The Long Game

When Rose woke up, she knew, faintly, that something big was going to happen, or really, re-happen as it were. This was a novelty, she thought, as she sat up, rubbing her tired eyes. She didn't really have a good footing on things when it came to where she and the Doctor would end up next. It was hard to pinpoint when things that had happened to her with her time the Doctor would occur, simply because they were crisscrossing their old adventures(first time around, they had not crossed the path with the Dalek until after they had prevented a half-alien girl from being killed in feudal Japan for being a half-'oni'), and new ones were thrown into the mix(she had never in her first go around with the Doctor ridden atop an enormous, monster sized clam while holding two branches of bananas underneath her arms as the Doctor laughed off the effects of a toxin next to her, a furious mob of fish-aliens chasing after them), that any of her prior knowledge was close to useless.

Just as she suspected, any word she said differently on her part caused a different location or timing. She couldn't help it, she didn't remember every little word she had said so long ago, nor did she believe she was that great of an actress to pull off her old self with any sort of sincerity. She was still the same person of course, but three years had made her change. She had grown away from Rose Tyler at nineteen, even though she felt like a curious mixture of both her twenty-two-year-old self and her nineteen-year-old self, the maturity and growth she had experienced as a twenty-two-year-old affected and dominated her more. She would not temper herself greatly in her new present. The Doctor had the right to choose- she didn't want to lie to him more than she had too.

He would get the Rose Tyler she was, and nothing less than that.

It also helped that it didn't alarm her of the changes in pace, simply because the TARDIS had a knack of arriving where and when she and the Doctor where needed. At least her future knowledge was put to use and not useless. Well, it was still useless in determining when events would happen.

Once they arrived at a certain location, Rose knew what to do most of the time, and did her best to remember the events that had occurred. She had finally found herself a journal to tried to make sense of things, remembering what she could(and had started to pen her new adventures in a separate journal to keep things straight), lamenting the fact that she wasn't a very eloquent writer when it came to the impossible things she had done with the Doctor. She wasn't half bad at drawing, though, even with her fuzzy memories, so her journal was an impossible mixture of color and messy, ineloquent text. She was about halfway done with her run-through of her adventures but was more glad to be ahead of herself in terms of reliving them...

She had, however, so far, seemed to have had a good grasp of things- she hadn't royally screwed up anything at the least. No one killed that hadn't died before(at worst a scrape that hadn't happened before), some lives saved, but the Universe had a habit of making sure certain people died, no matter what the steps she took, and since the Reapers hadn't come to call, she figured she had done a good enough job at this second chance at life.

Now, as she sat up, the TARDIS humming a good morning, slightly tense and worried, Rose knew that today one of the more dangerous events of her life were about to happen. Which, she wasn't sure, but she knew for sure that it was going to happen. She wondered if she was about to meet Jack, or if she should ask to see her father... She paused, and listened to the worried song, and sighed slightly at the concern there.

That was how she knew then. The TARDIS's worry was transferring, and it suddenly occurred to her as she leaned against her headboard that she was getting better at 'hearing' what the TARDIS had to say to her, what she felt. It wasn't words, not quite, but impressions of emotions and images and sometimes when Rose and the TARDIS were particularly in tune, it was as if they each felt the other, their moods and their emotions. It was odd, and it was comforting.

It should have scared her things coming into her mind and making a mess of things were the most frightening things she had ever encountered with the Doctor. But, well, the TARDIS had stopped scaring her a long time ago.

"There, there... Sexy, we'll be fine. It's not like I'm going in not knowing."she soothed after she heard the continuous worry in the song, patting behind her on a coral strut, grinning unconsciously at calling TARDIS what the Doctor had called her.

Honestly, it did fit the time ship, she thought, as she eased out of bed, stretching her muscles. Part of her, that twenty-two part of herself was startled at the fact that she was not in pain- no searing headache, no burning body and crushing dizziness... She was starting her morning exercises and eased into that easy burn with relish. She found that the nineteen-year-old part of herself felt the pain that came from the constant ache of getting in shape, and whined and moaned and hurt all over her.

But, she was on a tangent, she thought, giving the TARDIS's coral strut a kiss, smiling at the spark she got back because the Old girl was gorgeous in so many ways. The TARDIS hummed a giggling, an agreeing with her note to her song. She smiled and focused on her stances and kicks. Rose was somewhat pleased with her progress with training her body to be something like her twenty-two-year-old body, her memory clear, thinking of what a deadly, driven force she had been(would have been?).

However, she was finding it frustrating still that her body wasn't adapting to the exercise the way it had in Pete's World. She understood that this time around, she was starting everything at nineteen, versus twenty-one, and she had had an extensive cardio regime via running with the Doctor as her base, not to mention the little things Jack had taught her, so she was essentially starting from scratch, unlike her future self. The frustration wasn't something she could will away, logic aside, though. She sighed, but finished the exercise, still the beginner's one but at least she wasn't quite as out of breath as she had been at the beginning.

Rose rotated her shoulders with a slight wince, heading over to her bathroom. A steaming, wonderful shower was waiting for her, lighting dim and set for relaxation, and the soothing smell of apple grass about the room as if some had lit a scented candle. She found herself smiling, feeling a little weepy at the care the ship was giving her.

"Thank you."she mentioned, slipping off her clothes and entering the warm, fragrant spray, the source of the smell.

The TARDIS hummed simply, shrugging off her thanks.

"You really do spoil us."she mentioned, closing her eyes, letting her muscles soak up the warmth and relax.

The TARDIS hummed again, though this time, it was like a mother telling a child to stop being silly. Rose laughed, pushed away from her happy tears(a habit that she couldn't quite break yet in the face of her new situation, but thankfully one she had only all out sobbed when she was alone), and focused on her shower, taking her time in a way that she hadn't had the luxury to do in a long time.

Once she was done, she found herself staring at her options. The TARDIS, almost like a doting mother, had taken to given her a selection clothes and laid it out for her every morning. Like the first time, it was always a curious mix of her memories of what could have been and the memories of what she was supposed to be. And, she saw it among her clothes a pink and black, zip-up jumper that she hadn't seen in a long time.

After all, it had brought a sour taste in her mouth- A reminder of her lingering naivety. That scared little singer who trusted her heart and time with the wrong boy(because that was what Jimmy had been in the end, a boy with nothing but himself to blame, but wanting to forever blame someone else and lash out, she had happened to be that someone). She had trusted Adam because he had seemed earnest- she had ignored all the facts because, yeah, he had a pretty face, a good bum, but he had also seemed like a nice guy.

He looked like the nicest the damn thing in the horror show that was that museum. She had hoped that she had started to be a better judge of people then, and she had been shown how terribly wrong she was. She had learned from that, much as it had crushed her to fail. But, later, she managed to prove it to herself that her judgment of people wasn't so bad, with Jack, the conman with the heart of gold.

But it had still made her look at the top gingerly after that and refuse to wear it.

"Sexy?"she asked softly, lifting the top, fingertips lingering on the curled metal zipper. If she had laid this out...

The TARDIS sighed in her song before she made the rest of the tops disappear except a black lace cami to go underneath. Gingerly, Rose sighed, and placed the top down as if it was about to bite her.

"Right. First time on Satellite five. I can handle that."she said, reassuring both herself and the TARDIS.

Adam wasn't here to muck it up, she told herself sternly. She and the Doctor only had to stall for Cathica to start thinking. Though that meant that the Editor would torture them more, the existence of the Doctor and the TARDIS would be secret in the records, and Rose preferred it that way. The Daleks… The Daleks would find the Doctor later anyway, regardless if The Editor would know who they were or not.

Because she had a feeling that Adam screwing up was not fixed, after all, she knew that she would have made a different choice had just one thing changed back then: putting her phone in a different pocket, or even given it to the Doctor after Adam had returned as she had a habit of doing on occasion to keep it from falling out of too small pockets. And if that kept the Doctor safer, more of secret down the line, the better she felt.

