Fic: Dance with the Devil 2/3
Story: Dance with the Devil
Author: wmr / wendymr
Characters: Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, John Hart
Rated: PG13
Summary: Harkness's only problem is that he's forgotten the primary law of jungle survival: look out for number one.
Written for kholly in return for a very generous donation in the March Support Stacie auction. This story is a sequel to Doctor Faustus Dances, also written for kholly after last year's September auction. With very many thanks to the usual suspects, dark_aegis and yamx - couldn't have done it without you!
Chapter 1: Twist
Chapter 2: Chaines
That bastard Hart. Harkness’s partner. The Doctor swallows back the bile rising in his gut.
How the hell did he manage to track them? He jiggery-poked the bloke’s Vortex manipulator to block his ability to detect Jack. Not just Hart’s ability, but the Time Agency’s.
So he’s got someone very clever to fix his Vortex manipulator. Clearly, the Time Agency’s not as thick as he imagined. All right. And the bloke wants Jack dead. Understandable, no doubt - from his point of view.
But why is he involving Rose? And-
He swings around to face Jack. “Why does he want me to bring your body to him? He was here, right? We didn’t even see him. We were distracted by his little playmates. Why didn’t he just shoot you?”
Jack’s face is white. Voice strained, he says, “That’d be too simple for him. He never went for the easy kill if he had another option. Gets his kicks from watching someone suffer.” Letting out a deep breath, Jack adds, “My guess is he wants me to die knowing I’m being killed by someone I... respect. Admire.” Jack shakes his head. “What he doesn’t know is - for Rose? I’ll do it gladly. No question.”
The Doctor sighs. “Don’t be any more stupid than you have to be. If he can track you, we can track him.”
Jack blinks. “Of cou-”
“Yep. So you can stop playin’ martyr and let me take a look at that thing.” He waves Jack over. No point being anything but blunt with the lad - even if he had the time to do any more than that, Jack will respond to orders and sarcasm far better than he would to sympathy.
He scans Jack’s Vortex manipulator with the screwdriver, but Hart’s covered his tracks too well. There’s a trace, all right, but it goes round and round in circles like one of those kids’ follow-the-line puzzles, and ends up right back where it started. Which is a lie, because Hart’s definitely not here any more.
Bloke’s got sophisticated tech, and he knows how to use it.
“TARDIS,” he says, just the one word, and turns around, striding back to his ship and leaving Jack to follow.
***
Hart wants him dead.
Well, that’s not exactly a surprise. Always was a dog in the manger, that ex-partner of his. If Hart can’t have Jack, he wouldn’t want anyone else to have him - leaving aside the fact that no-one’s actually having him, as such. Also, of course, there’s that little matter of him and the Doctor humiliating Hart the last time they met, on Mirage, sending him away with his tail between his legs.
He wants his pound of flesh for that, and he’s chosen a way that hurts the Doctor as well as Jack. Kidnapping Rose strikes the Doctor at his most vulnerable point - and hurts Jack by reminding him of his place in their team. Superfluous, completely dispensable, particularly when it comes to ensuring Rose’s safety.
Not that he didn’t know it anyway - or would want it any other way. But, yeah. The reminder’s not exactly the high point of his day.
But the Doctor’s right. They should be focusing on tracking the bastard down and rescuing Rose, instead of behaving like they’ve got no choice but to follow his instructions. Hart’s only one man, after all, and up against the Doctor? He’s got no chance.
Though maybe he’s not just one man. Those other three were with him, weren’t they? Shit. It’s even worse than he thought.
Jack runs into the TARDIS behind the Doctor, and follows him over to the console. The Doctor’s already tapping out commands at a ferocious rate, fingers moving so fast Jack can’t keep up with him. Without pausing, the Doctor says, “Give me your manipulator.”
He hands it over, part of him marvelling at how much he trusts this man - Time Lord - now. That device has been so much part of him for so long that he knows what he’d do to stop anyone taking it from him. He suspects, too, that at a push the Doctor could do what he needs with the computer still on Jack’s wrist - but that doesn’t matter. The Doctor asks, the Doctor gets.
His computer’s hooked up to the console in seconds. “Play it again,” the Doctor instructs. “Hart’s message.”
Stepping closer, into the Doctor’s personal space - he’s got to, because the Doctor hasn’t stepped back - he presses a couple of buttons, and then Hart’s image is standing on the other side of the console, Rose motionless on the ground beside him, the bastard repeating his smug, triumphant message.
The Doctor’s working on the trace. Jack focuses on the hologram, trying to make himself useful by looking for clues to Hart’s whereabouts. But it’s hard to see anything about the guy’s location. He’s standing against a pale background that could just as easily be a dull, wintry sky as a grey wall - hard to tell given the picture quality in a hologram.
