Hello everyone! New chapter and believe me, it was not an easy one! That chapter was Satan himself. That why it took me so long to post it. I promise the next one will be ready sooner. Like always don't forget to tell me what you think of it!

A lot of love for my Beta penandpaper83

Chapter 11

"Ok, I think it's enough," said Rose as she finished tying up the guard she just knocked out. "We need to move now, before the rest of the cavalry realizes that we're gone and come after us." As she turned around, she realized that the Doctor was still looking at her with a weird look in his eyes. Which made her roll her own in response. Sometimes she wondered about his sanity. But she was fortunately saved from an uncomfortable discussion by an oblivious Donna, who was still looking around with Tony.

"Ok time to get out!" she ordered a little too loudly for the Doctor, who winced at the sharpness of her tone.

"And we need to find the plan for the secret tunnel," added Tony, walking besides Rose, who couldn't stopping herself for smiling proudly every time he opened his mouth.

"Yes, so let's go." And suddenly just like that Colonel Tyler was back. "I'm going first." She turned to Tony. "You are closing the group. Don't forget to take the guard's weapon on our way out. Doctor…" The man himself approached her with curiosity, still not accustomed seeing the soldier in Rose. "I want you to stay close to Donna and be right behind me. Nobody move before I said so, nobody try to be a hero and for the love of everything let me handle everything coming our way before someone," she took an hard look to the Doctor, who started to look around innocently, "tries to save the day with a rubber duck and a strand of liquorice."

Before the alien in question had the time to look offended, Donna started to laugh really loudly, almost tripping on Tony who was probably wondering if liquorice was a weapon or not. "Ok, after our little adventure blondie and I really need to talk!"

"Please no!" The Doctor cringed at what could happen with the two woman in the same place and no danger on the horizon to distract them.

Rose had a sudden evil grin, making everyone a little nervous. "Oh yes. The stories I have…" She looked a little dreamy for a second before shaking herself and taking out her weapon, looking again like the professional she was. "Ok let's go."

"Hey I'm not a damsel in distress!" said Donna, affronted to be treated like a child, almost hitting the Doctor as he tried to move her behind him. Tony had the wisdom to stay away behind, occupying himself by checking the weapon he just recovered.

Rose sighed, a little irritated to lose time like this. Did nobody realize that they had maybe twenty five minutes, at best, before someone came to relieve Clive? "I know, Donna, but you are also the only full civilian here, so it's my job to ensure your safety." The Doctor coughed, making her add, "and also the Doctor is here to protect you. So please stay behind. And Doctor, no heroic action. We find Martha. We stop Cobb from doing something stupid, and we run to the TARDIS. Are we clear?"

"Crystal!" He smiled broadly, his hands in his pocket. The perfect image of a nine year old on a sugar rush. Making Rose shake her head fondly. That man was infuriating, but by god did she miss him sometimes.

"Ok let's go!" And then she was out.

"I so want to be her one day," Tony whispered to the Doctor as they were walking out. His last row with Rose already forgotten.

"I can understand why..."

"Hey, Fanboy, we don't have all day!" called Donna while snickering besides them. Between the man with a crush, and the kid with an hero worship; she was five seconds away from telling them to hold their fan club meeting elsewhere. But she wisely decided to leave that for another moment as the Doctor walked in front of her.

She had to convince Rose to stay in the TARDIS first. Because she was not ready to have an heartbroken Doctor on her hands again. One time had been enough.

They had been walking for almost ten minutes. Rose making them progress slowly while checking every nook and corner, her eyes entirely focused on the mission at hand. For the moment they had not seen anyone, letting her relax little by little. But it was not enough for the Doctor, who was realizing more and more that he didn't know at all the Rose Tyler in front of her.

Gone was the joyous and carefree woman who had traveled with him. In her place was a hardened soldier and leader. Not that he was proud to see her so confident and charismatic, but the fact it happened without him made something really ache inside him. He didn't want that life for her. When he had imagined her in the parallel earth without him, he always imagined her happy, most importantly with her family and endless laughter. It had almost broken him, but that was all that he ever wanted for her.

