Twists in Time

Chapter Fifteen: Path of the Healers: Confront the Past

By Lumendea

…

He considered texting Rose and the Doctor. He really did. Jack knew Rose would want to know what was going on. The Doctor somewhat did, but the medical puzzle and his old friend distracted him. Jack didn't think what it meant for him that Raydrin was around would mean. That was fine. Jack wasn't sure that he wanted either of them around Raydrin. What had once seemed like charming or just irritating quirks in his old lover now seemed dangerous. His world view had turned on its head too much for Jack to dismiss them.

Following the ping outside of the research station, Jack looked around the quiet city. In a window, he saw a blind move and breathed a little easier. It was a lockdown. It wasn't a dead city. Not yet and hopefully it wouldn't become one. The Doctor was right, Pele was important to the future. While it wouldn't ever be a bustling human world, the scientific culture taking root here would matter.

Reminding himself that he couldn't die and was immune to the effects of this illness if the Doctor was right about it, Jack started walking. Raydrin wasn't far off. Why had he stayed? This was a strange thing to linger and watch? What was the Time Agency playing at or had Raydrin gone rouge? Jack had been far from the first agent to send in a resignation and run with a Time Vortex Manipulator. That now felt more dangerous too.

There weren't many buildings in the small city, but Jack's tracking led him into one of the side streets. Everything was still fairly clean, though dirt had blown in from the surrounding wilds. It was quiet. A flash of bright colors up ahead made him snort. There was a small bar a block up the street. Built to invoke classic Earth by the looks of it. Moving quickly, Jack noted it was still very quiet. There was a hint of classic Earth music in the air, but no voices as he pushed open the door.

The bar was empty. Chairs were still stacked on artificial wood tables. A jukebox was playing low in the corner and most of the lights were turned down. But there was movement at the long bar that dominated the right side of the space.

Jack stopped. There was Raydrin. He didn't look any older than the last time Jack had seen him, but with the technology of their home time that meant nothing. You add that to jumping around in the Time Vortex without a capsule and you could never be sure. His former partner sipped his drink and leaned against the empty bar. How he had found the bar in this small city was actually rather impression. Raydrin's pale hair was slicked back and his sharp cheekbones were catching the light just right. He was dressed in an ornate coat and black trousers that really showed off his legs. Jack swallowed as Raydrin lazily turned towards him.

"Javic!" Raydrin greeted with a slow and wicked smile that made Jack's insides twist. "Looking delicious as ever." He took a drink from the glass on the top on the bar.

"Raydrin," Jack replied. He stayed still and kept his distance. "Interesting choice of destination. Pele isn't in it's tourism prime yet. Did you take a wrong turn in the Vortex?"

They stared at each other and Raydrin took a slow step forward. "Not exactly, mate." Raydrin smiled and held a bottle out towards him. "And really? That's what you're opening with?"

Jack stepped to the bar and reached across the top to snatch up a glass. Pouring himself some of the alcohol, he noted the weight of Raydrin's gaze. After gulping down two fingers' worth of the spicy liquor, he turned back to Raydrin.

"So, how was rehab?" It was one of the last conversations that Jack remembered them having before he left the Time Agency.

"Rehabs. Plural."

"Drink, drugs, sex and…" Jack looked at him pointedly.

"Murder."

"Ha! You went to murder rehab?"

"I know. Ridiculous. The odd kill, who does it hurt?"

Jack held back a grimace, leaning against the bar and keeping his expression neutral. His mind was too active in telling him all the ways it hurt people, even beyond the victim. How things changed.

"You clean now?" Jack settled on asking.

"Yeah, kicked everything. Living like a priest."

Jack knew that wasn't true in his bone. "So, how's the Time Agency?"

"You didn't hear?" Raydrin sounded a touch surprised. "It's shut down."

"You're kidding me." Jack furrowed his brow as memories of the large metal and glass teaming with people flickered across his memory.

"No." Raydrin's expression shifted towards sorrow. Distant. "There's only seven of us left now."

"Wow." Jack wondered if those men from the Hitler protection team had made it home and retired first. He hoped so. They'd deserved peace after that awful posting. His mind was quick to offer many more names and faces. Just seven left, six others counting him…

"It's good to see you. It was never the same without you." Raydrin's voice had softened.

"Well… had to go. After my memory got jumbled, I didn't feel that I could trust anyone," Jack explained. "Though I know what happened now."

"Really?" Raydrin's body straightened. "Then you know now that I never hurt you."

"Yeah." At least not that time, Jack couldn't help but think. Growing a moral center had its dark side it seemed. "But what are you doing here, Raydrin? If the Time Agency is closed, then you aren't here on a mission."

"Just bouncing around." Raydrin shrugged before taking another long drink from his bottle. "Having some fun."

"What did you bring here?" Jack asked. "And why are you still here?"

"What do you mean? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. It's why the whole city is shut down and you were able to move into a bar with no one complaining," Jack said casually. He kept his eyes on Raydrin. "A large sector of the population is suffering from an illness that seems to be tied to unstable mutations from the Time Vortex,"

"Really?" Raydrin blinked and chuckled. "Wasn't expecting that."

