Disclaimer: This is not mine. I repeat, Doctor Who and any other related characters are not mine.
Hey there. I have returned with more melo-drama for you all. Thanks so much to Hudine for her fantastic betaing skills.
This chapter is for Stevie, tundraeternal and Mousewolf. Thanks guys.
Chapter 5: Encounters
Rose looked at the clock on the wall behind the bar and smiled. Only an hour and a half left and she could go home and stay there for the next few days. Not by Ray's choice of course, but there had been a series of particularly vicious bombings and the city was on lock down for the weekend. There were to be no bars, shops or offices open. No public transport was running and there was a curfew to be imposed for the duration of the lock down. Normally, Rose would be outraged at the lack of respect for basic rights but this meant she could hide away inside the TARDIS for the next few days with the Doctor and imagine they were simply floating through space. It had been a long time since she had had a chance to escape from reality. It had been almost three months since the incident with Lar and she and C'trina had managed to get Julie out of the city, but the time had not been uneventful(even if it was quite tame by her standards).
The bar had been subject to seven hold ups and Helena had been attacked in the back ally while putting out the trash. Ray had his fair share of other troubles too, with in debt relatives seeking refuge and money. She shook her head and returned her attention to work as she swept the floor behind the bar. While Ray was a bit of a pervert and weirdo, he was a good guy at heart and only rarely docked hers and Helena's pay anymore. Not even when a glass got broken.
Helena appeared from the back and waved Rose over.
"Ray wants to talk to us."
"Be there in a sec." Rose rested her broom against the wall and slipped behind the bar, making her way into the kitchen. She stood beside Helena and looked at Ray.
"You're not firing us are you?"
Ray laughed and shook his head. "Far from it. This" He opened the door to reveal a man. A particularly good looking man. "is Benjamin. He's going to be working here as another bar tender but really, he's our hired protection. I've lost too much money recently and I need someone to protect my assets and while you" he looked at Rose
"Can kick ass, you're only one feisty girl."
Rose grinned. "So we've got ourselves a bouncer?"
"Not exactly. That's illegal. We have a very tall, very fast, very strong bar keep."
Helena smirked along with her friend. "Sounds fine to me. We won't complain."
Rose elbowed her friend behind their backs but neither of them could stop eyeing their new workmate who was, in Rose's mind, Brad Pitt's equal any day. He stood a good two feet above Helena, but then she was exceptionally small. Rose even thought he might be a little taller than the Doctor. He had black hair that hung to his shoulders but was swept back in a ponytail. His skin was dark and his eyes were molten brown that you could easily drown in.
Ray smirked at the girls. "Well, get back to work. I'll send him out in a minute and you can show him the works."
Rose and Helena stepped out to the bar and both leant against the wall, puffing out a breath.
"Well." commented Helena as she slid sideways slightly. "That's certainly going to be a distraction."
"Umm hmm."
"Pity I can't go after him now."
"What? You? The flirtella of the north side?"
Helena rolled her eyes. "I've got a boyfriend now."
"Who?"
She looked at the floor. "Gal."
Rose frowned at her. "That boys nothing but trouble."
"But he says he loves me."
"Just be careful. Men will say anything to…"
"We'll say anything to what?"
The two girls jumped as they heard a deep voice from behind them and spun around. Benjamin was grinning down at them. His smile was dazzling.
"Nothing." Said Rose in a small voice and he grinned again. This was apparently enough to floor any woman in the room.
"So, which one of you two lovely ladies is going to show me the works here?"
Helena pushed Rose forward and disappeared off into a murky corner of the room.
She shrugged up at him. "Well, guess you're stuck with me. I'm Rose."
He took her hand and shook. "I'm Ben, and who says being stuck with you is a bad thing."
Rose shivered and moved towards the bar. "Well, lets get started."
"Hey, that's not fair."
"Is too."
"No, you cheated."
"I would never cheat."
"Yeah, right."
Rose laughed and dodged the towel Ben was flicking at her and ran down the bar. She filed away in her mind the fact that he was very good at mind games. She was a little flushed as she reached the end of the bar and didn't notice the man sitting there.
