((Canziar: Part III))

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

The Doctor gave a rare curse, swearing under his breath as he raised his hands, though not in the surrendering way he had done earlier when stepping out of the TARDIS. This was more of a way in hopes to pacify the bristling Zaraux so that we could talk. I did the same, though it was surrender for me. I didn't want to die. Not yet, thanks! "Perhaps," the Doctor said slowly, "We can convince you to come to another decision?"

"There are no other decisions." Corlaka sounded mournful, and I frowned, studying her face. There was a soft hum at the back of my mind, the TARDIS trying to tell me something. But I was too far away for the old police box to form words in my head. Ignoring the hum, I noted that Corlaka didn't seem happy. Far from it. She didn't want to kill me, I could tell, she was horrified at the thought. But she was going to do it anyways, because her people and her family were in danger.

I became thoughtful at this.

She wasn't just threatening me and the Doctor –no, not the Doctor. She just wanted to kill me so that everyone would get left alone. She wasn't threatening me for just any reason. She wanted to kill me so her family and friends and people would be safe from the attacking Sontarans.

I felt for her. She had to choose between the death of everyone from her home and ship or saving them and killing me, the Successor and an innocent (self-declared innocence might I add) person in this deadly game between the Sontarans and the Zaraux.

If I wasn't so desperate to find out what being the Successor actually was, I wouldn't really mind. My life for a whole species doesn't seem all that important. But, as the Doctor said, if my death would cause the universe to collapse…not cool.

I focused back on the situation at hand.

"Tell us why they want her to die," the Doctor was demanding, gaze narrowed. "Why Alissa Levine of all people? Why not any of your other prisoners?"

I nodded, agreeing. "Yes, why me?"

Corlaka's firm gaze faltered, her eyes widening with surprise. "You don't know," she whispered. "You don't know what it means to be the Successor."

I groaned. "I've been trying to ask anyone who calls me that for the last who knows how long!" I snapped irritably. "Tell us!"

Corlaka backed away, beckoning for her soldiers to put their weapons down, gasping, "We can't kill her. It is too early for even her to die." She glanced at the Doctor, rasping, "The Doctor and the Successor haven't reached that point in time yet. We cannot say. My people…they're going to die!"

"Why can't you say?" the Doctor asked gently, trying to calm the panicking queen down. "Why can't you tell us what it means?"

A humming filled my mind again, and I glanced over my shoulder at the TARDIS, hushing under my breath, "Not now." I focused back on the Doctor and Corlaka, growing irritated. "Tell me," I pleaded. "You're the third species to call me it, I want to know!"

Corlaka shuddered. "My people will be severely punished by the Shadow Proclamation," she whimpered.

The Doctor sucked in a breath, rocking back onto his heels. "So not only are you a fixed point yourself," he said, and I blinked as I realized he was talking to me. "But the moment we find out what being the Successor means is also a fixed point." He examined my face curiously. "Just what are you?"

A slurred jumbling mess filled my ears before I could reply with a sarcastic tone, and I turned to face the TARDIS as it moaned, a door flying open. The Doctor was racing over in an instant, crying excitedly, "She found something! Good old girl!"

I was about to scramble after him, but paused, a thought running through my mind. Twirling around to face Corlaka, I said, "Tell the Sontaran you killed me. If they ask for proof, say your guns dissolved my body. I'm pretty sure some kind of alien gun can do that anyways."

Corlaka looked fearful. "And you will leave?"

"I don't know. When they contact you, say you did," I said with a shrug, then slid into the TARDIS behind the Doctor, closing the door. The TARDIS gave an angry spark and I winced, rubbing at my arm. "Ow."

The Time Lord snorted in amusement. "She's upset with you." He glanced up with a grin; black frames perched on his nose, having been looking at the screen that had rapidly changing circular symbols that I recognized as Gallifreyan. "The Sontarans are planning to contact the ship within in the next few moments. We're leaving."

