Disclaimer: I own Kate. And (kind of) the storyline. And (kind of) Jamie. And that's it. :(
So, today was supposed to be 'the end of the world' or whatever, right? Well, we all survived, so let's celebrate with a chapter.
Update: Thank-you to NewDrWhoFan for pointing out my transcription error. It has been corrected.
NTMR:
-I have become slightly disheartened at the lack of reviewing. Is this because you've stopped reading? Or because it's not worth the trouble?
Chapter 11: Not Quite Secret Anymore
In the staff room on Tuesday morning, Martha stood on her own by the coffee machine, oblivious to anything but her own thoughts. She was brought back to the room by the door slamming shut behind Suzie as she entered the room with a long sniff. Snapping back to life, she poured herself a mug of coffee and sat down at a table near the window of the room.
"You okay?" she asked Suzie, who paused for a moment before walking in casually.
"Yeah, thanks." she replied, sauntering over to the table and sitting opposite Martha. "Must have a cold comin' on." she explained, and Martha smiled sympathetically.
"I keep thinking about them, but I don't know what to do." Martha told her, as if continuing a long running conversation.
"Thinking about who?" Suzie asked expressionlessly.
"John and Miss Tyler." Martha explained shortly. "'Cause it's never gonna last, he's gonna leave in a few weeks."
"Why?" Suzie asked, suddenly interested.
"It's like his contract comes to an end. And she's gonna be heartbroken."
"Leave for where?" Suzie asked.
"All sorts of places!" Martha told her excitedly. "I wish I could tell you, Suzie, but it's complicated."
"In what way?"
"It just is." Martha said vaguely.
"It sounds so interesting." she continued persistently. "Tell me. Tell me now."
Frowning at Suzie's sudden interest in John, Martha looked down at her mug. "D'you want a coffee?" she asked, to change the subject of the conversation.
"Yes, thanks." Suzie replied distractedly, and Martha stood up and walked over to the coffee pot.
"I could use one of these new posh ones." Martha began, unsure. "Or… I could put some gravy in the pot. Or sardines and jam, how about that?"
"I like the sound of that." Suzie said, and Martha raised her eyebrows and edged towards the door.
"Right." she said weakly, quietly opening the door while Suzie still had her back to her. "Hold on a tick."
She opened the door and walked calmly out of the room, reached the stairs and pelted up them to John's office. As she ran at full speed up the stairs, a shot of green flew past her in the deserted stairwell and singed away a portion of the white banister. This had gotten out of control. She needed the Doctor.
- - - - - - -
Suzie smirked as she re-entered the empty staff room. Closing her eyes, a green light glowed around her, and she could suddenly see her family.
Husband of Mine, in the form of a shop worker, headed towards a cupboard, and shut the door before the same green glow enveloped him.
"The Doctor is near." She heard his voice. "In London. I can sense him."
"The John Smith man is important." she informed him. Martha Jones speaks of him. She knows us. We must find them. Son of Mine, what does Jamie Tyler know of the Doctor and Rose Tyler?"
Son of Mine, in Jamie Tyler's form, could be seen in an empty bathroom at the boy's school.
"The child is told of them from a Mickey Smith." he said emptily, accessing Jamie's memories to gather the information. "He is told that… Rose Tyler once travelled with a Doctor."
"The same Doctor?" Suzie asked them. "Martha Jones also spoke, to Suzie, of travelling with John."
"Then is it possible that John Smith is the man we search for?" Jamie's voice rand out.
"If so, our course of action is simple." stated Jeffrey simply, in the Henrik's store cupboard. "We must find John Smith."
- - - - - - -
As laughter died away into a comfortable silence, Ianto stood up and reached for his mug.
"I'm gonna go make some more coffee. You want some?" he asked John and Rose with a strong Welsh accent, and they both handed over their mugs gratefully.
"Mmm, please." John nodded appreciatively, as did Rose.
Ianto took the cups with a smile and headed to the back of the room. John looked at Rose and grinned, wandering over to her desk, where she was sat with her feet up on the table, not working. Looking around, he frowned at Ianto's sudden absence.
"Where did… Where did he go?!" he asked Rose, bewildered.
Rose laughed. "How can you have been working up here for over a month and not even realise we had a coffee room?" she giggled, and John perched himself on the desk, turning his nose up indignantly.
"Not fair - I'd never set foot up here before the accident, and it's not like I've had much time to look around!"
"John, we haven't had a case for two and a half weeks." Rose deadpanned back, and he opened his mouth to give a sarcastic reply, but couldn't think of one. Rose giggled again, and he merely leant down and kissed her, smiling as he pulled away.
"What time am I picking you up tonight?" he asked her, staring straight into her eyes.
"I dunno." Rose muttered, too absorbed in John's chocolate brown eyes to listen. "Sixish? I dunno when it's supposed to start."
John leant back, and Rose flopped back into her chair lazily.
