Notes: Alistair survives the 2007 Cybermen attacks and sees Jackie and Rose arrive.

Rose gets annoyed with a prisoner and he sees a flash of the wolf within.

Get a good grip because there's a cliffhanger as the Doctor tries to stop the Caxtarid commander. He has an inner dialogue with inner Donna.

Chapter 11

8 years, 11 months previously

Over the last three years, Alistair had seen a change in his employer's relationship. The love they once had for each other seemed to have faded and they just went through the motions of keeping up appearances.

Mr. Tyler buried himself in his work to try and hide from the fact that his wife no longer loved him. Alistair knew that secretly, he would have loved to have started a family, but Mrs. Tyler had become too accustomed to the jet set lifestyle, and children would seriously cramp her style.

She had bought a small dog instead, using that as a token 'child' like many rich and famous women did. And although they thought it was a secret, Alistair knew that they had divorced months earlier. He was the house manager and he knew everything that went on under this roof. The fact that they slept in separate beds was a dead give away for a start.

Tonight was Mrs. Tyler's 40th birthday, and she was even too vain to admit that, telling everyone it was her 39th. That was something else Mr. Tyler got into trouble for, putting up banners that would tell all the guests that she was 40.

"Alistair, why don't you have the night off? We've got the caterers coming in to take care of everything. Go and enjoy yourself," Pete said.

"That's very good of you sir. Some of my old army friends are on leave and I would like to catch up with them. They're going to a karaoke night at a pub in Camden."

"There you are then, a perfect opportunity. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thank you sir. See you tomorrow."

Of course, he didn't see him tomorrow.

It was nearly a week later before his employer returned home, looking worn out, with a haunted look in his eyes. Alistair knew that look, he'd seen it enough times when he'd looked in the mirror. Guilt, anger, remorse, self loathing, all completely irrational. As if a person had any say in how random events unfolded!

He had taken it upon himself to organise the clean up of Tyler Mansion and had called in tradesmen to repair the damage caused by the Cybermen attack. When Mr. Tyler arrived home, the house was pretty much back to normal.

Mr. Tyler had called a meeting of the staff and explained what had happened that night and where he had been for the last week. He was now working for that secretive Torchwood outfit and they would all be interviewed for security clearance and have background checks.

'Oh dear', Alistair thought. No, actually 'shit!' is what he was thinking. Here comes his past again to kick him up the arse.

"Mr. Tyler, can I have a quiet word," Alistair asked after the meeting.

"Of course Alistair. Come through to the office." Pete sat at his desk and indicated one of the comfortable armchairs for Alistair.

"Firstly Alistair, I'd like to say thank you for sorting out all the repairs and clean up. I really was dreading coming back to all the mess. What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Er, well sir…. I think I'll have to leave your employ sir," Alistair said hesitantly.

Pete was stunned. Alistair was his rock, particularly now that he had lost Jackie. "Alistair, why? I thought you liked working here. Is something wrong? Is it something I've done or said? Please tell me."

"I love it here sir, and it's not you sir, it's me. It's complicated."

"So why the sudden change of heart? Talk to me. If you're in trouble, I can sort it, I have contacts."

Alistair sat silently in turmoil. He liked Pete Tyler, he was a good man, but how would he react if he told him the truth about his past and how he had lied to him? He saw the pleading look on Pete's face and the look of concern in his eyes.

In that look that passed between them, he decided to tell him everything. The thieving, the street magic, the gang, the murder, the escape, the army training, his mentor Lieutenant Colonel Carruthers, his first love Samantha…. her death.

He showed Pete the silver bracelet he was wearing with her name on it. It had two dates engraved on the back, her birthday and…. 'That' day. He explained that he had bought it for her after he had recovered Pete's wallet from the pickpocket in Oxford Street.

"A pickpocket?" Pete asked in surprise, wiping his eyes. Alistair nodded.

"Well thank you for being honest with me Alistair. I don't think you've got anything to worry about. As far as I'm concerned, what happened in the past, stays in the past, but can you tell me one more thing?" He asked quietly, his voice breaking.

"If I can sir."

Tears started to run down Pete's cheeks. "When does it stop hurting? When does the pain go away?"

