An Impossible Union

The Oncoming Storm, was what races across the universe called the TimeLord known as the Doctor. Constant and strong he travels the stars with not a destination in sight. Those who catch a glimpse of him see either great salvation or horrible defeat. Whichever is the case depends on how forgiving his two hearts can be..... But today his tinkering fingers were at work -- because even a great protector needs to eat and the Doctor happened to be craving toast. Which he apparently hadn't been paying attention for a great while because the toaster never released the last piece he tried to insert and so it was practically a hockey puck by the time he noticed the smoke.

The life of a time travelling bachelor...... no one ever said it was pretty.

Standing in the console chamber of the TARDIS, rimmed glasses on and working to practically dissect the kitchen appliance now -- the old alien ended up distracted by the heating element. Ever the constant scientist he couldn't help but to be cooking up ideas. Needless to say he never got that toast.... so when a small hum became loud enough to match the sound of the auto-pilot engine thumping his deep amber eyes shifted. To the sides at first and then up to the green pulsing core. Might be his stomach? With a light lean he looked to the screen and that's when his eyes widened. There were two currents on display and they were dangerously close together -- which the TARDIS was headed straight for.

"Oh, that's never good!" he said, tossing the wrecked toaster to the side and reaching for the lever just ahead of him. Throwing it back he reclaimed manual piloting.... but the current of the void had already claimed the ship.

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Capital Tower was the tallest building located on Greyfriars Road in Cardiff. A high rise building full of office spaces and polished business conference rooms. It was also the perfect material for a convergence. The panes of glass caught the reflection of darkness above when all the rest of the sky was crystal clear and blue. A deep cloud forming as sparks of electricity surged. There was the sudden sight of a blue box, spinning lightly across the sky at high speeds. Trying to evade the abnormal storm when bolts reached out for it. With a tight grip the TARDIS was reeled back before jamming in what looked like literal cracks in mid-air. It was only about ten feet above the roof of the building, but just the appearance of it alone was enough to draw attention.

The right door opened and the Doctor peeked out, his crimson red suit sticking out against the Navy blue Police Public Call Box suspended high off the cement room. "Well, this doesn't happen very often.... This is good and bad -- sorry old girl," he said softly, looking back over his shoulder toward the green core. There was a deep cracking sound and the TimeLord sighed. Stepping up to the console he set up the shields and then took up his long tan greatcoat from the c*ckpit seat. "Can't get you free until this gets fixed."

With that said he made his way to the door. Slipping his coat on, the Doctor assessed the distance and then made an easy leap down from the door frame. With a light landing he drew his key from his jacket. Like as if it was a sports car he used the key like an activator and the light at the top blinked. Doors snapped shut and locked.

"Could never leave you like that for long," the Doctor said at a passionate whisper before slipping his hands into his trouser pockets and making his way toward the rooftop exit.

Little did he know that his great blue box was actually in another realm entirely. The two roaring energies were actually causing a crack and he had popped through it in his efforts to dodge the close waves. The people here are a mirror of the universe he knew. Upturned from the events that felt so common..... and this Earth holding something he holds most dear.

Days like these were boring and reprehensibly, well, lame. Rose clearly remembered her pitch meeting with Jackie and Pete about why they needed a Torchwood in their universe, which Pete happily obliged to do. He was, after all, a millionaire now. Jackie was one of the many who pushed him to make sure that the facility ran like it should have, with the right staff and right protocols. But with Pete Jr now in the picture, her father found that his time with him was rather limited between work and parenting. So he put his daughter Rose in charge of the facility. Rose remembered clearly when she told the employees about the Doctor and what he'd achieved. They were all sworn to secrecy with an NDA and not allowed to speak of what they saw inside the premises. Like a real-life Saint Mary's, if you will.

