I never saw it happening I'd given up and given in
"She ate him," the Doctor is saying. "Absorbed him up."
"Like an Absorbaloff?" Rose has finally stopped shaking, though it will be a good long time before she can think about either houses or knitting needles without breaking into a cold sweat.
"I don't think so. Something else. This universe is a bit different from our own. There could be all kinds of weird creatures I've never encountered out there."
"That's a cheery thought. I feel safer already."
"Bloody hell," he mutters, "why do we always get stuck with the insane aliens?"
Rose pushes to her feet as she hears cars approaching the house. They made it as far as the front porch before she collapsed in a heap. The Doctor tried to keep her warm and calm while he called Torchwood from her mobile phone. Now a parade of dark SUVs with dark tinted windows pulls up the drive.
"Uh oh," Rose says. Her dad is the first one out of the first car.
Pete bounds up the steps and takes Rose by the shoulders. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Dad."
Pete looks to the Doctor, who nods. "Bit of a shock is all. I don't know if you'll find anything," he adds, watching the two field teams assembled starting to bring their equipment into the house. "All the evidence got sucked up."
"We'll see what we can find. I have another team at the other house you told me about. There may be traces of something there."
"We tried to stop her," Rose says. "I begged her to stop."
"Wasn't your fault, Rose. You all right to go home?"
"Unless you need us here."
Pete shakes his head. "You go on. I'll let your mum know you're all right."
"Tell her we'll find a house on our own," the Doctor says over his shoulder, leading Rose down the steps to their car.
Pete half-smiles and shakes his head. He watches his daughter and the Doctor drive away, and turns to go inside the house.
oOoOo
"All right," the Doctor says briskly. "We're going in today. Shooting has already started, but I think we're allowed to be a bit late this morning."
Rose nods agreeably. A good night's sleep and pancakes for breakfast have renewed her outlook on life.
"We'll start by looking around, listening to gossip and chatter, see what comes up."
"Mmm hmm."
"And hopefully we can find out who's behind Sam's problems without having to leave Earth."
"Were we going to leave Earth?" Rose asks.
"No. Well, probably not. More than likely not, since I don't know how." The Doctor sighs. "Remind me to ask all these aliens how they manage to go back and forth. There must be a way."
"Clearly," Rose says.
He smiles at her. "You're in a rather good mood this morning."
"I am," she confirms. "Let's go solve this thing."
oOoOo
Donna has a promotion. She's happy as can be about it, but with the promotion comes a whole lot of headaches. She can't just go into her office and shut the door anymore. Now she has to run interference with people for Sam, and listen to questions that she has no answers for.
Luckily she's being paid a lot of money to do these things. A lot of money.
Sam is reading Lights!Camera!Action! when Donna finally tracks him down.
"What are you doing?" she asks in disbelief. "There's a hundred people out there all asking for you, and you're in here reading your latest profile?"
He holds up the page he's been reading. "My last interview. Went over pretty well."
Donna shakes her head. "Geoffrey's looking for you. I don't know what he wants - I had no idea what he was saying."
"Was it in English?"
"'Course it was in English! What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing's wrong with me. Sometimes Geoffrey forgets himself and lapses back into our mother tongue." Sam sets the magazine down and stands up. Donna forces herself to maintain eye contact with him, even though her first reaction is to look away. He makes her nervous. Much more now that she knows who he really is.
"Was there anything else?" he asks her.
Donna shakes her head. "No. Just...just Geoffrey. He's looking for you."
Sam has been very careful for a very long time. He's been hiding in plain sight for years now, and being a time agent is no invitation for a careless lifestyle. He didn't allow himself to really notice Donna before, apart from his initial reaction of interest and appreciation.
Now, though...now she knows who he is and what he's really doing. Her response to that was encouraging. He wonders if there could ever be a chance between them.
Not that he would act upon it, of course, he hastily adds to his mental musings. She is a human woman, and belongs here on her world with other humans. Human males.
Oh, to hell with it, Sam decides recklessly. "Donna," he begins.
"Oh, I have to go check on one of the sets," Donna remembers suddenly. "Something about the color of the background."
