"Planet Earth." Rose began softly, "This is where I was born. And this is where I died. For the first nineteen years of my life, nothing happened. Nothing at all. Not ever. And then I met a man called the Doctor. A man who could change his face. And he took me away from home in his magical machine. And we met a woman, his perfect match in every way, Cassandra. And she became my sister in every sense of the word. He showed us the whole of time and space. I thought it would never end."
—
The three were standing beside the TARDIS, looking out to the setting sun, tired and dirty, but oh-so-happy nonetheless.
The Doctor had his arms wrapped around Cass' front, the redhead's back pulled tight against his chest, his face nuzzled into her neck, breathing her in slowly.
Cass was smiling softly, letting the cold air brush against her skin, enjoying the small moment of peace, before they embarked on yet another chaotic adventure.
And Rose? Well Rose was grinning joyously, watching the tethered couple with bright eyes, happiness that they'd all somehow managed to find each other, to become their own little version of a family, filling her to the brim.
"How long are you gonna stay with us?" The Doc asked impishly, turning to look at the blonde, Cass smirking in his arms.
Rose chuckled, "Forever."
"Good. I wouldn't be able to handle him without you," the redhead joked, reaching over and grabbing the youngest's hand, holding it tightly.
It was a lovely scene, one of happiness and contentment, but if you'd looked closer, if you'd paid more attention to the smaller details...
You would have noticed a sad gleam in the redhead's eyes, as though she knew...she knew this peace would not last long.
That this happiness would crumble soon enough into tragedy.
—
"That's what I thought." Rose finished, looking out at the dark waves splashing against the sand. "But then came the army of ghosts. Then came Torchwood and the War. And that's when it all ended. This is the story of how I died."
—
The TARDIS landed across form the Powell Estate, wheezing loudly, though no one seemed to notice.
Rose stepped out holding a large red rucksack, which she slung onto her back. The Doctor followed, hand wrapped around his tether's as usual, and they set off towards the flats on the other side, with a spring in their step, obviously at peace with the world.
Unaware of exactly how wrong everything was about to go.
—
"Mum, it's us! We're ba-ack!" Rose called excitedly from her front door, before smacking herself lightly on the forehead and turning to Cass, "I keep forgetting you have a sonic too. Could you.." She gestured lightly towards the doorknob, indicating she'd like the redhead to open it.
Cass chuckled, pulling the screwdriver from her pocket and flashing it towards the door, which they pushed open, only to find themselves face-to-face with a frowning Jackie, who grumbled with a small smile on her face, "Oh, I don't know why you bother with that phone! You never use it!"
"Shut up, come here!" The blonde grinned, throwing her arms happily around her mother, both women laughing as they hugged.
"Oh, I love you!"
"I love you!"
"I love you so much!" Jackie gasped, before turning to the Doctor, who'd been trying to stealthily squeeze past them, still holding onto Cass' hand, "Oh no you don't. Come here!"
She cupped his cheeks tightly, planting a big kiss on his lips, despite his protests and grimacing face. "Oh, you lovely big fella! Oh, you're all mine!" She hugged him.
"Just... just... just put me down!" He groaned, finally managing to push her away, turning to his tether, only to find her biting into her knuckle tightly, eyes wet with tears of laughter.
"Cass," Jackie breathed happily, pulling the girl she'd come to see as one of her own into her arms tightly, hands softly stroking her hair, before pulling away and glaring at the Doc, "Have you not been feeding her? What kind of boyfriend are you? She's all skin on bones!"
"I...what? She eats!" He complained, sounding for all the world like a petulant child, but Cass could feel the slight shiver of worry floating through him.
She had lost weight. And no matter how much she ate, she couldn't seem to gain it back. In reality, Cass looked sick, very, very sick, but whenever the Doc scanned her, he couldn't seem to find anything wrong, and she acted very much like herself.
Still full of life, still full of energy.
Only she and Rose really knew what was wrong. Only the two girls knew that she'd somehow managed to convince the TARDIS to alter the Doc's scans, to show that Cass was in perfect health.
Only the two sisters knew that she actually was one step closer to death everyday she didn't open that locket.
But she giggled lightly, keeping all of that knowledge behind that wall in her head, pressing a small peck to Jackie's cheek, "I'm alright, Jackie. Promise. Please don't turn him into a helicopter parent, he worries enough normally as is."
Stepping away, she was pulled back into his arms, glancing up to find him wiping his mouth, an expression of disgust on his face.
