Disclaimer: I don't own DW.
A/N: I try to be very vague about the timeline, so you can set your imagination free.
P.S. Sorry, had to re-uploaded due to minor changes.
Marion was hiding in the corner of an abandoned warehouse. Her body curled into a tight ball. The constant explosion outside had been going on since, well, forever. Even the seemingly sturdy building could not seem to stand the blast. Rubbles and dirt were raining down on her, her blond hair was covered with all sorts of particles and her face was smeared with tears and sweat and dirt. Her petit body shivered at each rumbling sound. She felt so afraid, so alone.
She looked at the black tablet tightly tucked inside her pink tracksuit. It was silly, really. She would have been evacuated to safety more than a day ago with her family, had she not returned the last minute to find this. This tablet contained all of her family's history, the legendary stories that had been passed on for centuries. Not that it mattered at all in light of an alien invasion, but that was the problem, no one really cared.
She was proud of her family. The Tyler family had been held in high regard for centuries now, thanks to the legendary Peter and Jacqueline Tyler, and the reformation of Torchwood Institute under their direction. They were renowned for the countless times they had defended the earth from extraterritorial threats. And their son, Anthony Tyler, was known to be the ambassador who had successfully initiated intergalactic treaty with the outside worlds for the very first time, and many more thereafter. She grew up hearing those stories, and for millions of times she wished she could have been born centuries earlier, so that she could be part of it and contribute her own share. But right now, the least she could do, was saving them from being forgotten.
She waited in the darkness, for god knows how long. Then silence befell, all was quiet, as if both alien and Human Alliance troops had vanished.
She was about to move out when she heard the heavy metal door opened with a loud clack. She pulled herself back into the shadow with an audible gasp. Then she heard the noise of someone stepping over the rubbles, firm and steady.
"Hello-." She heard a male voice calling out.
"Is anybody here? Can anyone hear me?" Judging from the accent, he was American.
She heard the steps approaching closer, her heart leaped to her throat, beating so loud as if on speakers against the dead silence.
"This is Captain Jack Harkness from the Human Alliance, you can step out now, it's safe. We have secured the area." He stopped just around the corner where she was hiding.
Well, he sounded human enough. Plus, it was really not a good idea to stay here for a prolonged period of time. She had had no food or water since this morning, if she did not make to the asylum in time, she could very well die of dehydration.
Besides, she was positive that he knew she was here.
Carefully, she stepped out of the shadow, turning around the corner, the first thing she noticed was the point of a giant firearm.
"Don't shoot!" She cried out, holding up one hand while the other held tightly against her chest.
To her relief the weapon lowered immediately. She saw a tall figure approaching quickly, and she flinched and backed away.
"Whoa, it's OK, easy." The man held up his hands in peaceful gesture and slowed his pace.
When he finally made it to stand right in front of her, he placed both hands over her shoulders, barely touching, waiting patiently as she began to calm down. Once she was sure he intended no harm, she looked up at him.
That was a handsome face. That was a very handsome face, she thought, albeit being very situational inappropriate.
There seemed to be a moment of surprise upon seeing her, but he soon replaced it with a charming smile.
"Hi, there. How are you doing? Are you hurt, or injured in anyway? Is there someone else with you?"
Marion shook her head. A wave of relief and exhaustion washed over her, she felt her knees began to give.
But the man steadied her immediately, genuine concern apparent in his eyes.
"Are you sure you are OK?"
"Yes, I'm only tired, that's all. Haven't had anything to eat or drink since this morning." She replied, trying not to sound too shaky for her own dignity.
He nodded, gently place a hand on her back to provide support while guiding her towards the door. At this moment, she really had no strength to protest the intrusion of personal space, and if she was honest to herself, she wasn't particularly mind.
As they were walking, Marion studied the man with side view. He was tall, stocky and heavily armed. Every inch of him was screaming military, and he addressed himself as Captain. Yet for some reason his uniform looked more than a little out of time. Nevertheless he seemed to be a nice enough bloke though, and if he could help her get to the asylum and get back to her family, perhaps she could persuade her father to give him an honorary rank in the actual Human Alliance Force, and if he was willing to stay a bit…
Her thoughts were interrupted by another figure entering the doorway. Her body tensed as Captain Jack pushed her behind him, weapon ready.
