Chapter 12

"No, no, no," Marla said, running back into the Induction Room, and walking around the TARDIS. "But it's just a box…, but it's huge."

John and Rose stood either side of the doors, leaning against the outside of the TARDIS with their arms and legs crossed, and big grins on their faces.

"How does it do that? It's wood. It's like a box with that room just rammed in," she said, stepping back inside. "It's bigger on the inside," she said, and John silently mouthed her words, grinning cheekily at Rose as he did so. He then stopped looking amused and started looking amazed, as he realised that It was a word for word replay of when Martha had first entered the TARDIS in the old universe, how weird was that.

"Hmmm, that's bizarre, that was an exact replay of when Martha first stepped in the TARDIS in the old universe," John said.

"Really, is that possible," Rose asked.

"Okay, time out here," Marla said forming a 'T' with her hands. "I need some answers here before I go completely mad."

John and Rose looked at each other with raised eyebrows, and then at Marla. "Er, yeah, okay, what do you want to know," John said, as Rose started to put the TARDIS into the Vortex.

"What? Oh, right, well, first of all, who's this Martha you keep calling me?"

"She's you," he said simply.

"You mean I look like her and remind you of her?"

"Well of course you look like her, because she's you, and you're her." He looked at her as though she'd dribbled down her bathrobe.

"You'll get used to that look," Rose said, putting her arm around her shoulders. "He's not very good at explain' this stuff, so let me try, what we are about to tell you is covered by the Official Secrets Act, are you okay with that."

"Hey, I've been abducted by aliens, and I'm standing in a room that's too big for the box around it, what do you think."

"Good point, so do you remember when I hit the headlines nine years ago, suddenly appearing from college in Switzerland?"

"Vaguely, yeah."

"Well, I never went to college, in Switzerland or anywhere else for that matter. I actually came from another universe, another reality, where everythin' is virtually the same, but not quite." Marla looked at her disbelievingly.

"Rose and her mother came through first," John said quietly, as though he didn't want to wake the slumbering memories. "We were separated for three, long years, thinking that we would never see each other again." He came and held Rose's hand as he told the story; Marla could see the pain of the memory in their eyes.

"Shortly after we were separated, I was involved in another kind of alien abduction, where the Royal Hope Hospital was moved to the moon."

"The Republican Hope," she corrected. "That's where I've got to be on Monday to start my Foundation Year One."

"It was the Royal Hope in our universe, we still had a royal family," Rose told her.

"There was this feisty medical student who helped me catch an alien killer, so that the hospital could be returned to Earth. Her name was Martha Jones, and it was that universe's version of you, every cell, every molecule, every atom. So I'm sorry if it bothers you, but I can't help it, you are my friend Martha."

Marla stood silently, looking at them standing there, holding hands as though their life depended on that simple gesture. There was no doubt that they believed what they were saying, and standing inside a room that couldn't possibly be inside that wooden, blue box, why shouldn't she believe them as well.

"Okay, secondly, this place," she said looking up at the vaulted ceiling and holding her arms out. "What's all this about?"

"Ah, transdimentional engineering, a bit tricky that one, it tends to make human brains a bit wobbly."

"Wobbly?" Marla asked.

"Wobbly," Rose said. "Think 'Magic Eye' pictures, y'know, go a bit 'boss eyed' and you see a three dimensional picture that wasn't there before."

"Ooh, that's not bad," John said with a smile. "But it's more like an iceberg, you can see the small bit above the water, that's the blue box, and the large bit is hidden under the water, that's the bit in here."

"You do realise that this is completely mad, don't you? And that green column going up and down, are we in flight or something, how can you fly out of a building?"

John looked at Rose and squeezed her hand; that was another Martha type question, the same kind of intelligent question that Rose always asks.

"Yes, we're in flight, the TARDIS distorts time and space to enter the Vortex, where we leave normal space in one place, and re-enter it somewhere else."

"Oh, right, of course. And where do we re-enter?"

"Hah! Here, come and see." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the console view screen. "See that dot there," he said, pointing at a cursor on the screen. "That's Jack's transponder tattoo, I sent the activation signal when we came on board."

"Transponder tattoo?" Marla asked.

"Yeah, remember my tattoo on my hip, and Jack's on his shoulder?"

