Days passed, and Rose returned to her normal self. Her life was great- a mix of Torchwood, family, fun and love. She really appreciated the universe she lived in now; she no longer preferred her old one over this one. With the Doctor at her side, Rose was truly happy.
Even Max's behaviour had improved a bit, but he was still the one thing that didn't stop Rose's life from being truly perfect. He didn't pull out his gun at the Doctor anymore, but his attitude hadn't changed much. Although the Doctor was Max's Commander, Max didn't respect him the same way he did Rose. Rose guessed that only time could fix that, Max would realise after a while that the Doctor wasn't manipulating her and that he did actually love her.
As for the relationship between Rose and Max, it was once again healed…kind of. Max had realised that he had hurt Rose and immediately called her to apologise. Of course, his feelings hadn't changed at all, he still loved Rose and hated the Doctor, but he decided to cover up his strong dislike and be as nice as possible to Rose to make up for her tears.
Of course, he had to admit that he was extremely hurt about all that Rose had said, but decided that the Doctor must still be doing something to her, and so he readily forgave her. But it was becoming harder to keep his emotions in check around the Doctor. The fact that this person was the reason his family was dead, and that Max still firmly believed he was doing something to Rose, not to mention that the Doctor had already hurt Rose so much in the past made Max hate him. Besides, seeing the woman he loved smile adoringly at someone else, hug someone else, kiss someone else, and look at him that special way (even if it was probably all fake) killed him from the inside.
Even so, he kept his mouth mostly shut, but clearly showed just how much he disliked his new Commander. Unfortunately most of Torchwood liked the Doctor very much; some were even falling for him. They saw him as funny, clever, charismatic and also incredibly handsome, and some had even tried to make a move on him-but they had all been disappointed.
.
.
.
The Doctor loved his life. He had Rose, and that alone was a huge reason to be happy. The years without her had made him realise just how much he adored this little pink and yellow human, and that he couldn't live without her. However, he also had something he hadn't had for almost a hundred years-a family. He knew that if he had thought of Jackie as family in his 9th incarnation and realised that he would spend a big part of his life living with her and discussing domestics with her, he might quite possibly have killed himself. Now however, he didn't mind at all. He wasn't used to an environment where he was treated like he was with the Tylers, but he loved it. Tony had started calling him 'uncle' a few days ago (causing Rose to erupt in giggles and Jackie drop the plate she was carrying), and although the Doctor had been shocked at first, he liked the new title. He still preferred being called 'Doctor' but the fact that Tony had accepted him like this warmed his heart. Tony seemed a lot like Rose too character wise- always excited about the unknown, wanting adventure and interested in everything the Doctor told him about space, time travel and gadgets. He was also full of compassion (crying when he saw a dead slug on the way to kindergarten and insisting they bury it), sweet and affectionate.
Alien adventures were also not lacking. Although Rose had told the Doctor that her team didn't hunt down aliens every day the Doctor wasn't so sure and was always ready should the call come. The missions so far hadn't been very dangerous, generally they were just species that were unaware that earth was a level five planet and not a pleasure planet to use for their own gain.
Today however was different.
.
.
.
The Doctor, Heidi and Mickey had been sorting through some unknown alien tech (Heidi had already decided that the Doctor was a godsend-he had managed to identify all tech, and knew exactly what it did and such and wrote all reports on it, sparing Heidi hours of stress and frustration) when suddenly Rose's voice came through his earpiece. "My team is to be ready in five minutes and waiting in the 2nd sector 1a garage with all equipment please. Doctor, I need to see you in my office now".
"Coming Commander" Heidi immediately answered and went to the cupboard to pull out two black protective jackets. She threw one to the Doctor. "You'll need this" she said simply, already zipping up her own and gathering her equipment. The Doctor simply stared at the jacket with an almost shocked look on his face.
"Seriously?" he said. "I've been saving the universe for centuries and I've never needed a protective jacket!"
Mickey laughed. "Yeah but it's protocol boss. You wanna get fired in your first week?"
The Doctor rolled his eyes, sighed and eyed the jacket critically.
"You better get to Rose's office Doctor!" Heidi said hurriedly grabbing a case with her lab equipment. The Doctor nodded and hastily left the room.
Rose was sitting at her desk, waiting for him, also in a black jacket. "Hey" she said, a smile on her face. The smile disappeared as she handed him several photos. "These aliens have just been detected on an abandoned camping ground outside of London. They're causing some trouble and quite a lot of panic. Our translation department have managed to pick up some readings, but I have no idea what they're saying. I don't know them so I don't understand them. Can you identify them?"
