A/N: Welcome back, friends, to a brand new chapter! Most of you, I think, will like this one, as this one is a bit more comical than my previous chapters thus far. It also ends on a slight cliffhanger that all you readers may or may not have seen coming.

Enjoy :)

Chapter 12: Dead Man Walking

As expected, the next time inmates are released for Exercise Hours, everyone stays a great distance from me. After hearing about the commotion I caused in the cafeteria, everyone is way too scared to harass me anymore and obviously knows better than to attempt it again; at least they should now.

Good riddance, losers. Serves you right for messing with an all-powerful Time-Goddess.

On that thought of calling myself a 'Time-Goddess,' it still disturbs me that I seemed to literally be just that in the cafeteria. I had planned for ways to scare everyone into leaving me alone, but I didn't plan to do it in the way that I did there. Since my previous Regeneration, my energy seems to have drastically increased in power and intensity, and I get the sense that that shouldn't be happening, especially this early in my life. I remember Dad's stories of how his latest Regenerations were seemingly growing more intense and destructive as time went on, but for me I get the sense that mine shouldn't be this destructive, at least yet; then again, this could just be another side-effect of being Deviant. In any case, I decide not to think too much about it for now and, instead, focus on getting out of this prison once and for all…alone, as I have no one to help me now. I suppose that 'Jack' dude was meant to help me, since he claimed to have been sent by Dad to do just that, but since he was mercilessly killed, the chances of me getting out of here by myself are slim to none.

Sorry, Dad. It seems that your 'help,' Jackie-Boy, wasn't so helpful, after all. Looks like you're gonna have to hire another 'knight in shining armor' to rescue me from my 'prison-tower.' Should've hired Mom, or Strax, or—

"That was quite the 'light show' you performed in the cafeteria yesterday," the unexpected and familiar voice of an American male suddenly speaks up from behind me, interrupting me from my thoughts. "Very impressive. Now I see why they named you 'Nova.'" The voice pauses for a second, chuckling to himself. "More like 'Supernova,' since that's what it looked like."

I gasp and turn to see Jack Harkness standing there, rubbing gently at the ghastly purple spots that form a ring around the base of his neck. "Jack!" I exclaim in shock and relief that he is, in fact, still alive, as my luck seems to have made a turn for the better. "You're alive!"

How?! How the hell is he still alive? That's impossible! No living creature could've survived a neck-snap like that! How the hell did he?!

"Course I'm alive!" he chuckles again. "Nothing keeps me down for long; especially not some lowlife like Marco. Boy, was he a rotten piece of work! I told him it would never have worked out between us, especially when I found out he was an enemy of your papa's. Can't even stay out of prison if his life depended on it! Serves the bastard right; am I right?" He then frowns and says to himself, "Though I can honestly say I was surprised that he didn't recognize me. Oh well; like any of it matters anymore. That ship sailed long ago."

Marco? That must be Mr. Evil Eye's real name, I think to myself, or at least a nickname. I am honestly surprised that he and Jack once dated, or so Jack claims. Even if that was true, what in the world was Jack thinking, dating a whack-job like Marco?!

I shake my head. Whatever; it's not important. What's really important to know is—

"How?" I exclaim, finishing my last thought out loud. "How are you still alive? You shouldn't be!"

Jack frowns at this, greatly offended. "Geez! That's a little harsh, considering I'd saved you from getting dissected like a frog. You're welcome, by the way!"

I shake my head. "No, I didn't mean it like that. I mean when people generally get their neck snapped like that, they don't come back from that. But somehow you did. How?" I deepen my frown in suspicion. "You're not…like…a Time Lord, are you?" I'm pretty sure I would feel that from him, as I do from Mom and Dad, but I don't, but I felt the need to ask anyway. "Or a similar being, at least? Did you, like, regenerate, or something?" How else would he have survived that neck-snap? That's literally the only way he could've, right? I can't see any physical changes to Jack's body besides the nasty bruises around his neck, but I feel that the bruises would've healed if he was truly a Time Lord since Regeneration doesn't leave behind any kind of scarring.

