Child of Earth

By Lumendea

Chapter Thirteen: Reason to Celebrate: The Arcateenian

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.

…

Rose ignored Shareen's comment and tried not to think about her shoes while they quickly regained their coats after Sharon stubbornly pointed out that it was too cold outside to run around without them. Dashing out of the club, Rose looked around frantically for any sign of the alien or its pursuers. There wasn't any sign of the alien, Arcateenian Amelia had said, but there were plenty of people on the busy London street gossiping and pointing after something to the right. As they moved, Rose reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out the sonic pen.

They followed the pavement, watching the odd reactions and murmuring of the crowds until they suddenly stopped next to an alley entrance. Rose looked down the alley which stretched between several buildings with turns shrouded in darkness.

"Here, give me the sonic pen," Amelia ordered quickly as she reached for the small instrument in Rose's hand.

"Why?" Shareen questioned.

"If it is an Arcateenian then it is using some serious energy to keep itself together in our gravity," Amelia lectured as she carefully adjusted the setting of the sonic pen using the tiny gold dial at the end. "That should leave a trace." She huffed and handed the pen back to Rose. "Honestly the sonic screwdriver is much easier to use."

"Has more settings too," Rose informed her as she held up the sonic pen and watched the strength of the glow at the blue end. "Price of sleekness."

"Yeah will I'm still holding out for a sonic screwdriver someday," Amelia muttered as they group began to move forward.

"You don't need any extra help in finding trouble," Rory reminded her with a chuckle.

"Now you just sound like the Doctor," Amelia grumbled affectionately.

Their heels clicked on the street and echoed in the valley formed by the buildings. Rose shivered, but it had nothing to do with the chill, but rather a very bad feeling that was creeping up her back. She glanced at Sharon and Shareen who was staying close together and noticed that Rory and Amelia were doing the same. At some point, Amelia had tied her long ginger hair up into a messy braid and her green eyes were looking around carefully. Apparently her future… companion/ foster daughter felt it too.

"Something is here," Amelia announced softly. "Something is off."

"Yeah," Rose agreed with a nod. "Keep moving, let's not be easy targets."

The sonic pen hummed softly in her hands and Rose followed it around the corner. A crash at the far end made them all break into a run. Up ahead Rose caught sight of flashes of light and her heart jumped. Torchwood was using some sort of energy weapons. She mentally corrected herself, whoever was chasing the alien, was using energy weapons. It didn't have to be Torchwood.

Her sonic pen beeped and Rose lifted it as the light pattern changed. Frowning, Rose shifted the pen trying to find the new source of the signal. As she tilted the pen up, her stomach tightened and it flashed as it pointed towards the roof. Another round of shouting and flashes of light confirmed it and Rose dashed forward.

Up ahead a door on the building had been blasted open and was lying half in the alleyway. There was a staircase beyond it and Rose didn't wait, rushing up the stairs despite the discomfort of her heels. She once again wondered why men invented the damned things and why women had later on decided that they needed to wear them too and why men had then stopped wearing them.

"I've missed this," Amelia laughed as they rushed up the staircase. "Love school, but nothing replaces this."

"Are you sure you aren't Rose and the Doctor's biological child?" Sharon asked which almost made Rose laugh. "You sound enough like one."

"So dare I even ask how you met the Doctor and Rose?" Shareen asked with an almost frantic look in Amelia's direction.

"Actually it wasn't anything too bad," Amelia chuckled as she kept moving up the staircase. "Multiform prisoner escaped into my house through… well better not talk about that and the Doctor and Rose found it. They captured it and alerted the guards when they came to Earth looking for it. Very fast, very neat and tidy. My aunt hadn't even made it home yet by the time they were done. No one in town even noticed, course it was at night so everything dark."

"And how old were you?"

"Seven, it was 1996 when that happened," Amelia laughed. "One of my favourite memories. The Doctor was stunned at how calm I was."

"Timelines Amelia," Rose scolded as she caught sight of the door to the roof ahead of them. "We're here, be careful everyone."

The door was ajar, but in far better shape than the lower one. Rose hoped that this was just an office building without any flats inside of it with the weapons this lot seemed to be playing with. She shoved the door open, ignoring the slight burning in her feet from running up about ten flights of stairs.

The alien was glowing a brighter blue colour now and the strangers were closing in around it fast with their weapons trained on it. In the light of the alien's glow Rose could see a stylised T emblem on their shirts, but nothing more marking them. However, it was enough to confirm that they were Torchwood. Her eyes jumped back to the alien as the pressure in the air began to build.

"Back!" Rose snapped as she smelled the ozone.

