Fighting Against Fire [One] (The Protector Chronicles)

The Unquiet Dead - III

The Protector helped Rose carry Gwyneth to a chair in the room and let her rest. A short while after being moved Gwyneth slowly opened her eyes and went to sit up. "It's all right. You just sleep," Rose told her.

"But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they?" Gwyneth ask. "They need me?"

"They do need you, Gwyneth. You're their only chance of survival."

"I've told you, leave her alone." Rose narrowed her eyes at the Doctor. "She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles."

The Protector crossed her arms and opted in for staying quiet while Rose handed the young woman a glass of water. "Drink this."

"Well, what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?"

"Aliens." The Doctor replied.

"Like foreigners, you mean?" Sneed asked.

"You can say that." The Protector nodded. "And they've been trying to get through from one place to Cardiff but imagine the road." She shrugged. "It's blocked and the bridge the road is on is brittle and breaking so only a small few can get through and even then they're not able to stay across for long. They can only hang around in the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes."

"Which is why they need the girl." Charles nodded.

"They're not having her."

"Big ears didn't explain it very well but Gwyneth can help." The Time Lady told Rose, ignoring the glare the Doctor sent her way. "Living on the rift, she's become part of it and she can open it up, support the bridge and let them through."

"Incredible." Charles breathed. "Ghosts that are not ghosts but beings from another world, who can only exist in our world by inhabiting cadavers."

"Good system." The Doctor nodded. "It might work.

"You can't let them run around inside of dead people." Rose protested.

"Why not?" The Doctor questioned. "It's like recycling."

"Seriously though, you can't."

"But we can." The Protector added, crossing her arms.

Rose shook her head and looked at the Protector. "It's just wrong. Those bodies were living people. We should respect them even in death."

"Rose let me ask you think." The Time Lady sighed, letting her arms fall to her sides. "Do you carry a donor card?"

"That's different. That's..."

"It is different, yeah." The Doctor cut in, eyes shooting daggers at the blonde. "It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home."

"Doctor!" The Protector shouted at him, eyes wide.

"Shut up and get out of my head." He snapped back, not even looking at her as he continued talking to Rose aloud. "You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying."

The Protector mentally sighed at him."I get it, you know I get it but Rose doesn't-"

"Which is exactly why she does not get a say!" He cut in angrily. 

The blonde human shook her head, looking between the two Time Lords who were just glaring at each other. "I don't care. They're not using her."

"Don't I get a say, miss?" Gwyneth quietly asked.

"Look, you don't understand what's going on," Rose spoke to her softly, moving towards the young woman resting in the chair.

"You would say that, miss, because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid," Gwyneth replied.