DIARY OF A HALF HUMAN TIME LORD

Chapter Twenty Five

The policeman behind the counter looked up when Rose opened the double glass doors and entered the police station. He pushed his wire rimmed frames up his hawklike nose and smiled warmly at her.

"May I help you, Miss?" he asked her.

"Yes, a man was arrested about an hour ago, I want to see him," Rose said.

"Yes, Miss, his name?"

"Jonathon Smith," Rose said.

She waited while the officer checked the paperwork in front of him. After a couple of minutes he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, no one by that name was brought in," he said to her.

"Are you sure?" Rose said, reaching into her purse.

She handed him a photo of Jonathon. The officer shook his head and told her once again that no one matching the name or physical description was brought in. Rose sighed angrily and thanked him before heading outside.

"Okay, Pete, I suddenly have a feeling those "policemen" were working for Torchwood," she muttered as she headed to her car.

Jonathon groaned as he slowly came to. When he was in the squad car, one of the officers shot a gas pellet into the back seat before raising a glass barrier between him and the front seat. He passed out and when he came to, he was resting on the bottom of a steel cage. The cage was in the middle of a bare white room. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a wooden Chippendale chair. As he struggled to get to his knees, he looked up and saw a CCTV camera mounted in the corner of the room. The camera was pointed directly at him and Jonathon used the bars of his cage as support while he got to his feet.

"Oi!" Jonathon yelled at the camera, "I want to speak to someone in charge right now!"

He paced around the cage, waiting. After five minutes the door opened and he stopped. He growled when Pete entered the room.

"Shoulda known you were behind this," Jonathon said while Pete shut the door and walked over to the chair. "Let me go this instant!"

"I can't let you go. You're a criminal," Pete said calmly while he relaxed.

"I'm no criminal and you know it," Jonathon said.

"Yes, you are. You were in restricted areas and using Torchwood property without authorization."

"I was with Rose!"

"Yes and I'm Rose's supervisor," Pete said, leaning forward and glaring at him. "She had no right to bring you in here and use the dimension cannon without my consent and she will be disciplined for that but you…you were trespassing and I have every right to send you to prison. However, if you wish to avoid staying at her Majesty's pleasure, you will cooperate with us."

"And what exactly do you want me to do?" Jonathon asked, narrowing his eyes.

Pete grinned and settled back in his chair before explaining to Jonathon what was happening.

Meanwhile, Rose was silently fuming while she tried to get through the heavy London traffic. It was slow going getting to Canary Wharf and with each passing minute she was getting more and more angry. She had no doubts that Jonathon had been kidnapped by Torchwood and knowing what they were capable of made her sick with worry. She didn't know what Pete wanted with him but she could guess.

When the traffic light turned green she exhaled through her nose and drove closely behind a tan Honda that seemed to be filled with tourists. She could guess by the way the driver kept pointing to different things and talking to his passengers that they weren't local and that made her even angrier.

"Come on, mate, sightsee some other time, will ya?" she muttered at the driver. "Some of us have better things to do than point out Big Ben to their friends."

She looked at the passenger side when she heard her mobile's ringtone. She picked it up and answered it.

"Yeah?" she said, trying without much success to keep the irritation out of her voice.

"Hello there, Rose."

Rose gasped when she heard the familiar voice.

"Jonathon! Where are you? Are you alright?" she said frantically.

"Um…I'm not Jonathon."

Rose's breath caught in her throat and her eyes became misty.

"Doctor?" she said in a hushed voice.

"The one and only. I made it," the Doctor said. "Wasn't easy getting back over. Bit bumpy and the TARDIS is running on residual power so I don't have all the time in the world. But if you agree to meet me somewhere and you and me and Jonathon can go get Suzanne…"

"There's been a problem," Rose said, interrupting him. "Jonathon's in trouble. He was arrested…well, they said he was arrested but I think a couple of people working for Torchwood came and got him because I checked the police station and he's not there."

"Why would Torchwood take him?" the Doctor said.

"Because my so-called dad doesn't like him and he was angry when we went in there to use the dimension cannon. I have a feeling he's behind this."

"Where are you right now?"

"In the middle of bleeding traffic," Rose said with a snort. "I was on my way to Canary Wharf."

"I'll meet you there. I can park the TARDIS across from it. Keep your peepers peeled for me then."

"Gladly," Rose said, her spirits lifting now that she knew the Doctor was involved. "I'm nearly there."

"Molto Bene, see you there. Ta ta!"

"Bye," Rose said before ending the call.

With a smile, she wiped away the stray tear that was on her cheek and muttered to the Honda to hurry the hell up as she tried to increase her speed.

Twenty minutes later, she managed to reach Canary Wharf. She parked her car nearby and casually walked towards the building, keeping her eyes open for any sign of the Doctor. As she neared the front entrance, she suddenly saw a head peek around the building across the street. Rose let out a burst of laughter when she saw the familiar tousled hair blowing in the wind and the brown eyes that stared at her intently. She walked faster when the Doctor ducked his head back around the building. A moment later, the Doctor slowly came around the corner, his eyes on Canary Wharf while he made his way to Rose. When Rose reached him, she flew into his arms and the Doctor grinned as he hugged her tightly.

"Apparently, you missed me," the Doctor said, amused.

"Badly. I'm glad you're here," Rose said, stepping back and wiping a tear from her cheek. "Suzanne has a fighting chance now."

"Yes, once we get this sorted out," the Doctor said, pointing to Canary Wharf. "Honestly, you and Jack needed to stay away from this lot. Nothing but trouble. But…I never figured Pete would turn out to be some sort of evil madman."

"Well, he's never been much of a father," Rose said. "He doesn't mind mum but he resents suddenly having the daughter of a dead copy in his house and after you left Jonathon here with us, he just went spare. He always thought of you as a bad influence and a troublemaker so having a version of you living in his house was too much to bear. Jonathon got his own flat but he's still angry because I love him and want to be with him and now…I s'pose this is the last straw, bringing you back here."

"Well, for his sake, dear old dad better not hurt Jonathon or I'll go spare on him," the Doctor said. "Well, I s'pose the direct way is best since I'm sure the eye in the sky has spotted us. Torchwood wouldn't be Torchwood without their CCTV cameras, eh? So let's go in the front door and let Petey boy know we're here."

Rose nodded. She took the Doctor's hand and gave it a squeeze before the two of them headed across the street towards the front entrance.

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