When he noticed her laughter, he groaned, assured the mother-daughter duo had left the room, "You don't understand, it feels wrong. The only person who should be kissing me, is you."
"I do," she breathed happily, before slowly reaching up to cup his cheek, tugging his lips down to her own and kissing him softly.
"Better?"
The Doc grinned, "Oh, I'd need about a thousand more for it to ever be better, but for now," he pressed their lips together again, before beginning to tug her deeper into the home, following Rose, "it'll do."
—
"I've got loads of washing for ya!" Rose grinned, dumping her bag into her mother's arms, "And, I got you this!" She pulled out an ornate looking pendant, hanging on a singular chain like a pendulum of sorts. "It's from the market on this asteroid bazaar. It's made of um..." she turned to the couple, "what's it called?"
"Bezoolium," the Time Lord replied.
"Bezoolium. When it gets cold, yeah, it means it's gonna rain, when it's hot, it's gonna be sunny! You can use it to tell the weather!"
Jackie nodded, not even looking at the small gift, "I've got a surprise for you and all."
"Oh, I get her bezoolium, she doesn't even say 'thanks'." The girl grumbled, watching as her mother checked her watch.
"Guess who's coming to visit? You're just in time, he'll be here at ten past! Who do you think it is?"
"I don't know."
"Oh go on, guess!"
"No, I hate guessing. Just tell me."
"It's your grandad." Jackie grinned excitedly, "Grandad Prentice. He's on his way. Any minute!"
Turning around, she quickly moved to the kitchen, muttering, "Right, cup of tea!" Under her breath, not even noticing the wide-eyed stare her daughter was shooting her, nor the sad one Cass was.
Knowing she had to let the timeline advance, Cass swallowed heavily, before reaching out for her little sister's shoulder, murmuring, "What's up, Rosie? Why so glum?"
"She's gone mad." The girl muttered.
The Doc snorted lightly, "Tell me something new."
"Grandad Prentice, that's her dad. But he died like, ten years ago. Oh my God. She's lost it." Rose shook her head, hurrying into the kitchen behind her mother, the couple following after, "Mum? What you just said about grandad..."
"Any second now," Jackie smiled, nodding.
"But... he passed away." Rose breathed gently, "His heart gave out. Do you remember that?"
"Course I do!" Jackie laughed lightly.
"...Then how can he come back?"
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" She checked her watch, "Ten past. Here he comes."
And right before their eyes, a figure stepped out of nowhere into the middle of kitchen. It was featureless, like a shadow, but definitely humanoid, or at least, human-shaped. It seemingly floated right past them, only coming to a stop when it was beside Jackie.
"Here we are, then!" The mother grinned, turning to the 'ghost', not realising the aghast stares she was receiving from the trio, "Dad... say hello to Rose. Ain't she grown?"
—
The Doctor, Cass and Rose burst out of a side-door of the block of flats at a run, only to come to a halt, looking around.
"They're everywhere!" The man gasped, confused.
And sure enough, the ghosts really were everywhere, standing around just like ordinary people. In fact, they seemed to have become such an ordinary staple of life, that no one seems to be remotely alarmed by their presence. The passerby's and people just continuing on their life.
"Doctor, look out!" Rose yelled suddenly, noticing a ghost about to literally pass through the alien.
Thankfully, Cass, who'd been standing right beside him, tugged him away at the last second, the both of them shivering slightly at the thing's very close proximity to them.
"They haven't got long." Jackie said, walking over to them, "Midday shift only lasts a couple of minutes. They're about to fade."
"I'm sorry, shift?" The redhead shook her head, "Since when do ghosts have shifts? Is it like a planned thing? Is there a schedule of some sorts? Like the bus?"
"What's going on?" The Doctor finished, rounding on the woman with wide eyes.
Jackie scoffed lightly, "Oh, he's not happy when I know more than him, is he?"
"But no one's running or screaming or freaking out or..."
"Why should we?" She shrugged nonchalantly, checking her watch again, "Here we go. Twelve minutes past."
Cass sighed, biting harshly into her lip in anticipation, her heart dropping with the weight of what was to follow.
Of the events she couldn't possibly alter.
—
The Doctor sat on the floor in front of Jackie's television, Cass beside him, her head resting against her palm. Jackie was sitting on the sofa and Rose was perched on the arm as they all watched a programme called "Ghostwatch".
