This takes place during Season 3 Episode 9 of Primeval, contains spoilers up unto. AU Season 4 of Doctor Who. Implied Journey's End Fix-it, references to Torchwood and Sherlock.

Instead of finding Eve, Christine Johnson's men bring an irascible red-headed time-traveler back to base, only to realize they've bitten off a bit more than they can chew.

There are loads of references to 'Noodle Incidents' where the Doctor or members of Torchwood met the ARC at varying points in their timelines. I don't know how the ARC knows the Doctor: I'm sure there's quite a story there, and I might even write it down someday. In the meantime, I'm going to assume he figured out about these portals in time and met the team when it was first beginning. And, because of ripple-effect proof memory, probably remembers Claudia Brown somehow. If timelines don't make sense, relax and just go with it, 'cause I don't really know either.

Characters: Danny Quinn, James Lester, the Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble, the rest of the ARC team and Christine Johnson

Pairings: Mild Conby

Warnings: Mild language, mutant monsters and flagrant abuse of the Timey-Wimey Detector.

Disclaimers: Doctor Who doesn't belong to me. If it did, it would look something along the lines of my Second Star 'verse. Primeval doesn't belong to me either, and if it did the scriptwriting for Series Five wouldn't suck. Seriously, I love these characters to pieces but the writing was terrible. *Sigh* I miss the old gang...

"This is it," Connor murmured. There was a rumbling outside the devastated bus, and the future predators turned towards the source of the noise. He pulled his head up. "What's going on?" Danny poked his head out the door. The Mega-Opterons had swarmed out of the bombed cellar and the two sets of creatures set upon each other.

"It's the fire. It's smoking them out. It'll keep 'em busy. We've got a chance, but we've got to go now."

"Okay, go!" Abby cried, as Danny leaped from the bus and she hauled Connor and Jack behind her.

"Don't stop til you get to the anomaly. Whatever happens, don't stop!" The four of them darted alongside the buildings, halting when a Mega-Opteron landed in front of them, only to be heaved aside by a Future Predator. Movements along the buildings caught Danny's eye, and he glanced back. Was that one of Christine Johnson's men? It was, it was Captain Wilder, leading a red-haired woman by the arm between some ruined pylons. In spite of the destruction and mayhem, the woman seemed preoccupied with verbally abusing the military man. Above the clash of the battle, he heard indistinct yells, and spotted a figure in a long coat on the roof of a building, shouting, watching Wilder's men lead the woman away.

"Danny!" Connor yelled. He turned and raced to catch up with the team.

Becker was alive; Sarah got the anomaly opened for them in time. Abby had rescued her little brother, and Danny watched them walk off together with a pang of pride and regret, wishing things had been the same for him and Patrick. And, it seemed, she and Connor had finally stopped dancing around each other. Now it was with both pride and amusement that he watched them kissing on the stairwell before he called the team home. He needed to have a chat with Lester.

"It was definitely Captain Wilder."

"And you didn't recognize the girl?"

"No."

"No other signs of humanity?"

"No. Well..." Lester gave Danny 'the look.' "I could have been mistaken. But I thought I saw someone on a roof, wearing a long coat. Couldn't see anything more."

"Well, I think it's safe to say that Christine Johnson has a hand in this. There was an anomaly alert a few months ago at her headquarters. She said it was nothing, false alarm."

"You think she's got access to an anomaly?"

"And some sort of cloaking device, which is why we're not picking it up." Lester stared out of his office, gazing across the ARC. "What is she up to?"

"I don't know, but I'll find out."

"No, no. I need to handle this through official channels." A bitter smile twitched across Danny's features before he could stop himself. Lester looked up from his desk.

"I mean it, Danny, no freelancing."

"Alright, point taken. Now, I've got to-" Danny waved his hands a bit, being generally caked in dirt and blood.

"Yeah, you're got a little something..." Lester said straight-faced, gesturing to the jagged gashes on his collar.

"Yep. Thanks." He passed Connor as he moved past the ADD and threw the tech a sly wink, muttering "It's about time." Connor went red beneath the dirt, but a dimpled grin spread on his face and he looked all too pleased with himself.

"Where are you?"

"You checking up on me?"

"You're late"

"Sorry sir. Stuck in traffic."

