Chapter 5 – Train From Birmingham
"Jack!" came the Doctor's yell from below Jack's office that evening.
Jack poked his head out the door to look below. "What?"
"Can I raid your drugs cabinet?"
"Sure! Check storage!" Jack replied, then ducked his head in again, going back to his desk to resume doing his paperwork. Five minutes of silence passed, and then suddenly he heard the Hub door open. On instinct he looked through the window... And saw what seemed to be a woman in her mid-50's standing there looking around nervously. He got up and moved out his office, waving at the woman in greeting.
"Hello, can I help you?" he asked, skipping down the stairs to her.
"Hello, umm... Is this the Sol 3 refuge centre?" the woman asked timidly.
"Yes it is, welcome, where do you wanna go?"
The woman looked a little embarrassed. "This probably sounds silly... But I'm not quite sure."
Jack just smiled gently. "Well our driver can take you anywhere you like. Come and take a seat."
The woman nodded and followed him to the seating area, sitting down nervously.
"Can I get you anything? Food? Drink?"
"No, thank you," she replied, smiling gently.
Jack nodded, taking a seat opposite her. "Sorry, he might be a bit. What's your name?"
"My name is Penelope," she replied.
"I'm Jack," he said, offering a charismatic smile. Which slowly turned flirtatious. "Penelope's a pretty name. Penny for short?"
She laughed quietly. "If you like."
He beamed, stepping up his game. "Where have you come from? Why're you on Earth?"
Penny gave a weak smile. "It's silly, really... I'm looking for my son. I had heard he was on Earth somewhere, I've been all around this tiny world hoping to see him... But I can't seem to find him anywhere. I came to the conclusion that perhaps I may be looking on the wrong world."
"Who is your son?" Jack wondered.
"Oh, my son," she breathed, smiling at an age old memory. "He's so beautiful, so caring, so loving... I have been out of his life for so very long and I do not wish that to continue. I can only hope that when I find him he can accept me once more."
There came the sound of footsteps clunking on metal from the storage area, and Jack looked up to see the Doctor headed towards the TARDIS.
"Hey, Doc, got another passenger," Jack said the the Time Lord as he passed through.
"Hold on, I'll just get these medicines to Alex," the Doctor replied, carefully carrying a tray of glass bottles and phials across towards towards the TARDIS. As he passed them he glanced up at Jack and Penny, then carried on walking.
Then he suddenly stopped dead, and looked again.
Then with a loud crash, the tray he had been holding slipped out of his fingers and hit the floor.
"Doc?" Jack asked, frowning at the quite obviously stunned Time Lord, who was staring transfixed at Penny with wide, shocked eyes. He didn't seem to realise he'd dropped the tray.
"Oh my!" Penny exclaimed, hand over her mouth. "Oh! Theta, is that you? Oh, my son!" she burst out in delight and ran to him, engulfing him in a huge loving hug while the Doctor just stood there stock still.
"Oh god!" Jack realised, horrified. "Oh god, Doctor, I swear I wouldn't have hit on her if I knew she was your Mum, I swear..."
"Oh, Theta," Penny sobbed into the Doctor's chest, Jack disregarded completely. "Oh my little boy, I've found you!"
"What's goin' on?" Rose asked, coming up behind the Doctor to find a woman hugging him tightly. "Doctor?"
The Doctor just looked between Penny and Rose, an indescribable expression etched on his face combining surprise, shock, disbelief and utter confusion.
"Oh, Theta," Penny kept saying over and over, her eyes shining with tears of joy, stepping back from the Doctor to reach up to his face, cupping his cheek. "Oh, you've still got your eyes, look at you, you're so grown up! Oh Theta, my son!"
"Wait, this is your Mum?" Rose yelped, staring at the Time Lord.
"... Yes?" the Doctor wondered in a tiny croak.
"But... But... How?" Rose stammered, now wearing the same expression as her husband. "You said..."
"This is the Doctor's Mum?" Mickey suddenly appeared as if from nowhere, followed by absolutely everyone else, all straining their necks to get a glimpse of the woman. Rose glanced at them all, then quickly marched over to the paralysed Doctor and his apparent Mother, taking them both by the hand and leading them to the TARDIS for a bit of privacy.
As the door clicked shut, the Doctor was quite obviously still in a fair amount of shock. Rose led him to the chair and sat him down, giving a quick kiss as if hoping to restore him to life. It didn't work.
"... Theta?" Penny wondered, gazing at him. Her expression had fallen.
"Hold on, just one moment," Rose said quickly, hands in the air. "This... This isn't right. What's your name?" Rose asked the lady.
"I am Penelope," the woman replied softly, her eyes still transfixed to the Doctor.
"Oh God," the Doctor croaked quietly.
"... Am I not wanted here?" Penelope wondered sadly.
"N-no, I mean... yes you are, but no... Well, I mean, look," Rose began a little messily, trying desperately to control the situation. "I don't understand. How did you get here?"
"A train from Birmingham?" Penelope wondered blankly.
"No, I mean, how did you get to Earth?"
