Wolf Pact

Chapter Six: Wilf and the Gate

by Lumendea

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

….

The Doctor didn't say anything about Rose stopping him from following. They rushed back to the TARDIS as he simmered in a quiet, fearful rage. Rose took out her mobile and quickly texted Jenny just to check in. Thankfully their girl was still alright, if bored and worried. Even the hum of the TARDIS failed to settle Rose as they made it back in. All her mind could do was wonder just who had attacked. It hadn't been UNIT and there was no Torchwood left in this London. It wasn't Jack's Torchwood either, so who were these mysterious players.

She hated it, all of it. Thanks to the year that never was, no one should have known the truth about the Master. He'd been killed too quickly for that and yet these people had found him easily enough and grabbed him. She looked back at the Doctor with worry. He didn't seem to be injured, but the prophecy was nagging at them both. Rose tried not to grumble, she'd gotten out of the habit, but it was tempting now.

She hated not knowing what they were dealing with and the Doctor was clearly agitated as he set the controls. There was someone else, someone else who had already discovered that Harold Saxon was back. The issue was what did they want him for?

Grabbing the console, Rose kept herself upright as they landed. She looked over at the Doctor in confusion as he all but stormed out of the TARDIS, leaving a storm trailing in his wake. Breathing out slowly, Rose took a moment to recover before following him out. She stopped short as she took in the house. It took a moment, but she recognised it and she definitely knew the old man coming up to them.

"I lost him," the Doctor said. "Someone took him. He's still on Earth, I can smell him, but he's too far away."

"Listen, you can't park there," Wilf said urgently. He looked fearfully over his shoulder towards the house. "What if Donna sees it?"

"Doctor?" Rose asked, confused herself as to why they were here. "We should check in with the Smiths and Jenny. Maybe they've found something."

"Jenny would have called and you just talked to her," the Doctor said. He stepped closer to Wilf. "You're the only one, Wilf. The only connection I can think of. You're involved, if I could work out how. Tell me, have you seen anything? I don't know. Anything strange, anything odd?"

Rose bit her lip as Wilf stared at the Doctor. She could already tell that he was thinking of something. "Well, there was a…."

"What? What is it?" The Doctor's tone shifted once more. "Tell me."

"Well, it was. No, it's nothing."

"Think-a think-a think. Maybe something out of the blue. Something connected to your life. Something."

Rose stayed silent and watched. Wilf seemed nervous, twitchy even and she couldn't help but notice his hand shifting at his side like he was tempted to reach for something. The Doctor wasn't much better, there was a near frantic and fearful energy in him. It was more than just his worry about regenerating; that they could handle. Crossing her arms over her chest, Rose eyed the house and pressed her lips together. The Doctor and Wilf were talking about Donna and a book now, but she just kept an eye out for Donna to appear at the window. The knowledge of what had happened to Donna was bitter, but worse was the small part of her that was just so grateful that John had been alright. He'd been stable (well as stable as the Doctor ever was) and been safe.

Something in the air felt wrong. Rose sniffed at it. She couldn't smell anything that didn't fit in early 21st century London and even the memories of what the other London smelled like didn't throw that off. Holding back a shiver, Rose scanned the road, but no one was paying them any mind. Yet the feeling of unease remained. Her fingers slipped into her pocket and she almost called Mickey and Martha to check on Jenny. They'd lost the Master and didn't know how to find them. They should have put a biodamper on Jenny, her mind suddenly said and Rose's heart almost beat out of her chest at the terrifying idea of someone finding Jenny.

"Maybe? It may be touching Donna's subconscious. Oh, she's still fighting for us, even now. The Doctor Donna," the Doctor said, finally pulling Rose's attention back to them. She frowned, he was holding a book for some reason.

Then Sylvia came outside, with a frantic look on her face. Rose vaguely remembered her glimpses of Sylvia when she'd been dealing with Donna's alternate reality. The woman had never impressed her, but the look of terror and worry on her face did a lot to remove Rose's old negative impressions.

"Get out of here," Sylvia hissed at the Doctor.

Rose felt a jolt of anger on the Doctor's behalf. He just nodded to Sylvia and wished her a Merry Christmas. Frustration and worry flickered over Sylvia's face and Rose felt herself feeling a bit of sympathy for the woman.

