Child of Earth
By Lumendea
Chapter Nine: Black Archives: Showing Off
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the spinoff material and I gain no income off of this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
AN: Hey everyone I really hope that this chapter is good. I've been really sick with a cold this week so hopefully the medication hasn't thrown me off too much. That and the Eleventh Doctor just has this habit of doing whatever the hell he wants whenever he appears.
….
Rose had only a moment to note the richer blue tone of the TARDIS and the bright little sticker on the door before said door swung open. The Doctor with the soft and bright green eyes and messy dark brown hair stepped out. His jacket had changed since the last time Rose had seen in and had been swapped for a darker one though it still had the familiar elbow patches. A flash of suspenders beneath the jacket and a red bowtie completed the look as he beamed at her.
"Hello darling," he greeted happily, leaning forward and gently cupping her cheek.
He kissed her before Rose could move, a soft kiss that lingered against her lips and sent a shiver down her spine. As the Doctor shifted back, he glanced at her protective suit and snickered, earning him a slight glare from her. But then he turned his attention to Liz who was gaping at them with wide disbelieving eyes.
"Oh come along Doctor Shaw," the Doctor laughed. "Surely everyone in UNIT knows about our relationship. I doubt it is a surprise."
"I'm afraid it is one to me, I assumed those rumours to be only rumours," Liz replied looking a little faint as she studied the Doctor. "You've changed a great deal since I saw you last."
"Yes," the Doctor agreed with a softening smile. "I suppose I have. Regeneration, you can never be sure what you're going to get. Well, Rose is at this point."
"Not really," Rose told him with a laugh. "I've never met any after this body," she informed him before frowning. "Hope that isn't a bad sign."
"Oh just not yet then," the Doctor answered, looking a little excited. "You've dropped hints about my next form, but refuse to tell me anything important."
"Anything important?" Rose repeated uncertainly.
"If I'm ginger," the Doctor told her before chuckling. "Private joke, my past your future. The usual."
"Noted," Rose told him with a small smile before she pulled herself back the issue at hand. "Any chance you have some brilliant way to turn everything off from here?"
"Sorry, but no," the Doctor told her with a shake of his head. "Too many different planets of origin involved." He shook his head fondly. "Why is it always Earth?"
"Could have something to do with the rift in time and space in Cardiff or our metaphysical location on what remains of the Web of Time," Rose offered smugly with a grin as the Doctor looked at her.
"Touché," the Doctor murmured, leaning down and kissing her nose. "You're adorable when you're clever."
"I'm always clever."
"Hence you're always adorable, except when you're brilliant," the Doctor rambled though he leaned over and added in a softer voice. "You're sexy then."
Rose couldn't help but grin and maybe blush a little. This later form of the Doctor always was refreshing in just how open he could be with his emotions. Smiling up at him, Rose was about to say something in return when someone cleared their throat, loudly.
"Doctor," Benton cut in with a stern look at them both which made him come off as more of a disapproving father than anything else. "I appreciate that you enjoy Miss Tyler's company but we do have a situation."
"Of course Benton," the Doctor replied with a grin and gesture of his hand. "Pleasure to see you." He looked around the small staging room and towards the barrel. "And you've already got the neutralizer ready," the Doctor observed as he darted over to the barrel and looked down into it with his nose wrinkling.
"You're aware of the situation?"
"Yep, future Rose brought me up to speed," the Doctor said quickly as he spun back and pointed to Rose. "And you're at a spa before you can ask so don't worry about running into yourself."
"Well thank you for coming to help," Benton said with a small sigh. "I'll inform Geneva that you apparently already know about the Black Archives."
"To be fair I'm a time traveller and nothing stays a secret forever," the Doctor offered with a slightly smug look.
"I'll be sure to point that out," Benton told him drily before he looked towards the doorway into the main archive. "I'm afraid Doctor that we need to deal with the immediate threat. I have ordered more troops and they are patrolling the perimeter of both the compound and this structure." He paused and looked at the Doctor. "I'll send for a suit-"
"Oh I don't need one," the Doctor answered off-handedly.
