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grimorieBack to I / II / III / IV / V / VI
VII.
The moment she woke up she was cheerfully informed she had, indeed, fainted because of fatigue and hunger. Since then Mickey and Jake hadn't stopped reminding her about it.
"You sure you should be walking, Tyler?" Jake asked as she stood up and prepared to leave the infirmary. "'Cause you might keel over right here--"
"Whatever happened to being grateful for saving the world, huh?" she muttered, shooting him a glare.
"Well, we were all grateful, we were even starting a song for you but then you fainted..."
"Thank God I fainted then, otherwise I'd have to live through your attempts at trying to keep a tune..." Rose trailed off at a security guard hovering at the door. He stood at attention when she looked at him. "Yes?"
"The Director wants to see you, Miss," the security guard said
"The who?" Rose asked. There'd been no Torchwood Director for the months she'd been there. She knew about the deputy directors, assistant directors but she'd never heard of a Director.
"Director Bridge, Miss, she would like to have a word."
"Oh."
Mickey frowned. "What's this about, she just got back from the infirmary."
The guard shrugged. "Orders."
Rose could see Mickey was prepared to let out a tongue lashing. "No, it's okay, I'll go," she said.
"Rose..."
But she shook her head, stalling any arguments from Mickey, and turned to the guard. "Let's go then."
There was fallout, there was always fallout. Even as they had fixed things something would always get in the way, disrupt the order (chaos) they'd created. The guard led her to another office and stopped at the door. Rose was reminded of the interrogation room. The guard nodded at her to enter, and she did.
A brunette woman sat on the other side of a massive desk. The name on the desk read 'Diane Bridge'. She looked, to Rose, like she was carved from ice.
"Miss Rose Tyler." The Director's voice was low, soft almost syrupy. The type of voice Rose had always wanted.
"Director," she returned, trying not to feel nervous. She's stared down Daleks, she just saved the world.
"In the short time you have been here you have been quiet, hardworking and to be frank, nothing more than a wallpaper, but after the bombing you seem to have undergone a change of heart. You have disobeyed orders, meddled with the investigation and worse, you had the temerity to take point in a dangerous first contact with a hostile alien species."
"But I--"
"And, according to Ianto's report you were suspended."
"Yes."
"Tell me, Rose, what do I do with you? You are insubordinate, stubborn. You rope in perfectly good agents to help you with your crusade-- "
There was a shuffle behind her and she saw Ianto enter. So, that's how Bridge played, eh? Gang up on her? A spark of anger and annoyance suddenly burned inside her. "How about a thank you? I think that's a good enough start, isn't it? Because, God forbid I help bring in the real bomber!"
"You were operating beyond the bounds of your work, Miss Tyler," Bridge said, cutting off her tirade. "Why don't you let me do mine?" Rose watched her despondently, there wasn't anything she could do but let the inevitable happen. "By the recommendation of your superior officer and the board's approval you have been reclassified from analyst to field agent."
"Yeah, well--" A blistering insult was working its way past her lips when her brain caught up with her mouth. "What?"
Bridge continued as if she didn't hear Rose. "You are officially authorized to start a special field operations team. You and your team will work under the supervision of Ianto Jones and myself."
"You're kidding me, yeah?" Rose blurted out, but Bridge only raised an eyebrow. "You're serious."
"Very." Bridge tilted her head, "Is that 'thank you' enough?"
*
God, this was pathetic. This wasn't how his life was supposed to go. "Some place we got ourselves into, huh, boss?"
The man in the other cell didn't respond. In fact, from the moment they were transferred from Torchwood's underground cells and into this facility Hinds hadn't so much as twitched an eyebrow. "I was supposed to be in Ibiza, you know that? Ibiza then Bahamas and maybe buy myself a zeppelin. Be one of those Upper folk."
Duran picked at his ugly brown jumpsuit. "I could have been sun bathing now."
"Daydreaming, Mr. Duran?" a voice asked.
He jumped up. He'd never expected to hear that voice again. A small man in a black suit entered with three burly men trailing behind him. "Crane! he said with false bravado. "Took you long enough."