"Hullo."
She spun around, Ben suddenly forgotten. "Doctor. Hey. What are you doing here?"
He glanced at Ben, who stood a little behind her, watching them and then back to her. She could see amusement, irritation and an emotion she couldn't quite identify in his eyes.
"I came to walk you home."
Rose rolled her eyes at him and set his favourite drink in front of him. He had become quite over protective since the incident with Lar and came out to walk her home any chance he could get. Which, granted, wasn't often, but was more than usual. Rose didn't mind really, she liked the fact that he cared enough to drag himself away from his precious time machine for an hour just to make sure she got home ok.
The Doctor glanced down the bar again. "So, who's Fabio?"
Ben leaned against the bar next to Rose and raised an eyebrow. "Fabio?"
Rose shook her head and flicked her towel at the Doctors head. "He's just winding you up. Ben, this is my house mate, David. David, Ben."
She shot him a look that said 'be nice or I'll hurt you', so he extended a hand and Ben accepted.
"Pleased mate."
"Same here. Glad to make new friends. Especially one's so lovely." He looked at Rose who blushed profusely while pretending to wipe down the counter. The Doctor gave a nasty little smirk.
"Well, I am exceptionally good looking." Ben laughed and clapped the Doctor on the shoulder, apparently oblivious to the sarcasm and maliciousness.
"You're a funny guy David. I'm new in town. The place has got such a bad reputation, it's nice to meet some friendly locals."
Rose shot another, more amused glance at the Doctor and filled a glass for a customer. "Oh, I wouldn't call us locals by any stretch. David here is from the north continent, I'm from the east. We arrived about…um…" Rose attempted some calculations in her head and the Doctor took a drink.
"Five months. We've been here about five months."
Rose looked at him intently. "That long?"
He nodded his head, staring back at her. Ben looked between the two curiously.
"Five months isn't so long."
The pair were shaken from the moment and Rose turned to him. "It's a long time for us. We're not used to staying in the same place for very long."
"What were you doing?"
"Just travelling. Passing through."
The Doctor shot her a glance but stayed quiet. She had obviously gotten used to speaking of their travels as a back packing trip across some country as opposed to spinning through time and space every day. It caught him off guard how mundane she made it sound, even though she used the very words he had used in the past to describe his travels to others. He wondered, if she would be content with this life, minus the war of course. He had staring into his glass during his musings and when he looked up, she was gone, across the room attending to a customer. Ben was staring after her.
"She's gorgeous. How do you live with her without trying to jump her bones?"
The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the man. "Well, for one I respect her and I'd never try anything."
Ben glanced at him, only taking his eyes off the blond girl for a moment. "I can understand that. I've seen her deal with those touchy guys."
This brought a smile to the Doctors face. "Oh, you don't want to mess with Rose."
"You tried?" Ben asked as the Doctor rubbed his cheek.
"No. I've met her mother."
"Ahh." And for a brief moment, the two men had complete understanding.
Rose shivered in the cold night air and the Doctor shrugged off his beaten leather jacket and draped it around her shoulders.
"I've got some good news."
"You fixed the TARDIS? We're leaving? And after that you're going to take me to
Korfu?"
"Um, no."
"Oh. What then?"
"I've managed to get the main computer to reboot. It'll be up and running by tomorrow."
"What does that mean?"
"It means we can determine exactly when and where we are and it'll tell me what exactly is wrong as opposed to me guessing and having to search manually."
"Oh, will this speed up repairs?"
"Should do."
"Good."
"Are you so desperate to get out of here?"
"Yeah." She sighed. "I miss the stars."
He paused and looked at her. "Me too."
She smiled at him. "And the adventure. I mean, there's plenty of stuff blowing up and guys pointing guns at your head here, yeah, but it's just not the same as running for your life from giant aliens, you know?"
"Yeah."
She grinned again and looked up at the black, overcast sky, the city lights and orange glow on the horizon.
"I hate it here."
