The Doctor hurried to keep up with Silent Strike, who seemed to find the time lord's slight struggle to keep pace amusing. He pointed at one of the solid buildings before ducking inside. The Doctor groaned silently to himself before forcing his legs to move a bit faster to get inside as well.

Inside, he was greeted by one of the last things he would expect here.

"Jack!?"

The captain grinned at the Doctor, tapping the shoulder of the dark haired man next to him. "Doctor!" He greeted, opening his arms and going in for a hug. "Told you that you'd seen me soon."

The Doctor pulled away from the hug with disbelief. "What are you doing here, Jack, and where is here?"

Jack grinned. "Sorry, Doctor, but that's not my name here. I'm called, what is it again, Ianto?"

The man next to him rolled his eyes. "Atomic Thrusts, sir."

"That's the ticket!" Jack grinned wider as the Doctor looked at Ianto in disbelief.

"Ianto Jones?" The Doctor questioned, looking the taller man before him up and down. "What year is this?"

"2019." Ianto replied, "In horribly hot California. I miss Cardiff."

The Doctor squinted at Ianto. This wasn't right; Ianto didn't make it past 2009. How could he be here? Perhaps he had entered an alternative time line?.. Although, the future is always changing... Perhaps circumstances for that incident did as well.

"You know each other?" Silent Strike asked, tilting his head at the three. He pouted when they nodded. "Taking away the fun of introductions..." He sighed, looking up at the ceiling.

Jack laughed, leaning against Ianto as he grinned at Strike. "You'll get plenty of fun later."

"Don't excite me." Strike winked before turning back to the Doctor, "You need a wardrobe change."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" The Doctor pouted, "I quite like my clothes."

"A bit impractical for this space in time, sir." Ianto spoke as he tugged at his black jacket. His style seemed much simpler compared to everyone the Doctor had encountered so far, with only a plain white shirt underneath the jacket. Even Jack had blue accents on his jacket and a navy blue shirt underneath.

The Doctor sighed, but nodded. "Alright, what do ya reckon for someone like me?"

Strike hummed, pushing his lips out slightly as he looked the time lord up and down. His eyes finally rested just above his eyeline. "That hair is hot." He smirked, "I can work with that."

The Doctor looked uneasily at a laughing Jack and Ianto. "What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" He asked as Strike shot like a rocket out of sight.

"You'll see." Was all the Doctor received in a giggled response.

---

Frank groaned as he pushed the car towards the garage. It was definitely heavier than it looked, possibly due to the age of the vehicle. Or the fact that Frank didn't work out that much.

"Here's good!" Disturbance called out, tapping the driver's door with his open hand. When Frank stopped pushing, he climbed out of the vehicle and grinned at Frank. "Come meet our mechanic."

"What's his name?" Frank asked, wiping sweat off his brow.

Disturbance laughed, shaking his head. "Her name is Gasoline Threat Angel. Although, she goes by any of the three."

Frank's eyebrows raised as Disturbance gestured him to follow. The walked around a corner, to where a garage door was rising up with the clanking of chains and strained machinery. Disturbance hurried ahead, sliding on the dusty ground to look into the garage.

"What happened to princess bubblegum?" He pouted as something heavy could be heard dropping to the ground. Frank caught up to Disturbance and looked in the direction his eyes were focused on.

He was greeted by the butt of cargo pants poking out of a car's front engine. A small set of legs kicked up off the ground a bit, as if whoever was inside was struggling to reach something.

"Ghosted, if that's you, please help. If it's not ghosted, please help all the same." A soft voice called out as a hand could be seen shooting out from the underneath of the car, waving frantically. "I seem to have misplaced my hearing aid."

Disturbance hurried over, followed by Frank, sliding his arms under the thin waist of the figure hidden in the car's hood. He lifted, gently, causing her to cry out.

"Just me, Angel." Josh soothed, lowly, continuing to pull her out, "Love the new hair, by the way." Frank stepped forward to help, but noticed something on the floor by the car. A small, arched metal device with a clear piece connected. Frank bent down and picked it up as Disturbance set the girl with long teal hair, that was pulled back in a ponytail, down on the ground. She looked like she had been working on the car for awhile; she had grease marks on her face, her hair was dirty, and her neutral colored clothes were work worn.