Alistair's eyes brimmed with tears. "When that day arrives…. I'll let you know."

Pete stood and walked around the desk as Alistair stood up. He started to sob as he pulled him into a hug. Forget employer and employee, these were two men who were joined in grief, and in the privacy of the office, they cried their hearts out for their lost loves.

True to his word, Mr. Tyler had sorted out Alistair's security clearance and background cover story, and a couple of weeks later they had two new guests staying at the mansion. Mickey Smith, and his Grandmother, Rita Anne.

Mickey was a bit rough around the edges, but seemed a decent sort. He reminded Alistair of himself before he'd joined the army, and suspected that Torchwood would do the same for Mickey that the army had done for him. Rita Anne just emanated goodness from every pore of her body, and he understood why Mickey was such a nice person.

Alistair smiled to himself; he knew that having these people around the house would help Mr. Tyler with the healing process.


When Rose closed the TARDIS doors, the nearest three doors had already been dissolved and the teams were in the rooms checking and clearing and reporting in over the headsets. In just over a minute they were at the 'T' junction of the corridor with McNab.

"The control hub is to the right. I want you three to hold this junction as our escape route," McNab said to one of the teams. They took up their positions as the assault force moved deeper into the complex.

Andy's team moved quickly to the next junction as the teams 'peeled off' to each door.

ZZAPP, ZZAPP!

Andy shot a Caxtarid that turned the corner. He didn't even have time to register surprise before he hit the floor, unconscious. One of the team secured the wrists and ankles with cable ties and dragged the stunned alien into one of the now open rooms.

There were sounds of stun guns being used in some of the other rooms as the team moved smoothly along the corridor. Chatfield watched the helmet camera feeds on the TARDIS monitor and had to admit that, although they weren't military, this team were very professional and extremely effective.

In fact, he would go as far as to say that if you were watching this and didn't know who they were, you would think they were a special forces unit. Praise indeed from a soldier who only yesterday had thought that they were a bunch of mercenaries, working for a man who he had accused of sleeping with the President.

They had managed to get to the double doors of the control centre without raising any alarms. This was mainly due to Kerra-Kashinkai underestimating his captives. They couldn't escape, they couldn't call for help and no one could get into the complex.

Hah! He didn't know the 'stuff of legends'.

Two entry nets were placed on each side of the double doors in preparation for entry. On each side of the door were three agents, two lying on the floor who would fire across the doorway to the nearest targets. The next two agents were kneeling, and would take out the next target in, and the final two were standing, ready to take out the furthest targets.

"Standby…. On my mark," Andy said. "Three, two, one, mark."

The doors dissolved and simultaneous blasts of energy from the stunners passed through the dust before it had chance to settle.

"The far wall," John called out, where he could see Kerra-Kashinkai through his office window.

"FREEZE!" Andy shouted into the room.

Kerra-Kashinkai pressed a switch on his desk which activated the intercom.

"I don't think I will actually," he said casually.

The team fired their stunners at the window, which just flared with the energy. Rose took out her Glock 17C, semi automatic pistol and aimed at the window.

BLAM! Wheee. BLAM! Ziiinnng.

"Bullet proof glass," Jack said.

"Cover me," Jake said as he moved forward with an entry net.

Inside the office, they could see Kerra-Kashinkai calmly lying down on a couch along the side wall of the office. A semi cylindrical transparent cover rolled over the couch, forming a complete cylinder around the couch.

Jake made it to the office door and secured the entry netting. Inside the office, a circular hole appeared in the far wall, the exact size of the couch cylinder. As Jake activated the netting and dissolved the door, the couch disappeared through the hole with a 'ffoppp'.

Jake took his SA80 assault rifle from around his shoulder and emptied the magazine down the tunnel as the rest of the team entered the office. John looked into the tunnel and scanned it with his sonic.

"It goes straight on for four miles," he told them. "He'll be long gone by the time we get to the other end."

"I'll get Despatch to put a satellite surveillance on the far end," Jack said. "You never know, we might get lucky."

John went to the desk and scanned the communication controls. "Right, let's have a look at all this and see if we can..."

After touching a few controls, a holographic head appeared over the desk.