Abruptly, the image flickers and vanishes, the voice suddenly silent. And his manipulator beeps.
He shoots a glance at the Doctor. “Another message.”
“Play it.” The Doctor’s voice is expressionless, but the tic in his jaw gives away his anxiety. “TARDIS will trace where it’s coming from.”
Another hologram wobbles into place, then solidifies to reveal Hart against the same background, this time with Rose upright and held tightly against his side. Her head’s lolling down towards her shoulder, suggesting that she’s most likely still unconscious.
Hart’s mouth curves into a sadistic grin.
“Killed our mutual friend yet, Doctor? You’d better hurry up if you want to see your little blonde pet again. Clock’s ticking! You’ve got five minutes before I tell you where to bring the body. Tick tock, tick tock! Oh, and just in case - don’t try to trace me. I’ll know if you do. It’ll make me very angry. And, trust me, your little friend won’t like me when I’m angry.”
Hart’s smile grows wider. “If I see even the faintest sign of a trace, you’ll never see Blondie here alive again.” He brings his free hand up to Rose’s throat, then drags a finger from one side of her neck to the other. “Don’t imagine I won’t. On second thoughts, there’s no need to imagine. Just ask Captain Jack. He’ll tell you exactly what I’m capable of.” Hart moves his hand again, bringing it up in front of him in a parody of a wave. “Five minutes, Doctor. Don’t let him get away from you!”
Hart releases his grip on Rose, and she slumps to the floor. The hologram flickers again, then vanishes, and Jack’s left staring at empty space in the sudden silence, his stomach churning.
***
Her head feels like it’s full of mush, and her eyes don’t want to open. But the ground’s uncomfortable beneath her and her mouth’s dry with thirst.
“Wha-” She only manages a half-croak before her voice gives up. Something’s wrong. She’s only ever felt like this in the morning when she’s sick - or hung over. But she definitely doesn’t remember getting drunk - or even planning to drink anything other than hot chocolate - and the Doctor’s always told her the TARDIS boosts her immune system to make sure she doesn’t catch any alien viruses.
Bloody hell, whatever she’s lying on is hell on her back. With a groan, she struggles to sit.
“Ah, the sleepyhead awakes at last.” The voice is vaguely familiar and, as she drags her eyes open finally and sees the man standing over her, memories return and the facts fall into place, as does the identity of her kidnapper.
“You drugged me.” And... kidnapped her, and quite probably staged that scene at the TARDIS to distract the Doctor and Jack while he did it.
“Just a temporary fix.” He smiles at her, and she’s reminded of a snake. The same snake who smiled at Jack, pretending to have his memories, while all the time he was plotting to double-cross Jack and still capture the Doctor.
She struggles to her feet, legs wobbly, spinal vertebrae protesting. What does he want with her? It’s obviously not her he wants specifically, though she wouldn’t put it past him to try it on with her, or even hold her down and rape her if he was in the mood - Jack might not have said much about his ex-partner, but what he did say made clear that Hart’s a sadistic, ruthless bastard. But he wouldn’t have gone to all that trouble just to get a quick shag. Whatever he’s up to, it’s got something to do with Jack, some new revenge game he’s playing using her as his tool.
Okay. Well, he’s going to find that she’s not as cooperative as he might be hoping. But, first, she’s got to figure out what he wants, and what part she’s supposed to play in it.
She takes a couple of deep, steadying breaths, willing away the muzziness in her head and the sudden nausea that appeared once she was vertical. “So, what? I’m leverage, right? What for?”
Keep him talking, if she can. That’d be the Doctor’s strategy. Talk and talk and distract the bloke so she can assess her surroundings and her chance of escape - and try to find his weakness, if he has one. He will. All bad guys do, that’s something Jack’s told her.
At least the dryness in her mouth’s gone. Makes it easier to talk - that’s something.
“Oh, how charmingly naïve.” Hart’s thin face creases as he grins. “Although, why not? It should present some amusement.”
Pretending fascination as she waits for him to continue, she compiles a mental inventory. They’re in a room, somewhere on solid ground - there’s no sound of engines anywhere, and no sign of any controls. The floor’s hard - not concrete, but something equally solid and cold - and the walls are a dull grey. No sign of a door, but there’s got to be one somewhere. No windows. Furniture? None that she can see, not even a chair.
“Yes, you’re leverage,” Hart continues, looking very pleased with himself. “Your friend the Time Lord’s very taken with you, wouldn’t you say?”
