Chapter Text
Chapter 10~*~ Found
Rose sat with her back to the wall, her hands over her belly and her legs crossed in front of her. Her eyes were closed and she was taking long deep breaths, trying to keep herself calm. She was locked in a small room; there was nothing but a bed in the corner and no windows. The whole room was white and felt almost like a room in a mental health facility. Rose could feel that her daughter was slightly stressed and she was trying to keep her calm as well, even though she wasn’t sure how she was doing. She knew that everyone would, at this moment, be looking for a way to find her. She was also working on trying to find a way to help. She knew that Madame Kovarian and the Not Doctor were sitting outside the door talking, but she couldn't hear them. She took another deep breath and reached out with her mind toward the chaotic and frantic mind that could only belong to the Doctor. But she couldn't get through to him and was sure it had to do with the fact that he was in full-out panic mode. She opened her eyes and sighed as the baby kicked and she smiled.
"We're fine," Rose whispered to her belly. "Your daddy will be here soon and then we'll take care of all this." She rubbed her belly in slow circles and the baby finally calmed. "We're going to have to think up a name for you sometime soon," Rose said, keeping her voice soothing and light. She closed her eyes and tried clearing her mind, reaching out toward the Doctor again. It felt slightly less chaotic now and she smiled.
'Doctor,' she called, trying to bypass the anger she could feel coming from him. It had surprised her how easy it was to find his mind when she'd tried the first time a few minutes ago. He'd never gotten around to building up that temporary bond, so she'd thought it would be impossible, but had tried anyway. She had ended up using his bond with their daughter as a kind of bridge to him. 'Doctor,' she tried again and felt his mind had calmed a lot more. 'Doctor, can you hear me?'
'Rose?!' his mind called back and she sighed in relief. 'Is that you?'
'Yes, it's me, we're okay,' she laughed a little and stood up slowly, careful to keep her mind connected to his.
'How are you doing this?' he asked and Rose laughed and felt her shoulders relax as his mind soothed her own as they spoke.
'I'm coat-tailing off the bond you have with the baby somehow. I know where we are.' Rose took a deep breath and sat on the bed.
'Where are you?' He asked and Rose could feel his worry. But strangely his worry helped her feel better, almost like knowing he was worried meant she didn't need to.
'Something called Demons Run.' Rose said and could feel him lose his calm. It was only a moment before she felt him calm himself again.
'Okay,' He said, and his 'voice' sounded calmer again. 'Rose?'
'Yes?' She asked, propping her feet up onto the bed.
'I'm coming to get you,' He told her and she laughed out loud as she felt his mind recede to the back of her mind.
~*~Doctor~*~
"Okay, so you've been to this Demons Run before?" Martha asked and the Doctor nodded his head looking at Amy and Rory.
"It's where they took Amy when they tried to take Melody," The Doctor explained and Martha looked at Amy with sympathy. She was sure Amy didn't relish the idea of going back there.
"Speaking of Melody," Rory said looking at Mickey. "Where are we going to take the kids while we go after Rose?"
"That is a very good question." The Doctor said rubbing the back of his neck. Then he smiled and looked between the two couples and reached up and tweaked his bowtie. "I think I may have an idea about that."
~*~Baby-sitter~*~
"This looks like a pretty normal house," Martha said when they opened the door to the TARDIS.
"I promise you it's not," The Doctor said, leading them over to the house. It was mid-morning and Martha and Amy were carrying the diaper bags and the babies and Mickey and Rory both had travel cots and car seats.
"You're sure this is a good idea?" Mickey said though he didn't know exactly what the idea was.
"I'm very sure," The Doctor said, then he took a deep breath, his eyes slightly uncertain, and knocked on the front door of the lovely two-story house they'd arrived at.
"I thought I heard the TARDIS," an older woman said as she pulled the door open and smiled at the group. "Mickey!"
"Sarah Jane!" Mickey said dropping his stuff and pushing passed the Doctor to hug her. "Okay, this was a good idea," He agreed looking back at the Doctor.
"Well I've been known to have them," The Doctor said as Sarah gestured them into the house. Mickey went back to grab his stuff.
"What's going on?" Sarah asked as she took in the young babies and the pile of baby stuff.
