Hello, brilliant readers! I've got a lot to share this time around, so I'm going to take up two author notes today!

I've had several brilliant people offer not only their friendship, but their skills to help out this story. ForverAwesomer has created a playlist I've been dilligently listening to while writing. This chapter has definitely been inspired by Daughtry's Feels Like Tonight and Weezer's Island In the Sun! She had been amazing working with me, creating playlists not only based on my interests, but also on what fits the story. Thank you so much! :)

Another completely awesome person is DoctorWhoHehe-an artist with some serious talent! She has offered to draw pictures to go with this story, which totally floored me! I didn't know this story would have such loyal (and talented!) followers! I'll announce when her drawings are finished on here, but in the meantime, take some time to explore her tumblr blog: theartofdoctorwho. To visit her art, follow the link: theartofdoctorwho./ tagged/ myart (Remove the spaces!)

Enjoy Chapter 12!

Chapter 12

"Time travel without a capsule; that's a killer." Jack barely heard the Doctor's complaint over the ringing in his ears. Oh, his neck was stiff and his legs were weak. And this was only jumping through time; Rose Tyler had managed to jump through dimensions—no wonder she was in physical pain afterwards.

As the blonde flashed through his mind, Jack looked up towards the still-ignorant Time Lord. Cracking his neck, Jack moved to follow the Doctor, needing to know when they were. Ninety percent chance they were on Earth—not Cardiff, though—which would mean being close to Rose. What Jack needed to know was how long he had left Rose for and how much time they had until this Master would start causing them horrible trouble.

"Still, Earth, 21st century, Doctor? How long have I been gone?"

"Jack, I can't even tell you what day we found you. I don't know how long you've been gone."

Jack took a moment to glare at the Doctor's back. This was how it was going to be. Over the time spent at the end of the universe, Jack thought they had reached an understanding. Apparently he had been mistaken. The Doctor was going to run off like he normally did, be the brains of the operation.

Screw it, Jack thought as he reached for the Doctor's arm, pulling him to a stop. We got along for the last twenty-four hours and we're going to fight through this together.

"Doctor, I have people who were relying on me in Cardiff. People who can help." More specifically, a woman you love. "In order for me to get in contact with them, I need to know how long I've been gone. Please."

The Doctor let out a sigh. "I locked the TARDIS. She can only travel between the end of the universe and here. This is the time and place the Master is. That's the only reason why we're here, Jack. Beyond that, I won't be much help. Besides, I doubt anyone in Cardiff could really help us anyway."

"You said my vortex manipulator was useless, too."

"It's after the election," Martha piped up from behind them, obviously trying to break up what could turn into an argument. "If that helps you at all, Jack."

"It does. Thank you, Martha." Jack kissed her forehead before running towards the nearest payphone on the street. Behind him, Martha was asking the Doctor logical questions—who was the Master, how could his voice have changed at the end, insisting she had heard that voice before.

All Jack could think about was Rose and his team. He practically fed her to the sharks, leaving her in Cardiff while his team didn't trust her. Owen was probably willing to throw her out; Gwen was probably interesting in how Rose knew Jack. Either way, she was probably subject to some form of an interrogation.

He shoved coins into the machine frantically, pushing the numbers to reach the tourist office in the Hub. Ianto would answer; Ianto would know where Rose was; Jack would be able to get her and the team safe before the Master was able to cause trouble…

"Hello? Cardiff tourist office." To Jack's confusion and relief, Rose answered the phone with far less than a standard greeting.

"Rosie!" Jack could barely keep himself from shouting. The Doctor didn't know, the Doctor can't know. "Are you safe? Where's the team?"

"Captain Jack Bloody Harkness." Jack visibly winced at the venom in Rose's voice. "You have got some serious explaining to do."

"I know, I know. We've had a bit of a problem here... Turns out the TARDIS doesn't like me."

"Why couldn't you come right back? He's got a time machine, Jack. You could be back at the very instant you left. I wouldn't have sat through the last 48 hours with your team, watching the Rift go insane, knowing they don't trust me. Damn it, Jack, the only reason they're letting me stay here is because they're too worried about the rift. We need your help. Get back in the TARDIS—I'm not in the mood to hear she doesn't like you—and get to Cardiff."

"I haven't told him yet, Rosie. I haven't told him you're in Cardiff. Does it seem stupid? Nothing was wrong at first; I thought we would come back and find you. I wanted you to tell him. I've gone sentimental, haven't I?"