The boring days were the worst days. She could actually hear the voice of the Doctor echoing in the back of her mind that nothing good ever happens on a Sunday. That was truer than she wished to ever speak of. Sundays were boring as all get out, and as she paced her office, she wondered if that might change. Within a matter of minutes, she was regretting those words. Biting her tongue, the blonde tossed on a jacket and started down the halls, reading meters on her wristwatch. This was normal; they could be running a routine or they could be preparing for an anomaly, but either way, she wasn't apprised to it. 

"Colonel Bradshaw, would you like to inform me why I wasn't told of any practice drills today?" Rose shouted over the blaring siren in the large meeting room. She was mid text with her mother to tell her everything was okay and it was just a drill when Bradshaw looked up at her with large green eyes. "This isn't a drill, is it?"

"We've detected something unusual in the fabric of time itself." Well, that sounded a bit off the rails to someone who hadn't seen it before first hand. Bradshaw was hastily typing into a computer, trying to locate coordinates. "You know we've been tracking anomalies and anachronisms for quite a while, and it seems as though a rather big anachronism has broken through the barrier."

"But nothing could penetrate that, I was told." She blinked several times and dropped her hand to her side. "He said that no one could get into this dimension...and subsequently, nothing could get out of it, either."

"Correct, but what if the thing that got in had been here before?" Bradshaw pointed at the coordinates. "Cardiff."

"Why is it always Cardiff?" Then she remembered the Doctor or Jack mentioning the huge rift underneath of it, that was just waiting to rupture one day. Whoever managed to stumble into their quiet little universe was probably not intending to do so. It was likely a matter of being in the right place at the wrong time, catching the sun at just the right degree, and finding a spot where the shade was exactly sixty degrees. She had no idea how it worked, but she knew that the odds of pulling it off were astronomical at best. Pushing her blonde hair behind her ears, she shook her head. "Well, I guess we should go investigate, shouldn't we? Do we have any CCTV footage of the area?"

Bradshaw was already working on bringing up the location, pulling files, and siding them onto the screen in front of the woman in charge. As soon as she saw the street camera, she knew that Rose would want to investigate. "Isn't that--?"

"Yeah..." She wondered briefly if there was another one of him in this dimension, but there couldn't be. He was from that dimension and didn't exist here. It had to be her Doctor. She grabbed a vortex manipulator off of the table and slapped it onto her other wrist, looking at Bradshaw. "You can come with or stay here, but either way, anachronisms have to be investigated and eradicated."

Bradshaw nodded and put a manipulator on her own wrist, typing in the coordinates she'd pulled up on the screen. "Are you really going to eradicate him if it's him?"

She didn't answer, even as she pressed the button and disappeared in a yellow sort of smoke.

The Doctor stood out in many ways when compared to those that worked in an office. Between the gray and tan carpet and monotone themed cubicle spaces were telemarketers in their professional black suit and ties. Everything was clean with the distant ring of phones and voices echoing among each other in a polite manner. Meanwhile the TimeLord had the crimson color of his suit with brown pin stripes to match the buttons. His long greatcoat moving about his motions as he walked with his hands tucked into his trouser pockets. As he came to the lobby of the 24th floor he sighed with relief. The elevators were in sight and he eagerly made his way down.

After three floors descent the lift stopped. opening for a brunette woman. Politely the Doctor stepped to the side to let her in, the two standing as the doors slowly closed again. The music was extremely boring, leading the tall man to sigh lightly.

"New to the building?" the woman asked lightly.

The Doctor blinked and then let his deep amber eyes trail to her before he gave a smile. "Oh! No, just passing through is all. I'll be out of your hair in a tick like as if I was never here," he said with a light chuckle.

"Which is a shame. Handsome man such as yourself. Glenda Landon, by the way," she introduced herself with a smile that was meant to be charming. However, with her polished suit and hair tied up in a fashion that looked way too tight to be natural, it had an awkward look to it.

"Ah... The Doctor," he said softly as he tugged a hand free from his pocket to express a hand shake, which she gladly returned.

