The Stolen Earth Incident - Chapter Forty-Six
30 April 2009
London
And so, Martha finished the story.
At the end of it, Rose couldn’t decide just how she should feel about it.
Certainly, she could understand the Doctor not wanting to be the last Time Lord in existence. Rose knew just how lonely he was; it was obvious to everyone who looked close enough.
At the same time, the Master had caused untold damage and had tortured Jack for an entire year. He’d almost succeeded in destroying the universe. There should have been some sort of justice involved.
But had Ianto had the right to kill the Master in cold blood? He’d done it in Jack’s name, as an act of vengeance against the monster who’d killed the man he loved, over and over again. But did that make it right?
Would Rose have gone along with it if she’d been there? After all, the Master had also done terrible things to the Doctor as well. Did she love him enough to strike back, when it seemed as if the Master wasn’t going to be punished for his crimes beyond imprisoning him within the TARDIS? Would that have even been a punishment at all?
Plus, how had the TARDIS even felt about almost having a lunatic living within her walls?
It hadn’t happened to her, so there was no way of knowing how she would have reacted. However, she could understand why the Doctor was so very angry at Jack. One of the things the Doctor didn’t like was killing, and Ianto had done just that, with Jack backing him on it. If she was any judge, Martha hadn’t exactly been against it, either. Rose felt she couldn’t judge, not having been a witness to that year of sheer hell.
She also couldn’t see any way to get them back together, either.
“You see now?” Martha asked. “You see why it’s pretty much impossible to fix this?”
“I kinda wish I’d been there,” Clint mused. “I certainly wouldn’t have minded putting an arrow through that bastard’s eye.”
Martha reach over and slapped him in the arm. “Clint Barton! You did not just wish that!” she berated him sternly.
“Okay, maybe not,” he allowed. “My life’s been hard enough without having to deal with power-mad aliens out for world domination.” Then paused, shaking his head. “Aw, Daleks…no.”
Martha snorted in laughter. “You didn’t get away so easily, did you?”
“Guess not!”
Rose couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up at their banter. She could so easily see herself slotted into this new family that Jack seemed to have made for himself. Maybe, one day, she might be able to come to Cardiff and visit.
She was beginning to realise that the schism between the Doctor and Jack was something that wasn’t going to be healed overnight.
“Did you miss me?”
Rose jumped at Jack’s jaunty greeting. He suddenly appeared just behind Clint, grinning at her. “Are you three talking about me?” he asked playfully. “It better be good!”
He seemed to be happy, but there were shadows in his blue eyes that Rose didn’t like to see. She moved around Clint and wrapped Jack up into the biggest hug she could, the long-forgotten scent of his pheromones settling around her like the smell of coming home.
Jack’s arms went around her, and his nose was buried in her hair. “I have missed you something fierce,” he admitted quietly as they clung to each other. “When I thought you’d been killed at Canary Wharf…”
“I missed you too,” she admitted, finally letting her tears fall onto the wool of that ridiculous coat. This was her best friend, her brother…the one she’d wielded the Vortex for in order to bring him back to her, but had messed up so badly she’d made him immortal. Why didn’t he hate her for it?
“I could never hate you,” he answered, and Rose felt herself blush for saying that out loud. “You loved me, and that brought me back to life. Thank you for that, Rose Tyler.” His arms tightened once more, and then he released her, it feeling somewhat reluctant.
She looked up into his eyes. He’d been crying as well, judging from the wetness on his cheeks. “Thanks for that, Jack. I feel so guilty now that I know what I did to you…”
“Hey,” he said, drying her tears with his thumb, “there’s no need for that. It led me to my mate.” He grinned. “I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
Rose grinned, her heart swelling at the idea of Jack wanting her to meet his lover. “Well, someone has to give him the shovel talk…”
That earned her a carefree laugh from her friend. “I’m sure you’ll have him quaking in his boots in no time.”
“I hope you don’t mind,” Martha spoke up, “but I told her about Ianto.”
Jack’s smile turned gentle. “No, it’s fine. Although I wish I could have done it myself…” He revealed his wrist strap, flipping it open and pressing a button. An image projected from it, hovering in mid-air above Jack’s arm.
It was a green dragon, sitting on the ground, heavily muscled legs curled up under his body and wings folded against his back. His cat-like blue eyes were staring out of the hologram, crinkled slightly with laughter, caught in the middle of a happiness that shone from every part of him.
