THE HIVE

Chapter Twenty Five

It took about a half hour for Rose to half walk/half jog over to a two story stone house with a black shingled roof. The little paved driveway led to a small road and once Rose reached the house, she saw a similar house about two miles away from it. She looked over off to her left but couldn't see any signs of the M4. By now, she was more concerned with Jack and the others than with her own safety. If the Doctor came back for her, she didn't want to put up any resistance. Either the Doctor stung her or he would take her to the Queen and she wanted more than anything to get her hands on her and wring her insect neck.

As she walked up to the house, she noticed in the side windows that lights were on behind some sheer white curtains and she could hear the television somewhere inside the house. She noticed as she walked up that whatever was on the TV was in Welsh. As she neared the wooden door in the front, she heard a man inside boisterously laughing at something and then saying something loudly in Welsh.

"I just hope you know English," Rose muttered to herself as she reached the door and banged on it.

She waited patiently and then the door opened and Rose saw an elderly man standing there. He was slightly plump and medium height, in his late seventies. The only hair he had was a few white tufts along the sides above his ears. He had a deeply lined face and wore wire rimmed glasses that were perched on his hawkish nose. He had on a dark blue jumper with black slacks and black house slippers. He was smoking a pipe and took it out of his mouth as he examined Rose. Coming up behind him was a very short woman, about four foot eight inches. She had curly white hair that came down to her shoulders and a deeply lined face with a slight scar across her right chin. Her bright blue eyes also studied Rose as she looked around the man's body.

"Yes?" the man said with a thick Welsh accent, "may I help you?"

"My name's Rose. I need your help. I've been stranded and I need to find somewhere to stay so my friend's can find me. Will you let me come in and use my mobile and tell me where I am so they can find me?"

The man studied her for a moment more, sizing her up and debating on whether to let her into his house, before he nodded.

"Yes, come inside," he said as he and the woman stepped back to let her in.

"Thank you," Rose said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I am Dafydd, this is my wife, Dierdre," he said.

"Nice to meet you and thank you. I promise I won't be a bother. I just need to tell my friends where to find me and then I'll be on my way."

Dafydd noticed that Rose was slightly shivering and saw the t-shirt and jeans she was wearing.

"My dear, aren't you cold? It's chilly out tonight?" Dafydd asked her.

"A little bit, yeah," Rose admitted.

Dierdre smiled and came up beside her.

"Come and have some tea and custard then, get warmed up while you wait," she said to her.

"Thank you," Rose said gratefully as she followed her into the kitchen.

_____________

After contacting Jack and letting him speak to Dafydd so he could give him directions, Dierdre sat her down at the kitchen table and gave her a mug of tea and some vanilla custard. Rose thanked her and ate, not realizing until that moment how hungry she really was.

While she ate, Dafydd came into the large homely kitchen and gave her back her phone.

"Your friend is coming. Turns out he wasn't too far away. We're only about ten miles from the M4," Dafydd said, sitting down in a wooden chair opposite her.

"Thank you for doing that. I'm just glad I found you," Rose said.

"It's not a problem. But tell me, how did you come to be stranded all the way out here at this time of night, my dear? It's nearly ten o'clock. And you're not even properly dressed for the weather."

Rose grimaced at that. She had left so quickly with the Doctor and was in such a rush she hadn't thought to bring along a heavy coat. The Doctor had wanted to get out of the Hub as quickly as he could and she didn't have time to stop and think. Besides, naively she thought that the Doctor would be able to hold on long enough for them to find a hotel or at the very least, an abandoned house they could stay in. She lowered her eyes to the table, trying not to cry while she tried to think up an excuse for why she was out in the middle of the Welsh countryside at ten at night.

"I was at a party with some mates and my boyfriend," she said, hoping she sounded convincing. "We were heading home and got in an argument and he kicked me out and left me while he went on to Swansea."

It sounded like a lame story to her but Dafydd either believed it or just decided not to press for a further explanation because he nodded at that.

"And these people that are on their way here, they're your friends from the party?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rose said, grateful that he had come up with a reason for Jack and the others coming to get her.

"Well in future, I'd find yourself a boyfriend who wasn't a jerk," Dafydd said, getting up from the table.

