Chapter 8
Rose curled up on her bed, staring up at the ceiling as her phone rang. If there was one person she had never been able to lie to, it was Jackie Tyler. She'd know something was wrong as soon as she heard Rose's voice.
There was a click, and Rose grimaced, forcing herself to sound cheerful. "Hey, Mum."
"Rose! Oh, I'm glad you called, sweetheart, I've been meaning to call you. You'd never guess who I ran into in town the other day."
She blinked, her focus shifting from the comforting, coppery glow of the ceiling. "Who?"
"Well, I told you to guess, didn't I?"
"Mum, I don't know. Cousin Mo?"
"Of course it's not your cousin Mo, she hasn't been in town since the wedding—and don't think I haven't noticed that you haven't called me since then. Honestly, just because you're married now doesn't mean you don't have a mother any longer."
Rose winced. "Sorry, Mum. We've just been dashing from place to place, and it's easy to forget how much time passes out here."
"'Course it is, you don't need to tell me what you two have been up to. I was married once, too, y'know."
"Mum!"
"Oh, come on. You're a married woman, Rose, this shouldn't be a surprise to you."
She groaned and yanked a pillow over her head. "Who was it you ran into, then?"
"Fine, be that way." There was a rustle at the other end of the line, and Jackie sighed in contentment. "There, that's better. You know, I've been trying out a new bra I just got from Marks & Spencer, and I swear it was designed by a robot. I think I'll take it back and see if I can get a refund. God, that thing's uncomfortable."
"Mum. Who did you see?"
"Well, I don't know why you called if you don't want to talk." At Rose's groan of frustration, she tutted. "If it's that important, I'll tell you. Honestly, though, you won't believe me, especially after all that drama about how you'd never see 'im again—and I call that a dirty trick, really. I've missed 'im, I really have, and it was nice to see him again, even if he was a bit brusque."
Rose sat up hurriedly, her eyes wide. "Wait, who did you see?"
"Oh, didn't I say that already? It was Mickey. An' I don't know what you and the Doctor were goin' on about, saying that he was gone and we'd never see 'im again. I was out doing some shopping an' there he was, plain as day." She paused. "He asked about you an' the Doctor, but I didn't tell 'im about the wedding. You get to do that, yourself."
Rose felt her stomach go into free fall even as her hand clamped down on her phone. "Listen, Mum. Mickey being here means something bad is happening, and it's happening now. I know you don't like it when I don't tell you everything, but you have to trust me on this. Please, get out of town. Go visit Mo, just don't stay in London."
Jackie's voice rose precipitously, and Rose winced. "An' how am I s'posed to do my job, then? What about Quiz Night down at the pub?"
"Listen, the Doctor and I will chip in to cover however much you'd be losing by being out of town for the next few days, but it's really not safe for you there. Please, Mum. Something big is going down, and I want you safe."
"All right. I'll call Mo and see when I can head over." For once, it seemed Jackie was actually listening to her daughter. Her voice had softened, and Rose could hear the fear in it—she hated putting it there, but some things were necessary.
"I love you, Mum. I'm sorry to put you through this, but I do love you."
"I love you too, sweetheart. Call me when you can, all right?"
"Right, will do. Bye." She hung up and stared at the phone in her hand, lost in thought. A soft voice came from the doorway.
"I'm guessing the plan to not let her know anything wrong is out, then?"
Rose glanced up and saw her husband standing in the doorway, watching her with worried eyes. "Doctor, she saw Mickey downtown. The other universe Torchwood's trying to contact—it's the one that he stayed behind in."
He nodded and joined her on the bed, and she leaned into his shoulder. "I thought that might be a possibility."
"An' you didn't think you should maybe tell me that?"
"Well, there wouldn't be much point if I was wrong, now would there?"
"Still. Mickey's back, Torchwood's tearing open a hole between the universes, and we can't go investigate, 'cause Jack'll have our heads if we do."
The Doctor rested his head against hers. "Well, we could wait for him to give us the all-clear. Or we could find out when he's planning the incursion, and go in that day. I don't think Jack's aware of Torchwood's Void experiments, and that's not something I can allow to continue."
Rose swallowed. "Jack's right, though. We are vulnerable here, and not just 'cause of Mum. What happens if one of us gets captured? If that happens, Torchwood would have the perfect leverage."
"Well, then I guess we'd better stick together, hmm?"
"You're really determined to do this, aren't you?"
"I can't just sit on the sidelines, Rose. What Torchwood's doing with the Void is big, maybe universe-ending big. I have to stop them."
