A/N: As per usual, many thanks and much love to each of you lovely viewers! You guys keep me sane through the madness.


Chapter 49: X Marks the Spot

Gwen pulled up at the chippy where Lois was waiting for them, appearing fidgety. Rose suddenly felt the Doctor coming to her mentally. She's been ignoring him ever since he turned into an overprotective husband and nervous expecting father and tried to keep her from leaving the Hub, but it felt urgent.

"What's the matter?" Gwen asked beside her.

"The Doctor's trying to tell me something," Rose replied. "It feels important."

The Welsh woman's brows raised. "You lot can actually tell if something's important or happy and all that?"

"'S…kinda like hunches you get, like vibes. You know when you walk by someone and you feel that feeling like whether or not the person seems creepy? It's like that only you feel the sensations multiplied by a hundred. Maybe even a thousand."

"Christ, you guys are on your own standalone level playing field," Gwen remarked.

Rose smiled. "Tell me about it." She turned around to face the windshield to avoid any odd looks from the other woman or pedestrians. "What's wrong?" she thought to her husband. "Does it have anything to do with the 456?"

"Not…no, technically no," the Doctor told her. "But it does have to do with the government and this Frobisher bloke. More importantly, it has to do with Jack."

"Why? What is it?"

"He made a quick call to the secretary just to see if the man would spill anything worthwhile and relevant to the children's case, mainly to see his reaction about keeping everything hidden from the general public."

"So what's the problem then? Jack made sure to make the call on the TARDIS phone, right? That way the government wouldn't be able to trace his location."

"Oh, that's not the problem. He was aware of that and used the phone right away. Safety is always handy, you know. No, that wasn't the issue. As it turns out Jack has a daughter named Alice and a grandson named Steven."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

Truthfully that wasn't as surprising to her to find out about Jack. Being immortal she couldn't imagine him not having children at some point in his long lifetime, just like her own husband. Jack never mentioned them in their travelling days on the TARDIS, but then again he would end up stuck in certain eras in time without being able to use his space hopper so it could have happened some time after they left Satellite 5.

"Since last night they're both in the custody of John Frobisher," the Doctor said.

"Oh, my God," Rose inwardly gasped, chewing on her thumbnail.

"Everything okay?" Gwen asked from the side.

"Jack's daughter and grandson were taken hostage yesterday," she told the Welsh woman. "Frobisher was the one who made it happen."

"Since when the hell is he in control of doing these things? How's Jack?"

Rose shook her head. "Probably wants to barge right in the Home Office to ring the guy's neck. We can't even try to get them out or else something'll happen to them."

"Frobisher claimed that what he did was because he had no choice," the Doctor cut in. "Load of rubbish that sounds like. The government is so frantic that they're pulling all the strings on the puppets in the offices to do their dirty work in trying to eliminate every single person involved with the case. Rassilon forbid if they talk about the first encounter cover-up."

Rose was disgusted. She wished she could say she didn't see that coming, but if the government was sending out executions to wipe out the organization that could help them, then collateral damage was their second option for stopping everyone from talking. Poor Jack. She can imagine how upset he was. "I'm assuming you don't know where they're being held," she told her husband.

"That's why I'm contacting you," the Doctor said. "Until Alistair arrives the only guaranteed ticket for us to know what's happening behind those walls is Miss Lois Habiba, but it can only work if you and Gwen convince her to help again."

Rose peeked inside the chippy where the young PA was sitting. "Yeah, she's looking pretty high-strung right now."

"Just do what you do best, love—work your charm. If she looks around she might be able to find out where Jack's daughter and grandson are located so we can go pick them up. Keep me posted when you leave. And…about earlier, Rose," he added, sounding apologetic. "I didn't mean—"

"I know, Doctor," she replied before he went on a rambling apology. "Don't worry about it right now. I'm fine, no pain or anything, okay? It's fine."

He sighed. "Just be careful, Rose. I wouldn't put it past this government to get all of Scotland Yard brainwashed just to capture any member of Torchwood or anyone affiliated with them. I'll be damned if I let anyone die here today, even more if they lay a hand on you."

