As they came out of Tom's house, Rose grabbed John's arm none-too-gently and pulled him quickly aside, Tom hanging back anxiously by the door. Once they were far enough away, she hissed, "So what exactly's your plan here?"

The Hunter shrugged. "Same as before."

"What, burning Mal's body?" she guessed scathingly. "And you think doing that in front of her cousin's somehow gonna be a good idea?"

John pulled his arm back from her grasp, glaring slightly at the blond woman. "I won't be doing it in front of him," he said gruffly, "because you're going to get him out of there as soon as we find the body."

The girl's eyes narrowed. "Oh really?" she said irritably. "What is this, a ploy to leave me behind again?"

"See it like you want," the Hunter said gruffly. "You were good with finding the thing, I'll give you that, but I don't need to be dragging civilians into a knock-out fight with a ghost."

Her voice grew sharp as she snapped, "How many times do I need to tell you? I'm not a civilian, and I don't need to be pushed to the sidelines." Her gaze flitted over to the man waiting by the door. "Wouldn't it just be easier to ask him where her body is and keep him out of it?"

"Ideally, yes," he agreed. "But it's a big forest, and he knows the area better than we do. We've got a better chance of finding her with him there. And we need to find her."

"Why? So you can kill her?" the girl asked coldly.

The Hunter felt a flash of irritation. The whole morality spiel was starting to get old. This Rose Tyler was plenty of things, but a Hunter wasn't one of them. This wasn't her gig, and she had no business coming in and telling him how to do his job, the job he'd carved a place for himself in the hard way. No business at all.

He glared at her, his voice taking on the sharp, military edge. "Remind me again, you're the one who wanted to come, right?" She glared back, eyes hard as he continued, "This spirit's been killing people, alright? It's already killed two people in two days. Now we need to put this thing down before it kills anyone else. I'm not going to risk anyone else's life for some ghost."

Before Rose could argue any further, Tom stepped forward, looking anxiously between the two "agents". "Is everything okay?" he asked slowly.

Rose's expression cooled, softening for the civilian's sake. "It's fine, Tom," she assured him.

John nodded. "Right. Everything fine. So we better get moving." He turned and strode back towards the Impala.

He just wanted to get this little salt-and-burn over with so he could figure Rose out and get rid of her.

SCENEBREAK

The drive to the woods was spent mostly in silence. Rose was still irritated at John and his refusal to treat her like anything other than a civilian. Stubborn bastard. The Doctor (don'trememberdon'tthink) may have worried about her and been protective, but he'd always treated her like a partner. He hadn't coddled her, or thrown her to the sidelines.

When they at the edge of the woods, John parked the car in stony silence. They all got out, but as Tom headed towards the trees, John held Rose back. "Come here." He led her to the trunk of the Impala, lifting it up to show an empty car trunk. Then he lifted up the false bottom.

Rose's eyes widened as she took in the sight of the trunk. There were guns, so many guns, and so many types too. Handguns, shotguns, hunting rifles. But it wasn't just guns. There were knives, machetes, lighters, stakes, all assortment of weapons, some of which Rose had never even seen before.

John propped the false bottom up with a rifle, then turned to Rose. "Pick one," he ordered bluntly.

A step back. "I've never used a gun," Rose told him quietly. She keeps her eyes on the arsenal in the trunk, all the tools to kill and maim. She wasn't as strongly anti-gun as the Doctor, but she wasn't one to use them, and right now, it was making her think too much of him, and how she'd warned him that Torchwood had guns, and how he'd grinned at her with that idiot, beaming grin of his and reminded her that he was unarmed and that made him the better man, and she couldn't be thinking of him, not now. So she stayed back.

John looked at her incredulously. "You said you could handle yourself," he reminded her roughly. "Now you're telling me you've never even fired a gun?"

Rose glared at him and told him stiffly, "I've never needed to before. Where I come from, people talk before resorting to violence. Even then, I never used guns."