“That’s Ianto,” he said proudly, “in his dragon form. He looks like a devastatingly gorgeous Welshman in his human form.” The expression on his face was tender as he regarded the image. “I wish you could have been at our mating. He would have loved to have had you there as part of my family.” He pushed another button, and the dragon faded out, replaced by a woman with brown hair and a blond boy. “This is our daughter Alice; and our grandson, Steven. Well, they’re my blood relatives, but they’ve both adopted Ianto. Alice even calls him Tad.”
Rose couldn’t believe that Jack had an entire family now. When she’d known him, he’d been an unabashed flirt and not at all hesitant to seduce anyone that might have crossed their path, human or alien. To know that he was so happily settled…it was like she was seeing an entirely different person.
It was a person she couldn’t wait to get to know much better.
He turned off the wrist strap. “I am sorry, but we really do need to head out. I need to get back to Ianto…as a dragon he’s connected to the Earth, and what the Daleks did to it affected him, as well as one of our teammates, Toshiko.”
“Are they going to be okay?” Clint wanted to know.
Jack nodded. “Owen seems to think they’ll recover, but it’s going to take some time. I don’t know anything much about Alice, Kathy, or Rhiannon, but before he was completely incapacitated Ianto had sent out Rhys, Patrick, and Deborah to at least check on Alice and Kathy. I’ll call out to Ddraig Llyn and speak to Johnny when we get a chance, to see about Rhiannon.”
Rose was confused by all the names that had just been thrown around, but as much as she wanted to sit Jack down and reminisce, she did understand that he’d want to get back to his team. “You should go,” she encouraged him. “We’ll get all caught up later.”
He hugged her once more. “When you get to Cardiff, come to the Mermaid Quay Tourist Office at the Millennium Centre, and speak to Deborah. Tell her who you are and she’ll let you into the Hub.” He pulled back, leaving his hands on her shoulders. “Don’t be a stranger, Rose. I’ll be expecting you.”
“Count on it.”
“I’ll go with you,” Martha said. “You and Clint can come home with me, and then we’ll get you back to Cardiff.”
“Sounds like a plan, Nightingale.” He winked at Rose, and then he, Clint, and Martha were gone out through the open doors, leaving Rose to miss them already.
London
And so, Martha finished the story.
At the end of it, Rose couldn’t decide just how she should feel about it.
Certainly, she could understand the Doctor not wanting to be the last Time Lord in existence. Rose knew just how lonely he was; it was obvious to everyone who looked close enough.
At the same time, the Master had caused untold damage and had tortured Jack for an entire year. He’d almost succeeded in destroying the universe. There should have been some sort of justice involved.
But had Ianto had the right to kill the Master in cold blood? He’d done it in Jack’s name, as an act of vengeance against the monster who’d killed the man he loved, over and over again. But did that make it right?
Would Rose have gone along with it if she’d been there? After all, the Master had also done terrible things to the Doctor as well. Did she love him enough to strike back, when it seemed as if the Master wasn’t going to be punished for his crimes beyond imprisoning him within the TARDIS? Would that have even been a punishment at all?
Plus, how had the TARDIS even felt about almost having a lunatic living within her walls?
It hadn’t happened to her, so there was no way of knowing how she would have reacted. However, she could understand why the Doctor was so very angry at Jack. One of the things the Doctor didn’t like was killing, and Ianto had done just that, with Jack backing him on it. If she was any judge, Martha hadn’t exactly been against it, either. Rose felt she couldn’t judge, not having been a witness to that year of sheer hell.
She also couldn’t see any way to get them back together, either.
“You see now?” Martha asked. “You see why it’s pretty much impossible to fix this?”
“I kinda wish I’d been there,” Clint mused. “I certainly wouldn’t have minded putting an arrow through that bastard’s eye.”
Martha reach over and slapped him in the arm. “Clint Barton! You did not just wish that!” she berated him sternly.
“Okay, maybe not,” he allowed. “My life’s been hard enough without having to deal with power-mad aliens out for world domination.” Then paused, shaking his head. “Aw, Daleks…no.”
Martha snorted in laughter. “You didn’t get away so easily, did you?”
“Guess not!”
Rose couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up at their banter. She could so easily see herself slotted into this new family that Jack seemed to have made for himself. Maybe, one day, she might be able to come to Cardiff and visit.
She was beginning to realise that the schism between the Doctor and Jack was something that wasn’t going to be healed overnight.