"Relax, Doctor," Rose said gently. "We'll be back soon. Love you."

"Love you too."

Rose rubbed her forehead. It was only their second day of dealing with the 456 case and they already had more problems piling up around them. She turned to Gwen, who was waiting patiently throughout the mental conversation. "Lois has another task for us in finding out about Jack's family and where they were taken."

The Welsh woman nodded. "Then let's go." Gwen quickly reached for her own spares of the Torchwood contact lenses and put them on. "A test run should help ease her in."

"Good idea." Rose grabbed the laptop and tucked it away in her trans-dimensional jacket pocket before entering the chippy. They immediately got Lois' attention as she sat up straighter in her seat. She looked uneasy, but she had their trust as they had hers.

"I shouldn't be here," Lois said as they took their seats across from her. "I've already helped you lot once and that's got to be enough. Everything I've worked for to get this job could be taken away from me in court!"

"We know," Rose said, keeping her voice gentle. "We're so sorry to put you in this position, but you're all we've got."

"Torchwood is an organization meant to deal with aliens, just like the Doctor saves planets and civilizations! Don't you have any friends? You told me you had someone coming in to help you."

"He's on his way, but we don't know how much longer we'll have to wait. That's why we need you now."

Lois shook her head, still looking uncertain. Gwen leaned forward. "This isn't just about the aliens," the Welsh woman told her. "On top of that we're also dealing with a government trying to keep every piece of information about the first encounter with them hidden from the public."

"One of them being your boss, John Frobisher," Rose added. "You know how he tried to have Captain Jack Harkness killed, right?" The woman nodded. "Now he's got Jack's family being held hostage."

Lois' eyes widened as she stared at them. "What? That…you can't be serious."

Rose's voice was sad as she nodded. "It's the truth. His daughter Alice and his grandson Steven—both of them are in custody."

"Can't you do anything about it?" Lois asked. "I mean, if you found out that they're being held somewhere you must know where they're at."

"Except that we don't," Gwen replied. "Even if we knew the exact location at the moment we couldn't try to do anything about it ourselves because they could be killed."

"Oh, my God. Why…why would they even do something like that?"

"Because they think that what they're doing is the right thing," Rose answered. "They're willing to let two innocent lives who are connected to Jack die just to avoid being taken under. All just to keep people from talking. They can't be trusted for that very reason and that's why we need your help, Lois. You're the only one who understands how wrong their ideas are."

The PA looked between them, hesitating. "What should I do?"

"We need all the information we can get from inside," Gwen said. "Not only where Alice and Steven are being held, but what's inside the Thames House. You said that they were building something there. We need to know what."

"That's the most secure building in the whole country," Lois said incredulously. "I can't smuggle you in!"

"You don't have to," Gwen told her, then turned to Rose. "Rose, do you have the laptop?"

"Yeah, one second." Rose reached onto her jacket and pulled out the laptop, setting it down on the table.

"What the…?" Lois gaped. "How'd that fit in there?"

"Bigger-on-the-inside pockets," she replied with a smile.

Lois turned to Gwen, almost expecting her to give an explanation. She waved it off. "Don't bother asking. There's a way for us to see what goes on with your help, but in order for that to happen you'll need these."

She pulled out the white plastic container and placed it on the side. Lois frowned. "Contact lenses?"

"Not just any contact lenses," Rose told her as she opened the laptop lid to reveal just what the contacts did.

"But…where's that coming from?" Lois asked, studying the screen. "That's not a webcam."

"Torchwood contact lenses," Gwen told her. "They're connected to the computer's software. When you wear these they'll transmit a picture so we can see what's going on. And more than that, we've got lip-reading software where you just look at someone when they're speaking, and it'll translate it ans we'll be able to hear it."

"You want me to spy on my own country," Lois concluded.

Rose reached over and gently held the woman's wrist. "We have to do all we can to stop them from making the biggest mistakes they can possibly make," she said softly. "God only knows what's going to happen once the aliens land, but it's gonna be chaotic. Thousands of lives are on the line, Lois. The whole world, even. It's what has to be done." The PA studied her, gathering her words. That was the main fact to stress.

