Memories and the Master

Blimey! This chapter gave me grief! But it's done now. I'm gonna attempt to get another chapter written this Bank Holiday weekend as I'm aiming to complete this story by study leave which begins in 2 weeks. We'll see if I manage. Thanks for the reviews and hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nothing you might recognise belongs to me

Part Fourteen: Answers & Yet More Questions

The room was silent, save for the slow, even breathing of its two participants. Rose lay asleep in the Doctor's arms; who was gazing at her, watching her sleep and thinking about how much he loved her. Her eyes were flickering under her closed eyelids, meaning that she was in REM sleep. The Doctor hoped that she was having sweet dreams. Carefully, he moved his head and placed a couple of chaste kisses on her neck. Rose smiled in her sleep and cuddled in tighter to his body, causing the Doctor to smile as well.

Knowing that she wouldn't wake naturally for a while, the Doctor lay his head on the pillow next to hers and began to think deeply. So much had happened in the past few hours. Some of it now made the past month's events make slightly more sense but it raised many more questions that the Doctor was anxious to know the answers to. This was the first time that he could really concentrate and think everything over. He now knew who had spiked Rose's drink back at Hugo's party. It hadn't been any of the Groporians as he had initially expected but rather someone whom he ought to have been surprised at it being, but found that actually he wasn't. The person's identity opened up a whole new crate of bananas. Who was he really and what did he want? How was it possible for him to be on Arcodia in the year two-point-nine-slash-apple-slash-nineteen and also be in London, Earth 2011? Was he a Time-Agent or did he possess some sort of other time machine? Some many questions and so few answers.

All of a sudden, a sharp pain flashed through the Doctor's head causing him to jump violently and clap his hand to his forehead. His movement had roused Rose, who sleepily opened her eyes to see him biting his lip and screwing his face up with the pain.

"What's wrong?" she immediately asked, sitting up and putting her hand over his,

"I don't know," he replied, taking several deep breaths as the pain ebbed away, "My head just suddenly really hurt and I'm not entirely sure why."

Rose prised his hand away and inspected his temple. "There's nothing wrong on the outside," she reported, pressing a gentle kiss to it before dropping back down to his eye level and looking worriedly into his eyes, "Has it ever happened before?"

The Doctor frowned and shook his head. "Nothing like that before. I've felt nothing there since before the War."

Rose chewed worriedly on her bottom lip. "Why not?"

The Doctor looked steadily at her, his eyes filled with confusion, worry and a small amount of fear. "Because that's where my mental connection with other Time Lords is."

Ianto stared at Jack, the handsome stranger that he'd just let out of Torchwood's solitary confinement cell with hardly any argument. There was something mysterious about this man.

"Is that significant?" he questioned of the fact that Jack had looked slightly shocked when he told him that Mr. Saxon owned Torchwood,

"Just a bit," Jack nodded, "Look Ianto, I need to find my friends quickly. Can you take me to them or at least give me directions?"

Ianto glanced around nervously. "The buildings going to be on red alert as soon as they find out that you're out of your cell."

Right on cue a loud klaxon began to wail, making both men jump.

"Ianto, please help me," Jack said, staring the younger man intently in the eye, "It could be a matter of life and death."

Ianto swallowed. "Why's it so important?" he asked, "Mr. Saxon is a good man! The best Prime Minister this country has ever had!"

Jack cocked an eyebrow. Something about what Ianto had just said sounded rehearsed…

"It's kinda sensitive," he said, not really wanting to reveal anything, "I just need to find the Doctor and Rose as soon as possible!"

He watched as the younger man bit his lip before slowly nodding. "Alright, I'll take you to the interview room. We're going to have to be careful as there're security cameras all over the place,"

"Ah well, that's easily sorted," Jack nodded, tapping at his wrist com, "There, all security cameras are deactivated."

Ianto shook his head, not wanting to think about the further problems that that could cause. "Come on," he said, walking up the corridor, "Let's go."

