Thinking of you
It was thundering outside. Rose looked up at the sky and shuddered. She had never been a fan of thunderstorms and whenever there was one when she was younger, she would go into Jackie's room and cuddle up beside her, feeling safe. She remembered one time, at some planet, whose name she had long forgotten, there had been a thunderstorm worse than she had ever experienced and the Doctor had offered her safe haven inside his coat, letting her cuddle up next to him. She had never felt safer.
"Are you okay?"
Owen's voice broke her out of her walk down memory lane. "Yeah, just not really a big fan of thunderstorms."
"You know, thunder is just…"
Rose held up her hand to stop him. "No scientific explanation, please" she said with a smile.
"Sorry" Owen said and offered her a cup of tea he had been hiding behind his back. "I used to hate thunder when I was younger."
"Me too" Rose said, accepting the tea. "Still do… I don't know why, they just always feel foreboding, like something bad is going to happen. And now with the Master… It's just bad timing, I suppose."
Owen gently placed his arm around her shoulder. "Nothing is going to happen to you. We'll make sure of that."
Rose nodded. "I know. It's just, I have this bad feeling. I can't shake it" she said and unconsciously moved into his embrace.
"It's probably just the thunder. We're all a bit on edge right now and a thunderstorm just adds to the mood."
"You're probably right" Rose said and sipped her tea, while the thunder raged outside the apartment.
Finding the Headhunter had been easier than expected, but then again, the Master was an evil mastermind. She was working on infiltrating a Torchwood base located in Glasgow and it hadn't taken much convincing on his part to have her join him in his crusade. But then again, he was an evil mastermind!
She had been reluctant at first to share secrets and preferred that he just called her Headhunter, although she had blatantly refused to call him Master, instead opting to just call him Harry or Marsian (which he really didn't appreciate). He had told her his story, how he ended up in an other universe, an alternative one to the one they were currently in, and that he spent his first few years believing he was a normal man, until a rather curious acquaintance of his had opened an old fob watch and it had released his true self. He had told her he fled the Time War to save himself and that he wanted revenge on Rose Tyler. She had told him of her run ins with a Time Lord who called himself the Doctor (at this the Master had violently rolled his eyes, he remembered the Doctor all too well) and how she had been following him through space and time.
The Master had finally asked her about the Time War. What Rose and Harkness had regaled to him greatly worried him, but the Headhunter confirmed his worst fears: Gallifrey had burned in the Time War, along with almost everything else, including the Time Lords. He and the Doctor were the only ones left!
"Jack, something just landed in Cardiff, something big" Tosh said. She was stationed at Owen's coffee table with three laptops, all monitoring alien activity in the greater area of Wales. It had been six hours, almost, since Rose had met the Master, but Jack didn't feel like leaving the apartment just yet, so they all stayed.
"Not another dragon" Ianto asked from his place on the floor. He had refused to sit on Owen's couch, citing that it was probably full of all sorts of diseases.
"No, it's too complex in form to be another dragon. The readings indicate it's a spaceship of some form."
"Maybe it's the Ambassador coming to claim his disco stick" Jack said in a mocking tone.
"Is it the Doctor" Rose asked.
"No, the computer doesn't recognize it, it's something new" Tosh said. "I'll try to triangulate the signal."
"Great, this is just what we need. Another rogue alien" Owen said. "Is there some sort of galactic gathering we're not aware of?"
"It'll talk a little while to find the location, I don't have the proper equipment here" Tosh said in an apologetic tone.
"It's fine Tosh, just do it as fast as you can" Jack said. "In the mean time we stay here."
"For how long, exactly" Gwen asked. "In the end it won't matter where we are and we'll be better equipped at the hub."
"For now, we stay. There's still a couple of hours until sunrise. Then we'll talk about going to the hub" Jack said in a firm tone. Arguing with Gwen was something he desperately didn't want to do right now.
"I'll make some more tea" Ianto offered and got up from the floor.
"Great, maybe he'll make enough for me to drown myself in" Gwen said and sat down next to Tosh. "How long before we know where the thing landed?"
"An hour, maybe" Tosh said. "It depends on the signal where it landed."
"What are we going to do about the Master" Gwen asked.
"I don't know" Jack answered. "I'm still waiting on the Doctor to call me back."
"And if he never calls back" Owen asked.
"He will" Rose said in a strong tone.
Jack sighed. Owen had a valid point. "Owen's right, Rose. We can't just sit around waiting for the Doctor to call us."
"No? Because it seems like that's exactly what we're doing" Gwen said.
"Gwen shut up" Jack almost yelled. "We go to the hub in the morning. Owen and Tosh, you can check out the crash site. Gwen you're on research. I want to know everything there is to know about this Master and how you kill Time Lords. Just in case" Jack added as Rose frowned.
"So what? If the Doctor doesn't show up to take care of the Master, we shoot him" Rose asked.
"No, your father already tried that, it didn't work. We have to be a little bit more creative, I think" Jack answered. "Rose, I know you don't like this, but he's not going to give up and I don't think we can keep him incarcerated until the end of time."
"No let's do what Torchwood do best: kill an alien" Rose yelled and slammed the door the bathroom.
"Well, what's your idea then? You want to send him to therapy, so he can talk about his homicidal feelings towards you? Try to rehabilitate him" Jack yelled through the door.
"I don't know" Rose screamed. She was so frustrated and being locked up in Owen's apartment only made it worse. She was going crazy while feeling trapped.
"Rose just come out."
"NO!" She could hear Jack sigh on the other side of the door.
"Rosie, I'm sorry, I'm sorry about all of this, but there is nothing I can do. And I can't protect you, I barely know how the Doctor works and this Master is a complete mystery to all of us. And he wants you dead! This is serious…"
"I know it's serious" Rose almost whispered. "I know… Just let me think about all this, okay?"
"Sure" Jack answered. He was frustrated as well, this whole situation was getting out of hand and he didn't know how to contain it. He had often felt misplaced or misguided in his life, but never had he truly felt this scared and helpless. He had no idea what to about those damn cracks or the Master for that matter. And it scared him, because he cared more about Rose being shot by some maniac Time Lord than the universe imploding on them. Jack had cared for many people in his life, he had even loved some, but no one more than he loved Rose and the Doctor. Somehow he would have to figure out what to do about this, because he was very well aware that the Master would not sit idly by, he would hunt Rose down and destroy her, if he got the chance. Jack just had to make sure he never did.
Rose sat on the floor in Owen's bathroom trying not to think on anything. So far she had been stuck thinking about kissing Owen and sleeping with the Doctor. And not necessarily in that order. She wanted to slap herself for being so sad and pathetic; pining away for a man who had fled the planet to get away from her was definitely not good for her. And sort of crushing a little bit on a co-worker was probably not that great either. It wasn't like she was in love or anything. But Owen was kinda nice and good looking, and he was a doctor and oh god did she have a fetish or something? Maybe she should have her head examined? Maybe Owen would do it? Naked?
No bad Rose! Bad bad Rose, she reminded herself. She shouldn't think like that about Owen, especially not while she was still being all sad and pathetic, waiting for the Doctor to come back and claim his undying love for her. Which was stupid, since he probably would rather shack up with Jack than do that, but that didn't mean she couldn't dream about it, did it?
The big problem was that she would probably never move on from the Doctor. He would always have her heart and although she recognized her crush on Owen for what it was, being with him also reminded her of being with the Doctor. They were nothing alike, yet shared some of the same qualities, like a hot temper and an ego the size of France. And if Rose was completely and brutally honest, Owen was second best to the Doctor.
"I need to get my head straight" she whispered and banged it against the wall. "Stupid stupid Rose."