Notes: Alistair sees the arrival of Jackie and Rose after Canary Wharf and befriends a broken and hurting Rose.

The Doctor and Rose start clearing up the mess after Porton Down.

The Shadow Proclamation come to take the Caxtarids into custody, much to the annoyance of Pete.

Rose finds out something about Alistair and Alice.

Chapter 12

5 years, 8 months previously

Alistair heard his employer calling him from the front door, and he sounded quite emotional. He walked quickly from the kitchen, where he'd been drinking tea and chatting with the staff.

"What is it sir, has there been some trouble?" Alistair knew that there had been a major 'operation' at Canary Wharf, but didn't know the details. Mickey had been on covert duties for a week now, and something big was going down, something about all the Cybermen disappearing years ago.

For the first time since he'd been in the employ of Pete Tyler, his unflappable demeanour was very nearly flapped. There, getting out of the Torchwood SUV was a ghost.

Impossible! Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Tyler was getting out of the vehicle and opening the rear door for Mickey Smith. She came up the steps but didn't seem to recognise him as she stood next to her husband.

"Mrs. Tyler! What a surprise. We were told you had been killed in the Cybermen attacks. It appears the report of your death was an exaggeration," Alistair said, remembering a quote from Mark Twain.

"Jacks, this is Alistair, the house manager. You'll get used to him," Pete said with a lopsided smile.

"What? You've got a butler?" she asked Pete.

"Oh no ma'am, I don't buttle, I manage," Alistair said with a short nod.

Jackie looked him up and down. "Well, can you manage a cup of tea, 'cause I'm gaspin'."

This was a very different Mrs. Tyler to the one he remembered. There were no 'airs or graces' with this version, and she had a sense of humour. Alistair smirked, he was going to enjoy the banter with the new Mrs. Tyler, whoever she was.

"I will instruct the kitchen staff to put a pot on straight away," he told her and went inside.

Pete called after him. "Oh, and Alistair, ask Jenny to make up a room for... our daughter.."

Alistair turned in surprise with an eyebrow raised and saw Mickey carrying a young woman in behind Mr and Mrs. Tyler. 'Oh dear God' he thought to himself. What had this poor girl been through? She looked awful.

She was as white as a sheet and had red eyes surrounded with smudged black makeup, where she had obviously been crying. And those eyes had that familiar haunted look that seemed to occur in people who were around him.

Wait a minute?! 'Daughter?' Did he just say their daughter? What daughter? They didn't have a daughter. They had a dog! It was definitely a dog, he'd seen it. He'd even fed it. He had never seen or heard of a daughter.

He would have to approach this one carefully. "A family reunion and a resurrection all in the same day. How wonderful." Mr. Tyler gave him an icy stare at that. This was obviously something big and complicated. He would have to wait for the debriefing on this one.

"Yes sir, of course." With that he turned and resumed his journey to the kitchen.

"Jenny, we have some…. guests. Mr. Tyler would like you to make up a bed for a young lady who will be staying here."

"Of course Alistair, I'll get it done now."

"No, hang on. They want some tea first. If you could make up a trolley for them…. There's something else you should know. Mrs. Tyler is back."

"What?!"

"I know, but you'll see for yourself when you take in the tea."

Ten minutes after Jenny had taken the tea to the drawing room, the buzzer sounded in the kitchen meaning that he was wanted. 'Here we go then' he thought.

"Ah, Alistair, there you are. Come and sit down we have something to discuss." Mr. Tyler indicated an empty chair opposite him.

"Jacks, Rose, all the staff working here have been screened by Torchwood security and have security clearance. It makes sense when you think about it, with all the informal meetings I have here." He cleared his throat and looked at Alistair.

"So, Alistair, you know all the weird stuff that goes on at Torchwood? Well it just got a whole lot weirder."

'You can say that again' Alistair thought to himself.

"I can't tell you all the details but I can tell you this." He looked at Mrs. Tyler.

"This is my wife, Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Tyler." He gave a laugh. "I got it right that time, messed it up at the wedding didn't I Jacks."

Alistair noticed a look pass between the two women.

"And on that day Rose, I asked your Mum to be my wife, and God knows why, she said yes. And on this day, Rose." He paused and reached over to hold her hand. "I'm asking you if you would do me the honour... of being my daughter?"

'Rose?' Their so called 'daughter' was named after their dog?

The young woman seemed to be struggling with her emotions. "I... I...".

