PARENTHOOD

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty

"But why would they take my coffin?" Jamie asked and Duer closed his eyes.

"Why would anyone want to steal a coffin?" Sarah asked as Duer handed her the scanner then knelt down on his haunches and took his glasses out of his pocket, placing the glasses on. He poked his finger at the ground when he stood up and walked around the grave, his hands behind his back.

"That is a very good question," Duer said as he looked at Ashe and McCasey and frowned. "Tell me, how long have you been here?"

"Well, I just arrived two days ago," Sarah said then looked at the men. "Those two have been here for a week."

"Ah," Duer said then took out the sonic screwdriver, scanning the grave. He placed the sonic screwdriver away when he took the scanner from her and checked the readings.

"Finding anything?"

"Yep," Duer said, popping the "p" then wiggled a finger for her to come closer. She walked closer while he showed her what was on the screen and her eyes went wide.

"Is that right?" she whispered.

"Yep, someone dug up the coffin seven days ago," he said when he noticed something and blinked. He started following a long slide pattern in the dirt from the grave to the edge of the hill then looked down at the long slide of dirt and blinked. Sarah had followed him when she stood next to him and Duer took the glasses off, placing them in his pocket. "Well, now we know where it went."

"Do you think...?" she asked as she glanced over at Ashe and McCasey and Duer slightly nodded his head. "What now?"

"I suggest we turn around very slowly," he whispered when he heard a soft clicking sound and they turned around, seeing that Ashe and McCasey were pointing guns at them. "So, who are you really and what did you do with the coffin?"

"Who are you?" Ashe asked as he walked closer and took the scanner out of Duer's hand.

"Fine, if you must know, I'm the Doctor," Duer said and Sarah looked at him, her eyes going wide.

"Are you serious?" she asked and Duer nodded, taking the imager off and brushing his fingers through his hair.

"Now, mind telling me why you took the coffin?" Duer asked as Ashe and McCasey walked closer and held the guns tightly in their hands.

"We needed it," McCasey asked.

"What did you need it for?"

"What else? We needed it as bait to draw you out, Doctor," Ashe said.

"Ah, well, who do you work for, if you don't mind me asking? Or is this a dumb question and you do work for Torchwood?"

"Aye, we work for Torchwood," Ashe said.

"Well, now that we cleared that up, where is the coffin?" Duer asked, trying to keep his anger in check.

"This way," McCasey growled as they headed down the hill and Duer held onto Sarah's hand. He gently squeezed her fingers as they walked to the large tent at the back of the camp they had made and Sarah glanced back at Ashe.

"So that's why you wouldn't let me go in there," she said and Ashe growled at her. They walked into the tent when Duer felt his hearts racing and Jamie covered Zoe's eyes.

"Pa-paw, I cannae see!" she said, wiggling on his lap and he moved his hands away.

Lying on a white sheet on the table were Jamie's skeletal remains and the coffin sat on the floor next to the table. Duer walked closer while McCasey followed him and Duer looked down at the remains. He was amazed that the remains were intact and wisps of white hair clung to the skull. He looked at the tattered remains of the clothing they had buried Jamie in but something was missing and he blinked, balling his hands into fists.

"Jamie," Duer sighed then turned, looking at McCasey. "How did you find out about him?"

"It is quite simple, really. We have extensive files on you and know all about your companions. In fact, we should bring them in, seeing that they're a threat to Earth security," McCasey said and Duer's stomach did a flip. He thought of Sarah Jane and Luke, Martha, Mickey, Jack, Wilf then Donna and his hearts went faster. What if they did take Donna? She had no memory of him but, if they did push her too far, she would remember and die.

"If you touch any of them..." Duer said and Ashe laughed.

"Och, like you care," he said and Duer growled then looked at McCasey.

"How did you know that Jamie was here?"

"Well, we do have a sample of your artron energy trail, so we just followed it and came here. True, it was a faint signal, but it was enough."

"But why dig him up?" Sarah asked after finding her voice again.

"As proof that we really had his....?" Ashe asked then looked at Duer. "What was he, eh? I heard rumors that you two were really close. Did you have a thing for boys?"

"Eh?" Zoe asked and Duer opened his eyes. Jamie whispered in her ear as she scrunched up her face and frowned. "Yuck, Pa-paw wouldnae do that!"

"Got that right," Duer said and closed his eyes.

"No, he was...my son," Duer said as they looked at him and Sarah frowned.

"He was?" she asked and Duer slightly nodded his head.

"It's true, Pa-paw always thought of me as his son just like I thought of him as my da," Jamie whispered as Zoe smiled and snuggled against his chest.

"If he is your son, then why was he buried up there next to that woman?" McCasey asked.

"I left him in the past and that was his wife," Duer said softly and Sarah slid her fingers into his, making him fold his fingers around hers. Squeezing her fingers, he looked at Ashe and clenched his jaw. "So, now that you've got me, what are you going to do me?"

"We're going to take you back to Torchwood," Ashe said with a grin.

"I can't wait to see what they're going to do with you," McCasey said when the air turned ice cold and a white mist moved across the ground, coming into the tent. "What the hell?"

A low moan suddenly filled the air while they looked at each other and Sarah gasped, pointing to the remains.

"Uh, Jamie, I think I should stop," Duer said as he opened his eyes and looked at Zoe.

"Why?" Zoe asked.

"This is going to get scary."

"Och, Pa-paw, I wonae be scared. I watched Fright Night with Uncle Adam's friend, David, in it during movie night last Friday," Zoe said and both Jamie and Duer's eyes went wide.

