Journey Amongst the Stars

By Lumendea

Chapter Thirteen: Family of Blood: Shields

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.

…

Rose had expected it to be immediate. To just lose herself as the green mist wrapped around her and seeped into her body. But it wasn't like that at all. She was suddenly super aware of her body. It was like being shocked but stretched out over several long minutes. The pain was minor, but it traveled all across Rose's body as the thing forced itself inside. Sharp pain radiating down her spine as panic consumed her. This wasn't how she was supposed to die. She wasn't supposed to die at all. Rose knew some of her future children. No, if this was- Jack would be here. He wouldn't let her die like this. Her thoughts were becoming difficult. Maybe Jack couldn't come because of his own weird immortality. The Protesian pushed deeper, trying to burrow itself into her mind.

The ship was gone. They'd be stuck on Earth, at least for a little while, but Rose didn't sense anger over that. No, it was a challenge to them. Images flashed across her consciousness, but she didn't let them sink in. Pushing all of her focus into her shields, Rose could have sobbed in relief when they helped keep the creature out of her mind. She suddenly realized that this was why they hadn't just possessed the Doctor. Parasite or not, they had limited, and she had no doubt that the Doctor's mind would utterly crush them. That thought made her a little happy.

It pushed at her, trying to break here. Rose exhaled slowly and closed her eyes. That was probably dangerous, but it let her shore up the defenses. It was clawing and tearing, trying to get control. The odd shock like sensation was lingering and running up and down her arms. Given what K-9 had said about it overpowering her own bio-electrical signals, she could guess what it was trying to do. The pushes became weaker, and Rose almost smiled. It was weak; still, it hadn't had enough time to fully recover from taking the prior host, and she was telepathic. She could win this. She could hold it back. Rose inhaled slowly and let her walls build up further and grow stronger. The lingering pain stayed, but the images from the Family member's mind grew weaker.

"Rose?" Alistair called. He had his firearm trained on her but kept glancing at the Family behind her.

Around her wrist, Rose felt the bracelet pulse, but it didn't fall off. The Daughter was grinning at her with relieved eyes. The body she was in control of was older than Rose with long black hair tied back in a bun. It was an extreme contrast to the way that the Daughter all but skipped over to her. She held out K-9 with a happy look.

"Look what I've got, Mother of Mine."

It was clawing at her. There was a howl in her head. Rose wasn't sure if it was the Mother or the Bad Wolf. She hoped the later. Maybe her mysterious message would make itself useful today, or the old defenses that the Eleventh Doctor put in her head would be enough to keep the Mother at bay. The Family hadn't noticed that it wasn't the Mother yet, but a strange expression was starting to take over Father's face. Reaching out, she touched K-9 as the dog's sensors whirled. It would be smarter to leave now while she could, but K-9 was her best option.

"Mistress?" K-9asked.

"No, silly doggy," the Daughter said. "This is Mother of Mine."

Rose took the robot dog from the Daughter and forced a smile. The Daughter reached to take K-9 back with a pout. "A dog?"

"Wife of Mine?" the Father asked.

Rose took a step back and turned towards Alistair, still holding the heavy robot dog. The Daughter made an unhappy noise and stamped her foot. "Mother of Mine! I want to hold the puppy!"

"Rose?" Alistair called. Hs weapon was pointed at her.

Rose wasn't sure how much time they had and took a few steps towards him. Behind her, the Son chuckled darkly.

"What are you going to do to him, Mother of Mine?" the Son asked.

"Run!" Rose hissed.

Alistair must have seen something in her eyes because he nodded and they raced for the jeep. It was difficult with K-9's weight in her arms, but fear and the clawing screaming in her head drove her forward.

"Wife of Mine?" A confused voice behind her called.

"Mother of Mine?" The son yelled, his voice becoming frantic.

Rose didn't answer them. Running from them was surely answer enough. The jeep was right there, and they clamored in before the Family regained their wits enough to start firing again. As it was, the three stood there staring in stunned silence. The Son started to lift his weapon, but the Father shook his head, eyes locked on Rose. Something like pleasure filled Rose's chest, a smug satisfaction, but she quickly pushed it down. The Mother was still rattling around in her head.

"Rose, are you alright?" Alistair asked.