Jack chuckles. "Oh, I wish. But no, I'm not a Time Lord. Would be nice to be one, though. I wonder what I'll look like as a woman, or as an entirely different species. Maybe change my skin to a different color, like green or blue or—"

"So how did you survive?" I interrupt, not interested in his appearance preferences.

He sighs. "Well…it's complicated. One moment, I was exterminated by a Dalek while on an adventure with your dad and Rose—the girl he was travelling with at the time—and the next I'm somehow magically resurrected from the dead. Now I can't die at all. Well I can, but I'm not dead for long."

I frown. "So…you're immortal now? Well, sort of, as technically no one's truly immortal. Not for long, anyway."

Jack shrugs. "I guess so. I haven't really thought of it like that, but I suppose, yeah, I am immortal." He smiles like the idea of being immortal is the greatest thing since Fish Finger and Custard (don't ask; it was my father's creation, and it's honestly pretty good). Unfortunately for Jack, I have to disagree, as, to me, being immortal means outliving everyone and everything I've ever known. Just ask my father.

"How'd you end up like that?" I ask curiously.

Jack shrugs again. "Well, that's even more complicated. After your old man abandoned me, he explained that Rose had messed with the TARDIS to get her back to him after he had sent her home. He said she had opened the Heart of the TARDIS and absorbed its energy, which temporarily turned her into an all-powerful Time-Goddess or something."

"Sounds familiar," I mutter to myself, thinking of the incident in the cafeteria yesterday and all the other times I involuntarily used my energy in a similar manner.

"Somehow with all that power," Jack continues, "Rose was able to physically control Life and Death, and somehow brought me back to life after she erased the Dalek army from existence. Although the Doc claimed that he wasn't aware that she had brought me back to life, and so abandoned me at that space station. Thankfully I still had my Vortex Manipulator. Speaking of which, I need to get it back somehow; it'd be very handy to get us out of here."

"I'm not leaving until I get my sonic screwdriver back," I point out. "They took it when I was sent here."

"You're just like your old man," Jack snorts, shaking his head at me. "Most people can't survive without their cellphones. With Time Lords, you lot just can't survive without your fancy sonic gadgets and gizmos."

"Hey, my 'sonic gadget' means a lot to me," I frown. "I designed it myself, so it has extreme sentimental value. Not that you'd care."

"Oh, I very much do care," Jack says seriously. "I care about getting my Vortex Manipulator back as equally as I care about helping you get your sonic screwdriver back. So what do you say? Wanna hook up and get outta here together?"

I raise a skeptical eyebrow at this, hoping he means 'hook up' as in team up to achieve our goal. On a side note, I get the sense that Jack is telling the truth about helping me. "Did Dad really send you to find me?" I ask, making sure my sense is legit and not some dirty trick.

"He did," Jack nods sincerely. "He said you might feel a little iffy about me, seeing as you have a difficult time trusting people you've never met."

"Blame the Silence for that," I growl, rolling my eyes. "It's because of them that I can't trust people." This comment makes me wonder if any of the inmates here could be former Silence members, at least ones that weren't killed off in the explosion at the base in the forest just months ago, or at Demons Run several years ago, or ones that simply decided to leave for various reasons.

"I know of them enough to understand that," Jack nods before pointing out, "Although he failed to tell me about your little, shall we say, 'outburst' in the cafeteria; as I said before, that was quite the 'light show' you performed back there. What was all that about?"

I pause, suddenly feeling a large knot tie in my stomach. "I…couldn't tell you."

Jack raises a skeptical eyebrow at this, clearly not believing my lie. "Hmm… Sounds like you actually could tell me, but you refuse to."

"I have a right to choose not to tell you," I frown back at him. If I say it's none of his business, then it's none of his business.

Jack nods respectfully. "Sure you do, especially as a woman. I'm just saying, if it were to happen again, I need to be prepared. You caused a lot of damage back there, even killed a couple of people. Look."

He points across the way at the entrance to the cafeteria where we can see it having been roped off to prevent people from getting inside. Even from our vantage point, I can still see the damage left over from my so-called 'outburst,' which twists my stomach into an even tighter knot. Thankfully I don't see any bodies, but I assume the guards had already wheeled them out not long after the incident. I am also thankful that I wasn't punished for destroying their cafeteria. Then again, it's a cafeteria for the inmates and not the guards, which doesn't necessarily mean I won't still be punished by the inmates instead; although I doubt that would happen since everyone is still too paranoid to come anywhere near me. Honestly, I'm pretty sure everyone can survive a few days without their daily bowl of month-old porridge and moldy bread slice on the side.

