Fic: One Last Journey Home (2/10(?), Teen)
Title: One Last Journey Home (2/10)
Author: carly21
Betareader: naughtybunny23
Character/Pairing: TenToo/Rose, Ten/Rose
Genre: Angst, humour, romance
Rating: Teen
Summary: He thought he could run and get away with it, but he didn't expect them to find their way back...
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything than the plot and one or two OCs
Author's Notes: Thanks to naughtybunny23 for doing a wonderful job once again! :)
Previous chapters:
One
The Doctor hums the Lone Raider's theme song as he works on opening the safe. It's a complicated design... far more advanced than the Mna'ka's usual technology. The only way to open it is to make a 'print' of the alien DNA it has been closed with... but which one is it?
Not Mna'ka, surely. It has been easy enough for the Doctor to imitate their DNA. Due to a previous incident, he had needed it before and it was not difficult at all for his magnificent Time Lord brain to remember their genetic code.
So someone from another race used their ship... but who? And more importantly, why?
A knock at the door interrupts his stream of thoughts.
“Come in,” the Doctor says without turning around, his mind already back to the device in front of him.
“Sorry to disturb you, Doctor...” a voice says, Harry judging by the deep sound of it. “I finished my work for the day and thought you could use a hand?”
The Doctor doesn't react at all for a while, just continues to stare at the offending object that refused to do his bidding.
Harry raises the silver scales above his eyes. “Doctor?”
The Doctor whirls around, stares at Harry and suddenly grabs the alien's arms. “Black box!” he exclaims, his eyes so wild that Harry fears he has gone mad for a moment.
“Black... What?” he asks, his fears rising that Jake, the fellow from Rose's team, was right about the Doctor being nuts as he still stares at him and doesn't let go of his arms.
“The black box! I need the black box! Ooh, I was so stupid!” the Doctor says, letting go of Harry's arms. He runs his hands through his hair, making it stick out in all places, and rambles on, paying Harry no mind. “Every Mna'ka ship has a black box. Weeell, I say 'black box' but it isn't really one... not like those primitive ones used in planes.”
“Planes?” Harry asks but the Doctor ignores him.
“No, it saves information about the whole journey. Course, load, shipper, addressee! And that's the important one! Only who receives the load, should be able to open it! Oooh, why didn't I see that before?” He suddenly grabs Harry's arms again. “Harry! Where is the ship now?”
“U8, storage room I believe... That's where mine is as well.”
“Brilliant!” the Doctor says, smiling broadly and is half through the door when Harry's voice stops him.
“Wait! You don't have permission to go there yet, Doctor. You need a special keycard for it.”
“Have you got one?”
Harry shakes his head. “No, only Torchwood employees with security grade five are allowed to go there. You and me, we’re currently grade three.”
“But... who has grade five?”
Harry grins. “Who do you think?”
~*~
They find Rose inside her office, glaring angrily at a high staple of paperwork.
“I won't do it,” she says without looking up as the Doctor and Harry enter. “Whatever it is, Jake can do it. I've got enough up my-”
Rose looks up and blushes as she sees who came through her door. “Oh! I'm so sorry... for the past few hours, people with more and more work came in here. It's like they piled everything together and just waited for the chance to throw it at someone.” Rose hides her face behind her hands. “I hate this! Even my papercuts have papercuts now!” She looks up again, now pleadingly. “Please tell me you’ve got other things for me to do! Mysterious sightings? UFOs? An alien invasion or two? Pretty please?”
The Doctor raises an eyebrow, clearly amused by her desperation. “You want the Earth to be attacked, so you can get away from paperwork?”
“It doesn't have to be a big one...” Rose mumbles, chewing on her bottom lip. “Just a teeny-weeny one. Not too dangerous...” She pulls at her hair and says in desperation,”I just want out of here!”
“Well, we need someone to get us into the storage room...”
The Doctor and Harry only have time to blink as Rose suddenly jumps up and is out of the door in a matter of seconds. When no one follows, she comes back and sticks her head through the door again.
“Are you two coming or what?”
~*~
The Doctor stares as they enter the eighth underground floor. Being the last one, it stretches for several kilometres at least, storing line after line of big containers with alien goods. The Doctor, failing to see the end of the big room, feels a sudden pain inside his heart. With its seemingly endless spaces, it reminds him of the TARDIS.
Rose lays a hand on his arm. “We'll find a way home, Doctor,” she says and it amazes him how well she reads him.
He nods and swallows the knot that has formed inside his throat. “Where to now?”
“New ships have to be registered first. Follow me,” Rose says, leading the way to a staircase that connected the floor with a big cabin of glass above them. “I've gotta warn you, though. Malcolm Taylor is in charge here at the moment and he is a bit... different.”
Harry snorts. “The understatement of the century!”
The Doctor looks questionably at Harry for a moment but he just shrugs. “You will see,” the alien says as Rose opens the door.
“Malcolm, we have to-” Rose doesn't get to finish her sentence as a whirlwind of white and brown rushes past her and grabs the Doctor's shoulders.
“You’re the Doctor!” the little man exclaims excitedly, his glasses nearly falling off his nose as he looks the Doctor up and down.
Feeling gobsmacked at the sudden 'attack', the Doctor has to collect himself for a moment. “ Yeah, I... Well, suppose I am. Hello... Malcolm?”
“He knows my name!” Malcolm beams, looks at Rose and repeats, “He knows my name!”
“I know, I've heard... Well, I said it actually, when I came in.”
Turning back without acknowledging that Rose spoke at all, he hugs the Doctor tightly and squeals, “I've heard so much about you! I’ve read all your files, all the reports! I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you!”
“Yeah, right. Good... thanks. Well. Rose?” Confused, he looks at his girlfriend, a little pout on his face. “A little help here?”
Rose laughs and gently pulls Malcolm away from him. “Sorry to disturb you, but I think I should be the only one confessing to him... and it's normally done on cold beaches in Norway, anyway,” she says in mock seriousness.
