m_findlow

Title: The great race
Author: m_findlow
Prompt: 2 - Lucy, races, flag, on a holodeck at wintercompanion
Rating: Thirteenth Doctor/Jack Harkness
Pairing: PG
Content notes: Spoilers for all seasons of both series, and the Torchwood Big Finish audioplays.
Length: 33,192 words
Author notes: Beta'ed by beesandbrews. I don't own them, they belong to their respective creators.
Summary: A new adventure awaits two old friends as they compete in the greatest race of a generation.

In a flash of bright white, they were transported from the ship to a craggy, rocky space. It was clear they were now inside the asteroid, its rich red sediments contorted in strange shapes but more or less forming a habitable space. There was a small pedestal containing the flags, but nothing else.

Lucy frowned, the red flag now clutched in her hand. 'Where's the holodeck? There's nothing down here, just a stone walled room.'

'And we're breathing,' Jack added. 'Asteroids don't usually have pockets of air.'

The Doctor scanned the room, drawing a slow circle before huffing out a sigh and pocketing her screwdriver in her long grey overcoat. 'Whatever it is, it's too dense to tell anything. I hate it when people mess with my ability to figure out stuff. Some sort of artificial atmospheric shell in any case.'

'But this has to be the place,' Lucy insisted. Her transmat had chosen this particular spot. Unless of course, it too, had been damaged by Drax's attempt to wipe them out.

'Another test, perhaps,' Jack mused. He ran his hands carefully along the dark sides of the rock until he found what he was looking for. 'There's a break here,' he said, tracing the rectangular shape. It was barely four foot by three and low to the ground, but a definitely doorway of some kind.

Lucy traced the outline with her own hand. 'How do we activate it?'

They searched the narrow room, tapping the walls and feeling for other hidden panels but there were none to be found.

'I'm guessing "Open sesame" won't work,' the Doctor joked, her sonic screwdriver having once again proven ineffective in opening the door.

Jack ran his fingers around the edge again, pressing. He added a second hand, trying to prise it open with brute force. At first nothing happened, but then it began to move. 'I think... I've got it...' he said, using every bit of strength he had to pull at it. 'A little help?'

The Doctor joined him, as did Lucy. Their collective effort managed to force the door ajar, creating a gap three inches wide, which then became six. Jack shifted from pulling to pushing, putting himself between the edge of the door and the opening, forcing it wider still.

'Yes, there on the other side, I can see the holodeck,' Lucy said, kneeling and peering through the gap between their bodies.

Jack spread his arms and legs, still crouched, holding the door as wide as he could. 'See if you can squeeze through.' Lucy easily slipped past him, her small frame brushing him on the way through. 'You too, Doc,' he said. 'Once you're through I can let go.'

'It's too heavy for you to hold on your own,' she argued.

He gave her a laugh, strained as it was from the effort. 'Stronger than you give me credit for. I'll be fine.'

From the other side, Lucy leaned her own small weight against the inner edge, and the Doctor climbed between arms and legs through the opening. Once through, Jack quickly side-stepped, letting the heavy stone spring back into place, his own body weight the only thing keeping it open. 'Phew! Glad there were three of us,' he said.

'I thought you said you could handle it?' the Doctor teased.

'That thing must have weighed half a tonne. Haven't shifted anything that heavy since the night we picked up Myfanwy.'

'Who's she? Some ex-girlfriend of yours? Had you down as the skinny blonde type.'

Lucy nearly giggled as she saw the Doctor cringe, realising she'd just described herself.

The Doctor groaned. 'This regeneration is really going to take some getting used to.'

'Pet pterodactyl,' Jack replied, sparing her further awkwardness. 'Didn't really think it through once she was sedated. Trying to haul a dinosaur onto the roof of an SUV isn't as easy as it sounds.'

The Doctor rolled her eyes. 'Nothing is easy with you, is it?'

'It would have been a lot harder without help, believe me.' He chuckled. 'Ianto took one look at me trying to haul her up there and-' He fell silent.

Lucy caught the sad, wistful look on his face. 'You miss her?'

Jack avoided meeting her gaze. 'Miss a lot of things, but yeah, I miss her. She was pretty special. I never did find out what happened to her. Always just hoped she flew away and found some nice valley to live in, where the fishing is good and no one would bother her.' He sniffed, his expression clearing and shrugging the heaviness from his shoulders, like removing a cloak. 'Enough of memory lane, huh? This is supposed to be a race, isn't it?'

Lucy stepped up onto the holodeck, letting it scan her. It seemed an impossibly long time time before it finally deactivated, lights dimming and the flag dematerialising in her hand. When she looked down at her palm there was no chip. 'Something's gone wrong,' she said, searching around her feet in case the chip had decided to materialise in the wrong spot.