After all, in this universe, this Torchwood was a creation of their own doing, of their arrogance. And it was because of this that she had lost the Doctor, and ultimately, her life. In Pete's World, yes, it had been created because of the same incident, and would have happened regardless of her or the Doctor. However, despite everything, the Torchwood of Pete's world hadn't been as… Reckless and cold towards aliens. After all, it had been more militaristic in nature than her home universe.

It was cautious in relations with other planets, aliens. It wasn't perfect, wasn't kind as she would have liked. After all, the government had been somewhat corrupt and answered too much to corporations… But it had a solid protocol had been made of each and every encounter, more than 'If it's alien, it's ours'. It had only been screwed up because it had been one of the first buildings hit with Cyberman, and yes, they had the same program about the ghosts but had been doing extensive theoretical work, and small tests. The Jumpers Pete and his team had used had been quick and crude and hardly tested, and only had worked because of the hole the Torchwood of her universe had punched a hole between the two universes.

From what she heard, the Torchwood she had been working with had been in the process of the 'dimensional canon' which was trying to work around the whole punching through walls like savages. It hadn't been making too much progress, but she had been keeping an ear out for it, even if she had been more focused on getting through the pain each day, and making sure her family had no idea what was happening to her...

She shook her head and the turn of her thoughts. No sense on dwelling on the past, or the future that wouldn't happen, as it were. She dressed quickly, put on her makeup, her armor in all points in her life: as a child it had been smudges of dirt worn on her face like war paint, as a teenager it had been gig ready, a brilliant gauzy mask to make her feel powerful, and as an adult woman, as an Agent of Torchwood it had been smoky and intense and set for any challenge. Now?

It was soft, easy, and relaxed. Natural and mature, a woman who had the stars in her eyes, howling in her heart, and the song of the TARDIS in her head. She made her trek across the TARDIS, finally meeting the Doctor in the galley with a strained smile on his face, a soft, fond smile on her own face as she went about making tea.

Unsurprisingly, he was quiet, muttering a good morning before falling silent. That was progress at least, saying something to her beyond 'past the salt' or 'going off to repair now' or even the odd grunt she had gotten in the very beginning. Part of Rose, that brash, nineteen-year-old in her that didn't know him too well wanted to push, force him to spill his damage. But well, most of her took his silence in stride, knowing when best to push him and when to be quiet.

It had been difficult, learning to live with this wonderful madman, at first. But, despite her lack of A-levels, she had always been a quick study when she applied herself. And, oh, had she applied herself in learning him, in learning the life he had given her by asking her to run away with him.

She smiled, softly to herself as she bustled about, making her breakfast, and as she made him a pot of tea that she knew was his favorite in this form. He grinned at her in thanks when she handed him his favorite earthenware mug, before returning back to look down at the piece of circuitry in his hand. She didn't speak to him as she sat down and ate, humming softly back and forth from the TARDIS. If she had heard only herself as the Doctor was, it was as if she was humming a disjointed song with no rhyme or reason. As it was she and the TARDIS were silently going through ways of speaking to each other, trying to get a more sensible language between each other.

It was difficult, the TARDIS was only notes of a song, images, and despite how in-sync she was with the Old Girl, the fact that she relied on language was never more stark than it was when they tried to 'speak' in a more precise way, especially when it came to getting something concrete across. It didn't help that the TARDIS was an eleventh-dimensional being, and Rose, despite their shared persistence over trying to learn to 'speak' better, wondered if they would ever be able to have such clear communications. She was a human, stranded in tiny third-dimensional space, hormones and chemical triggers. The TARDIS was a creature that stretched across eleven planes of existence, bent the fabric of time and space, and held one of the most powerful forces of their universe at her her heart.

"I finished the repairs on the communication systems."he said, and she blinked, going away from the TARDIS with some difficulty. It took a lot of mental energy to move away from her.

It worked both ways- the TARDIS was hard press to let her go. Just like… Just like when had the power of the Vortex. It was an immense feeling, that connection, and both of them were working on getting their connection managed better, without being as taxing to pull away. They didn't want to be separated when they connected, and it was like they were untangling themselves from being wound up in a long, complex blanket made of the other- It took effort and maybe a bit too much time to appear normal. She just hoped the Doctor thought her dim or highly introspective. The Doctor was grinning again, eyes flickering to her face before they went to look beyond her.

If she had been anyone without the proactive inclination to observe, if she hadn't been taught by her travels with the genius, but still blissfully oblivious man sometimes, she wouldn't have known he wasn't looking her quite in the eye. Most likely he was focused on her eyebrows or forehead. Still quite not comfortable with her then.

She expected this really, it had happened with her first Dalek, though she hadn't really noticed until she grabbed his hand and he had jumped a mile away from her the first time around... This time around, she knew the Doctor nearly as well as she knew herself, or at least to understand his moods, and seeing him pull away was expected since the Dalek had been something so close, so raw after the Time War.

However, it didn't hurt any less that the man she loved couldn't quite look her in the eye.

"Really?"she asked, curious, pushing past her hurt. She took a deep breath, and smiled.

She wondered when he would be finish doing that. She knew for damn sure that the repairs were unnecessary because the TARDIS got cranky each time he came near the systems. And it wasn't even the normal playful cranky, but the irritated- please why the hell are you touching me- cranky. He had done it last time, and she hadn't really question it then because it was his ship and all.

She had spent her time mostly in her room then, watching old movies to pass the time and come to better grips with her situation(to take a breath and rest after such an intense couple of weeks), wondering how she had managed to get this amazing view of the universe with such an amazing, if slightly mad, man. She had hardly seen Adam- apparently he had gotten stuck in his room at odd times, a sign that the TARDIS didn't like him as much as the Doctor hadn't. Now, she didn't ask, they weren't quite there in their relationship yet, where she could prod and question things at even the wrong moments.

"Yeah. Finished an hour or two ago. Figured we head out. Old girl is eager for a spin."he mentioned, and he smiled here, a goofy, large smile that could fool nearly everyone.

Not Rose. No, at least, not as she was now, she saw his tense shoulders, the slight furrow at the space between his brows. But he didn't want her to see that, he never wanted anyone to see. She let it slide, frowning internally even as she beamed at him. It was hard- their feelings were not in sync as she remembered, and it was a struggle not to feel slighted each time he pulled away or he did not respond as he once would have, as she hoped he would. She didn't blame him, he wasn't the man she had been trapped away from, not yet, not for a long time. He was hurting, a man straight out of War. She was just someone he had taken a liking to, a friend and someone to take away his loneliness.

But she loved him.

And it was hard not to feel the gap between them, to feel the pain when he pulled away as he would not have before Bad Wolf Bay. To feel the pain he was in and not be able to help him as much as she wishes she could.

"Brillian', where we headed?"she asked brightly, instead of poking at the defenses he had all but slammed up as soon as they had left Utah in 2012.

Time would wear that far better than anything she said at this point. It had the first time around- in her inability to see beyond that sadly painted smile that he wore so painfully well. However, it didn't mean she wouldn't… Poke and prod it a little further.

"Don' know, figured we'd just press random and see where it lands us."

She smiled again, fighting the sudden tension in her shoulders or the clenching sort of whine she heard from the TARDIS, clearly, neither of them were eager for what would occur, for what it would set up. The death of the man across from her, the birth of something in Rose that had altered both she and the TARDIS further than either of them, even the TARDIS, could understand. That had brought her back to live through her life with the man across from her for the second time.

No. She was not eager to see Satellite Five, but, as she soothed the TARDIS softly in her mind, neither of them could really change it. Not if they didn't want to set Humanity onto the right path... At least until the Daleks came to call upon her unfortunate species.

"Sounds like a plan."she said plainly, clenching at her favorite blue mug.