"Jack? You in there?" Another man's voice, slightly higher pitched, but definitely British.
The Captain's whole body relaxed at the sound of it.
"Yeah, right here, Doc." He pushed the gun behind him as a tall, lean figure walked up to them.
Marion's eye brows shot up as the second man appeared in her line of sight. If the Capital was everything military, this man was anything but. He was dressed in full suits and a tie, which looked terribly out of place under the circumstance, and obviously unarmed. In addition, he paired them with trainers and a long brown trench coat. This textbook standard fashion fall out somehow looked surprisingly classy on him, not to mention he was actually kinda cute, in an innocent, boyish way. Although, she could not help but notice how much older those eyes looked comparing to his appearance.
He looked at her curiously before giving out a cheeky grin.
"Hello, there! I'm the Doctor, what's your name?" He asked as he held out his right hand.
She took it and gave it a brief shake with arched eyebrows. What kind of person would introduce himself with a title but not a name?
"My name is Marion, Marion Ty…Tyson." She lied. Her true family name was as likely to bring her troubles as to help, and before she knew for sure, she would not want to risk it.
"Oh." The Doctor frowned with a pout. "That's my wife's middle name, how come you have the same name as her?"
Now, that was rude, that was downright rude.
Her eyes narrowed at that statement. Despite the dim light, she could see that this man was definitely not wearing a wedding band.
"Don't mind him." She heard the Captain talking beside her.
"He tends to do that a lot, especially after not seeing his wife for a while. Speaking of which, have you heard anything from Rose yet, Doc?" The Captain's attention was back to the Doctor as the three of them started moving along again.
"No, not in the past three hours or so, when was the last time she reported to you?" The Doctor replied with a hint of frustration.
"Just about that long ago. I tried to initiate contact several times without much success." Answered Jack. "But can't you read something from your…bond thingie?"
"No, her mind shield is on maximum. It means either she is in great danger or she is trying very hard to concentrate. Either way it worries me, and I can't lose her, you know that, Jack."
Marion saw the Captain walked up to the Doctor and pulled him into a stop.
"Come on, Doc, this is Rose we are talking about. How many impossible things she'd done just to get back to you? Now stop worrying, you have always believed in her, no need to doubt her now."
The Doctor only nodded before carrying on.
Marion had not a clue for what they were talking about. One thing she was sure, however, that the man in suits was really worried about his wife. To her, it was quite an endearing trait. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something in consolation. But there was a look in the man's eyes that sent chills up from her spine, causing the hair on her neck to stand on its end. Involuntarily she moved away from him.
The street outside the warehouse looked abandoned, trashed with the aftermath of a series of earlier skirmishes. The three of them walked in silence, with the Doctor taking the lead, apparent deep in thought, and the Captain taking the rear to maintain defensive position, constantly examining the surroundings cautiously.
Suddenly the Doctor stopped, his head tilted slightly, as if listening. Then he spun around and dashed in the opposition direction without saying a word.
Jack watched him with serious expression. He quickly dialed something on his wristband. After a few short beeps, a female voice responded.
"Alright, Jack, this better be important, a bit busy right now. Is the Doctor all right?"
Marion frowned at the tone. The girl, whoever that was, did not seem to concern about the Captain at all. But Jack seemed to be immensely relieved at the sound of that voice.
"He's fine. He just dashed out without a warning, thought it must be you. Are you all right?"
A loud explosion came through the speaker, followed by a rather violent crash.
"Yeah…peachy." She replied with a hint of sarcasm.
"Alright, Rosie, wherever you are, hang in there. The Doctor is on his way." Jack said urgently.
"…right, t…ke c…r…" The signal was disrupted.
Marion felt her arm was being grabbed roughly. Before she could form a coherent protest, she heard the Captain said in grave voice.
"All right, missy. Let's get you to safety, these streets won't be quiet for much longer."
The asylum was established in the basement of a public school, now heavily guarded by uniforms, the real, proper uniforms. When Jack arrived, all guards on duty snapped into attention and saluted him with respect, which he acknowledged with casual nod. A few of them spared some curious glances at Marion, but said nothing, much to her relief.
When the crisis was over, she could request an audience with the commanding officer, and she would be reunited with her family in no time. But until then, she did not want to receive any preferential treatment simply because of her family status, a Tyler knew better than that.