"We're in a very big bind," He told her and she took a deep breath. "Sarah, I promise when we get this all sorted I will give you the very long version of this story, but we are in quite a hurry." He said as Jack and Mickey began to set up the travel cots. "Rose has been kidnapped and we need to go save her. We can't take the babies with us, and we could really use some help."
"Rose?!" Sarah exclaimed, looking shocked. He'd told her he left Rose in the other universe with the Human Doctor. She was the only person he’d talked to about it after it happened.
"Yes, she's pregnant and a very vile woman wants to keep her till she gives birth then steal the baby," He told her, his voice taking on a slightly panicked tone again.
"Pregnant...Is it yours?" She finally asked and he shifted from foot to foot. Well she was sure this was going to be a very interesting story.
"Sort of," He said then rushed on before she could ask what 'sort of' meant. "And I promise I'll explain everything, but we really need your help."
"You want me to do what exactly, baby-sit?" Sarah asked, looking between Amy and Martha and the babies.
"You're the only person I'd trust them with," The Doctor said, looking pleadingly at her. She knew he meant that as the highest compliment and sighed.
"I assume you have everything here that I'll need?" She asked and the Doctor smiled nodding his head. "And who are these little sweeties?" She asked walking over to Amy and Martha.
"This is Melody," Amy said with a small smile. "She's really laid back, and she goes to daycare, so she should be pretty easy with us leaving."
"And this is Abby," Martha said, taking a deep breath. "She's still breastfeeding, but there are at least two days' worth of milk in the bag. Though the Doctor assures me we'll be back much sooner than that." Sarah reached out and Martha handed Abby over to her while Amy walked over and put Melody in the cot. Amy kissed the top of Melody's head and smiled at Sarah.
"Thank you," Amy said and Martha nodded.
"Yes, thank you," She agreed, smoothing back Abby's hair before she leaned over and kissed her forehead as well.
"We'll be back very soon, I promise," The Doctor told Sarah and she smiled at him nodding her head.
"And then I get the full story?" Sarah asked and the Doctor nodded his head. Mickey came over and kissed Abby goodbye while Rory said goodbye to Melody.
"As soon as we get back," He told her solemnly, he started to walk away then turned on one foot and faced her again. "We won't be gone long."
~*~Rescue~*~
"This Madame Kovarian is obviously going to be expecting us at some point, right?" Jack said as they sat around the large kitchen table, trying to come up with a workable plan to get to Rose and the baby.
"Of course she is," The Doctor said, nodding his head, wringing his hands together as he thought. "We need to figure out how to get in unnoticed. But we should all understand that she’s expecting us, so we do not have the element of surprise on our side here."
"I don't think we'll be able to get in the same way we did last time," Rory said, looking up from his small medical bag and meeting the Doctor's eyes with a small smile.
"How did Rose know it was Demons Run?" Mickey asked as he and Martha charged and cleaned the few weapons they had. Normally the Doctor detested guns, but he was willing to look past that for now.
"She heard my double say it when she was regaining consciousness." The Doctor explained. Thank the stars Rose had figured out how to communicate with him, or this would have taken them ages.
"Speaking of your double," Amy said after she stepped into the room. "I've seen a lot of 'evil doubles' movies and I think we should avoid any 'who's the real Doctor' moments." She tossed something at the Doctor and he caught it with a smile. "Jack says only the person who puts that on can take it off, that way the double won't be able to take it off to try and trick us." He was holding what looked like a slim silver bracelet; it had intertwining knots carved into it.
"It's a wedding band from Tacton 4," The Doctor said, looking over at Jack.
"Yeah, boy was that a mistake," Jack said with a shake of his head and a smirk. "Want me to put it on?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows at him. The Doctor rolled his eyes and held it back out to Amy. She smiled and opened the bracelet just how Jack had shown her then slipped it onto his wrist.
"Keep your sleeves rolled up so we can see it," Martha said, not looking up from her work.
"Right," he said, nodding his head before his eyes drifted up and out of focus for a moment. "Rose says she's been moved to what looks like an observation room."
"Ask her if it's the room with the wall of windows," Amy said and the Doctor went silent for a moment again.