"Fantastic!"

And for once, it really wasn't.

~BW~DW~BW~DW~BW~

As they stepped off the TARDIS, the first thing the Doctor could think that it was pleasantly warm. So warm and stifling that it made almost want to take off his jacket. That alone made him pause mid-stride because it was warm for him. If he stayed too long in this climate, he would actually start to perspire, which was rare for a Time-Lord. And he was the one with the lower temperature, for Rose-

"Blimey is it me or does the AC not exists in the future?"said Rose, raising a brow as she paused to stand next to him, looking around the cavernous room curiously.

He ignored her flippant comment, and tried to ignore the slight lowering of the zipper of her jumper, revealing a tight black top below it with the delicate, curve-hugging lace and plowed on:

"So, it's two hundred thousand, and it's a spaceship. No, wait a minute, space station..."he said casually, hands in pockets.

Rose raised a brow, but kept her eyes on their surroundings, intent.

"Two hundred thousand?"she said, a slight grin appearing.

The Doctor nodded, an unconscious grin appearing on him at her mirth:

"Two hundred thousand."

"Right."

She nods, firmly, taking it in stride that was wonderful and shows that she was getting used to life with him. Er, around him. Being his friend. That was what it was. Definitely comfortable. He was pleased that she was getting her stride in this life.

"The Fourth great and bountiful Human Empire. And there it is, planet Earth at its height. Covered with mega-cities, five moons, population ninety-six billion. The hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle."he said, and he couldn't help but leak a bit of pride for humanity into his voice at what they had come to accomplish.

Humanity at its best, across the stars and thriving with people around them. Rose beamed at this, looking around the satellite eagerly.

"Oh, well, how wonderful. We've done well for ourselves, then. Hopefully, we didn't step on too many toes on our way out."

There was a wary pride to her as she said this, and he couldn't help but think of Cassandra, one of the few 'humans' she had met in the future. She had not had the best exposure to what her species would become, and while that was partly his fault for avoiding the far future after showing her the end of her world, he could honestly say that it hadn't been the best step out into the stars for humans either. Akin to the Imperial Period at moments, fear and ignorance abound. However, it didn't mean that they didn't get things right, didn't fix their mistakes. He extended his hands, eager to show her that humans would do wonderful things.

"It was a rough start, but you humans don't muck it up too much. By now, in this Fantastic period of history, your species has got it down. The human race at its most intelligent. Culture, art, politics. This era has got fine food, good manners-"he gushed-

"Out of the way!"snarled a man, pushing past him rapidly, as if the hounds of the Lu'na'ed Nebula were on his heels.

There was a cacophony of noise as apes rushed inside the room, all but stampeding. Various stalls of foods opened up, and customers and vendors alike shouted out and pushed past each other. The smell coming off of the stalls were synthetic for the most part, but the Doctor could akin it to an old run down diner or fast food eatery of Rose's own century. Overall, not such a pleasant smell. Or one he would associate with the year 200, 000.

"Thank you very much indeed. Somebody there? That's great. What do you want, love? All right, keep moving. I'll be with you lot in a minute. Here you are. One at a time. What now, what was it? Kronkburger with cheese, kronkburger with pajatos. Do you want a drink? Oi, you, mate. Stop pushing. Get back. I said, back." screeched out a particularly loud vendor, who had the longest line to his station.

Rose was frowning, looking at the brutish display.

"Fine cuisine? Manners?"she asked, narrowing her expressive eyes, "Looks like a rush hour 'bout the food trucks."

The Doctor was frowning himself.

"My watch must be wrong," he checked it, quickly, and double checked it, "No, it's fine. It's weird."

"That's what comes from showing off. Your history isn't as good as you thought it was."she said, cautiously, as if she was trying to make a joke.

The Doctor frowned again, eyes narrowing.

"My history's perfect."

It was practically his job to know history(if he was ever gainfully employed that is, he had been once, but that was because the TARDIS had been locked in that time and space, and he didn't fancy that nonsense once again). He knew the course of most human history specifically like the back of his hands. Nearly every vein, every freckle or hair of humanities' major events and eras was imprinted on his mind heavily by his great interest in the species and its progress. He took great pains to know it because it seemed he had fallen into the habit of setting it to the right course. To see it contradicted set off alarms at the back of his head, and made his body hum with anticipation.

"Well, obviously not. I mean, if we're so advanced, how come there're no aliens about? Even in my time aliens are present, and by now shouldn't they be wondering about, like at the end of the world? Equality and all that."

"You're right. There should be aliens milling about, but it looks like there're only apes..."

The girl frowned at the word, but otherwise didn't comment, her eyes critical and measuring

"It's pretty dirty in here, shouldn't it be clean and all?"

"Yes."

"Doctor, something isn't right, am I right?"she asked, and she sounded both worried and anticipating.

He grinned at her, snapping his fingers together.

"Got it one, Rose."

She smirked.

"Fancy poking around?"

A girl after his own hearts.

"Is the TARDIS a police box?"he responded, and she laughed.

"I thought that was because you can't fix the chameleon circuit?"

"Difference between can't and won't, Rose!"

She beamed, so large and bright he was sure it would cause anyone's vascular system to go into overdrive, surly.

"Well, let's see what's going on, then, there, they look smart!"she cried, pointing at a pair of women as they chattered, passing by.

Grabbing his hand, she ran towards the women, an overhead voice said:

"Attention all staff. All coverage of the Glasgow water riots being transferred five through nine."overhead, and he had a vivid reminder of Platform One.

Much as he liked explosions, he hoped that this wouldn't happen this time. Besides, he much preferred to be the cause himself.

"Er, this is going to sound daft, but can you tell me where we are?"he asked, towards the two woman, and they both looked at him with raised brows.

One, looking somewhat condescending, pointed:

"Floor One Three Nine. Could they write it any bigger?"she said, and it was in a very scathing tone. Rather rude, if you asked him.

She made to walk away.

"Floor one three nine of what?"he persisted, and the two woman stopped again.

The one who had spoken smirked.

"Must've been a hell of a party."she snarked.

The other woman, shot her friend a look, and spoke up, softly:

"You're on Satellite Five."she said.

The Doctor thought carefully, for about a fraction of second thinking if he could think of the name and if it brought anything major to mind.

Not at all.

"What's Satellite Five?"he asked.

"Come on, how could you get on board without knowing where you are?"asked the snarky one, raising both her brows with a frown on her face.

"Look at me. I'm stupid."here, he grinned, trying to look as disarming as possible.

The kinder one, eyes grew wide, and she nudged her friend sharply in the side.

"Hold on, wait a minute. Are you a test? Some sort of management test kind of thing?"she says, and she sounds sharper than before, her eyes dilating in fear, but otherwise narrowing in determination.

Interesting.

"You've got me. Well done. You're too clever for me."

He pulls out his psychic paper, flashing it and trying to look somewhat official. Both woman glance at each other, mouths gaping slightly. Rose steps forward, suddenly looking firm and professional: her back is straight, face careful and measuring, and she gives the two woman a smile that is cool, polite, and detached. She takes out a small and compact video recorder, a century or two ahead of this time, but beat up enough that it wouldn't bring too many questions in the scruffy environment around them.

She must've found it in the rubbish gadget bin he kept in the corner of the library, he had it for the odd times of tinkering bits and ends from across the universe and time, smashing things together for the fun of it when he wasn't in the mood to read with the ex-shop girl. He had told her to rummage what she wanted from it, and so far, she had unearthed her electronic reader, a music player, and, now, the camera. She clicks it on, tracking the camera about the room for a beat before she pointed it at the two woman.

"Hello, Staff. This is a regular check up, hush hush, no big fuss. We are here to observe, ask questions and are constantly reporting back to H.Q. Promotion might be in the air, but who knows."Rose's voice, usually friendly, took a different tone, again, mimicking her professional facade.