"On today's Ghostwatch," the presenter announced, "claims that some of the ghosts are starting to talk, and there seems to be a regular formation gathering around Westminster Bridge. It's almost like a military display..."
"What the hell's going on?" The alien muttered, eyes wide. When he felt a flash of fear run through him, he turned to his tether, who could only whisper, "spoiler: things are never quite what they seem upon first impression."
He flipped the channel, to what would appear to be a weather report, but instead of weather symbols, there were little pictures of ghosts overlaid on a map of the UK.
"And tonight we're expecting very strong ghosts. From London, through the North and up into Scotland."
The channel changed again, this time to the Trisha Goddard chat show. The caption at the bottom of the screen proclaimed "I married a dead man! "
"So basically," Trisha said, "Eileen, what you're telling me is, that you are in love with a ghost."
"He's my ghost and I love him, 24/7!"
And on, and on. Every channel they flipped to had these 'ghosts', be it advertisements or news, or even fucking tv shows!
"Oh, yes!" Jackie cheered as the channel flipped to show three young Japanese girls, flashing their ghosts t-shirts enthusiastically.
Cass shook her head slowly, mumbling, "This is so bad. It's actually so far past bad, that its turned bad into a laughing stock."
"It's all over the world," The Doctor agreed, flipping the channel again to an episode of Eastenders, where Peggy Mitchell was behind the bar of the Vic, having a go at a ghost.
"Listen to me, Denn Watts. I don't care if you have come back from the grave. Get out of my pub! The only spirits I'm serving in this place are gin, whisky and vodka. So, you heard me, get out!" She yelled.
"Yeah, alright," the redhead murmured, reaching over and snatching the remote from her tether's hand, turning the screen off, "that's so much more than enough,"
The two then turned to Jackie, watching as Rose did the same, identical expressions of fear and disbelief on their faces.
"When did it start?" The Doc asked.
"Well first of all, Peggy heard this noise in the cellar, so she goes down..." the woman began, only for Cass to sigh softly, "No, Jackie. He meant the ghost phenomena in general, worldwide."
"Oh," she hummed, before explaining, "That was about two months ago. Just happened. Woke up one morning, and there they all were, ghosts, everywhere. We all ran round screaming and that, whole planet was panicking... no sign of either of you, thank you very much..."
At that, Cass flinched lightly. This had been her fault. She'd become so wrapped up in her own declining health, in the vortex and the storm it was wrecking inside of her, that she'd completely forgotten about Torchwood and the bullshit they'd bring about.
Granted, she knew, whether instinctively or though some dormant Time Lady instincts, that the events to come were fixed in time. That they couldn't be changed, shouldn't be changed, unless she was willing to risk the fate of the universe and the timeline as it stood. But still, there must have been something she could've done, someone she could've warned...
A warm hand wrapped around her own, snapping her attention back to the present, as reassurance and warmth spread into her chest from her tether, chasing the guilt momentarily away.
"Then it sort of sank in." Jackie finished with a small smile, "Took us time to realise that... we're lucky."
Rose frowned, "What makes you think it's grandad?"
"Just feels like him. There's that smell, those old cigarettes. Can't you smell it?"
"I wish I could, mum, but I can't." The blonde shook her head gently.
"You've got to make an effort. You've got to want it, sweetheart."
The Doctor's head titled in thought, "The more you want it, the stronger it gets?"
"Sort of, yeah."
"Like a psychic link," Cass breathed softly, "It's linked to them, to their memories. And they want it so bad, so, so bad, that the strength of their memories is pulling whatever those things are in."
He nodded slowly, "Course you want your old dad to be alive, but you're wishing him into existence."
The mother swallowed, complaining, "You're spoiling it."
The redhead turned to her, reaching over and grabbing one of her hands in her own, squeezing softly, "I'm so sorry Jackie. But this isn't your dad. There's no cigarettes, no smell. Just memories you treasure so fondly, you're turning them into reality."
"But if they're not ghosts, what are they, then?" Rose asked curiously.
"Yeah?" Jackie added, nodding, "but they're human! You can see them, they look human!"
"She's got a point. I mean, they're all sort of blurred, but they're definitely people."
"Maybe not," the Doctor hummed thoughtfully, before smiling lightly, glancing at his tether and remembering her earlier words, "They're pressing themselves into the surface of the world. But a footprint doesn't look like a boot. Or in other words..."
"things are never quite what they seem upon first impression." Rose repeated, turning to look at her older sister with a beaming grin.
