~oOo~
The next morning Clara continued to feel that something was wrong. Around lunch time, she had driven by the empty fields where something could have come down three times. There was still nothing to be seen there. Taking a chance, she'd gone up to the little house and knocked on the door. After a minute, Brock, the waiter from the hamburger place that was Rose and Clara's favourite place to get chips, answered the door.
"Sorry to bother you," Clara began. "But did you hear or see anything suspicious last night?"
The young man tilted his head to one side and then the other, studying her. After a moment, he took in a deep breath through his nose. Something about him gave her the creeps. "I don't think so. But you are more than welcome to come in and take a look around." He stepped back to allow her inside.
With every fibre of her being, Clara knew that was a bad idea. "No thanks, I'll just be on my way." Turning on her heel, she practically sprinted back to her car, wanting to put as much distance between her and the boy as she could.
~oOo~
It was nearly eight o'clock when Rose finished putting on the finishing touches to her makeup. It had been a stress filled day. Something felt off, and she couldn't explain it. On the surface, everything had seemed normal.
She and John had spent the morning in bed, a rather frequent occurrence now. He'd finished reading her his novel. It was a beautiful story. In all honesty it was their story. A battered old solider who had lost everything in the war had met a young woman whose own life was stuck in a rut. Together they were happy. Her life was filled with new adventures, and she helped him heal. His life was so transformed by the girl that he practically became a new man.
That's where the problems started. The new man that he had become was lighter, happier and could more easily set aside past hurts and live in the moment. The girl was already his, and he no longer had to earn her love and, without meaning to, he took her for granted. Unable to face being shoved to the side while he showed others the affection that he used to bestow on her, she left.
In her absence, he once again spiralled into despair, hurting any and all people who tried to befriend him. As for her, while she missed him she was happy with her life. She made something of herself, and he was incredibly proud of her. Many years later they found each other again, and this time he fought for her. He won her back not with his words but with his actions, and they were happy. It wasn't always easy, but they were together.
Rose saw more of the Doctor in John every single day. But with every day that passed, despite her hopes that everything would be alright between them this time, she became more and more convinced that something would go far things had been smooth, and at times she forgot that he was hiding here from aliens that wanted to kill him. The meteorite in the sky last night had unnerved her. When she had gone downstairs in the middle of the night to check on the TARDIS, she had also snuck out and driven by the place that the meteorite was most likely to have come down. There was nothing there. She only wished that had made her feel better.
"You look beautiful," John professed, coming into the room and breaking her train of thought. She loved her dress. It was one that the TARDIS had provided her with. It was midnight blue with little sequins all over the top, a square neckline, and capped sleeves. The skirt flared at the waist so it looked like she was floating.
"Zip me up?" Rose asked as he reached her. His long fingers trailed up her skin as he slowly pulled up on the zipper. When he reached the top, he pressed his lips on the back of her neck.
"As much as I like undressing you, there's a certain brilliance in seeing you in something so gorgeous. Pity you're covering your legs again."
Turning around, she kissed him. "You look quite handsome yourself, and I told you, once we're someplace warm, I'll show off my legs more often."
A smug grin formed on his face. "I'm holding you to that." His fingers brushed against her necklace. The pendant shone like the night sky, and it was warm against his hand. "This is lovely."
"Thank you. It's one of my favourites." She reached up and grabbed his hand. "Shall we go?"
He tugged her gently towards the bed and away from the door. "We could ring in the New Year here instead of going to your work party. It would unquestionably be more fun."
She hadn't told him yet, but right after Christmas, she had turned in her resignation to her bosses. They had decided to bring in someone from the home office while they searched for her replacement. Then they had asked Rose to announce it tonight, at the company sponsored community New Year's Eve party. Shaking her head she tugged him towards the door. "Later, I promise," she purred.
With a filthy grin he replied, "Well then, allons-y, Rose Tyler. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave." He manoeuvred her out of the room and towards the stairs.
She had to laugh at his fuzzy logic. "I don't think that's how this works."
