Chapter 29 Aftermath

Two men came with a stretcher. The knife in his hand was bagged and placed with the body as they took him away. After that, he and Quinn managed to clean up the blood and glass, reset the front door and covered the window.

Quinn looked around to see if there was anything else he could do. "I'm going to post someone at your door just in case. I don't think his son Tom will come. He's most likely with his mom now. But I want to be sure you're safe. If you need help, call on him. He's my best man." Quinn turned to go and stopped. "I'm so sorry John." He wanted to say more, but left instead.

He carried Rose upstairs to their room. Her eyes were open, but she was limp and lifeless. He laid her on the bed and removed his shirt, bloody from holding her, and then her bloody clothing, and took them downstairs. When he returned, she was unconscious.

It was evening now, and he worried that she was not responding. He tried to reach her mind to bring her out, but she was completely shut down.

There was nothing to do but wait. He sat in the chair opposite the bed. It reminded him of the time she was injured in the village. This was a different kind of injury. One of the mind that he couldn't help, or could he?

He could remove the whole incident from her mind, but not her heart. She would always be afraid and not know why. If he let her deal with the trauma it would fade in time. She began to stir in the bed. She was dreaming. Reliving the incident.

He touched her temples to see it with her. It all played out again in a hellish distorted dream state. Him pushing in the door, The Tardis cloister bell ringing through it all, cornering her against the window, tearing her sweater, pushing his head into the glass, blood everywhere, running, Captain MacAbee and the shot, the butcher knife.

Then a dead Henderson sat up with white lifeless eyes, holding the knife to her throat. She sat up and began to scream and hold her arms up to protect herself, striking him. "No Rose, it's me, it's me, it's over, you're safe.

She focused, recognizing him and stopped struggling. He held her close as she cried. "Shhh it's ok, you're ok. I'm here, you're safe, you're safe." She began to calm down and see him. "Where's Alice?" "She's fine. I left her at Louise's for the night. I told her to be brave for me and wait till I came to get her. She was frightened but ok. Quinn said he would stay there a while to be sure she was safe."

"He's dead?" She said, swallowing hard. He stroked her face trying to comfort her. "Yes, Quinn killed him. They've taken him away and we've cleaned up the living room. Do you want to talk about it?" "I don't want to, but I know I should." She began, he listened carefully to the end, not asking any questions. She looked down at her nightgown, grabbing the neckline.

"Where are they?" "I put them in the incinerator downstairs." She nodded her head in acknowledgement. There was still blood on her body and in her hair. She began to tremble, and the smell of it made her sick. "I want to take a shower. Will you stay with me?" His eyes filled with love and compassion, "Yes, of course I will." There was no way he would be moved from her side now.

She got up from the bed and crossed the hall to the bathroom. As she looked down the stairs to the living room she froze. He touched her shoulder and she moved on. Rose was in the shower a long time. She scrubbed and scrubbed and then just stood under the hot water, trying to wash the memory of his hands on her away.

Rose couldn't wash away the memory of his eyes, or remove his thoughts from her mind. Remembering what he was going to do to her. She began to cry again, but made herself stop and turned off the water. He handed her a towel and her robe. She dried off and they returned to the bedroom. She couldn't face going downstairs just yet.

Rose got back into bed and then suddenly laughed out loud at herself for being so weak. She looked up at him puzzled. "What's the matter with me? I've faced worse than him. The Slitheen were ten times worse. The Daleks even more. I faced down Satan himself, while orbiting a black hole! Why am I reacting like this?"

He held her hand. "Maybe because you haven't been in that kind of danger for a long time. Maybe because you've felt happy and safe for the last four years. Maybe because the Slitheen and the Dahleks never had rape in mind. Maybe because you have a child. Do you want me to go on? I can give you a dozen more reasons that make your reaction very normal.

Her eyes began to tear up again. She squeezed them shut to make them go away. The memory was still too raw. She needed to push it away for a while. She grew quiet. He felt so helpless, he had to hold her. To try to soothe away the trauma. He joined her in bed. Just to hold her. Just to be near so she could feel his presence and know she was safe again. She sighed and laid her head on his chest, listening to his hearts beat. With his arms around her she felt better and slept a little more.

He could not. Now that he believed she would be alright, his own feelings emerged. A cold, deadly fury. Oh, how he wished Quinn hadn't killed him. He knew of lots of places to trap a screaming human in hell for all eternity. As one who knew that slow torture could be an art form. Just how long could Henderson live losing body parts one at a time. He knew what the first parts to go would be.

But that kind of revenge wouldn't help Rose or Alice. They needed him, and he needed to focus on that. After an hour or so Rose awoke, hungry. Now he knew she would be alright. He kissed her and grinned. "What would you like me to make you? Anything." Rose knew he was hurting too and wanted to give him something to do.

"I'll leave that to you. Nothing too complicated please." He got out of bed and went to the kitchen after a gentle kiss to her cheek. She got up, set her shoulders, and got dressed. Determined not to let this affect her. She stood at the top of the stairs for just a moment before going down.

When she reached the bottom she looked around for signs of the struggle. He and Quinn had done a good job and the only obvious thing was the cover over the window and the rug where he landed was missing.

She turned to go to the kitchen when something caught her eye. There was movement outside. She screamed and he came running from the kitchen. "What's wrong?" She pointed to the window. "There's someone out there!"

When there was a knock at the door, she screamed again and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Rose, wide eyed, quickly backed up to the stairwell, slamming her body against the wall in the corner, looking for an escape.

"Doctor Smith is everything alright? Doctor Smith!" The Time Lord ran to her holding her tight, feeling her tremble. "It's ok Rose. Quinn wanted to put a century in front of the house tonight." He looked down at her, "Are you alright?" She swallowed and shook her head yes. But wouldn't come out of the corner.

The century pounded again, about to break the door in. "Doctor! Are you alright?"

He went to the door and opened it, a blast of cold air coming in, reviving her. "It's alright. I hadn't told her you would be there and it frightened her." The soldier was very apologetic, seeing her terrified in the corner. "I'm so very sorry Mam. You don't have anything to worry about now. Nobody gets past me." Noticing the draft behind him, he closed the door.

Rose stared at him,"I've seen you before, at the pond. What's your name?" "Sargent Holmes Mam." Rose relaxed and came forward. "Sargent, I can't have you out there in the cold. Please come in." gesturing to the couch. The Sargent smiled at her kindness,

"No Mam. I'll not leave my post. Captain MacAbee would have my skin. Don't worry, I'll be relieved in a few hours and I have a thick coat." She grimaced at the thought of what the Captain would do, finding him asleep on their warm couch.

"Very well, stay at your post. I feel better already." "Thank you Mam. Again, I'm sorry I frightened you." he said gently, "Don't you worry now, and lock this door behind me. You folks have a good night." He closed the door and returned to his duties. The Time Lord slid his arms around her waist "I was going to tell you and forgot, I'm so sorry. You shouldn't be down here."

Rose looked him in the eye indignant, "And what happens when Alice comes home tomorrow? I won't stay in my room forever. If I curl up in fear, he wins. This is my house, and I'm not going to let that bastard take it away from me." She looked at him expectantly, "What's for dinner?"

Chapter 30 To Dance