ARCADIA

Chapter Twenty One

"Get moving!" Callisto snarled as he shoved Jack towards the hole in the ground.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," Jack growled through gritted teeth while Callisto kept a blaster trained on his back.

Callisto grinned. Since receiving the signal, he decided to take Jack with him as a human shield and leverage in case his nemesis was up to something. He kept close to him but he was wary and held his blaster tight in case Jack spun around and tried to disarm him. His suspicions were raised further when they went underground and he saw the glo balls.

"This better not be a trap or you'll watch your friends die here and now," Callisto said to Jack.

"Really? You're not gonna play your games any longer, how refreshing," Jack said dryly, glancing over his shoulder at him.

Callisto considered shooting him in the back for a moment before deciding it wasn't worth the trouble. They walked through the lighted corridor, Callisto tracking Jackie on a little Ipod-like tablet. He could tell from the monitor that Jackie was just up ahead of them. He shifted his movement until he could see around Jack. There was no sign of Jackie so far but he could tell she was close.

"She's up ahead, go find her," Callisto said to Jack after he told him to stop moving.

"Yes, Massa," Jack said, bowing to him.

Callisto gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to shoot him. He handed him the tablet and glowered at Jack as he sauntered off in search of Jackie.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Jackie was standing just inside the opening of the room where Rose was cocooned. The Doctor was up the corridor, hiding in another room. She had hazarded a quick glance when she heard Callisto speaking and was shocked to see Jack was with him. She had to quickly rethink her strategy, trying to decide when to run out. The last thing she wanted was to lead Callisto to her daughter but she hadn't counted on Jack being here. She decided to let Jack come to her; perhaps she could enlist his help. She heard a soft beeping sound outside a moment before Jack stepped through the door.

"Hi, I'm here to find you," Jack said dryly to Jackie.

"Is Callisto here as well?" Jackie said softly.

"He's outside and down the passageway a bit. I'm supposed to bring all of you back to him or else I'll suffer horrible, horrible death," Jack said in a monotone voice.

"The Doctor's here but he's in another room. We were attacked by this bloody great spider and he managed to put his mind inside it."

Jack raised his eyebrow.

"The Doctor's a spider now?" he said.

Jackie nodded.

"What about Rose?"

Jackie pointed to the cocooned Rose.

"The Doctor did that?" he said to Jackie after he looked where she was pointing.

"Yes but she's still alive. We have a plan."

"Well, by all means, let me in on it, Mrs. Tyler," Jack said.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Callisto tapped his foot. He sighed, hoping Jack wasn't trying to do something to defy him. He was about to go when he suddenly saw him and Jackie coming out of the room and heading towards them.

"We've got a problem," Jack said to him.

"No, we don't. Jackie Tyler is with you and that's what I asked you to retrieve," Callisto said, looking Jackie over.

"My daughter may be dead," Jackie said to him.

"And?" Callisto said dispassionately.

"And the Doctor might still be inside her; don't you want to make sure he's well and truly gone now?" Jackie said angrily.

"And what happened to your daughter then?" Callisto said, not really interested.

"A spider got her," Jackie said, trying to be as emotional as she could.

She noticed the smirk on Callisto's face and had to restrain herself from punching him.

"So why are you still alive then?" Callisto said.

"We were trying to get out of the heat and came down here," Jackie said, still trying to be emotional. "We ran into a spider and ran but Rose wasn't fast enough and…the spider caught her and wrapped her up and took her away. I ran after her but I tripped and fell and I heard a beeping coming from my leg but I ignored it and I finally found Rose just before Jack found me," she said, praying he would buy her story.

"And if you don't mind, I'd like to get Rose down and give her a proper burial somewhere," Jack added. "I don't want her becoming some spider's dinner."

Jackie could tell he wasn't completely buying their story.

"See for yourself if you don't believe me," she said quickly, trying to get him to come with her so the Doctor could seize him.

Callisto sighed.

"Alright, but if this is a trap…"

Jack and Jackie shared a glance before turning around and leading him back to the room. On the way, the beeping stopped and Jackie looked over her shoulder just in time to see Callisto putting the remote back in his pocket.

"Sorry, that was irritating me," he said to her.

Jackie refrained from blurting out that there were more irritating things she could think of than the beeping of the homing device. Especially since Callisto was being cooperative at the moment. They entered the room and Callisto kept Jackie and Jack in front of him while he looked where they were pointing.

"Ah, I see," he said, making them go over to the section of webbing where Rose was hanging. "Yes, it appears she's in a spot of bother, eh?"

He chuckled when he noticed the pissed off looks on Jack and Jackie's faces.

"So? What do you want me to do about it?" Callisto said. "You want her, go get her then."

Jack glanced at him and pretended to test the webbing, hoping the Doctor was nearby and ready to spring the trap. He hoped that Callisto wouldn't try to shoot Rose down or shoot her just to make sure she was dead. Jackie pretended to confer with Jack about what to do, again trying to buy time and keep Callisto there. As they argued, Jackie looked over Jack's shoulder and noticed the Doctor was peeking into the room. Callisto was watching them with an exasperated look on his face so he failed to see what Jackie saw. She quickly looked back at Jack in case Callisto decided to see what she was looking at. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Doctor slowly and silently enter the room.

"If you don't hurry up," Callisto finally said. "I will shoot her, take you away from here and leave her to rot."

"Oh, I don't think you could do that," Jackie said smugly.

"Oh? And why not?" Callisto said.

Jackie smirked.

"Look behind you," she said.

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