I'm sorry about the delay. Stupid writer's block...

Chapter 25

The Doctor paced the room, effectively ignoring the violent shaking and the two women who were trying to stabilize their flight path during the landing sequence. He was interrupted in his musings when he heard Romana ask, "What are you doing, Rose?"

Rose looked at her in utter confusion, noting for the first time that Romana had stopped telling her what to do next nearly two minutes ago and that the shaking had ceased. Then she glanced at the dial she was touching.

"I don't know," she said honestly. "I had the feeling that adjusting the..." She stared at the dial again, still confused. "That dial regulates the temporal buffers, doesn't it?"

Romana flipped the last switch and arrested the hand brake. They had landed.

"Yeah, but how do you know that?" the Doctor asked, completely ignoring the fact that they were back on Earth. "I never told you anything about temporal buffers."

"It just felt like the right thing... to do." Rose said slowly, then she looked at the ceiling in sudden understanding. "You did that, didn't you?"

An affirmative hum was the answer. Romana stared at her ship in astonishment.

"Oh, yes!" The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver he had nicked in Romana's laboratory and scanned her. "In the last few years Bad Wolf changed you more than I would ever have thought possible. I could be wrong but I think it's a relatively slow process – which would explain why I didn't notice before. You're practically sizzling with every sort of energy I've ever heard of and even some I haven't." He grinned at her. "And because of that the TARDIS can communicate with you like she does with us." He put the sonic back in his definitely not-bigger-on-the-inside coat pocket and grabbed her hand. "Infirmary."

"Stop!" Romana said, having recovered from seeing Rose talking so casually to her ship. And the ship actually answering. This had been her ship alone for such a long time that she had become used to the TARDIS only communicating with her. "Doctor, aren't you forgetting something?" She pointed at the door. "If we want to save the Foamasi conference the time is now." She smiled. "And we still have a child on board that's going to miss her daddy when she wakes up."

"Right." Reluctantly he let go of Rose's hand. "I, uh, I'm going to get Mala. I've got the feeling we'll have to leave in a rush again."

"Oh, well, I guess that's better than 'What could possibly go wrong?' Terrible things are bound to happen whenever he uses that particular phrase." Rose said with a tentative smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't know... His TARDIS had been communicating with me since Satellite Five. I think I just forgot she hadn't done that before. And I missed her so much ever since I came here for the first time... I didn't even know she could do that. Show me pictures or project emotions, yes, but telling me what to do?" She sighed. "Probably I should have mentioned she showed me a picture of your Doctor when... after I told you about the war. Then you would have known something was wrong right from the beginning."

"You don't have to be sorry for anything, Rose," the Time Lady assured her. "And what you did really helped. So what did you think about my version of him?" she asked, trying to change the topic.

The grin was back. "Oh, all teeth and hair and multi-coloured scarf."

"Oi!" the Doctor said from behind, Mala in his arms, still fast asleep. "I looked dashing with that scarf!"

"I still wonder why he never strangled himself." Romana said in a conspiratorial stage whisper.

"Let's not get into a 'Who wore the most impractical clothes' contest! You'd lose, Romana." He grinned and continued, "White silk dress with a feather boa decorated coat."

"Somehow I can't picture you in clothes like that," Rose said, staring at Romana.

The Time Lady shrugged. "Different incarnation. And he gave me the coat." She smiled mischievously. "Five seconds before he was captured in a trap."

"Anyway," the Doctor interrupted Rose who was about to continue the banter with Romana. "Important conference, remember?"

"Don't worry. I think you're looking cute. Especially with Mala in your arms." He beamed. Definitely no need to tell him that his previous incarnation had been dead sexy, she decided. God, even her mum had flirted with him. She had always guessed that the slap was also due to him ignoring her the first time he had been at her mum's. Hell hath no fury...

Rose shook her head and determinedly opened the door. When she stepped out, followed by the Doctor with Mala and Romana, she found herself in a courtyard, only lit by a few lamps and the moon. After a few seconds she recognized her surroundings and knew exactly where they were in relation to the conference room. Recalling the large safety arrangements she decided to take the chance that the normal security guards wouldn't know about Torchwood's attempt to arrest her. Or at least not who was to be taken into custody. So she marched towards a wooden door in a corner of the courtyard that led to a series of corridors. She was fairly certain that was the best way to avoid the Torchwood agents who might still be searching for them as she strongly suspected they were all scouring the garden and the surrounding woods.