"Oh, you're a doctor-- well no wonder why you stand out. No need to be shy. You can tell me your name. I won't laugh if it's an embarrassing one."

The TimeLord's brows rose a bit and he tilted his head to one side thoughtfully. He seemed to be getting this reaction a lot lately. It wasn't like medical personnel just walk around anywhere and everywhere so why would a doctor be in a high rise office space?

"No, really, I'm called the Doctor. It really can't be that odd; I mean, celebrities and musicians name themselves after food or inanimate objects all the time...." It was then that the ping of the elevator sounded and the alien man gave Glenda a polished smile. The doors opening he gladly stepped out, leaving her be stunned where she stood. "Sorry, this is where I get off."

Coming along the corner to the open lobby, the brunette quickly crossed the polished tile. Passing the reception desk and then through the revolving doors. When the brisk air of Cardiff hit his face the TimeLord let out a deep sigh of relief. He hated office spaces, honestly. It was like staying in a church where a person was shooshed constantly for anything more than a whisper. However he had a different thought -- remembering that this place was also where a companion built a branch of Torchwood.

"The old regime was destroyed at Canary Wharf. I rebuilt it -- I changed it! And when I did, I did it for you, in your honor!"

The plea from Captain Jack Harkness echoed in the Doctor's mind for a moment... remembering the way Queen Victoria was going to be the victim of a Werewolf if not for the arrival of the Doctor and Rose Tyler. In fighting for her they were both knighted and then banished and a branch above and beyond the government was formed. Sworn to protect the human race against extraterrestrial threats -- and especially prejudice toward the alien known as the Doctor. The ping of loss came to mind after that as he remembered the rise of the Cybermen, followed by the Cult of Skaro and the Daleks after. Torchwood at Canary Wharf fell brutally -- but the thought that one of his closest allies rebuilt it in his honor was somehow more frightening.

"I suppose I can't run forever. Time to see what you really think of me, Jack..." he said more to himself as he drew out his mobile phone. Standing out on the sidewalk he made a call -- only to get static. That's strange. He's supposed to have universal range and data through the network of the TARDIS. Glancing up along the reflecting panels of the building he could still see the revolving dark clouds where the old girl was stuck. "See, all things are easier with a TARDIS..."

So, this time he's going to have to look things up the conventional way and walk the distance to Millennium Stadium... but then something caught his eye that made time itself stop in its tracks for him. There was a light flash on the open street and a figure appeared. One that he had every curve memorized. Blonde hair, which had grown out a bit, piercing deep brown eyes, defined lips and jaw line -- the curve in posture of her shoulders as she always had a casual stance -- all of it. There was a second flash as a man's figure appeared but his mind ignored it entirely.

What he was seeing couldn't be real. It was fantastic and magical but also impossible. "Rose..." he managed to whisper to himself. This was impossible. She was locked on the other side of a portal between dimensions -- locked and sealed by the Doctor himself back at Canary Wharf. Her family along with Mickey Smith were able to escape to that side while the Cybermen and Daleks were sucked back into the void -- never to be seen again. In that nothingness they could choose to continue fighting as much as they like and there would be no harm done to either side... but at a price as he lost Rose Tyler that day.

"If she..." The Doctor didn't want to finish that thought verbally but his mind was already at work at it. If she was here then that means he somehow landed on the other side -- well no the TARDIS didn't make an official landing. She's stuck which now made more sense to him. It's like a tight quork on a wine bottle. His blue box was likely stopping those two currents from touching each other now... which means she's stuck in a crack in reality.

For once the universe may just be kind enough to let him at least see one of his companions. Not just any companion... his most precious of them. And of course, the Doctor was stunned, but finally he moved. Stepping toward her which soon broke into a run.

There was a very brief moment in time when Rose wondered if maybe she had been seeing things on that screen, but when Bradshaw had mentioned it. The Doctor had always told her that coming back here was impossible, and she had accepted that as irrefutable fact, but now she was standing face to face with the evidence and wondering if everything she had been told was in the air. Literally.

