clinging to, moving his jacket sleeve up to reveal a large, leather covered device.
"I used to be a Time Agent. It's called a vortex manipulator." Jack nodded towards the Doctor, who was still sulking off to his right. "He's not the only one who can time travel."
"Oh, excuse me!" The Doctor interrupted, rolling his eyes and huffing. "That is not time travel. It's like, I've got a sports car and you've got a space hopper."
Jackie grinned wickedly. "Oh ho. Boys and their toys!"
Rose snickered and gently patted Jack on the arm in sympathy. Jack pouted. "All right, so I bounced. I thought 21st century, the best place to find the Doctor, except that I got it a little wrong. Arrived in 1869, this thing burnt out, so it was useless."
The Doctor looked smug. "Told you."
Jack ignored him. "I had to live through the entire twentieth century waiting for a version of you that would coincide with me."
Rose's face fell. "Jack, I'm sorry."
He smiled reassuringly at her, patting her hand. "Not your fault, Rosie."
"'ang on!" Jackie interrupted, pulling the trio up short. "But tha' makes you more than a 'undred years old!"
The Captain grinned roguishly. "And looking good, don't you think?" Jackie blushed. "So I went to the time rift, based myself there because I knew you'd come back to refuel. Until finally I get a signal on this detecting you and here we are."
Jackie looked puzzled for a moment. "'ow come you left 'im behind, then Doctor?"
The Doctor shrugged, avoiding all eye contact. "I was busy."
Jackie faced turned thunderous. "Is that what happens, though, seriously? Do you jus' get bored one day and disappear? Is this wha' you're going to do to my Rose? Since you walked into our lives, I've been attacked in the streets. I've bog monsters from the pits of 'ell in my own living room, and my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth more times than I can count. An' tha's fine, 'cause you promised you'd keep 'er safe. Bu' I saw how heartbroken she was at Christmas when she thought you'd left 'er an' the time before that when we 'ad to borrow Rodrigo's truck to restart your TARDIS thing. She was a mess, she was. An' you're just gonna do tha' to 'er again?!"
"Mum, leave it will you?" Rose tried to placate her, despite still being mad at the Doctor for lying Rose lept to his defence. "'e's alien, he doesn't age like we do. He's already 900 and something, so I'll just give him my forever instead of his."
Jackie turned to Rose, surprised. "Wha' tha' supposed to mean? Don't you think you'll ever settle down?"
The corner of Rose's mouth twitched in a sad sort of smile. "The Doctor never will, so I can't." The Doctor winced, thankfully for him, Jackie didn't notice. "I'll just keep on travelling." She shrugged.
Jackie turned to get a good look at her daughter. "You've changed so much."
"She's not the only one." Mumbled Jack, but only the Doctor heard it.
"For the better." Rose turned to face her mum, squaring her shoulders aggressively.
Jackie shrugged, dropping her eyes. "I suppose."
"Mum, I used to work in a shop!"
"I've worked in shops. What's wrong with that?"
Rose flapped her hands in annoyance, moving slightly to pace in front of her mum. "No, I didn't mean that. Look where we are Mum! We're in space, on an alien planet!"
"Well if you ask me it's a bit dark."
"Mum! That's not the point!" Rose sighed in exasperation. "We're here. You and me, in space! In the future. How can that not change you? Just a little?"
"But that's it, Rose!" Jackie moaned. "And you'll keep on changing. And in forty years time, fifty, there'll be this woman, this strange woman, walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. But she's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human. An' then one day he'll leave you; When you're too old to run anymore."
Behind Rose's back, the Doctor looked incredibly guilty, and this time, Jackie saw.
Rose sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Yes." She agreed, a bittersweet smile on her face. "But some things are worth getting your heart broken for."
Jack stepped forward to wrap his arms around the younger Tyler. "Well whenever she leaves him, Rose is always welcome to live with me." He grinned roguishly again. "I'll make an honest woman of her yet, Mrs Tyler."
"Ms." Jackie corrected automatically, blushing at the flirtatious attention.
