Disclaimer: the usual.
"There we go, safe and sound," The Doctor grinned as Donna pulled back.
"Never mind me, what about them?" Donna asked, pointing to the container.
From her angle, Rose couldn't see what was going on, but the panic that went through the guards, and the hum of electricity paired with a scream told her what ever it was, wasn't good.
"Red alert! Fire, shoot to kill!" The guy Rose beat the crap out of shouted, and as an Ood emerged she could see why.
Red eyes.
The guards that held her arms let go to deal with the Ood, and the second she was free she grabbed the Doctor and Donna, turned them around, and pushed them toward the door to get them running.
After getting a decent distance away they all stopped, turning and noting the woman who ran the presentation was right behind them panting.
"If people back on Earth knew what was going on here…." Donna growled while catching her breath, staring at the woman who looked terrified for the wrong reasons
"Oh don't be stupid, of course they know." She replied, and Rose could see it was likely only her business oriented thinking that prevented her from rolling her eyes at Donna.
"They know how you treat the Ood?" Donna challenged, and the woman's confidence seemed to waver.
"They don't ask," She replied, "Same thing."
"No it's not," Rose snapped. "People don't ask because you tell them what they want to hear. You said it yourself back at your pathetic presentation. You keep them safe, healthy. Didn't realize being wiped was good for ya. Have you had your daily dose? Would ya like me to crack a few on your back for you?" Rose challenged, watching the woman's eyes flicker between wanting to argue and genuine fear that Rose would do it. And she did see what that brute looked like when she was done with him.
"Rose, it's fine." The Doctor tried to calm her.
"No, it's not. Because if we had been paying attention the first time, non of this would've happened." She whirled around on him, and she saw the flicker of fear in his eyes for a split second.
"You're right, we should have been paying attention, and that's why we need to stop this now. And to do that, we need answers," He said, placing a hand on her shoulder, thumb against her neck, and calming her slightly before looking at the woman. "Solana, the Ood aren't born like this. They can't be. A species born to serve could never evolve in the first place, so what does the company do to make them obey?" He asked the woman, and she seemed to regain her composure as he spoke.
"That's nothing to do with me," She replied defensively, and when Rose whipped her head back toward her she startled.
"'Oh, what, 'cause you don't ask?" The Doctor retorted, and Rose smirked a bit at the frustration that he accidentally let slip through their skin contact.
"That's Doctor Ryder's territory," Solana said as if that explained everything.
"Where is he?" The Doctor asked. "What part of the complex." And when she still seemed hesitant he added. "I can help with the red eye." He said as he pulled his hand away from Rose to retrieve the map from his pocket. "Show me where."
"There," She pointed out quick enough. "Beyond the red section."
"Come with us," he offered. "You've seen the warehouse, you can't agree with all this. You know this place better than us, you could help." He implored.
Rose watched the indecision play on Solona's features for a short time. "They're over here." Solona called out.
It was reactive, the coil snapping in Rose's wound-too-tight body from all that she'd seen and her lack of proper release earlier. Her fist made contact with Solona's perfect nose, and Rose could feel the crack of it before the woman dropped. Her blood was staining the snow as she groaned, not out cold but in too much pain to keep shouting.
"Kinda wanted to do that myself." Donna said as they started to head to the Ood Conversion area.
"Did feel rather good," Rose admitted, getting a chuckle out of Donna as they maneuvered between buildings.
As they moved, avoiding guards as they made their way to where Solana the rat point on the map, Rose watched the Doctor's face contort every once in a while. Just as they approached another door he stopped, smiling a little. "Oh, can you hear it?" He asked, and she and Donna exchanged a look that he didn't notice. "I didn't need the map, I should've listened."
"We can't hear," Rose reminded him as he used the sonic to get them inside. "So what is it?"
He glanced at her as they stepped in, wincing a bit as he soniced the lock. "Oh, my head," He grumbled, trying to shake away whatever was making him hear things.