She stood down on the street level, staring up at the TARDIS that hovered above the building. To anyone else, it would be an odd sight, but to her, it wasn't that horrendously abnormal. It stood out of place, that was for sure, but the idea of it just hovering there, waiting for someone to notice it...and she was right...she noticed it. If by nothing else than a reflection in a window across from the office building itself. And other people would likely take notice too, if it wasn't for the hustle and bustle of every day life that kept them preoccupied. As her mother once said if you want to hide something, do it in plain sight.

She kicked at the ground quick before she started towards the building. So many times she'd been in Cardiff, only to end up in a different dimension. She wanted to say that this wasn't going to end the same way, but that kept her on edge and let her do what she had to do in order to protect the Earth. So far, the threats had been nominal at best; they seemed to only follow The Doctor around, so she hadn't had to do much protecting, but this was an anachronism that needed her dire attention -- and not because of her connection to him.

As she wandered down the street towards the building, she noted the people casually wandering around, doing their jobs or daily routines. People she'd likely never see again until the time came to protect them. Some of them seemed unremarkable, but others seemed like they were on their way to a henchmen convention. She scoffed at the idea and pushed her way through one of the glass doors, without even taking notice to the fact that there was someone chasing after her. For once, it was her spatial awareness that needed work.

She came to a stop in the large lobby, looking over at the marvelous architecture, wondering how many times she'd step foot in this building and always leave with a tragic story. So far she was batting about even. The rift itself was right under the surface of the city, threatening to crack at any point and -- she had no idea what would happen if it did -- she just knew that they were somewhat prepared for the cataclysmic event. Maybe all that would happen is it would pull The Doctor back.

She looked at the receptionist who was carving into an apple, obviously taking a lunch break. Rose raised a brow. "Have you seen this man here?" She held up a wallet sized photo, hoping the receptionist had.

"Yeah, he just went through the door." She set the carved slices onto a plate and looked at her like she had four heads. "What, an apple a day keeps the doctor away."

Rose couldn't help but snicker at the thought. She had only just now noticed she left Bradshaw somewhere on the street. The man was striking up a conversation with someone when he stopped and made eye contact with Rose. The two stared from between the glass when the blonde made the connection. Bradshaw wasn't looking at her, he was watching the Doctor running towards her. Rose, however, was blissfully unaware, making her way out to where her partner was standing.

It was only a matter of seconds before she turned to see what he was looking at and collided with the Doctor himself. "I suppose that answers my question as to whether it was you or not."

For the Doctor, time slowed down for a moment. The way she had seemed to step out to the open and hadn't really noticed him was definitely taken into account. Did he imagine things? Perhaps it was just a blonde that had a similar enough build that the TimeLord simply imprinted his hope of seeing Rose Tyler again? His mind trailed back to the last time he managed to see her -- burning up a star just to get the chance. He had wasted the opportunity because of his own bloody fears. Should have said what he needed to say there as a hologram on the beach -- but like an idiot he missed it. When he did finally get there he reached out to place a hand on her shoulder only to have her turn and the two nearly collided. With a sudden shift he skidded to a stop on his white trainer shoes and both hands found themselves on her arms just to stop himself.

"Ack!! Whoa!!" he managed to protest before finally taking a deep breath. His gaze caught her deep brown eyes and the features of her face. This really was her. The impossible somehow came to be and he didn't want to waste it…. but once again it was like a huge log caught in his throat. "Rose… yeah, it is me. A-And you! Somehow just…. Oh come on!"

With a wide smile the tall man dipped just a little to wrap his arms around her waist. Tugging her into a tight hug that lifted her about four inches off her feet. The Doctor needed to feel that weight. He had it memorized -- but truly hugging her was like an art that never died. With a deep sigh he finally let her down just taking in the features one more time before sighing.