The others ducked back into the staircase and Amelia tugged her back against the wall beside the doorway. Rose risked a glance around the corner just as a bright flash of light erupted outside. Flinching back, Rose gasped as the Torchwood team all collapsed on the rooftop, bolts of energy washing over their bodies. For a moment no one moved and then Rose breathed out a sigh of relief as she realised that they were all breathing.

"Just defending itself," Amelia reminded her softly as she released Rose's arm. "Poor thing must be terrified. Imagine being an alien in London with Torchwood on your tail."

Amelia was right and Rose nodded in agreement and took a careful step forward. The Arcateenian glowed softly in front of them, floating in the air rather like a ghost. There was a metallic belt around its narrow waist that gleamed in the soft light. Rose brought her hands up so the Arcateenian could see she was unarmed. A soft whimper escaped the alien, but it made no move towards them.

Sharon shifted around her and carefully moved to the nearest member of Torchwood. Rory and Shareen were right behind her. In the corner of her eye, Rose watched Rory check the man's vitals before pushing his gun away. As she stepped a little closer to the alien, the trio of medical students moved to the next man and the next man. Rose kept her eye on the alien who was quiet and just watching them uneasily.

"They're all alright," Sharon announced in a low voice. "Just seemed to be stunned. Like a taser was used on them or something."

"Potentially a release of energy," Rory offered, looking towards Rose. "If Arcateenians do have to use extra energy in our world then they must have some control over it."

"A defence mechanism," Amelia agreed beside her.

Rose turned her attention back to the Arcateenian and studied it for a long moment. Up close it was more of a violet colour with tendrils growing out of its rather humanoid face that almost looked like hair. However, its face was contorted with fear and pain. Large bluish eyes were darting between all of them and their hands. Rose hoped that they didn't appear as a threat to the alien. A sharp cry escaped it before it suddenly dropped out of the air and hit the roof.

Rose stopped in her tracks and took in the alien. It wasn't moving and softly glowing blood was flowing out of it. A strange chiming cry escaped it and Rose felt like a hand was tightening around her heart. The Arcateenian shifted, trying to raise itself up on its thin arms and look at them. Before she could say anything Rory moved past her. He raised his hands in front of him so the alien could see and took slow steps towards it.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he promised in a soothing voice. "I'm a doctor… well near enough. I'm not going to hurt you."

The Arcateenian cooed softly, whispering in confusion and Rose watched as Rory knelt next to it and reached into the pocket of his coat. He pulled out a small case a moment later and flipped it open. The Arcateenian made a small sound of alarm.

"He's not going to hurt you," Rose announced making the Arcateenian look at her with wide eyes. "He's going to help," Rose assured the alien. "Please just stay calm."

"Can you ask her some basics for me?" Rory questioned as he checked the contents of his small kit. "I don't want to risk an allergic reaction."

Licking her lips, Rose made up her mind and stepped forward quickly as she reached up and pulled off her translator. She bent down by Rory and as he gave her a surprised look, slipped the translator into place behind his ear.

"No," Rose answered softly. "She needs to be able to talk to her doctor."

Rory then said something to the Arcateenian that Rose couldn't understand and she stepped back to give him some room. The Arcateenian and Rory exchanged soft musical sounds that sounded quite beautiful to Rose and non-threatening. Slowly she shifted back to join the others as Rory nodded and pulled something out of his small med kit. He opened a small green packet, bringing out a cloth that looked a lot like the one the Fifth Doctor had used to heal her arm back in New York City.

"He collects medical supplies when we travel," Amelia informed her in a pleased tone. "He's careful about using them on Earth, but he just wants to help. To heal," Amelia told her with a wide smile. "That's my bloke."

"You love him a lot don't you?" Rose questioned, looking at Amelia's face and finding her soft green eyes fixed on Rory.

"I do," Amelia breathed. "He's just so beautiful. When I was kid as much as I loved you and the Doctor and travelling in the TARDIS and my sorta siblings. But as I grew older, I started worrying that all the alien strangeness would keep me from having someone who was just mine." Amelia swallowed, "And Rory was always a good friend and then one day, just by accident he found out the truth and while it did freak him out a bit at first he was just wonderful."

"Well," Rose sighed with a smile. "I know you aren't my sorta daughter yet Amelia Pond, but I have to say that I am very much approving of the choice you made."

Amelia smiled as her and to Rose's surprise took her hand and leaned her head against her shoulder.

"Well, then it makes sense that you were the one who tricked Rory into revealing he had feelings for me," Amelia chuckled. "I thought he was gay."

