Ending of the Hours (Book Four of the Bad Wolf Chronicles)

The Waters of Mars

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS in his orange suit from Kroptor, and he smiled, looking around. "The red planet," he beamed, walking over to the rim of a crater. He looked down at the base that occupied the crater, and he brightened. "Oh, beautiful!"

Something jabbed him in the back, and he froze. "Rotate slowly," a robotic voice said, and the Doctor slowly did, raising his hands to shoulder height, and he looked down at the very tiny robot behind him. "You are under arrest for trespassing. Gadget gadget."

***

The Doctor stared down the barrel of the gun raised to his face before looking at the woman aiming it at him. "State your name, rank, and intention," she ordered.

"The Doctor," he answered. "Doctor. Fun."

And another voice, one he hadn't expect, spoke up next. "Bad Wolf." The woman pointed her gun next to the dark-haired girl with her hair in a ponytail that had appeared behind him, wearing a dark green camisole tank top, brown cargo pants, brown army boots, and an orange windbreaker jacket tied around her waist, her arms folded as she quirked an eyebrow at everyone who turned to her, including the Doctor, her gold eyes sparkling in amusement. "Guardian of time and space. Keeping this idiot in line."

"Oi!" the Doctor complained through his shock that the first version of Jessie was right there!

The First Bad Wolf just gave him a pointed look. "Oh, don't act like that doesn't happen!"

"Where did you come from?" the woman demanded.

She shrugged. "Been following him for a while. He's just been so dumb, he's never noticed."

"Oi!" the Doctor protested.

Any further discussion was cut off as a man with slightly darkened skin ran in. "What the hell?" he gasped, looking them over as the First Bad Wolf stepped to the Doctor's side. "It's a couple. A couple on Mars! How?"

"He was wearing this thing, and she just appeared out of nowhere," a German woman answered, holding up the Doctor's suit. "I have never seen anything like it."

"What did Mission Control say?"

"They're out of range for ten hours with the solar flares."

"If we could cut the chat, everyone," the first woman ordered, obviously the one in charge and the captain.

"Actually, chat's second on my list, the first being gun pointed at my friend's head," the Doctor spoke up, and just like that, the gun switched to him. He cringed. "Actually, now the gun pointed at my head. Which then puts my head second and chat third, I think." He thought. "Gun, head, chat . . . yeah. I hate lists."

"Then why did you make one?" the First Bad Wolf hissed.

He didn't spare her a look. Usually, when she showed up, she was fun and games, but now . . . not so much. "But you could hurt someone with that thing. Just put it down."

"Oh, you'd like that," the captain huffed.

"Can you find me someone who wouldn't?" the Doctor asked sarcastically.

"Done," the First Bad Wolf answered, and right from under her windbreaker jacket, she brought out one of SHIELD's ICER guns, aiming right back at the captain, who now swung to her. "Feel better?"

"Much," the Doctor answered gratefully, even though she now had a gun pointed at someone else.

"Why should I trust you?" the captain asked.

"Because I give you my word, and forty million miles away from home, my word is all you've got."

The captain glared before lowering her gun. The second she did, the First Bad Wolf lowered hers. "Keep Gadget covering them," she ordered.