"I figured as much," I muttered, taking a seat.

"I called out for you," the TARDIS scolded crossly in my mind, "You are just as bad as my Thief! My Girl is bad at listening to me."

I rolled my eyes as the TARDIS gave another spark, but the Doctor gave a cheer, patting the console. When I shot him a strange look, he explained, "She's been slow lately. She's acting more like herself right now; I'm hoping it stays that way."

I blinked. "The police box," I ignored the way the said machine hissed in annoyance at me, "is just a time machine, isn't it? You're acting like-"

"Oh, the TARDIS isn't just a time machine," the Doctor interrupted with a wink, flicking a switch. "She's got a soul and heart, too. Just not like you and me. Well," he paused, correcting himself. "Bit different there, I've got two hearts-" I gaped at him "-but back to the point! She's alive in her own kind of way."

"Listen to my Thief," the TARDIS said smugly, "he speaks only the truth."

I snorted softly. "Why's he called a thief?" I asked under my breath, curious yet not wanting the Doctor to hear me talking to myself. The TARDIS obviously didn't seem to talk to him like it spoke to me and I didn't want to seem insane or something.

"He ran away with me," the police box said simply. "And I with him."

Like that made any sense. "Alright, so the TARDIS is alive. Now," I paused, picking my words carefully. "We're not just going to leave the Zaraux to deal with the Sontarans, are we? I mean, they didn't shoot us, so…we can't just leave them to be killed."

"We won't," the Doctor reassured, "We're going to see what we can do back on Canziar from the TARDIS."

"What if we can't do anything?" I asked curiously tilting my head. The Doctor was silent, and I understood immediately, biting my lip. "Oh. Well then," I mumbled, "We'll try our best, let's get hurrying and do what we can."

"I can't save everyone," the Doctor said, eyes grim as he studied the screen, glancing at me out of the corner of his eyes, which were still framed by his black glasses. The Doctor removed said glasses from his face, running a hand through his hair with a distressed expression as the slightly quivering TARDIS, which had obviously been making our journey nowhere near as bumpy as before, landed and relaxed with a happy hum. "I try, I do my best. But sometimes, you just can't save them, or they don't want to be saved."

"They want our help," I told him, reassuringly smiling. "So if we can't save them, it's not our fault. We'll have to move on." I then patted his arm and moved to peek out the doors of the TARDIS with a thoughtful hum myself, copying the TARDIS. "We're back where we were. So let's get to work."

The Doctor blinked, obviously surprised by what I had said, and I mentally laughed at the shock on his face as I waited patiently for him to tell me what to do. Shaking his head to clear it, he said, "Remember that job I gave you earlier?" I nodded. "I want you to go back into the space and turn it off. While you're doing that, I'm going to go look in storage for something that we might need..."

He disappeared on the other side of the console, removing a set of grating with a grunt before disappearing into the floor of the TARDIS. I carefully removed the grating that I had moved earlier as well, hopping into the hole it left. "Show me where the light is please?" I said hopefully. The TARDIS hummed, and the light appeared in front of me. "You moved it?"

"You are a lazy one, my Girl," the TARDIS grumbled.

I giggled, turning off the light as I had been told. I hauled myself back out of the massive underbelly of the TARDIS, replaced the grated floor, and then moved over to peer into "storage". My jaw dropped at the massive drop, at lead twenty feet down. "Doctor?" I called down.

"Come on down!" he called back. I carefully lowered myself down, using a ladder that had appeared. Then I examined the area around me, blinking at all the things perfectly lined along walls, neatly organized. The Doctor was down at the end of the long room, examining some device. He grinned, waving me over. "This," he said, offering me the device in his hand, "is what I was looking for."

Carefully holding the device, I examined it before handing it back, curious. "What is it exactly?"

