A/N The mission commences, but Rose's field partner might be her greatest foreseeable challenge.
Chapter 12
In tense silence, the Doctor and Rose hastily made their way to the garage below where a black Torchwood-issue SUV was waiting. The driver gave the Doctor a questioning look upon entering the vehicle, to which Rose briskly replied that he was with her and had clearance. She left it at that. Now was not the time to attempt to explain this seemingly new man. She wasn't sure she had her head wrapped around the story yet herself.
Few words were exchanged during the short ride en route to Torchwood. Instead, Rose stayed on the phone to receive active briefs on the situation. It kept her focus on the present issue and, to a small degree, off the man who had just turned her personal life on its head.
Upon arrival and entrance into the building, Rose swiftly made her way in the direction of the central briefing room, with the Doctor following suit. They rode the lift to an upper floor, tension thick and palpable due to the entire scope of the situation and encompassing range of emotions. Rose spared a glance at the Doctor. She could see anxiety exuding from him, visible in the tight set of his jaw and rigid stance. Major personal issues between them aside, his friend's welfare was currently in the balance. Despite her own inner turmoil, a part of her couldn't help but sympathize for him.
"We'll find her," she offered quietly, momentarily relegating the issue between them.
He cut his eyes to her and nodded once. He looked as if he was contemplating saying something more to maintain the break in stony silence, but about that moment the doors slid open.
They stepped out of the lift and made straight for the briefing room. Rose internally steeled herself. She didn't have time for complicated explanations nor was she in the frame of mind to give them, but she feared an onslaught of questions were inevitable once she appeared with the Doctor sans disguise.
The two crossed into the room. The utilitarian space was sparsely decorated, containing a conference table in the center, large screen on the far wall displaying various grids of data, and beside it, almost antiquated in contrast to the interactive video screen, a whiteboard for quickly diagramming and brainstorming ideas.
A dozen or so Torchwood personnel took minimal notice of the two joining them, with the exception of three. Pete, Mickey and Jake were already on hand, and they stared as if seeing an illusion the moment the Doctor made his entrance.
"Doctor…?" Pete Tyler uttered in clear disbelief.
Mickey stood from his seat, circled the table and came closer. "It is. It really is. It's really you."
"'Fraid so," the Doctor answered shortly.
"It's…a long story," Rose half explained. "But he's the same Dr. Smith who's been here helpin' us."
Mickey shook his head in confusion, an expression Pete and Jake also shared as they stood and joined them over by the entry door. The rest in the briefing room remained talking amongst themselves, focused on the current issue and not this man of unrealized significance now in their midst.
"I don't understand," said Pete, utterly bewildered.
"Welcome to my life," muttered Rose.
He tore his eyes from the impossible man to look at Rose. Despite attempting to keep herself composed, it was clear she was awash in emotions – and not of the expected type. All three men sensed there was quite the story behind this, and whatever it was didn't seem to be sitting well with Rose.
"So you're who Donna Noble spoke of in her message when she said to tell 'The Doctor,'" Pete now realized, that small piece making sense.
"But…I don't get it," Mickey cut in. "You were different and now you're…not. Was it some sort of…regeneration that was reversed?" Mickey tried to piece this together, attempting to make sense of how he could appear as a different man and then revert back to this familiar form.
The Doctor cleared his throat as he shifted uncomfortably. "No. I…had temporarily altered the perception of my appearance. For personal reasons." He cut a glance at Rose. "Stupid reasons, in hindsight. But…there we are. There isn't, however, much time to go into all that right now."
"But how on Earth did you get here?" Jake voiced his own question. "How did you even get through? We've been attempting that very thing but haven't managed it."
"Oh, but you have, in a way," the Doctor explained. "The Dimension Cannon created a partial portal on this side, and I was able to open it all the way from the other. But that's also complicated to explain, and like I said, this isn't really the time."
"Right," said Pete, prioritizing but keeping a wary eye on the inexplicable Time Lord. "Back to the matter at hand. Addy? Fill them in on what we've just gone over." Before returning to the conference table, he shot a stern look at the Doctor and spoke in a low voice. "Just so you know, if we weren't in the middle of a situation I'd lock you away for debriefing right now."
The Doctor met the Director's gaze and nodded.
"You alright?" Mickey leaned in and asked Rose quietly.
"I have no idea," she responded, taking a seat. "Ask me again once I've actually had time to breathe."
