Hello!
I've not recieved so many reviews as I did for the last chapter.
Oooh so happy *squeals*
You know, reviews are what feeds a writer after all!
Oh, and don't listen to disney songs while trying to
write Nine, it gets weird.
Onwards!

Chapter Ten

Lost in this world total stranger
Death by the sword a common danger
You know that everything is not what it seems
March on all night forever searching
Daylight ahead is only lurking
Break through the walls and use the power of your dreams

Dragonforce - Once In A Lifetime

The cold night air hit her hot skin with a vengeance as soon as they exited the building without getting their coats. She shivered ever so slightly in the April air, spring was here but the chilly winter air still lingered; even though London probably would be much colder this time of the year. John had long legs, so Rose almost had to run to keep up with him as they walked in silence towards the cabins. He still held her hand. She wondered if he did it unconsciously, or if he did it on purpose. She suspected the first one. Rose herself very much enjoyed human contact, and maybe John was the same even though he obviously pretended not to be. She desperately wanted to touch her burning lips, still in a daze about what had happened just a few minutes earlier. Well, they had to do something, something that wouldn't raise any suspicions to what they had been doing in reality (snooping around), but she'd be lying if she'd say that she hadn't been enjoying it, because she had. Oh, very much so, probably too much considering why they had been doing it in the first place. She was hot and cold and shivering and yearning, almost so bad that she wanted to beg him to ravish her once they were back in the cabin, but she had a bit more self-respect than that, she was not one to beg. And besides, that would probably ruin the small ground they had gained with each other. It was hard to know what to do, what would be the best. But Rose was quite sure that John wouldn't mention it, more like pretending that nothing had happened, as if it was nothing. And it was nothing. Or more like it should be nothing, just something they had been forced to do for the mission. Roses feelings on the matter was something else entirely, but she had no clue to how he thought or felt, so she decided then and there that she too would pretend like nothing, unless he brought it up (but he wouldn't, she was quite sure of that, if she could read him at all).

They didn't really talk once they got back to the cabin. Rose hurried into the bathroom, intent on just taking a quick shower to wash away the make-up and to collect herself mentally. So she did just that, and grimaced at her own reflection in the mirror as she got into her pyjamas. She felt safe in it, as if it was some kind of armour, though she did not feel as seductive as she had in that lovely golden dress. She exited the bathroom, the floor cold against her bare feet, and she went directly to the bedroom, John was already in there, lying on his side in the bed. She lifted the cover and slid down beside him on the side where she had slept this whole time in Italy. The bed was large – larger than one would expect in a little cabin – so she wasn't really close to him (not that she didn't want to… because she certainly did). She shifted over to lie on her side, facing him but his back was against her, as it usually was, so she just fixed her eyes on his neck, watching his body moved ever so slightly with each breath. Then tension in the muscles in his shoulders told her that he was not yet asleep, even though he pretended to be. Rose sighed and cuddled down deeper in the pillow.

"I wonder if they were following us," she wondered out aloud.

"… It is possible." His answer came after a moment of silence. She still had her eyes on his neck but he didn't turn around.

"What do you think we should do about Jeremy Jordan?" Rose asked then. She could not for the world of it remember his real name, but it was something similar, she was sure of that at least. Jack had just showed her a picture of him when talking about Lumic operatives and some he would work with on a mission about a year ago. Somehow Rose had managed to remember his face.

"Am I the boss of this mission?" He countered her question with one of his own, sounding amused as he did. Rose shrugged a bit, although he couldn't see it, he could probably sense it.

"Well, you're the senior agent after all. Myself, I think we should talk to him."

"Mm, you might be right, you might," he said to her enormous surprise. She had not expected him to agree with her on this one because well, it could be utterly stupid. And dangerous, and all sorts of things like that.

"Or we could forward this to our superiors," she suggested, but she was sure he'd not approve of the idea.

They were supposed to tell them things, but she was sure that they'd either ruin the mission by telling Lumic about Jeremy Jordans' deflection (if it was such, then it would surely ruin things) or they'd try to figure out what he was doing there and probably scare him away, if he was the spy they were looking for. If he was, then talking to him would ruin things too, of course. It was a delicate situation, to say the least. Rose wasn't sure what would be the best. But she had a feeling that John was not the kind of man to ask for any kind of help from his bosses, even if his mission took an unexpected turn. He was more the kind of man to take it in stride and figure something out.

"D'you think so?" John said, interrupting her chain of thoughts.

"Nope!" She replied cheerily. He softly let out an amused chuckle that made her feel warm all over.

"Didn't think you would," he surprised her by saying but did not elaborate on that any further.