He winked. "Time Lord technology. Not much of it left anywhere at any time in the universe. This is one of the last quick teleportation devices that can transport us from wherever to here if we wanted. If I set the coordinates to where the TARDIS is now, we can get the Sontaran's attention, allow the Zaraux to get home and warn the other Zaraux, and somehow destroy the Sontaran ship without getting anyone hurt?"

I bit my lip. "We're going to kill them?"

"It's the only thing we can do with the Sontaran," the Doctor said gently, tucking the device under one arm and heading for the ladder to climb out. "Trust me. They don't listen to reasoning. I've tried to reason with them before and it didn't go well."

I sighed, watching him climb the ladder before following him up, helping him replace the heavy piece of grating as I replied, "You tried. I haven't gotten to just yet. Let me try."

The Doctor cast a glance at me, eyes narrowed. "You could get killed, so I don't think you should," he said thoughtfully. I frowned. But then he added, "With the way people have been treating you, however, it could be worth a shot. We should work out something for you to say first."

I silently nodded my agreement, my gray eyes thoughtful. "Perhaps," I said slowly. "We do this…"

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

I stepped out of the TARDIS, greeted with an array of guns. Wincing, I crossed my arms and told the Zaraux, "Let me talk to Corlaka. I have an idea."

"The last time you had an idea," Corlaka said coldly as she strode forward, "your idea didn't help."

"I think this one will, though," I said honestly. I tapped the item on my wrist and then another further up my arm with a grin. "Trust me, the Doctor and I worked on this plan together," I told her, smiling. "We wouldn't have even stopped here unless it was necessary. The Doctor can't get through to the Sontaran, so I need to borrow your communication line to talk to them."

Corlaka gave me a suspicious look and I beamed. "Set up the communications," Corlaka ordered a Zaraux beside her, still watching me through narrowed eyes. "Contact the Sontaran; send a message telling them that the Successor wishes to contact them."

"I'll be right back," I told her with a gentle smile. "I need to go through the details of our plan with the Doctor. I stepped back into the TARDIS, rolling my eyes when the time machine gave a sigh of relief in my head. "So far they're agreeing," I said with a smile.

"Good," the Doctor responded, using his sonic screwdriver to fix up the last bits of a simple flat device in his hand. "Plant this in the Sontaran ship when we get aboard. Make sure to tell Corlaka to get as far as possible from the Sontarans. Remember, as soon as this thing hits the ground, it has less than ten seconds before it implodes. Alright? You'll have less than ten seconds to teleport back into the TARDIS." I nodded, biting my lip nervously. The Doctor gave me a reassuring smile. "You'll be alright, I promise."

"I better be alright," I retorted, "Bre, Drevan, Michael and Mandy will kill you otherwise."

"…don't know who they are, but I'll make sure to avoid them," the Doctor mused with a laugh. He became serious, glancing up at me through the dark frames he wore once again. "Be careful, Ali. It's important that you don't die. I don't know why, but if you are a fixed point, you can't die here. Unless this is the fixed point, but I seriously doubt that." He grinned, examining the device, handing it to me. I tucked it in my pocket. "Now, out you go. I'll be in here, waiting for you to teleport back."

I adjusted the teleport device on my wrist with a nod. "Good. 'Because I will personally kill you if you abandon me."

He snorted in amusement, waving at the teleportation device. "That thing has where the TARDIS is and will go next. We'll be there waiting for you. Besides," he glared at the smugly humming TARDIS, still in a good way at the moment, though I could feel the energy fading slowly. "I doubt the TARDIS would let me go anywhere. She can be stubborn."

I patted the console. "Good. I'll be back then." Bidding a temporary goodbye to my friend, I ducked out of the TARDIS, striding over to where Corlaka had set up the communications. Just as I stepped up to her side, my arms crossed and becoming serious, a Sontaran's face appeared. Immediately it glowered at me, and I quickly spoke before it could, inwardly grimacing as I heard the sounds of the TARDIS moving. That meant I would be meeting him on Canziar. "Alright, so you guys wanna kill me."

