After Pete left the room, Rose sat down at her new desk and looked around her new office. She looked at the far wall and thought of the Doctor, which reminded her of what she was planning on doing. She lent back and concentrated on her connection to the Tardis. She felt the connection and thought, 'Tardis, can you hear me?'
She received a reply within seconds as the Tardis responded to her call, 'Yes, Rose. I can hear you. Is something wrong?'
The knowledge that she would have to take care of this without the Doctor made her feel so alone before she thought, 'Not immediately, but we do have a situation that I could use the Doctor's assistance with dealing with a familiar enemy.' The Slitheen were both deadly and annoying.
The Tardis replied, 'Well, The connection is still not strong enough to speak directly with him, but I can patch you in through the speaker in my control room.'
Rose grinned and thought, 'Thanks, Tardis. You're the greatest.'
The next voice she heard made her heart leap into her throat. The Doctor's worried voice could be heard, "Rose, is everything alright?"
Rose smiled and replied, 'Everything is fine, unless you count the spaceship that just crashed into Big Ben.' Rose could imagine the Doctor standing in the Tardis with a shocked look on his face and staring off into space. In order to get his attention she said, 'Doctor? Are you still there?'
The Doctor replied, "A spaceship? As in aliens faking aliens? As in the Slitheen destroying the planet? 10 Downing Street?"
Rose laughed at his answer and stated, 'One and the same. I just wanted to find out anything that I don't already know. What exactly did you find out about the pilot of the ship? What happened during the meeting with the experts?'
The Doctor told her everything. From the hotwired pig to the security badges used to kill all of the experts at the meeting. After a moment the Doctor stated in a very serious yet worried voice, "Rose, be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you."
Rose could hear the fear in his voice and knew that he felt helpless because he could not protect her. Her heart overflowed with love for him. She wanted to at least settle so of his fears, so she said, 'Everything will be fine. At this very moment, Mickey is gathering as many super soakers and as much vinegar as he can. We will be ready for them when they put their final plans into action.'She could feel a wave of pride and love flow through her. She smiled and stated, 'After all, I am Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth. Remember?'
The Doctor laughed causing Rose's smile to grow even larger. The Doctor replied full heartedly, "Of course! How could I have forgotten?" It was silent for a moment then the Doctor asked, "So, besides the impending invasion, how is your first day at Torchwood going?"
Rose looked around the room, and her eyes settled on the far wall. She stood up, walked over to it, and put her hand on it. Rose sighed and stated, 'Well, first thing this morning I translated a transmission that the linguistics lab was having trouble with, and now I am standing with my hand on a specific wall in a room that is now actually MY office.'
The Doctor knew exactly where she was talking about and asked, "The Void Room is now your office?"
Rose looked over at the monitor that was located nearby. She told the Doctor what Pete had told her,'Yes, my dad told me that the location of the breach must be constantly monitored for cracks. He knows that I will be trying to find a way back, and if something happens I can tell you through this connection.'
The Doctor thought about that for a moment, then agreed with Pete, "That is a good idea. It might also be a good idea to get a pair of 3-D glasses. They can come in handy when looking for void stuff."
'Thanks, I'm sure I can find a pair somewhere,' Rose replied. She looked at her watch and said, 'I better get going. I do have an invasion to stop. I'll see you in my dreams, and I'll tell you how it goes.'
Once again the Doctor sounded worried when he said, "Okay, but just be careful. Promise me."
Rose smiled again. The Doctor was always very protective of her, but now he could not do anything to help her. Rose thought of him sitting on the bench in the control room just staring off into space and replied, 'I promise.' She heard the speaker cut out and thanked the Tardis again while she walked out of her office.
