"Rose River" AU
'Four Five Six'
Chapter Ten

Jack and Martha came out of the TARDIS trying very hard not to laugh at what they had just witnessed. However, the TARDIS jingled as they stepped through the door, and whatever she said sent him into a near hysterical fit. The echoes of his laughter filled the Hub and drew the others out of the medical bay. "What'd she say?" Martha asked.

It took him a bit to settle down. "Ohhh my God, I do not envy that man. Never doing that again." he mumbled, wiping his eyes. Squeezing Martha's hand briefly, he took a seat at Gwen's station and snagged an untended water bottle at her desk. Ignoring her protests of ownership, he took a drink and tried to breathe. He looked up at Martha. "She said, 'If you think it's bad now, wait till labor'."

Martha's eye's bulged out. Blinking a few times, she looked back and forth between the TARDIS and Jack. Cackling, she managed to get out, "That settles it. I'm taking charge of both of them." Snickering for a bit, she suddenly came up short. "Hold on... since when can you understand the TARDIS?"

Jack's smile dropped. "Uhhh... since always?"

"News to me," she said.

Mickey spoke up. "What's all the ruckus?"

"Both of who?" Gwen asked at the same time.

Jack was relieved for the distraction. "You're not the only one with a happy surprise, Gwen. There's a time-bun in the oven."

Mickey looked at the TARDIS in shock, remembering what she told him a few months ago. "Rose is pregnant?"

"Is there something in the water?" Ianto asked, bemused. He chuckled when Jack set the bottle down rather quickly. A bleeping started up and he went over to his desk. "Jack, there's someone at the main entrance."

Ianto came into the 'travel office' front that disguised the main entrance to the Hub, and found an elderly gentleman in a deep brown business suit. His grey hair was short and matched his beard. He turned when Ianto came in. "Ah, yes. Mr. Jones, I presume?"

"Yes sir," Ianto replied. "May I see your identification please?" He had his right hand behind him, holding his pistol. The recent assassination attempt had him on full alert, and he didn't want to take any chances.

"Of course," the man said.

Taking it from him, he read the name and blanched. "Of course, sir, if you'll come this way please?"

"Only if you put the gun away first, young man," he said with a slight smile.

"Sorry sir," Ianto replied. Holstering his pistol, he tapped the button code to reopen the inner door. "Right this way."

The gentleman held up his hand. "One moment." Opening the outer door, he spoke to someone just outside. "Establish a perimeter, sergeant, and be mindful of any more of those blighters." Ianto heard someone reply with a 'Yes Sir,' and the gentleman turned back to him. "After you."

When the pair entered the hub, the gentleman gave the place a once over. He smiled when he noticed the TARDIS on his right. "Excellent. Might I ask which version he is this time?"

Ianto thought a moment. "I suppose a Math Professor would be the first impression I had."

"Hmmm," he nodded. "Quite. Not sure I've seen that one except in pictures. Pin stripes?"

Ianto grinned and nodded. "Rather wordy as well."

That earned a deep chuckle from him. "When has he not been?"

Jack walked over and saluted the man with a smile. "Well, the leather one was a bit laconic. Hello Brigadier."

Smiling, Alistair returned the salute. "Captain. So what in the name of Her Magesty's Government is going on? Children being hypnotized? Assassination attempts? One would think that the world has gone quite mad. Makes taking a vacation rather impossible."

Jack nodded. "I can sympathize completely. I'll be briefing everyone in about ten minutes." He turned to Ianto. "Would you mind escorting the Brigadier to the conference room?"

Ianto nodded. "This way sir."

Once the team was in the conference room, it was an additional fifteen minutes before the Time Lords made their appearance. The Doctor and John took one look at the Brigadier and beamed twin smiles at him. "Alistair!" they said in stereo. John paused while the Doctor went over to shake his hand. "Blimey, it's been a long time! How are you?"

"Confused at the moment," the Brigadier said while staring at John. "Last I remember, there was only one of you... or is this another time when two are better than one?"

Smiling wide, the Doctor turned to John. "Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, I'd like you to meet my brother, Johnathon Edward Storm."

John stepped forward to the shocked man and shook his hand. The Brigadier blinked and then scowled at the Doctor while John pumped his arm. "Why on Earth has it been this long before I've heard anything about a brother?" he half yelled.

Smirking, John looked at the Doctor. "Ten quid; Pay up." To the Brigadier, he smiled. "If you think that's something, this git got married, had a kid, and has another on the way. Although, we just found out about that last bit not twenty minutes ago," he grinned cheekily.

Rose stepped around the pair to get a better look and introduce herself. "Hello," she said with a smile. "I've heard so much about you, it's like I know you already," she said, taking his hand.

"Dame Tyler?" the Brigadier said, completely flabbergasted. "Doctor, if you keep at it with all these surprises, I'm afraid I'll simply have a coronary. Although I must say, I've wondered how long it would've been before you had your hearts stolen," he smiled.