She sighed. "You know, it'd be nice to not have to worry about the universe ending every week."
"Now you know how I feel." He dropped a kiss on her head and bounced to his feet, snagging his jacket before leaving the room.
Rose followed, her mind a jumble. So Mickey was back. She'd missed him, of course, but she was almost dreading seeing him again. He'd never really got on with the Doctor, and there was no way he would take the news of their marriage well—not to mention her slight case of immortality. She glanced down at her phone and winced, tucking it deep into her pocket. She still hadn't told her Mum that particular detail.
The Doctor was moving swiftly around the console, a look of deep concentration on his face. Rose sat on the jump seat, biting her lip. So despite Jack's advice, they were charging into the heart of an organization that was dedicated to capturing the Doctor. She shook her head, amused. She only wished that this was a novelty.
"…Aaaand we're here." She glanced up at the Doctor, who was grinning at the Time Rotor. "Perfectly timed, if I do say so myself. I believe Jack and the others will have just begun their raid."
"And we're goin' out into the middle of it?"
"Oh, no. We're going to the heart of the disturbance—something was just expelled from the Void a bit ago, and that's never good news." He led her to the door and opened it cheerfully, nearly running into the stunned scientist that stood outside. "Oh, hello. I'm the Doctor, who are you?"
"Dr. Singh… how did you do that?"
"Oh, old Time Lord technology. You wouldn't understand. I heard something just came out of the Void?" He stepped out of the TARDIS and peered around the empty white room curiously.
"Just a few days ago. How did you hear about it?"
"You wouldn't understand that, either." He strolled forward, eying the hovering gold sphere. "Well, now, what are you?"
A loud pounding came from the doors, and Rose glanced back to see that the TARDIS had effectively blocked the doorway. She grinned.
"Well, Doctor, looks like you parked in the right place for once."
He ignored her, but Dr. Singh glared at her. "Listen, I don't know who you people are, but I sincerely doubt you are authorized to be here."
"Oh, no. We're not. Why bother with all that paperwork? It's much more fun to just explore." The Doctor grinned disarmingly and whipped out a pair of 3-D glasses, once again peering at the sphere. He made a small pleased noise in the back of his throat and Rose joined him, Dr. Singh trailing along unhappily behind her. "I thought that might be it. Look." He handed Rose the glasses, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.
She rolled her eyes and slipped them on, only to frown when she looked at the sphere. "Wait, what's that?" A sickly black haze surrounded the sphere and when she raised her hand to wipe off the glasses, she was surprised to notice the same (if lighter) cloud hovering over her own skin. She looked at the Doctor, and he was in the same condition. "Doctor? How come you an' I have the same marks on us as that sphere?"
"It's rather simple, really. Every time someone—or something, in this case—passes through the Void, they're marked by particles of Void energy. You and I have been through a few times, so of course it shows up on us. From the density of the Void particles surrounding this ship, though, I'd say it's been in the Void for quite a while." He rested a hand on sphere without thinking, and flinched back as the smooth surface of the sphere split into seams, each folding back and allowing a brilliant white light to escape.
Dr. Singh stomped forward, yanking both of them back from the Void ship. "What have you done, you fools!"
Rose snorted, even as she clutched the Doctor's hand more tightly in her own. "Oi, don't look at me! It was all him, this time."
His eyes didn't leave the opening sphere, but his voice was dry. "Thanks for the support, Rose."
"Anytime." The ship's last panel slid away, and they could finally see what was held inside.
The Doctor's eyes grew wide, and his voice was strained as he whispered, "Impossible."
Rose's eyes suddenly blazed gold in the pristine white room, and her voice reverberated through the chamber. "No." Her hands snapped up, and a stream of golden light from the open doors of the TARDIS flew across the room to strike the four Daleks that had emerged from the ship.
In less than a minute, nothing was left of them but a pile of golden ash.
The Doctor blinked. "Well, that was anticlimactic. Not that I'm complaining, of course." He turned to look at Rose, and caught her hurriedly as she collapsed. "Whoa, there. Come on, dear heart. You've got to stop doing this to yourself. Dr. Singh?"
The Torchwood employee was watching them warily, his eyes wide. "…Yes?"
"I've got a friend who'll be here soon, a Captain Jack Harkness—you should probably just surrender when he gets here, by the way—but if you could tell him I'll be back soon, that'd be great." At that he carried Rose into the TARDIS, dematerializing and leaving Dr. Singh to face the phalanx of UNIT soldiers that had been attempting to break down the door.
