Disclaimer: If Doctor Who was mine, Martha would be 'inconveniently' killed off in the middle of SaJ, Rose would never have left, and David Tennant would be forced to play the Doctor for the rest of his life.
Hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry it's so late to be put up, I just got a bit of writer's block. I'll try and be quicker with chapter 5. And sorry also for Martha haters, but chibi!Martha got mad and made me take her out of the TARDIS. She's now sulking at the bottom of my wardrobe, because I refused to give her more than two scenes. ;)
A few notes to my reviewers:
-Dollybelle'olwhatserface: You won't find out about how they crossed over to Alt!Universe for a while, so be patient! And yes, Martha and Rose will meet. In this chapter, actually!
-Lady Clark-Weasley: Well, in my opinion, Martha is a great character to hate (lol). I'm going to stay true to the canon unrequited-love theme, but as this is a Drose fic, it will obviously involve more Doctor/Rose shipping.
-Tiamat100: Less questions, please! Lol. You'll have to read on for the answers, because I don't want to spoil anything! But I can tell you that the pears thing was a deleted scene on the series 3 box set. You can find it on YouTube if you look in the right places!
Chapter 4: Not Quite A Simple Mission (Part 1)
John Smith looked around the flat calmly. He had no recollection of anywhere he'd lived before, but assumed that was just the amnesia-causing treatment for his illness. As Rose had said, he'd remember everything soon enough. Not owning any possessions - which he admittedly found rather strange - he walked around the bare flat, examining his new home. It was relatively small, and fairly empty, except for a few basic implements, such as the usual kitchen appliances, a bed, wardrobe and desk in the bedroom, a shower, sink and toilet in the bathroom, and a small television and sofa in the tiny lounge that joined to the kitchen. All items that he needed, of course, but they didn't make the flat feel much like a home.
He looked out of the window in the lounge to see his taxi driving away, and suddenly felt quite alone. He moved into his bedroom and took off his suit, hanging it in the otherwise empty wardrobe, and slid into bed. He fell asleep almost instantly, despite having been unconscious for almost the entire week, as it appeared to be.
- - - - - - -
A few blocks away, Rose Tyler was curled up in her bed at her parents' house - though she often referred to it as a mansion - just about to drift off to sleep. And then Jamie stumbled in, causing her to sit bolt upright in panic. When she saw who was at her door, she sighed with relief.
"What're you doing up this late?" she asked him, smiling.
"Couldn't sleep." he said simply, and walked towards her bed. He laughed softly and beckoned him over.
"Nightmares?" she asked, and he nodded. She picked him up and sat him on the bed in front of her.
"Monsters." he added, and she grinned.
"Oh yeah? What kinds of monsters?" she asked him as he moved further towards her and leant against the wall. Rose hugged him close to her and he wriggled about, getting comfortable.
"Clock monsters." he said. Rose frowned, though still smiling, and he continued. "They broke the clock. And they wear scary masks, and they tick." She froze and released him.
"What?" she asked quietly, the smile vanishing from her face. He nodded.
"They come from a spaceship. And there's a fireplace there." he said, seemingly proud at remembering the details, though the thought didn't seem to scare him anymore.
"Who told you that?" she asked, suddenly angry. "Was it Mickey, has he been talking to you?" She could feel Jamie trying to move away, but took hold of his wrist and looked him in the eyes. "Did Mickey tell you to say that? Jamie?"
"Let go!" he said, and she released his arm suddenly.
"Sorry, Jamie." she said, lowering her voice. He wriggled away and slid off the bed. "Jamie!" she called after him, but he was walking out of the door.
"I want mum!" he muttered, and Rose looked away as he slammed the door shut. She let her head fall down onto her pillow, but didn't fall asleep for hours.
- - - - - - -
Mickey Smith, a few rooms down the hall, woke with a start when he heard a door slam shut. He thought nothing of it and fell back asleep almost instantly.
- - - - - - -
Outside the Torchwood building sat the TARDIS, in which Martha Jones was pacing back and forth, not expecting to sleep at all tonight. She wrung her hands and repeated the words for a second time, thinking back to her checklist for the past week.
"The Doctor's human; staff files are uploaded; he's a field agent, I'm a secretary; he had a serious illness, I was on holiday; go into work, establish a relationship with him; give him his bag and explain what's going on, but not in detail; then watch him."
She sighed, changed the direction in which she was pacing, and continued talking to herself. "Files uploaded - done. Bag - done. Suit for tomorrow - done…Oh, but there's so much that could go wrong." She changed direction again and continues walking, thinking desperately for anything she could have forgotten.
- - - - - - -
Rose entered the building with Mickey, and almost stepped straight back out of the door. Among the workers lined up at the front desk was John Smith, waiting patiently in line with his identity card in hand.
