I do not own Doctor Who, credit where it's due. Hope you all enjoy! R&R Please!
Rose pushed through the doors, still clothed in her pajama bottoms, having forgone a shower in favor of speed. The halls were almost empty, most of the patients having been confined to their rooms for the emergency. There were a few still wandering around with pinch faced orderlies who pointed her down the halls as soon as they saw her. Grimacing apologetically she rushed to the cafeteria, the doors to the kitchens were crowded with staff members over flowing into the eating area. She could hear faint voices wafting over the crowd.
"Tick tock! You're running out of time Turtle! Now where is she?!"
"Smith, calm down. We've called her she said she'd be here. Just… don't do anything rushed."
Rose sent up a silent prayer of thanks for the level headedness of Officer Spencer Mitchell and began the process of pushing through the press of people. They parted as soon as they realized who she was, looking both frightened and sympathetic.
"If you are lying to me Turtle, if you've harmed one hair on her head- there will not be a place in the cosmos where you can-"
"I'm 'ere!" She finally breached the kitchen and stopped to take in the sight before her. It seemed to be some sort of standoff. Smith stood in front of the open ovens, a tangle of wires and bits of metal clasped in his hands and trailing into the bowels of the kitchen appliances. Officer Spencer stood across from him, his thinning hair poking anxiously in every direction, one hand on the gun in his holster and the other held out beseechingly. The home director was pressed against the far wall, trying to look stern and commanding while simultaneously hiding behind the officer's back. They all turned at her 'greeting'.
A huge smile split Smith's face and everyone seemed to sag in unison, exhaling in relief.
"Rose!" He took a step towards her. "There go you lot. You'll want to recycle that. " He tossed the detonation device in his hand at the nearest staff member, starting as every person in the room gasped in alarm. "Oh, no! Didn't I mention? That doesn't work! "He smiled appeasingly. "I made it from the bits in the craft box, borrowed some wire and threatening bits from the radio in the lounge. There's nothing in it to activate a charge, it was all a bluff. Just a clever lie to save Rose." He did one of his famous grins, obviously expecting some of the tension to leave the room. It didn't. "Doris and the girls are fine; I've turned off the freezer. Nobodies hurt, I promise. And you've released Rose! Crisis averted, well done everyone! Back to your lives! See you round Turtle." He made to approach her again, still smiling and whatever spell was immobilizing the room was broken. The smile leeched from Smith's face as Spencer grabbed him and twisted his arm up behind his back. "Ah! Hey! Turtle! What are you-"He cut off as the handcuffs clicked into place.
"You have the right to remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Come on Smith." He dragged him towards the door, trying not to feel guilty at the betrayal on the man's face.
"Hey!" Rose made to follow but was stopped by the director's hand on her shoulder.
"Let him go Rose. It's for his own good." His tone was compassionate but Rose would not be soothed. She whirled to face the older man.
"Where are they takin' 'im?" She could still here Smith out on the street calling her name along with several things that didn't make sense. She thought she heard him mention President Nixon at one point. The whole thing made her feel slightly sick.
"They'll take him down and run his fingerprints through the database, might even find out who he is, contact his family. He might spend the night in a cell, and then they'll find a facility like ours that's better suited to taking care of him. Something high security where he can't get himself into trouble. Can't hurt anyone."
"He didn' hurt anyone! You heard 'im! Didn't even leave the freezer on!" She gestured at the offending appliance, which was currently emptying of lunch ladies. "He just wan'ed me to come back ta' work!"
The director's expression became slightly harder and the pressure on her shoulder increased.
"Rose he can't make those sorts of demands! What if he did it again and actually managed to get his hands on something dangerous? Lethal even? He needs to stay somewhere where they're prepared to care for him if that should happen." When her stony expression didn't change he sighed. "We didn't know enough about him for him to be here legally anyway. This way he'll get better care. I'm sorry Rose, this is out of both of our hands." He gave her a kindly look and turned to start sorting out some of the lingering chaos. "Go home. Take your weekend off. There'll be somebody else who needs you come Monday."
Rose tried not to stomp her feet as she fled the building.
She didn't know what possessed her to do it. There wasn't anything that she could help with, but she found herself going straight from the facility to the police station. Jammy bottoms and everything. Smith was easy to find.
"…I'm not a hamster. Not even close, I'm at least seven species away from a hamster. I think. Don't even look like a hamster. Do I? No. No, course I don't. And anyway, if I was a hamster you'd owe me a wheel. Why haven't you got exercise wheels? How'd you expect people to keep in shape! I can barely take two steps without bumping into a bar."
She found herself smiling as she pushed into the hallway lined with holding cells and immediately spotted the chattering man practically squashed to the door of the furthest one down.
"Do you go to bars? I don't. Usually. There was one time… I'm still not sure if both those heads were girls. Ah well. It's an experience. Were they girls? Or were they something else? Do you know what I'm talking about? I think I've forgotten… where's my hat!"
"You've not got a hat Smith." A harried Officer Mitchell sat behind a computer apparently attempting to input what little information they had about the incarcerated man into the database.
"Are you sure? I could have sworn I had one… a vegetable one. Parsley or rhubarb or something… I hate rhubarb, it's too stringy. Why the human race ever thought to make a pie out of it is beyond me… 3.14rhubarb, it makes no sense. "
The policeman made a noncommittal noise. Rose couldn't help but giggle. Both men looked round.
"Rose!"
"Ms. Tyler, what can I do for you?"
"You got out! Clever Rose, I always said you were clever, didn't I Turtle? Rose is the best I said, no one will ever beat Rose, hey?"
