What on New-Earth?

[For Theta and I]

The air was cool which complimented the hot summer's day. The sun overhead was blazing orange and scorched the city below mercilessly. The place appeared very militia-like, consisting of designated areas for residence, shops, industrial, and other businesses. All building were white and black, made from material that resembled marble. A large river ran through the city, powering the buildings with hydroelectricity and supplying citizens with an ample amount of clean water. Everything appeared quite well in this futuristic Earth. Except it wasn't Earth

No, this was New-Earth, the first human colony that had been established outside their own galaxy. Decades upon decades along with billions of dollars paid to the astrophysicists paid off. The Hubble Satellite finally picked up a planet that was a twin to Earth. And, with Torchwood's technology, humans set off to explore, coming back with the good news the new found planet could hold and maintain life.

Mal had decided to go to this new world. And she never regretted it. Why would she? At the center of the whole city stood this world's Torchwood. It was the tallest standing structure in the city. And sitting at the head's office was Mal, legs propped up on a large, wood desk. She was smiling in satisfaction. No, she couldn't say she regretted coming at all.

"Your beverage, miss." A man's voice rang out to her as a uniformed male strode into the office and placed an ice cold glass of water before her. He stood straight when his task was done and hesitated before asking, "Anything else?"

Mal's grin only grew as she dropped her legs and sat straight. She took a long gulp from the water and sighed loudly with delight. "Nah, everything's good for now, hun. You can go." Her voice was smooth and confident, much different then the Mal's from Old Earth.

Theta weaved around the streets of New Earth, looking at the different goods vendors sold. One was selling very 21st century styled clothes, while the one next to it supplied some odd sort of grapefruit that was, as the sign proclaimed, 'only grown on the best Perkooshian farms!' Cat people, humans, and tree people milled about, speaking in a variety of languages from Chinese to Siamese to English. Though with the TARDIS's translator, Theta understood them all, albeit a bit thrown off by the accents.

"Get your fruits here! Plums, pears, apples, coringes..." Theta only heard up to pears, and he was off. He weaved around people to the stand. The stand-owner looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What, kid? Unless you've got any of your parent's money, I'm not giving you anything..." he stopped talking, eyes wide, when Theta fished a large amount of credits out of his trans-dimensional pockets and placed them down onto the stand.

"Pears. Now. Gimme"

A few minutes later, a very cheerful Theta Sigma skipped out of the crowds and onto a less occupied street, a large bag of pears weighing down on his shoulder. He munched into one happily, giggling in a very childish way when some juice ran down his chin. In the distance, on a corner next to the New Earth Torchwood building, sat his TARDIS, doors glowing happily among the crowds.

Theta had to say, New Earth had to be one of his favorite planets. So much diversity! So much culture and art!

...and so many pears.

Mal had finished her glass of water and turned her attention to her multiple computer screens. Each one projected different readings, data, e-mails, and pictures. The only problem with being at the head of the organization was the work attached to it. According to the far left screen, the Larxi from constellation 7 was sending threats to New Earth. But it didn't frighten her much. That race of banana-yellow apes were just crawling out of the stone age by Old Earth's comparison. They hardly had the arms to defeat the human colony. Mal's hazel eyes lazily drew to another screen as she began writing a report to the counsel stating her opinion on the Larxi and the fact that they shouldn't waste money or power to stop a threat that didn't even deserve the title 'dangerous'.

"Pardon, ma'am." The uniformed man who had served her earlier walked back into her office which caused Mal to turn her attention away from the screens. "I think there's something you ought to see. May I?" He was motioning to her screens with a hand. When Mal nodded her approval the man stepped over and leaned over her shoulder in order to change one of the screens to the surveillance camera posted at the main doors. The image showed a black box, and a number was flashing across the screen. "It's energy levels are extraordinary..."

"Yes, yes. I've seen this before." Mal was muttering distractedly, eyes trained on the black box sitting beside Torchwood. How long had it been since she had encountered a Time Lord? "Years." She whispered the answer to her rhetorical question. The man drew away and stood stock still. He chose to remain silent since he knew very well not to disturb Mal when she was in thought.

Turning her body to face the man but not taking her eyes off the screen she waved her hand, "Don't concern yourself, leave it to me. It's not a problem, not a threat."

"Will an escort be necessary? Or perhaps a few?"

"No. I said it isn't a threat. Nothing I can't handle." And with her firm answer, Mal rose and snapped the Vortex Manipulator, which had been abandoned on her desk, onto her wrist. She strapped an odd looking gun to her waist and hid it under a long, black trench coat. With a dismissive nod to the man, Mal walked purposefully out of her office and rode the lift to ground level. Each step reflected authority and confidence. The double front doors slid open and the warmth of the sun shone on her face.

