ROSE TYLER SAXON

Chapter Nineteen

(12:04 P.M….)

The Master relaxed when his helicopter touched down on the flight deck of the Valiant. He'd just returned from an inspection tour of several different missile sites and he was pleased that everything was going to plan. The slaves had finally stopped their mutterings of rebellion and were working without any delays. Now the Master felt hopeful that his plan would be completed in time. The only loose end was Martha Jones. They still hadn't been able to locate her but he was sure they were close to apprehending her so he wasn't too worried.

He got out of the helicopter as soon as the rotors slowed enough for him to come out of it. He headed for the lift that would take him down into the bowels of the ship. He was eager to get back to his bedroom for a nap and he was eager to have his wife share the nap with him.

If I can get her away from her loverboy, he thought as he entered the lift.

He went down to the second level and the doors just opened when one of his guards ran up to him.

"Ah, Jenkins, isn't it? Nice to see you. Where's my wife?" the Master said, stepping out of the lift.

"That's why I was trying to find you, sir. There's been a complication while you were gone."

"Oh really? What complication?" the Master said, narrowing his eyes.

(Six hours earlier…)

The Doctor and Rose returned to the hotel and headed for the lift. They went up to the second floor and when they got out, Cynthia was standing by her door watching them. The Doctor and Rose walked over to her and handed her the sacks of food.

"This is to say thanks for helping us," the Doctor said to her. "We're very grateful to you."

"We can't take this," Cynthia said, looking at the sacks of food.

"Course you can. We have food now and you and your family need more. Don't feel guilty about taking it. Just go ahead and take it, yeah?" the Doctor said, kneeling down.

Cynthia nodded.

"You're young," she said. "You were old. How'd you get young?"

"Weeell…an…evil man used a magic spell and made me an old man. I reversed the spell and made myself young again."

Cynthia nodded.

"You look better young," she said.

"Thank you, I agree. Is your dad awake?"

Cynthia shook her head and the Doctor asked her to come and get them when he was awake since they needed to talk to him. Cynthia agreed and he and Rose hugged her before they walked back to their room. They entered and shrugged the backpacks off onto the spare bed. The Doctor decided to take a shower while Rose lay down on their bed. She was still sleepy and she put the blanket up over her body and went to sleep. While she slept she began to dream about her being in the Doctor's arms. The Doctor was giving the loving gaze that she adored as he held her in his arms. But when he leaned in for a kiss, there was a bang and the Doctor's eyes widened in surprise and his mouth dropped open. To her horror, Rose watched as he slowly slipped out of her arms onto the floor and lay in a pool of his own blood. Rose was frozen to the core, watching while the Doctor died in front of her. Then she heard insane laughter and looked up to see her husband pointing a gun at her, the same gun that had just shot the man she loved.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I interrupting something, Juliet? Perhaps you'd like to join Romeo," he said.

Rose watched in silent horror as he raised the gun and aimed at her head. Then he pulled the trigger and Rose jerked herself awake. She gasped as her brain registered that what she'd just witnessed was just a dream. Then she saw the Doctor leaning over her, a worried look on his face and she reached up for him.

"Rose, are you alright?" he asked as he pulled her into an embrace.

"I had a nightmare, that's all," Rose said as she held him tightly.

"It's alright, you're safe," the Doctor said. "You're in the hotel room with me."

Rose was thankful for that as she held on to him.

"I can boil some water in the pot and make some tea?" the Doctor said as they broke apart.

"Sounds good, yeah," Rose said, nodding.

The Doctor touched her cheek and walked over to the hot plate. Rose watched while he turned it on and got some water from the bathroom sink. He put it on the red hot burner and smiled warmly at Rose when he turned to sit back down on the other bed. In a few minutes, the water was boiling and the Doctor fetched the plastic water bottles from their backpacks and carefully poured hot water into each of them.

"No milk, it was all spoiled," the Doctor said as he put a tea bag into each water bottle.

"That's fine, I just need the caffeine," Rose said.

The Doctor tested the sides of the water bottles with his finger and reached into his backpack for a couple of washcloths. He wrapped them around the sides of the bottles so they could be picked up and took one to Rose. Rose murmured her thanks and took an experimental sip of the tea. It was still a bit hot so she set it down on the nightstand in between the beds and the Doctor did the same after taking a sip of his.

"Did I tell you a lot about my life when I traveled with ya?" Rose asked.

"Well, I saw a lot of your life when you traveled with me because you insisted on returning home every so often. I got to know your mum quite well. Why?"

"Harry offered my mum money as a way to get her to agree to this wedding of ours. She took it."

"Doesn't surprise me a bit. No offense but your mum would pounce on a penny in the street if she thought it might help her finances. I know she likes the finer things in life."

"Yeah, she wanted to live above her means and she finally got her wish when Harry gave her all that money in exchange for her blessing. Mind you, she was a bit wary of him at first because I was just nineteen and he was older than I was but she changed her mind after Harry began wining and dining her."

"Seduce the mother as well as the child," the Doctor said.

