YOU KNOW HIM?

Astonished expressions came over the faces of Mickey, Martha and the Doctor, and the latter opened his mouth to speak, but Mickey managed to shush him. Reluctantly, the Time Lord, whose hearts were now palpatating, closed his mouth and waited to see what Mickey would do.

"This is Sorecon. He is our leader," the newly-arrived Judoon said to Mickey.

"Thanks, mate. Now wasn't that nicer than getting vaporised?"

The Judoon grunted, and took his place beside his leader. "Forgive me, sir," he said. "This human incapacitated me."

"State your business," Sorecon demanded of Mickey.

"State yours," Mickey shot back, aiming the Judoon weapon at Secoron.

The Doctor decided to chime in. "Erm, I might be able to help with that part. No reason to trouble these folks." He looked pointedly at Mickey, both eyebrows raised. "They are, you know... armed and dangerous."

Mickey lowered his gun and shoved it into his waistband at the small of his back, scowling sideways at the Doctor. But when he spoke, it was to Sorecon. "What are you doing with them?"

Again, the Doctor answered the question posed to the Judoon. "Oh, we were just rattling off about the escape pods in the loo," he said. "The underlings went to have a look."

"The escape pods in the loo?" Mickey asked, finally addressing the Doctor directly. "Are you insane?"

"Have you met me?" the Doctor said with a wink.

"Silence!" the Judoon leader demanded once more. "Cease all social engaging until the situation is secure." He unholstered his weapon and aimed it at Mickey. "You will join the two hostages against the wall."

The two present Judoon occupied themselves in some low-tone conversation that the others could not hear. Mickey took the opportunity to mutter, "On my own for forty-eight hours and I manage not to become a hostage. Twenty seconds with you, and here I am with my back to the wall."

"Welcome home," the Doctor muttered back.

When the three absent Judoon returned, they had nothing to report. The toilet cubicles were equipped only with toilets and there were no escape pods to be found in this Earth building.

"You have attempted to deceive the Judoon," Sorecon stated. "The sentence is execution."

"Sorecon, sir. We are soon to execute the entire building, and these humans have no means of escape. I deem it wise to save our resources by not executing these humans now," said one of the underlings.

"Correction," Sorecon said back, indicating the Doctor. "This specimen is non-human. He is the Doctor. He is a liability and must be vaporised."

"I point out once more that there is no means of escape."

There was a few seconds of silence, and then Sorecon relented. "Very well. Release the hostages."

As the Judoon disappeared into the lift, and the cowering people in the corner breathed a sigh of amazed relief, the Doctor grabbed his two companions and pushed them round the corner. The three of them found themselves in an office kitchenette. The Doctor sonicked the door locked.

"Mickey, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Wait," Martha said, crossing her arms. "You know each other?"

"You know him?" Mickey asked her.

"You know him?" the Doctor asked her, his voice having risen an octave above where it normally sat.

Martha told the Doctor, a bit anxiously, "He's the guy I told you about, who kept asking about you."

"I wasn't askin' about the Doctor, I was asking about the guy that broke your heart," Mickey insisted. "The one who was in love with that other... girl..." the implications of what he was saying dawned on him slowly. His arms dropped to his sides and his face fell. "Oh my God."

Martha's jaw dropped as she rewound through the evening's revelations. This was Rose's boyfriend. "Oh my God!"

Martha and Mickey stared at each other in disbelief. The Doctor, also with jaw agape and brow furrowed, looked quickly from one to the other in an uncharacteristic confusion. "Wha.. wha..." he said over and over.

The indomitable Miss Jones was the first to speak. She turned to the Doctor and gestured exasperatedly at Mickey. "As I told you: checked into hospital with stomach cramps, asked a lot of questions about the Judoon incident. We met at a pub, exchanged sob stories about how people we love are totally preoccupied with other people, then we went out on a date and he started asking questions about you. Only, apparently they weren't about you, because judging by the look on his face, he didn't have a bloody clue."

Defensively, Mickey straightened and insisted, "It wasn't a date."

"Whatever mate," Martha said. "You gonna to tell your girlfriend about it?"

Glaring at the Doctor, he said, "No, not unless she finds out some other way."

Martha made a bit of a shrug that seemed to say, I rest my case.

