Hunger Moon: Chapter Fifteen

[amberfocus]

Mission Planning

 

When the Doctor had finished installing the safeguards in Rose’s mind she excused them both from Davin for a moment and hauled the Doctor into her bedroom. “Anxious to get me alone?” he asked her with a smirk.

 

She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Stop teasing Davin,” she said in annoyance. The Doctor frowned. “It’s one thing, Doctor, for you to wind Mickey up. He can take it. He understands what you’re like, well, what the other you was like, and when it comes to me, you’re close enough, believe me. He’s perfectly able to put up with it and he’ll give back as good as he gets. It’s been years since Mickey was in love with me. But Davin still is, so knock it off. He’s a kind person and he doesn’t deserve you treating him this way. You’re being a prat and I won’t stand for it.”

 

“Still love him, then?” asked the Doctor darkly.

 

“I love him enough that I would have spent my life with him,” Rose said truthfully. “And probably been happy enough with it.” The Doctor’s face fell and storm clouds began to gather on her face. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I wasn’t in love with him. I love him. There’s a difference. It’s not like with you,” she said. “Never, ever like with you. That’s explosive and consuming and full and true and beyond anything I ever thought I’d get to have. But he’s my friend, he will always be my friend, and I do care for him. My feelings don’t just shut off because of us, even if they’re a shadow of what they were before. He means something to me, so treat him with respect.”

 

The Doctor didn’t reply, just stood there looking like a sulky little boy. “Doctor, I wouldn’t go back to him, even if biologically I could. How can you even doubt me?”

 

“I don’t!” he said. “I just…I don’t like you loving him. And I really hate it that anyone else has ever touched you. You’re my Rose.”

 

“Yes,” she said. “I am.” She hugged him tightly then backed away so she could look him in the eyes again. “And you’re my Doctor. But I still have a past and it’s not going to magically go away just because we belong to each other now. I love you. I’m in love with you. You are my life’s mate, heart's mate, soul’s mate. Nothing else compares to that. Nothing, no one else, ever will. So please, show him some kindness and stop winding him up.”

 

He sighed. “I’ll try. I just…it makes me a little crazy,” he admitted.

 

“I know. But you’re my husband and I’ll be with you for the rest of my life. You. No one else.” He pulled her into his arms again and she raised her face to his, meeting his lips in a crushing kiss that left her quite breathless. His hands wandered down her body and she couldn’t keep herself from pushing her hips into him.

 

“Think we have time for a quick shag?” the Doctor questioned when he let her go.

 

Rose’s hormones had risen from the kiss and the hugging and the freeness of the Doctor’s hands and a golden glow began to emanate from her skin making it impossible to hide the fact that she was actually quite interested at the moment, but she sighed ruefully. She was not having inappropriately timed and placed sex again any time soon. Least not where it might be witnessed or overheard. “Don’t tempt me.”

 

He gave her a long, smoldering look and she thought maybe they could spare five minutes after all, but then she remembered they weren’t really alone and it would be…well, mean to her ex to do such a thing. No matter how badly she was trying to justify it to herself.

 

“No. And not with Davin in the next room, anyway. I’m not doing that.” She didn’t add ‘to him,’ but they both heard the words echoing in the air anyway.

 

“We really should have spent more time alone after the first task,” the Doctor complained. 

 

“Aw, poor Doctor. Is your sex drive suffering from all the extra people?” Rose teased.

 

“Yes!” The Doctor pulled her in for another quick kiss before letting her go again. He adjusted his jeans rather pointedly while Rose giggled at him. “Don’t laugh. It’s your fault I have one."

"You always have one," Rose protested.

"Again, your fault," he told her.

Rose just laughed harder. He glared at her until she got herself under control and then they went back into the other room. The Doctor walked up to the TARDIS and unlocked the doors.

 

“So why’s the Police Box pink?” Davin asked as they entered the ship. “I thought it was supposed to be blue.”

 

“It is,” said Rose. “The TARDIS got mad at the Doctor and turned pink as a punishment.”

 

“What’d he do?”

 

“Wasn’t what I did. It was what we did. Rose and me,” the Doctor said smugly. “We used the console for--.”

 

“Doctor!” Rose said. “You promised!”

 

“No, I didn’t. I just said I’d--.” He cut himself off at Rose’s glare. “Sorry,” he muttered.

 

Davin held up both hands. “Forget I asked. How does a space ship get mad at you?”

 

“She’s alive,” the Doctor said. “A living, breathing, sentient creature, with the power to move through time and space.”

