A Gallifreyan's Dream

Again, so sorry for the wait. This one was a freakin' murder to write, and I hope it clears most of the confusion! Review, and the battle and Doctor's discovery is hopefully in the next two chapters. Not long to go now till it's complete!

Gallifrey, Real Fathers and Tea

Meanwhile, above in the Torchwood buildings, tears were being shed, plans were being drawn up and teas were being drunk. Rose, Pete, Freya, Mickey and Pete's assistant, Harry, were all in Freya and Rose's office, thirteen floors up from where our "heroes on the bench" were in the cellar.

"Right. So, what is the Daleks' weakness?" Freya asked, sipping a sweet cup of tea whilst looking around the room. All of them looked at their shoes, apart from Harry, who looked as though he had no idea what was going on.

"Last time we defeated them, this happened," Rose said, waving her arms around and nearly hitting Mickey on the head, who ducked out the way all the while jabbering on his mobile phone, trying to be inconspicuous.

"Right. Ok. They want me, huh? Wow, don't I feel special," Freya said, an attempt at being light-hearted almost working; a few hesitant smiles gracing their faces before the straight serious face which Freya detested so much came back onto their faces. She crossed her arms and sat in her chair, the scowl that she wore looked rather out of place on her pretty face; it was face that looked like it was smiling most if not all of the time. Freya sneaked a glance at her mother, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Rose looked exactly how she did whenever the war came up in discussion; tired, frail and way older than her thirty-five years. Rose shook her head. This was the worse thing she had experienced in fourteen years.

The Daleks had come to Torchwood.

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"Bleedin' wall!" Jackie said, hitting her hand of it causing a large scrape to become apparent on her knuckles. "Ow …" she muttered feebly, returning to her position on the slightly damp cellar floor.

"You OK?" the Doctor asked, a slight frown of concern lacing his handsome features. For once in his life (well, since he'd met Jackie anyway) he sympathised with her. He smiled weakly, glancing over at Martha and Jack; they were sitting together over the other side of the room, obviously to give Jackie and the Doctor privacy to speak.

"Yeh, I'm always fine, me," Jackie said, rubbing her knuckles. There had to be some way to get out. Jackie knew, deep down in her heart, that Pete, Freya and Rose were the ones that knew what they were doing, but that didn't stop her wanting to get out of this cellar and helping her daughter, husband and granddaughter. She was interrupted in her musings by the Doctor's voice, so soft that she barely heard it.

"I'm so confused," he had said. Jackie's head whipped around and she faced him. "First, Freya called Mickey her Dad, then she called him her uncle … what is Mickey to Freya, Jackie?" the Doctor continued.

Jackie looked at him sorrowfully. We're all in this together now, she thought, whether we like it or not. "I can't tell you much, I'm afraid," she said. "I don't work her. But I can safely say that Mickey is indeed Freya's uncle." She smiled. "Mickey's married. Such a lovely lass, that Caitlin. And he's got kids now, too. Twins," she continued, as the Doctor's expression turned puzzled.

"Wait a minute, Caitlin? The twins aren't called Jennifer and Jack, are they?" the Doctor said in disbelief.

"Yes, they are," Jackie said, one eyebrow raised at the Gallifreyan. "How do you know?"

"Mickey told us. Well, Freya said that Caitlyn was one of Rose's workmates," he said.

"They certainly are not. Caitlyn's married to Mickey, long before Rose or myself ever arrived here. Caitlyn was pregnant at the same time Rose was," Jackie looked thoughtful. "I have no idea why Freya would lie about that,"

"So, just who is Freya's father then?" he was puzzled.

"I'm not the one to tell you," Jackie said, cryptically. "I'll leave that one to Rose."

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"DAMN!"

"Freya, you alright?" Harry was worried. He'd been ordered to stay in Freya and Rose's office with Freya until Rose, Mickey and Pete had control of the situation. He was also confused; wait, Freya always had Harry confused. You see, Harry here wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but he knew what was going on in Torchwood. Well, he thought he did. Summoning up all his courage, he prepared himself to asked Freya. He needed to know what was going on so he could do his job properly.

"Freya." He said, and when he was met with no reply from the child leaning against the door, he said it more forcefully, very much unlike his normal voice. "FREYA!"

