And So It Burns...

I am willing to fight for peace. Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war. – Albert Einstein

They had slept curled tightly against each other, after finding that Rose didn't like chocolate, or tomatoes, but seemed to love sweet and sour sauce, and beef burgers ... just not together. John had been awake for sometime, but hadn't moved. He hadn't even opened his eyes, merely soaking up the comfort he could draw from the warm legs tangled with his own, and soft vanilla scented hair falling over his chest. He sensed her breathing change, and felt her lashes brush against his neck, and couldn't hide the shiver that she drew from him at the slightest touch.

"G'mornin'..." she breathed, getting a soft "hmm" in response, as he tugged her lithe from against him tightly, pulling a sleepy laugh from Rose. The moment was quickly broken by a series of rapid knocks on their front door, and they both jerked out of the bed quickly, scrambling for clothes like teenagers caught behind the gym building.

Rose was the quickest, slinging on a large flannel dressing gown she darted to the front door, barefoot and tugged it open after brushing fingers through her hair quickly

"Yes?" she blinked softly, and blushed "oh ... Dad ... hi, uh, morning"

"Been having fun?" the now nearly bald man asked sarcastically, eyeing her state of undress, before moving past Rose into the small flat, not noticing her eyes roll "Not that it's really your business since we moved out, but no, actually, John was frustratingly well behaved"

"Good morning Pete..." the part human time lord muttered from the bedroom doorway, thankfully fully dressed

'At least one of us looks appropriate...' Rose though softly, before tuning into what her stepfather was saying

"So ... Jackie said you need to get to this Tardis wreck we've found, I don't know what you two have got cooked up, she wouldn't tell me, but I trust you Doctor ... John ... to look after her" Pete was saying, indicating Rose, and taking in his adopted daughters changed features without question, but with more than a hint of frustration too "I've got both of you access to the storage facility for today and tomorrow only ... that's it, and I've used more than a couple of favours to pull this off too"

"If we haven't got it flying by then, there's no solution anyway Dad" Rose added softly

"We're running on limited time Pete ... Thank you" John added, shaking his hand. Afterwards Pete stood glancing between the two, debating whether the question their action, or demand to know what had prompted this currant sequence of events, before sighing and shaking his head. Muttering a few gentle words, he dropped their storage passes on the coffee table and graciously backed out of the flat, trying desperately to avoid looking at Rose. Trying desperately to avoid any explanation that would have him in the same tearful state his wife had been in the night before.

Once the front door clicked shut behind him, Rose and John's eyes met across the room. They hadn't been fooled, and Rose's eyes glistened with tears at the pain this was causing everyone. It took John mere moments to be by her side, wrapping her in his arms as she released the last tears she was capable of crying for her family.


John sighed impatiently "What do you mean you can't let us in?" he demanded, and the young man was beginning to look nervous "You were all informed last night, we have passes, and we're members of the Torchwood team!"

"John ... They're only doing their jobs" Rose interrupted his tirade, and ignored his incredulous look "Now then, I know that my fingerprints aren't showing up on the system ... That's because I led a Recon team three days ago, and some of my biological make-up was changed do you understand?"

Her mist green eyes hardened as she let them scan over the two armed men causing them to saluted her nervously before she continued, "oh good ... now then, I am Agent Rose Tyler, identification number; Bravo, Alpha, Delta, Nine, Six, Five, Three, and my security access answer is "Canary Warf" ... any questions?" When the two men simply stared at her she smiled at John "I think I've convinced them, shall we?"

While her partner blinked at her in a similar manner to the men guarding the Torchwood Storage Facility, Rose merely wandered past them, and turned the corner at the end of the corridor before John cleared his throat, thanked the men, and jogged after her.

"How on earth did you know that would work?" he asked her once he caught up

"I didn't, which is why we're nearly running" she grinned, "Just in case they work out that I didn't really give them any proof... we're not the most secure secret organisation around are we?" she mused, pulling startled laughter out of John as he linked his fingers with hers, pulling her into flat out run through the multitude of rooms, containing all manner of alien artefacts.

"So, it was where again?" Rose asked him, once they were in far enough to feel that the guards couldn't, or wouldn't follow them

"Room T, Area 90..." John paused and glanced at her playfully, "why do I get the feeling that this isn't going to be easy to find?"

"Because it's not" Rose sighed and let her eyes wander up to the huge shelves surrounding them on two sides and frowned "I guess we'd better start searching..."


They weren't far off of room 'T', but it took the two of them longer than they would have like to find Area 90, let alone begin their search for the Tardis. Rose was sifting through the information John had implanted into her mind faster than he'd expected, picking up on random pieces of alien technology with interest, and he knew the information had come from his own mind when she laughed at a musical instrument and declared that it was "practically painful to human ears"

It was worrying him; what if they had less time than he'd predicted? What if she was already dying? They would need every second available to them to try and find what was wrong, and then fix the Tardis. He started out of his thoughts when her fingers laced with his, and he smiled at her. He could see the same worries reflected in her eyes, and sighed. He wanted to keep her safe, protect her from this, but she understood far too much now to do that.

