The Heart of the Tardis was opened, forcing its way into Rose and guiding her back to the Doctor to save him. But did Rose's actions end up saving the Doctor in more ways then what she had initially assumed?
With the Bad Wolf incident behind them, the Doctor and Rose set about their adventures, unaware of what the Tardis, who gained autonomy once inside of Rose had woken.
A old, ancient power bound to a form that was not his own. Unleashed upon a universe with only one goal in his mind, find the one he'd lost so long ago. But even he, with all his power did not anticipate what the actions of the Tardis would lead to.


Prologue

The breath that Jack took in was the most surprising of all the ones he'd ever taken.

A gasp sent him sitting upward and clutching at his chest. For a moment he didn't know where he was or how he got there. But then it came back to him. Satellite Five…no, no it's the Game Station, isn't it?

The Daleks had invaded…they had shot him…killed him…

His hand flew to his chest again, there he was, taking breaths, with a beating heart…but that didn't make sense…

Daleks! Where were they?

His eyes lifted to where his once murderers were, only to find…dust?

Getting up Jack made his way over to the ashen covered floors…in little piles…where the Daleks were.

Slowly he scooped up a pile of dust and watched as the ashes fell through his fingers.

Only to freeze at the sound of the Tardis dematerializing.

Like hell he was getting left behind. Scrambling to his feet, Jack raced into the control room…only to find the faint traces of that stupid blue box.

He was too late.

A curse slipped from his lips as he looked around the room…of course…there was a chance that the Doctor could come back…but that was unlikely, considering Jack was dead a few moments ago.

"So…I'm stranded then." He muttered before running a hand through his hair. Of course.

His eyes flitted over the various computers around him, most had been torn apart. But this was a transmission station…so he should be able to get something to send out some kind of distress signal.

With a breath, Jack went over to the computer and started working backward from what the Doctor had done.

He was certainly going to have a word with the Time-

Jack's internal grumbling was cut off with a familiar electric cackle.

Jack whipped around only to find himself facing a young man, he was thin and wiry, with black hair thrown about, and garb that looked more tattered than anything.

But most importantly, strapped to his wrist was none other than a vortex manipulator.

The man looked up at Jack, and though his eyes were blocked by a blindfold of all things, he seemed to see Jack without issue.

"Human…" the man said slowly, a lazy American accent slipping out, Jack stared back at him before clearing his throat, though his eyes soon went to what was on his wrist.

A way out.

"That I am…" he paused and glanced over the man again, "are you?"

However, the man didn't answer, instead he paused, sniffed the air and turned on his heel, facing where the Tardis had just been moments before. With hesitant steps he went over to the spot and stared at it. Jack paused before following, there were no guns with bullets left, not after that fiasco from earlier. He could probably forcibly take it from the man, he looked like he might snap in two if a harsh breeze blew past.

"Where'd she go?" The man, alien, whatever he was, asked before turning around to look at Jack, despite the blindfold still in place.

"Where'd who go?" he asked, this guy couldn't be talking about Rose could he? This wasn't Mickey, so who else would be asking for her?

But this was time travel, anything could happen.

The man looked cross with his question and motioned to the spot where the Tardis had been. "The-" he started only to pause and then lean back from his slightly leant in position. "Nevermind." He then turned back to the spot and shoved his hands into his pockets frowning at the empty area.

Jack stared at him for a moment or two before glancing around, there was a wrench on the ground, if he could get over there and get it then-

The man whipped around and frowned at Jack, making him stiffen slightly, "you are the only lifeform aboard…why is that?" he then turned on his heel and sniffed around, "there is a lot of death on this ship." Then he paused, sniffed again and turned to Jack. "You smell like death…" he then tilted his head back, as if appraising…or accessing. "You smell like her."

Jack was near done with all this, "who are you talking about? Rose? Is that it? Can you explain what happened to me? Or rather, one better, yeah, I am the only lifeform aboard, and I'd prefer not to be." He pointed to the man's vortex manipulator, "that is my ticket out of here. Or the best ticket out of here really. I'll tell you everything I know if you just get me to earth." He said, and the man stared at him, seemingly through his blindfold before pointing diagonal to the ground.

"Earth is down there."

Jack sighed, "20th century earth."

The man stared at him a moment unmoving before his head drifted to the side as if something to Jack's right had caught his attention, but before the human could ask, the man snapped his attention back to him.

"First you tell me how a 50th century human came here, died, and was seemingly resurrected into an anomaly, and why this place smells like death. Then I will take you there." The man then up righted one of the tossed over chairs and took a seat, resting one leg atop the other as he waited.

But Jack frowned crossing his arms, "seems like a sour deal to me, you could just up and leave after you get what you want. Where is the guarantee that I will get to leave?" He challenged, and the man stared at him wordlessly, before his attention was drawn to the side momentarily, Jack followed his gaze but found nothing there.

