Chapter Two: Mayhem in the Marketplace

The Doctor pocketed the TARDIS part he had purchased and looked around for his companions. They were nowhere in sight. He sighed.

"What part of don't wander off is so hard to understand?" the Time Lord muttered under his breath as he stalked through the crowd, looking for a flash of blonde hair, a trench coat, anything that would lead him to Rose and Jack. "Excuse me," he ground out to a vendor selling scarves, "have you seen a blonde woman? She would've been with a man in a trench coat, Jack Harkness."

The woman nodded. "She was here earlier, yes. She looked at this scarf," the woman indicated a TARDIS-blue scarf of thin, fluttery material, "but she did not buy it. She was very interested though. Perhaps you would like to purchase it for her?"

The Doctor frowned, about to decline, when a picture of the scarf about Rose's neck made its way into his mind. He sighed; she would look beautiful in it, no question… and he had no power to deny Rose Tyler anything she wanted. "How much?"

A moment later, the Doctor was walking away from the scarf vendor, a midnight-blue scarf in his pocket. He wandered around the bazaar for a while, but his mind wasn't on it. Instead, he found varying scenarios running through his mind. They had been gone for far too long… what if Captain Shag-everything-that-breathes had finally—he cut off that train of thought right there. He had made it perfectly clear to Jack that he didn't care whom he shagged, but for two rules: one, keep it off the TARDIS, and two, Rose was off limits.

He stopped at the Oitos vendor's stall. The elderly woman had some more interesting news for him. "Yes, I saw the couple you seek. They stopped here to purchase my food, then exited the marketplace." She looked around cautiously, then leaned closer to him. "They were followed."

The Doctor felt his hearts skip a beat. "Followed by who?" he growled, anger rising in him like a tidal wave.

"Agency men."

The Doctor didn't wait to hear anything else. He stormed through the bazaar, headed back to the TARDIS. This Agency, he guessed to be the Time Agency, had taken his Rose, and they would pay. A shadowed form detached itself from the wall near him and followed behind him as he made his way through the horde of people. The Doctor paused as he noticed the man, then took off at a run, winding his way between stalls.

"Halt in the name of the Time Agency!" the man shouted, panic evident in his voice. The Doctor paid him no mind; at least until the first shot rang out. Someone screamed.

"Hey, that's my daughter you're shooting at! Watch where you're pointing that gun, boy!" someone yelled. Suddenly, the crowd began to hem the Agent in, shouting angrily. More shots rang out, and the people began to scatter in all directions, screaming. The Doctor watched as a young girl fell and was nearly trampled by her family, who left her behind without a thought. The Time Lord hurried to her, scooped her up, and began to run.

There was nowhere to run to, however. The seething mob of humans was hyped on fear and anger, and the Time Agent's wild firing didn't help. The Doctor swore in Gallifreyan and pushed through the riot until he had reached the fringe. On the outside, the yells were not so demanding, the fear not so palpable. He lowered the little girl in his arms to the ground and attempted to put a smile on his face.

"What's your name?" he asked, trying to sound gentle.

"Clara," the young brunette answered. "Clara Oswald, but I'm gonna be Clara Pink someday, b'cuz Danny's a Pink. Who're you?"

"Nice to meet you, Clara someday-Pink. I'm the Doctor. Can you find your way home from here?" The girl was really quite adorable; Rose would love her, the Doctor mused. The thought reminded him of what he had learned, and he was suddenly tense and ready to move on.

The little girl nodded. "I know how to stay out of the way," she said. "Stupid Time Agents do this all the time. Danny taught me about sneaking" she stretched out the vowels on the word, "and he says I do it real good. Danny knows everything," she proclaimed with a bright smile. "Bye-bye, The Doctor."

The Doctor frowned, but Clara was already running off, staying close to the surrounding buildings. He sighed, then turned and hurried to the TARDIS. The ship hummed nervously, and her fear only exacerbated his own. "Phone," he muttered, reaching for the 21st century phone Rose had insisted he purchase in case she got separated from the TARDIS. Her number was the only one in the contact list. He selected it and hit 'call'.

An unfamiliar male voice came over the line. "What the bloody hell is this thing?"

Another man answered him. "Got no idea, Jorn. Put it over there; ya can ask Blondie when she comes to."

The Doctor clenched his fists as a wave of fury roared over him. He felt the TARDIS trying to sooth him, and though he didn't want to, he grudgingly let her alleviate some of his anger. He focused completely on the words coming from the phone, looking away from the black device for just long enough to set the TARDIS tracking the signal.

"Oi, Kerry, she's wakin' up," the man called Jorn said.

"Great. Bet ya twenty quid she's Harkness's latest girl, eh?" Kerry answered.

"Yer on."

Someone, he had the terrible feeling it was Rose, groaned. "Wakey wakey, Blondie!" Jorn cried cheerfully.

"Where 'm I?" Rose said blearily. The Doctor felt relief race through him as he heard her voice. "M' head," the girl groaned.

"Yer in the headquarters of the Time Agency, Blondie. We're gonna ask ya some questions, and yer gonna answer 'em, nice and easy. Let's start with an easy one. What's yer name?"

"Rose…" she said slowly. "Where's Jack? You, you, I don't know, stunned him or something… augh!" A faint whimper bled through the phone connection.

"Ya don't get to ask the questions, Blondie, that's our job. Next question: why're ya here?" This time it was Kerry who spoke.

"Jack just wanted to visit home, that's all," Rose answered. "He's done nothin' wrong, and neither've I."

"Who is the Time Lord? The man ya were with. What does he call himself? Why was Harkness with 'im?"

Rose, surprisingly, laughed. "He didn't unlock Jack's memories, since that's what you're worried about." There was a moment of stunned silence. "I'm not stupid, ya know, just 'cause I'm blonde and a woman. The Time Lord I was with? That's the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, an' I'm his best friend. Ya know that little black thing you threw on the table? That's a communicator, and he's heard everything ya said. Doctor?"

The Doctor felt a grin stretch across his face. "Fantastic!" he exclaimed. "Rose!" he called through the phone.

"Yeah, Doctor?" she asked.

"I'm coming to get you." The Doctor threw a lever, and the TARDIS dematerialized, coordinates set for the room where his Rose was being fantastic.