PREDATOR AND PREY
Chapter Twenty Six "Are you sure you wanna do this?" Rose asked Amy after they gathered together in the Doctor's room and told Rose and John their plan. "He won't show you any mercy if you get caught, believe me." The Doctor and Jack went to get the supplies from a nearby shop while the others relaxed and chatted and listened to the TV. They hadn't told Jackie or Pete yet what was going on, preferring to wait till the Doctor returned and made the perception filters for them. "We'll take that risk," Rory said. "We need to know what his plans are and if we get caught, the Valeyard won't know us so it'll be safer that way." "We just have to convince "mother" to come back with us," John said. "She will. I'm sure she'll wanna keep an eye on me now," Rose said. "Besides, I think dad is tired of her shopping sprees so he'll convince her to go even if she doesn't want to." They heard a knock on the door and Rose walked over and opened the door. She smiled when she saw Tony. He was five years old and resembled a younger version of Pete with tousled brown hair and a sweet, round face. He waved at everyone and everyone waved back before he came inside the room. "What you doing?" he said, walking over to Amy. "We're just chatting, Tony," Amy said, patting the space beside her on the bed. "What're you doing?" "I'm bored. I wanted to see all of you," Tony said, sitting down on the bed. "Mummy and daddy are sleeping now." "Shouldn't you be sleeping too?" Amy teased him while she rubbed his back. "Are you kidding? The little dynamo sleeps only when he drops dead of exhaustion," John said. "I thought I had a lot of energy until I had to babysit for him. He'll run ya ragged if you let him." "Can we play?" Tony said, looking up at Amy. "Um…well, I don't know what we could play since there aren't any toys here," Amy said. "I got toys. Come on!" Tony said, hopping off the bed and taking her hand. "Well, you lot, have fun. I'm going to go play with Tony," Amy said, getting up and headed for the door. "Don't let him exhaust you," John said as she opened the door. "Next think you know you'll be on the bed beside Jackie." Tony went out the door with Amy and she closed it behind them. "Will we get Amy back in time for the plan?" Rory said. "You may get her back but she'll probably be dead on her feet," John said. "Best if you pull her out of playtime after an hour or so." There was another knock on the door and Rose went to open it. The Doctor and Jack stood outside the door carrying two large shopping bags filled with supplies. "Sorry, we didn't order room service!" Rose said before slamming the door. "Rose!" the Doctor yelled while everyone laughed. She opened the door again and now Jack was in front of the Doctor. "Speaking of room service," he purred, pointing to his crotch. Rose started to slam the door again but Jack stopped it with his hand and pushed it open. "Sorry but your master demands entry," Jack said to Rose as he and the Doctor stepped inside. "Hello, siblings. Daddy and I have returned from our shopping trip." "Jack, don't ever, ever, ever call me Daddy ever again," the Doctor said as he closed the door. "So, did you find the parts you needed?" Rory asked. "I did and I have enough for three perception filters. Where's Amy?" "Went off to play with Tony in mum's room," Rose said. "Ah, little Tony, such a cutie," the Doctor said as he and Jack put the shopping bags on the table by the window. "Now, are you sure you wanna go through with this?" he asked Rory and River. They both nodded and watched while the Doctor and Jack dumped the contents of the shopping bags onto the table. Jack picked up a few bags of crisps that they had purchased and threw them to their friends before grabbing a couple of two liters of Coke and some plastic cups. Everyone passed the crisps around and drank Coke, chatting and occasionally watching the Doctor while he used a soldiering iron to construct the perception filters. When he finally finished one after a few hours, he laid it on the edge of the table while he started on the next one. Rory picked it up and examined it. "This key is s'posed to protect us?" he asked the Doctor. "Well, it's more than a key now but yes, that will be your protection inside Torchwood," the Doctor said. The door opened and Amy breathed a sigh of relief as she came back inside the room. "Jackie finally made me leave. We were getting a bit too noisy for her liking," Amy said, shutting the door. "So, you're back then?" she said to the Doctor. "I am and I have one of the perception filters finished. Working on the second one now," the Doctor said. Rory handed her the finished perception filter and she frowned while she studied it closely. "This key is s'posed to protect us?" she asked the Doctor. Jack sniggered when the Doctor let out a sigh and stopped working. "Here, sit on the bed," he said, taking the perception filter from him. "I'll demonstrate how this works. Everyone relax and keep on chatting." They watched while he opened the door and stepped outside with the perception filter. They waited and waited for him to come back in but the door hung open, letting a cool night breeze into the stuffy room. They waited for about five minutes before Amy looked at the others. "Okay, where'd he go, back to the TAR…" "BOO!" Amy screamed when the Doctor suddenly seemed to materialize directly in front of her. He and Jack giggled when she gasped and put her hand over her heart. "Where the hell d'you come from?" she asked. "I was here in front of you. I've been standing in front of you for about three minutes now," the Doctor said. "You were? I didn't see ya," Amy said. "Yes, you did but your mind and the mind of everyone in here dismissed me because this device shifts your perception so you think you weren't seeing me even though you were. It worked until I drew attention to myself and then you were able to focus in on me. Now…do you see how it works, Pond?" he said as he took off the perception filter. "So as long as we don't jump out and yell "Boo" to the Valeyard, he won't see us?" Rory said. "Yes. Well, that's the theory. People with more advanced minds and Time Lords aren't fooled by this but this Valeyard doesn't seem to be Time Lord so hopefully it'll fool him." "And even if CCTV picks us up, no one will do anything about it?" River said. "Correct. As long as you keep quiet and keep your head down, anyone who sees you won't give you a second look. At the very least, they'll think they've seen a ghost but even then they'll dismiss it. This'll keep you safe if you keep to the background. And now that I've made my point, back to work." He put the perception filter back on the table and went back to work while everyone else chatted and ate their snack foods.
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