There weren't many people in there, thank goodness. The evacuation order had been largely effective, due to the resourcefulness of the Torchwood network. Most people here were ones that stayed behind for various reasons, like herself, or who was injured in the first wave of assault.
A medical staff in lab coat approached her, gave her some preliminary examination to confirm she was well and unharmed, then let her be. A moment later, a volunteer came handing her a bottle of water and a small sandwich in a wrapper, which she took with gratitude. It was nothing other than some cold bread with old cheese, but it tasted heavenly in her mouth.
Once she inhaled her ration, she took a look around. The Captain who escorted her here had long since disappeared. People were scattered around in this relatively spacious area. One quarter of it seemed to be particular quiet, partitioned by a long couch and several sofa chairs. Two large library desks were put together with chairs surrounding them, forming what looked like a meeting area. But right now there were only two people sitting in front of a computer. The ginger haired girl was typing a mile a minute, her fingers were flying up and down in a blur. And a dark skinned young man sitting close beside her, eyes fixed on the monitor, watching intently. Both of them appeared not much older than her, but they seemed quite distant from their surroundings. Yet people steered clear from that area, not out of fear but out of respect, as if it was some sacred territory.
Reluctantly, Marion walked over and climbed on one side of the comfy looking couch. They both looked up at her, the girl barely spared her a nonchalant glance before returning to what she was doing, but the boy gave her a polite smile and a friendly nod. Neither seemed to be bothered by her presence, so she settled herself down contently.
It was not long before some disturbance occurring by the entrance. She saw several volunteers and medical officers rushed over, ushering in a group of over ten refugees, all look positively scared and shaken. The room suddenly became rather packed, so Marion relocated herself to a nearby sofa chair in order for the long couch to be used by those who were more in need.
Following them was the Captain Jack Harkness she met earlier, covered in sweat and dirt, looking exhausted. He walked straight into the secluded quarter, didn't seem to even notice her before tossing his weapon gracelessly on the floor, flopping himself in a chair near the desk, head laid back and limps splayed.
The dark skinned young man walked over, handed him a bottle of water and a small wrap of food, nothing other than the standard ration. The Captain barely managed to give a nod of appreciation before diving into the much needed fuel.
Last came in was the Doctor, this time, one arm looping tightly around the waist of a blond girl who was effectively clinging on him, looking practically worn-out. The look in the Doctor's eyes were a mix of caring, heartache and proud. The depth of his affection was like nothing Marion had ever seen.
No doubt, this must be the wife.
Upon seeing them the ginger haired girl gasped and jumped out of her seat, dashed over and pulled the blond into a bear hug.
"Rose! Oh thank goodness you are back! We got so worried! What the hell had happened?"
The blond girl named Rose hugged back weakly, but the smile on her face was a combination of joy and relief.
"Well, found a group of refugees hiding inside a public library, tried to get them to the asylum, then got ambushed by a group of assailants."
"So the Doctor came running to the rescue?" The ginger girl teased with a smirk as she helped the Doctor settle Rose down in an empty sofa chair adjacent to Marion's .
The pair, however, responded by exchanging an affectionate look, and squeezed each other's hand gently.
"Oi, the two of you, cliché, too cliché!" the ginger girl rolled her eyes in exasperation, but the pair was blatantly unashamed.
"Come on, ginger, you know them for how long? Get used to it already!" The dark skinned young man called out with a laugh.
"Oi! I told you, chocolate man! I've got a name! It's Dana or Noble, and ginger is not part of either!"
"All right , ginger, whatever you say."
A ball of sandwich wrapper landed accurately on his head.
"Rickey!" The Doctor called out in a cheery tone as he walked over to the young man in front of the monitor. "Anything unusual that you've noticed?"
"Not really, boss." Rickey replied, all joking aside. "Ginger and I have been monitoring their activities closely. It seemed our plan had worked, they had retreated to defensive position, should give us enough time to plan a strike back."
The Doctor nodded and walked away, while Jack, who seemed to have recovered somewhat, approached the young man and started asking detailed questions.