"Fair point." Jack turned back to the man, only to blink as he found that the man was now in possession of two vortex manipulators…

His vortex manipulator.

"What the…that's mine!" He started forward only to stop when the man squeezed the device, making it groan.

"This was what you were gonna use if I didn't show up…right?" The man asked slowly, and Jack sighed.

"Well obviously."

The man nodded and looked over the device, "bit busted, isn't it? You sure it would even get you to where you wanna go?" he asked, looking up at Jack again.

"Don't have much of a choice now do I?" He challenged, and the man smiled, it was an unsettling grin, and Jack realized that he might be in more trouble than he'd initially thought.

This guy was trouble, and Jack had a feeling that if he told him all he knew. It wouldn't end well.

"All I'm asking for is information. Consider me…curious is all." He explained that grin settling down, though still present.

"Curious? Is that all?" He crossed his arms, "well I can't help but be curious as well. Considering I haven't the faintest idea of who you are or what you would want with this information."

The man chuckled and gripped Jack's vortex manipulator again. The metal pieces groaned in protest and Jack tensed, "easy now human. This situation can turn very disastrous for you…very quickly."

Jack's jaw tensed, were there any weapons left?

Wait…hadn't the Doctor made that one man drop the gun earlier? The one Jack made?

His eyes swept the room until he found the corner by where the controller had been. That's where the gun would be. But that was on the other side of the room…

"Come now, let's not bore me. I tend to make rash decisions when I'm bored." The man scolded lightly, and Jack turned to him.

"Yeah? Well, I make rash decisions all the time."

Then Jack charged him, there were three steps, maybe four between them. The man wouldn't have enough time to teleport away before Jack got to him.

The man did seem surprised, freezing in place long enough to give Jack hope.

But his hope was dashed when he landed face first into the office chair.

He stumbled back, holding his now sore nose, then he looked around. Only to find the man sitting on one of the computers. Legs swinging and gazing at him.

"Didn't work out like you hoped, eh?"

Jack's jaw tensed again, and he dropped his hand from his face. "Not quite no."

The man hummed before pushing himself off the computer and onto his feet again. He turned to Jack, "you seem like the loyal type. Am I wrong?" He asked, but Jack didn't respond, the man only smiled. "I'm not." He turned on his heel, his back to Jack as he held his vortex manipulator by the wristband, allowing it to swing teasingly back and forth. Jack tensed, ready to jump him, when the man turned again, pointing at Jack with his free hand.

"Which means you won't surrender information about your friends easily." The man let his hand drop before shrugging. "So, I'll just wait you out."

Then his hand flew to the vortex manipulator zapping him out of sight before Jack could react.

And taking Jack's voretex manipulator with him.

Jack stared at the spot where he'd just been and let out a curse kicking aside some wire tubes.

He should've gotten the vortex manipulator first thing…how did that guy even grab it? Or know he had it?

Jack ran a hand through his hair before turning to the computers. Back to working on the distress signal he supposed.


It wasn't until three days later that he heard the cackle of electricity. He'd been in the middle of eating something he'd found in the employee break room; however, he'd nearly dropped the food when the crackle resounded behind him.

Jack whipped around only to find the man again, he appeared in the same chair he'd disappeared in and looked no different than he had three days prior.

The human stood up quickly, his eyes fixed onto his vortex manipulator that was held up by the man's hand.

"Now," Jack started, "I think we might've gotten off on the wrong foot." He attempted and the corner of the man's mouth twitched.

"Ready to explain what happened here?" he asked, as he strapped the busted vortex manipulator onto his other wrist though he was still facing Jack.

The human's mouth twitched, and he straightened a bit. "How about we do an old earth thing first." He proposed and was greeted with a slight head tilt in response, he took it as prompt to continue, "how about…we try introductions." Jack chuckled, "I'd like to know who my rescuer is anyhow." He explained, spreading his hands in a questioning way, "so…I'm Jack…Captain Jack Harkness, and you are?" he prompted.

The man stared at him wordlessly for a few moments, "Benedict." Then his mouth twitched slightly, but Jack pressed on.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Benedict." He then stole a breath, "now, I'm a talker, I'm more than willing to talk, but I don't want to talk any of my friends into any trouble. What exactly do you want with this information?" He asked, breath baited, he didn't know if asking too many questions would cause him to leave. But he couldn't just hand over information about the Doctor and Rose, who knew what this guy wanted with them. Jack doubted it was anything good.

There was a long beat of silence where Jack was tensed, the man finally broke the silence.

"Whomever caused all of this, has something that is very important to me. I want to know who it is and how to find them." He admitted, and Jack paused, trying to figure out what the Doctor had that was so important to this man.

"And…do you mean them any harm?" Jack asked carefully, and the man tilted his head slightly.

"It depends on if they mean me harm."

Jack stared at the tattered and blinded figure before him, he was unimposing to look at. But there was something there, something wrong. Something was off to Jack, but he couldn't explain it. He'd thought on the man the past three days, wondering what he could want, how he could move so fast, how he seemed to see despite the blindfold over his eyes.

