Daniel leaned against the tree watching Rose disappear inside the building. What did I just do, he thought, running a long list of should haves through his head. His chest ached from an overwhelming sense of failure and loss. Donna yelled inside his head. Words like dumbo, prawn and spaceman echoed in her Chiswick accented voice. Words telling him that he was safe and that everything would work out quickly followed, but still, he felt a fool. It physically hurt to know that he'd bolloxed everything up with Rose. It felt as if Sylvia somehow slipped through and used his Rose to rebuke him as she often rebuked her daughter. Just like that woman never recognised Donna's sense of humour or her brilliance Rose didn't see him. Just like Sylvia always demanded more, Rose now did the same. He missed the short time that he and Donna had together. She'd forged a parental relationship by chattering away in his head without even knowing that she was being a mum. He wondered if, even for a second, she recognised herself in that role. mom. In their short time together, she'd reassured him that he would be wonderful. Right now, he didn't feel very wonderful.
He'd lied to Janice when he told her, he might wind up telepathic, he was telepathic. The skill came as naturally as breathing, but the lack of connection with someone, anyone left him feeling empty and incredibly lonely. Sniffing hard, he threw a quick glance around the court-yard. "I will make you proud, Donna," he said too soft for others to hear. With a frustrated sigh, he pushed the useless feelings of self-pity and abandonment as far done as possible. It was time to move on, and the first step toward that meant keeping his promise to Pete.
By the time that he walked back into the building, he felt re-energised with a sense of purpose. The guard at the door cast a suspicious glance in his direction prompting him to wave his ID at the man. The simple act improved his mood. Once he submitted to the retinal scan, the lift doors slid open. Logic dictated the autopsy room would be either above or below the medical floor. A grin crossed his face when he punched the button for one floor below. Punching buttons without knowing where they lead remained as much fun as ever.
Autopsy took up half of the eighth floor. Daniel gagged the second the lift doors slid back. The disgusting combination of antiseptic, formaldehyde and death assaulted his senses. Why anyone bothered with a sign that pointed the way to autopsy was beyond him. Maybe, he thought, humans simply don't have my acute sense of smell, but blimey. Daniel slid effortlessly into the role of an investigator, striding into the lab as if he owned the place.
"So you found it?" Pete asked. He and Janice Harkness came out of the small office next to the autopsy suite apparently glad to see him.
"Ah, yeah, yeah. Just punched a button and followed my nose. Really," he said, wrinkling his nose in disgust, "you need to work on your air recirc program. Increase that air exchange by, oh I don't know, maybe twenty percent will improve its efficiency."
"We are well above the standards for the industry." Janice protested.
"Not enough above," Daniel retorted.
The affronted look that crossed her face brought a half grin to Daniel's face. For some reason making her uncomfortable just felt right. He was pretty sure that she was closer to Hartman's double than Jack, but when she widened her stance and crossed her arms, he knew. Jack had that same smarmy smile hiding his frustration when things didn't go his way. There was no doubt that, this Harkness was Jack's double. He contemplated trying to discern her time line, but the sound of Pete clearing his voice shifted his attention to his new boss.
"Janice has our dead friend ready for the first step. We do virtual autopsies before cutting a body open. The first couple of times we did this, we had a nasty surprise. If you can tell us what you think he is, or if he has an equivalent in the other universe, it would be helpful."
Daniel walked over to the door that separated the theatre from the lab. A technician dressed in an environmental protection suit walked around the body on the table. Without hesitating, Daniel slipped off his jacket and grabbed a second suit lying on a table.
"What do you think you're doing?" Janice snatched the hood from him.
"My job," he responded as he grabbed the hood back. "Do something useful, hook up the rebreather pack. Thanks." He arched his eyebrow in defiance. "I might not be a Time Lord from on high, but I am still smarter than the average bear, including you," he snapped.
"Daniel, I didn't expect -" Pete started.
"Well, good to see your not that much different, always have to be the boss."
Daniel whirled to see Rose, his eyes flashing in anger. "Well, I do have a job, a commitment. You remember what a commitment is, right?" he snarled.
"I don't recognise that one," she said, making a point of not looking at him as she strode to the window. The dead alien lay on the autopsy table still partly contained by the body bag. The days when dead aliens upset her had long since passed. Her eyes stayed locked firmly on the table, refusing even to glance at Daniel. Both of them missed the concerned glances exchanged between Janice and Pete.