Good, she was a fantastic actress and great at thinking on her feet. He beamed at her, and rolled with it, making his own face settle into a somewhat professional facade.

"We'll be your shadows, rather chatty but you won't be bothered."

"We were warned about this in basic training. All workers have to be versed in company promotion."said the kinder woman, nervously, but excitedly.

The snarky one, straightened, her keen, dark eyes sparkling with sheer excitement.

"Right, fire away, ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor five hundred I'll do anything."she gushes, glancing at Rose with a big smile.

Rose doesn't smile, only nods, and turns to the Doctor, who takes the cue readily enough:

"What happens on Floor five hundred?"

"The walls are made of gold. And you should know, Mister Management. So, this is what we do."says the prickly young woman, smiling with humor as she walks over to a monitor built into the wall, "Latest news, sandstorms on the new Venus archipelago. Two hundred dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Space lane seventy-seven closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe has just announced he's pregnant."

Rose made an odd strangled noise at the woman's words, a hand slapping over her mouth and eyes glittering. The Doctor's eyes flickered to her, and she's giggling even as she shakes her head. He grins, thinking of her talk with the Face of Boe. Must've not expected the pregnant thing, he thought, he hadn't either. Most heads weren't prone to having sexual organs. Well, most. The odd look that the two women give her gets a shrug out of Rose. She quickly relaxes after her fit of giggles, mask of professional going back. She straightens and smiles:

"Big celebrity gossip fan, sorry. You broadcast the news, then."

The young woman smirks, straightening up.

"We are the news. We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. Six hundred channels. All coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole human empire without it going through us."

"All staff are reminded that the canteen area now operates a self-cleaning table system. Thank you!" goes off overhead, and Rose smiles again at the two woman.

"Sorry, never caught your names."she says, and the two woman beam.

"Cathica Santini Khadeni."said the prickly one, hand thrusting out for a shake. Thousands of years and that had yet to change, Rose took it without missing a beat, before turning to the kinder woman.

"Suki Macrae Cantrell."she said, smiling and timidly offering her hand.

Rose shook that was well, and kept a spare hand free for her recorder.

"Now then, if you two would please guide us about. Not to worry, do everything as normal, we're here to observe and be the fly on the wall, right Doctor?"

He nods, smiling.

"Ladies, go on, 'bout your day as normal."he told them with his best, winning smile shooing them along with a gesture.

The two woman nod, and lead them away, through a series of hallways, Rose recording the entire way. She did a pretty good job of moving the camera this way and that, focusing on the odd map or person as if she was taking a serious survey of the Satellite. She asked various questions along the way, an assortment of the structural ones of the Satellite and various personal questions of their history working aboard and before. He grins at her dedication to a character. She seems to notice this and elbows him without looking at him, her cool, professional smile slipping for a beat, lifting into a wry smile, tongue-in-teeth.

He finds himself snickering underneath his breath, though if he was ever asked he was incapable of snickering.

It was kinda eerie, really, the way Rose was able to bring out aspects of himself the Doctor had sworn were gone. She seemed to have a knack for causing him to remember bits of himself that he had thought had burned up in the savagery of the Time War. But it was in her nature, he mused, she was considerate and quick to analyze people, careful and observant for details many missed.

She thought quickly on her feet, and could run fairly well, she also, despite her self-proclaimed lackluster performance in school, wasn't stupid. If she had been born in a different economical situation, or if she hadn't fallen in with Jimmy Stone she would have gone very far in the mundane world of Sol 3, if she had worked very hard. Now, if he were to drop her off, she would be able to have the life that she should've had before she had made a mistake. Her debts were practically gone, and she could go to try and get an education...

But he was a selfish old man.

He didn't want to leave her off with her mum. It wasn't even because he thought she could do good in the universe(which she had shown she could, and very well). Or that she had nothing left for her in that tiny little world he loved and saved so much. Or even the complex web of lines that Time had deemed that she was an important young woman. It was the simple fact that he didn't want to that terrified him.

They had evidently reached their destination- Five more people that both Cathica and Suki greeted stood outside a door, obviously waiting. Rose greeted each one, smiling and filming, and he played along, getting their names and vague job descriptions for his questions. When a similar group left out the door, calling out that their shift was over, the room was all set for the next broadcast, and Cathica herded them all in it was a sterile, bright room.

So much white, and starkly clean in comparison to the what he had seen of the rest of the place. The only of color was in the center of a room, a big octagonal desk, surrounded by chairs, and a large, raised chair(like a big ol' dentist chair really) in the center of the desk. Suki politely instructed both him and Rose to stand a little away so they wouldn't disturb the broadcast. The Doctor watched with a raised brow as each employee went to their respected positions, Cathica herself climbing atop the octagonal desk to sit on the raised chair. Various wires lead to the desk from the chair, and even more leading to the floor. She settled in, as did the rest of the shift.

"Now, everybody behave. We have a management inspection. How do you want it, by the book?"asked Cathica, tone firm and commanding.

"Right from scratch, thanks."he said, cheerily, nudging Rose as if to direct her to the scene in front of them,

She nods, winking at him.

"Okay. So, ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot,- my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni. That's Cathica with a C, in case you want to write to floor five hundred praising me, and please do. Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy."says the brisk young woman, smiling at the camera.

"Actually, it's the law."spoke up Suki, sweetly, politely.

A muscle in Cathica's jaw twitches and she bares her teeth in an attempt of a grin.

"Yes, thank you, Suki. Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go."she mutters, irritated, but focuses on her job, she settles comfortably into the large chair, "And engage safety."

The seven hold their hands over palm print on the table in front of them, faces relaxed and easy. Lights start to come on around the room, a humming sort of energy brings the entire room to become a sort of energy hub, and the Doctor feels the hairs on the back of his neck raise up. Cathica snaps her fingers, and two sections of skin, muscle, and bone fold out in her forehead, and suddenly he can see her brain. The seven put their hands into the palm prints, and their previously relaxed faces go blank.

"And three, two, and spike."says Cathica, voice firm and monotone.

Light comes pouring into the opened door in her forehead, and the Doctor feels his brow raise in complete surprise.

"Compressed information, streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain is the computer."

Rose hand is shaking slightly, eyes wide as she looked at the glowing mess of eight people.

"If it all goes through her, she must be a genius."she muttered, eyes steady.

"Nah, she wouldn't remember any of it. There's too much. Her head'd blow up. The brain's the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets."he chuckles at her guess. Only a few brains would be able to handle this sort of strain, his being one of them, of course.

"So, what about all these people 'round the edge, help along the flow of what's being processed? Because as amazing as the human brain, remembering the event or not, that amount of information would kill her dead."

The Doctor nods, eyes narrowing even as he smiled.

"They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit six hundred channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place. Now that's what I call power."

"I can see her brain. That's just strange."

"This technology's wrong."

"Backward and not fit with what the Empire should be at right now?"asked Rose shrewdly, eyes narrowing.

"Yes."

"Banana chocolate?"she said, and she smirked at him, directing her gaze over with her tongue-in-teeth.

He grinned, hearts warming at the mention of their first trip together.

"Oh, yeah!"

It was then that he saw from the corner of his eyes that Suki pulled her hands away as if she has just received an electric shock. The other six lift their hands and the information beam shuts down, Cathica snapped her fingertips impatiently, and the door in her head closed.

"Come off it, Suki. I wasn't even halfway. What was that for?"she said, turning to the one that had screwed up the broadcast.

Suki looks carefully blank for a second before she settles onto a curious expression, furrowed brows and confused set of her mouth.

"Sorry. It must've been a glitch."she mentions, eyes distant.

"Oh."Cathica snaps, huffing as she gets moves to get off the chair.

That's when the Doctor's ears were nearly blown off.

~BW~DW~BW~DW~BW~

"Promotion!"