"You two!" Interrupted the Doctor, glaring at Jack. "We're at the end of the universe, all right? Right at the edge of knowledge itself and you're busy blogging!" He shrugged his shoulders angrily to adjust his coat. He looked just off the ridge ahead of where they stood to the strange beehive-like city Jackie had seen earlier. His eyes lit with the excitement of discovery. "Come on."
"Is that a city?" Asked Rose, stepping forwards to take the Doctor's hand, falling in to their usual routine despite her annoyance.
"A city or a hive, or a nest, or a conglomeration." He squeezed her hand reassuringly, an almost apology, and her lips quirked upwards. "Like it was grown." He continued, pointing towards the structure. "But look, there. That's like pathways, roads? Must have been some sort of life, long ago."
Jackie squinted towards where he pointed. "What killed it?"
The Doctor sighed and Rose squeezed his hand back. "Time. Just time. Everything's dying now. All the great civilizations have gone. This isn't just night. All the stars have burned up and faded away into nothing."
Jack looked up, curiously, towards the sky. "They must have an atmospheric shell. We should be frozen to death."
"Well," The Doctor snarked. "Rose, Jackie and I, maybe. Not so sure about you, Jack."
"Stop it!" hissed Rose, smacking him on the arm. The Doctor had the grace to look mildly chastised.
"What about the people?" Asked Jackie. "Does no one survive?"
The Doctor looked grim. "I suppose," He said, gazing up into the starless sky. "we have to hope life will find a way."
Jack pointed towards the sprinting form of Padra, who was running along the ridge directly below theirs. "Well, he's not doing too bad."
The Doctor's eyes followed to where Jack was pointing. "Is it me, or does that look like a hunt?" He asked, suddenly bubbling with excitement. "Come on!"
The Doctor leapt forwards in pursuit, slightly dragging Rose behind him by their joined hands. Jack and Jackie shrugged and ran after them. The quartet quickly cut their way down the ridge onto the same level as Padra and the Future Kind, jumping between rocks and over small scrubland bushes.
Small rocks and pebbles crunched underfoot and made running difficult. Jack grinned, despite panting heavily. "Oh, I've missed this."
Rose heard him and called back over her shoulder, returning the grin. "Nothing like running for your life on a daily basis, eh Jack?"
Jackie, however, was not so impressed. "Oh god!" She wheezed, clutching a stitch in her side. "It's like you actually enjoy this!"
Jack dropped back slightly to keep pace with Jackie. "Don't worry gorgeous, if you need a ride, I'm always here to help a damsel in distress."
Fair to say the colouring of Jackie's face wasn't just from the exertion.
Up ahead the Doctor and Rose had almost caught up with the pack chasing Padra.
"So…" panted Rose, having to work twice as hard to keep up with the Doctor's long-legged pace. "Do we have a plan? Or do you plan to just run right into the murderous horde?"
The Doctor's pace faltered briefly. "I'm working on it." He grinned. Rose laughed at his idiocy and kept running, briefly glancing over her shoulder to check on her mum and Jack. The smile slid off her face.
"Doctor!"
The Doctor looked backwards and skidded to a stop. Behind them, Jack and Jackie had been cut off from them by another wave of the Future Kind who swept in from the side. Rose watched in horror as they were quickly herded in the opposite direction, away from the TARDIS. The Doctor's eyes flickered between Rose, the new horde and the fleeing man, his indecision obvious.
"Doctor!" cried Rose again "We've got to help them!"
She started towards her mum and Jack, when a third group of Future Kind burst from the underbrush heading straight for them. An animalistic roar accompanied the lead female Future Kind swinging her spiked swinging mace that was clenched in her fist.
"We've got our own problems!" yelped the Doctor, leaping forwards to re-grab Rose's hand. "Jack's with her, he'll watch out for them both!" Ignoring Rose's squeak of protest, he bolted for the TARDIS, dragging Rose with him.
"Human!" the Future Kind female bayed, the call long and loud. A tall, male, muscle bound Future Kind to her right took up the call. "Human!" He bellowed, waving his flaming torch around his head. The rest of the pack began chanting as they ran, pebbles skittering and flying from their heavy footfalls.
