a/n: As always, many thanks to my beautiful beta, bittie752.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Pete Tyler was stuck in traffic, again, on his way to Torchwood Four. He would be meeting with the president later regarding the future of Torchwood as a part of the newly-formed UNIT, but first he needed to swing by his office at Torchwood.
He stuck his head out his window to get a better look in front of him. Traffic looked like it was backed up for miles. He groaned. Every minute he spent on the road was one less minute he could get things organized at the office for the eventual takeover. He didn't know who would be taking over as the head of the newly-formed UNIT, but he was certain it wouldn't be him. In fact, he strongly suspected he might be out of a job by the afternoon, and he wanted to get to the office and double check to make certain that there was nothing incriminating in it, not of himself, and not of Rose, the Doctor or Jake.
After only a few short minutes, he was becoming bored. As a successful entrepreneur, he had learned decades earlier to make every minute count, and he was no longer used to inactivity. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.
"What the hell is taking so long?" he muttered.
He reached over to fiddle with the controls of the SUV's air conditioning, more to give himself something to do rather than because it was particularly hot out. When that wasn't enough of a distraction, he started playing with the radio. It had been playing music softly in the background, so softly that he had hardly noticed it, but now he turned up the volume.
No. Not rap. He pressed the scan feature and the radio automatically began to switch stations.
Show tunes from Bollywood. Uh, no.
Classical. No, not today.
Swing. No.
Something came on he couldn't identify, but it had a pounding bass line that shook the vehicle and made his ears feel like they were bleeding. Hell, no. He couldn't change the station fast enough.
A news report came on in mid-sentence.
"… created an inferno that shot flames fifty feet into the air. The building was formerly occupied by a pub called the Sons of Liberty, but it has been vacant for more than a decade. There have been reports of squatters living there, but it is unknown whether or not there was anyone in the building when it exploded."
Pete's heart pounded. Torchwood Two was housed in a pub that had been called Sons of Liberty. What was the likelihood that there was another abandoned pub with the same name?
A commercial came on so he ran through the stations, looking for another news report.
"… the explosion happened shortly after midnight, and Glasgow authorities are blaming a break in a gas main. Although nearby buildings were threatened, due to the valiant efforts of the fire brigade, the only building that was affected was a vacant building that formerly housed a pub."
Pete knew that Jake was staying in the Pub until he could find his own flat. He dug in his pocket for his mobile. Damn, he had missed one call. The display stated that it was from Jake and that it had come in last night at 17 minutes after 6. He played the message.
"Boss," said Jake over the phone. "Call me as soon as you get this."
Pete immediately rang Jake back, but the call went straight to his messaging service.
"Jake," he said into the phone. "Call me back." Oh, I hope he's okay, he thought.
Traffic had begun moving. He began to slowly move forward, thinking about the irony that the head of an intelligence agency was forced to learn about what had happened to a branch of his own organization on the radio.
Boy, he hoped Jake had made it out of there safely.
After a moment, the car ahead of him slowed to a stop, so Pete pulled out his mobile again. He dialed one more number, but this time to send a text.
~oOo~
Even though it was before 7:00 am, Dr. Martha Jones was already at work doing paperwork. There were requisition forms and claim forms and time sheets…. It was the absolute least favorite part of her job. You wouldn't think a super-secret intelligence organization that dealt with aliens would keep such a paper trail, she thought to herself.
Her phone chimed, signaling a text, and she pulled it out of her pocket. The message was short. Only one word.
Now.
~oOo~
The Doctor and Rose were having breakfast in the kitchen of the farmhouse when Rose's mobile started ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked to see who was calling.
"Hey, Tosh, I was just on my way in," she said into the phone. "No, we haven't seen the news. What is it?" She was silent for a moment while she listened. Her eyes widened. "Oh, my God. Is Jake okay?" She paused again and then said, "Well, let me know if you hear anything, yeah? And we'll be in soon."
After she rang off, she shoved the phone in her jeans pocket and looked somberly at the Doctor. "Torchwood Two blew up last night."
"What?!"