She shrugs, relieved to feel the pain in her spine lessening. “You think? We’re just apes to him. Primitive. He tolerates us most of the time. You think it’s any different, you haven’t been paying attention.”
Hart’s hand reaches up before she can even blink, and tangles in the back of her hair, twisting roughly. “I’ve been watching. You’re wasting your time lying to me.” He lets her hair go, giving her shoulder a shove at the same time. She pitches forward, only just managing to keep her balance. “He’s besotted with you, which makes him an idiot and plays right into my hands.”
Still no sign of a door, or any other escape route. Maybe there’s no door. Maybe the only way in or out is via that wristband Hart has that’s the same as Jack’s. And there’s a point - how’s he managed to find them in order to watch them? The Doctor disabled his computer from being able to track Jack.
No point kneeing him where it hurts, then. Shame. She’d get a lot of satisfaction out of that. But if there’s no way out of this room, or no way she can find within a few seconds, there’s no point - it won’t help, and would more likely make things far worse.
Pity she never got Jack to show her how his teleport works. If - when - she gets out of here, that’s top of her list.
“Oh?” she replies, deliberately sounding bored.
“Oh, yes. See, I want that ex-partner of mine - the one who’s calling himself Jack Harkness these days - dead. Of course I could kill him myself. Easiest thing in the world, it would be. You’ve been making it so easy for me, all that wandering around you do. Could have killed him more than a dozen times in the last week alone. But that’d be no fun at all.” The bloke’s smile gets even more sadistic, and a chill starts to spread through Rose.
“No?” she prompts as he doesn’t continue. God. He could have killed Jack. Jack could have been lying dead days ago. Now she’s actually glad she’s standing here. Better that than Jack dead.
But Jack’s not his real name? Though she shouldn’t be surprised. He was a conman, after all. Why wouldn’t he use a fake name? It’s just strange that he hasn’t told them his real name now that he’s not conning any more.
“No. He wouldn’t suffer enough. A bullet, a sonic blast, even a knife through the heart - it’d all be over in seconds. Far too easy. Besides, the Time Agency takes a bit of a dim view of agents killing other agents - even ex-agents. Spoilsports.” His lip curls. “No, this is much better.” Hart trails a finger up her arm, and her skin crawls even through the layers she’s wearing. “I’ve sent your friend the Doctor a ransom demand, and I’m pretty sure he’ll pay. Which is very bad news for gorgeous Jack.”
“What’s the ransom?” She’s got a sick taste in her mouth now.
“Jack’s dead body. If your Time Lord boyfriend wants you back, he’ll have to kill Jack to make it happen.” Hart starts to laugh, and the sound echoes around her like a melodramatic black and white horror film. “Isn’t that the perfect revenge, yeah?”
***
The Doctor slams his hand down hard on the console, rage and fear coursing through him. The trace equations halt instantly at his command. No matter how sure he is that the TARDIS’s technology beats anything Hart might have at his disposal, he can’t risk it. After all, Hart’s already beaten his technology once: he found a way to track Jack after the Doctor explicitly disabled that ability.
“Did...” Jack’s voice is shaky, and the lad takes a breath before speaking again. “Did you manage to trace him?”
“You heard him,” he snaps. “You want to take that chance with Rose’s life?”
Jack actually flinches. He must have sounded fiercer than he intended. He inhales slowly, turning his gaze down onto the console again as he forces himself to calm, to start thinking and behaving rationally again.
Movement at his side makes him turn. Jack’s come closer, and he’s holding out his arm towards the Doctor. He glances down. Jack’s... oh, bloody hell, he’s actually offering him his blaster.
“You’ve got less than five minutes, Doctor,” Jack says, and the lad’s voice is amazingly steady. “Make it quick.”
What? He shakes his head in instant rejection, only for Jack to grab his hand and lay the gun in his palm, then attempt to close his fingers around it.
He hasn’t got time for this. Letting the blaster fall to the floor and ignoring the crash it makes against the grating, he grabs Jack by the shoulders, his fingers biting into the younger man’s flesh. “Don’t be in such a hurry to die, Jack Harkness. You’ll only piss me off. Well, more than I’m already pissed off, at any rate.”
“Doctor, there’s no choice!” Jack sounds frantic now. “If you want Rose alive-”
“There’s always a choice, lad.” It’s an effort to stay calm, to take the time to try to reassure the Captain, given his brain’s reminding him of the seconds as they tick away, just two hundred and twenty-six left to come up with a solution. “Want you both alive. That’s non-negotiable, whatever your friend says.”
