Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust
CHAPTER SIX
Jack heard the safety of the gun behind him, and he could feel goosebumps all up and down his neck. Without turning around, he put his hands in the air.
"Don't like guests of mine betrayin' me. There's a special place in hell for fellas who do that kind of thing."
"Before you shoot me, I just wanted to point out I can't die. And second of all, I don't think I know what you're talking about."
"Now, see, people are always shocked when I reveal that I've read poems and stories and things like that, but I'm pretty well versed in the old fairy tales. I gotta say, River walkin' around, calling you the Big Bad Wolf, gets me a little uneasy. And since you've been here there's been nothin' but trouble. I've been able to keep a low profile up until you got on this ship."
"Can I turn around?" Jack asked, because it seemed like the logical thing to do.
There was a pause. "Maybe. What do you want from us?"
"I want to explain. And it's not going to be easy, so I need you to listen."
He'd been on a mission for the last few years to find out what had happened to him, and in the places he'd been confused, the Doctor had filled him in. Jack felt like he knew enough about his own story to tell Mal, but wasn't sure if he'd listen. Or believe him.
"I'm not the bad wolf," he said. "I travelled with this girl for awhile. We had a mutual acquaintance in a man called the Doctor." As Jack told his story, Mal stared back at him skeptically. He never lowered his gun, which Jack had hoped that he would.
"And how am I supposed to believe you?"
"Well, you don't have to believe anything you don't want. Shoot me now, if that'll make you happy. But I can't die, so unless you dispose of me in some really grotesque manner, I'll still be here in the morning."
Mal's eyes narrowed and he frowned, as if contemplating what to do with this new piece of information. After what seemed like forever, he finally lowered his weapon. "Fine," he growled. "But you're getting off on the next planet. And I'm not kiddin' this time."
Just then, River walked in. First, she stared at Jack, then at Mal. "There's a girl in the box. I told Martha to let her out, but she didn't know how."
They both just stared at her.
Jack met his own crew privately later that day. "Okay, this is what we know. Bad Wolf is everywhere. It's like when I used to travel with Rose. You'd see it in the strangest places. And it's coming back, which is strange."
"Yeah, I remember that," Mickey said. "It'd follow her wherever she went. She didn't talk too much about it because I think she was scared of it, but I do remember seeing it."
"Well, now it's following us everywhere," Jack said. "And there's no Rose. So we need to find out why this thing isn't gone." He wasn't sure he wanted to know. The bad wolf had pretty much ruined his life the first time. "Do you think the Doctor might know?"
"He wasn't much use the first time," Martha said. "I called him before and he had no answers. It was almost like he was distracted. Kept talking about his TARDIS and everything. He still hasn't got back to me on the silver box."
"That's odd. Well, you keep trying. Mickey, have you found out anything else about the box?"
"No. Every time I do, it just gets hot but doesn't do anything else. I've tried opening it with a hot pad, and there's no energy coming from the outside world at all. And we haven't moved through time yet. I don't know what I'm doing differently from what you did."
"Gwen, can you hand me the box?" It was lying on a table a few feet away from where they were sitting.
She didn't give it to him right away. Instead, she let it rest in her palm. "Did you say it got hot whenever you touch it?"
"Yeah. Is it warm for you at all?" Mickey asked.
"No. How long does it usually take?"
"Not long. Pretty much right away."
"Nothing is happening." She passed the box to Jack.
Within a few moments, the box began to get warm again.
"Why is it like that for some people but not for others?" Ianto asked. "Here, let me try." Jack passed the box to him, and Ianto let it rest on the palm of his hand, the way Gwen did. "Nothing. Feels like a normal box for me."
"Can I try?" Martha asked.
"Are we going to do this all day?" Ianto asked. "Shouldn't we just try and figure out what's different from before? And who knows, maybe this box just looks identical to the one back in Cardiff, but doesn't have the same power."
"Can't be," Martha and Jack said at the same time.
"Talitia told me it was the same box," Jack said. "It's like we're missing a piece to the puzzle."
"And a fortune teller told me the answer lies in this box."
"Don't tell me you believe in that stuff," Gwen said.
"I told her to check it out," Jack responded.
"And it's the best lead we've got," Martha said. "We've had two people tell us anything about the box, and one of them happened to be a fortune teller. I'm not going to discard any of our sources yet."
Later that night, Martha called the Doctor once more. "Listen. Have you figured out anything about the box yet?"