"We can also send messages to you," Gwen put in. "That way we can communicate with each other. You would be able to see what we type in your eyes when you wear them. Not so large where it would obscure your vision, but kind of like a message written in front of you on a desk." She removed her lenses. "If you wear these then we can find out what's going on."

"Then we would be able to help," Rose added, shutting the laptop lid and surreptitiously tucking it away in her pocket.

Lois appeared to be fully convinced to go along with the plan, but then she shook her head. "What if they…I don't know, scan for bugs or something?"

"Yeah, they will," Gwen told her. "But they won't register. We promise."

"I can't, though. Getting you information's one thing, but that's putting me right on the front line."

"We know, and we're really sorry about this," Rose told her.

"It's all that we've got," Gwen added. "You're the only friend we've got left. At least until our other ally comes in. We need you to do this for us, Lois, please."

"Even if I get into Thames House, I can't get on to Floor Thirteen," the woman demurred. "That's where they're building this thing, but Frobisher only takes Miss Spears with him. I'm just the office girl!"

"Well, I was just a shopgirl once myself," Rose said. "I never thought I'd amount to anything with my life but you know what? You're never just an 'office girl' just like wasn't just a 'shopgirl'. Every person is capable of doing the impossible, of doing great things. Some of them use their brilliance for the wrong reasons, just look at the government right now. Their egos are doing all the thinking for them and for everyone else around them. But not you. You believe what you want, and you can see through their smoke and mirrors to see how wrong they are. You can help us put an end to it, Lois. You can make this right."

For a moment it looked like Lois was going to say something along the lines of agreement but her agitation got the nest of her once again. "I can't do this, I'm sorry," she said as she stood. "I've got to go."

"Just take these with you," Gwen urged as she pressed the white case in the other woman's hand.

"I can't."

"Please, Lois. Just take them and think about what we said."

Lois frowned, looking a bit grim before she pocketed the case and ran out of the chippy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Doctor continued searching through the TARDIS data banks while Jack and Donna occupied the monitors in the computer station, all intent on using more process of elimination on the possible species. Ianto continued to scan the hospital and police records to see if there had been any changes with Clem McDonald. The Doctor believed that the link between him and the aliens could be a bit damaged since the man never seemed to age much mentally, but it was strong enough for him to detect their whereabouts. Maybe they could pay the man another visit to see if he would be able to tell when the 456 were actually coming. Or maybe he could sit through a calm stroll through his mind to see what it was that they were actually dealing with.

"It's done," Rose reported to him through their bond. "We gave her the contacts, now it's all up to her."

"How was she?" he asked.

"Still a bit scared. God only knows what her next move is."

The Doctor rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. "Well, she wouldn't have taken it upon herself to agree to another meeting if she didn't trust us, nor would she take the contacts with her."

"I know. But at least we've got Alistair as our back-up."

"You can always count on the Brigadier. Speaking of which, I haven't heard him call to say he arrived just yet, but he should be close. Standard fly time from Guyana to Britain would take about twelve hours, and he's nearing the end of his flight. If I could pinpoint what these 456 were and what they looked like then we'd have a better lead." He shook his head. "Just come on back. There isn't much we can do."

"Whoa," Ianto exclaimed from the side, gaining everyone's attention. "Can't go wrong with face recognition software."

"What'd you find?" Jack asked as they all gathered around the Welsh man's station.

"Scan searches all over the UK," Ianto replied, motioning at the screen. A picture of Clem McDonald popped up with progress bars on the side and some database records from police reports. "I've checked the security cameras from the mental institution where Clement McDonald was staying and it appeared that he had never returned."

"He must have ran away," Donna said. "When we visited him he was all jittery and twitched a lot. He was so afraid, like a little kid."

"He didn't go far, though. Two hours ago in London he was arrested for theft and minor affray, of all things. He didn't give his name but this is him."

The Doctor rubbed his chin in thought. "Can't have that," he muttered. "He's one of the few witnesses to experience has these 456 were capable of. Not to mention he's connected to them by a psychic receptor of some sort."

"In English, spaceman," Donna said with an eye roll.