“He’s not my friend,” Jack objects, stepping away from the Doctor’s grasp. “And if you’re sure, thank you.” He bends to pick up his blaster. “Just so you know, if we don’t have a solution when time runs out, I will use this.”
“No-” he starts to protest, but Jack overrides him.
“I will. I don’t know why I expected you to do it in the first place. I know you, Doctor. You think that’d make you as bad as him.” Jack shakes his head, then stares down at where his manipulator is connected to the console. “That’s what I hate most about the bastard. He should do his own damn dirty work.”
His own... The Doctor stares at Jack, and a slow smile curves across his face. “Captain, you’re a genius!”
***
“What?” Mouth open, she stares at Hart. “That’s sick! And ludicrous. If you knew the Doctor, you’d know he’ll never go for that.”
He wouldn’t. Would he? But she knows the Doctor, and she has a pretty good sense of how he feels about her. They’re close, very close, despite his continual jabs at her being human, an inferior species. She’s seen how he’s acted when she’s shown interest in other blokes, or seemed more interested in being with her mum than with him. Though, oddly, he’s not been as bad since Jack’s joined them.
He nearly lost it, though, when he thought she’d been killed by the Dalek. She heard all about that from Adam, as well as what she saw herself.
Is it possible that he might trade Jack’s life for hers?
No, she decides immediately. Not a chance. He’ll find another way. He always does.
“We’ll see,” Hart says, and it’s clear that he’s enjoying this. No wonder Jack hates the bloke so much.
“What’s happened to the Three Stooges?” she asks. Change the subject - keep him off-balance. That’s what the Doctor would do. Plus it’s gathering information. Those three were with him. If they’re still around, if they’re going to be around whenever this plays itself out, it’d be helpful if she knows.
“Them?” Hart looks contemptuous. “Hired help. Paid them to distract Tweedledum and Tweedledee while I snatched you.”
The implication being that they’re gone, out of the way - or so she hopes.
“Time for the final instructions.” Hart wraps an arm around her shoulders, tight enough that it hurts. “Stand there and shut up.”
With his free hand, he reaches up to his wrist and taps some buttons on his computer, then starts to speak.
“Hello again, Doctor. Having fun yet? Well, if my ex-partner isn’t already late and unlamented, it’s time you took care of that little detail, isn’t it?”
“No!” she shouts, straining against the arm holding her. “Doctor, don’t do i- ow!” Hart’s just pulled viciously on her hair, bringing tears of pain to her eyes.
“As you see,” he continues as if nothing happened, in a sickeningly amused voice, “your little friend is still very much alive. But she won’t be for long if you don’t do as I say.” The amusement vanishes, and suddenly Hart’s all business. “The Ragadashillian canyon, where your ship was before. Bring the body outside and shut the doors. The girl and I will see you there. Oh, and come unarmed. If I see so much as a hint of a weapon, Blondie here will die before you can even think about using it.” With his free hand, Hart waves. “See ya!”
Bastard! If there was any way she could stop him... but there’s nothing. She can’t communicate with the Doctor, not when she doesn’t know how that works either. So even if she did find a way to incapacitate Hart, the Doctor wouldn’t know.
The only thing she can do is let him take her to the meeting-point and hope that the Doctor’s got a trick up his sleeve - and that Jack’s not already dead.
Hart’s pressed more buttons on his wrist device, presumably stopping the transmission, and now he’s looking at her again. “Better hold on tight if you don’t want to lose your last meal.” God, she hates that grin of his. She’s going to wipe it off his face if it’s the last thing she does.
The teleport jump is every bit as bad as he hinted it’d be. But once she’s stopped seeing stars, a familiar sight is right there in front of her, about twenty feet away. The TARDIS.
There’s no sign of the Doctor or Jack. Although, on the positive side, there’s no sign of Hart’s three goons. If she could only get away, run inside... But Hart’s grip on her has tightened, and he’s now got a gun in his hand. She wouldn’t even get halfway to the TARDIS. The Doctor would come out to find her dead body on the ground.
She takes a deep breath. There’s no other choice than to trust the Doctor. And she does trust him. She’s always trusted him. It’s as simple as that.
“He’s got about ten seconds to show himself with Harkness’s dead body,” Hart says, and she can feel the barely-leashed impatience in him. If he wasn’t holding her, he’d be pacing.
“Told you he wouldn’t do it,” she says, and even as she’s seized with terror part of her’s glad. Jack shouldn’t have to die to save her. She’s not worth it. And the Doctor would never forgive himself if...
He’ll never forgive himself if she dies, either. She knows that only too well.
So he’s going to have a plan. Of course he will. He’ll save both of them, her and Jack...
The TARDIS door starts to open.
