Chapter 3

Rose entered the console room hours later, hair still damp from her shower. The Doctor was bent over the console, looking utterly perplexed. She grinned and finished buttoning up her blouse. "What?"

He blinked and focused on her, his brow still furrowed. "What, 'what?'"

"You look like you just saw an ostrich give birth to a rhino. What's goin' on?"

"Ostriches don't give birth, they lay eggs." He ignored Rose's rolled eyes, instead focusing on the TARDIS' monitor again. "The TARDIS finished scanning the general London area, and we definitely know Torchwood's locations and capabilities, but she picked up on something that just doesn't make sense."

"Doctor, we live in a time-and-spaceship that's bigger on the inside. Things tend to not make sense around us." He sent her the 'dribbling monkey' look, and she leaned against the console, facing him. "Okay, fine, I'm sure that all makes sense through oh-so-impressive Time Lord science. So, what's bothering you?"

"The TARDIS picked up on some readings that shouldn't even exist anymore." He pointed at the onscreen map of London, where a pinpoint marked H.C. Clements was flashing gold. "That company's Torchwood owned, but somehow the old girl's picking up on Huon particle energy from their location."

"An' what's that when it's at home?"

"Huon particles are ancient, Rose. They've been around since the beginning of the universe, but they're incredibly rare nowadays—in fact, they're only found…" he trailed off, staring at the glowing Time Rotor. "Only found in the heart of a TARDIS."

She reached out and covered his hand with hers, her eyes soft. "Could there be another TARDIS out there somewhere? I know there aren't any other Time Lords—I do remember about the telepathy, so don't give me that look—but could Torchwood have found an abandoned TARDIS and scavenged it?"

"TARDISes don't work that way, Rose. They're bonded to their pilots, much like you bonded with mine, but if they lose their pilot, they can't survive. No. Whoever's playing with this, they aren't anything from Gallifrey." His face tightened, his eyes suddenly frighteningly dark. "And they have no idea what they're doing. Just a brush with Huon energy nearly killed you when you were first exposed to it—I can't take the chance of something like that happening again."

"So we'll go check it out, yeah?" She smiled up at him. "Listen, whatever's goin' on, we'll figure it out, an' we'll stop it."

He looked down at her, eyes full of wonderment. "It's just that simple to you, isn't it?"

"Well, there'll be more steps involved—we'll probably sneak in, do some detecting, an' there'll definitely be running—but yeah. We'll get it figured out."

His smile widened into a grin, and he reached around her, setting the coordinates. "H.C. Clements, here we come."

The TARDIS' doors opened with a creak and Rose stepped out, buttoning up the chic red coat she'd found in the Wardrobe. She spun around, tongue peeking out from behind her smile. "What d'you think? Professional enough? Will they believe I'm a building inspector?"

The Doctor grinned down at her, eyes tracing the slim-fitting lines of her jacket. "I think they'll believe anything you want them to."

She flushed and tugged on it, not even bothering to hide her smug smile. "Well, come on, then."

They strolled up to the front desk, sobering their expressions as they went. The Doctor reached into his jacket, only to frown as Rose pulled the psychic paper from her pocket. "Hello, Emily Marks and John Smith here. We're the building inspectors—just here for a checkup, no need for an escort." She smiled engagingly at the flustered young man behind the desk, elbowing the Doctor firmly in the ribs. He jerked and smiled wide, nodding politely at the secretary when he waved them through.

Rose led them to the wall of elevators and pushed the call button, fighting back a smile. There was a Time Lord hissy fit coming on in 3… 2… 1…

"Why did you filch my psychic paper?"

She giggled and glanced around, noting only a ginger-haired woman seemingly completely concentrated on digging through her green leather purse. "'Cause you always get to play the lead when we investigate, an' I'm tired of being the sidekick."

"Oh, come on, Rose, you're not the sidekick."

"Really? Then just standing there an' smiling, what's that?"

The woman had straightened as they were arguing quietly, an oddly militant gleam coming into her eyes. She put her hands on her hips, the purse hanging forgotten on her shoulder. "Oi, you two. You might want to be a bit quieter if you're tryin' to sneak in somewhere."

The elevator slid open and the Doctor and Rose dodged inside quickly, the ginger woman following them. "Hey, I was talking to you!" She gasped. "Oh my god, I know what this is! This is corporate espionage, isn't it? Yeah, I've read all about it. You two are spies. You're tryin' to steal secrets, aren't you? Well I may just be a temp here, but this place still writes my paychecks. I'm callin' security, just see if I won't!"

Rose blinked, feeling nearly steamrolled. The Doctor looked similarly flabbergasted. "Sorry, what was your name?"

"Donna Noble, and I won't let you get away with this! Just you wait 'till we get to the next floor, missy—hey!" She glared fiercely at the Doctor, who was scanning the elevator buttons with the sonic screwdriver. "What do you think you're doing?"

He glanced up, his glasses perched low on his nose. "I'm finding out why there's another button below the basement."

Donna stopped, her eyebrows drawn together. Rose bit her lip against the threatening laughter and leaned closer to the Doctor, studying the row of buttons. "So you think Torchwood's got whatever they're working on hidden down there?" The Doctor began to answer, but was interrupted by the redhead.

