XxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxx

Chapter 35 -Strategic Thinking

After a quick phone call to Jake, the four of them went into the storage unit and retrieved the equipment. They carried it all back into the lab and hooked it up. Malcolm was able to quickly close both of the holes he had opened. The Doctor verified they had been closed. He scratched his beard, then told Rose, Tosh and Malcolm to step over to the other side of the room.

Once they stepped over there, he used his sonic screwdriver and shorted out the computer system. Sparks flew in every direction.

The Doctor sighed as he looked up at their stunned faces. "I'm sorry, Malcolm. It's just too, damn dangerous. This is better. Believe me."

Malcolm nodded his head. "You're probably right."

The Doctor's phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and said quickly to them, "Excuse me."

As he walked to the other side of the room, Rose heard him say. "Hey, Stark. What's up?"

Tosh patted Malcolm on the back. "It's for the best, Malcolm. Let's get a start on that paper today. Then we'll get the Bullet to New York tomorrow and work on it while we travel. Sound good?"

Malcolm wiped his brow and nodded. "Yes. That does sound like a good use of our time."

Tosh asked him, "Are you still planning on going to H.I. after this?"

Malcolm looked up in surprise at Rose. He shook his head. "I don't think so. It will probably take days to make certain there's nothing more to this than a ship caught in a time loop. Plus, I like it here."

Rose smiled as she nodded her head. "That's my thoughts, too."

The Doctor walked back over to them. "I'm sorry, but we need to go. Rose, are you ready?"

Rose looked up at him. He could still feel how guarded she was.

"You alrigh-" he asked her.

"I'm fine." Rose insisted. "Tosh. Malcolm. I'm sorry to run out on you, but have a great time in New York. I'll see you soon."

Tosh nodded her head. "Right, Rose. It was nice to see you both. Thank you, Director. For the sweets."

The Doctor held Rose's hand and smiled, "Have a great time in New York. Malcolm, we'll chat about the Cyberman invasion next time."

Malcolm chuckled. "Alright."

They turned to walk out of the door, and back down the hallways of the labs. The Doctor grew more concerned with each step. Rose continued to be very guarded with her emotions and thoughts. He nodded to the security officer as they got buzzed back out of the labs and stepped into the hallway to the lift.

As they stood waiting for the lift to pick them up, Rose asked him quietly. "What's happened?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Everything is alright."

She looked at him, "The phone call. Stark?"

He smiled, "He was asking me if he could use something. Nothing I have to rush off for. I was planning on us going home. I know you have to be exhausted. Is that alright?"

The lift dinged and the doors opened to an empty lift before she could answer. He held her hand as they stepped inside. He lifted her hand and kissed it. As soon as the doors closed, he noticed she covered her mouth and lowered her head. She kept her emotions guarded. He pressed the button for the lift to go back up. They were too far underground for him to use his wristband to pop them anywhere.

He looked at her, "Sweetheart. You're not alright. Don't feel that you have to shield anything from me."

Rose looked at him and he realized she was silently crying. Tears flowed down her face. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and held her. Rose buried her face in his chest. She held the front of his jacket tightly as she sobbed. He kissed her head. "Rose. I've got you. You're alright. Shh….."

She held onto him tightly and cried. He tapped his bracelet behind her back and popped them to their bedroom on the island.

XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxXxx

As soon as they popped into their room, Zeus barked at them in surprise. He was lying on the floor next to the bed. Rose was so upset, she seemed unable to walk. The Doctor picked her up, carried her over to the bed and gently lay her down. He sat down next to her and quickly scanned her with his screwdriver.

"Rose, talk to me. What's happened?" He asked her.

She continued to cry as she covered her face and shivered. She still kept her emotions shielded.

Zeus laid his head on the side of the bed and whined. The Doctor looked at the screwdriver's readings. "I'm not certain, Zeus. Give us a bit."

The Doctor lay down in front of Rose and ran his hand across her cheek. "Rose. Come back to me. You are safe. You are here with me. Here in our home. You are alright."

Rose continued to cry as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

He spoke to her gently. He held his cheek next to hers and whispered, "Shhh….. calm. Breathe. Deep breath. You're alright. Shhh…"

After a few moments, he felt her start to relax and her shields came down, slowly. She continued to cry, but not as hysterically.