"It would be our pleasure if the Zaraux won't," the Sontaran said with a strange look of happiness. I tried not to laugh. "The Sontarans would be known for the destruction of the Successor!"

I narrowed my eyes. "You'll leave the Zaraux alone?"

"Yes."

I smiled. "Good. How do I get to your ship?" Then I mentally groaned as the Sontaran gave me a suspicious look. I was being too eager to "die"! "I'd rather get this over with before I lose my nerve and attempt to make a run for it," I added hastily. "The Zaraux are worth more than me anyways."

Corlaka gasped. "Successor-"

I shot her a look, replying briskly, "You need to get home."

She jerked in surprise, and one of her soldiers hissed in annoyance at my tone. I merely smirked, turning my attention back to the Sontaran. "Well?" I challenged. "What are you waiting for?" All I had to do was drop the little flat device and disappear.

What could be so hard about dropping a flat device that would make a ship implode and teleporting out?

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

I allowed the Sontaran to continue proudly declaring how the Sontarans would be the ones to destroy the all-powerful "Successor". Key word there, may I add. Allowed. Ugh, who am I kidding, I thought, if I tell him to shut up, he'll shoot me with that damn gun. And what a gun that was, nearly as long as my arm, edged with something I didn't think would be safe to touch. Finally, I interrupted impatiently, hands shoved in my pockets, "I hate to interrupt your whole "we, the all-powerful destroyers of the Successor" speech, but where are we going?"

The Sontaran scowled at me, obviously annoyed but going silent, refusing to tell me where we were going. Worked for me, I was tired of his seriously annoying voice. Nothing was more annoying than a Sontaran, I decided. Most people, placed in my situation, would be worried and nervous, maybe even scared. But of course I, the stupid woman I am, was the complete opposite, more annoyed and impatient to get this over with.

I messed with the bomb in my pocket carefully, not wanting to accidentally be screwed by setting it off. I sighed, muttering to myself. What's wrong with me, not setting it off here and getting away? 'Course, if I set it off in the place with the most Sontaran, there was less of a chance that they would escape.

I grimaced at the thought of thinking like that. I hated the idea of killing all the Sontaran, but as the Doctor had already told them to leave and they had continued to threaten some innocent people… their own fault.

As I stepped into a room with dozens of Sontaran within it, I gently grasped the bomb, ready to drop it. The moment it hit the ground, all I had to do was press the button on the teleportation device on my wrist and I would be safe in the TARDIS. Just the thought of it made me feel anxious to get back, a soft humming in the back of my mind making me want to get back even more. The TARDIS itself wanted me back.

I narrowed my eyes, irritably glaring at the Sontaran. "So," I mused, rocking back onto my heels as I examined the Sontaran ship, waiting impatiently for a good time. "Why exactly do you want to kill me? Same reason as the Zaraux wanted me for, right? Because I'm the Successor?" Whatever the hell that means…

The Sontarans began to excitedly cheer and speak to one another, praising each other. I made a face. How stupid could they get?

Getting tired of their…antics (more like annoyed of their voices and potato selves), I forced myself to smirk, drawing the bomb from my pocket and playing with it carefully, waiting for at least one of them to notice it. When the one who'd been boasting to me about "capturing" me noticed, he narrowed his eyes, immediately moving to take it.

I dropped it.

Immediately, as soon as it hit the ground, the bomb began to beep, a small light flashing. The Sontaran who had noticed actually squealed, alerting the others, and I beamed, pressing the button on the teleportation device as told.

Nothing happened.

I blinked, pressing it again. "No!" I hissed when nothing happened, beginning to panic as the beeps alerted me of how much time I had left.

Ten.

I slammed my hand into the button now, panicking. "Come on, work!"

Nine. Eight. Seven.

This could not be happening.

Six. Five.

You have got to be kidding me!

Four. Three.

"Please, work, just take me somewhere so I don't die," I whimpered, not even caring anymore as I began to mess randomly with things on the teleportation device. "Please, come on, work!"