"Yeah, must be the same room they were keeping you and Melody in," He said and Amy nodded her head.
"Why can't we just pop in and grab her?" Mickey asked and everyone looked at him and he sighed.
"Because they have shields up that keep the TARDIS out." The Doctor said and Mickey nodded his head. That made sense, but was very bad news for them.
"So, we can't take the TARDIS in, we need to figure out what we're gonna use to get there then," Jack said, looking around the room. "Would it keep me out if I used this?" He asked pulling his sleeve back to show off his vortex manipulator.
"No," The Doctor said, smiling a little now. “Unless she has updated her security.”
"What is it?" Amy asked, looking at Jack's wrist.
"It's a vortex manipulator. It enables you to travel through time and space," The Doctor explained and everyone looked at him at once.
"Like the TARDIS?" Rory asked and the Doctor shook his head.
"No, no, no, it is nowhere near the technology of the TARDIS." The Doctor said, sounding defensive.
"Yeah well, it can get us there and the TARDIS can't, so right now I think it's a bit impressive," Mickey said and the Doctor nodded his head in agreement.
"Can only the wearer travel with it?" Rory asked, looking at the small leather band around Jack's wrist.
"No, I can take two extra people along with me." He said and Rory nodded.
"How many people do you think are working with Madame Kovarian?" Amy asked and the Doctor looked off into space for a moment.
"Rose says she hasn't seen anyone but the double and Madame Kovarian," He said after a few moments. He looked pensive and shook his head. "But that doesn't mean they are alone," He finished and Amy nodded her head. The Doctor stood up from the table and walked over to the chair he had hung his tweed jacket over earlier and leaned down to take his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. He played with the settings for a moment then walked over to Jack. He held out his hand and Jack laid his wrist on his palm and the Doctor aimed the sonic at his vortex manipulator. A few seconds later he pulled it back and smiled. "All fixed," He told Jack, then he put his hand on the Doctor's shoulder.
"We're gonna get her back, safe and sound," Jack told him and the Doctor nodded once.
"I don't think she'd have many people helping her, I know for sure the Headless monks are no longer helping her, " He said, rubbing his cheek then the back of his neck. "But I don't know who else she may have recruited. I'm still wondering how she escaped and has a double of me." He said, sounding frustrated.
"Well, let's assume she has at least as many people working for her as we have here. What should we do?" Jack said, sitting down at the table, shortly followed by the Doctor.
~*~Rose~*~
Rose walked aimlessly around the room, she was so bored. She knew she should be more scared, but being able to talk to the Doctor had helped a lot. He'd been keeping her in the loop about all their planning so far. He'd told her about Amy's bracelet idea, which Rose had to agree was a great idea. The double couldn't fool her again, she was sure, but in an emergency it was nice to know she wouldn't have to take time to figure out who was who.
Rose knew what the plan was, and she was mostly just waiting now. She'd told the Doctor about all the traps Madame Kovarian had set, she told him to be careful though because she suspected that Madame Kovarian had figured out that they were communicating somehow and was trying to trick them. She looked up when the door opened and Madame Kovarian and the double came walking in, she had a nasty smirk on her face.
"Seems like your rescue is underway," Madame Kovarian said, stopping at the balcony at the top of the stairs.
"I don't know what you think you've accomplished here," Rose said, shaking her head. "You will never win; you're never going to get your hands on my daughter."
"Oh my dear," Madame Kovarian said, shaking her head in mock sympathy. "I don't want your daughter." Rose looked at her confused and then her eyes flicked over to the double when he pulled out a small gun. She took a step back and looked between the two of them before the gun rang out with a bang and everything went black.
~*~Escape~*~
The Doctor stopped short on his walk down the hall and Mickey ran right into his back. They'd decided to split up into small groups. They were all on Demons Run now, working their way towards the room they thought they had Rose in.
"What's wrong?" Mickey asked in a low voice.
"Rose is gone," He whispered, touching his head, his face pale.
"What do you mean gone?" Mickey said, his voice rising slightly.
"I mean she's either unconscious or..." He trailed off and Mickey shook his head.
"They must have knocked her out," Mickey said and the Doctor nodded his head, it had to be that, it couldn't be anything else. Madame Kovarian wanted the baby; she wouldn't hurt Rose, right?