"If I could just examine his mind containing the telepathic link to the species and access any memories then I would be able to have a better idea of the 456's origins," he explained.

"New mission for Rose and Gwen then?" Jack asked.

The Doctor straightened up and buried his hands in his pockets. Verily he wasn't too keen on having his wife walking around too much outside, and it wasn't because she was pregnant, but he'd feel much more content having her by his side where he could guarantee her safety. But he remained calm. He wasn't going to let his anxiety kick in again. She was fine.

"Should I give Gwen a call?" Ianto asked.

"No need," the Doctor told him, tapping a finger to his temple. "I can contact Rose from here."

"Oh, right. Telepathic bonds?"

"Yep."

"Very handy."

The Doctor arched an eyebrow. "You really did your research, haven't you?"

Ianto shrugged. "I'm always curious."

The Doctor chuckled before turning around to pace while he checked back with his wife. "Rose?"

"We're on our way, Doctor," she replied. "Won't be too long, calm down."

"No no, it's not that. Well, I shouldn't say it that way, your safety is always a top priority on my list. I'm afraid you and Gwen have got another mission. Clement was arrested hours ago in Camden."

"What?"

"He must have escaped from the mental institution. He was taken in on charges of theft and minor affray. We need to break him out and bring him here for safety. I reckon that if and when the 456 arrive they could possibly be out to snatch him up due to their remaining connection. I can examine him to see if I can access any memories to get a good idea of what we're dealing with."

Rose hummed. "Good plan. The poor man still acts like a child and is constantly afraid. That link is probably damaged."

"Could be. But we can use it to our advantage and see if we can help him out while also helping us. I can come over and pick you up."

"Doctor, it's fine. 'S not that far away."

"Well, yeah, but—"

"I'll be fine. It's okay, really. Bit of a con wouldn't hurt. It's a good thing you finally came to your senses to give me a psychic paper of my own."

He smirked. "Well, you were very persuasive." He could imagine her tongue-touched grin. "Just be careful. See you soon."

"'Kay."

Nodding to himself, he turned back to the group. "Right, then. The ladies are on their way to pick up Clement McDonald and, when all works out, later it'll be Alice and Steven Carter."

"Wish we can break them out now," Jack muttered, shaking his head.

The Doctor walked over and placed a hand on the other man's shoulder. "We'll get them out, Jack. It takes time. Just keep an eye out for more suspicious activity, anything with the children or the skies, anything of that nature." He whirled around to enter the TARDIS only to pop his head out after his companion called for him.

"What are you gonna do?" Donna asked. "You're not seriously gonna keep attempting that process of elimination are you? We only end up stuck."

"No, I'll leave that alone. Once Rose and Gwen break Clem out and bring him here the image should be clear, or at least I hope it is, for me to know the species' planet of origin and any records relevant to their designation. I'll monitor the area for any worldwide activity on a more massive scale. Like sweeping across for a criminal. Which, judging by what the Brigadier described, is exactly what we're dealing with. First I'll be in the medbay, just shout if anything comes up."

The redhead snorted. "Taking care of the morning sickness, spacedad?" she teased.

The Doctor rolled his eyes before popping back into the TARDIS. He didn't feel the need to dignify that with a response. Even if it was the truth.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lois sat at her desk and typed onto her keyboard, distrait since she had nothing to place into the computer. She saw Mrs. Bridget Spears by her own station sifting through some folders in a neat fashion. After overhearing the brief conversation that Mr. Frobisher was having in his office phone she managed to pick up on some handy information in regards to Jack Harkness' daughter and grandson. It sounded like some military base that they were being held. Hacking into the files she managed to match the name of the base along with the location, accessing the plots of what they would do with them.

How can a government become so radical and extreme to kidnap innocent lives just to keep others from talking?

More than once she hesitated before moving the attached files onto her flash drive, trying to actually think about what she was doing and why she was even participating in all of this. She thought about everything that the women—that Gwen and Rose—had told her back at the chippy. Everything that the government has been doing seemed so corrupt like a movie's plot, almost unreal. But the evidence was written as clear as day on the screens, so she believed. Then actually hearing her own boss talking about it added onto the conspiracies. All they cared about was maintaining their optimal idea of the status quo rather than the citizens' safety. How could people go along with that?