She nodded. "And what's worse is no one can seem to find Jake. Tosh is monitoring the news out of Glasgow, and it's not good. They're reporting a gas main break, but it's too much of a coincidence with everything else that's going on." Her mobile rang again, and she pulled it back out of her pocket.
"Yeah, Tosh?"
"Rose, this is Martha Jones. Your dad asked me to call you in case of an emergency."
Rose's heart began to pound but she was able to keep her voice even. "What's going on? Is something wrong with my mum or Tony?"
"I don't know," she answered honestly. "Your dad gave me a message to relay to you, and I just got a text saying I should tell it to you now."
"What was the message?"
"It was, 'Hope you're having a good time in Sydney. Your mum and Tony have to go to Bucknall House, but not to worry, they don't need medical attention.' Does that make sense?"
Rose nodded and then remembered the other woman couldn't see her. "Yeah, it does." Rose said soberly. "Thanks. And stay safe. You're taking a risk by being put in the middle of this."
"You stay safe, too," she replied. "I get the impression you and the Doctor are at greater risk than I am."
"What was that all about?" the Doctor asked after Rose rang off.
"That was Martha. Dad had her give me a message," she said, standing up and shoving her mobile back into her pocket. "I've got to get back."
He looked down at himself. Although Rose was already dressed, he was still in a tee and pyjama bottoms. "I'll go get ready," he said, starting to get up.
"No," she told him. "Just me. That was part of the message."
"Rose, what was the message? What did he say?"
"He said, 'Hope you're having a good time in Sydney. Your mum and Tony have to go to Bucknall House, but not to worry, they don't need medical attention.' Sydney means I have to go back. Bucknall House was never part of our code, but it has to mean that they have to go home. Since he can't mean the mansion, cos that's where they are right now, he must mean I need to bring them here."
"And the bit about not needing medical attention means you shouldn't bring me." His face darkened. "Just because Pete says not to bring me doesn't mean I shouldn't go."
"Doctor, I trust Dad," she said. "If he doesn't want you to come with, there must be a reason. But I don't know what it is." She rubbed her forehead. "There's one thing that bothers me about this."
"Only one?" he asked with a quirk of one eyebrow.
She ignored him. "The question is why did Dad decide to have Martha relay the message? Why her and not someone else? He hardly knows her. Certainly not well enough to trust her with this."
The Doctor shrugged. "He must trust her because you do."
She nodded absently. "I do trust her. I liked her instantly. I liked her parallel self, too."
"I know. You mentioned it on the Crucible," he said.
"Yeah, I did. She had a lot of guts to do what she did," Rose replied, and then stopped herself. She looked at him, puzzled. "How did you know that? You weren't there. You hadn't gotten there yet."
He froze.
"How is it even possible that you would know that?" she asked.
He looked away from her and then got up and crossed the room to stare out the window over the sink.
"And that reminds me," she continued. "How did you know exactly what happened to Donna? I know you would know what he probably did, but that's not what it sounded like when you told me about it. You sounded like you were there."
She was met with silence.
"C'mon, Doctor, how did you know that?" she prodded. "Why won't you tell me? Why are you keeping stuff from me?"
He whirled on her. "What about you? What about the things that you aren't telling me? What about what you went through when you used the dimension cannon? What about your nightmares?"
"What about yours?" she countered. She stared at him appraisingly. "But this is different, isn't it?" She paused as she ran the possibilities through her mind. "Let's see. Logically, since you weren't there, you wouldn't know what had happened unless someone told you. But I don't think anyone told you everything I had said in the Crucible while we were in the TARDIS. After all, why would they? And what I said about Martha was just one comment, and not a particularly important one. And no one could have told you what had happened to Donna because it happened after we were here." Her forehead wrinkled as she thought aloud. "The only way you could have known is if someone told you, and there's only one person who could have told you. But he wasn't here. So how could he have told you?"
Her jaw dropped as realization struck.
"You've been in telepathic communication with him, haven't you?" she accused. His body visibly stiffened. "Oh my God, you have been. Why wouldn't you tell me?" When he didn't answer, she continued.