"It's me that should be shocked -- look at you! From what I can see you never settled down. I just… this is impossible from what I know and yet here you are. Or more… here I am since I'm the one that popped over. Well! It's rather complicated," he said, rambling lightly the way he always does when he finds something amazing. But really it was more than that. For such an almighty man this was also his way of nervously bumbling over himself to try to get a handle on the moment. But finally he relented and let himself just soak in the fact that she was standing there with him. "Rose… how are you? How long has it been? And Jackie and them -- all well I hope?"

Needless to say, Bradshaw was completely forgotten as the Doctor didn't even notice him through the glass. How could he when one of the most brilliant and brightest figures stood right in front of him…. but the man took it as an insult. He had been working with Rose for years and he grew to adore her. This man… the way she talked about him was obvious -- but was supposed to be impossible. Yet, here they stood. Exchanging greetings and he was practically glowing with a grin from ear to ear. It was clear that he returned their feelings and if not for the separation things would have been more serious. And with their history, Bradshaw knew that Rose wouldn't eliminate the alien. Someone had to commit to the cause of keeping aliens off of Earth. 

There was also another agenda here and so Bradshaw moved. Disappearing again he appeared on the roof across the intersection. Drawing out a rifle, he took a laying stance and aimed through the scope. The cross landed right along the nape of the Doctor's neck as he was having his greeting ramble... But he thought things over. Rose was standing right there and the last thing she needed was to see his head blown clean off just feet away. And so he aimed for the chest instead. When Bradshaw pulled the trigger the recoil ripped the bullet straight through the Doctor at his right shoulder. The TimeLord was instantly knocked back into the glass of the building -- the bullet impact and then his body breaking the material and landed him right back in the lobby. It wasn't enough to kill him but he was almost instantly out cold covered in blood red glass with more blood pooling lightly upon the tile floor.

Truthfully, the feeling of being pulled off her feet in a sweeping hug was almost as memorable as if it was Jack or Nine doing it. Her heart raced a million miles an hour while she took in the situation. He was rambling about impossibilities -- calculations and probabilities that they had both considered equally over time. But now he stood here, and she wasn't sure how to respond. It was impossible, and all those words she wanted to say when she was left behind the first time were suddenly a rather heavy burden. They weren't relevant now.

In the midst of his rambling, she barely noticed that Bradshaw had vanished. The man was following her previously, but then he was gone. it wasn't like him to just vanish like that -- especially where Rose was concerned. He was her right-hand man, after all. But something in his tone this morning had surprised her. Was it anger? Malice? This was the one time that he took the mission seriously, and that was alarming. The doctor hadn't posed a threat...yet, so it made no sense for Bradshaw to be on guard at this point. But he was gone, and Rose was wondering when it had happened.

And then, in the middle of a sentence, she heard the pop. Before she could react, she felt his body slipping away from her, his full weight falling through the glass. Her heart stopped. no no no she wouldn't lose him again. But Bradshaw knew...he'd worked closely with Rose for years, and he'd know all the weaknesses. If he could find a way into the TARDIS, that was it...she didn't even know at this point that it was him, but it would all come to her later when she realized he was mysteriously missing -- and the caliber of the rifle was strangely similar to the ones she saw the militia use.

She dropped to her knees beside the Doctor's body while people scrambled to get out of the building. There was pandemonium and shrieking, but Rose was still remarkably calm. Pressing her hand into the wound, she rolled his shoulder just slightly to check for an exit wound. Confirming there was one, she took off her jacket and rolled it up, putting it behind his shoulder. Keeping pressure on the wound, she dialed for Jackie and Pete. "Mum, it's Rose. I need your help. The Doctor...he came back, but..." Her voice cracked. "He's hurt, mum. He's hurt bad, I don't think I can get him to the TARDIS. It's jammed in some kind of...matrix in the rift." She was silent while she listened. "Cardiff. Pete will know where. Just -- " And then she looked up at the people around her. Sigh. "Look for the screaming people."