"Oh, really." Danny shifted in his place in the bushes, training his binoculars on Captain Wilder with one hand, cell phone and undisguised sarcasm, (courtesy of Lester) in the other.

"So. What can I do for you?"

"I'm meeting the minister this afternoon."

"Might be too late."

"Johnson's military, we can't just go storming in there without clearance-"

"Yes, sir, I'm very well aware of that." There they went now: Johnson, a guard, and the unknown woman, who wasn't saying anything but was quite clearly giving Johnson the evil eye.

"-Based on a hunch that she's got a massive anomaly and a mysterious woman from the future tucked away somewhere." Lester continued. An armored truck trundled up the drive and Danny saw his opportune moment.

"Okay sir. You're the boss."

"You're in a very understanding mood today, Quinn."

"The lights have changed. I gotta run."

"Quinn!"

"Sorry, sir, you're breaking up."

"Don't do anything I'll regret." What followed was a short trip clinging to the underbelly of the armored truck, an opportune door, a text from Connor, (he'd be late for an anomaly alert, hopefully the team could keep it in hand for a while) and some fiddling with an even more opportune ventilation shaft. So reliable, ventilation shafts; the downfall of every villain, except the ones that got smart in time. And for the moment, his opposition was busy with interrogations, which didn't seem to be going in their favor.

Johnson held a rectangular gadget and circled the red-haired woman, who sat with her arms folded and a very Lester-ish expression of undisguised disdain.

"My officers tell me when they found you you tried to run. Why?"

"It's a habit."

"I'm sorry?"

"Running. I usually end up running for my life on any given day. Especially from people with guns. Not going to bloody well run towards people who have guns."

"Who are you and who are you working for?"

The other woman sniffed. "Best temp in Chiswick."

"Chiswick? How did you end up where we found you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Through an anomaly?"

"A what?" Johnson leaned over the table.

"Let me explain something to you; you're not leaving here until I get some answers, so unless you really like it here, I suggest you start talking."

"What if I haven't got the answers? Your-' she gestured to the guard, 'pet gorillas interrupted me while I was poking about looking for the answers myself. So now we're both stuck here because I don't know!"

"So you're not from there in the first place, are you." The irascible woman rolled her eyes.

"What part of Chiswick did you miss out on?" Johnson glowered at her. She set the rectangular device on the table.

"Tell me what this is."

"It's a time..."

"Yes?"

"It's a timey-wimey detector. Patent pending. It detects temporal fluctuations, vortex residue, and those shiny broken mirror things. Then it goes ding." Johnson scowled. Behind the vents, Danny fought to keep from snickering.

"What do you know about anomalies? Is that how you got through?"

"Oh, is that what you call anomalies? Mm, catchier than shiny broken mirror thing. Catchier than 'temporal fluctuation,' too. We found one with the 'timey-wimey detector.'"

"We? Are you working with someone? A partner, a team? Do they know about the anomalies? How they work, how to find them?" Johnson sensed a victory, but her prisoner didn't bat an eyelid.

"Don't even bother. For your own sake, honestly, don't try to find him, he won't like you, you're military. If he found out I was here, you'd earn yourself a hell of a lecture. And he'd probably break something. If you're lucky. If you're not... bad things happen. Might mistake you for a Racnoss, and god knows that didn't end well." She paused. "Not much for subtlety, he is."

Johnson raised an eyebrow. "Is he affiliated with the Anomaly Research Center?" Danny pressed his ear to the vent. The woman chuckled.

"I like the way you automatically associate lack of subtlety. He's not affiliated with anybody 'cept himself. Well, there is that really gorgeous bloke who runs Torchwood, old friend of his, but... hang on."

"Yes?"

"The Anomaly Research Center. Is that the ARC?"

"What do you know about the ARC?" Johnson said sharply. The woman waved her hand dismissively.

"He says he's been there before. Ranted a bit about a Claudia Brown, aborted timelines, Becker's first name, and four things and a lizard named Rex, and I sort of tuned him out." The room went silent as Captain Wilder stepped in and handed Johnson some folders. A few seconds later, the closet door burst open and Danny realized his hiding spot had been compromised. He picked up the ventilation grate.

"Catch!"

Johnson looked up sharply as there was a series of thumps and a yell of 'Intruder!'

