THE HIVE

Chapter Ten

Gwen and Ianto looked over when they saw a man running into the room. He paused and smiled at them.

"Guys, this is my friend, the Doctor," Jack said to them. "My other friend, Rose, is somewhere in the hub."

"She's with Tosh and Owen," the Doctor said to him.

They jumped when the wasp slammed into the door and it nearly flew off its hinges.

"It's almost inside," Gwen said.

The Doctor stared at the door and suddenly sprinted out of the room. Ianto and Gwen watched him go.

"Some help he is," Gwen said to Jack.

"Oh, I wouldn't count him out yet, he's got a plan, I'm sure of it."

He paused when he heard the wheezing of the TARDIS.

"What was that?" Gwen asked.

"Um, that was his ship. It's called the TARDIS and…it just left."

Gwen and Ianto looked at each other and gave him a pointed look.

"I'm sure he left for a good reason," Jack said sheepishly.

They gasped when the wasp hit the door again.

"One more good hit and that door's gonna go," Ianto said.

Jack pulled out his Webley and pointed it at the door.

"I won't let that wasp get far. I will shoot it before it gets any of us!" he vowed.

They all tensed waiting for the wasp to strike again, but nothing happened. Jack lowered his gun slightly and looked at his friends who were just as confused as he was.

"What happened?" Gwen said.

Jack slowly walked towards the door. He stood in front of it listening.

"I…think it's gone," Jack said looking back at them.

Gwen and Ianto looked at each other and slowly stood up. Jack looked over as Owen and Tosh ran into the room followed by Rose.

"Jeremy and Monica are tranquilized and we ran back here to help you fight the wasp, what did you guys do to make it stop?" Owen asked.

"We didn't do anything, the attack just stopped," Jack said.

"Where's the Doctor?" Rose asked.

"I don't know, I heard the TARDIS leave," Jack said. "He didn't tell you where he was going?"

"No, I was with Owen and Tosh helping them to sedate those two wasps," Rose said.

She walked towards Jack.

"The TARDIS is gone?" she said.

"Yeah, I heard it leave about five minutes ago and right after that, the wasp stopped attacking the door."

They spun around when they heard the TARDIS's wheezing.

"Doctor!" Rose said running towards the sound.

The team looked at each other and followed her. They went through the cog door and Rose let out a relieved cry when she saw the Doctor emerging from the TARDIS. She flung herself into his arms and he held her tight.

"Doctor, where did you go?" she asked.

"Oh, I went outside to do some wasp catching," he replied.

"You were the one who stopped the wasp?" Jack said to him.

"Stopped and trapped, come inside and see," he said proudly.

Rose and Jack entered the TARDIS followed by the rest of the team. The team looked around the interior in awe for a moment and then their eyes settled on a domed prison sitting in front of the console. Inside it was the wasp.

"Force field bubble," the Doctor said walking up behind all of them. "I landed near the wasp, coaxed it inside and the TARDIS trapped it."

"Doctor, you could have gotten stung!" Rose said alarmed. "Why didn't you let me go with you?"

"Because you were off helping others and I could handle it myself," he said to her. "I'm alright; the wasp didn't get a chance to sting me. It barely got in the door before it was trapped. Now if you want to sedate it, the TARDIS can fix it so the dart will pass through without the wasp getting out. You'll be able to knock it out in complete safety."

"Owen, get the tranquilizer gun," Jack said to him.

Owen nodded and ran out. Jack walked up to the bubble and looked inside at the wasp.

"My name is captain Jack Harkness, we're here to help you," he said to it. "Do you remember your name?"

The wasp stared at him for a moment and then began to hit the top of the bubble. Jack sighed.

"Jeremy and Monica aren't responding to their names either," Tosh said.

"It's the collective consciousness," the Doctor said. "Once the victim becomes a full wasp, it becomes enslaved to the queen. It only lives to carry out her commands. I suspect the mutation wipes the memory so the victim will not question itself and her authority."