"Apologies," Crane said, "we were detained."
"Yeah, yeah just get me out of here." the cell door opened and Crane entered. Duran moved his chained wrist, "Get on with it!"
Crane didn't move but jerked his head to Hinds. "Who is he?"
"Hinds," Duran said, and sneered, "my 'boss'."
"Ah. I see." Crane nodded to the men behind him, and they moved forward and moments later the handcuffs fell from Duran's wrists.
Duran massaged his wrists. "Damn, it's good to-- we taking him too?" he frowned as Crane proceeded to remove Hinds' cuffs. "You're wasting your time, he's catatonic."
But Hinds wasn't as out of it as Duran had assumed. Hinds stirred as the cuffs fell away. "What are you doing?"
"We've heard a lot about you, Mr. Hinds," Crane said, smiling his creepy smile.
"Him?" Duran said, incredulous. "You've got to be kidding!"
"I don't want to go anywhere," Hinds announced, burrowing himself further into his little corner.
"Then don't," Duran retorted.
"Of course, you'd like to mourn," Crane said, sounding almost respectful. "But wouldn't it be better if you didn't have to?"
Hinds glared at Crane. "What do you mean?"
"We, and I mean my employer, has the means to give your daughter back to you."
"You're lying," Hinds said flatly.
What the hell was going on here? "Look, Crane, we better leave before the guards get here."
Crane ignored him. "Do you really think Torchwood and UNIT are the only organizations that have alien technology?"
"Alien technology can't bring her back," Hinds snarled. Damn, this had to be the first time he'd seen Hinds angry.
"Our technology can, Hinds," Crane said, and there was something about that wheedling tone that got to Duran. Hinds stared at Crane like he's given him the Holy Grail. "We can give you your daughter back."
"What do I need to do in return?"
Crane stretched out his hand. "Just take my hand."
Hinds stared at the hand for a long moment, then took it. Crane pulled Hinds to his feet. "We'll take care of you now, Dr. Hinds." He led Hinds to the other guy. "Take him out, will you, Locke?"
"Yes, sir."
Duran watched the Locke bloke help Hinds out of the cell. "Jesus, what the hell was that, were you just asking him out on a date, Crane?"
Crane didn't turn to look at him. "C'mon, let's get out of here," Duran said.
This caught Crane's attention. "Go where, Mr. Duran?"
"Picadilly," he snapped, then gestured to the general direction of the door. "Out, where else?"
"Interesting you think that."
"What do you mean?" he asked, dread suddenly clawing his heart.
"You failed to give our employer his merchandise. I did say he hated failure."
"What--?" Two soft pops cut him off. He stared at his chest disbelievingly then fell to his knees. "But this wasn't supposed to--" But he never had the chance to complete the thought and he fell into darkness and on a fourth pop he never heard, Duran was no more.
*
Mickey found Rose, predictably, on the Tylers' manicured lawn. She was sitting on a floral blanket and was staring at the night sky, watching the stars. "Thought I'd find you here."
Rose looked up and smiled. "Hey."
"Hey," he returned, then settled beside her. They sat in companionable silence for a while until he finally asked: "You going to take the offer?"
"Should be you, y'know," Rose said, tilting her head in his direction. "You've been fighting the Cybermen longer, better at computers."
"You know more about aliens." he pointed out.
"Not by much." Mickey looked at her but she had returned to stargazing.
He looked up. The stars were identical to the ones back home. He could probably find his favourite constellation if he were up to it.
"New ground."
"What?" he asked, startled from his thoughts.
"We're standing, well, sitting on new ground." Rose pulled at the grass. "Different Earth, different universe."
"Yeah," he agreed.
"There's a lot of new life out there, different threats and no Doctor."
Mickey looked at Rose carefully. She hadn't cried since Norway, not that Mickey knew.
"Not all aliens are bent on invading Earth but there are still some aliens who are out to get us for whatever reason. I'm not the Doctor but someone has to be, and I can't do it alone." She looked at him with wide brown eyes. She looked older and Mickey didn't know what he'd attribute it to. "Do you want to help?"
Mickey grinned. "Always."
