The next morning, Jason and Rose showered together and then made their way back to Rose's hotel room so that Rose could change her clothes and get her hair and makeup ready for the impromptu photoshoot that Jack had promised the photographers the day before. True to their word, the paparazzi had left them alone all evening and the next morning.
They arrived at the botanical gardens just before noon and spotted Jack immediately. He grinned giddily at the pair of lovers as he led them into the garden to a picturesque spot surrounded by photographers waiting to get the perfect shot. They posed for photos and walked through the gardens for candids for over an hour. Some of the photographers began to leave the garden after taking their fill of shots while others lingered. Rose and Jason did their best to ignore the constant hum of camera shutters and Jack stayed back out of the way.
Just as Rose was about suggest that they conclude the photo op, the cacophony of camera noises was interrupted by a familiar man's voice.
"Hello, Rose."
Rose turned to see Maxwell Alter approaching them. "Max?" Rose answered, glancing around looking for other members of his Torchwood team. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to find you, Rose. It's time to go back to London." Max responded dryly.
"What's going on, Max? Am I needed back at Torchwood?" Warning bells seemed to go off in Rose's head and she stiffened when Max approached them. She felt Jason reach his arm around her and clutch her hip tightly, obviously noticing Rose's tension.
"No, it's just me this time, and I'm taking you home. It's time to stop fooling around with this… professor," he growled at Jason and then looked back at Rose.
The photographers that had begun to lose interest in the couple were suddenly reanimated, swapping out memory sticks and film rolls preparing to take photos of the scene that instinct told them was about to play out – a lover's triangle, perhaps.
"Max, I don't know what you're on about, but I'm not going anywhere and I'm certainly not going with you." Rose squared her shoulders and stared at Max, daring him to try something.
Max reached behind his back and withdrew a semiautomatic pistol from his waistband. "I knew you'd make this difficult on me, Rose." He said as he pointed the weapon in her direction. Rose, Jason, and the photographers all took a step backward. Only Jack, who was still a ways off, walked cautiously forward from behind the group, out of Max's line of sight. "No one at Torchwood would tell me where you went. Finally I saw your photo with Dr. Big-Ears over here and knew where I'd find you."
"Oi!" Jason responded, offended over the big-ears comment.
Max ignored Jason's outburst and continued his rant. "All these years, I've tried to get you to notice me. But noooo…. You only ever had eyes for John. And then when he died, I thought, 'Yes! I'm finally going to get my happy ending! The Universe was smiling at me' But you still ignored me, Rose. I've wanted to be with you since the first day I met you but you've never even looked at me twice. And now you've run off and found yourself another Dr. Bookworm. You've hardly known him a week! I've known you for years! Well, I'm tired of it, Rose. I'm so damned tired of chasing you. And if I can't have you, then no one can."
Max's finger moved imperceptibly over the trigger and Rose's perception of the flow of time slowed. She saw the muscles in Max's right index finger ripple and contract as he squeezed the trigger. As the bullet raced toward Rose, Jason's large form began to eclipse her sight of the scene in front her. Just before Jason's body obscured her view, she saw Jack jump from the crowd to tackle Max to the ground. Rose reached out in an effort to move Jason out of the path of bullet, but he easily overpowered her. Rose felt as if she was moving against a rip current, using every ounce of energy her muscles could process and making no progress to move. Jason's body jolted at the impact of the bullet and he collapsed backward slowly into Rose's waiting arms. She lowered him as gently as she could to ground. As soon as his body relaxed into the grass, time resumed its frenzied pace. Rose was once again aware of the chaos around her, but her senses narrowed on the bullet wound that was now allowing copious amounts of blood to ooze out and soak Jason's jumper.
"Oh god, no! Jason, stay with me. Please, don't you dare try to leave me now," Rose said as she gathered the hem of Jason's jumper to put pressure on the wound. Rose fumbled in her pocket and pulled out her superphone that was now streaked with blood. She pressed the red button on the side and spoke the command "Initiate emergency program one, authorization 6-7-5-Delta-2." Five seconds passed and then a voice spoke over the speaker.
"Emergency program one activated, Commander Tyler. How many to transmat?"
"Two to transmat to Torchwood triage from my location. Human and Gallifreyan bio-signatures," Rose called out.
"Confirmed, Commander. I have a lock on your location. Transmat in 10 seconds," the voice confirmed.
Remembering the threat that caused this situation in the first place and Jack's effort to stop Max, Rose glanced up. Jack had successfully tackled Max and had him face down on the ground, handcuffed with Jack's knee digging into his back. "Jack!" she called out.
"It's okay, Rosie. I've got him subdued. You focus on Jason," he glanced down at the wounded form who had used his body to protect Rose from the bullet.
Rose nodded and called "I'll send back up," as she faded from sight.
Rose and Jason appeared seconds later on the floor of triage at Torchwood. Dr. Sullivan and his medical team were standing nearby with Gallifreyan biology data projected on the wall. Although neither of them ever thought the information would be necessary, Rose was glad that John had programmed Gallifreyan data into the medical database at Torchwood. They knew that Gallifrey didn't exist in this universe, but the biological similarities to other species might prove useful information.
The adrenaline pumping through Rose helped her recover quickly from the disorientation the transmat always caused.
"Commander Tyler, are you hurt?" a triage nurse raced forward to assess the two patients who had just appeared.
"No, I'm fine. It's Jason," Rose nodded her head down at Jason's bloodied body. As she spoke, Jake and Pete rushed into the room. "He's been shot by a Torchwood issued .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol at short range." Rose explained.
"Torchwood issued?!" exclaimed Jake.
Without taking her eyes of Jason, Rose replied, "It was Max. He ambushed us in the Manchester Botanical Gardens." The nurses and Dr. Sullivan moved Jason's body to a gurney and began taking vitals and starting IVs.
"Maxwell Alter?" Pete questioned. "What the hell was he doing there?"
"He said he came to bring me home and a bunch of other bullshit. Jack managed to wrestle him to the ground, but not before he managed to take a shot at us. Jason jumped in front of the bullet that was meant for me."
"I'll take Field Team Alpha to Rose's last location to take Max into custody and clean up the scene," Jake immediately jumped into action.
"Take Team Delta too," Rose said. "There were at least a dozen photographers who witnessed the shooting and transmat. You'll want to confiscate the photos and retcon them."
"Got it," replied Jake and he turned and left.
"Are you sure you're okay, Rose?" Pete questioned, looking at her blood-stained clothes.
"I'm fine. I'm not injured." Rose answered quickly.
"The bullet punctured Jason's left heart and his right heart is starting to fail from the extra effort," explained Dr. Sullivan. "I'm taking him back to the OR to repair the damage before both hearts fail."
"Be sure to review the list of medications his biology can't tolerate," Rose reminded the doctor. "And if he starts to glow golden colored energy, get everyone back immediately because that means he's regenerating." Rose voice echoed down the hall as the medical team rushed Jason's lifeless body into the operating room. Dr. Sullivan nodded and quickly followed his medical team while Rose watched helplessly.
Pete came up next to Rose and wrapped her in a hug. "He's in good hands, Rose. If he's anything like his parallel self, he's strong. He'll be right as rain in no time." Rose relaxed into his embrace and silently prayed to any deity that would listen that Jason be okay.