Hunger Moon: Chapter Twenty-Nine

[amberfocus]

                                                                                                   Banner by Angelfireeast

Title:  Hunger Moon (29/?)
Series:  Better With You (Book 2)
Author: amberfocus
Characters/Pairings:  Alt!Nine/Rose Tyler, Jackie Tyler/Pete Tyler, Sarah Tyler, Kyle Tyler, Davin McBain, Mickey Smith/Suzie (Costello) Symmonds-Smith/Jake Symmonds, Toshiko Sato, Ianto Jones, Katie Harper/Owen Harper, Andy Davidson
Genre:  Action/adventure, romance, alternate universe, fluff, angst, humor, smut
Rating:  Adult, some chapters NC-17 with graphic sex
Betas: amyo67
Summary:  The psychic attacks of the Monoc'teru on the population of Pete's world sidetracks the Doctor and Rose's search for the spheres of Thessalameka, the second assignment on their quest to save the fabric of reality from unravelling forever.  Set ten years post-Doomsday in a world where Journey's End never happened.  Sequel to Wolf Moon http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/259862.html.
A/N:  This chapter is dedicated to mkejenkins.

Previous Chapters:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/263134.html

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Neural Upload

 

 

“Mum, please!” Rose was beyond frustrated. Jackie couldn’t seem to get it through her head just why they wanted to send her and Pete and Sarah and Kyle away.

 

“I don’t see why we have to go into the future. Seems to me that your Doctor was never reliable with his time machine in the old universe. I’m going to trust him here with my husband and kids?” she asked. “What if we get stuck there?”

 

“I’m insulted,” the Doctor said, but truth be told Rose thought he looked like he was enjoying the row.

 

“One, different Doctor,” said Rose holding up a finger. “And two, different time machine. This one is a much younger model and far more reliable than the other one was. She’s top of the line with all the bells and whistles. The old ship was stolen from a junkyard after it had been decommissioned. He had to repair her and then coax her back to working order.”

 

“He stole her?”

 

“Technically, I stole her. That was before we diverged with the disjunction,” the Doctor interrupted. “But Rose is right. This ship is not the same. She always ends up where she’s supposed to be.”

 

“Unless there’s a CVE,” Rose interjected.

 

“Unless there’s a CVE,” he allowed. He turned to Rose. “Although technically that was programmed in, so she didn’t really go off course.”

 

“What the hell is a CVE?” Jackie asked.

 

“A charged vacuum emboitment,” he told her. “Basically it’s the entryway into a pocket universe as opposed to a parallel one. Rose and I got sent there when we first got togeth—.”

 

“Meaning?” interrupted Jackie cutting off the start of his lecture.

 

 “Meaning that she’ll get you to the moon safe enough.”

 

“And why should I just let my family be banished there?” demanded Jackie.

 

“It’s not banishment, Mum. It’s for your safety. Pete’s and the twins’ and yours. We can’t keep looking after you and still do our jobs,” Rose said.

 

“We don’t need looking after. I’ve been doing perfectly fine tending to Pete and taking care of the kids,” Jackie protested.

 

“Sure, when Suzie was well and helping out, but she can’t have that kind of stress right now. She’s got her own twins to think about. She can’t put the pregnancy in jeopardy by coming out of the Zero Room until the Monoc’teru are stopped. We can’t risk her being exposed to that signal again,” the Doctor said.

 

“And Pete needs full time care,” Rose cajoled. “They’ll be able to give him the best money can buy.”

 

“Oh, and who’s going to pay for it, that’s what I’d like to know?” Jackie said.

 

“Like Pete can’t afford it?” Rose scoffed. “He’s got more money than anyone else in the U.K.   It’s been a decade. You’re not poor anymore. Get over it.”

 

“I’ll pay,” the Doctor said. “Money’s different that far ahead. It’s completely digital. Nothing real backs it.  It's simple enough to fiddle with bank records.”

 

“Guess he’s not a cheap date anymore,” Jackie said grudgingly.

 

“Different man,” Rose reiterated with a slight warning in her voice. “Look, the upshot is that you can’t take care of them all on your own and you know it. This place will take care of Pete and you’ll be able to relax and enjoy yourself with the kids. Or send them off to the camp. I’m sure they’ll have a great time.”