"So, this wasp, I suppose it was carrying out a rescue mission then." Jack said.

"Most likely," the Doctor said nodding. "It was able to sense its fellow wasp's minds and follow that here."

"So that means there might be more coming if they learn that this wasp has been caught," Ianto said.

"Possibly, yes," the Doctor said. "Although I seriously doubt you're gonna get a swarm of them descending on Torchwood. If that were the case that would have happened with Jeremy and Monica, but instead they sent only one. No, I doubt that their numbers aren't up to a level where they can wage a mass attack. They probably will do as they did this time and send out one or two at most. They can't afford to lose a bunch of them at the same time, not when they are trying to expand the hive.

"We could always sic myfanwy on them," Tosh offered.

They looked over and stepped aside when Owen ran up the ramp with the tranquilizer gun. He stopped in front of the force bubble and aimed it.

You will not get away with this. We will find you and destroy you.

Owen was taken aback when he heard a voice in his head. He looked over and noticed the confused looks on his friend's faces.

"Did you just hear that?" he asked them.

"Yeah, it sounded like someone spoke, but it was in my head," Jack said.

"It's him," the Doctor said pointing to the wasp. "Apparently he can communicate telepathically."

He walked up to the force bubble.

"I am the Doctor, who am I speaking to?" he addressed the wasp.

I am the queen. We are swarm.

The team and Rose looked at each other as the Doctor folded his arms over his chest.

"Queen of the Swarm, I order you to stop what you are doing and surrender yourself and your slaves," he said. "If you do this and cooperate, I will find you a planet where you can live and thrive without hurting anyone else. Otherwise, we will be forced to fight back and stop you."

He heard the queen laughing in his head.

Why should I leave this place? I like it here. It has everything I need for my subject's survival.

You cannot stay on Earth. You cannot turn the people of this planet into your slaves. I give you one last chance to surrender and go to another planet peacefully. I will not offer you this chance again!"

The Doctor suddenly felt the queen searching through his mind. He quickly set up mental blocks, but not before she could get a glimpse of his memories.

You are not of this world. The queen thought.

"No, I'm not, I'm a Time Lord, and I have the means to transport you and your subjects in my ship. I'm willing to do it, but you must surrender to me first."

No, Doctor, you will surrender your mind to me. I will make you mine. You are fit to be my consort.

The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Well, guess what, I'm not gonna do it, so you might as well not even bother," he said.

"Then perhaps you will enjoy seeing the pretty one with the yellow hair becoming my subject. You care for her, do you not?"

Rose gasped and looked over at the Doctor who unconsciously backed up towards her.

"I warn you, messing with her is a very dangerous thing to do," he snarled at the wasp. "I'm telling you right now to leave her alone."

Then, perhaps the undying one will do. You care for him as well, I see. In addition, one who cannot die will come in very handy for me since I can use him repeatedly in our conquest of this planet.

"I mean it, you touch them and I will find your hive and rip it to shreds!"

The queen laughed.

You do not scare me, Time Lord, you may think you are superior to me, but you are just as susceptible to my subject's sting as the others are. And once you are stung, you will becoming my willing slave and do everything that I command including converting those you care deepest about.

"Owen, we've heard enough of this crap, knock it out," Jack said.

Do not think for one minute you or your friends are safe, Doctor. I will hunt you down and make you mine no matter what it takes.

"Do it, Owen!" Jack said.

I will convert you myself and leave enough of your mind free so you can watch yourself converting the pretty one and the undying one and then you will watch helplessly as they slowly change and become one with us.

"DAMN IT, OWEN, SHOOT!" Jack yelled.

Owen shot the gun and the dart went through the bubble, hitting the wasp in the neck.

Watch your back, Time Lord, Swarm is coming for you, and those you love, and you won't be able to stop…

The tranquilizer took effect and the wasp fell to the grate unconscious. Owen lowered the gun and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, let's get this thing into one of the cells," Jack said.