The blaring, booming voices still startles Rose, even if she vaguely remembered that it was coming. Before, she could've cared less about it, even with all the talk of gold walls and the excited voices, because the woman who had received had seemed so proud and ready to go to the fifth hundred as she rushed into the elevator. She didn't know she was going to die, and Rose felt her heart ache. She had no way of telling Suki going upstairs was a bad idea- she was just one last victim of the Editor. She flinched as Cathica leaned forward, eyes narrowed at the wall:

"Come on. This is it. Come on. Oh God, make it me. Come on, say my name, say my name, say my name."it was a desperate chant, and Rose wondered how many people had been lead to the slaughter by the same eagerness of Cathica in the last near-century.

"Promotion for Suki Macrae Cantrell. Please proceed to Floor five hundred." called overhead, and Rose fought the urge to scowl at the voice.

"I don't believe it. Floor five hundred."said Suki, and she sounded sweetly pleased.

Rose's stomach turned, even as Cathica and Suki started to go at it:

"How the hell did you manage that? I'm above you."said the prickly Cathica, eyes narrowing.

"I don't know. I just applied on the off chance and they've said yes."replied Suki, and she looked triumphantly pleased.

The other woman huffed, all but growling.

"That's so not fair. I've been applying to Floor five hundred for three years."

"The walls are made of gold."said the Doctor, and his icy eyes were narrowed. He came up to hover by her shoulder, hand coming to settle on her waist.

Rose nearly jumped a foot in the air, and while this was not the first time the Doctor had grabbed her waist, it was the first time he had done it without needing a reason in this form: steadying her as she came in from floating about the stars(a new habit they had adopted), pulling her back away from some sort of thing coming to jump on her. The next face had loved grabbing her, hand, waist, shoulder, hair, a slightly possessive thing that had always made Rose feel a spark of hope, of a confirmation that her feelings weren't one-sided. Now, it sent a nervous, flush of pleasure through her, even as she went to answer him:

"All that is gold does not glitter."she whispered, and his eyes flickered back to her.

"Not all those who wander are lost."said the Doctor, other hand reaching out. He was grinning.

Rose took it easily, hand tightening slightly over his large one in her nerves at the fact that Suki was about to die. Despite herself, she grinned back, because that was what they were… All three of them, she, he and the TARDIS. Wanders. And they were never lost with each other. Not in the ways that mattered… The cheery shift crew followed Suki, just as she and the Doctor did, going along until they reached the lifts. All of the crew gave Suki her best before the sweet woman turned to Cathica.

"Cathica, I'm going to miss you" then she turned her surprisingly shrewd glance to the Doctor, one that only lasted a second, and Rose wondered as the woman gave a suddenly sweet smile to the Doctor, how much she had missed the first time around, "Floor five hundred, thank you."

The Doctor raised a brow.

"I didn't do anything."

"Well, you're my lucky charm!"said the young woman, and she extended her arms.

Big old flirt that he was, beamed happily:

"All right. I'll hug anyone."

The hug wasn't long lasting, and while Rose was much more comfortable with herself now that she had gone through the entire 'died and come back thing', she could not help the petty little surge of jealously. Her biggest weakness, she mused, much worse than her disregard to think sometimes. Even when she had stopped loving Mickey in that way, the first time around she had hated that he could have moved on so quickly from her when they had met again(she had been so confused, trying to ignore her feelings for the Doctor and she had hated that Mickey could move on without the same confusion). She supposes it came from the latent prima-donna part of her that hadn't faded from band years. She had been the front woman after all, always the center of attention and despite everything that was something that would always mar her.

She took solace in the fact that she wasn't a bloody saint and she could hold on to grudges and be jealous as she wished.

"All staff are reminded that the sixteen forty break session has been shortened by ten minutes. Thank you."sounded off overhead.

Suki broke away from the Doctor, looking flustered.

"Oh, my God, I've got to go. I can't keep them waiting. I'm sorry. Say goodbye to Steve for me. Bye!"

The young woman dashed into the lift, and part of Rose nearly ran after her, tossed her out of the lift to scream at the young woman to get the bloody hell off the Satellite. She didn't move, waving goodbye until the lift's doors slide shut.

"Good riddance."spat Cathica, turning away with an unhappy look on her face.

"You're talking like you'll never see her again. She's only going upstairs."the Doctor said, curiously, and his hand squeezed her's a bit.

She squeezed back as Cathica answered:

"We won't. Once you go to Floor five hundred you never come back."

They started to make their way back to the newsroom, and the Doctor let go of her hand so she could continue to film. Rose took advantage, trying to remember the curious mixture of bends and twists as she moved her camera about. She figured if this floor was set up this way, the other four hundred and ninety-nine floors were set up in a similar way. If not, she could try to nick the schematics when the Doctor checked the ventilation system.

While the Bad Wolf event was far off, Rose would have felt much more comfortable if she had some semblance of direction next time they arrived on Satellite Five. If by some stroke of luck, she ended up on the same game show she would try to get the hell out of there and hopefully escape before the beam could hit her. Much as she loved the Doctor rescuing her, she rather not have the Emperor of all Daleks gloating at the Doctor for capturing her.

"Have you ever been up there?"

"I can't. You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to five hundred except for the chosen few."said Cathica, and again, past her irritation, the awe of the 'wondrous' five hundredth floor echoed in her voice.

Rose and the Doctor shared a look, and she raised a single brow as he did. They made it back to the broadcasting room, and Rose sat in one of the many chairs, frowning at the ability of people to just ignore what was right in front of her. Was it human nature, she mused, to try to get through life without seeing things in front of them? Cathica had the excuse of growing up in a society that was literally designed to misdirect and stuff their heads in the sand. Rose herself, once upon a time had to have a man blow up her job to make her see beyond the mundane of Earth and have an answer to the question, 'are we alone'. And even then, at first she had tried her best to make the situation have a plausible explanation in accordance with her understanding of the universe...

"Look, they only give us twenty minutes maintenance. Can't you give it a rest?"snapped Cathica, shifting foot to foot.

Despite herself it seemed, Cathica remained where she was, and Rose wondered how much curiosity the young woman had suppressed in her life, how much trouble she had keeping her head down? Considering the fact that she had become a reporter only spoke about her innate curiosity she supposed….

"But you've never been to another floor? Not even one floor down?"asked the Doctor. And he showed the fact that he was stronger than his frame showed by the easy way he lifted himself onto the table in the middle of the room and sat in the broadcast chair.

"I went to floor sixteen when I first arrived. That's medical. That's when I got my head done, and then I came straight here. Satellite Five, you work, eat and sleep on the same floor. That's it, that's all. You're not management, are you."said Cathica, and Rose smirked at her irritated tone and at the fact that the young woman was being clever.

The Doctor, on the other hand, turned to her and shook his head. He seemed pleased if exasperated.

"At last. She's clever."

"To be fair, we seemed convincing Doctor. "She replied, standing as he jumped off the chair, landing with slightly bended knees.

She closed the recorder reluctantly but didn't see the point of keeping it on without looking strange. She had gotten a couple maps here and there, she could analyze the structures later, and she would stare intently at the plans once they went to look at the vents. Hopefully, whenshe she was back, she could recall it. It was a gamble in the first place, she didn't know how much the structure would change between then and now, but Rose rather not go in blind like last time, future foreknowledge or not.

"Yeah, because a hot pink jumper blonde and a big-eared man in leather seem to be upper management."the Doctor snarked, and she giggled.

Cathica huffed.

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, don't involve me. I don't know anything."

The Doctor turned to her with a frown.

"Don't you even ask? I mean, here are these strangers, and you let us run amok!"he cried.

Cathica blinked, and glared.

"Well, why would I? It's none of my business if security can't do their job!"

"You're a journalist. Why's all the crew human?"

"What's that got to do with anything?"