When the Doctor returned, he had a bottle of water and a wrap of food in his hand. He handed the wrap to his wife first, muttered something about how the asylum was running short on supplies, then opened the lid of the bottle and handed that to her as well. He sat down on the armrest of the sofa chair, looping one arm casually around her shoulders. She snuggled in, took a few sips from the bottle and handed it back, the Doctor caught it and took a couple of sips himself. Then she opened up the wrap to reveal the sandwich, but held it up to him for the first bite.
The Doctor smiled at her tenderly, shook his head and bit off a tiny chunk symbolically. The woman then retrieved the sandwich and tore the already small thing in half, and shoved the bigger one in his face. He refused at first, insisting that she needed food more than he did. But when his wife's stare told him there was not much room for negotiation, he let out a resigning sigh, and offered to take the smaller half instead.
Marion watched them enviously. There was something special about this couple, demonstrated by the small gestures they gave to each other. Perhaps it was the way they looked at each other as if seeing the most precious thing in the world, or the way the man's arm looped around the woman protectively and possessively, long fingers brushed her hair and cheek delicately, or the way the woman nestled against the man, with ultimate trust and content, Marion did not know for sure. Their conversations were short and scarce, but their affections spoke louder than any word, on display so spontaneously for anyone with eyes to see.
Marion couldn't help but wonder if she would ever meet a man who would treat her as such, or who would make her want to treat him likewise.
A uniformed officer came in, handed the Captain a few odd looking gadgets and wares that caught the Doctor's attention. He gently pulled away from his wife, pressing a hand on her shoulder a moment longer before walking over to the desk. And that was when the woman discovered they were being stared at.
Marion looked down quickly, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
"I am sorry, didn't mean to stare, it's just…"
"That's OK, we weren't exactly hiding." The woman smiled at her kindly, holding out a hand in friendly gesture.
"My name is Rose, by the way, and you are?"
"Marion, Marion Tyson." She took the Rose's hand for a gentle shake, feeling even worse for lying about her last name.
"So Marion, are you by yourself? Got any families around?"
"No, they are gone, it's just me."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Rose replied sympathetically.
Immediately Marion realized she had misunderstood her intention.
"No, no, my family was not, like, gone, gone. They had been evacuated to safety. I stayed behind for personal reasons. That's why I am the only one here."
"Oh, right. That's… good to hear. " She chuckled in relief.
Now that Marion had the opportunity to study the woman closer, she noticed that there was quite some resemblance between them. They both had blond hair, brown eyes, even their facial structure looked somewhat similar. But there is something about Rose that did not quite fit in with the overall demeanor, which Marion could not pinpoint.
"So… are you like, special op or something? Is that your team?" She gestured at the people now gathered around the desks curiously.
"Well, you can say that, I suppose. Dana and Rickey are part of Jack's team. The Doctor and I are sort of…just tagging along."
"Oh, but I thought that Doctor was in charge here. I mean, I heard that bloke call him the boss." Marion said in surprised.
Rose chuckled out loud.
"Well, that's the Doctor for ya. He takes charge anywhere he goes, welcomed or not. Jack knows it, so he just let him."
"So you know each other well, then."
"Oh, Jack and us we go way back."
For a short moment Rose stared away into the distant past, that was when Marion noted, the bit something that was off about her- those eyes, much older than her appearance, just like the Doctor.
Who exactly are they?
But before she could ask any more questions, she noticed that a day's of exhaustion must have caught up on Rose, causing her to doze off. Respectfully, she bit back her own question.
Marion realized she must have dozed off as well at some point. When she woke up again, it was quiet, everyone seemed to be asleep, well, almost everyone.
She wiggled her body stiffly, noticing the brown pinstriped suit jacket she was covered under. The owner of it, the Doctor, wore only a shirt with loosened tie, was sitting in a chair facing his slumbering wife, who was wrapped cozily in his coat.
He was the only other person who was not sleeping at this hour. Instead, he was watching his wife with deeply cherished and somewhat poignant look. Upon seeing Marion, he gave her a tight smile, but returned his gaze back to Rose immediately after.
"You must really love her." Marion sat up, all trace of sleepiness gone.
He shook his head. "Love does not even describe a fraction of what I feel for her." He whispered, reaching out and brushed away a strand of hair that had fallen on her face.
"How long have you been married?" She kept her voice low so that not to disturb the woman beside her.
"By your standard? A very very long time." He replied in the same low voice.