Rose wasn't a computer wiz by any means, but she wasn't bad with them either. The morning had come quickly and she had not slept well, so when she awoke the last time she decided to get up. John was still sleeping and she had watched him for a minute or two before getting up from the bed and getting into the kitchen, making herself a nice, warm cup of tea before settling in front of her laptop. She might not be great but she was in fact better than most, and she owed all of those skills to Mickey. He was a computer genius, and his government work was top-class secrets. Rose had been tempted to call him up and ask him to check out Jeremy Jordan, but had decided against it, she did not want to get her friend in trouble. So she snooped around, hacking wasn't something she often did – and certainly not hacking her own workplace, which Lumic was, in a sense – being a Torchwood branch. Lumics homepage and database wasn't an easy nut to crack, but she was skilled and patient and it took her about forty-five minutes to get to where she wanted. And it took about half an hour more for John to wake up and walk out in the kitchen. Rose had just made a new kettle of tea so gestured for him to take some; she was still engrossed in the computer. John made himself a cup of tea, and eyed her warily. She had figured out that he was a man of action and not the kind of man who enjoyed sitting in front of a computer screen. Luckily for him, she had some skills in that department (she made a mental note that this might be one of the reasons why they had been paired together for this mission).

"What are you up to?" He asked while sipping on his tea.

"Oh, just breaking into government protected sites," Rose sing-songed happily.

John raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head, sitting down on the other chair just across the table, still looking at her. What surprised her was that the look on his face said that he believed her, and somehow did not mind what she was doing. How very refreshing.

"James Moore has taken some time off, according to Lumic," Rose said and took a sip of her own tea, her eyes locked with Johns, and he was intensely listening to her.

"That's Jeremy Jordan, then?" His question wasn't really a question, but he still phrased it as one, and Rose nodded in affirmation.

"It is. I've done some digging my mentor would be proud of, and Mr Moore's younger brother seems to be missing. I've dug some more, and he's a recovering heroin addict." Rose tapped the side of her nose thoughtfully. "James Moore is known for being… well, he can be violent, always gets the job done, but he's not known to be gentle. The bosses are at his heels constantly. Such a man would attract the Master, don't you think?"

John nodded and hummed, his eyes were distracted, he was obviously pondering the new information she had given him.

"And the brother is somehow used as bait."

"I would think so at least."

"And I would agree with you. Very well done, Rose." He beamed at her with a huge grin across his handsome face, that rare, maniac grin that made Roses insides go all hot and wibbly-wobbly.

"So… how do we proceed?" She asked, wanting to her his opinion. "Talking could scare him away and we can't be sure that he's the spy. He might be searching for the Master and his brother – if that's the case – or he could be the spy after all..."

John sat down his cup on the table and rubbed his temples, thinking about what she just had said. Rose couldn't help but feeling a tiny bit proud of herself. She had asked the right questions and he seemed to take her seriously, like an agent to another, not as if she was someone he had to drag along, like she had felt from the beginning. Getting a tony approval hadn't really been as hard as she had initially thought, though. John seemed to think that she was serious about her job and that seemed to settle things for him, and she was glad about that. Having to constantly prove herself to him and work on the mission at the same time would have been a little too much even for her.

"I'm not sure," John confessed. "What d'you think?"

Was he actually asking her? Oh yes he was, and his icy blue (and oh so beautiful) eyes watched her, a calculating look on his face. A test, no doubt about that. Or a way to measure her somehow?

"Well," Rose said and stretched her arms behind her, "how about we go along and make something up when it comes to that, yeah?" That was the right answer it seemed, because that adorable grin that was so him lit up his face once again.

"Fantastic."

It would be a beautiful day, Rose could tell. The birds sang in the air, and a soft breeze ruffled her hair as she and John walked to Volta from their cabin. They held hands, again. She wondered once again if he thought anything about it or if it was something that just was. Or if he thought about it as something to solidify the roles they played. Maybe she thought about it too much herself. Yeah, she probably did. But it was hard not to, when she somehow had fallen in love with the man in question, who held her hand and mostly shielded her from the somewhat chilly breeze.

John disappeared into his laboratory at once when they arrived at Volta, and Rose slowly made her way to her office. She hung her coat and then her phone beeped happily in her pocket. It was a text from Jack, the first one she'd gotten since she left for Italy. "Out of the hospital now, nothing to worry about. Mom and Dad say hi, and give our love to your man ;) xx." She rolled her eyes. But then again, they had to be like that when on a mission, one never knew who'd find the phone. She'd delete the message but it was a precautionary measure. She put the phone back in her pocket without answering, she might reply later. Rose had just started up her computer when her door burst open and Jake sauntered in with a large grin on his face, his white teeth shining.

"So I head you and Dr Tyler had a bit of fun in the laboratory last night," he said and suggestively waggled his eyebrows so that she had to laugh.

"We tried but got interrupted," she said and managed to keep her face straight even though the laughter bubbled inside of her.

"I want to hear all about it later!" He turned around and said it over his shoulder as he walked out of her office, leaving her to her chores.

Rose chuckled to herself, and then it hit her. Jake! She had had so much on her mind that she totally had forgotten about him and Jeremy Jordan aka James Moore. What was Jakes role in all of this?

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Until next time!

/Lady Tisala