She approached the familiar TARDIS and rested her hand gingerly on the front doors that pulsed with a green glow. Lucky her, it appeared to be Theta's. Mal pondered from which time line this one was from. To prepare herself for the wait, she faced the direction of the market and leaned on the wonderful black box.

"I wonder what brings you here.." Mal questioned the Time Lord without him being present.

Theta finished his pear, and started on another one. He held it with his mouth as he dug in his pocket for his TARDIS key, attempting to dodge people all the while. When he reached the TARDIS, he paused in front of it, not noticing Mal. He finally found the small key in the gigantic pockets, pulling it out with a muffled "ah hah!"

Theta took another step forward...and froze. Two feet were sitting there, right in front of the TARDIS. As he let his eyes slowly travel upwards, he saw the feet were attached to a pair of legs, which were attached to a person. A human woman, probably forty or so, stood there looking at him with an unreadable expression. He took the pear out of his mouth, wiping it off on his jacket, blushing slightly.

"Can I help you? Have we met before, I should say first. Timelines can get confusing..."

A slow grin began to form on Mal's face at Theta's obvious embarrassment. She had always viewed him as adorable in the youthful sense. She pushed herself off from his TARDIS and seemed to appraise him up and down. "Once upon a time we met over a basket of chips." That confident tone rang out as she affirmed. "I don't blame you for not recognizing me. I may have gained a few wrinkles, sadly. Perhaps bags under my eyes, crows feet, and whatnot. By the looks of it, you only know my self of eighteen years. I was much more smooth skinned and wide-eyed then. Very jumpy, me. Nerves of a blasted deer. But then again, you could be much older than that which means you could have seen me as I aged. Time Lords age slower after all. That's the trouble I have with your kind, it's so hard to tell. Even harder when they change their face completely. She was rambling, and she knew it. Even after all this time, even though she had changed so much over the years, this was a quality of Mal that seemed to stick.

Mal suddenly laughed and she sandwiched Theta's face in between her hands. "Welcome to New-Earth, Theta. Or, as I like to call it, my domain. I may not be the pretty face they show for political advertisement but I run the city from behind the scenes. Which, believe me, is a lot easier than one may think." A knowing grin darkened her face, her eyes twinkled with a secret she wasn't about to tell. Yet she was already plotting to show off to this misplaced Time Lord.

"Now, you're going to tell me what brings you here, yes? Surely it wasn't to see me considering you didn't recognize my aged face. Or perhaps it's the personality? An increased self-esteem can do wonders for a person." Mal realized she hadn't even reminded Theta of her name, but then that's what made it all the more fun. She was curious to see if her little hint gave him a clue as to who she was. Now that she had finally given him a chance to talk maybe he would announce whether he could recall meeting her or not. Mal decided not to get too offended if he didn't.

"Uhhh, can you let go of my face please?"

Once Mal had, he stepped back and surveyed her cautiously. At first, when he thought of a meeting over a basket of chips, he thought Sonya, maybe regenerated. But no; she'd never stick to one place or time for long, let alone take the time to run it. That only left one person.

"Mal??" Theta gaped like a fish, his sky blue eyes going wide "But...but...you're old"

Now, the young Timelord knew that was kind of a rude statement to say as a greeting, but he couldn't really help it. He was just too surprised to say anything else. Honestly, words couldn't describe his pure shock at seeing this forty year old Mal, all confident and apparently running his favorite planet from behind the scenes.

Mal's look of amusement only grew at Theta's comically shocked expression. That had totally been worth it. She put on a mock-offended tone, "Calling someone old is very impolite, Theta. But I suppose I could forgive you just this once." A smile quickly replaced her momentarily straight face and she laughed again.

"Oh, shut up," She purred though he hadn't said a word since his shocked comment on her age, "and tell me what brings you here. I'm dying to know. The look that crossed her face once she made her demand was a little eerie. Mal crossed her arms over her chest and raised a single eyebrow in a scrutinizing manner.

"Yeah, erm...sorry" Theta let out a heavy breath, laughing a bit at just how crazy this was. He held up the bag containing his favorite fruit.

"I was buying some pears. Well... that and I like New Earth, so I was just wandering around a bit; I'm surprised I haven't run into you sooner, I come here a lot"

Theta let the bag drop back onto his shoulder. A curious expression crossed his face.

"So, what exactly do you mean by 'running the city from behind the scenes'? Also...how'd you even get here?"

Mal simply smiled at his comment, nodding her head ever so slightly. She cleared her throat before saying in a smooth voice, "I wasn't aware you frequented this planet. But you shouldn't be shocked at all, I'm a hard woman to find. People only run into me if I want them to." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well, hun, getting anywhere is possible with the right equipment." Mal casually lifted her arm, allowing the sleeve of her trench coat to slip to her elbow and reveal the Vortex Manipulator on her wrist. "I meant exactly what I said. I run this city. Own it, I should really say. Everyone turns to me when decisions need to be made. I've gained a fair bit of respect. Ask anyone you pass, they know of me. Not everyone is blessed with my presence but my name brings recognition to even the children's faces."

