Chapter 4

There was a gentle rattle of milk bottles from the milk float, as it hummed its way around the corner from Talbot Road, into Northumberland Place. It was a quarter to seven, on a chilly, Spring morning, and the dawn chorus was in full swing in the leafy, tree lined street.

The float came to a halt a few yards down the road, and the milkman jumped down and went to the back of the float to take the bottles out of the crate and put them into the six bottle carrier. He didn't notice the strange wheezing and grinding noise, as he checked for traffic, and crossed over the road to deliver the weekly order to the Smiths.

'Mornin' Jim,' a woman's voice said from the intercom speaker, as he climbed the steps to the front door.

'Mornin' Donna. Just the usual is it this week?' He said as he put the full bottles on the top step, and put the empty ones into the carrier.

'Yeah, that's lovely thanks.'

He turned around and headed back to his float. He didn't notice the small boy in a blue sweatshirt, grey flannel trousers, with a mop of unruly hair, run up the steps to the front door.

'Eyulf. What are you doin' out here?' Donna-The-House asked.

'Can't say Donna, it might cause all sorts of trouble. In fact, I might have already.'

'Are you all right? I'm detectin' elevated stress intonation in your voice . . . Hang on; my sensor log is tellin' me you're asleep in your bed.'

'Sorry Donna,' he blurted out as he ran through the front door. 'I've got to see Mum and Dad before it's too late.' He could feel their warm, loving presence in his mind again, and it felt wonderful.

On the first floor, his parents didn't hear the alarm clock, as they were in the steam filled shower cubicle in the en suite bathroom. Their grunts of pleasure, groans of satisfaction, and the squeaking of a bare bottom on the glass cubicle drowned out the alarm.

'Mmmmmm. I'd better get dried off and get my uniform on. Alice will be along soon to give me a lift in,' Rose said, as she gave her husband a passionate kiss.

'Yeah,' John squeaked as she uncoupled her strong, shapely legs from around his hips. 'And I'll have to get the kids ready for school.'

Rose wiped her hair back over her head, and looked into her husband's eyes. 'Are you all right Love? You seem a bit distracted.'

'Eh? Oh yeah. I just had a feeling of Deja vu, y'know, like I've done this before.'

Rose gave him her tongue between the teeth smile, as she rubbed her wet body up against him. 'But we have, lots of times,' she purred.

He laughed and kissed her on the lips. 'I know, but when a part Time Lord has Deja vu, it usually means that something is messing with the time lines.'

'How so?' she asked, as he turned off the taps and opened the cubicle.

He hesitated as he thought about an example that held painful memories for his wife. 'Remember in the old universe, when I took you back to see your father.'

'Oh yeah,' she said quietly, remembering that terrible day as she wrapped a towel around her.

'Well, when we went back for the second try, the original me could feel us standing behind us . . . if you know what I mean.'

She smiled and stroked his cheek. 'Yeah, I know what ya mean. So what do you think it is then?'

He shrugged his shoulders as he finished securing the towel around his waist. 'Won't know that until it comes and slaps me in the face.'

He rubbed his cheek and remembered a previous slap in a previous life. 'Must try and come up with a different phrase for that.'

Rose laughed, and then looked at the bathroom door, as she heard someone rush into the bedroom on the other side. 'Who's there?'

'Mum?'

'Eyulf, what's the matter?' She could feel his distress, and the relief of hearing her voice. Had he been woken up by a nightmare? As she stepped into the bedroom, he hugged her tightly around her waist, almost pulling the towel off her.

'You're back,' he cried. 'You're back.'

John came out of the en suite and knelt down to be on the same level as his distraught son.

'Dad! You're back too,' he cried, hugging him around the neck.

'Hey, hey. I'm all wet,' John said, as he gently patted his back.

'I don't care. You're back,' he said again.

John could sense that this was the source of his Deja vu. 'Okay Son, calm down and tell me what's happened.'

'I've come back from the future to tell you not to go to work today.' He saw his parent's worried frowns. 'I'm sorry if I've broken the rules or somethin', but we lost you, and we couldn't feel you, and somethin' bad happened at the tower, and everybody was crying . . . and please don't go to work, you can't . . . you just can't.'