Rose had sucked in a deep breath, but hadn't said anything else. One, two, three seconds ticked by as Jack waited for an answer.

"I said I knew that voice! That's Harold Saxon!" When Martha spoke, Jack turned away from the phone, looking towards the Doctor and Martha, leaving Rose's response unheard.

"The Master is Prime Minister of England." Jack stomach dropped as the Doctor spoke. Harold Saxon: of course Jack knew him. Hell, Jack had spoken with him on multiple occasions when he was with the Department of Defense.

"...What this country needs... Is a Doctor."

The Master, Harold Saxon, the Prime Minister of England. He had full access to everything now: nuclear codes, the military, Torchwood. Jack's team was in danger. Rose was a sitting duck. For all Jack knew, the Master had been researching weaknesses of the Hub for months, years, waiting for this exact moment. He knew Jack was with the Doctor, of course, and would hit Jack where it hurt the most.

And that would be the team he had built up. The girl who had made him immortal.

Oh, hurting Rose Tyler would be the key to destroying both Jack and the Doctor.

In a rush, Jack turned back to the phone. "Rose, I need you out of the Hub, now. I need you armed and I need you running. Don't take the van. Get out of the city. Get away from security cameras. If anyone says they're from the government, do not trust them."

"Jack, what's going on? I don't understand."

Harold Saxon's—the Master's—smile was still on the screen across the plaza. It was easy-going, taunting. He knew where Jack was stuck, and he liked it.

"Rosie, I don't understand either. I'll try and find you as soon as I can. Just run, Rose. Run!" Jack hung up then, not letting her protest anymore. There was only so much he could do when he wasn't sure what tricks, what obstacles the Master would put in front of them. With his head in his hand, Jack let out a huge sigh. When he looked up again, the Doctor was standing only a few feet away, his face angry again. Quickly replaying the conversation in his head, Jack realized his mistake.

Rosie... just run, Rose.

There was only one Rose the Doctor knew of; only one Rose he cared for. Only one face that name made him think of.

"Rose?" The Doctors voice was short, clearly not in the mood for joking around. "Rose Tyler?"

Martha wandered over in time to see Jack nod, the serious faces the pair wore warning enough to keep her silent. In a small, guilty voice, Jack answered, "She's in Cardiff. I'm making sure she's safe."

For one quick second, the Doctor's face broke. His eyes actually looked like they had seen 900 years; his face showed silent pain, suppressed over these many months. But then the mask was back again, emotions saved for later.

"The only way to do that is to stop the Master. Martha, is your flat around here?" With that, they moved on. For now, at least. The Doctors expression told Jack this conversation wasn't done. Not at all.

"Just run, Rose. Run!" Rose looked around the tourist shop as the line went dead.

Run? Run where? She didn't have connections in this world. All she had was that small knapsack she brought from the other dimension. And the team—what did Jack expect Rose to tell the members of Torchwood Three? Surely, surely if she was in danger, they were too. Jack would want them saved.

To hell with what Jack wants, Rose realized. She wanted them saved. She had failed at keeping Tosh, Ianto and Owen safe once; she wasn't repeating that. Even Gwen Cooper, the ever curious Gwen, Rose was determined to save. One problem still: the team barely trusted her. After 24 hours of intense rift activity—what was causing the rift to go insane, anyway?—the team trusted her not to blow up the Hub, at least. She was allowed to organize aliens and humans out of their proper time, but she wasn't allowed to go out with them.

It was, quite frankly, driving her insane.

But Jack's message was more urgent than her petty complaints. Rose had never heard Jack that desperate. Not even when he had gone off to die, fighting for her survival, had he sounded that desperate.

Actually, in comparison, Jack had sounded completely calm when he kissed her goodbye.

"Rose, you're worth fighting for."

Rose jumped out of her chair, the final pieces clicking together. That was it! Before, Jack had a task to complete, even if it was almost hopeless. The Doctor had a plan; Jack had a mission. Put those together and you've got a confident Jack.

But taking those away—the advantages of a plan, of superior technology—left Jack desperate, frantic. Jack didn't have hope; that's why he had told rose to run, not fight.

