Or, what Rose sees, what the team finds, and another conversation with the Master.
-0-
As the new scanning technique engaged, something hit the atmosphere, streaking across the sky to land. It was something that pulsed a repeating pattern, of four beats. Over and over it pulsed, the pulse being picked up, by the remnants of the Archangel network. "It is coming." Everyone's head snapped in Rose's direction. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, hints of gold laced with red starting to shimmer in their depths. "They are coming, coming to burn and bleed and break time. They are coming."
~~~-0-~~~
"Rose," the Doctor's voice was hoarse as he moved towards her. Each step was slowed, as if he were wading in mud. "Tell me what you see, please."
Her gaze slid towards him, almost focusing on his face, but he could see her eyes dilate and narrow. "Time is being written and rewritten all at once. I can hear it coming, the four beats of life and destruction. There are still timelines that could continue on, but Time is burning, and it hurts." A tear slipped free tracking down her cheek as she talked.
The Doctor kept a tight leash on his emotions. Later on, he might acknowledge what he was feeling but right now Rose needed him. "Then block it out Rose." He caught her hand, keeping his voice calm. "Let go of it and come back to me. I'm right here with you, just shut it down. It's just like closing your eyes; close down what you are seeing. You don't need it right now."
"But you are wrong." Her voice was gentle in rebuke, a sad smile on her face. "I do need it, to protect time, and to protect you. It's just so confusing. I can't sort it all out."
Her eyes slide shut and her brows furrow in concentration. The Doctor's hand reaches up, almost of its own accord to skim his fingers over her cheek. "What I care about, is that you are safe."
Rose's eyes open again, still filled with the swirl of gold and red. "But I'm not safe Doctor, none of us are. Everything is still at risk and she's trying to warn me, but the roar of time is too loud. So she reached out to the open mind of an old soldier. When the warning comes, listen. You must listen and understand."
Suddenly Rose went limp, her eyes closing again as the Doctor caught her. "Rose," the Doctor called out in a voice of concern. She quickly managed to open her eyes, this time they were clear of the glowing gold and red. "M'fine, just need a mo'."
Effortlessly he scooped her up; moving to settle her in a chair. A warm presence by his side caused him to look up into Martha's concerned face. He refocused his gaze on Rose, taking in the pinched look of pain across her expression. "Do you have a headache? What am I talking about of course you do."
Martha's gaze flicked to the Doctor's face as he talked, before returning to study Rose. "How about I get something for that, and before you say it, I know, no aspirin."
The Doctor was left with his mouth partially opened as Martha started, and then smiled. "Thanks Martha, I think that would help."
As she left Rose gave the Doctor a pained smile. "I'll be alright; you go help them find whatever tripped this off."
"But Rose ….."
She shook her head at him, only wincing a little at the movement. "I'll be fine, and this needs to be solved. The sooner it gets figured out, the less chance I'll see all that again, yeah?"
The muscles in his jaw flexed as he studied her, before a relaxed air wiped the movement away. "Absolutemundo … oh, don't let me say that again." At Rose's small giggle he pressed a kiss to her forehead before standing up. "Alright, what have we got here?" His voice faded into the background for her as he walked off.
There was a small meep at her feet, and a tugging on the leg of her trousers. Looking down she saw her tiny friend looking up at her. With a faint smile she scooped Sapphire up, boosting the fuzzy lizard into her accustomed perch around her neck. She was petting her little friend when Martha came back with a couple of pills and a glass of water.
Gratefully she took the pills, popping them in her mouth before taking the glass. Swallowing the water down, she gave Martha a smile as the other woman pulled a chair over and sat down. "How are you feeling, really?"
"Well," Rose expression shifted as she considered the question. "I feel like I have a massive hangover, without getting to do the fun part of drinking first."
Martha winced in sympathy. "Ouch, not much fun, my guess is you are getting quite the mental work out."
With a rueful smile Rose nodded, her hand reaching back up to stroke Sapphire as she talked. "Sounds about right, it's all this massive bits of information that all the sudden I can perceive. Stretching parts of my brain, the new bits I mean."
They both looked up as someone approached them. Rose took a deep breath in, the familiar scent of tea teasing her nose. Her wide smile appeared as she looked up at Ianto. "You are very good at that."
Handing her and Martha each a cup of tea, fixed just the way they liked it; he gave Rose a small smile. "Making tea? Well, I've had enough experience with you around. You even showed me some tips."
Rose shook her head, her smile widening a bit more. "Taking care of people, tha' is what I mean. You are really good at knowing what people need. In fact, there is something I need from the two of you."