"Oh, well ever since the Time War I've been looking for my son, Theta... I saw the headlines of the fugitive on Earth, I knew Doctor was a name he went by and... Well I hoped if I came here I might find him. And I have..." She averted her eyes back from Rose to the Doctor, still very sad.
"But... I'm sorry, but you're dead," Rose said seriously. "Didn't you die in the Time War? How did you survive?"
"I am not sure in all honesty," Penelope admitted quietly. "But I woke up on Zahir 3 in a hospital, I didn't know anyone there so I left with no possessions to try and find my family, doing little jobs on the way to pay my fares. I knew how the Time War ended, and I knew that if I survived then Theta might still be alive too. So I decided I would search the entire universe for him if I had to. It has been so many years."
Rose looked at the Doctor again, who still hadn't moved an inch, then back at Penelope. "I'm sorry, can you give us a minute?"
She just nodded, and turned away. Rose sat down next to the Doctor.
"Umm..." she began, not really knowing what to say.
"... She looks and acts just like her," the Doctor muttered quietly. "It feels like her."
Rose nodded slowly. "... I think this could be your Mum."
He didn't reply, just gazing at the floor. Rose finally nodded, and got up to walk over to Penelope, sticking out her hand to shake.
"I'm Rose Tyler, I'm human... I'm your son's wife. Welcome to the family."
Suddenly Penelope's sombre expression transformed into a happy smile as she shook Rose's hand. "Oh, thank you so much," she said, beaming. "It's such a pleasure to meet you."
"We've got two kids, Leah, she's four, and Alex, he's six months old."
"I'm a grandmother!" she realised, beaming. "Oh, I can't wait to meet them."
Rose smiled. "You will, but they're both asleep now. Tomorrow morning."
Penelope nodded. "Thank you," she said, and looked at Theta.
Rose turned with her, staring at her unmoving husband. "Doctor?"
He finally looked up, gazing at them both. Then he got to his feet and moved over to the console.
"What planet do you want to go to?" he stated more than asked in a harsh tone of voice, not even looking at Penelope.
Penelope's expression fell as Rose frowned. "Doctor..." she began.
"Stay out of this, Rose," the Doctor replied sharply, looking at Penelope. "You came here to be evacuated to another planet. What planet do you want to go to?"
Penelope's eyes watered up again. "Theta..."
"Don't call me that," he spat. "Tell me where you're going."
"Doctor, this is your Mother!" Rose exclaimed, jaw agape.
"That," the Doctor grated, pointing at Penelope but staring at Rose. "That thing is not my Mother."
"But Theta..." Penelope began, staring at him in dismay and hurt, moving forward towards him. "Please..."
"Don't come near me!" the Doctor yelled, backing away as if he was scared. "Don't touch me, don't touch my wife, don't touch my kids! I don't know what you are, why you're here or why you're torturing me like this, but it's not going to work! So tell me where you want to go and I'll take you there and we won't say any more about this!"
"No, Theta, please, I am your mother..."
"You aren't her!" the Doctor nearly screamed, absolutely enraged. "You are not my mother!"
Rose had never seen him like this before. "Doctor, please, just look at her," she said quietly, pointing at the woman now sobbing to herself.
"It can cry all it likes!" the Doctor yelled. "I am not buying it!"
"Daddy, Mummy..." suddenly came a voice from the doorway and in entered Leah in her pyjamas, cuddling Floppy.
"Go to bed, Leah," the Doctor grated, not even looking at her.
"But Daddy..."
The Doctor spun around to her, utterly furious and staring at her with piercing eyes. "GO! TO! BED!" he roared directly at her. Leah's lip instantly began to wobble and she turned and fled back into the depths of the TARDIS.
Rose instantly pounced him, absolutely infuriated. "I don't know what the hell you think you're doin' but you go and apologise to Leah right now!"
"Not before that thing leaves!" the Doctor spat, pointing at Penelope.
"She's stayin' here!" Rose yelled back, moving to Penelope to give her a comforting hug.
"This is my TARDIS! I can kick out whoever I bloody well like!"
"The TARDIS is not yours, she's ours!"
"She's always been mine!" he screamed back. "You think you can pilot her? Well go ahead, Rose! Take her for a spin!" he shouted, stepping back from the console and throwing his arms in the air to invite her to have a go.
"She's our family's!" Rose yelled, almost in tears now. "Or maybe you don't bloody want us anymore?"
"How can you say that?"
"You're doin' a pretty good job of actin' like you don't care about us!"
The Doctor just stared at her, his eyes piercing into her's, his teeth gritted. Finally he straightened up and started towards the TARDIS. "I need to get out of here," he stated emotionlessly, grabbing his coat on the way.
"If you're still gonna be a wanker don't bother comin' back!" he heard Rose scream from behind him as he slammed the door shut. Instantly he met with the guilty faces of the entire Torchwood staff, who had obviously been listening at the door.
"What the hell are you all looking at?" the Doctor yelled in their faces, and then made down the steps and out the rolling entrance door without so much as a look back.
A/N: My God, how DID five days go by! I'm sorry! I'll review reply on this one, I'm sure you've got a few questions :P