While we had gone on a few adventures since my slight breakdown and I was beginning to get back to normal. I hadn't really participated in the adventures, making it become more of a father-son thing, bonding time for the boys. It was nice to watch them interact, reminding me of just how close they were on Gallifrey, even with the Doctor away so often. Then again, it was the same with HER. She was the biggest daddy's girl in the universe. He'd even had to come back a few times after finding out she'd snuck on board. As they looked over plans during our trip to Bahoon, a half forest, half desert planet where the locals were threatening to destroy two-thirds of the forest in order to create more room, I had snapped a picture of the pair. When we had returned to the Tardis, I transferred the picture from the phone and printed it out, fitting it into a picture frame and placing it with the three other pictures in the Doctor's room. Smiling, I joined the boys in the console room where they were manoeuvring around the controls.
When the Tardis had landed, I looked to see where we were and bolted out the ship and into the awaiting arms of Jack. I was so happy to see him, and to know that he was getting on quite well. When he placed me down, he and the Doctor hugged and Kie shook his hand. With greetings completed, I decided we should grab some brunch and then go to meet his team. Kie was all for it but the Doctor said something about needing to fix the Tardis. I rolled my eyes, meeting those of Jack who knew exactly what he was doing. Sighing, I grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back into the Tardis and sitting him in the jump seat. "Theta..."
"They're Torchwood, Rys. After all they did…"
"That was a different Torchwood. This is Jack, we're talking about. The man adores you and would never take over Torchwood without implementing changes. He already said he changed it in your honour." Knowing he wouldn't be budged, I sighed. "I won't force you to tag along there. You are, however, coming to brunch." He grumbled something under his breath before getting to his feet. Content, I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and we joined Jack and Kie.
"Everything good?"
"Yep. He'll be joining us for brunch and then returning to the Tardis. Hopefully he doesn't break her… again." He was about to protest but I shot him a glare and he instantly closed his mouth. His reaction received a small chuckle from Jack and a not so hidden laugh from Kie. Taking his hand, the four of us walked down the street looking for somewhere to eat.
After finding a little café, we were sat and ordered our meals, making small talk about redundant things until the waiter left us to input our orders. As we waited for the food to be delivered, Jack filled us in on what had happened since the 'year that never was'. As he spoke, my eyes wandered, taking in the area for any threat. It had been a nervous tick of mine since our last visit to Earth, since that dreadful year. I never wanted to go through that again, or anyone I cared about for that matter. There was too much pain we'd all endured... pain that might have avoided if we'd only paid attention, if we'd been aware of all the signs. Never again I would allow us be caught in the way the Master had us.
As the Doctor's hand grasped mine, I jumped, slightly startled from the unexpected contact. It seemed I was so deep in my thoughts, I hadn't realised he'd been trying to get my attention moments earlier. Gratefully, he hadn't seemed to realise where my thoughts had gone. Jack and Kie thankfully took no notice of it, the former too caught up in his story and the latter engrossed in the tale. Watching the two, I couldn't help but feel as if Kie, being so enamoured in what was being said, might want to remain on Earth. I began to pout as I dwelled on it; we had only just gotten him back and I wasn't ready to let him go, not when we had so much to do, so much lost time to make up for.
'Stop worrying, Rys. If he wants to stay then let him. We'll visit as often as possible.'
I met the Doctor's eyes. I hadn't realised I'd been projecting my thoughts to him. 'Is it so bad that I want to keep him locked away in the Tardis?'
'Yes. He's our child. There's no way he'd ever allow himself to remain a prisoner. His heart's in travelling.'
'I know but I can always hope.'
I felt him squeeze my hand in a gesture of comfort. Giving him a small smile, I returned my attention back to Jack, chuckling as he made a joke. Taking a sip of my water, I glanced up at the server as he placed my meal before me. Thanking him, I grabbed my fork and began to eat. In between bites, I made small comments as Kie went on about what we'd done since leaving. It was nice to see them getting on so well, although, I had learnt that Jack had taken a shine to the 'smart mouth kid that took out three of his guards before being knocked out' while we had been the Master's captives. While I smiled, joked, and laughed, I couldn't help the nagging feeling within me, no matter how much I tried to ignore it. If he wanted to remain on Earth, with Jack, I would just have to deal with it.