"Doctor," Benton started to protest but the Doctor calmly held up a hand.
"I assure you, Benton, that nothing in there is going to harm me," the Doctor told them with a firm look at Benton and then at Rose. "The radiation levels are nothing compared to what my physiology is designed to deal with."
"We don't know what else might happen in there Doctor," Benton reminded the Doctor carefully, looking torn.
"All the more reason to have one of us still fully mobile," the Doctor countered with a shrug. 'Trust me I'm a good boy and wear a suit when in hostile environments."
Benton pressed his lips but nodded as Shaw looked uneasily between the two. The Doctor caught her worried expression and gave her a smile before turning his attention back to Rose. Moving over to her, he reached over to one of the adjustment straps and began tightening it. Rose met his green eyes and smiled as the shoulder area of the suit shifted to balance more comfortably.
"Better?" he asked.
"Much," Rose agreed. "You familiar with the design?"
"This style will become dominate in about twenty years," the Doctor explained as he adjusted the other side. "And will be the main source of future designs for another three hundred years. UNIT's design team should be proud."
"I'll pass that on Doctor," Liz told him as she watched the pair of them.
The Doctor finished her adjustments and Liz allowed him to make a few changes to how the bulky suit hung on her slight frame before he moved on to the soldiers. As he checked the printouts and the map of the facility, Liz shifted closer to her with her eyes still jumping between them.
"It's weird," Rose told her. "I know. Sorry about that. This form of him is pretty… open with our relationship. He seems to find everyone's reactions to it entertaining." Rose paused and smiled, "But then again by his regeneration into this form we've been together for a long time."
"I had a hard time believing the rumours," Liz admitted in a soft, but slightly amused voice as she opened a cabinet and pulled out something that looked like a cross between a hose and a water gun. "In part, I suppose because the Doctor I worked with always struck me as someone… outside of romantic relationships. He was a brilliant being and a good friend, but…"
"I get it," Rose laughed with a nod. "And you're certainly not the first friend of his to be stunned by our relationship. I think this incarnation enjoys throwing people off with it."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, long story," Rose added dismissively. "Has Benton not told you about the Companion's Club?" Rose questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Companion's Club?"
"Sarah Jane's going to have words for him," Rose chuckled with a grin. "It's a group of us who used to travel or in my case will travel with the Doctor. We live all over the world and just… you know talk from time to time or get together. It's nice to have people to talk to about what you've seen."
"Since I've stayed with UNIT that hasn't been a problem for me," Liz admitted, but then she smiled. "Still now that I'm retiring back to England it might be interesting."
"Well when we're done here I'll give you some phone numbers, I suspect that you and Ian would get along very well."
"Very well, but first things first," Liz told her as she handed Rose one of the odd hose devices.
Rose adjusted the thing in her hands to get a better look at it while Liz latched it up to a long hose. It reminded her most of the water guns that she and a couple of other kids back on the estate had owned. A long hose connected it to the pressure device that Liz had just added to the barrel. Rose shifted the goo gun in her hands for a moment to familiarise herself with the weight and nodded to Liz.
"The pump will make sure that you have some of the neutralizers to use at all times," Liz explained. "It will beep when the barrel starts to get low."
"We have a route," the Doctor announced as he moved back to them past a trio of soldiers who were suiting up. "Ready?"
"We have what we need Doctor," Liz agreed with a nod.
"Will you take on sonicing?" Rose questioned the Doctor.
"Given that you don't have the best dexterity control in that suit let's say yes."
"Do you have it this time?" Rose teased.
"Course," the Doctor replied sounding offended as he pulled out his bronze and green tipped sonic screwdriver with a grin.
"Alright then."
"Come on Jeopardy Friendly," the Doctor sighed despite the wide smile on his face.