"Oh, here we are look. Hello, I'm the Doctor." Rose came and stood by the side of him while other members stood behind.

"Where is commander Kerra-Kashinkai?"

"Who? Oh, the guy with the Napoleon complex. We had to give him the sack. He wasn't very good at his job. No people skills really. And he kept thinking he was somebody else."

"What is the meaning of this?" the holographic head said.

"The meaning of this is, this base is now under the control of Torchwood. The gig's up and you are going down. Now, you can either turn yourselves in to the nearest Shadow Proclamation representative, or you can wait for the Judoon to come and find you. They might be a bit thick, but they are persistent, and they will get you."

"I see," the head said. "Then we shall have to close down this operation and find another world."

John was suddenly furious. "WEREN'T YOU LISTENING?" His voice reverberating in people's heads.

"I know you, Ke Caxtari. Thinking you're all bad ass, prowling the galaxy and giving everybody attitude. But I know you are bullies, that you pick on worlds with low tech that can't defend themselves."

Rose touched his arm in concern. She'd seen that look before, and bad things happen when he has that look. John glanced at her and the 'look' vanished. Once again, his pink and yellow girl had brought him back from the brink.

He took a deep breath and turned back to the 'head'. "But this world is different. This world has got me, and this world has got Rose." He smiled at her and winked. Credit where credit was due, they were a team.

"So either you stop this, right now and turn yourselves in, or I'll come looking for you. And believe me, you do not want me looking for you."

"Who do you think you are, trying to give the Ke Caxtari orders?" the 'head' said indignantly.

"That's a very good question," John said. "Because you don't know me in this universe…. Yet. But I had many names where I came from, 'The Doctor', 'The Destroyer of Worlds', 'The Oncoming Storm' is most appropriate here I think."

"How about the 'Boasting Annoying Meddler'?" the 'head' said. "Perhaps we should rid this universe of your interfering."

"What?" John looked at Rose, slightly hurt. "I don't boast do I?"

Rose pinched her thumb and forefinger together. "Maybe just a teeny bit," she said with a grin, noticing that he hadn't disagreed with being an annoying meddler.

The hologram faded as an alarm started to sound. They looked through the window into the control room and saw red lights flashing everywhere. John ran out of the office and looked at a panel that appeared to be the power distribution board.

"Oh no, this is bad. This is very bad," he said, running his hand through his hair.

"Power plant overload initiated. Auto destruct in 100 lutens," an automated voice announced.

"What?!" John exclaimed.

"Doc, what's going on?" Andy asked as he came to stand beside him.

"Auto destruct in 100 lutens," the voice said.

"They've sent a self destruct signal to destroy the base and any evidence of their crime," John said, scanning the panel.

"How bad is it John," Rose asked him.

"It's a compressed plasma fusion reactor, when it blows it'll be equivalent to nearly a giga tonne of TNT. The crater will be nearly three miles across and a mile deep. The blast radius will take out most of southern Britain, not to mention the fallout that will cover Britain and northern Europe."

"Auto destruct in 95 lutens."

"C'mon Doc, we've got to stop this," Jack said, pulling down a panel to expose the complex control circuitry. "How long have we got?"

"Calculating the length between lutens, about three minutes," he announced. "Andy, start evacuating the complex. Get all the prisoners into the TARDIS."

"OKAY TEAMS," Andy shouted. "You heard the man. Let's move."

"Auto destruct in 90 lutens."

"John, what can I do to help?" Rose asked.

"Hang on Love…. Just got to disconnect this…. There, got it."

"Auto destruct in 85 lutens."

"Hang on, didn't that just jump some?" Rose noticed.

"Damn. Anti tampering mechanism. Rose, you can fly the TARDIS now. If this goes pear shaped, I want you…."

"Oh no you don't! I am not doin' that! Never!"

"Rose. The TARDIS can survive the blast, but…. our son, your family…." He left the sentence unfinished. "It won't come to that, but we have to be prepared, yeah?"

"Auto destruct in 80 lutens."

Rose grabbed the front of his uniform and pulled him into a long kiss. Jack looked on, grinning at them.

"Just for luck," she told him.

"Do I get one?" Jack asked.