"Sir, Stewart is ordering us back," their young driver said. He was gripping the wheel nervously. "Counter orders?"

"I'm okay for now," Rose said. She gestured to her head. "It's in here, but not in control." Rose shivered at the words and exhaled slowly. "I need to talk to K-9."

"You're holding it?"

"Slightly telepathic," Rose said. She did her best not to think about the watch, not wanting to risk giving the Mother any information. "And the Doctor's been teaching me to shield. I think that's what protecting me, but…" She trailed off, unsure of how to tell Alistair that she wouldn't be able to hold out forever.

"Alright then." Alistair nodded and looked back at the Family. "They seem startled."

"Yeah," Rose said. "Maybe its something we can use. They're not going to want to hurt me. The Mother having to jump hosts again wouldn't be good. We were already in the window that it was weak which is probably helping." She inhaled slowly and tried to strengthen the wall in her mind. "Let's hope the rest of the equipment is here soon."

The Jeep rumbled along, weaving to avoid any fire that the Family might lay down, but their opponents were strangely silent behind them. Rose didn't trust it, but she suspected that her lack of cooperation as the Mother was confusing them. Alistair put a hand on her shoulder, keeping a solid weight on her body to help ground her. It helped, but his hand was also too close to the watch for Rose's comfort. Then again…

Rose reached up and quickly unclipped the short chain that had become the watch's home. Alistair made a small sound of confusion but didn't try to stop her. The Doctor's mind was silent and still. There were no whispers. Rose wasn't sure what to make of that, but if she couldn't hear him then hopefully Mother couldn't.

"Hold onto this for me." Rose handed it to Alistair. He frowned and studied her, but nodded. He slipped it into his pocket. "Very handsome."

"Yeah, I'm fond of it."

"Mistress, is that-"

"It's nothing, K-9," Rose said firmly. "How are you?"

"My defense system is damaged, but my sensors and databanks remain intact."

Maybe Alistair knew what the watch held, maybe he didn't, but at least he wasn't drawing attention to it. Panic filled Rose's chest at the absence of the watch, but it was for the best. If the Mother won then at least… Rose shuddered. Her whole body quivered, and her throat tightened. Alistair's grip of her shifted off her shoulder, and he gently rubbed her back as the jeep came to a stop.

A barricade was set up by a small empty industrial building. Soldiers were kneeling behind it with their weapons trained on the distant figures of the Family. More such defense points were set up all around the factory. Rose just hoped that it would be enough. Things had already gone more than a little sideways. The urge to use a few of the Doctor's more choice alien curse words was very strong.

"Rose?" Luke called.

Her hand went to the watch around her neck only to find empty air. Alistair put his hand on her shoulder once again, and she almost cried in relief. Shaking her head, she gestured for Luke to stay back. Her godson stopped and frowned at her, his eyes expressing his unhappiness.

"Luke… just be careful around me," Rose cautioned.

"Protesian attempted to take over Mistress Rose," K-9 explained.

"It's still me," Rose said. She grimaced in pain. "But it's trying to take over."

"How?" Kate gaped at her, eyes wide with fear and confusion. She glanced at her father nervously and stayed firmly in front of her son. "How are you still-"

"I'm slightly telepathic," Rose managed. "That might be why, but there isn't time. It's fighting me."

Alistair took her in with sharp brown eyes and nodded in understanding. Then he looked down at K-9. "If it doesn't have control then can we stop it?"

"Affirmative," K-9 answered. Rose had never heard anything so beautiful. Sighs of relief escaped everyone, but Rose didn't let herself get too excited too quickly. "It is likely to be painful, Mistress Rose."

"Fine," Rose hissed. The Mother twisted in her body, sending electrical shocks down her spine. "It's painful right now."

"We probably don't have much time," Luke said. He dropped down beside K-9 and started talking with the dog about electrical signals. It didn't sound pleasant to Rose.

"Rose," Alistair said. "I hate to say this, but I think you shouldn't be a part of the planning." His gaze was firm, and his expression closed off. "Let Luke and the medical team focus on keeping you from being taken over. Let UNIT handle the aliens."

"But-"

"If you know the plan and the creature wins your mental fight then it'll know the plan."

"You're right." Rose's shoulders slumped in defeat. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "You're right, Alistair. Just-just please be careful."