"Clive can do that."
"I'll talk to you later!" Donna heads away, not looking back.
Sam folds his arms across his chest. Really, what is he thinking?
oOoOo
Paul and Fiona are having problems with the script. Well, Paul is.
"I don't see why I don't get to chase down the dragon," Paul is complaining to Clive.
Clive sighs. "Paul, you are not the lead on this film, okay? And it's not a dragon. It's a giant mutated lizard."
"Why not? I'm ten times better looking than Alex Fletcher." Paul speaks the name with deep loathing.
"Yeah, but he's ten times the actor you are," Fiona says, filing her nails in the corner.
Paul glares at her. "No one asked you! He's not even one of us," he adds to Clive.
"No, he's not. And he's one of the few that never asks questions! He's a big star and we're lucky to have him. We don't win awards by using unknowns in the leads. You think our kind of films get all the attention they deserve? It's not like any of us are making The Lord of the Rings."
Fiona shakes her head. "I don't see how it's as popular as it is. I mean, a movie about miniature donkeys looking for a ring? Bizarre."
"Very," Paul says, in agreement with her for once. "The book wasn't much better. I don't know where a film came from."
"Give it a rest, Paul," Clive advises. "Next time we'll find you something good."
"Don't think I won't mention this to Aunt Mona when I go home."
Clive turns on him. "If you so much as complain at all about what goes on here, you will never leave Nocklyn again. Is that clear?"
Paul's handsome face settles into a pout once Clive leaves.
"I was the top actor here before Sam started this latest project. Spock awards weren't enough for him - he has to conquer the world now."
"You shouldn't have mentioned Aunt Mona," Fiona advises him.
"She's my aunt, not yours."
"She's his wife. Your family doesn't need any extra pressure, do they? Bad enough the council is having them all watched."
Paul turns to her. "What did you say?"
"The council. Your entire family is being watched. They don't trust Sam. They don't trust any of you at the moment."
oOoOo
Some days Rose thinks her life could be a tv show. She's the lovely young ingenue who assists the clever Doctor/detective with his cases.
They've been casually touring the set, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Out on the lot one of the first scenes is being filmed. A group of scientists sit around a table and discuss the situation at hand - an upcoming alien invasion.
Rose is highly amused to see several Torchwood agents wearing white coats and acting as scientists.
"I wonder if they'll get paid?" she asks.
"They'll make scale," Simon says from behind her. "They ran out of extras. Lively keeps rewriting certain scenes."
"He does? What for?" The Doctor turns from his examination of the set.
"I don't know. Maybe he doesn't like what he wrote." Simon nods to the group. "What do you think?"
"About what?"
"The costumes. My contribution to this great work," Simon says sardonically. "Apparently I know more about scientists than these folks do."
Rose studies the actors. She nods seriously. "Good job."
"Thanks." Simon nods his head. "Come on. They're about to start shooting."
"Quiet on the set!" someone calls.
"Have you found anything?" the Doctor asks when they're far enough away that no one can overhear them.
Simon shakes his head. "No, but people are all jumpy and nervous. I think we ought to activate our headsets."
"All of us?" Rose says in surprise.
"I helped these people get dressed, Rose. None of them are acting normally. Well, as normal as I think they should be," Simon amends. "If something is happening, we need to be aware of it."
"It might be shooting day jitters," she suggests.
"I think that only counts on wedding days. Doctor?"
The Doctor has been thinking hard. Now he nods slowly. "Yes. It may be normal movie making nerves. I've never made a movie so I don't know." He stops and looks at Rose. "Do you know, all this time and I've never made a movie? Been to my fair share, of course, starting with The Great Train Robbery. Was there for the first screening. 1903, it was."
"1903," Simon repeats. "Yes. Absolutely."
"Or it may be some kind of group, psychic effect," the Doctor continues. "Their race has elements of psychic powers, the ability to move objects with their minds, all kinds of fascinating abilities. They may all be sharing something on a level we can't detect."
"Maybe," Rose says doubtfully. "Or it may be that they're all nervous for a reason greater than the problems that have been going on."