Rose smiled at that and nodded. Dafydd went into his living room and Rose sat alone, finishing her custard and tea.

__________________

After twenty minutes, the SUV finally pulled into the driveway. Rose quickly washed up her bowl, mug and spoon and went out to greet them.

"Thank God you found another house," Jack said as he and the others climbed out, "I see your luck's still holdin', Blondie."

Rose gave him a wry grin as he chuckled and hugged him.

"Don't worry, Rose, we'll save him," Jack said as he hugged her tightly.

"I know," she replied, honestly believing that. "The couple inside is called Dafydd and Dierdre. I better tell you the reason why I'm supposedly out in the middle of the countryside before you go in."

Jack nodded and the others came in close as she explained about them being her friends coming to get her after the party. Jack chuckled when she mentioned the fake boyfriend.

"Shame on that bastard," Jack said. "I thought Rick was more honorable than that!"

He gave Rose's shoulder a playful punch when she rolled her eyes at that and they all went inside to talk to the elderly couple. After five minutes, while Jack and the others were having tea and talking to the couple, Rose wandered outside and glanced up at the moonlit night. She wrapped her arms around her, trying to keep from getting chilled as she thought about the Doctor and wondered where he was at the moment. Her stomach churned as she imagined him with the Queen and the Queen doing God knows what to him. Then her spine stiffened and her blood froze when she suddenly hear a faint buzzing in the distance. A buzzing that sounded like it was coming closer. Frozen with fear, she finally made out a lone wasp heading their way and guessing who the wasp might be, she turned and sprinted inside.

"JACK, I THINK HE'S HERE, HE'S COMING!" Rose yelled as she burst into the kitchen.

"Who's coming?" Dafydd said in confusion. "More of your mates?"

"Uh…not exactly, um…sir, we need you and Dierdre to go into your cellar right now."

"Whatever for?" Dafydd said as he glared at Jack.

"Because you're in very real danger, both of you. We have a friend that's coming and he knows my car and if he comes here, you aren't going to like it. Now please, just trust us and do as we say and…"

"Now wait just one minute!" Dafydd said incensed, "you can't come in here and order me about like some…"

He gasped when something hard suddenly hit the door and they heard an angry buzzing outside.

"What in the name of all that's holy was that?" Dafydd said.

"That was the friend I was telling you about. Owen, Gwen, take them to the cellar now!"

They gasped when they heard another loud bang on the door. As Owen and Gwen urged the elderly couple towards the cellar, Jack saw Rose running back towards the door out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh no you don't!" he said, spinning around and chasing her four feet before he grabbed her arm.

"Jack, let go, it's me he wants. I can stop this!" Rose said, frantically as Tosh and Ianto got on either side of her and hemmed her in.

"Nothing doing," Jack said as she struggled to get out of his grasp.

"Jack, please, let me go. If you don't, he'll kill us all!" Rose begged.

"No, I'm not letting you go. We already lost the Doctor, I'm not losing you too," Jack grunted as he put his other arm around her stomach and held her to him.

Rose tried to pull away and then everyone froze when they heard the buzzing off to their right. They turned their heads and saw the wasp staring in at them through the window that was over the kitchen sink.

"Doctor?" Rose said.

They gasped when the wasp backed up and rammed the glass hard with his head, making a big crack in it while the wasp bounced back from the force of the blow.

"In the cellar, all of you! That means you too, Rose!" Jack said as he started to pull her backwards towards the door leading into a corridor between rooms.

Jack had his head turned so he could see where he was going. He heard a loud shattering of glass. Rose screamed and he, Tosh and Ianto looked back to see the wasp was shaking its head as it was trying to fit through the tiny window.

"Hurry!" Jack said as the wasp squeezed its way through the shattered window.

"Let me go! He wants me!" Rose screamed as Jack tugged at her.

"Come on, Rose," Jack growled at her.

Rose looked back at the wasp who was nearly inside before she finally turned and followed Jack and the others into the living room. She heard the wasp's angry buzzing as he squeezed himself into the kitchen.

"No, Doctor, please fight it," Rose murmured as they followed Owen's voice towards the cellar.