Once the food had been eaten and plates cleared, the three of us lingered for a small while, chatting up a storm. A few moments later, we decided it was time to head out; Kie and I were eager to meet Jack's team and I knew the Doctor really wanted to return to the Tardis The man was never good at keeping up with people. Heck, if I wasn't his Ame Soeur, I doubt I'd have seen him again. As we left the café, Kie and Jack strode off towards the Torchwood Hub with the notion that I would join them shortly. With them a short distance away, I turned to the Doctor, conveying my worries the best I could. This time, however, my worries were not about Kie but about something that was to happen in the extremely near future, something that the Universe desired more than anything. While he nodded and understood what I was saying, he couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped. While my feelings never led me astray, the Doctor seemed to take join in brushing them aside, even if he took them seriously. I slapped his arm but leaned in for a kiss anyways, not really upset with him. How could I be? When we both pulled back, I turned and began the somewhat short walk to Torchwood as he retreated to the Tardis.
Catching up with the boys, I stood beside them in front of the Oval Basin. Just standing there, even if it wasn't where the event had taken place, brought back the horrid memories of that day and what happened after. I didn't realise I was crying until Jack leaned over and wiped under my eyes with his thumb. Glancing at him, I saw the sympathetic expression on his face; he knew why I was crying, what the place meant to me. "Mum, you all right?" My gaze found Kie's and I nodded. While I had told him about Rose, I never truly went into detail as to the reason she 'disappeared'. All he actually knew was that she was alive in a parallel world with her mum and dad. Understanding, he never pried, even though I knew he wanted to. He was always so inquisitive, a trait he got from his father.
I forced a smile to my lips, hoping it was enough to ease his mind. "Yeah, fine. Being here just brings back a few… bad memories." Kie looked as if he wanted to question me more but I saw Jack place a hand on his shoulder, a clear indication to let it drop. Instead, he pulled me into a hug and promised everything would be all right and that he wouldn't let anything happen to me. My forced smile instantly turned genuine at his words. I was so happy to hear them, and so happy to have found him and be given a second chance. Smirking, Jack pressed a button on his vortex manipulator and we were lowered under the street.
A few hours later, and after meeting the wonderful members of the Torchwood team, a blip showed up on Torchwood's scanner. Not long passed before the Doctor mentally contacted me and informed me of it. I wasn't expecting Kie to join me as I readied myself to leave and he didn't. Instead, I was left with a small bout of protest from Owen Harper. Since we'd been introduced, he'd made it his mission get to know me, and if I were to be honest, I did enjoy his company. He was quite the charmer, funny, and extremely blunt, something I simply adored. The longer we spoke, the more I saw him as a potential candidate to be my companion. However, I knew he would probably never leave Torchwood on his own accord and while I was okay with that, I couldn't help but entertain the idea of one day soon having a companion of my own.
As I reached the Tardis, the Doctor stepped out, pulling the door shut as he reached for my hand. Instead of rushing to the source of the spike, we leisurely made our way to the building. It was a nice walk, one filled with conversation, whether mentally or verbally. For the most part, we were planning our next trip… more so debating where it would be. I wanted somewhere noted in the history books while he surprisingly wanted to travel to another planet. It was no secret he loved Earth, but I suppose even he needed to get away from the place every once in a while. We kept it up until we reached our destination, Adipose Industries, and moved to the building's back door. Grabbing the sonic from the Doctor, although he basically handed it to me, I unlocked the door, causing it to spark, and pulled him through, making sure to lock it once we were both inside. While it earned me a curious gaze, I just stuck out my tongue at him and led him along through the basement. As we manoeuvred through the cellar, we wound up running into a security guard. Before the man could utter a word, the Doctor reached into his jumper and pulled out the psychic paper, flashing it before the man's eyes. "John Smith and Cerys Tyler, Health and Safety." Realising the name he'd used for me, I stared at him, wide-eyed. While a part of me didn't really mind, a bigger part couldn't believe he'd use her last name. Catching my expression, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him. "Sorry," he muttered in my hair. I nodded and pulled away, moving towards the lift.