"I know," I sigh in shame, "and I'm not proud." A small part of me is proud for scaring away everyone, but a larger part of me isn't proud of the destruction I caused. I imagine if Dad was here, he'd be just as displeased with me as I am.

"Why not?" Jack frowns seemingly incredulously. "What you did was fantastic! I never knew a Time Lord could do something like that. I never saw your dad do anything like that before. I mean, I've seen him regenerate, but it was never that intense. Well, it was more of a half-Regeneration, but that's beside the point."

"That's because it's not supposed to be like that," I shake my head. "Regenerations generally aren't meant to be destructive, at least to that extent. What I did, that was a Deviant thing."

Jack frowns, puzzled. "A 'Deviant' thing? What's that mean?"

I growl, chastising myself for revealing that secret. Feeling no choice but to tell him now, I sigh and reluctantly explain. "It means I'm not like other Time Lords. Not even like my dad. Way back in Gallifreyan history, back when Dad was still just a kid, there were specific Time Lords called Deviants. They were Time Lords that literally deviated from the normal way of Time Lord Society. What that means is that Deviants had the same general abilities as a normal Time Lord, but their powers were a thousand times more advanced. For example, a Deviant could have more than the standard number of Regenerations—like, fifteen or more in one cycle, or maybe even endless Regenerations. Deviants' telepathic abilities could be more advanced as well. For example, for Dad, he can project his mind into someone else's from the opposite side of the room; but for me, I can project my mind into someone else's across all of Space-Time; I did this with both my mother and father-guardian." The memory of my father-guardian's death suddenly flashes in my mind, but I immediately shake it away before continuing. "Because of these advanced abilities, they were considered as dangerous to Gallifreyan Society and were turned in to the government to be mercilessly experimented on or executed."

"Wow," Jack's eyes widen in shock. "That's brutal."

I nod. "Yeah. Dad said it was the second worst event in Gallifreyan history behind the Time War."

Jack nods sincerely. "Yeah, I bet. So you're like a mega-Timelord. You seem to lord over everyone else, if you'll pardon the pun."

"I wouldn't really say that," I shake my head in disagreement. "If anything, I'm cursed."

"'Cursed?'" Jack frowns. "Why do you say that?"

I sigh before explaining. "It's something the Silence did to me when I was just born. When they found out I was born Deviant, they took advantage of that by attempting to make my powers more…well, powerful. They used the energy of an exploding star—an actual supernova—to merge with my Regeneration Energy to make it more destructive; that's why it's generally not supposed to be that destructive. The reason why my energy is so destructive is because of the added energy from the literal supernova they were syphoning off. They were planning to use my enhanced powers to kill my family, particularly Dad."

"Just like they tried to do to your mom," Jack nods in understanding.

I shrug. "Well, sort of. They trained her into an assassin, but she was never Deviant; at least, I don't think she is. What you saw in the cafeteria, that was exactly the kind of destruction that the Silence wanted me to cause to kill Dad. And the scariest part is, I can't always control it. It's like being in the Avatar State, if you've ever seen The Last Airbender series. Once I'm in that state, I can't control myself."

Jack frown, indicating that he's not familiar with my reference. "'The Avatar State?' Is that when you're all…godly?" As he says this, he makes arm and hand gestures to describe my energy (i.e. when my eyes glow bright, when my energy bursts out from my fingertips in electrical currents as seen in most superhero movies, etc.).

"Yeah," I shrug again. "It's absolutely terrifying. I never ever thought I'd be that powerful before. Hell, I never thought it was possible. Things like this should only ever exist in Sci-Fi movies, but apparently it's all real."

"I get it," Jack nods with a small smile. "You're used to the human way of life, since that's how you were raised. A life where everything was simple. To be anything that's not human is wrong to you."