"You two want us to leave while you duke it out?" Pete said, walking over. "Whatever reason you feel the need to be gits, leave it out the door, got it?" he ordered, leaving no doubt who was boss.
"Right, then. Rose," Daniel said, changing his tone, "That's because you never met one while you travelled with the Doctor." The word Doctor stuck in his throat. It was surreal to refer to the man whose memories were in his head, Daniel tried, but he couldn't stop the words came out stiff. "Just reminds me how similar the two universes are." He continued. "At least, it looks remarkably close to the Nevra. Until I get it in there, I won't know if they're identical." He placed the helmet over his head making the word onwards A come out muffled. He stepped through the first set of air-locked doors, counted to thirty and waited for the second set to open.
Daniel strode purposefully over to the body. No one could see his broad grin, but his heart pounded with excitement. This was his world. He was half tempted to throw the helmet off to exam the body on the table without senses muttled by the silly suit. But he didn't, he followed a protocol that remained the same wherever an explorer went. The grey-green being was smaller than the Nevra at home. It was still tall with a long muscular neck. A bony growth plate surrounded the back of its skull. The prominent cheekbones set off open, large round eyes that stared into nothingness. Something had smacked the being squarely in the face cracking the left cheekbone. A deep gash on the back of its skull exposed its brain. Cause of death came from whatever crushed its chest. Long, spindly arms ended with delicate five digit hands. Each finger had four joints instead of the usual three joints on the human finger. Something had crushed its legs. The morgue wrap contained a pool of orange blood that had collected underneath the body. The elongated torso and large heart indicated that where ever it had come from, the planet's gravity was less than Earth.
Daniel walked around the autopsy table studying the body at every angle. He picked up the limp hand and let it drop back to the table. He couldn't help the sadness that welled up at the sight of this humanoid who just twenty-fours earlier had a life filled with hopes and dreams. Now a cold, empty shell, he wondered who would mourn her. He turned his attention to the holographic display above the body.
"She's definitely related to the Nevra." Daniel spoke through the helmet's mike to the three waiting for him.
"How can you tell it's a she?" Janice's muffled voice came back.
Daniel pointed to the midriff region of the being's image above him. "See that shadow?" he asked, "That's a reproductive system. I'm betting when you finish the autopsy, you'll discover that she's pregnant. How big is that ship? I'm guessing from her injuries that someone put her in an escape shuttle. She was too injured to control entry. The resulting crash killed her."
He nodded at the technician and re-entered the airlock to peel the environmental suit off, and rejoin "How much of the ship did the extraction team bring back?" he asked once he'd stepped through the double doors.
"All of it," Rose answered tersely. She stood next Pete, arms crossed glaring at Daniel obviously itching to smack him. Her tone now reflected not just the anger, but the Torchwood leader defending the people who worked under her. "My team is very well-trained. They scrubbed that scene clean. Don't you dare say that I haven't taught them everything that he taught me!"
He cocked his head and flashed a smile. "I'm not suggesting anything, Agent Tyler. I just asked what they brought back. Now, can you show me that ship- please?" he asked. Without bothering to check if she followed, he headed for the doors.
Rose stormed from the autopsy suite running to keep up with Daniel's long legged gait. She caught him up at the elevator. Daniel smiled at his pink yellow girl when she reached the elevator. He wanted nothing more than to hug her and apologise for being an utter git. He reached tentatively for her hand only to have her wordlessly jerk from his touch. So much for apologies, he thought. When the door opened, Rose remained firmly in professional mode keeping her conversation limited to directions as she led the way across the quad to the barrage balloon hangar. Two black clad guards stepped aside to allow them access to the crash debris that lay spread out awaiting investigation. Rose led him over to the young man with longish dark hair and black glasses. He stood a good six inches below Daniel and was rocking on his trainers in barely contained excitement over meeting the much touted new boss.
"Steve, this is the Doctor's clone who wants to be called Daniel Barrows." Rose refused to look at Daniel during the brief introduction. "He is in charge of investigating the origins of this ship."
Daniel stared open-mouthed at Rose's comment. "Really, you're going to solve our issues by insulting me in front of strangers. That's so - mature, Rose."
"Maybe you shouldn't try pushing me aside when I'm doing my job." she snarled back.
"Your job, defending the Earth." He sighed deeply. "I'm -"
"A bloody idiot." She filled in before he could finish.