"Oh yes, the concentric circles and lines, very unusual."

"Well, they're not ink, they're millions of microscopic circuits that form a transmitter, we can activate them ourselves if we get into trouble, or they can be activated by Torchwood if they lose contact with us," Rose explained.

"Really? That's very clever, and where is Jack then?"

"The first planet that the shuttle stopped at, in a penthouse apartment of a skyscraper in what appears to be the capital city," John said. "I think a roof landing may be appropriate, hold on tight, we're going in."

Hold on tight, why, what kind of ship was this where you had to hold on tight? She looked over the console at Rose and John who were grinning like Cheshire cats, as they flicked switches, pulled levers, and pushed buttons. There was a soft bump, and the time rotor stopped moving.

"Ooh, nicely done Wife, very smooth."

"Thank you Doc," she said with a tongue through the teeth smile, and a wink at Marla. "And they go on about women drivers."

Marla returned the smile, and was about to ask what happened next, when Rose spotted something…, something really important. "You've only got that bathrobe on, you can't go gallivantin' about on an alien planet dressed only in a bathrobe."

Marla looked down at the robe. "Why not, I've been gallivanting about naked on a planet for the last few days, I feel positively overdressed for the occasion," she said with a smile.

Rose laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. "Come on, I'll take you to our bedroom, you can use the shower and help yourself to some of my clothes, they should fit you."

Fifteen minutes later, Marla appeared back in the console room, degreased, and dressed in denim jeans, white vest top, blue hoodie, and white trainers, the standard adventures uniform.

"That feels better, thanks for the loan of the clothes."

"No problem, now let's go and rescue Jack."

They stepped out into a warm, balmy night, on the roof of a very tall building, overlooking the city lights that stretched into the distance like an illuminated spider's web. A large, orange moon sat on the horizon, and a smaller silver moon was half way between the horizon and directly overhead.

"Oh, this is beautiful," Marla said quietly.

"Yeah, it never gets old," Rose said with a grin.

"Come on you two, can't stand out here gossiping all night," John said as he headed for the roof door. Rose and Marla rolled their eyes, laughed, and set off after him. He had already 'sonicked' the lock by the time they reached him, and they quietly went inside, and started to descend the stairs.

They found the door of the apartment where Jack's signal was coming from, and John 'sonicked' the lock and carefully opened the door and popped his head around to have a look. Rose's head popped around under his and Marla' under hers.

"Mmmm, nice flat," Rose commented in a whisper.

"Yeah, love the thing she's got going on with the drapes there," Marla replied.

"Yeah, and the colour scheme, subtle pastel shades, she's got taste." They stopped and looked up, to see John looking down at them.

"What is this, some kind of makeover show?" He asked.

"No..., we were just, er..., assessing the threat level," Rose said quickly.

"Yes, threat level," Marla agreed.

"Threat level?" John said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I mean a woman with this much money and taste wouldn't want to chip her nail varnish by fighting, now would she?"

"No," John said. "She'd employ some reptilian gorilla to do that for her."

"Oh yeah, hadn't thought of that," Rose said with a smile. Busted, they'd been admiring the decor.

There was an expensive looking sofa facing the fireplace, the back of which was facing the door where they stood. There was gentle mood music playing in the background, and john put his sonic in his pocket.

"When I popped the lock, I scanned for life forms, and there are two in here, on that sofa over there." John waggled his eyebrows and loudly cleared his throat. "AHEM!"

Jacks head popped up and turned to look at them like a startled deer, his eyes wide, and his mouth open. Before he could react to the three people standing by the door, there was a sharp tug on his leash, and he disappeared back down onto the sofa. When he surfaced again, he had a sexy, naked lizard lady wrapped around him, with a mouth that seemed to be trying to vacuum his tongue out of his mouth.

"I suppose this is another tale you can tell where you end up naked again, isn't it?" John said with a smirk.

Rose and Marla looked at each other and burst into a fit of giggles, as John stood there smirking at him. Jack stood up and tried to extricate himself from the reptilian limpet, but he didn't seem to have enough arms. She had her arms wrapped around his neck, and her legs around his waist, and seemed to be having to much fun with her pet to let him go.