He moved towards it and hesitated.

"Um, do we have to say something for the TARDIS to lift the force field?" Jack asked the Doctor.

At that moment, the force bubble vanished.

"Nope," the Doctor said shrugging.

Owen gave the gun to Tosh and he and the rest of the team ran to the wasp, lifted it up, and carried it out of the TARDIS. The Doctor walked over to Rose and took her hand. He waited until everyone was out of the TARDIS before he spoke to her.

"I have to go, Rose, I have to get away from here before something happens to you and Jack."

"Doctor, no, I want to come with you!"

The Doctor lifted her hand to his lips and gave it a lingering kiss.

"No, I can't allow that. I need to be alone for the moment," he said looking into her eyes.

"No, please don't leave me behind," Rose begged.

"I have to. You heard the queen, she wants me, and as long as I remain here, I'm putting everyone around me in danger. I have to leave and figure out a way to stop her. You'll be safe here for the moment with Jack and his team. This building is secure and I'm sure Jack and the others will step up their defenses after what happened today."

"Doctor, don't do this," Rose said on the verge of tears. "Let me face the danger with you. Please don't ditch me like you tried to do on the Gamestation, please!"

The Doctor put her hand to his cheek and put his hand over it.

"I'm not saying goodbye to you, I will return, but for the moment I must be alone. Please, Rose, don't make this any harder than it is."

He reached over with his other hand and wiped away a tear.

"I'll be alright, I promise you that," he said gently. "You have your mobile and you can call me. I swear on the seal of Rassilon that I will come back and get you. I'm not ditching you. I just need time to create a diversion so you can have time to regroup and ready yourselves. I'll come up with a plan and then I will come back and get all of you and we will stop them together. but while I'm here, you are all in danger and I want the heat taken off of you long enough for you to prepare yourselves, alright?"

"Doctor, be careful, please be careful!"

He smiled.

"I will, angel, I won't do anything reckless, I promise. The queen can't track me since I'm not a part of the collective consciousness and I'll be away from the wasps in here."

Rose flung her arms around his neck. The Doctor pulled her close to him and held her protectively.

"It'll only be for a short time and then we'll be together again," he whispered. "You'll be with Jack and he'll look after you."

He leaned into her ear.

"And when I say look after you, that doesn't mean he can put his hands all over your body, it just means he'll see that you're safe."

He smiled when he heard Rose laugh at that and hugged her tighter. He tried to pull away, but Rose wouldn't let go. She sobbed when he pulled her arms apart and he held her hands as he put his forehead against hers.

"I'll call you tonight and let you know where I am so you won't worry," he said. "So you wait for my call and you pick that sucker up on the first ring because if I get voice mail there'll be hell to pay!"

He smiled when Rose laughed again and kissed the top of her head. He looked up when Jack entered the TARDIS.

"So, now what, Doc?" he asked.

The Doctor quickly explained his plans to Jack. Jack was visibly upset, but he agreed to it figuring the Doctor knew what he was doing. The Doctor took Rose's hand and followed Jack as he walked outside the TARDIS. Once they were outside, the Doctor gently nudged Rose over to Jack's side.

"Look after her for me while I'm gone, Harkness,"

"I will, sir," Jack said saluting.

He smiled at Rose.

"I miss you already," Rose said to him.

The Doctor smiled lovingly at her and ran the back of his hand down her cheek.

"I'll see you when I get back," he said. "Don't blow up the place or run up the pizza bill or make too many crank calls. I'm sure Jack and his buddies wouldn't appreciate it."

Rose laughed. She ran to him and gave him one more hug. The Doctor kissed her cheek and whispered words of love in her ear. Then reluctantly they broke apart and the Doctor forced himself to go inside the TARDIS and shut the door. Rose stepped back and Jack held her from behind as they stood and watched the TARDIS dematerialize and vanish.

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