--End--
Comments? Thoughts? Banana throwing?
VII.
The moment she woke up she was cheerfully informed she had, indeed, fainted because of fatigue and hunger. Since then Mickey and Jake hadn't stopped reminding her about it.
"You sure you should be walking, Tyler?" Jake asked as she stood up and prepared to leave the infirmary. "'Cause you might keel over right here--"
"Whatever happened to being grateful for saving the world, huh?" she muttered, shooting him a glare.
"Well, we were all grateful, we were even starting a song for you but then you fainted..."
"Thank God I fainted then, otherwise I'd have to live through your attempts at trying to keep a tune..." Rose trailed off at a security guard hovering at the door. He stood at attention when she looked at him. "Yes?"
"The Director wants to see you, Miss," the security guard said
"The who?" Rose asked. There'd been no Torchwood Director for the months she'd been there. She knew about the deputy directors, assistant directors but she'd never heard of a Director.
"Director Bridge, Miss, she would like to have a word."
"Oh."
Mickey frowned. "What's this about, she just got back from the infirmary."
The guard shrugged. "Orders."
Rose could see Mickey was prepared to let out a tongue lashing. "No, it's okay, I'll go," she said.
"Rose..."
But she shook her head, stalling any arguments from Mickey, and turned to the guard. "Let's go then."
There was fallout, there was always fallout. Even as they had fixed things something would always get in the way, disrupt the order (chaos) they'd created. The guard led her to another office and stopped at the door. Rose was reminded of the interrogation room. The guard nodded at her to enter, and she did.
A brunette woman sat on the other side of a massive desk. The name on the desk read 'Diane Bridge'. She looked, to Rose, like she was carved from ice.
"Miss Rose Tyler." The Director's voice was low, soft almost syrupy. The type of voice Rose had always wanted.
"Director," she returned, trying not to feel nervous. She's stared down Daleks, she just saved the world.
"In the short time you have been here you have been quiet, hardworking and to be frank, nothing more than a wallpaper, but after the bombing you seem to have undergone a change of heart. You have disobeyed orders, meddled with the investigation and worse, you had the temerity to take point in a dangerous first contact with a hostile alien species."
"But I--"
"And, according to Ianto's report you were suspended."
"Yes."
"Tell me, Rose, what do I do with you? You are insubordinate, stubborn. You rope in perfectly good agents to help you with your crusade-- "
There was a shuffle behind her and she saw Ianto enter. So, that's how Bridge played, eh? Gang up on her? A spark of anger and annoyance suddenly burned inside her. "How about a thank you? I think that's a good enough start, isn't it? Because, God forbid I help bring in the real bomber!"
"You were operating beyond the bounds of your work, Miss Tyler," Bridge said, cutting off her tirade. "Why don't you let me do mine?" Rose watched her despondently, there wasn't anything she could do but let the inevitable happen. "By the recommendation of your superior officer and the board's approval you have been reclassified from analyst to field agent."
"Yeah, well--" A blistering insult was working its way past her lips when her brain caught up with her mouth. "What?"
Bridge continued as if she didn't hear Rose. "You are officially authorized to start a special field operations team. You and your team will work under the supervision of Ianto Jones and myself."
"You're kidding me, yeah?" Rose blurted out, but Bridge only raised an eyebrow. "You're serious."
"Very." Bridge tilted her head, "Is that 'thank you' enough?"
God, this was pathetic. This wasn't how his life was supposed to go. "Some place we got ourselves into, huh, boss?"
The man in the other cell didn't respond. In fact, from the moment they were transferred from Torchwood's underground cells and into this facility Hinds hadn't so much as twitched an eyebrow. "I was supposed to be in Ibiza, you know that? Ibiza then Bahamas and maybe buy myself a zeppelin. Be one of those Upper folk."
Duran picked at his ugly brown jumpsuit. "I could have been sun bathing now."
"Daydreaming, Mr. Duran?" a voice asked.
He jumped up. He'd never expected to hear that voice again. A small man in a black suit entered with three burly men trailing behind him. "Crane! he said with false bravado. "Took you long enough."
"Apologies," Crane said, "we were detained."