The question seemed to through the woman off, causing her to lose her defensive tone.

"There's no aliens on board. Why?"

"I don't know. No real reason. They're not banned or anything."said Cathica dismissed, rolling her eyes.

The Doctor leaned forward, towards the bristling woman, eyes narrowing at her less heated tone.

"Then where are they?"he asked shrewdly, pinching his lips.

"I suppose immigration's tightened up. It's had too, what with all the threats."

The Doctor looked at her swiftly, raised a brow, which she returned. This seemed to unsettle Cathica even more, her arms crossing across her body.

"What threats?"

"I don't know all of them. Usual stuff. And the price of space warp doubled so that kept the visitors away. Oh, and the government on Chavic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming, you see. Just lots of little reasons, that's all."she said calmly, and she shifted uncomfortably at their steady gazes.

The Doctor let out a scoff. Rose's brows furrowed.

"Adding up to one great big fact, and you didn't even notice."he said, and he was staring at her in disbelief.

"Doctor, I think if there was any kind of conspiracy, Satellite Five would have seen it. We see everything."Cathica assured, firm and frowning.

Rose tsked, shaking her head:

"Because something as vast as this Empire will be visible by one giant craft, at all times? That's ridiculous." she crossed her own arms, stepping slightly forward and causing the reporter to take a step back, "Five hundred floors full of people and yet you can't even see one thing wrong with the all seeing 'eye' telling everyone what is wrong with the Empire?"

The Doctor came to hover over Rose's shoulder, and she felt his slightly cooler body heat acutely against her back. She had not expected this, a casual, new intimacy that this version of the Doctor had never given her. She supposes it's a by-product of her slightly altered personality and greater understanding of him. Whatever it was, it sent her heart racing, a pleasant sort of flush coming to her cheeks. She thanks whatever powers at be that she was never one to go beet red and that foundation covered up her faint blush well enough.

"We can see better. This society's the wrong shape, even the technology."he said, urgently.

Cathica glared.

"It's cutting edge."she defended.

"It's backward. There's a great big door in your head. You should've chucked this out years ago."he snapped.

Rose turned to the Doctor and frowned.

"So, what do you think's going on?"she asked.

Here the Doctor sighed, and gave a frustrated little gesture with his large hands.

"It's not just this space station, it's the whole attitude. It's the way people think. The great and bountiful Human Empire's stunted. Something's holding it back."

Rose pursed her lips, eyes narrowing.

"Ignorance is bliss?"

"And how would you know?" snapped Cathica, and both she and Doctor turned at her yell.

Her arms were crossed, and her pinched face showed nothing but defense and confusion. Poor woman, thought Rose, her entire existence was a lie, her entire life was manipulated and pulled at by a puppeteer that pulled at the strings of the entire human race. That was tough to swallow, and Cathica was fighting it every step of the way.

She didn't blame her, as she knew most people would be that way when confronted when any sort of great truth that contradicted their beliefs.

"Trust me, humanity's been set back about ninety years. When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?"

Cathica paled, blinked, and spoke softly:

"Ninety-one years ago"she replied, and the lines of the Doctor's face set, harden, and he tugged at Rose's hand.

Readily, Rose followed, and they searched and searched for a decent access panel while Cathica hovered uncertainly after them. The Doctor found it, taking out his sonic screwdriver on a pair of double doors. They sparked and popped open, and the Doctor set to work underneath the monitor.

"We are so going to get in trouble. You're not allowed to touch the mainframe. You're going to get told off."said Cathica, though she made no move to leave or call security.

"Rose, tell her to button it."snapped the Doctor, and Rose rolled her eyes.

"You can't just vandalize the place. Someone's going to notice!"urged the woman from the future, fists clenching.

"They won't. Too self-involved, too worried about keeping their heads down. Just like you should. Yet you're here, Cathica." says Rose, voice soft.

The prickly woman blinks, hoovering and uncertain as the Doctor has a go at the massive nest of wiring beneath the monitor. Entirely too gleeful as they spurt and spark, she thinks, but she leaves him to his jiggery-pokery.

"This is nothing to do with me. I'm going back to work."she finally snaps, but she made no move to leave.

"Go on, then. See you!"waves the Doctor over his shoulder.

The woman hisses, shifts uneasily on her feet:

"I can't just leave you, can I!?"

"If you want to be useful, get them to turn the heating down. It's boiling. What's wrong with this place? Can't they do something about it? I mean, we're in space, where is all this heat coming from?"Rose chimes in, frowning.

The journalist gave her a queer look.

"I don't know. We keep asking. Something to do with the turbine."

The Doctor snorts.

"Something to do with the turbine." he mutters, darkly.

"Well, I don't know!"

"Exactly. I give up on you, Cathica. Now, Rose. Look at Rose. Rose is asking the right kind of question."he says, and he jabs at her faintly with the sonic screwdriver

"Oh, thank you."she beams.

"Why is it so hot? Even with your outdated tech the energy output to run this shouldn't be nearly as much as the heat indicates it is."

"One minute you're worried about the Empire and the next it's the central heating!"snapped Cathica, and she rolled her eyes at the jump the Doctor made.

The first time she had gone through this, Rose had felt just as Cathica was feeling. More than slightly bewildered, confused at being called ignorant and stupid especially by some maniacal man who had dragged her away from flailing plastic mannequins that wanted to hurt her. Watching his brain work had physically made her's hurt at the time, the way he had jumped from topic to topic. But after a couple of adventures, she had seen started to see how he had made his intuitive leaps, and while she couldn't mimic it to his brilliant extent, it didn't mean that she wasn't beyond making little leaps herself.

"Well, never underestimate plumbing. Plumbing's very important."

The Doctor adjusted one last wire and then pulled at the monitor. The schematics of the entire satellite showed up, and Rose leaned forward, trying not to seem too eager, too focused on memorizing. Her hands trembled, and she had to play with the rings on her fingertips to ease some of the tension. It was a simple schematic- barely a blueprint and focused on plumbing, the ventilation. Not a single floor singled out like she had hoped: it just demonstrated that all the focus of the air current of ventilation was focused two ways, it went up or down. Towards 'M.A.X' or away from it. Most likely to remove the colder air temperature for installation after the three thousand year lifespan was up.

Rose felt part of herself deflate, and found herself frowning. It wouldn't really help her down the line, in fact, the small video of the place would help her much more, she could basically deconstruct through the general architecture, and see if she could find something in the TARDIS's databanks about this period. She doubted it, but it wouldn't hurt. What she wouldn't give for Amelia Williams-Pond of Torchwood she thought, the parallel Scottish woman from Pete's Earth had been brilliant at scanning for patterns that way, could pinpoint a pattern fast and easy. She hadn't been a bad artist either.

"Here we go. Satellite Five, pipes and plumbing. Look at the layout."said the Doctor, and Rose almost wished to ask him to show her the rest of the schematic that showed the layout of the floors.

"This is ridiculous. You've got access to the computer's core. You can look at the archive, the news, the stock exchange and you're looking at pipes?"said Cathica.

Rose hummed.

"All those things are important and all yet all of that is written by the very Empire, how can we trust that?"she replied smartly, and she nearly chuckled at the offended look that the journalist sent her.

"Besides, there's something wrong."said the Doctor, urgently.

"The ventilation system. Cooling ducts, ice filters, all working flat out channeling massive amounts of heat down."said Cathica, and she sounded both surprised and confused.

"All the way from the top."scowled the Doctor.

His hand came to rest on her arm, squeeze it briefly as he made to maker her move away.

"Floor five hundred."Rose said, and the Doctor's face turned manic.

"Something up there is generating tons and tons of heat."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm missing out on a party. It's all going on upstairs. Fancy a trip?"she said, and she waggled her brows.