Theta could only raise his eyebrows in surprise, his face showing his shock.

"Impressive..."

He glanced back at the TARDIS then at Mal. He had just been about to leave, but he knew it'd be rude with Mal here now. Honestly, Theta was taken off guard by this older Mal. He knew it was her, but she was just so different that he wasn't sure how to react. So he instead just stood there awkwardly, shuffling his feet. Odd, he was usually the most energetic one, but now it seemed that he and Mal switched roles.

Mal flicked her wrist and pulled her trench coat back over her arm. "Oh, it's nothing, really. Say, now that you're here I was wondering if you could help me out a little bit. What do you say?" She didn't even wait for an answer. Mal had already walked up beside Theta and put her arm around him, directing him towards the Torchwood entrance as she began to walk.

While we're at it I can give you a personal tour if you so desire."

"Huh?" Theta looked up at the gigantic building as they entered (or more like Mal entered dragging Theta along) "Torchwood?" he grinned. He had always wanted to get a good look in here, but he never got the chance, due to his younger appearance and no access cards. That happened with a lot of places, and usually he would try sneaking in to get a look, but the security here was pretty good. He never even got close enough to a door to sonic it open "Yeah, that'd be awesome. And what do you need help with? Cause I'm up for about anything, as long as it's not some sort of paperwork stuff"

"Of course Torchwood, where else?" As they entered, a man in uniform stepped in front of them. He appeared ready to say something but Mal cut him off, "I'm giving my fine friend here a tour. Alert the others, I don't want to be bothered." He slowly nodded in reply and sent off to do as ordered.

"Oh, we can talk about you assistance later. I first want to show you the different artifacts we have picked up during our expeditions to other planets in this galaxy. It's fascinating, as I'm sure you already know, Theta." She led him into a massive dome like room that held different utensils, souvenirs, toys, and trinkets that appeared to come from different cultures and areas. All were secured behind a class case. Off to the side a red light was blinking, indicating the security system was up and running.

"Next I could take you to the ships chamber, or the weapons one. Or we could skip right to the fun and head into the restricted zone." Mal chuckled and winked at him, finally releasing his shoulders from her hold.

Theta, as they had been walking through the dome like area, had acted like a kid in a candy shop. His eyes darted all around, drinking in every single detail, and he would have been running around to all the glass cases, too, if it weren't for Mal's hold on him. That was probably for the better. But as soon as the restricted zone was mentioned, his eyes lit up even more, if possible. Weapons, eh, he didn't really like them. Ships were cool. But what could be more awesome than a restricted zone; the most interesting stuff was usually held where you weren't supposed to go, after all. The young Timelord nodded eagerly.

"Yeah!"

Mal chuckled gleefully, "Excellent!  Well, take a look around here first, darling, and I'll take you there in a few minutes.  I'm sure you won't be disappointed."  She beamed at his excitement.  So far, so good.  Hopefully Theta won't back off once he knew what Mal wanted from him... then again, she could always persuade the poor Time Lord.

Theta nodded joyfully, darting off to look around the room. There was just so much stuff! Like behind one glass case was a metallic head that must have belonged to a robot of some sort. There were little disks of information that he and Sonya had encountered on DauMaur, there was a sort of light color extractor that made everything around it black and white...there were just loads of doo dads and bits and pieces of technology from all over the galaxy. There was even a strange rod-like device that Theta knew came from the Andromeda Galaxy and was in fact a compact smoothie maker. It didn't occur to the young Timelord once that maybe Mal was showing him this stuff for a reason. He was just too caught up in everything. After all, if you give a kid candy, they don't sit there wondering why. They just would thank you and then eat it.

Mal stuff her hands inside her coat pockets and casually followed Theta around.  He was amusing to the point that Mal felt a little sorry for using him, but she simply shrugged it off.

"I'm sure you could tell me what most of these are, couldn't you?"  She was prodding for him to ramble on about this and that.  She knew how excited the Time Lords she's encountered became when they were discussing a passion of theirs.

Theta nodded, eyes shining.

"Yeah, most. Like that" he pointed over to the rod "Is a smoothie maker from the Andromeda Galaxy. And this" he dashed over to the disk with many buttons "is a holographic map" he eyed the head from across the room, which in fact used to belong to a Cyberman, curiously "not sure what robot that must have come from, though. Looks sort of human-ish in design, maybe made by a race that are similar to you lot" he shrugged, then decided to continue "annnyywayys, that is a light bullet from the planet Lux, and that's a musical instrument called a Korintol from the planet Kirith, and that's..." Theta continued around the room, naming things as if it were as easy as counting to ten, albeit skipping over a few items he had never seen before.

