Well, I have, at this point, no idea whether anyone is reading this thing or not, but I guess I'll keep plugging along...

The next two chapters take a bit of a break from the action, and focus on relationships. There has been so much exposition (energy absorption and reading and rifts and esoteric time shit, and DON'T BLINK! and timey wimey instructions, etc), I thought it was time to slow down and get a handle on the characters again. And so, if anyone was wondering what's really on Glenn's mind, you might get a little glimpse now.

We also move slightly forward in our quest to rescue all of the "zapped," and to figure out how to find Glenn's family. Hope it gives you some smiles. Enjoy!

SEVENTEEN

The Doctor had already asked Martha to make a recording of the yellowing papers that Steve and Haroun had given them. Specifically, they were the instructions for the folks in Yakutsk, Hokkaido, Junín, and Norwalk/New Canaan, who had been zapped by the Oystermouth Angels, as to how to get rescued. The TARDIS had made it known that after all the rubbish she had been through, and still needed to go through, she was in no shape to handle two versions of the very same document within her self at the same time. And the documents themselves would not survive another eighty-odd year trip through time. The Time Lord reckoned he needed to recopy it, once the "original" was burned, in order to save his trusted ship's sanity.

He explained it all to the group, the sequence of events that would happen next, all leading back to Oystermouth, but beginning with this little clerical job. Nothing else could quite get underway until the documents were copied, so most of the group would have to twiddle their thumbs while the Doctor and Martha completed this task.

"Why don't you let me or Glenn help you?" Jack suggested. "Less likely to get distracted. More efficient, et cetera, et cetera." He winked.

The Doctor groaned loudly. "Oh, for goodness' sake, Jack, don't you ever stop?"

Jack asked, "How long did it take you and Martha to talk about recopying the documents, and decide what needed doing, and then to accomplish… nothing else? An hour and a half?" He laughed.

Mercifully, Haroun chimed in. "Let me help," he said. "I've been bloody useless thus far, except in the getting rescued department – I was really good at that. Let me be able to say that I did something to move this whole thing along, yeah?"

"Great," the Doctor said. "With me, Haroun. The rest of you, just… don't listen to Jack. We'll be back in a while."

And the Time Lord disappeared with Haroun out the front door of the Potter's Wheel, amidst Jack laughing to himself.

"Another round?" Martha asked the room. "I'll get this one."

"I'm already half bombed," Steve said. "I'll just have a Coke this time, thanks."

"Guinness again," Glenn said, slamming his glass down on the table, taking the last bit from his current glass.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked him. "We've still got a lot of delicate work ahead."

Glenn shrugged. "Got an Eternal constitution."

"Guess I do too," Jack said. "Whatever you get for yourself, Martha."

She nodded, and left the room.

"Okay, what's the deal with those two?" Steve asked Jack and Glenn. "Her and the Doctor?"

"Really? You don't know?" Jack asked.

"Well, I can see that they're… close," Steve said. "But, like… is she the same as he is? I mean, she told me and Haroun that he's some kind of time-travelling species, that he's not human and whatnot. And if she's not the same, then how the hell did they meet?"

"The Doctor is a Time Lord, so yeah, what she said is true. They met… actually, I'm not totally clear on the story," Jack said. "Something about a hospital on the moon…"

"A what?" Steve asked, dropping his gaze to scrutinise Jack.

"And while we're on the subject, mate, I'm not one-hundred-per-cent human either," said Glenn. "But I'm not a Time Lord. Not nearly that clever."

Despite his "Eternal constitution," Glenn's words were slurring. Not too much, but enough.

"Dude, are you sure you want to keep drinking?" Jack wondered. "Seriously, you sound a little addled. If you stop now, you'll be ready to hit the ground running again when the Doctor needs us."

"I don't run. I read things and people and Angels. I can do that if I'm pissed, I promise you. Done it a million times."

"Fine. But if you're a jackass later on, in a moment when it matters, I'm going to have your kneecaps. I'm your sponsor, remember? I'm supposed to be keeping you honest and… not doing stuff that's going to get the rest of us killed."