"You mean like Torchwood being aware of their psychic abilities?" Simon asks.
"Yeah, that would be a damper on things," Rose admits.
"I have to go," Simon tells them. "I'll start passing the word. Have you two got your headsets?"
They do, and all three switch them on and put them in place.
"See you later," Rose says.
The Doctor starts speaking softly as they head down to another studio hallway. "Torchwood personnel, come in. Acknowledge, please. This is the Doctor."
One by one, the Torchwood agents reply.
The Doctor glances at Rose. "Did we give headsets to everyone?"
"Yeah. Did it myself before we left the Tower."
"Mark from Accounting," the Doctor says. "Can you hear me?"
"I'm here."
"Excellent. Anything new going on in payroll?"
"No one's been paid yet. We've just started work. But I have everyone's pay records and information."
"Perfect. Hang on to that, we may need it."
The Doctor nods thoughtfully as he disengages his headset, allowing him to hear anyone who needs him but not letting anyone else hear what he says.
"Rose, people were nervous in wardrobe."
"Women tell their hairdressers everything," Rose suggests. "Let's go see hair and makeup."
He runs a hand through his hair. "Good idea."
Rose smiles slightly. Sometimes the pretty young ingenue really knows what she's talking about.
The thought reminds her of something.
"Hey," she says, catching up with him and grabbing his arm. "No more note taking, yeah?"
"No more notes."
oOoOo
Sam is an alien. From another planet. A being completely different from herself.
Yes. That's it.
If Donna keeps repeating those words, over and over again, eventually they will seep into her brain and she will accept them.
At the moment, though, all she wants to do is - well, that's not really professional, is it?
"You okay?" Sam Lively, alien being from another planet, asks.
Donna clears her throat. "Yes, thanks. Fine. Why?"
He gives her a strange look. "No reason. You looked like you were in pain."
"Pain!" Donna scoffs. "No, not at all. What is it?" she asks, trying to retrieve her dignity.
He hands her a packet. "As my new assistant, would you mind going over these scenes for me? You catch things I don't always see, and I don't want any slow ups when we shoot next week."
"Of course." Donna takes the packet and smiles. He's made her his assistant - professional assistant, not personal, as he was quick to assure Derek. Donna is happy to leave Derek to the business of running Sam's clothes to the laundry and making sure his lunch is ready when he wants it. She's more than pleased to help him out with the details that he used to rely on Clive for. Now Clive can get to work on the more important aspects of the film, and Donna gets to work closely with Sam.
Not that that's why she accepted the position, of course. You'd have to be mad not take a promotion and a pay rise.
Sam pauses in the doorway. "Donna..."
Donna looks up, her heart speeding up despite the fact that she knows better. "Yes?"
"Do you-"
"Sam!" Paul skids to a halt in front of him, plastering an arm to the door. "Sam, we have a problem!"
"Paul, whatever it is, it can wait," Sam says, seriously annoyed. The boy had an absolute genius for interrupting.
"Sam, I just talked to Fiona. The council is having us watched."
"We know that, Paul, that's why Torchwood is here." Sam would box the boy's ears if they were alone. Really, he needs to think about dumping all of these relatives and using real, human actors and crew next time.
"The council isn't just watching us here," Paul says slowly. "They council is watching the family. Our family - all of them."
Sam suddenly can't breathe. "Are you sure?"
"Fiona told me just now. One of her school friends is the daughter of a council member."
"That's not good," Sam says in a near whisper. "They could ruin everyone if they want to."
Donna stands up and hurries over to them. She places her hand on Sam's arm, concerned. "Sam..."
He turns to Donna. "They could destroy businesses, take homes. All they need to do is claim that someone is a threat to stability and that person is gone."
Donna nods. "Okay, then. Do we need to stop the movie?"
Stop the movie. Lose millions and millions on advertising, salaries and promotions.
Sam shakes his head. "We can't. We've come this far. I'm not going to let them intimidate us."