The Hunter stared at her for a moment, then shook his head. "Alright, fine. Whatever you say." He reached into the trunk and grabbed a shotgun, cocking it open so she could see inside the barrel. "Those are packed with rock salt. They won't kill a ghost, but it'll repel it and stop it from killing you, at least for a bit." Then he reached it out, offering it to her. "Take it." It wasn't a request.

The companion hesitated. A gun that didn't kill. That she could handle. The Do... he would've approved of that. With a slight grimace, she reached out and closed her hand around the cold steel of the gun.

John nodded slightly. He told her in a low voice, "If you want to be part of this fight, you have to do your part. Alright? I wasn't kidding. You say you can handle yourself, you better be able to."

She lifted her chin. "Fine," she told him coolly. "But I'm giving her a chance first. Everyone deserves a chance."

"Fine," he echoed unconcernedly. "But it won't change anything. All it's going to do is get you killed."

"Well that's my problem, isn't it?" Rose reminded him.

He chuckled slightly. "Yeah," he agreed, "so if 'trying to talk' gets you in trouble, don't expect me to drag you out of it."

The companion rolled her eyes. "You're all charm, aren't you?" she remarked sarcastically.

John just smirked slightly. He grabbed a pack and a couple of flashlights out of the trunk, then turned and headed back towards Tom, who was watching them warily. "Er, what's with the guns?" he asked with a little nervous laugh.

"Grizzlies," John told him in a deadpan tone.

The civilian looked at him oddly. "There aren't any grizzlies in these woods," he told him slowly.

The Hunter shrugged. "Well, you can never be too careful." He pushed past Tom, handing him a flashlight as he passed, starting off towards the forest. "Come on. It's already late, we need to find her fast."

"Why?" Tom asked, puzzled.

"Don't want to be out too late," was all John said. As she and Tom followed him, Rose remembered that both the deaths had happened at night. She guessed that John was thinking that meant the ghost could only attack at night. It was already after sunset; the ghost could come out at any moment.

She felt a brief shiver of fear, but mostly, it was excitement. A ghost. She was about to face a ghost. A real, honest-to-goodness, used to be human ghost. Not one of the Gelth, not one of the Cyberman ghosts, an actual, supernatural ghost. That thirst for adventure and excitement and new things to see was overwhelming any sense of fear she might have. She was on an adventure again, getting the chance to see something completely new, to help people again. The brief sense of grief over the Doctor faded, and she felt a lightness in her step again. Today was a good day.

Tom looked at her in surprise. "You're in a good mood," he noted warily.

Rose shrugged. "Just been a good day, I guess," she said lightly. John looked back at her with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing, just turning back to the trail. Tom was at the front of the group, Rose at the back with John in front of her. When the companion saw the hunch in Tom's shoulders, she passed John to walk beside Tom.

"Are you alright?" she asked the man gently.

He gave a dejected little half-shrug. "Does it matter?" he asked wryly. "This is my fault. It's been a whole year since Mal... since she..." He shook his head. "I should've done something before now. I should've gone back and helped her."

Rose just gave him a small smile. "It's not your fault," she assured him. "You didn't kill her."

"I might have," he said darkly. "Me and Paul were fighting, it was a blur, I didn't get to see who was the one who pushed her. For all I know, I'm the one who knocked her off the cliff."

The companion felt a rush of sympathy. Tom had been wrong to leave Mal like that, but she couldn't blame him, not entirely. He clearly loved his cousin. Gently she told him, "It doesn't matter, you were trying to protect her. And you're helping her now, aren't you?"

Tom just shook his head. "Yeah, a year later," he said bitterly. "If I'd helped her that day, the cops would've arrested Paul, and she would've gotten justice."

"You don't know that," Rose reminded him. "You said it yourself, Paul probably would've gotten off." When Tom continued to look dejected, she told him firmly, "Look, you didn't mean to kill her, right? So it's not your fault. Mal wouldn't blame you either. And now you're getting justice for her. It's over."