"Doctor, I know you're here, I hope you didn't think you were being sneaky," A voice echoed around the hall they were walking down. "Better come save her," Madame Kovarian's voice called out. The Doctor looked at Mickey before he took off at a run, Mickey right behind him. They almost ran into Amy and Rory coming from a hallway to their right. The Doctor skidded to a halt to keep from plowing over Amy then just darted around her and continued to run. At the end of the hall, they came to the large room where the Headless monks had their meeting the last time they were there.
The Doctor could see Madame Kovarian and the double standing in the middle of the room, just in front of the large stage. Rose seemed to be lying at the feet of his double. He stalked towards them, all his friends at his back, Jack and Martha had come running over from another hallway. He stuffed his hands in his pocket and fingered his sonic screwdriver, making sure he knew right where it was.
As the Doctor approached the two of them he could see that Rose was completely limp on the ground, but she was breathing. He also took note of the gun his double was holding, pointed right at Rose. He was suddenly thankful for the weapons Martha, Mickey, and Jack all had.
"It's about time dear Doctor, your little Rose is starting to wilt." Madame Kovarian said, her tone mocking as she gestured to the floor behind her.
"What did you do to her?" the Doctor demanded, not going to her only because of the gun.
"Oh just something to keep her from doing something foolish while we waited; it'll wear off momentarily." She told him, looking behind him at the rest of the group. As if on cue Rose began to stir, her legs stretching out a little. "Ah, see there we are now."
Rose sat up slowly and rubbed her arm where the tranquilizer had hit her. She looked up and met the Doctor's eyes and gave him a small smile. The double reached down and pulled her to her feet, being anything but gentle. Rose winced when he grabbed her arm and the Doctor practically growled. It was a very weird, intense feeling to watch himself hurt Rose like that.
"Now, now," Madame Kovarian said with a smile. "Play nice." The Doctor stared at his double. What was he? Some kind of clone? An alien shape-shifter of some kind? Oh, maybe a Zygon? Was Amy right and he was a doppelganger? That made the most sense, seeing as she'd used them before. Also, there was something familiar about him. Was it possible he was the doppelganger that Amy and Rory and he had worked with right before Melody was born?
"Rose, are you okay?" the Doctor asked, looking her in the eyes. She took a deep breath and nodded her head. She could feel the tip of the gun pressed into the small of her back. She hardly dared move for fear he might accidentally shoot her.
"I'm fine, a bit sore," she told him and he sent her a warm wave of affection and encouragement. He was looking right at Rose, but he was pretty sure he'd sensed movement across the room. Madame Kovarian must have backup of some kind. The Doctor looked at her then back to his double, and then it clicked. He tried not to smile widely when he figured it out. He needed to try something.
"We're gonna be okay," the Doctor told her with a smile as he tried to figure out just how many people were in the shadows, waiting for some signal from the boss.
"We're gonna be ok" the Double mimicked and the Doctor's eyes shot to him. Okay, that was interesting. He took a deep breath and delved back in.
"I'm not really that childish, am I?" the Doctor asked looking at Rose with a smirk. He wondered if Jack had realized they weren't alone yet. He hoped so, but knowing Jack he was pretty confident he had.
"I'm not really that childish, am I?" the double mimicked again, only his voice was tinged with confusion as he spoke and Rose felt the tip of the gun draw away just a bit. It was a little weird how he'd started to mimic him and she wondered why the Doctor was maintaining eye contact with the double. Though it did bring to mind a creepy story James had told her about something that had happened when he was traveling with Donna. What was the Doctor doing?
"That's enough," Madame Kovarian told them, giving the Doctor a searching look.
"He's a flesh doppelganger, isn't he?" The Doctor finally said, breaking eye contact with the double to look at Madame Kovarian. He wondered how long he could keep her talking. He'd need as much time as he could buy. "How?"
"Oh Doctor, I've been keeping a close eye on you for a while. When you went to that monastery I followed you. It was easy enough to grab your double after you left; I reanimated him after he dissolved. It was quite the process, and he wasn't quite right, but that worked to my advantage." She told him in a superior tone, shaking her head. Why was it always so easy to get them to talk? It had to have something to do with narcissistic personality traits. "After that, it was an easy matter of re-educating him," she said with a smirk and a tilt of her head.