As she sat beside him, holding pressure against the wound, she reminded herself that there was some small solace in what was happening -- it hadn't pierced either of his hearts. He could still live, he could still regenerate...but his attacker likely didn't know that. "Come on...don't leave me yet. You just got here, don't you want to see all the nifty things we've done while you were gone?"

It was times like these that the Doctor was so glad he wasn't human. His body wasn't so fragile otherwise a snipe round like this would have likely brown a great big hole through him. While, yes, it did leave a decent wound the nature of his being made the passage clean and his residual energy within was already working to clot the blood flow. He was cold blooded and so he had a higher rate of stamina once he really became active -- and that helped at a time like this. Still, even he had the sheer wind knocked out of him and vision was blurred at the moment. To him a shadow came to settle beside him as the TimeLord had his eyes closed to deal with the pain. He then felt the applied pressure and let out a light groan from the base of his throat, eyes opening to find a beautiful blonde hovering over him.

Time seemed to slow down for him as the man was rolled for inspection, soon finding himself sheltered and held tightly by her to stop the bleeding. The Doctor then heard her voice calling familiar names and his eyes blinked to focus. Rose was on her cell phone calling for help -- the best kind of help. Despite never really getting along with Jackie on a personal scale he really did love her in every other domestic way. The woman was family, often more protective over him than he was over the rest of the universe. In a strange way that he would never vocally admit unless it was the rare caring times, it really would be wonderful to see Jackie again.

But then Rose spoke of him leaving and his hearts raced. And so he reached out to softly snag the fabric of her jacket. Just to bring her closer without taking her attention off of his wound. "Nifty… I love that word. Ack!" he managed to say before a rush of pain hit him. His brows furrowed but stubbornly he took a deep breath to try to stay calm. "I'm not leaving… like you said I just got here. Anything and everything, Rose…. I really… need…"

It was then that the figure of a blonde woman came running to the frame of the broken panel style window. Her blonde hair tied up in a ponytail with thick makeup meant to make her look at least ten years young buuuuut not quite doing the job. Or really that's all the Doctor claimed. In reality Jackie looked brilliant, especially right now. Following her closely were the two leading men he knew of, Pete and Mickey. All three had appeared down the next intersection using the same type of technology. As instructed they followed the screaming and soon found themselves in the right place. The woman ran up like a wild protective force and soon was there next to Rose.

"How the bloody hell?! Oi, you stubborn fool, open those eyes!" she bellowed strictly.

"Mickey get him up and back to base. He can't stay here in view of the public," Pete said.

"Alright, come on, Boss," Mickey said with a soft tone. Reaching out for the TimeLord's good arm he lifted him off the tile floor, glass falling to the side. "Who was the shooter?"

"I dunno -- Ahh!! It happened so fast…" the Doctor managed to gasp as his eyes began to roll a bit.

"Don't you start doing that!" Jackie said as she helped Rose gold the wound. And soon the group disappeared back to a facility Pete ran back in London.

When Mickey and Pete got him moved over to another room for observation, just to make sure that the bullets weren't laced with anything or he was injured elsewhere, Rose paced the halls with her mother. She could see clearly through a large paned window, where he was in a bed with a hospital gown on. Pete was already familiar with the Doctor's hearts, so it came as no shock when the nurses hooked him up to telemetry -- again, at Pete's behest -- just to make sure nothing pierced his hearts (and because Pete was just...mildly curious about a man with two hearts).

She stopped in the hallway to bite at her thumb, looking down at her phone that was still in her hand. She hadn't seen Bradshaw in hours, and he would have been the first to offer her help with something like this. He'd mentioned on several occasions that he was just as interested in meeting the man as she was in seeing him. But just vanishing into the ethos like that? She started to type in Bradshaw's number on her phone to call him. "Kyle, it's Rose. Where are you?"

"East side of the city, but I went to the roof to check out the TARDIS; I figured you'd be up there if you couldn't find him. I already have a team working on trying to dislodge it." Bradshaw replied casually.