“Did you miss me?”
Rose jumped at Jack’s jaunty greeting. He suddenly appeared just behind Clint, grinning at her. “Are you three talking about me?” he asked playfully. “It better be good!”
He seemed to be happy, but there were shadows in his blue eyes that Rose didn’t like to see. She moved around Clint and wrapped Jack up into the biggest hug she could, the long-forgotten scent of his pheromones settling around her like the smell of coming home.
Jack’s arms went around her, and his nose was buried in her hair. “I have missed you something fierce,” he admitted quietly as they clung to each other. “When I thought you’d been killed at Canary Wharf…”
“I missed you too,” she admitted, finally letting her tears fall onto the wool of that ridiculous coat. This was her best friend, her brother…the one she’d wielded the Vortex for in order to bring him back to her, but had messed up so badly she’d made him immortal. Why didn’t he hate her for it?
“I could never hate you,” he answered, and Rose felt herself blush for saying that out loud. “You loved me, and that brought me back to life. Thank you for that, Rose Tyler.” His arms tightened once more, and then he released her, it feeling somewhat reluctant.
She looked up into his eyes. He’d been crying as well, judging from the wetness on his cheeks. “Thanks for that, Jack. I feel so guilty now that I know what I did to you…”
“Hey,” he said, drying her tears with his thumb, “there’s no need for that. It led me to my mate.” He grinned. “I can’t wait for you to meet him.”
Rose grinned, her heart swelling at the idea of Jack wanting her to meet his lover. “Well, someone has to give him the shovel talk…”
That earned her a carefree laugh from her friend. “I’m sure you’ll have him quaking in his boots in no time.”
“I hope you don’t mind,” Martha spoke up, “but I told her about Ianto.”
Jack’s smile turned gentle. “No, it’s fine. Although I wish I could have done it myself…” He revealed his wrist strap, flipping it open and pressing a button. An image projected from it, hovering in mid-air above Jack’s arm.
It was a green dragon, sitting on the ground, heavily muscled legs curled up under his body and wings folded against his back. His cat-like blue eyes were staring out of the hologram, crinkled slightly with laughter, caught in the middle of a happiness that shone from every part of him.
“That’s Ianto,” he said proudly, “in his dragon form. He looks like a devastatingly gorgeous Welshman in his human form.” The expression on his face was tender as he regarded the image. “I wish you could have been at our mating. He would have loved to have had you there as part of my family.” He pushed another button, and the dragon faded out, replaced by a woman with brown hair and a blond boy. “This is our daughter Alice; and our grandson, Steven. Well, they’re my blood relatives, but they’ve both adopted Ianto. Alice even calls him Tad.”
Rose couldn’t believe that Jack had an entire family now. When she’d known him, he’d been an unabashed flirt and not at all hesitant to seduce anyone that might have crossed their path, human or alien. To know that he was so happily settled…it was like she was seeing an entirely different person.
It was a person she couldn’t wait to get to know much better.
He turned off the wrist strap. “I am sorry, but we really do need to head out. I need to get back to Ianto…as a dragon he’s connected to the Earth, and what the Daleks did to it affected him, as well as one of our teammates, Toshiko.”
“Are they going to be okay?” Clint wanted to know.
Jack nodded. “Owen seems to think they’ll recover, but it’s going to take some time. I don’t know anything much about Alice, Kathy, or Rhiannon, but before he was completely incapacitated Ianto had sent out Rhys, Patrick, and Deborah to at least check on Alice and Kathy. I’ll call out to Ddraig Llyn and speak to Johnny when we get a chance, to see about Rhiannon.”
Rose was confused by all the names that had just been thrown around, but as much as she wanted to sit Jack down and reminisce, she did understand that he’d want to get back to his team. “You should go,” she encouraged him. “We’ll get all caught up later.”
He hugged her once more. “When you get to Cardiff, come to the Mermaid Quay Tourist Office at the Millennium Centre, and speak to Deborah. Tell her who you are and she’ll let you into the Hub.” He pulled back, leaving his hands on her shoulders. “Don’t be a stranger, Rose. I’ll be expecting you.”
“Count on it.”
“I’ll go with you,” Martha said. “You and Clint can come home with me, and then we’ll get you back to Cardiff.”
“Sounds like a plan, Nightingale.” He winked at Rose, and then he, Clint, and Martha were gone out through the open doors, leaving Rose to miss them already.