"That's fine for us," Paul says quietly, and it's the first time Donna has ever seen a side of him that wasn't vain and petty and complaining. "We're safe here, for the most part. Barring an assassin or something, or your death. Our parents, our grandparents, everyone else is at their mercy."
"There must be something we can do!" Donna implores Sam.
"We have to find out who's behind this," Sam says grimy. "Paul, come with me."
They leave Donna standing in the doorway of her office, clasping her hands together.
oOoOo
"Clive!" Sam shouts down the corridors. "Clive, where are you?"
"Here!" His brother appears out of nowhere. "What are you shouting for? It sends a bad example."
"Oh, shut up. Listen, the council is watching the family. They're not going to back down. I need to go home and find out who's doing this."
"You can't go home!" Clive protest. "They'll hold you and they won't release you."
"I can't leave our relatives to live in jeopardy."
"They're safe enough."
"Even Aunt Mona?" Paul demands. "The kids? My grandparents?"
Clive shuts his eyes and shakes his head.
"I'm going," Sam says firmly. "I'll stop this."
"Bit late for that," Janet says from behind them. All three men turn.
"Janet?" Sam asks.
"The person behind all of this is here," she says calmly. "We'll find out who it is before the close of the day."
"Stop talking like a professional fortune teller," Clive says in disgust.
She stares at him, unmoving, until he starts to twitch. Finally he mutters angrily and walks away.
"You can go," Janet says in a normal voice. "I know you have things to attend to."
Paul slowly backs down the hallway, walking away as fast as he can.
"What are you up to, Jan?" Sam asks her.
She smiles. "It's not good for me to be around so many worried souls. It gives me a headache. But I want to make sure this ends today."
"Do you all take lessons in alien grammar school about being cryptic?" Donna asks from behind them. "Honestly."
Sam and Janet turn around.
Janet smiles. "Donna!"
"Janet. Hello." Donna hopes her smile appears sincere. She feels sincere, but you never know.
"Sam was just telling me about some problems at home."
"Yeah, I know. Any ideas?" Donna asks Sam.
He shakes his head. "We're sitting ducks here, just waiting for something. And now our family is, too."
Janet looks troubled, but she shakes her own head at his words. "Our family is strong, Sam. They're not about to be intimidated by someone. None of them are."
Yes, there is a movie to keep on schedule and some kind of weird alien madman out to get Sam, and Rose and Dr. Smith keep lurking around corners, looking for who-knows-what. Donna zeroes in on the most important fact.
"Your family? Are you related, too?"
"Cousins," the say together.
"First degree, actually," Janet adds. "So we're much closer to each other than some of the others here."
"Not that you'd know it," Sam interjects, "seeing as how they all wanted to come join me on this earthly paradise."
Donna's smile comes much more easily this time. "It's a nice place." She gestures behind her. "I need to get back. See you later."
Sam and Janet watch her walk away.
"She will be trouble," Janet states, but her expression is calm.
Sam looks at her. "What? Trouble how?"
Janet's eyes have that far-away look, the look that says she's seeing things that aren't there.
"Trouble for you," she says finally. And smiles.
oOoOo
No one else has noticed too much.
"It was pretty busy here," Riley says in the hair and makeup trailer. "A bit loud to overhear anything. Laura?"
A woman with deep black hair looks up. She's teasing a bright red wig and spraying it in place.
"Didn't hear anything," Laura says. "Cleo?"
Cleo, the makeup artist, is busy making up an actor's face. "No," she says shortly.
"Look," Rose begins, "we're here to help all of you, not to cause trouble. The sooner we figure this out the sooner everything will be back to normal."
"Torchwood knows about us now," Laura says quietly. "Things won't ever be normal again."
"You have nothing to fear from us," the Doctor says in a voice that reassuring and yet implacable. "As long as there's nothing you're hiding."
"That was a bust," Rose says outside the trailer.
"Well, they're scared. And nervous." The Doctor sighs and looks around. The set is a crazy mix of people and actors, all running around to get somewhere. Alien costumes come and go as actors are called to take their places.
"Kind of takes the fun out of it all," Rose says wistfully. "Movies seemed so magical when I was a kid."