The Doctor grinned, took her hand, and they dashed towards the lifts. Cathica, despite her protests, despite her yells that they were just looking for trouble where there wasn't any, followed. Right on their heels with a scowl as they made it there. The Doctor immediately when to work on the panel, sonic screwdriver humming.

"You can't. You need a key."said Cathica uneasily.

"Keys are just codes, and I've got the codes right here."said the Doctor with a snort, pointing at his head as he fiddled with the "Here we go. Override two one five point nine.

The monitor made a soft ding, and it proudly displayed the key code.

"How come it's given you the code?"said Cathica, shocked and angry.

"Someone up there likes me."mentions the Doctor, gleefully, turning his gaze to stare at a corner of the lift.

Rose eyes the camera, and then dismisses it. Much as she like to send the Editor the bird, she could not do so without coming off strange. The Doctor straightens away from the panel, and he turns to stare with her at the woman just outside the lift.

"Come on. Come with us."she tells the young reporter.

She is wide-eyed and scared.

"No way."her protest is firm, but she is staring at the pair of them with unquestionable curiosity and longing.

"Bye!"states the Doctor, and he gives a sarcastic little wave.

"Well, don't mention my name. When you get in trouble, just don't involve me."

The prickly reporter turns sharply in her high heeled boots, all but running away from them and the lift doors slid close. The Doctor leaned casually against the walls and Rose followed suit. The lift was much faster than the conventional twenty-first century model and she grit her teeth in anticipation of what was to come, slowly removing any metal rings she had on in a casual, absent-minded gesture(she had worn them out of habit more than anything). She wiggled her toes in her rubber sole boots and hoped that it would be enough...

"That's her gone. Looks like it's just you and me."said the Doctor after a minute of going up.

Rose hummed in response, learned what she hoped was casually against the Doctor's shoulder. He tensed minutely, before he relaxed, leaned in closer.

"Good."

Despite what was coming, it set a flutter in her stomach the warm, firm way the Doctor said it.

"Yep."she responds, and she gives his leather clad arm a squeeze.

The lift eased to a stop, and Rose zipped up her jumper at the onslaught of cold that hit her as the doors hissed open. Her breath hovered misty and white in front of her mouth, and she shivered as they looked out at the frigid floor five hundred.

"The walls are not made of gold. You should go back downstairs."said the Doctor, turning to her.

Rose snorted.

"Move along, Time-Lord."

She squeezed his arm tightly once more and they both walked forward. The highest floor of the Satellite was not a maze nor labyrinth. It was a big room that centered around a big monitor, its Editor at the helm like some great Captain of a ship looking over at the human race. His back was turned, and absently, the frozen, ice crusted corpses of the promoted employees of the Satellite worked diligently. Rose's stomach twisted violently. She resisted the urge to look up. The Editor is just as she remembered, a thin, tallish man with bleached blonde hair and a crisp suit, lording over his monitor like as if he had a right to help control the entirety of the human race.

"I started without you. This is fascinating. Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you two, you don't exist. Not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?"said the Editor, ominously as he turned away from his giant monitor.

Rose ignored his rant, ignored his words as she rushed forward. She knew the outcome. She knew what had happened to her, but couldn't help but want to feel some sort of life in her:

"Suki. Suki! Hello? Can you hear me? Suki? What have you done to her?"she pleaded, checking softly at her ice cold, still, pulse.

She wanted to cry.

"I think she's dead."says the Doctor, and his northern burr is soft and firm.

She turned to him, eyes wide.

"Then all the chips in their heads?"she prompted.

His tan face is ashen, his eyes wide.

"Keep them going, like puppets. Working through stimulating their nervous system that should have rotted away. Medical must have added much more than the chips."

"Oh! You're full of information. But it's only fair we get some information back, because apparently, you're no one. It's so rare not to know something. Who are you?"asked the Editor, curious and intent.

The Doctor shuffled awkwardly, made a small gesture for her to come back to him.

"It doesn't matter because we're off. Nice to meet you. Come on."he called.

Suki's firm cold grip came to grab her, coming 'round to still her arms. Rose struggled, hissing as the Doctor's own two zombies came to subdue him. They were half-dragged, half kicking and flailing limbs as they came to be shut into the manacles. She sighed, heart racing and trying to calm it down(it would not due to be electrocuted and then have her heart stopped.) She struggled vainly against the manacles.

"What is with you and the undead?"she asked, turning to him with a raised brow.

He shrugs as sheepishly as he can tied up as he is.

"It's just been twice now, really."

Rose snorted, rolled her eyes at his throw away comment. Really.

"Once was enough, really."she says, plainly tersely.

And she bets her second time around at her life that it was not his only experience with animated corpses, nor would it be his last. Cyberman were kinda dead people after all, even if they only used one bit of people. The bloody ship that wanted to harvest the mind of the bloody uncrowded Queen of France used bits of people, had a sort of sentience, she thought. So really, it was not going to be only twice.

"Tell me who you are."said the Editor, dramatically and impatiently, in her opinion.

"Since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly going to say, am I?"snapped the Doctor, rattling his manacles. They creaked, and she wondered at Time-Lord strength.

"Well, perhaps my Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise."

"And who's that?"

"It may interest you to know that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact,it's not actually human at all. It's merely a place where humans happen to live." the growl of M.A.X. made the Editor wince, backtrack quickly, "Yeah. Yeah, sorry. It's a place where humans are allowed to live by kind permission of my client."

He pointed up, just as the thing growled. Both she and the Doctor followed the noise and she felt her stomach twist. It was a massive blob of teeth and fat. It snarled and growled, pulsated and frankly bubbled skin as it moved about. Rose wrinkled her nose as she eyed its quivering jowls and gnashing teeth.

"Your client, I take it."she dead-panned, fists clenching.

"You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?"exclaimed the Doctor, and she couldn't help but agree with his disdain and irritation.

The Editor smirked, leaned forward and extended his arms in a grand gesture.

"That thing, as you put it, is in charge of the human race. For almost a hundred years, mankind has been shaped and guided, his knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by its broadcast news, edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe. I call him Max." he stalked forward, coming to stare at them evenly, one by one, his gaze focused on the Doctor, "Create a climate of fear and it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilize an economy, invent an enemy, change a vote."

"So all the people on Earth are like, slaves."she said flatly.

The Editor turned to her, quirked his brow. He put on a mock, thoughtful face:

"Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?"

"Yes."said the Doctor, eyes narrowed.

The Editor tsked.

"Oh. I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? Yes?"

The Doctor's face held a hint of the Storm, icy eyes growing frostier by the second.

"Yes."

"You're no fun." he pouted, actually pouted. Rose felt near no pity at his coming death.

The Doctor strained against his restraints. His smile was deadly, manic and completely Oncoming Storm.

"Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much fun I am."

The Editor laughed, clapped his hands in sheer delight.

"Oh, he's tough, isn't he. But, come on. Isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit."he prodded, carefully, eagerly.

"You can't hide something on this scale. Somebody must have noticed."she pointed out, flexing her hands slightly at the tightness of the manacles.

"From time to time, someone, yes, but the computer chip system allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt and crush it."said the Editor and he smirked, narrowed his eyes and gestured to the various people at the stations.

So busy in his monolog he did not notice the slight hiss as the lift arrived once again on the floor. So intent on them, the unknowns in a time where there was no such thing that he did not see Cathica creeping up to listen to him:

"Then they just carry on, living the life, strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth like they're so individual, when of course, they're not. They're just cattle. In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing."

Rose was careful not to stare at Cathica as she entered her line of sight. Instead, she focused on the swarmy Editor, at his carefully gleeful face.

"What about you? Where do you fit in all of this, you're not a Jagrafess, you're part of those you call cattle."

He snorts as if basic humanity is a joke as if morality has no effect on him.

"Yeah, well, simply being cattle doesn't pay very well." he smirks, "Certain benefits are given to those who ride above that lowly status."