Her job was a good one, much like her life—simple and easy. It was only her second day and she was on shaky ground, helping out the fugitives that they were trying to wipe out. But they were the ones who could help. That was the main thing that didn't make sense to her. Attempting murder on the one organization who were on their side and wanted to help? It was wrong. And she had been secretly meeting with a woman affiliated with the Doctor, yet another individual who could be a major help around here.

She could lose her job in an instant and put on a prison sentence for treason, if lucky enough. All of her hard work to actually get this position could come crashing down. But she thought back to what the women told her at the chippy, how her choices to gather as much information as possible and be their inside eyes could not only be a risk for her career but also save thousands of lives, something the workers around her didn't seem to worry about. It was a fair duty, so she would take that risk.

Mr. Frobisher came out of his office with an unreadable expression on his face. Lois kept her eyes on her screen but she remained observant as he moved over to Ms. Spears' desk. "Nothing from Jodrell Bank, but we might as well get ready," he told her. "Get everything you need, Bridget. We'll transfer over to Thames House."

The woman nodded tightly and began to stuff her folders into a case while he went back into his office. Lois felt her hands tremble. She needed to find her way into the most secure building in London and this was it. Somehow, through her nervousness, she managed to keep her voice steady as she spoke.

"What d'you want me to do?" she asked.

"Exactly what you're doing now," Ms. Spears told her, briefly looking up from her work. "Just answer the phones."

Lois slowly rose to her feet and approached her. "Well…I could come with you to Thames House. I could help."

"I don't think so."

She bit her lip, trying to think of a good enough cover. "The thing is…Mr. Frobisher asked me to come."

Ms. Spears stared at her. "When was that?"

"He said he wanted me," Lois replied casually. "At his side."

"What for?" the older woman said, her voice dripping with condescension. "Why on Earth would he need you?"

"It was a…private conversation."

Ms. Spears' face fell, looking dejected. The folder in her hand was then slapped down hard into her case. Mr. Frobisher exited his office once again and walked past them. Mrs. Spears shut her case and held it beneath her arm and followed him, but came to a stop after a few steps and turned around. "You're not the first, you know," she hissed. "Don't go thinking you're the first."

"Then I can come?" Lois asked.

The older woman sucked her teeth in annoyance. "Apparently so."

Lois nodded tightly and gathered her own items, maintaining her composure. Phase one complete.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

With the use of Rose's trusty psychic paper and Gwen's credentials as a former policewoman, the ladies were successful in releasing Clem from his cell. He recognized them no sooner after they found them and appeared to feel much safer than he did when he was brought in, but he continued to inhale the air around him as they led him outside to the car.

Rose inwardly shivered when the man inhaled deeply again from beside her. "You okay?" she asked him. "'M still not freaking you out with my mostly human scent, am I?"

"Of course not," Clem answered, studying her. "It's just…I can't believe I've finally met nice people. It's so rare."

"Well, it's a good thing you're among some friendly faces," Gwen said with a smile.

"Where are we going?" he asked. "Are we going to your houses for some tea and biscuits?"

"Something like that," Rose said, looping her arm through one of his as they walked. Clem suddenly stopped dead in his tracks with a distant look in his eyes. "Clem? You alright?"

Gwen waved a hand in front of his face, but he was still frozen, eyes directed to the sky. "What is it? What's over there?"

No answer. "It must be the aliens," Rose said. If it was happening to the man then the kids were doing the same. Looking around the area was useless since there weren't any outside. "Doctor, it's happening again," she alerted mentally. "Clem just stopped."

"What's he doing?" he asked quickly. "What's he saying?"

"Nothing. He's just standing here and staring at nothing."

"Then the children are stopped too. Keep an eye on him."

Suddenly Clem began to slowly raise his arm to the sky, pointing. Rose and Gwen followed its direction with frowns. "Something in the sky?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Doctor!" Donna called out. "The children are doing it again!"