Two.

I screwed my eyes shut, preparing myself.

One.

Suddenly, a wrenching feeling in my body made my eyes snapped wide in time for me to see the freaking Sontarans and the imploding ship to disappear. I cried out in pain and surprise as a pain tore through me.

There was nothing…

…and then I slammed into the ground with enough for force to drive the air out of my lungs. Or at least, I thought it was until something moved beneath me. "Oh my gosh," I gasped, scrambling off of the person I had slammed into. "I'm sorry! The stupid thing-" I cut off with a gasp of pain as said feeling tore through me again, making me double over.

The man I'd landed on merely laughed, sitting up and rubbing his head with a cheeky grin. I immediately knew this guy was one of the types I tried generally tried to avoid. "Don't worry; I'm harder to kill than that." He gave a wink, and then frowned. "You're bleeding. Where from?"

I blinked, lowering my gaze to see that I was in fact bleeding. "Damn," I muttered. "Must've got me before the stupid thing worked…oh, great," I spat, glaring at the now sparking and fried teleportation device. "Now how am I supposed to get back?" I glanced at the man, who was staring at me with surprise. "Please tell me this is at least Canziar."

"It's Canziar alright," he replied, waving at the shops around us. "What happened to you? We should get you off the street…"

I ignored him, grimacing as I looked at the wound in my stomach. Pulling the shard of who knows what out, I pressed my hand to the injury to try and stop the bleeding. "Have you seen a weird looking police box?" An annoyed hiss at the back of my head made me hopeful. "That's what I'm trying to find."

Too my surprise, the man grinned. "The Doctor's here? That's great!"

"Yes, great," I said sarcastically, "Honestly, I don't really care if he's here or not right now. I need to get to the TARDIS. That's all that really matters, alright? Not stop staring at me like that and help me find it!"

"Alright, but you still gotta tell me your name," he answered, helping me to my feet and carefully pulling my arm around his shoulders.

I ignored the stares people were giving me as I gasped in pain, cringing. "Give me a reason why I should trust you. 'Because I was nearly killed twice today and I'm not in a good mood right now."

"I'm friends with the Doctor," he supplied.

"…good enough," I sighed as we started down the street. "Give me your name and I'll tell you mine."

"Deal," he agreed. "Captain Jack Harkness at your service."

"Alissa Levi-" I cut off, voice cracking in pain as the wound sent pain flaring through me. "Levine," I finished with a raspy tone. "I'm Alissa Levine. Call me Ali."

"Nice to meet you, Ali," Captain Jack Harkness responded, grinning. Okay, so maybe he wasn't too bad looking, but still. "Let's find the Doctor for you. I'm pretty sure the TARDIS has an infirmary in it…"

The TARDIS hummed in the back of my head, and I furrowed my brow, thinking to distract myself. The TARDIS could hear me and understand me, still able to make sounds in my head despite the fact that I wasn't nearby. But it couldn't talk unless I was touching it or in it, I noted silently, thoughtful. Was that good or bad….?

"Oh! Miss Ali!"

I blinked, recognizing the small voice in an instant. "Selentha."

The young reptilian like girl's eyes were wide with astonishment and horror, and it took only a few moments for Katherina to appear behind her, her own eyes wide and her face pale. "Oh, dear," she gasped, "What happened to you, Successor?"

I gave a weak smile. "Dunno, not sure. I planted a bomb, stupid thing didn't work. It suddenly worked, and I landed on this idiot right here. Now, have you seen the Doctor or the police box anywhere? Because I would really appreciate it if you know where either of those is…"

Selentha nodded anxiously, pointing west. "Follow this street, Miss Ali. At the corner, there's the big box that the Doctor man you're friends with is there."

"Don't call the Successor such disrespectful names," Katherina scolded her daughter before adding kindly to me, "Thank you for saving Selentha. I hope you get well, Successor. Come, Selentha, your father is probably worrying about us." With that, she was ushering the young girl away, glancing worriedly back at me.