'What happened at Torchwood?' Rose asked in Field Agent mode, trying to ascertain the threat and formulate a response.

'Rose,' John said, giving her a warning look. Knowledge of future events could change your actions, cause you to make decisions that would cause a paradox. Hell, that might already have happened with his son coming back to warn them.

John held his son's shoulders and looked deep into his eyes. 'I promise son, we won't go into work today.' He looked up at Rose. 'Can you call Andy and ask him to do the Watch briefing, oh and call Alice so that she doesn't come to pick you up.'

'Yeah,' she nodded, and went over to the bedside table to reach her mobile.

'How did you get back here? Did anyone help you?' he asked his son, worried that he may not be able to get back on his own.

'I came on my own . . . except for the TARDIS of course, she helped me to get it right.'

'Okay son, let me throw some clothes on, and I'll walk you back to the TARDIS,' he said, rubbing himself with a towel and taking his clothes through to the bathroom.

Rose came over and knelt down so that they could hug, her wet strands of hair brushing the side of his face and neck. 'Thanks Sweetheart. I love you.' She wiped his wet cheek, and wiped a tear off her own cheek. 'Go on then, off you go. Rickey will be waking you up soon, and you don't want to bump into yourself.'

'Yeah,' he said, hugging her again around the neck. 'I love you Mum.'

John appeared from the bathroom a short while later, wearing blue jeans, white converse, and a black sweatshirt. He held his hand out for his son, and they quickly left the bedroom before anyone woke up.

Ten minutes later, John returned to the house, and found Rose in the kitchen wearing her faded blue jeans, white trainers and a baggy, grey T-shirt that hung off one shoulder. She was scrutinising her laptop, whilst Eyulf and Juleshka were sitting at the breakfast bar with her eating their bowls of cereal.

'What the HELL was all that about?' Rose asked as she looked up from the screen.

John walked towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist. 'That my love,' he started as he kissed her lips. 'Was our brilliant son. . .' He nibbled her ear. 'With the help of our brilliant TARDIS. . .' He kissed her neck. 'Saving our lives.'

'Will he be all right on his own?' She was worried about a six year old having to go through that ordeal.

'He'll be fine. If we stay at home, the events that he's experienced won't happen, and he won't ever have come back here,' John tried to explain.

'But shouldn't we warn someone, y'know, get them to evacuate Torchwood.'

'And tell them what? That something, but we don't know what, is going to happen, but we don't know when. Don't forget, crossing into established events is risky.'

She remembered the time when she had tried to save her father in the old universe, and it had not gone well. 'But EJ said somethin' bad happened at the tower, our friends will be there.'

'Okay, when you phone Andy, tell him we're following up on some new intelligence and that he should put the Watch onto amber alert. I'll phone Security and suggest they test their procedures today.'

'Oh that's brilliant, thank you.'

'There's no guarantee though that our phone calls don't initiate a chain of events that lead to the bad thing happening,' he told her.

'Oh don't. Yer doin' me head in.'

'I was only saying,' he said with a laugh as he left the kitchen. 'I'll go and get Jason.'

When he returned to the kitchen carrying Jason, he saw that Rose was still studying the Torchwood bulletin boards.

'Whatever you're looking for,' John said, not wanting to worry the children that something might be wrong. 'Won't potentially happen until after 10 o'clock.' That would have been the time when he would have arrived at work.

'Oh yeah,' Rose said sheepishly. 'Sorry.'

He smiled at her, and turned to Donna-The-Robot. 'A bowl of warm Ready Brek for this one please Donna.' He dipped Jason down to receive a kiss from Rose, before sitting him in his high chair at the end of the counter.

'So, are you two workin' from home today then?' Donna-The-Robot asked them, as she put the bowl of cereal on the high chair tray.

'Yeah, slight change of plan today,' Rose said, as she spooned the warm porridge into her son's mouth.

'Rose will monitor the Torchwood bulletin boards on her tablet, and I can work on a funding project in my workshop,' John told her.

