“Flash, bam, alakazam,” muttered Jack under his breath.
“What?” asked Castiel, looking at the reading on his pad.
“It’s an orange colored sky,” said Jack, gesturing upward. “Nat King Cole?”
Castiel shook his head, hiding his amusement. The pad pinged at them. “This way, Jack.”
Falling into step beside Castiel, they crossed the rocky gray ground. “Gallifrey has a similar sky,” said Castiel.
Jack raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been there?”
Castiel gave a non-committed shrug. “Angels and Time Lords don’t get on the best.”
“I’d imagine not. You both have a tendency to believe you’re right.”
Castiel looked at him. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
Jack shook his head. “We’re here to investigate a strange signal, not argue over who’s more stubborn.”
“Should be just over this ridge,” said Castiel.
Jack took a few steps ahead. “Well.”
Castiel joined him and stared down at the sight. It appeared to be a fir tree. All alone among the rocks. And it was glowing, not on it’s own, but covered in Christmas lights, as if someone had decorated it and then abandoned it. There was a slight hum of power from whatever was keeping the lights on.
“Well, that would certainly be the reason for the odd signature. I wonder if someone is trying to get attention.” Jack walked down towards it. Castiel hung back, a bit wary.
Jack got closer to the tree and spotted something underneath the branches. “Castiel,” he breathed.
Cas came up behind him and stared at the infant tucked under the tree, sleeping in some kind of stasis field. “She’s Gallifreyan, Jack.”
“Refugee from the Time War, maybe?” asked Jack, ducking under the tree and reaching for baby. As soon as he crossed under the tree, the power vanished. The baby gave a little noise and woke, staring up at Jack. “Hey, it’s okay sweetheart,” Jack picked her up and cradled her, sheltering her in his coat.
Castiel crouched and picked up something that had slipped from her blanket. It project a message in circular Gallifreyan. “She is a refugee from the Time War. She’s been here a long time.”
“That explains why it took a bit to decipher the signal, they wanted to be sure it was someone that would take her.” Jack looked down at her and gave a little smile. “Can we take her back to Gallifrey?”
Castiel shook his head. “I know of a small colony of Gallifreyans, mostly hidden. She’d be safe there.”
“All right. Somebody must have been pretty desperate.” Jack cooed at the infant and carried her towards the ship.
“It was the time war. The fabric of the universe was being torn apart. That does tend to cause some anxiety,” said Castiel.
Jack inclined his head. A dust storm was starting to kick up and he orange sky above them swirled threateningly. He tucked the baby a little deeper into his coat, giving her a finger to suck. “How far away is this colony?”
“Not too far. I’ll put the coordinates in the ship’s computer.” Castiel kept pace by his side, and Jack knew he was sheltering them with his wings.
“I suppose against ultimate destruction, even Time Lords and Angels can get along,” said Jack as they finally neared the ship.
“Not every Gallifreyan is a Time Lord or Lady,” Castiel reminded him. He went in first and straight to the ship’s computer, putting in some sort of complicated code Jack could barely follow. Well, he trusted that Castiel knew where he was going. Meantime, best to see about the infant.
“Did she have a name?” Jack asked.
Castiel shook his head. “Not on the note, no. I can hold her during take off.”
Jack passed her to Castiel, feeling oddly reluctant to let her go. But no point in getting attached, she’d be much better off with her own people. He guided the ship up, getting it free of the atmosphere just before the storm.
Castiel rocked the baby gently as she fell back asleep.
“Cas?” asked Jack, as the ship took over.
“You want to keep her,” said Castiel, going over to the ship’s computer to try and coax into making something approximating the correct formula for a Gallifreyan baby.
“Well, not everyone could have figured out the signal. Besides, I haven’t raised a kid in a while.”
Castiel sighed and went back to him, kissing him gently. “Perhaps we can stay on this colony for some time.”
Jack wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed him gently. “Thanks.”