"There's some odd bits of junk in here that we may be able to use to fix her up enough for flight" he announced, not really succeeding in lightening the mood

"If we can find her you mean?" Rose added, "What is she even going to look like...?" They both stopped walking as they turned a corner and found themselves staring at a familiar, if battered and beaten, blue police box

"You can always trust a parallel world to keep the disguise and perception filter damaged" John announced cheerfully, bounding over to the doors and stopping just in front of them, before pacing round the outside of the Tardis frowning.

"She looks so … old..." Rose whispered, not having moved from where they'd stopped walking, and John poked his head round the corner of the Tardis with a concerned frown on his features "Yes... well..." he cleared his throat and wandered towards her "When a Tardis' pilot regenerated, she gets a makeover and upgrade too … most of the time... it's why I haven't touched her yet … we want her to bond with you, not me"

Rose stared at him with sad eyes, at the state of even a parallel version of their old friend, but he had nothing to offer her, no words of comfort, and no further advice. She released a shuddering sigh and approached the blue box slowly, hesitating only a moment before she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Nothing happened.

She didn't know what she'd been expecting, a flash of insight? The heart to open? An instant clean-up of the damage? But even as Rose stood on the slanted path that led to the door of the Tardis, she could sense that this ship was still alive. Still aware.

Tears prickled at the corner of her eyes at the debilitated state of this wonderful ship, and suddenly there was a noise, just a soft groan that was a remnant of what she was used to hearing from a Tardis.

Rose glanced back at John, standing outside of the Tardis, hands deep in the pockets of his suit. He wasn't looking at her, but at the damaged insides of this once beautiful ship. Rose swallowed, and moved further into the ships confines, her fingertips gently caressing fixtures and buttons, and drifted round the central control console.

She rested her palm over the hatch that held the heart of the Tardis, but moved on, deeper, exploring the once familiar corridors that lead to the kitchen, library, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, a swimming pool, gardens that Rose had never understood and any other multitude of rooms that The Doctors Tardis had never introduced her too, and that this one kept her locked out of.

Eventually she found that the Tardis had directed her exploration, and led her back to the main console room. She felt her chest tighten and she stumbled against the wall as another wave of time vortex left her, making her dizzy again. She spotted John take a step towards her and reluctantly hesitate in the doorway, desperate eyes on her as he watched her start to cry

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, letting her new eyes rove over the extensive damage done to the complex ship "But I need your help" and there it was. The 'thing' she'd expected, a soft brush across her thoughts, and the lights struggled to flicker on, the central panel flashing like some sort of killer Christmas tree, and then Johns voice, breaking through her surprise

"You must come out now Rose, she needs to heal" The newly born Time Lord glanced over her shoulder, and studied the man she loved as he leaned into the Tardis, hand extended for her to take, and she smiled. It was bitter-sweet; happiness at having been able to help this ship, and a sadness that it meant she would be leaving. Instead of taking his hand, Rose struggled to her feet, and ran the length of the console room to launch herself into his arms, clinging tightly as he spun them both

They only released each other when the Tardis slammed her doors shut, and began hissing as she rebuilt and upgraded herself for her new pilot


"Do you feel up for some shopping?"

Rose sent a strange look at him, "Why? Thinking of getting me an Easter egg?" John blinked at her confused

"What? Is it Easter? I always had trouble finding Easter… anyway, no, I thought we could pick up some bits the Tardis might find helpful in fixing herself up... on Torchwoods tab of course"

They were walking hand in hand down random and yet familiar streets after leaving the Storage Facility 'for lunch'. At least that's what they'd told the men at the door.

"Yeah … all right then, I don't feel too bad … I'm still shedding that gold light but..."

"Ah humans are blind, they won't notice anything" he grinned at her, and she grinned back.

"So, where're we going?" Rose asked after they'd continued walking for a while

"I'm thinking that hardware shop in town might have a few bits of scrap metal she could utilise-" John cut off at Rose's laughter "What's so funny?"

"We're going to fix an alien space ship with scrap metal from a hardware shop?" she half whispered, letting the silence hang for a moment, before John began grinning too.

It took them no time at all to reach town, and for John to begin browsing shops that may have anything at all that the Tardis might possibly make use of. Torchwood outposts weren't too far from anything, really, it was just a matter of knowing where to look to locate them.

They bought wooden planks and metal grills, they bought nails, and nuts, and bolts, and sheets of glass, and string, and glue, and tennis balls, and light bulbs, and gear sticks... and when John picked up a set of bathroom taps, announced they looked "pretty", and flung them onto the shop counter as well, Rose had dragged him from the stores by force, despite her reluctant laughter.

They bother sobered quickly, however, when she stumbled, emitting another wave of golden light. John had dropped their shopping and hugged her too him while she recovered, but before he had a chance to ask her how she was feeling, their phones began ringing, and their eyes met.

