A/N: So here's a super long bumper extreme massive gigantic gargantuan colossal chapter. I like adjectives.
Chapter 6 - 22nd May 2013, 04:03:47
It had been a day since they been to see Jimmy, and they were still congratulating themselves on a job well done. Zak had left to go and pick up Leya after spending the night with Jack (which the Doctor decided not to think about too much) and they'd waved him off from the top of a tower.
After finally managing to ground the erratic Time Lord for more than two minutes, Martha had been able to finally sort out a birth plan with the Doctor. She was going to give birth in the TARDIS infirmary. The Doctor himself would be there to deliver, Mickey viewing as the father, and Gwen and Rose there for help and emotional support with no one else. She had gone away with a bounce in her step.
The Doctor had decided to skip bed for the night, giving Rose some story about needing to work on the TARDIS. She'd believed him. Now he was sat in the console room fully dressed at 4am, feet propped up on the console reading the big dusty book on regeneration.
"Daddy?"
He nearly jumped five foot in the air with the shock, looking down to see Leah standing there with her fist bunched in her nightshirt, gazing up at him with big eyes.
"Oh, hello," he said, then realised what he was reading and quickly shut the book and set it on the side. "What are you doing up?"
"Came to to see you."
"Why?"
"You don't feel right."
He gazed at her for a moment. "What do you mean?"
"You feel... lonely."
He forced a small smile, inviting her to jump up onto the chair beside him. He then placed his fingers on her temples and closed his eyes.
"Let me in a second," he said out loud, and she did. Within seconds he confirmed his theory and drew back. "Wow, you know what's happening now, don't you?"
"What?" she asked, opening her eyes again.
"You bond with me is starting to mature. Soon you'll be able to feel my presence all day every day, whether you want to or not."
Leah giggled, taking his hand in both her little ones, playing with his fingers. "Just don't be lonely, cos I'm here."
"Oh, I'm not lonely," the Doctor replied immediately. "How can I be lonely with all of you lot constantly annoying me?" he jested.
"So why do you feel bad?" she persisted.
"Like I said, the bond is just maturing. Emotional cross wiring is all, feelings that aren't there, that sort of thing," he lied. "I'm fine, but thanks for worrying about me."
She giggled again and reached for hug around his midrift. He gathered her up and hugged her tightly against his chest, kissing her forehead.
"Love you," he said.
"I love you too."
"Now, shouldn't you be in bed?" he asked seriously, holding her from him.
"No," Leah replied innocently.
He grinned at that and kissed her again. "Go to bed."
"You go to bed," she batted back.
"Hey," the Doctor began, raising an eyebrow. "I ordered first. And I'm the adult so what I say goes cos I'm older and more responsible...er."
She sighed, slipping off of his lap. "G'night."
"Nighty night," was what he would have responded, but there was suddenly the sound of shouting from a distance - but close enough to worry him. The Doctor frowned, got up and stepped out into the Hub, going straight to the monitor that showed the area outside the rolling front door.
There were a crowd of people there, dressed in black.
Before he had a chance to react to that the Hub door suddenly rolled back, and the alarms immediately began in a deafening wail. The crowd burst into the Hub like water breaking a bank, and he was immediately grabbed by two of them.
"Whoa, whoa, can't we -ah!- talk about this!?" he asked as he was yanked to the side, and something cold yet painfully familiar pressed against his head. It was gun.
"Don't move," a voice grated, but the Doctor wasn't paying attention to that. He was looking at his little girl, standing there in the middle of the Hub staring in horror…
"No! Leah!" he realised, panicked. He had to get her out of there...
"Daddy!" she squealed.
"Leah, run!"
The little girl turned and ran to the TARDIS, but was intercepted by one of the men. The Doctor's eyes shot open and he struggled for all he was worth, managing to get free for a split second, running to the girl…
Suddenly something hit him in the side of the head. Pain blazed through his skull and eye as he let out a yell of pain, and before he had any chance to work anything out he hit the floor, unconscious.
Leah screamed as her Daddy hit the floor, struggling against the men holding her but to no avail. She watched, transfixed as his unresponsive body was dragged away into a side room, the door slammed shut behind him.
"Uncle Jack!" she screamed desperately, tears streaming down her face. "Uncle Brax!"
"Shut up!" one of the men demanded of her, clamping a big hand over her mouth. She wasn't deterred. She continued to struggling, waving her arms and legs around, and managed to kick with some force to his stomach. He gasped and dropped her immediately, just as Brax appeared, wide eyed.
