A/N: Don't own it. This chapter is slightly revised as of 8/12/06.
Tracking Torchwood Arc Three
By
Lariel Romeniel
Chapter 14 – Inevitable
"We'll be landing in Cardiff, Wales, the ninth of May, 2007, about half past three in the afternoon," the Doctor announced unenthusiastically. Kit looked at him curiously. "What's so bad about Cardiff? My great-grandparents came from there."
"It's not so much a problem with Cardiff," the Doctor answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's just that every time I go there, I nearly get killed."
She raised an eyebrow. "And just how is that different from nearly everywhere else we've been?"
He smirked. "You have a point." He turned his attention back to the console. "Hmmm. We seem to be having a problem locking onto the beacon. It's almost as if something is blocking the TARDIS from making a complete connection."
"So what do we do?"
He pushed a few buttons. "I can get a general fix on the signal, and the date is right. So it shouldn't be too hard for us to find the next cylinder. We'll park the TARDIS in an inconspicuous spot and then look around."
It was Kit's turn to smirk. "So you admit it. People do notice the big blue box."
"Certain people," he answered. "Torchwood in particular, and I don't want them sniffing around. Now, let's see…." He pushed one more button and studied the monitor for a moment, then smiled. "Ah, perfect. A warehouse. We'll tuck the TARDIS away amongst all the crates, and then we'll go exploring."
The time rotor stopped with the familiar thump of landing. He grabbed his coat as they headed to the door. Before pushing it open, he stopped to look at her. "One thing. No chance you're out there in Cardiff visiting distant relations? I don't want you to run into yourself and cause a paradox."
She smiled and shook her head. "No, never been to Cardiff. I do know exactly where I am today, though. Reading Ann Coulter the riot act on live TV, and then getting fired as anchor of 'Miami Mornings.'" She shrugged at his raised eyebrows. "That's how I ended up as a one-woman band for Florida News Network. No one else would touch me!"
"Well, everything does happen for a reason, Kit," the Doctor said as they went out the door into the warehouse. "If you hadn't been fired, you'd never have been at Cape Canaveral that day. We wouldn't have met and started World War Three. We wouldn't have gone to New D.C., and we wouldn't have found Romana's message. Which eventually led us here. It's almost a perfect circle," he said as they worked their way through the maze of crates. "Things work out, Kit. Not usually the way we expect them to, but I think the universe laughs at long-term plans. So…you told off Ann Coulter?" he asked as they left the warehouse and started toward the Millennium Centre.
"Yeah," she nodded. "You know my parents were killed on 9/11. I take great exception to the way she criticized some of the widows, and I let her know it. Very colorfully. Although they cut my mike after I called her an 'inhuman evil bitch.'"
He laughed out loud. "Well, you got one out of the three right."
She stared at him. "Beg pardon?"
"Ann Coulter's not human. Vellian. And the Vellians aren't really evil. Just..hungry," he said with a half-shrug. "They feed off strong emotions. American politics in particular are a virtual feast for them. So much division and anger there. Vellians gorge themselves on it."
She was staring at him disbelievingly. "It's true! Look at the most controversial political agitators of any period, and you're most likely looking at a Vellian. The more controversy they can stir up, the more emotion they generate, and the more they get to feed. And then they start breeding." He shuddered just a bit at that thought. "The Time Lords used to keep tabs on them to make sure they didn't make too much trouble on any one world. But since the Time War, well…I could spend all my lives on Vellian control, but there's too much else to do. You humans need to figure out how to get along politically without a babysitter."
"Well, that explains why politics have gotten so nasty over the past few years," Kit said. She furrowed her brow in thought. "But you said I only got one of the three right. You already covered inhuman and evil."
He looked up at the sky, deciding how to put it, and then back down at her. "Well, that third word you used refers to a female." He stopped there to let her figure it out.
Her eyes widened. "You mean…she is a HE?" Kit began to laugh, and he laughed along with her. "Doctor, you've gotta tell me who else!"
"Oh, I think you can guess!" he chuckled. "Give it a try!"
"Ummmm. Pat Robertson?"
"Right," he nodded.
"Rush Limbaugh?"
"Of course!"
"Jerry Falwell?"
"Could you doubt it? But you know," he held a finger up, "there are liberal Vellians too. Al Franken, Hillary Clinton, Howard Dean.."
"Jerry Brown?"
He shook his head. "Nah. Alien, but not Vellian," he said, smiling. She was bubbling over in laughter. "I've gotta say," she giggled, "traveling with you…it's an experience!"
I love it. A shadow crossed his face at the Rose-echo in his mind. He started to look up to the sky again to clear his head, then stopped short and stared into the distance ahead. His sudden silence made Kit stop and look at him oddly. "Everything all right?"
Slowly, very slowly, he shook his head. "No. No, it's not. I know where the next cylinder is." He raised his arm and pointed one long finger ahead. She followed his gaze, and her grin melted away. "Oh, crap."
"That's putting it mildly," he replied, dropping his arm. "Because we have to go in there."
"There" was a squat-looking building, all shining glass and white concrete. Emblazoned across the top of the building in tall black letters were the words he'd been dreading, yet expecting to see.
Torchwood Institute.
Inside that building, a blue icon was flashing on a particular computer screen, sending a long-rehearsed plan into motion. The Doctor was coming to Torchwood.
It was, after all, inevitable.