They both decided to ignore Smith for the moment, though Rose spared him a smile.
"Don't know why I came 'ere honestly, I thought I could 'elp or somethin'. Didn't want 'im to be alone."
Spencer gave the girl a smile.
"Well you're welcome to talk to him while I finish his paperwork. That might help me. I can't get him to shut up." He turned back to the computer, still smiling and Rose turned to go to Smith before stopping and turning back, eyeing the computer.
"Did you run his finger prints?"
"Mm. Nothings come up yet. Maybe by the time I fill out the rest though eh?"
Feeling uneasy and not knowing why, Rose turned to her ex-charge.
"Smith you daft idiot, what were you thinkin'? Keepin' Doris and Hailey and them in the freezer and threatening everyone in the whole place! You could've hurt someone!"
"No I couldn't. It was a fake bomb. You can't just explode a fake bomb, not unless you have a real one, which I didn't. Besides lunch ladies are always aliens anyway, unless they're you. Almost always. It's why the foods so inedible. Usually. Never bother to learn even the basis of earth cuisine. Meat surprise indeed. I'd be surprised if there was more than 20% of meat in the whole batch. Sorry, you were scolding me. Didn't mean to interrupt. Carry on Rose."
Rose shook her head, all the 'anger' she'd felt towards the insane man had dissipated less than halfway through his speech.
"What'm I gonna do you with you?" She reached through the cell and brushed her fingers through his hair, melting a little inside when he sighed and leaned into the touch, something that sounded a lot like a purr rumbling up from his chest. She giggled and he flashed her a smile.
"Can you get me out now Rose? I'm a bit bored in here. And we've got to go feed the queen her dog food. Did you bring my jacket?"
Rose shook her head. Crazy Smith.
"No Smith, you've gotta stay in 'ere."
"Why?"
"Because what you did was wrong Smith! You can't just take people hostage and get away with it!"
"Why not? People do it to me all the time. Besides they weren't very nice people, they took you away."
Rose faltered as her brain attempted to process the first half of that sentence. What had Smith been through before he'd showed up at the hospital? Was he some sort of soldier? Was this some sort of PTSD? Since she wasn't likely to get answers right that moment Rose decided to focus on the problem at the end of the sentence.
"They didn' take me away, I told ya' I had to go home. Remember? I had the weekend off. I'm supposed to be spendin' it with my boyfriend." She gave him a disapproving look.
"Am I your boyfriend? Does this mean I get to have you Rose? Like Turtle said? Brilliant. I don't think I've been a boyfriend before. People seem to just jump right to husband, are we jumping to husband? We'll have to figure out my name if we are. Or I could have your name. Ooh! Smith Tyler. Bit odd… still at least it's not a mouthful like Leth-"
"Smith! We're not gettin' married! You're not my boyfriend! I told ya', I'm with Jimmy, remember?" His face fell.
"Oh yes, yes, Jimmy, the…rock guy. Is he a statue? I don't like statues, they make my eyes burn and I'm always scared I'm gonna sneeze when I see one. And then where would I be? 1969 all over again."
Rose let her head fall into her hands and tried not to cry or laugh or whatever this feeling was that was welling up in her chest. Smith stopped talking as he watched her, frowning in concern. It was a while before she looked up again, the ringing of a phone brought her from her indecision and she decided that she really was going to laugh but decided not to, trying to keep the conversation serious, as pointless as that was. Spencer answered the phone.
"My boyfriend isn't a statue Smith; I'm not in love with a bloody statue."
"Who said you were in love with it? No, I was just concerned. If he was a statue he might send you back into the past and then you'd be old and then we wouldn't be together for nearly as long. You've only got the one life Rose. It'd be a shame if you wasted it as an old person. Eyes peeping out all over the place, mean really, that can't be hygienic."
Spencer interrupted before she could respond.
"Alright Smith, you're out of here." He made his way towards the cell door. Smith backed up looking pleased.
"Really?" Rose demanded, taking a step back herself.
"Yep. Call from higher up, apparently Mr. John Smith is to be cleared of all charges and sent on his way. As well as any people or boxes he may have with him. Unless otherwise specified." The cell hinges creaked as Turtle pulled them open.
"Seriously? John Smith? That's his name?" the officer shrugged and Rose turned to the man currently bouncing out of his temporary prison, beaming and shaking Spencer's hand. "Your name's John Smith? John Smith?"
John Smith's face scrunched up in thought.
"No. Only to my enemies and closest friends, no. Nobody calls me that." He strode past her heading for the exit and she made to follow, but Spencer called her back.
He pressed a small bag filled with 'John's' personal affects, his face concerned.
"Keep an eye on him will ya' Rose?"
She nodded, smiling and rushed to catch up with the man waiting for her at the door.
"So what do people call ya' then if it isn't yer' name?" she asked as they exited the station.
"I don't know. Zero or something like that…"
"Zero?"
"It's either Zero or Hero or something. Destroyer?"
"Righ'… well I'm not callin' you any of those, they're rubbish. I'll just have to stick with John for now alright?"
"Yes. Alright. If you must."
"I must."
He gave her a wide grin and kept walking and it was a good five minutes before Rose remembered that he didn't have anywhere to go and she was just following him everywhere like a stray puppy instead of leading him somewhere safe like the only sane one of the pair.
"Come on John." She changed directions, heading for the Powell Estate.
"Where are we going?" John asked, following her easily and without hesitation.
"You're gonna meet my mum."
Without understanding why 'John Smith' raised a hand to his cheek, and shuddered.