Retaliations
Rose woke, like she had most mornings since they'd gotten back, encased in Joshua's arms. She snuggled back into him and realized a couple of things at once. First off, she was very, very naked with a pleasant ache between her legs. Secondly, he was also naked, his morning erection rubbing against her bum and lower back. She stilled, gauging how awake her companion was. He grunted and pulled her closer, nuzzling his face into her back.
She closed her eyes for a moment, not wanting to break his embrace but also knowing they were expected at Torchwood. She followed the thin line of their bond and brushed against his mind.
'Wake up.'
'Don't wanna.'
'Neither do I, but we need to start heading towards Torchwood.'
Joshua groaned before yawning loudly and stretching like a cat. Well, partially at least. One of his arms was still trapped beneath her. He wrapped her in his arms again and whispered in her ear.
"Good morning, beautiful." Rose smiled.
"As much as I am enjoying laying here with you like this, we really do need to get out of bed." Joshua sighed and flopped over on his side of the bed, allowing Rose to get up. She walked to her dresser, completely starkers, and Joshua groaned. It was difficult enough to want to get out of bed without her giving him such a pleasant view. He almost begged her to come back to bed but she stepped into the en suite before he could.
"Note to self: The bond makes for a very, very randy Time Lord." He huffed as he fell back onto the bed. He had to take a moment to compose himself.
~DW~~DW~~DW~
They managed to make it to Torchwood without falling back into bed together. It was difficult to get his mind on the task of working, especially with the bond so new. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. They had to finish taking apart the dimension cannon today.
They made it about halfway through the day before disaster struck. They were all sitting in the Torchwood cafeteria, when they felt the ground shake. The four of them, Jake, Ryan, Rose, and Joshua, exchanged glances before immediately getting up. They left their food on the table. Before they had taken more than two steps, Rose had dialed Pete. Joshua could only here half of the conversation, but what he did hear had his stomach dropping.
"Dad, what the hell is going on?" A pause while she listened.
"No, I had everything smoothed over Monday. They seemed vaguely threatening but I told you about that." Another pause. Jake and Ryan exchanged glances before they started heading down the corridor. It took half a second before Rose and Joshua tore off after them.
The locker room was already half full when they entered. Rose, Jake and Ryan went towards adjoining lockers. Joshua hadn't been assigned a locker or equipment yet. He frowned when he saw the three of them strap guns to their hips.
"Safety check. Stuns on?" The entire room replied.
"Yes ma'am."
"Good. We're not sure what the objective will be. Keep radio silence until me, Jake or Pete inform you of what to do. You know your assigned stations. Let's move!" She tossed a flak jacket towards Joshua as well as a headset. She started talking as they ran down the corridors. Joshua had no clue where they were going, but she apparently did.
"No gun for you. I know how you cringe at the sight of them. Do me a favor and stay by someone who can protect you, just in case. These guys are worse than Sontarans in their ruthlessness, but easier to kill, if it comes to that. We set our blasters to stun and they stay that way until we find we gave to become lethal. Pete and I are the only ones who can authorize that. The only way that can be overridden is if we are both captured, killed, or otherwise incapacitated."
"And how often does that happen?"
"Never, actually. But we have a system designed so one of us is in a safe place, just in case." Before he could answer, they rounded a corner and almost ran headlong into Jackie and Tony.
"Mum! What are you doing here?"
"We were having lunch with Pete! Then this all started and he told me to head towards the shelter with Tony."
"Well, where is he?"
"He opened negotiations with those bleedin' Nazurians. I told you both it was a bad idea to try to have a treaty with them."
"Mum, it was either a treaty at the time or all out open war that we couldn't afford." Rose whipped her head towards Pete's office, which is where she was headed, then back the way they came. Indecision warred on her face. So, Joshua did the only thing he could. He let his instincts kick in. He turned Rose so she could look him directly in the face.
"Rose, take your Mum to the shelter. I'll go up and help Pete. Maybe between the two of us we can stop this."
"But this is my job. My life."
"You know this is also my job, but you're my life. Please, just, get your mother to safety. If you feel the need to head back this way then fine, but get her to safety first. Please, love." Rose could see the fear and determination on Joshua's face and a little bit of the storm she knew resided there. She nodded, then kissed him.
'Come back to me safely, my love.'
Rose picked up Tony and grabbed Jackie's hand.
"Run!" Joshua watched as they ran down the hallway and to what he hoped was safety. He took a deep breath, centering himself. When he started moving again, it was with the single-mindedness of the Doctor. He could and would fix this.
~DW~~DW~~DW~
When he reached Pete's office, he found the man staring at a blank screen. He barely even acknowledged Joshua's presence. A sense of dread had fallen over him.
"Are Jackie and Tony safe?"
"Rose took them down to the shelter."
"Good. They're talking all-out war. They won't talk to me and they won't negotiate. And short of blowing them out of the sky, I don't know what to do."
"Well, leave that option open, but let me try something first. Do you have any of those teleports you used to jump between worlds?"
"I do. I also have some of the smaller prototypes. They've been tested at short ranges. Why?"
"Well, I'm going to fiddle with them, then me and a couple of select people will teleport to the ship. As soon as we're gone, I want you to head down to the shelter. In case, if something happens, do not hesitate to do what you need to do."
"Who do you want up here?"
"Jake's team. And Rose. Who is the tech-savvy person on the team?"
"That would be Kamille. She can hack into anything."
"Great. Leave whatever program you need to running. She's going to stay down here. If something happens, she'll be the one to pull the trigger." Pete looked at Joshua, really seeing him for the first time. Of course, he looked and sounded like the Doctor. But this was the first time he'd really acted like it. Up until now he had been tentative, if not a bit shy. Pete realized that this was his element, where he was the most useful.