Rose turned and fled the building leaving Daniel staring at her disappearing back surrounded by guards and willing technicians gazing at him as if he were some sort of rock star. He watched her blonde hair flounce over her shoulder as she went out of the door. He honestly had no idea why she was angry or what he'd done that was so awful. The sight of her leaving stabbed his heart.
He turned to face the strangers and smiled. "I'm not a -clone, really, I'm not. "I'm Daniel -"
"You're the Doctor," one of the technicians replied, his voice filled with awe.
"No, not him either. Like I said, I'm Daniel Ulysses Barrow. I am your new boss, sort of." He sniffed.
Memories of his progenitor working with U.N.I.T.'s young techs surfaced. Progenitor, that's what Daniel decided the Doctor was. Nothing more, and nothing less. He was certainly not his father. He had memories of the Doctor's father, and he would keep them for his own. He certainly wasn't a brother, no brother would do what he did. He'd usurp memories for Brax as his own, as well. A dropped spanner yanked him out of his reverie, returning him to the job at hand.
When he turned to face the technicians, he slapped his hands together. "So what's your name?" he said to the tech at with glasses.
"Steven - Steven Carstairs, sir and may I say it's -" Steven started.
"No, you can't," Daniel said, shifting gears from Rose to surveying the mess left by Rose's agents. They might have done a good job scrubbing the French coast, but the warehouse looked as if someone dumped a gigantic garbage bag in the middle of the floor.
"Sir, if you're not him, what did you do to tick off the boss' daughter. I've never seen her so mad."
"Well, not that's any of your business, but we had - words. Tell me, Steven, why isn't this mess better organised?"
"Organised, sir? It's just delivered this morning. We don't usually organise things until after the senior agent sign off. That would be Agent Tyler."
"Agent Tyler," Daniel snorted. "Well Steven, I need the engine debris separated so that we can begin reconstruction as soon as possible. We need the shuttle's shell moved to the middle of the floor and laid out, obvious big bits laid next to each other with the smaller bits close at hand. We're putting a puzzle together. Where is the nose of this thing? We need to get in the main cabin. Look for evidence of weapons fire on the skin of the ship. What made the engine fail, weapons fire or something internal. These people with you; any of them good at solving puzzle things?"
"Yes Sir, they all are," Steven answered proudly.
"Good, let's go to work," Daniel said with a smile. "Steve, one more question?" he asked, surveying the mess.
"Yes sir,"
"Do the extraction teams always leave things in such a mess?" Daniel asked while kneeling to pick up an engine part.
"Pretty much, yes sir. They just dump and run, unless there is a body. That, they take to the autopsy lab."
"Not anymore. Rule one, Steven. From now on, a technician will supervise the unloading of anything left here. I want debris separated so that we can immediately begin reconstruction. It shouldn't take two days of working hours to do the cleaning up before we can do our jobs. Send a memo to agent Tyler letting her know the new procedure."
"You want me to tell Agent Tyler that, sir," Steven squeaked. "I'm kind of the guy who is in the background, sir."
"Not anymore. You are now my lead investigator. You report to me first, understood?" Daniel said. "Now, find me a table."
The investigation into the little ship's origin pushed all thoughts of Rose away. He divided the assembled group into two teams, and put them to work organising the mess. One team separated and began piecing engine debris together and then placing cards identifying what part of the engine Daniel thought its origin while the youngest tech happily recorded data and sketched ideas of what the thing should look like. The remains of a small ship took up space a few yards away with the second half of the crew re-arranging the remains into places until the debris would resemble a ship.
He did wish his progenitor had forked over a sonic screwdriver. Its scanning mode would have come in really handy about now. The better part of his first hour was spent Improving the available scanners. took up a better part of his first hour. It helped him some sort through information to discover what types of elemental metals were used in the ship. Two hours in, Daniel lifted off a chunk of metal at the rear of the wreck and let a whoop. He picked up a small twisted piece of something that looked a cage containing a cracked crystal. The size of an American football, it would have powered the little ship's shielding.
"Now see this, Stevo," Daniel said, pointing to a blackened area where the engine drive belonged. "This is a transdimensional engine. Weapons fire hit the exact point where the ship had a bit of metal fatigue. This," he held up the crystal, "is the shield modulator. The weapons fire cracked it. The second round damaged the ship's ability to re-enter normal space. Crashing here was purely by happenstance. The pilot never stood a chance of surviving re-entry. I'm amazed, she managed as well as she did. When we can, we need to find the home box."