And of course, how to stop him from fleeing again.

"Well, I suppose that depends on if you mean them harm." Jack answered, unsure if he should iterate the Doctor's perpetual need to save everyone rather than condemn them.

Initially he had wondered if the Doctor did it, if he killed everyone…but that didn't make any sense, he was still here, and according to scans from the station, there were lifeforms still on Earth. So, what had happened? There were piles of dust everywhere. It was possible it was the Daleks…but how? What last minute plan did the Doctor have? Did the Doctor leave him on purpose? If so…why?

And of course…how was he back to life?

Unless of course this was the afterlife…but that thought was quickly dismissed when his stomach had started to grumble for food.

So not a ghost.

He was alive.

"So, we are at an impasse then." Benedict claimed, and then looked over Jack's vortex manipulator. "Which is unfortunate for you." He lifted his head and faced Jack again. "Because you aren't getting out of here until I get what I want." He then nodded to the computer, "also, your transmissions are going nowhere." He then grinned slyly, "I made sure of that."

Jack's jaw tensed and he turned to the computer taking a breath, according to what it was saying, the transmission was going through. He had no reason to believe what this guy was saying…but how long could he stay here?

How long until the guy decided that he could get the information he wanted from somewhere else?

Jack closed a hand into a fist before turning back to the man who was waiting quietly.

"My…associate, the one who you want to know about, tends to try and help people over harming them. However, he won't hesitate to stop you if you try and hurt anyone." Jack conveyed, trying to put as much seriousness in his voice as possible.

"He?" the man prompted with a bit of a smile, but Jack snorted.

"Not much of a win there." He then leaned on the computer next to him, "look, you have something I want, I have something you want." He motioned between them. "I'm sure we can both get what we want. But I need some kind of insurance that you won't just up and leave me here once you have your information."

The man stared at him before humming and leaning back in his seat. "Fair point. What if we do a step by step. For every question you answer I will progressively give you this vortex manipulator. However, if at any point you attempt to grab it before all my questions are answered. I will retrieve it and leave before you can get ahold of it. I believe I've already proven that I am faster than you. Yes?"

Jack stared at him before nodding. Benedict's mouth split open in a grin. One that resembled a cat.

Fangs and all.

"Wonderful. First question. Who are your companions?" His hand went to the clasp of Jack's VM on his wrist; however, he didn't release it. Instead, his gaze, whether figurative or literal, remained fixed on Jack.

Jack chewed the inside of his mouth a moment, he could lie. But he didn't know the extent of this man's abilities. Would he know?

"I have…had two traveling companions. One goes by the name Doctor, and the other is a human named Rose." He explained, his eyes on Benedict.

The blindfolded man smiled broader and released the clasp of Jack's VM. Then he held it suspended before him by one of the straps. "See? That wasn't so hard." He then tilted his head, that slightly unnerving smile still in place. "Question two. You said Rose was a human. Implying this Doctor fellow is not. Pray tell…what is he then?"

Jack worked his jaw for a moment, he always talked a little too much for his own good. "I don't know. I just know he isn't human." That wasn't entirely a lie. He didn't know for certain that the Doctor was a time-lord, but he was pretty sure he was.

Benedict was silent for a long moment, before he strapped the VM back onto his wrist and tilted his head back slightly. Disapprovingly.

"Try again human."

So, lying wouldn't work. He however chuckled, "quick one aren't ya?" Benedict didn't respond, and Jack sighed, "and far too serious." He threw out his hands, "it was a test! Lighten up would ya? There's no one else here." He leant against the computer system next to him. However, the smile had vanished from Benedict's face, and he looked terse. Jack held his hands up in surrender, "alright, alright, I get it." He gave a shrug, "I'm pretty sure the guy is a Time-Lord or something like it."

Benedict stared at him a moment longer before unstrapping the VM and holding it up again. "Question three, how do you travel?" He asked lowly, and Jack eyed him for a moment.

"You seem to know the answer to that question. I think." He looked over the man, "am I wrong?" Jack motioned to where the Tardis had been, "that's why you came in here sniffing the place up like a hound-dog. You want something to do with his traveling machine. What'd you call it? A her? That's who you were talking about wasn't it? Not Rose." He concluded and the man smirked slightly, though it was thin. Tense.

"It's not a machine." He said, voice taunt, and Jack tilted his head an eyebrow arched.

"Really now? What is it exact-"

"I'm the one asking questions here." The words came like a snap of a whip. A silencer, and Jack paused watching him carefully before throwing up his hands slightly in surrender.

"Alright, alright, my bad. Please, do continue." He motioned toward him. Benedict gazed at him before slowly putting the VM onto the ground. Jack watched the action closely.

"Last question, what happened to the rest of the time-lords?" The man then paused, his jaw tensing, "or rather…what did the Doctor do to the rest of the Time-Lords?"