"That's fairly impressive." Commented the Doctor as they ran. "Being able to uphold a chant and run? They must have incredible lung reserves…"
"Doctor!" panted Rose, interrupting his observation. "We have bigger problems. Like what they're saying!"
The animalistic, almost growled chant of, "Hunt! Hunt! Hunt!" was doing nothing for Rose's nerves.
"We just need to get to the TARDIS." The Doctor said, looking mildly unsettled himself. "Then we'll sort this whole mess out."
"And my mother?" gasped Rose, her thighs burning as they headed back up the steep and rocky slope.
The Doctor sighed, how he could do that and sprint at the same time was beyond Rose. The Doctor must have incredible lung reserves of his own. "Yes fine." He grumbled. "And your mother. She's as jeopardy friendly as you are you know."
Rose didn't bother to reply as the TARDIS's wooden exterior loomed into sight. The Doctor sped up his pace to unlock the door, almost dropping his keys in the process.
"And wouldn't that be a way to go?" he muttered as he fumbled with the lock. "Death by keys." The door snapped open. "Certainly an original way, I'll give you that."
He held the door open as Rose burst past him and into the safety of the console room. The Doctor turned around to face and address the Future Kind. The TARDIS lit up behind him and sent a short static shock into the air in a protective ring. The Future Kind halted at the spectacle.
"I am the Doctor, and I invoke Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation for the cessation of hostile actions in order to parley. Identify yourself."
The hunt came to a stop just outside the TARDIS doors and moved to surround her, but still keeping a safe distance from the odd box. The lead female hissed at him.
"Oh! Come on now! No need to be like that." Called the Doctor, squaring his shoulders regally. "Just tell me who you are!"
The female leader looked puzzled for a moment. She straightened her stance slightly and replied in a grating voice, "We… are… hungry!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Yes I got that bit, but tell me your species."
"Humans. Humani. We… make feast… on you."
"Ah well, almost right." The Doctor babbled, beaming widely, "Not actually human me. Or a feast for that matter… Listen, I can give you food, just tell me who you are!"
The group's leader seemed to be getting they hang of human speech. "You give… youself to us, you are food." She said, baring her pointed teeth menacingly.
Ignoring Rose's snigger behind him the Doctor looked upwards for inspiration. "Well this is going nowhere." He muttered. He tilted his head to address the Future Kind again. "You will give back our friends; they are not to be harmed."
The female stepped forwards, eyeing the TARDIS warily. "They… are food! You give yourself… as food… you feed us."
The Doctor' expression darkened. "I'm warning you, give them back."
"Give yourself… to us." She turned to face the rest of the pack and raised her fist high. The answering roar echoed throughout the plain.
"I warned you." Said the Doctor, eyes hard. "This is your own doing."
He stepped backwards and the doors closed automatically. The Doctor's shoulders slumped as he turned to envelop Rose in a hug. She stepped forwards into his embrace eagerly.
"What do we do now Doctor?"
The Doctor gently stroked Rose's back. It could never be described as easy to hear someone class your own mother as food. "We, well…" the Doctor paused, mentally bracing himself for the coming outburst. "We wait."
"What?!" Rose screeched, pushing back from his chest.
The Doctor's arms automatically tightened around her, keeping Rose safe against his chest. "Several of the TARDIS systems were fried during the bolt through the vortex." He explained.
"Well can't you fix them?!"
"The TARDIS is organic Rose, a living breathing thing. You remember, don't you? Some bits she needs to heal herself."
Rose looked glum, and the Doctor squeezed her sides comfortingly. "Jack will look after your mum, you know he will." He grinned wolfishly. "And who knows, he might even keep his clothes on to do it!"
Rose giggled against his chest. "I don't think mum would mind if he didn't."
The Doctor smiled lightly and manoeuvred the pair of them over to the jump seat. "I bet she wouldn't." He agreed, kissing the top of her head gently. "But for now," he continued, "all we can do is wait."
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Wow, this one was a biggie, 11 pages, 4,338 words! Okay, so there was a little bit of self-plagiarising but it needed to be done!
As always, please drop me a review and let me know what you think – your input can really make a difference!
Love and Hugs,
Spannerspoon out.