~oOo~
Clara had spent the rest of the day fretting over how Brock had acted earlier. It was unusual, and to be honest it freaked her out, but was it enough to arouse suspicions? There was a moment or two when she'd been ready to call Jack and then convince herself that she was overreacting. Had she not seen the meteorite last night would his behaviour have even raised an eyebrow? Probably not, so she would just wait until she had more proof before she alerted anyone.
For the first time in almost two years she was carrying her service weapon. If something was going on, she didn't want to be unprepared. She had been spending the entire afternoon going between various locations in town, the library, the diner, the coffee shop, amongst other places, watching to see if anyone was acting similarly weird. No one seemed the least bit strange. It was getting late, almost time for the party to start, time to go. Stepping out of the library she almost ran smack into Joan and George Redfern.
"Sorry," Clara said, quickly sidestepping them. According to Pinnacle's lawyer, neither she nor Rose was to have any contact with them. Joan was quick and came around her, blocking her path. Her father sniffed loudly from behind Clara. Joan did the same. It was the same thing that Brock had done this morning.
"Are you alright?" Clara asked without thinking.
"I don't think this is her, Father of Mine," Joan stated, ignoring Clara. "There is the slightest trace, but she isn't the one we are looking for." George grunted, and the pair stalked off down the street.
Ok, that was bizarre. When they were out of earshot, she pulled out her mobile and dialled Jack's number. His voicemail picked up on the third ring. "Jack, its Clara. I think we've got trouble. Call me."
~oOo~
Rose hadn't even have a moment to say hello to anyone before John had gathered her in his arms and pulled her out onto the dance floor. That had been over an hour ago. So far it had been a great night, and only the tiniest bit of apprehension over last night's events remained. "I'm thirsty," Rose declared over the din as they reached the edge of the crowd.
"I'll get us something to drink then." Leaning over, he kissed her cheek. "Be right back."
Rose smiled and watched as John walked away. Today was twelve weeks exactly since the Doctor had reappeared in her life and tipped it over on its head once more. It was almost time to open the watch. Three months is such a vague descriptor when it came to something as important as keeping him hidden. Was three months today? Or should she wait another week? What would she say to John to get him to open the watch?
"Rose," Clara said, pulling her from her thoughts. "We need to talk. It's really important."
Rose's brow furrowed. Clara looked upset. "What's wrong?"
"Do you remember the meteor shower last night? Green lights in the sky? Something alien arrived here, I'm sure of it." The young woman's eyes scanned the room.
The bottom dropped out of Rose's stomach. "How do you know?"
Clara stood up straight. "I know aliens." Her southern accent slipped away and was replaced with a London one. "I'm with UNIT."
Anger flared in Rose. "UNIT?" Why hadn't she seen this before? "You're a UNIT plant? Sent here to what? Spy on me?"
"Not you, Rose, but Pinnacle? Absolutely. Geniuses getting free reign to create potentially dangerous technology? Of course someone would be monitoring it, and don't you dare tell me that you weren't passing tips back to Jack at Torchwood to snap up the patents on the ones you felt shouldn't fall into the wrong hands."
"Touché," Rose conceded. "So back to these aliens, what do you know?"
Clara sighed. "Yesterday something came down outside of town. Now I'm convinced it was a spaceship, but I don't have any proof. I investigated, but they must have cloaked it somehow." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "I know about the… I know what you are protecting, who you are protecting, and I want to help."
Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw Joan Redfern draw nearer to them. "How do you know about that?"
Rolling her eyes, Clara responded in a hushed tone. "UNIT has a longstanding association with the Doctor, and your name has come up in several reports. But none of that matters right now because he's hiding here and he doesn't seem to know that he's the Doctor. Jack refuses to tell me anything, even though he demanded I keep an eye on you two. What is the Doctor hiding from?"
Rose was torn. Up until this point, she had completely trusted Clara, and Clara had been lying to her the entire time. For all Rose knew this could be a plot by the Family to trick her into bringing the Doctor back. "How can I trust you?"
"I wish I had time to prove to you that you can, but right now, that's not a luxury we can afford. Go with your gut, Rose," Clara replied. Nearby, Joan smiled manically and walked away.