***
to be concluded in chapter 3, Paso Doble.
Author: wmr / wendymr
Characters: Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, John Hart
Rated: PG13
Summary: Harkness's only problem is that he's forgotten the primary law of jungle survival: look out for number one.
Written for kholly in return for a very generous donation in the March Support Stacie auction. This story is a sequel to Doctor Faustus Dances, also written for kholly after last year's September auction. With very many thanks to the usual suspects, dark_aegis and yamx - couldn't have done it without you!
Chapter 1: Twist
Chapter 2: Chaines
That bastard Hart. Harkness’s partner. The Doctor swallows back the bile rising in his gut.
How the hell did he manage to track them? He jiggery-poked the bloke’s Vortex manipulator to block his ability to detect Jack. Not just Hart’s ability, but the Time Agency’s.
So he’s got someone very clever to fix his Vortex manipulator. Clearly, the Time Agency’s not as thick as he imagined. All right. And the bloke wants Jack dead. Understandable, no doubt - from his point of view.
But why is he involving Rose? And-
He swings around to face Jack. “Why does he want me to bring your body to him? He was here, right? We didn’t even see him. We were distracted by his little playmates. Why didn’t he just shoot you?”
Jack’s face is white. Voice strained, he says, “That’d be too simple for him. He never went for the easy kill if he had another option. Gets his kicks from watching someone suffer.” Letting out a deep breath, Jack adds, “My guess is he wants me to die knowing I’m being killed by someone I... respect. Admire.” Jack shakes his head. “What he doesn’t know is - for Rose? I’ll do it gladly. No question.”
The Doctor sighs. “Don’t be any more stupid than you have to be. If he can track you, we can track him.”
Jack blinks. “Of cou-”
“Yep. So you can stop playin’ martyr and let me take a look at that thing.” He waves Jack over. No point being anything but blunt with the lad - even if he had the time to do any more than that, Jack will respond to orders and sarcasm far better than he would to sympathy.
He scans Jack’s Vortex manipulator with the screwdriver, but Hart’s covered his tracks too well. There’s a trace, all right, but it goes round and round in circles like one of those kids’ follow-the-line puzzles, and ends up right back where it started. Which is a lie, because Hart’s definitely not here any more.
Bloke’s got sophisticated tech, and he knows how to use it.
“TARDIS,” he says, just the one word, and turns around, striding back to his ship and leaving Jack to follow.
***
Hart wants him dead.
Well, that’s not exactly a surprise. Always was a dog in the manger, that ex-partner of his. If Hart can’t have Jack, he wouldn’t want anyone else to have him - leaving aside the fact that no-one’s actually having him, as such. Also, of course, there’s that little matter of him and the Doctor humiliating Hart the last time they met, on Mirage, sending him away with his tail between his legs.
He wants his pound of flesh for that, and he’s chosen a way that hurts the Doctor as well as Jack. Kidnapping Rose strikes the Doctor at his most vulnerable point - and hurts Jack by reminding him of his place in their team. Superfluous, completely dispensable, particularly when it comes to ensuring Rose’s safety.
Not that he didn’t know it anyway - or would want it any other way. But, yeah. The reminder’s not exactly the high point of his day.
But the Doctor’s right. They should be focusing on tracking the bastard down and rescuing Rose, instead of behaving like they’ve got no choice but to follow his instructions. Hart’s only one man, after all, and up against the Doctor? He’s got no chance.
Though maybe he’s not just one man. Those other three were with him, weren’t they? Shit. It’s even worse than he thought.
Jack runs into the TARDIS behind the Doctor, and follows him over to the console. The Doctor’s already tapping out commands at a ferocious rate, fingers moving so fast Jack can’t keep up with him. Without pausing, the Doctor says, “Give me your manipulator.”
He hands it over, part of him marvelling at how much he trusts this man - Time Lord - now. That device has been so much part of him for so long that he knows what he’d do to stop anyone taking it from him. He suspects, too, that at a push the Doctor could do what he needs with the computer still on Jack’s wrist - but that doesn’t matter. The Doctor asks, the Doctor gets.
His computer’s hooked up to the console in seconds. “Play it again,” the Doctor instructs. “Hart’s message.”
Stepping closer, into the Doctor’s personal space - he’s got to, because the Doctor hasn’t stepped back - he presses a couple of buttons, and then Hart’s image is standing on the other side of the console, Rose motionless on the ground beside him, the bastard repeating his smug, triumphant message.
The Doctor’s working on the trace. Jack focuses on the hologram, trying to make himself useful by looking for clues to Hart’s whereabouts. But it’s hard to see anything about the guy’s location. He’s standing against a pale background that could just as easily be a dull, wintry sky as a grey wall - hard to tell given the picture quality in a hologram.