Glenn chuckled. "You can't be killed!"

"All the more reason to fear me if you get my friends killed," Jack spat back.

"You can't be killed?" Steve asked. "Are any of you normal?"

"Martha," Jack said. "Martha's normal, which brings us back to your original question."

"Okay. Good."

"Actually, she's not normal – she's extraordinary. She's brilliant, in fact – way cleverer than any of us, that's for sure. But she's completely human, completely mortal. And she and the Doctor are… a thing. A very hard-earned, very intense thing."

"So the fact that he's an alien…"

"Doesn't bother her a lick," Jack shrugged. "In fact, I'd say it's part of his charm, wouldn't you?"

"Erm…" Steve began.

"Well, that's not a fair question, because I rather fancy him myself," Jack confessed.

"Yeah, me too," Glenn sighed.

"Really?" Jack asked.

"Pff, yeah. How could I not? He's kind of… I dunno, wiry and fiery and… what am I trying to say?"

Steve chuckled. "You guys are an interesting group. Does everyone just swing every which way? Is it a non-human immortality thing, or…"

"No, I've been like this since I was mortal," Jack said. "A little oversexed, if I do say so myself. It's a gift. I identify as omni. Glenn… well…"

That was when Martha returned with drinks on a tray, and the three looked at her guiltily.

"Oh, God," she groaned. "What?"

"Nothing," Jack said. Though he knew she would never stand for that, so he said, "Steve wanted to know what the deal is with you and the Doctor, so I told him. Then I told him my deal with the Doctor, and Glenn confessed that he's got a bit of a deal with the Doctor, and now here we are. What am I drinking?"

"I don't know, some sort of Pilsner," Martha said, handing him a glass. "Glenn, has a what?"

"Oh, relax," Glenn said. "I think I kind of fancy all of you. Certainly you, Martha. Jack… come on! The walls fancy you. Trees, rocks…"

Jack laughed out loud.

Glenn continued. "The Doctor has grown on me. Maybe even you, Steve. I don't even know. I'm just getting my foot in the door of being a decent human, a normal guy, and suddenly three hugely dynamic, clever, gorgeous people fall into my lap – what am I supposed to do with that? I've got eyes and a heart, and other parts, even if I haven't used some of them in a really long time. Steve, you're kind of handsome, I don't know how dynamic and clever you are, but hey, I'm willing to give everyone a shot, eh? I'm just… green. And I like you all. And I can't believe how nice you are, given the shit I put the three of you through just a few weeks back. Okay? Does that answer your question?"

And with that, Glenn picked up his Guinness, and drank down about half of it.

Martha watched him closely, then said, "Maybe after this, you can switch to Cokes too, eh?"

"Probably not the worst idea," said the half-Eternal man, suddenly realising how very far gone he was.

"Are you going to regret all of that pouring out?" Jack asked him. "Because we can pretend we didn't hear it."

Glenn sighed. "Nah, I've decided I don't do regrets. I just do better moving forward. What do you think of that, Mr. Sponsor?"

"I think that's probably wise," Jack said.

"And it's not like I confessed to murder. The murders I've indirectly committed, you already knew about."

"Wait, what?" asked Steve.

Glenn talked on. "I just said I like you lot, and wouldn't kick any one of you out of bed. Is that so wrong? I mean you're all basically really hot super-heros."

"No, that's just the Doctor," Martha said, sitting down, and taking a sip. "The rest of us are just… you know, Jimmy Olsen."

"Hey, I'm way cooler than Jimmy Olsen," Jack said. "But I will say, whatever super mojo I do have, I kinda sorta have the Doctor to thank. Actually, it was Rose, but none of it happens without the Doctor."

"But here's the thing," Glenn said, taking another long pull. "I do have something else to confess, as long as we're confessing stuff."

"Uh-oh," Martha said under her breath.

"I mean the Doctor's a really great guy," Glenn said. "And again, after what I put you through, Martha, and you, Jack, he's still… still…"

"Willing to help you?" Martha said. "That's how he is. It's not even about you – it's about your mum and Hannah."