He turned his back on the group, so that she was facing them, and when she casually opened her eyes, they went wide, and her dreadlocks raised the ruff of skin in surprise. She jumped off Jack and tried to cover her exposed body with her hands.

"Who are you, what do you want? Please don't hurt me."

"Please don't worry," Rose said, holding her hands up in a placating gesture. "We've only come to collect our friend and take him home."

"Your friend?" The lizard lady said looking around and through Jack as though he wasn't there.

"Yeah, Stud there, his name is Jack, and he's an agent for the Torchwood Institute on a planet called Earth," John told her.

The lizard lady had put on a silk dressing gown, and looked Jack up and down. "Really, a secret agent?" She cooed, almost drooling over him. "He doesn't behave like a secret agent, he behaves like my pet."

"That's the collar he's wearing making him do that, do you remember seeing me in the reception at the kennels? I was wearing one as well," Rose said.

"Oh yes, I didn't recognise you with clothes on, and it was the collar controlling you?"

"Yes, it was," John said. "And I'm sorry, but we need him back now, you'll be refunded of course, when the investigation is completed."

"Oh, can't I keep him?" She asked, hugging his arm.

Rose went over and hugged his other arm. "As much as Jack would love to stay and be pampered, I think Rex would have something to say about that," she grinned.

{"Rex! He doesn't have to know about this does he?"} Jack mouthed. {"I mean, nothing happened…, honest,"}

"Only because we turned up," Rose teased.

"Who's Rex?" Marla asked.

"Jack's partner," Rose explained.

"What, like his field partner, a Torchwood agent?"

"No, his 'partner' partner," Rose said with a knowing smile.

"Oh," Marla said, looking up at Jack, who was looking suitably worried at being caught in such a compromising situation. "What a shame," she purred.

"Thank you for your cooperation Miss, if you could visit your local law enforcement office in the next few days and give a statement, that would help our investigation," John said, and started shepherding the group out of the door.

"Come here you," Rose said as she grabbed Jack's leash. "Walk to heel," she said with her teasing smile, and Jack knew he had to do what she said if he didn't want one of those annoying shocks.

They made their way up the stairs, and back to the TARDIS, with Jack trailing obediently behind Rose. She hadn't finished with him when she walked up the ramp to the console.

"Sit, there's a good boy," she said mischievously."

{"I am SO going to get you back for this,"} he mouthed, as he sat on the jump seat. He waved his hand to attract John's attention. {"Doc, help me out here, before your wife has me doing her laundry."}

John, Rose, and Marla burst out laughing, and John picked up the three armed extractor. "Hold still and I'll have that off you in a second."

"Ahh, do you have to? I could have so much fun with him," Rose said.

John pressed the button, and the collar stretched out until it pinged, and he lifted the collar over Jack's head.

"Ugh, thanks Doc, that's better," he said as he rubbed his neck. "And you young lady, are in for a severe tickling."

A naked Jack Harkness leapt up and grabbed for her, she squealed and dodged out of the way and ran out of the console room with Jack in pursuit.

"They seem like close friends," Marla said to John, who was powering up the console.

He looked up and smiled. "Yeah, they have a special bond those two; they've saved each others lives in the past." He selected the 3-dimensional spatial coordinates for Torchwood, from the favourite destinations menu, and left the temporal coordinates in neutral. "Right, next stop Torchwood."

"We're going home then?" Marla asked hopefully.

"Yeah, we've done as much as we can here, the Shadow Proclamation can take it from now on." He saw her questioning look. "They're a sort of galactic police force."

He powered up the atom accelerator, and released the time rotor handbrake.

"What about the people responsible for all this?" Marla asked.

John rubbed the back of his neck. "Wellll, there's no proof it was the Caxtarids, the kennels are a generic, kit form building, and although the Induction Room is based on modified Caxtarid torture equipment, it was probably built by a sub contractor."

He activated the inertial dampers, engaged the harmonic generator, and released the locking down mechanism, as Jack carried a laughing and squealing Rose back into the console room.

"Say you're sorry," he said as he tickled her again. "Say you're sorry."

"Aaaghhh, I'm sorry," she laughed.

John finished by pulling the engine release lever, activating the materialise/dematerialise function, and gradually increasing the space-time throttle to start the time rotor pumping and sending them into the Vortex, and home.