REFUGEES

Chapter Four

John and Rose passed the time talking to Michelle and finding out more about her and her family. Michelle was happy to tell her about herself and their life in Indiana and did most of the talking while John and Rose rested and snuggled together.

Eventually, the Doctor, Donna and the rest of Michelle's family and Rex came back into the room. The children all came up to the bed while Lori stood by so she could control what they did. Jim came up beside the children and shook his head.

"The Doctor described what you looked like but mercy, you two really have been through hell," he said.

"Yes, to put it mildly," John said. "You're Michelle's dad then?"

"I'm Jim, yes. This is my wife, Lori, and these are our children. Michelle, you met. This is Brittany, Mandy and Tom and this is Rex," he said, pointing to each individual in turn.

"Nice to meet you," Rose said while John nodded in agreement.

"Are you going to get better now?" Mandy said, coming up to John's head.

"I hope so," John said to her.

"I have magna clamps that can cancel out the weight of any object," the Doctor said, coming up beside Jim. "We could use them to transport the bed out into the house so they can relax and be around the family."

"You mean the house in Mayfair?" John said.

"No, the one in Indiana that they currently reside in," the Doctor said. "We still have to do a few more things before moving to London but we're all knackered and they want to go home. Having said that, I'll set sail for Corntopia, otherwise known as Indy."

The Doctor left, leaving the others with John and Rose.

"So, you're a Time Lady now?" John said to Donna while everyone sat down in chairs that the TARDIS provided for them.

Donna chuckled.

"Yeah, it was the only way I could be saved. If I'd gone the other way, I would have died," Donna said. "Mum was a bit perplexed and the Doctor had to explain what he was doing and calm her fears but Granddad was thrilled. But in the end, I think they're just glad I've been restored. River travels with us on occasion but at the moment I'm the full time resident of the TARDIS. And they're wonderful," she said, pointing to the rest of the family. "They're fun to be around and they'll take very good care of you."

"The Doctor talked about you a little," Brittany said to them. "He told us about the Crucible and what happened and also talked about when you traveled with him full time," she said to Rose. "He told us about the werewolf."

"God, that was ages ago," Rose said, widening her eyes.

"We met Martha and Sarah Jane and Jack and we wanted to meet you too but the Doctor said you were stuck in the other universe. It's nice to meet you though," Brittany said to them.

"And you," John said.

They continued to chat until the Doctor landed and came back to the med bay carrying the magna clamps in his hands. Rose winced when she saw them, remembering the last time they used the magna clamps and how disastrous that had been. The Doctor asked the TARDIS to teleport everyone up to the console room and in a flash they were by the front door. Rose's eyes boggled and she raised her head when she saw the interior.

"Oh yeah, he changed the console room around apparently," John told his wife.

The Doctor put the magna clamps on the backs of the wooden head and footboards and turned them on. He then directed Jim to pick up the end of the bed while he got behind the headboard. Jim was shocked at how light it was.

"I told you, the magna clamps cancel out the weight of the object. I landed in the den so I was thinking we could put them by the sofa bed."

He asked the TARDIS to widen the front door and they carried the bed out while everyone else followed. John and Rose looked around while the Doctor and Jim put their bed down by the sofa bed. The Doctor took the magna clamps off and raised the head of the bed a bit so they could look around and watch TV. Jim and Lori told everyone they were going upstairs while the Doctor carried the magna clamps back into the TARDIS. He moved it back to the storage room while Lori asked John and Rose if they would like some soup. They nodded and Lori told the children to let them rest and be gentle with them before urging Rex upstairs with her and her husband. Donna set down on the sofa bed while the Doctor came out of the storage room, carrying the crystal that would allow them to see Amy and Rory. He turned it on and looked around and saw Amy and Rory sitting near the bed. Rose and John did double takes when they saw them and the Doctor chuckled as he walked over to them. He quickly explained what was going on and Amy and Rory waved hello to them. Once he finished explaining who they were and where they were, he cleared his throat.