He studied the pictures Rose had passed him and sighed. This was not good.
"They're Skillaxsyans" he explained. "They live in the same solar system as the Sycorax, they're on the neighbouring planet. Like Raxacoricofallapatorius and Clom. Unfortunately, they don't really differ much from the Sycorax, aside from being rather more primitive in their ways. At least, that's what they were like in the other universe."
Rose nodded. This was not good. The Sycorax were fairly violent and very unwilling to make any compromises. She hoped that these Skillaxsyans wouldn't be as bad, though she doubted it.
"The team will need to know this" Rose said, grabbing his hand and heading towards the lift. "Oh, and put that jacket on."
"You're kidding right?" the Doctor said. "I've managed to save the universe in perfectly normal clothes so far...oh, except the scarf" he said to himself as an afterthought. "The scarf was bad…oh, and the celery stick too-still, saved my life a few times but-"
"You're rambling" Rose said with an affectionate smile once they entered the lift.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "And how exactly are you going to shut me up?"
"Like this" Rose said with a slight smile and kissed him.
"I like that method" the Doctor said with a small smile when they pulled apart. Rose simply grinned and they exited the elevator hand in hand. Rose's team was already waiting in front of the shiny black jeep; Eddie had just been loading some equipment into the back. The Doctor and Rose smiled in greeting, and both sat in the front. Rose didn't miss Max's frown, he hated the new seating arrangement-it had always been him in front with Rose before the Doctor came along.
While they drove, the Doctor filled everyone in on the Skillaxsyans, and how he knew them in the other universe. Rose decided they would have to be careful, she suspected that they would be a lot like the Sycorax, but this was a different universe, and perhaps they could prove friendly.
They reached the camping ground, and the Doctor immediately realised that the ship was hidden, with something quite similar to a perception filter, except much stronger. Rose issued the command to split up and search, they all had their communicative devices. The Doctor wasn't too sure about the idea, but it made sense. "Who's with who?" he asked.
"Max and Olivia are with me, and you'll be with Heidi and Eddie." Rose announced. She had already made the decision in the car. If she put Max in a team with the Doctor, who knew what would happen, and they really didn't need a fight on a mission like this one. And she was scared that Olivia wouldn't focus properly when the Doctor was around-and she could really do without the not-so-subtle-seduction attempts. But she and the Doctor couldn't go together in a team, it was better to have the two people who were somewhat experienced as leaders of separate groups.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows, he wasn't at all happy at being separated from Rose, and if he was very honest with himself, then he was worried and a teeny tiny bit jealous. Worried, because if the Skillaxsyans would be like they were in his universe, than Rose could be in danger, and jealous because Max was with her instead of him. He knew that his jealousy was very stupid; he knew Rose loved him after all, but he couldn't help it. However he kept quiet, because he understood Rose's reasoning.
"I suggest scanning for life signs, heat and that kind of thing" Eddie said, having already pulled out his scanning equipment. The Doctor nodded, pulling out his sonic. "Be careful" he whispered to Rose gently.
"You too" Rose said. "And don't you dare regenerate on me!"
"Wouldn't dream of it!" The Doctor said with a grin, and walked off with his team.
"And put the jacket on!" Rose called after him, receiving a theatrical groan in return.
Her team started walking around and scanning the area, and they found the door to the spaceship very quickly. Olivia quickly spoke to Eddie over her earpiece, telling him the coordinates, and they heard the Doctor making his way into the ship.
They split up again, though this time the Doctor had to admit that he would have felt a lot better if they had stayed in a group. He, Eddie and Heidi walked around, picking up samples and scanning for life signs, when they suddenly heard a scream and the sound of footsteps. The Doctor looked up, alarmed, as Max and Olivia rounded the corner.
Without Rose.
He didn't care about Max and Olivia this second; he needed to know Rose was safe. He kept looking, hoping to see the familiar blonde hair, or hear footsteps, or a laugh, but there was nothing. Only Max and Olivia's panting.
"Where is she?" he demanded, taking in Olivia and Max's frightened expressions.
"They found us and she tried to talk to them but they took her, and hurt her with some sort of electric thingy. We only just got away" Olivia said, and her voice wasn't bristling with her general confidence, but with undisguised fear.