"Yeah, yeah just get me out of here." the cell door opened and Crane entered. Duran moved his chained wrist, "Get on with it!"
Crane didn't move but jerked his head to Hinds. "Who is he?"
"Hinds," Duran said, and sneered, "my 'boss'."
"Ah. I see." Crane nodded to the men behind him, and they moved forward and moments later the handcuffs fell from Duran's wrists.
Duran massaged his wrists. "Damn, it's good to-- we taking him too?" he frowned as Crane proceeded to remove Hinds' cuffs. "You're wasting your time, he's catatonic."
But Hinds wasn't as out of it as Duran had assumed. Hinds stirred as the cuffs fell away. "What are you doing?"
"We've heard a lot about you, Mr. Hinds," Crane said, smiling his creepy smile.
"Him?" Duran said, incredulous. "You've got to be kidding!"
"I don't want to go anywhere," Hinds announced, burrowing himself further into his little corner.
"Then don't," Duran retorted.
"Of course, you'd like to mourn," Crane said, sounding almost respectful. "But wouldn't it be better if you didn't have to?"
Hinds glared at Crane. "What do you mean?"
"We, and I mean my employer, has the means to give your daughter back to you."
"You're lying," Hinds said flatly.
What the hell was going on here? "Look, Crane, we better leave before the guards get here."
Crane ignored him. "Do you really think Torchwood and UNIT are the only organizations that have alien technology?"
"Alien technology can't bring her back," Hinds snarled. Damn, this had to be the first time he'd seen Hinds angry.
"Our technology can, Hinds," Crane said, and there was something about that wheedling tone that got to Duran. Hinds stared at Crane like he's given him the Holy Grail. "We can give you your daughter back."
"What do I need to do in return?"
Crane stretched out his hand. "Just take my hand."
Hinds stared at the hand for a long moment, then took it. Crane pulled Hinds to his feet. "We'll take care of you now, Dr. Hinds." He led Hinds to the other guy. "Take him out, will you, Locke?"
"Yes, sir."
Duran watched the Locke bloke help Hinds out of the cell. "Jesus, what the hell was that, were you just asking him out on a date, Crane?"
Crane didn't turn to look at him. "C'mon, let's get out of here," Duran said.
This caught Crane's attention. "Go where, Mr. Duran?"
"Picadilly," he snapped, then gestured to the general direction of the door. "Out, where else?"
"Interesting you think that."
"What do you mean?" he asked, dread suddenly clawing his heart.
"You failed to give our employer his merchandise. I did say he hated failure."
"What--?" Two soft pops cut him off. He stared at his chest disbelievingly then fell to his knees. "But this wasn't supposed to--" But he never had the chance to complete the thought and he fell into darkness and on a fourth pop he never heard, Duran was no more.
Mickey found Rose, predictably, on the Tylers' manicured lawn. She was sitting on a floral blanket and was staring at the night sky, watching the stars. "Thought I'd find you here."
Rose looked up and smiled. "Hey."
"Hey," he returned, then settled beside her. They sat in companionable silence for a while until he finally asked: "You going to take the offer?"
"Should be you, y'know," Rose said, tilting her head in his direction. "You've been fighting the Cybermen longer, better at computers."
"You know more about aliens." he pointed out.
"Not by much." Mickey looked at her but she had returned to stargazing.
He looked up. The stars were identical to the ones back home. He could probably find his favourite constellation if he were up to it.
"New ground."
"What?" he asked, startled from his thoughts.
"We're standing, well, sitting on new ground." Rose pulled at the grass. "Different Earth, different universe."
"Yeah," he agreed.
"There's a lot of new life out there, different threats and no Doctor."
Mickey looked at Rose carefully. She hadn't cried since Norway, not that Mickey knew.
"Not all aliens are bent on invading Earth but there are still some aliens who are out to get us for whatever reason. I'm not the Doctor but someone has to be, and I can't do it alone." She looked at him with wide brown eyes. She looked older and Mickey didn't know what he'd attribute it to. "Do you want to help?"
Mickey grinned. "Always."
Comments? Thoughts? Banana throwing?