She ran to him immediately seeking protection. But the guns were already pointed at them.
"Get in the corner!" one of the men ordered.
Brax didn't have a choice. He grabbed his crying niece and held her tightly, backing up into the corner as instructed.
"Who are you?" he asked, but didn't get an answer.
"Where is Jack Harkness!?" the man demanded to know.
"If I did know I wouldn't tell you," Brax shot back.
"Tell us or the girl dies!"
Brax stared at them. "Go on," he invited, shielding her completely with his body. "By all means, have a try!"
The man raised his gun, and for a split second Brax prepared himself to have a quick regeneration…
"Brax!?" Jack suddenly shouted from the door of his office.
"Jack, they want you! Run!" Brax said quickly, but there was the sound of a gunshot and Jack hit the floor - a bullet right through his head. Brax quickly made sure Leah couldn't see him.
Three soldiers grabbed Jack and dragged him towards the Hub exit.
"Theta!" Brax yelled, alarmed. "Theta, where are you!?"
"Daddy!" Leah sobbed in his arms.
He couldn't do anything as the soldiers flooded into the TARDIS where everyone was, helpless.
"Rose!" Brax yelled desperately, knowing full well she couldn't hear him…
The Doctor woke up, moaning loudly with an excruciating pain to the right side of his head. But it didn't seem to come out properly, his face somehow tightened - he was gagged, he could work out that much.
"Be quiet!" a voice hissed, and he felt what he worked out to be a foot planting itself into his side. He cried out, the sound somewhat suppressed by his gag. But he obeyed it, staying completely silent as he opened his eyes. At least, his left eye, which was the only one that seemed to be working.
He found himself in a small, metal room - one of Torchwood's, if the architecture was anything to go by. As well as being gagged he was bound by the hands and feet by duct tape, and above him was a man in black, holding a gun threateningly at him.
"Don't move," the man hissed.
Where was Rose? The kids? Jack? Brax? He had absolutely no idea what was going on, though it was clear whatever was happening he needed to get up and get out of here, but he could barely think through the excruciating pain in his head…
"What the hell are you doing!?" a voice yelled, and the Doctor immediately felt the utter relief flooding through him… until the man spoke again. "I said stick a bag over his head! You know how smart he is! If he can see us, it's too much!"
"Sorry, sir," the soldier said immediately, knelt to the Doctor and put a black bag over his head. Then, the familiar feeling and tightness of duct tape secured it in place. Great, so now he was going to asphyxiate.
"And who the hell hit him?" the second man continued.
"I don't know, sir."
The second man sighed. "Have you got rid of his sonic screwdriver?"
"Yessir."
"Good. Make him more secure."
The door closed, and the Doctor heard and felt the man move towards him.
Alex was curled up underneath the living room table, staring at the door. Outside he could hear yelling - there were people inside the TARDIS - dangerous people, people with guns. He could hear his mother screaming his name, but he didn't respond, squeezing his eyes shut.
Suddenly the door opened. He opened his eyes, but those weren't familiar feet.
"He's in here!" a voice said, and Alex immediately clamped his hand over his mouth. But within seconds a man had stooped and there he was, staring black at Alex through a balaclava.
"He's here!" the man with the balaclava said, and reached forward to grab the boy by his shirt.
Alex immediately screamed, but the man quickly had a secure hold on him.
"Got him!" the man said.
"NO!" the little boy suddenly yelled out, trying desperately to worm his way out of the man's grip but it was too strong. "DA! DA!"
"Let him go!" a voice suddenly shouted - it was Uncle Ianto, standing there in his crisp suit holding one of Uncle Jack's guns.
"Kill him," a man gruffed, and Alex heard a shot loud blast to his right. He couldn't see Ianto, but he heard something hit the floor.
"DA!" Alex screamed again. "DA!"
The man clamped a hand over his mouth, and the group started running back to the Hub.
Braxiatel knew something was going on as several of them flooded out of the TARDIS, and he could hear someone struggling. The man holding a gun at his niece wasn't moving - obscuring his vision.
"Who have you taken?" Brax asked quickly. "Tell me what is happening!"
The man didn't reply. "Be quiet!" he demanded.
"No!" Brax yelled back, putting Leah down and standing up, making sure she was behind his legs. She continued to cling onto him, sobbing for her dad. "What are you doing!? Where is the Doctor!?"