"Take her back to her room," she ordered the guard. The red-haired woman slid the device off of the table and into her pocket. Pockets, she thought, smiling slightly to herself.

Danny slipped behind the door in the bare room where they'd held the woman. He dug through the bag on the table and pulled out a silver tube with a blue light on the end. He frowned and pocketed it, ducking back behind the door as guard and prisoner entered. He whistled sharply and knocked the guard to the floor with a few punches. The woman knocked him unconscious with a swift kick to the side of the head.

"Nice move."

"'Bout time,Time Lor..." She cut herself off immediately. "Or not. Who are you, then?"

"Doesn't matter. Who's your friend, why the ARC?"

"What is this, good cop bad cop routine?" she said acidly. "It's all cock-eyed, and I'm not playing." Danny held his palms up defensively.

"I'm not with them."

"Oh, that's a load off," she said sarcastically. "Listen, James Bond, you can either get me out of here and help me find my friend, or I'm staying here and sonicking out while you're busy causing a distraction, but I'm not answering any more stupid questions -" Danny held a finger up to cut off her diatribe. The hall thundered with footsteps from the soldiers.

"Alright, come on then, before they lock this place down."

As they peeled away from Johnson's headquarters, Danny's new passenger looked as though she was about to give him grief, but then she visibly swallowed her words and rolled her eyes.
Danny cracked a grin.

"What?"

"What is it with you hero types and driving like maniacs?"

"You should've seen the time I crashed a helicopter in the early Cretaceous."

"Oh yeah, make it sound like you did it deliberately."

"I did crash it deliberately. I was leading a Giganotosaurus back home before it ate anyone else."

She snorted. "Fighting dinosaurs. So you are with the ARC, then? 'Cause you do seem to have the Doctor's subtlety policy." He glanced at her sharply, all traces of bravado gone. "What? You brought them up, not UNIT or Torchwood or something. I'm assuming you're protecting them." She scowled for a moment and gripped the armrest as the SUV screamed around a corner.

"There are only two people who remember who Claudia Brown was," Danny said after a few moments.

"You were listening. Ventilation?"

He ignored this. "One of them was the former team leader of the Anomaly Research Center. He's dead. The other one killed him, and blew up the ARC building. I'm the current team leader. I want to know who you are, who is your friend, and what do you want with the ARC?"

The woman's face softened almost imperceptibly. "My name is Donna Noble. I travel through space and time with a man called the Doctor."

"Travel through space and time... doing what?"

"Just... travelling. Seeing what's out there. Fought aliens in the heart of Vesuvius, seen the 42nd century, helped defeat the Sontar - Son-tahr-ans, saved Agatha Christie from a humongous morphic wasp..."

"Morphic wasp? Is that like a Mega-Opteron?"

"A what?"

"The big mantis things on the other side of the anomaly."

"Nope. More waspish. Also a vicar. Sort of." They careened around another corner and pulled up sharply at a red light. Donna rolled her eyes. "Alright, now you're just showing off. Look, I've told you my name, now it's your turn."

He smiled again. "Danny Quinn. Ex-copper. I was made team leader of the ARC, for services rendered. Giganotosaurus, and what might have been the fungus apocalypse."

"The fungus apocalypse?"

"Long story. That and the boss didn't want one of Johnson's military blokes to be made the new leader and give her an in."

"Alright then, Danny Quinn, you might as well know that when it comes to driving like a madman you've still got nothing on the Doctor and the TARDIS, so don't bother."

"The TARDIS?"

"It's his spaceship. Little blue box. Well, it's bigger on the inside."

"And the Doctor, he's human?"

"Nah, well... he's an alien who looks like a skinny bloke in a suit."

"I may have seen him, on the other side of the anomaly where you were found."

"We were poking around there, weren't we ? Well, the detector was going ding a whole lot and he said the readings were off... this isn't really a detector, he still has it, we actually found this over there. But he said something about the future was supposed to be different: he was going to find the ARC to see about preventing the rise of the Future Predators, but we got separated. Is that where we're headed, now, the ARC?"

"We've got to take a detour."

"Better make it a quick one. He likes to poke around with things when he gets bored, and they tend to end up exploding." Danny grinned.

"We've got a techie a bit like that."

Danny pulled up next to another SUV and jumped out.