"To be honest, I haven't really had the time. I'm still stuck here in the 18th century, Martha. It's mental. I've made good friends with Benjamin Franklin and I'm afraid if I'm stuck here long enough I'll be stuck watching the first continental congress in Philadelphia. And I've already seen all of that! They're not that interesting, they keep arguing about how hot is this this time of year. Remember when we first met and I'd mentioned I'd watched electricity being invented? I'm stuck in a time period I've already been to."
"So the TARDIS is still broken?"
"It really is. I'm usually quite good at fixing her, but she's totally being stubborn at the moment."
"Gosh. Sorry to hear that."
"Is that all you called me for?" He sounded impatient, distracted.
"No," Martha said, rolling her eyes. "We keep hearing the bad wolf everywhere. Jack and Mickey said it's like when Rose used to travel with you. It's on walls, in whispers. There's this girl here who repeats the story of the bad wolf all of the time. And everyone takes what she says seriously. She reads people, Doctor. It's unnerving."
"Bad wolf, huh?" His voice sounded distant. "Oh, that's really not good. Not good at all, if that's repeating itself everywhere."
"River, that girl I was telling you about, said that there was a girl stuck in the box. Is that referring to Rose?"
"No. She's in a different world now." His voice was flat, and Martha heard none of his usual enthusiasm. "It can't be her."
"What does it all mean, though?"
"I don't think that'd be in reference to Rose at all. By the unification she'd be long gone, dead, a memory. She didn't travel with you or anything, so there's no way the future could know anything about her. They do, however, know about you and Jack. UNIT has been keeping close watch on Jack for awhile, trying to figure out why he can't die. So they're well versed in Torchwood and the people who have contact with him every day. That's how they know all about you. And I think, unless you all do something to stop it, they're close to their answer about Jack."
"But how do we stop it?"
"Tell me. What happens when you touch that box?"
"Well, it's different for everyone. For Jack and Mickey it gets real hot, but with Gwen and Ianto it stays the same."
"No, Martha. I asked what happened when you touch that box."
She had to think for a moment. It had been awhile since Martha had touched the box. "I don't know. I haven't touched it since before this place."
"Am I right in deducing then, that you were the last person to have touched the box before you were sent into the future?"
Martha thought carefully about what had transpired on that morning. So much had happened since then, she could barely remember. She went through the entire morning in her mind - the spring cleaning, the box smoking, Jack complaining that it was hot to the touch. So she'd touched the lid and the alarms had gone off. "Yes," she realized. "But how did you know that?"
"Remember when we saved your planet from Davros last year? There was all this energy in the atmosphere. Rose, you, Sarah Jane, Jack, Donna, Mickey, everyone was together. You were all enthusiastic and wanted to save the earth, and I believe some of the power of the TARDIS was unleashed that night. That's the power of the bad wolf, Martha. That's all that means. You all received some of that energy. The reason why Gwen and Ianto don't get any of it is because they've never been on the TARDIS. And you've been on the longest, so most of the power is in you. The box is somehow responding to that power."
Martha's heart pounded. It was awe-inspiring, to know that much power was inside of her. She felt overwhelmed by what the Doctor had just told her. It was just too much. She just didn't know what all of it meant yet. "Am I going to be able to control all of this power?" she asked quietly.
"Oh, heavens, yes," the Doctor said cheerfully. "You've just got to use the box. You shouldn't do anything dangerous like make Jack stay alive for a thousand extra years or anything like that. You're absolutely fine. I bet if you open the box, you'll be home in a moment. And you do need to be the one who opens the box. I don't know if I clarified that for you yet."
"All right." She frowned. It seemed all too easy. So all she needed to do was open a box? Sounded easy enough.
"I wouldn't do it as long as you're still on the space ship," he said. "It can get messy if you're in space and you try to travel through time and you don't really know what you're doing. So wait till you land next, and you can certainly open the box and get home. And do hurry. This is wreaking havoc on my TARDIS."
Martha shut the mobile and went to go find Jack. This was going to make their lives so much easier.
"So you're tellin' me all you got to do is open a box and you'll get home?" Mal said skeptically. "Seems awful simple to me." Martha sat on the other side of the canteen with him. Jack had decided that what the Doctor had said was so complex it'd be much easier to let her explain it, in case he messed anything up.
"That's it in a nutshell. So, just wherever you're going, we'll take the box with us and all will be well with the world." She smiled. "We'll be home before you know it." She'd left out the part about the bad wolf and the power of the TARDIS. Somehow, Martha didn't think he'd believe her if she told him.
