Authors Note: Only the plot belongs to me. All the characters, events and organizations belong either to the BBC or Scout Girl who I would like to thank for all the advice and for letting me get involved in her AU.
Once again if you would like to look up the rest of the series go find Phantomreviewer on Live Journal
Happy Reading
Without Uniform or Rank
Gerald Mace was annoyed. He was the commanding officer of UNIT for pete's sake and some jumped up little Doctor (who looked about twelve) was telling him that he should not return to work for a while just to give his injuries time to heal.
However he mused looking up at the woman next to him, as he had said to Major Blackman it had been worth it. Marion Price was 'special' to him in a way that he did not fully understand. He had devoted so much time to becoming the top of his field that he had no time to think of anything else. But as soon as he had seen that beam fall towards her something else had taken over entirely and it was only when he came round in the UNIT sickbay that he had discovered that he had pushed her out of the way. Hence his current predicament.
"Furthermore" the Doctor continued "I do not believe it would be wise for you to be alone for the next week or so, is there anyone you could stay with".
Mace scowled "no not really",
"Well then" the doctor began
"He can stay with me" a quiet voice said and Mace looked up to see that it was Price who had spoken.
"I have room" she continued "and a few days holiday saved up to help him settle in".
"You don't have to do that" Mace said quietly
"I know I don't have to" she said "but I want to".
"Alright then" said the Doctor "if you could come this way and we'll see about getting the appropriate forms filled out"
A few hours later they drew up outside of Price's house. First they had had to get Mace discharged from hospital and then they had driven over to his house to pick up a few of things (clothes and books mainly). Mace was quite impressed by the size of Price's home a nice two story semi set back from the road.
Unlocking the door Price headed up the stairs depositing Mace's bags in the doorway of the third room along.
"This will be your room Sir" Price said "my"
"Marion" Mace said "this is going be awkward enough without you calling me Sir all the time. It's Gerald".
"Okay Gerald" Marion replied sounding a little unsure "well my room is just across the way and the bathroom is just down there".
She walked down the stairs and walked through an archway "this is the living room, the kitchen is through there and the study is back that away", Gerald nodded. "now I'm sure you want to get unpacked so I'll go and get on with some paperwork. dinner will be a half six" and with that she disappeared.
By the time he had finished unpacking and taken a nap (those drugs were making him drowsy) it was 5 o'clock. Walking downstairs he found Marian curled up in an easy chair in the living room her uniform replaced with a light blouse and skirt. He himself was wearing a shirt and casual trousers. She was reading Pride and Prejudice.
"How is it" he asked settling himself in a chair opposite
"Its okay" she replied "you've read Austin"
"No" he said quickly shaking his head "never really had tine".
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Marion spoke again "things have been quiet at work without you" she said "Tom's coping but" she paused for a moment searching for the words "he's not you, there's something missing".
Gerald was silent for a long time while he processed this, was that what everyone thought or her specifically. It was then he realised that with all his training, all his skills and all his experience he was completely clueless what to do.
Marion suddenly shot up and ran into the kitchen. Banging open cupboards she retuned to the living room before flopping back into the easy chair. "anything the matter" Gerald asked
"I forgot I haven't shopped for a while" she explained "I have basically nothing in".
"That's alright" Gerald said strolling over to the telephone and rifling through a pile of takeout menus. He selected one and opened it "do you like Indian?"
An hour later the pair found themselves on the floor of Marion's living room surrounded by take out boxes recalling past UNIT adventures
"Do you remember when the Zygons appeared and we spent an hour chasing Privet Jenkins round the base because we thought he was a clone" Marion said a huge grin on her face
Gerald spluttered through a mouthful of tandoori chicken before groaning and clutching his ribs. He swore slightly before standing "perhaps its time I retired for the night" he walked straight backed to the door before turning "thank you Marion"
he paused "good night"
Marion cleared up the remainder of the food, binned the containers and settled down to watch a show on black and white photography and to read a little more of her book before finally turning in herself.
Walking upstairs she stuck her head into Gerald's room to find him fast asleep, the light still on and a copy of De Re Militari in his hand "typical solider" she whispered before putting the book on his bedside table, turning out the light "good night Gerald"
The next morning Gerald woke to the sound of the shower. Sitting up he noticed that his book had been moved and there was a cup of tea on his bed side table.