That was enough for the Doctor. He took off down the corridor at a sprint; the rest of the team could hardly keep up. He needed to find Rose now, before they decided to torture her or even worse kill her. Luckily, he could still feel her presence at the back of his mind; it assured him that she was still alive. Skillaxsyans were primitive, they didn't have the electrical whips the Sycorax had, but there weapons were just as painful and could kill a person after excessive use. If they thought of Rose as a threat…
He burst into a large room, where about a hundred Skillaxsyans were gathered. He felt Eddie nearly crash into him, but he didn't care, instead he searched the room for Rose. He sighed in relief when he found her, she looked alright and she was conscious. But she seemed to be suspended in the air by some sort of force, and mostly unable to move by restraints they had put on her. They made eye contact, and he smiled slightly at her, assuring her that he would get her out of this.
"Hello!" he said brightly to the Skillaxsyans, who were all standing gawking at him. "You seem to have captured my companion. You alright?" he asked Rose with a smile, waving at her.
"Couldn't be better!" Rose called back.
Her team stared at the way the Doctor and Rose interacted. Less than a minute ago, the Doctor had been sprinting through the ship, desperately trying to find Rose and now he was simply waving to her, as if this was a perfectly ordinary situation?
The leader stepped forward, carrying a large spear. He was large, almost as tall as the Doctor, with armour covering his body. His face mask was on, but the Doctor knew that under it was a lizard like face with cold and angry eyes and very sharp teeth.
The Skillaxsyan replied angrily in its own language, and only the Doctor understood. However, the one was not friendly.
The Doctor replied, and the conversation switched to English.
"Like I said" continued the Doctor in a very cheerful and pleasant voice, "I can't exactly blame you for capturing her, Rose is very jeopardy friendly. And I mean very! Do you know, we were on parallel earth once and she managed to get herself trapped in a basement with a werewolf-"
The Skillaxsyan roared in anger, and attempted to strike the Doctor with its spear.
"Oh come on, there is no need for that!" the Doctor said, grabbing the spear and chucking it away. "I am trying to have a pleasant conversation!" The Skillaxsyans all roared at him and the Doctor sighed in mock disappointment. "Fine, let's get straight to the point. I am going to need to warn you. You can't take over this planet. I know you think this planet is just here for you to turn into a battleground, but under the rules of the shadow proclamation, you cannot hurt this planet. Understand?"
"We don't care about the Shadow Proclamation!" the Skillaxsyan ground out. "We want slaves and we want war with the Sycorax."
"Ahhh, you see? That where the essential problem lies. This earth is defended; it's not as defenceless as you think."
"We have weapons" the Skillaxsyans chanted around them. The Doctor rolled his eyes, listening to their chants of war and bravery. It reminded him of the Sontarans.
"Sorry don't mean to be rude (although I seem to be rude in this incarnation quite a lot) but could you shut up?" the Doctor asked. Heidi stifled a laugh, despite the situation.
"You're chanting all about war and weapons, but we have weapons here on earth too. So I suggest, with the utmost politeness, that you all leave."
The Skillaxsyans began chanting again, and after a while the Doctor lost patience and started shouting at them, all pretence of friendliness gone. After a long shouting match and something that seemed suspiciously like a duel with spears, the Skillaxsyans finally made the wise choice, released Rose and left.
The second they were gone, the Doctor picked Rose up in a bone crushing and desperate hug, closing his eyes. "Never do that to me again" he almost growled, ignoring the team's shocked expressions. He gently brushed her cheek where the weapon the Skillaxsyans had used had left a scar.
Rose didn't reply, she simply hugged him tighter. It took a while for Max to realise that she was shaking.
The Doctor let Rose go after a while, but still clutched her hand. He had been truly scared this time.
But it took the team a while to realise that. They were all used to seeing Rose simply shrug after a mission like this, even when she had been inches from death. Now however, she looked scared, and practically clung to the Doctor, looking extremely relieved.
She and the Doctor conversed in low voices as they neared the jeep, and the others decided to give the two privacy.
Once they got back to Torchwood, both Rose and the Doctor were once again cheerful and smiling, but still refused to let go of each other. Both of them were very relieved when the day ended and they could finally go home.
Okay, I have to admit that I didn't like this chapter very much….but by all means, please review anyway! ;DDD Updates depend on the number of reviews.
Next chapter should be the Torchwood Christmas party! Yay!
Laura xx