"So what are we doing here then?"

"I dunno. Stay in the car. We've got a creature incursion, it could be dangerous."

"Stay in the car?" she protested. "You're bloody kidding me." Danny shot her a warning glare. She rolled her eyes when his back was turned. Still scowling, Donna rummaged through her bag.

Becker glanced over Danny's shoulder. "Quinn, who is she?"

"Long story-" The passenger door slammed and Donna stomped up behind them.

"Did you take the sonic screwdriver?" she demanded.

"Oi, I said stay in the car."

"Too dangerous? I've dealt with Daleks, Flyboy, now if you don't give back the sonic right now-."

Becker raised an eyebrow. "Flyboy? Seriously, Quinn, who's your girlfriend?"

She rounded on him. "Watch who you're calling girlfriend, Soldier Boy." Becker whipped around and shot him a glare. Danny snorted and dug the sonic screwdriver from his pocket.

"Just for that, you can have it back. Now, please, humor me for the time being and stay in the car."

She sighed and walked back to the vehicle. Becker offered him a death glare. Danny returned it with an innocent grin.

"She'd certainly give Jenny Lewis a run for her money. Where's Connor?"

Sarah Page stood off to the side as the team herded the Embolotherium back towards the anomaly. She glanced back as the new woman sidled up to her.

"Prehistoric rhinos, then? This a normal day's work?"

Sarah offered her a bemused smile. "Pretty much. Connor says they're Embolotherium, herbivorous brontotheres from the Eocene era. You don't look terribly fussed about it all."

"You know, my friend Martha says there's a race of alien bounty hunters called Judoon, that walk upright but have the heads of rhinos. Even worse for temper than your average rhino. They stole a hospital and brought it to the moon, she was there." Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"Aliens? What does that make a normal day's work for you?"

"Mostly, an outrageous amount of running for your life. Donna Noble, by the way."

"Doctor Sarah Page."

Abby dashed up to the left. "The anomaly's closing! We need to get them back through faster!"

Sarah jerked her head. "Go on, car, before Danny sees you."

"You're gonna hit it!" Donna cried as Danny tailgated a leathery mass of Embolotherium.
The car jerked sharply, knocking them about in their seats. The rhino grunted irritably.

"That's the general idea."

The bull rhino came charging through the midst of the herd, leading them in a stampede.

"They're heading for the campsite." Sarah warned as they pulled up.

"We've got to get those people away from there. Let's go."

"We've got to get them to change direction." Danny said as he sped across the torn up field, trying to nudge the great lumbering creatures with the truck.

Are you insane - never mind, don't answer that!" Donna yelled as they swerved away from the creature and pulled to the front of the herd. "They're too big!"

"You got a better idea?" Donna looked back and forth, then pulled the rectangular device from her pocket and fiddled with the buttons.

"Thought you told Johnson you didn't know what that was."

"I did, didn't I? I know what it does, but not how to use it. But maybe... this does." She buzzed it with the sonic screwdriver. "Hope this works. Get us up to the campsite."

"How did you...?"

She fixed him with an exasperated look. "Shut up and drive!"

The team rushed about, evacuating the people from the site. Donna rushed to the front of the site, trying to work the device. Some of the soldiers had opened fire on the Embolotherium.

"Don't you dare!" she shouted in tandem with Abby.

"If you're going to do something, now would be a good time!" Danny shouted from beside her.

"I don't know if it's working!" she snapped back, before pressing the center button. A glittering anomaly materialized and the Embolotherium thundered back into the past.

The last creature charged through and she pressed the button again. The anomaly vanished.

"Can't believe that actually worked. Aren't you glad you gave the sonic back, Flyboy?" Danny just stared at her, finally shaking his head with a bemused grin.

Connor rushed up to them. "How did you do that?"

Donna shrugged, practically shaking from adrenaline. "Not a bloody clue, just got lucky with the magic wand." Connor caught sight of the sonic screwdriver and his eyes lit up.

"Are you with the Doctor?"

Lester sighed and put his head in his hands as he finished signing paperwork. Already reports had come in of eyewitnesses of the herd of Embolotherium. The anomaly alarm began to wail and flash its spinny red light, and he resisted the urge to bang his head against the desk. From down in the hall there was a frantic "Sorry sorry sorry, just me, it'll be gone in a moment, temporary temporal disruption, just my ship, gives off the same signature, nothing to worry about, no dinosaurs!" A blue-gray streak gamboled up the ramp as some very confused guards shouted orders. Lester sighed again and flipped on the comms.

