Chapter 4: Hertfordshire, England
London, England
"Rose?" Olivia calls from down the corridor.
"Mm, yes?" I shout back from inside my cubicle.
"Rose!" She sticks her head into my little office with her hair rumpled and her voice out of breath. "That Adipose we collected. It's out of its cage and causing a huge ruckus. Come help us, will you? You're best with them."
I jump out of my chair, eager for any sort of activity to distract me from this mindless office work. Today has been a completely boring waste of time- just memos for me to sort. Nothing new in. Honestly, it's a miracle that thing escaped.
Olivia and I jog down the hallways together.
"Where is it?"
"Last I saw it, the staff room, of all places. And tea bags, Rose. Everywhere."
I snort. "Pesky little buggers, they are."
We round the corner then, and there it is. Smack in the middle of the atrium. It's left a very obvious trail of destruction in its wake. During my quick glance around the room, I see a few stands knocked over, a broken pot, little piles of paper, and quite a few tea bags. And the Adipose, in the midst of it all, positively squealing with glee.
There are UNIT workers, everywhere, too. Mostly balding, middle aged men. Some cowering, some wielding poorly crafted weapons (staplers seem to be popular) and most of them just gaping at the mess.
"Alright!" I bark, stepping into the center of the room. The Adipose spares me no attention, but everyone else looks my way. I've got this great, booming voice I use when I'm searching for attention in a crowded room. It's served me well over the years.
"If we're gonna catch it, we need to corral it into a small space," I continue, enunciating clearly for those with their hands clapped over their ears. "If we all just move calmly in toward it, and keep walking it behind the front desk, someone should be able to grab it."
The looks on their faces aren't the optimism I was expecting.
"Uh… We have to touch it?" a man volunteers, meekly. I sigh. Honestly, these people. You'd think they would be used to these kinds of situations, but throw an alien into the mix and it's like they're all comatose.
"Fine," I say. "I'll be the one under the table. Got it?" A few scattered nods, typical terrified expressions in the face of danger. I love this job. Better than anything else I could have gotten.
I make my way over to the front desk, sidestepping over cracked glass and avoiding flying objects flung around by the Adipose. When I make it, in safety, I hop and slide over the top and land in the swivel chair.
"Everyone toward me!" I shout, and slide under the desk. Best if the thing doesn't see me. I'm not sure how well it can sense human activity, but in the off chance it's really intelligent, this is our best bet.
I hear lots of movement from the other side. Someone else seems to have taken the position of leadership, and I can hear footsteps forming a line of sorts. Then they're approaching toward me, and all seems good, but they suddenly stop.
I wait. Did someone get hurt? Kind of hard to do when you're up against a marshmallow, but I guess it's possible.
I count to twenty and hear nothing. Slowly, surely, I lift my head over the table and peer out. A ragtag group of UNIT employees, staring at me in silence, eyes wide. I raise an eyebrow. Nothing.
It doesn't take long to realize there's a missing element here: the Adipose. Not in the Atrium anymore? But no, I can still hear little squeaking noises, coming from somewhere above… Slowly, I look toward the ceiling.
Only to see the Adipose, posed precariously on the edge of a huge filing cabinet. I say precariously because the filing cabinet is leaning- no, tilting- no, falling.
Before I can wonder what the Gallifrey is going on here, it's crashing down toward me. I open my mouth to scream, but everything goes black.
Hertfordshire, England
I absolutely despised taking hot baths as a child. I always felt like I was being boiled, like the lobsters in the pot when we took that family vacation to Maine, after mum won the raffle contest and we got plane tickets. We could see them preparing our food, and the cook picked up a live lobster, and dropped it in a boiling pot. And it died. I was pretty disgusted, as a seven year old. I always wondered what the lobster's last thoughts were.
Get me out of here.
"Now, Rose, we're going to play a little game, while you're still in the hot tub."
Please, no, I think. No more of these ridiculous games. Grace smiles at me encouragingly. I attempt a grin back, but I think it comes out more like a grimace of pain.
"Darling, I'm going to point out people walking along, and we're going to pretend they've all been convicted of a crime. And you have to guess what the crime is!"
I'm about to commit a crime myself. Murder, that is.
This is only my second day staying at The Grove, and already I'm reminiscing about the hospital. At least I got to catch up on my shows.
After the incident at UNIT, I had a severe concussion, and I stayed in the hospital for five days. Meanwhile, my superiors, apparently aghast at the dangerous work conditions I'd been in, booked me a week-long "therapeutic" session at this luxury spa and resort. I tried to argue with them, but they insisted, all in good faith, of course.
Now I've been subjected to hot stone massages, yoga lessons, and of course, my personal trainer, Grace, who seems to delight in the most mind-numbing activities possible.
"Try him, over there Rose, the one with the blue tie and the boat shoes."
"He's a murderer. Wiped out an entire race of civilized people," I drawl. "Used a weapon of mass destruction and killed his entire family line-"
"Goodness, dear! That's a bit morbid!"
"Rose?" The Doctor asks, coming up to us. "Are you all right? You look a bit droopy." I stare back up at him with my most tortured expression.
"I'm having the time of my life."
Grace giggles and pats me on the back. "That's the spirit, darling."
Please, kill me, I mouth at The Doctor.
"Ah, Grace, isn't it? Could I have some time with my wife?" he says to my captor with those puppy dog eyes he pulls off so well.
"Well, she's supposed to have another thirty minutes with me…" answers Grace, uncertainly.
"I'll be sure to play the convict game for the entire dinner tonight, Grace," I say, mustering up as much fake enthusiasm as I can.
"Well alright, then. You two enjoy yourselves." She trots off, platinum blonde bun wobbling as she goes.
"Thank God you're here," I moan, turning to look at The Doctor. "I'm absolutely miserable."
"I know," he responds, fidgeting a bit. "That's why I, ah… brought you a present."
"Oh, really?" I say, shifting toward him. "How sweet of you." He looks visibly uncomfortable. "It's not a body part, is it? You look like you've just had your-"
"Rose, promise not to get angry," he says, cutting me off. What?
"Why would I be angry at you?"
"Well, I didn't really know whether you would want them or not. But ever since Arizona, I've been thinking about what you said. About other planets and what not." I turn to face him completely. He's definitely got my interest now.
"Go on."
"I'm not a real artist, Rose. But here you go." He holds a package out in his hand. It's cream colored, thin, and wrapped in a red ribbon. As I take it from him, water bubbles up around my arm, and I hold the gift carefully on the side of the tub.
When I undo the ribbon, the wrapping slides off to reveal- oh. Oh, Doctor.
They're pictures, watercolors. Obviously drawn by him, I can see his style. They're absolutely stunning.
The first one, well that's Satellite 5. I can tell from white, circular room with light emanating from every corner. Oh, Captain Jack. My heart aches for him, but in a good way.
Underneath it… Cardiff. My Cardiff. There's my old apartment, the one I shared with mum, and there's the TARDIS, blinking on the sidewalk. I can't help it, tears well up in my eyes.
"Rose, are you alright?" The Doctor asks, sounding concerned.
"I'm fine, I'm better than fine. Doctor, these are… so beautiful. Thank you so, so much."
New Earth, The Impossible Planet, the 2012 Olympic Games. Our memories. The places we visited. When we were young and so, so happy.
I smile up at him. We are still so, so happy.
