Time and the Trickster

By Lumendea

Chapter Twenty-Five: Becket Enterprises: Hospital Visits

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.

…

The military hospital in London that UNIT used was small, but Rose had a good feeling about the place as she watched the staff move about with determined strides. She and Kate were sitting in a small waiting room that was more like a staff break room than anything else. The room had a small tea service table and a strange poster with the words 'Bad Wolf' scrawled on the lower right-hand corner which Rose had been trying to ignore for the last half an hour. A hot pot of tea was between them on the small round table that they were seated around. There weren't words to describe how grateful Rose was for Kate's presence. Despite the doctors' last report that Mickey was reacting well to treatment and hadn't suffered radiation burns to the same intensity as those who caught direct flashes, she still had a nervous knot in her stomach.

"You know in some ways when I first met you, Rose, you reminded me more of the Doctor from Dad's stories then he did today," Kate said suddenly, breaking the stillness in the room.

"Today was pretty calm for him," Rose reminded Kate with a shrug. "And he changes Kate just like any other living being." Rose grinned at an amusing thought and added, "After all when your Dad met him he was still only a couple of centuries old. He's a lot older now."

"His fashion sense wasn't as bad as Dad described," Kate remarked with an amused smile.

Rose chuckled and lowered her teacup back to the table. "The jeans, jumper, leather coat and combat boots is a tame and practical look for him," Rose agreed. "His next body wears a pinstripe suit with a long brown coat that he says Janice Joplin gave him and chucks." Kate raised an eyebrow at the last part and Rose smiled. "Yeah I know and his eleventh self dresses a bit like the absentminded professor. Suspenders, tweed jacket and bowtie with his crazy fly away hair."

"What about his twelfth?" Kate asked taking a sip from her tea.

"Even I haven't met his twelfth self yet," Rose answered with a small smile. "First, second, third, fifth, ninth, tenth and eleventh, but no twelfth."

Kate shook her head fondly at Rose and studied the girl for a long moment. She seemed to come to some decision, nodding to herself, but simply asked. "Dad always talked about the Doctor's second form with fondness. He liked to tell the Yeti story."

"I met him in Athens," Rose supplied. "After… well before and after that thing in Egypt."

"You mentioned that he dropped you off back in time," Kate said, "But didn't say much else. Does he do things like that often?"

"I'd had a bad day," Rose sighed. "He usually doesn't run the risk of there being two Rose Tylers on Earth, but I knew where I'd be and knew the consequences of not avoiding myself." Rose laughed and shook her head at the statement. "The things I say."

"Part of knowing the Doctor," Kate replied with a soft chuckle of her own. "Dad talks like that sometimes."

"You didn't introduce yourself to the Doctor," Rose observed. "Why not?"

"Didn't seem like the time," Kate answered. "He was here because you were upset."

"He wasn't-"

"Yes, he was," Kate countered seriously. "Rose he didn't come because the world was at stake, he came because someone he cares about called him hurting." Kate looked right at Rose. "There are a lot of rumours Rose and I'm going to leave it alone because it isn't really my business, but if you don't feel that way towards him then you should be careful because it looks like he feels that way towards you."

Rose blinked in surprise and then smiled softly at Kate. "Are you telling me to be careful for his sake?"

"And if I am?"

"Nothing," Rose said with a smile. "It's just a nice surprise to have someone else worrying more about him."

"You can take care of yourself," Kate replied with a shrug. "And I don't doubt that you can hold your own should a relationship ever begin between you." Kate gave Rose a firm look that made her swallow nervously. "Whenever in his or your timelines one begins in."

"Message received," Rose promised with a nod.

"Good," Kate said before raising her teacup and taking another sip.

Rose was saved from further conversation with Kate by one of the doctors walking into the room. He was a short older man with glasses perched on his nose, according to the name tag he was Doctor Higgins. "Miss Tyler," Doctor Higgins greeted pleasantly. "Mr Becket has asked to see you."

"Thank you," Rose said quickly as she stood from her chair. She looked over at Kate, but her friend gestured for her to go ahead. Rose nodded and followed Doctor Higgins down a hallway to the small patient room.