 

“That’s…that’s just…really cool,” Davin said in awe. “I mean, I knew about the whole inside bigger than the outside bit, Rose told me about that a long time ago, but this…She’s alive and she’s so beautiful.”

 

The Doctor looked at him for a long moment and then his face broke into one of those happy smiles that her old Doctor had reserved for people who had just said something extraordinarily clever.  “She is, yeah.”

 

Rose felt a huge amount of tension leave her shoulders. Davin had said exactly the right thing, as was his wont, and she thought maybe it just might be enough for the Doctor to see past his jealousy long enough to realize that Davin really was just a good guy who happened to have a past with his wife.

 

“Where are the kids and Jackie?” Davin asked hesitantly.

 

“I told them they were confined to quarters for the duration of our mission,” the Doctor said. “We can’t have them messing up anything. The TARDIS won’t even let them into this room until we’ve given the okay.” The Doctor began flipping the series of levers and switches that would transport the TARDIS to the Torchwood parking garage. A moment later the sound of dematerialization echoed through the console room.

 

Davin breathed a sigh of relief. “Wasn’t really looking forward to seeing your mum again,” he admitted. “She was less than pleasant to me when she gave me your good-bye letter.”

 

“She never liked you. I have no idea why,” Rose said. “Always mumbled something about you being a little too perfect. Which you have to admit, you kind of are.”

 

“I think she kept waiting for me to break your heart. Guess she didn’t have to worry about that. Went the other way, didn’t it?” Davin said with a glance at the Doctor.

 

“Davin--.”

 

“It’s okay, Rose. I’m a big boy. I’ll live. You’re amazing, yeah, but you’re not the only woman in the world,” he told her with a grin that filled his face with dimples. “I was learning to live without you the month you were gone, you know. Didn’t really think I’d see you again so I worked at it. I’ll find someone else.” He gestured up and down his body. “I mean, just look at me.”

 

Rose laughed. “You really need to do something about that lack of confidence,” she told him. Rose broke off her banter with Davin when she realized the Doctor was scowling again and it was probably being perceived by him as flirting. She moved around the console and picked up his hand and he relaxed visibly.

 

The sound of materialization swept through the room and the Doctor said unnecessarily, “We’ve arrived.” He flipped on the view screen and saw a furtive Mickey dash out of the shadows of the parking garage. He knocked on the doors.

 

Rose hurried to open them and Mickey came inside. “Can you move the TARDIS back into that little alcove?” Mickey asked, pointing it out on the viewer. “Perception filter or not, someone may still be attracted by the big flaming pink box.”

 

“Not how it works, Mickey,” the Doctor said.

 

“Well, I see it,” Mickey said.

 

“Because you know it’s there. You heard the engines. You’re familiar with the ship. And…” The Doctor trailed off, startled before resuming his words. “She trusts you.”

 

“Who? Rose? ’Course she does.”

 

“No,” he said still sounding surprised and looking a little disgruntled. “The TARDIS trusts you.”

 

“Good judge of character, her,” said Mickey patting a coral strut absently. The TARDIS hummed and Mickey grinned absently up at the ceiling. “Still, can you ask her to move to the other spot? It’s far less conspicuous and I’d feel better with it there.”

 

The doors shut behind Mickey and the ship moved herself without any input from the Doctor. “Thanks,” he told her. He swept his gaze over the occupants of the console room. “Shall I go over the plan one more time?” Mickey asked and Rose nodded. Mickey’s face turned serious as he slipped into field commander mode. “I’m breaking into the mainframe to cause the distraction. I’ll set off the fire alarm in the building and the sprinkler system for good measure. Even if they figure out the fact that it’s a false alarm, with the water coming down it’ll force an evacuation of all non-essential personnel.”

 

Rose nodded at him and he continued. “Jake’s outside. The four of you will split into teams and approach where they’re holding Pete from two different directions. One pair will go through the maintenance tunnels and the other through the ventilation shafts. With any luck someone will be able to get him out without getting caught.”

 

Mickey rolled out a set of plans for sub basement 13. “Guards are posted here and here,” he said indicating the places on the blueprints. There’s a good chance that with the alarm and the sprinklers going off they’ll shrink to skeleton capacity and you’ll only have to deal with one guard at each checkpoint. There may or may not be a guard in the room with Pete. The camera doesn’t survey the whole room and there is no sound from that one.” Mickey rolled the blueprints back up and handed them to Davin.