I nod. "Exactly. As you said, I'm used to the life I had where everything was simple. A life where I could fit in with everyone else, since no one knew my secret. Now everyone knows my secret; at least anyone who are my parents' enemies. I wish I could go back to my old life where I was human, or at least believed to be human. Things were so much simpler back then, and safer. Now that I'm…like this—" I say as I gesture to my new Time Lord body. "—things are way more complicated than they really should be. Don't get me wrong; I love travelling with Dad and everything he's teaching me. But it still feels like it shouldn't be real. Basically, everything I thought I knew about Science Fiction isn't Science Fiction anymore, and that's fascinating and terrifying at the same time. And the fact that I'm not human…" I pause for a minute before continuing. "Dad keeps saying it's gonna take some getting used to just coz I'm still new to everything, but…I don't feel like I'll ever get used to it. All of this. It's unlike anything I've ever imagined. I mean, I've always imagined it to be make-believe—you know, like something you only ever read about in fairytales or comic books—but it's all real, and I'm still struggling to wrap my head around it all. It's like I'm the lead character in my own Sci-Fi/Fantasy movie. It's amazing and overwhelming at the same time."

Jack nods sympathetically. "I completely understand. As your Pop said, you'll get used to it. It's not as bad as you think it is."

I shake my head. "I'm not saying it's bad, per se. It's just…different. It's a whole new way of life that I never thought I'd live. I never imagined myself to live such a life. It's absolutely insane."

"In a good way, I hope."

"It depends. When we're just travelling around as normal tourists, it's great; but when we're being hunted and killed just because of what we are, that's not so great. The latter seems to be a never-ending thing these days. It'd be nice to take a break from that. A long break. I should be getting one very soon…if ever I get out of this dump-heap. I'm supposed to be starting back to college soon. I should get a message from Haze any day now."

Jack frowns. "Haze? Who's that?"

"Hazel," I clarify. "Hazel McAdams. She's my best friend I've known since first grade. She's like a sister to me."

"She human?"

"Yeah."

"She know you're not human?"

I nod. "She does, actually. I told her after we were attacked by a Sontaran bounty hunter at our local arcade when we were in high school. She was shot, and I healed her with my Regeneration Energy after I took her home. I was worried she wasn't going to want to be friends with me after I told her my secret, but thankfully I was wrong. We're still friends now; in fact, we're roommates in college. I should be getting a message from her that the next semester will be starting soon and I need to come back and enroll before classes start." I pause for a minute, sighing sadly. "Sometimes I envy her. She's human, so she gets to do normal human things her whole life. I was able to for a while, when I didn't know the truth about myself—my being Time Lord, I mean. Now that I know, I can't have a normal human life anymore. Dad says the more I know about my true self, the more dangerous my life is. I especially can't have a normal life, now that I've come into my Deviant powers. Everybody is able to sense it now, and I can't stay in one place for very long because of it. If I'm found, everybody around me is in danger, and I can't be responsible for someone getting hurt or killed; that's happened way too many times. Nowhere is safe for me. Not anymore."

Jack shrugs at this. "Why should that stop you? It's never stopped your dad."

"Yeah, but he's never stayed in one place for longer than a day. Plus, he's not Deviant. That's why Deviants are so dangerous. They are much larger danger-magnets than normal Time Lords, and their powers are unpredictable. That's why it was the law for Deviants to be hunted down and executed. They're too dangerous to be left out in the open and in one place."

"Is that still a law today?"

"I don't know. Dad said it died with Gallifrey during the Time War, but he's not sure if it's still a law today, at least on other planets."

Jack shrugs again, this time in a 'who cares?' manner. "Well, even if it is, that shouldn't stop you from having that normal life you want, as long as you continue keeping the secret. Did anyone else know about your secret where you grew up?"

I shake my head. "Just Hazel and the people who raised me." I then pause, thinking better. "Then again, there's also my Aikido instructor. It turned out he was a secret member of the Silence, but I had no idea until years later, around the time I met my parents. Thankfully no one else knew. Although, there was another Silence member who tried to find me at my elementary school in second grade. He announced to the whole school that he was looking for a 'girl' named 'Nova' who was a 'Time Lord' and 'the Doctor's daughter,' but thankfully no one knew it was me he was looking for. At the time I didn't know 'Nova' was me either, since I went by a different name then."