"So…Ponds, are you responsible for them being here?" the Doctor said to Amy and Rory while he pointed to Rose and John.

"Why whatever do you mean?" Amy said, feigning innocence.

I find it peculiar that their void ship happened to land here where they could find me immediately when all they did was randomly aim the dimension cannon at Earth."

"Well, yeah...we might have given the void ship a friendly little nudge in this direction," Amy said.

"You saved us," Rose said.

"Yeah, well…you're one of us," Rory said. "You've traveled with him so…"

"You're a part of the Companion Club and entitled to free nudging when you need it," Amy said. "We would have done it sooner but we're limited to this universe and we had to wait until you were close enough to interfere. We wouldn't have let you starve otherwise."

"All the same, thank you," John said.

The children sat with Donna on the sofa bed while the Doctor rang Jack, Sarah Jane and Martha and let them know what was going on. By the time he was finished with his calls, Lori and Jim were coming back down carrying trays filled with chicken soup and some milk.

"Jim, Lori, Jack wants me to come and get him so he can see Rose, is that alright?"

"Sure, go ahead," Jim said while Lori nodded.

"Won't take a tic," the Doctor said, hurrying to the storage room.

"Hey, guys," Lori said, smiling at Amy and Rory while she and Jim unfolded some legs beneath the trays and put them over Rose and John's laps so they could eat.

"Mom, they saved them," Brittany said. "They're the ones that guided that void ship here?"

"Yup, that's us," Amy said.

"Thank you for doing that," Lori said.

"Anytime," Rory replied.

"Do you need anything else?" Lori asked Rose and John.

"No, I think we're fine. Thank you," John said while Rose nodded.

"Let the children know if you need anything so they can let us know," Lori said, putting her hand on Rose's shoulder. "Just relax, you're safe now."

"Thank you," Rose said.

Lori smiled and nodded and she and Jim went back upstairs. A few minutes later, they heard the TARDIS while both Rose and John slowly ate their dinner. Michelle ran over to the storage room door and Rose got tears in her eyes when the door opened and she heard Jack laugh as he picked Michelle up in his hands.

"Hey, you!" he said, carrying her out of the room while the Doctor followed. "Nice to see you again," he said, sitting her down. "Everyone. Amy, Rory, nice to see everyone. Especially…"

He smiled warmly while Rose set her spoon down in her soup bowl and held out her arm to embrace Jack.

"Jesus, Rose, you look terrible. You both do," Jack said after giving her a hug. "I'm glad they found you."

"They found us," John said, pointing to Amy and Rory.

"You led them here?" Jack said to Amy and Rory.

"We nudged them here, yeah," Amy said.

"My thanks to you then," Jack said, bowing to them. "They're a wonderful family. You'll be well taken care of here," he said, turning back to them.

"I can see that already," Rose said.

John looked at Mandy when she came to his side.

"Is your soup good?" she asked.

"Yes, it's very good and very hot. I haven't had hot food in awhile," he said to her.

"You let me know if you want something cause I wanna help," Mandy said.

John beamed at that and patted her head.

"I will," he said.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

After eating their meal, Rose and John rested and relaxed and watched the others. Lori had fixed enchiladas for everyone else and the Doctor let them both have a small taste. Rose licked her lips and wished she could have more but she knew that after going without food for so long, she couldn't eat something heavy like that without it making her ill. Eventually, Jim and Lori came back downstairs with Rex, carrying a couple of folding chairs so they could spend time with their new friends. When everyone was finished eating, the Doctor asked them to tell him what happened and who these so-called friendly aliens were. John and Rose glanced at each other before John started to speak.

"The aliens weren't any that we encountered before. They referred to themselves as The Brotherhood, although I'm sure that was just a phony name. They were tall, thin, pale and bald with big dark eyes and a thin slit for a mouth and two slits for noses. They all wore blue robes and had long, slender fingers. Anyway, it started nearly a year ago when they made their first contact with Earth…

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