Malcolm readjusts his glasses and steps away from the now dishevelled looking Doctor. “I'm sorry, it's just such an honour to finally meet you! I was ecstatic when I heard Miss Tyler came back with you!” He turns to Rose for a moment. “Pleasure to see you again by the way, Miss.”
Looking back at the Doctor without even waiting for a response, Malcolm's eyes shine more than ever with unhidden admiration. “Ooh, if you've some time later, I would be delighted to have a chat with you! You see, we found this wormhole in the middle of London a while ago and I think I've found a way to measure it. Well, it just disappeared after a few hours, but it was enough time to-”
Rose stops him mid-sentence. “Malcolm, I'm sorry but that will have to wait. We need something from the ship that crashed in Farningham. I'm sure the Doctor will have some time later for you...” She turns to the person in question. “You will, yeah?”
The Doctor runs a hand through his unruly hair. “Suppose so,” he says with a sigh, sounding not enthusiastic in the slightest.
Rose smiles. “See? All good then. Where do we find the ship?”
“Chamber 26E-F,” Malcolm replies at once. “I was just registering the parts. Brilliant technology! Lots of pieces this time... I'll need hours for that! Whatever did you do to it?”
The Doctor rubs his neck, looking sheepishly. “Plasmatronic fragmentation. The spaceship used a mechanism to build itself around the loading. Basically, the parts are drawn to the loading, the big black room in this case, like metal to a magnet only in a much controlled matter. Plasmatronic fragmentation reverses the process, dismantles the ship and frees the loading. I can recreate the mechanism, set it together again given the codes are able to be restored... kinda forgot about it when I worked on the safe.”
If Malcolm is put off by the additional work he had to do because of the Doctor's slip of mind, he gives no indication of it. “Plasmatronic fragmentation? But that sounds delightful! You have to tell me all about it!”
“Not. Now,” Rose says through gritted teeth. She is finally fed up with being ignored.
“Right, sorry. Here is the key to the chamber,” Malcolm says, sensing the danger (he had experienced the wrath of Rose Tyler before) and gives her a small, silver key. Turning to the Doctor once again, he shakes his hand and says, “Doctor, it's been an honour! I'm looking forward to many scientific discussions in the future.”
“Me... too, Malcolm,” the Doctor returns weakly. It doesn't happen often that someone makes him speechless, but that man managed just that.
Either ignoring or simply not noticing the Doctor's discomfort, Malcolm beams and nods at Harry. “Harry, I would love to continue our discussion about your people one day as well.”
“Yeah... sure,” Harry says, sounding as uncomfortable as the Doctor.
When they left the glass cabin and are down the staircase again, the Doctor looks at Rose like she has gone mad. “What on Earth was that?!”
“Malcolm,” Rose says giggling. His horrified face looks just too funny! “I know, he can be very... overwhelming at first but that just comes from loving his work so much. Don't worry, he will grow on you.”
Harry shakes his head frantically. “No way! That guy is... is... a danger to society! Yes, that he is!”
“Oh, shut up! You’re just mad at him because he wanted you to act out that mating ritual you told him about,” Rose returns dismissively.
Harry's scales turned slightly darker in shade. “Exactly! The dance is a very sacred and intimate procedure. Nothing for foreign eyes... and especially not a... not a...”
“Man's?” Rose asks, smirking.
Harry's scales darken further.
“Ah, yes. Your people aren't that 'modern', are they?” the Doctor asks grinning as well.
“Oh, stop it you two! I've got nothing against your people's flexibility or however you want to call it. My people just aren't like that, alright?”
“Not yet,” the Doctor whispers to Rose who laughs in return.
Harry ignores them and stalks off, nose high in the air.
“Someone doesn't like to be called on his homophobia...” the Doctor says, watching him go with a smirk.
“Oh, you should've seen him before! It was much worse. I think he is slowly settling in.”
They walk on in silence, passing several chambers on their way. The Doctor ponders for a while if he should get one of those small scooters for faster transportation.
“What do you think is in that safe, Doctor?” Rose asks just as he goes through several calculations to see whether a rocket propulsion would blow him off the scooter or not.
“No idea,” he says distractedly. “Mna'kas are interplanetary traders. Could be anything from all over the universe, really.”
“And the other items? Did you identify them already?”
“Yep,” he says, popping the 'p'. “Mostly art. One is an a-pod with the 80's greatest hits.”
“A-pod? Oh, you are such a liar!” Rose says laughing, bumping his hip with her own.
“But you love me, anyway,” he returns cheekily.
She grabs his hand and tugs him along.
The Doctor tries not to read anything into her lack of reply.
~*~
Once inside the chamber, the Doctor doesn't need long to retrieve the black box in the mass of disjointed pieces.
“Well that Malcolm sure loves his job...” the Doctor says, eyeing the shelves where the spaceship's parts are ordered in. Everything is sorted after colour and size.
“Yeah, he isn't normally in this department, though. His place is normally in the lab, but we had two scientists leave recently, so we are a bit short-handed right now,” Rose says, picking up a marble-like sphere. “What's this thing?”
The Doctor takes a close look at it. “Can't be certain without a thorough examination but it might be the ship's translation device.”
“I thought the ship flies without a pilot?”
“Yeah, but it doesn't always transport objects alone. Sometimes they've got passengers as well.”
“Ah, alright...” Rose makes to lay it back on the shelf but the Doctor takes it out of her hand.
“I could need this when I open the safe.”
Rose frowns. “I thought you understand alien languages?”
“Nah, not every one. The universe is a big place, Rose. I would have to have been everywhere and everywhen to understand everything. Remember the symbols on Sanctuary Base 6?”
“How could I forget?” She shudders. “You don't meet the devil every day.”
The Doctor snorts. “That wasn't the devil... just some very nasty, ugly, horny beast,” he says grinning smugly at his 'clever' pun.