 

“I don’t think they need to have a great time,” Jackie complained. “They need to be back in school.”

 

“You’ll catch them up with a tutor when this is all over,” the Doctor said reasonably. “You can’t send them back to school right now. They’ll be a target for the Monoc’teru. You know that. Besides, there will be educational classes offered on the moon. They might learn a bit of future history but I can always—.”

 

“You’re not fiddling with their memories!” snapped Jackie. “Putting Sarah out to give her that vaccine was one thing. Messing with their minds is another thing entirely.”

 

“I see where you get it from,” the Doctor said to Rose.

 

“That’s not fair. You know my reticence is for an entirely different reason. Besides, last night we almost—.”

 

“I don’t want to know the details about what you two almost were doing,” Jackie said holding her hands up. “The sex was loud enough I had to come up with excuses for the children.”

 

“Oh, why don’t you just tell them we’re shagging and get it over with?” Rose snapped. “I knew about sex when I was nine.”

 

“And look how you turned out.”

 

“What’s that meant to mean?” the Doctor asked.

 

At the same time Rose said, “Oi. I learned what I lived, didn’t I, Mum?”

 

“Watch it, young lady,” growled Jackie.

 

“That’s another reason you guys need to get out of here,” the Doctor said grumpily. “Quite frankly you’re interfering with our sex life.”

 

“I don’t see how,” Jackie returned. “Far as I can hear, you’re doing it morning, noon and night and probably sneaking off mid-day as well. Discreet is not the middle name of either of you.”

 

“Look, you’re either going to the moon and safety or you’re going back to your house and danger,” the Doctor snapped.

 

“We can’t!”

 

“Doctor!”

 

“Well, they need to go somewhere, Rose. The TARDIS is tired of having to close off parts of herself, of having bits of her electrical circuitry shorted because sticky hands Kyle can’t keep his fingers off the wiring, and this morning I pulled Sarah out of one of the ventilation ducts where she’d gotten herself stuck. The ship has had it with those children!” he said.

 

“They’re my family.”

 

“And I already care for them, Rose. I do, but—.” A small explosion rocked the ship and a little scream came from Sarah.

 

“Mum!” screeched Kyle. “Mum, come quick! Rose!”

 

The three of them charged down the corridor in search of the twins. A hole the size of a person had been ripped out of the grating and down in the smoking ruins of the wiring lay Sarah Tyler. “What did you do?” Rose asked her brother.

 

“It wasn’t me!” he said. “Sarah did it this time.”

 

“I find that hard to believe,” Jackie said as the Doctor lowered himself through the grating to get to Sarah.

 

“She did. You all think it’s always just me getting into trouble, but it’s not. She’s just better at hiding it. This was her idea and I told her no, but I stayed to make sure she was okay,” Kyle insisted.

 

“Rose, help,” the Doctor said. “She’s hurt. Pretty badly.” He boosted the whimpering Sarah up through the grating and Rose and Jackie both helped to haul her out. All the fight had gone out of Jackie the minute she saw the extent of Sarah’s injuries.

 

“Let’s get her to the infirmary,” the Doctor said gravely. He did what he could to soothe the pain of the child’s burns before he set her broken ankle and coated her arm in a thick layer of green healing gel. Carefully he began wrapping the limb in gauze. “They have a top notch burn unit at that hospital on the moon,” he said quietly. “She shouldn’t be scarred for life, but we need to get her there soon.”

 

“Okay,” said Jackie with tears in her eyes as she looked at her youngest daughter. Sarah had passed out from the narcotic the Doctor had injected. “I guess the TARDIS really is no place for children.”

 

“Not for ones who haven’t grown up in her and know her dangers anyway,” he said gently. “I’ll go and set the coordinates.”

 

“Rose? Rose!” The voice of Mickey Smith called from the console room and the Doctor and Rose headed back that way, Jackie on their heels.

 

“What is it, Mickey?” she asked.

 

“Everything’s going to hell. Ianto wants your help.”

 

“Go on,” said the Doctor. “It’s just a quick trip. I’ll be back before you know it.”