'No chip,' the Doctor said, feeling a strange sense of foreboding.

'And no map to the next checkpoint,' Jack added. 'That can't be right. You were standing there for ages. Surely it must have registered our flag.'

The Doctor knelt to scan the holodeck. 'Hmm… basic fifty-third century technology. Organic matter identifier, check. Data storage components, check. Fabricator/defabricator rays, check. Ooh, DNA verifier, very nice. Must be a more modern version. Apart from that, nothing to suggest it isn't in working order.' She stood back up, brushing the dirt from the knees of her loose blue trousers. 'A checkpoint with no map,' she mused out loud. She turned to face her two teammates, eyes sparkling with realisation. 'Because you don't need a map when you know where you're going!'

'But we don't know where we're going,' Lucy countered, resting her hands on her hips. 'We're stuck on this stupid asteroid.'

'When do you stop needing a map?' the Doctor asked, staring at Jack.

His brow furrowed, trying to unravel the Doctor's riddle. It was clear she thought he should know the answer. 'Come on, Jack. Think!'

'Don't pressure me, okay? Uh… You don't need a map anymore when… when…' He huffed out a breath. 'You know, truth is I never really bothered with maps. I just go wherever the stars take me, these days. I've got a keen sense of direction. I lived in Cardiff so long I knew the place like the back of my hand. Never got lost. I always knew right where I was and right where I needed to be.' His gaze drifted as the answer dawned on him. 'You don't need a map when you're already right where you need to be!'

'And the Captain has earned his boy scout badge,' the Doctor replied, smiling. 'Somewhere around here is another flag.'

As Lucy looked at the space they were standing in, she could see it branching off in any number of directions. Some passages were wide and looked easy to navigate. Others appeared to be no more than a crack in the rock, barely big enough for anyone to fit through. Yet she knew that somewhere, down in that labyrinth, was their flag.

'We should split up, cover more ground,' she suggested.

Jack raised a cautious eyebrow. 'Is that wise? I imagine it wouldn't take much to get lost. And that's assuming there's nothing else lurking down there waiting for us.'

'Ten minutes,' Lucy said. 'We'll each go a different way and come back after ten minutes. Anyone who doesn't come back, well, at least the other two will know to come looking for them.'

'Alright. Ten minutes,' the Doctor said. 'And do I have to tell you to be careful? Both of you,' she added, giving Jack the eye.

'Ten minutes,' Jack agreed, already having chosen a path, difficult to access at first, but which appeared wider on the other side. If he'd been the one setting up this task, that's what he would have picked. The other two quickly set off down their own respective tunnels, leaving him to navigate the tight entrance.

Reluctantly he removed his coat. He didn't dare risk tearing it on the jagged rocks. Finding someone to repair it was difficult. The universe needed more master tailors - or at least the sons of master tailors. No one could ever match Ianto Jones for the quality of the needlework and the care and attention he gave Jack's coat. It was as if they were one entity - Jack and his coat. A damaged coat was a sign that Jack himself had probably met a similar fate. The dressing down Jack received for the state of his coat was really a silent plea to be more careful.

'I'm much more careful these days,' Jack said to no one in particular.

The Doctor let the glow of her screwdriver lead the way through the darkened passage. 'Just another adventure,' she muttered, 'albeit one where everything seems to want to kill you. But what's life without a bit of peril, eh? A chance to break in this new regeneration.' She pulled up a sleeve and checked her watch. Eight minutes. The time for doubling back was well past. Oh, sod it. She'd find out what was at the end of this tunnel if it killed her.

Lucy had her ears attuned to even the slightest sound as she stepped lightly across the jagged rocks, and slipped in-between them. Anything could be hiding down here, just waiting to attack. We don't have the luxury of time, she reminded herself. She needed to get as far down this tunnel as possible and back again. 'Don't lose your head, Luce,' she muttered. 'Just think about what you'll be able to buy with fifteen million credits.' Ten minutes was the agreed time, but what if they all came back empty-handed because none of them had searched far enough? It wasn't worth the risk. Instead of turning back, she kept going.

Jack froze at the sound of something further ahead. He hadn't made nearly as much headway as he'd hoped, the passage proving difficult to climb through. He checked his wrist strap chronometer and watched his ten minutes tick down. He should have headed back five minutes ago, but something kept drawing him on. Nothing so far had been easy, and this tunnel was more than challenging.