In front of the door she stopped. "Great," she muttered sarcastically under her breath, "I forgot about the code." The system was so old it was mechanical and thus couldn't be overridden electronically. On the other hand the number of combinations was somewhat limited. With a sigh she set about to enter the first possible code when Romana reached past her, pressed three numbers and pressed the handle. The door opened without a sound.

The Doctor stared at her. "How did you know the combination?"

She grinned. "Because I paid attention when Harriet's assistant opened the door to the orangery. I just figured, with a system this old the code would be the same for every entrance."

"Thanks," Rose said. "I'll go first."

"Why you?" the Doctor asked.

"Because I know how to get to the conference room from here. And if we are detected you've got a chance to get away because they'll see me first. I really don't want them to lay hands on you. None of you. It's bad enough that they're after me. Just imagine what would happen if anyone found out that you're human-looking aliens."

The Doctor was about to protest when Rose added, "Besides, you've got Mala. Do you really want to give them that opportunity? They would use her as a bargaining chip against her father."

With a long look in her eyes he relented and Rose entered the corridor that opened behind the door. The Doctor was about to follow her when Mala began to stir in his arms. The little girl yawned.

"Where am I? Where's my daddy?"

"Shhh. We're on our way to find your daddy, Mala. Can you be very quiet right now? Like a quirren?" If he remembered correctly that was the Foamasi equivalent of a mouse.

"Are we playing hide and seek?"

The Doctor grinned. "Yeah. And we don't want the others to hear us."

"Okay. But can you let me down? I can walk on my own."

He set her gently on the floor and took her by the hand.

~o~o~o~

Once a certain someone had told her just to walk around as if she owned the place. A really good advice, Rose had decided years ago, and so she simply followed the corridor down to the main hall, ignoring the fact that two complete Torchwood teams had been searching for her only minutes ago. In their timeline, not in hers, of course. Hearing the short dialogue between the Doctor and Mala she turned around and winked at the little girl, putting her index finger on her lips. Mala mirrored the gesture and grinned back at her.

She passed several doors leading to offices, staff dining rooms and a bar and eventually neared a door that divided the corridor from the main hall. She slowed her pace. Surprisingly there weren't any security guards around. She didn't like that. Not one bit. They had to know about the entrance at the far end of the corridor. The number of possible combinations for the lock was only slightly above one hundred, so anyone would be able to open the door in under five minutes. There should have been guards in the courtyard as well.

It was Romana who uttered her thoughts aloud. "I wonder where the guards are."

"Yeah, me too," Rose replied. "Even if everyone has already called it a night there should have been someone at the entrance."

She had only just finished her sentence when a dark figure appeared in front of her, apparently having entered the corridor through a door on the left.

"Who is there?" A male voice asked.

"Agent Tyler, Torchwood," Rose responded calmly. "I'm accompanied by Professor Rutherford and Ms Smith, as well as the daughter of Commander Vaesite. We were asked to accompany her to her father." With a bit of luck he wouldn't question why she wasn't in the conference room and what she was doing in the presence of a small alien. She hesitated for a split second, then she added, attempting to distract him from Mala, "Why isn't someone guarding the entrance at the end of this corridor? Anyone could have entered the building." Her tone demanded an answer and the guard obliged.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. But your agency ordered most of my comrades away. I stayed in this room because it is the only one that overlooks both the main hall and the corridor."

Rose looked through the door the soldier had come through. He was right. The room served as a back office for the people normally working at reception in the main hall and granted access to the corridor as well.

"Good thinking," she looked at his name tag, "Private Johnson. I'll send additional personnel out as soon as I get back to the conference room."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Without a further look Rose opened the door at the end of the corridor and entered the main hall. The others followed, while the soldier retreated to the office. The hall was huge. At her far left a large wooden double-winged door served as the estate's main entrance and at the far right another door lead to a large conference room. There the official part of the conference against poverty took place. Facing the door they had entered through was a large fireplace that only served decorative purposes nowadays, a picture of one of the former owners hanging over the mantelpiece. Next to it was a narrow doorway she had kept missing when she had visited the estate for the first few times.

She pointed at the door next to the fireplace. "The orangery is that way. Do we need a plan?"

The Doctor bounced on the tip of his toes and grinned. "Have we ever really needed a plan?"

