Pete's World - Zeppelin - Tyler Estate [Five Months later]
"Heads-up!"
Rose turned just in time to see Mickey throw something at her, she sucked in a breath and managed, just in the nick to catch it in midair then she over balanced and fell on the pavement. She rolled with the fall and turned, protecting whatever it was Mickey threw at her. There was a scream and another flash of light before she finally stopped rolling and hit something harder.
"Ow." The world spun and her shoulders hurt, in fact her whole body hurt.
"I thought you were a gold medalist in the whatsitcalled, gymnastics?"
Of course, Jake.
Breathless and hurting she asked, "Did we win?"
"Judgin' by the ice statue impressions the reptile aliens are doing , yeah, I think we won."
"Silurians," she corrected absently then opened her arms to see what she risked breaking her back to protect and blinked. It was a strange silver cube that was definitely not Earth made. "What the hell is this?"
"Dunno," Jake said, "ask Mickey boy, he probably knows."
She didn't have long to look, Mickey was already striding towards them with the ice gun slung across his shoulder, face smeared with soot with a huge grin. He looked so pleased with himself she laughed and called out, "Here comes the big hero!"
"Oh, don't go feedin' his ego," Jake groaned, "he's gonna be unbearable about doing the dishes now."
Mickey snorted, "I do enough housework for the both of us."
"You mean you actually rinse your cups?" Rose asked in disbelief.
"I always knew how to rinse," Mickey said, "I just choose not to." He frowned at her, "Hang on, aren't you supposed to be at that ball...?"
Rose tilted her head, "What ball?"
"Oooh," Jake hissed, "your mum's gonna kill ya."
She stared at him blankly.
"Don't tell me you forgot, Jackie's been reminding you for--"
"Oh my God, that's today?" Silurians, odd metal boxes and near death experience forgotten as she faced the prospect of braving the one thing that could make everything including the Daleks pale in comparison. "She's gonna kill me!"
She tossed the cube to Mickey and dashed off, Jackie was gonna murder her, no question. It's just a matter of how that'll be up for debate. Rose groaned, she completely lost track of time. You'd think that 'saving the world from alien invaders' would be a sufficient excuse but with Jackie Tyler who's been through Slitheen, Nine hunded year old aliens and crossing the voice, the excuse would never do.
--
A Ball.
By some form of miracle or other (and Jake's speedy piloting skills) Rose managed to arrive at the party before her absence was noted by her mother, she thanked God that even if their zeppelin was the dingest of the fleet it still had enough room for a shower. Rose couldn't count the times when taking a bath saved her life and once, even the planet. As soon as they docked in the Estate she legged it out of the zeppelin and down the steps and found Pete waiting for her with a raised eyebrow.
"Your cutting this a bit close, aren't you, sweetheart?" Pete asked as soon as she was on the ground.
"Tell that to the Silurians," she retorted then caught Pete's arm, "has she noticed yet?"
"The only reason why your mother isn't breathing down your neck is because she's preoccupied entertaining Richard Branson."
Rose caught the dry tone and grinned, "Oh, go on, don't tell me your jealous of ol' Rick?"
"I don't see why she has to be in awe of him," Pete grumbled, "we're almost as rich as he is."
"Yeah? When are you plannin' to move to aviation?"
"I don't see why I have to go to aviation when I've already branched out to homeland security." He said with a frown.
Rose laughed then kissed Pete, "And I think that's better than any fancy airline any day!"
"Yeah, tell that to your mother." The sound of a string quartet and people socializing became more pronounced. "In fact, why don't you do so now?"
She grimaced, "Do I really have to do this everytime, I don't see why Mickey and Jake can't do this instead of me."
"First of all, they aren't my children and second, because Jackie told you to."
She laughed, "All right, all right you win, lead on, sir!"
Rose took a calming breath as she saw the party, the cream of the London crop, with some dignitaries and politicians scattered along the manicured lawn. She slipped in behind Pete preferring to keep a low profile. She's never been one for these sort of parties but she was surprised how much Jackie took to it like a fish to water but then again, seeing how the other Jackie had taken to it she really shouldn't have been surprised.
It's been a fair few months since her sudden pull out from Fandom and she imagined she missed quite a lot of things while she was away but she was glad she managed to get a glimpse of Jack marching down to get his diploma. After a few months of the running/danger/death/paperwork another round of teaching seems relatively harmless even if its some where like Fandom High.
"Well there you are!" Rose turned and saw Jackie make a beeline towards her, Grace in tow. "About time you got here!"
"Wouldn't miss it, would I?"