"But that's just it. I get that he's a good guy and all, but…" Glen sighed, and covered his face. "Now this feels like confessing to murder."

"What, Glenn? What's on your mind?" asked Jack, now quite serious.

With his face still covered, Glenn said, "I'm nasha fletrussam."

Martha, Jack, and Steve all looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Sorry?" Martha said.

Glenn groaned, and then took his hands away from his face. Without looking at anyone, he said, "I'm not sure I fully trust him. The Doctor."

"Oh," Martha said. "Well, you can. I mean, you should."

"Why, Glenn?" Jack asked.

"I just… I am scared that my mum and Hannah will be forgotten in all of this," he said. "I mean, you know what happened when we went through the Rift. The TARDIS got all wonky and we ended up, like, time-hopping or something and Martha got left behind, and the Doctor didn't even realise it. I know that the Doctor's priority is going to be those fucking Angels at Oystermouth, and getting them neutralised. He's not going to not do that, just because I want to go home now. I mean, I'm not stupid. I know… I can see that I'm an asset to the group in this situation, because I can't be touched by the Angels. He will never just say, 'Well, Glenn, old man, if that's what you want…'"

"You might be surprised," Martha said.

"Right. We're going to rip through the Rift and do all that dangerous rubbish again, and if I, halfway through, say I'd like to see my mum now, please, he'll just stop everything."

"Glenn, the Doctor is in the TARDIS right now doing what he needs to do, to rescue total strangers out of time," Jack reminded him.

"But none of them have done what I've done," Glenn protested.

"How do you know? Any one of them could be a serial killer – we just don't know. The Doctor's not going to do a background check on them before rescuing them – he's just going to do it. He will pull out all the stops, and do it, because it needs doing. Because they are innocents in this case," Jack said. "And your mum and Hannah are innocents, even if you're not. But where the Angels are concerned, you're an innocent, too. Glenn, you've got nothing to worry about."

"You know, Jack's right," Martha agreed. "This is, granted, a much more complicated case than we anticipated, but once it's sorted, he will absolutely do what you need him to do, Glenn, guaranteed. And if he doesn't remember, then Jack and I will remind him."

Glenn scoffed. "Because he'd do anything for the two of you."

"Yeah," Martha said. "But that's not the point."

"Either way," said Steve, who had only just met this group of people, but was starting to get a read on the group dynamic. "What could you do about it? It seems to me, Glenn, that you've only got one option, if your family got zapped back in time, and the Doctor is it. Trust him or don't… but I reckon it would give you more peace of mind if you did."

Glenn looked at Steve for a long while, then sat back in his chair, and said, "Maybe you're right."

"What do you know, maybe sometimes it takes an outsider," Martha whispered to Jack, and took a sip of her drink.

"What happened with your mum?" Steve wanted to know.

Glenn took a deep breath and sat back in his chair. "Well, you know how the Doctor said that an image of a Weeping Angel can become and Angel? Turns out it's true. My mum's friend had sent her some photos of the cemetery because there was some journalist – maybe Tammy Litzinger – who saw the statues were moving, and took photos. They made it onto the internet, and you can guess what happened."

"Yikes."

"We were able to pinpoint where they were zapped to, but it's a big world, and we only know down to the month where they've got to. It's going to be hard to find them."

"Them," Steve said. "It's your mum and… someone else?"

"My niece," Glenn said. "I've got a deadbeat of a half-brother who doesn't want to take care of his own child – he and his new wife would rather travel to the Maldives, and go bungee jumping in rural China. Which sounds so much more dangerous than bungee jumping anywhere else, but what the hell do I know? Until recently, I was doing way worse stuff than that, so… Anyway, my mother is raising his daughter. Hannah."

"Well, I'm not a Time Lord, and I'm not a member of your family, but it seems to me that wherever they are, your mum would try to do whatever's best for your niece," Steve said. "I mean, she's a devoted gran – is she not? And was once a devoted mum."