The woman Pete had addressed as Addy stood at the video screen as everyone found a seat around the conference table. The Doctor did a double-take as the woman turned around to face them. "Parallel worlds," he murmured in wonder, as he looked on at the near-mirror image of Martha Jones. Or rather, her cousin Adeola, whose parallel had died in Torchwood Tower at the hands of the Cybermen.
The Doctor roused himself out of the past in order to focus. He balanced forward on the edge of his chair, pulled his glasses from his pocket and hastily slipped them on to get a better look at the screen.
Rose had trouble just tearing her eyes away from him. She had to fight down the ache in her chest at the familiar, lost sight and focus back on the present issue.
With a swipe of her hand, Addy scrolled the screen's image forward to that of a map as she began. "This time we have a better idea of the location we're looking for. Just before Shaun Temple and Donna Noble were taken, they were able to initialize a close-proximity scan which was remotely relayed to our systems, along with a location." She pointed to a red highlighted zone on the map. "They were within this area of the forest when the entity was encountered. That gives a starting point, at least." She then scrolled to the next image. "What you see here shows a brief but clear readout from the scan, depicting the energy pattern that was detected. It's the most detailed scan we've gotten, but the energy is still being analyzed for identification."
The Doctor sprang to his feet and moved closer to the screen. His eyes flicked over the data at rapid speed. Thanks to his recent re-calibrations of the equipment and its proximal use, there was now 2.4 seconds of clear, readable information before the scan had been disrupted. This finally gave him the information necessary to decipher the source.
"Well, at least you can stop calling it 'unidentified' energy," he declared, removing his glasses and turning back to face the others. "This is psychic energy. A mass concentration of pure psychic energy. And a very distinct form at that. In fact, this particular signature is highly refined and comes from only one race of beings that I'm aware of."
"Excuse me, but…who is this?" Adeola questioned, tilting her head toward the rather intrusive new arrival.
"I'm the Doctor," he absently self-identified, as he turned back and continued reading over the data.
Murmurs filled the room. Few had known his face, but nearly everyone knew the title.
"Apparently it's a long story," Pete interjected to the group. "Right now let's just all stay focused." Pete then turned his attention back on the Doctor. "So you think you have a better idea of what we're facing, then, Doctor? And you can identify it?"
"I'm afraid so," the Doctor answered soberly. "This appears to be a being or beings known as the Prime Consciousness. They're an intellectual race who exist in the form of pure psychic energy."
"Like…the Nestene Consciousness?" Rose questioned, recalling her first ever encounter with the Doctor. There was something mockingly-ironic here. He had been a mystery to her then, and in a way she felt the same now.
"Similar in some ways, yes. In fact, some say the two were once the same, originating from the planet Polymos in the Mutter's Spiral Galaxy. But it's said that the Prime Consciousness were a sect that progressed to achieve superiority. Each individual being is a powerful entity of its own that need not exist in the form of one collective consciousness. Each singular entity still travels in much the same way as the Nestene, in hollow spheres known as Energy Units. But unlike the Nestene Consciousness, whose aim was always to takeover and conquer other worlds through an army of Autons, beings of the Prime Consciousness seek only to amass further knowledge through traveling the universe. Knowledge is their objective, their source of power and dominance. They don't feel they need to takeover civilizations to continue growing in power. Doing so, in fact, is something they feel is beneath them, one of the ways they set themselves apart from the lesser Nestene. They view such a strategy as primitive. They don't even use weapons, in the traditional sense. If ever in a situation where they need to assert dominance, they do so by mental power alone."
"If that's true, then why would they…or it…be takin' people?" questioned Mickey. "If this thing isn't interested in takin' over the planet, then why take humans? Some sort of experimentation? Or maybe a rogue being who's broken from the Prime's superior 'code?'"
"Energy," the Doctor replied grimly. "They utilize psychic energy to power their own systems. The atmospheric penetration you detected last week was likely a crash of a cloaked Energy Unit. The beings are integrated with their ships on a neural level. Damage to the ship would mean the Consciousness would be weakened as well. With it and the ship symbiotically impaired, it would need to pull in additional energy from outside sources in order to repair and take flight. I'm guessing it remained dormant for the first few days, with a disruption field throwing off scans so it would remain obscured. And once it recouped enough to exert mental control, it started taking people as an energy source – converting brain wave energy into usable fuel."
"So the people of our planet are simply its Plan B for a power supply?" Pete concluded angrily.