"Thank you, sir." Martha said after checking the woman's ID and letting her through the gate into Torchwood. She spotted John a few places into the queue and looked away nervously.
'It all depends on this moment.' she thought, as she checked another person's ID and let them through. 'The next three months depends only on this. He has to let you in. If he doesn't…don't think about that.'
She felt her pulse beating faster and faster as John approached the desk, and put on a fake smile.
"Good morning, Mr Smith!" she said cheerily, begging for him to respond well. He smiled in return, and seemed to recognise her.
'Thank God.' she breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered what she had to do.
"Nice to see you back at work!" she smiled.
"Yes, it is, isn't it?" he replied, and Martha's face broke into a grin.
"I've got your bag behind the desk - just drop by at the end of the day and you can take it home." she told him as she took the psychic paper from his hand. Barely looking at it, she handed it back, thinking about her last words.
'Was it too subtle? Not subtle enough? What if he doesn't realise what I'm talking about? What if he doesn't remember me?'
"Thank you, Martha. I suppose I'll see you later, then." he said, smiling, and she almost laughed with relief.
"Have a nice day, sir." she said politely, as she let him through, and breathed out slowly when he had passed.
'Couldn't have gone better.' she thought, and checked in another person. She glanced down the queue and saw how many people were waiting. 'But I've got to say - I don't know if I can stick to this job for three whole months.'
Rose approached the girl at the desk, tapping her identity card on her hand impatiently. She glanced down the line - it was going to take her forever to get in. Mickey stood next to her, trying to ignore the tapping of the wallet on Rose's palm. When they finally got to the desk, Rose breathed a short sigh of relief.
"Right then, here we go, at last." she smiled to the woman, handing over her card. She couldn't help but notice that she was dark skinned, and had dark hair, just like this 'Martha Jones', but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind and tried not to think about it. The woman smiled back and took the card.
"Tell me about it." she said in a friendly way. "Are there always this many people?" she asked, then immediately regretted it.
"How d'you mean? Don't you work here?" Rose asked, frowning. Martha cursed herself silently.
"Yeah." she said, faking a smile. "Been on holiday for a while though - it seems like I've been away forever."
"Yeah, well it's all because of that attack a few weeks back. Security's gone wild." Rose seemed to buy Martha's story, and Martha smiled with relief. She handed back the ID card, but just before she did, she noticed the name at the top. Rose Tyler. She choked on her breath and looked back up at Rose.
"You alright?" she asked, concernedly, and Martha nodded frantically,
"Mm-hm." she mumbled, letting go of the card. "Just go on through." she ushered Rose through, and took Mickey's card. After Mickey was through the gate, they both turned round the corner and walked out of sight. Martha closed her eyes for a second - that name…Rose. Just like the Doctor's Rose. She shook the thought away.
'Don't be stupid.' she told herself. 'She's dead. Or something. Who knows? Anyway, I can't get all jumpy every time someone called Rose walks by. Then again…a Rose Tyler working at Torchwood?' She paused, considering, and glanced down at the next person's identity card. 'No. Just a coincidence, that's all.' She let the man through and moved onto the woman standing behind him.
'"Rose, her name was. Rose. And…we were together." he had said, and she had felt her mind wondering what 'together' meant.
"And where is she now?" she had asked him.
"With her family - happy. She's fine. She's…Not that your replacing her." He had pointed a finger in her direction and she had found herself lost for words, just for a second.'
She blinked back tears, the memory of the Doctor forcing her to remember the task ahead.
"You all right?" the lady next to her asked, and she turned abruptly, almost dropping the woman's ID.
"Oh, yeah, just…hay fever." she excused herself. 'Hay fever? It's autumn!' she thought to herself, but the woman smiled friendlily. "I'm Martha." said Martha, thinking that if she was going to be here for three months, she might as well make some friends.
"Suzie." she replied, and smiled. Martha smiled back, thinking that maybe this job wouldn't be too bad, after all.
- - - - - - -
When people said 'Rose's office' or 'Mickey's office' at Torchwood, they usually meant the huge, white room that Rose and Mickey used to plan their assignments and explorations - and occasionally do some paperwork. It was on the floor below the highest level, but no one ever went up to the top - it had been forbidden when Pete Tyler took over as boss. Everyone knew it was out of bounds from their first day, which was why Rose was stunned to see John Smith heading up there when he claimed to have worked there for years.
"'Scuse me?" she asked up the stairs, and he turned around and looked down at her.
"Hello." he replied, waving, and she walked up a few steps.
"You're not allowed up there." she said, and he walked down to meet her.
"Really? Since when?" he asked, frowning.
"Since forever. Ever since the new Torchwood. It's out of bounds. Surely you remember that?"
"Nope." he followed her back down the stairs. "I still can't remember a thing about working here. Not a name, or face, or anything. Why is it out of bounds?"