"What is it?" Donna asked, and he looked between the two of them.
"You really can't hear it? The singing?" He asked, and then he realization came over him. "It's in my head. But, wait, Rose, you should heart this, you're telepathic."
"We already know it's different than yours," She reminded him. "Can't feel you inside my head unless we're touching."
"Take off your gloves." He said, and with nod she did so. When her hands were exposed he reached out and took her fingers in hers, eliciting a gasp.
Tears came to Rose's eyes as the song played in her head, the sad, beautiful melody that came from the heart of one of the most loving, gentlest creatures in the Universe. She turned her head toward the song, holding tight to the Doctor's hand as he lead them to near the back where there was a small cage with six Ood huddled together in a circle, crouched low with their heads bowed.
"It's their song," The Doctor said, more likely for Donna's sake than Rose's for as they got closer the song grew louder.
"They look different to the others," Donna noted.
"That's because they're natural born Ood. Unprocessed, Unspoiled. Before they're adapted to Slavery." The Doctor explained as they got closer to the cage, all three kneeling down so they wouldn't tower over the Ood.
"I can't hear it." Donna said sadly.
"Do you want to?" He asked her.
"Yeah," Donna nodded slightly.
"It's the song of captivity," he cautioned her, and Donna glanced at the Ood.
"Let me hear it," She said.
The Doctor let go of Rose's hand, and the Ood song stopped. As he was giving Donna instructions so he could enter her mind, Rose turned to the Ood. One was looking at her, keeping his hands closed around something close to his body, seeming afraid. Rose held up both her hands, giving him her kindest smile, and then gently touched the back of his head. The song filled her mind so loudly she couldn't hear anything else, and in return she tried to send it apologies, warmth, kindness, anything she could think of that might help these creatures understand how sorry she was for what was being done to them, and how they were going to try to help.
She felt the Doctor's hand on her shoulder, and she slowly with drew her touch from the Ood's head.
She looked up, seeing the pride in his eyes and playing lightly on his lips as he motioned for her to step away. The Ood she had touched watched her as she got to her feet and the Doctor soniced the lock open.
"So you can still hear it?" Donna asked, her voice breaking. "You can still hear the song?"
"All the time," the Doctor replied.
"And you can't?" She asked Rose.
She shook her head. "Just a touch telepath, me. And only with other telepathic beings." She said as the Doctor opened the cage door.
As soon as it was open, a banging started on the warehouse door, startling Donna and putting Rose on edge for a second.
"They're breaking in." Donna warned.
"Ah, let them," The Doctor said, stepping inside the cage.
Instantly the Ood tried to back away, the one Rose came in contact with shooting glances between her and the Doctor. She nodded slightly.
"What are you holding? Show me." The Doctor said to one gently. "Doctor, Rose, Donna, friends. Let me see." He gestured to all of them, miming as best he could.
Rose carefully stepped inside, kneeling next to the one she had contact with. He didn't look so scared of her, but she still showed him her hands before she gently touched him. She tried to convey what the Doctor was asking through their contact, simply showing the Ood it's own hands with curiosity.
He looked to the Doctor, then scooted forward, opening his palms and showing the Doctor the tiny organ.
"What is it?" Rose asked.
"It's a brain," The Doctor replied, and she gently removed her hand from the Ood before she allowed herself to feel the maelstrom of emotions that caused. "A hind brain, the Ood are born with a secondary brain. Like the amygdala in humans, it processes memory and emotions. You get rid of that, you wouldn't be you anymore. You'd be like an Ood, a processed Ood." He explained, and Rose swallowed back the sob as she looked to Donna.
She looked as though she was feeling everything Rose was, and unable to pull her eyes away from the Ood. "So the company cuts off their brains." She said slowly, a bit of the anger coming out in her voice.
"And they stitch on the translator." The Doctor nodded, the storm in his eyes raging as he gritted his teeth with each word.