"Torchwood?" Donna snorted. "Sorry, Blondie, but you've got the wrong building. This is H.C. Clements."

The doors slid open onto a long, echoing tunnel, perfectly framing the stark TORCHWOOD logo painted on the wall across from them. The Doctor looked at Rose and grinned, grabbing her hand before they left the elevator. He glanced back at Donna, eyes dancing. "Torchwood owns H.C. Clements. You coming, Donna?"

She stared at them, doing a rather good guppy impression. "Who are you people?"

"I'm the Doctor and this is my wife, Rose. Come on, the door's trying to close."

She started to step out and hesitated, her eyes darting back and forth between them. "Wait, what are you two doing here?" The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly. "So, what, you're just going to poke around then?"

Rose grinned. "That was the general idea. What d'you say? Aren't you the least bit curious?"

A slow smile grew on Donna's face, and she straightened the bag on her shoulder. "I think I am, yeah."

Fifteen minutes later, she was far less enthusiastic. "Come on, there's this great big mystery tunnel, and what's in it? Nothing! Not to mention these heels are meant for office wear, not mile-long marches!"

Rose glanced down. "They are awfully cute, though."

Donna blinked and smiled, looking unexpectedly flustered. "Thanks. Lovely jacket, by the way."

She smiled back at the redhead. "Thank you." The Doctor sniffed, a slight pout on his face.

Donna rolled her eyes. "What's the problem with 'im?"

Rose grinned, fighting down giggles. "Oh, he just gets crabby if people don't notice how good he looks."

The Doctor glared at her, brown eyes blazing. "I do not!"

"You so do." He opened his mouth to argue, and Rose pointed at a heavy steel door ahead of them. "Doctor? You think maybe we should check that out?"

He frowned and went to work with the sonic screwdriver, and Donna leaned closer to Rose, a conspiratorial smile on her face. "So, how long have you two been married?"

"Just about four an' a half months, I think. I'm not too good at keeping track of dates, nowadays."

The Doctor glanced over his shoulder, smiling into Rose's eyes. "Four months, two weeks, three days, and seven hours, actually."

Rose giggled. "He, on the other hand…"

Donna whistled. "Blimey, that's impressive. Normally a bloke can't be bothered to remember to put the seat down."

"Trust me, the Doctor is not a normal bloke."

"I think I'm starting to get that impression, yeah."

The Doctor straightened and opened the door with a flourish. "Ladies."

"It's… a ladder."

"Yes, Donna, I can see that, but ladders generally go somewhere. Well, unless you're on Kelvos Prime, in which case, they go everywhere and nowhere at once." He shook his head. "Odd place, that. Ol' Maury Escher was Kelvian, actually—exiled for mooning the High Priestess."

Donna frowned and glanced back at Rose. "Is he always like this?"

"Oh, yes." The two women followed the Doctor up the ladder and emerged onto a small concrete island, surrounded by shimmering green-brown water. Rose gasped. "Doctor, is this…?"

"The Thames, yes. For some reason, Torchwood has burrowed their way beneath the whole length of the Thames."

Donna stepped back shakily from the edge. "Who are these Torchwood people? Before today, I'd never heard of them. And now you're tellin' me they own the company I work for and have enough money an' manpower to dig their way under the bloody Thames?"

Rose took a deep breath. "Remember the alien spacecraft that showed up last Christmas?"

"Alien spacecraft?" Donna snorted. "I should've known. You're both nutters. Match made in heaven, right here."

The Doctor frowned. "Wait, you don't remember that? Big, rocky spaceship, one third of the world's population suddenly got a taste for bungee jumping without the cord? None of that ringing a bell?"

"Listen, mate, I had the hangover from hell last Christmas, but it sounds like you two were still partying." She rolled her eyes and headed back down the ladder, leaving the Doctor and Rose to stare at each other.

"Blimey." The Doctor grimaced. "Nothing like the human imagination—if it doesn't make sense, then obviously it's not really there."

"Give her some time, Doctor. It's not everyday that you find out that everything you thought impossible is actually real."

He sighed and followed her down the ladder, closing the cover carefully above him. "Well, not everything, Rose."

She snorted. "What, so fairies aren't actually real? I'm heartbroken."

There was a very loud silence above her.

"Doctor? Fairies don't exist, right?"

"They're nothing like Tinkerbell, Rose—more along the lines of the Fae from the old tales." He shuddered audibly. "I ran into them once, and that was more than enough for me. Nasty creatures."

She laughed and shook her head, landing at the bottom and heading back into the corridor, where Donna was leaning against the wall and tapping her toes impatiently. "Every conversation I have with you just goes mad."

"You love it." He shut the door carefully, sonicing it shut.

"Yeah, I do." She grinned and leaned up to give him a kiss, and Donna rolled her eyes.

"Alright, you two, there's more to explore."

The Doctor sighed and tucked his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels. "I thought we were both nutters?"

"Yeah, well, I haven't changed my mind on that, but I still want to know what's going on."

The Doctor gave her a measuring look. "Do you really?"

She straightened. "Yes, I really. What, you think I don't know my own mind?" She snorted and headed further down the dank tunnel, glancing back over her shoulder when they didn't follow. "Well? Are you two coming?"