Her voice was soft and quiet. He stared at her again. She had never voiced her opinions of the place really. She's just gotten on with her job, made sure they were never found out, kept food in the cupboards and that was it. He may not have made it clear to her much, but he realised and was grateful for the amount of work she had put in keeping them safe and out of the spot light. As he looked at her now, he could see just how unhappy she was. This was not the life for her. Of course, that was why he had asked her to come with him in the first place. He could see it in her eyes that first time they had met. It seemed like so long ago now. Even for him, a nine hundred year old time lord. He slung his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close.
"Hey. We'll get out of here. Then we'll be haring about the universe again, as if nothing ever happened."
She grinned at him. "Is that a promise?"
"Promise."
They began walking again. "I'm gonna hold you to that you know."
"I should hope so."
Rose stretched as she felt the bed shift as the Doctor got up. She curled up again and sighed happily. No work. No cleaning. No dealing with lecherous old men. No dodging stray bullets.
"Sorry to wake you."
She looked out from her cave of duvet and pillows. "No problem. Pop on the kettle on your way down, would ya?"
He gave her a mock scowl. "What so I look like? Your house wife?"
She gave him a thoughtful look. "Well, I am the one who brings in all the money and food. More like my house alien really."
He laughed and left the room. She watched him go, thinking about the past five months and how she couldn't wait to get out of here. She grimaced to herself when she thought about where exactly they were. Peace was something this civilisation had not seen in a long time, and it didn't look like it was going to be found any time soon. The whole thing made her very depressed. She just tried to ignore it and get on with life but it was hard when there was race crimes and bombings going on outside your door everyday. The whole thing was nonsensical to her but, she had realised before to her horror, the same thing happened on earth, just not so wide spread. She groaned and rolled out of bed, heading for the shower.
The Doctor glanced up as Rose entered the control room, her damp blond hair hanging around her face. She handed him a cup of tea.
"How's it going?"
He pointed at a screen and Rose leant over the main console. "Hey, it works."
"You sounded surprised." He sounded hurt.
"I never doubted you."
"Why do I doubt that?"
She smirked at him and moved towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Helena's. She's moving out. I promised I'd help."
The Doctor shook his head and continued working. "Be careful. Try not to get blown
up and make sure you're back before curfew."
"Hey. In case of an emergency I'll bunk at Helena's and I'll call to tell you. K?"
"But…"
"Good. Bye."
The Doctor sighed as he watched her disappear out the TARDIS front door. That girl would be the death of him. But she made good tea, he added as an after thought as he took a sip.
Rose walked down the road, hair whipping around her in the harsh wind. The country seemed to have perpetual bad weather. And she thought England was bad. She snorted to herself as a paper bag was caught in the wind and blew across her path. It seemed like this city was just all the bad extremes in one place. She groaned inwardly as she saw Andreus and his gang up ahead. They were never fun to run into. She's shot him down enough to thoroughly piss him off.
He smiled wickedly as Rose approached. "Rose. You come to reconsider?"
She continued to walk past but he caught her arm and dragged her back.
"Now, that's just rude. That anyway to treat an admirer?"
"If the attention is clearly unwanted, yeah."
His grip on her arm tightened slightly. "You really don't want to be speaking to us
like that."
"I want nothing to do with you."
"See, there's the problem. You are living on our territory. You have everything to do
with us."
She yanked her arm from his grip and stepped back. "And since when does that involve me having to do anything with you? I won't bother you or report you to the local forces as long as you leave me the hell alone. Hmm?"
Andreus frowned at her. "I really don't think speaking to those bastards would be wise for your health."
"Well, apparently speaking with you isn't wise for my health either, so I'm gonna
have to make a choice."
He held his hands up. "Fine. Shit girl, you talk tough."
"Yeah. Well…"
Suddenly a small figure came racing around the corner and one of the gang grabbed it by the back of it's clothes. He laughed and held it up, grabbing it to stop it from squirming.
"Well, look what we got here. It's mighty feisty."