Rose swallowed nervously. "It just…is. What were you doing up there anyway?"
"Like I said before - no sense of direction. Got lost. I just came from Medical and someone said my new office was up here."
"What were you doing in Medical?" she asked, as he walked down the stairs to meet her.
"Well, since I haven't worked here for so long, I had to have a few check-ups." he said as he walked. "You know, medical, ability to hold a gun, that kind of thing."
Rose smiled. "Well, yeah, the office is on this floor." Rose told him as they reached the next level down. "Just through here."
She led him into the room in silence.
"Oh, right. It doesn't look much like an office." he said bluntly, and Rose tried to smile.
"No, I don't suppose it does. I've always hated offices. Too cramped. So Mr Tyler gave this room to me and Mickey. It's got everything we need - computers, space, desks." Rose walked round the room lazily, pointing at random objects.
"Right. So, this is my temporary office, then?" he asked, and Rose nodded. "It's a bit…well, big. For just three people."
Rose frowned. "Speaking of which, where is Mickey?"
There was an awkward silence as the two stood opposite each other.
"So, what's in that room?" he asked suddenly. "At the top, what's up there?"
Rose breathed in and out slowly. "Nothing. Not any more. Something happened here, a while back. Five years ago, it was. And the room's been locked ever since."
"But…something tells me you have a key?" he said, and Rose stiffened, snapping her eyes up to meet John's.
"What did you say?" she asked quietly, but before he could reply, the door burst open and Mickey walked in.
"Hey." he said calmly, and Rose looked away from John.
"Where've you been?" she asked Mickey, who was laying down a rolled up piece of paper on the huge desk in front of her.
"Talking to Pete - Mr Tyler, I mean." he added, for John's sake. "Haven't called him that for years. Anyway, we've got a mission."
Rose walked over to Mickey's side of the table, and John walked forwards to it as well. They all looked at the blueprint that Mickey was unfurling.
"What is it?" Rose asked, placing paper weights on each corner of the map to hold it down.
"Warehouse. Or factory, or something. Anyway, we're not going there. But this is where the guys we're hunting down've parked their spaceship. At least, we think so. The readings for alien tech showed all the signs of a landing site."
"So what's the problem?" Rose asked frowning.
"Whatever it is they parked here - it's invisible. We've got another team scouting the place for answers, but we're headed to the fields." He pointed to one side of the map, clearly where the fields were. "We think they might've left whatever's in the factory and gone to find the life forms. Which is us. But chances are, they're invisible too."
"So, what are we supposed to do?" John asked, speaking for the first time.
"We've got scanners. They might be invisible, but whatever they are, they give off massive amounts of energy. We can roughly locate them using the scanners and try to find out who and what they are."
"Roughly?" John asked sceptically, and for a moment, Rose had to remind herself that he was John Smith, and that he only looked like the Doctor, no matter how much he sounded like him too. "How roughly?"
"Well, we can't pinpoint their actual position, but we can tell whether they're within a twenty metre range from us."
"So, we search the fields for them, find them, then what?" asked John.
"See if we can reason with them. You know, general procedure. Find out who they are, what they want, that kind of thing."
"When are we leaving?" Rose asked, trying not to think about John, who was standing very close behind her, bending over to examine the blueprint.
"Thirty minutes. Just enough time to get down to Weapons and Defence." Mickey said, and walked away from the desk towards the door.
"Any idea on the weapons they're using?" Rose asked, eyebrows raised.
"We think they're lasers; definitely not bullets." Mickey said, and left the room.
"Right then, John." Rose turned to look at him. "You haven't had the tour since your…illness, have you? Follow me." She walked out of the door and headed down the stairs with John close behind, glancing up at the forbidden level as they went.
- - - - - - -
"So, this," Rose gestured to the level. "Is Weaponry. You'll need weapons for any mission. This is where you get the right ones. Just tell 'em what your up against and they'll sort you out with the right sort. Firing range is down there too."
She gestured for John to wait outside, pushed open the door, and walked in calmly. John peeked through the window in the door and saw a number of different types of guns, hanging on the walls. He saw Rose talk to a few workers, and she soon emerged with arms full of weapons. She indicated to each of them and passed some to John.
"Standard Laser guns, just in case; 51st Century Sonic Blasters, good for escapes; and your basic bullet guns, required for every mission." She handed him one of each, and he copied her as she slipped the two guns in her belt and slipped the Blaster in her pocket.
They went down another flight of stairs to the third floor, though John had been walking down so many that he could have sworn they were deep underground.
"And this floor's Defence. Here, we get protective clothing, shielding, radars, scanners - that kind of thing." She walked into this room and John held open the door, peering in after her. The room reminded him of a combat training camp, with camouflage suits and protective clothing hanging all over the walls and ceiling. Again, Rose walked over to a man behind a desk and was given handfuls of gadgets, which she left the room with, smiling.
