A GOOD MAN GOES TO WAR
Chapter Six The Alternate Doctor jerked his head up when the holophone rang. He pushed a button and saw Syril's form take shape. "Yes?" the Alternate Doctor said. "Got some information for you, can you meet me?" "Depends, can you get me off this rock?" "Already taken care of, I have a ship waiting to pick you up, just tell me where you are." The Alternate Doctor grinned and gave Syril the information. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Mara were sitting in the lobby of their hotel when Mara jumped up and ran to Jack who appeared at the door. "Love the little welcome message as I was coming up," he said to the Doctor as he hugged Mara. "Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." "Yes, they take care of you here, how ya doing, old friend?" the Doctor said. "I'm doing good. I hope you don't mind but I brought some friends with me." Jack went to the front door and opened it. Ianto and Gwen came into view and entered. "This is Ianto Jones and Gwen Williams. They're my team." "Pleasure," the Doctor said, shaking hands with them. "I'm the Doctor, obviously, and this is my daughter, Mara." "Hi," Mara said. "Aw, she's cute," Gwen said while she and Ianto shook her hand. "So, do you have a room available?" Jack said. "They reserved one across the hall from Mara. The one that was beside ours was occupied and the one beside Donna and Mara's has a nursery. The rooms alternate between single rooms and rooms with nurseries in them." "Great, let me pay for it and then we'll go up with you and see Rose, Donna and the baby," Jack said. "Oh, Jack, I'm so glad you're here," Rose said, hugging him tightly. "Back at you, Blondie, congratulations on giving birth to Melody. She is beautiful," Jack said as he hugged her back. He accepted a hug from Donna and then looked in the crib at Melody while Rose and Donna shook hands with Gwen and Ianto. "So, he's out again, eh?" Jack said to the Doctor. The Doctor nodded grimly and Jack cursed silently. "That bastard just won't stay down, will he?" Jack said. "The man is me, does that answer your question?" the Doctor said. "Good point," Jack said. "So…any idea where Captain Crazy is?" "Nope. I came here in the hope that he wouldn't find us. Rose needs to rest from giving birth and the last thing we need is him pouncing on her." "Yeah, I agree. Well, Rose, you know that I will fight tooth and nail to protect all of you and so will Ianto and Gwen. I figured three people were better than one, especially against the likes of him." "Yeah, Jack filled us in on some of the basics about this other Doctor," Ianto said. "He sounds like a pretty nasty bloke." "Nasty doesn't even begin to describe him. But…did you lot get coupon books when you registered?" "Yeah, they gave them to us, I've never had much use for them," Jack said. "Well, they all have a coupon for a free meal at Paradise Cove. I think we should use them and discuss the situation more in depth while we eat," the Doctor said. "Thanks, glad to be off that miserable rock," the Alternate Doctor said when he was beamed up into the spaceship. Syril was waiting to greet him. He patted his back as they walked out of the teleportation room. "Got a few candidates for our army and we sent out a message to several planets about finding recruits, anyone who has a grudge against the Doctor should apply and join us." "In that case, we should get an army of millions in no time," the Alternate Doctor said. "I don't care who they are, I want anyone who'll work with us to destroy him even if that means we recruit Daleks, Sontarans, Weeping Angels, anyone!" "Well, there is one group who might help," Syril said. "Oh, who?" "They're known as the Headless Monks, some nutty religious order but they also want to bring the Doctor down." "The who? I've never heard of them," the Alternate Doctor said. "Me neither but I guess they're a secret society." "They must be since I've never heard of them. But then again, I'm not from this universe and I still haven't learned everything about it. Why do they want to bring him down?" "Because he's a threat to their agenda, why else?" "And the agenda would be…" "They want to recruit as many people as possible into their order," Syril said. "Okay, and why is the Doctor a threat to them?" "Come with me," Syril said. "Some of them are onboard, you can see for yourself." "Fair enough," the Alternate Doctor said as he followed his friend. "So, this nutter came from this other universe and he's trying to do you in so he can run amok here?" Gwen said while they ate. They were sitting at a round Formica table with wooden high back chairs. Rose was discretely breastfeeding Melody with a blanket draped over her child while she occasionally took bites of steak and baked potato. "Yeah, apparently the universe isn't big enough for the two of us," the Doctor said. "But it's not just me, it's all of us he's targeting. Well, except for Melody. As far as I know, he doesn't know about her…yet." "And you're not going to let him know," Jack said. "Not if I can help it," the Doctor said. "The man is deranged enough without him coming for my daughter." "And he'd be even more of a threat if he knew," Ianto said. "Yes, which is why we need to stay one step ahead of him. Now if we could only cotton on to where he's at. When House jettisoned his cell, I have no idea where it went." "Maybe he died when the cell was jettisoned," Gwen said. "No, I'm not that lucky," the Doctor said. "He's alive somewhere out there. We just have to be vigilant and keep our eyes open for any signs. I can have the TARDIS monitor for any unusual activity that might pertain to him. But it's a big universe and she can only do so much to scan it. But I'm sure he'll come knocking sooner or later. After we're finished here, Rose does want to go see Jackie." "Mum wants to see Melody and Mara," Rose said. "Will Gran like me?" Mara said. "I don't look human." "I explained that to her, love, and she said it doesn't matter. I told her you were a sweet girl. Don't worry, she'll love ya," Rose said. "Yup, she's a good daughter," the Doctor said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad we met her and got her away from him. I also don't want to see her fall back into his clutches." While they ate, Mara noticed a beautiful woman with curly blonde hair sit down at the table next to them. She was given a menu by the waitress and before she opened it, she glanced at Mara and winked at her. Mara smiled back at her and the woman opened her menu and studied it. Her family and friends continued to eat and talk, mainly making small talk now while Mara listened. She noticed that the blonde woman continued to catch her eye every once in awhile and smile warmly at her. She ate her hamburger and chips and listened to her family chatting away until everyone was finished. After that, they all got up and left the restaurant. Mara walked beside Rose while she held Melody in her arms so Rose could hold the Doctor's hand. They reached the lift and were waiting to go up when she heard someone clear her throat and she looked over her shoulder and saw the blonde haired woman standing at the very back of the group. "Hi, I'm Professor River Song," she said to everyone. "Lovely day, isn't it?"
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