When we reached the proper floor, we made our way to the projection room. There was no way we could join the other people, it would be too obvious that we weren't meant to be there, even with the Doctor's charms. Moving to the small window, the Doctor and I crouched down on either side, listening to a severe looking blonde woman as she spoke. She went on about some diet pill, one that would make the fat 'walk away'. I scoffed a bit, cynical of the effects, but continued to listen as the presentation took over. "Adipose Industries. The Adipose capsule is composed of a synthesised mobilising lipase, bound to a large protein molecule. The mobilising lipase breaks up the triglycerides stored in the adipose cells, which then enter-"
"Health and Safety," the Doctor said, flashing the psychic paper again, this time to the man, technician, who had entered the projection room. He seemed thoroughly confused as to why we were. With my prodding, the Doctor elaborated, although he didn't spare the man a glance. "Film department." When the man's gaze landed to me, I gave him a small smile and returned my attention back to the woman.
"One hundred percent legal, one hundred percent effective."
The young black woman who had first questioned the blonde spoke up again. "But, can I just ask, how many people have taken the pills to date?"
"We've already got one million customers within the Greater London area alone. But from next week… we start rolling out nationwide. The future starts here… and Britain will be thin." I cocked an eyebrow, glancing at my husband who also had a curious expression on his face. Getting to our feet, we both left the projection room and wondered into the call centre. After walking in a bit, the Doctor and I made our way to an occupied cubicle, him taking a seat beside a young woman on a call.
"John Smith, Health and Safety. Don't mind me," he whispered as he showed her the psychic paper. I watched as she turned around, a smirk on her face. Instantly, my gaze turned into a glare and I moved from the cubicle's opening and stood beside him, leaning against the desk my arms folded. Her eyes met mine for a moment, a bit smug, before she returned her attention to the Doctor. In her slight moment of distraction, he had grabbed hold of a gold necklace with a pill pendant.
"It's made of 18-carat gold, and it's yours free," she continued, speaking to both the Doctor and the person on the other end of the phone. "No, we don't give away pens. Sorry." I reached over and grabbed the necklace, examining it myself. It was giving off a weird vibe that I couldn't place. The one thing I did know was that it was most likely otherworldly. Besides, what company gave away 18 caret gold for free? That was suspicious enough. It was always pens. Unable to really get anything from the article of jewellery, I handed it back to him and looked at the girl.
"Mind printing off a list of your customers?" She glanced at me, beginning to reject my request but the Doctor butted in.
"Course she can. Where's the printer?" He popped to his feet, turning a bit. "That's the printer there?"
The woman eagerly, too eagerly for my liking, hopped to her feet. "By the plant, yeah."
"Brilliant," he said, sitting back down. I just rolled my eyes, and stood, leaving the workspace for the printer. The sooner we got the list, the sooner we could get away from the building, from that little girl.
As I walked down the aisle, the severe blonde we'd watched speak entered the room with two large guards. To avoid being seen, I popped into the nearest cubby, the man sitting there glancing at me, surprised. I'd rather his startled expression than being seen by the woman and noticed as an intruder. "Health and Safety," I muttered, cursing myself for not taking the psychic paper from the Doctor. Luckily, the man just gave me a curt nod.
"Excuse me, everyone. If I could have your attention…" As she said that, everyone got to their feet. "On average, you're each selling forty adipose packs per day. It's not enough. I want one hundred sales per person, per day. And if not… you'll be replaced. Because if anyone's good at trimming the fat, it's me. Now… back to it." As she left and everyone returned to their seats, I went back to the Doctor, only to see him being handed a piece of paper.
"Thanks, then." He looked at the slip, not understanding what it was. "Oh, what's that?"
"My telephone number," she answered.
"What for?"
"Health and Safety. You be health. I'll be safety." I ground my teeth, my gaze on the woman becoming murderous. While I was working on the whole jealousy thing, I wasn't that great at it yet. I cocked my head to the side, my eyes leaving the kid and moving to the Doctor's.
'Yes Theta, why not go for it,' I goaded. I knew it was immature, but as stated before, I was working on the jealousy thing. I had nowhere near perfected my zen. Hearing my voice in his mind, the man jumped, clearly not expecting it.
"Uh, uh…" he looked up, glancing at me before he began to ramble. "But that contravenes, um, paragraph five, subsection 'C'. Sorry."