"Home box, sir?" Steve asked.
"Yeah, it's like a black box on a - Blimey, do they have black boxes on a barrage balloon? Steve what do you call a data recovery system for barrage balloons?" Daniel asked.
"It's called a HDD system, sir," Steven replied.
"Well think of the home box as that. Once we have that, we can get an idea of what happened."
"So, can you tell how far it travelled before crashing, Mr Barrows."
"Ooh that's a good question and no, I can't. At least not yet. That might take me a day or two," Daniel said, tossing the fractured crystal to the young artist/technician behind him.
He grabbed a piece of metal, lifting it away from the tail section of the small ship exposing a hole. He motioned to a second tech who began helping to clear further debris away until they had access inside. For the first time since Davros' ship, he felt at home. He picked his way through the collapsed mid section, slowly inching his way toward the pilot section. They cut into the wall further exposing the inner working of the ship discovering the ship was indeed an escape shuttle that came from a bio-ship advancements the Nerva did not have in his - the other universe. He and Steve went to work getting further behind a wall. Daniel became absorbed in the tedious, but fascinating work, quickly losing track of time. The bio components reminded him of the TARDIS' own circuits. Late into the afternoon a familiar voice drifted over the questions the young technician fired at him. He'd hoped to figure out which group of tangled mess controlled the doors to allow them access to the pilot section. The voice called louder the second time, snapping him back from the mystery that lay in a tangled mess before him.
"Daniel, I think you should come out, it's half past six," Pete ordered. "You don't have to solve the whole thing today."
"Right," he called back. "Damn," he muttered, bumping his head coming out of the wall cavity. A bit of gas leaked from the panel sending out a stench of a dead ship. "I'm sorry," he muttered softly to the machine. "I'll be back. If I can get your schematics up then maybe, soon, I can get your pilot home."
Daniel worked his way back out until he reached the gaping hole in the side of the little ship. He hadn't realised how cramped his back had become until he stood fully upright and stretched his tall, lithe frame. He grinned when he saw Pete, but before he could even manage a brief hello, a wave of dizziness swept through him followed rapidly by falling into a black hole.
"Shit," Pete cursed as he bolted to Daniel's unconscious form. "Get a medic in here. What happened?" he snarled at Steve who'd followed Daniel out of the ship.
"Nothing sir, well he bumped his head, but he didn't even bleed."
"Daniel," Pete called softly as he rolled Daniel over. A barely audible groan rewarded him, "Where's the damn medic!"
Daniel floated up slowly confused by why someone was sticking him with something sharp. His eyes fluttered open to see fuzzy faces hovering over him. They were mumbling about him, but he couldn't understand why. His eyes drifted close to the sound of someone calling his name."
"Come on Daniel, wake up," the voice called.
Something thick and cold flooded his arm bringing the voice closer. He opened his eyes again to see the blurry image of Pete and a stranger kneeling over him. "What happened?" he asked.
"You passed out when you came out of the ship. How are you feeling?" the medic asked.
"Who are you?" Still confused, Daniel's eyebrows knitted together. "What happened to Rose?"
"Answer the question. How are you feeling?"
"Um fine, I'm fine," he answered as he tried to sit up. "Can't imagine why I did that."
When is the last time you ate?" the medic asked as he helped Daniel sit up.
"This morning, I think. After we got back from shopping. Why?"
"You passed out because your blood sugar was forty, sixty points below normal. When you crawled out of the ship and stood up, your pressure crashed and with such a low sugar, you hit the deck like a rock. I'm surprised you didn't have another seizure. Mr Barrow, you can't go all day not eating. "
"Right, sorry. So, it wasn't the gas then?" The thick feeling in his head faded to an annoying buzz.
"Gas, what gas?" Pete asked.
"I was sorting the circuitry. A ruptured plasma conduit must have leaked a bit of gas. It was still in the wall cavity. That little ship has biological components. I was trying to get in the pilot section, but I think we should try to bring the onboard home box on-line first. I want to see where they jettisoned the ship. It belonged to a hive ship." Daniel rambled. "Help me sit up," he demanded.
"Just take it slow," the medic replied as he extended his hand.
The sight of capped IV needle in his hand surprised him. "Really?" he asked.
"That's how I gave you the dextrose. I'm not taking it out until you've eaten properly and kept it down," The medic explained.
Daniel looked at the man and rolled his eyes. "That's ... I have an appointment. I can't meet someone with this in my hand." Daniel protested. "I'll eat later."