"Like a lobotomy." Donna compared the two. "I spent all that time look for you, Doctor, because I thought it would be so wonderful out here."
"I'm sorry," Rose said. To Donna, to the Ood she seemed to have bonded with, to the ones she feared and didn't understand all that time ago.
Behind them, the door to the warehouse burst open, and a small army of guards rushed in with guns drawn.
Rose stepped in front of the Doctor and Donna, making sure the Ood were placed behind them as well as the guard relayed their location to someone on the communicator.
The Doctor reached around her pulling the cage door shut and pressing up against Rose and the bars.
"What are you gonna do, then? Arrest us? Lock us up? Throw us in a cage? Well you're too late." He said, sounding half mad. Every brush of his skin against Rose's sent a prickle of fire and rage through her, fueling her own and yet somehow making her less feral.
"We're taking you in," One of the guards said. "All three of you."
"Let them," the Doctor said just as the fight was starting to kick up in Rose. "I wanna see what they possibly think they can do to stop us."
~DWDWDW~
They were handcuffed to pipes. Of all the things that could have been done to them, handcuffed to pipes didn't seem so bad. Tight, would probably break her wrist in the process, but Rose wagered she could probably muster enough strength to break the pipes, or maybe the cuff chain, once they were inevitably left alone of lightly guarded.
"Why don't you just come out and say it," A severely balding man Rose thought she remembered seeing around the compound earlier said to them as he tried to look intimidating. "FOTO activists."
"If that's what Friends of the Ood are trying to prove, then yes." The Doctor replied, his rage ebbed only enough that he didn't look wild in front of the boss man.
"The Ood were nothing without us, just animals roaming around on the ice." He countered.
"And what do you think we look like to higher species?" Rose countered. "Primitive, stupid apes knuckling around. Put yourself in the Ood's place a moment and think what it must be like to have someone who thinks your better than them coming in and enslavin' em."
"They welcomed it!" The boss man retorted, making all three of them scoff. "It's not as if they put up a fight."
"You idiot!" Donna snapped. "They're born with their brains in their hands. Don't you see? That makes them peaceful. They've got to be, 'cause a creature like that would have to trust anyone it meets."
"Nice one," The Doctor complimented her, and Rose smiled, nodding in agreement.
"Thank you," Donna replied, a touch of pride in her voice though a lot of the anger at this pompous ass in front of them was still in her voice.
"The system's worked for two hundred years, all we've got is a rogue batch."
"You think it works, but it doesn't." The Doctor replied. "You can't hear them, can't hear how scared they are, how much they're suffering."
"It's an infection," The balding man insisted. "And it's about to be sterilized." He got on the communicator, and the voice of the bloke Rose took on in the claw control room came through.
"Canisters primed, sir. As soon as the core heats up, the gas is released. Give it 200 marks, and counting." The bloke's voice came through.
"You're gonna gas them?" The Doctor asked, struggling against his cuffs as if he meant to charge the man in front of them.
"Kill the livestock," He shrugged. "The classic foot-and-mouth solution from the olden days. Still works."
"Except they aren't live stock they're intelligent creatures." Rose shouted at him, and the man laughed.
"You FOTO activists and your silly, silly notions." He said with a condescending grin. Before Rose or any of them could say another word, an alarm blared throughout the complex. If nothing else, it served to wipe the grin off balding-man's face. "What the hell," He said, gesturing for his entourage to follow, leaving two armed guards to watch them. Rose noticed a small man in a white lab coat glance back at her a moment, a sympathetic grin tugging at his lips, and she realized he was the same man who got her into the other warehouse.
None of them moved with the barrels of both guns trained on them, except for the Doctor leaning in to try and press his head to Rose's.
"Calm," His mental voice was barely a whisper with so little skin contact. "I know you want to put up a fight but that's probably the worst thing you could do."
Rose turned her head and glared at him. "Like I didn't already know that." She said quietly, and she sensed Donna turning to look at them.