The sounds of something else ahead of him only confirmed his suspicions that he was on the right track. He crouched in a narrow gap and waited as the sound grew closer. A small light bounced around the rocky walls, and a grunt of exertion finally revealed that it wasn't a monster lying in wait, but rather another competitor trying to crawl their way back out. The glint of gold and the clank of chains left him in no doubt who.

Emin Drax.

Jack had every intention of staying hidden until he passed. The guy had already proven how he felt about his opponents. Seeing him up close, even in the limited light, he could tell Drax was ninety percent muscle. The other ten percent was the leather and metal holding it all together. Jack had some decent hand to hand combat skills under his belt, but up against a beast like Drax, he was always going to come off second best. He stayed silent, watching the lumbering bulk force his way back through the tunnel.

He was almost out of sight when Jack caught the tiniest glimpse of the flag clutched in Drax's meaty hand. His own dark green one, and a second, bright scarlet - their flag. The realisation hit Jack hard. He was taking their flag so that they wouldn't be able to continue the race.

'Hey!' Jack yelled. Drax turned at the unexpected voice. 'I don't mind people being competitive,' Jack drawled, 'but outright cheating to win? That I have a problem with.'

Drax sneered at him. 'I was hoping my little love tap had sent your tin can careening into the nearest asteroid. This was just my insurance,' he said, waggling the flag in his fist.

'Hand it over and I'll let you go,' Jack said.

'And why would I do that?'

'Because if you scan our flag, you'll be disqualified.'

'Who said anything about scanning it? I'm planning on sending it out of the waste chute from my ship and into deep space.'

Jack reached down and drew his Webley, a replica of one he'd owned on Earth for decades, holding it firm. 'I'll ask one last time. Leave the flag here.'

Drax lunged with a speed that caught Jack off guard, knocking him to the ground. The Webley skittered off into the darkness as Jack dodged a three-fingered fist coming at his face. He tried jutting a knee up into Drax's solar plexus, but all it found was hard, rippled muscle. He waited for a second fist to come at him, but instead the weight lifted and Drax made off in the opposite direction, heading back the way they'd come. Jack forced himself to his feet, grabbing his gun and scrabbling after Drax. He should have been able to catch him easily, but Drax was surprisingly agile, considering his size. As they neared the holodeck chamber, Jack knew he had to do something. He couldn't let Drax escape. The Doctor and Lucy should both be there, waiting for him. He yelled out, 'Stop him!' in the hopes it would be sufficient warning.

Jack squeezed frantically through the final gap. He could already see the light fading from the holodeck. Drax was holding his map chip and making for the exit on the other side. He gripped the edge of the door and began sliding it open. Jack dashed at him, grabbing whatever he could. He had to slow Drax down, or at the very least recover their flag.

It was an awkward tussle. Drax tried to haul open the door and climb through. Jack was all over him, making a nuisance, but Drax's hand was like a vice around the flag. Jack shoved a hand in Drax's face, obstructing his vision. It was enough to momentarily distract him. His hand flew up to fend off Jack, dropping the flag. Jack grabbed their flag and threw it across the room, well out of harm's way. Nothing else mattered.

Jack was rewarded for his efforts with a bone-crunching elbow to his face, followed by a fist. The force of it threw his head back against the rock. His vision swam as he fought to stay conscious.

Drax forced the door open and clambered over Jack's body lying crumpled in the space between.

'Goodbye, little man,' Drax said. He let go of the door as it sprung back into place, crushing Jack's torso.

Lucy was frustrated on her return, having finally reached a dead end that forced her to turn back empty-handed. She jogged, knowing she was well over their allotted time, and prayed she hadn't held up the others. Hopefully one of them had better luck.

The light from the main cavern emanated down the tunnel as she got closer, and she'd hoped to hear voices calling for her. Instead, as she came out into the light, right there at her feet was the flag she'd been searching for.

How had it got there? Was this some other trick whereby it would only be there once they'd survived searching the tunnels? She picked it up, turning it over in her hand. Where were the others? They should have been back by now. 'Jack? Doctor?' she called out down their respective routes. Could something have happened to them? Was she suddenly on her own? She clutched the thin metal rod in her hands, unsure whether to scan it and go or wait for the others. And how would she get back out? That door had weighed more than she could heft on her own. She spotted the grey woollen coat hanging from a jagged rock before casting a look towards the other end of the ovoid room. The glimpse of pale blue shirt wedged in between the rocks was instantly recognisable. She gasped in horror and rushed towards it.

Lucy fell to her knees, unable to take it all in. Jack's body was crushed in the door, his head hanging at an impossible angle. An arm dangled uselessly, the rest of his body trapped unseen in the space beyond. His face was pale and a small dribble of blood leaked from the edge of his mouth. The gap between the door and the rock wall was impossibly narrow. Jack's body had been squeezed well beyond what it could physically withstand.

