A Police Box on Baker Street

Reunions and Separations

Chapter 8: The Doctor's POV

The man in the army-style overcoat rushed over to me and practically tackled me in a bear hug. "It really is you, then," Captain Jack Harkness said as he strengthened his grip and crushed my bones even more.

"It really is me," I responded, throwing my arms around him and hugging him back.

Jack pulled away and looked at me--really looked at me, taking in every detail of my new regeneration. Well, new to him, anyways. "How many regenerations have you gone through since we last saw each other?" he asked.

"Just the one," I responded. "Don't worry, you didn't miss an entire new face." Jack nodded, obviously pleased. "But the real question," I began, "is how did you find me? How did you know it was me?"

"Oh, the 'knowing it was you' part was easy, but the actual 'finding you' part was based off of sheer dumb luck." 

"Sheer dumb luck?" I asked. 

"Exactly," Jack said. "You see, I'm doing some work on my own now--"

"Wait, what happened to Torchwood?" I interrupted. Jack looked deflated for a moment, but he quickly re-inflated himself and continued talking. 

"Oh, you know, people drift apart sometimes," he said nonchalantly, like the disbanding of the group he had devoted a substantial part of his life to was an everyday occurrence, like suggesting a place to eat. 

"I know," I said, remembering people from my past that I had run into and then simply left. And once again, I reminded myself to move on, to not dwell on these things. "So, you were saying?" 

"Right, I was doing some work around here by myself, as you can see," the captain said, gesturing to the pictures and newspaper articles around him. "I came here because there's something wrong here, Doctor," he said. "People are disappearing, and I think I know who--or what--is behind it."

"What is it?" I asked. 

"I'm getting to that. But first I thought you'd want to know how I found you." Without waiting for my response, Jack continued, "I've traced this thing down to this very club, and I was watching the crowd from below when I saw you walk in. I didn't recognize you, of course, because your face had changed, but I heard of three unexpected VIPs showing up, so I did a little quick, last-minute research and found out that you had regenerated, and here you are. Speaking of which, who are the two people that you brought along?" 

"Oh, you'll meet them soon enough," I answered. I definitely wanted to see how someone like Doctor John Watson or Sherlock Holmes would respond to someone like Captain Jack Harkness. "But these disappearances, what do you know about them?" It occurred to me that Sherlock would be able to help, but then I realized that if this thing was alien, it would probably be better if I had a little extra background knowledge before I had to explain this all to the detective. 

"People have been disappearing all around Harlem consistently for the past few months, but spaced-out enough that nobody has made the connection. Well, nobody except for me. Well-known people--musicians, specifically--vanishing from clubs without a trace. There are signs, though, that appear before it strikes. And those signs have been circulating around the Cotton Club for the past few days. New, random hirings, unorthodoxed firings, a complete staff change in preparation for..." Jack trailed off, his expression expectant as he waited for me to connect the dots and figure it out. 

"Duke Ellington," I whispered. Then louder, "They're going to kidnap Duke Ellington." 

~~~~~~~~

Sherlock's POV

"Who do you think that man was?" John asked after a few minutes of the Doctor being absent. He leaned in close to me, raising his voice to be heard over the band. "They've been gone a while."