The young man finally seemed to draw a little hope from that. "Yeah. It's over." He let out a slow breath, some of the tension leaking from his shoulders. "I've wanted to tell people for so long, but I was scared I'd be blamed, and then it just got farther and farther away, and I didn't know if they'd even be able to find her. I didn't think anyone would ever believe me."

"We do," Rose assured him.

A small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "Yeah. I guess you do."

Rose felt a hand on her arm. She looked back to see John pulling her back, farther behind Tom. In a low voice he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Comforting someone who's lost a good friend," she said, glaring at him slightly. "Have a problem with that?"

John threw the young man a quick glare. "Mal has been leaving her victims alive, dragging themselves around until they die, right?"

"Yeah...?" Rose said uncertainly. Then she understood. She realized aloud, "You think Mal was still alive when she fell."

The Hunter nodded harshly. "It's that boy's fault she's dead. If he'd just helped her, she could have been saved."

Rose glared at him. "Tom doesn't know that," she hissed.

"He should."

"Why?" she asked sharply. "Look at him. He's a wreck already. You really want to add more to that? I thought your job was to help him, not make him feel worse about something he didn't cause."

John glared at her for a moment, Rose glaring right back, but the Hunter was the first to break away from the staring contest. He gave a stiff nod. "Whatever you want." John ignored her as he walked on, but Rose couldn't help but feel a smug flash of triumph. A small victory, perhaps, but a victory nonetheless. And she would make sure it wouldn't be the last.

She would make sure this ghost was treated with mercy first, whether John liked it or not.

SCENEBREAK

They were walking for a while, hiking through the moonlit forest. Tom seemed pretty confident, but John could tell something had changed. The air was getting colder, his breath visible in a puff of pale mist, and the sky seemed just that little bit darker.

He pulled Rose aside, telling her in a low voice, "She's coming."

Instead of looking worried, the girl grinned at him, looking strangely excited. The Hunter raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Rose shrugged. "Nothing. It's just... ghosts." She grinned with excitement.

John stared incredulously at her for a few moments, then shook his head, allowing himself a small, amused smile. "Yeah. I guess." Her excitement was somewhat endearing. He'd never seen anyone this excited to be on a hunt before.

He turned to look at Tom, who was waiting ahead of them. "We need to find that body fast. She's probably going to try to stop us."

Rose followed his gaze, eyes softening with worry. "We need to get him out of here," she agreed. She called out to the man in question, "Hey Tom, how much longer?"

"Not far," came the reply. "Should be just past these trees."

John felt himself settle into the alert, grim feeling of professionalism. It was nearly time. Now he had to do his job and make sure everybody got through it.

As they came to the edge of the trees, the ground starting sloping upward, and became more rocky. "Nearly there," Tom informed them.

As he spoke, there was a fierce gust of wind, bitingly cold. John stiffened, but before he could say anything, a woman flickered into existence ahead of them. She had short, brown hair that had once been in a pixie cut, but was now ragged and tattered. Her clothing was dirty and full of holes, her skin pale and rotted. She glared at them, her image flickering slightly, glaring at them with dead brown eyes.

Tom stared at her in horror. "M...Mal?" he breathed.

John cocked his shotgun, swinging it up to point at the ghost, but Rose grabbed the muzzle and forced it down. "Don't!" she hissed. John gave her a look, but the stubborn blonde just glared at him, so he lowered the gun. He knew she wasn't going to rest 'til she gave the damn thing a "second chance."

Rose slowly approached the ghost, who stared at her with dull, dead eyes. "Mal?" she asked softly. The ghost gave no sign of having heard her. She just kept staring at the girl.

The girl kept walking slowly towards her, hands held palms down in a non-threatening gesture. In a level voice she said, "My name is Rose Tyler. I'm here to help you, Mal." The spirit just stared unblinkingly at her. "You've been hurting people. I know you've been hurt, you were left to die, but this isn't the way. I can help you. Please."

