"It was all a fake?" Robert glanced at his wrist strap. "The hell? Still in the Vortex? What is going on here?"

The "dirt" door had opened into a sterile corridor that looked like it could be part of a factory; the floor and walls were stark cement.

"So someone put a fake town inside this place?" Rose asked, turning to get her bearings. "Why?"

Robert ran a hand through his hair. "Don't you mean how?"

"Oh, I know how," said Rose absently. "It's bigger on the inside. Oh, what is it?" She snapped her fingers. "Transdimensional something or other. Jack and the Doctor will know."

"Your friends sound like people I'd like to meet," said Robert wryly.

"You will," said Rose. "We're close, I can tell." She turned right and began walking down the empty corridor. Robert followed her.

"How do I know you're not leading me on?" he asked her suddenly.

"Why would I do that?" She smiled.

He smirked. "Just making conversation."

Rose could tell they were definitely getting close. There was a feeling inside her that was growing warmer and warmer; she could practically tell the TARDIS was near, and she sincerely hoped the Doctor and Jack were with it, hopefully having finished the repairs they'd been doing earlier. Maybe they'd fixed whatever had sent them here and then they'd be able to leave this place, all four of them. She didn't like this place, with its stark, cold walls. Despite her growing proximity to the TARDIS, she was also feeling a greater sensation of dread.

"We're really close," she told Robert, mostly to reassure herself. "Hang on just a little while longer, okay?"

**

"I really appreciate you doing this for me," the Doctor said to Rye and Hauser. "I love meeting new people. I mean, I hope you're not setting me up, as I'm quite taken, but I love making new friends. Generally, in these situations, I find it's all a big misunderstanding. I hope we can become friends." He smiled disarmingly at the two guards.

"Cut the crap," said Rye.

The Doctor looked wounded. "Now that wasn't very nice. I was trying to make a gesture here! It takes two, you know. Really, I just want to be your friend."

They reached a lift and Rye punched the up button. "He's mad, this one," he said to Hauser. "Can't imagine what she sees in him, eh?"

"DNA," said Hauser, shaking his head. "It's all DNA." The Doctor's ears perked up. "He could be rubbish but if he's got the good genes, his kids might not be."

The lift came and the doors opened.

"I don't have kids," said the Doctor. "Bit sticky. And. You know. A bit... difficult, given the circumstances." He jerked his head back to the cell to indicate Jack.

"Shut up," said Hauser.

"That's very rude," said the Doctor. "They certainly don't train them like they used to at..." He glanced at Hauser's ident badge. "Conway Limited Security."

Hauser grunted.

"So," said the Doctor after a few moments of silence. The lift was still climbing–this place must be enormous. "What's this about DNA? You think I've got... special DNA or something?"

Silence.

"My mother always said I was special," said the Doctor happily.

**

It didn't take long for Jack to locate which security cameras were trained on his cell. Locating camera blind spots was one of his specialties. Unfortunately, the cell lock was right on the edge of one of these blind spots.

Fortunately, Jack was very flexible.

"Right," he said to himself as he pushed the door open. "How am I supposed to find the TARDIS?" He glanced down at the sonic screwdriver and jiggled it slightly. Nothing happened.

Jack sighed and began to walk down the corridor. "My boyfriend has this brilliant tool... it can do anything... and all he teaches me to do is unlock doors."

He twirled the sonic screwdriver between his fingers and kept walking. "Now," he said to himself. "If I were running a mysterious base, kidnapping people while still technically in the Time Vortex, where would I hide their mysterious ship?" He had no answer for himself.

To make sure, he opened all the doors he passed, just in case the TARDIS might have been stashed inside. Most of them were empty interrogation rooms, a couple of them were broom cupboards.

He wasn't sure how long he spent doing this. It was mind-numbing work, walking a few paces, sonicking open a door and shutting it again, so Jack let his mind wander. He tried to think about other things, but inevitably, his thoughts all drifted back to the information the Doctor had revealed to him that afternoon.

So he was immortal.

Really, seriously immortal.

Apparently.

Not that he didn't believe the Doctor. He'd already died twice, and even now he was beginning to think that maybe he really had died that time with the Yeti, instead of being knocked out like he'd thought then.