Mal couldn't help but laugh as Theta went on and on about the artifacts.  She was following him around the room, staring with a lazy expression to each object addressed.  "Have you traveled to all those places?  I'm impressed.  You obviously know tons about, well, an abundant amount of alien cultures, eh?" 

She quickly paced to stand in front of Theta, stopping him where he was.  "If you're done here, we can go."  Mal's eyes were shining curiously and a slow smile spread across her face.  

Without waiting for him to answer, Mal turned and walked briskly to the door.  It opened and she hovered in it's frame, turning and waiting for Theta to proceed first out of the room.

Theta followed eagerly after Mal. He slowed down as he entered into the next room, looking around. It was too dark to see anything, so he stumbled into the black room blindly, stopping at the point where light from outside the door met the darkness. He continued staring out, straining even with his heightened Timelord senses to see anything. Either it was really dark, or there was nothing to see. He glanced over his shoulder at the older version of his friend.

"Hey Mal, is there a light switch somewhere?"

Mal followed with that casual saunter and entered the room behind him.  The door slammed shut and she smiled and yelled, "Lights."

The room came the life, white light snapped on and blinded the both of them momentraily.  They were in a massive dome, the top held a metallic shield that appeared to be able to open and would reveal the sky if it did so.  The walls were covered with golden domes like that of dalek armour.  The floor was completely white and spotless.  But what drew the most attention was the object that was kept in the very center of the dome room.  It was the big blue box of a madman.

"So, how about I tell you what I need? Hmm? "  Mal approached Theta and placed a firm hand on his shoulder, preventing him from retreating (not like he could get out the closed doors anyway).

Theta's face went white like a ghost's faster than you could say Raxacoricofallapatorius. He attempted to backtrack, but Mal's hand was gripping tightly into his left shoulder...where, on Timelords, there was a big bundle of nerves. Basically, it was a pressure point, so he was unable to move or struggle much, only to feebly drag his feet and wince at the pinching sensation. Anyways, where would he go? The doors were locked. Theta gulped nervously, bright blue eyes dilated. Maybe...maybe it was a misunderstanding...I mean, this was Mal they were talking about here! Nice, sweet, friend Mal!

"So...i-is the Doctor here? Does he want the Chameleon Circuit f-fixed, cause I-I keep telling him that it's b-broken for good..."

Mal laughed loudly at his nervousness before giving him a pat on the shoulder, "The Doctor isn't here.  He's never been here, in fact.  Not to New Earth; not yet at least.  I only have that because he gave it to me.  It's not even his actual TARDIS, hun." She gave him another pat on the shoulder before starting to push him toward the blue box.  "He instructed me on how to grow my own TARDIS using a piece cut from his.  So here she stands.  The only problem is I'm not a Time Lord, I can't fly it.  Though the Chameleon Circuit is down, I just want you to find a way for me to fly this thing.  Think you can manage?" 

This was a smooth lie, of course.  The Doctor would never willingly give her a piece of his TARDIS.  She simply made him.  But the less Theta knew of the truth the better off the two of them were.  She still liked the poor Time Lord after all.

"Oh" Theta blinked, feeling very stupid for the panic he had just experienced. Well, he was still experiencing it, though why, he didn't know; there was no logic to why sweat still clung to his forehead, or how his hearts were imitating a trapped animal wanting to break free.

"You mean he didn't give you some sort of manual...?" Theta immediately facepalmed after saying the words. Of course he didn't; he was the Doctor. Knowing the older Timelord, he probably threw the manual into a black hole or something "so...I guess I can show you how to fly it..."

There were still some things Thete were stumped about. Like why didn't the Doctor just show Mal how to fly it, if he gave her the piece to grow a TARDIS? Or how did it grow so quickly, when TARDISes took nearly a hundred years to fully mature? And why did Mal need a TARDIS when she was busy running the largest city on New Earth? It just didn't add up right.

Mal stopped just inches from the odd blue box.  The smile was still on her face and she leaned in and murmured, "That would be fantastic of you, Theta.  Oh, I'm so excited.  TARDISes are such a mystery to me still.  Even though I've researched them as intently as I could, you know?  It must have taken you such a long time to understand them.  But, then again, you have a fantastic brain, you Time Lords."  She laughed and placed a hand on her hip.

The TARDIS gave an unnatural feel.  It was unnerving and dark, eerie in the bright lights of the dome room.  Theta was, of course, correct. The growth of it had been forced and unnatural.  A process that shouldn't have occurred but did despite the cons.  Little did anyone know, Mal had plans.  Big plans.  This measly city was only the beginning.