"John's a bit busy now, but I'm sure he'll oblige when he's finished." She gave them an attempt at a smile to cover her feeling of dread.

"Try that!" Jack said as he flicked a switch.

"Auto destruct sequence can only be cancelled by the base commander, Kerra-Kashinkai," the automated voice told them.

"And he's not here," John told the voice. "Spiffing!" his 'Inner Donna' exclaimed. "What is it with biometric controls in this universe? What was wrong with a good old fashioned numeric keypad or passwords?"

"Probably that a genius like you could get past them," Rose said.

"Oh yeah. There is that I suppose."

"Auto destruct in 75 lutens."

"Okay, let's give this a try." He adjusted the sonic and scanned his face from forehead to chin. He moved to the face recognition panel, ran the sonic over it from top to bottom and pressed the 'accept' button.

"Auto destruct sequence can only be cancelled by the base commander, Kerra-Kashinkai. Auto destruct in 70 lutens."

"It jumped again Doc," Jack told him.

"I know!" 'Inner Donna' sang. "I CAN count!"

"John. Rude!" Rose told him and then stopped with a distracted look of concentration on her face.

"Oh my God. John, Jack, keep working. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Where are you going?" John asked.

"Just try not to let it skip anymore counts."

"Auto destruct in 65 lutens," the voice said, as if taunting her.

She ran out of the room and activated her communications headset. "Andy. We need to check the pockets of all the prisoners. Over."

"What are we looking for? Over." Andy asked her.

"It looks like a car key fob. Over."

"Ah, like the shimmer that Jack got from the Jathaa? Over."

"Exactly!"

Andy put out a team wide alert as Rose arrived at the first room. Two agents were about to pick up the now awake Caxtarian and take him to the TARDIS. Like all the prisoners, his ankles and wrists were secured with plastic cable ties.

"Auto destruct in 60 lutens."

"Hang on lads, I need to check his pockets." Rose kneeled down alongside the alien and he started writhing in a most uncooperative way.

"Keep your hands off me you ape bitch." He spat the words out.

"Keep still arsehole or you'll find out that the bitch in me ain't ape, its wolf." A faint flash of gold crossed those gorgeous brown eyes and the prisoner froze in the sudden realisation that this female wasn't all that she seemed to be.

His pockets were empty of any key fobs. "Okay, get 'im outta here."

Rose ran down the corridor to the next room that contained a prisoner that hadn't been moved yet.

"Auto destruct in 55 lutens."

"Hah! If it isn't the celebrity Torchwood agent," the Caxtarid scorned. That's all she needed, an alien that read gossip magazines.

She tried to check his pockets but he wouldn't keep still.

"And where's that annoying, meddlesome husband of yours? Dead I hope." He was kicking his tied legs at her trying to keep her away.

"Will you shut up and keep still."

"Never bitch. And what will become of that pathetic half breed son of yours when you are both dead?" he taunted.

A slightly brighter flash of gold passed over her brown eyes as she balled her right fist.

WHACK!

She gave him a right cross to the jaw that would make Mike Tyson smile with pride.

"My husband...? Fair comment," she said to the unconscious alien. "But my son….? Nobody bad mouths my son!"

"Auto destruct in 50 lutens."

As she rummaged through his pockets, she looked around the room. There was a computer desk with a wire frame graphic of a human on the display. It was in a cross-legged sitting position.

She moved onto the next pocket, feeling the contents and pulling them out for inspection. What she noticed in the corner of the room, in an alcove that you couldn't see from the door, made her stop and stare. It was a zombie, sitting cross-legged in a transparent holding cell.

It took her a moment to realise that she had a key fob device in her hand. She looked down at it.

"YES!" she said in triumph. She stood and ran out of the room, past the two agents who had come to take the prisoner away.

"Auto destruct in 45 lutens."

Rose ran into the control room. "John! Here, use this."

John took his head from out of a panel and Jack looked up at her as she skidded to a halt in front of them.

She saw the questioning look on their faces and explained.

"Psychic shimmer…. Like the one Jack got from the Jathaa…. It was Caxtardian, not Jathaan."

"Psychic shimmer? Jathaan?" he said with a puzzled expression, and then the proverbial penny proverbially dropped.