"You missed that appointment two hours ago. I sent someone to get you, and you waved them off," Pete fussed.
"Right, we were piecing the centre of the engine together. Not a lot of luck on that yet. I left - Steve -"
"Yes sir," the young tech answered.
"Who was our sketcher?
"Noah," Steve answered.
"Right, any way. He was sketching parts. I will up load them so we can get a three dimensional diagram going. I need a bit longer, hour at the most, to finish this section of circuits." Daniel finished.
"No, you're getting something to eat and then we're going home. Jackie will kill me for missing tea and Marcus will kill me for letting you stay here so long," Pete interjected. "Your going to back to the mansion. I've already ordered your stuff moved to the guest house. You'll stay there until you have a house."
"No Pete, I told you. I can't stay at the house." Daniel protested, shaking his head.
"I said guest house. It's private, well except for Adela. She will be your housekeeper. No one else will bother you, but this is ridiculous. You are not ready to go out on your own. Not when you can't remember what food is for. Adela's priority is to make sure you figure out why we eat. Besides, Jackie will have my head if I don't bring you home. You're here forty-eight hours, and I'm about to get murdered three times over."
"No Pete, you don't understand. I can't - really, I just can't. Really - I'm fine," Daniel replied firmly.
"No - you are not," Pete said firmly, turning back to face Daniel standing, but still looking pale and a little shaky. He started again to call Marcus.
"Pete, I am not going back to the mansion. It's just not happening!" Daniel's voice rose. "I am not a bloody child that's needs lookin' after! I have done the job quite nicely for over nine hundred years. I think, I can make my own decisions."
Pete whirled, red-faced with fury. "You have someone else's memory of doing it for over nine hundred years. You have had two days of life, most of which you have spent sleeping, or in mind-boggling agony. You have zero life experience. You cannot even remember to eat properly. I will not have you pass out on me again. For a man, who just hours ago touted how brilliant he is, you are amazingly stupid. Tavis!" Pete said, glaring at the young medic. "Hog tie him if you have to, but get him in my car while I call Marcus to see him at the estate!"
"Mate," Steve whispered to Daniel, "you probably should, you know, shut up."
Daniel glared first at Steve and then Pete. He opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it, shoved his hands in his pockets and clamped his mouth shut.
Ten minutes later, Daniel sat glumly in the passenger seat of Pete's antique Land Rover. How a man who lived in a mansion and wore one thousand pound suits could prefer a beat up old car confused him. Daniel like this Pete. He reminded him of the other universe Pete, despite that Pete was a far less driven man. He wanted Pete and Jackie for that matter as friends. He glanced over at the man and sighed.
"You alright?" Pete asked.
"That was embarrassin'. You yelled at me in front of my entire team," he said, sounding very much like a resentful teenager.
"Daniel, there are two things that you need to know," Pete said quietly.
"What?"
"One, you are not boss of anything, I am. They are my team. What I say at work, is law. Don't test that. And two, you are a genius, but you need help. Everyone does at times. It's our time to help you.
"Fine, I'll stay at your bloody house for now, but it is a mistake. I appreciate it, but you don't know what happened earlier.
"Actually, I do. You and Rose had a fight, and you are afraid to face her because it might start up again. "That about cover it?"
Daniel visibly deflated. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," Pete replied.
"When you and Jackie found yourselves together, did you just - you know?" He wasn't sure what he expected, but Pete's laugh wasn't it.
"Your dad -" Pete started.
"He's not my dad." Daniel interrupted.
"Actually, yeah he is. It is weird, and I don't pretend to understand how it happened, but he is your dad. And no, things weren't all roses and champagne. Jackie and I had some major rows. She looked like my Jax, sounded like my Jax, and has that same withering temper. But this Jackie is fiercely independent. Things I did for my Jax would drive Jackie barmy. She worried about every nickel and wanted to fire half the house staff until she realised they had families depending on their wages. She thought being waited on was wonderful for a while, but then it got old. She waits on the staff now. She doesn't want anything, but me - and that was very different from my Jax.
"What happened to the wee dog?" Daniel asked.
"Gave it to a seniors home as a therapy dog. What did you and Rose fight about today?"
Daniel stared out at the passing scenery. He sniffed hard before he answered. "I kissed her and promised her the world, but she wanted the universe with the Doctor. It made me a little -"
"Mad? Did she say that? I mean, those exact words?" Pete asked.
