"It's a right bit eerie, isn't it?" Mickey asked, peering out of the shadow they were hiding in and taking in the London streets. There wasn't much left and normally this area was controlled by the Toclafane but tonight - for some reason - there were none.
"More than eerie" Rose agreed softly, her finger held steadfast at the trigger of her gun. You could never be too careful these days. "Where do you think they are?" Jake rasped from somewhere in the background, looking to Rose for guidance. Rose was the most experienced in this field and for once in her life, Rose Tyler really wished she wasn't.
"I have no idea but .. It can't be good." she replied softly, finally tearing her eyes away from the vacant streets to look at her companions. The sun was well on it's way down and she could barely see anymore. "I think Saxon might be up to something though. Things have been off lately and I'd heard from one of the Torchwood members in Wales that there was a major attack well on it's way and if that's the case we need to grab as much as we possibly can to stock up. We can't have the whole of headquarters going hungry or we'll be shit out of luck." Rose explained in a harsh whisper and the two men nodded in agreement.
"I'd say we're already shit out of luck" Mickey murmured after a few seconds and Rose let out a small bitter laugh. "Ay, hear hear. I'm right with you." she agreed and Mickey gave her a small smile and a nod whilst Jake looked ahead into the street. "Think it's clear?" he asked hesitantly and Rose held up a finger as if to say wait before looking. "Alright, coast is clear. The barracks are just down the way, about 5 blocks. If we get separated you know where to meet up. There. We'll try to be about 10 minutes but if one of us falls behind wait approximately thirty before leaving. If you're the one left behind stay in the barracks till the morning. We'll report back then to see." the brunette explained quickly though they all knew this routine quite well. They never had to deal with the what if the stranded individual wasn't there the next morning. It was too much to think about for the trio of young adults.
"Ready - on three" Rose whispered after a moment, "and one, two, three!"
--
"He's two" Grady began as the three adults plus Robbie situated themselves on the couch in the common area. Robbie had curled up next to the Doctor and in his sleep his head came to rest in his lap. He was now unconsciously stroking the boys hair.
"So, he grew up in the war then?" The Doctor asked, cutting off Donna since they were all under the impression that she knew all this. Unfortunately she was not the Donna Noble they all knew so well so her role in this house would be much harder than his.
"Ay, he did" Tumnus acknowledged the question with a nod. "And Jac -- his mother?" the Doctor asked trying to keep himself in control and not fly off the handle or dare he say it - cry. The last time he had shed a tear was when he said good bye to Rose and now he felt all the more like crying since he had left her in a world like this.
"The day the Prime Minister, if you could call him that, was elected was the day this all began. Saxon had us all fooled -- I mean bloody hell I even voted for him" the man said, shaking his head and giving his hair a tug. "Fuck" he mumbled under his breath shaking his head some more.
"It's alright" Donna returned softly, standing and moving over to Grady's chair to hop up on the arm and rest a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Donna Noble was really growing into a good sidekick and now with Rose back the Tardis team would be, quite frankly, brilliant. Still, the Doctor worried, would she want to come with him and would they even be able to get out of here? Would she leave Robbie behind and if she did come would he come with?
The Doctor looked down at the blond boy whilst Grady had his spout of insecurity, realizing what he was doing and knitting his brow together but still he continued. The Tardis was no place for a child to grow up but neither was this. He only hoped he could return it to the way it should have been - fix this disaster and be on his way with Rose at his side hopefully. If the history of this war held true to the one on parallel earth then the Paradox machine was the key.
Finally, Grady cleared his throat and the Doctor peered up, urging the man to continue. "A lot of people died that day. Nearly 1/3 of the population. Not just London's - the world. It was like -- G-d it was like the sky opened up and down rained death. As a boy I always assumed hell was beneath us, who knew it would come from above?" he said his voice growing hoarse and he steadied himself and tried to continue. "My family, I lost them. All of them. I was on the other side of London and they were at home. They attacked the residences first before continuing without rhyme or reason. That same day, Torchwood went down. No one quite knows what went on inside aside from Rose, Jake, Mickey, and Pete"
The Doctor nodded, his face showing recognition at the names and so he had to ask, "Are they still alive, Mickey, Pete, and Jake?" Despite having a bit of a dislikement towards the boy he still thought Mickey was a pretty brilliant bloke. In truth it probably had to do with the idea of him touching Rose .