But now? Seeing her like that, was looking at an uncomfortable mirror from a past life. And he was not sure he was able to support the choices that he would inevitably have to make.

"Someone is there," whispered Rose in front of him, making him almost jump in surprise. He had been so deep in thought that he had forgotten where they were.

"If I remember correctly, that's the way out," the Doctor muttered as he was looking at the man who was facing away from them down the stairs. "I'm right?" he continued in Tony's direction.

"Well yes, this is the most direct route. There are others, but we might run into trouble with some of Cobb's friends."

"Let me distract this one. I have picked up a few womanly wiles over the years," Donna said with grin, eager to prove that she was as much as capable that the rest of them.

"Let's save your wiles for later. In case of emergency," replied the Doctor, trying to somewhat hold back Donna, as Tony was looking amused beside them. "Let me handle it."

"Like you handled it the last time? Sure! It worked so well," Donna said sarcastically.

As they continued their disagreement, not realising they were going up and up in volume, they were suddenly stopped by a loud whistling, putting a stop to their bickering.

"Okay you can stop shouting, it's done," Said Rose with a smile as they turned around in a perfect unison, while nudging the unconscious guard with her foot just to be sure he wasn't faking. "So we need to find something telling us where the Hath camp is."

"They must all have a copy of that map I saw with Cobb," said the Doctor, taking out his sonic screwdriver. "Just stay there," he said, walking tall in front of Rose, trying desperately to regain the upper hand.

"Yeah right…" Rose replied, smiling with Donna who was probably two seconds away to bursting into laughter.

"Wait. This is it. The hidden tunnel. There must be a control panel," said the Doctor, already in the other room, most probably to Tony who was the only one who had followed him. "I think it's why you couldn't know this. It's clearly in a dead end for you and…"

"There's another one of those numbers. They're everywhere," said Donna, looking at one of the pillar in this new area, cutting off one of the Doctor's infamous monologues.

"Well, the original builders must have left them. Some old cataloguing system," he offered curious to why she was focusing on that of all things.

Donna turned to Rose, who was guarding the back door just in case. "You got a pen? Bit of paper? Because the numbers are counting down. This one ends in one four. The prison cell said one six."

"Yeah sure wait…" She started to ruminage into her pocket, taking out a pen. "But I don't have any paper. I usually just carry the basics on me these days."

"I have some, Donna." The Doctor fished something out of his pockets.

"One day I will want to know what you have exactly in those pockets." Donna rolled her eyes while taking the paper.

"No you really don't want to know," Rose replied as she passed her head out of the door to keep an eyes on the stairs

Hey!" The Doctor glared at her, taking his head out of the map looking scandalized. "I said I was sorry about that! I didn't even remember I had it!"

"Yeah and the fact you had a mouse trap in the first place was not weird at all," snickered Rose as they started to smile to each other.

"He had what?" Said Donna horrified. "Ok, maybe I really don't want to know."

"Ahah! Found it!" called Tony in the background, his hands on two seperate parts of the wall, making them all turn around. "I think I have the control panel and the door!"

"Tony, you are a genius!" the Doctor enthused as the young man beamed. "Now give me just a minute…"

"So… You said that after you will stop the colonel you will leave. We are you going?" Tony asked shyly.

"I travel through time and space. Looking around at the different things."

"He saves planets," added Donna. "Rescues civilisations. Defeats terrible creatures. Runs a lot. Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved."

"I don't think I ever had a better cardio than when I was travelling with the Doctor," Rose thought to herself as she looked into space. Did she have better running time as a Torchwood agent or as an UNIT colonel? She will had to take out her few last running time to compare.

"Got it!" the Doctor said enthusiastically, high fiving Tony who was still besides him, making Donna and Rose smile as the door opened.

But the joyous atmosphere was cut short by the voice of Cobb and a few men reverbarting all around them, indicating they weren't the only ones in this area.