"Look, you don't have to say anything now if you don't want to. I know it's all a bit weird and Mickey said this weird stuff happens all the time to you,bu..."

"Yes!" she said quietly. "Oh yes! Definitely yes. Thank you. Yes."

"You will? Even after the way I've behaved towards you, you'd say yes. Oh I don't deserve you Rose." His eyes were filling with tears. He stood up and pulled her into a fatherly hug.

"Alistair, may I introduce Rose, Marion Tyler. My long lost, and now found daughter. She has been studying at college in Switzerland, away from media attention. When the Cybermen attacked, I sent Jackie away to stay with her until she had finished her course. And now we are back together as a family." He had his arm around her shoulder in a protective, fatherly way.

"She has lost someone today, someone very close and... Anyway, please show her all the kindness and patience you can."

Alistair knew a cover story when he heard one, and understood the message for him to keep his sarcasm under wraps for now.

Alistair stood up. "Understood sir, I shall go and inform the staff of the developments and curtail the gossip." He left the room and closed the door behind him.

Over the next few weeks, Mickey told Alistair the story of Canary Wharf, not that he really believed it. But why would he lie about it? Unless it was a big Torchwood cover up.

One part of the story he knew was true. Rose had been devastated by the loss of a loved one. He could see it in her eyes, he could hear it in her voice, (when she ever spoke) and he could hear it in her sobs at night.

Her counsellor was really nice. Alice her name was, 'very nice indeed' Alistair thought. She was helping Rose to come to terms with her loss, and one day Alistair happened to be in the garden when Rose sat on one of the benches.

"May I join you Miss Tyler?" he asked.

"I love this bench," he told her. "It's so peaceful and private, and it catches the sun."

"Yeah, it's nice."

"I know what it's like you know."

"Excuse me?" Rose said.

"Losing someone you love suddenly, unexpectedly. Someone you thought you'd be with for the rest of your life."

He saw her eyes starting to glisten with tears and decided to change tack.

"Samantha," he said by way of explanation. "She was gorgeous…." He started to tell her all about his lost love, and as he did, their friendship started to blossom on that bench. When he had finished, Rose wiped her eyes with a tissue and held his hand.

"Thank you Alistair. I know when you're doin' your 'butler' thing you have to call me Miss Tyler, but when no one's listenin' would you call me Rose?"

"I'd like that…. Rose. Thank you." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Alistair smiled in satisfaction. That was progress; she was going to be alright.


Nothing happened for what seemed like a lifetime, which for John was a very long time indeed. He had scrunched up his eyes and tensed his body in anticipation of the impending explosion, as if that would make any difference to how his body would disintegrate into its constituent atoms.

"Auto destruct cancelled," the voice announced.

John opened one eye and looked around the control room. He saw Jack scrunched up with one eye open, looking at him with the same look of disbelief on his face that he had.

He heard cheering in his headset as he rested his head against the panel and breathed out in relief. Jack pulled him into a hug and slapped him on the back.

"Hah! Just like old times," Jack said

John turned, grabbed his lapels and gave him a big kiss full on the lips. To say he was overcome with relief was an understatement.

"Savour that, because that is the first and last, the one and only time that will ever happen!"

Rose ran into the control room squealing and leapt into John's arms. He swung her around in a hug as they kissed, long and hard.

"You did it!" she cried. "You did it."

"No Rose, we did it. We're a team, remember?" She nodded as she released the hug and then hugged and kissed Jack.

"So where was it, the authorisation code?" she asked him.

He took her hand and led her back to the office. On the wall opposite the desk was a certificate of Kerra-Kashinkai's promotion to the rank of commander.

"See the date at the bottom? It's the Caxtarian calendar numbering system."

"What, 37-15-03-4243?"

"Yep. 37th day of the 15th week of the third month in the year 4243, the day of his promotion ceremony. Except it wasn't."

"Eh?" Rose questioned.

"I checked his service record on the computer, and that wasn't the date of his promotion. I then figured, well the Donna in me figured, that the date in reverse order was the code."

Rose laughed, relieved that it was all over. "Brilliant. It's nice to see you're keeping up the tradition of cutting it fine and leaving things to the last second, or luten."

"Hah! Come on, we've still got work to do," he said as he put his arm around her shoulder. Jack put his arm around her other shoulder and she reached around their waists as they walked through the control room and out the doors.

"Oh John, I found somethin' in one of the rooms that we cleared. I'd like you to have a look on the way to the TARDIS."