Then suddenly Ianto let out a warning cry and they heard a loud buzzing as the wasp flew in behind him. Jack pushed Rose to the ground and tried to pull out his gun but the wasp slammed his head into his gut, knocking him off balance. Tosh and Ianto froze, watching with horror as the wasp reared up into the air and aimed its stinger directly at Jack's stomach.

"No!"

Jack's eyes bulged with horror when Rose flung herself in front of Jack.

"No, Doctor, don't!" she pleaded. "Please stop, I'll go with you, but please stop this!"

Everyone held their breath as the wasp paused in midair and seemed to study Rose who was lying on her side looking up at him. Ianto, off to the side, reached behind him into the waistband of his trousers and grabbed a revolver, keeping his eyes on the wasp.

"Doctor, stop! Please," Rose pleaded as the wasp hovered in the air above her. "It's us. Please remember."

Jack saw Ianto pulling his gun out of the waistband and held up a finger, signaling him to wait as the wasp slowly lowered itself to the ground and walked towards Rose. Rose lay perfectly still, tears threatening to flow while Jack gestured for Tosh and Ianto not to attack. The wasp came up until Rose was nearly under his body. Then it used its antenna to feel her face.

"It's him," Rose said softly while he did it. "He did this to me before. He remembers."

"Rose, just…keep still. Just in case," Jack said, slowing getting to his knees.

"He won't hurt me. I know he won't," Rose said softly. "I'll always trust him."

Jack wasn't so sure of that but he could see for the moment at least; the Doctor seemed to have enough self-control not to attack them all. His stomach lurched when he looked at him. The man he knew was completely gone. Now there was only an enormous insect. Rage filled his mind and he longed to go find the Queen and snap her in two for doing this to him. Very slowly, he got to his feet, pausing halfway up when the wasp looked his way and began to buzz.

"No, Doctor," Rose said, laying her hand on the side of his face.

The wasp looked down at her and the buzzing stopped. Jack was amazed at that. Rose still had the power to calm the Doctor, even when he wasn't himself anymore. Rose lay quietly under him, stroking the hard exoskeleton that covered his face while the Doctor stood there and let her do it. He sensed someone behind him and turned to see Owen and Gwen at the other door. He shook his head when Owen showed him his revolver and motioned for them to get in the other room. Meanwhile, the Doctor was still standing over Rose and staring down at her, docile as a kitten, while Rose stroked his cheek.

Suddenly, the Doctor closed his legs around Rose's body and Jack gasped when he lifted her into the air.

"No, Buddy, wait! Don't do this," Jack said, holding up his hands as the wasp paused to look at him. "Doctor, put her down and let us help you. Don't take her away from here. The other wasps are outside and…"

Jack suddenly yelled in pain when the Doctor entered his mind and sent a deafening buzzing into it.

Open the front door, the Doctor thought to him.

"Doctor, no," Jack grunted out. "Don't take her."

He cried out when the buzzing became louder. The other members of his team tried to stop the Doctor but he flew up higher into the air, holding Rose close to him.

Let us out, he thought to Jack, open the door now!

Jack staggered to his feet, fighting the buzzing that was making his head throb.

"Only…if you give me your word, you won't hurt her," Jack grunted out as he got to his feet.

Suddenly, the other four members of Torchwood fell to their knees in pain as Jack glanced at them in horror.

Open the door, set me free! The Doctor thought to Jack.

"Alright, alright, just stop this!" Jack pleaded as his team members groaned and held their aching heads.

He took a few tentative steps forward, half afraid it was a trick and his friend would sting him but the Doctor merely watched him go by and then turned when he was behind him. He noticed the fearful look on Rose's face as she lay next to his body but she was staying calm, trusting he wouldn't hurt her. Jack walked back to the front door, a loud buzzing accompanying him as the Doctor followed behind. He heard the groaning cease and knew the Doctor had released the hold on his teammate's minds. Hoping that was a sign that the Doctor still knew who he was and knew who Rose was, Jack reached the door. He put his hand on the doorknob and turned to look at the Doctor who was hovering a few feet from him.

"Please, Doctor, take care of Rose," Jack said before opening the door. "I'll find a cure, I promise."

The Doctor didn't telegraph anything to Jack, only held Rose tighter to his body. Jack watched with anguish as his friend flew out the door with Rose, rose up into the moonlit sky with her and quickly flew away back towards Cardiff.

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