The confusion of how he'd got there was overridden by a sudden sadness, Lucy feeling the tears well up in her eyes. Jack was dead. Something had gone terribly wrong and now he was gone.

'Jack? Lucy?' The Doctor's voice signalled her return. 'Any luck?'

'Doctor, over here!' Lucy called out. She was already pushing her weight against the opening, trying to free Jack's body.

The Doctor rushed over, seeing the pair of them. 'Oh, Jack,' she said, unable to find more words.

'Help me get him out,' Lucy said, still straining against the door. It was selfish to think that Jack's body was the only thing holding the door open, and that without it there, they'd have no chance of getting out. None of that mattered now. They owed it to Jack to get him out, even if it was too late to do anything more.

The Doctor knelt next to Lucy and pushed. It was much harder without Jack there to help them. They just needed a few inches, she thought. 'The door is going to turn his insides to soup if we don't get him out. Put your back into it!' The Doctor dug her heels into the dirt, pressing hard until it finally relented a few inches.

Jack returned with a flail and a start, heaving in a lung full of air like a drowning man. The sudden gasp nearly caused Lucy to lose her grip on the door's edge.

The Doctor didn't waste any time. 'Move, Jack!' she commanded.

It took Jack a moment to register the instruction. Awareness of his surroundings and his last memory came rushing back at him. He quickly crawled out of the narrow gap. Once he was out of danger, the Doctor and Lucy let go, the heavy stone grinding shut, sealing them inside.

'Sweet goddesses, what the the hell?' Lucy cried, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Jack was hunched over on hands and knees, sucking in a deep lung full of air. Bones slowly snapped back into place, healing one by one.

Lucy went pale. 'You were dead.'

'And now I'm not,' Jack replied, looking up and stretching his neck from left to right. Lucy could hear the satisfying popping sounds. 'Thanks for getting me out.'

Still out of breath herself, the Doctor rested a hand on Jack's shoulder as he came back to himself. It never got any less unnerving watching him resurrect. It sent every fibre of her being tingling in an unnatural way. 'What happened?'

Jack gave a little groan as he got to his feet. 'Drax. He was trying to steal out flag. I tried to stop him.'

'You did,' Lucy said, smiling warmly and holding up the flag for him to see. 'Looks like he got away, though.'

'What's important is that we're all okay,' the Doctor said, focusing on the positives. She wasn't ready to lose anyone again so soon. Not even someone who couldn't die.

'You still haven't explained how you're not dead,' Lucy said.

'I can't die,' Jack replied. 'Well, I can, actually,' he clarified. 'I just can't stay that way. I'm a fixed point in time and space. One of a kind.' The Doctor couldn't tell if he was boasting, or merely putting on a brave face for Lucy's sake. How he felt about his status as a temporal singularity was still unclear.

'I still don't get it.'

'Long story,' the Doctor said. 'He's fine, though.'

'Better than,' Jack added, giving her a winning smile. 'So, let's not waste any more time, huh?'

Lucy looked from Jack to the Doctor and back again. The Doctor could almost hear the cogs turning in Lucy's head. She held out the flag towards him. 'You wanna do the honors? I think you've earned it, don't you?'

Jack grabbed the flag, grinning. 'Be back in a sec,' he said, loping across the room to stand on the platform. The light glowed all around him, before finally leaving him with the chip in hand. 'Let's mosey,' he said, walking back towards the stone door.

With more hefting and a carefully coordinated effort, they pulled it back, slipping through one by one until Jack could finally let go, leaving the room behind them.

'Oh, is that the way in?' came a question from one of two very tall green creatures, who looked very much like grasshoppers.

'Oh! Marvons. Lovely,' the Doctor said, beaming. 'Haven't seen a Marvon in years. How is your Queen?'

'She is well. Thank you for asking. We had thought we'd taken a wrong turn somewhere. Very cleverly hidden, indeed.'

'Yeah,' Jack replied. 'You wanna watch that door, though. It's a killer.'

'When you get inside, take the far right-hand tunnel,' Lucy added. 'The flags are down there.'

'Many thanks and blessings to you,' the Marvon replied, bowing low and reverently. They proceeded over to the doorway.

The three of them watched in awe as the two beings made light work of opening the heavy stone block. Their difficulty would surely be in trying to squeeze their tall, awkward forms through the narrow space.

Leaving them to the task, Jack flipped open his wrist strap and keyed the signal for their transmat beam back up to the ship. 'Going up?' he asked, hitting the button, letting the beam of light envelop them.

Part seven...