"Ah," the Doctor said, nodding his head slowly. "That makes sense, except,” He stopped and plunged his hands in his pockets shaking his head. “I think you forgot one simple thing." The Doctor said meeting the doubles eyes again. The nod from his double was very small but the Doctor saw it.
"And what might that be?" Madame Kovarian sneered as she crossed her arms.
"My species is telepathic, and he's me," the Doctor said as the double dropped the gun and the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver from his pocket. "I'm sorry," he said looking at the double.
"I know," the double said a second before the screwdriver whirled to life and the double disintegrated into a pool at Rose's feet.
"Well, that was an interesting trick," Madame Kovarian said, sounding far calmer than he'd expected. "But you haven't won yet."
"Get down!" The Doctor yelled a second before shots began to ring out around them. They all hit the floor and Jack began to fire back, pulling Amy down next to him and covering her as Martha and Mickey began to fire as well, keeping Rory covered. The firing continued as the Doctor tried to make his way towards Rose and Madame Kovarian. He knew his team was fully capable of keeping themselves safe. He looked over his shoulder to see as they all made their way back for cover, towards the other side of the stage. He pointed his sonic screwdriver up towards the ceiling and sparks and glass flew as a few lightbulbs burst, sending the room into half-darkness. The firing slowed as their enemy tried to work out where they were.
"That poor sad man would do anything for you, wouldn't he?" Madame Kovarian whispered to Rose as she grabbed her arm and jabbed the gun she'd been concealing into her side. "He brought all his friends here to save you, risking all their lives, just for you."
"They help because they’re good people," Rose said through gritted teeth as she tried to see what was going on with her friends in the half-darkness. She could still hear shots ringing out once in a while, but couldn't really see any of her friends.
"And yet they'll still die," Madame Kovarian said, shaking her head in mock sadness. "You all will," She said, bending down to whisper in her ear. "When your beloved Doctor gets here he'll only be in time to see me kill you. Then he'll drive himself crazy. I won't need anyone to kill him; he'll do the job himself." She told her, her grip on Rose's arm tighter.
Rose took a deep breath and felt something in her chest warm her whole body all over. Her breathing calmed and the tears in her eyes dried all at once. She felt Madame Kovarian's grip tighten even as she took a step back from her. She felt her daughter calm and knew exactly what to do next.
"You should have disappeared," Rose said and her voice echoed with a tinkling melody that she felt like she recognized. "You shouldn't have come back here," She said and Madame Kovarian's hand snapped back from Rose's arm as her eyes began to glow a bright gold. "You have no idea who you're dealing with here." She said looking into Madame Kovarian's eyes.
"Bad Wolf," The Doctor's voice came out in a strangled plea and Rose turned her eyes to him. All at once the firing stopped all around them. The silence was only broken when someone screamed. The Doctor looked to Madame Kovarian as her hands rose to her head and her knees buckled, sending her to the floor.
"You don't need to kill her Rose," He said, stepping towards her and the screaming stopped. "Send her to the Judoon; they will take care of her."
"Like last time?" Rose's voice echoed still but it was more Rose now then Bad Wolf.
"I don't want her death on your conscience," The Doctor pleaded with her and Rose looked to Madame Kovarian.
"Fine," Rose looked over at the Doctor. "Somewhere else then," She said and looked at Madame Kovarian again. In a puff of golden light, Madame Kovarian was gone. The Doctor took a deep breath then there were small puffs of golden light all around them as Madame Kovarian's people popped away.
"Rose, you're done, come back now," The Doctor said, holding out his hand to her. Her eyes blazed golden for a moment and she smiled brightly at him.
"Not quite," Rose said with a small smile as she looked behind the Doctor to his friends as they walked slowly towards them, their faces a mix of fear and shock. "Someone is missing." She said and the Doctor whipped around afraid of who might be hurt, but they were all there walking towards them. Mickey seemed to be limping and had what looked like a belt clinched on his leg.
"Everyone is okay," he assured her looking back at Rose, his voice holding a note of confusion.