Her eyes narrow, and she wished she could punch the man in his smug, disloyal face.

"This wasn't just your doing. Not something on this scale, one man and one alien cannot take the entirety of the Human Empire and stick their heads in the sand."

"No." the admittance is grudgingly given, as though he wished to be the one that caused such a thing to occur to his species, "I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to install himself."

"No wonder, a creature that size. What's his life-span?"

"Three thousand years."said the Editor, proudly.

"That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool, it stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system.'

"So knowledgeable. So quick to know what has been kept secret for ninety-one years...But that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown. Who are you?"he said with a sneer.

The Editor snaps his fingers, and the manacles hum to life. Rose pressed her tongue quickly against the bottom of her mouth to prevent from biting it, made sure to keep her mouth open to make sure her teeth does not shatter if she bites down. She couldn't help but scream at the onslaught of electricity, thankful that it lasted less than two minutes. She huffed, eyes squeezed shut and felt herself go limp in her restraints.

"Leave her alone. I'm the Doctor, she's Rose Tyler. We're nothing, we're just wandering!"said the Doctor, desperately, urgently.

The Editor snarled:

"Tell me who you are!"

He snaps his fingers again and Rose does not stop the scream.

"I just said!"

"Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly are you two?"screeched the Editor, stalking forth.

Rose manages to open her eyes to glare at him.

"Wanders. Drifters. No one important."she says, both truthfully and dishonestly.

The Editor scoffed.

"I beg to differ Blondie. Who are you?"

Another crushing surge. The Doctor snarled, lifting in his chains as he struggled against them, looking at her with an aghast face.

"No one's going to stop you because you've bred a human race that doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves, believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughter house if they're told it's made of gold."he rants, still struggling against his restraints.

The Jagrafess snarls so loud that Rose feels the vibrations in her chest. Cathica pales and stares at Rose before she creeps away. The sound of the lift zipping away is clear even to her pounding, bleeding ears.

"You're a monster. Your own race for money? You're a pitiful little snot that will get what's coming to him."she hisses to the Editor, trying to keep his gaze on her and the Doctor and away from the monitor.

"Brave words from the one tied up." he sent another surge, and Rose automatically forced her tongue to press against the bottom of her mouth, as she didn't fancy biting it off.

When he had finished, she was panting, but she still had enough energy to spit in his direction.

"Feisty, aren't you?"he sneered, and his hand went to snap again.

"STOP!"cried the Doctor, but Rose only steeled herself and pushed her tongue to the bottom of her mouth, and tried not to clench her teeth.

Though the Doctor could fix it(she had been crying so hard after she had her tooth knocked out, and the idiot with the brown eyes had flailed around unconcerned and then explained that he could fix it in ten seconds flat) she really didn't want to shatter her teeth by clenching them. Then, alarms start to go off, loud and blaring even to her damaged ears.

"What's happening? Someone's disengaged the safety. Who's that?"says the Editor wildly, turning.

He calls the image up on the monitor. And Rose is smiling savagely.

"It's Cathica."

"And she's thinking. She's using what she knows."said the Doctor, and he is gleeful and happy.

Frankly, so is Rose.

"Terminate her access."snaps the Editor to the computer.

It just sparks and sputters.

"Everything I told her about Satellite Five. The pipes, the filters, she's reversing it. Look at that."said the Doctor proudly.

Rose feels the shift of temperature, feels a drop of water from above hit her on the nose.

"It's getting hot."

"I said, terminate. Burnout her mind."screams the Editor desperately.

The consoles explode and the dead operators collapse in a heap. Alarms sound off, loud and blaring to her damaged ears. Rose gets out of her manacles with a small popping sound, and she runs to the Doctor.

"She's venting the heat up here. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano."he said cheerfully to her, blue eyes brilliant and sparkling in the flaring lights of mauve and yellow.

The Jagrafess screeches, flails, and its skin bubbles in preparation of the explosion soon to come.

"Yes, I'm trying, sir, but I don't know how she did it. It's impossible. A member of staff with an idea."cries the Editor.

Rose ignores him, rummages in the Doctor's jacket, fishes out his sonic, past the bits and pieces of string and gears stuffed inside.

"Which setting?!"she hisses.

"Two hundred!" he says gleefully, and she frees him, helps him off the manacles and accepts his hand as he extends it in a move that is finally becoming natural on both their parts, " Oi, mate, want to bank on a certainty? Massive heat in a massive body, massive bang. See you in the headlines!"

The Doctor and Rose run for it, taking the lift the fifth hundred floor collapses, shakes, and blares of alarm. There are chunks of ice fall from the ceiling, the satellite shudders and rocks back in forth at the onslaught of the death of the Jagrafess, It growls and moans, screams and bubbles and writhes on the ceiling. The lift doors are sliding shut as Suki tackles the Editor to the ground and he screams. She and the Doctor run- run and run with a speed that takes her breath and they ignore the panicking people as they head back to the broadcasting room. The Doctor snaps his fingers and closes Cathica's door, and the poor woman slumps against the chair, eyes rolling to the back of her head at the shock of controlling everything without a support team.

The Doctor pulls her down, sonics her head, and sighs in deep relief. Rose relaxes as he relaxes. He helps steady Cathica to her feet when she groans and shifts, and extends a hand. Rose takes it easily, and they both walk out of the room with a somewhat disoriented Cathica at their heels.

"We're just going to go. I hate tidying up. Too many questions. You'll manage."says the Doctor as they make it to the TARDIS.

"You'll have to stay and explain it. No one's going to believe me."says Cathica, and she looks a little unsteady, eyes blinking rapidly at the pair of them.

"Oh, they might start believing a lot of things now. The human race should accelerate. All back to normal."said the Doctor, rather optimistically, she thought.

Rose wish that was the case. Now, as the human race was vulnerable and still collectively ignorant, the Daleks would strike. Or take over once again, she never did find out if the collection of banks that Max worked for were connected to the vile race. She wished she could stop it, utter just a word, just something, to warn her fellow man away from it.

But she couldn't.

Well, wishes aside, she was trapped in a deadly game, Time wasn't linear. It wasn't set. But somethings across Time were, and she wasn't arrogant enough to deny that the event that had allowed her to come back wasn't one of those endless and far-reaching things that would not move. Any attempt would alter and nearly destroy the universe if the paradox did not close. The Bad Wolf- herself- had already been scattered about the cosmos to lead her back. All she could do was stop something that had already begun. Become something else for the sake of the man holding her hand as they walked into the TARDIS, and for the sake of Jack, and the human race. Scatter the Daleks into... Bring...

She would create herself.

And that was just something she would have to live with.

Before, she hadn't known what would become of her when she opened the heart of the TARDIS. Now she did, and she was back on Satellite Five for 'the first time' again because of it. She was quickly getting a migraine from the twisting philosophy of repeating a timeline and pushed it all back. Rose shook her head deliberately, turned to Cathica and deliberately gripped the woman's hand gently. Part of her wanted to scream at this intelligent woman to find a way to fix it, to find anything to stop the Howling in her heart, the beautiful song in her head. But, she was just one woman, and instead she found herself smiling right along with the Doctor.

"I'm so sorry about Suki. Have a good life, yeah?"she said, and hugged her as of goodbye, and was glad that the astonished woman returned it.

"Remember to think, Cathica."she tells her, breathing it in her ear as she pulled away.

Then they leave, not one question answered.

Just three wanders, passing through.

Once in the Vortex, the Doctor turns to her, furrowed brows.

"Healing Tub, now."

"But-"

He shakes his head.

"Now, Rose, he went after you with Rassilin knows how much voltage."

She nods, sighs, and allows herself to be stuffed inside of the tub.

"Just sleep." he soothes, fingertips adjusting with expert taps.

Rose trusts him completely and allows the quiet peace of the anesthesia to settle over her, aching and exhausted.