Rose shakes her head. “I can't believe you just said that...”
They leave the chamber, shutting the door securely and turn to leave when Rose suddenly gasps.
“Oh, bloody...” She looks at the Doctor who returns it confused and asks, “Doctor, didn't we forget something?” When he stays silent, she says, “Where is Harry?”
He rubs his neck. “Oh, right. Where is he?”
Rose rolls her eyes. “That's what I'm asking. He doesn't have clearance, so when anyone besides us finds him here...” She shakes her head. “There are people here who would love to see him gone.”
“Well, better find him then... blimey, why does everyone always wander off?”
Rose shrugs. “Must just be you...”
“Oi!”
~*~
Harry, as it turns out after about half an hour of searching, didn't wander off at all, but waited in front of the lift for them. He says he wanted to leave them to it since it didn't look like he could be of much help after all.
“Still, you should've told us!” Rose says angrily after he explained. “You know how strict Torchwood policies regarding security grades are!” Rose looks furious and the Doctor notices much to his dismay how much like her mother she could be when angry. That just adds to the long list of reasons to keep Rose Tyler happy all the time.
“I'm sorry, Rose, really I am! I just wanted to do something useful...” Harry says.
“I thought you finished your work for today?” the Doctor asks.
“Well... yeah, but I... there is always something to do. You know with being short on personal and all...”
Suddenly, a look appears on Rose Tyler's face so devious, that the Doctor actually misses her being angry at once. “So, you want to be of help...” Rose says slowly.
Harry gulps, apparently noticing the change as well. “Y-Yes?”
Ten minutes later, Harry Dorgod's hands are full of paperwork.
~*~
Back in the artefacts archive, the Doctor puts on the specs, Rose bought for him days ago at the gift shop and examines the black box on his desk with utmost care. He doesn't really need glasses but she always says he looks kinda sexy with them. And sexy is good! Sexy is absolutely brilliant as Rose tends to give him that little flirty smile whenever he starts being clever and looking the part.
“That was a bit mean, Rose,” he says, watching her from the corner of his eyes. “Poor Harry will be busy for days...”
Rose shrugs and drops down on a chair next to him. She sits a bit closer than necessary which indicates that the specs once again do their magic.
“He had it coming... “ she says, watching the Doctor work with his hands. ”He always gets into trouble, you know? Once he even got into the forbidden corridor by mistake.”
“The forbidden corridor?” the Doctor asks grinning. “What did he find? A three-headed dog? A trap door?”
“Oh, shut up!” Rose says laughing. “It's just where the incinerator is. Where we destroy the dangerous alien artefacts, you know?”
“And it's forbidden to go there?”
“Of course! A lot of people would die to get their hands on some of those things! That's why it's the place with the tightest security. Only Pete, me and two other field leaders are allowed to go in at all.”
“Do you have security trolls?” the Doctor asks jokingly.
Rose swats his arm. “Oh, stop it! It's secured by technical matters. Although... that reminds me, we still have to choose a new field leader. Jacob left last week.”
She still remembers how surprised everyone was when he suddenly turned up in Pete's office and resigned. He was a good agent, nearly as talented as Rose in reasoning with other species. Everyone thought he had a bright future ahead of him and especially Pete held him in high esteem. Rose liked him as well... she won't tell the Doctor how he has always flirted with her, though.
“Another one who resigned?” the Doctor asks. “Two scientists and one agent? Isn't that a bit much for such a short time?”
“Normally I would agree but Torchwood isn't exactly the safest workplace and most of our employees have families... it happens all the time that someone realises he doesn't want to put his life on the line any more. And, of course, the aliens working here are scary for many people... Especially after all the attempted invasions.” Rose shakes her head. “It's ridiculous how many of them happen at Christmas! It's like Christmas is 'Happy Invasion Day' for everyone else in the universe!”
The Doctor chuckles. “Haven't heard of it yet, but it wouldn't surprise me at all. There is a 'Happy Destruction Day' on Diddydangaga,” he says thoughtfully. “They fly around in spaceships and destroy empty planets and stars. Weeell, actually they don't call it 'Happy Destruction Day' at all but rather 'Day Making Things Go BOOOM'... Not the smartest race I've ever met, I can tell you that, but they do know how to throw an After-Boom-Party. And the punch, Rose! You really have to try that punch... delicious!” He rambles on until he notices her staring. “W-What?”
A gentle smile plays around Rose's lips and a warm content feeling settles in the pit of her stomach. “Nothing,” she says. ”Just feels like old times.”
Unable to resist the urge, the Doctor pulls her up by her hands and draws her into a hug. They don't hug nearly enough in his opinion. “Oh, we did this a lot, didn't we?” he starts, beaming as her arms come around his neck. “Me rambling and rambling and you always laughing at the right places and asking the right questions!”
“And then you trying to impress me and we ending up somewhere entirely else than planned!” Rose mumbles into his shoulder, giggling at his indignant snort.
He lets go of her but takes her hand again. “That's not my fault, though. The TARDIS-”
“-is a poor sentient ship with a pilot who can't drive,” she finishes for him, tongue slipping between her teeth. “It's good, though. Where would be the fun in always ending up where you wanted to go?”
He can't argue with that and decides to pout instead. “I can drive, you know? Maybe it's not us attracting trouble but the TARDIS instead,” he says, tugging on his ear. “She isn't responsible for you dangling off a barrage balloon, though...”
“Oi!That could happen to anyone!” She sighs as he raises an eyebrow. “Oh, alright! Not anyone...” Putting a finger to her lips, she adds dreamily, “But it did us some good... wouldn't have met Jack otherwise.”
“You!” He steps back and points an accusing finger at her. “You just thought about his bum, didn't you?”
Rose shrugs. “Can't blame a girl... or boy... or alien for that. He is a sight to look at...”