Abruptly, the image flickers and vanishes, the voice suddenly silent. And his manipulator beeps.
He shoots a glance at the Doctor. “Another message.”
“Play it.” The Doctor’s voice is expressionless, but the tic in his jaw gives away his anxiety. “TARDIS will trace where it’s coming from.”
Another hologram wobbles into place, then solidifies to reveal Hart against the same background, this time with Rose upright and held tightly against his side. Her head’s lolling down towards her shoulder, suggesting that she’s most likely still unconscious.
Hart’s mouth curves into a sadistic grin.
“Killed our mutual friend yet, Doctor? You’d better hurry up if you want to see your little blonde pet again. Clock’s ticking! You’ve got five minutes before I tell you where to bring the body. Tick tock, tick tock! Oh, and just in case - don’t try to trace me. I’ll know if you do. It’ll make me very angry. And, trust me, your little friend won’t like me when I’m angry.”
Hart’s smile grows wider. “If I see even the faintest sign of a trace, you’ll never see Blondie here alive again.” He brings his free hand up to Rose’s throat, then drags a finger from one side of her neck to the other. “Don’t imagine I won’t. On second thoughts, there’s no need to imagine. Just ask Captain Jack. He’ll tell you exactly what I’m capable of.” Hart moves his hand again, bringing it up in front of him in a parody of a wave. “Five minutes, Doctor. Don’t let him get away from you!”
Hart releases his grip on Rose, and she slumps to the floor. The hologram flickers again, then vanishes, and Jack’s left staring at empty space in the sudden silence, his stomach churning.
***
Her head feels like it’s full of mush, and her eyes don’t want to open. But the ground’s uncomfortable beneath her and her mouth’s dry with thirst.
“Wha-” She only manages a half-croak before her voice gives up. Something’s wrong. She’s only ever felt like this in the morning when she’s sick - or hung over. But she definitely doesn’t remember getting drunk - or even planning to drink anything other than hot chocolate - and the Doctor’s always told her the TARDIS boosts her immune system to make sure she doesn’t catch any alien viruses.
Bloody hell, whatever she’s lying on is hell on her back. With a groan, she struggles to sit.
“Ah, the sleepyhead awakes at last.” The voice is vaguely familiar and, as she drags her eyes open finally and sees the man standing over her, memories return and the facts fall into place, as does the identity of her kidnapper.
“You drugged me.” And... kidnapped her, and quite probably staged that scene at the TARDIS to distract the Doctor and Jack while he did it.
“Just a temporary fix.” He smiles at her, and she’s reminded of a snake. The same snake who smiled at Jack, pretending to have his memories, while all the time he was plotting to double-cross Jack and still capture the Doctor.
She struggles to her feet, legs wobbly, spinal vertebrae protesting. What does he want with her? It’s obviously not her he wants specifically, though she wouldn’t put it past him to try it on with her, or even hold her down and rape her if he was in the mood - Jack might not have said much about his ex-partner, but what he did say made clear that Hart’s a sadistic, ruthless bastard. But he wouldn’t have gone to all that trouble just to get a quick shag. Whatever he’s up to, it’s got something to do with Jack, some new revenge game he’s playing using her as his tool.
Okay. Well, he’s going to find that she’s not as cooperative as he might be hoping. But, first, she’s got to figure out what he wants, and what part she’s supposed to play in it.
She takes a couple of deep, steadying breaths, willing away the muzziness in her head and the sudden nausea that appeared once she was vertical. “So, what? I’m leverage, right? What for?”
Keep him talking, if she can. That’d be the Doctor’s strategy. Talk and talk and distract the bloke so she can assess her surroundings and her chance of escape - and try to find his weakness, if he has one. He will. All bad guys do, that’s something Jack’s told her.
At least the dryness in her mouth’s gone. Makes it easier to talk - that’s something.
“Oh, how charmingly naïve.” Hart’s thin face creases as he grins. “Although, why not? It should present some amusement.”
Pretending fascination as she waits for him to continue, she compiles a mental inventory. They’re in a room, somewhere on solid ground - there’s no sound of engines anywhere, and no sign of any controls. The floor’s hard - not concrete, but something equally solid and cold - and the walls are a dull grey. No sign of a door, but there’s got to be one somewhere. No windows. Furniture? None that she can see, not even a chair.
“Yes, you’re leverage,” Hart continues, looking very pleased with himself. “Your friend the Time Lord’s very taken with you, wouldn’t you say?”