"You've got that right," Glenn said. "I was a right arsehole. Still am."

"So, thinking in terms of what's best for Hannah," Steve said. "Where would they be?"

Martha and Jack looked at each other with a bit of surprise. It was an excellent question. Martha reckoned that Jack, at some point, would have thought to ask it himself, but their lives had been all go since Glenn came into their midst a few days ago.

"Well, once they were zapped into western France, and worked out what had happened, which, sorry to say, might take a few days," Glenn said. "Thinking in terms of giving Hannah as much normality as possible, she'd want to go back to Newcastle. So, let's say she did that. She'll have realised at some point that it wasn't wise, because there are now two versions of her there. I think she might have changed her name… would she think to do that? Before, I wasn't so sure, but now that you've brought up her motherly/grandmotherly instincts, I think… yeah, she'd do the clever thing. So she'll have changed her name and moved somewhere… where?"

"Well, again, if she's trying to give Hannah as much normalcy as possible, wouldn't they stay in England?" Steve offered. "Do they speak any French? Or Spanish, or anything else?"

"No, they don't," Glenn said.

"I'm wondering," Martha interjected. "Does Hannah, at age four, understand the concept of years, and time in the same terms as we normal human adults do?"

"She knows when her birthday is and how old she is," Glenn said.

"But does she know her birth date? Which year she was born? What makes her four years old?"

"I wouldn't think so," Glenn said. "Why?"

"I think it's all the more reason to believe they stayed in England," Martha said. "Your mum wouldn't have to worry about Hannah blabbing about time travel to the wrong person, or accidentally saying that she was born in 2004. So, no danger putting her in school, or whatever, amongst other children and adult caretakers, without specific supervision from your mum."

"Good point," Glenn said. "And, mum was always talking about good schools. Hannah is only four, but mum wanted to move somewhere where there were good schools for next year, when primary begins. She was always fretting because she couldn't really afford to move…"

"So, in 1979, where are there good schools, nearish to Newcastle?" Martha asked.

Glenn thought for about five seconds, then said, "Sunderland. For some reason she always thought Sunderland was so much posher than Newcastle. I think it's because she dated a guy from there, and he had money. And! Hannah loves the beach!"

"Sounds like a good place to start!" Steve said. "And Sunderland is a pretty good place to get a job and a cheap flat, when one is just starting out, isn't it?"

"I would think so," Glenn shrugged. "It's not particularly posh…"

"Well, at worst it's a good, educated guess," Jack said. "Which is something you didn't even have before."

"We'll let the Doctor know," Martha chirped.

Glenn smiled, and sat up straight. "I feel renewed hope!"

"Great!" Jack said. "Any chance you want to celebrate by drinking club soda and eating pretzels?"

Two hours later saw them all back in the TARDIS. It was after dark now, the new documents had been recopied, old documents safely incinerated in an alley, swept up and sprinkled in a skip.

Glenn was drinking coffee.

"Okay, here's the plan, such as it is," the Doctor said. "Steve and Haroun will go to Yakutsk, 1900, and get the ball rolling to facilitate the rescues. It will probably take a few hours to find them, find a place where you can speak freely, and to hand over the documents with the proper instructions."

"And we will need to explain gently that one of them needs to stay behind, in order to get the documents across the world at the right times," Haroun told Steve. "The Doctor reckons Liam Detton will simply volunteer."

"What if he doesn't?" Steve asked.

"Then, you tell him it has to be him, and show him the names in the document. Carriers of the messages," the Doctor said. "It is written. And he settles down with a wife and a new life in Hokkaido, does he not?"

"Apparently," Steve said, grudging. "Maybe we can use that as incentive."

"Er, the less you tell him about his own future, the better, gents," the Doctor said. "Remember Marty McFly? Think of him as Marty McFly, okay, except the DeLorean leaves him behind in 1955, and he's got to find a way to be okay with it. Okay? Good. Meanwhile…"

"Meanwhile?" Steve said, alarmed. "You're going to leave us there? What if you never come back?"