Jackie snorted, "Knowing you, Jake had to remind you of this didn't he?" Before Rose could form any protest Jackie suddenly clutched her arm and whispered excitedly, "You won't believe who I've been chatting up--"
"Richard Branson?"
"Now how'd you know a thing like that?" Jackie asked astonished, behind her Grace started making faces. Rose had to keep a straight face before answering,
"Pete told me, I think he's a bit put out."
Jackie sniffed, "Serves him right to be, flirtin' with the help like that!"
"Mum, now look who's gettin' 'airs and graces'!"
"Oh, pooh," Jackie dismissed, "you try and spending a day with this lot and lets see you try not to develop -- oh, look it's John Lennon!" And just like that Jackie swanned off again. Rose shook her head in amusement then looked at her sister.
"How're you doing, kiddo?"
"I'm not gonna hug you," Grace announced, "'I'm too old to go hugging people!"
"Oh, are you then?" Rose said, trying to keep from smiling, "and I suppose you don't want to go play with the new game I bought for you, huh?"
"New game?" Grace asked suddenly bouncing on her toes. "What new game?"
"Hey, now, I thought you said you were old and a proper adult?"
"Oh, Rose, please, please, please tell me what new game, please!"
She relented and scooped Grace into a hug before putting her down, "Go on, uncle Mickey has it in the 'ship, he's just waitin' outside."
Grace's eyes went wide as saucers, "Uncle Mickey's here?!"
Rose nodded, "Yeah with--" but Grace had already hared off before she could complete the sentence, "--Jake."
"You certainly dote on your sister, don't you?" A voice asked behind her.
Rose turned, Lucy Cole -- no, she was married to Saxon now, wasn't she? -- stood behind her, with a glass of champagne on hand. "Hullo, Lucy."
"I haven't seen you much, Rose," Lucy said, head angled in that odd way of hers, "I thought I'd see you more now that you're back from your trip."
"I was on sabbatical," she explained, her smile stretched. There was something odd and yet familiar about Lucy, they've only met a few times and got a long fairly well, considering, but there was something about Lucy that unsettled Rose.
"Yes, I've heard about that."
"I ended up teaching high school."
"I've heard that too."
"Oh. Well..." Rose took a passing champagne glass as the thread of conversation faltered and Lucy didn't seem inclined to pick it up any time soon.
"Ah, darling," she turned her head and saw Harry Saxon stride towards them. "There you are."
"Harry," Lucy said, drawing him close, "you remember Rose, don't you?"
"But of course, how could I forget Miss Tyler?" Saxon smiled at her, he wasn't bad looking, in fact he was one of the more interesting bachelors before Lucy snapped him up. An up and coming political star who broke into the scene by winning himself a seat in the senate, and who, according to the papers was the favored candidate to run against Harriet Jones in the next elections when he suddenly shifted from the British government to the worldstage, rumor had it that he was on the fast track to becoming the next UN Secretary. Rose had only met him once and it was in a function in 10 Downing by then Lucy and Saxon's whirlwind romance was in all the tabloid and mainstream papers. "You've been a bit of a recluse, Miss Tyler, now why is that?"
"I'm not that into parties," she admitted. Rose wondered how her old mates would take that statement, she wasn't that much of a party girl but there was a period of her life, the one she called her Jimmy Stone phase where she'd done nothing but party. It wasn't something she was exactly proud of, considering how much her grades had slipped. She also wasn't proud of how easily Jimmy had persuaded her to leave school and moved in with him.
Saxon pursed his lips and turned to Lucy, "Isn't that a shame, darling? I'd hoped we'd all get together."
"Yes, we did hope." agreed Lucy, she looked up at Saxon, there was a smile playing at the corner of her lips but with Lucy you didn't really know if she was on the verge of smiling or doing something else entirely. " Harry and I was looking forward to going out with you more. We have such few true friends."
"Er," Rose was unsure what she meant by that. If there was something the Saxons had in abundance, it was friends. "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying the party," she bit the tip of her tongue, they continued to look at each other, they even looked like they were about to snog. Rose shifted uncomfortably and decided it was high time to keep moving. "Sorry to cut short but I think mum will have fits if I don't go around and be more sociable, I'll see you two around, yeah?"
Lucy didn't look at her but Saxon did, his eyes bright with an odd intensity, "Count on it, Miss Tyler."
Rose turned away, she felt a prickling sensation at the back of her neck and she glanced back but Saxon and Lucy had also walked away. She shook her head. Rose, she thought, you're getting paranoid.
