Lady in Waiting (Unexpurgated!)

A.N. This chapter is particularly dedicated to Resa for believing in me and asking me to continue. You're like my personal muse! Real life got in the way for a while but you gave me the kick I needed to carry on with this. Thanks! I'll try to update more regularly (although marking gets in the way).

Chapter 3 - Torched

The Doctor had managed to usher Rory through the door of the Tardis before the rigid man melted out of his frozen stupor enough to resist.

He left him slumped by the door, his face a shocked mask, and turned his back on him to march purposefully to the control panel. With hurried movements he set the controls for a short two mile lateral translation, rigidly controlling the variables in a way that he rarely bothered with. Now was not the time to disappear off on a magical mystery tour.

"Doctor?" The Doctor's shoulders slumped as he felt Rory stir back to life behind him. He didn't need the distraction of a panicked husband at the moment. With a slightly evil glint in his eye and a twirl of his fingers on a dial, he set the Tardis down in a lurching rough landing. His braced legs and white knuckled grip on the control panel kept him upright, but he heard a muffled thump and a yelp as the man behind him was deposited in an unceremonious heap at the bottom of the shallow flight of stairs.

He spun around in a whirl of energy, flashing a grin at the crumpled scowl below him. "Come on, can't lie around there all day", he called brightly, leaping lightly over Rory's tangled legs and marching towards the door. "We've got a dragon to save and a fair maiden to hunt!"

He ignored the muttered obscenities behind him as he threw open the door and strode out into the grey expanse that was the heart of Cardiff City. The Tardis was lodged behind some straggly trees in a small car park. This was cast in shadow by the looming sweep of the curved, overhanging edifice of the Millennium Centre. The Doctor paused on the edge of this shaded space, staring out at the open concrete of the square courtyard beyond.

A chill wind gusted across the checkered slabs of the empty space but it wasn't that that caused the shiver to ice its way down his spine. His eyes lingered on the bright yellow flapping plastic of warning strips of ribbon that fenced off the piles of rubble around the edges of the square. Small construction huts stood abandoned in the cold evening air around the gaping maw of caved in pavement.

He felt the warmth of a body coming to rest by his shoulder.

"So why've you brought us to a construction site?" he heard the tense voice grind out in impatience. "Who could possibly be here who can help us find Amy?"

The Doctor set his jaw, refusing to let the dismay that gripped his stomach in knots show on his face. He fished his screwdriver out of his pocket, twisted a couple of rings and scanned it over the desolate scene before him, frowning at the patterns of lights and the forlorn little whine it made in response.

"It seems no-one. Nobody's home. Haven't been in months." He turned to lock eyes onto Rory's pale face. "Beneath this square used to be the hub of an organisation who called themselves 'Torchwood'. They dealt with the weird and the bizarre. Stopped the monsters from the depths of the rift from taking over this corner of the world." He paused, a shadow darkening the long lines of his usually mobile features. "There was a man here when I left. He was ... he used to be a friend. I've not seen him in ... quite some time."

He heard Rory let out a rather bitter snort, but refused to meet his eyes this time. "Yet another person you've abandoned, left waiting for you!"

The Doctor didn't respond to this. It was too hard to explain the tangled mess of his feelings when it came to the uncomfortable impossibility that was the immortal Captain Jack.

"Something terrible happened here" he muttered. "I should have come back sooner. No matter how I ... I should have been here!"

He whirled suddenly, turning his back on the wreckage. He strode past the startled figure of Rory, back towards the Tardis.

"Wait a minute!" Rory called out with suppressed fury. "You dragged us here because you said that you needed help in finding where Amy's got to. Now where are we going?"

The Doctor paused, looking back at him over his shoulder with affronted dignity. "Help? I never need help! I am the help!"

"Then why did we bother wasting time coming here?" Rory called out in exasperation.

The Doctor considered this for a moment, his head cocked to one side like a bird, before shrugging and carrying on his march towards the Tardis, calling back as he went in a determinedly cheerful tone. "It would have been nice to catch up but at least the Tardis has had a fuel stop. She does love that Rift energy. It's like a shot of double espresso for her. If I can just keep that wonderful, souped-up old girl focused, she should be able to find a trace of the anomaly that took Amy."

As he bounced up the steps of the Tardis, he heard frantic footsteps pound out across the courtyard as Rory raced to catch up. He ignored the loud slam of the Tardis door, his eyes firmly fixed on the console in front of him, long pianist's fingers dancing over the keys as if playing a concerto.

Data began to stream in from the suddenly extra sensitive receptors of his ship. His eyes narrowed in concentration, hoping that his irate passenger could hold in his frustrated concern long enough for him to figure out their next move. He realised that this hope was futile when the metal grating of the steps clanged under heavy footfalls as Rory stormed up to stand beside him.

The Doctor stared intently at the dials dancing under his fingers, completely ignoring Rory. This was difficult as Rory was shouting quite loudly, red face inches from his ear. He definitely felt flying spittle.

On the monitor, a nebulous cloud of threads were the Tardis's representation of the wake that is left as a body is dragged through a tear in reality.

He saw the time stream strengthen and condense with others until it came to a terminus at a glowing nimbus that he recognised all too well. It was the location that had both intrigued and repelled him for centuries and one that he'd avoided like the plague. He'd read up on the period extensively, all the myths and legends left behind from that extraordinary time. The more he read, the more he'd realised that this was a place that would not welcome a visit from a Timelord. What he would most likely be forced to do ... He felt his fractured hearts splinter further as his ship locked onto this most unwelcome destination.

He wasn't worried about Pond. If he knew her she'd be running the place in a week. But...

"Oh Merlin!" he murmured. "I'm so very sorry!"