"How many would it need?" Rose asked the dismal question.
"It hasn't left the planet yet, so I'm guessing it still needs more energy," came his foreboding answer. "As for how many more, it's difficult to say."
"If it's using the brainpower of the victims, then those it's taken must still be alive, correct?" Pete asked.
"It depends on your definition of 'alive,'" he replied darkly.
"Is there still a chance to save them?" Pete pressed.
"Possibly. I won't know for sure unless I'm able to get a look at the interface and the degree of neural integration of its victims."
"Why here? Why Earth?" Rose asked, in Agent Mode and trying to learn as much as possible about this adversary. "Are humans a more compatible source?"
"If its Energy Unit was failing then I assume it just had to aim for the nearest source of intelligence to find what it needed. Intelligence…," the Doctor mused, mulling the word over. A possible connection began to occur to him. "When did you say the disturbance was first detected?"
"Just over a week," Pete provided.
"And was there Cannon activity at the time?" he further questioned.
"Earlier that same day," Pete confirmed. "It was the second trial."
The Doctor scratched madly at his head as he turned a circle. "Of course! The Energy Unit was failing and the Consciousness needed a planet that housed intelligence in order to syphon psychic energy. The more advanced the minds, the better. And there was the Cannon, firing out across the universe like a beacon, showing the ingenuity you lot possessed."
"You're…you're saying the Dimension Cannon brought it here? Made this planet a target?" Rose asked in a troubled voice.
The Doctor's eyes met hers, and he could see the guilt forming – a look he himself was all-too familiar with. "You can't blame this on your efforts," he attempted to assure her.
"But you said it–"
He took a step toward her and spoke gently, eyes locked, as if they were momentarily the only two in the room. "Rose, you can't hide from progress in an attempt to remain unnoticed. If that were the case, the human race would never advance. You're not at fault for seeking progress. It's the only way to grow and learn."
Her eyes slid off to the side. "I've certainly learned a few things I never expected through this."
The Doctor flinched at the double meaning of the statement.
Pete's voice brought them back to the urgency of the moment.
"Alright. Our mission is to find the exact location of that ship, which means taking the scanners in close. Doctor, you said it's capable of using mental power as a form of control. We'll need a defense for that."
"Do you have any form of psychic dampers?" he ventured hopefully.
Pete's mind was already headed in that direction. "In the armory vault we have a form of cerebral shielding – small discs worn behind the ear that act as a block against mental assault. Would that do?"
"It'll have to. It likely wouldn't withstand the full brunt of what this being's capable of, but if the entity is still somewhat weakened then we might have just enough of an edge."
Pete stood up. "I want teams dispatched to the area we've pinpointed. It's still a wide zone, so we're going to have to spread ourselves thin. Two to a team. Constant communication. And I want the teams to stay together no matter what. Understood? If we lose contact with you out there, all you'll have to rely on is each other. No splitting up under any circumstances. The goal is to positively identify the exact location of this entity. Once that's done, we'll regroup and work on finding a way to infiltrate and get the Doctor to the neural interface to free the victims."
"This race is capable of being masters of deception. Even if it's just a single entity acting alone," the Doctor spoke back up. "That's likely why no one's seen the ship anywhere. It's no doubt disguised. Once you're out there, even if somewhat protected, nothing may be what it seems. You're going to have to use highly specialized scans to be certain you're even covering the correct ground. Now that I know exactly what we're dealing with, I can modify your scanning and tracking equipment further to make it a little less susceptible to the type of interference this is capable of producing, but it's not going to be foolproof. Finding the Consciousness if it doesn't want to be found will be extremely difficult."
"Can the TARDIS take us to it?" Mickey questioned.
The Doctor shook his head. "She's powered down right now to recover from the trip through the Void and isn't ready to be moved. This will have to be done by other means, I'm afraid. Now, are there any agents here who've received any type of mental training?"
"Aside from the shield technology, all field agents undergo a form of psychic training as an added defense in the event that they're faced with some form of mind control," Pete answered.
The Doctor nodded. "Good. Because that's exactly what we're dealing with here. Training and shields will help, but no one will be impervious. Stay alert at all times. Keep your thoughts focused and sharp. And if at any time you feel any sort of intrusion, fight against it with everything you've inwardly got." The teams nodded.
