Time and the Trickster

By Lumendea

Chapter Twenty-One: Becket Enterprises: Richard Becket

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

…..

Rose Tyler stifled the urge to roll her eyes as she sat in front of her laptop computer, the webcam was on and if she did someone would lecture her for it, probably Barbara. The screen in front of her was filled with small boxes from around the world as the various members of the Companion Club caught up with each other. As usual the third Sunday of the month, February this time was rapidly being consumed by an online conference call.

"Rose I wish you'd let me take a look at that virus that Thane used," Mel said to her, speaking over Polly.

"UNIT doesn't want it getting out," Rose explained, probably for the seventh time since the event in question. "Not even to you. Only Tosh, Malcolm, Kate and I are authorised to work on the Blackout Virus."

Mel pouted at her through the web connection and several members of the club chuckled at the sight.

"I still can't believe that I met you in Greece," Victoria laughed as she shook her head. "It is hard to believe, I don't remember it at all."

"Well I try not to be too memorable when I run into the Doctor in his past or his companions," Rose answered with a shrug. "So I'm not surprised that you don't remember me. It was nice to see Jamie with how much you, Ben and Polly talk about him."

"That means that you've met the Doctor's first, second and fifth bodies in addition to this ninth, tenth and eleventh forms," Jo Jones observed with a curious expression.

"Third too," Rose said before she thought better of it. Her statement got her more weird looks. "It's a long story that includes the White Guardian tossing me back in time through a time window and me kicking the Master's arse."

"That you've never mentioned before," Barbara observed from her place next to Ian. "How many other adventures have you neglected to tell us?"

"I'm sure we all have things we've never told anyone about," Rose interjected quickly before a scolding could start. "That particular trip was not fun for me at all, not even meeting Jo when she was younger and the Doctor in his third body could make that particular trip fun."

That statement seemed to soothe everyone and Jo started talking to Victoria about an upcoming trip she was taking to Germany and the two started to make plans to meet for coffee. When they finished their quick chat Ace and Tegan discussed a recent grant application that Tegan had sent into the A Charitable Earth Foundation for a new project in Australia. Rose leaned back in her desk chair and watched the various companions listen to each other or talk. They'd started the call out like any other, talking about the Doctor and various adventures, but they always mellowed down to catching up with each other.

Rose's mobile began to ring next to her. She pushed back from her laptop and picked up the phone, checking the caller ID which read UNIT. Smiling slightly, Rose flipped open the mobile phone and held it to her ear. She stood up from her chair and walked across the room to get away from Jo's chatter about her grandchildren.

"This is Tyler," Rose greeted professionally.

"This is Captain Magambo," the familiar female voice said on the other end of the line. "We need you to come down to London immediately."

"What's happened?" Rose asked as she moved over to the coat rack to grab her shoulder bag and jacket.

"There has been a reappearance of the Blackout Virus," Magambo informed her calmly, but Rose could detect the underlying urgency in her voice.

"Alright," Rose agreed, looking over at a clock. "If I leave now I can catch a train into London and that will get me there faster than driving myself, can you have someone pick me up at King's Cross in an hour and fifteen minutes?"

"We'll have a car waiting," Magambo promised.

"I'll see you soon then," Rose said before hanging up the phone and stowing it in her shoulder bag. Rose toed out of her slippers and shoved her feet into the boots waiting by the front door. She quickly double checked that she had the sonic pen, her wallet and her phone.

"Rose?" a voice called from the other side of the room, reminding her that she was still on the conference call.

Returning to the laptop, Rose smiled and gave a small wave to everyone. "Sorry, I've got to run. UNIT's called with an emergency." Before anyone could say anything in response Rose ended the call at her end and shut the computer. She'd hear about her abrupt departure later, most likely from Barbara, but she would just have to deal with it later.

Rose made it to the station just in time to catch the train for King's Cross which was the fastest of the Cambridge to London trains. The station was remarkably busy for a Sunday morning or at least it seemed that way to Rose as she found a seat, but then she didn't often travel back and forth to London via trains on Sunday morning. Settling into her seat, Rose sighed as the train pulled away from the station. Now she had an hour to wonder what was going on in London and if the Blackout Virus was, in fact, starting to cause havoc again while she was stuck in transit. Fantastic.

Rose's mobile rang again about ten minutes later and she quickly pulled it out. Tosh's name flashed on the screen and Rose smiled in relief as she answered.

"Talk to me Tosh," Rose greeted cheerfully.

"Have you really been that bored lately?" Tosh asked in mild surprise at Rose's tone. "Didn't you just get back from that thing in Egypt and a time cheating vacation in Greece?"

"I'm bored on a train," Rose defended with a slight pout. "And that vacation was the Doctor's doing, not mine." Rose looked around her seat, the train was decently filled, but she had empty space around her. "So what is going on?" Rose questioned in a softer voice.

"One of the technology companies that UNIT uses to disperse alien technology into the market reported this morning that their system was showing symptoms of the Blackout Virus."

"On a Sunday?" Rose asked.

"Apparently it was the main inventor Richard Becket and he works a lot on weekends."

"Fair enough," Rose said. "Is the virus showing up anywhere else?"

"No thank goodness," Tosh replied with clear relief. "Becket took his system offline just to make sure it couldn't spread through the internet, but we're going in to check over everything because that virus had to come from somewhere. You'll meet us there when you arrive."

"Benton thinks it Thane doesn't he?" Rose questioned, rubbing at her eyes.

"He thinks it's possible," Tosh admitted carefully. "That's why he wants you here, just in case."

"Lovely," Rose sighed. "Anything else? Any other odd things?"