She shrugs, relieved to feel the pain in her spine lessening. “You think? We’re just apes to him. Primitive. He tolerates us most of the time. You think it’s any different, you haven’t been paying attention.”
Hart’s hand reaches up before she can even blink, and tangles in the back of her hair, twisting roughly. “I’ve been watching. You’re wasting your time lying to me.” He lets her hair go, giving her shoulder a shove at the same time. She pitches forward, only just managing to keep her balance. “He’s besotted with you, which makes him an idiot and plays right into my hands.”
Still no sign of a door, or any other escape route. Maybe there’s no door. Maybe the only way in or out is via that wristband Hart has that’s the same as Jack’s. And there’s a point - how’s he managed to find them in order to watch them? The Doctor disabled his computer from being able to track Jack.
No point kneeing him where it hurts, then. Shame. She’d get a lot of satisfaction out of that. But if there’s no way out of this room, or no way she can find within a few seconds, there’s no point - it won’t help, and would more likely make things far worse.
Pity she never got Jack to show her how his teleport works. If - when - she gets out of here, that’s top of her list.
“Oh?” she replies, deliberately sounding bored.
“Oh, yes. See, I want that ex-partner of mine - the one who’s calling himself Jack Harkness these days - dead. Of course I could kill him myself. Easiest thing in the world, it would be. You’ve been making it so easy for me, all that wandering around you do. Could have killed him more than a dozen times in the last week alone. But that’d be no fun at all.” The bloke’s smile gets even more sadistic, and a chill starts to spread through Rose.
“No?” she prompts as he doesn’t continue. God. He could have killed Jack. Jack could have been lying dead days ago. Now she’s actually glad she’s standing here. Better that than Jack dead.
But Jack’s not his real name? Though she shouldn’t be surprised. He was a conman, after all. Why wouldn’t he use a fake name? It’s just strange that he hasn’t told them his real name now that he’s not conning any more.
“No. He wouldn’t suffer enough. A bullet, a sonic blast, even a knife through the heart - it’d all be over in seconds. Far too easy. Besides, the Time Agency takes a bit of a dim view of agents killing other agents - even ex-agents. Spoilsports.” His lip curls. “No, this is much better.” Hart trails a finger up her arm, and her skin crawls even through the layers she’s wearing. “I’ve sent your friend the Doctor a ransom demand, and I’m pretty sure he’ll pay. Which is very bad news for gorgeous Jack.”
“What’s the ransom?” She’s got a sick taste in her mouth now.
“Jack’s dead body. If your Time Lord boyfriend wants you back, he’ll have to kill Jack to make it happen.” Hart starts to laugh, and the sound echoes around her like a melodramatic black and white horror film. “Isn’t that the perfect revenge, yeah?”
***
The Doctor slams his hand down hard on the console, rage and fear coursing through him. The trace equations halt instantly at his command. No matter how sure he is that the TARDIS’s technology beats anything Hart might have at his disposal, he can’t risk it. After all, Hart’s already beaten his technology once: he found a way to track Jack after the Doctor explicitly disabled that ability.
“Did...” Jack’s voice is shaky, and the lad takes a breath before speaking again. “Did you manage to trace him?”
“You heard him,” he snaps. “You want to take that chance with Rose’s life?”
Jack actually flinches. He must have sounded fiercer than he intended. He inhales slowly, turning his gaze down onto the console again as he forces himself to calm, to start thinking and behaving rationally again.
Movement at his side makes him turn. Jack’s come closer, and he’s holding out his arm towards the Doctor. He glances down. Jack’s... oh, bloody hell, he’s actually offering him his blaster.
“You’ve got less than five minutes, Doctor,” Jack says, and the lad’s voice is amazingly steady. “Make it quick.”
What? He shakes his head in instant rejection, only for Jack to grab his hand and lay the gun in his palm, then attempt to close his fingers around it.
He hasn’t got time for this. Letting the blaster fall to the floor and ignoring the crash it makes against the grating, he grabs Jack by the shoulders, his fingers biting into the younger man’s flesh. “Don’t be in such a hurry to die, Jack Harkness. You’ll only piss me off. Well, more than I’m already pissed off, at any rate.”
“Doctor, there’s no choice!” Jack sounds frantic now. “If you want Rose alive-”
“There’s always a choice, lad.” It’s an effort to stay calm, to take the time to try to reassure the Captain, given his brain’s reminding him of the seconds as they tick away, just two hundred and twenty-six left to come up with a solution. “Want you both alive. That’s non-negotiable, whatever your friend says.”
“He’s not my friend,” Jack objects, stepping away from the Doctor’s grasp. “And if you’re sure, thank you.” He bends to pick up his blaster. “Just so you know, if we don’t have a solution when time runs out, I will use this.”