 

“Here’s a map of the ventilation system,” Mickey said and pointed out the salient points to the Doctor. “Stay away from here, here, and here. That’s where the fans are and they’re too powerful to not suck you into them and shred you to pieces. They shut down every five minutes for one minute so any time you need to pass a cross shaft, wait for the fans to stop. I’ve seen what happens when someone doesn’t. Trust me. You don’t want to die that way.”

 

Mickey sighed. “Okay, so Doctor, you and Jake will go through the vents and Rose, you and Davin will take the maintenance tunnels. We should--.”

 

“Wait a minute. I want Rose with me,” the Doctor said. Rose glanced at him with a nearly imperceptible narrowing of her eyes, and then looked back at Mickey.

 

“Will you carry a gun?” Mickey asked him.

 

“No,” said the Doctor slightly confused.

 

“And Rose doesn’t like to. That leaves Davin and Jake to wield weapons and I don’t want either pair unprotected.”

 

“I can keep Rose safe just fine,” the Doctor protested.

 

“Maybe so, but tell me something Doctor. If Rose is crawling through the ventilation shaft in front of you, just what are you going to be focusing on? The mission? Or her arse?” he asked bluntly. “I’ve seen how the two of you are since you brought her back. If Rose is with you, your mind is going to be on the next time you can shag her. Or wondering if there’s time to do it in the ventilation shaft before you try to rescue Pete. And don’t say she can go behind you instead of in front, because she’s just as bad as you are.”

 

Rose blushed and even the tips of the Doctor’s ears turned a little pink. “We can control ourselves, Mickey,” the Doctor said.

 

“Was it or was it not the pair of you having sex in the bathroom of the safe house? Was it or was it not the pair of you being so out of control you couldn’t leave the control room and had sex on the console, so irritating the TARDIS she turned pink?” Mickey questioned.

 

“That’s why she’s pink?” Davin said with a smirk. Rose had expected to see a little hurt in his eyes at the revelation but he only seemed to think it was funny. Maybe it was because it was coming from Mickey and was at the Doctor’s expense instead of coming from the Doctor using his sexual prowess to wind up Davin.

 

“That’s why she’s pink,” Rose admitted. “Well, that and then Kyle shot water into her with a squirt gun and fried her chameleon circuit so now she can’t turn back even if she wanted to unless the Doctor can find the technology to fix her. She wasn’t even a police box until I asked her to be one to meet Mum with. Before that she could be anything on the outside.”

 

“That’s all well and good,” said the Doctor impatiently, “But we need to get back to the mission.”

 

“Fine, then,” said Davin. “I’ll take Rose and you’ll go with Mickey and hopefully one of us can spring Pete and we’ll all meet back here when it’s done.”

 

The Doctor looked like he wanted to protest, it was obvious he didn’t want to leave Rose and even more obvious he didn’t want to leave her alone with Davin, but Mickey overrode him saying, “Here, take these. They’re subvocal communication equipment. It attaches right behind your ear at the edge of your jawbone. Just speak without making sound and it will interpret the movements of your speech and the impulses of your synapses and translate it into speech that only the receivers of the signal can hear.”

 

He handed the little devices around and they attached them to the appropriate place. “Try them,” Mickey insisted and they each tried their hands at silent speech making sure the others could hear them. “If you need to speak to the whole group just subvocalize. If you need to speak privately with just your partner, tap it twice to initiate a privacy link. Understand?” Everyone nodded.

 

“All right.” Mickey glanced at everyone to make sure everything was clear. “If the mission fails, we’ll meet back here at 0900. That gives us four hours. If it's successful, call back the other team.  Good luck and be careful.”

 

Davin and Mickey exited the TARDIS and the Doctor pulled Rose into a fierce hug. “I love you,” he told her. “Be careful.”

 

“Always,” she told him back. “I love you, too.” He kissed her quickly then turned her around and pushed her gently in front of him out of the ship. He left the door ajar for Mickey in case he needed to hide quickly. Jake was standing there and all three men were now in possession of oversized firearms. Mickey began his mainframe hack on his laptop computer, his back against the frame of the TARDIS door, keeping guard over the open ship as well. With a final reluctant look at each other the Doctor and Rose split up into their teams and went their separate ways.

Ch. 16:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/89943.html 

Comments

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

They won't be apart long, only a few hours. It's a device to set up the upcoming smut and some new alien creatures that will come in handy in future plot. Also, Davin and Rose still have some things to talk about in private.

[amyo67.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can see that. I loved possessive nine, "Your my Rose." I loved that. Thanks again. Great chapter.