"Time to run!" said Rose, pushing a still motionless Doctor and Donna into the hole made by the door opening.

They started to run. Going faster and faster, surprising even Rose as Donna outdistanced her without issue, following the Doctor, who was still running like his life depended on it. Not unusual at all if she thought about it.

She then realized as she looked at Tony, who was a little in front of her but was showing more signs of effort than the rest of them, that when she resumed her training regime, that she'll need to drag her son with her. Because she was clearly out of shape compared to them.

After a few seconds however, she noticed that the Doctor had stopped running. After stopping short, and taking a brief glance around, she realized why: an array of laser beams was criss-crossing the passage. Making it impossible for them to pass without being fried to death.

"That's not mood lighting, is it?" asked Donna, the humor clearly more to relax the situation than anything else.

Without a word the Doctor rummaged around one of his pockets, taking out a clockwork mouse and tossing it into the lasers, causing it to instantly disintegrate.

"Wow! You really do have everything in those pockets," Tony was more impressed by the Doctor rather than what he just saw. The Doctor of course responded by smiling broadly at Tony. Making Rose roll her eyes with a sigh. Soon she will have to separate them if this was going to cause a distraction.

"That's clearly not good news," Donna interjected, unaware of the mood around her. She started to have practice with the Doctor. If she survived him into one of his "Rose's mood" she could override everything.

"Tony with me!" the Doctor commanded as he approached a blue box in a corner, clearly trying adopt the young man by any means possible.

But Rose was starting to be fed up with all this, and pushed her son in the other direction before he had time to make a move. "No, Tony check the corridor. I'm going in." As the Doctor looked at her in surprise, she started to justify herself. "I have probably a better understanding of the electrical layout than him."

"Since when?" asked the Doctor, his mouth going faster than his brain like always.

"There's more of these. Always eight numbers, counting down the closer we get," said Donna before Rose had time to respond, trying to deescalate the situation before they started to shoot at each other again.

"I think I'm hearing the general," Tony advised as he engaged his weapon, his demeanor going full soldier in a few seconds. He had the time to make a few steps before Rose realized what he was doing.

"And where do you think you are going, young man?" Rose asked icily, channeling her best impression of Jackie Tyler, making even the Doctor freeze in a somewhat forgotten preservation instinct.

The young man looked at her with big eyes, clearly not sure what he was supposed to do. "I can stall them."

Rose walked in front of him, the blue box and laser already forgotten. "And getting yourself killed in the process? I don't think so! I'm going," She declared while taking out her weapon at the same time, her head already forming plan. She could use the machine gun that was a meter away.

But before she could even think about going in that direction, she was stopped by a surprising strong arm and a double "no!" coming from both the Doctor and Tony, who were looking at each other surprised.

"You cannot do that," commanded the Doctor with a mullish expression on his face.

"And why not?" Rose shot back, her arms crossed, already annoyed with his tendency to shelter everyone who was not him.

He had a brief panicked look in his eyes before looking at her triumphantly. "Because Tony is better suited for that. He know better than us how they work!" She turned around, looking at Tony who was nodding with force. Obviously her son was firmly on 'team Doctor'. She tried to have support from Donna, who immediately looked away, showing that she was not going get involved.

Rose sighed, knowing when she was outnumbered. "Ok, Tony you do it." The Doctor and the young man exchanged a big smile. "But remember if you can. Don't kill them."

Tony put his hand on her shoulder in a sign of affection. Thus melting her annoyance a little. "I will just try to stall them until you disarm the laser. I promise."

She nodded and returned to the blue box with the Doctor, who was already deep into it.

After a few seconds she started to hear an exchange of gunfire, and with her heart into her throat that she forced herself to not look. Praying to every deity he will be okay. "Okay do it!" said the Doctor with a last flourish of his sonic screwdriver just as the laser flickered out.

As Donna started to run into the corridor, the Doctor and Rose turned around as one and screamed "Tony let's go!" before looking at each other with surprise, forgetting for a second where they were.