"OH! Psychic shimmer! Of course. Rose, you're brilliant. Why didn't I think of that?" He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a kiss.

"Well you were kinda distracted tryin' to disable the auto destruct. Talkin' of which, do you think you can remember what the commander looked like and how he spoke?" Rose said.

John tapped his temple. "Time Lord brain, and that's not boasting."

"Auto destruct in 40 lutens."

He closed his eyes and thought of Kerra-Kashinkai in his office when he used the intercom. 'I don't think I will actually' he had said. John pressed the button on the shimmer and opened his eyes.

"Well?" he asked. He saw Rose and Jack staring at him.

"Oh wow!" Rose said.

John stood in front of the face reader and pressed the button. A green light passed down his face and the display showed the face of Kerra-Kashinkai and a label that said 'accepted'.

"Yes!" Jack said. "They either overlooked the possibility of using a shimmer on a biometric scan, or it's a problem that they couldn't overcome. Either way, it's done us a favour."

"This is Kerra-Kashinkai requesting cancellation of auto destruct sequence."

"Please input authorisation code," the voice said.

"What?" John asked.

"Please input authorisation code."

"John, what are we goin' to do? We don't have the code?" Rose said.

"Hang on, his office is there." John ran through to the office and sat at the desk. "Think. Think. Come on Donna, the best temp in Chiswick. Where would the boss keep his passwords that he never used. Everyday passwords he would remember, but important 'only-for-use-in-an-emergency' passwords, he would have to keep them somewhere."

"Auto destruct in 30 lutens."

Rose and Jack started looking under paperweights, keyboards, executive toys. 'Executive toys?' Rose thought. 'Really?'. John sonicked his computer and accessed all the files, scrolling them down the screen at speed. It was no good, they were going to go out with a boom.

"Jack, Rose, you really need to get to the TARDIS now" John said.

"I don't want to leave you," Rose said.

"Not a chance Doc," Jack said.

He cupped Rose's cheek with his hand. "I know Love. But think of EJ. Hopefully it won't come to that. You can help by brainstorming in the TARDIS. I'll keep the Comms-Link open just in case."

They kissed. "See you later," she said.

"Not if I see you first," he smiled.

Rose left the room and he sat back in the chair, looking over to Jack.

"Thanks," he said simply. Jack just nodded.

"Auto destruct in 20 lutens."

John leaned back and listened to his inner dialogue while Jack continued to search.

'Well come on then Time Boy. IQ the size of a planet and you can't see what's in front of your face,' Inner Donna chided.

'Oi!' he protested.

'Oi. This is the office of the commander, the commandant. Important, arrogant and proud. He wouldn't want to be caught sneaking a look under the plant pot would he, skinny boy?'

'No,' John said in the manner of a child being lectured by a teacher. "My internal dialogue never used to be like this."

'That's because yer didn't have me in here to keep ya company, did ya? So, where would he keep it?' Inner Donna encouraged.

'So he'd hide it in plain sight, where everyone could see it but no one would look at it.'

'Clever boy. Off yer go then.'

John came out of his reverie, which had been fractions of a second, and looked around the room.

"Auto destruct in 10 lutens."

"John." It was Rose on the headset. "I had an idea and phoned Donna-the-house. I thought she might have an idea, being so like the original Donna. She said a pompous git like that would have it in a painting or a certificate, loud and proud on the wall."

"9 lutens."

John looked around the walls. "I think you might be onto something Love." He scrolled through the service record of the commander on the screen. "Got it!" He sprang from the seat and rushed into the control room.

"This is Kerra-Kashinkai requesting cancellation of auto destruct sequence."

"Please input authorisation code," the voice said.

"3-7-1-5-0-3-4-2-4-3," he said.

"Authorisation code incorrect. 4 lutens."

"NO! It's got to be that," John said with panic rising in his voice.

'He might be important, arrogant, proud, pompous and a git,' Inner Donna said. 'But he ain't stupid.'

"3 lutens."

"Of course! This is Kerra-Kashinkai requesting cancellation of auto destruct sequence."

"Please input authorisation code," the voice said.

"3424305173," John said quickly. Both he and Rose said 'I love you' at the same time over the headsets.