"Sandy, right?"

"Sydney," I correct him. "Sydney Marie Elise. It was the name my guardians wanted to name their daughter if they were able to have kids. They couldn't have kids, so that's why they adopted me. Thankfully they had no problem raising a non-human. Even though my parents didn't want to give me up, they had to do it anyway, knowing that was the only way for me to be safe from the Silence. Thank God they gave me up when they did, or I'd be in a very different position right now." I can't help but briefly think back on the two evil versions of myself from Victorian London and my 'coma' world, the fear of becoming like them pushing to the forefront of my brain.

"I imagine you'd be like your mom when she was still with them."

I nod. "Yeah, but a million times worse. You saw what happened in the cafeteria yesterday. When I'm in that state, I'm not safe to be around. I end up hurting people, even some people I don't want to hurt. As I said, I can't control it. It's terrifying."

"Do you know what causes you to be in that state?" Jack asks curiously. "Coz if I was a betting man, I'd say it's triggered by intense emotions, such as fear and anger."

"Yeah, I believe so," I nod before a sudden wave of anger floods both of my hearts. "I was so angry when they—"

Whoa, wait! What're you doing? You can't tell him that! He could still be an enemy for all you know! I pause, this thought suddenly flooding my cheeks red with embarrassment.

"When they what?" Jack frowns, puzzled. "When they kept harassing you?"

Oh, what the hell! He doesn't seem that bad, at least so far. What's the worst that can happen besides him teasing me for the rest of Time about my fretting over the life of a handsome stranger who may or may not be trusted, which may or may not prove that I have a slight crush on him?

I sigh before admitting, "Not just that. I was… I was also angry that they killed you. You were just trying to help, and… And they just snapped your neck without a care in the world. And when I thought that they were gonna kill me anyway… I was so scared. Scared that I would actually die, especially after they killed you. Since you've literally been the only person nice to me, and since you'd died, I felt alone again; completely alone. I was terrified that I would actually die and for absolutely no reason, just like you, which made me angrier. That's when I snapped."

There, Universe! I said it! Happy?

Jack smiles. "So my death triggered your so-called 'Avatar State?' You were angry that they killed me for trying to save your life, so you let 'em have it?"

I shrug in a 'so what?' manner, feeling my cheeks blush even more. "I guess, yeah."

Okay, so I may (or may not) have a slight crush on Jack. Again, so what?

Jack smiles at this (Ugh, how embarrassing!). "Hmm… I'm quite flattered. You say you don't trust me, and yet, after I'd been killed, you unleashed your fury on everyone for what they'd done."

"I just acted on instinct," I half-lie, shaking my head. "It doesn't mean anything." Literally anyone would've done the same thing in this situation… Right?

"It means that you have a lot of your dad in you," Jack says, this time in a serious tone. "Since I last saw him, I've heard stories about him. The things he's done when those he loves are threatened or hurt… I can see why everybody calls him 'The Oncoming Storm.' I see much of that in you as well."

I turn away again, feeling embarrassed as well as a bit disturbed to be that much like my father, especially when we're both in our own versions of the 'Oncoming Storm' state. Now that I think about it, Dad's version and my 'supernova' version are not so different from one another, which is both fascinating and terrifying at the same time. Both of our states seem to be triggered by extreme fear or anger and can be quite alarming, even destructive (at least in my case), especially to those who witness it. I imagine the 'Oncoming Storm' state was absolutely insane with Deviants. How much destruction they unintentionally (or otherwise) caused… All the people they hurt…

"Of course, it could mean something else as well," Jack shrugs after a minute, mercifully interrupting me from my thoughts. "Something more than just instinct. Again, you say you don't trust me, but deep down, I think you do trust me." 'More than that, you fancy me,' he adds but, thankfully, doesn't say out loud.

Okay, that last part he didn't actually say, but it's pretty obvious by the subtle and somewhat goofy smirk on his face that he's thinking that about me. Ugh, will this embarrassment ever end?

"A little," I speak up pointedly, crossing my arms. "I trust you a little, only because you cared to save me rather than let the freaks kill me. If you didn't care, you would've just let them kill me, but you didn't."

