THE HIVE
Chapter Twenty Eight "Great, Louis, I'm glad he agreed to come. I'll pay for any expenses and meet him at Cardiff Central when he comes in on the train and thanks so much for this, Buddy, I owe you one." Jack ended the call on his mobile and put it back in his pocket. He was sitting in his office resting and planning what to do next. He had fixed a cup of tea and was sipping it slowly, quietly enjoying the brief respite they had before he knew all hell would break loose again. He noticed Rose was coming towards his office and he sat his cup down on his desk as she entered. "My friend, Louis, called. He contacted his friend, Thomas Sutton, at Glasgow and he'll be coming by rail. I have to meet him tomorrow morning at 7 am when the train pulls into Cardiff Central." "D'ya think he'll be able to figure out the Doctor's notes?" Jack sighed and ran his fingers back and forth along the side of his mug as he stared at the steaming hot liquid inside it. "I don't know, Rose. I don't know the man. I'm trusting my friend's judgment here. Normally, I'd be more thorough in finding out who he was and if he can be trusted, but we don't have the time to do that anymore. I doubt we have much time left to do anything. Damn it, the one man who can stop this from happening is now lying in my cell incapacitated because he's a gigantic insect. If I find that Queen…" He smiled at Rose and shook his head. "But, it won't do any good to get angry, will it? Anger won't bring the Doctor back to his normal self. Besides we have to keep a level head now if we're going to survive this." He sat his mug down on his desk. "Wanna go with me? I need to go feed Myfanwy and check on her and then we'll do a quick check of the Doctor to make sure he's still sedated." Rose nodded. Jack rose from his chair, patted her on the shoulder and gave it a squeeze before they left the office. He led her to the basement where there was a large walk in refrigerator. Rose wrapped her arms around her as Jack walked inside the chilly refrigerator and selected a few large steaks and a couple of packages of freeze dried rats. "Her usual meal," Jack said, holding up the steaks. "Plus a little treat for helping to fight off the wasps that got inside here." They walked out and Jack closed the refrigerator. They walked back up to the lift room and Jack looked around and then let out a shrill whistle. A moment later, Myfanwy flew down from a secluded spot in the ceiling and landed several yards from them. Rose gasped at the size of her but Jack shook his head. "It'll be okay but you better stay back, she knows me but she might attack you," Jack cautioned. Rose nodded and stepped back a few feet, watching while Jack came forward and fed Myfanwy the steaks. While she was eating them, he took the opportunity to look her over. "I don't see any injuries," Jack said as he threw the second steak her way. "I don't think they hurt her, although I'm sure she hurt them which is why they all scattered. And that's why she's getting a special treat tonight." He opened the plastic wrap surrounding the dead rats and threw them to Myfanwy who devoured each one in one gulp. Rose was amazed when Jack got close enough to pat her head. He saw her surprise and grinned. "Me and Yan are the only ones who really deal with her," he said, walking back to Rose while throwing the last steak to Myfanwy who also ate it quickly. "Yan and I were the ones who captured her so we feel responsible for her." "Where did you find her?" Rose asked. "In a warehouse here in Cardiff. Ianto found her first and then came and found me so we could catch it. He was looking for a job with us after working at Canary Wharf. He was there that day actually, the same time you and the Doctor were there…his girlfriend, Lisa, was nearly turned into a Cyberman before the process was halted halfway through." He patted Rose's shoulder when he noticed her anguish at the memory of what happened that day. "Anyway," Jack said, hurriedly changing the subject, "he and I found her and in time she came to trust us and she lets us get close to her, but only us, which is why I asked you to stay back." "How'd she get here? Through the rift?" Rose asked as they walked away. "Um, maybe. Maybe there's one of those anomaly things that drift around Britain like on Primeval and she came through it," he said as Rose chuckled. "But let's get a syringe with the tranquilizer in it and go check up on the Doc before we relax. Do you wanna go with me to Cardiff Central in the morning by the way? Meet this Thomas for yourself?" "Yeah, I'd like to do that," Rose said, nodding. "Then I'll set up a camp bed in my office and you can sleep in there. While