"Sixish it is, then." John said cheerily, giving her a huge grin before returning to his own desk, a few metres away, and mirroring Rose's laid-back position.
"So, I've read some more of your Journal." Rose began, smiling, and John looked up.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. It's… interesting." she smirked. "So, you're really a Time Lord, and you're only here to escape these aliens who want your lifespan?"
John smiled, embarrassed. "Well, not really." he said casually, and he winked at her cheekily before turning back to his desk.
Leaning back as far as he could on his chair, he looked back at Rose as he attempted to take his hands away from the desk, and hold himself up by just two chair legs. She snorted at him as he nearly fell back, but undeterred, he let go of the table once more. He was managing to stay upright fairly well, before the door of the office was thrust open and slammed, and Martha Jones dashed into the office breathlessly. The chair fell back to the floor and John topple onto the floor with wide, worried eyes. Picking himself up and attempting to seem unconcerned by this, he walked over to Rose and looked up to see who had entered.
"They've found us." Martha burst out before he could speak.
"Martha, this is getting ridiculous!" John frowned at her, but she seemed not to hear. Instead, she hurried over to the desk at the far end of the room that once occupied Mickey's belongings.
"Martha!" Rose exclaimed, surprised at the secretary's actions.
"They've found us," she continued, oblivious. "And I've seen them - they look like people, like us, like normal. I'm sorry, but you've got to open the watch."
Rummaging around through the desk drawers, she stopped to look at John.
"Where is it?" she asked him frustratedly. When he looked blankly at her, she began to panic.
"Oh, my God, where's it gone? Where's the watch?" she asked him again, only wishing she'd asked him about it when she'd last come up.
"What are you talking about?" John asked her with a frown, shaking his head in confusion.
Martha took a step forward and calmed herself. "You had a watch, a fob watch, right there. But it disappeared. I thought you had it!"
"Did I?" John asked, ignoring the latter half of the speech. "I don't remember."
"I dunno why it matters to you." Rose added resentfully.
"But we need it…" Martha continued, ignoring Rose's comment. "Oh, my God, Doctor, we're hiding. From aliens. And they've got Suzie, and they've... possessed her or copied her or something, and you've got to tell me, where's the watch?"
Rose snorted with laughter. "I'm sorry, but… Well, this is a joke, right?" she grinned, and Martha frowned at her coldly. "I mean - you're not serious?" She looked to John, bemused. "She's talking about your Journal. The Doctor, remember? He's 'hiding from aliens' too." John stared at her blankly and her smile faded. "John? We were talking about it, just now. Don't you remember?"
"Right!" John said suddenly, snapping back to life. "Yes!" He looked to Martha. "Um, Martha, I don't know where you heard about my dreams, but… Well, they're what we call stories." he said slowly, as if talking to a small child. She simply glared up at him. "Look, I'm so sorry, this must be so confusing for you. Rose and I, we're the Torchwood agents." he told her with wide eyes, as if this would help her understand. "You and I, we're just friends. We're not on the run from aliens, and we're not travelling together. I'm very sorry." he told her sincerely.
"Oh, you complete…" Martha started angrily. "This - is not you." she told him crossly, waving her hands over his body. "This - is 2013."
"Good, Martha, this -"
"Hang on!" Rose interrupted John as he tried to explained the situation to Martha. "You said 2013. It's 2011."
"It can't be 2011. Suzie said it's been five years since Torchwood started, and I -" she broke off abruptly. "Whatever, forget it. Fine, it's 2011."
"Alright, but still, you said 2011." Rose insisted. "No one says that here. They - we, I mean - we say 20-point-11. Why -"
"Whatever! This is '20-point-11' then! Happy?" Martha yelled out, exasperated, and Rose flinched.
"Now, Martha, really -" John began, stepping in front of Rose protectively as Martha edged forward. She let out a groan of annoyance.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, but I've gotta snap you out of this." Martha spat at John, and after a pause, she raised her hand and slapped John right across the face. Taken aback, Rose flinched again as the Doctor was thrown slightly to the side from the force.
"Martha!" Rose cried with shock, but she wasn't listening.
"Wake up!" she shouted at John, grabbing his left arm as his right hand flew to his cheek where Martha had slapped him. "You're coming back to the TARDIS with me!"
"How - How dare you!" John exclaimed, pulling his arm out of her grip and stumbling back. "I'm not going anywhere with an insane… temp! Martha, you are not authorised to be up here, and you will leave this floor immediately! Now get out!" he told her in his most authoritative voice, leading her towards the door. Rubbing his bruised cheek, he closed the door behind her and walked back over to Rose.
"Nerve of it!" he exclaimed to Rose, annoyed. "Absolute cheek! You think I'm a fantasist, what about her?"
Rose smiled at John, slightly taken aback at Martha's outburst, then frowned. "Well, you did have a fob watch. In the hospital? You kept it on Mickey's desk - God knows why - then it disappeared? Don't you remember?"