Drinking it he headed downstairs and depositing his cup by the dishwasher went in search of breakfast things. Finding muesli and milk he stood by the window and looked out on the garden. Hearing a noise he turned around to see Marion is an outfits similar to the one of the night before
"I hope I didn't wake you Gerald" she said reaching for the juice carton that nestled in the bottom of the fridge "I try to take a shower after my run each morning"
"No Marion I was close to waking up anyway". He chewed on another mouthful of muesli "thank you for the tea"
"That's quite alright"
"So what is the plan for the day"
"I was going to go shopping considering we can't live on take out for the rest of your stay"
"Would you mind if I came with you. There are certain things I need to buy"
"Certainly"
"Thank you I'll just go and get changed"
Half an hour later they found themselves in Marion's car pulling into the supermarket car park. Getting out Gerald went to fetch a trolley while Marion fetched out the list
"So what do we need first" Gerald asked
"Um carrots, potatoes, broccoli and courgettes"
They slowly wandered down the aisles picking up stuff as they including the ingredients for Gerald's special chicken lasagne which he promised to make that night. They chatted casually as they went until they came to one particular aisle
"You might want to wait here" Marion said
"Why" Gerald asked
Wordlessly Marion to the sign above their heads before stalking off down the aisle.
Gerald looked at the large letters above him which read 'Feminine Hygiene'
"Oh" he muttered.
Marion reappeared a few moments later tipping an armful of things into the cart
"I think that's everything" she said "unless there's anything you can think of"
Gerald surveyed the trolley going over the list in his mind
"Wine" he said finally "we need some wine".
Having paid for everything they loaded it into the car and drove home. It surprised Gerald a lot (a lot of things did these days) how easily he had come to think of Marion's house as home.
When they got in Gerald set to work preparing his Chicken Lasagne. As he worked they chatted casually about everything and anything. Over dinner the conversation turned once again to past UNIT adventures including the time they had found themselves caring for a baby Silurian.
After dinner they retired to the living room for coffee.
"So" Gerald said suddenly "why did you want to join UNIT, I mean its not exactly glamorous"
"I wanted to try something different" she said after a while "Life in the Royal Engineers was exciting but I wanted to make a real difference, isn't that what we all want".
Gerald nodded before looking into the fire for a long while
"And you" she said "why did you join".
"I was tired" he said quietly "the endless campaigns and wars it got to me after a while, I couldn't stomach the fighting anymore" he fell silent and stared into the flames "but I still wanted to protect people, its why I became a soldier in the first place and UNIT offered me a challenge a chance to broaden my horizons away from the battlefield and on to something to greater, the chance to see things that no one else sees"
Marion looked at him, this was the most she had to ever heard him say about his personal life. He was usually this untouchable figure, the Colonel ever in command.
She was glad he had opened up like this.
"Thank you Gerald" she whispered
The rest of the evening passed in companionable silence both finishing their books until 10 o'clock when they put on the news. What they heard made them both sit up.
Earlier today there was a massive explosion at the Bowmede Research Facility.
Eyewitness reports suggest that the explosion was caused by some sort of large silvery craft. However the Government has refused to comment on whether it was one of theirs. Bowmede is of course famous for its research into the paranormal and the extraterrestrial.
Turning off the TV Marion said "I think I should go into work tomorrow. The press are going to be all over this and we don't want Torchwood getting their grubby mitts onto it."
"I'll come with you"
"No your still on sick leave"
"But"
"No buts, look you stay here and I promise to tell you everything when I get back. We don't want you making your injuries worse"
"Fine" he breathed at last "but ring me if it is anything major"
"I promise" Marion smiled "now I'm going to bed, good night Gerald"
"Good night Marion"
Gerald stayed downstairs for the next hour or so watching the news for anything on the Bowmede incident and doing the washing up. Finally he too retired to bed.
The next morning he woke to the sound of silence. Walking downstairs he found the breakfast things on the table with a not propped against the muesli.
Gone into work
Will probably ring about lunchtime (there is left over Indian in the fridge)
Should return about half 5
Look after yourself
M
Tucking the note into his pocket he had breakfast and then proceeded to do some more reading finally finishing De Re Militari and beginning The Art of War.
About 1 o'clock. just as he began putting the left over Indian on a plate so he could warm it through in the microwave (even he knew better than to put tin foil in the microwave) the phone rang. He snatched it up.
"Hello"
"Gerald, it's me"
"Marion", he tried his best to keep the joy out of his voice "how are things there"
"There a complete mess Gerald. Whoever it was and we don't have a clue seem to have completely obliterated one wing of the facility, luckily no one was in it at the time but we can't seem to figure out what it was being used for"
"Records" he was once again the UNIT commander.
"That's just it, they appear to have vanished, oh and Gerald" there was a exasperated edge to her voice "Torchwood have been around"
Gerald sniffed "Who"
"Well that's the thing; it appears to be Harkness' branch from Cardiff"
Gerald thought for a second. There was no love lost between Torchwood and UNIT but he knew Jack Harkness and knew him to be an honourable man who looked after his team.