Martha and Ianto exchanged expressions of confused concern as Rose put her tea down. She reached for each of their hands, her voice pitched low. "M'fine for now, but what's coming, I might get tangled up in, and that's dangerous. I think there is someone trying t'help, and I saw Wilf, Donna's Grandfather. You need t'talk to him, and I think I know why."
Rose's gaze went sharp, almost piercing as she transferred her gaze between the pair. "All of us, we have some sort of physic training on shielding, have to have it working here. So whoever is trying t'issue the warning can't get to us because we're more closed off. They settled for someone close to one of us, and open."
Martha nodded slowly, faint puzzlement clouding her features. "That makes sense, but why tell us, why not tell the Doctor? You sent him away just now so he wouldn't hear this didn't you?"
Giving them a small sad smile, Rose picked her words carefully as she explained. "Because he needed a puzzle to sharpen his mind, and emotion can cloud it. It's why I think he tries to push strong emotions away or aside, because they can cloud his thinking. Good, bad, any strong emotion or complete lack of can gum up the works. His big Time Lord brain was trained away from handling emotion."
Thoughtful, Ianto nodded. "And you are expecting him to get emotional about whatever the warning is."
Although it was a statement, and not a question, Rose nodded. "Yeah, So I need you two to find out what, an' keep it quiet."
"Rose, if it puts you in danger…" Martha's voice trailed off as Rose gave her a fierce look. "He needs to keep thinking clearly. I'll trust your judgment on this, tell who you think should know and when."
Turning her head, Rose watched the Doctor, smiling a little at the manic grin on his face. His head shifted and his smile got a bit bigger as his eyes met hers. "M'not the only one healing here, he is too."
Martha nodded as Rose released their hands, and reached for her tea. "Alright, just remember, this was your idea." A bit of humor danced in the darker woman's eyes.
"Oh don't worry." Rose's voice was cheerful. "I have an idea he's going to hate which should distract him plenty. Once he gets that tracking thing worked out."
Ianto gave her a slightly horrified look as he straightened up. "Well, at least you are warning us."
Rose laughed and shooed them both off. "I'll be fine, go ahead and do what you need to." Reluctantly they left her, as she sipped her tea and watched the Doctor.
She couldn't help the small smile that graced her face as she watched him at his mad dance. There was nothing he liked better than a chance to prove how brilliant he was. Those were some of the moments that he shone brightest. He wove things together from bits of information in a whirl of words and movements, often taking a moment to recognize when someone else did something clever. Sapphire's muzzle rubbed against her cheek as she sat there, enjoying this moment laced with the thrill of solving a puzzle.
It was then she realized the thrill wasn't all hers; it was coming from him as well. The link between them was strengthening, the more they reached for each other. She would need to learn how to strengthen and dampen that down as well. Inwardly she sighed and hoped that eventually she'd come to an end of the new capabilities to adjust to.
There was some sort of exclamation of triumph, and then people started to scatter. Mickey and Gwen were headed in one direction. Jack was headed back to his office. The Doctor was headed for her. She couldn't see Ianto anymore, and Martha much to Rose's satisfaction was pulling Donna off to the side. She tried to keep her focus on the Doctor though, so he wouldn't note any distractions. "Figured it out did you?"
His bright grin flashed as he grabbed the chair to sit down next to her. The Doctor carefully watched her as he casually reached over to entwine their fingers. "Yep," Rose had to grin at the way he popped the p.
"When we activated the new system to sweep for a signal, it must have triggered something. Whatever was broadcasting the signal has crashed down, not too far from here actually. Some of them off to get it and bring it back." When she didn't react negatively he gave a small smile, pulling their joined hands towards him.
Studying him, Rose's brows lowered, not because of his actions but because of what he was saying. "Hang on; you aren't going to go with them?"
"No, they can retrieve it and bring it back here. I think they are more than capable of doing that on their own. I hope." Putting her finished tea down, she lightly swatted him.
"They are more than capable of doing that Doctor." Rose huffed at him a little.
"Weeeeeeellll it is Torchwood after all, maybe they do need a minder." Lazily he smiled at her.
"Oi! I've been working here for months, so watch it." Though her words were offended, she couldn't help the small smile as they were slipping into the easy banter they used to have.
In perfect accord with one another at the moment, they just grinned at each other. "Besides you are so jeopardy friendly that looking after you is a full time job in itself."
"Don't I know it." Jack's voice caused the pair to look up, and he grinned as Rose scowled at the two of them.
"More like hopeless the lot of you are without me. You'd be falling apart if I wasn't here to keep you in line." Though her tone was light, the Doctor's expression sobered. "I would, I really, really would. So I think I'll be keeping you. No more wandering off for you Rose Tyler."
There was a beat of silence as the pair stared at each other, and then Rose cleared her throat. "Anyways, there is something I want to do, and you aren't going to like it."