"Mickey, shame on you!" the Doctor admonished. "Hopping universes and playing around while you do it. You're lucky she's on the other side of the void. I'd have half a mind to tell on you."

Gesturing now at Martha, Mickey shot back, "Oh you're one to talk! How long did it take you to pick up another hot little companion? A day? A week?"

"That's none of your business!" the Doctor insisted.

"Boys!" Martha yelled. "We have bigger problems right now. You can pull them out and measure them later, all right?"

At this, the two men looked at each other sheepishly, and then the Doctor asked, calmly, "What are you doing here, Mickey?"

"Torchwood sent me to find out about the technology that allows the Judoon to do... this."

"Oh I can tell you that much. It's an H2O scoop. Plasma coils and electromagnetic energy conducted by the water... I'll tell you all about it later if you want.... wait, Torchwood?"

"You work with Captain Jack?" Martha asked.

"Captain Jack? No, why?" Mickey asked, confused.

"Torchwood is his organisation."

"Yes," the Doctor said. "After... well, you know, the incident at Canary Wharf, apparently Captain Jack started a new organisation with only half-a-dozen or so in the mix, went underground quite literally, and called it Torchwood."

"Not in my world," Mickey said. "We rebuilt it like a sort of corporation, like it used to be. Pete and Rose were hoping to be rid of the corruption that ruined it in both worlds, but you know how a large organisation can be. Politics, secrets..."

Something in his tone put the Doctor on alert. "Secrets?"

"Yeah," Mickey said, leaning against the counter, not wanting to look at either of them. "They built this machine that could rip through the void, even when the dimensional walls are closed, and didn't tell anyone they were doing it. Rose and Pete are at the top of the company, and the technology department didn't even tell them because they were afraid it would cause..."

"Cause what?"

"That it would cause Rose's priorities to shift," Mickey confessed. "So they sent me here without telling her. But this is my last mission for Torchwood – they can take this job and shove it far as I'm concerned. I just have to get the info they want."

"I'll give you that," the Doctor told him, patting him on the shoulder. "But you have to tell Rose about all of this."

"I will," Mickey said. "That was part of the deal. I said I'd do this for them as my last mission, but they had to fully disclose everything to her after my return."

"And then what happens for you?" Martha asked, stealing a glance at the Doctor. "You know Rose will want to come back."

"I don't know. Move to Australia, maybe. Or the States. Haven't decided yet."

"Could you really do that?" Martha wanted to know. She had the feeling at this point that there was something inherently un-leavable about Rose.

Mickey sighed. "It would be hard, but what am I gonna do? Travel with them? No thanks, not again."

Martha giggled, "Well maybe we could all go, and make it horribly awkward all the way 'round."

Mickey giggled back, but the Doctor did not. "Er, children? Building sentenced to death? Bombs, giant rhinos, have you forgotten?"

"Okay," Martha said, coming back to herself. "What's the plan?"

"I think if I can get to the roof, we can sneak inside their ship and find the detonation device and disarm the explosives," he said. "But the problem is going to be getting past the sentries up there."

"What sentries?" asked Mickey.

"The ones they have undoubtedly posted at the top of the stairs to the roof," the Doctor sighed. "Keep up, will you?"

"No problem there. I've still got this," he announced, proudly displaying the Judoon weapon.

"Good," the Doctor said. "But only shoot if you have to. Come on."

The three of them went to the stairwell and began to climb again. The trickle of people coming down was much thinner than before. Martha figured the lobby must be a chaotic mess, even more so than before, by now.

When they reached the fifteenth floor, they were obliged to leave the stairwell. They crossed the office space and found a door labeled "roof access." The Doctor put his hand on the knob and turned to Mickey and Martha and gestured for quiet. They both set their faces in silent resolve and the Doctor opened the door. They tiptoed up one more flight and saw the door labeled "roof." Once again, the Doctor prepared to open the door and gestured for quiet. Mickey readied his weapon.

When the Doctor pulled the door open, the three of them were surprised by an unconscious Judoon who fell into their path and hit the metal floor with a loud thud. They looked at each other with wonder.

"Who did that?" Martha whispered.

But when the culprit came into view, their surprise and wonder turned to outright shock.