Bolting out of the TARDIS, the Doctor hurried over to the computer station. So far Rose only told him that Clem was standing still and not speaking a word, but maybe the children would talk before him. Or at the same time, he didn't know. What're they doing?" he asked. "Are they saying anything yet?"

"Nothing," Ianto reported. "But they're all just pointing up at the sky. All the children in America are pointing east and all the children in Europe are pointing west."

The Doctor thought for a moment then it had clicked. "It's England," he breathed out. "They're all pointing at England, probably London. We need a better look!"

He dashed back into the TARDIS and ran around the console, pressing buttons and bringing the monitor up with a live screenshot of London. The others gathered around him to get a good view of what was happening outside. A low roaring sound came through the speakers as the thick white clouds swirled before splitting, a massive hole manifesting. A column of fire slowly descended from the sky and punched through the opening, its target being a building in the center of the city.

"It's the Thames House," the Doctor said, running a hand through his hair. "It has to be."

"Lois said that there was something being built there," Donna remarked.

"'Build it and they will come,'" he murmured, staring hard at the screen as the fire shrunk down and went out completely, the clouds in the sky still arranged in a hole.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rose and Gwen tried to keep their balance steady when the ground shook. The roaring died down, but then a pillar of fire descended from the sky. They couldn't make out where it rested from where they stood, but they already knew where it landed—the Thames House. Soon the fire died down and the Earth remained quiet and still.

"We are here," Clem said cryptically before dropping his arm and his eyes from the heavens, returning back to normal.

"Clem?" Gwen asked. "You okay?"

"It's them," he responded, visibly trembling with fear. "They're back!"

"Come with us," Rose said, lightly tugging his arm to get him to move. "You still have a connection to them and we need to have a look at it."

They hurried into Gwen's car and drove off back to Cardiff. Right now their focus was solely on figuring out why the who 456 really are and chose to come back after all this time. To do so they needed to have a close look at the link between them and Clem.

"We're back," Rose thought to the Doctor.

"How is he?" he replied. "Any changes?"

"No, back to normal for now. But he's still a bit jittery and won't stop sniffing the air, like he's expecting to be taken to the 456."

"Can't have that. The link must be so damaged that it's literally taken over his mind and haunted him for all these years."

"I've got an idea, why don't you make some tea for our guest. Should help him calm down. Maybe give him some biscuits, too."

"I like the way you think, Rose Tyler. Already on it. And what about you? Still okay?"

"Fine. You don't have to check on me every second, Doctor, I'm okay."

"I know, I know, I'm just…oh, you know. I'll see you when you get back."

Once they pulled up at the Hub they escorted Clem out of the back and led him towards the entrance. "This is your home?" he asked, looking confused.

"No, just a secondary one I guess," Gwen answered.

"A tourist shop?"

"Oh, it's more than that," Rose told him as they walked through the main desk and through the large doors, entering the Hub.

No one was around. She knew that her husband was inside the TARDIS getting some tea but she surmised the rest of the gang remained in the console room checking on the area after the pillar of light shone down from the skies. Clem's eyes widened in awe as he took in the size of the room, his back, taking it all in.

"Nice house," he murmured. His eyes stopped when he noticed the TARDIS parked by the lounge chair in the computer station. He pointed at it. "Why's there a blue police box? Is it for decoration?"

Rose chuckled. "No, that's my home."

He frowned. "But it's a phone box. And it's small."

"It's a lot bigger on the inside. And it's not just a phone box, it's a spaceship."

"Spaceship?" Clem repeated shakily, his eyes now wide with fear. "No! Don't make me go!" He cried before twitching. "I don't want to!" He whirled around and made an attempt to run away but the women seized him by the arms. "Don't put me on that ship! Don't let it take me away!"

"It's not going to take you away," Gwen told him gently. "You don't have to go inside if you don't want to, it's fine."

"They tried to take me away on a ship once," he whimpered, sniffing again and trembling.

Rose rubbed the man's arm soothingly. "Well, that's a good ship," she said softly. "That's the TARDIS, that's where I'm from. Can you hear Her? That humming in your ears?" Clem gulped before steadying his panting to regular breaths as he stayed quiet for a moment. He hesitantly nodded. "She sounds good, doesn't She?" He nodded again. "We're all the good guys here. You trust us, right?"