'It' was an Anaxine child. A girl, Rose could tell from the colouring of it's scales and eyes. She looked to be about seven or eight and was obviously terrified.
"What are we gonna do with it?"
Andreus was about to answer when Rose stepped forward. "You'll give her to me. Put her down."
Andreus gave her a strange look. "What're you going to do with her? You a sympathiser?"
"No. But she's just a kid. She hasn't done anything wrong. Probably got chased over the tracks."
"All Anaxine are scum. We should make her an example!"
The voice had come from the back of the group and Rose pushed her way through, glaring up at the man who had spoken.
"Oh, you're a big tough man huh? Beating up all that scum, even if it's a little girl? You think you'd be happy if your daughter was sent home beaten as an example? Do yourselves a favour and give her to me before we're put under lockdown for a month."
Andreus nodded and the man who was holding the child and she was set on the ground. The girl ran to Rose and hid behind her. Andreus looked at the men surrounding them.
"Beat it." They all scattered and Rose stared up at the man standing beside her.
"Who are you?"
He shifted on his feet. "What are you talking about?"
"One minute you're all tough and beating people up, the next you're helping Anaxine
children. Are you a sympathiser, are you part of the freedom movement, are you a
gang member with a personality disorder? What?"
"I don't think the Anaxine are all scum. The ones with the bombs are. As for the gang" he waved in the direction the rest of the men had walked. "As a kid I was given a choice. Join or die. I joined. Learned how to survive. Moved up the ranks and now here I am."
"Ever thinking of making the whole thing a little less violent?"
"I'd get my throat cut. Those guys, their vicious. So am I."
"A murderer with a soul. Now I really have seen everything."
"Murderer?"
"Everyone knows. Everyone's scared of you."
"Shit. You're not."
"I've seen a lot. You're not the worst. Do yourself a favour, get out of the cycle
before you loose what sanity you have left."
"You sound like you know what it's like."
She shrugged, avoiding his gaze. "Well, thanks." She grabbed the little girls hand and walked away.
The two approached the walls of the nearest Anaxine settlement.
"This where you live hun?"
The child nodded.
"Well, off you go then. Try to stick over there. You'll get hurt."
The child nodded again and ran through the gates and out of sight. Rose turned and began to walk away.
"Hey! Hey you! Blondie!" Rose turned to see an old male Anaxine approaching her.
"Hey, what were you doing with that kid?"
"Just bringing her back. She'd gotten lost."
"And you brought her back out of the kindness of your heart, hmm?"
Rose frowned at the tone of his voice. "Well, yeah."
"Where'd you find her?"
Rose pointed at the estate where she lived. "She was being chased by the ruling gang."
"And you helped her?"
"Yes. For the last time. Why don't you believe me?"
"Fieans don't help our kind."
"You're going the right way for a slap you are. Do know what kind she is? Kid kind.
Just a kid. No other distinguishing features as far as I'm concerned."
The old man gave her a strange look, his tale waving uncertainly. "I think… sympathiser?"
Rose shook her head.
"Freedom movement?"
She shook her head. "I'm not involved."
"The whole world is involved."
"Not me."
"… Thank you, young lady."
She shrugged and turned away. "For what?"
Helena wrenched open the door and pulled her friend inside. Rose raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry I'm late. I got caught up and I…"
"Gal cheated on me."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"I'm not moving. I don't even have a boyfriend to move in with."
Rose put her arm around her friend's shoulders. "It'll be ok. He was scum. Don't you worry about him. You deserved better anyway."
Rose almost smirked inwardly. This could almost be Shireen she was sitting beside.
"Hold on. Flick on the telly there."
Helena sniffed and did as she was told as Rose moved to the cramped kitchen, rooting around the cupboards and fridge.
"Ah ha." Came the triumphant cry and Helena looked up as Rose reappeared from the
kitchen with a tub of ice cream and two spoons.
"Now, what movies you got?"
Helena giggled through her tears. "I got 'When Kazets Cry'."
Rose pulled a face and Helena giggled again. "That is corny. Perfect."