—
Rose, holding a newspaper, strode into the TARDIS where the Doctor was wedged beneath the grilling, Cass sitting on the edge observing him intently, making sure he doesn't break the clever machine.
"According to the paper, they've elected a ghost as MP for Leeds." She handed the paper to the redhead, who quickly read it, eyes narrowing in a mixture of disbelief and concern.
She'd known humans were gullible, known they were prone to not anticipate the slow attacks, but this...this was idiotic, even by their standards.
Rose, meanwhile, was peering down at the Time Lord curiously, "Now don't tell me you're gonna sit back and do nothing."
He rose up, holding some kind of aspirator gun in his hand, bopping lightly as the tune of 'Ghostbusters' began playing.
Aiming it at his tether, he couldn't help but grin when she giggled, "Who're you gonna call?"
"Ghostbusters!"
"I ain't afraid of no ghosts." He chuckled happily, nodding when Cass drawled, amused, "And here I took you for a Back the the Future fan, not Ghostbusters."
Grabbing her hand, he pulled her up, tugging her out of the TARDIS, Rose following behind, giggling.
They found Jackie waiting for them there, watching as both the alien and Cass immediately sprung into action, lining three traffic cones in a triangular position, attaching various wires to them.
Finishing up with her cone, Cass turned to Jackie, "When's the next shift?"
"Quarter to." She checked her watch, before frowning at them, "But don't go causing trouble. What's that lot do?"
"Triangulates their point of origin." The Doctor answered.
Rose hummed thoughtful, "I don't suppose it's the Gelth?"
"Nah." He replied, shaking his head, "They were just coming through one little rift. This lot are transposing themselves over the whole planet. Like tracing paper."
Jackie shook her head, frown growing, "You're always doing this. Reducing it to science. Why can't it be real? Just think of it, though... all the people we've lost, our families coming back home. Don't you think it's beautiful?"
He stopped what he was doing, raising his head to look at the woman sadly, "I think it's horrific."
Clearing her throat, Cass gestured for Rose to come closer, handing her a large wire, before instructing softly, "Follow me. I'm gonna show you how to operate this thing from the TARDIS."
Quickly, they headed inside, the redhead plugging the wire in, before explaining, "As soon as it becomes activated, if that line goes into the red, press that button there." She pointed towards a large button, waiting for the girl to nod in understanding, before continuing, "If it doesn't stop..." she reached into her pocket, pulling her sonic out and handing it over, "Here. I've already programmed it to Setting 15B, hold it against the port, this one right there," she pointed to an opening on the other side of the console, "eight seconds and stop."
Rose nodded, repeating quickly, "15B, eight seconds."
"Exactly," Cass smiled, "If it goes into the blue, activate the deep scan on the left..." She was about to point it out, but Rose shook her head, "Hang on a minute, I know..." she leaned over the console, pointing to a button, "It's that one."
"Close, but no dice," Cass smirked.
"That one?"
"Now you've just killed us, Rosie. What have we ever done to you?"
The blonde giggled lightly, before pointing again, "Eh... that one."
"There we go!" She grinned proudly, before looking over at Jackie, "How much time have we got left?"
"Two minutes," the woman stated, glancing down at her watch again. Cass smiled gratefully, before adding in a conspiratorial tone, "I better go back out there. Who knows, if I don't supervise him, he may just blow the earth in half!"
"I heard that!" He yelled in mock-anger from outside, and Cass winked at the mother-daughter duo, before joining him, smirking as she wrapped her arms around him from behind, "I know. If I hadn't wanted you to hear it, I would've whispered."
He chuckled happily, before quickly spinning her around, her giggles flying in the air, as their lips moulded together. When he pulled away, however, he couldn't help but ask, "What is it? You're so sad..."
Cass' smile dropped slightly, and she shook her head, not saying anything.
"I know you said spoilers earlier, but can't you give me a hint? I can't bear having you so sad, love."
She simply looked at him, tears glimmering in her eyes, brightening the green to an almost neon tone, before whispering, "Just...please forgive me after. Please don't hate me."
"I could never," he breathed, his own sadness and hurt at her words spreading through her chest.
As though he could ever hate her. He couldn't even muster up enough anger to be mildly irritated with her on a good day, let alone hate her. Let alone be so mad, so upset, that she felt the need to plead for his forgiveness before the fact.
Leaning down, he gently pressed his lips to her forehead, whispering, "I love you, Cassie. And no matter what, that will never change. Please believe that."