"Sorry," The Doctor said, and Rose nodded.
"Emergency status. Emergency status. All exits are sealed." A computerized voice came over the speakers, drawing their attention as they looked around the room. The guards didn't seem bothered by this except for the flicker of fear in their eyes.
The boss walked back in, a smug but stressed grin on his face as he came up to them.
"What's happening?" The Doctor asked.
"Everything you wanted, Doctor. No doubt there'll be a full police investigation once this place has been sterilized, so I can't risk a bullet to the head. I'll leave you to the mercies of the Ood." He said in a disturbingly cheerful manner.
"There's something else, isn't there? Something we haven't seen." The Doctor asked, stopping the boss and his entourage. The man in the white coat looked at Rose fleetingly before averting his gaze to the floor.
"Whaddya mean?" Donna asked, looking between the boss and the Doctor.
"A creature couldn't survive with a separate fore brain and hind brain, they'd be at war with themselves. There's got to be something else, a third element." He looked at the boss, holding the man's eye, and Rose thought she saw the start of the storm beginning to rage. "Am I right?" The Doctor challenged.
"And again, so clever." The Boss mocked.
"But it's got to be connected to the red-eye, what is it?" The Doctor asked.
The boss's false, cheerful demeanor left entirely. "'It' won't exist for very much longer." He put on that fake smile again, looked over each of them, and simply said, "Enjoy your Ood."
He left, his entourage and the two armed guards that had stayed behind before following him out the door.
"Don't hurt yourself," The Doctor half snapped as Rose instantly put her foot against the piped and pushed.
"Bloody likely I will," She countered, feeling the cuffs cut into her wrists but no give from either the pipes or the cuff chain.
"You broke your wrist a couple months ago, even with your healing capabilities it would still be fragile." He cautioned as she strained to break something other than herself again.
She fell back against the pipes, panting. "Probably a good thing I can't snap'em anyway." Rose rolled her head to look at him, and she could see the panic there.
He was stronger than her, even with her modifications, and as he pulled and strained as much as she had without anymore luck than she had, panic sat in her heart.
"You're the one with all the tricks, do something!" Donna's panic came without filter. "You must've met Houdini."
"There are really good handcuffs." The Doctor said as he struggled just a little bit more.
"Oh, well, I'm glad of that." Donna said as she tried to shake free. "I mean, at least we've got quality."
Rose snorted, trying to at least laugh at their situation when the doors slid open. "Doubt that's FOTO coming to the rescue." She said, and the Ood rounded the corner with their eyes blazing red. The walked toward them, their communicator balls extended toward them in a menacing way. "I'm gonna guess that's how they took down the guards before." She added, panic in her voice that hadn't been there in a very long time.
No hands to defend or communicated with, not enough leverage to use her feet effectively, and her Doctor and Donna just as defenseless. All Rose could do was extend herself to stand as much in front of them as she could.
"Doctor, Rose, Donna friends!" The Doctor shouted behind her.
"The Circle must be broken." Donna shouted in turn.
"Friends of the Ood." Rose shouted in turn.
The three of them repeated themselves, their words coming louder and more urgent the closer the Ood got to them. Rose could feel the static of the communicator ball on her forehead, she remaining still as the Doctor and Donna craned their head as far away as they could manage while the Doctor yelled, "Friends, friends, friends!"
The Ood stopped, bowed their heads, and looked back up. The red was gone from their eyes. "Doctor, Rose, Donna, friends." The one closest to Rose said in that overly friendly Ood voice that she had come to know.
"Yes!" They all cried out together, "yes, friends."
The Ood came around, unlocking the cuffs somehow. Maybe they had a key, Rose wasn't sure, but she didn't care. The second her arms were free she wrapped her arms around the nearest Ood's neck, making sure to touch the back of it's leather head and send it all the gratitude and care she could through the contact. She smiled at him when she pulled back, and she could see in his eyes that it was felt.