"Right, so I've got us scanners for the aliens, laser-resistant suits, and best of all, energy-vision goggles." She grinned as she gave John the gadgets, and he smiled back.
"What-vision goggles?" he asked disbelievingly, raising the goggles to his eyes.
"Energy-vision." she grinned. "It's like night-vision, but rather than letting you see in the dark, they let you see an object's radiation output." She put her scanner in her rucksack, as did John with the temporary bag he'd gotten from the Resources floor, and clipped the goggles to her belt. John did the same, and they both put their protective suits in Rose's bag, since John's wasn't big enough for his.
"And that's basically it." she finished, glancing at her watch. "We'd better be off. I think we're meeting Mickey down at Reception."
- - - - - - -
The three explorers bounded out of the big van and raised a hand of thanks to their driver, before setting off across the field. Mickey held the scanner at arms length, occasionally waving it around; Rose fiddled with her belt, checking that she had all her equipment; and John tagged along just behind them, looking around anxiously for signs of invisible aliens.
"Right then." Rose said firmly, stopping to turn and face Mickey and John. "They can't have gone far, and I don't see why they'd want to, so we should probably just spread out and do a routine search."
She looked around at the deserted field, the wind whipping back her hair, and then turned back to Mickey and John. John looked like he had no idea what was going on, and Rose almost laughed out loud "Right, Mickey, you take that village - ask around for any reports on strange occurrences. John, you come with me, and I'll fill you in on how these things work." Mickey nodded in confirmation, and John bent down, dropping his bag on the grass to search for his scanner. Mickey took Rose's arm and pulled her to one side.
"You sure you're okay with this?" he whispered. "D'you want me to go with John?"
"Mickey, it's not him." Rose insisted, snatching her arm back. "I don't know what's going on, but it's been five years since the Doctor…left. And I'm fine with John, whoever he is." Mickey held his hands up to show he had surrendered, and meandered off across the field towards the village. Rose waited for John to stand back up, then forced a smile and led the way across the fields.
Rose and John wandered around the area for hours, occasionally picking something up on the sensors and whipping out their energy-goggles, only to find the energy to be coming from random devices scattered across the fields, or in nearby homes and buildings.
"This is hopeless." Rose sighed, after the third hour. "We've found nothing, and we haven't heard anything from Mickey."
John didn't reply. He was frowning at the sensor that Rose was stood in front of, staring at the readings with confusion.
"What?" she asked him, then glanced at the readings. "Oh, that'll just be the equipment. You know, phone, goggles, scanner, all that stuff."
"No, but look." he said, still frowning, and passed the device to Rose. As Rose took it, it began to beep angrily.
"Whoa!" she exclaimed, holding it away from her body. "What the hell's that about?"
"It's…you." he stated simply, but she shook her head.
"It can't be! What've I got that you haven't? It must just mean that I'm closer to it than you. Whatever 'it' is." she waved the device around impatiently, and it continued to beep at her loudly. Then it grew louder, and more constant, and Rose and John shared uneasy looks.
"And what does that mean?" John asked in a whisper, though he wasn't sure why.
"It means…Well, I think it means that…it's behind me. And…it's getting closer." She froze, swallowed the lump at the back of her throat, and turned around, at the same time as John looked over her shoulder, and he released a breath calmly when he saw the empty field.
"Thank goodness for that." he sighed, but Rose still stood rooted to the spot. "Rose?" he asked her, tugging on her sleeve.
"John." she replied quietly, and John had to lean forwards to hear, the wind carrying the sound away. "They're invisible."
His eyes widened as he heard the persistent beeping grow louder, and faster, and more angry with each sound. He couldn't see them, but he knew they were around somewhere - a faint buzzing sound could be heard, forcing out against the wind, like the distant vibration of wings. He tried to pull Rose away, but as they jogged backwards away from the invisible creature, the beeping of the device just grew louder.
They both turned around in circles, quickly and timidly, sensing and hearing the creatures all around them, though they had no idea how many there were. Rose instinctively reached down and grabbed John's hand, her hand fitting as exactly as it had with the Doctor's. She gulped, trying not to think about their almost certain fate. John didn't pull away, and Rose stepped nearer to him, closing in the only spaces and letting the wind blow around them as one. They were trapped.
Eek! Cliffie! Anyway, hope you liked it! Chibi!Martha has stopped sulking now, so chances are I'll be forced to write her into the next chapter too. Sorry. ;)
(And sorry to by best friend Braceface Freak - that thing I hinted to you about is next chapter. You know how hopeless I am.)
Please review, or I'll set my chibi!Army after you! (Not that I have a chibi!Army. :whistles innocently:)