The girl looked to be confused by what he said (not really) so I decided to help her understand. "What he means is no, he isn't interested, nor will he ever be. Now, if you could print off the list."
The Doctor grabbed my arm and led me towards the printer before I could say anything else to the girl. Both of us passing a ginger woman in a sleek suit. She didn't seem to be an employee there, but then again, she looked more like one than I did. Reaching the printer, the Doctor lifted the lid, seeing that it hadn't printed. When he turned to make his way back to the woman, I stopped him and told him to stay there while I dealt with her. When I got to the cubicle, I leant against its opening, my lips in an annoyed grimace. "I'm sure you were hoping he'd come back, but it's just little ol' me. Papers never printed. My husband and I really need them to do our job and by keeping those papers from us, it's putting your job in jeopardy…" I glanced around, finding a small name plaque, "Clare." The woman glared at me for a moment before turning to her computer and setting it to print the list. Satisfied, I gave her a small smile and turned away, muttering a less than sincere thanks.
With the list in hand, the Doctor and I left Adipose Industries. After a moment of sifting through the names, we decided to visit the seventh name on the list. Following what had happened at the offices, I refused to visit the home of any of the women. While I knew not all women were attracted to the Doctor, majority of the women we'd bumped into often fell for him and I really didn't want a repeat of Clare. Finally agreeing, we caught a cab to the chosen customer's home. Since the Doctor never carried money, I sifted through my (his old) jacket pocket for a tenner and payed the fare. As the cab drove off, the Doctor bound up the path and knocked on the door. Moments later, an older man with dark curly hair, blue eyes and wearing a grey sweater with a plaid collar pocking out opened the dark wood door. "Mister Roger Davey?" The man nodded to the Doctor, seeming to be confused. Then again, it was quite late for a house call. "We're calling on behalf of Adipose Industries." I grabbed the psychic paper and held it up for the man. "Just need to ask you a few questions." The man moved aside and invited us in. Walking past Mr Davey, the Doctor and I made our way to the sitting room. While I chose to lean against the green wall, the Doctor paced the small room and Roger sat in one of the arm chairs.
"So, how long have you been using the pills?"
"I've been on the pills for two weeks now. I've lost fourteen kilos," the man proudly answered. I found it interesting. A kilo a day was wonderful progress, but it seemed to be too fast for my liking.
"That's the same amount every day?"
"One kilo exactly. You wake up, and it's disappeared overnight. Well, technically speaking, it's gone by ten past one in the morning."
"Why do you say that?"
"That's when I get woken up. Might as well weigh myself at the same time." I nodded, sharing a glance with the Doctor. "It is driving me mad. Ten minutes past one, every night, bang on the dot, without fail, the burglar alarm goes off."
"Mind if we have a look?" I ask.
Mister Davey nodded and led us to the front of the house. I glanced up examining the alarm for a moment. It would have helped if I had the sonic and a ladder but that would be a bit too much. "I've had experts in, I've had it replaced, I've even phoned 'Watchdog'. But no, ten past one in the morning, off it goes."
"But with no burglars?"
"Nothing. I've given up looking."
"Tell me, Roger. Have you got a cat flap?" Roger looked at us, meeting my eyes before leading us back into the house, to the backdoor. I stood to the side as the two men laid on the linoleum floor, looking out the cat flap.
"It was here when I bought the house," he replied. "I've never bothered with it, really. I'm not a cat person."
"No, we've met cat people. You're nothing like them." Mr Davey looked at the Doctor and then me, his eyebrows coming together a bit before he decided to ignore what the Doctor had said.
"Is that what it is, though- cats getting inside the house?"
"Well, thing about cat flaps is, they don't just let things in- they let things out, as well."
"Like what?"
"The fat just walks away," I muttered, reiterating what the blonde woman had said in her presentation, and causing Davey to glance up to me. Agreeing with me, the Doctor jumped to his feet and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the front door. There was definitely more to this Adipose Industries than just weight loss and we were both determined to get to the bottom of it.
"Well, thanks for your help. Tell you what, maybe you could lay off the pills for a week or so," the Doctor suggested as we walked out. Suddenly the three pronged, clear device with a flashing red centre, that he had most likely put together earlier in the day began to beep from within the depths of the Doctor's pocket. Pulling it out, he smirked and squeezed my hand before dropping it. "Oh! Got to go. Sorry." With that, we took off down the street, continuing on as we followed the increased beeping of the device.