The Doctor spoke carefully. "We're not going to leave you in 1900, but we have to park the TARDIS well outside of Yakutsk. Which reminds me, does either of you have a mobile phone on you?"

"We both do," Steve said. "They've been hidden away since we landed in 1980."

"Well give them to me," the Doctor said. "I can rig them to find me wherever I am, and you can call for help if needed, or just phone one of us and let us know when you're finished."

Steve and Haroun had their belongings there in the console room, and they began rifling through them.

"So, meanwhile?" Martha asked, to get the Doctor back on track.

"Right," he said. "Meanwhile, Glenn and I will be executing Martha's plan. The two of us will be in one of the quantum computer labs, writing code."

"Just FYI, I have no bloody idea how to do that," Glenn said, in the way of a very tired person, in the midst of sobering up.

"You don't need to know how to code," the Doctor assured him. "I'm going to need you to read and/or wield energy signatures, and to help me hold them in place while I use them as code."

"Holy shit," Glenn said, flatly.

The Doctor said to him, "It might sound daunting, but that's what's going to scramble the signals of all the Weeping Angels on the internet… we're going to spread a virus that attacks only them. Although, as Martha pointed out to me earlier, it's much more like the Angels are the virus spreading all over the place, and we are creating a targeted vaccine."

"I stand by what I said," Glenn said, again, flatly. "Holy shit."

"Jack, I'm going to need you to do some maintenance," the Doctor went on. "Possibly damage control. It occurred to me that we might've shorted out some of the equipment at Torchwood when we ripped through the Rift… if what we did was enough to put us off-kilter from Martha in 1980, then it's possible that the Rift Manipulator, depending upon how it was put together, when, and by whom… it might have got overloaded."

"I'm sure they'd have got in touch with me if anything went wrong," Jack said.

"Not if we blacked out the whole Hub," the Doctor said. "And, don't forget, we were literally out of time for a while. If time went wonky on their end, and it may very well have, then…"

"Okay, I'll check in," Jack said.

"Martha, I feel like you've done enough," the Doctor said.

"I'll help Jack," she said. "I don't know how, yet, but…"

"Just in case there's anyone to flirt with, you can help me keep my eye on the ball," Jack said, putting his arm affectionately around Martha.

"Flirt patrol. Got it," she said.

It was then that Steve and Haroun found their mobile phones. "They're both dead as doornails," Haroun told the Doctor, handing them over.

"That's all right," he said. "I've got a super-duper phone charger."

He laid both phones against the console, and within a few moments, they were powering up. He sonicked each of them, and handed them back to their owners.

Steve flipped his open. "One hundred per cent charge! How did you do that?"

"The important thing is, it works. Everyone, phones out!" said the Doctor. Everyone obeyed. "Now Haroun, say your phone number out loud, and everyone will send you a text, with their name."

The whole group, including the Doctor on the console, followed these directions. Then Steve did the same, and now Steve and Haroun had everyone's number.

"And they have universal roaming, yeah?" Martha asked.

"Yep." The Doctor approached them and said, "Steve, Haroun, you have my word that the TARDIS will not leave the time period. We can do everything we need to do while it sits stationary in fur-trapping Russia. However, if we did leave from 1900, your phones could now find any one of us, no matter where or when we are, in time and space. All right? Don't worry – I would never walk away from you, out of your time, without giving you a life preserver."

"Pssh," Jack said. He couldn't help himself.

"Got a problem, Captain?"

"Well, yeah, but you already know what it is," Jack replied.

"Anyway," the Doctor said pointedly, back to Haroun and Steve. "You've got, as Martha said, literally universal roaming. Now, before we do anything else, Martha, can you please show these two gentlemen where the wardrobe is, so they can find some appropriate togs for the coldest region on planet Earth? At the turn of the twentieth century?"

Martha moved toward the hallway. "Come on, guys."

"Right. Everyone know what they're doing?" the Doctor asked. Everyone nodded. "Brilliant. Setting a course for Yakutsk, 1900."

Okay, folks, if you're out there let me know. I'd love to know your thoughts.

Thanks for reading!