"Yes" Grady said, letting the Doctor exhale the breath he had been holding and smiling. "Pete Tyler is the head of Torchwood and he's constantly moving from city to city … or well .. The cities that still have people in them that is. There are multiple headquarters and safe houses spread out across the eastern wall. The Americas, we don't quite know. Contact is nearly impossible but we find our ways. Rose is the head of most of England so you can imagine the foot work she does. Mainly, this is her home though. Mickey and Jake are with her where she goes, they go. They've been through a lot I suppose. Seen a lot even before this, or so people say" Grady explained with a small shrug before clearing his throat and continuing.
"Anyway, the first day - yeah?" Grady took a deep breath and sighed before trudging onward. "When they attacked Torchwood - well - Rose said that her Mum got in the way. I think she blames herself. See, the shot that killed Jackie was meant for Rose. The Master himself had headed down at that time for the sole purpose of finding her. I don't know how he knew about her already … it was like he could see it. Like he cheated and skipped ahead in time." he said and the Doctor only nodded. If the Master here was a Time Lord then he was certain he had. Was there a him, he couldn't help but wonder.
"I see .." was all the Doctor could say, looking down at Robbie and falling deep into thought. "I know that look" Donna said after a moment, causing the Doctor's head to jerk up to see who she meant before realizing it was him. Donna gave him an affectionate smile. "C'mon, let's head upstairs then Grady" she said, giving the Doctor's shoulder a squeeze before exiting the room - Grady trailing behind - and leaving the Doctor alone in his thoughts.
--
Breathing heavily, Rose Tyler flattened herself against the side of the food barrack and squeezed her eyes shut - willing herself to either become invisible or sink through the siding into the place she was meant to be. As a girl, she always thought things like that would work and because of it she had broken plenty of bones.
Each break told a story; the day she learned she couldn't fly, the day she learned if Mickey jumped on the other side of the sea-saw she would not shoot into outer space, the day she learned she couldn't skateboard.
Rose wasn't thinking about such memories though she was only thinking about what would happen if she was caught. There was a good chance she would be killed on the spot but there was also a good chance she would be taken in to Saxon and then what? Torture was what she figured and she felt her blood run cold at the idea. Still, how much more pain could she ever be in? Swallowing loudly, she peeked an eye open and found the space before her … vacant.
Checking the left, then the right, she slowly crept along before making her way into the barrack and discovering she was the last one in.
"And where have you been? We were worried!" Mickey said harshly and Rose, out of breath, shook her head. "You know how I said the streets were basically vacant?" she asked to which the boys nodded, "I lied" she finished and they both made an 'Oh' noise.
"You okay?" Jake asked, stopping in the middle of stuffing his sack with canned goods. Rose nodded, "Yeah, yeah, fine - just out of breath" she explained, clutching her chest and leaning against the wall. Jake nodded and Mickey went over to her, offering her their canteen before going back to work.
After taking a long sip, Rose closed her eyes and sighed before slinging her bag off her shoulder and opening it. They had to hurry, now that she knew Toclafane were out there it would be much more difficult maneuvering their way back to the safe house without getting caught or being followed.
--
"Do you know how he knows the Tylers?" Grady asked. Donna and Grady had returned to the kitchen, sitting awkwardly across from one another which surprised the dark haired man as they had never been awkward before. In fact, Donna had always been one of his closer mates in the house and so when she had gone missing he was devastated.
Pausing momentarily, Donna thought about how to go about explaining this while still making sense before continuing. "I know he met Rose when she was .. Mmmm .. 18? 19? 19 I think, yeah, 19." she said with a nod. It was impossible to be around the Doctor without some mention of his long lost companion. "They got along quite well as you can imagine, became great mates and started traveling together." she explained and Grady listened intently.