 

“Okay.” Rose reached over and hugged her mum, kissing her on the cheek and then doing the same with Kyle. “Be good,” she told the latter. “Love you both.” Then she reached for the Doctor and kissed him deeply.

 

“Rose,” Mickey said grumpily. “I think Ianto meant today.”

 

“Fine,” she grumbled breaking away from the Doctor. “Love you, too. See you in a bit.”

 

The Doctor pulled her back into his arms for another hug and kiss then said quietly, “Love you, Rose.”

 

“Oh, come on!” snapped Mickey.

 

“I’m coming,” said Rose breaking away again and following her friend out of the ship calling, “Good-bye,” over her shoulder. “You’re just jealous because Suzie’s out of commission,” she told Mickey as they left.

 

“I still have Jake,” Mickey pointed out.

 

“Yeah, but he doesn’t kiss like the Doctor.”

 

“You’d know,” Mickey said sharply as the sounds of the TARDIS dematerializing echoed down the hall.

 

Rose turned to him rather suddenly, grabbing onto his arm and stopping him in his tracks. “That really bothers you, doesn’t it?” she asked. “The fact that Jake and I…Mickey, it was so long ago. It was a blip on the radar and the two of you weren’t even…I was in pain and I needed someone.”

 

“Yeah. Someone who wasn’t me.” The bitterness in his voice surprised her.

 

“Mickey, you got over me a long time ago. What’s this all about?” Rose asked. “This isn’t just about Jake, is it?”

 

“No,” he admitted. “But you should’ve told me, Rose. Jake’s my…Jake and Suzie are my life. You know that.”

 

“Jake and Suzie didn’t tell you either. I mean, not before she blurted it out. Why was it my responsibility to tell you?” she asked.

 

“Because it was, Rose! It’s just like before. You run off with the Doctor and I’m the last one to know that we’re over,” he said angrily.

 

“Mickey…are you really still holding onto that? It was twelve years ago.”

 

“You kept me on that string a long time, Rose,” he said.

 

“I know, but this is a long time to hold onto that. And I’m sorry. I properly apologized to you when I first came to this universe. I thought you’d accepted it,” she said.

 

“I did! It’s just…seeing the Doctor again…that Doctor…maybe I’m not as big a man as I like to think I am,” he admitted.

 

“He’s not the same man, you know.”

 

“But he is, Rose. He would have done exactly the same thing in the same circumstances. This him came here, but if he’d been there, you know he would have,” Mickey insisted.

 

“He’s different though. Being here made him different.”

 

“A bit, I suppose,” Mickey allowed. “Least this one doesn’t call me Rickey. I don’t think Jake could take that.”

 

“I told him about that,” Rose said. “Back when I was telling him everything about the other him and me and how, how,” she swallowed hard, “how everything happened. I asked him, if he ever met you, not to do that. For your sake and for Jake’s. But I honestly don’t think it would have occurred to him. I was his. From the moment he met me I was his and that jealousy against you wasn’t there.”

 

“No, Davin got it instead.”

 

“He’s trying.” They both paused, startled at the interruption. Davin had appeared as if out of nowhere.

 

“He is?” Rose asked.

 

“Making nice. Or at least acting like less of an arse,” Davin said. “Ianto needs you yesterday, Rose. Mickey, the signal's going out again. That’s probably why you two are arguing. This time there’s some kind of modified beam on it and it’s getting stronger and stronger. We need you to figure out what it’s doing.”

 

“Yeah, okay.” Mickey looked a bit sheepish. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this until after this is over. I don’t think anyone can be trusted to be sensible about emotional stuff right now.” Rose nodded and they headed down to the main work stations.

 

 

 

The Doctor had gotten Pete and Sarah settled into the hospital wing of the resort and Jackie and Kyle settled into a luxurious flat. It had taken him quite some time to extricate himself from his mother-in-law. She hadn’t wanted him to go, panicking first about Sarah, then Pete, and finally Rose going it alone back on Earth without her mum. He wondered if mothers the universe over were all the same. Rose was a grown woman and yet Jackie couldn’t stop fretting about her.