Rose slipped back to that moment everything happened. "Why didn't you come back when you saw my energy signature disappear?"

Bradshaw was quiet for a long time, telling someone to turn off a piece of equipment that was humming in the background. "I must have lost you in the chaos of the shooting. How is he, is he okay? It looked pretty bad."

That was when Rose dropped her phone. She burst through the doors of the room, not even caring who could hear them. "Mickey, Pete, we have a problem. One of our own has gone rogue, he has a vortex manipulator and a gun -- and apparently, a vendetta. His passcard will get him in the building, and that manipulator will bring him back here. We have to find him before he finds..." then she realized what she was saying and turned to the man in the bed. "--him."

"Bradshaw?" Mickey turned to look at Pete. The two came to a unanimous decision. "Bradshaw."

"What?" Rose looked between them, her eyebrows plucked up in confusion. "Did you know something I didn't?"

Pete shook his head. "Nah, but I'm going to work on disabling his keycard. Track his location on your phone, see if you can find him. He has a manipulator, he could be literally anywhere. I need numbers and coordinates any time that boy moves. Maybe we can stay a step ahead of him."

Rose looked down again. "We vetted him, he was thoroughly checked and cleared. I never suspected that --"

"Hey," Mickey pushed her hair back and brought her into a hug. "Listen, Bradshaw loved you, and he'd do anything to be with you. It was obvious, I mean -- not like I'm an expert or anything on the topic. He probably saw this as an impossibility and the idea triggered something in him. Moreover, he has equipment that will allow him to disappear anywhere in time or the universe."

"No," Rose whispered. "We turned off that functionality on the arm bands. Only the necklaces do that. The arm bands are exclusive to local destinations only...it was supposed to be safer that way."

Pete looked at her, then the Doctor, shaking his head. Tapping the window, he motioned for Jackie to come to the door. Pete whispered something to her, then wandered off down the hall, picking up Rose's phone in the process. He put it to his ear, where he heard Bradshaw questioning if Rose was still there, only to find that she wasn't. The line went dead silent, but not before Pete heard the machinery again. Snapping the phone closed, he tapped the window and texted Mickey from Rose's phone. 

'He's trying to take the TARDIS. We know where he is...now we just need to figure out how to stop him. Converge on me at 1500, I have an idea.'

MIckey gave a thumbs up and went back to Rose. "Hey, Rose? Go be with him."

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Genuine injury was usually something the mighty TimeLord avoided like the plague -- mainly because he wished to avoid hospitals entirely. There were too many allergies he would face all for the nurses and doctors to take care of him. Not to mention the weakness posing a chance for UNIT to come after him. They may salute him in respect but that didn't mean he trusted them in the slightest. The moment he had his back turned, guard down or was made out to be a threat the Doctor knew he was on the chopping block just like any other alien…. But he let his guard here knowing that he was in hands he could trust. This was Rose's family -- and his closest to ever being family really. Who else could he possibly trust?

When he arrived he let out a deep groan of pain. The vortex manipulator travel brought a sharp stab to the already open wound. Mickey helped him to where he needed to be and soon he had medical personnel around him. He stressed that the staff did not use any kind of pain killer or anesthesia because he was allergic to quite a few inner components of both. And so… it was a hard and painful hands on clean up but the Doctor endured. Soon exhaustion took him and he laid asleep with a new bandage and support wrap for his shoulder and right arm.

Jackie sighed as she was plucking loose glass from the long greatcoat and crimson red suit. She remembered the last time she cared for him during his regeneration. The tea meant for drinking ended up frying in the circuits beneath him. This process became the means in which he healed -- but this was different. She didn't expect to ever have to wash blood out of clothes. Especially not one he considered as one of her own. Yes, the Doctor was older than her but in the tender moments he was her's. She could see plain as day that he had no maternal figure growing up and yet he held a strange twisted and funny respect for her. They had a silent understanding and Jackie would have it no other way.