The Doctor turned to Rose, eyes automatically softening. "Rose, you've had more experience with…mental training than perhaps anyone else here, aside from me. When you're out there just…keep your thoughts guarded and locked up tight."
"Don't worry," she answered in a low tone, "I'm already doing that."
-:-:-:-
Three teams consisting of two each would enter the forest, while a fourth team would remain stationary on site and serve as a proximal communications base. The smaller the operation the less attention would be drawn.
As the teams were readying for the mission, Pete approached the Doctor and Rose. "I realize the two of you work best together. But if that's not the case right now then tell me, because we can't afford for personal issues to get in the way out there."
Rose felt supremely conflicted with the situation. On one hand, the Doctor was finally, miraculously here; and the last thing she wanted was to let him out of her sight even for a moment. But on the other hand, were they really in the condition to work in an objective and focused manner together, considering the circumstances?
"I'm perfectly capable of maintaining professionalism here," the Doctor asserted, eyes cutting to Rose.
"Insinuating I'm not?" Rose retorted.
Pete shook his head. "Right. Splitting you two up."
"No!" the Doctor broke in, utterly opposed to the idea. If Rose was going to be out there in the thick of danger, he wanted to be the one by her side. Truthfully, he just wanted to be the one by her side, danger notwithstanding. "I mean…there's no need to split anyone up. I'm sure we're both capable of maintaining professionalism."
Pete eyed them skeptically, but finally nodded in assent. "Don't make me regret this decision," he warned in parting.
"Just gotta grab my kit," Rose stated briskly, making minimal eye contact. "Be downstairs in five."
As Rose ducked out, Mickey brushed past on his way to suit-up as well. He stopped to eye the Doctor with a hard look.
"I'm not sure what you're playin' at here, arriving like you did with a different face and not lettin' on who you were. But if you do anything to hurt Rose, let's just say she won't be the only one hurting."
The Doctor drew himself up to full height, but still felt small. "Mickey, if you want to beat me to a pulp for my rubbish relationship skills, be my guest. But you're too late to be the first, because I've already done it to myself a few times over."
The corner of his mouth quirked in satisfaction. "Good. Now that we're clear on that, let's go kick some alien butt." He moved away but briefly turned back, giving the Doctor a heads-up. "And judging from some of the looks Rose has given you, that might soon include yours. So I'd try not to tick her off out there, if I were you."
-:-:-:-
The plan was in place, and the teams were soon ready to head out. The Doctor and Rose, Mickey and Jake, and Adeola and her partner Gareth comprised the ground teams, while Pete himself would accompany the communications unit.
As they all rendezvoused in the lower garage to load into vehicles, Rose quickly realized that the clashing with her Time Lord field partner was far from over. She was holstering her weapon after having just confirmed the setting. As she glanced up, the dark look the Doctor gave her might just as well have been an audible reprimand.
"It's not set to kill. It's set to cause temporary neural disruption," she preemptively stated as they began heading toward their designated SUV.
"Well, in that case it's perfectly harmless," he answered back with false levity. "Scramble someone's brain? Harmful? Naaah. As long as they're still breathing, no problemo."
Rose stopped and whirled back to face him. "Would you rather we all go out there with less protection?"
He shoved his hands in his pockets and gazed down. "I'd rather you weren't in danger at all," he answered quietly.
"I can take care of myself, Doctor. Been doin' it for years now."
His eyes lifted. He stared at her until it became almost unbearable.
"What?" she finally questioned, as teams ahead of them loaded into a vehicle.
"I just want you safe," came his impassioned response.
She sighed heavily. "You want to wrap me in cotton wool. Same as always."
"Alright, you two," Mickey called out after he and Jake had boarded the front seats of their SUV. "No time for a domestic row. Let's move."
"He's right," Rose agreed as she moved to climb in. "We don't have time for this. So for now just shelve it." She threw him a glance over her shoulder. "And technically I have field seniority over you, so that's an order."
The Doctor's left eyebrow arched high. "An order? Someone's gotten domineering," he muttered as he slid into the rear seat. His eyes met hers, and she had to break away from the intensity found there.
Jake glanced back at the two of them, smirking. "Better get used to it, mate."
Rose turned her face toward the window as they pulled out of the garage and into the dark street. She closed her eyes and drew in a long, deep breath. A night spent alone in a forest with the Doctor... Under any other circumstances it might've had the makings of an alluring fantasy. As it stood, she just hoped she could maintain enough professional focus to make it out of this alive.
