Not Alone [Doctor Who] {1}

Chapter 27

The Doctor, Jack and I were staying in Cardiff at the TARDIS. I sat at the staircase as there was a knock on the door and Jack answered it. "Who the hell are you?" He asked. "What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?" I heard Mickey asking.

"Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever your selling, we're not buying," Jack said. "Get out of my way!" Mickey said as he shoved Jack out of the way, and walked into the TARDIS. "Don't tell me. This must be Mickey," Jack said. "Here comes trouble. How're you doing, Ricky boy?" The Doctor asked.

"It's Mickey," Mickey corrected. "Don't listen to him, he's doing it on purpose," I said as I walked up to him. He smiled, "You look fantastic," He said before we hugged. "Aw, sweet, look at these two. How come I never get any of that?" Jack asked. "Buy me a drink first," The Doctor said as Mickey and I pulled away. "You're such hard work," Jack said. "But worth it," The Doctor said.

"Did you manage to find it?" I asked Mickey. "There you go," He said with a smile as he gave me my passport. "I can go anywhere now," I told The Doctor. "I told you, you don't need a passport," He said. "What if we go to another country in present day. I need a passport," I stated.

"Sounds like your staying, then," Mickey said and I turned back to him with a soft smile. He shrugged, "So, what're you doing in Cardiff? And who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash? I mean, I don't mind you hanging out with big-ears up there."

"Oi!" The Doctor whined. "Look in the mirror," Mickey said, "But this guy, I don't know, he's kind of --"

"Handsome?" Jack asked. "More like cheesy," Mickey said. "21 Century slang. Is cheesy good or bad?" Jack asked. "Depends all on the tone of voice you use," I said with a smirk.

"My tone meaning it's bad," Mickey said. "But bad means good, isn't that right?" Jack asked. "Are you saying I'm not handsome?" The Doctor asked.

"We just stopped off. We need to refuel," I informed Mickey, "The thing is, Cardiff's got this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible, but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions."

"The rift was healed back in 1869," The Doctor said. "Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth, because these creatures called the Gelth, they were using the rift as a gateway but she saved the world and closed it," I said. "But closing a rift always leaves a scar, and that scar generates energy," Jack said, "Harmless to the human race --"

"But perfect for the TARDIS," The Doctor said, "So just park it here for a couple of days right on top of the scar and --"

"Open up the engines, soak up the radiation," Jack said. I nodded, "Like filling her up with petrol and off we go --"

"Into time --" Jack started. "And space," The three of us said in the same time. "My God, have you seen yourselves? You all think you're so clever, don't you?" Mickey said. "Yeah," The three of us said in the same time again.

Mickey smirked and shook his head. "Off we go then," The Doctor said before walking past us to the doors. Jack, Mickey and I followed him outside. "Should take another 24 hours, which means we've got time to kill," The Doctor said. "That old lady was staring at us," Mickey said, pointing over to the old woman. "Probably wondering what four people could do inside a small wooden box," Jack joked.

"What are you captain of, the Innuendo Squad?" Mickey asked but Jack just made a gesture. "What about the TARDIS, we can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?" Mickey asked. "Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?" Jack asked. "It's a cloaking device," I said.

"It's called a chameleon circuit. The TARDIS is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands, like if this was Ancient Rome, it'd be a statue on a plinth or something. But I landed in the 1960s, it disguised itself as a police box, and the circuit got stuck," The Doctor explained.

"So it copied a real thing? There actually was police boxes?" Mickey asked. "Yeah, on street corners. Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested someone, they could shove them inside till help came, like a little prison cell," The Doctor explained.

"Why don't you just fix the circuit?" Jack asked. "I like it, don't you?" The Doctor asked. "I love it," I said with a smile. "But that's what I meant. There's no police boxes anymore, so doesn't it get noticed?" Mickey asked.

"Ricky, let me tell you something about the human race. You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town, what do they do?" The Doctor asked as he put his hands on Mickey's shoulders, "Walk past it. Now, stop your nagging. Let's go and explore."

"What's the plan?" I asked as I linked arms with The Doctor, as we all started to walk off. "I don't know. Cardiff, early twenty first century and the wind's coming from the east," The Doctor said, "Trust me. Safest place in the universe."

...................

We all sat at a table in a restaurant, laughing about Jack's story. "-- I swear, six feet tall and with big tusks --" Jack said. "You're lying through your teeth!" The Doctor said. "I mean, it turns out the white things are tusks and I mean tusks! And it's woken, and it's not happy," Jack said.

"How could you not know it was there?" The Doctor asked. "And we're standing there, fifteen of us, naked. And I'm like, oh, no, no, it's got nothing to do with me. And then it roars, and we are running. Oh my God, we are running! And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and I say --" Jack said.

"'I knew we should've turned left'," Mickey finished and we all broke out in laughter again. "I don't believe you. I don't believe a word you say ever," I said. "Did you ever get your clothes back?"

I glanced to my side at The Doctor to see he was getting up and he grabbed a newspaper from a old man. "No," Jack replied, "I just picked him up went right for the ship, full throttle. Didn't stop until I hit the spacelanes. I was shaking. It was unbelievable. It freaked me out, and by the time I got fifteen light years away I realised I'm like this."

The Doctor looked at us with a frown, "And I was having such a nice day," He said and he hold the newspaper up. It was one of the Slitheen. The female Slitheen; Margaret.