"Exactly. Harry used those archangel satellites of his to convince everyone to vote for him. That and the pampering made my mom think that he was really a top bloke. And he was at first. He didn't lay a finger on me at first just pampered me along with her."

"Most abusers do that. Lure you in by being generous and kind and once you're in their clutches and under their control, the gentle façade drops and their true nature is revealed."

"I thought he loved me, honestly," Rose said, after testing her tea and taking a sip. "I had an abusive boyfriend called Jimmy Stone before him and I was used to being slapped around."

"Yes, I remember hearing about Jimmy Stone the first time around," the Doctor said darkly.

"So I did tell you about my past?"

"I showed you the times we lay in bed together. We talked a lot during those times and you told me about your past then. You were very open and honest and I loved you for that. I've traveled with people who have been gregarious and others who have been reserved and I'd rather travel with the gregarious ones. Much easier to get along with them when they're willing to open themselves up and let you into their lives."

"I met him at the chippie and he was a very sweet man. We kept on meeting there after work and he was open and honest with me, at least I thought so at the time. You said he was very seductive and he did get me to open up to him, same as with you. The difference is you aren't being kind in the hopes that'll marry you and follow you to bed so you can slap me around."

"How often did he abuse you?"

Rose took a long sip of tea while she thought.

"He didn't really do anything until close to the time of the Toclafane. Course I think he was drugging and hypnotizing me so I didn't really object to what he was doing. He made it seem like it was all necessary because we had political enemies waiting to bring us down. God, what was I thinking when he killed those people. I s'pose I wasn't thinking, really," she said.

"The Master is a powerful hypnotist. He's very accomplished at it and he can bring even the most brilliant minds under his control. You don't have a weak mind, Rose, quite the opposite. But he's devious and you were trusting and he abused that trust and made you his slave. But…your mind couldn't stay under the influence for long and the drugs began to affect you less and less and he finally gave up."

"Unless he did something else. Oh God, what if he put some sort of tracking device in my body while I was sleeping or unconscious?"

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned his body before reading the results.

"He hasn't. There's no sign of a tracking device anywhere on you," he said.

"Rose breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, after all we're doing, I don't want him pinpointing me straight away," she said. "I don't want to think about what he'll do if he captures us again. He'll probably beat me within an inch of my life if I'm lucky. You…he'll probably age you again and kick you to death. I don't want that to happen."

The Doctor got up, sat down beside her and laid his hand on her arm.

"Don't worry about it for now. Just concentrate on escaping. We've come this far so don't give up before we've started."

Rose nodded and smiled when the Doctor kissed her cheek. He looked at the door when someone knocked at it. He walked over and opened it. Cynthia was standing there with a man in his late twenties. He could tell from his face that it was her father, he could see the resemblance except that his face looked haggard and tired.

"I'm Bruce," the man said, extending his hand to him.

"The Doctor," the Doctor replied shaking his hand.

Bruce looked at Rose and his eyes widen as she walked over to him.

"You're Mrs. Saxon. She's the wife of the monster!" he said angrily while Rose froze in mid-step.

"She's with me now, she's on our side," the Doctor said, stepping in between him and Rose. "We escaped from the Valiant and we're trying to find a way to stop him."

Bruce gave Rose a wary look while Cynthia looked up at her father in confusion. She walked over to Rose and took her hand.

"She's a nice lady, daddy," Cynthia said to him.

"I'm sorry for what happened here," Rose said. "My husband hypnotized and enslaved me and I couldn't help myself half the time. The Doctor got me away from him and I'm in my right mind now. Please don't tell anyone I'm here. I don't want to go back. He'll kill us if we're caught. Please, if you can help us escape, we'd be grateful."

"Escape to where? Saxon has his grip on the whole world now," Bruce said.

"Yes but we have a friend in China and we want to find her. She doesn't know we've escaped," the Doctor said.

"China? And you think you'll be able to get that far without capture?" Bruce said, giving him a dubious look. "The Toclafane are everywhere and they keep an eye on coming and goings."

"We have a way to hide ourselves from the Toclafane and the Master's minions. We just need a way to get out of England and start our journey to China. Our friend is from England and she somehow managed to make it that far."

"You're very brave or very foolish, one of the two…or perhaps both," Bruce said. "You seem trustworthy though and if you can help stop Saxon, you have my support. I have friends who are allowed to drive. They're medics and they have clearance to drive to the labor camps and check that the slaves are healthy. They drive a lorry and I think I can arrange to have you and Mrs. Saxon ride with them. It's the only way I know of to get out of the city."

"Thank you, any help you can give us is welcomed," the Doctor said.

"Stay here and let me contact them. If they leave, it won't be until a few hours from now. Just give me time to speak to them."

The Doctor nodded and Bruce called for Cynthia to come with him.

"And thank you for the food," Bruce said when Cynthia went outside the room. "That's another reason I decided to help you. Just relax and I'll be back in about an hour."

The Doctor and Rose thanked him and waved at Cynthia when she waved goodbye and walked away. Bruce nodded at them and smiled and followed his daughter back to their room as the Doctor closed the door.

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