"This is more than just not telling me, isn't it? You didn't want me to know because it was about him. Admit it." When he didn't answer, she repeated herself. "Admit it!"
"Alright, yes!" he exploded. "Yes, I didn't want to tell you."
"But why? Why wouldn't you want me to tell me?"
"You know why, Rose," he said sharply.
She stared at him wide-eyed for a moment. "You can't tell me you're still jealous of him?" She shook her head in disbelief. "This is bigger than you being jealous of Owen or Jake or Mickey. Y'know, I used to think your little jealous streak was cute, but now…."
"It's different with him," he spat out. "You wanted to go with him. You still love him."
Shocked by the anger in his voice, she gaped at him. "I don't have time for this," she said finally, her own anger and frustration apparent in her voice. "I've got to go back to London and get Mum and Tony."
"I'm coming with you," he insisted.
"No, you're not," she said flatly. "Pete doesn't want you there, and right now, neither do I. I've got to focus on getting in and out of London without being seen. If you go, you'll just be a distraction, which I don't need and which could put all of us in danger. We will talk about this, but not now."
She stalked out of the kitchen, the Doctor following close behind. She grabbed her wallet and keys out of a bowl near the front door. "While I'm gone, you need to get ready, because as soon as Mum and Tony are safe, we are going to figure out what the hell's going on and sort this once and for all. And then we're going to talk." And then she was out the door.
The Doctor heard her car door slam and the gravel of the driveway flying as she sped away.
~oOo~
As she headed to the M-4, Rose's mind raced. After all the years she had spent in crisis situations, first while traveling with the Doctor, then while working for Torchwood, she hadn't thought she'd ever feel overwhelmed again, but she did this morning. Between the explosion at Torchwood Two, the fact that Jake was missing, the fact that her mother and Tony were probably in danger because Pete had had to send a message in code to her, and now the argument with the Doctor, she'd had about as much as she could take.
Frankly she could have coped with all of it, except for the fight with the Doctor. Only the Doctor could make her feel this out of control. And this hurt.
He'd been lying to her. A lie of omission was still a lie in her book. She knew he had always kept things from her, but this one was a big one as far as she was concerned.
His accusations stung. She knew she hadn't told him everything she had gone through while looking for him, but he hadn't told her about everything that he had done while they had been separated either. And she hadn't shared her nightmares with him, but neither had he. And she honestly didn't count the fact that she hadn't told him about boosting the TARDIS' energy with her own because she intended to tell him. Eventually, anyway.
But for him not to tell her something as big as telepathic contact with the full Time Lord Doctor…. And it was obvious he never intended to tell her, either.
And then to throw up her feelings for the other Doctor in her face….
No, she couldn't think about the Doctor right now. Either one of them in fact.
Turning to her Torchwood training, she buried her anger and her pain as deep as she could and concentrated on figuring out a way of getting in and out of London without being seen.
~oOo~
Running his hands through his hair, the Doctor stalked back and forth across the room. How had everything gone so pear-shaped so quickly? Domestics, he thought disgustedly. Why had he expected a relationship with Rose wouldn't get domestic?
He picked up a spare thermoregulator off of a bookshelf that had been placed near the fireplace. For a moment he hefted it in his hand. He was overwhelmed with the temptation to throw it against the wall, or possibly through the window where it would make a loud, satisfying crash, but he stopped himself, primarily because he'd be the one who would have to clean up the mess. This body does have a tendency to want to throw things when angry, he thought in frustration. Idly he wondered if it were just an idiosyncrasy of the temper he had in this incarnation, or whether it somehow had something to do with Donna's influence on him during the metacrisis. Either way, he had to control the impulse.
Why, oh why couldn't he control his gob? If he had just kept his mouth shut about the telepathic interaction with his other self…. But he had never really been able to keep his mouth shut, not in any of his incarnations. Why should this one be any different?
Putting the thermoregulator back on the shelf, he sank down onto the couch and rubbed his left eye. Now he was developing a headache on top of everything else.
Fantastic.