"Can always count on you, can't I, Ghosted?" The girl grinned, patting his chest. She was speaking loudly as she looked around. When she caught sight of Frank, she pointed at him, "Hey! You found it!" She grinned.

Frank smiled as he held the device out to her. She scooped it out of his hand, tapped it off against her grease stained tan tank top, and brought it up to hook in her ear.

"Oh, much better." She sighed with a look of relief on her face. She turned to Disturbance, "I didn't realize it was out until I was already so far in, I was afraid that I may have lost it in the engine somewhere."

"Again, Angel?" Disturbance asked with an eyebrow raise.

She rolled her eyes as she pulled the tie out from her pony tail, "It's happened. I'm just used to sitting in silence." She shook out her hair before turning back to Frank. "Hi! Name's Gasoline Threat." She held out her hand after sliding the hair tie onto her wrist.

"Forgot Angel." Disturbance smirked, dodging when Gasoline Threat went to hit his arm.

"Only you and Silent are allowed to call me that, Ghosted." She replied with a laugh as she turned back to Frank.

"Call me Frank." Frank smiled, reaching out to shake her hand.

She tilted her head at him. "Frank? That's a strange name for around here."

"What, Frank is strange but Ghosted Disturbance and Gasoline Threat aren't?" Frank asked with a snorted sort of laugh.

Gasoline Threat looked him up and down. "You ain't in Kansas anymore, Frank." She finally said, crossing her arms. "No one's used real names since Better Living took over."

Frank remembered Kobra and Disturbance talking about that same name. It had to of been one hell of a force to bring humanity down to this. He wanted to ask more, but Silent Strike came running into the garage. He was out of breath as he halted his stride in front of the three.

"K-kobra is back..." He panted, walking slowly over to Disturbance. "They... Want m-mission report."

"Kobra didn't come back with you?" Gasoline Threat asked as Silent let himself fall against Disturbance's chest.

"He was dealing with Dracs." Disturbance replied as he wrapped his arms around Silent, "He had me bring back Frank and that other guy."

"Doctor." Silent yawned as he nuzzled against Disturbance, "Ghost, you should carry me home."

Gasoline Threat parted her hair, starting to scoop one side into a ponytail. "If he's back, you boys need to report to him as well as Jet Star." She said as she finished her first side ponytail. She began working on the other one while looking between all the boys expectantly. "What? Did my hearing aid fall out again or are we all just still standing here?"

"We're going, Angel." Disturbance nodded, tapping Silent's back. "Let's go."

Silent whined softly. "I wasn't out on patrol though."

"I'll carry you."

"I'm sold like a hooker on payday."

Silent stood up right, sticking his arms up into the air with grabby hands. Disturbance rolled his eyes before turning around and crouching. Silent jumped onto his back, quickly wrapping his arms around the smokey haired boy.

"Wait," Frank called out as Disturbance began to hurry from the garage, "Where's my Doctor?"

"With Atomic Thrusts and Ianto." Silent replied with a yawn.

"What!?"

"I'll take him." Gasoline Threat stepped forward, having finished her hair. During the short conversation, she had tugged a worn, long sleeved shirt on over her tank top. It matched the cargo pants that hugged her hips. She tapped Frank's back, giving him a smile. "Maybe we can set you up with a nickname."

"I've already got one of those." Frank replied with a shrug, "With the way you guys set names, I doubt it'll be any shorter than my name now."

"Length isn't the point of a nickname." Gasoline Threat said with a wave to Disturbance and Silent as they hurried off, "It's a sign of affection from those closest to you. That's how I got my name." She smiled as she began to step out of the garage.

Frank followed, stepping out of the building and allowing Gasoline Threat to close the large, metal door that the cars were brought in through. She adjusted her hearing aid, causing Frank to look at her ear curiously. What he had at first assumed to be oil or grease, was actually burn marks that started just before her ear and right behind it.

"How did you get that?" He asked.

She hummed, turning back to him with a look of confusion before relazation crossed over her face. "Oh! The ear thing, hu?" She laughed softly at Frank's hesitant nod, "It's alright, don't feel bad for asking. It's not like you insulted a blind person, it's just something I got marked with..." She frowned as she reached up and ran her fingers along the scarring.