"I will be; I'm not losing more people." Then he leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently. It was a startling display of affection. "You take care of yourself. I'll not have the Doctor mad at me because I didn't protect you."

"That's not your job."

"He's my best friend, and you're-" Alistair cut himself off. "Yes, it is my job."

It was hard watching Kate, Alistair, and a newly arrived colonel huddle up. Rose quickly turned away from them, lest she be tempted and headed over to where more jeeps were pulling up. A dark mood settled over her. She wondered how things had gone so wrong so fast. Maybe it would have been better to- she put a stop to the thought at once when the Mother shifted in her head. A shiver raced down Rose's spine.

"We've got a plan," Luke said. "I'll go set up." He gestured to the medical unit that was being parked. "Just try to relax."

"Relax," Rose repeated. "Right."

Rose found Alistair still talking with Kate. Trucks were rolling up and opened. She caught sight of canisters of compressed gas in the back of them. In her head, the Mother pushed against her shields. They held against the assault, but Rose felt weaker in her next breath. Then Mickey climbed out of one of the jeeps, and Rose's shields got a little bit stronger.

Mickey looked smart and sharp in his uniform, and Rose smiled as she noted the privates deferring to him. He caught sight of her and strode over, wrapping her in a hug before Rose could protest. His warm body relaxed her, and Rose found herself clutching his shoulders. Tears tried to well up in her eyes, but somehow she kept them at bay.

"Hello, gorgeous," Mickey greeted softly.

"Hey, Mickey." Her friend kissed her forehead gently and rocked her. "Good to see you."

"What trouble are you in now?"

"I've got an alien in my head," Rose said softly. She sniffed as tears tried to take over. "Keeps clawing at my mental shields."

"Thank God the Doctor started teaching you to control your telepathy," Mickey said. "Sharon and Shireen are on their way up. They're going to want to check you over."

"This just keeps becoming a more and more crowded mess." Rose shook her head but didn't move away from Mickey. "Why did it have to go so wrong? The plan was to lay low and wait from them to die. Keep them busy looking so they wouldn't do any damage."

"Hey, their ship is destroyed," Mickey said gently. "And it sounds like there is a plan forming."

"I'm not allowed to be a part of it," Rose said. "Just in case it wins."

"It's not going to win." Mickey sounded confident. "But as your friend, I'm glad that they want to deal with the alien in your head first. That's most important."

"Don't let me hurt anyone," Rose whispered. Mickey tensed. "Promise me, you won't let me hurt anyone."

"You aren't going to hurt anyone."

Rose hissed at another attack on her shields. Her knees quivered, and if it hadn't been for Mickey, she probably would have dropped to the ground right there. His arm lowered to her waist, keeping her stable and he pulled back to look at her face.

"Rose, you're sweating, really badly." Alarm was filling his eyes. "Come on, let's go to medical. They're getting set up for you." Behind her back, he was gesturing to someone. "Just keep your shields up. Think Star Trek while the Romulans are attacking."

"You are such a nerd."

"I'll remind you that you're the one who first made me watch Star Trek. I was fine with only seeing Star Wars, but that wasn't good enough for you."

Mickey was gently steering her towards the medical unit, Rose realized with surprise. She hadn't even been aware that her feet were moving. The steps were slow, but they were definitely moving, and other soldiers were moving out of their way. Rose swayed, and Mickey tightened his grip on her, turning her and guiding her with a bit more force.

"I feel drunk," Rose whispered. Her stomach started to turn. "And like I'm going to throw up. It's like that night that the girls and I burned my wedding dress."

"Great." Mickey sped them up a little. "Just keep your shields up. K-9 and Luke will help."

"Rose!"

She knew that voice. Rose looked towards the west and found Sharon rushing towards her. Shireen was right behind her. A smile started to take over her face, but a sharp pain in her head made Rose hiss in alarm.

"Whatever you're going to do," Mickey snapped, "do it fast!"

"Luke called us on the way up," Shireen said. "Rose, we're here, and K-9 has all the information we need. Doctor Burrows is in the medical unit. You just need to get there."

Rose nodded, but her legs suddenly gave out. Mickey caught her and before she could protest, swept her up in his arms. Her stomach threatened her with disaster and her vision blurred, but she had no control as Mickey rushed her towards the medical unit.