Richard Becket with laying on his good side facing the doorway with a bored and irritated look on his face which brightened when he spotted Rose. Stepping into the room, Rose examined the medical equipment around Richard. Nothing seemed too extreme and he was breathing on his own with only a simple IV in one arm. Doctor Higgins nodded to Richard before walking down the hall. Richard propped himself up a bit on his good arm. He was wearing drawstring pants, but no shirt with his injured shoulder covered in bandages that partially wrapped around his torso to keep them secure. Despite how bad he looked, he was smiling at Rose and looked happy to see her which eased the guilt that had flooded through her body.

"Rose," Richard greeted. "I've been asking about what happened at the lab? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Rose assured him with a smile as she pulled a chair from the wall over to Richard's bed. "I've been here for almost an hour."

"I've been being debriefed," Richard groaned as his eyes shifted to the open doorway. "Sounds like everyone is okay though, that's a relief."

"Mickey is still being seen to," Rose explained softly. "But it sounds like his burns aren't as intense in one place so they have to treat more of his body."

"Yeah, at least I just got the shoulder," Richard remarked with a shake of his head.

"I didn't say thank you for what you did," Rose observed with a sad smile as she looked at the bandaged skin. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Richard said with a smile of his own. "Didn't think about it, to be honest, just an instinct."

"It usually is," Rose agreed as she sat down in the chair next to his bed. "But even if you didn't think about it thank you."

"So I hear everything is okay now," Richard said gently. "Those soldiers Smith and Marks are going to be okay I hear."

"Yeah," Rose told him with a relieved smile. "Mickey, uh private Smith can't have visitors yet, but the doctors say he'll be okay after some radiation and burn treatments. Magambo's legs were pretty bad, but she'll fully recover too."

"That's amazing," Richard observed as he let out a breath. "Just amazing."

"Some days you get lucky," Rose breathed with a soft smile. "This was one of those days. Sadly it's doubtful that we'll ever know for certain if Thane did this or if it was someone else."

"This Thane that everyone thinks set the bomb," Richard said slowly as if unsure, "I've heard about some of the things he's done… if you had the chance would you kill him?"

Rose looked down at Richard in surprise but nodded slowly a moment later. Richard's expression became quizzical. "What?" Rose asked softly.

"It's just…" Richard shook his head, "I look at you and I see a beautiful smart girl, not a killer," he gave her a soft smile. "The look in your eye says that you'd take on this burn in my place if you could. I just can't see you killing anyone."

"I have already," Rose said softly as she met Richard's eyes. "But you're right I'm not a killer." Rose shook her head, "I've always seen killing as something primal, violent and selfish," she said in a soft voice. "I'm a defender, not a killer."

"What's the difference?" Richard asked as he reached over and took her hand gently.

"When I end lives it is protect someone or the sometimes the whole world." Rose paused and shrugged dejectedly. "In a perfect world I'd never end the life of a sentient being, but…" Rose shook her head and finished quickly. "But I can't put my own moral wishes above the safety of others in a dangerous situation."

"So you take on the burden," Richard said gently with a squeeze of her hand. "You really are too good to be true aren't you."

"You said you'd stop flirting," Rose observed lightly, trying to break the tension that had developed.

"I blame the drugs they've given me," Richard chuckled in response. "No verbal control right now.

"Then I'll ignore it this once," Rose told him with a small smile that quickly fell away. "But honestly, I don't think that Thane did this."

"You sound pretty sure of that," Richard said with a frown.

"This isn't like him," Rose replied uneasily. "He has a mode of operation and this doesn't fit it." Rose sighed, "Plus if he had escaped then I'd expect the Judoon to be here looking for him."

"I did hear a bit about them," Richard remarked. "Didn't sound very good."

"I'd imagine so," Rose grumbled with a nod. "That was one of the bad sort of days."

"If it wasn't Thane then who?" Richard asked.

"I don't know," Rose admitted with a sigh. "How much do you know about our first contact with the Tervtians?"

"I heard about the attempt to kidnap them," Richard informed her with a nod. "If that's what you mean."

"It is," Rose confirmed, "the thing is that we still don't know who arranged that attempt. We suspect Torchwood, but there's no evidence."