(OOC: spoilers for Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords / NFB due to distance / OOC comments welcome!)
Rose turned just in time to see Mickey throw something at her, she sucked in a breath and managed, just in the nick to catch it in midair then she over balanced and fell on the pavement. She rolled with the fall and turned, protecting whatever it was Mickey threw at her. There was a scream and another flash of light before she finally stopped rolling and hit something harder.
"Ow." The world spun and her shoulders hurt, in fact her whole body hurt.
"I thought you were a gold medalist in the whatsitcalled, gymnastics?"
Of course, Jake.
Breathless and hurting she asked, "Did we win?"
"Judgin' by the ice statue impressions the reptile aliens are doing , yeah, I think we won."
"Silurians," she corrected absently then opened her arms to see what she risked breaking her back to protect and blinked. It was a strange silver cube that was definitely not Earth made. "What the hell is this?"
"Dunno," Jake said, "ask Mickey boy, he probably knows."
She didn't have long to look, Mickey was already striding towards them with the ice gun slung across his shoulder, face smeared with soot with a huge grin. He looked so pleased with himself she laughed and called out, "Here comes the big hero!"
"Oh, don't go feedin' his ego," Jake groaned, "he's gonna be unbearable about doing the dishes now."
Mickey snorted, "I do enough housework for the both of us."
"You mean you actually rinse your cups?" Rose asked in disbelief.
"I always knew how to rinse," Mickey said, "I just choose not to." He frowned at her, "Hang on, aren't you supposed to be at that ball...?"
Rose tilted her head, "What ball?"
"Oooh," Jake hissed, "your mum's gonna kill ya."
She stared at him blankly.
"Don't tell me you forgot, Jackie's been reminding you for--"
"Oh my God, that's today?" Silurians, odd metal boxes and near death experience forgotten as she faced the prospect of braving the one thing that could make everything including the Daleks pale in comparison. "She's gonna kill me!"
She tossed the cube to Mickey and dashed off, Jackie was gonna murder her, no question. It's just a matter of how that'll be up for debate. Rose groaned, she completely lost track of time. You'd think that 'saving the world from alien invaders' would be a sufficient excuse but with Jackie Tyler who's been through Slitheen, Nine hunded year old aliens and crossing the voice, the excuse would never do.
--
A Ball.
By some form of miracle or other (and Jake's speedy piloting skills) Rose managed to arrive at the party before her absence was noted by her mother, she thanked God that even if their zeppelin was the dingest of the fleet it still had enough room for a shower. Rose couldn't count the times when taking a bath saved her life and once, even the planet. As soon as they docked in the Estate she legged it out of the zeppelin and down the steps and found Pete waiting for her with a raised eyebrow.
"Your cutting this a bit close, aren't you, sweetheart?" Pete asked as soon as she was on the ground.
"Tell that to the Silurians," she retorted then caught Pete's arm, "has she noticed yet?"
"The only reason why your mother isn't breathing down your neck is because she's preoccupied entertaining Richard Branson."
Rose caught the dry tone and grinned, "Oh, go on, don't tell me your jealous of ol' Rick?"
"I don't see why she has to be in awe of him," Pete grumbled, "we're almost as rich as he is."
"Yeah? When are you plannin' to move to aviation?"
"I don't see why I have to go to aviation when I've already branched out to homeland security." He said with a frown.
Rose laughed then kissed Pete, "And I think that's better than any fancy airline any day!"
"Yeah, tell that to your mother." The sound of a string quartet and people socializing became more pronounced. "In fact, why don't you do so now?"
She grimaced, "Do I really have to do this everytime, I don't see why Mickey and Jake can't do this instead of me."
"First of all, they aren't my children and second, because Jackie told you to."
She laughed, "All right, all right you win, lead on, sir!"
Rose took a calming breath as she saw the party, the cream of the London crop, with some dignitaries and politicians scattered along the manicured lawn. She slipped in behind Pete preferring to keep a low profile. She's never been one for these sort of parties but she was surprised how much Jackie took to it like a fish to water but then again, seeing how the other Jackie had taken to it she really shouldn't have been surprised.
It's been a fair few months since her sudden pull out from Fandom and she imagined she missed quite a lot of things while she was away but she was glad she managed to get a glimpse of Jack marching down to get his diploma. After a few months of the running/danger/death/paperwork another round of teaching seems relatively harmless even if its some where like Fandom High.
"Well there you are!" Rose turned and saw Jackie make a beeline towards her, Grace in tow. "About time you got here!"
"Wouldn't miss it, would I?"