Gwen O'Toole was on the Despatch Desk, collating data, and coordinating agents in the field. David Rea, one of the camera directors for the television production company, was filming her for the fly-on-the wall documentary called "Torchwood".

She was showing Craig Owens how to operate the high tech multimedia control desk, although it was like trying to teach her grandmother to suck eggs due to his background in a call centre. The viewing public had taken the new recruits to their hearts during their basic training, and were getting a lot of attention from the camera directors.

The other recruit, Amy Pond was being put through her paces on the Communications desk in the Despatch Office by Chrissie Anderson, and seemed to be doing quite well.

The Watch were on amber alert after Captain McNab received a phone call from John Smith. There were no details, just that he had received intelligence that there was a potential threat. Torchwood security had also been testing their procedures, and everyone seemed to be on edge.

'Right. I think these two need a break,' Julia said to Chrissie. 'Their brains must be scrambled with all this new stuff they're learning.'

Chrissie gave her a lopsided smile. 'What you mean is you could do with a cuppa.'

'Could I? That's very good of you Chief, mine's milk one sugar please,' Gwen said with a cheeky grin'

'Brilliant,' David said as he shrugged the camera off his shoulder. 'The viewers love this banter.'

Chrissie laughed and called out to the Standby Room. 'Pete, Danny. Would you relieve in Despatch while our trainees have some reflection time please?'

'No problem.'

'Be right with you.'

The new recruits went through to the kitchen area and poured themselves a cup of tea, before having a seat on one of the comfy sofas.

Members of the Watch started chatting to the new recruits in an attempt to get to know them and make them feel welcome. They had all been rookies themselves once, and remembered how a kind word and a bit of conversation had made them feel at home.

Andy McNab was in the glass fronted Supervisor's Office, which looked out over the Standby Room. He could see the multimedia status screens and the virtual wall to the New York Standby Room, which was empty at the moment. It would be around five A.M over there and he reckoned they were having a busy shift.

He smiled to himself as he saw his agents sitting with the rookies and chatting to them, trying to make them feel part of the team on their first proper day in the unit. Special Operations Field Agent had to be one of the most challenging jobs in Torchwood, different to a special forces soldier, but just as involved and varied.

Danny Walton had received a request for specialist support on the Communications Desk from Civil Aviation Authority, and fed that through to the status board. The multimedia screen "bonged" to alert the Standby Room that a "shout" had come in. Andy rose from his desk and checked the details on his tablet as he walked to the door.

'Two pilots at Stansted spooked by an unidentified craft that nearly collided with their airship on a flight from Dusseldorf. Who wants that one?' he called through the doorway.

Jake looked at Julia and she nodded. 'We'll take that one Boss,' he said as he finished his tea.

'Okay. Standard interview, descriptions and drawings. Radar logs and then back here to check satellite feeds.'

'No problem. See you later,' said Julia. She stood and finished her tea as well, taking the mugs and putting them in the sink of the kitchen area. Will Hustler picked up his camera gear and made ready to leave with them.

As they left Special Operations, Alice DiMaggio entered, looking for the shift supervisor.

'How was the interview?' Andy asked her as she approached.

'Interesting. The family doctor was right to call us. Adam Knight is an alien, but he doesn't know it.'

'Or he does know it and he's some kind of sleeper agent,' Andy suggested, thinking like a special forces soldier.

'I don't think so. I didn't get that impression from his adoptive mother. Adam's birth mother was very particular about who adopted her son. There was something about how she described Adam's birth mother.'

'And how was that?'

'I can't put my finger on it, but it's as though he was hidden here on Earth. I think we need to access the adoption records and see what we can find.'

Andy nodded and looked over at the sofas. 'Angel. Alice has some details here. She needs you and Andre to take a trip to the National Archives at Kew and check the adoption records. Stop off on the twelfth floor on the way out and get Legal to raise the paperwork.'

'Of course Captain.' Alice handed Angel a tablet PC with all the information on that she would need.

Andy frowned. 'Where is Andre anyway?'

'His scanner had an intermittent fault so he went to the equipment store to exchange it. Chris Greenwood went with him to film the procedure.'

'Okay, let Chris shadow you on this one.'

Angel smiled and nodded. 'I will see you later.'