"Hold on, I thought that was an R rated movie," Jamie said.

"Yep, it is," Duer said.

"Uncle Alan cut out the bad words," Zoe said with a grin and Duer rolled his eyes, closing them.

"Alan?" Duer thought as he set up a privacy block and sighed.

"Beep....Alan's not in at the moment...Please leave a message," Alan thought and Duer softly smiled.

"Did you let Hamish's daughter, Zoe, watch Fright Night?"

"Uh, yeah, but I bleeped out the bad words."

"But it was still graphically violent."

"Well, she wasn't the one ducking behind the pillow when it did. That, Mate, was Cam," Alan teased and Duer frowned.

"Well, be that as it may, you don't show a nine year old a movie like that."

"Hamish said it was ok."

"Did you tell him what it was about?" Duer thought and heard a soft cough.

"No, but..."

"Right, to the naughty corner with you, Mister," Duer thought and heard a loud gasped. Suddenly a cartoon version of Alan appeared in his head and cartoon Alan fell to his knees, grabbing hold of Duer's ankles..

"No, please, anything but that!" Alan thought as the cartoon Alan kissed Duer's feet and Duer laughed inside his head. "Besides, Zoe liked the movie."

"Yeah, she did say that she wasn't scared. Ok, I will forgive you this time," Duer thought as the cartoon Alan jumped up, gave him a hug and ran off. Duer let his mind go when he sighed and softly shook his head.

The mist grew thicker while Duer moved Sarah closer to his side and the right hand of the remains started moving. The fingers flexed when the middle finger cracked then fell off and Duer caught the finger before it fell to the ground.

"Nnnnh," the remains moaned as the head started moving and the left hand reached up, removing the linen strap that kept the jaw tied shut.

"Blessed Mother!" Ashe cried out as he crossed himself and backed away.

"You're doing this!" McCasey said as he grabbed Sarah and held her against him. "Make it stop or I'll kill her!"

The remains started to sit up when the head turned then the skin around the eye sockets snapped open and Duer saw the yellow light shining in the sockets. Duer removed the sonic screwdriver from his pocket when he scanned the remains and blinked, putting the sonic screwdriver back in his pocket.

"Blimey," Duer whispered when the remains stood up and turned its head toward him.

"Leave him alone!" Sarah said as the remains looked at her and titled its head to one side. The remains took two staggering steps toward her when Ashe took aim and fired his gun. The remains jerked as the bullets hit it then looked at Ashe, walking toward him.

"Stay away from me!" Ashe said as he emptied the clip into the remains but it didn't stop then growled, making a fist with its left hand.

"Stop!" Duer shouted as the remains stopped and turned, looking at him. Walking slowly toward the remains, he held his hands up then stood in front of the remains and the remains tilted its head to one side. "It's alright. I won't let them harm you."

The remains shivered as the bullets fell to the ground and they looked down at the bullets then up at each other.

"Ok, guess I was a little late with the "they won't hurt you" bit, but you can't do this," Duer said and the remains looked at Ashe, who looked like he was about to faint and Duer waved for him to sit down. Ashe sat down as he placed his head between his legs and breathed through his mouth. The remains looked at McCasey as it growled and Duer placed a hand on its shoulder. "No."

"Get rid of it, Doctor, or I WILL kill the woman!" McCasey snarled when Sarah swung her leg back and kicked him in the shin. McCasey screamed as he let go of her then slammed his fist into her stomach. "You bitch!"

Sarah crumbled to the ground as the remains looked at her then at McCasey and arched its head back. A golden light shimmered around the remains as its mouth fell open and an inhuman scream echoed in the air. The red light in the sockets grew brighter as the head moved forward and McCasey and Ashe headed for the opening in the tent. The golden light soared out of the remains as it chased after the men and Duer walked to the opening in the tent. His eyes went wide as the golden light hit the men and they screamed, their bodies bursting into bloody pieces and Duer closed his eyes.

"Ew," Zoe said as Jamie nodded and looked at Duer.

"What was that?" he asked and Duer hushed him.

"Doctor?" Sarah asked as he turned around and ran to her. Kneeling down next to her, he closed his eyes and gently held her hand. Suddenly a blue light appeared while Sarah blinked and saw the Doctor, Alan, Adam and Jack standing next to him and Duer opened his eyes, looking at them. "Who are they?"

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said and she looked at Duer.

"I thought you were the Doctor."

"I am, but he's the Doctor as well. He's from another universe," Duer said and Adam knelt down next to him.

"Hi, I'm Adam," he said then pointed to Jack, who was standing near the opening of the tent. "That bloke over there is Jack."

"And I'm Alan," Alan said.

"I'm Doctor Sarah McCrimmon," she said when Jack walked to them and stood next to the Doctor.

"You better come see this," Jack said as the Doctor nodded and followed him to the opening of the tent. The golden light was trashing the camp when Duer walked to them and sighed, walking out of the tent. He walked to the golden light as things flew through the air and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Mary!" he shouted as the golden light stood still and floated a few inches off the ground.

"Mary? Are you saying that light is my daughter?" Jamie asked as Duer opened his eyes and looked at him. Jamie's daughter, Mary, had been turned into a fairy when she was four years old and Jamie never forgave the fey for stealing his daughter.

"Yep," Duer said, popping the "p".

"How did she get into Pa-paw's body?" Zoe asked.

"Well, that was an interesting story," Duer said then closed his eyes and sat back in the chair.

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