"Stay back!" the man in front of him yelled again, backing away in slight apprehension.
Brax saw his chance, and took it. He darted forward, wrenching the gun out of the man's hands. It caused the gun to fire, flying across the Hub and smashing something in the distance. He finally got the gun, using it as a bludgeon to wave around blindly, trying to hit the man. But the man had somehow found him, grabbed his arm and pulled it, hard. Brax was sent flying over the railing, falling to the metal floor a few metres below with a terrible sound.
"Ianto!?" Rose screamed, finding the man strewn out on the TARDIS corridor floor bleeding profusely. He didn't respond, just lying there. It was apparent he'd been shot. "Ianto!"
"Rose!" it was Martha arriving next to her, panicked. "What's happening!?"
Rose looked up at her, wide-eyed. "Look after Ianto, I've gotta find the kids!" she shouted, jumping to her feet and running off to the Hub, screaming their names.
She burst out of the TARDIS door, and came across a crowd of the men, one holding her daughter at gunpoint with Brax lying on the floor. She ran to Leah instantly, throwing herself around the crying four-year-old.
"Back off!" she snapped at the man with such ferocity he did, glancing back at his group before running off to join them. Then they all filtered out of the Hub door, and suddenly there was silence.
"Oh God," Rose breathed, kissing her daughter and hugging her tightly.
"Rose?" Mickey cried, emerging from the door of one of the offices. "Rose, are you okay? Where's Martha?"
"She's okay, she's in the TARDIS with Ianto," Rose said quickly, picking up her daughter in both arms. "He's been shot, go help her, have you seen the Doctor or Alex?"
"No," Mickey said quickly, and disappeared into the TARDIS.
"Brax!" Rose cried, running down the steps to the Time Lord strewn out on the floor, just coming to consciousness. He sat up, his eye wide and cradling his arm.
"Rose, I had Leah, where is…"
"I've got her, it's okay," Rose said quickly, kissing the girl's head. "Where's the Doctor?"
"They hit him," Leah suddenly burst out, sobbing.
Brax was on his feet immediately. "Go and find Alex, I will find Thete. Go!"
Rose ran off immediately as Gwen came out of the TARDIS to join Brax.
"We've got casualties," Gwen told him. "Where's Jack?"
"He was taken," Brax said quickly, scanning the area. "Help me look for Thete, he has been attacked, he is most likely unconscious…."
The Doctor was awake and lying in the room, barely able to breathe. He could hear the others yelling outside of the door, getting closer.
"Doctor?" It was Gwen.
"Mmm," he hummed out weakly, barely able to get enough air to say anything now. They hadn't heard it.
"I can't find him anywhere," Brax through the door, panicking.
"Did they take him too?" Gwen asked quickly.
"No, I can feel him here…"
The Doctor groaned. Clearly he was going to have to do this himself. He used his legs as leverage, pushing his body progressively towards the direction he knew the door was. He soon hit it, and - praying it wasn't a concrete wall - pulled his head back and hit it on the surface three times distinctively. It did nothing to help his already injured head, the pain alone nearly making him black out…
"Did you hear that?" Gwen asked suddenly, looking at Brax.
They both looked in the direction it had come from - one of the weapons rooms that no one went into. Immediately Brax pounced forward and opened it, before realising very shortly afterwards he'd nearly KO'd his brother with the door.
"Sorry, Thete," he said quickly. "Through here!" Brax shouted back out the door. "Gwen, fetch some scissors!"
Brax looked down at his little brother lying there wrapped head to toe in duct tape, a black bag on his head with yet more duct tape around his neck. He knew full well his brother was probably running out of air. Keep up a conversation.
"By Rassilon's beard, someone really didn't want to see your face, did they?" he joked. "Although, can you blame them?"
He heard Thete moan under the bag. Probably telling him to shut up.
"Jack has vanished, I think they abducted him," Brax continued, dropping to his haunches and resting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "We have no idea who they were. They just sauntered in and overcame us all. They killed Jack - they must have known he is immortal."
"Got some!" Gwen said as she came back in. Brax took the scissors from her and took hold of the hem of the bag.
"I will try to avoid your neck," Brax joked, a few snips later and the bag was pulled off to reveal the side of the Doctor's head was covered in blood, the right side of his face covered in bruises, and his skin was practically blue.