He continued to hold her, "You are safe. I can feel your fear. Rose, dear. Calm down. Tell me what has frightened you."

She trembled in his arms. He kissed her cheek. He spoke in her mind. 'Tell me. Tell me without speaking. You are safe. I'm not letting you go.'

'That was so hard.' She said finally in his head.

Then he realized, being in the old lab had brought everything back. The life she had lived before he had gotten there. The consistent fear she had lived with day to day. The consist heartache that he had caused.

He sighed, "Damn. How could I have been so stupid? I'm so sorry, Rose. I shouldn't have let you do that." He continued to hold her tightly and kissed her cheek again.

He pulled back his head to look in her eyes. "Sweetheart, look at me. Please."

She looked at him as he wiped her eyes. "I'm so, so sorry. I didn't think about that. You are safe. Talk to me. Please." He laid his forehead to hers and rubbed her cheek.

Rose closed her eyes tightly. 'It was like this had never happened. Being down there. Seeing them. I halfway expected to turn around and you had disappeared and this was all a dream. And instead I'm back to being kidnapped and hurt….'

She began to cry again as he held her tightly. He wrapped his leg around hers. "Shhh… no. Never again. You are safe. This is real. It's not a dream."

He kissed her cheek and rubbed her back. She continued to cry and he could feel her exhaustion. He lay his forehead to hers and put his hand to the back of her head. "Sweetheart. You are spent. Shhh…." He whispered to her something she didn't understand. Her eyelids became very heavy. She couldn't keep her eyes open. He whispered to her again, "I'm here. You are safe, in my arms. Rest, my dear. Shhh….."

She fell into a deep sleep and relaxed where she lay.

He kissed her forehead and stood up next to the bed. He looked down at her and put his hands on his hips. "Idiot." He said to himself. "How did you not see that coming? Fucking idiot."

Zeus looked up at him and whined.

"No, not you. Me. You were right about it. She was already tired when we left, then I had to go and have her see those people in that place." He gritted his teeth as he ran both of his hands through his hair. "Ugh. Zeus. I'm really thick. I shouldn't have let her do that."

Zeus looked back up at Rose and whimpered.

"Nah, she'll be fine. I just put her to sleep for a couple of hours. Her mind was so tired, she wouldn't have been able to stop crying. She would eventually cried herself to sleep. I wasn't going to let her do that. No one should ever have to do that." He sighed.

Zeus panted and watched him as he took off his jacket and shirt. He kicked off his shoes under a chair. He walked around the bedroom and rubbed his face. Zeus yawned loudly as he watched the Doctor pace the floor and think.

Zeus whimpered.

The Doctor looked back at him, "That's true. Thanks, Zeus."

The Doctor took Rose's shoes off and put them next to his under the chair. Then he gently took off her jacket. He lay her back down in the bed, and covered her with the duvet.

He looked at Zeus on the floor. "Come on. You can sleep up here with us if you want."

Zeus barked quietly and jumped on the bed. The Doctor lay down facing Rose. Zeus settled down and rested his head on the Doctor's legs.

The Doctor said quietly, "Friday. Dim the lights to 3%."

The lights in the room dimmed.

The Doctor watched Rose sleep. He brushed her hair behind her ear and whispered to her. "Rose. I love you. So much more than I could ever explain. You are safe. No one will ever hurt you again. I'll kill anyone who even tries."

His sudden anger surprised him. He tried not to think of the kidnappings, when she had been hit by the car, when she had been shot and nearly died his arms. He fought back the tears and anger that started to overwhelm him. He pulled her hand to his lips to kiss. He could feel she was relaxed and felt safe. He continued to watch her sleep as he caressed her cheek.

He heard Lewis in his head. 'Sleeping?' he asked.

'No. Watching Rose sleep.' The Doctor smiled as he kissed her forehead and positioned his hand on her cheek. "I'm here, Rose. Everything is alright." He whispered to her.

Lewis spoke. 'Yeah. Arla is sleeping, too. I've been in the bed as long as I can. I'd turn on the telly, but it might wake her. Lance says you have a dead alien.'