"You're all the nice people. Not…not like the ones back then, you're rare."

Rose smiled. "Come on, let's get you seated over here."

They walked him over towards the couch and lowered him down. His form was still trembling but luckily not as much as when they first picked him up. The TARDIS door creaked open and Rhys stepped out with a tray of tea and biscuits.

"Thought I heard you ladies coming back," he said, setting the tray down on the small table beside the couch.

"This is your husband," Clem said to Gwen.

"Yes, he's my beloved," she answered with a smile.

"I can smell him on you."

"What?" Rhys asked, looking baffled.

Gwen stood from the couch and gave him a kiss. "I'll tell you more about it later."

Clem twitched again, looking over his shoulder. "They'll come for me," he said. "I know they'll come for me, they'll come right in and grab me."

"We won't let them do anything to you," Rose told him. "You can't smell them here, Clem. Are they close by? Are they in this room?"

The man sat up straighter as he took a deep breath, inhaling loudly. He paused. "No."

"You're gonna be okay," she assured. "The Doctor's gonna help you." Clem nodded and took a sip from his cup of tea then chewed on a biscuit.

No sooner after his name was mentioned the Doctor popped his head out of the TARDIS. "Ah, Clement McDonald, I presume," he proclaimed, exiting the ship to stand beside Rose, his hands in his trouser pockets. "Good to meet you, I'm the Doctor."

The man breathed in deeply. "You're her husband," he said, nodding towards Rose.

"Yes, I am," the Doctor said with a smile.

"You're an alien."

"I am. Is that alright?"

Clem nodded. "You smell…right. Not like those other aliens."

"Should hope so," the Doctor said, still smiling. "Don't reckon my wife would be too happy if I were to become like them. Forever bonded together with a ruthless, swindling species, can you imagine that?"

"No," the man said after a moment.

"Neither can I." The Doctor slowly walked towards Clem and knelt on the ground in front of him on the couch. If this man was the equivalent to a young boy even in his older age then he would need to be more heedful with his mind, not that he was ever rough. He kept his voice soft as he spoke. "You were there when the aliens first came to Earth. You saw them?"

"Yes," Clem replied. "I never saw their faces, only a bright light. It took all my friends away."

"Except you."

"I ran away. I didn't know what else to do," he added shamefully.

The corner of the Doctor's mouth twitched upwards. "I do it everyday. Both me and my wife, running and running. There's no shame in that. Keeps me on me toes."

Clem smiled a little before letting it fall as he trembled. "They never stop. I've been smelling them for years. They're back and they're going to come and find me and take me away."

"We promise we won't let them take you, Clem," the Doctor assured. "But there's still a connection between you and the aliens, something that altered your senses. I need to examine it as well as take a look at your memory of that night."

"How can you do that?" Clem asked, confused.

"If I put my fingers here—" the Doctor tapped a finger to his temple. "—I can enter your mind with ease and have a look."

The man looked both wondrous and bewildered. "Is it-is it…safe?" he asked, twitching in his spot.

"One hundred percent," the Doctor told him gently. "You have total control of what you want me to see. I won't look at anything that you don't want me to. All you would have to do is imagine a door and keep it shut, I won't go through. Just let me in to see that memory of that night, Clem, that's all I want you to do. Is that alright?"

Clem looked to the side where Rose was standing, and she gave him a nod and smile of encouragement. After another momen,t Clem set his mug of tea down on the small table by the couch, taking a deep breath as he steadied himself. He nodded and the Doctor moved closer to place his fingers on Clem's temples, both of their eyes slipping shut as he slid inside.

"That's it," the Doctor said softly. "Just let me in, Clem. Show me what happened that night."


Shout out to myrtlebob who sent me a link to a short fan video from youtube about Ten talking about being a father before, which is totally relevant to some elements in this story. It was a beautifully edited video, kudos to the creator! Type in YouTube and then the link below if you wanna check it out.

/J-ogmXbKCbk