"Come on," the Doctor said, gently pulling on her arm. "We have to find the third part before any damage can be done.
"Mister Haplen will be in Warehouse 15." The Ood Rose hugged told them.
The Doctor stepped over to him, putting his hand on the Ood's shoulder. "Thank you," he said, and the Ood bowed their head in a collective nod before the trio took off.
There was only one, small problem with the Ood's advice: It was impossible to look for a number on a warehouse when the grounds had essentially become a battlefield. While neither the guards or the Ood bothered with them, but bullets fired through the air wouldn't know to avoid them. Rose was on edge, the panic and chaos making her heart hammer as she couldn't do anything to properly protect either of the people she was with.
As they turned a corner, something went off, some kind of explosion, and the three of them were thrown to the ground. Rose's knee caught something, a rock perhaps, and while she knew the pain was bad she didn't feel anything else wrong with it.
"Doctor? Donna?" Rose asked, her panic slipping through as she looked at each of them in turn from her place on the snow.
The Doctor was already helping Donna to her feet, and she was nodded. "We're alright." He said, dashing over to help pull Rose up. He looked down a her knee. "You able to walk?" He asked.
Rose looked down, seeing the knee in her jeans had been ripped and there was a bit of blood on her skin. Must have been a sharp rock.
"I'll hobble for a few minutes, but I'll be fine."
"Oi, you two." Donna said, and the couple looked to where Donna was.
A loan Ood was slowly advancing toward them, his eyes yellow.
"Doctor, Donna, Rose. I am Ood Sigma. Please, allow me to escort you to your destination." It said in the ever polite manner, turning and starting to head off in the direction it came from. The three only exchanged a quick glance before they all seemed to agree to let the Ood be their guide.
Rose leaned on the Doctor for the first couple minutes, her knee feeling strong enough to support her weight again after a bit, and by the time they got to the warehouse door she was standing independently again.
The Doctor soniced the lock, and the door swung open. Sigma caught it, waving the others in first before following close behind.
It wasn't a very big building, and once inside they found themselves in an open space, on a walkway, hovering over what Rose believed had to be a giant brain.
"The Ood brain," The Doctor confirmed. "Now it all makes sense. That's the missing link," He pointed. "The third element binding them together. Fore brain, hind brain, and this, the telepathic center. It's a shared mind, connecting all the Ood in song."
"And their hindering it," Rose said, noting the posts emitting a visible electrical pulse around it.
"And once I've destroyed it I can always go into Cargo." The boss, Haplen, said coming out of the shadows with a gun drawn, aimed at them. As Rose slowly stepped around to put herself between the gun and the Doctor, Donna behind him, she noted the FOTO man in the white lab coat coming in with him. "I've got the rockets, I've got the sheds. Smaller business, much more manageable without livestock." Haplen continued.
"He's mined the area," Man in the lab coat warned them, and Rose glanced down to see something stuck to the outer edges, though she couldn't see what.
"Those pylons?" The Doctor asked.
"In a circle," Donna said. "The circle must be broken."
"Those pylons have been giving off an electric pulse for over two hundred years," Haplen said with arrogant pride.
"Dampening the telepathic field, preventing the Ood from connecting. You knew they were smarter than they seemed, you just didn't care." The Doctor yelled, and Rose didn't need to see him to know he had a dangerous glint in his eye that Haplen should have been scared of.
He merely smiled. "Indeed. And you, Ood Sigma, you brought them here. I expected better." He said, looking around them to where Sigma was likely standing at the back.
"My place is at your side," Sigma replied, and Rose noted the bit of sarcasm in the tone. Odd for an Ood.
Haplen laughed. "Still subservient. Good Ood." He mocked.
Rose snickered.
"If that barrier is still in place, how come the Ood started breaking out?" Donna asked, and Haplen seemed to consider this.
"Maybe it's taken centuries to adapt." The Doctor reasoned. "The subconscious reaching out."