"No, not everyone, but they will be." She smirked at the Doctor now and took a deep breath. "She'll remember." She said and her eyes pulsed almost blindingly bright and the Doctor had to shield his eyes. When he looked back Rose was down on her knees, her head cradled in her hands. He rushed to her and pulled her into his arms, smoothing back her sweat-matted hair.
"Rose," He said and she looked up at him, her eyes fluttering like she was having a hard time keeping them open. "Are you alright?"
"We're fine," She said, putting her hand on her belly. "I sent her to Midnight," She said, taking a deep breath. The Doctor shuttered at the thought, even if she did deserve that.
"I didn't ask," he said and her smile grew.
"You didn't have to," She said, reaching up and touching his head. He turned his head and kissed her palm and when he looked again her eyes were closed.
"Is she..." Mickey trailed off as he knelt down next to them.
"She's fine," The Doctor said looking up to him. "This was a huge energy draw, she's just tired." The Doctor gathered her up into his arms, cradling her to his chest.
"What did she mean, she sent her to Midnight?" Amy asked as he stood and looked around at them. Jack was unhurt with his arm over Martha and Amy and Rory were standing as close together as they could.
"It's somewhere you wouldn't ever want to go," The Doctor said with conviction. He walked over to Jack and looked up at him. "Will you take us home?" he asked and Jack let go of Martha and nodded. Martha stepped over to Mickey and took his hand.
"I'll be straight back for you guys," Jack said and everyone nodded. The Doctor put his hand on Jack's shoulder and they both popped away.
~*~Remembering~*~
"How's she doing?" Martha said as she came into their room. The Doctor was sitting in the bed with Rose, a book lay open on his lap, but it didn't look like he was reading it. They'd already stopped to get the kids and were currently parked in Sarah Jane's back yard. They had made it back two hours after they left. Sarah had understood that explanations would have to wait a bit and was, as far as he knew, sitting in the galley with everyone else.
"She's fine, just sleeping it off now," He said and Martha nodded her head. "She'll probably be out for a day or so."
"You know what happened back there?" Martha said, it didn't sound like a question and the Doctor took a deep breath.
"Yes, and I'll explain it to all of you in just a bit." He said and Martha smiled at him.
"Doctor!" Amy hollered as she rushed into the room. "There's someone on the phone for you." She said in a rush. "She seems pretty insistent that she speak to you, now," Amy said, looking towards Rose's sleeping form.
"We'll stay here with her Doctor," Martha said and he nodded his head and climbed off the bed. He walked down the hall towards the console room wondering who it could be. Jack was standing at the console holding the receiver in one hand, a look of shock on his face. He silently held out the phone to the Doctor and stepped back. The Doctor put the phone to his ear.
"Hello?" He said wondering about the odd look Jack was giving him now.
"Oi Spaceman! You get your skinny ass over here and tell me what the hell is going on!" Said a voice he hadn't ever expected to hear again.
"Donna?!"
~*~Midnight~*~
Madame Kovarian came to very slowly; her head ached like someone had driven a nail through it. She sat up and felt sand under her fingers. It was night on whatever planet she'd been sent to, but the light from the moons lit the ground around her. She rubbed her head and stood up, fighting off the dizzy feeling. If she thought sending her away was going to stop her then she wasn't nearly as smart as she thought she was. Her head whipped to the right when she saw movement, it was barely more than a shadow. It looked to be heading her way and a sudden chill ran through her. She watched as the shadow darted closer to her, and she took a step back.
"Stay where you are!" She called pulling up her gun. There was a bright flash and something hit her. Her gun dropped to the ground as everything went black.
When the Judoon beamed her aboard their ship she was sitting on the floor, her eyes wide and her face slack.
"You have been accused of kidnapping, conspiracy and escaping from prison," The Judoon at the front of the group said, raising his weapon.
"You have been accused of kidnapping, conspiracy and escaping from prison," She repeated, her voice empty of any emotion. The Judoon seemed to ignore her.
"Verdict, guilty. Sentence, execution." The Judoon said and all of the Judoon in the front line raised their weapons.
"Verdict, guilty. Sente-" Her voice was cute off with a hail of gunfire.