"The Family of Blood," Rose said softly. She needed an ally, and despite how angry she was at Clara she was right now, she also knew implicitly she could trust Clara. "That's what he called them. I just know that they're like Mayflies: short life spans. He needed to hide for a few months."
Clara was about to ask another question when John walked up. "Clara!" he exclaimed. "Happy New Year. Are you enjoying the party?"
Clara nodded, and Rose took his hand. "Let's get out of here, John," she whispered in his ear. "Have our own party, yeah?"
Someone screamed, and there was the sound of a weapon discharging and a small explosion. Rose, John and Clara all turned in the direction of the disturbance. "WE WILL HAVE SILENCE," George Redfern boomed above the rest of the noise. Beside him were Brock and a woman that Rose recognized as Mrs Sterns, the Librarian. People fled out of the auditorium, trampling one another to escape the unknown.
"Dr Redfern," someone yelled. "What is going on here?"
George sniffed the air. "We are looking for the Time Lord. We are looking for the Doctor. Now where is he?"
"I think Rosie Posie is keeping his secret, Father-of-Mine," Joan giggled, not sounding at all like herself. "I overheard her and little miss prissy pants talking about the Doctor. They're hiding something, hiding him."
"Grab her, Son-of-Mine," George ordered Brock. The young man strode purposely across the large room towards Rose. John tried to block her, but Rose gently pushed him out of the way. The man who had spoken earlier charged forward towards Brock. With a laugh, the young man pulled out some sort of weapon and fired. Rose winced. That man had died for no good reason and she had to stop it. Thankfully the room had mostly cleared by now, less chance of any more innocents getting in the way.
"John, I need you to run. Get out of here, and I'll meet you back at my house when I can," Rose told him firmly, keeping her eyes fixed on Brock.
"I'm not leaving you." His voice trembled slightly. Reaching forward, he took her hand and squeezed it. Rose turned quickly and gave him a small smile before dropping his hand and walking towards the intruders. She was several feet away from John before he jumped after her, but Clara caught his arm.
"I can't let them get a hold of you," Clara hissed. "I won't let anything happen to her. I swear to you. Now go." This time he was shoved in direction of the door, and he stumbled just as Brock grabbed his Rose. John cried out as Rose was dragged back to where Dr Redfern, Joan and the librarian were standing.
George leered at Rose, taking long sniffs of the air around her. "Well, well, well, what have we got here?"
"She reeks of time, Husband-of-Mine," Mrs Sterns crooned. "Maybe we can use her along with the Doctor. She seems like she would be a tasty snack."
Why were they talking about the Doctor as if he was real? He was just a character in John's journal, a figment of his imagination. John was real, Rose was real, and the Doctor was not.
Rose chuckled dryly. "I won't let that happen. You'll never lay a hand on the Doctor or on me. I'll give you one chance. Give up, let me arrange for you to live out your lives in peace, or I'll take you down."
"Empty threats will do you no good. Especially when I've already got you exactly where I want you," Brock growled. "And soon we will feast on you."
"Patience, Son-of-Mine," George warned. "This is all so you can live forever. Now you, Rose, tell me where the Doctor is, or we will kill you and this whole town will burn."
John watched as Clara snuck around behind the group. His stomach was twisting in knots. How were Clara and Rose remaining so calm?
Holding her head high, Rose stared down this Father-of Mine. "Not taking me up on my offer to surrender, then?" she asked, not trying to pull away.
"Hardly," the man scoffed and jammed another gun into her ribs. "Now tell me where the Doctor is."
Rose shifted. "First tell me what happened to George Redfern, his daughter, Brock and Mrs Sterns. Are they still in there, or have you killed them?"
"Consumed, more like," the one using Joan' body said with a smirk. "Oh, how this one screamed, the pitiful creature. I do have access to her surface memories, and oh, how she hated you. Somehow that's going to make this all the more fun."
"That's what you think," Rose said before stomping on the foot of the alien in Brock's body and knocking away his weapon. Then she shoved Father-of -Mine into the woman calling herself his wife, knocking them both down.
"Oh, no you don't," Joan yelled, pulling out her own weapon and aiming at Rose. "I'm going to enjoy this."