The Doctor now laid in a state of recovery, his inner energy working to compensate for the blood lost. He had no idea that there was a man working with a staff of people on the roof of Capitol Tower trying to lodge his fabled blue box out of a literal void crack in time and space. After about 30 minutes of sleep he began to stir. His brunette brows furrowed a bit as he shifted. Finally opening his eyes his vision was blurred but coming into view. He took a deep breath and then moved to sit up only to groan in pain. The memories came back to him slowly as he reached with his left hand to carefully grip his right shoulder.

What happened? He remembered coming out of Capital Tower. He was going to call Jack to ask for help with his rift tech. Then… he saw Rose. She was actually there with him -- he hugged her and everything. Just remembering that much his mind scrambled back to the possibilities. Was he really united with her? Or was this a dream manifested in some way for a sniper to try to get a decent shot? Little did he know that the only thing that spared his life this time was the fact that Bradshaw cared for Rose -- otherwise he had all the means to just blow the TimeLord's head off in front of her.

Still, stubbornly, he shifted to sit up. Clinging to the idea that maybe this wasn't a dream. "Rose…? Where are you?" he asked softly as his vision was finally clearing all the way.

Admittedly, this wasn't what she had in mind when she thought of explosive reunions. He had mentioned to her that if they ever did manage to reunite, it would be a real tragedy; because something drastic would have had to happen to make that possible. Rose curled her fingers around the key that still dangled around her neck, absentmindedly wondering if it still unlocked that yard lock. She remembered the day that Bradshaw had asked her about it, and all she had said was that it unlocked a lifetime of memories. He'd always assumed it was to a journal -- if only he really knew.

She heard Mickey calling her name over the radio and she wandered down the halls to the "war room" as Pete called it. The two were sitting at a large oval table with a list of coordinates on it, a giant map of the immediate area on the wall, with a string following the coordinates; a pin in each location that they came up. "CCTV footage has him still on the roof, trying to chisel his way into the doors. One man apparently even used a sledgehammer. Apparently, they don't realize that something floating ten feet off the ground clearly isn't going to break by conventional means."

"No kidding, he had a ladder going from the roof onto the platform of the box, and some poor intern on there trying to hammer a chisel into the hinge of the door." Pete chuckled at the nonsensical aspect of the idea, then coughed quickly to change the topic. "This is your rodeo, Rose...what do we do?"

Just then, Jackie came thundering into the doors, pointing an accusing finger at Pete. "We find Bradshaw and beat the ever loving daylights out of him for what he did to Our Doctor! He didn't deserve such a warm welcome, and Bradshaw definitely isn't my idea of a welcoming committee! The man is delusional and now The Doctor's going to think we only want to wage war on him!"

"I don't think--" Rose began, but was cut off.

"--And if that's not what he thinks, the poor man is probably trying not to use all his energy to regenerate and then we won't even recognize him anymore! The poor, daft man has no idea and we just--" Jackie continued her tirade, but Rose wasn't listening. Pete had already crossed the threshold to move her out of the room again. "Oh, I swear, if you keep me out of the loop this time--" But pete had already closed the door on her.

"Rose." This time it was Mickey's calm voice from behind her. She turned from the doorway and nodded.

"We find Bradshaw and show him how we handle traitors. But we can't hurt him..." Rose looked down when she heard the sigh from Mickey's lips. "We can't. We made a promise when we founded this establishment that we wouldn't harm people."

"He hurt one of our own and he's a turncoat!" Jackie's voice boomed from the other side of the large mahogany doors. "I'll drag him down off the roof by the ear if I have to!"

"Find Bradshaw." Rose pointed at Pete. "And when you do, bring him in. He doesn't suspect we know anything, so it should be business as usual. Invite him for afternoon tea, if you must. Tell him you want to commend him for his job helping me find the Doctor. Maybe he'll feel like gloating for what he d