"Who paid you?"

"It could be a coincidence."

"Raydrin."

"When did you become boring?"

"Released nanotech accidentally in World War II and nearly destroyed history," Jack replied dryly. "Makes me realize how little the Time Agency actually taught us about damage control."

"It always worked out."

"That is a horrible lie and you know it."

"Again, you're being boring." Raydrin's tone was almost whining.

"Raydrin." Jack narrowed his eyes on him. "Who hired you and is there anything beyond the disease?"

"Javic-"

"It's Jack Harkness now."

"Jack huh?" Raydrin looked him over. "Being Jack seems to suit you. Those two on that planet, I see you're still travelling with them."

"Yes. Now answer the question, Raydrin."

"I was hired to bring it here and then stay around to observe."

"Hired? Why would a Time Agent need mercenary work? You can easily pop into a bank and cash out."

"Not always about money though is it?" Raydrin grinned and reached for the bottle to refill his drink. "He has some… very interesting technology. And has plans to get more."

"He then. Species?"

"Jav- Jack, I'm a professional. With the Time Agency closed, I have to build a resume as a trustworthy free agent."

Jack didn't believe that for a second. "Do you understand what you brought here?" he tried.

"An experiment from the Time Agency that was never finished." Raydrin shrugged, and when Jack's frown deepened, he scoffed. "Oh, come on. If that friend of yours can get it to stabilize, it'll be an amazing medical marvel! Imagine the immunities of a time traveler without every stepping foot into the Time Vortex."

"But also something that could completely throw off history and time."

"Maybe. I somewhat doubt that friend of yours can stabilize it."

"And you don't care about the history of Pele."

"Things will sort themselves out. They usually do."

"Yeah, my friend is usually the one doing it."

Jack didn't know if Raydrin knew the Doctor was a Time Lord and wasn't going to say anything. If the Hitler Division had reported them, then that information was probably floating around somewhere to be found by Raydrin.

"Seriously?" Raydrin smirked. "More interesting that I thought he was."

"Wait." Jack blinked and peered at Raydrin. "How did you recognize him?"

The Doctor had been in his last body when he and Rose had met Raydrin. His old partner shouldn't have known it was the same man. Earlier, Raydrin's words had been a statement and not a question. And Raydrin hadn't been surprised to see him.

"My employer warned me about him. One hell of a trick." Raydrin shook his head. "Never thought Time Lords were real, but I suppose it is a great big universe out there."

"Who is your employer?"

"I'm not going to tell you."

"I just need a name."

"Trust me, mate, a name isn't going to help you."

"You don't know it?"

"No." Raydrin chuckled. "Just calls himself The Alchemist in our communications."

"The Alchemist," Jack repeated. He both wanted to scoff at the name and worry over the title structure. He'd seen that with the Doctor, the Master, and the Monk. "Did he give you any tech as a taster?"

"A bit yeah." Raydrin shrugged.

"And?"

"What is this twenty questions? Buy me a drink first."

"I'm pretty sure you're squatting in this bar." Jack took a step forward. "Raydrin, I need that information and I need it now. Not tomorrow. Not after we play games, now."

Raydrin studied him for a moment. Then he sighed and drained his glass. Shifting back from the bar, Raydrin pulled out a small simple notepad. He tossed it to Jack.

"The Alchemist always contacts me. I don't contact him so I can't tell you more. That's my notes, well a copy anyway. Maybe it will help."

"Bit low tech for you, isn't it?"

"Paper can't be hacked." Raydrin reached to his Vortex Manipulator and hesitated. "Don't go looking for him, Jack. You won't like what you find."

"How so?"

"Gray's with him."

Jack's eyes widened. He lunged for Raydrin, but the man vanished in a flash leaving only empty air for Jack to grasp at. Gray. He hadn't heard that name in a long time. Even now it haunted him. His long-lost younger brother. If Raydrin was to be believed, he was alive and with this mysterious Alchemist.

….

If you ignored the slight variation in internal organ structure and different skin colors, it was possible to believe that the basics of medicine here were the same as at home. That was what Martha was clinging to. Helping the patients. Their conditions varied based on how long their bodies had been under attack. One poor woman with pale blue skin had been through three organ replacement surgeries. Even if it was done with a high-tech form of laparoscopic surgery, it still took its toll. There was little Martha could do beyond making sure that she was comfortable.

The medications were beyond her. The doctors on the floor didn't allow her to use most of the equipment even if they were kind about it. Martha did what she could and glanced over to Rose who seemed to have leaned into emotional comfort. She was speaking in low tones with a man who was recovering from his second lung replacement. If the alienness of most of the patients upset her, Rose didn't let it show. Martha hated that it was affecting her at all.

Then again, Rose was in a relationship with the Doctor. Who was an alien. He might not look it, but he was. Two hearts and based on the scans she'd today, he potentially had a very different internal structure even if he looked human. Martha wondered if that ever bothered Rose. She didn't ask. The alien just didn't feel alien to her. He looked too human for that while the blue and purple people scattered amongst the human looking patients struck her as alien. Some of them were even hybrids.