"Jesus Christ," Mickey's voice said, who'd clearly arrived at the doorway.
"Mickey, fetch some oxygen," Brax ordered. "He's asphyxiating... Thete," he breathed. Seeing his little brother in this state was suddenly not very funny. "Don't move your head. I'm cutting through the tape on your mouth."
The Doctor moaned again, his chest rapidly rising and falling in tiny measures, clearly trying to get some air in through his nose but it wasn't enough.
"Okay, ready," Brax said, and got a hold of the tape. "I'm sorry Thete, but this is going to hurt. One, two, three..."
He pulled on the tape, and it came away with a tearing sound, any hair under it being yanked out. The Doctor cried out as his mouth was freed, and then began to desperately take in more air with his chest heaving.
"Rose…" he gasped. "Kids…"
"Rose is fine, she is checking the tots," Brax told him, starting work on his arms and legs.
The Doctor's eyes flickered to his brother's right arm, which was being used to try and put as little pressure on it as possible.
"Arm," he rasped.
Brax looked at him, then at his own arm. "Yes, it's been a little bit broken, but we'll sort that out later," he said as Mickey returned. Gwen immediately put the mask on the Doctor's face and he gratefully inhaled the pure oxygen.
Brax finally got the tape off of his arms, glancing at Gwen as he started work on his legs. "How is his head?"
"I don't do medical but we've got to get him to Martha," Gwen told him, checking the Doctor's left eye for dilation. "I think he's concussed."
"Rose…" the Doctor gasped again, pulling off his mask weakly.
"Confirmed," Brax said simply, still cutting through the tape.
Gwen quickly put it back on again. "Doctor, you've got a concussion, you need to try and stay focused. Rose is fine, she's checking on the kids. Brax is going to get the last of the tape off of you then we'll take you to the medbay. Mickey, can you grab a stretcher?"
Mickey ran off immediately.
"But Rose…" the Doctor groaned, pulling it off again, clearly struggling to get up.
"She's fine, everyone's fine," Gwen told him patiently, holding it back to his mouth again. "Just relax."
"We're untaped," Brax said, pulling off the last of the tape as Mickey returned, getting out of breath now. "Mickey, could you take his arms?"
Mickey obliged, getting into position. Brax took his legs, wincing as he did so. The Doctor noticed.
"Brax..." he gasped beneath the mask. "Arm..."
"Don't you worry about me, Theta," Brax replied with a smile, lifting him up with Mickey. Together they placed him down on the stretcher, Gwen obediently following with the oxygen. "Get him to the infirmary," Brax said quickly, biting his tongue to stop himself crying out at the pain in his arm. "Thete, how are you bearing up?"
The Doctor didn't reply. He'd passed out.
"Quick," Brax said, and together he and Mickey ran to the medbay.
Brax had only been in the infirmary for ten minutes when Rose burst in, her eyes wide and terrified.
"Brax! BRAX!"
Brax looked up from Ianto. "Rose? What-"
"I can't find Alex!" she said desperately. "He's gone!"
Brax glanced at Martha, who nodded and took over from him.
"Have you called for him?"
"Of course I did!" she snapped back rudely. "He's nowhere!"
"Rose, calm down," Brax said immediately. "He most likely was very scared and hid somewhere. We will use the Tardis to find him."
"Okay," Rose said quickly, managing to calm herself down. "Sorry, I…"
"Do not worry yourself with apologies," Brax replied immediately. "Let's find him."
They ran to the TARDIS console room, Brax immediately commandeering the monitor. He tapped a few buttons, pulled a few levers, and frowned at the result the monitor gave him.
"He's not on the ship," Brax muttered.
"Then where is he!?"
Brax swallowed. He knew full well now what had happened to his nephew, but he allowed himself just to hope for few seconds.
"Check the Hub," he said shortly, and they both ran out into Torchwood.
"Alex!" Rose cried, cupping her hands to her mouth and running up to Jack's office. "Alex! It's Mum! It's okay, you can come out now!"
"Alex!" Brax yelled, diving in and out of rooms. "Alex!"
There was only silence.
"Oh my God they took him," Rose realised, trembling with tears in her eyes.
"I heard them take someone but I couldn't see them… No wonder. He's so small," Brax murmured.
"We've gotta go after 'em," Rose said immediately. "We've gotta get him back!"
"Rose," Brax said immediately, turning to her. "We can't run off without Thete."