"But the process was too slow," FOTO man said, stepping forward and moving to stand between Rose and Haplen. "I lowered the barrier to its minimum. Friends of the Ood, sir. It's taken me ten years to infiltrate the company, and I succeeded." He sounded proud, strong, like he was fully aware that Haplen was likely going to shoot him now.
"Yes," Haplen said, "Yes you did." And without hesitation he reached out, grabbed the FOTO doctor, and threw him over the railing into the giant brain below.
"You, you murdered him." Donna said incredulously, and Rose's heart began to pound.
A bullet she could take, live long enough to wrestle the gun from Haplen, and revive in time to help the Doctor stop the brain from being destroyed. But Rose hadn't exactly been swallowed by something, and wasn't so sure she could come back from that. She doubted a brain could spit something back out.
"Very observant, Ginger," Haplen said as he cocked the gun. "No then, can't say I've ever shot anyone before. Can't say I'm gonna like it. But it's not exactly a normal day, is it?" He said.
Rose shifted a bit, hoping to better block the Doctor. "Heard it was better to get all done and over with, empty the chamber as quick as possible." She said, hoping to sound more confident than she felt as she eyed the gun nervously. It always hurt, always. And while she wasn't looking forward to feeling that pain six or more times over, it was better than one hitting the Doctor and forcing him to regenerate. Or worse.
"Is it? Could always find out." He said.
"Would you like a drink, sir." Sigma said, suddenly standing between her and Haplen.
"I think hair loss is the least of my problems right now, thanks," Haplen snapped.
"Please have a drink, sir." Sigma insisted, holding out a shot glass of clear liquid.
"If you're going to stand in their way, I'll have to shoot you too." Haplen warned, and Rose felt the Doctor grab the back of her jacket before she could move to protect Sigma as well. She then felt his cool fingers on her neck.
"Wait." He said in her mind. "Something's going on here."
"Please have a drink, sir." Sigma offered again, and this time there was a challenge in his tone. A threat.
"Have … have you poisoned me?" Haplen said, his cold, calculating smile vanishing slowly.
"Natural Ood must never kill, Sir." Sigma taunted.
"What is that stuff?" The Doctor asked, stepping around Rose to stand beside Sigma.
"Ood-graft suspended in a biological compound, sir." Sigma replied honestly, and if he had a mouth with lips, Rose would imagine he'd be smirking.
"What the hell does that mean?" Haplen asked, his fear and anger mixing as he slowly lowered the gun.
"Oh dear," The Doctor grinned faintly. "That's …."
"Tell me!" Haplen demanded, his mouth foaming a little.
"Funny thing, the subconscious. Takes all sorts of shapes. Came out in the red-eye as revenger, the rabid Ood as anger. And then there was patience. All that intelligence and mercy focused on Ood Sigma." And then the smile fleshed out on the Doctor's face just a touch more. "How's the hair loss, Mister Haplen?"
"Oh," Rose said, her mind putting it all together.
She watched Haplen reach up, touch his hair, chunks of it coming off his head.
"What have you done?" He asked Sigma.
"Can you hear that?" Rose asked him. "That song in your head?" She couldn't hear it, didn't know if it had changed from a sad lament to a victorious chant, but she understood that Haplen likely could.
"Standing next to the Ood brain, no doubt he can." The Doctor replied for him.
The gun clattered to the floor, and even though Haplen was too busy grabbing at his head to worry about it, habit made Rose reach for the weapon and remove the clip. She tossed the weapon aside, stuffing the clip in her pockets to make sure they were out of reach should Haplen change his mind.
Though by the looks of things, that wasn't going to happen. Rose's stomach flipped and flopped as she turned in time to see Haplen practically vomit tentacles, his head much more Ood-like than when she looked before. His eyes changed before her, and she understood Haplen was no more.
"They turned him into an Ood." Donna said, and Rose glanced behind her to see she looked as sickened by it as Rose was.