It was late morning when John came up the stairs from his basement workshop. He found Rose in the living room, playing with Jason, and watching SKY NEWS. Her tablet was next to her on the sofa showing the Torchwood status.

'Anything happening?' he asked her, as he leaned over the back of the sofa and kissed her neck.

'No, it's all pretty ordinary so far. I wonder when it actually happened, whatever IT was?' she said.

'Well, I got the impression from my time sense when EJ was telling us about it, that it was mid morning . . . ish,' John said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

'So it looks like our genius son did it then,' she smiled.

'Yep. So how does lunch at the mansion sound?'

'Eh?' She wasn't expecting that.

'When I phoned Jackie to tell her we were working from home, she invited us over for lunch. I think she was looking forward to having Jason for the day, and you'll be able to coo over Lillie.'

'Oh yeah. That'll be nice.'

Rose grabbed the baby bag, John picked up Jason, and they made their way out of the front door.

'See ya later Donna,' Rose called out, as the door closed and they went down the steps to the paved area where the DeLorian was parked.

At the mansion, the two women swapped their bundles, as Jackie cuddled Jason, and Rose cuddled Lillie. The cook had prepared a beautiful lunch, where Jackie and Rose talked about the children, whilst John and Pete talked about Torchwood and the Tyler Foundation.

As everyone was making their way back to the sitting room, Jackie spotted something that Tony had left for John on the hall table. 'Oh John, I nearly forgot, would you be a love and have a look at a pair of goggles for Tony?' She picked them up and followed everyone into the room, handing a pair of futuristic, reflective Ray ban glasses to John.

'Ooh, these are high tech. Where did he get these from?' he asked.

'It was that asteroid market you took us to last week.'

'Oh, Tiaanamat,' Rose said, 'That was a brilliant day out.'

'Yeah, it was,' Jackie agreed. 'The little alien guy said they were vision enhancing, but he'd need someone to look at 'em to get 'em to work.'

John reached out his sonic screwdriver, and fiddled with the setting. 'Well, I've not seen anything like these before, but I'll have a look. I should be able to get them working.'

As the sonic whistled and warbled, he started talking to no one in particular. 'Never fails to amaze me y'know . . .'

'Eh, what does?' Rose asked, as she helped Jason with his bottle of juice.

'Nine hundred plus years, and I can still come across stuff I've never seen before. Ah, here we are, I think that's got it.' He put the glasses on and adjusted the controls on the side of the frames.

'What do they do?' Pete asked, as John looked around the room.

'Haven't a clue, but I'm sure I'll find out,' he said, as he adjusted a slider switch. As he looked at Rose and moved the slider back, her clothes started to fade, until she was sitting in her bra and knickers, with Jason just wearing a nappy.

'Ah, now I'm getting it.' He moved the slider back a fraction more, and his wife and son were naked. A mischievous grin spread across his face, which turned to a grimace as he looked at Jackie. He quickly returned his gaze back to his gorgeous wife. Yes, that was better.

'What can ya see?' she asked him with a smile.

'Everything,' he said absently, and then realised what he'd said. '. . . Is brighter and crisper. They must be for. . . artists.' He moved the slider a bit more, and Rose's skin disappeared. He was now looking at her musculature, and as he continued to move it back, he saw internal organs, blood vessels, and bones. He slid it forwards again, but not all the way, of course.

'Ah, I think they might be for a doctor or a medic. They're brilliant,' he said, still grinning at his naked wife.

'Let's have a look then,' Jackie said, holding out her hand for them.

'What? Oh, er, ah, hang on.' He adjusted the slider to muscle, and clicked it in place. 'There you are, have a look at that.'

Jackie put the glasses on and pulled a face. 'Oh my gawd. I can see yer insides.'

'Ooh, let's see,' Rose said, and put them on. 'Oh Mum, these are brilliant. Here Dad, have a look.'

Pete put them on, and the astonished look on his face made them laugh. 'Hah. Tony starts secondary school in September; these will be brilliant for his science subjects.'

As he looked at everyone in turn, blurry figures seemed to appear in the room. 'I think they need a bit of fine tuning,' is the last thing he said.