Hunger Moon: Chapter Ten

[amberfocus]

Apologies

 

Jackie was sulking on the sofa when Mickey set down a tray on the coffee table. “Suzie thought you could use a cuppa,” he told her.

 

“Then why didn’t Suzie bring it?” Jackie asked.

 

“You know why, Jackie,” Mickey said seriously sitting down in the chair across from her. “You really hurt her when she and I and Jake first got together and you’ve never apologized.”

 

“I learned to accept your relationship. You know I have, Mickey,” said Jackie.

 

“It took you four years, Jackie. You were inflexible and intolerant and Suzie bore the brunt of it,” Mickey said calmly.

 

“It’s odd, Mickey. I can’t help it. If it were just you and Jake or just you and Suzie, that’d be one thing. Romantic relationships are two people, that’s just how it’s always been. This whole idea of triad or quadrad marriage rights, it’s beyond my ken, Mickey,” Jackie said. “It’d never happen in our universe.”

 

“It’s beyond the understanding of a lot of people,” Mickey said softly. “But it’s what Suzie and Jake and I live, Jackie. You can’t help who you fall in love with, even if sometimes it’s unconventional. Even if it disgusts other people.”

 

“It’s not that, it’s just…I’m trying, Mickey. Honestly, I’m trying. I can’t help how I feel.”

 

“Maybe you can and maybe you can’t, but you don’t have to let it show. You know, you’ve never had a problem with me and Jake. Why is it you have such a problem with Suzie?”

 

“She’s involved with two men. It’s…we had laws about that back home, Mickey. It’s polygamy.”

 

“It’s only polygamy if you’re married. We’re not.”

 

“You may as well be. She may as well be. She’s taken both of your last names legally. It’s just…strange.”

 

“Any stranger than marrying the doppelganger of your dead husband?” he queried.

 

“Yes, Mickey. It just is. I’m sorry, but it is.”

 

“But you don’t think there’s anything wrong with Jake and I?” he asked.

 

“That’s different. That’s…well, that’d be legal. Legal in this universe for twenty years.”

 

“Legal? You’re seriously worried about legal, Jackie?” Mickey asked in disbelief.

 

“I’m fifty years old, Mickey. I’m set in my ways. But I’m trying, okay? I am. I’m trying,” Jackie said.

 

“Well, I hope you’ll have a little more tolerance for Rose and this Doctor, Jackie, because if you treat him like you’ve treated Suzie, you’re going to lose your daughter. She has him now. And if you turn on her, what reason will she have to come back to Earth for visits? She’ll have a universe to avoid you in,” Mickey said.

 

“She wouldn’t do that to her brother and sister,” Jackie said uncertainly.

 

“She would for him. How blind are you, Jackie? Rose never recovered from losing the Doctor--.”

 

“She had Davin--.”

 

“Who she doesn’t love like that and who you don’t even like that much.”

 

“He’s too smooth,” she complained.

 

“He’s a good bloke, Jackie,” Mickey said.

 

“Not good enough for Rose,” she said sternly.

 

“Is anyone ever going to be?” he asked.

 

“Her first Doctor was,” she almost whispered. “The one she lost.”

 

“Jackie, you didn’t like him, either!”

 

“That’s not true. He proved himself to me. He was good man and he loved Rose,” Jackie protested.

 

“This man loves Rose,” said Mickey. “You’re blind if you can’t see it. And you have to know that any version of the Doctor is a good man. Rose wouldn’t be so in love with him, if he wasn’t good. Don’t you know that about your own daughter?”

 

“He’s irresponsible,” she muttered.

 

“Why? Because the two of them were having sex in the bathroom? Jackie, they’re in their honeymoon phase. They’re not thinking clearly.”

 

“Rose would never--.”

 

“Rose did. It takes two to tango and you know it. And they wouldn’t have needed the stress relief if you hadn’t been such a pain in the arse about everything, accusing the Doctor of taking the twins and Rose of having bad judgment getting involved with him,” he said.

 

“They should have gone into the TARDIS!”