"Tell Blackman to liaise with Harkness, maybe they know something we don't"
"Alright"
"How's Tom coping by the way"
"Admirable, of course he has Captain Matthews to help him"
Gerald smiled. Blackman and Matthews were right for each other, like Marion and I he thought before shaking his head, where had that come from.
"I'll see you later then"
"Indeed"
After a few more minutes Gerald hung up the phone before returning to the living room to continue with his book.
Later that evening Marion returned looking tired and completely out of it. Pushing her into an easy chair Gerald fetched her drink before bustling about in the kitchen to rustle up dinner.
"So" he said during coffee "did you find anything"
"Nothing" she said tiredly "we combed through every inch of the facilities records in an effort to find something, even Harkness' computer jockey couldn't find anything and she's the best in the business". She took a few gulps of the coffee before continuing "and it's not as if the wing had been destroyed, more like completely vaporised, not a trace of it left,"
"You look tired" Gerald said eventually "maybe you should go to bed"
"I'll do that thank you Gerald"
"Good night Marion"
"Good night Gerald"
The next few days continued in a similar pattern with Gerald finishing his second book. Bereft of anything else to read he picked up Pride and Prejudice and found that while it took a bit of getting into he actually quite liked it. The only thing that marked the days out as different was what they ate, and every night Marion retuned home with no news concerning the Bowmede incident.
One day Gerald was sitting in the living room when the phone. Expecting Marion with her daily report he was quite surprised to hear a male voice at the other end
"Is Marion there?"
"No she isn't may I ask who's speaking"
"This is her brother David, who's that"
"Colonel Alexander Gerald Mace. I work with your sister"
"Ah you work at UNIT"
"Indeed"
"May I ask where Marion is"
"She is work at the moment"
"Oh and why aren't you there Colonel and why are you answering her phone"
"I was injured protecting your sister and she is kindly letting me stay with her"
"Oh" the voice said "well thank you, could you let her know I rang, she has my number"
"I will do that"
"Thank you" and the voice rang off,
Later when Marion rang to report in he didn't tell her of the conversation. When she got home that night he kept it quiet until they were having coffee.
"I didn't know you have a brother" he said casually
Marion put down her coffee cup "How did you find out"
"He rang earlier today"
"Well I do" she stopped for a minute "David, He's my older brother. He and his wife Katherine and their boys James and Matthew emigrated to Australia several years ago" she paused again "we haven't spoken in a while though we are quite close"
"May I ask why"
"Well he was always a little over protective of me when we were younger, when I told him I wanted to join the army he wasn't very happy but he supported me because its what I wanted to do, but when I joined UNIT we had a massive row"
"Why he didn't seem to mind UNIT when we talked"
"Well you see" she looked away for a while "He's an accountant now but before he went to Australia he worked in the finance department at Torchwood One. He left after the battle of Canary Wharf"
Mace sat silently. He had a hard time digesting this. Marion's brother had worked for Torchwood."
"Of course with the whole UNIT – Torchwood rivalry he wasn't very happy with my choice of career. However we made it up once he had gone to Australia.
"He didn't seem very happy to hear I was staying here"
"Well, I did say he was protective..
Suddenly she burst into tears. Gerald sat stock still unsure what to do until his initiative took over causing him to walk over to her chair and hug her.
"What's the matter" he whispered.
"its all my fault" she said quietly
"what is"
"all this, your injuries, everything"
"Its not your fault Marion, don't ever think that. You did not push me under that beam I went voluntarily and you know what"
"What"
"I'd do it again if I had too"
They sat like that for sometime Marion crying into his shoulder until he eventually felt her sag and he realised she had fallen asleep. Cradling her in his arms he gently carried her upstairs pushing open the door of the room she had pointed out as hers.
It was unmistakable her. There were not that many personal touches but he could tell that this was her room.
Laying her on the bed he pulled the covers up over her "good night Marion". Then he walked out of the room.
The next morning he woke to find that Marion had left for work. Getting up he completed his morning ritual before leaving the house. He wished to get something for Marion to thank her for taking care of him.
Walking through town he spotted a bookshop and on an impulse went in.
Looking around the shelves he chanced across a copy of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin, He remembered her saying that this was one of the few Austin books she did not posses. Making his decision he bought it.
On the way back to her house he also purchased some expensive chocolates before
arriving home. Once there he called for a taxi. He then proceeded to pack his bags and then propping the gifts up on the kitchen table he locked the door with the spare key and returned to his house. He had always enjoyed the privacy living alone had afforded him but now it just felt empty. However he was glade he had got the chance to get to know Marion better and was looking forward to returning to work upon the morrow.
When she returned home later that evening Marion was surprised to find the house empty. Spotting the book on the table she flicked it open to find a simply inscription
on the title page.
Marion
Thank you
G.
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