“Yeah, rather fit. Too bad we didn't have-” the Doctor stops himself mid-sentence looking suddenly shocked. “Uah! Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, baaaad thoughts!” He sticks out his tongue several times as if the motion could delete his words.
“Donna moment?” Rose asks, her eyes twinkling. It has happened quite some times already that the Doctor said or did things that fitted more the ginger woman Rose met in the other universe. Once it led to a rather embarrassing situation in Henrik's department store... She chooses to believe he isn't really into wearing black bras, though.
He nods solemnly. “Yeah... big time, too. Blimey that girl's mind can be naughty!”
Rose looks thoughtfully for a while at him. “I've been thinking... and shut up, that happens,” she says as he opens his mouth to speak. “Do you... well, do you fancy men now as well?”
The look he gives her then is rather disturbing. “Why are you asking?”
“Oh, just curious, you know? I mean... our relationship once we are back... it would be easier to... to...” She sighs as she is suddenly lost for words. How can she possibly ask him something like that?
“To be all involved with each other?” he helps.
“Something like that, yeah.”
The Doctor knew the moment would come when Rose wants to talk about the 'after' but he didn't expect it to arrive so soon. There is still so much, he has to sort out, so much to understand. But he wants to see Rose Tyler happy and that one goes for his counterpart as well... even if the alien sod is keen of making the wrong choices.
“Rose, we would do anything you want. Your wish is my, our, command and it always will be.” He still tastes the distant memory of those words as well as the trouble they have caused before. Still, they couldn't be more true. He would do the impossible for her... like she did for him.
“I don't want that, though,” she says. “I want you to be happy, too. Both of you. So... do you fancy men?”
“I'm... not really sure of that myself yet,” he says, wishing he has an answer. It would make things a bit easier. ”This new human body is so strange and different. It's not only a regeneration but much more complicated and confusing. The hormones still drive me crazy at times.”
“So you don't know...”
“Nope, not a clue. Not yet, anyway. It will take time but I've always been good in adjusting to unknown situations. And that I'm into women... weeell, a particular woman I should say, is pretty much clear, isn't it?” He wriggles his eyebrows and gives her an appreciative once-over.
“Oh, yes. You proved that more than thoroughly...” She gives him that flirty smile he aimed at before.
Feeling successful and not only a bit smug, the Doctor tries to hide the effect she has on him in examining the black box. He still feels Rose Tyler's eyes on him, though, which makes working nearly impossible. “Enjoy the sight?”
“I always like seeing you work with your hands. You caress machines and tools and whatever else you tinker with so gently... makes me jealous,” Rose answers with a smile that makes his stomach flutter.
“We could... well, we could do some jiggery-pokery later tonight. I mean... ehm...” the Doctor stammers. It's hard to phrase sentences when your stomach does little somersaults.
Rose bit her lip. “I would like that, yeah...”
He swallows hard as his trembling hands continue to work on the black box. So far, they only slept beside each other and no one dared to cross the line, but now it seems like he did just that.
Trying not to think about this new development, he tries to concentrate on the task at hand. There would be enough time later to panic about his roaring hormones...
~*~
A black man with curly hair opens the heavy oaken door with sweating hands. He hates these kind of meetings the most. The Torchwood Five, they like to call themselves... five men of high social positions with more money than they can ever spend. It's all rather ridiculous in his opinion but what can he do? Wealth is always connected to power in this world and as one of the richest men in Britain, it's his duty to be in the council of Torchwood. He doesn't dare to leave and provoke his colleagues... too many people did so and paid dearly for it.
He steps into the room and closes the door behind him. It falls shut with a loud bang.
Looking around, he realises everyone else is already there and so he gives the round a short nod and sits down in his usual chair. The council is no place for pleasantries.
A bulky man, the chairman, stands up and raises a hand. Unnecessarily, since no one was speaking.
“Gentlemen, today we've important things to discuss,” he says in a high-pitched voice so unfitting his big body. “Peter Tyler has once again neglected our offer.”
A thin man stands up, hitting the table with his ring-covered fist. “How long are we supposed to wait?! Something has to happen, chairman!”
Approving murmur goes around and so, the bulky man once again holds up his hand. “It can only be a matter of time, I assure you my friends. Everyone has a price... sometimes they just need a bit of convincing.” He laughs, the high-pitched sound hurting everyone else's ears. “His so-called daughter is back... together with a half-alien boyfriend. You've heard, I believe?” Everyone nods. “He could become a problem for us... we don't need another alien pet of Mr Tyler walking around in Torchwood.”
“I heard he is very knowledgeable about alien artefacts... he could be of use,” says the thin man who had earlier banged his fist on the table.
“Oh, I don't mean to dispose of him... not yet. For now, we will go a more conventional way,” the chairman says and turns to the black man who entered the room last. “He can't know what we are planning... Mr Temple, you know what you have to do.”
Shaun Temple closes his eyes and nods. He has a family to think about.
~*~
It doesn't take the Doctor long to get the black box to work. A small screen opens up once he traces a few patterns on the smooth surface. Blinking, it provides the information, the Doctor has been looking for.
He gasps as he reads the foreign language. “Impossible... that's just impossible!”
“What is?” Rose asks, coming nearer to look over his shoulder. She doesn't recognise the symbols on the screen but they seem to make sense to him.
“The ship... it has been programmed to lock onto a certain pattern of brainwaves,” he says, his voice trembling slightly.
“That's possible? But whose brainwaves?” When he doesn't answer, Rose lays a hand on his arm. “You’re scaring me. What is it?”
“Oh, Rose... the ship is programmed to land near a Time Lord!”
Rose stares first at him and then the black box those light slowly fades away. “Doctor, there are no Time Lords in this universe. You told me so... Wait,” she says, looking at him again. “But you are... you mean...”
“Whoever used this ship programmed it to log onto me. It's even programmed not to land before we arrived in this universe! The loading, the ship, the safe... it's all for me, Rose.”
They stare at each other, unable to make sense of this new revelation. Who outside from Earth knows about him?