I groaned. "Why is he all the way over there?" My voice cracked again, and I felt my legs give out, panting for breath as I examined my wound. My stomach twisted. Way worse than I thought, I noted dully. And wonderful, I added silently, my hand was not only coated in my own blood, but it was trailing onto the paved path, making people look at me with disgust and horror.

Captain Jack grunted, taking all of my weight with a slight grin. I glared at him. I take back the good looking part, this guy was an idiot! "I don't care if I'm dying," I threatened, "You touch me anymore than necessary, and I'll rip your arm off, got it?"

He started forward again, me attempting to stumble along beside him. "Whatever you say, Al."

My eyes flashed and I shoved away from him, dropping to the ground in the process and gasping for breath as I fought the urge to curl into a ball. "Don't ever call me that," I spat with pure rage. "My name's Ali or Alissa, not Al. Never call me that. I'm not afraid to rip your arms off, got it?"

He held his hands up in surrender with a surprised look. "Just trying to help and lighten the mood."

I curled a lip in disgust, glowering at him. He merely grinned, offering me a hand. I scowled, looking away until he said apologetically, tone gentle, "I'm sorry, I won't call you that if you're going to react that badly. Let's find the Doctor."

"Finally something I'll agree to," I said in response, allowing him to help me up.

I'd just climbed to my feet when I heard someone say, "Ali?!"

"Doctor!" I cried, relief washing over me as I pushed away Captain Jack. Then I glowered at the concerned Time Lord, scowling. "Your stupid little teleportation device was faulty, you know! I was nearly killed!"

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Ah, forgot how old it was. You alright other than that? I shouldn't have sent you up there alone."

I scowled, and then winced. Then I waved at Captain Jack. "Apparently he knows you, so. He was helping me. Now, where's the TARDIS? This thing hurts, and I wanna get it fixed. He said something about an infirmary."

The Doctor sighed, shooting a warning look as Captain Jack opened his mouth to respond to what I'd said. "You," he said irritably, "Not the time."

"I wasn't planning on saying anything like that," he protested.

"You better not. Why are you on Canziar anyways?" the Doctor asked.

"Seriously!" I cried, "Who cares?! Just help me get back to the TARDIS please!"

"Ah, right! Sorry! The TARDIS should have some medicine from Hokatz that will heal that stop the bleeding! Good thing I kept that didn't honestly think I'd need it…"

I sighed, shaking my head as the Doctor began to babble once again about things I didn't understand, helping me towards the TARDIS while I muttered under my breath, grimacing in pain. Captain Jack followed behind us, looking slightly eager. "There must be something wrong with me," I mumbled. What was I doing, traveling around with a risky fool who had no idea what he was doing half the time?

"My Girl," the TARDIS greeted her voice full of relief as we stepped into the TARDIS. I could practically hear the rooms shifting. "You're safe now. Sleep, my Girl. I will keep you safe."

I smiled warmly, an answer coming to my mind in answer to my own question.

Because I was needed, I could feel it.

And then I was lost in nothingness, a peaceful bliss compared to the hellish pain I'd been feeling.

~~OO~~II~~OO~~

A/N: Yeah. Definitely didn't get Jack right. XD Oh, well, wasn't supposed to be there originally. Was talking with my friends and someone thought of it randomly. Not so proud towards the end, but…I had fun as usual, so who cares? This also marks the end of their adventure in Canziar! Onto the next place…let me check my notes…;) Thanks to the reviewers, I was so happy when I saw your reviews!

: I'm glad! ^_^

courtinelly: Sweet tea is indeed a wonderful thing. o.o I love it, best drink ever. And quite honestly, I'm not sure about the romance. . I'm contemplating on whether or not it should, but…we'll have to wait and see!

Skye: I'm happy you like it! And here's more, as you wanted! XD