He sighed. He was immortal. The Doctor was practically immortal. Which left Rose. He did not want to think about this right now; didn't want to think about what effect his immortality would have on him, on their relationship. All he needed to do right now was find the TARDIS and find Rose and get the Doctor back. Real simple. Relatively.

He came to a door and opened it automatically. He had nearly shut it again when he realized the TARDIS was on the other side.

**

The TARDIS was on the other side of the fourteenth door Robert kicked in.

"That's it!" Rose exclaimed, shutting the door behind them. "There's the TARDIS." She ran toward it and laid a reverent hand on the blue wooden door.

"Seriously?" Robert hopped toward her, rubbing his foot. "That's your ship?"

"Yeah, wait'll you see the inside." She grinned and dipped a hand into her shirt, withdrawing the key she wore on a chain.

Suddenly, Robert rushed forward and grabbed her arm. "Someone's coming," he said. He yanked her up back up against the wall next to the door so they would have the element of surprise over whoever it was.

Rose heard a familiar sound on the other side of the door. "That's..." she began.

The door swung open.

"Jack!" she cried, when she saw who stepped through.

He turned, his face lighting up when he saw her.

"That's Jack?" said Robert.

Jack hugged Rose tightly, lifting her off her feet. She kissed him fiercely, relishing a taste she had been afraid of never experiencing again.

"You sure know how to give a good welcome," he said, grinning as they broke apart.

"I thought I'd never see you again," she exclaimed, on the verge of tears. She buried her face in his shoulder.

"I know," said Jack quietly, pressing a kiss to her hair. "But I'm here. And we can get the Doctor back, I know where he is."

Robert cleared his throat and they whirled around. "Look, I'm sorry to interrupt this touching reunion, but we still kind of have a problem."

Jack looked at Rose. "Who's he?" he asked.

"He's a Time Agent," said Rose quietly. A dark look crossed Jack's face. "I'm sorry," she said lamely. "I ran into him, I couldn't just get rid of him. He helped me."

Jack regarded Robert suspiciously. "Who are you?" he asked.

Robert laughed. "You're kidding, right? You of all people should remember my name, Captain–"

"Jack Harkness," said Jack firmly. "And I've never seen you before in my life."

"Lieutenant Robert Valeri," said Robert sharply. "Only saw you every day for two bleeding years."

"You'll forgive me if my memory's a little lacking," said Jack tersely. "I'm kind of forgetful these days."

"Guys," said Rose quickly.

Jack and Robert both looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. "We've got to get out of here," she reminded them.

Jack glanced at Robert. "Without him," he said simply.

"Jack! He helped me."

"I don't want him anywhere near the TARDIS."

Rose rolled her eyes and pulled out her key. "Don't listen to him," she said to Robert. "He's just being thick."

"If the Time Agency got a hold of this technology..." Jack said quietly to her.

"They won't," she said calmly. "We'll keep an eye on him and drop him off later. We picked you up; what makes you any different to him, hrm?"

Jack sighed and jammed his hands into his trouser pockets. "Fine," he muttered reluctantly.

Rose opened the TARDIS doors. "Come on in," she said, grinning broadly at Robert.

**

"Get in," said Hauser. The two guards had led the Doctor down a long hallway covered in dark red plush carpet. This whole place seemed to be full of nothing but long hallways. At long last, they'd come to a door that wouldn't have looked out of place in the house the Doctor and Jack had originally been in. "The lady will see you now."

"Oh, a lady?" The Doctor tried to sound impressed. "I suppose I'm honored."

"You will not make such remarks in the lady's presence." Hauser's voice was clipped, but there was a trace of emotion in it that suggested he had more than simple employee devotion to the lady, whoever she was.

"Oh, I won't, trust me," said the Doctor, smiling sweetly. "I'll be the paragon of politeness."

Hauser opened the door. The lady apparently didn't mind meeting prisoners in her bedroom. It was a cozy room, with polished wood floors and an enormous four-poster with blue hangings. A woman in a pale, filmy dress reclined on a pile of pillows. She really was quite beautiful, the Doctor realized, with clear skin and long, dark hair that he'd just love to run his fingers through. He shook his head. Why was he staring?

