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Sure enough, Tom shot Jack through the heart. He died, but not before knocking him out cold. Once more he revived and grabbed Tom's gun before rushing after the Doctor. Where was that lab?! Far behind him he heard the sound of people running.

"Doctor, we're gonna have company real soon, how much farther is it?" he asked as he caught up.

"Doctor, take a right here, it's a shortcut," Aven whispered as she saw a red door whiz by.

Aven recognized the strain in the Doctor's voice. He was worried... worried and lost.

"Calm down," she whispered softly, "we're almost there. Take a left here that closet is actually a lift... it will take you straight to the lab..."

She felt the last of her strength drain from her and her eyes slid closed.

Jack glanced at Aven with a worried expression.

"She's okay, right Doc?" he asked "I mean, they didn't do anything serious, did they?"

Just then a rubber bullet whizzed past their heads.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!!!" an officer yelled at them.

"Meat shield, got it," Jack muttered as he intercepted a few more rubber bullets. "OW! That stings... good news is, they're not trying to kill us."

He glanced behind him and as they rounded a corner.

"Here give her to me if you're getting tired," he told the Doctor reaching out to him.

Jack shielded them as best he could as they rushed through the corridors into the lift Aven had pointed out.

"Rubber bullets still hurt," he grumbled as a few more nailed him. "OW! For the love of..."

He slammed the door and looked around though the closet looked like just that, only a closet.

"Aven, where are the lift controls... oh right..." he sighed and lightly shook the girl awake. "Aven?"

"Wha... oh... Second floor please," Aven said drowsily. Almost instantly the little room lurched upwards. When the door opened again, they were in the main lab. The TARDIS parked only a few feet away.

"Right, looks like the coast is clear," Jack looked around the silent lab but paused as he picked up what looked like psychoblaster except it was clearly not extraterrestrial. "Would you get a load of all these things?"

Jack grabbed what he could carry from the lab and rushed into the TARDIS just as a group of security officers burst through the double doors. The TARDIS doors slammed shut and blocked the ensuing gunfire.

"That was close..." he said with a sigh before looking down at what he'd managed to snatch. "It's a weather machine! This girl has made a weather machine! Do you think it works? And this just look at it, I thought it was a psychoblaster but it's not, it's a psychoanalyzer! She found a way to read thoughts..."

Jack prattled on and on about the tech Aven had built without really paying attention to whether the Doctor was listening or not.

Aven's eyes were opened, though it looked like she would like nothing more than to sleep.

"We got away then..." she smiled at the Doctor before burying her face against him, "you need to rest Doctor, just as badly as I do..."

Aven looked at him and gave him a tired smile. Of course he would ignore her no matter how exhausted he was.

"Could you please... take this off?" Aven asked as raised her hand. Though now it had been disabled, the silver Neural Net bracelet was still clamped around her wrist.
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Jack fiddled with something that looked like a cross between a boomerang and a video-game controller. He finally glanced up when he noticed the Doctor had gone silent.

"Guess I should put these away..." he was a teensy bit jealous Aven was getting all the attention. I mean... he'd gotten shot to death out there! He hopped up to the console but didn't touch anything. Not yet anyway.

"Hey Doc, shouldn't we be heading off now?"

Jack gave the Doctor a smirk. It did his heart good to see him smile again. The last few times he'd seen him, the Time Lord had seemed struck with melancholy.

"Dealer's choice," he replied, "though if at all possible I would like to stay away from New New York. The last time I was there I ended up in bed with my bookie... I still owe him a bundle."

Aven listened only distantly as her eyes closed and she fell into a deep sleep. As her weary, and now unshackled mind wandered close to the heart of the TARDIS she began to dream.

She was in the TARDIS console room, only... it wasn't. The usual warm glow was replaced by a cold chilling light. The Doctor was there but though there was plenty of light, his face was hidden in shadow. He was slumped over the console as silent tears slid down his cheeks. Soon the cavernous room was filled with people, their faces all covered in shadow.
A tall ginger-haired woman with a bossy tone but a gentle heart...
A dark-skinned girl with her black hair in a spiky knot, and a loving disposition...
A blonde with a gentle voice and an innocent gaze...
Countless others she could not begin to name or describe...
Suddenly the Doctor doubled over as if in great pain and clung to the console as one by one, the figures vanished. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the cold machinery like a lifeline. Aven felt it... she didn't know how, but she felt the echoes of his pain, and his loss. His heart was broken, and though she didn't know how, Aven wanted to fix it.