Mal stared at her for a few seconds longer. Then her expression grew fierce. Rose and John were thrown back by an invisible force, flung to the ground. Mal zapped herself in front of Tom, who was frozen in place, staring in horror at what was left of his cousin. She slowly started to lift a hand to his throat, fingers stiff and cocked like claws.

John was on his knees in an instant, firing a shot square at the ghost's back. She disappeared, scattering like dust. The Hunter took the opportunity to get back on his feet, gun at the ready. Mal flickered into existence again, but before John could shoot her again, she sent him flying through the air, slamming him against a tree. He crashed into it with a dull thud, feeling the air get slammed out of his lungs.

The ghost glared at him, zapping right in front of him. She reached out with her claw-like hand, but before she could touch him, there was a shot, and she vanished again. John was released, and stumbled back onto his feet.

He looked up to see Rose staring coolly where the ghost had been, gun still raised, though it was held somewhat awkwardly. The Hunter gave her a brief nod, then turned to Tom. "Where's her body?" he asked in his sharp, military tone.

The young man was completely white in the face, eyes glued to the spot where Mal had vanished. In a hushed voice, he managed to get out, "Just over that hill, by the stump."

John turned to Rose, ready to give orders, but she spoke before he could. "I'll keep her here. You find the body." She stood protectively in front of Tom, expression determined and focused, gun raised. John had thought of her as young and innocent up to that point, but now, he could see the dangerous tension, the protectiveness as she guarded Tom. She almost looked like a Hunter.

A little irritated that she was giving the orders, he gave a stiff nod. "Fine." He turned and ran for it, hurrying over the hill. He could hear the ghost shrieking behind him, and a gunshot, but he ignored it. He just kept going.

It was level his flashlight as he was running, but as he slowed to get a proper look, the light beam swung over what looked like a right-sized lump. John hurried over to it. Once he was closer, he could see, even though it was mostly covered in leaves and dirt, there were some bones poking through. It was definitely a human corpse.

The Hunter bent down onto his knees, quickly clearing the earth off her body. Gunshots rang behind him as he stood and reached into his pack for the salt. He dusted it quickly over the body, then pulled out a match, lit it, and threw it onto the body. It caught fire immediately.

John heard a howl of rage behind him. He turned and headed back over the hill, just in time to see Mal vanished, image flickering out.

SCENEBREAK

Rose let out a slow breath. It was over. Mal was gone, and Tom was safe. The hunt was over.

As John came back towards them, she turned to Tom. The color was slowly returning to his face, but now he looked a little green, expression now full of horror. "Is she gone?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

Rose nodded sadly. "I'm sorry," she told him.

Tom said nothing. He walked past Rose, heading towards where Mal's body was. John approached Rose, brow furrowed. "Are you two okay?" he asked in a low voice.

The companion nodded. "We're fine." She watched as the young man approached his cousin's body. "Poor Tom," she said softly.

John said nothing, brow still furrowed. Rose looked at him with concern, asking, "Are you alright?"

The Hunter nodded stiffly. "Yeah. Something about that ghost though... that didn't seem right."

Rose shrugged. "She's gone," she reminded the Hunter. "It's over. Now let's get out of here, it's late."

The two waited for Tom to rejoin them, then started heading back the way they'd came. Neither had seen Tom pick something from the burning remains of his cousin.

Neither had they noticed him slip the object into his pocket.

Dun dun dun!

I think John's voice might be a little better this chapter. I actually watched some John episodes recently, so I've got a better idea of what he's like.

Sorry it took so long to get this out, I was busy settling into college. College is awesome by the way! I really love the place I've chosen, my professors and classes are all awesome, I've got awesome class times, I'm riding and skating, and my roommate is awesome! I'm introducing her to Supernatural, and she loves it.