Ten minutes later, okay more like twenty minutes later, Rose was standing once again in front of the Master's holding cell. Bob was in the next room, supposedly to give her space to work but also to keep an eye on the Doctor. Rose had insisted she needed to face the Master on her own, and the Doctor equally insisted that he needed to be there. So they compromised. Jack was in his office, keeping Sapphire with him. He seemed to better understand her need to face the twisted Time Lord.
As for the Master, he was studying Rose like she was a particularly fascinating insect. "They're stronger now, did you do something?"
She gave a relaxed shrug at his comment. "Not me, no, but you are right, they are stronger. Means somethin's getting closer. Wouldn't it be better though if they were silent?"
His head tilted, and then his whole body shifted in that direction turning to pace. "Who would I be without the drums?"
"They've been there, almost your whole life right?" The Master shot her a look, but his silence was answer enough. "Yeah they have, which makes me think someone is using you."
"Nobody uses me! I am the Master!" He practically spits that part out whirling to advance on her, stopping just short of the barrier. Despite the machines trying to help balance out his energy, his whole body goes translucent for a moment, so his skeleton can be seen.
Rose doesn't flinch; she just keeps up the quiet calm exterior. "Oh that's so helpful to you. Get so mad you are doing their work for them. 'Cause the fact is, somethin's coming, and you, you are a part of it."
His eyes widened and he flashed from angry to almost childlike delight. "You saw something didn't you. I can taste the time on you, even from here."
She debated inwardly for a moment, while he gave a little giggle. The guy was a complete nutter, but it wasn't entirely his fault. It was more the madness because his mind had broken at some point. "Yeah, I did, had a little accident with the Time Vortex awhile back. It changed me. Now I can see things, but I'm learning how to keep it shut out, because seeing too much, it can drive you mad." Rose raised one eyebrow looking the Master straight in the eye. "Somethin' tells me you've had too much going on in your mind."
He jerked back from her eyes suddenly wide. Continuing to move back he dropped down to sit on the bench watching her. "You really do see it don't you."
Rose let the silence fall as he continued to stare at her. Finally, he spoke again. "Can you make it stop?"
She shifted her posture slightly, keeping her eyes on his face. "I think when whatever happens, happens, there won't be a signal anymore. No more drums in your head."
The silence falls again, both of them quiet while he processed that. "What happens then?" His eyes had dropped while he was thinking and they rose up again to her face as he asks.
She shook her head a little as she responded. "I don't know, but I do know that whatever is happening s'got somethin' to do with you. You are going to have to make a choice Koschei." There is the smallest of flinches when she used that name. "An' the choice is going to be if you are going to keep lettin' them use you, or break free and be your own man."
He bristled, shooting up to his feet, voice angry. "I am the Master, a Time Lord, and nobody uses me, I use them!"
Rose just gave a small shrug and turned to walk away. "Best you be telling them that mate."
His voice was harsh and angry as he yelled after her as she continued to walk away. "I am the Master, you hear me!? Nobody uses me, nobody!"
The door shut behind her, and she walked straight for the Doctor. He tentatively opened his arms and she walked straight into them, shivering a little. Carefully he enfolded her into a hug, holding her lightly. "You did pretty well in there."
Rose was grateful he didn't ask if she was okay, and she just closed her eyes and leaned into him, breathing in his scent. It was then she picked up on another subtle difference between the Doctor, and the other. Sickness of the mind apparently had its own sort of smell as well. She could smell it on the Master, and it she had caught the scent of it before on the other. One more difference to catalog and file away, one more thing to help her move forward. The other really was sick in mind.
Bob gave her a small pat on the arm as he moved past them to open the door. They could clearly hear him ask before they started to move away. "Has anyone ever told you, you are absolutely gorgeous when you are angry?"
The Doctor almost choked when he heard that, and Rose laughed. "And some people call me mad, are you sure we should leave him in there?"
Rose grinned up at him, pulling away just a bit though she caught his hand to keep them linked. "Yeah, Bob knows what he's doing. He may not always make sense at the time, but he knows what he is doing."
As they walked back in to the main part of the hub, a commotion started to get louder. They looked at each other and then hurried their steps. "What's this all about then?"
Mickey turned at the Doctor's voice, and gestured to an open padded box on the table. "We found this in the middle of a small crater right where you said the signal was coming from."
Moving closer the Doctor's face went blank; carefully studying what looked to be a large cut diamond. His voice was just above a whisper. "It can't be …"
"Can't be what," Mickey questioned."
"It's not possible; there is no way it could get here. It looks like a white star diamond. They were only found on Gallifrey.
They were all so focused on the diamond; no one was really looking at Rose at the moment. As for Rose, her eyes were locked on the diamond as well, and there was a loud thrumming in her head.