Chapter Three
Author: carly21
Betareader: naughtybunny23
Character/Pairing: TenToo/Rose, Ten/Rose
Genre: Angst, humour, romance
Rating: Teen
Summary: He thought he could run and get away with it, but he didn't expect them to find their way back...
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything than the plot and one or two OCs
Author's Notes: Thanks to naughtybunny23 for doing a wonderful job once again! :)
Previous chapters:
One
The Doctor hums the Lone Raider's theme song as he works on opening the safe. It's a complicated design... far more advanced than the Mna'ka's usual technology. The only way to open it is to make a 'print' of the alien DNA it has been closed with... but which one is it?
Not Mna'ka, surely. It has been easy enough for the Doctor to imitate their DNA. Due to a previous incident, he had needed it before and it was not difficult at all for his magnificent Time Lord brain to remember their genetic code.
So someone from another race used their ship... but who? And more importantly, why?
A knock at the door interrupts his stream of thoughts.
“Come in,” the Doctor says without turning around, his mind already back to the device in front of him.
“Sorry to disturb you, Doctor...” a voice says, Harry judging by the deep sound of it. “I finished my work for the day and thought you could use a hand?”
The Doctor doesn't react at all for a while, just continues to stare at the offending object that refused to do his bidding.
Harry raises the silver scales above his eyes. “Doctor?”
The Doctor whirls around, stares at Harry and suddenly grabs the alien's arms. “Black box!” he exclaims, his eyes so wild that Harry fears he has gone mad for a moment.
“Black... What?” he asks, his fears rising that Jake, the fellow from Rose's team, was right about the Doctor being nuts as he still stares at him and doesn't let go of his arms.
“The black box! I need the black box! Ooh, I was so stupid!” the Doctor says, letting go of Harry's arms. He runs his hands through his hair, making it stick out in all places, and rambles on, paying Harry no mind. “Every Mna'ka ship has a black box. Weeell, I say 'black box' but it isn't really one... not like those primitive ones used in planes.”
“Planes?” Harry asks but the Doctor ignores him.
“No, it saves information about the whole journey. Course, load, shipper, addressee! And that's the important one! Only who receives the load, should be able to open it! Oooh, why didn't I see that before?” He suddenly grabs Harry's arms again. “Harry! Where is the ship now?”
“U8, storage room I believe... That's where mine is as well.”
“Brilliant!” the Doctor says, smiling broadly and is half through the door when Harry's voice stops him.
“Wait! You don't have permission to go there yet, Doctor. You need a special keycard for it.”
“Have you got one?”
Harry shakes his head. “No, only Torchwood employees with security grade five are allowed to go there. You and me, we’re currently grade three.”
“But... who has grade five?”
Harry grins. “Who do you think?”
~*~
They find Rose inside her office, glaring angrily at a high staple of paperwork.
“I won't do it,” she says without looking up as the Doctor and Harry enter. “Whatever it is, Jake can do it. I've got enough up my-”
Rose looks up and blushes as she sees who came through her door. “Oh! I'm so sorry... for the past few hours, people with more and more work came in here. It's like they piled everything together and just waited for the chance to throw it at someone.” Rose hides her face behind her hands. “I hate this! Even my papercuts have papercuts now!” She looks up again, now pleadingly. “Please tell me you’ve got other things for me to do! Mysterious sightings? UFOs? An alien invasion or two? Pretty please?”
The Doctor raises an eyebrow, clearly amused by her desperation. “You want the Earth to be attacked, so you can get away from paperwork?”
“It doesn't have to be a big one...” Rose mumbles, chewing on her bottom lip. “Just a teeny-weeny one. Not too dangerous...” She pulls at her hair and says in desperation,”I just want out of here!”
“Well, we need someone to get us into the storage room...”
The Doctor and Harry only have time to blink as Rose suddenly jumps up and is out of the door in a matter of seconds. When no one follows, she comes back and sticks her head through the door again.
“Are you two coming or what?”
~*~
The Doctor stares as they enter the eighth underground floor. Being the last one, it stretches for several kilometres at least, storing line after line of big containers with alien goods. The Doctor, failing to see the end of the big room, feels a sudden pain inside his heart. With its seemingly endless spaces, it reminds him of the TARDIS.
Rose lays a hand on his arm. “We'll find a way home, Doctor,” she says and it amazes him how well she reads him.
He nods and swallows the knot that has formed inside his throat. “Where to now?”
“New ships have to be registered first. Follow me,” Rose says, leading the way to a staircase that connected the floor with a big cabin of glass above them. “I've gotta warn you, though. Malcolm Taylor is in charge here at the moment and he is a bit... different.”
Harry snorts. “The understatement of the century!”
The Doctor looks questionably at Harry for a moment but he just shrugs. “You will see,” the alien says as Rose opens the door.
“Malcolm, we have to-” Rose doesn't get to finish her sentence as a whirlwind of white and brown rushes past her and grabs the Doctor's shoulders.
“You’re the Doctor!” the little man exclaims excitedly, his glasses nearly falling off his nose as he looks the Doctor up and down.
Feeling gobsmacked at the sudden 'attack', the Doctor has to collect himself for a moment. “ Yeah, I... Well, suppose I am. Hello... Malcolm?”
“He knows my name!” Malcolm beams, looks at Rose and repeats, “He knows my name!”
“I know, I've heard... Well, I said it actually, when I came in.”
Turning back without acknowledging that Rose spoke at all, he hugs the Doctor tightly and squeals, “I've heard so much about you! I’ve read all your files, all the reports! I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you!”
“Yeah, right. Good... thanks. Well. Rose?” Confused, he looks at his girlfriend, a little pout on his face. “A little help here?”
Rose laughs and gently pulls Malcolm away from him. “Sorry to disturb you, but I think I should be the only one confessing to him... and it's normally done on cold beaches in Norway, anyway,” she says in mock seriousness.