"After you Trouble Magnet," Rose replied as they moved to the main door that led to the storage area.
"Do you always flirt this much?" Liz questioned with a quizzical expression looking torn between near horror and laughter.
"In this body yeah," the Doctor answered calmly as he reached for the door. His wedding band flashed in the low lights and he brought the sonic screwdriver up at the ready. "Helmets!"
Rose lifted the helmet over her head, noting with distaste that the air already smelled stale as it locked into place. She took a few deep breaths just to make sure that the front filtering vents were working properly. The Doctor waited calmly and was watching for any signs of distress. Two of the soldiers stepped up next to him, modified tasers cradled in their arms that the Doctor eyed for a moment. Seeing that everyone was ready the Doctor pressed the button and the doors slid open with a soft hiss.
The storage area seemed far too dark for Rose's taste with the only light shining down from the high ceiling. It was creepy and far too quiet. Every set of shelves, unfortunately, created an ambush point that their enemies could be using. Rose felt sluggish in the protective suit despite knowing that it was a lot lighter than anything else like it. They had to move slowly as she walked along in front of the barrel and one of the soldiers wheeled it along with them. The pair of soldiers marched ahead of them as the Doctor told them which way to go with every turn.
"Do you know who we're dealing with?" Rose questioned the Doctor in a soft voice. "Black Sun or the Eclipse group?"
"It's Eclipse," the Doctor answered calmly as he peered around the shelf before glancing down at the map in his hands.
"Any idea what they're after?" Rose pressed as they walked forward.
"No hints darling," the Doctor chided. "Over here."
They turned and stepped into an odd orange cloud that was billowing through the aisle. For a moment it was almost impossible to see, but Rose kept moving with slow and cautious steps. She heard the hum of the sonic screwdriver and followed the sound. The cloud began to clear a little and she could see a large strange black box on the second shelf that filled much of the space. Small holes had appeared on its side and the orange cloud was spilling out of the holes.
Upon hearing the hum of the sonic screwdriver, Rose stepped closer and steadied the goo gun. Pressing the release value, Rose almost giggled as the slight vibration tickled her arm and side. A steady small stream of the goo began spilling out of the hose and struck the black box. Sparks appeared across the surface of it for a moment and the orange cloud stopped spilling out of it. As the goo dripped down the floor, the Doctor waved a hand to clear some of the orange cloud.
"Weather machine from Altairen III," he announced gesturing to the ceiling. "Missing some parts hence the clouds only, but the chemicals were mixing up in the higher levels with the sparkvaitk a section over and giving you that little lightning storm."
"Well, one down," Liz sighed as the Doctor started walking again and motioned for them to follow.
Three aisles down and ten aisles over they found the next sparking problem. Like the last aisle, this one had several large metallic holding boxes in addition to the more standard wooden crates that were dotted throughout the storage area. Part of one metallic box had fallen open and in the middle of the floor was a small round object with a smooth polished surface. The problem was that it was sparking and throwing off small bolts of lightning that kept striking the metal of the nearby shelves.
The Doctor caught her eye for a moment before he glanced past her towards another set of shelves. Rose felt a jolt of uncertainty but then the Doctor turned the sonic screwdriver towards the object and it flashed green. He nodded and Rose pressed the trigger. More of the goo blast out and spilt over the device and the cement floor.
The sound of rapid footfalls a few shelves away made Rose tense, but she didn't turn her attention away from the small sparking device. As it suddenly stopped and the glow around it faded, Liz scooped it up and set it back into the metallic box. The sonic screwdriver hummed again and a small clicking sound could be heard as the box snapped shut and locked into place.
A taser fired behind her followed by the high pitched whine of some kind of energy weapon. The Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. She felt the hose stretch and glanced back to see Liz detaching both of their units from the pump. Lights flashed as the three soldiers took aim at several shadowy figures across the way.
"Run!" the Doctor breathed, pulling Rose after him with Liz on their heels.