Chapter 10 "No Answer"
Her skin suddenly cold, Rose Tyler had seconds' worth of warning before she vomited again, this time painfully. Head spinning and pounding, her senses seemed to sharpen, the faint and indistinct clouds behind her eyes suddenly gone before she realised that they'd been there in the first place. She felt sober.
'Oh my god,' she thought, 'I HAD been drugged…'
It all began to make sense to her: why she hadn't gone back to the TARDIS, why she had flipped out when she'd seen the Doctor with that woman… the perfume had been supplied by hotel… and the hotel's job was to get you into bed with your intended…
She was a hormonal head case. And she really needed to apologize to the Doctor.
XXXX
"Hey, get off!" Captain Jack Harkness shouted as he was thrown roughly into his cell, "You just wait, buddy, you don't know who you're dealing with…"
"Captain Jack Harkness," a female voiced cooed, "yes, I thought I recognised the face."
Jack watched as a brunette with killer cheekbones and in killer heels stepped into his line of vision.
"Mischka?"
"Hello, Captain. Long time no see." She laughed, gesturing to the guards to tie him up.
"Mischka, baby, wait!"
"Don't baby me, Jack. I've got to go now, bigger fish than you to fry. And besides that…" she glanced down at his glare, "You even said yourself that we were a one time thing."
She glanced up again, "And I'd hate to have to go back on something you'd already decided."
Jack watched as the girl he'd once spent the entire ride to the planet Midnight having sex with, disappear down the corridor. 'How was she mixed up in Rose and the Doctor's disappearances?'
Beside him in the cell, Luxury groaned as the chloroform the guards had used to drag them into custody finally began to wear off.
"What's going on?" he mumbled.
"I don't know," Jack said, "But I really want to find out."
XXXX
The Doctor felt, more than heard Mischka's return as she slid to speak into his ear. The armed guards standing around them shuffled about as she laughed cruelly in his face.
"I've just come back from speaking to a mutual friend of ours," she said, "A certain Captain Jack Harkness"
"Now listen to me," he grunted, his teeth clenched together, "We're the last children of Gallifrey. We can help each other. Help to rebuild ourselves. You don't have to do this, please."
Mischka, who had begun to pace the room, abruptly stopped and swivelled round. She bore down on the Doctor like a tiger attacking its prey.
"I've listened to you for long enough. I want you to listen to me. I will make good on my promise if you don't surrender the TARDIS. And just to make sure you know that I'm deadly serious," she pressed a button and the screen showing Rose alone in her cell changed to a shot of Jack sitting in his cell with Luxury, "I'll have a little target practice."
She snapped her fingers and suddenly the Doctor could see Jack being led away, flanked by three guards, all with guns. They led him to a dark room. Before he could scream in protest, the Doctor heard a series of gunshots and saw the body of his friend slump down to the ground.
"What have you done, you crazy bitch?" he yelled as Mischka laughed at the screen. A couple of guards walked over to the body and kicked it to make sure that it was lifeless.
"He was pretty… it was a waste, I suppose… but I've never been a fan of 'waste not want not'."
She looked at the Doctor and then at the screen. "I'm not bullshitting. I will kill Rose if you don't do what I say."
"Yes," The Doctor whispered, his eyes filling with tears at the sight of his friend's body on the screen, "I believe you".
XXXX
The guards on duty outside Jack's death chamber were bored and cold. They'd worked long shifts and were more than ready to retire to bed with a swift shot of vodka and a warm blanket. Their idea of guarding meant guarding something living, not something dead. So they'd abandoned the corpse and got the hell out of the way.
Which worked out for the best, really, as that meant that there were no witnesses to see Captain Jack Harkness rise from the dead and stumble to his feet.
Which literally speaking, was easier all round.
XXXXX
The male attendant at the front desk of the Chateau Rose was getting really rather pissed off with his co-worker's sudden disappearance. In fact, he was getting more than pissed off – he was full out angry.
"Any sign?" he said when Elodie came into view. She shook her head and shrugged before disappearing again, towards the lifts. He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It had been a long day.
No one seemed to understand how stressful his job actually was: he was the one in charge of finding the appropriate outfits for the guests, getting them to the correct rooms, setting the requested ambiance, sorting out any requests and all with the utmost discreet. And sometimes it drove him crazy
Today was one of those days.
Equally, no one seemed to understand that by working towards getting couples closer he had no time to find romance for himself. Many a night he had sat at home with a bottle of whiskey, lamenting the fact that he was alone.
And why would men and women fancy him anyway? 'Concierge', he called himself - when in fact he was no more than a glorified pimp.
"Excuse me?" a voice on the other side of the counter said. He looked up. Standing before him was one of the girls that the 'Captain' with the cheesy accent had checked in with.
"Oui, madam?"
She giggled. "I was wondering if you had seen Jack. You know, the guy we came in with… he seems to have disappeared."
'Everyone's disappearing tonight. It seems like a convention,' he thought.
"I'm very afraid I haven't seen him, madam. If I do, however, I will be sure to tell him that you are looking for him."
"Gee, I love your accent," she gushed, "It's so sexy. I'm Amy, by the way."
"Is there anything else I can do for you, Amy?" he said, his worries momentarily aside as he tried not to make a fool of himself. She giggled.
"Tell me your name, stranger. I've never known a Frenchman before…"
He dropped his voice to a whisper. "I'm not really supposed to give out my first name…"
"Oh, come on, you can trust me. I won't tell a soul. I promise…" She pouted, sexily.
He sighed. "Oh, alright then. My name's Pierre."
"Pierre?! Really?" She squealed. He shushed her, looking around at the people milling around in the lobby on their way to the bar.
"That's so sexy," she smiled.
"Do you find everything sexy?" he asked, his voice slightly higher than usual. She giggled, obviously happy with his fascination.
"Within reason," she replied.
"I'll keep a lookout for Captain Harkness…" He offered, standing straight as he realised he was hunched over the counter.
"No need to darling," she said, "I'd much rather have you. What time do you get off work?"
Pierre suppressed a sigh. Now more than ever, he wished that Mischka had not run off and left him.
XXXXX
"Time's up Doctor," Tanya said as she and Mischka re-entered the room, "You need to make your decision."
"There was no decision to make," The Doctor said, his eyes dark, "You know what I choose."
"Ah, but, we really don't. You're notorious for leading us on. I hope you don't have some cockamamie scheme to get out of this…" Mischka laughed.
"Nope. No scheme." The Doctor sounded tense, as if he were being strangled.
"Well then, why don't you enlighten us?"
The two women looked positively delirious as they gestured for the guards to come and listen.
"Go on then, tell us what you decide."
The Doctor fixed them with a glare. "Rose," he whispered, "I decide to save Rose."
tbc