"Merry Christmas. But she can't see you. What if she remembers?" She looked towards Rose, sending her a pleading look.

"We'll go," Rose said quickly to reassure the woman.

"Mum, where are those tweezers?" Donna's voice called from the house. Rose saw the Doctor tense at the sound of their lost friend.

"Go," Sylvia said with steel in her voice.

"I'm going," the Doctor said. He grabbed her hand and they turned to walk towards the gate. The Doctor's grip was tighter than usual and Rose knew that the sound of Donna's voice had greatly affected him.

"Yeah, me too," Wilf added.

Rose glanced over her shoulder as they headed across the street to the waiting TARDIS. Sure enough, Wilf was following them. The Doctor didn't really seem to notice until they were at the TARDIS. Shaking her head, Rose started to unlock the TARDIS.

"You can't come with us," the Doctor said.

"You're not leaving me with her!"

Rose pushed open the doors and held back a laugh as Sylvia shouted for her father one more time. She turned around to see the Doctor nod. But then her eyes were drawn to a small sign tacked up on the far garden fence right next to the Noble house. The large block print that probably should have said 'beware of dog' instead said 'bad wolf.'

"Fair enough."

Sylvia's shouts were muffled as the doors closed and the Doctor rushed up to the TARDIS controls. Rose lingered by Wilf near the door with a slight smile as she watched him take in the TARDIS. The sense of wrongness was faded in here, but Rose could still feel it pressing against her skin. She couldn't properly recall ever feeling anything like it before, but the sense of dread was familiar. All too familiar and the mark of Bad Wolf seemed burned in her eyes.

Rose turned her attention to the Doctor as he explained to Wilf that he couldn't cross his own timeline. Despite the tension radiating off the Time Lord, he was being very patient with Wilf. Rose looked at Donna's grandfather. She wasn't sure how she felt about having the old man here. He was quick and sweet, but something about him being here made her worry even more.

Strangely enough, the Doctor didn't change the coordinates immediately. Instead, he stayed in front of the screen with his fingertips moving through a series of equations. The look of concentration on his face kept Rose silent even as she wondered what he was doing. Then the Doctor glanced her way and Rose got a very bad feeling. The Storm was clear in his eyes and she felt a flicker of regret for adding to his fears with her presence, but she hated to think how he'd be coping without her.

"That takes care of that," the Doctor said. "Allonsy!" He dashed around the controls, throwing levers and pressing buttons. "Hold on!"

The TARDIS shifted with a jolt and Rose grabbed onto the railing and reached out to steady Wilf as the man looked around in surprise. The Doctor finished the materialisation and looked at her. Rose gave him a small nod and they headed for the doorway. They stepped out into the TARDIS and Rose braced herself. There was no rush of men in black, no helicopter and no guns shoved in their face. That was something at least. She shifted closer to the Doctor as Wilf followed her out.

"We've moved," Wilf gasped. "We've really moved!" His excitement almost made Rose smile.

"You should stay here," the Doctor said. He was talking to Wilf, but his eyes jumped up to her.

"Not bloody likely," Wilf retorted.

Behind him, Rose shook her head and held the Doctor's eyes. She could see his building frustration, but to his credit, he didn't try anything this time. Maybe he really could learn.

"And don't swear," the Doctor ordered. He was almost grumbling now but pulled out his key. "Hold on." To Rose's surprise, he pointed it at the TARDIS which suddenly vanished.

"Doctor?" Rose asked. "What did you do?" She was surprised, Rose had thought she was past the having to ask constant questions phase.

"Just a second out of sync," he explained to them both. "Don't want the Master finding the Tardis. That's the last thing we need."

Rose shivered and nodded her understanding. Wilf nodded as well, but Rose knew that he wouldn't understand the full scale of what the Master could do with a TARDIS. John's stories about the year that never was replayed through her mind and all Rose wanted to do was grab the Doctor and run.

The Doctor turned to her and shifted closer, taking her hand. "She recognises your biodata, Rose. If you need to get in hold up your key."

"Okay," Rose said.

"And I've programmed her to go to Mickey and Martha's," the Doctor said. "If this goes badly then you need to get Jenny."

"I can't leave you," Rose protested.

"I'm not asking you too," the Doctor assured her. He almost smiled. "I know better than that. But if they capture me then you need to get to Jenny before the Master finds her. Together I'm sure you two can come up with something."