“No-” he starts to protest, but Jack overrides him.
“I will. I don’t know why I expected you to do it in the first place. I know you, Doctor. You think that’d make you as bad as him.” Jack shakes his head, then stares down at where his manipulator is connected to the console. “That’s what I hate most about the bastard. He should do his own damn dirty work.”
His own... The Doctor stares at Jack, and a slow smile curves across his face. “Captain, you’re a genius!”
***
“What?” Mouth open, she stares at Hart. “That’s sick! And ludicrous. If you knew the Doctor, you’d know he’ll never go for that.”
He wouldn’t. Would he? But she knows the Doctor, and she has a pretty good sense of how he feels about her. They’re close, very close, despite his continual jabs at her being human, an inferior species. She’s seen how he’s acted when she’s shown interest in other blokes, or seemed more interested in being with her mum than with him. Though, oddly, he’s not been as bad since Jack’s joined them.
He nearly lost it, though, when he thought she’d been killed by the Dalek. She heard all about that from Adam, as well as what she saw herself.
Is it possible that he might trade Jack’s life for hers?
No, she decides immediately. Not a chance. He’ll find another way. He always does.
“We’ll see,” Hart says, and it’s clear that he’s enjoying this. No wonder Jack hates the bloke so much.
“What’s happened to the Three Stooges?” she asks. Change the subject - keep him off-balance. That’s what the Doctor would do. Plus it’s gathering information. Those three were with him. If they’re still around, if they’re going to be around whenever this plays itself out, it’d be helpful if she knows.
“Them?” Hart looks contemptuous. “Hired help. Paid them to distract Tweedledum and Tweedledee while I snatched you.”
The implication being that they’re gone, out of the way - or so she hopes.
“Time for the final instructions.” Hart wraps an arm around her shoulders, tight enough that it hurts. “Stand there and shut up.”
With his free hand, he reaches up to his wrist and taps some buttons on his computer, then starts to speak.
“Hello again, Doctor. Having fun yet? Well, if my ex-partner isn’t already late and unlamented, it’s time you took care of that little detail, isn’t it?”
“No!” she shouts, straining against the arm holding her. “Doctor, don’t do i- ow!” Hart’s just pulled viciously on her hair, bringing tears of pain to her eyes.
“As you see,” he continues as if nothing happened, in a sickeningly amused voice, “your little friend is still very much alive. But she won’t be for long if you don’t do as I say.” The amusement vanishes, and suddenly Hart’s all business. “The Ragadashillian canyon, where your ship was before. Bring the body outside and shut the doors. The girl and I will see you there. Oh, and come unarmed. If I see so much as a hint of a weapon, Blondie here will die before you can even think about using it.” With his free hand, Hart waves. “See ya!”
Bastard! If there was any way she could stop him... but there’s nothing. She can’t communicate with the Doctor, not when she doesn’t know how that works either. So even if she did find a way to incapacitate Hart, the Doctor wouldn’t know.
The only thing she can do is let him take her to the meeting-point and hope that the Doctor’s got a trick up his sleeve - and that Jack’s not already dead.
Hart’s pressed more buttons on his wrist device, presumably stopping the transmission, and now he’s looking at her again. “Better hold on tight if you don’t want to lose your last meal.” God, she hates that grin of his. She’s going to wipe it off his face if it’s the last thing she does.
The teleport jump is every bit as bad as he hinted it’d be. But once she’s stopped seeing stars, a familiar sight is right there in front of her, about twenty feet away. The TARDIS.
There’s no sign of the Doctor or Jack. Although, on the positive side, there’s no sign of Hart’s three goons. If she could only get away, run inside... But Hart’s grip on her has tightened, and he’s now got a gun in his hand. She wouldn’t even get halfway to the TARDIS. The Doctor would come out to find her dead body on the ground.
She takes a deep breath. There’s no other choice than to trust the Doctor. And she does trust him. She’s always trusted him. It’s as simple as that.
“He’s got about ten seconds to show himself with Harkness’s dead body,” Hart says, and she can feel the barely-leashed impatience in him. If he wasn’t holding her, he’d be pacing.
“Told you he wouldn’t do it,” she says, and even as she’s seized with terror part of her’s glad. Jack shouldn’t have to die to save her. She’s not worth it. And the Doctor would never forgive himself if...
He’ll never forgive himself if she dies, either. She knows that only too well.
So he’s going to have a plan. Of course he will. He’ll save both of them, her and Jack...
The TARDIS door starts to open.
***
to be concluded in chapter 3, Paso Doble.