A kazet, Rose had found out randomly after reading magazines and papers, was a kind of bird that resembled a dove. The same romantic kind of romantic and peaceful imagery was associated with it as on earth. She had also learned that here, chocolate was exactly the same. She had never been so happy in her life.
Helena set the movie and the pair settled back, squabbling over ice cream.
Rose stood and stretched her arms, glancing at a clock.
"I'd better go. David won't be happy if I don't get back tonight and it's an hour and a half to curfew."
Helena sat back and smiled. "Hmm, David. I could use a good rebound fling."
Rose frowned. "No."
"Why not?" Helena pouted.
"Use Ben. You are not using my friend as a rebound man. Genuinely perusing him, I can only barely deal with. He's a no go for you for the next two months at least."
Helena crossed her arms and huffed. "Fine. Guess I'm gonna have to find some other guy."
"Some other unsuspecting soul you mean. What's wrong with Ben?"
"He's all eyes for you is the problem."
Rose blushed slightly. "He's not." She wasn't really interested, not really, but a girl never minded some attention.
"He is. I could flash the boy and he wouldn't notice if you were in the room."
"Right. Whatever, I'm off. I'll see you soon. Feel better, yeah?"
"Alright. Bye. Be careful walking home."
"I will."
Rose stepped out onto the street and headed home. The sun was low in the sky and nothing but a dim glow behind a thick bank of cloud. It was a gloomy day with an oppressive air about it. The streets were quiet, only soldiers and the odd person out. Lockdown tended to make the entire population disappear for the duration. Rose walked down the quiet street, eyes watchful for trouble, rife at any time on these streets. Being so vigilant, she was surprised she hadn't seen him coming. At the last minute she had caught the movement from the corner of her eye but it was too late.
The boy, no older than herself, had grabbed her bag and made a run for it.
"Oi! Get back here."
She took off in pursuit him and she heard the heavy footfalls of two soldiers behind her as well. Her robber turned a sharp corner and disappeared into a side alley. Rose ran around after him and spied him up ahead. She threw herself out and tackled him around the waist. They both went down in a tangle of limbs and she managed to wrest her bag from his grip. She extracted herself from the mess and stood up, the boy shooting to his feet. Rose dusted herself off and glared at the boy.
"Go on. Fuck off now, would you?"
The boy turned about to run again but they both froze when they heard the cocking of guns behind them.
"Neither of you move." The voice barked.
Rose turned slowly giving the soldiers a forced smile.
"S'all right officers. I got my bag. Just a misunderstanding."
The soldier shook his head, giving a nasty little laugh.
"No. We saw it all. And, we've got this guy," he walked up to the boy and gave him a shot to the back of his legs, forcing him to his knees. "As a known member of the Freedom Movement. That's not only terrorism but treason."
The other guard came forward, cocked his gun and pointed it at the boys head.
Rose jumped forward. "No. Don't. Doesn't he get arrested or a trial or something?"
The second guard pushed her back against the wall. "I don't think so. Get back."
The shot rang out through the alley and empty street. Rose's arms flew up to cover her face from instinct. She faced the wall, leaning into it heavily. She stayed that way for a long time and when she finally brought herself to look around, the soldiers were gone. She was alone with the body of the boy, no older than her.
It was only a few minutes to curfew when Rose eventually reached her house, practically stumbling through the door. The Doctor was pacing the living room and he spun around when she entered.
"Where the hell were you? It's so late and you weren't answering your phone and…"
He stopped when he saw the look on her face.
"Rose?"
She threw herself at him, flinging her arms around his neck, sobbing into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and eased them both down onto the couch where he held her as she cried. It took him a long time to get her to tell him what had happened. Once she had, the tears had dried up but dry sobs still wracked her body. Eventually, he got her up and into the TARDIS down to his room where they curled up on the bed together. As he watched her struggle and try to get to sleep the Doctor sighed inwardly. They had to get out of here.
End Chap.
Yes, I know. Major melo-drama. I'm sorry. But did you like it anyway?