"No, I said, I love you, and her exact words were: me to. I want to spend eternity with you, Doctor."
"Ouch, that hurts," Pete said, pulling a face while tucking his chin in sympathy.
"Yeah, and that was the first one, I don't have a clue what I did wrong the second time. I'm just a shadow to her. He dropped us off, expecting us to swan off and be happy. I know that I'm this complicated event, and with his memories - and Donna's. I have both views of how much he loved her, but the thing is I have my own, Pete. The second, I held her on the beach, I fell in love with her. Me, not him. She thinks it's an extension of him, but it's not. I have a body that makes no sense, that does things his never did, and I have all his feelings for her mixed up with mine. She just doesn't see me. She told everyone in the hanger, I was a clone." He finished, sounding completely frustrated.
"So - you going to what - quit. You told me not to quit, remember." Pete said.
"No, he did. Confusing innit? And no, I just have to figure out how to handle it. At least, I can work on that wreck. That's a start. It'll give me something to focus on while I figure out what I did wrong."
Daniel stared out at the passing scenery. He recognised the landscape. They would be at the estate any minute. The thought was more daunting than tackling the wreck. All he wanted now, was to eat, and hide from Rose, but Jackie would want to hover, and Rose would be upstairs.
"Think whatever that alien is, it's friends will come looking for it?" Pete asked, breaking the silence.
"Probably. Whoever she was, she was important enough to at last try to save. Maybe the hive queen. The Nevra is a hive race, sort of like wasps. They are warriors by nature. I expect, they are the same in this universe. So, I'd put your intelligence people on notice to watch this section of space," he said, still staring out the window, feeling empty and alone.
Pete slowed down for the turn into the driveway. Once the gates closed behind them, he stopped the car. "Daniel, I want you to listen to me very carefully. What I said back at the warehouse is true. In the last three days, you've fulfilled a stupid prophecy, saved reality, got thrown out of your own world, fell in love and nearly died. Oh, and went shopping. You have no life experience, you have memories, and that's not the same thing. You are a part of this family now. Not just because of Rose, but because without the Doctor, I wouldn't have my family, and I owe him."
Daniel rolled his eyes. "Glad I can help pay your debt."
"Did you get this sullen, self pity thing as part of your creation or is it brain damage, 'cos you should know, it's annoying? I will do whatever I can to help you adjust, just ask, but damn it, Daniel, grow up."
Daniel snorted, and then sunk lower in the seat, ashamed. "I am sorry, I don't mean to seem ungrateful ... It's just, it's not going the way I thought on the beach, at all."
"Daniel, you two have gone through a lot, and getting sick on top of this mess doesn't help your situation. The guest house is private, and you can come and go as you please. Adela will stay down there to help. But, until Marcus says it's okay, I'm not helping you find a house. Understood?" Pete said.
"Understood. Can I, at least practice my driving? I can start with this thing," he said, effectively ending the conversation. No, wait, I want a blue motorcycle. Do you have Harley's here? They're big, powerful bikes. Yep, that's first - a motorcycle." He flashed the Doctor's manic grin at Pete.
"I can't promise a Harley, but I'll have a motor bike here this afternoon." Pete chuckled.
"Pete, promise me something."
"Sure, what?"
"Keep this conversation between us, please," Daniel asked.
"Don't worry, Daniel. Let's get you settled in the guest house. Marcus should be here anytime."
o0o
Pete walked in the mansion through the kitchen door and headed for the lounge, He found Jackie on the couch with her feet tucked under reading some gossip magazine. She waved it in front of him so that he could see their picture on the cover. "We're in the news again. It seems the president of the Vitex Corporation was seen in the company of a blonde, not his wife. You get half way through before they tell ya the blonde is Rose. Marcus called. He'll be here in about five. How is our plum doing?"
"He's alright. Did you talk to Rose?"
"Yep, it seems she called him Doctor - in the middle of a kiss. He didn't take it well. Then he treated her as if she were an agent from the other Torchwood. That sent her off in a snit. How did he take it - really?"
"To say, he didn't take it well is a colossal understatement. He spent the rest of the day with his head stuck in that alien ship and forgot to eat. Came out of the ship and hit the ground."
"He can't stay on his own, Pete, not yet."