"I got hit during a supply raid." She finally spoke up after a silence between the two, "They thought I was dead, because it knocked me out and I was bleeding pretty bad from hitting something on the way down..." She began walking slowly along the building, prompting Frank to follow. "I was out with Silent and Ghosted... That's why they're the only ones that can call me Angel." A small, sad smile returned to her lips, "They thought I was becoming one..."

"I'm sorry..." Frank said, lowly.

She just shrugged, "It's not like there's anything you could of done. It happened about a year ago, but I got the hearing aid built for me by Demonic Devotee."

"Demonic Devotee?" Frank asked with a laugh, "You sure have fun with names around here, hu?"

"The most fun." She grinned, sticking out her tongue. "Yours will be just as fun, once I think it up."

The two grew quiet as they walked along the dusty makeshift street. Gasoline Threat finally stopped at a worn building, nodding towards the door.

"Go ahead. I've got to visit someone anyway." She gave Frank a small wave, "See you later."

"See you." Frank waved back before turning to the building. He could almost feel the mixed emotions reflooding his brain. What if the Doctor didn't approve of the sprung on gesture of affection? What if he did? Was either really better with the time lord?

Frank was beginning to psych himself out of entering the building at all. He had never felt like this towards another being before. Even the kiss was different than anything he had experienced in the past, and there was so much less put into his and the Doctor's moment of lip on lip contact...

He jumped, thankfully being pulled from his thoughts, as someone pushed the door roughly open. A dark haired figure that Frank recognized stepped out with a grin on his face.

"Frank! Long time, no see!" Captain Jack laughed, opening his arms for a hug. "Nice outfit, very fitting to the era."

"Jack!?" Frank laughed, hugging the taller man before pulling away to look at his outfit. "Hi! Thanks, yours too? What era is this, exactly?"

"The end of eras." Jack grinned, "The post apocalypse is upon us, and so long after the Mayans predicted! Still made for a very eventful lead up to their predicted doomsday, but still."

"How long after?" Frank asked, furrowing his eyebrows. It couldn't still be the year he was from, or anywhere near it, could it?

"About seven?" Jack replied after a moment of thought, "2019. So much extra time for so much extra fun."

"There's no way!" Frank exclaimed, feeling his eyes grow wide. "That means... That's three years after where-when I left! It can't be that soon... Can it?"

"Sure seems like it, Frankie."

Frank turned to see the Doctor stepping out of the building, wearing a very different outfit than before. His pants were whitish gray, leading up to a blue jacket with red and white accents. On the chest of the zipped up jacket, was a small patch that read 'dead pegasus'. The time lord's hair, which was usually up kept and tidy, was a bit wild on his head. Frank suddenly realized how much it had grown out since they first started their journey together.

"They wouldn't let me keep my suits." The Doctor pouted, crossing his arms.

Jack turned to look at him, "I think your birthday suit would have been perfectly fine."

The Doctor shot him a look before walking over to Frank. He stood next to his human as Ianto walked out of the building to stand next to Jack.

"You haven't met my guy yet, have you, Frank?" Jack asked with a mischievous grin as he pressed the side of his hip against Ianto's.

"I've only met the one boy toy." Frank replied, to which Jack laughed.

"Yes, Jack was fun, but this guy's my favorite." He grinned, tilting his head up to look at Ianto. "He's pretty much a collectable by now."

"You're the one that gets better with age, sir." Ianto smirked as his own cheeks grew crimson in tint.

The Doctor let out a cry before covering his ears, causing the rest of the small group to laugh. Frank especially felt himself ease with the the laughter. The air of awkwardness from the car was gone. He felt like he and the Doctor could move past his sudden action.

"Oh, boys!"

The heads of the group turned as Disturbance walked over, still carrying Silent on his back. Silent waved with a tired smile.

"Jet Star wants the privilege of meeting your faces, not just your names." Silent said before yawning and resting his head against the back of Disturbance's neck.

Jack whistled, pushing his fingers back through his short hair. "You're gunna meet the fro boss."

"Fro boss?" Frank asked with the raise of an eyebrow as the Doctor tugged at his new leather jacket.

"You'll understand when you meet him." Jack winked.