"Martha," Rose called softly.

Martha turned to find Rose approaching her. "Yes?"

"The staff suggests that we take a break. They're about change shifts and bring their relief up to speed."

Martha nodded her understanding. Shift changes were complicated enough without volunteers in the way. She smiled at her last patient and received a shaky smile in response before following Rose out of the room.

"How are you holding up?" Rose asked.

"Fine. I'm focusing on the ways that it's the same," Martha answered. Pulling off the protective gloves, Martha wiped at her brow and inhaled a long breath. She always felt a little short of breath after leaving a ward. There was too much to focus on, too much to do, and breathing got lost in the rush. "And at least I'm feeling useful. Even if…" Martha hesitated. "The alienness of some of the patients keeps surprising me. I'm focusing on my tasks and then I look at them, having… I don't know, having forgotten."

"It's an adjustment," Rose replied kindly. "You've lived in a world with limited variation when you compare it to the universe as a whole."

That made Martha feel a little better. "Does it surprise you?"

Rose paused and considered the question. "Not anymore. One of my childhood best friends was actually a red alien that looks like a western devil." Rose chuckled. "She was a refugee who had to stay hidden on Earth. Thankfully, she's now living on a planet where she can live openly. My friendship with Eve really knocked being surprised at people of unusual colors out of me." Rose shrugged. "I know beings that are blue, red, purple… and those are just the ones who are humanoid. Not all intelligent life looks like us." Rose nodded down the hall. "Come on, let's check in with the Doctor and Nyssa. If we're lucky, maybe they've learned something."

Martha nodded in agreement. Mentally, she noted that she and Rose should also get something to drink. Even centuries into the future, wards were still very dry places, and they didn't have machines keeping them hydrated like the patients did. Thankfully, they passed a small staff room and Rose didn't argue when Martha tugged her inside to drink a glass of water. If anything, the other woman was touched and potentially amused.

"Thank you," Rose said. "Good thought. You're right that we need to take care of ourselves too."

"Exactly," Martha answered. "Since we're immune, our help is valuable and dehydration is a silly reason to not be able to help."

"Yes." Rose smiled a little, her eyes brightening as if she was realizing something. "Though it's important to take care of ourselves for our own sake too."

There was something in those words that hit Martha a little wrong. She wasn't sure what it was, but an uncertain feeling churned in her gut. Based on how Rose's features softened into something close to sympathy, Martha guessed that Rose had noticed, but she pushed it aside. They needed to check in with the Doctor and Nyssa. Thankfully, Rose didn't say anything else as they headed back to the main lab that Nyssa was using.

"Have you found anything?" Martha asked as soon as they walked in. "The patients are all still stable."

"We might have something," Nyssa said. She was smiling now, her eyes shining brighter. "We believe this disease isn't a disease at all, but rather an artificially introduced mutation."

"Potentially intentionally," the Doctor said. There were wires wrapped around his neck and he was using his sonic screwdriver on… something small and metal. "These people are being affected incorrectly by time."

Martha wished that she could get more than that. Those were big and scary words, but on the other hand, trying to stop the Doctor and Nyssa to get more information seemed like a bad idea. If they had a working theory that they understood, she didn't want to distract them. Those patients might be stable, but that wouldn't last forever.

"We're almost ready to start some new tests," the Doctor said happily. His eyes were bright and sharp. Despite the situation, that made Martha feel better. The Doctor was confident and focused. Martha started to relax. "We'll be using the TARDIS to complete the mutation-"

"Raydrin was on the planet!" Jack came rushing into the room. His features were pale and troubled, immediately putting Martha back on edge.

"Jack!" Rose hurried over to the pale man and placed a hand on his arm. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," Jack said. The words sounded forced, and Martha didn't believe him for a moment. Based on her expression, Rose didn't either, but Jack gave her a pleading look before turning his attention to the Doctor. "Raydrin was still here." Jack held out a simple looking black notebook. "He says this is a copy of the notes he was making. He was hired by someone calling themselves The Alchemist."

"The Alchemist," the Doctor repeated with a furrowed brow.

"Do you know him?"

"No. I've never heard of anyone using that as their name."

"Well that's the person behind this. I don't know why or what they hope to gain." Jack shook himself. "I hope that helps."

The Doctor flicked through the notebook as if using it for a flipbook. Then he nodded and tossed it over to Nyssa. "Nothing we didn't already suspect, but this confirms it." The Doctor rubbed his neck for a moment while Martha struggled with her confusion. "Anything else?"

"The Time Agency is gone," Jack managed. "So he and a few others who are still alive are free agents. With time travel."

"That's probably gonna be an issue sooner rather than later," the Doctor sighed. But he just shook his head and turned to Nyssa who was quickly flipping through the book. "But we have a plan to help those affected. Let's worry about that first. Time Agents and this… Alchemist later."