"At ease, this is a Code Blue: The Doctor. Get back to whatever it was you lot do on duty, he's not a threat unless we've all done something insanely stupid." He took his thumb off the button. "And knowing you lot, we probably have." He shuffled his papers and folded his hands, waiting expectantly.

"Hello, James!" A skinny man in pinstripes and spectacles bounded into his office. "You lot been redecorating? Looks different. All very blue. I like blue, good color. More security, too, although you've got such lovely tech, I don't see why you always have to hire so many people with guns, it's really not very-"

"Should I even ask how you managed to get past them all?" Lester interrupted.

"I landed in here, James. Besides, I can get in anywhere. Getting out, now, that's trickier." Lester sighed.

"So, to what do I owe the occasion?"

"Riiiight. See, I've got a few problems-"

"As do I, Doctor: a reckless team leader that makes Nick Cutter look downright well-behaved, a herd of Embolotherium, a horde of eyewitnesses, and Christine Johnson breathing down my neck, which is much worse than the average dinosaur. So I'm at perfect leisure to assist you wi- " The Doctor blatantly ignored this sentiment and resumed talking right over him.

"Brilliant! Right then, I know you know about the Future Predators, especially what with the Mammoth, brilliant, by the way. Always knew Leek was a nasty bugger, although a lot of times I know things because of hindsight, but that was pure instinct, he was such a slimy little-"

"Your assertions of Leek's admittedly sluglike qualities aside, Doctor, why are you here?"

"Yep. Future Predators. So, I was showing Donna how the timey-wimey detector works, and it led us to the anomaly at the racetrack, so we went through and were poking around and realized that something was very very wrong, because... well, the timey-wimey detector was going haywire, it wasn't just because of the anomaly, but it seems as though we landed in the wrong future. A future that is never supposed to exist, one where humans have been destroyed by the Future Predators. Basically, the Future Predators come through the anomaly from an alternate future, not the one that's on course, and then there's the possibility of a stable temporal paradox, which is to say they come through an anomaly, end up in the wrong hands, and create their own future and-" Lester held up a hand. He gave the Doctor's words a few moments to sink in, then nodded.

"So you're saying that there is a set course for certain timelines, fixed points like you've mentioned before. But anomalies can open to any timeline, and the one at the racetrack opens to the world of the Future Predators. And this could create a stable paradox that shouldn't exist, if more predators come through and end up with the likes of Christine Johnson. Your working conjecture at this point?"

"Ooh, you're keeping up. Anyway, there was all that nasty business with Helen saying that the ARC created the paradox -" Lester opened his mouth indignantly, but was cut off with "ah, now, be quiet, it's a conceivable possibility, if not now then perhaps at some point later on, and it's not to say that it is the ARC, it could be a covert operation or Christine Johnson or what might happen if leadership of the ARC were to fall into the wrong hands. So! I thought we'd need to have a little chat about this and make sure this doesn't happen. Future Predators, they shouldn't exist, these are like Daleks, they kill because they aren't made for anything else and if they were to wipe out the human race it could literally wham! blow a hole in the universe and rip apart the fabric of space and time, and I don't just mean little fluctuations like anomalies, which are wibbly but manageable, I mean there goes everything humans have accomplished from here until a hundred trillion years away when all the stars burn out and -"

"Breathe, Doctor."

"Right. Basically, you need to prevent the end of the world as we know it, and it's going to happen very soon." Lester nodded warily, eyes narrowed as the Doctor continued. "And I shouldn't be interfering too much, but with the possibility of multiple timelines coinciding, I thought I should at least step in and take a look. Now! Other big stinking problem! I got separated from my companion and was hoping I'd be able to track her down here, although if she were here I have no doubt I would have heard her by now. I saw her get pulled off by some military bloke and I was sorta hoping he'd be one of yours, but I could tell he was definitely not UNIT. And I still haven't found Donna and she also has my sonic screwdriver and why are you staring at me like that?" The speakerphone unit on the desk buzzed.

