A Place in Time (9/30)

[amberfocus]

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Chapter Nine:  The Time Between

Rose’s beeper went off when she was 10 minutes outside the city. She fumbled in her pocket and pressed the button on it and the message played itself. “Rose, it’s Owen. I need you here 10 minutes ago. It’s the breach. Something’s wrong.”

“Could he possibly have been anymore mysterious?” She mumbled. She felt around on the pager for the received button, keeping her eyes on the road. Tosh’s little devices made it easy to do so. She pressed it and it chimed, letting her know it had been sent.

When she arrived, she hurried to the breach room. “The readings are off the charts,” Toshiko said tearing off a long strip of paper and carrying it over to Owen.

“When did this start?” Rose asked looking over Owen’s shoulder at the tape. Absently he handed it back to her and she read it with dawning understanding. “This is what it did before in my home universe, back when they were deliberately funneling energy off of the Void. The breach is getting larger, isn’t it?”

Owen took the paper back from her and nodded. “It started about 3:00 a.m. this morning,” he said, pressing his thin lips together tightly. “Is Gwen in yet?” he asked Toshiko.

“She and Ianto are up top monitoring the Rift. It’s putting out ridiculous amounts of energy.”

“The Void is opening through the Rift.” Owen shook his head. “I don’t like this.”

Rose’s heart began to beat quickly. The Doctor had said they’d be together soon. All the evidence suggested that he was working on keeping that promise. But how? How could he do this without ripping apart reality?

A klaxon sounded and suddenly the stark whiteness of the breach turned completely black and began expanding.

******************************************

“It’s time,” the Doctor said quietly. Martha, who’d been slouched on the jump seat, stood up quickly and moved to the Doctor’s side. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. He smiled at her and she nodded her head.

“Let’s go then.” The Doctor went through his routine, pressing various knobs and levers, spinning things and pumping a long, thin tube. The sound of the ship moving through the Vortex filled the console room and brought Donna from whatever room she’d been in.

It was only moments later when they landed. “It’s homed in on the key again,” the Doctor said. “She should be quite near here. Wait inside, will you? I don’t want to overwhelm her.”

“Good luck, Doctor,” Martha said.  Donna said nothing, simply reaching out and giving his hand a quick squeeze.  He gave her a grateful smile and took a deep breath.

He opened the door and stepped outside. The manor house was familiar and so was the woman standing on the lawn holding a young boy and looking at him like she’d seen a ghost. “Hello, Doctor.”

“Hello, Jackie,” he said as if he materialized on her front lawn every day of the week. “Rose around?”

“You just missed her,” Jackie said when she got over her surprise at his nonchalance. “She had a dream about you at three o’clock this morning and got up and went in to work. She said you were calling her like you did before. She figured the most likely place you’d show up would be at the Rift since there is a breach there.  She said there was a much higher chance of finding you.”

“But I tracked the TARDIS key here,” he said unwilling to believe that he'd missed her by a matter of hours. Jackie reached into her pocket and pulled it out and handed it to him.

“She left it on her night stand. She must have forgotten it in her rush.” They just stared at each other mutely, so much passing between them without a single word being spoken. “It’s good to see you again,” Jackie said when she could no longer bear the silence. Her voice was quiet, muted, not at all like the Jackie Tyler he remembered.

The Doctor’s face broke into a wide smile. “I never thought I’d say it, but it’s good to see you, too. Who’s this then?” He motioned to the little boy she was holding. “This is Johnny. Pete and I had him a couple years ago.”

“He’s beautiful. He looks like Rose,” he said.

The little boy smiled up at him and said, “Rose!”

“You like your big sister, do you?” he asked in a gentle voice. The little boy nodded at him. The Doctor pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to the child. “I know he’s a bit young yet, but he’ll grow into it.”

Jackie nodded. “You said she went in to work?” he queried.

“Yes. To Torchwood. Not the old offices, but the one up in Cardiff.”

“Cardiff? Why’s it always got to be Cardiff?”

“Just does I suppose. You’ll be taking her with you then?” Jackie said softly. The Doctor nodded. “If there is time, Time Lord, please drop her by to say good-bye.”

“I’ll try.” Then Jackie had put her arms around him and was hugging him tightly.

“Take care of my little girl. And this time you tell her that you love her. Don’t make her guess!” A little of the old feistiness had crept into her voice, despite her sadness. She let him go. “If you can’t make it back here, tell her that I love her and that Pete does.” He nodded again.

“I almost thought I’d get a slap from you.”

“I can still give you one for old time’s sake,” she said and the Doctor backed up a couple steps before he realized she was joking. “You found a way and you came back for her. I can’t be mad about that. You know where Torchwood is in Cardiff?”

“I know,” he said.

“Then what are you wasting time with me for? Get into that box of yours and go and get her.”

The Doctor laughed and stepped inside the door of his TARDIS and then looked back at Rose’s mother. “Jackie Tyler, I’m so glad I met you.”

“Get on with you then,” she said, but she had a pleased smile on her face. He disappeared inside his ship and the familiar sound of the engines dematerializing echoed around her.

“Well, Johnny,” she said looking at her son, “Let’s see what kind of alien gizmo the Doctor gave you.” She took it from his hand and blinked in surprise, a slow smile spreading across her face. “At least I won’t have to try and explain this one.” It was a simple yo-yo.

Ch. 10:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/49454.html 

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