Jack nodded and followed him down the corridor. At the end, he pressed his back to the wall and checked around the corner with a mirror pinched from Rose several months ago. "All clear," he noted, before turning the corner and continuing walking silently. He could hear Ianto's harsh breathing next to him and could appreciate the reason why. The shy Welshman was putting a lot on the line for him right now. At the very least, he could loose his job and have his memories removed. Jack didn't know what the Torchwood Institute was capable of and wasn't keen to find out either.

They came to the end of the current corridor and stopped again to check for clearance. He peered into the small mirror in his hand and blanched.

Coming straight towards them, with no way for them to escape, was Lisa.

"But… but why would it hurt?" Rose stuttered, completely winded by the Doctor's admission, "There aren't…" She lowered her voice slightly, mindful of the Doctor's feelings on this topic, "There aren't any other Time Lords."

"I know," the Doctor shrugged, "It makes no sense. It's been silent there ever since the War. It's how I know I'm the only one left!"

Rose gripped his hand gently. "What are we gonna do?"

The Doctor smiled at her use of 'we'. That was the old Doctor and Rose (and Jack by all accounts) team spirit. They always tackled things together. "See if it happens again, I suppose," he said, rubbing the back of his neck agitatedly, "Maybe it was just a chemical imbalance in my brain. A brain as brilliant as mine has to have off-seconds, sometimes!"

Rose grinned, the worry on her face disappearing which had been the Doctor's intention. "You're gonna have to watch that head of yours," she muttered affectionately, "It's getting too big,"

"Ah, I need a big head to store my impressive brain!" the Doctor teased.

Rose smiled and put her arms around his neck. "It's very impressive," she whispered into his ear, "An' I don't mean your brain."

The Doctor chuckled once he'd processed what she meant. "I'm glad you find it impressive," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek, "And as soon as…"

Suddenly, he was interrupted by the loud wail of a klaxon.

"What's that?" Rose asked, pressing an ear against his chest in an effort to drown out the noise,

"Alarm of some sort," the Doctor assumed, frowning slightly, "C'mon princess. Let's go see what's happening,"

"Why'd you call me that?" Rose asked, holding onto one of his hands as he pulled her upright, "I mean, princess?"

"It's what you are, isn't it?" he replied, "My little princess?"

Rose smiled, her heart swooping.

"Don't you like it?"

"Yes," she assured him, "I love all the pet names you call me. It's just 'princess' is a new one and I was wondering if there was any particular reason,"

"Nah," the Doctor shook his head, "Just felt like calling you that. I've called you 'angel' for years, 'sweetheart' quite a lot… Oooh and 'Rose'! I call you that sometimes too!"

Rose laughed as they reached the door. "Just do me a favour, alright? Don't ever call me 'darling'. That sounds so old!"

"Alright, never call Rose 'darling' if I want to spend more than two seconds in each of my remaining regenerations," the Doctor grinned, before pulling open the door and addressing the guard stationed outside, "What's going on?"

"Security breach," the guard said, looking anxiously around. He was a young, fresh faced lad who had only very recently been employed by Torchwood. He put his hand to his earpiece and listened intently. "Yes, ma'am," he said, "I'll bring them right away." He looked back at the Doctor and Rose. "Miss. Hartman wants me to bring you back to the interview room,"

"Right-o!" the Doctor grinned, before looking at Rose with an agonized expression, "Add that one to the list. Words that I will never say again!"

Rose looked amused while the young guard just looked confused.

Jack and Ianto held their breath as Lisa appeared around the corner, not looking surprised to see them there.

"I can't believe you let him out, Ianto!" she said, glancing from Jack to her boyfriend and back again,

"I had to!" Ianto defended, "He needs our help!"

"He told you that, did he?" Lisa shot back, "He was in solitary confinement for a reason, Ianto! I'm going to have to call security. You better get out of here while you still can!"

"No, Lisa!" Ianto cried out, "Please don't!"

"I've got to," Lisa said softly, "It's Torchwood protocol, you know that. If a prisoner has escaped and we see them, we activate the security system." She cupped her boyfriend's cheek tenderly, staring at his distressed features and wondering why helping this man escape meant so much to him. They'd never met before today and usually Ianto took quite a while to warm up to people. It was why they had been dating for over five years but marriage had never been mentioned, let alone talked about even though both wanted to get married.