"What about Wilf?" Rose asked.

"Don't worry about me, sweetheart," Wilf said. He gave her a smile and puffed up a bit. "Now, let's find out what's going on."

Rose almost smiled. Wilf might not be used to this, but he was adjusting very quickly. Just in case, Rose looked around and noted the appearance of the area carefully. As much as she didn't want to leave the Doctor behind, years of tactical training in Torchwood reminded her of the value of a backup plan.

They followed the sides of the red brick building. It didn't look the kind of place where an evil alien like the Master belonged, but appearances were deceiving. The place was massive and Rose scanned the various buildings. As they stepped out into a passageway, the Doctor grabbed her and shoved her back. Rose had just managed to catch sight of a trio of guards.

"There's a lot of guards here," Rose said. "Too many for just a house."

"That book said he's a billionaire," Wilf explained. "He's got his own private army."

"Yeah but even my dad never had security like this," Rose said thoughtfully. "And he was the Head of Torchwood on top of being rich." Wilf nodded, but Rose knew that he wouldn't have the right context.

"Down here," the Doctor called. He gestured to a small door in the nearby archway and quickly opened it with the sonic screwdriver. "Come on."

Rose pushed Wilf forward and the old man rushed to the small door. Then she glanced around for more guards before she followed. Closing the door behind her, Rose looked around nervously. They were a dark tunnel with lamps along the walls every few feet. It was clean despite the appearance that it led nowhere. The Doctor grabbed her hand and tugged her forward.

They didn't have to go far before they could hear a voice. The Doctor stopped and glanced into a small room. A monitor showed a strange metal archway. There was a woman in the room who was speaking to someone through a comm system. Rose had no idea what she was looking at, but it didn't belong on Earth, not in this time period. Maybe it was the memory of Van Statten, but she always worried about alien tech in the hands of billionaires.

"And the multiple overshots have triplicated," the woman said. She was smiling.

"Nice Gate," the Doctor said in place of a greeting.

"Hello," Wilf said. "Sorry."

"Don't try calling security, or I'll tell them you're wearing a Shimmer. Because I reckon anyone wearing a Shimmer doesn't want the Shimmer to be noticed, or they wouldn't need a Shimmer in the first place."

"I'm sorry? What's a Shimmer?"

"A disguise," Rose said.

The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at her and the woman's appearance changed. Her clothing was still the same with the white lab coat still in place, but her skin had turned green and her hair was gone with green spikes in its place.

"Shimmer," the Doctor said.

"Oh, my Lord," Wilf gasped, pointing at the woman. "She's a cactus."

The woman grimaced but didn't move to stop the Doctor as he rushed for the nearest set of controls. Rose could hear him muttering to himself as he examined the readouts of what was happening above them. The tension in his body was extreme and Rose eyed the alien woman carefully. Thankfully, she just nodded at Rose and didn't move to stop the Doctor.

Another of the green things showed up and the Doctor kept running around between machines. The Vinvocci were very calm about the whole matter and trying to calm the Doctor. Wilf asked why it was so big and Rose glanced at the panel upon panels.

"It doesn't just mend one person at a time," the female Addams said.

"That would be ridiculous," the male Rossiter agreed.

"It mends whole planets," Addams explained with a slight smile.

Worry took over the Doctor's face. "It does what?" he asked.

"It transmits the medical template across the entire population," Addams said.

Then his eyes widened in horror. The Doctor rushed for the door and Rose moved to follow. He suddenly stopped and whirled back to look at her. "TARDIS," he said. "Jenny, go now!"

"But-"

"Go now!" The Doctor shouted.

Something in his voice, the terror and certainty made her turn and run. She distantly heard Wilf's cry of confusion. There were tears running down her cheeks. Rose was leaving him. This was wrong and yet maternal instinct demanded it. She was leaving him to face whatever the Master had done. Darting out the door, Rose found a pair of guards shaking their heads with looks of confusion.

She kept running. Pulling out her key, Rose retraced their route to the TARDIS and held out the key. The TARDIS shimmered into view. Rose unlocked it and dashed inside the TARDIS. Around her, the time ship hummed in greeting and warning. Gasping, Rose released a sob as she reached for the controls to take her to the Smith-Jones home. She had left the Doctor. But she would come back for him. She always did.