"Hurry up they are starting again!" screamed Donna, breaking the moment without hesitation. Making them run just in time to see the laser start up again, looking helplessly at Tony who was still exchanging fire with Cobb and his squad. "We needs to help him," Rose said, her stress going up by the second as she looked at her son risking his life less than fifty meters away. She cursed her reflex to run after the Doctor instead of staying back and fighting alongside him.

"You're a child of the machine. You're on my side. Join us. Join us in the war against the Hath. It's in your blood, boy. Don't deny it." She heard Cobb scream above the noise of the bullets.

But before she could do something foolish and run into the laser to go hit that man, Tony got up and aimed the machine gun in direction of the general, saying proudly, "I'm the son of Rose Tyler!" He then shot a hole in a steam pipe above Cobb, and turn around with a wild smile on his face.

"Run Tony!" screamed the Doctor, just as scared as Rose. "The circuit's almost finished looping back!"

But before Tony had time to run all the way back to the corridor, the laser were already up and running. This unfortunately cut off his only exit from Cobb, who was already trying to pass the hot steam obscuring his sight.

"Turn it off again!" Donna hollered, as the Doctor was trying desperately to stop Rose from jumping into the laser.

"We can't leave him here!" Rose shrieked, her eyes bored into Tony's, who was getting more anxious by the second. "I can't abandon him!" She tried to the Doctor's hold but he was too strong. Stronger than her, even now. But she was trying, not ready to see the son she just had disappear in front of her. She had to find another way. Because she was not sure to be strong enough to lose someone else. Not with all her emotions overflowing since she was back in the presence of the Doctor.

"The controls are back there, I cannot do anything from here," the Doctor answered with a strangled voice, his heart breaking under the situation. Seeing Rose like this was one of the hardest thing he ever witnessed. And knowing that he couldn't do anything, only watching the bright young man he liked so much be presumably lost to them was devastating. But he had to be strong for Rose. He could do as much for her.

"Go without me!" Tony called while looking behind him as Cobb and the rest of his men was finally moving towards him. "You have to go!" he continued, trying to stay brave for them, but the fear was still clearly in his eyes.

"Not without you!" replied Rose who had stopped struggling, tears running down her face. All trace of fight had deserted her, too heavy under her emotions. As the Doctor was murmuring "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" into her hair, trying to comfort her at the best he could do without much success.

As Cobb was only a few meters away, the face of Tony changed suddenly from scared to determined, making them all pause for a second. He looked briefly at Cobb before taking a huge inspiration, and without a second to waste, threw away the weapon and ran. Before their amazed eyes he suddenly flew into the laser, crossing over by doing somersaults between the beams, as if he's done so his entire life. He dodged every single one of them before landing in front of Rose and the Doctor.

Donna looked at him with an amazed look. "No way. That was impossible," she said with a sort of reverence.

Rose, who had been released by the Doctor was too busy hugging the life out of Tony, who was laughing madly to say anything.

"Not impossible. Just a bit unlikely. Brilliant! You were brilliant. Brilliant," said the Doctor who smiled like a mad man. He turned to Rose, who was still clutching to her son. "No DNA test needed! He clearly inherited your gymnastic prowess!" Rose laughed at that, still under the rollercoaster of emotions she just felt.

Tony smiled at the Doctor over Rose shoulder. "I couldn't let you go on without me. I still have a spaceship to see."

But the moment was broken by the sound of of Cobb screaming "At arms!" behind them, making Rose jump instantanely in front of Donna and Tony.

The Doctor advanced threatenly, trying his best to conceal the rest of the group, at the annoyance of Rose, who had to push back her son who wanted to follow his new best friend.

"I warned you, Cobb. If the Source is a weapon, I'm going to make sure you never use it," he said with defiance, letting them all know that their second chance was dangerously close to being squandered on almost killing Tony.

But his only response was a smiling Cobb. "One of us is going to die today, and it won't be me." But before he had time to order his men to fire, the little group had already run away into one of the corridor, gaining distance once again.