"Oh, I gave them to her willingly," the Doctor said with a smile. Rose grinned at that and put her arm around him from the side. Turning, he waved Jenny over. "And this is our eldest, Jenny."

"Pleased to meet you sir," Jenny said when the Brigadier took her hand. She turned the handshake into a hug.

The Brigadier smiled when she pulled away. "Completely charmed." Shaking his head, he turned to Jack. "Now my dear captain, if you would do us the honor of telling us what this is all about before I fall over in a dead faint?" That got some chuckles.

Jack nodded. "If everyone would have a seat, please?" While they sat around the conference table, Mickey handed him a small remote. "Thanks, Mick."

The lights dimmed. Looking to the Brigadier, Jack started. "Sir, out of everyone here, you will know about this already."

The Brigadier raised his eyebrows. "Indeed?"

Jack took a large lungful of air, and blew out a breath. "This entire thing goes back to 1965, when a cure for an epidemic of a new strain of influenza threatened a large portion of the population."

"The 456?" The Brigadier looked alarmed. "Those cheeky blighters!" he shouted. "For the record, I was against that entire operation. The whole affair reminded me of nothing short of blackmail!"

The Doctor rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward. "Who or what are the 456?"

"We never knew," Jack said. "They only communicated with us on that frequency."

"What did they want?" John asked.

Jenny stared at Jack and blinked away the tears that started forming. What she was feeling from him was breaking her hearts. She fought the urge to snatch him up in a hug only by the merest fraction of control.

Jack couldn't form the words, but the Brigadier stepped into that question. "Son, let me. And try to relax. You were simply following orders, so don't blame yourself." Turning to the Doctor, he explained. "In exchange for an antiviral agent, the 456 wanted twelve children."

"What for?" Rose asked, completely disturbed.

"They never said," the Brigadier replied. "Twelve children for a cure to a new plague. I opposed Operation Bright Star vehemently, but I was only a Colonel at the time. The decision was made before anyone had a chance to think about the implications."

"And they just handed them over?" John shouted. "The gall!" He blinked, remembering something. Turning to Jack, he realized. "Oh, you poor bastard. That was you Clem was talking about? You drove them?"

Everyone looked at Jack with surprise. Unable to look at any of them, he sat down at the head of the table with a defeated look on his face. "Wasn't one of my better moments," he said quietly.

"Jack!" Rose shouted. She was about to let into him, but Jenny grabbed her hand in a vice like grip. When she looked at her, Jenny shook her head. 'Don't mum. He's about to fall apart.'

"There wasn't anything you could've done," the Brigadier said. "Those were your orders."

"I could've said no!" Jack shouted. "And now they're back? Lying sons of bitches!" Ianto put a hand on his shoulder, but Jack shrugged out of his grip. "Don't."

John sat back in his chair and looked at the Brigadier. "How much you wanna bet that they want more?"

"I wouldn't touch that one, Alistair," the Doctor said. "He's right. If we only knew who they were, we could get to the bottom of this and get the Shadow Proclamation involved."

The Brigadier turned to look at him. "I thought you didn't like them?"

"They have their uses," the Doctor muttered, "and intergalactic thugs are right up their alley. It's racketeering, plain and simple. But for right now, let's table this and get to something else. Did you find out what's going on with the interdepartmental warfare?"

The Brigadier took a sip of his coffee. "It's being sorted now. The Plass has four squads maintaining a perimeter. We already retrieved the personnel that were at the hospital."

"Good," Jenny blurted. "What about Frobisher?" she asked with a glare.

The Brigadier checked his watch and smiled. "They should be picking him up very shortly."

Jenny was going to smile, but blinked and looked confused instead. She cried out and palmed the sides of her head in obvious pain. The Doctor and John were out of their chairs before anyone else had time to react. Rose simply turned and held on to her shoulder. "Honey, what's wrong?"

Jenny was panting from in-between the three of them. "I... I can hear them!" she shouted over what she was hearing. She shook her head. "No! Get outta my head!" she shrieked.

In a Camden house, a mother was preparing supper for her two daughters. She shrieked for her husband when they started chanting 'we are coming'. John Frobisher rushed into the dining room and gaped at his little girls.

"Stop it," he whispered. "Stop it. Stop it! STOP IT!" he repeated, panicking.

The front door to their house burst open from a handheld battering ram. Four Unit personnel rushed in and found them in the dining room. Colonel Augustus Oduya walked in after them.

Taking a moment to look at Frobisher's children, Oduya turned to address the man. "John Frobisher, you are under arrest for the suspicion of treason against the Crown. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention - when questioned - something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?"

While Frobisher and his wife were completely taken off guard, everyone in the room turned to the children when the chant changed abruptly.

"We are coming... Back."