"I know," she whispered, before shrugging, a sad little smile on her face as she picked up the small control box, "It's about to start."
And sure enough, he pressed the device he'd been holding against the cones, before yelling into the TARDIS to their companion, "What's the line doing?"
"It's all right, it's holding!" The girl yelled back.
A minute passed, and when the girl remained silent, Cass yelled, knowing the intense discussion she was having with her mother, "Rosie? You good in there?"
"Yeah," she quickly replied, "Yeah. The scanner's working, it says 'delta one six'."
The redhead looked back at her tether, as he grinned, excitement bouncing through his eyes, "Come on you beauty!"
The couple watched the triangle, as a ghost materialised in its centre. As it did so, the cones connected with blue electricity, which in turn connected over the top of the ghost, encompassing it in a kind of electric blue pyramid.
The redhead shivered lightly, explaining, when her tether shot her a look of concern, "It just...it feels so fucking wrong. Like it shouldn't be here."
The Doc nodded, reaching into his pockets and pulling out a pair of 3D glasses, slipping them over his nose, "well, that's interesting," he murmured.
Cass glanced down at the monitor in her hand, flicking a dial, and watching at the higher it rose, the more the 'ghost' seemed to shudder and twist.
"Don't like that much, do you?" The Time Lord chuckled lightly, "Who are you? Where are you coming from? WOAH!" He flinched back, rubbing his arm where the ghost had seemingly shocked him, noticing Cass rubbing the same area from the corner of his eye, "That's more like it! Not so friendly now, are you?"
The ghost continued to writhe and twist until suddenly, it just disappeared.
Turning to the Time Lord, Cass began quickly gathering the equipment, muttering, "We need to go, now."
Maybe, just maybe, if they ran into the TARDIS quick enough, if they dematerialised a couple of yards away, then Torchwood would waste more time searching for them, delaying the inevitable.
The Doctor dashed to the railing inside the TARDIS, throwing his coat over it, before grabbing Cass and twirling her around excitedly, "I said so! Those ghosts have been forced into existence for one specific point! And I can track down the source. Allons-y!"
As his hand reached out for a lever, it was slapped away, the redhead going beneath it and pulling another one, grumbling, "Centuries of driving it, and he still doesn't know which fucking levers to pull."
He chuckled, sending out a thought, that's why I keep you around, love. You're MY pilot.
Is that the only reason, Time Lord? I rather thought it was because of that thing I can do with my mouth... she winked impishly, smirking when she noticed his cheeks flush a bright red at the memory she'd conjured up, before turning back to the console, and tugging on a different lever, allowing the TARDIS to dematerialise calmly.
He shook his head, clearing his throat lightly as he feigned nonchalance, "Anyway, I like that. 'Allons-y'. I should say 'allons-y' more often. 'Allons-y'. Watch out, Rose Tyler! Allons-y! And then, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Allonzo. Because then I could say, 'allons-y, Allonzo!' Every time!" Turning around, he noticed the small smile his companion had on her face as she looked at him, adding, "You're staring at me."
"My mum's still on board." She whispered.
His head quickly turned, only to find that, sure enough, Jackie was sitting up in the gantries, legs dangling, a glare set intently on her face as she stared at him.
"If we end up on Mars, I'm gonna kill you."
His jaw dropped, horrified, before he felt the amusement flowing from his tether and rounded on her, "You knew she was still in here?!"
"Yep," Cass grinned, walking over, tugging on his tie lightly, "'Course I did. Precog, remember?"
"And you didn't say anything..."
Biting into her lip, she looked up at him impishly from under her lashes, "What? And miss that horrified expression on your face? Never, ever honey."
He shook his head slowly, a smile growing on his face as he tugged her closer, hands gripping onto her hips lightly, "You're trouble."
"I'm actually impossible, according to you."
Leaning closer, he allowed their noses to gaze against one another, kissing her softly as he whispered into her head, that's right. My impossible girl.
—
The TARDIS materialised in what looked like a storage area. Soldiers burst in through the doors, holding guns, shouting and getting into their positions, aim directed solely at the clever girl's doors.
Those inside were observing the scene through the monitors, aghast.
Well, most of them. Cass had moved over to one of the screens, pulling up a quick schematics of the building's blue-print and memorising it.
She had a small idea of what to do, of how to help. Didn't know if it would work, but she had to try.