The Doctor chuckled, 'You're on your honeymoon. Don't worry what we're dealing with, man.'

'Oh, that's shit and you know it. What else is going on?'

'Nothing. That's it. We've got it all handled.' The Doctor said.

Lewis was quiet for a few minutes. 'Alright, what have you done? You usually are chatting my ear off. If you ever get quiet, that's when you've done something. Why am I going to be pissed? I can already feel it.' Lewis asked him.

The Doctor groaned, 'You worry too much, Lewis. Really-'

'You can tell me now, or I can pop my ass back there and hear it with my own ears. What happened?' Lewis asked.

The Doctor groaned. 'Jake rang and needed our help working a ship crash. Turns out, it was a time loop, which Rose figured out. We went to Torchwood and got it sorted. I don't believe it's going to be a problem anymore. Poltoius is running a scan right now for me back on the ship. It's alright.'

'Ummm. That doesn't sound that bad. Jack happy to see Jake, huh?'

'Yeah. I suppose. We left and came back home for a few minutes, then popped over to Torchwood.' The Doctor bit his lip realizing he had probably just said too much.

'Okay. Summus told me that Jackie had Sam, so why did you two pop back unless it was for a quick shag?'

The Doctor rubbed his face, 'This line of questioning is really uncomfortable to me, man.'

'If you two bounced like that, then you didn't have any of the guard with you at the crash scene or at Torchwood. You going back to the bedroom tells me you were alone. Tell me I'm wrong.' Lewis said.

'It's scary how you can figure this shit out man. Has Summus imported some part of his brain into yours or someth-'

'Fuck! Fuck! I'm going to kill you myself! What the hell are you thinking going someplace without at least one of the Guard! We're not sure the threat is even over here on Earth! Anything could have happened! You must be out of your damn mind! And Rose just went along with this? She's had bodyguard protection for years! She knew better! I'm going to kill you both! What the actual fuck?'

The Doctor shook his head and smiled, 'I'm glad I told you. See, I feel better. Thank you, Lewis.'

'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!' Lewis seemed so angry, he couldn't say anything else. Then he started swearing in Quauhtin.

The Doctor smiled as he lay and listened to him. After a few moments, Lewis calmed down.

'Better, mate?' The Doctor asked.

'Hell no! I'm going to kick your ass.' Lewis told him.

'Well, that's a step up from wanting to kill me. Which, would be against your oath anyway, right?'

'Oh, don't test me, man. My blood pressure is still up and I can always claim temporary insanity. Anyone who has ever served the Tyler family, or you, would support me. Damn it! I can't believe you did that!'

The Doctor was trying hard not to laugh. 'Tell me. What has Arla said about the twins? Was she happy?'

Lewis sighed, 'I've not told her.'

'You've not told her!?' The Doctor asked him.

Lewis groaned. 'No. I decided to go with the whole, "Let's get married in space as a lovely memory" option. I don't want a woman to marry me because she feels obligated because we have children together. Does that make sense? I don't think that's the best way to start. That's just me, though. Strategic thinking, you know. Makes you over think everything.'

The Doctor chuckled, 'No, I agree. Wow. What the hell do you two talk about?'

'We're on our honeymoon, mate. There's not a lot of talking happening here. Just saying.'

'Good for you, mate. Doing it right.' The Doctor teased him.

'Oh, shut up. Maybe she will just think the pregnancy started here. That's what I hope, at least. You haven't told anyone else, have you?'

The Doctor smiled, 'No one. Not even Rose. It's just between us, mate.'

'What an odd secret to have with you.' Lewis declared.

The Doctor chuckled.

Lewis asked. 'Alright…I'm calm. Rose went to Torchwood. I know she was with you. Tell me she stayed with you the entire time.'

The Doctor kissed her hand again as he continued to watch her sleep. 'She did. We went downstairs to her old lab.'

'Ugh. I always hated it down there. Felt like a dudgeon. Something about being underground that just makes you feel, I don't know, backed in a corner.'

'I thought her lab was upstairs. In that big room. Near the top.'