"Can't… can't you just pretend you haven't seen us?" Ianto begged, looking hopefully at her, "Jack isn't going to do anything or hurt anyone. All he wants is to find his friends and get out of here, right Jack?"

Jack nodded, staying silent and hoping that Lisa would trust and listen to her boyfriend. He resisted the urge to check his watch to see how much time has passed since he last saw the Doctor and Rose.

Lisa stared at him before turning back to Ianto. "Yan…" she breathed, using the shortened version of his name,

"Please Lisa," he whispered, taking her hands, "Please do this for me. Please?"

Lisa sighed before squeezing his hands. "Alright but get him out of here quickly. I'll go and head off the others,"

"Thank you," Ianto said quietly, impulsively bending forward and kissing her, "I love you,"

"Love you too," Lisa replied, "Go on and get out of here."

Ianto quickly jogged off, Jack following him. He threw a grateful nod at Lisa as he passed, which she returned with a smile before turning around and walking in the opposite direction.

"Delightful to see you again, Miss. Hartman," the Doctor greeted Yvonne sarcastically as he and Rose were whisked back into the interview room they had previously departed about an hour and a half earlier,

"You too, Doctor, Miss. Tyler," Yvonne nodded, watching the couple as they pushed the two chairs together and sat down holding tightly onto one another's hands, "Your accomplice, Mr. Harkness appears to have escaped so as we are on red alert at the moment, I thought we could continue the interview while my employees find him,"

"Go Jack!" Rose cheered, exchanging a smug grin with the Doctor, which Yvonne ignored, "Trust him!"

"As I was saying, we will find him and my employees are instructed to bring him directly here to be dealt with," Yvonne continued, an icy tone in her voice.

The smiles on the Doctor and Rose's faces slipped a little at her words.

"What do you mean by that?" the Doctor asked,

"Nobody messes around with Torchwood," Yvonne replied darkly.

Rose shivered slightly. She was really beginning to strongly dislike this woman and Rose rarely disliked somebody.

"Let's get on with this interview," the leader of Torchwood said with a hint of impatience in her voice as if she'd rather she was somewhere else,

"Wait, why do you want to interview Rose anyway?" the Doctor asked, curious of this fact,

"To find out how she destroyed the Daleks," Yvonne replied, "And we will use whatever means necessary to do it. And then, if it is useful, we will keep it, even if it means detaining Miss. Tyler. Torchwood has a motto: if it's alien, it's ours." She sat back as both the Doctor and Rose began shouting at her,

"You are not going to do anything to Rose!" the Doctor yelled, his dark eyes flashing, "And you are most certainly not going to detain her!"

"You can't lock me away!" Rose shrieked, the small knot of fear in her heart suddenly expanding to epic proportions, "It's against the law! I've not done anything wrong!" She clung tightly to the Doctor's hand, needing his reassurance. Sometimes she despised how much she depended on him but she loved him too much not to.

"Torchwood will do what it wants. As I have said before, we are outside the government," Yvonne said, in a bored tone. She turned her head and there came a knock at the door. "Come in!"

A woman with red hair, dressed in a guard uniform entered the room, her eyes wide and her face shining. "Miss. Hartman," she stammered, "He's arrived!"

Yvonne's face lit up. "Bring him immediately here, please… Lara, was it?"

Lara nodded enthusiastically, disappearing back out of the door before reappearing almost immediately, walking backwards with a reverent look on her face.

"No need to fetch me," said a deep male voice, "I'm already here!"

The Doctor and Rose stopped shouting and watched everyone in the room rise to their feet, excitement plain in their faces, as a familiar figure entered the room, staring straight at them.

Rose squeezed the Doctor's hand as she stared into the face of the man who had drugged her and made her lose all of her memories of the love of her life for an entire month.

It was Mr. Saxon.

Um... surprise, anyone?

Review please. Constructive criticism is gladly received