"Oh, well there goes the advantage of surprise. Still! Cuts to the chase." The Doctor announced, before flouncing to the door, "Stay in here, look after Jackie."
Cass raised a brow, coughing lightly to draw his attention back to her, as she walked to his side, "Um, sorry...where exactly is it that you're going, alone?"
"Love..." he began, voice soft and pleading, "You're only human, you'll be safer in here."
Cass nodded slowly, giving him a small smile, before twining her fingers with his and deadpanning, "No."
"But.."
"No."
"Cassie..."
"Would you like me to repeat it in a different language? Because I'm fluent in eight, I can do it."
Noting his silence, she began pulling him towards the door, only for Rose to stop them, running ahead to block the way, seething, "I'm not looking after my mum!"
"You brought her!" The Doc exclaimed.
"I was kidnapped!" Jackie yelled indignantly.
The blonde looked at her pilots, fear leaking into her eyes, "Cass, Doctor...they've got guns."
"Yep, and we don't." The redhead smiled lightly, winking at her, "I'd say that makes us leagues better, right? They might have the fire power, but the moral high ground? That shit's ours."
And with that, she gently tugged the girl aside, shooting her a confident smile, before being tugged outside by her tether, watching as he immediately raised his hands, while she simply tilted her head, smirking.
"What are you doing?" He hissed at her, his fear and worry flooding her chest.
Cass didn't look at him, simply sent out, Confusing them. They won't shoot us anyway.
Suddenly, a woman decked out in a black dress and boots hurried to them, smiling happily, "Oh...! Oh, how marvellous." She began clapping, grin widening in excitement, "Oh, very good. Superb. Happy day!"
Behind her, the soldiers followed suit, applauding them. The Doctor not quite knowing what to make of this reception, turns to his tether, only to find her glaring icily at the woman.
Lowering his hands tentatively, he reaching for one of her own, before mumbling, "Um. Thanks. Nice to meet you. I'm... the Doctor."
They all began clapping again, the woman cheering, "Oh, I should say! Hurray!"
"You... you've heard of me, then?"
"Well of course we have. And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would be here. The Doctor, Cassandra Oracle and the TARDIS...!"
They began clapping again, but stopped when the redhead raised her hands, "Might wanna quite clapping while you're ahead. His ego really doesn't need anymore stroking, its large enough as it is."
She could feel his amusement at her comment, could see the small smirk on his face, as he nodded towards the woman, "And you are?"
"Oh, plenty of time for that." She waved magnanimously, only for her jaw to drop open in shock as Cass informed casually, a small smile on her face, "Yvonne Hartman. She's the head of this...interesting enterprise. Kinda don't like her, not gonna lie. Smug people are often the stupidest, and the world has enough goldfish as is, but regardless." Looking at her tether, she finished, a solemn tone in her voice, "Welcome to Torchwood One, honey."
"How?" Yvonne breathed in shock.
Cass shrugged, raising a smug eyebrow, "Darlin', clearly, your records aren't half as thorough as you thought they were. Might wanna get that fixed."
She nodded slowly, very clearly rattled, before clearing her throat and turning to the Doc, continuing, "But according to the records, you're not one for travelling alone. The Doctor and his companion. That's a pattern isn't it, right? There's no point hiding anything. Not from us." She smiled sinisterly, "So where is she?"
"Right..." the Doctor nodded slowly, "Yes! Sorry. Good point. She's just a bit shy, that's all." Backing away towards the TARDIS, he slipped his hand past the door, feeling around for Jackie, continuing, as he pulled her out, "But here she is: Rose Tyler."
The woman shot him a light glare, but he ignored it, "Hmm. She's not the best I've ever had. Bit too blonde. Not too steady on her pins. A lot of that." He raised his hand, miming a talking mouth, and Yvonne chuckled lightly, as Jackie's glare intensified.
"And just last week, she stared into the heart of the Time Vortex and aged fifty-seven years. But she'll do."
"I'm 40!" Jackie yelled.
"Deluded," he nodded sadly, "Bless. I'll have to trade her in. Do you need anyone? She's very good at tea. Well, I say very good, I mean not bad. Well. I say not bad..."
Cass rolled her eyes, weaving her elbow through the woman's before raising her voice, knowing her tether was heading on a tangent, "Anyway, she's here, as you asked. So let's fucking get going."
"Yes, lead on," he gestured, beginning to follow after Yvonne, "But not too fast. Her ankle's going."
