"Rose River" AU
'River Run'
Chapter Ten
- Tears and Empathy -

A/N: Short chapter this time, sorry.

Staring at the Doctor behaving like this was something that Jack wasn't sure how to deal with. Other than the fact that he liked staring at the man, which was starting to feel more and more weird as time went on, it was the way that he was currently kneeling down with a hand on the plexiplate glass that had him unsettled. That wasn't it either, but the fact that Janet was doing the same exact thing? That's what had his hackles up.

He couldn't do anything except gape stupidly at what they were doing. Janet wasn't even snarling, which was confusing as hell. Instead, she had a hand on the glass – on the opposite side. If the glass wasn't there, her left hand would have been pressed up against the Doctor's right.

As it was, it looked like the two were having some sort of communication. It wasn't telepathic, exactly, but it was damned unsettling to the ex time agent. He was startled when they both slowly stood. Unlike her normal hunched stance, however, Janet had her back straight. Their hands moved in tandem, until their fingertips touched through one of the holes in the glass.

"How long has it been, hmm?" the Doctor mused aloud. A strange mewling answered him, with a bit of chitter and, of all things, a hiccup. "That's a terribly long time," the Doctor seemed to answer. "And the lot of you just ran, did you?" Some more murmuring, and the Doctor nodded absently. "Yes, I know. Thick lot, humans. Any chance some bulls got through with you?"

Janet looked like she sneezed, and the Doctor broke their fingertip contact when he backed up. "Right, sorry. Personal. Got it. I'll do my best though. Promise."

Jack's eyes went wide when Janet actually nodded at him, then went back to her normal crouched position. "Wh… what was that all about?"

"Empathic species, the Scorx," the Doctor mused. "She's quite fond of you, by the way, not like any other female isn't, but she bears no ill will towards you. You've been taking right care of her." He turned his head to pop a quick glare at Jack. "Still, she's a bit miffed that you lot seem to like to pop bits of lead at them, not that it actually hurts them much. Stings like the devil, but still. One thing she's curious about, is where you got a hold of Hennock root. They hate it, and you seem to spray bits of it at them when they get hungry."

Standing there with the typical 'dribbling on the shirt' expression, Jack was looking back and forth between them. "Uhh… what?"

Sighing with a roll of the eyes, the Doctor glanced at Janet. "We'll be back." Turning back to Jack, he took him by the arm and led him out of the cell level. "Human brain," he muttered. "Need to fix that."

Jack just let himself be led, and stared at him in complete confusion as to what he was talking about. He wasn't sure, but there was every possibility that his shirt was starting to become soaked with dribble at this point.

The sound of the rolling door opening got Mickey's attention, and he stood as Celeste led Sylvia into the hub. He would've objected, but was cut off. "Ah yes, there you are. Be a good lad and see if Ianto has some refreshments on standby, would you please? There's a good boy."

Not knowing if he was being placated, overrun, or condescended to, Mickey simply blinked once and set about searching for Ianto with a simple "Yes, ma'am." One thing was definite, the Doctor got that gob honestly. And, as so far as distractions go, he found that she was a damn sight better at it that he was. This of course, he found out about a minute later as he heard the TARDIS door open and shut behind him.

He was standing there with his mouth hanging open when the Doctor led Jack into the room by his elbow. An annoying repetitious clicking in his face got his attention.

"Hello, Earth to Mickey," the Doctor said. "Why are you staring at my TARDIS like it just did a tango or something?"

"Celeste just brought Mrs. Noble in, and took her in there," he said rather stupefyingly. "Can see where you get it though, Boss. She just breezed in and through, with me tripping over myself."

Snickering, the Doctor was all grins. "Ah, yes. Mum always had a way of, well, getting her way. Don't feel too bad about it. She's tongue tied dignitaries who have doctorates in the art of the filibuster."

Jack tilted his head. "So that's where you got it from."

The Doctor turned to give him an appraising look. "You think that's bad, you should hear the two of us argue."

"You mean her overrunning your backpedalling protests?" Jack smirked.

"Hush," the Doctor scowled. "At any rate, and I'm loathe to admit it, I'm actually glad she was able to get Sylvia over here."

At the door to the pool room, Celeste had an arm around Sylvia's shoulders. Looking in, she sent a thread of thought into the room. 'Rose, Jennifer, give us a moment if you please.' She nodded when they both looked up from the table. 'You as well, John.'

'I think it might be better if I were close by for this one, if you don't mind,' John answered. While Jenny and Rose stood, taking their food with them, John reached over to take his wife's hand. "Donna? Comp'ny," he said quietly.

Blinking, Donna sat straighter in her seat and simply stared at the wall. She could see Celeste and her mother with her peripheral vision, and bit her lip in apprehension. Unwilling to look in their direction, she turned her head so they slipped out of her line of sight completely. Instead, she looked a bit fearfully into John's eyes. 'Don't make me do this.'

John held her gaze with quiet understanding, and she inwardly cringed when she heard the echoing footsteps coming closer. It was ridiculously simple in determining everyone's gate as they walked. Panicking a little, Donna reached out to Rose with her mind. 'Stay? Please?' she asked in a small voice.

'We're at the door,' Rose answered. 'Just shout and we'll be there.'

Donna actually jumped when her mother put a hand on her shoulder. If that wasn't enough, she heard something she never dreamed to hear. "I'm sorry."

Seeing this new Donna turn to look at her with large eyes and twin trails of tears on her cheeks, Sylvia felt more than a little guilty. In fact, she felt quite tiny over making her daughter cry. A small sound came out of her throat, and she bent down to hug her.

The chair made a slight screech on the floor, as Donna stood up like a shot and wrapped her arms around her mother. She couldn't say anything and simply held her, shaking.

"I'm so sorry," Sylvia mumbled into her shoulder. "You're always so headstrong, and I don't know what… All this alien stuff; you looking so different; why would you even need me any more?" she whined.

"You're my mum!" Donna shouted. "I don't care what I look like, you're always going to be my mum!"

Pulling back a bit, Sylvia wiggled a finger in her ear. "I think that proves you're still my daughter. Think I'm deaf," she said with a wince.

They shared watery smiles with each other over that, and hugged again. John stood back with a huge grin on his face, with his arms crossed. Glancing over to Celeste, he mouthed 'thank you'.

Watching all of that from the door, Jenny's smile dropped and she snapped a glance at Rose when she felt a pang coming from her. Sidestepping closer, she put an arm around her. "You okay mum?"

Rose flashed a brief and very fake smile at her. "Will be. I'll … just … 'scuse me." Turning, she went down the corridor at a brisk pace, leaving a slightly confused Jenny just staring at her retreat.