"Of course not," he shakes his head. "Your old man would kill me if I'd let them kill you. I wasn't gonna let that happen. Plus, I wasn't gonna let them bash that pretty face of yours. He would never forgive me for that either."

"Originally, I thought I'd never get the chance to thank you," I shrug, steering back to the topic of him saving my life. "Of course, that was before I found out you were immortal. So…thank you, I guess."

"You are very welcome," he smiles with self-pride. "The pleasure is all mine."

"Although I have to be honest here," I say with a frown. "The way you tried to stop them from dissecting me…that may have been ballsy, but it was also pretty stupid. You really could've died if you were normal."

"But I'm not, am I?" Jack shrugs carelessly. "I wouldn't have done it that way if I knew I could be properly killed, which I can't now. Not anymore."

"Yeah, but who's to say your immortality is only temporary?" I point out. "Who's to say you can only resurrect yourself a certain number of times, like the number of times Time Lords can regenerate? You may be immortal now, but you're not immortal forever. Eventually all living things must die at some point, even Time Lords. Dad taught me this recently."

"Wow! What a way to kill the mood!" Jack chuckles in a teasing manner.

"Hey, I'm just saying, you should really think about how many times you got left to resurrect yourself before you decide to sacrifice yourself for someone," I say defensively. "Not that I don't appreciate you trying to help me back there in the cafeteria. You never know how many times you got left. Mom and I keep telling Dad this, but he doesn't take it seriously like we want him to, especially now that he can't regenerate anymore. Back when he still had Regenerations left over, it wasn't as big a deal, but now it is, and we keep telling him to be more careful, but he doesn't listen, and it's almost gotten him killed several times. All I'm saying is that you should start doing the same before you suddenly realize that you're not coming back."

"Okay, calm down, darlin'," Jack puts his hands up in a calming gesture. "I get it. You don't have to worry about me. I'm pretty sure I can resurrect myself a million times; I've got plenty more left. I am perfectly fine. And so are you. Your dad sent me to get you outta here and to protect you in the meantime. Remember when Marco said you no longer had a 'knight in shining armor' to protect you? He was wrong. I'm here, and I'm gonna protect your pretty face just fine. I give you my word."

"You better keep your word," I say seriously, "or I will stab you in the eye and shove it up your ass." I make a point that I haven't forgotten that promise to him, as I have no problem doing just that if he chooses to betray me anytime soon.

However, Jack chuckles anyway, clearly believing that I'm teasing, "I do hope you're joking about that."

"I'm not," I say seriously. "I don't take well to people who betray me." I remember the Shopkeeper telling me that I 'will be betrayed by one who calls [me] a lover,' so I make a point not to trust anyone who might become a potential lover. Not that Jack is one of those people; he may be handsome and the biggest flirt I've ever met, but he's way too old for me and is nowhere close to my type.

"Neither do I," he says honestly, "but don't worry. Your dad trusts me; of course, he wouldn't have sent me to rescue you if he didn't. If he can trust me, then you can trust me too."

"Fine," I sigh, rolling my eyes, "but I'm gonna be watching you very closely." I may not think Jack to be a Silence member anymore, but I still wouldn't put it past him to suddenly decide to betray me at any moment. Admittedly, the Shopkeeper's words about me being betrayed in general has made me extremely paranoid about putting my trust in anyone else I don't already trust (such as Hazel, my parents, and my grandparents). Jack may not be a lover (in fact, he will never be a lover), but he can still betray me at any time.

"So what's the plan?" I ask, changing the subject. "No doubt Dad orchestrated a plan and trusted you with it. That being said, I'm all ears."

"Actually, he didn't give me a plan," Jack shakes his head. "He just sent me out and expected me to plan one out with you once I found you."

Honestly, I'm not surprised by this. "So he threw you in at the deep end, huh?" I snort. "Yup, that's Dad for you." I immediately think of that time a few weeks ago, when Dad gave me the critical job of keeping a scared and angry group of Cavemen villagers from causing trouble (as well as burning me at the stake as a sacrifice to their gods) while he was off stopping a small group of aliens—who the villagers thought to be their gods that they'd somehow angered, hence why they attempted to burn me as a sacrifice to appease their wrath—from terrorizing them and rewriting history. Needless to say, I still haven't entirely forgiven Dad for putting me in that situation, especially without any guidance whatsoever.