"Doctor, I know you don't normally use a weapon."
"Don't, Pete. I'm not changing those morals now. There will be several people around me with weapons. But I'm not taking one." Joshua sat and started fiddling with the teleports. Pete made the call over the headsets for Jake's team and Rose to come to his office. He looked one last time at Joshua, before clasping him on the shoulders.
"You had better get yourselves back in one piece. Everyone, including yourself. That understood?" Joshua looked up at Pete for a moment. The other man's eyes radiated a paternal concern that felt odd to Joshua. He nodded once before getting back to his work. He barely registered Pete leaving the room.
~DW~~DW~~DW~
Jake's team and Rose all burst into the room at the same time. Joshua didn't look up from his work, even when Rose came up behind to him and placed her hands on his shoulders. Jake is the one who broke the silence.
"Wacha working on, Doc?"
"Teleports." One of the females in the group, Jennifer, he thought, was the next to talk.
"Are we teleporting to the ship?"
"Weelll-" He drew out the word, as was his habit. This made Rose and Jake both smile. "-most of us are. Kamille, you're good with computers, right?"
"So I've been told."
"You're staying here. Pete has a program running. If I give the word, use it. Whether we are back safely or not. That understood?" Kamille snuck a glance at Rose, then Jake. Both nodded their heads at her.
"Alright Doctor." Joshua stood up, grinning manically. He tossed each of the group the modified teleports as Kamille went to stand behind Pete's desk. He grasped Rose's hand, and looked at the rest of the group.
"Coordinates have already been programmed." And pushed his button. He and Rose disappeared and were quickly followed by the rest of the group. Kamille looked at the empty area where her team had just stood.
"I sure hope you know what you're doing, Doctor."
~DW~~DW~~DW~
When they materialized, he expected to be in a cargo hold of some sort. Instead, they found themselves on the bridge of the ship. Everyone, Nazurians and humans both, were stunned for a moment before going into action. The team went into a protective circle around Joshua. The Nazurians, to his astonishment, only seemed to be brandishing spears. The leader growled at them, his guttural language grating on everyone's nerves.
"You bring weapons on my ship!" Joshua cocked his head to the side before stepping outside of the circle. He had a slight hop to his step. He was brimming with energy. More so than he remembered as a Time Lord.
"Well, technically, it's you who brought weapons to my home. We're just defending. Tell me, why exactly did you decide to attack? I mean, I thought we had an understanding the other day when we talked."
"No truce between our peoples. You are like a virus, plaguing the planet you live on. We've decided we will rid the planet of you pests and take what we need from it."
"So, basically, you're not any different than we are. At least we make an effort to grow back some of what we destroy."
"Silence! I will destroy all of your, starting with you." Gloa brandished his spear, and crouched. It was an aggressive stance that Rose had seen before. Joshua didn't seem to see it, because he kept standing there. Rose was about to open her mouth when Gloa lunged. Joshua side-stepped it easily and it looked like he slapped Gloa on the back. Gloa disappeared, and silence fell across the ship.
"Now, you're leader has disappeared. You have one chance to leave this planet. If not, I will personally destroy your ship, and Gloa. You may not care one iota about him, but consider your own lives. It's your call." Joshua stepped back to Rose. Simultaneously, they all pressed their teleports and disappeared.
~DW~~DW~~DW~
Joshua and crew reappeared in Pete's office. Before them, stunned and on the ground, was Gloa. Kamille still had her blaster trained on him. She spooked and almost shot at the team when they appeared.
"Some warning next time!"
Joshua gave her a slightly sheepish look before turning his attention to the fallen Nazurian. Getting him separated was relatively easy. Now, he hoped that the ship and crew would take the hint and leave.
"Jake, Ryan, get him behind some sort of bars. Make sure to check him really well for weapons, teleports, and other objects. Leave that one on his back. It's been modified to act as a sort of block from any outside teleportation attempts." The team sprung into action. While Jake and Ryan moved Gloa, Rose called Pete. It only took him a few minutes before he was back in the office. Kamille looked at him proudly.
"Hey boss! They left our airpspace about 5 minutes ago."
"Great. We'll need to be prepared for a counter attack. It won't be soon, but it will probably happen. They'll just come better prepared next time. Rose, you and Joshua go and help your mother. Kamille, alert the other Torchwoods, planet wide. We're going on alert. Any suspicious space activity is to be reported at once. I'll call the president."
"Is Mum okay?"
"She fine. Takes more than an alien invasion to rattle her now. But she is playing mother hen. You know how she is. Just, escort her home, please?" Rose nodded. She and Joshua left, Pete looking at where they had been long after they departed.
~DW~~DW~~DW~
Rose and Joshua managed to convince Jackie to leave quite quickly. That might have also been because Tony had fallen asleep. Joshua carried the sleeping toddler while Rose and Jackie talked in quiet voices. Not much was said to Joshua on the way to the vehicles and that was alright with him. His heart was still pumping adrenaline wildly through his system.
After seeing Jackie to her car, they followed her home. They didn't get out to chat. They stay long enough to make sure she got inside before heading towards their flat.
Once inside, Rose hugged Joshua as tightly as she could.
'I'm so glad you're alright and that your plan worked.'
'Don't my plans usually work?'
'Course they do. It's that next step that you usually don't think through.'
'True enough.'
They stood in one another's embrace. It was Rose who stepped away first. She kissed him hungrily, the fire she felt racing through their bond. Soon enough, all that could be heard was the rhythmic slide of skin against skin.