Jackie snorted, "Knowing you, Jake had to remind you of this didn't he?" Before Rose could form any protest Jackie suddenly clutched her arm and whispered excitedly, "You won't believe who I've been chatting up--"
"Richard Branson?"
"Now how'd you know a thing like that?" Jackie asked astonished, behind her Grace started making faces. Rose had to keep a straight face before answering,
"Pete told me, I think he's a bit put out."
Jackie sniffed, "Serves him right to be, flirtin' with the help like that!"
"Mum, now look who's gettin' 'airs and graces'!"
"Oh, pooh," Jackie dismissed, "you try and spending a day with this lot and lets see you try not to develop -- oh, look it's John Lennon!" And just like that Jackie swanned off again. Rose shook her head in amusement then looked at her sister.
"How're you doing, kiddo?"
"I'm not gonna hug you," Grace announced, "'I'm too old to go hugging people!"
"Oh, are you then?" Rose said, trying to keep from smiling, "and I suppose you don't want to go play with the new game I bought for you, huh?"
"New game?" Grace asked suddenly bouncing on her toes. "What new game?"
"Hey, now, I thought you said you were old and a proper adult?"
"Oh, Rose, please, please, please tell me what new game, please!"
She relented and scooped Grace into a hug before putting her down, "Go on, uncle Mickey has it in the 'ship, he's just waitin' outside."
Grace's eyes went wide as saucers, "Uncle Mickey's here?!"
Rose nodded, "Yeah with--" but Grace had already hared off before she could complete the sentence, "--Jake."
"You certainly dote on your sister, don't you?" A voice asked behind her.
Rose turned, Lucy Cole -- no, she was married to Saxon now, wasn't she? -- stood behind her, with a glass of champagne on hand. "Hullo, Lucy."
"I haven't seen you much, Rose," Lucy said, head angled in that odd way of hers, "I thought I'd see you more now that you're back from your trip."
"I was on sabbatical," she explained, her smile stretched. There was something odd and yet familiar about Lucy, they've only met a few times and got a long fairly well, considering, but there was something about Lucy that unsettled Rose.
"Yes, I've heard about that."
"I ended up teaching high school."
"I've heard that too."
"Oh. Well..." Rose took a passing champagne glass as the thread of conversation faltered and Lucy didn't seem inclined to pick it up any time soon.
"Ah, darling," she turned her head and saw Harry Saxon stride towards them. "There you are."
"Harry," Lucy said, drawing him close, "you remember Rose, don't you?"
"But of course, how could I forget Miss Tyler?" Saxon smiled at her, he wasn't bad looking, in fact he was one of the more interesting bachelors before Lucy snapped him up. An up and coming political star who broke into the scene by winning himself a seat in the senate, and who, according to the papers was the favored candidate to run against Harriet Jones in the next elections when he suddenly shifted from the British government to the worldstage, rumor had it that he was on the fast track to becoming the next UN Secretary. Rose had only met him once and it was in a function in 10 Downing by then Lucy and Saxon's whirlwind romance was in all the tabloid and mainstream papers. "You've been a bit of a recluse, Miss Tyler, now why is that?"
"I'm not that into parties," she admitted. Rose wondered how her old mates would take that statement, she wasn't that much of a party girl but there was a period of her life, the one she called her Jimmy Stone phase where she'd done nothing but party. It wasn't something she was exactly proud of, considering how much her grades had slipped. She also wasn't proud of how easily Jimmy had persuaded her to leave school and moved in with him.
Saxon pursed his lips and turned to Lucy, "Isn't that a shame, darling? I'd hoped we'd all get together."
"Yes, we did hope." agreed Lucy, she looked up at Saxon, there was a smile playing at the corner of her lips but with Lucy you didn't really know if she was on the verge of smiling or doing something else entirely. " Harry and I was looking forward to going out with you more. We have such few true friends."
"Er," Rose was unsure what she meant by that. If there was something the Saxons had in abundance, it was friends. "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying the party," she bit the tip of her tongue, they continued to look at each other, they even looked like they were about to snog. Rose shifted uncomfortably and decided it was high time to keep moving. "Sorry to cut short but I think mum will have fits if I don't go around and be more sociable, I'll see you two around, yeah?"
Lucy didn't look at her but Saxon did, his eyes bright with an odd intensity, "Count on it, Miss Tyler."
Rose turned away, she felt a prickling sensation at the back of her neck and she glanced back but Saxon and Lucy had also walked away. She shook her head. Rose, she thought, you're getting paranoid.
(OOC: spoilers for Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords / NFB due to distance / OOC comments welcome!)