"Oh dear lord..." The Doctor muttered, softly as Ghosted Disturbance gestured for them to follow. He walked forward, not grabbing hold of Frank's hand or wrist as he usually did. Frank noticed, biting his lip nervously as he moved forward behind the time lord.

Disturbance lead them along the dusty road down the middle of the ragtag community. Frank observed them as they walked. Some were no more than patched sheets converted into tents. Others were more intricate and built of boards and scraps. Each one seemed to have it's own personality, though, which made them all stand out in their own way. Frank couldn't help but smile at that. Something about it just felt homey.

Disturbance was leading them past those buildings, however, and bringing them to one of the only concrete buildings. Disturbance held the door for the Doctor and Frank as Silent slept quietly on Disturbance's back. The group was greeted by a relatively small room, with a single wall completely covered by maps and diagrams.

"Here they are, sir!" Disturbance called out, trying to be careful of Silent's sleeping figure.

Footsteps could be heard as Disturbance closed the door. Minutes later, a man in a black jacket came into the room, followed by Kobra Kid. Kobra held his helmet, which had new scortch marks on it, under his arm as he nodded to the group.

"These are the two we found, sir." Kobra said, standing at attention next to the man in the black jacket.

The man in the dark jacket looked back and forth between Frank and the Doctor. He had dark wavy hair that went down to his shoulders, not really explaining why Jack had called him "the fro boss". His posture was upright and authoritative. He had to be the boss of something with a stance like that.

"So, who was the captive and who was the time jumper?" He asked, holding his hands behind his back.

"I-I was the captive." Frank sputtered, raising his hand. "They took me."

The man nodded before turning to the Doctor. "So you're the jumper?" He asked.

"Prefer time lord myself, but yes I suppose." The Doctor replied with a shrug, "I'm the Doctor. I apologize for being a bit under dressed, apparently this fashion choice is popular here."

The man in front of them cracked a smile at the Doctor's words. "I'm Jet Star. I'm afraid the fashion choices we have in place are best protection from the wind storms that happen quite often. The simplest of many reasons." Jet Star looked over at Kobra, "You're sure you lost the Dracs?"

Kobra nodded. "Yes, sir. They were more interested in the blue box the Doctor arrived in."

"Do they have my tardis!?" The Doctor exclaimed, instant worry setting over his face despite his brush off of the subject earlier. "They haven't hurt her, have they?"

"According to Kobra's mission report, he was gone before he could learn the fate of your ship." Jet Star replied, "I'm sorry about your ship. If it's any consultation, it was most likely confiscated to be brought to the head of Better Living."

"That sounds like a bad thing, all the same." The Doctor replied with a sad look. The tardis was his home. He had tried to maintain a calm face for Frank earlier, but with the relazation that it had fallen into less than trustful hands...

Kobra was watching the Doctor's expressions. He turned to Jet Star, "Sir, when we are sure Dracs are free of the area, may I take the Doctor to scout for his ship? I know chances are slim, but a chance is a chance all the same."

Jet Star considered Kobra's words for a moment before nodding. "Permission granted. I want Ghosted Disturbance on Drac watch. He can give the okay once it's clear in that vicinity."

The Doctor's face lit up at Jet Star's words. "Oh, thank you, thank you!" He held his hands together as his words of gratefulness spilled past his lips.

Kobra smiled with a nod before neutralizing his expression. Jet Star nodded as well before turning to look at the large wall of maps and diagrams behind him.

"Silent Strike, I need you to find accommodations for our guests."

A soft yawn could be heard fill the room. "Yes, sir..." The sound of boots getting set on the ground before Silent was standing next to the Doctor. He tapped the Doctor's shoulder lightly before jerking his head towards the door of the building.

The Doctor and Frank followed Silent as Kobra Kid and Ghosted Disturbance hurried over to the covered wall. Silent lead them down the dusty road, once again, leading them back to the building Frank had met up with the Doctor, Ianto, and Jack.

"You can bunk with the flirty boys." Silent grinned, reaching up to rub sleep from one of his eyes. "They have room. Or they'll let you slip in bed with them."

"You keep reminding me more and more of Jack himself." The Doctor said, to which Silent shot him a wink.