"You are not human, are you?" she said as if it was a statement.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow at her.
"Nope." He answered popping the "p". "I am a Time Lord, the last of my kind."
"And your wife?" Not that she really knew what a Time Lord was.
"She is human, for the most part anyways."
"And you both are older than you looked, am I correct?" Marion asked, successfully winning full attention from the Time Lord.
"It's all in the eyes, you know." She shrugged, as if stating something obvious.
The Doctor straightened up, head tilted aside and studied her for a while.
"Tyson, was it? How old are you?" He sounded like a teacher talking to his pupil.
"19, why?"
"You sure are observant for a nineteen-year-old."
"Well, comes in the family, I suppose." She said dismissively.
There was a moment of silence.
"I met Rose when she was 19." He started speaking suddenly, caught Marion off guard.
The Doctor's gaze lingered on his wife, but eyes unfocused as if recalling memories from long ago.
"I invited her to a take a trip with me. She knew I was not human but she came anyways. Mind you, that was less than a day since we first met."
"What happened then?" She asked eagerly, now intrigued.
"Well, I took her on a trip without telling her mother, brought her back a year later. Got a big slap right in my face. Still hurts every time I think about it." He chuckled at the memory.
"That was it? Just one slap?" Marion's eyes grew wide in surprise as well as amusement. "You know, had it been mother, she would have taken your head off."
"Yeah, I know." He smiled tenderly. "It wasn't until much later did I realize how easily I had gotten off on that one. She must have sensed something before I was even aware of its existence. Jacqueline Tyler, what an amazing woman she was!"
She frowned at that name, did he just mention Jacqueline Tyler?
The woman beside her stirred suddenly, twisting her body uncomfortably and muttered something unintelligible.
The Doctor jumped out of his seat and bent down by the sofa chair, cradling his precious woman in his arms, caressing her gently until she had calmed and return to sound sleep.
With a sigh, he put her back down and adjusted her body to a more comfortable position. Then he straightened, sitting back on his chair with unreadable expression, arms folded in front of him.
"It's still early. You should probably get some more sleep." He said, effectively closing off all channels of conversation.
When Marion woke up again, everyone from the Doctor's company was gone. Even the computer and the gadgets had been cleared from the desk.
She sat up abruptly, noticing the standard military issued blanket dropping on the floor. Everything, everyone, every trace of their existence seemed to have vanished overnight.
The uniforms and volunteers had started to organize the relocation of everyone, stating the siege was over.
She asked around for the Doctor, or a Captain Jack Harkness, but was only informed that there had been no one went by such names.
Before boarding the vehicle, she took one last look around the ruined street, in hoping to see something that could prove all that had happened yesterday was not just a dream. All she was able to find was a glimpse of a blue box standing at the street corner. But when she blinked and looked again, it was gone, too, as if it had never been there before.
All the way to safety, she was trying to make sense of what she had seen or heard the night before. Then something clicked inside her mind. Quickly she pulled out her tablet, which was still safely tucked inside her pink tracksuit, and started flipping through information in lightning speed.
Finally she found it, in the old old archives dated back to early 21st Century. There was a child's drawing, of a man in brown suits and a blond girl in pink dress, stood hand-in-hand beside a blue box. In the spare space there was some kid's crawl:
My sister and her Doctor with their TARDIS, stuffs of the legend, defenders of the earth.
And it was signed by a Tony D. Tyler.
The next was a photograph, portraying a man in brown pinstripes who was the Doctor looking exactly like he was yesterday, and a girl in pale blue tracksuit who was Rose, but a few years younger. Both of them were wearing daft paper crowns and grinning silly, but their eyes were twinkling with sheer happiness. She tapped a small icon to read the memo, logged by someone named Mickey Smith:
New Doctor and same old Rose, merry merry Christmas.
Then she flipped to the next record, which was a graduation photo of some sort, featuring only the girl. She looked a few years older than in the last picture, her lips curled upward, but her eyes were hard and cold, with infinite emptiness and profound loss and grief hidden behind.
She tapped to read the memo, and gasped as it was logged by none other than the legendary Jacqueline Tyler:
In memory of my beloved daughter
Forever cherished and deeply missed
Rose Marion Tyler
1986~2013
May you find love and happiness among the stars