"Was it the war that separated them then? If they were so close?" the man asked and Donna hesitated before deciding that was the best explanation since she barely understood the void herself. She certainly couldn't explain it to another individual. "Yes, she believes him to be dead I think." Donna added in to explain the surprise Rose would no doubt exhibit upon seeing him.
Of course, Donna was simply dying of curiosity herself as to what Rose looked like and how she would react upon seeing the Doctor. Having not caught a glimpse of the picture earlier, she wanted to know how this reunion ago and just how close she was to the Doctor.
Donna honestly couldn't see the Doctor in a romantic relationship but then again she was not attracted to him to begin with and of course he hadn't exhibited any normal male tendencies because while not only was he not a human he had also been suffering from losing Rose the entire time she knew him. Maybe she would bring out a different side of him.
She'd have to wait and see she supposed.
--
"C'mon Mickey we're almost there" Rose said, urging her childhood friend on as they trudged along the back allies leading to the safe house. They needed to get home and they needed to get home soon. More Toclafane would no doubt be returning and returning soon. After all, she had been seen and if they had gotten a scan of her face they'd know it was her and Saxon's search crews would go out on the double.
She felt like kicking herself for being so foolish and slipping up so immensely. Now they knew for certain that she was in the area, having avoided being caught earlier. On her own in the field without any other agents she was vulnerable and so scanning her was much more likely. Oh bloody hell.
"Almost there" Rose repeated again as they rounded a corner, barely missing a Toclafane as it zipped past. Holding back a gasp, Rose sucked in her breath willing any noise they had made during the past few seconds to dissipate as she watched the alien being continue on it's way - the three proper humans remaining undetected. Holding back a sigh to risk exposure, Rose chose to begin communicating with her hands rather then her words and the three dashed across to the next alley - appearing on the outskirts of their head quarters just minutes later.
"Here take my bag and go around the front, I'm going in the back to check on Robbie. You lot get this in the kitchen." she said in a whisper and Mickey and Jake just nodded - taking her bag and watching her round the corner before going in through the front.
Creeping up around the side, Rose still kept a sharp eye out despite being relatively safe. Opening the back door, if you could call it that, and sneaking in backwards, her gun still pointed at the door as she backed down the hall. The moment her body was entirely in though, she shut it and set the alarms up once more, sighing and resting her head against the door to collect herself.
Little did she know, her entrance had been noticed but not by an enemy in fact by the exact opposite - by the Doctor. Having not seen her face and not knowing that Rose was now a natural brunette, he assumed it was someone else and watched as the woman leaned against the door, remaining silent as it seemed like she needed a moment to herself.
Still, after about 5 minutes he grew worried and making sure he kept his voice down he let out a whisper. "Oi, are you alright over there? Are you hurt, do you need help?" he whispered, keeping his eyes trained on the woman and noting immediately that she tensed up. "Sorry" he said then, "didn't mean to startle you."
Of course, the Doctor didn't know that the reason tension returned to her tired muscles was not because she hadn't been expecting to hear another voice but rather because the voice she did hear was so familiar that she could hardly bare it.
Swallowing loudly, Rose tried not to panic or freak out because the voice that was currently penetrating her thoughts couldn't possibly belong to the man or rather Time Lord she thought it did. It was her imagination playing tricks on her again and still her heart sped up and her breathing grew unsteady as she leaned against the door before gently pushing back to stare at the wood for a second longer.
Meanwhile, the Doctor looked on in silence as the woman grew a bit frantic and he in turn felt terrible for throwing her off guard. "Listen, miss I'm terribly sorry for intruding it's just" he began, allowing Robbie to slip from his lap as he stood, "You seemed distraught and I was wondering if --"
And it was then that Rose turned around and the Doctor's breath caught in his throat as he took her in as did Rose's. "Rose" he whispered gently and much to his surprise the blond turned brunette shook her head and backed up against the door, her face growing frantic. "No" she said softly shaking her head "No, no, no"
Well, that was certainly unexpected.