"Torchwood"

Rose slipped her phone out of her pocket while John picked up the shopping again, and they began making their way back to the Storage Facility at a fast walk, very quickly switching from playful to professional.

"It's my day off, what's the emergency?" she snapped down the phone, her new voice taking on a sharper tone than was strictly necessary, but whoever was on the other end seemed to respond to the undertone of command that ran through it.

"..."

"I beg your pardon? Did you just say 'Code Red in 5 hours?" John sent her a glance, but she was frowning at the floor, carefully watching where she placed her booted feet as they hurried along the quieter back streets. Code Red was invasion. A big invasion.

"..."

"Well if they're not threatening, and don't have weapons charged it should be Code Blue... you do know the codes right?"

"..."

"How new are you? Oh for goodness sake, Code Blue is potential first contact, change that now... yes right now" Rose was silent for a moment and increased her speed to a jog to catch up with Johns long strides, slowing again when her Torchwood contact came back to the phone

"Good, that should calm things down … Now, do we have contact?"

"..."

"Hmm … Well, try and find out what they want, John and I are in town so we'll be around half an hour..."

"..."

"Of course we'll hurry, just don't panic... and for gods sake don't mention we killed one of them!"

Rose hung up, and dragged a hand through her long hair, when she met John's eyes the worry in them was clear

"It's the Caxtarids... ETA* 3 to 5 hours … We have limited audio contact, but from what Torchwood can gather they want something, something important" John winced and Rose nodded, "How much do you want to bet, they've come to collect their scouting party?"


They had moved their shopping back to the Tardis as quickly as they dared without drawing the guard's suspicions, and immediately caught a taxi to their department branch. It took mere moments before they were ushered into a conference room linked up to computers with audio-visual links to expert's world wide, and a large projection screen that was obviously set up for visual contact from the Caxtarids.

"What do we have?" John asked as they both moved to the empty chairs left for them , and one of the expert on the computer screens responded "Well, we've translated their message relay as best we can, and we believe it translates as something along the lines of "Humans... You posses a power/gift that you do not know/own. Caxtarids demand capture/collection of power/gift or will take/claim"... there are many variants in the way this could be interpreted but-"

"Can you play it?" Rose asked softly, "The original transmission?" The expert froze mid sentence and nodded, "certainly … but it won't do you any good m'dear, it's all in native Caxtar"

Rose watched John's face twitch and his hands clench together when the 'professional' referred to her so casually, and she could almost feel the threat line his body. He was watching her intensely for any sign of offence, and she smiled sweetly at him, making him duck and hide an embarrassed flush, before forcing himself to relax.

The elderly man leant off screen for a moment, and suddenly the conference room was filled with muted shrieks similar to those of the creature Rose had killed less than four days ago, interrupted at point with clicks and sighs. To anyone outside of Torchwood, it would probably be written off as white noise, but to Rose it was making a strange kind of sense.

"Aliens … you shriek clacken mek shrasten point onwards meshtar net rastakken Caxtarids shriekas you hand over this power mlettar mess neshka on your putrid planet and nestan tesh katren force"

Rose frowned, and pressed her fingers to her temples, shutting her eyes with a soft "play it again?"

This time it made perfect sense. This time she could hear exactly what the Caxtarids wanted.

"Aliens... You posses power that from this point onwards you do not own. The Caxtarids demand you hand over this power source, or we will disembark on your putrid planet and take it by force"

Rose met Johns worried eyes and raised an eyebrow, pulling a sigh from him, at least that part of the Tardis connection was working already

"Well, they don't sound angry..." she added, covering her request to hear the audio "But that could just mean they don't know about their advance guard being out of commission yet"

"This is a pretty straight forward transaction request" John suddenly jumped in, leaning back in his chair "I mean yes, there's the threat of invasion if we don't co-operate, but what did you call Rose and myself in for when you've got these experts in computer screens lining the room?" He glanced around the room, eyebrows raised in question, and their bosses shuffled

"We'd like you two to lead the negotiations"

"Excuse me?" Rose asked, sharing a worried look with John, besides the face she'd killed their scout, they needed to get the Tardis up and running, not worry about some mysterious energy source...

Everything clicked inside her mind, and she could practically feel the synapses of her brain leaping ahead. Power source that drew an alien invasion to earth; if this was the Sycorax instead of the Caxtarids it would practically be a de ja vu

"...feel that you've had enough alien exposure to be able to handle this better than any of us, and we trust that you will put Earth's interest first. We don't know what this energy source is, we can't know if they want to drag our sun off to another solar system, but we, as a board, are comfortable to let you two negotiate on behalf of planet Earth.

Rose felt sick. The energy source the Caxtarids wanted was her regeneration energy. The only way to save this earth was to leave it, and now she was trapped into negotiating with the things that wanted her body.

Could her week get any worse than this?


Song Listened To: World On Fire – Trading Yesterday

Song Listened To: Under My Skin – Trading Yesterday


A/N:

* ETA = Estimated Time of Arrival