"Not that we know of yet," Tosh answered in a rush. "Rose the car is here so I need to go. I'll see you when you get here." There was a pause on the other end and then a laugh, "Kate says hi too." Tosh hung up and Rose stared at the phone for a moment and then down at her watch.

"Great," she muttered. "Only forty-four minutes to go." Rose sighed again and really wished she had grabbed her MP3 player.

Forty-five minutes later Rose stepped onto the platform at King's Cross and tightened her grip on her bag as the crowd surged around her. Rose walked to the end of the platform and let her eyes sweep the area for any sign of a contact. She smiled when she spotted Mickey in street clothing waiting by the entrance. Since he wasn't in uniform Rose had no qualms about walking up and hugging him.

"Good to see you Rose," Mickey greeted cheerfully as he released her from the hug. "You look amazing."

"Flatter," Rose chuckled. "I look like someone who dressed this morning expecting a lazy Sunday."

"You make it work," Mickey assured her as he gestured to an exit. "This way."

Mickey navigated his way through the crowd with Rose right behind him. The initial rush of bodies quickly dissipated and Rose could see a black SUV with the UNIT logo on the side waiting at the corner up ahead. She didn't bother waiting for Mickey to open the door even as he moved to do just that and pulled it open herself, sliding into the back seat.

Private Ross smiled at Rose over his shoulder before he turned his attention back to the road. Rose nodded in return to him as Mickey climbed into the passenger seat. She buckled up and tapped her foot as they waited for Ross to be able to pull away from the curb. Soon enough they were on their way.

"Anything else you boys can tell me?" Rose questioned once they were in traffic.

"I'm afraid not much," Mickey said as he looked over his shoulder at her. "The name of the place we're heading is Becket Enterprises, it's a small technology firm that UNIT uses to put alien technology into the mainstream. According to the Captain, it's a relatively new one which UNIT has only been working with for about a year, but so far it has been working well. Richard Becket, the founder and owner is some kind of genius and my age. Today he reported that when he came into the office to work on a project that the servers and all computers in the office were showing signs of the Blackout Virus." Mickey shrugged, "That's all I know. After that, we were ordered to come and collect you to join the UNIT science team in checking everything over."

"Do you think it could be Thane?" Private Ross asked, glancing at Rose with the mirror.

"I'm not sure," Rose admitted. "After last time I'd imagine that the Judoon would keep him in a much better prison and it was only a few months ago." Rose shook her head, "On the other hand I can't say it isn't him yet."

They fell into silence for a few minutes until Rose decided to ignore formal protocol and started chatting with the two privates about their personal lives. Mickey's classes were still going very well and Ross was apparently recently engaged. For a moment it seemed like Ross was going to ask about Egypt, but caught himself before he could complete the question, something Rose was grateful for. She still didn't know why Apep couldn't attack her and when she'd asked the Doctor he'd refused to answer with the excuse of 'timelines' and with the death of the Colonel and so many of Egyptian's UNIT division it wasn't a happy topic for Rose.

The car came to a stop in front of a five-story relatively new building in an area of London that Rose didn't recognise. A sign in the front indicated that this was Becket Enterprises and Rose quickly climbed out of the car. Glancing around, Rose noted the UNTI scientific mobile unit parked alongside the building with several other UNIT vehicles.

A moment later a female private that Rose did not know stepped out of the front door and nodded to her. "Welcome Miss Tyler, Captain Magambo is waiting for you inside."

Nodding, Rose moved forward and gave Mickey and Ross a little wave over her shoulder. They stepped into the lobby which was a large open space with security card scanners at the door. A UNIT guard nodded to them and waved them through after tapping a card against the reader. Another guard was sitting behind the front desk and also nodded to them. The room itself was sleek and metal with a simplistic yet elegant feeling to it. For a newer company the place screamed money and success, but then Rose didn't really pay much attention to things like the stock market beyond checking the income for her trust fund. Sharon was the most financial savvy of Rose's friends.

The lift dinged at the far side of the room and Captain Magambo stepped out with a tall man a few years older than Rose with dark brown hair and green eyes. He looked over at Rose and smiled at her before returning his attention to Captain Magambo who was speaking to him. Rose studied the man as they moved over to her. He was dressed in slacks with a dress shirt, but the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and had a key card hanging from a lanyard around his neck. To be honest Rose noticed that he was very attractive and walked confidently toward her.

Captain Magambo paused in front of Rose and nodded in greeting to her. "Miss Tyler this is Richard Becket."

Becket smiled again at Rose and held out his hand to her. Rose shook it quickly and returned the smile with one of her own. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Tyler," Becket told her warmly. "Thank you for coming."

"Rose if you please," she told him quickly.

"Then please just call me Rich or Richard," he replied as he released her hand. "If you'll follow me I'll show you to the others in the server room."

Rose nodded and glanced over at Captain Magambo who had made her over to the security desk and was speaking with the guard. Richard turned back to the lift and Rose moved to follow him. He swiped the key card through another scanned and pressed one of the keys.

"Thank you for coming" Richard breathed with a grateful smile. "I don't have high clearance at UNIT, but from the little, I do know you are apparently the best."

"That's just the rumours talking," Rose told him quickly.

He chuckled and looked back over at her. "Attractive, modest and if your enrollment at Cambridge indicates anything intelligent."

"Thank you," Rose replied blushing slightly. "I'm seeing someone," she said quickly and a bit nervously.

Richard's smile dimmed slightly, but he nodded in understanding. "Well then, please just take that remark as a compliment and not an attempt to flirt."

"Course," Rose said with a relieved nod. She was saved from having to say anything else by the lift doors opening to the computer server room where Malcolm was leaning over Tosh's shoulder to look at her laptop.