 

“Well, they didn’t. You drove Rose to hide in the bathroom and you were picking at the Doctor enough to drive him in there after her. It doesn’t surprise me one bit and you need to let it go. We have to work together to keep the twins safe and find out what’s going on with Torchwood and Pete, the real Pete. And we can’t do that if you’re up on your high horse, Jackie, so I suggest you get down off of it right now.”

 

“Mickey, that’s enough,” Rose said her quiet voice coming from the doorway of the living room.  He met her gaze and a look of understanding passed between them. He nodded and stood up. When he brushed past Rose on his way out of the room, she reached out and squeezed his hand. He returned the pressure and left them alone.

 

“Mum,” she said sitting down and pouring herself a cup of tea.

 

“Rose,” her mother said in just the same tone.

 

“I’m sorry we lost control in the bathroom,” she admitted with a blush. “I didn’t even think about the twins.”

 

“I’m sorry for…everything, Rose,” Jackie returned.

 

“Want some tea?” At Jackie’s nod Rose poured a second cup and fixed it the way her mother liked it, handing the finished result over to her.

 

Jackie took a sip. “I’ll say this for her; Suzie makes a great pot of tea.”

 

Rose’s eyes narrowed. “You weren’t on Mickey again about his relationship?”

 

“No, Rose, I wasn’t.”  Jackie sighed. “You know I’ve accepted it. Just took me some time, that’s all. I’m trying.”

 

“Are you going to accept me and the Doctor?” she wanted to know.

 

“Are you sure he’s--?”

 

“Yes,” said Rose. “I’m so happy with him, Mum. I’ve never been this happy.”

 

“Even when you were with the other him?” her mother probed.

 

“Yeah. It’s more than that was ever allowed to be, Mum. And he’s…well, he’s the first him, in that body with those eyes and that…well, he’s the vision of the man I fell in love with, not the one I had to accept the appearance of because I had no choice and he couldn’t change back.  Even if he was too cute for words and did try to go pretty because he thought that was what I wanted. Not that looks matter that much to me, but I loved how ruggedly sexy he was before, how strong and intensely sensual, and I’ve got that back with this him.”

 

“True,” she said. “He looks more the man and less the little boy this way.”

 

“He never looked like a little boy,” Rose protested.

 

“Well, but you know what I mean.”

 

Rose sighed and took a sip of her tea. She didn’t really, but she didn’t want to start another argument with her mother. “Do you know anything about what Dad was working on before I left?” she asked instead.

 

“You know your father doesn’t discuss his work with me,” Jackie said shaking her head.

 

“I wish he had just this once,” she said wistfully.

 

“It’s really that bad?” Jackie sounded frightened. Rose took another sip of her tea, holding it in her mouth a moment before swallowing and then raising her eyes up to meet her mum’s.

 

“It could be. It’s the Monoc’teru and they’re deadly. If slowly deadly.” Rose sighed as the soft humming of the furnace kicked on. “Well, the Doctor and I will figure it out.”

 

“Rose, are you sure? He’s not even the same man. How can you know?” Jackie started in again.

 

“Mum, please!” Rose said sharply, then at the expression on her mother’s face realized Jackie was only worried and panicking. “Please, let’s not fight. I’m sure. I’ve been with this Doctor long enough to know. He and I will find a way to put a stop to what’s going on, save Dad, and the planet. It’s all in a day’s work for us. Well, I say a day, what I mean is probably more like a week, possibly a month--.”

 

“Rose, you’re rambling,” Jackie said with a soft smile.

 

“We’ll do it. I have faith in him. I have faith in us. We’re a team and we know what we’re doing. We’ll take care of this.”

 

The furnace kicked up another notch and Jackie frowned at the whining noise. “They ought to get a man in to look at that when this is all over,” she muttered. “Doesn’t sound right.”

 

“The Doctor can have a go at it with his sonic screwdriver,” Rose said absently.

 

“Where is the Doctor?” Jackie asked. “I assume he’s not sleeping.”

 

“No, but he wanted to give us time to sort things out,” Rose said. “He’s in the TARDIS doing a scan to see if he can’t find the location of the Monoc’teru space ship. Once we know where they are we might be able to disable their transmat system and force them to show their hand.”

 

“But if Pete’s a hostage, won’t that put him in jeopardy?” Jackie wanted to know.