Malcolm readjusts his glasses and steps away from the now dishevelled looking Doctor. “I'm sorry, it's just such an honour to finally meet you! I was ecstatic when I heard Miss Tyler came back with you!” He turns to Rose for a moment. “Pleasure to see you again by the way, Miss.”
Looking back at the Doctor without even waiting for a response, Malcolm's eyes shine more than ever with unhidden admiration. “Ooh, if you've some time later, I would be delighted to have a chat with you! You see, we found this wormhole in the middle of London a while ago and I think I've found a way to measure it. Well, it just disappeared after a few hours, but it was enough time to-”
Rose stops him mid-sentence. “Malcolm, I'm sorry but that will have to wait. We need something from the ship that crashed in Farningham. I'm sure the Doctor will have some time later for you...” She turns to the person in question. “You will, yeah?”
The Doctor runs a hand through his unruly hair. “Suppose so,” he says with a sigh, sounding not enthusiastic in the slightest.
Rose smiles. “See? All good then. Where do we find the ship?”
“Chamber 26E-F,” Malcolm replies at once. “I was just registering the parts. Brilliant technology! Lots of pieces this time... I'll need hours for that! Whatever did you do to it?”
The Doctor rubs his neck, looking sheepishly. “Plasmatronic fragmentation. The spaceship used a mechanism to build itself around the loading. Basically, the parts are drawn to the loading, the big black room in this case, like metal to a magnet only in a much controlled matter. Plasmatronic fragmentation reverses the process, dismantles the ship and frees the loading. I can recreate the mechanism, set it together again given the codes are able to be restored... kinda forgot about it when I worked on the safe.”
If Malcolm is put off by the additional work he had to do because of the Doctor's slip of mind, he gives no indication of it. “Plasmatronic fragmentation? But that sounds delightful! You have to tell me all about it!”
“Not. Now,” Rose says through gritted teeth. She is finally fed up with being ignored.
“Right, sorry. Here is the key to the chamber,” Malcolm says, sensing the danger (he had experienced the wrath of Rose Tyler before) and gives her a small, silver key. Turning to the Doctor once again, he shakes his hand and says, “Doctor, it's been an honour! I'm looking forward to many scientific discussions in the future.”
“Me... too, Malcolm,” the Doctor returns weakly. It doesn't happen often that someone makes him speechless, but that man managed just that.
Either ignoring or simply not noticing the Doctor's discomfort, Malcolm beams and nods at Harry. “Harry, I would love to continue our discussion about your people one day as well.”
“Yeah... sure,” Harry says, sounding as uncomfortable as the Doctor.
When they left the glass cabin and are down the staircase again, the Doctor looks at Rose like she has gone mad. “What on Earth was that?!”
“Malcolm,” Rose says giggling. His horrified face looks just too funny! “I know, he can be very... overwhelming at first but that just comes from loving his work so much. Don't worry, he will grow on you.”
Harry shakes his head frantically. “No way! That guy is... is... a danger to society! Yes, that he is!”
“Oh, shut up! You’re just mad at him because he wanted you to act out that mating ritual you told him about,” Rose returns dismissively.
Harry's scales turned slightly darker in shade. “Exactly! The dance is a very sacred and intimate procedure. Nothing for foreign eyes... and especially not a... not a...”
“Man's?” Rose asks, smirking.
Harry's scales darken further.
“Ah, yes. Your people aren't that 'modern', are they?” the Doctor asks grinning as well.
“Oh, stop it you two! I've got nothing against your people's flexibility or however you want to call it. My people just aren't like that, alright?”
“Not yet,” the Doctor whispers to Rose who laughs in return.
Harry ignores them and stalks off, nose high in the air.
“Someone doesn't like to be called on his homophobia...” the Doctor says, watching him go with a smirk.
“Oh, you should've seen him before! It was much worse. I think he is slowly settling in.”
They walk on in silence, passing several chambers on their way. The Doctor ponders for a while if he should get one of those small scooters for faster transportation.
“What do you think is in that safe, Doctor?” Rose asks just as he goes through several calculations to see whether a rocket propulsion would blow him off the scooter or not.
“No idea,” he says distractedly. “Mna'kas are interplanetary traders. Could be anything from all over the universe, really.”
“And the other items? Did you identify them already?”
“Yep,” he says, popping the 'p'. “Mostly art. One is an a-pod with the 80's greatest hits.”
“A-pod? Oh, you are such a liar!” Rose says laughing, bumping his hip with her own.
“But you love me, anyway,” he returns cheekily.
She grabs his hand and tugs him along.
The Doctor tries not to read anything into her lack of reply.
~*~
Once inside the chamber, the Doctor doesn't need long to retrieve the black box in the mass of disjointed pieces.
“Well that Malcolm sure loves his job...” the Doctor says, eyeing the shelves where the spaceship's parts are ordered in. Everything is sorted after colour and size.
“Yeah, he isn't normally in this department, though. His place is normally in the lab, but we had two scientists leave recently, so we are a bit short-handed right now,” Rose says, picking up a marble-like sphere. “What's this thing?”
The Doctor takes a close look at it. “Can't be certain without a thorough examination but it might be the ship's translation device.”
“I thought the ship flies without a pilot?”
“Yeah, but it doesn't always transport objects alone. Sometimes they've got passengers as well.”
“Ah, alright...” Rose makes to lay it back on the shelf but the Doctor takes it out of her hand.
“I could need this when I open the safe.”
Rose frowns. “I thought you understand alien languages?”
“Nah, not every one. The universe is a big place, Rose. I would have to have been everywhere and everywhen to understand everything. Remember the symbols on Sanctuary Base 6?”
“How could I forget?” She shudders. “You don't meet the devil every day.”
The Doctor snorts. “That wasn't the devil... just some very nasty, ugly, horny beast,” he says grinning smugly at his 'clever' pun.
Rose shakes her head. “I can't believe you just said that...”