"I suppose," Jack shrugs. "Anyway, since you'd been here a bit longer than me, I figured you'd have a plan by now. By now you should know your way around the prison like the back of your hand, you being here a little over a week."

"Are you kidding?" I scoff in offense. "I've barely had time to, since I've been so busy trying to keep myself alive. Or did you forget that literally everyone here wants to kill me just for being the Doctor's daughter?"

"Hey, I'm sorry," Jack says, putting his hands up in surrender. "I didn't realize how bad this has been for you. If I'd found you sooner, I'd have gotten you outta here a long time ago, but I never knew where you were since I never knew where your cell was; and even if I'd found it, you were never there when I went to look for you."

"That's coz I was hiding," I point out. "I didn't want to be found, lest I'd be killed for absolutely no reason." I pause before sighing. "I suppose it's really my fault it's taken so long to leave this place. Dad said he'd send someone out to look for me, but since so many people have tried to kill me since I've been here, I was too scared to let anyone near me, including anyone he'd send to find me and get me out. As I said, I can't trust anyone anymore. Everyone I meet, they either are working for the Silence and want to turn me over to their side just like my mother, or they want to straight-up kill me just for being me. It's ridiculous!" I pause again, once again thinking of the Shopkeeper's words about me being betrayed by someone close to me. "These days, I don't think I'll be able to trust my own friends anymore. I was already told recently that someone would betray me in my near future."

"You don't think that person is me, do you?" Jack frowns. "Coz I'd never betray you. Betraying you would mean I betray your father as well, and I'd never do that. He's my dearest friend, and any dear friend or family member of his is a dear friend to me. I'd never betray my friends, certainly not him or you. I swear on my life."

'I'd never betray anyone. I swear on my life.' Famous last words of someone who will end up betraying everyone anyway, whether it's intentional or not.

On that thought, I shrug, saying, "Sorry, Jack, but it's gonna take a hell of a lot of convincing to make me believe you. You have absolutely no idea what all I've been through, not just here. I've been through way worse than this."

Being forced to keep a dangerous secret and dealing with the paranoia of it being discovered, no matter how well I kept the secret… Having my worst enemy, Madame Kovarian, slip through my fingers because of my stubbornness and arrogance to take her down with no prior experience… Watching my guardians sacrifice their lives for me without being able to do anything to stop or save them… These are literally the worst things to ever happen to me; being betrayed by literally anyone, nor being falsely put in prison, doesn't even come close.

"I do know," Jack nods. "Your dad told me your story, at least bits and pieces of it. How you were raised on Earth with a secret you struggled to keep hidden from the rest of the world—a secret you barely understood the origins of. How you struggled to fit in with your life as a non-human, despite having to keep that secret, and especially after you discovered the truth about your origins once you met your true parents. How scared you were when your guardians were kidnapped by the Silence to get to you. How your guardians gave their lives to save you. Trust me, I know what it feels like to feel alone as you are. I've lost people too—my partner…my grandson…"

I gasp. Oh my god, he lost his grandson? That must've been awful. If only I'd known…

"Sometimes I feel responsible for their deaths," he continues with a sad sigh, "but I try to move on as much as I can and try to put the guilt behind me. Your dad knows how much of a struggle that's been for you. As you said, you've been through a lot, much like your dad. As I said, you have a lot of him in you. Don't worry. You won't be betrayed by anyone anytime soon, certainly not me. I will get you out of here in one way or another, and I will die trying if I have to."

"You better come back if you do," I chuckle and smile in an attempt to cheer him up.

"Trust me, I plan to," he chuckles back.

"Okay, so how're we getting out of here?" I ask, steering back on topic. "As I said, I'm not leaving until I get my sonic screwdriver back first."

"I don't know yet," he sighs, "but I'll think of something. The easiest way is by Vortex Manipulator, which, luckily for us, I own, but I'm not sure where they're keeping it. They must be keeping it with your sonic screwdriver."