The girl in question's head shot up at the sound of his voice. She wasn't used to Harry being so commanding. Usually he was receiving commands, not giving them. She looked at him. "Yes?" she asked.

"What's going on?" it was a simple question, but Freya knew exactly what the question was about. It couldn't be about anything else. The fourteen year old sat down warily, looking much older than she was. Harry was scared, he'd never seen Freya acting the way she was just now. Freya was also vibrant and full of life; now she seemed depression and dulled, almost. Freya motioned for him to take a seat beside her. She was going to start from the very beginning – Harry had proved himself, working for Rose for all of Freya's life, and he deserved to know the truth.

"I'm going to tell you everything, ok? Well, everything that I know, anyway …" she said, looking at Harry, who nodded. Taking a deep breath, she started talking. She submitted Mum for Rose, Gran for Jackie, and Granddad for Pete – Harry would get awfully confused if she said it any other way.

"Rose wasn't born here. Neither was Jackie, in fact. They were both born on a parallel world to this one, where everything was the same but a little bit different. Rose's actual father, the father from her own world, died in a car crash when she was only six months old. Jackie raised Rose all on her own, but something happened when Rose was nineteen. She met a man, a man that wasn't a man. He was called the Doctor-"

"That man who we just met a moment or two ago?" Harry asked.

"Yes, the very one. This man wasn't a man at all. He was a Time Lord, a alien from a different planet. His home planet was called Gallifrey." She took on a darker look, and Harry looked up, his eyes wide.

"Your real name is Gallifrey!" he said, eyes wide as saucers.

"How did you know that?!" she said, her own eyes mimicking Harry's. She always went by Freya, not Gallifrey. Her eyebrows knotted.

"Your mum told me," Harry said, head bowed.

"It's OK" Freya said. "Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Well, the Doctor and Rose went travelling all around the universe, even beyond; before they were called back to earth because ghosts that weren't really ghosts kept popping up everywhere. They were cybermen. I can't tell you much of what happened, but I know that Rose and Jackie were stuck on this earth, and the Doctor on the other. They both came here, under the false pretence of Rose having been adopted when she was younger and Jackie going to meet her for the first time. I was born about seven months after Rose and Jackie arrived," she smiled.

"Wait a minute…" Harry pondered. "That means that Rose was pregnant before she arrived here!" He looked proud that he'd come to that conclusion.

"Yep!" she popped her 'p'. She waiting patiently for Harry to catch on, and soon his eyes went round again. She smiled.

"That means that that man, the Doctor, he's your dad!" He looked delighted with his detective skills.

"Yes, he is," she said. "You may have already been suspecting that I'm not entirely human," she said, smiling slightly.

"No. I never thought about it." Harry said. "Although, now you say it, it makes sense. You're ever so bright, and you can speak … wait a minute. You can speak ever single alien language that comes here. So can Rose. Is Rose an alien too?"

Freya laughed. "No!" she said. "That's the TARDIS translator!"

"The whatie what?" Harry looked like he'd been asked to do a complicated mathematical sum.

"Doesn't matter. Where were we?"

"Why then did you call Mickey dad?"

"Easy," Freya answered. "Because it was the easiest way if the Doctor ever returned. It was a sort of code, to keep the Doctor of the scent. That's why I have my heart palpitation monitor, you see?" Freya pointed to the device on the right side of her chest that she always wore. "You know how I said that I wore it because I got heart palpitations, and that I had to wear it on the right side because -"

"If it was on the left your heart would stop," Harry said.

"Exactly. What it is, in fact, is covering my second heartbeat from anyone. This seems to include Time Lords but exclude Daleks," Freya mused, putting one finger to her chin in thought.

"You have two hearts?" Harry looked slightly green.

"Yes." Freya replied shortly, and before she could even say, "is that a problem?" Harry had fainted. Freya rolled her eyes before talking to the room.

"It's just too much for the guy to handle!" she said sarcastically. A knocking on the door sounded, and on the other side stood Mickey.

"Hey Frey. What's up with Harry?" Mickey enquired. Freya rolled her eyes again.

"I told him the truth. Too much for him to handle." She said.

Mickey raised his eyebrows. "OK. Rose sent me up; everything's in place." His mouth was set in a grim line, his eyes glinting in determination. Freya knew she had the same look on her face.

"Let's go kick some Dalek Butt!"