~o~o~o~

When a group of people in Torchwood combat gear had entered the conference room Colin had been shocked. Harriet had told them that Torchwood was going to arrest Rose but he somehow had not been able to believe it. They were Torchwood, for god's sake. They were supposed to be the good guys, defending the Earth against alien invasions. And the good guys definitely did not imprison one of their own without very good cause. He had been incredibly naive. Files! No wonder Rose had laughed at that. It was ridiculous. Maybe she had taken them, maybe not. It didn't matter. She wouldn't have done so without a reason. And apparently she had been right not to trust them. He didn't like that one bit.

Then chaos had broken out. Rose, the Doctor and Romana had exited the room through a secret door, leaving the agents banging against it. Harriet had demanded an answer to what the Torchwood agents thought they were doing but had been ignored by the lead agent. Instead he had shouted at his subordinates, ordering most of them into the adjacent room and leaving a couple of confused politicians and two agents behind, undoubtedly to arrest Rose if she showed up again and to keep an eye on the Foamasi and, quite possibly, on him as well.

After a few minutes during which everyone tried to regain their equilibrium he noticed that Harriet was sending him meaningful glances, indicating at her assistant who was still clutching a few sheets of paper. Suddenly he understood. Rose had been exposed and Harriet was supposed to be neutral. She had already done as much as she could during the negotiation, being the voice of reason. For the present heads of state he represented Torchwood. If they wanted to save the agreement and avoid further negotiations he had to act now. Otherwise the process would be delayed, new topics would come up and everything they had reached on behalf of the Foamasi so far would be in vain. They'd never hear the end of it, especially because the Doctor and Romana had vanished with Rose.

He gathered his courage. He had never done anything like this before. He was only a scientist, after all and bluffing was not his forte. While he walked over to Harriet's assistant who leaned against the table filled with beverages, he cast glances at the Torchwood agents standing near the door. One of them raised his arm to his earpiece, an astonished look on his face and asked for confirmation of something.

"James, would you please prepare the treaty?" Colin said, ignoring whatever had caused the Torchwood agents to ask for clarification.

The young man winced, clearly he hadn't expected to be addressed. He looked at Colin who kept his expression carefully neutral and nodded, bending down to collect the sheets that had escaped his grip when the Torchwood team had entered the conference room.

President Connors glared at him, nearly invading his personal space. "What do you think you're doing?"

"We have reached an agreement, haven't we?" Colin said. "It's already well past midnight and I think we should get the treaty signed as soon as possible."

"You think. You came here with Tyler, didn't you?"

Colin nodded.

"I guess then you're hand in glove with her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harriet asked, sounding offended. "I came with her as well."

"Don't you see? Professor Rutherford and his... whatever she is... going with her made that very clear. This is all Tyler's plot to establish a Foamasi colony on Earth so they can overrun our defences easier."

Colin laughed. "Why would she do that?"

"I don't know. Maybe because she's..."

Commander Vaesite interrupted the President, staring at him threateningly. "This is an offense to all Foamasi. We might be refugees but we are also honourable people. We have agreed to accept the outcome of this conference and we don't break our word."

His staff formed a line behind him. Although they were unarmed they suddenly looked like the warrior race they were. The President gulped the other heads of state followed the spectacle with expressions ranging from shock on Prime Minister Naybet's face to disgust on President Oudjani's, while Amadou Coulibaly kept his features carefully neutral.

"Are you accusing Rose Tyler of treachery?" Colin asked. "And me and Harriet Jones as well? Just because of some misunderstanding?"

"A misunderstanding?" the President retorted. "They came here with two teams. That can't be a misunderstanding. There must be more to it."

Harriet's voice was cold as ice as she said, "Last time I looked this was a democracy. And everyone was innocent until proven guilty."

"And why did she run when she was to be arrested? She could have waited for her trial," President Connors gave back.

"Well, apparently you didn't notice but there was a severe omission in the enumeration of rights she was granted," President Coulibaly cut in, causing everyone to stare at him in astonishment. "Ms Tyler and I have had our discrepancies, I admit that, but by letting Torchwood arresting her you stripped her of fundamental rights none of our countries...," his gesture included both Mounhira Naybet and Samir Oudjani, "would normally deny its citizens."

"Hold on," Colin asked the President, a thought occurring to him. "How did you know there were two teams?"

"Because they had to ask him before they acted," a male voice said from behind. He turned around and saw the Doctor standing in the doorframe, hands in his coat pockets, accompanied by Rose, Romana and a small Foamasi who immediately extricated her hand from the Doctor's grip, ran to Commander Vaesite and hugged him. His child? And how long had they already been standing there? "He knew all along."