 

Truth be told, he didn’t like being away from her even this long himself. It wasn’t that she couldn’t take care of herself. She was probably the most capable human he’d ever met and she’d proven herself to him a dozen times since they’d met. She was clever and resourceful and had more emotional strength than anyone he’d ever met; certainly more than he had. He depended on her far more than was probably a good idea. He didn’t know how much of that was their bond, how much was the skin hunger that made the need to stay close so strong, and how much was his simple neediness.

 

He’d gone so long without companionship after the Time War. He hadn’t trusted himself around other people for a long time and he’d not tried to make any kind of friendships, make any kind of real emotional contact with anyone, including his ship, until Rose. That hadn’t meant he hadn’t needed it. He’d been starving for it and now that he had it again he was loathe to let it go. Well, he didn’t have to, fortunately. He had her now and nothing was going to interfere with that.

 

He made his way back to the TARDIS and sent the ship back to the early 21^st century. He brought her into a high moon orbit. He knew Ianto had the most powerful telescopes on Earth trained on the Monoc’teru mother ship, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t snoop around and see what there was to see while he was up here.

 

It was a powerful looking ship, far bigger than he’d been led to believe. Little swarms of smaller ships darted here and there between it and some mid-sized ones. That surprised him. He’d been led to believe there was only one ship hiding up here. He pursed his lips. So that meant either Earth didn’t know about it, or Ianto Jones was keeping things from him. And from Rose. He frowned. It was possible, but he rather thought the man didn’t know about it, which meant this information could be vital.

 

He scanned the other planets next, searching for more ships until he got to the edges of the solar system. He asked the TARDIS to sharpen her magnification and when she did he could just make out the blur of ships dropping out of hyper space, the signatures of their star drives running hot and appearing as ugly brown and yellow smears against the black backdrop of space. “Those more of the same?” he asked his ship.

 

“No,” she said. “The energy signatures are entirely different. In fact, they don’t match each other, either. That’s a fleet made up of many different types of ships.”

 

“Do you recognize any of them?” he asked.

 

“Two are Teroc’manu,” she said.

 

“The cavalry?” he wondered.

 

“I don’t think so. They don’t seem to have the firepower.”

 

“But there’s a lot of them,” he said.

 

“Number does not indicate strength,” she reminded him.

 

“True. How many days out are they?” he asked.

 

“Three. I don’t think Earth can afford to wait for them.”

 

“I don’t think they intend to. They can’t know about them. Not if they’ve just dropped out of hyper space. Well, let’s get back to Torchwood and let them know what we’ve found out.”

 

He programmed in the coordinates to land them back inside the conference room and the TARDIS began to make the familiar noise of dematerialization from space. Suddenly the sound stopped and the time rotor came to an abrupt halt. “What?” he asked. He stared at the monitor. They were exactly where they’d been. “Why’d you stop?”

 

“I didn’t,” she said. “Something bounced me back. I’ll try again.” This time the sounds came to a horrible, grinding stop and the entire ship shuddered. Without being asked she tried one more time. This time what felt like an earthquake raced through her hull and the Doctor was knocked off his feet. A cry of pain from his ship racked his body.

 

“Don’t try again!” he called frantically from the floor. He hauled himself back up and tapped impatiently at the keyboard. He had hacked into Torchwood and brought up Toshiko and Davin’s program showing the neural network that had gone into place over the city of Cardiff the previous day. It was activated again. “Can you expand the view?” he asked.

 

Slowly the image pulled back and he watched as the lights indicating the people whose minds were caught in the network lit up, first over Wales, than the U.K., then Europe and the rest of the planet. “It’s a psychic force field. It’s keeping us out!” he nearly shouted. “It’ll keep all help out. Oh, but they’re clever. Isolate the planet and no one can interfere with their feeding program. The humans are sitting ducks.”

 

Of course that wasn’t all. He closed his eyes as he came to terms with what that meant. Not just for the planet but for him and his wife. He was on one side of the force field and Rose was on the other. The biological adaptations of their bodies had not progressed far enough for them to be apart for too long. If he didn’t get back to her soon enough to maintain the necessary skin contact, there was a very real chance they would both go insane.

 

Ch. 30:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/301451.html