"He can catch up!"
"It would be foolish to just run into this."
"Oh for god's sake, grow a pair!" she yelled back, her tears now rolling down her face. "My baby's gone!"
"Rose…"
"They could be doin' anythin' to him!"
"If they wanted him dead they would have killed him."
"They tried to kill Ianto!"
"Exactly, so even more reason for him to be well."
"How is that even a little reassuring!?"
"Rose, I understand you are feeling very irate, but…"
"You have no idea how 'irate' I am!" Rose screamed at him, and stormed into the TARDIS.
Brax quickly followed, but by the time he got to the Doctor and Rose's bedroom she was already packing for a substantial trip.
"Rose," Brax began desperately. "You can't just leave."
"What're you gonna do?" she challenged, throwing a few shirts into her backpack before hauling it over her shoulder, turning to face him.
"Please, Thete wouldn't want you to go."
"He'd want me to find our son! And how the hell do you know what he'd want, anyway!? You don't know anythin' about him, you haven't seen him for however many hundreds of years!" she snapped back, and pushed right past him, and past Martha hovering in the corridor.
"What…" Martha began, watching Rose march by.
"Martha, how is Thete?" Brax asked urgently.
"He's woken up," Martha replied, glancing nervously at Rose. "He wants to see Rose."
"Rose, he's awake!" Brax said quickly, running to catch up with her. "He wants to see you."
She stopped, looking at Brax.
"Please, before you do anything, just talk to him," Brax said, lowly and patiently.
Rose sighed, dropping her bag onto the floor and marching back past him into the infirmary.
The sight of the Doctor made her immediately ran forward to him, cupping his cheek as she snapped her head up to Brax. "Why didn't you tell me this!?"
"I…" Brax began, but realised she was already ignoring him as the Doctor's eyes flickered open.
"Rose, stop yelling, I have a headache," he moaned, blood and bruises down the side of his face.
"No kiddin' you stupid idiot," she said seriously, kissing his forehead. "But those men, Doctor, they took Alex."
"Yes, me and half of Wales gathered," he replied, blinking rapidly a few times.
"Stop bloody jokin'!" she screamed, causing everyone to flinch. "Alex is gone!"
"She wants to leave to find him," Brax said quickly, stepping forward. "Those people were professionals, Thete."
"You don't care!" Rose yelled. "Any of you!"
"That's unfair, of course we care," Brax said.
"He's my baby and he's gone and nobody bloody cares!"
"Rose," the Doctor suddenly said quickly, resting his hands on her shoulders and consequently getting blood over her. "Remember, they took Alex and Jack. Wherever Jack is, Alex is too. Jack will take care of him. And Brax is right, those people were fully-equipped and had everything planned down to the last detail - they're powerful and well-organised and running straight into this isn't going to help Jack or Alex. Jack won't let me down. He'll look after Alex. Actually, Alex will probably look after him. Now…" He paused, frowning and dropping his hands. "... Wait, what was I saying?"
Martha quickly moved in. "He's very concussed," she told Rose, before looking at the Doctor. "Doctor, you need to rest."
"But I need to finish my painting," the Doctor said seriously.
Rose stared at him. The tears were still rolling down her face.
The Doctor smiled briefly, reaching up to wipe a few from her cheek. "Crying again," he said quietly, before dropping his arm again and spontaneously passing out.
"Oh God," she muttered, dropping her head into her hands.
"When we know what we are dealing with then we can go and save Jack and Alex," Brax said quietly, cutting through the atmosphere like a blunt knife. "Do not act with haste."
She sighed, her shoulders heaving.
"And I swear on Rassilon's crown that if they have done anything to him then I will respond in kind," Braxiatel finished softly.
She looked up at him through her fingers, and finally nodded.
"Okay," she muttered.
Next time...
"Maghmar is black market, it's illegal, for a very good reason!" Brax yelled in his brother's face. "And look at the dosage you took!"
He reached up and pulled a stitch out of the Doctor's head. The Doctor yelped in pain, blocking his brother from doing it again. But the fresh wound was already healing, just like his head had.
"You're already healing, your bruise has gone!" Brax shouted, jabbing him in the face. There was no longer a bruise under his eye. "You took a whole capful, didn't you!?"
The Doctor pulled back, glaring fiercely at Braxiatel. "Oh no, Brax!" he began insincerely. "Maybe the dosage will kill me!?"
Brax fell silent.