you do that, I and the rest of my ragtag team will be making calls and trying to figure out how bad the infestation is, both here and in the rest of Britain and if anyone has made any sort of progress in trying to stop them. I hope so but like I said before, I have a feeling our best hope is lying on the floor of that cell." They walked to the lab and Jack grabbed an empty syringe, filled it with sedative and he and Rose walked to the cell block. When they reached it, Jack paused for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed Janet had calmed down and was curled up in the corner of the cell, fast asleep. They moved on to the Doctor's cell and Jack unlocked the door while he assessed him. From what he could see, the Doctor appeared to be unconscious but wasps have no eyelids so the only way he could tell was the lack of movement and the fact the Doctor didn't stir when they came inside. They knelt down beside him and Jack checked him for any injuries, especially the fleshy parts of his body. His blood boiled as he stared at the wasp's body his friend was now forced to inhabit but he quickly calmed back down, knowing it wouldn't do any good to get mad now. He glanced at Janet. "Rose, I'll be right back. I wanna get some food for Janet and I'll try to figure out something to give the Doc. Maybe sugar water? Anyway, I'll leave the sedative with you. If he wakes, put him back to sleep. We don't want the Queen seizing control of his mind and turning him against us." Rose nodded and Jack rose, leaving the syringe with him. "Won't be but a moment, I promise," he said as he hurried out the door and shut it behind him. Rose sat on her butt beside the Doctor. She brought her legs up towards her chest while she stared at him quietly. She wondered if he was dreaming and if he was, was he dreaming of her. She reached out and rubbed his antenna with her thumb and forefinger. Then suddenly the antenna twitched and Rose jerked her hand back. She stared intently at the Doctor wondering if his antenna really had moved or she just imagined it. Then she noticed it twitching again and his wings slowly moving up an inch and coming back down slowly. Rose grabbed the syringe and scooted back until she could reach his midsection. By now both antennas were moving slowly and Rose held the tip of the syringe over his fleshy midsection. But she held back, wanting to speak to him first and let him know what was going on. "Doctor?" she said, getting up on her knees and leaning over to him. Rose? The Doctor thought to her. "Doctor, I'm putting you back to sleep but there's a man coming from Glasgow in the morning, a geneticist who is going to look at your notes and samples and try to find a cure." Tell him to take a few more blood samples from me. The other samples have been experimented with already, the Doctor thought to her as he slowly tried to come to. Now put me to sleep, Rose, hurry before the Queen realizes I'm awake. "I will. I love you, Doctor." I love you too, Rose, now hurry. Rose made a face as she positioned the needle next to the side of his fleshy midsection. "I'm sorry, Doctor, if this hurts ya," Rose said softly. The Doctor made a gentle, almost reassuring buzzing sound that Rose found pleasant. She counted to three silently in her head and then put the needle into his skin and depressed the plunger watching as the clear liquid went into his body. She glanced up when Jack came back with the food and supplies he needed and saw the Doctor had woken up. He sat them down, opened the door and entered the room. "Buddy, you okay?" Jack said, concerned, as he dropped to his knees in front of him. Yes, I'm okay. Rose just injected me, he thought to him. She told me about the geneticist coming and I told her to tell him to take more samples from me. The others have already been experimented on. You'll need fresh ones. "Okay, I'll get Owen to do that once you've gone back to sleep," Jack said. "Nice to know you're still with us." Only just, I can feel the Queen in my head, the Doctor thought to him. Jack's jaw clenched as once again he longed to wring the Queen's neck for this. He noticed the Doctor's head lowering and the movement of his antenna slowing down. Both he and Rose rubbed both sides of his midsection while the Doctor murmured his love and thanks to both of them in their heads just before he lost unconsciousness again. Both of them sat for several minutes, rubbing his side and making sure he was asleep. Then Jack rose and fed Janet and left a bowl of sugar water in the Doctor's cell. Then he shut the Doctor's door, locked it and Rose followed him back to his office.
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