They leave the chamber, shutting the door securely and turn to leave when Rose suddenly gasps.
“Oh, bloody...” She looks at the Doctor who returns it confused and asks, “Doctor, didn't we forget something?” When he stays silent, she says, “Where is Harry?”
He rubs his neck. “Oh, right. Where is he?”
Rose rolls her eyes. “That's what I'm asking. He doesn't have clearance, so when anyone besides us finds him here...” She shakes her head. “There are people here who would love to see him gone.”
“Well, better find him then... blimey, why does everyone always wander off?”
Rose shrugs. “Must just be you...”
“Oi!”
~*~
Harry, as it turns out after about half an hour of searching, didn't wander off at all, but waited in front of the lift for them. He says he wanted to leave them to it since it didn't look like he could be of much help after all.
“Still, you should've told us!” Rose says angrily after he explained. “You know how strict Torchwood policies regarding security grades are!” Rose looks furious and the Doctor notices much to his dismay how much like her mother she could be when angry. That just adds to the long list of reasons to keep Rose Tyler happy all the time.
“I'm sorry, Rose, really I am! I just wanted to do something useful...” Harry says.
“I thought you finished your work for today?” the Doctor asks.
“Well... yeah, but I... there is always something to do. You know with being short on personal and all...”
Suddenly, a look appears on Rose Tyler's face so devious, that the Doctor actually misses her being angry at once. “So, you want to be of help...” Rose says slowly.
Harry gulps, apparently noticing the change as well. “Y-Yes?”
Ten minutes later, Harry Dorgod's hands are full of paperwork.
~*~
Back in the artefacts archive, the Doctor puts on the specs, Rose bought for him days ago at the gift shop and examines the black box on his desk with utmost care. He doesn't really need glasses but she always says he looks kinda sexy with them. And sexy is good! Sexy is absolutely brilliant as Rose tends to give him that little flirty smile whenever he starts being clever and looking the part.
“That was a bit mean, Rose,” he says, watching her from the corner of his eyes. “Poor Harry will be busy for days...”
Rose shrugs and drops down on a chair next to him. She sits a bit closer than necessary which indicates that the specs once again do their magic.
“He had it coming... “ she says, watching the Doctor work with his hands. ”He always gets into trouble, you know? Once he even got into the forbidden corridor by mistake.”
“The forbidden corridor?” the Doctor asks grinning. “What did he find? A three-headed dog? A trap door?”
“Oh, shut up!” Rose says laughing. “It's just where the incinerator is. Where we destroy the dangerous alien artefacts, you know?”
“And it's forbidden to go there?”
“Of course! A lot of people would die to get their hands on some of those things! That's why it's the place with the tightest security. Only Pete, me and two other field leaders are allowed to go in at all.”
“Do you have security trolls?” the Doctor asks jokingly.
Rose swats his arm. “Oh, stop it! It's secured by technical matters. Although... that reminds me, we still have to choose a new field leader. Jacob left last week.”
She still remembers how surprised everyone was when he suddenly turned up in Pete's office and resigned. He was a good agent, nearly as talented as Rose in reasoning with other species. Everyone thought he had a bright future ahead of him and especially Pete held him in high esteem. Rose liked him as well... she won't tell the Doctor how he has always flirted with her, though.
“Another one who resigned?” the Doctor asks. “Two scientists and one agent? Isn't that a bit much for such a short time?”
“Normally I would agree but Torchwood isn't exactly the safest workplace and most of our employees have families... it happens all the time that someone realises he doesn't want to put his life on the line any more. And, of course, the aliens working here are scary for many people... Especially after all the attempted invasions.” Rose shakes her head. “It's ridiculous how many of them happen at Christmas! It's like Christmas is 'Happy Invasion Day' for everyone else in the universe!”
The Doctor chuckles. “Haven't heard of it yet, but it wouldn't surprise me at all. There is a 'Happy Destruction Day' on Diddydangaga,” he says thoughtfully. “They fly around in spaceships and destroy empty planets and stars. Weeell, actually they don't call it 'Happy Destruction Day' at all but rather 'Day Making Things Go BOOOM'... Not the smartest race I've ever met, I can tell you that, but they do know how to throw an After-Boom-Party. And the punch, Rose! You really have to try that punch... delicious!” He rambles on until he notices her staring. “W-What?”
A gentle smile plays around Rose's lips and a warm content feeling settles in the pit of her stomach. “Nothing,” she says. ”Just feels like old times.”
Unable to resist the urge, the Doctor pulls her up by her hands and draws her into a hug. They don't hug nearly enough in his opinion. “Oh, we did this a lot, didn't we?” he starts, beaming as her arms come around his neck. “Me rambling and rambling and you always laughing at the right places and asking the right questions!”
“And then you trying to impress me and we ending up somewhere entirely else than planned!” Rose mumbles into his shoulder, giggling at his indignant snort.
He lets go of her but takes her hand again. “That's not my fault, though. The TARDIS-”
“-is a poor sentient ship with a pilot who can't drive,” she finishes for him, tongue slipping between her teeth. “It's good, though. Where would be the fun in always ending up where you wanted to go?”
He can't argue with that and decides to pout instead. “I can drive, you know? Maybe it's not us attracting trouble but the TARDIS instead,” he says, tugging on his ear. “She isn't responsible for you dangling off a barrage balloon, though...”
“Oi!That could happen to anyone!” She sighs as he raises an eyebrow. “Oh, alright! Not anyone...” Putting a finger to her lips, she adds dreamily, “But it did us some good... wouldn't have met Jack otherwise.”
“You!” He steps back and points an accusing finger at her. “You just thought about his bum, didn't you?”
Rose shrugs. “Can't blame a girl... or boy... or alien for that. He is a sight to look at...”
“Yeah, rather fit. Too bad we didn't have-” the Doctor stops himself mid-sentence looking suddenly shocked. “Uah! Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, baaaad thoughts!” He sticks out his tongue several times as if the motion could delete his words.