"If you need me, I sleep at the garage." Silent yawned, stretching his arms up above his head. He let them fall back against his side with a dull thud before he smiled at the two of them again. "See you later, friends."

"So long!" The Doctor waved as he jumped up the steps to hurry inside the building. Frank was beginning to hurry after the time lord, when he caught sight of Gasoline Threat's duel teal pony tails behind the next building over.

"Gasoline Threat?" Frank called out, backtracking from the porch.

The girl turned around to look at him, holding a handful of withered flowers on her hands. Frank tilted his head at her, to which she smiled.

"Hello, Frank." She stepped between the buildings to walk over to where he was, "How'd the meeting go?"

"I'm not quite sure, to be honest." Frank shrugged. He pointed to her hands, "What are those for?"

Her smile visibly saddened with his question. "All my friends." She said, lowly, looking down at them before looking back at Frank. "I know we don't know each other very well at all, but would you care to come with me? It's getting dark and I don't prefer to be out alone in the dark."

"Sure." Frank nodded, "Where are they?"

Gasoline Threat nodded towards the direction she had been walking. Frank followed as she began to walk back over there, kicking up a small trail of dust as he did so.

"What about the man you came with?" Gasoline Threat asked as they walked, "What did Ghosted say his name was?"

"Doctor." Frank replied almost instantly, "He's with some old friends... I haven't really talked to him very much while being here..." Frank spoke the relazation that came to mind out loud, unconsciously. He hadn't really been with the Doctor very much here: from the kidnapping to getting brought into this makeshift town, he had only been with the Doctor for short periods of time. They hadn't even had time to work through or talk about the car incident.

"Doctor." She nodded as they walked, "That's a nice name. More suitable here than Frank." She teased with a soft giggle.

Frank rolled his eyes, "Oh, c'mon! That's not fair. Haven't you thought one up yet?"

She shrugged. "I'm thinking of something fun."

The two had walked out away from the buildings a bit. They seemed to be heading towards a large rock face that was beginning to cast a shadow along the dusty landscape. Gasoline Threat slowed her pace, pulling the flowers close to her chest.

Another sudden relazation hit Frank as Gasoline Threat's eyes began to fill with tears. "Your friends didn't make it... Did they?" He asked lowly.

She shook her head as she stepped closer to the rock. She crouched down to set the flowers on the ground and pressed her hand against the smooth stone ahead of her. "Unfortunately..." She laughed sadly, "The badlands took them... Outside the barrier we're hidden in."

Frank stepped forward, crouching down next to her. She wiped her eyes and turned to him with a small smile.

"You would of liked them. Demonic Devotee, Starlight Diamond, Villainous Pills, Misery Business, Desert Hurricane..." She sighed, shaking her head. "They were all far too young to die the way they did..."

"Was it the Dracs?" Frank asked as Gasoline Threat plopped her butt to the dusty ground. He lowered himself more carefully.

"It's always the Dracs." She turned her head at spat after saying the word, "Better Living's goal of perfectionism has only brought us this hell..." She patted her jacket, as if searching for something, before pulling at a pocket and sticking her hand inside. She pulled out a rectangular photo, smiling fondly at it. "Everyone we've lost, and have yet to loose." She said, holding the photo out to Frank. "We all took this before everything really started going to shit; when we first all found each other."

Frank took the photo. He looked down at it, recognizing the people he had seen here standing off to the side, and along the front of the group. As his eyes trailed along the other faces, he felt his heart stop. They were all faces he had seen before. He could recognize: Brendon from the nineties, Dallon from Mars, Jamia from ancient Egypt?! Every face he came across was one that he recognized from his travels with the Doctor.

"This can't be real... Can it?" He looked back up at Gasoline Threat's now confused face, "They couldn't of all been here."

"Yes, they were." She replied, looking at Frank as if he had hit his head on something. "Frank, they were all my friends."

"I knew them though!" Frank exclaimed, his hand that was holding the photo beginning to shake. "All of them, all over time!"

Her eyebrows were furrowed as she looked back at him. "What are you saying?"

Frank shook his head, "I'm saying, I don't know what the hell is going on anymore."

---

A/N~ shout out to ryyiio for Brendon's killjoy name last chapter! I twinged it just a bit, but I really loved it <3

~Skittles Out~