"They put trackers in us when we first arrived," I add, suddenly remembering. "I heard that it sends a painful shock through your body if you attempt to escape the prison's walls, and it shocks you continuously until you return or if it kills you. We need to remove them before we leave. Again, my sonic could do that easily. It's got a magnetism setting that could pull the tracker out safely."

Jack nods. "Alright, we'll definitely need to do that. But first thing's first, we need to find a way to sweettalk the guards into letting us snoop around in their Property Office to get our stuff back."

"Yeah right!" I scoff. "Like they'd 'let' us casually steal our stuff back and leave peacefully. Not a chance!"

"Hey, you'd be surprised at how persuasive I can be," Jack shrugs in a 'what could go wrong?' manner.

"This coming from a guy who had his neck snapped for doing just that back at the cafeteria," I frown back at him. Sure, he's immortal, so if it happens again and he dies, he'll just come back; no big deal, right?

WRONG, as, for all we know, the next time it happens might not be something he comes back from.

"Okay, fair point," he sighs. "In any case, I'm sure we can figure something out."

Before we have a chance to do just that, a loud announcement is heard over the loudspeakers. "Attention all inmates! Please gather in the Atrium for a mandatory meeting!"

"Huh," I snort to myself. "That's literally the first time I've heard anyone say 'please' here."

"A mandatory meeting, huh?" Jack says, glancing nervously at me as we walk toward the Atrium with the other inmates that have gathered before us. "I wonder what that's about. What do you think?"

"I don't know," I say, feeling just as nervous, if not more so, "but I doubt it's anything good. Most aren't; at least ones I've been to." I immediately think back to the last mandatory meeting I attended at the Silence base where I witnessed my mother, River Song, while under mind-control, threaten to kill my best friend, Hazel, just to draw me out into the open and turn myself in. Dear God, I sure hope this one is not anything like that one.

As always, the universe really has it out for me, because once we reach the Atrium and I glance up at the balcony where the meetings are usually announced by the Warden or anyone else who runs the prison (most announcers, of course, being Judoon), instead, I see the one person I hoped to never see again, at least in any form that's not a pile of mashed potatoes on the floor.

"No way!" I abruptly stop in my tracks, lowering my voice to a growl. "You've got to be kidding me! What the fuck is she doing here?"

Scratch that! I shake my head at myself. I know exactly what she's doing here. It's obvious what she's doing here. What she's been doing for the past several months, ever since her base was destroyed… What she's been doing my entire life…

I stare up with malice and contempt at the wicked face (if that's even her real face) of Madame Kovarian, who looks down on the crowd, scanning for potential targets…

Specifically, me.

A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!

I hope you liked that chapter. Let me know in the comments what you thought about it, as well as the overall series in general.

Also, fun fact: I actually got to meet Jack Harkness himself, John Barrowman, (as well as Catherine Tate a.k.a. Donna Noble on the same day) several years ago at my local Comic-Con in Kansas City. I got a lovely photo with him (as well as Donna) and got to attend his panel (sadly I didn't get to see Donna's panel), which was hilarious, especially when he quite literally "brought the house down". The moment was captured in a video that can be found anywhere on YouTube (sadly not taken by me since I'm not a YouTuber).

Also, I've been considering for a while possibly turning my series into an audiobook (in other words, you'll listen to me read each chapter in the series word-for-word) for you all to listen to as you follow along. It seems this may be an option to do on AO3, but I'm not entirely sure. If it is possible, I may do this, depending on how many of you are interested in this idea. Since my native language is English, it will of course be read in English. Let me know in the comments if you're interested in listening to me read each chapter for you to follow along with or simply listen to.

As always, friendly reminder that kudos, comments, and favs are appreciated and will keep me motivated to post more often. I see that many of you are reading my works but not subscribing, favoriting, or commenting on them. I always encourage feedback from my readers and enjoy reading about my readers' favorite moments. I'm sure everyone has at least one favorite moment. Please, please, please share them! I would love to talk about them.

Also, friendly reminder that I tend to have a major habit of rewriting things, so be sure to check back every once in a while (maybe even reread the previous chapter or chapters) to keep up to date on any changes I may make or add.