They reached the room and Rose led them inside, taking them around the corner to the cell. The zombie was still sat cross-legged on the floor, not moving. John looked closely at the zombies face and scanned it with his sonic.

"Ah," he said quietly. "I think we've just found Professor Jenkins."

Rose gasped in horror and put her hand to her mouth. "Oh that poor man."

"Unfortunately, it looks like he's just one of many," Jack said.

"He's not like the one in the hospital or the bank though, John."

"No, he's not. And I think I know why." John moved to the computer and started selecting some of the icons on the screen.

The zombie stood up when he selected one of the icons with a standing man on it.

"Ooh, now that's interesting," he said. "Jack, scan the microwave bandwidth while I select another icon."

The zombie turned left, walked a step forward and stopped.

"It looks like serial digital data," Jack said as he studied the display on his scanner.

"Right. I need to copy the hard drive on this computer." John took out his tablet PC, linked to the computer with its 'universal roaming' feature he'd added, and downloaded the data onto the tablet.

"Right, let's get a move on, we've got a lot to do."

When they got back to the TARDIS, Rose called her Dad to tell him that they were alright. He already knew of course, as he'd been following the communications that had been relayed to dispatch through the TARDIS.

John asked him to call the chief pharmacist at Vitex Pharmaceutical, to start synthesising the antibiotic formula that he was emailing to him at that very moment. And yes, he did know what time it was.

The first stop for the TARDIS, was the parade ground where the base staff were assembled. They stepped out with General Chatfield, who was looking at the blue police box in complete astonishment.

"Does Torchwood have a lot of this technology?" he asked.

"Nah," john said, putting his arm around Rose and pulling her close.. "This one's ours." He looked out over the assembled staff. "Now, did anyone here get sprayed by the sprinklers?"

The General called everyone to attention and got the affected people to step forward where John gave them a shot of antibiotic with a hypo spray. Jack handed each of them a bottle of tablets to follow up the injection and completely kill the infection.

"You need to get your maintenance people to spray some bleach through the sprinkler system for about an hour, that should kill any of the bugs," John told Chatfield.

Andy arranged for the rest of the agents to take the vans back to Torchwood and then joined Jack and Jake on the TARDIS, where the next stop was the Republican Hope Hospital. There they delivered tablets and high dose infusion sets for the critically ill. The idea of sedating and cooling the patients had worked, delaying the onset of symptoms until the cure could be delivered.

"Right, the next thing we need to do is send the 'sit' signal via the TARDIS through the mobile phone transmitter masts to immobilize the zombies," John said. "Andy, can you liaise with UNIT to round them all up and take them to one of their secure locations?"

"I'm on it," he replied as he took out his phone.

"And finally, back to Torchwood." John set the controls with a flourish and off they went.

As Rose opened the door of the TARDIS, she was pulled into a fierce hug by her father. "Thank God you're alright. I was worried sick when your emergency beacon went off and Johns didn't." Pete reached past Rose and held out his hand for John who shook it.

"We're fine Dad. We'll explain everything in the debrief, but for now we need to get some sleep, I'm knackered."

"I've put everything in place for tonight," John told him. "We can start sorting out the mess in the morning."

"It already is the morning," Pete reminded him.

"Oh yeah. C'mon Rose, let's go and get EJ and go home. Do you want a lift Pete?"

"It'd be easier and quicker than drivin', why not." He turned to Andy, Jack and Jake. "Go get some sleep and I'll see you sometime later. Don't try and come in for eight will you?" He turned back to John and Rose and they walked into the TARDIS.

"Why don't the two of you stay in your old suite at the mansion for tonight? It will save having to disturb EJ," Pete suggested.

"Can we John? I think that would be for the best for tonight."

"Yeah. Thanks Pete, that would be brilliant."


Rose experienced a moment of disorientation as she woke up in a bed that she hadn't slept in for nearly two years. She opened her eyes and noticed that there was a depression in the pillow next to her, with no messy haired head on it.

She could hear the water running in the en-suite and realised that John was having his early morning shower. 'Was it early morning?' she asked herself and looked at the bedside clock. 09:24!

"Oh my God, we're late for work," Rose said to herself in a panic, and then remembered that her father had told them to have a lie in before they shuffled to their room. John had carried the carrycot into the bedroom with them, leaving EJ to have an undisturbed sleep.