Gritting her teeth together, Rose picked up the phone again, calling Ianto's number. She needed the team back here, now. If Jack didn't have a plan, then they needed to come up with one, and pronto. When Rose was 19, still traveling with her first Doctor, barely scratching the surface of all the bad things the universe had in store for her, she was worth fighting for. All these years late, Rose was determined to prove she was worthy to fight—that Jack and the Doctor were worth fighting for. She wasn't a damsel in distress anymore.

"Rose? Any word from Jack?" Ianto answered the phone, small sounds of small talk filtering in behind him. They must have been in the van.

"I just heard from him. Ianto, he needs help. He was frantic, telling me to run and hide. Can you guys come back here? I think we need a plan, but then we need to be out of here, pronto."

"We're about fifteen minutes away from the Hub. Stay there until we get back." In the background, Rose could hear Ianto telling Gwen to head back to the Hub. When she agreed, the line went dead without a goodbye.

Rose tried to decipher Jack's warning to her. She wasn't sure if he was thinking clearly enough to give her a code—could someone have been listening to their conversation?—but she stopped to think about each of his instructions. They seemed basic at the time, but when Rose thought about it, there was an underlying theme. Whatever she was in danger from, it was someone who had connections.

Don't take the van. Don't take anything Torchwood could track.

Get away from security cameras. Don't leave evidence on CCTV.

If anyone says they're from the government, do not trust them. Someone in the government was causing trouble for the Doctor and the Captain.

Rose thought back to Canary Wharf—the first time she had set foot in Torchwood. They hadn't been friendly to the Doctor. He had been considered an enemy, something alien to be taken and studied. Torchwood had been dangerous, hadn't used its alien tech for good. All Rose had to do was think of Christmas day, of the Sycorax ship blown to pieces above her head. And that Harriet Jones had given the orders to blow it up. She wasn't in power anymore, though. A new man, someone who didn't exist in Pete's World, had become Prime Minister just today—a Harold Saxon. Another win by a land slide majority.

Was this a new government with a xenophobic attitude? Malicious, perhaps? Intending to take all of Torchwood's saved technology and use it against the rest of the world, the rest of the universe?

No, Rose shook her head. Jack would have asked her to blow up the Hub if the tech had proved too dangerous for the human government to have. Instead, he asked to get out. That pointed towards xenophobic, not malicious.

By the time the Torchwood van was pulling up, Rose hadn't decided on anything. No hypothesis she made could be properly tested. She didn't have enough facts. Only one thing to do, she decided: she was going to follow Jack's orders.

Owen was the first member of the team to burst through the door. "Alright, Tyler. What the hell do you mean, we need to run? In case you've forgotten, you're at Torchwood. Even in the event of an alien invasion—when everyone else would be running and hiding—we would be standing our ground, preparing to fight."

Rose stood up, leaning across the table, putting her face close to his. "I know exactly what you do, Owen Harper. I've worked this job for longer than you have. One thing I seem to know better than you, however, is following orders. I don't know why, and I don't know how he expects us to go completely off grid, but Jack Harkness gave me orders to get out of Cardiff. So that is what we're doing. Understood?"

Owen practically barred his teeth, his responding look was so violent, but Tosh answered before he could speak. "What are we going to need?"

Calming her expression, Rose shared the mental list she had been working on. "Jack wants us armed. We're going to need someone's car, something other than the Torchwood van. Tosh, whatever computers you can bring that no one else would have access too. Owen, bring a small amount of medical supplies. Anything else you feel you'll need for the next few days, until we hear from Jack again. Bring nothing that could be traced by the government. According to Jack, trust no one. Not even if the Prime Minister were to come calling. Understand?"

Somehow understanding the urgency in her voice, the team took her law as word and rushed into the Hub.

I'm following orders, Jack. I promise. Just keep yourself and the Doctor safe.

I told you I've got a lot to say today, so here's author's note number two! I've recently started a tumblr blog dedicated specifically to my FanFiction account. If you enjoy my stories, want to see amazing art posted by DoctorWhoHehe on tumblr, are looking for possible spoilers for my stories, want writing tips in general, or maybe just like rants, then check out my new blog! Visit tumblr/blog/writeforeverforlife to check it out!

Number two: this story is so close to 100 reviews! I can't wait to hit such a big benchmark! I'm being desperate here (and losing self respect, if I'm going to be honest), and I'm going to promise a spoiler, a little clip of the next chapter to anyone who reviews! Please help me reach my goal! :)