"I told you, I can't remember anything." I mumbled.
Rain drizzled down the windows of the attic in the darkness and Mr Smith hummed quietly in the background. Mum, Rani, Luke and Clyde sat on the steps of the attic, pretty much interrogating me as I cuddled up on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket with my knees hugged to my chest. I'd been barely concious 10 minutes and all my family wanted to know was how the hell I was back, and how I stopped the 456. To be honest, I really couldn't remember what had happened. The last thing I remembered was Steven being dragged into the room by soldiers with Alice screaming outside, then seeing orange and gold. I had no idea how I got back home or where Jack was. The bastard. He'd abandoned me. And I knew full well, as soon as Martha found out, Mickey would be tracking him down with one of his giant guns. Weeeell, this was going to go well. The baby had stayed pretty silent since everything had happened, I'd roughly worked out that he'd used regeneration energy to sort everything out... but how I have no idea. At least, I could feel his prescence, I knew he was ok. I don't know what happened to the 456 either, only that they'd gone. For once, since my eyes had been opened to the universe, I didn't at least roughly know what was going on. Well, that was new.
"I was seeing gold and then..." I sighed.
"Where's Jack?" Mum asked softly.
I laughed coldly, "No idea. Then again-"
"-that's Jack all over." Mum and I said in unison, sharing a nod.
"I didn't think you were coming back." Rani said, wiping a tear away from her eye. "I know you said you weren't but... I was starting to believe it and..."
"Oh come here love." I whispered, smiling at her tearily. Rani jumped to her feet and ran over, throwing herself into my side. I hugged her tightly as she cried into my shirt. "We'll be ok, I promise." I said soothingly. I fidgeted, reaching into my jean pocket and pulling out the baby grow Ianto had bought me. Rani looked over at me in shock. "Bigger on the inside pockets." I muttered. "Mine and The Doctor's clothes are all like this." I explained, throwing the baby grow over to Mum. She quickly unfolded it, looking at it with a smile.
With a sigh, Luke got up, wriggling out of Mum's grasp as she tried to gently grab his wrist, Luke walked out of the attic. I sighed, shaking my head when Clyde got up, glaring at me before walking out as well. I sighed again, placing a kiss on Rani's head before getting up and walking out of the attic. I made my way downstairs, looking around for Clyde when the slightly opened front door caught my eye. I smiled, slowly making my way down to the door and stepping out. A few steps in front of me, leaning against the wall under the porch stood Clyde, the pouring rain just missing him. He ran his hand over his face with a sigh, leaning his head against the white concrete wall as I leant against the other wall, opposite him, the other part of the sort of arch way.
"I was going to come back you know." I muttered, looking off at the rain in the distance.
"I know you were." Clyde replied, also looking out towards Rani's house opposite. "I know you." He turned and looked at me, giving me a meaningful look. "Better than most."
I blinked, thinking, before looking round at Clyde, "You're right."
Clyde began to smile, "What were you actually going to do?" He laughed. "Like, where were you going to go?"
I breathed in sharply, turning and leaning on one side against the wall. "No idea really." I chuckled. "Just, wait until the baby was born I guess. It's easier to protect a child once it's born, than in the womb. And anyway, every baby needs an Uncle Clyde."
"Well, he needs a cool uncle, otherwise all he'd have would be geeky Uncle Luke." Clyde laughed.
I giggled, throwing myself over and throwing my arm round Clyde's shoulders.
"You can't keep running off though, when things get hard." He said sadly, sobering suddenly. "Cause I'll wait for you to come back, you know I will."
"Please don't just run home because something's hard. Cause I'll wait for you to come back, you know I will, let's just talk about this properly, now." The Doctor's words echoed through my mind.
"Because," Clyde breathed in sharply. "It's me who has to deal with Luke. He doesn't show how much he's hurting to Sarah Jane and... everytime you that you leave without an explanation, it breaks his heart. And I have to deal with him. Because as much as he loves me, Rani, Maria and Sarah Jane... it's always going to be you that he relies on more than anything. You're the one who, if he ever needed to, could give him a way to escape his own life."
"I know." I sighed. "I promise, I'm not going anywhere. I don't plan on The Doctor appearing and whisking me off without a seconds notice, but you know what he's like, and if he does, I'll be sure to let you know or come back as soon as possible."
"So no more 'walking away for good' schemes?"
"No more walking away for good schemes." I smirked, placing a kiss on his head.
"You better go talk to Luke. You've got a lot of hugs and possibly a new pair of trainers to give that boy."
"Ha." I laughed. "Good luck with that, I'm absolutely skint. No money in the world."
"You better get a job then." Clyde called after me as he pushed me back towards the door. I smirked, walking back in and running up the stairs. I stopped abruptly outside mine and Luke's room. I sighed, leaning my forehead against the door.
"Luke?" I called through softly. I slowly opened the door and looked in to see Luke laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I stepped in and shut the door behind me before sitting on the bed next to Luke. "Budge up." I muttered. Without saying anything he moved up slightly and I moved round, laying next to him. "It's funny to think it's been over 2 years since you bloody appeared in my life."
"I'm 15, I'm not an idiot." Luke mumbled.
"Luke-"
"It's funny, cause I always thought, from the day I was born, that you would always be there. To do what was best for me."
I sat up and glared at him, "And I always have."
Luke sat up also, glaring back at me, "You disappeared Flo. You left."
"Let me tell you something Luke Smith." I spat. "Yes, I left to try and keep my son safe, but I also done it to protect you. And Rani, Mum and Clyde. Because the whole bloody universe is after my child, and the first thing I thought of was you, Mum, Rani and Clyde being right in the crossfire. So don't you dare say that I never do what's best for you." Luke's gaze softened and he stared me... heartbroken. He threw himself forward, hugging me tightly. "It's ok." I whispered as he began to cry into my shoulder. "It's ok, I promise. I'm not going anywhere." I placed a kiss to his head, laying mine on top of his. "I love you." I mumbled. "I love you baby brother."
"SLITHEEN SPOTTED ON AN INDUSTRIAL ESTATE!" Mum shouted from above us, in the attic.
...
"What honestly happened with the 456?" Mum asked. The two of us sat in the middle of an industrial estate warehouse, chained to a pole by a pair of handcuffs by the Slitheen whilst we waited for Rani, Clyde and Luke returned with some sort of vinegar before we got transported back to the Slitheen home world.
"They homed in one a signal." I sighed. "They managed to track down the baby. And they were after him. They'd had those 12 kids in 1965, and wanted more. The kids were basically drugs to them, they'd be hooked up to the 456 and the 456 would absorb the chemicals." Mum looked at me in horror. "And the baby was the ultimate child, basically. When they couldn't find me and the baby, they tried to settle for 10% of the world's population of children."
Mum sighed, not knowing what to say before looking at my stoumach, "You're gonna start showing any week now."
"That'll make it all real then." I mumbled.
"Of course it's real love." Mum said. "You're having a baby. You're bringing a human life into the world." She stopped, backtracking. "Well, a time lord life into the world, you know what I mean. This is it. This is the beginning of the rest of your life. And ready or not, it's coming."
I looked away staring into space.
Shit.
I was going to be a Mum.
Shit.