She could hear her son stirring in his cot, and could feel him with her mind as he woke up. He was hungry, she could feel that. She leaned over and lifted him out onto her lap. While she was naked under the sheets, it was easy to nurse him and give him his breakfast.

She heard the water stop in the shower when John's phone on the bedside table started to play the theme from 'The Godfather'.

"JOHN!" she called out to him. "Your phone. It's Dad."

John came out of the en-suite with a towel around his waist. "He went in at his normal time, told me to stay here with you until you were ready to go in."

He picked up the phone and answered the call, switching it to speaker phone so Rose could hear. "Pete, what's up?"

Rose was sure she could have heard her Dad without the speakerphone.

"I'll tell you what's up. I've got an office full of 'rhinoceros' soldiers in space suits. I've no room to swing a mouse, let alone a cat, and the only word I can understand is 'Doctor'." Pete sounded annoyed. Rose started to snigger.

"Oh it's the Judoon," he said with a smile. "Put them on the speakerphone and I'll talk to them." Was that a huff he heard from Pete?

"Sco bo tro no flo jo," he said. Rose was trying to stifle a laugh at his facial expression.

"Flo jo ko fo ro to," the Judoon replied.

John raised an eyebrow and gave a single nod. "Ro to so. Bokodozogobofopoj Ke Caxtari," he explained.

"No bo ho sho ko…. Moho," the Judoon finished.

"They've come to transport the prisoners to the Shadow Proclamation," he told Pete. "Oh and you have to put your thumb in the lower right hand corner of that clipboard thing that they've thrust in front of your face, it's a release form."

"How the hell did you know I had a clipboard thing in front of my face?" Pete asked.

"That's easy, they're Judoon," John said by way of explanation. "If you get someone to take them down to the cells, they'll take care of the rest."

"ANDRE," John heard him shout. "Can you show these…. 'Gentlemen' to the holding cells please."

"Ko fo to bo ho sho," John said into the phone. He heard all the Judoon in Pete's office turn as one and start to march out of his office.

"A bit of warning would have been nice," Pete said.

"Ah, that's the Judoon for you, they aren't known for observing niceties. No people skills. They like to arrive, do the job, and then go without so much as a by your leave."

"I meant from you!" Pete said. Rose burst out laughing.

"I didn't know when they were coming," John protested. "It's not my fault," he told the dial tone. Pete had already hung up.

"I think you're goin' to have to buy him a bottle of his favourite malt to say sorry for that one Love," Rose said, laughing so much that she gave EJ the hiccups.

John got dressed and took EJ off Rose so that she could have a shower. He changed his nappy and put some clean clothes on him before Rose came out of the en-suite to get dressed. When they were ready, they headed out of the door for the kitchen and breakfast.

They bumped into Alistair in the hallway as they closed the door to their suite.

"Dr. Smith, Mrs. Smith. How nice to see you back in the house again."

"Alistair, how are you?" Rose said as she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, which he returned.

John held up his arm for a fist bump. "Alistair, how's it hanging?" he asked as they bumped fists.

"It's hanging well thank you for asking," he said with a grin.

"It doesn't hang much at all when I'm around. I like to try and keep it erect," a sultry voice said from down the hall.

Rose was stunned; it was the first time she had ever seen Alistair blush. They looked past him and saw Alice DiMaggio standing in the doorway of his suite, wearing one of his shirts and nothing else apparently.

"Alice!" Rose said. "How are you?" Alice had walked along the hallway and had a one armed hug from Rose, as she was holding EJ in the other. She put her hands on John's shoulders and kissed his cheek, before turning back to Rose and holding her arms out for EJ.

Rose noticed that Alice was wearing a silver bracelet, Alistairs bracelet, or more accurately, Samantha's bracelet. The significance of that wasn't lost on Rose.

"Hasn't he grown?" Alice said as she held him and cooed at him.

"So are you two officially an item now then?" Rose asked them.

Alistair put his arm around Alice's shoulder and smiled. Rose noticed that there was something about his smile that was different. It was his eyes she decided, he was smiling with his eyes. Alice had weaved that counsellor magic on him and banished some of his demons.

Alice looked up into his eyes lovingly and then looked at Rose. "I've found a soul mate again. I didn't think I'd ever be able to say that after the 2007 attacks." Alice had lost her husband in the Cybermen attacks on London.

Rose reached forward and, without squashing EJ, hugged them both. "I'm so happy for the pair of you."

"Thank you Rose," Alistair whispered in her ear.