Lewis explained. 'There were two. She started out downstairs, but then moved upstairs to the room you are more familiar with. She said they needed more room. I honestly don't remember her ever wanting to be downstairs a lot at all. Kind of odd now that I think about it. She didn't even move her office herself when she moved upstairs. Huh. I wonder if there's something to that?'

'She's always had Quauhtin protection. We would have known had something happened.'

Lewis corrected him. 'No, that's not 100% accurate. When she first got here, we were working at Torchwood with Mickey and Jake. But, we were not assigned to the Tyler family's protection for several months after she was here. After the danger of her protection became apparent.'

The Doctor's heart sank. 'Let me get this straight. This lab we were in, she had been there before, on her own without bodyguard protection? That's correct?'

Lewis agreed. 'Yeah. That's what I'm saying. I've never thought about it, but…. Has she said anything?'

The Doctor continued to watch Rose sleep and stroked her cheek. 'No. She kept her shields up the entire time we were there. Then, she became upset when we left. Lewis, what are you thinking?'

'How upset did she get?'

'Scale 1-10, maybe an 8?'

'Let's not jump to conclusions. But, it does add up. Let me have a think on it. You are watching her sleep? So, you've been able to calm her down. Ummm. Well, knowing you, you just pushed her into a deep sleep.'

'It's really scary how good you are at this, man.'

'Damn. I can't even believe this. Damn! I'm gone one night and this shit happens!'

'Lewis, believe it or not, I do know what I'm doing here.'

'Fuck you do! This is going to probably set her back quite a bit. But, I'm sure you've already figured that.'

'We can't keep her from everything that is going to trigger a memory, Lewis. I just have to be there for her when these things happen. There are things she's never told me. Have you told me everything? The kidnappings, ransoms, car accident, that's it, right?'

'Sword fighting incident? You know about that too, right?'

'Yeah, that I know about. Seems like there's more. Something she's not telling me.'

'Sometimes it's better not to know.'

'There was something. I don't remember what it was. She accidently showed it to me when we joined. I know it was something…..unspeakable. I blocked it from her memory and removed it from mine.'

'Maybe she's unblocked it and is dealing with it on her own? Do you think it's something to do with that lab?' Lewis asked.

'Nah, it was something that happened when she was traveling to find me. What if there is something else? She's been taking medicine for depression and has quit. In fact, hang on a bit.'

The Doctor pulled his screwdriver out of his pocket and changed a setting on it. He scanned Rose and looked at the results. 'Ugh. That's some of it. She's still not taking the damn medicine. This stubborn woman!'

Lewis spoke. 'You're going to have to give it her. Force her to take it.'

The Doctor sighed, 'No. That's a good way to get my ass kicked. Terrible plan.'

The Doctor rolled on his back and dug in his pockets. He pulled out injectors and placed them on his bare chest. They all looked the same.

'I'll give her an injection tonight, but I'm going to talk to her about it tomorrow. Damn. I have five. They all look the same.' He rubbed his beard, then tasted each of the injectors.

Lewis' voice asked, 'You're licking something, aren't you?'

'Yeah, that tastes like her. That's the one she used.'

Lewis sighed, 'I'm trying not to gag here, mate.'

The Doctor put the other injectors in his pocket and gave Rose an injection in her throat. He kissed her cheek and whispered, "You're alright. Rest, sweetheart."

He put the injector back in his pocket and rolled back over to face her again. He caressed her cheek again as he watched her sleep.

'Wait a bit. You can just look in her mind and see it.'

'I wouldn't do that. That's an invasion of her privacy. I want to know, but only if she wants me to know. I refuse to do that to her.'

'Yeah, you're right. Good man. Better than me. I'd have to have a look.'

He bit his lip as he stroked her cheek. He whispered, "What happened to you, sweetheart? You know you can tell me."

Lewis spoke. 'By the way, surfing. Yeah. I think I've figured that out. I'll show you when we get back. I think you'll like it. It will keep you from drinking. Rose will like that. She's still got you on a break?'

The Doctor sighed, 'Like it is Prohibition. Ironically, a period in Earth's history with the best drinks available.'

Lewis laughed, 'I have no idea what you are talking about, but alright.'

XxxxXxxxxXxxxxXxxxxx