 

“Mum, he’s already in jeopardy. When he’s no longer useful…” Rose trailed off not wanting to finish her sentence.

 

“What?” demanded Jackie.

 

“They’ll kill him.” Jackie let out a strangled sob and Rose jumped up quickly and went to sit by her mother, wrapping her arms around her. “We’re not going to let them. I promise you. We’ll find Dad and we’ll bring him safely back to you.”

 

“You can’t promise that, Rose. You can’t know,” Jackie wailed.

 

“But I can,” said Rose. “And I do. And I will. The Doctor and I together. You’ll see. We won’t let anything happen to Dad.”

 

The furnace sputtered to a halt and a waft of hot air whooshed into the room. “I hope that doesn’t mean it’s broken. February in London without heat? No thanks,” said Rose.

 

Jackie’s eyes widened as she looked at her daughter then above her head and to the left. “Rose, don’t move,” she said.

 

“What?” Rose said staying perfectly still. Even though the temptation was strong to turn and see what her mother was looking at she stayed still. In her line of work moving when told not to could often result in death.

 

“It’s a…a sphere, metal, grey, hovering just over your shoulder. Lights flashing and some kind of green light--.” Rose gasped as the little beam hit her head and she felt a pinprick sensation in her mind. Immediately she raised her shield.

 

“It’s focused on me, Mum,” Rose said quietly. “Go and get the Doctor.” Jackie didn’t move. “Go and get him now!” she repeated fiercely.

 

Jackie stood up slowly keeping her eyes on the sphere as she edged away. It didn’t move towards her, keeping its beam focused firmly on Rose. When nothing happened, she made a dash for the TARDIS.

 

 

 

The Doctor felt Rose’s mental shield slam into place, dampening their link, and made a dash for the console room. Whatever had happened had happened so quickly that Rose hadn’t had time to give him a psychic shout. He heard a frantic pounding on the doors and hurried to open them. “Doctor, there’s something out there,” Jackie said on a gasp. “A sphere in the living room. It’s after Rose.”

 

The Doctor pushed Jackie out of his way and ran through the safe house. He yanked his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and pointed it at the sphere, which was now shooting a red beam at Rose’s head. The sphere jerked around when the Doctor entered the room and came flying at his head. With one quick flick of the screwdriver he shot out a blue beam of his own and the little device fell to the ground disabled.

 

“Rose, are you all right?” he asked running to his wife’s side and carefully looking her over.

 

“Fine, Doctor,” she managed, but she was perspiring heavily and her eyes were frightened.

 

“Jackie, contain it,” he barked. Jackie looked around the room desperately, upended the garbage can and placed it upside down over the sphere, then set the coffee table book over it for good measure.

 

The Doctor was shining the light of his screwdriver in Rose’s eyes. “I’m fine, Doctor,” she told him again. “It was trying to get in…to my mind. I wouldn’t let it. But it knew I had telepathy. It’s what it was after. It was trying to spring it open all the way.”

 

“We’re not safe here anymore,” said the Doctor. “Jackie, go get the twins. You’re moving into the TARDIS until its safe.”

 

Rose stood up and made for the kitchen.  “Where do you think you’re going?” the Doctor asked reaching out and grabbing her arm.

 

“To the kitchen. Mickey’s in there. They’ll have to come with us.”

 

“Rose, it’s one thing to move your family into the TARDIS until this is over. It’s another thing to move in all of your friends,” the Doctor protested.

 

“That’s where you’re wrong, Doctor. Mickey, Jake and Suzie are my family. They kept me from going over the edge after I lost…him. I can’t leave them in danger.”

 

“They’re not in danger. They’re not telepaths!”

 

“Doesn’t matter. That thing knows about me now and I’m sure it knows they know about me. It’ll be my fault if something happens to them. Dad’s not a telepath, either but they used him to try to get to the twins!” Rose shot back.

 

“Okay,” said the Doctor backing down. “Go and get them.” She laid a brief kiss in thanks against his cheek and then went to find Mickey.

Ch. 11:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/57764.html

Comments

[honorh.livejournal.com]

BTW, is Suzie's maiden name Costello?

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's Suzie Costello from Torchwood.