Running across a narrow street, the Doctor and I stopped and backtracked a bit, going straight for a few seconds before coming to another stop due to the gizmo's sporadic beeping. The Doctor held it up and hit it a few times before blowing on it. Of course the man would do that, and only with the idiot would it start to work properly again as the beeping became more rhythmic. Honestly, the man was a force to be reckoned with when it came to the impossible. Taking it as it was, we ran off again, making our way down the street before encountering the same problem again. This time he shook it and it went back to working and we took off down the block. Hearing a siren, I stopped on the sidewalk while the Doctor rushed into the street, just narrowly avoiding being hit by a speeding black van. As it passed, the beeping on his device intensified, causing us to share a curious glance before we took off down an alleyway to intercept it. As the beeping slowed, we came to a stop at the end of the alley, the Doctor moving in circles until the beeping had stopped. Sighing, we turned around and began to head back to the Tardis, both of us realising that the source had come from the van.
Before we made it to the Tardis, I insisted on grabbing some good ol' fashioned fish and chips. I was quite famished from all the running and I knew although he'd deny it, the Doctor was hungry as quickly found the nearest shop and purchased our dinner With the bag of food in hand, we finished the walk to the Tardis. Once inside, I opened up the container and began to eat, watching the Doctor as he examined the pendent under a magnifying glass. "Oh, fascinating."
"What is?"
"Seems to be a bioflip digital stitch, specifically for-"
"The owner of the pendent. It tunes onto their biological wavelengths but there's something else, something we're missing." I stood and placed the food on the seat. "Why fat?"
"Don't know, but we'll figure it out." I nodded in agreement before I pulled him away form the console and handed him his container. While he started to resist, one glare from me quickly shut him up. We ate in silence for the most part, with theories for the pendant being bounced around every so often. When we both finished, I cleaned up and left him to continue examining the article of jewellery.
06/3/2015
Ugh, this is so short. I really tried to make it longer, but alas, it didn't happen. On a good note, I did update quite quickly. Yay me. The next chapter will definitely be longer though. For a while I've been going though the chapters and doing a bit of editing and to be honest, this episode has by far taken me the longest. I really didn't care much for the episode to be honest. I also know that the next one will take me a while as well, I have started going over it though, and for the most part, it doesn't seem to need too much (at least I don't think). But yeah, with that said, thanks to all who commented, favourited, and followed. I appreciate it so much. Now, onto the reviews.
Squidtastik: Same here, I really wanted Astrid to hit him during the episode but since she didn't I decided Rys should. She likes hitting people anyways and he deserved it. He was such a prick. I am thinking of doing some Torchwood in this story as well as doing a side story where it's Kie's adventures with Torchwood (Astrid will be in it). I think it'll be fun, but it won't be until I finish at least the first season of Eleven.
NicoleR85: Your wish has been granted. Here's Donna! (well, kind of. She'll really be in the next one)
tardiscompanion101: Thanks. I had to throw in some mum/son time. Back on Gallifrey the two were extremely close so it's only fair that they still are. Besides, they had time to work things out and Kie doesn't really blame her for what happened (at least that's how I want it to be). Thanks for your kind words, they really mean a lot to me. I will definitely try to keep them in mind, especially on bad writing days. As for companions, As much as I like Rose, Donna is my favourite Ten companion (Martha's a very close second). And Eleven, River and Rory. I do adore Amy, but I love my Roman and psychopath more. Clara is great and all, but we've already discovered her mystery. I think it's time for a new companion and I want more River with Twelve. How about yours?
PhoenixTheTimelady: Same. I hated when she died. But now that she's alive she's the LI of our youngest Time Lord. I wonder how that'll work out. But I definitely felt the same way about her traveling. While I felt she would have loved the traveling, the danger of it all would have probably gotten to her in the end. Maybe if the Doctor wasn't such a trouble magnet, she would have been able to go along. However, she'll be having her own adventures when it comes to Kie. Thanks.
Guest: Thanks so much. I'm glad you've('re) enjoying the story. It makes me so happy to know. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter as well.