"Well, we have a new kind of magic now. Aliens and alien tech." He pronounces the last words with relish.
Rose laughs and shakes her head. "You're such a dork."
oOoOo
The Doctor has found his way into the special effects trailer, where no one is traditionally allowed to go.
"What the hell are you doing here?" a man asks.
The Doctor smiles at him. "Hello! Just looking around here. I love what you've done here." He nods to a latex face mask of what appears to be a Judoon crossed with an elephant. "Mind if I take a look at some of your equipment?"
The man scowls at him. "I don't know who you are, but you'd better leave."
"I'm Torchwood," the Doctor says simply.
"Then you definitely have to leave."
"I'm not here to trap you or hunt you or hurt you. I'm here because your boss asked me to help. The only alternative to that is to close up shop and head back home."
The man sighs. "What is it that you want?"
oOoOo
"An alien tech scanner," Rose repeats.
"Lovely, isn't it?" the Doctor asks proudly.
"It looks like a water gun."
"Rose!"
It does look like water gun. A water gun with a small supercomputer strapped to the barrel and various bits of string and other material wrapped all around it.
"What do you use for that, anyway?"
"It's amazing the stuff you find in a special effects trailer run by extraterrestrial beings," he tells her excitedly.
"Yeah, tell me about that later. Let's go use it."
"When you hear a beep, that will be something that's not human in nature."
"That means most of the lot here."
"Tech-wise, not person-wise."
It's a long hour of walking around, pointing the water gun/alien tech detector at various places. Rose is just about to excuse herself to go do something more useful when the thing finally beeps.
"Was that a noise?" she asks in surprise.
"Yeah." The Doctor regards the water gun closely. "Nice. I was starting to have my doubts."
"Were you?"
"Not really. But I could tell that you were flagging." The Doctor waves it around and it beeps again. "Hmm."
They're standing in the back of the main studio building. People walk in and out of here all day, and it's the only point of entry to get on the studio lot. The Doctor walks in one direction, then reverses it when no more beeps are heard. Finally he hears it again.
"I think it's coming from that closet." Rose walks to a supply closet and tries the knob. "Locked."
The beeping increases. Rose bends down and examines the doorknob. "Hand me a pen," she says.
"A what?" the Doctor asks over the beeping. He glances over his shoulder to make sure that they're not attracting attention.
"Your pen," she says impatiently, holding out her hand.
He fishes a pen out of his pocket and hands it to her.
"Can't you turn that off?" Rose asks as she jimmies the pen in the lock.
"I'm trying. What are you doing there?"
"Bit of jiggery pokery." Rose carefully bends the pen to the left. "Ha! Got it!" She turns the knob and the door opens wide.
"Nice," he says approvingly.
"Thanks."
"Where'd you pick that trick up, anyway?"
She smiles. "Oh, Jake and Mickey taught me a thing or two, back when the three of us were here."
"Must have been a great time."
"Sometimes," she says noncommittally. "When I wasn't trying to think of how to get back to you it was."
"All's well in the end." The Doctor turns off his water gun and looks around. "Hmm."
"'Hmm'?"
He bends down next to a set of wire pipes leading out to what Rose thinks might be a water heater or air purifier.
"What is it?" Rose leans down to take a look.
"It's a leak, here in the air system." He points to the spot so she can see for herself.
Rose kneels down on the floor beside him. She leans in so close he can smell her shampoo.
"There?"
"Yeah. They have these installed throughout the place. Cleans out the oxygen because they can't stand too much of it. Filters it a bit. Not enough to hurt any humans, but enough to keep them healthy."
"That says oxygen."
"Yeah. It does. Oxygen. Just a slow leak, not much at all at first, but let it build up and eventually you poison any creature who has a low tolerance for it. Like anyone from the planet Nocklyn."
Rose looks around the room. "We could get a crime team down here."
"Yeah, but to what end? Fingerprints? Whoever did this won't be in any government system. They're alien, just like the others here."
"That's not encouraging."
The Doctor stands up. "Right. Come on, Lewis."
"We on the case?"
"Oh, we're on the case," he assures her.