“Donna moment?” Rose asks, her eyes twinkling. It has happened quite some times already that the Doctor said or did things that fitted more the ginger woman Rose met in the other universe. Once it led to a rather embarrassing situation in Henrik's department store... She chooses to believe he isn't really into wearing black bras, though.
He nods solemnly. “Yeah... big time, too. Blimey that girl's mind can be naughty!”
Rose looks thoughtfully for a while at him. “I've been thinking... and shut up, that happens,” she says as he opens his mouth to speak. “Do you... well, do you fancy men now as well?”
The look he gives her then is rather disturbing. “Why are you asking?”
“Oh, just curious, you know? I mean... our relationship once we are back... it would be easier to... to...” She sighs as she is suddenly lost for words. How can she possibly ask him something like that?
“To be all involved with each other?” he helps.
“Something like that, yeah.”
The Doctor knew the moment would come when Rose wants to talk about the 'after' but he didn't expect it to arrive so soon. There is still so much, he has to sort out, so much to understand. But he wants to see Rose Tyler happy and that one goes for his counterpart as well... even if the alien sod is keen of making the wrong choices.
“Rose, we would do anything you want. Your wish is my, our, command and it always will be.” He still tastes the distant memory of those words as well as the trouble they have caused before. Still, they couldn't be more true. He would do the impossible for her... like she did for him.
“I don't want that, though,” she says. “I want you to be happy, too. Both of you. So... do you fancy men?”
“I'm... not really sure of that myself yet,” he says, wishing he has an answer. It would make things a bit easier. ”This new human body is so strange and different. It's not only a regeneration but much more complicated and confusing. The hormones still drive me crazy at times.”
“So you don't know...”
“Nope, not a clue. Not yet, anyway. It will take time but I've always been good in adjusting to unknown situations. And that I'm into women... weeell, a particular woman I should say, is pretty much clear, isn't it?” He wriggles his eyebrows and gives her an appreciative once-over.
“Oh, yes. You proved that more than thoroughly...” She gives him that flirty smile he aimed at before.
Feeling successful and not only a bit smug, the Doctor tries to hide the effect she has on him in examining the black box. He still feels Rose Tyler's eyes on him, though, which makes working nearly impossible. “Enjoy the sight?”
“I always like seeing you work with your hands. You caress machines and tools and whatever else you tinker with so gently... makes me jealous,” Rose answers with a smile that makes his stomach flutter.
“We could... well, we could do some jiggery-pokery later tonight. I mean... ehm...” the Doctor stammers. It's hard to phrase sentences when your stomach does little somersaults.
Rose bit her lip. “I would like that, yeah...”
He swallows hard as his trembling hands continue to work on the black box. So far, they only slept beside each other and no one dared to cross the line, but now it seems like he did just that.
Trying not to think about this new development, he tries to concentrate on the task at hand. There would be enough time later to panic about his roaring hormones...
~*~
A black man with curly hair opens the heavy oaken door with sweating hands. He hates these kind of meetings the most. The Torchwood Five, they like to call themselves... five men of high social positions with more money than they can ever spend. It's all rather ridiculous in his opinion but what can he do? Wealth is always connected to power in this world and as one of the richest men in Britain, it's his duty to be in the council of Torchwood. He doesn't dare to leave and provoke his colleagues... too many people did so and paid dearly for it.
He steps into the room and closes the door behind him. It falls shut with a loud bang.
Looking around, he realises everyone else is already there and so he gives the round a short nod and sits down in his usual chair. The council is no place for pleasantries.
A bulky man, the chairman, stands up and raises a hand. Unnecessarily, since no one was speaking.
“Gentlemen, today we've important things to discuss,” he says in a high-pitched voice so unfitting his big body. “Peter Tyler has once again neglected our offer.”
A thin man stands up, hitting the table with his ring-covered fist. “How long are we supposed to wait?! Something has to happen, chairman!”
Approving murmur goes around and so, the bulky man once again holds up his hand. “It can only be a matter of time, I assure you my friends. Everyone has a price... sometimes they just need a bit of convincing.” He laughs, the high-pitched sound hurting everyone else's ears. “His so-called daughter is back... together with a half-alien boyfriend. You've heard, I believe?” Everyone nods. “He could become a problem for us... we don't need another alien pet of Mr Tyler walking around in Torchwood.”
“I heard he is very knowledgeable about alien artefacts... he could be of use,” says the thin man who had earlier banged his fist on the table.
“Oh, I don't mean to dispose of him... not yet. For now, we will go a more conventional way,” the chairman says and turns to the black man who entered the room last. “He can't know what we are planning... Mr Temple, you know what you have to do.”
Shaun Temple closes his eyes and nods. He has a family to think about.
~*~
It doesn't take the Doctor long to get the black box to work. A small screen opens up once he traces a few patterns on the smooth surface. Blinking, it provides the information, the Doctor has been looking for.
He gasps as he reads the foreign language. “Impossible... that's just impossible!”
“What is?” Rose asks, coming nearer to look over his shoulder. She doesn't recognise the symbols on the screen but they seem to make sense to him.
“The ship... it has been programmed to lock onto a certain pattern of brainwaves,” he says, his voice trembling slightly.
“That's possible? But whose brainwaves?” When he doesn't answer, Rose lays a hand on his arm. “You’re scaring me. What is it?”
“Oh, Rose... the ship is programmed to land near a Time Lord!”
Rose stares first at him and then the black box those light slowly fades away. “Doctor, there are no Time Lords in this universe. You told me so... Wait,” she says, looking at him again. “But you are... you mean...”
“Whoever used this ship programmed it to log onto me. It's even programmed not to land before we arrived in this universe! The loading, the ship, the safe... it's all for me, Rose.”
They stare at each other, unable to make sense of this new revelation. Who outside from Earth knows about him?
Chapter Three