"Yep," The Doctor replied.
"He's an Ood," Donna repeated.
"I noticed." The Doctor said as the Ood formally known as Haplen wound up for a sneeze. As it was released, a tiny hind brain flew from his mouth and landed in his hands.
"He has become Oodkind, and we will take care of him." Sigma reassured, and oddly enough Rose believed him. Haplen would come to no harm, because he was Haplen no more.
"It's weird, being with you two. I can't tell what's right or wrong any more." Donna admitted as Rose went to the railing, leaning over and and deactivating the explosives before they could come close to activating.
"Better that way. People who know for certain tend to be like Haplen. Anyway, Sigma," the Doctor said as Rose turned away from the railing and leaning with her back against it. "Would you allow me to do the honor of breaking the circle?" He asked the Ood.
The Ood nodded, "It is yours, Doctor." He replied, and the Doctor beamed.
"Oh yes!" He cried before darting to a control panel, his excited, manic movements bringing a smile to Rose's face. She turned to Donna, and while the Ginger looked worn she was smiling just as wide. "Stifled for two hundred years, but not anymore." The Doctor continued, flicking a switch and the electic pulse around the brain stopped. "The circle is broken, the Ood can sing!"
And at once, Rose could hear it. The beautiful, happy melody that soothed her soul in a way that only the Doctor's words could for so many years. The song ingrained itself in her, and she closed her eyes as Donna's laughter rang happily in the room, as melodious as the song itself.
"I can hear it!" She exclaimed, laughing more happily than before, the Doctor joining her.
And while she couldn't laugh, being as overcome with it all as she was, Rose smiled through the tears that ran down her face.
~DWDWDW~
They'd returned to the TARDIS with Sigma and a few other Ood having walked them there. On the way, Rose basked in the song, remained gloveless as a particular natural born Ood continued to hover near her, occasionally touching the fingers of her free hand. She only got appreciation and thanks from him, something warm as well that she couldn't put her finger on. Perhaps fondness? Through her contact with the Doctor from their entwined hands she could feel his pride, his joy in her, the overwhelming love and admiration he had of her. And of Donna as well. Every time he looked at her, Rose felt that same fondness she felt for the ginger reflected back.
As they stood outside the TARDIS doors, the three of them turned to face the Oods that came with them.
"You should be seeing Rockets coming in a few days," The Doctor said to Sigma. "The song would have resonated across the galaxies, everyone will have heard it. The Ood will be coming home soon."
"We thank you, Doctor Donna, friends of the Oodkind. And Rose, protector of innocent. What will you do now? Would you care to stay? There is room in the song for you." Sigma offered.
"We've sort of got a song of our own, thanks." The Doctor replied.
"Your song will change soon." Sigma replied thoughtfully.
The Doctor's hand tensed in Rose's. "Meaning?" he asked.
"One such as you can not sing the same song forever," Sigma replied.
"But not too soon, I hope." Rose said nervously.
Sigma turned to her, a smile in her eyes. "No."
"Well then, we'll be off." The Doctor said, getting his key out his pocket and inserting it into the lock.
"Please, take this song with you," Sigma said, and the song the Ood sang as they were released started up again.
"Believe me," Rose said, "it's with us."
"Always," The Doctor added, and Donna waved as he opened the door.
"And know this, Doctor Donna," Sigma said before they could move. "You will never be forgotten. Our children will sing of the Doctor Donna, and our children's children. And the wind and the ice and the snow will carry your names forever."
Donna glanced at Rose before stepping inside. The Doctor followed, letting go of Rose's hand and allowing her another moment on the snow planet. She held Sigma's eye a moment, glancing at the Ood she bonded with, and smiled. "Thank you," She said to them, and Sigma merely nodded.
She stepped inside the TARDIS, closing the door behind her as the Doctor put them in the Vortex. Her eyes fell on the hand, seeing it glowing a bit more furiously than it had before. "Rose?" The Doctor asked, and before she could get him to look, the glowing stopped. "You okay?" He asked.