"I've got a really bad feeling about all of this." Lester groaned.

Danny's voice buzzed through the speaker over excited background chatter.

"I'm bringing someone in to meet you." Lester and the Doctor exchanged a look.

"Who?" There was a pause, and they could hear Connor wittering about future technology.

"Out with it, Quinn, you know I hate..." They looked up to see Christine Johnson stride imperiously into the room with Captain Wilder behind her. "Surprises." Lester finished, pressing the off button.

"Hello, James."

"Christine. I'd say it's always a pleasure, but that would be a barefaced lie." The Doctor grinned from his spot on the corner. Johnson gave him a funny look. He flipped up his psychic paper.

"John Smith, tech inspector, don't mind me." Johnson handed Lester a piece of paper, but he ignored it and fixed with her a look instead. "What's this?"

"A warrant for the arrest of Danny Quinn." The Doctor stood up straighter. Lester took the paper stiffly.

"What is it he's supposed to have done?"

"We'll start with breaking and entering and kidnapping. You did know he broke into my headquarters this afternoon?" Lester's face was impassive. A little too impassive.

"Oh, so you didn't know. You really need to get a grip, James. Be sure to read all the way through. Wouldn't want you to miss the part that requires the immediate surrender of the artifact to me." Lester grimaced. The Doctor snorted and scratched the back of his neck, earning himself another dirty look. "So," Johnson continued. "Where is she?"

"Where is who?"

"- So we call it in, don't use the flamethrowers!" Connor gabbled as they pushed through the double doors of the ARC building. One of the guards stopped Danny.

"The boss'd like to see you."

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

"Alright, alright, you two can show Donna around, nobody touches the artifact, Donna, don't let Connor use the sonic, and if any of you makes something explode I'll feed you to the Mammoth."

"It's herbivorous," Abby called at Danny's retreating form.

"According to the boss, there's a Future Predator in complete disagreement," Danny shot back. Connor kept walking on, still mid-story and oblivious when Donna tugged Abby's sleeve and pulled her back with a sly grin.

"You and 'im, then?"
Abby kept her face level, but a tell-tale blush crept onto her cheeks. Donna looked triumphant.

"I knew it. Spill." Abby blustered for a moment.

"You're surrounded by a secret government agency that fights dinosaurs and you want to have girl talk?"

"I see galaxies and moons made of cheese with robot mice and secret government agencies that battle aliens, but I'm going bonkers for some proper company. The Doctor might be a different species, but he's still a bloke, and he can be really thick and he always takes the last biscuit and he strokes his spaceship when he thinks I'm not looking. Now come on, you've both watching each other in turns and then not looking, what's going on?"

"Where is she?" Johnson demanded the second Danny set foot in the office.

"Who?"

"I suggest you co-operate immediately Quinn, or I'll personally see to it that you spend a very long time in jail." Danny drew himself up in mock affront.

"You're really going to have to work on your small talk."

"Where is she?" Danny strode across to the office window and blocked the view below with his arm. Donna and Abby were standing together, giggling in hushed conspiracy.

"I dunno. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Even if I have to go to the ends of the earth, I'll find her." Danny caught sight of the pinstriped man with sticky-up hair and a manic grin, watching the proceedings as though it were a campy television drama. He gave him a curious look, Johnson following his gaze suspiciously as Lester began, "I assume we're talking about-"

"Quinn knows exactly who I'm talking about." Danny hesitated, eyes flickered towards Donna and Abby. Johnson stalked over and peered through the glass.

"She's downstairs, isn't she?" Lester sighed resignedly.

Danny sighed. "Yep."

"Nice work. Subtle." Johnson started for the door, when the 'tech inspector' spoke up.

"Ohh, I don't think so. Let me see if I got this right. You held a mystery woman prisoner in your headquarters and Danny broke in. So they escaped together and came back here?" Johnson glowered at him.

"She was not a prisoner. My men rescued her and brought her back through the anomaly. We questioned her on her knowledge of the anomalies, the future predators, and the technology she carried. Before we could get any answers, Captain Wilder discovered Quinn listening behind a ventilation grate."

"Ventilation again, Danny?" Lester drawled. "You really need to get a bit more creative."

"You said you were a tech inspector, what business is this of yours?" Johnson said warily. But Danny was staring at him again, and the penny dropped.