Sharon and Shareen snorted behind them and Rose barely contained a smile as she tried to focus on what was happening. It was odd being unable to understand the soft tones of the alien and Rose missed the influence of the TARDIS. Shaking her head, she studied the Torchwood soldiers and shifted over to one, searching for any additional weapons. Each of them were carrying a smaller backup weapon on their ankle and Rose quickly removed them all. She piled them up by the door as Rory kept applying small patches to the Arcateenian.

"Okay," Rory announced as he stood up and extended a hand to the Arcateenian. The alien took his hand and slowly glided back up into the air with a soft cooing sound. "She's not a hundred percent, but she should be alright."

"Do you know what happened to her?" Rose questioned.

Rory shook his head and started moving back over them while Rose looked at the alien again. Its breathing was slightly pained, but it was moving better. Rory stepped back and reached up to his ear, pulling off the translator and handed it to Rose.

"Here," he said softly. "You're better at this than me."

"I'm not sure about that," Rose answered as she accepted the translator back and slipped it into place behind her own ear. "But thanks."

She moved towards the Arcateenian with what she hoped was a calm smile. Her feet were beginning to ache a bit from standing on the hard cement of the roof in heels, but Rose did her best to keep her discomfort from showing.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Rose questioned gently. "I'd like to help you get home."

"I am Ceaflae," the alien responded weakly in a voice that had a musical quality to it. "Thank you for helping me."

"My name is Rose Tyler," Rose introduced only to see Ceaflae tilt her head curiously.

"The Star Knight?"

"That's right," Rose agreed with a growing smile. "I take it you know the Durmino Empire."

"Indeed," Ceaflae replied. "Can you help me? I got lost and my transporter has malfunctioned. Grave danger."

"Danger," Rose repeated with a frown. "What kind of danger? What exactly happened?"

"I am an artist," Ceaflae informed her softly. "I was travelling to a festival a few star systems over when…" Ceaflae shuddered and her glow suddenly dimmed. "I was attacked."

"By what?" Rose questioned only to get a terrified uncertain look in return. "What happened to your ship?"

"Ship?" Ceaflae repeated before shaking her head. "No ship," she answered as she pointed to the strange belt that she wore. "Personal teleport system. Disrupted and damaged. I ended up here and was attacked by those humans."

Rose glanced around at Torchwood and her eyes widened and one of them groaned softly and another shifted. They didn't have much time to deal with this before they started waking up. She was going to say something about that when Ceaflae suddenly clutched at her stomach and shuddered. The glow of her body rippled and a small sound of pain escaped her.

"Bad gravity," Ceaflae breathed out painfully. "Need more energy."

"That's how they found you the first time," Rose remarked with a frown. "You were draining energy weren't you?"

"I need energy to survive," Ceaflae whimpered. "Please Star Knight, help me."

Nodding, Rose looked around the rooftop with a frown. They needed to find a source of energy without hurting anyone and fast by the looks of it. Not to mention there was still the question of what had forced Ceaflae out of her teleport.

"Okay we need to keep Ceaflae stable," Rose announced. "We need an energy source and a quiet place so I can try to repair her teleport."

"There!" Sharon called, moving to the side of the roof and pointed down the street as she leaned over a bit too far for Rose's taste. "Signs say that office building is under construction. Probably some generators and the like inside."

"And it would be out of sight," Shareen added with an excited nod as she grabbed Sharon's arm to keep her steady.

Rose moved over to join them with Rory and Amelia right behind her. The group all leaned over the edge of the building while the Arcateenian waited with soft sounds of pain still escaping it. Sure enough, the office building down the street had signs marking internal construction and a couple of trucks parked up in front of it off the street. While the front was crowded and brightly lit, Rose turned and eyed the staircase they'd come up through.

"Looks promising," Rose agreed with a forming smile. "Let's go and see what we can find."

"We need to keep her out of sight," Rory reminded Rose uneasily.

"The alley connects through this whole block by the look of things," Rose reminded him as she moved towards the far side of the building. "We'll take the back door. It has to have a fire exit."

Rory still looked uneasy even as Amelia squeaked with excitement, half dancing on her heels. Sharon and Shareen nodded and went around to check the Torchwood forced one more time.

"What do we do with the weapons?" Sharon asked as she looked over at them.

Frowning, Rose pulled out the sonic pen once more and moved over to them, studying them all carefully. Small power packs were fixed to each of the weapons and with a smile, she used the sonic pen to disengage them all one at a time. Shrugging out of her leather coat, Rose settled the small packs inside and folded it up so she could carry them.

"Snacks for our friend," she told the others. "And that should limit their offensive abilities."

"Which is good because they're waking up," Rory insisted as he gestured Ceaflae towards the staircase.

"Yeah," Rose agreed as she eyed the nearest groaning soldier. "We have a plan, time to get moving."