"You sure? It seems way too easy," he repeated, leaning back into his chair. "I like a good plan as well as the next person, but even the best laid plans don't always work out."
"I've known the Doctor for quite awhile," Martha said. "I trust him and he knows what he's doing."
"Well, that's good. At least someone knows what they're doing." He didn't seem angry, though. More than anything, he seemed amused. "Really? All we gotta do is open a box? That seems really strange to me."
"Strange to me, too! It seems like it's far too easy!"
"You know," he said thoughtfully. "It's been real strange havin' you all on board, but I think I kind of like the company. Sometimes it's good to get away from the routine, you know?"
"I think so, too," Martha said. "Every so often. Which is why I can't be too annoyed that we've been on this ship for so long." She smiled. "It's really been fun, although I'm looking forward to going back to Cardiff. I like sleeping in my own bed."
"You miss anyone back at home?" he asked.
"Well, I do miss my family. Sometimes."
"That's good," he said awkwardly. It seemed as if he didn't want to go into too much of a life story with Martha. He stood then, rubbed the back of his neck, and said, "Well, guess I'll see you all in the mornin'. We should be landin' tomorrow afternoon sometime."
Martha sat alone in the canteen for a long while before returning to her quarters on the ship.
The morning came far too early for Martha's liking. She'd been up late that night, going over everything the Doctor had said to her before. So, the power of the TARDIS was inside of her now, huh? She kind of liked the sound of that. It also scared her. Even though the Doctor had said there was nothing to be worried about, she knew full well what the power of the TARDIS could do. And maybe if she opened the box and regulated the power inside of the box, the Doctor could fix his TARDIS. It was something she'd only just considered.
After a few minutes, she began to have doubts. As Mal had said, it did seem far too easy. It seemed as if far too much could go wrong. Martha shook her head. Think positive, she told herself. You'll be fine. You just have to open a box.
She rolled out of bed and brushed her hair quickly. Then she walked up the ladder leading to the main quarters of the ship. They were going to go home today. It was as if a weight had been liftesd from her shoulders. It felt good.
Kaylee was the first person Martha saw. "Hey. Heard you guys are goin' home today. That's great! I'll miss you guys, though. It's always so shiny havin' people on board."
Martha smiled back. Kaylee's energy and enthusiasm was contagious. It was like once you saw her, you couldn't help but be in a good mood. "I'll miss being on Serenity," Martha said. "It's been quite an adventure."
"I bet you lead such a glamorous life back on Earth," she said. "We're probably not nearly as exciting as bein' in Torchwood, seein' aliens and stuff up close!"
"Well, actually, when we left we were spring cleaning. Not fun at all!"
Kaylee giggled. "Well, I think a few of us we could afford to do that once in awhile. Hey, a few of us are havin' breakfast in the canteen. Want to join?"
"Yeah!" Martha said enthusiastically. She was starving by now. When she followed Kaylee into the canteen, Mal, Zoe, Jack, and Simon were sitting around laughing and talking. She could tell this was a usual tradition; the crew sitting back and enjoying each other as friends. It was strange, all the things you observed about people when you weren't panicking that you'd never get home again.
"How are you this morning?" Jack said cheerfully, raising his mug in toast to Martha. "See? This little girl is so smart, she's getting us off this time zone and back home!"
"It's impressive to me, at any rate," Kaylee said, slipping into a chair next to Simon and resting her head on his shoulder. "Don't think I would have thought of that." Slowly, he put a tentative arm around her shoulders and they sat there together, looking content.
The mood was definitely more jovial than it had been in awhile. The crew of Serenity was no doubt happy to have the ship to themselves again, and Jack's crew was more than happy that they would be going home.
"So who exactly is this Doctor guy?" Mal said, taking a large swig out of whatever he was drinking.
Martha and Jack exchanged a look. How did you describe the Doctor to someone who had never heard of him? Somehow, Mal struck them as the type of person who would just laugh if they said he was a time travelling alien who kept saving earth from destruction from evil aliens.
"He's a... really good scientist," Martha said finally. "He travels through time a bit. Knows a thing or two about, well, everything, actually."
"Interesting man. Think I'd like to meet him someday." "And how much beer have you had?" Zoe asked, deadpanned.
Mal paused for a moment, thinking. "Two."
"You know it's breakfast, right?" She smiled slowly and then looked down at her food as if she was thinking about something else.
Mal glanced at her, but she didn't notice.