"You think this was done by Torchwood?" Richard asked with a frown.

Rose shook her head quickly. "No that's not it; I just mean that we've got other mysteries with just circumstantial evidence. I worry about jumping to conclusions."

They were silent for a few minutes with Rose gently holding Richard's hand for comfort. The door on the far side opened and one of the medical staff walked towards them. Rose quickly stood up and released Richard's hand.

"How is Mickey?" she asked eagerly, "I mean how is Private Smith."

The doctor, a middle-aged Indian woman this time smiled gently at Rose. "He's going to be alright," she answered. "He needs rest, but he has asked to see you." The doctor paused before she added, "While his face wasn't burned I warn you that he still doesn't look very good."

"May I see him?" Rose asked trying to keep the edge of desperation out of her voice.

"Like I said he's asking for you," the doctor replied with a smile. "Just be careful where you touch him, his hands are alright, but keep an eye out for any pain cues. It's a miracle that he survived." The doctor's face saddened for a moment. "He was very lucky."

"Yeah," Rose agreed softly. She knew that if Mickey hadn't been protected by the metal shelving he'd be dead. It was an overwhelming thought that Rose forced away as she walked to the far door to see her friend.

Mickey was on his back and Rose took a shaky breath as she examined him from the doorway. None of his burns seemed to be to the same extent of the others as the bandages were lighter on him, even if they covered far more of his body. However, Mickey's bed was surrounded by many more machines with multiple IVs going into his arms and a nasal breathing system.

"Hey Rose," Mickey greeted in a weak voice, but with a happy tone. "Come on in."

Rose entered the room slowly, but at the warm smile, Mickey gave her gained some strength. She pulled a chair over next to the bed and sat down. Reaching for Mickey's hand, Rose softly said, "Hi Mickey. How-" Rose cut off the question feeling a bit silly.

"I'm feeling really tired," Mickey answered gently. "A bit thirsty, but they don't want me drinking anything yet." He raised his free hand up enough to gesture to the various IVs. "Docs say it's in my head and that my body is getting enough liquid."

"I'm sorry Mickey," Rose blurted out suddenly.

He turned his head enough to look at Rose with a surprised and confused expression. "Sorry for what babe?"

"You're involved with aliens because of me," Rose said softly. "I'm sorry it got you hurt."

Mickey chuckled and squeezed her hand tightly for a moment. "Is that's what got you sulking like this?" he asked. When she didn't reply Mickey's voice turned more gentle. "It's not that bad Rose," he told her. "I'm gonna be fine and I'm certainly not upset at how things have turned out." Rose gave him a look and Mickey sighed. "Okay so we'd be dating, maybe married in my perfect world, but I've got a good job that makes a difference. I've got great mates and I'm attending uni." Mickey gave her a small smile. "Not bad, certainly not what I expected." He squeezed her hand again. "So stop it, babe, I'm a big boy and I made my choices, not you." Mickey shifted slightly in his bed, badly hiding a flinch of pain. "Now what we really need to worry about is what you tell my gran for me."

"You're making me tell Rita-Anne?" Rose asked with wide eyes and Mickey chuckled.

"Got to tell her something and you're so clever."

"But surely UNIT-"

"I'm calling in a friend favour," Mickey countered with a smirk. "Just to reassure her that I'm alright."

Rose sighed and shook her head in surrender. "Alright Mickey, what do you have in mind?"

….Next Time: World War Three…

"I suppose that I should be glad that the aliens crashed into London before I left on my spring holiday," Rose observed as she crossed her arms and frowned. "But honestly hitting Big Ben seems more like a crash from a bad science fiction show. They had enough control to hit the water and yet couldn't aim for a field outside of a major population zone."

Brigadier Benton sighed and rubbed his forehead as he looked at her through the webcam system. "Well Tyler with me in Geneva and Malcolm in the North Sea I'm afraid you're going to have to make UNIT UK proud as the conference."

"Conference?" Rose asked. "What conference?"

Benton now smirked. "Representatives from the UNIT divisions and other agencies from around the world are gathering to discuss this crash, it was very public after all and I'm sending you for UNIT UK. Play nice with the other children."