John didn't answer, wracking his brain for any recollection of the watch.
"What the hell was that about?" came a voice from the far side of the room, and John and Rose both turned around to see Ianto, holding a tray with three mugs on it, and wearing a completely bemused and bewildered look on his usually cheery face.
Rose looked to him, who was staring, confused, at the spot in which Martha's outburst had occurred, and then she looked to John, who was still rubbing his sore cheek with a grim look upon his face, and could only do one thing. She gave a fake stutter of laughter, and collapsed down into her chair as her knees gave way, a half-faked fit of laughter flooding from her lips. She did this partly because, for reasons unbeknownst to her, she suddenly found the whole situation hilarious, and partly to cover up her nervousness, but for the most part, she covered her shaking face with her hands to mask the emotion, for fear of it giving away her uneasiness about her new love.
- - - - - - -
Kate entered her office after lunch wearily, just longing for the day to come to an end. Groaning with hatred as she saw the mound of paperwork in a pile on her desk, she dragged herself over to it and slumped into the chair. As much as she wanted this position, she didn't know how much more paperwork she could take.
Throwing one file to the side to rifle through the rest, it collided with her desk organiser, which flew to the floor. Sighing with tiredness, she bent over to pick up her belongings, and placed them carelessly back onto her desk without much thought. At the bottom of the pile was the fob watch, and she picked it up with mild interest.
Standing back up, with the fob watch in her hand, something caught her eye outside the window. She walked over, still clutching the watch, and saw four figures outside the building, on the bottom floor. She recognised one of the figures as a secretary from Torchwood, and she knew that the boy was the youngest Tyler's child, Jamie. They stood beside a teenage girl and an old man, both of whom she didn't recognise, and the four stood still, staring up at the building, with expressionless faces.
Kate frowned, and thought nothing of it, until she felt her hands suddenly burning. Gasping, she let the watch fall back to the floor and looked at her hands. They were red, but not badly burnt. She looked down at the watch on the floor. A mystical golden glow had surrounded it, giving off a faint hissing sound and an enormous amount of heat. She looked back out the window. The four figures were still stood in front of the building, but they were now looking up, to one specific spot on the skyscraper: her office.
Shocked, she stepped back with wide eyes, and glanced down to the watch. It was no longer glowing, but she could still hear the eerie whistling emitting from it. Bending down, she touched the watch cautiously, but it was stone cold. She picked it up gingerly and raised it to her ear. It wasn't just a sound, they were voices. The watch was whispering to her again.
Finally, her curiosity took over, and, holding her breath with anticipation, Kate pressed down on the button at the top of the watch. The engraved watch lid flew open, and where Kate expected to see an old watch face, the soft golden light she had seen before flowed from out of it. Her jaw fell slightly open as she gazed into the golden swirls of light, and they flew forward in wisps of gold, beckoning her closer.
"Time Lord…" Kate heard, and she swallowed nervously. Suddenly, a sense of foreboding came upon her, and she snapped the watch shut instantly. Staggering up unevenly, she lurched over to the window and stared outside. The figures had gone.
- - - - - - -
Near the Torchwood building, just out of sight, the Family considered their plan.
"There are two scents." Helena's voice supplied. "It is the watch. It is important somehow."
"Then so is the woman." Jamie added nastily.
"Children of Mine, our main focus remains the Doctor." Suzie reminded them, her voice plain and emotionless.
"But perhaps the watch is linked, Wife of Mine." Jeffrey informed her. He looked to Helena's form. "Daughter of Mine, you will retrieve the watch." Helena's mouth twisted into a sinister grin, and she nodded in confirmation. "Son of Mine, find out more of the boy's sister, Rose Tyler. She holds valuable information."
"Husband of Mine," Suzie began strongly. "We have only a scattered scent. If John Smith is truly the Doctor -"
"The scent is enough. Once we have the watch, we will have control of the scent. Wife of Mine, we will search John Smith's base. There must be clues there."
"We have all scented him though." Jamie's small voice was heard, brisk and clear. "He was plain and simple human."
Suzie appeared to consider this. "The secretary was definitely hiding something. A secret around this Mr Smith. Maybe he knows something."
"But we have little time, Father of Mine." Helena said impatiently. "This form already grows weak with my consciousness."
"Do not fear, Daughter of Mine." Jeffrey spoke with a sinister grin. "We will find the Doctor. And he shall give us all the time in the world."
Hope you liked it! Review please! Seriously, I got a hundred-odd hits to chapter 10, and only two of you reviewed? Come on, let me know what you think!!
Update 2: I have had a few reviews to argue that Rose should have twigged by now. I assure you, she does know (ish) what's going on, even if it hasn't yet been written in. She's not stupid, and I know that. It is actually part of the plot, but I understand that it doesn't make much sense right now.