"Leave us alone, Alan," said the woman. Her voice was absolutely melodious.

"Stop it," said the Doctor as soon as Hauser left. "You're doing something and I want you to stop now."

The woman raised her eyebrow but did not stir from her casual position on the bed. "Will you join me, Doctor?"

"No," he said firmly, but his left trainer twitched.

"You're a Time Lord," she said confidently. "I can smell it. I can taste it in the air."

"Hypersensitive," the Doctor murmured. "Advanced manipulative pheromones. Time-travel capabilities." He stuck his hands in his trouser pockets and began to pace. "That capturing thing... it's..." He frowned. "Impossible."

"Clearly not." She smiled slyly and shifted on the bed; the Doctor's attention was drawn to the thinness of the material of her gown.

He swallowed hard. "It doesn't work on me, you know," he said, in a slightly strangled tone.

"It doesn't?" she asked. "Then it won't hurt for you to come a little closer."

The Doctor took a step forward.

**

Rose grinned when Robert took his first steps into the TARDIS.

"I love it when people do that," she said to Jack. He grunted noncommittally and she gave him a light smack on the arm.

"Be nice!" she said. "He knows you."

Jack scowled and pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his coat pocket. "Yeah, but I don't know him."

"What kind of technology is this?" Robert asked curiously, gingerly lifting the mallet from the console.

"Advanced technology," said Jack. He shrugged off his coat and tossed it onto the support where the Doctor's coat also hung. Rose felt a pang of loneliness. They'd find him. They had to.

"It's Gallifreyan," she said, ignoring Jack's rudeness. "Our friend the Doctor is a Time Lord. The TARDIS–that stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space–is his ship."

"Yeah, give him our life story, why don't you?" Jack dropped to the grating and slid under the console. "Rose, can I have a spanner?"

"Dreadfully dull name, Jack," said Robert casually, leaning against the railing. "Very 1940s. I'd have thought you'd–"

Jack interrupted him. "The Doctor said he disconnected something to keep the TARDIS in the Vortex when were making repairs. Maybe if I reconnect it..." There was a brief shower of sparks from the center column but it began to rise and fall. Jack whooped triumphantly and got to his feet.

"Oh, you're brilliant!" Rose cried over the noise of the TARDIS's engines.

"Hold that thought," said Jack, thumping his hand on the monitor. "We need to get to the Doctor and I'm not sure where he is."

Suddenly, the TARDIS lurched. Jack swore as another shower of sparks rained down from over their heads.

Robert gripped the railing. "When'd you learn to pilot this thing?"

"Didn't," said Jack, whacking the console several times with the mallet.

"Oh, that's nice."

Rose stumbled and braced herself on the console. "Where are we going? I thought the Doctor was nearby. The monitor's going crazy, look!"

Hundreds of tiny circles were appearing on the screen. Rose had no idea where they were headed, but if she had to guess, she'd say they were far off their mark.

Suddenly, the familiar whooshing sound filled the air as the TARDIS materialized... somewhere.

"Where are we?" Rose asked.

"No idea," said Jack quietly. "But we're somewhere." He strode across the room, grabbed Robert by the collar and dragged him to the doors. "We can drop off our hitchhiker."

"Jack!" shouted Rose, running to intercept him.

Jack yanked the doors open and shoved Robert out into the alien night. "He's got his vortex manipulator," he said. "He can go wherever he wants."

"That's not fair." Rose thrust her arm out and grabbed Robert's hand, pulling him back inside. "We're going to drop him off someplace nice. Someplace where we know where it is."

"Thank you, kind lady." Robert kissed her hand.

Jack scowled.

"The Doctor was going to drop you off someplace, you know," Rose told him, in a hushed tone. "Only he decided he liked having you around."

Jack pursed his lips. "Whatever." He turned back to the console. "I've got to get this thing to take us back where we came from so we can find the Doctor." He flipped a switch and closed his eyes, wincing. He opened them again and grinned as the TARDIS's engines roared to life once more. He hugged Rose. "Fantastic!"