"Oh. Oh! skinny bloke in a suit! You're the Doctor!"

"She called me that?" he squawked, then grinned. "So I take it she's fine, then?" He glanced sidelong at Johnson with disdain in his eyes. She looked between them, masking confusion with stony imperiousness, while Danny looked rueful.

"I wanted to know what she knew about the ARC, I was worried she might be working with Helen Cutter or something. And she was having none of it, basically said I could give her a lift or sod off and she'd find her own way."

"Ohh, that's my Donna!" The bespectacled man bounded across the room and poked his head across the railings. He spotted a flash of red hair next to Abby's pale blonde. Satisfied, he turned back to them, smiling fondly. "I always tell them 'don't wander off,' would've thought maybe after nine hundred years someone would listen. But we figured out a certain set of frequencies on the screwdriver could basically fry a Future Predator's brain out, and I gave her the sonic to protect herself and the moment my back was turned she was halfway out -"

"You're affiliated with her? Her associate?" Johnson demanded. He rounded on her, exuberant to casually authoritative in naught point five.

"I'm the Doctor, and she's my companion." He received a blank stare, and sighed. "Oh, read the files, would you? You're military, you must know what UNIT is, and you've been spying on the ARC, my name pops up everywhere. Well, here and there. Well, not always as Doctor. Sometimes as John Smith, or 'Galactic Consultant,' that's my new official title at Torchwood, which I like a lot better than 'Enemy #1,' although I do show up fairly often in places as 'Martian pest,' which I'm pretty sure is Donna's doing since I'm not from Mars, but Connor's written some lovely stuff that's on the ARC database, and you don't wanna make me call Mycroft, I have him on speed dial you know-"

"Must you keep abusing the comma, Doctor?" Lester asked boredly.

"If you three are going to insist on wasting my time -" Johnson began. The Doctor spun on his heel, eyes flashing dangerously.

"I am going to insist that you and your pet thug stop playing 'oh I've got a gun, I can stomp into wherever the devil I please and make people do as I say 'cause I'm the biggest bully on the playground,' because you're endangering the welfare of this planet and my companion. And if you're the schoolyard bully, then I'm the Headmaster, so stay put and shut up or I'll put you in detention." There was a moment of silence. Danny turned to Lester.

"Can we keep him, boss?" Lester crinkled his nose.

"God, no, Temple would start wearing glasses to make himself look clever." The Doctor grinned toothily, before turning back to Johnson. He opened his mouth, but Lester cut him off. "If I might, Doctor, bring Johnson up to speed in legible English?"

"Johnson, is it? Met another one, just like you. Wellll, not just like you, more of the 'just following orders' type. Bloody British government, I was ready to give up on you lot completely after the 456 incident. Wellll, it was really Frobisher's fault, I knew a Frobisher once, much nicer bloke. Wellll... more of a penguin. Right, okay, one moment." He brushed past Johnson and stood face to face with her second-in-command, smiling politely. "Hullo. What's your name, then?" The man blinked.

"Erm... Captain Wilder."

"Right then, Captain Wilder. I'm very sorry that I called you her pet thug. But I'd like you to do something for me, ok? I want you to walk over there and put your gun down in the corner." He pointed one finger, met the soldier's gaze steadily, and slightly cocked one eyebrow. Wilder didn't look at Johnson for confirmation: he gave one slow nod and stepped warily to the corner of the office. Gun safely deposited on the floor, he met Johnson's icy glare that could never hope to match nine centuries of raw temporal power in the Doctor's fathomless black eyes.

"I have read the files, Ma'am," Wilder said crisply. He'll probably get dismissed for this, but at the moment he's simply relieved to be given the option for a civil retreat, and that he kept his voice steady. Then the Doctor beamed at him, and his eyes were warm and chocolate brown and puppy-doggish; not because he'd won the macho staring contest, but because he's proud, genuinely pleased that Wilder has taken the high ground instead of bowing to Johnson's orders.

The Doctor sat in the chair in front of Lester's desk, spun it in a neat revolution, and clapped his hands once. "Fire away, Jimmy-boy!" Lester glowered.

"Call me that again and I will make you do paperwork."

"I'll be good!" he yelped. Danny chuckled again. He was liking the Doctor more and more.