"'M fine," She replied, looking up to see the confusion and worry in his face.
"I almost wanted to go home," Donna said thoughtfully, pulling the couple's attention to her. She was looking at the hand, or at least that was the general direction her eyes were focused on as she spoke. "I was so close to wanting to give it up. All that pain, the suffering the Ood were going through. Seeing what kind of monsters we become, it made me want to go back to not knowing. But now, the difference you can make, the … the, oh god the feeling of joy the Ood had at being saved. How could I ever give that up? How could I ever want to stop traveling with you if that's the good we do?"
Rose smiled, looking to the Doctor, watching him grin as he reached into his pocket. "Well, if you're sure you want to stay." He said, slowly moving around the console to Donna. He glanced at Rose, giving her a wink before he pulled out a simple chain with a TARDIS key on it. "Suppose you should have one of these."
"Are you serious?" Donna asked, her jaw dropping as she looked wide-eyed between the two as she took the key from the Doctor. "Oh you're joking! Wait, does this mean I can learn how to fly this?" She gestured around the console with the key.
The TARDIS hummed with approval. "If you want," the Doctor said, and Donna jumped up and down, waving her arms before she hugged him first, than Rose.
"Honestly, finding you two again. It's dangerous, and crazy, and morals are all over the place, but I wouldn't trade it for anything." She said, a gauntlet of emotions in her eyes.
"Well, we've done danger for a couple days. I know a nice, quiet planet where we can rest for a bit if you want." The Doctor offered.
"That would be nice, yeah." Donna laughed. "But I'm going to get cleaned up and changed. I smell like Ood." She said, turning sharply and heading down the hall.
"And you?" The Doctor asked, turning to Rose. "How are you after all this?"
Rose smiled, "I didn't kill anyone, always a good day."
"You seem a bit better somehow." The Doctor noted, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and caressing her cheek in the process. He showed her what she looked like to him. Less feral, more protective. Even at what he considered her most dangerous moments, he somehow didn't see her the way she did. But he didn't know, did he? The way she moved after the bloke in the claw control room, the rage she felt, the damage she wanted to do to him for even daring to hurt her Doctor. Barely willing to, she showed him what happened.
He sighed, "I've still seen you worse." He reminded her.
"Yeah," She agreed. "Maybe I am cooling down a bit. I'm just worried of what Donna will say if she ever …." And there it was, out in the open once more. The reason she didn't want a new companion in all those years.
"I don't know why, but I don't think Donna will be as scared of you as you seem to think she will be." He said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, maybe you're right." Rose said, sighing. "So where we going? Should I change?" She asked.
He looked her over. "Your jeans are ripped, might want to change them." He suggested.
She looked down, having forgotten entirely about her knee since it was completely healed. "Right. I'll only be a mo'." She said, standing on her tip toes to give him a brief peck before darting down the hall.
Rose looked over her shoulder, smiling at the Doctor as he moved around the console.
The hand glowed again, but she chose to ignore it.
For now.
A/N: Posted a few hours early as EmmaKathy mentioned it was her birthday today and I can't resist birthday requests if it's in my power to fulfill them.
A big thanks to the readers, favoriters, followers, and reviewers. You guys are all what keeps stories coming.
DuShuZhi, Wumertil, EmmaKathy (Happy Birthday), Infinities Lover, Antisocial Me (that hand is creepy, eh?), booknerd00, annabethfan15, DoctorWand, ladytigerlili24 (We do start seeing a calmer Rose), my fandom is better than yours, Stacy, Dreamcatcher56, and Fluer 24.
Yep, Tim is back. Or, will be later for you guys. At about 2 posts a week you'll be seeing him in ... umm, well, it'll be a while at 2 posts a week. Like, about, 4 weeks. Sorry. But know he's on his way!
So I will see you all again Tuesday/Wednesday.