"I'll show you where my ankle's going." The mother hissed lightly.
Yvonne lead them through a doorway, speaking as she did so, "It was only a matter of time until you found us. And at last you've made it. I'd like to welcome you both, Doctor, Cassandra." She pushed open a door, revealing a huge factory floor, full of alien artefacts and scientists working on them.
"Welcome... to Torchwood."
The Doc's jaw dropped open, as he pointed to a specific spaceship, "That's a Jathar Sunglider."
"Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands ten years ago."
"What, did it crash?"
"They shot it down," Cass informed him, sneering slightly, "Apparently, it 'violated their airspace'."
Yvonne nodded slowly, eyes wide and trained on the redhead, "Um, yes. The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us! Now if you'd like to come with me." She gestured towards another door, walking through, as behind her, Jackie shot both pilots an incredulous look.
"The Torchwood Institute has a motto: 'if it's alien, it's ours'. " Yvonne continued, "Anything that comes from the sky, we strip it down, and we use it. For the good of the British Empire."
"For the good of the what?" Jackie asked.
"The British Empire."
"There isn't a British Empire."
Yvonne smiled, "Not yet, Ah, excuse me...", approaching a soldier, she took the gun brandished to her, before turning back to the group, brandishing it to the Time Lord, "Now, if you wouldn't mind... do you recognise this, Doctor?"
"That's a particle gun," Cass breathed, flinching slightly at the sight of it.
It wasn't her own reaction, rather one brought on by the essence in her locket, still hanging around her neck.
Clearly, The Oracle wasn't a fan.
Yvonne didn't notice, simply grinning smugly, "Good, isn't it? Took us eight years to get it to work..."
The Doc shook his head, "It's the twenty-first century. You can't have particle guns."
"We must defend our border against the alien." She replied, handing it back to a soldier, "Thank you... Sebastian, isn't it?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Thank you, Sebastian." 'she turned back to the traveler, smiling, "I think it's very important to know everyone by name. Torchwood is a very modern organisation. People skills. That's what it's all about these days. I'm a people person."
"And yet, my need to lob a punch at your nose keeps growing," Cass drawled lightly, smirking, "Curious."
A warm hand wrapped around her own, and she found herself tugged lightly behind her tether, who instead, asked, "Have you got anyone called Allonzo?"
"No, I don't think so. Is that important?"
"Everything's important to him," The redhead noted, pulling the alien after her towards a box of artefacts, rifling through curiously.
The Doc smiled softly, before asking over his shoulder, not paying the woman any mind, "Yvonne, was it? Yvonne...what exactly?"
"Hartman." She replied, "Yvonne Hartman."
"Ah, yes," She grinned, watching as Cass pulled out a black device, "Now, we're rather fond of these. The Magnaclamp. Found in a spaceship buried at the base of Mount Snowdon. Attach this to an object and it cancels the mass. I could use it to lift two tonnes of weight with a single hand. That's an imperial ton, by the way. Torchwood refuses to go metric."
The redhead rolled her eyes, whispering into her tether's mind, spoiler: these magnaclamps are gonna be important.
He nodded, tossing the small device back into the box, before turning back to face the head of Torchwood, as Jackie joked, "I could do with that to carry the shopping."
"All these devices are for Torchwood's benefit. Not the general public's." Yvonne sneered, causing the mother to make a face at her.
Cass chuckled lightly, smirking at Jackie, as the Doc questioned, "So, what about these ghosts?"
"Ah yes, the ghosts. They're er... what you might call a side effect."
"Of..." Cass drawled, raising an elegant brow.
Yvonne chuckled patronisingly, "All in good time, Doctor, Cassandra. There is an itinerary, trust me."
Just then, the TARDIS was driven into the base on the back of a truck, its two owners looking at it in horror.
"Oi!" Jackie yelled, "Where're you taking that?"
"'If it's alien, its ours," Yvonne shrugged, smirk dropping when she noticed the cold stare she was receiving from Cassandra.
"You'll never get inside it," the Doctor drawled nonchalantly.
"Hm! Et cetera." She hummed, walking away.
As the Doctor watched the TARDIS, Rose opened the door a crack and peeked through it, he nodded encouragingly before looking away, his hand weaving through his tether's, tugging the redhead into his side protectively.
Whatever was happening, he had a feeling his Cassie knew, and based on the mixture of sadness and resignation warring through her, he also had a feeling he wouldn't like it at all.
Not one bit.