"I know. I stashed him in the guest house and promised him that we'd treat like it's his own until Marcus thinks that he is physically fit. Daniel agreed to that and then I'll help him find a proper place. I didn't tell him, but when the medic scanned him, his energy readouts are still wavering. I thought, we'd send Adela over to act as a housekeeper/cook."
"And spy?" Jackie chuckled.
"That too." Pete kissed her cheek. "We had some rows didn't we Jax, those first days. Remember the flowers?"
"You spent 200 quid on a bouquet. I thought that was singly, the most stupid thing in the world. 200 quid on something that wouldn't last a week. I asked you, what was wrong with the lady that sells them on the roadside."
Pete dropped beside Jackie and propped his feet on the table. "I told you that the last time that happened, you threw them in my face. You went white and reminded me that never happened, and stormed out the door. Spent two weeks in the guest house. I don't suppose you told this story to Rose?"
"Yes, I did. I also told her that we made Tony that last night in the guest house," she answered with a seductive grin. "That was a brilliant evening as I recall?" She snuggled into his side, stretched her leg out stroking the inside of his suggestively with her foot.
"Yep, shame Marcus is coming, but later ..." He smiled, pulling her into a kiss only to have a small voice interrupt them.
"Mummy! Adela says Daniel is here. I want to see Daniel!" Tony demanded, running in from the kitchen. "Daddy!" he squealed, delighted to see his father.
"Tony!" Pete responded while scooping his four year-old son into his arms.
o0o
Daniel meandered the small house stopping occasionally to finger a delicate piece of porcelain before moving on to explore the silent slightly stale smelling house. Someone had opened the windows to air out the place. From the flow of traffic stepping through the front door to the lack of any throw rugs on the floor, everything in the place screamed old disabled lady lived here. He let out a deep sigh of disappointment. He didn't want to stay in this house. He almost heard Rose yelling her protests against his presence down the stairs. He stared at the floral couch and glass coffee table wondering where he could stretch his legs without making things untidy. Donna's logical, well organised brain told him that Pete was right, he needed help getting settled. He'd rather have gone to Jake's, except Jake had a partner who, more likely than not, wouldn't welcome a third-party.
Daniel sauntered into the hallway opening the first door he came to. The bathroom had a wheelchair accessible shower with a pull cord by the toilet, "Jeesh," he muttered and closed the door. The next door revealed a large bedroom that obviously now belonged to him. All the clothes that he and Jake bought lay neatly on the large double bed. Daniel noted the floral duvet and groaned again. The sight of his camera and computer on the dresser was a relief. Maybe, Pete will let me out to take pictures, he thought. I hate this place.
He strode around the bedroom, trying to ignore the floral curtains that covered the French doors. The en suite had the same handicap accessible amenities as the hall bath.. His shaver, and personal grooming supplies now took up residence on two glass shelves above the commode. "Home sweet home," he muttered. "The coral," he said, panicked that he didn't see the delicate infant. The thought that someone tossed his most precious possession away by accident wrenched his heart. He left the en suite, ready to run to the house only find an older, somewhat heavy woman in his room standing by the cupboard hanging his clothes.
"Adela, hello," he said desperately. "Um, in my room up at the house, I had a package wrapped in a brown linen, remember. I had it in the en suite, in the shower where I could keep it moist. Where is it? "
"Mr Barrow, don't panic. I placed it in a little plastic container and put it the kitchen. It was a bit dry, so I added a little water for a gentle soak, but not get too wet."
"Oh you beauty," he said, kissing her plump cheek. "I might just love you. How did you know to do that."
"You were exhausted when you came, but the first thing you said to me: it is my most precious thing, and it's all that I have from home. You said: it needs to be kept safe, someplace humid where it can stay damp. When you became ill, I took it to my room."
"I think, I will marry you, Adela Steuben." He chuckled as he took off for the kitchen.
"Right. Dr Jones called. He's coming down from the house. You should be ready for him," she said following him out.
"Addie, can I call you Addie," he said when he took her arm. "Can we do something about the floral motif, I'm really not a flowery sort of person?"
"I have already asked Mrs Tyler for a new cover for the settee. It's a lovely deep green, and I have a new duvet for your bed. I promise, it will be less feminine and less old ladyish. Now," she said pulling away, "go in the kitchen, I have tea ready. Go on now, while I tidy this up."
"Yes, ma'am," Daniel said with a grin. "Oh, and maybe a boat on the mantle instead of all that porcelain. I like a nice sailboat."
"Welcome home, Mr Barrow." Adela patted his arm.
