Author's Note: Started a long, long time ago in response to classic rock prompt on the LJ community twdwmuses. It may never have seen the light of day again if not for a reference in "Gridlock."
Many many many thanks to Aibhinn for putting this under a microscope. It's my first Nine fic, and I was more than a bit nervous about it.
The title and some of the lyrics quoted are taken from "Piece of My Heart," written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns. Also quoted: "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?" written by Pete Seeger and Joe Hickerson, "Blowin' in the Wind," written by Bob Dylan and "Fire," written by Jimi Hendrix. And honorable mentions to Lead Belly, Sly and the Family Stone, Don McLean, Friends of Distinction, The Who and Jefferson Airplane.
I don't own any of it, of course.
The Doctor smiled broadly as the time rotor stopped and the TARDIS landed. "Jack! Rose! Are you ready? We're here!"
His companions entered the console room, both having changed into t-shirts and jeans as he'd told them to. Rose was plaiting her hair. "So, where's here?" she asked.
"And when?" Jack added.
"The where, Rose Tyler, is Bethel, New York, North America. The when is Sunday, August 17th, 1969. Right outside those doors, half a million people are having one hell of a party! Come on!"
The Doctor ran down the ramp to the TARDIS doors, Rose and Jack right behind him. At the doors, he whirled around and pointed his finger at them to stop them for a moment. "I should warn you," he said. "Go outside and you're gonna see, hear, smell and taste things like you never have before. It's gonna be an experience, even for you, Jack. Get ready for the counterculture!" He turned back to the doors and pulled them both open.
"Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, welcome to Woodstock!" He stepped outside, and promptly sank into something wet and squishy.
"Uh, Doc? We experienced mud just a few days ago on Tarrakis."
Rose was covering her nose and mouth. "It stinks!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "What do you expect when you've got half a million apes on a dairy farm, in the rain, without enough toilets? Come on! The main stage should be…that way!" He reached out and grabbed Rose's hand, pulling her across the muddy ground. Jack fell into step on Rose's other side.
The TARDIS had materialised in a copse of trees, unseen by the flower children who were standing, sitting or sprawling wherever they could find a slightly less muddy patch. Not that they'd pay much attention to the TARDIS appearing, the Doctor thought. They'd just put it down to a bad trip.
Night had fallen, and he couldn't hear any music above the buzz of humanity. Probably between acts. Hope we got here in time for Janis Joplin. "You know, this should have gone down in history as a dismal failure," the Doctor told his companions as they walked. "Too many people and not enough facilities, food or water. Plus traffic jams, technical difficulties, bands that couldn't get here in time and bands that didn't play very well. It was a financial flop for the promoters. Took 'em years to recover their losses. But instead of being declared a disaster, Woodstock became a legend. The epitome of peace and free love." He stopped abruptly, concentrating. There it is! "And music! Listen!"
A gravelly female voice could just be heard above the din of the crowd. The Doctor laughed in excitement. "Janis Joplin! We did make it in time! Come on!"
Rose didn't get it. The Doctor seemed transported by Janis Joplin's performance, but when the set was through and he turned to her, she could only shrug. She was underwhelmed, and the Doctor was scandalised.
"You don't like Janis Joplin? How could anyone not like Janis Joplin?"
"Didn't say I didn't like her," Rose countered. "Just not as impressed as you seem to be." In fact, some of the lyrics did resonate with her:
I want you to come on, come on, come on, come on
And take it, take another little piece of my heart now baby.
It could be her own anthem; the Doctor took new pieces of her heart every day.
"Some things are an acquired taste, Doc," Jack pointed out.
"Well, this wasn't her best performance," the Doctor grudgingly admitted. "She was phenomenal at the Winterland in San Francisco. 1968. Fantastic show! Got to meet her afterwards." He chuckled. "It was foggy and wet and she gave me a coat. Took it right off one of her bandmates and gave it to me, saying the liquor would keep him warm enough. Still got that coat hanging in the wardrobe room." He grabbed Rose's hand again. "It'll take them a while to set up for the next band. Let's go have a look round!"
Rose let out a yelp as the Doctor tugged her along and she nearly slipped in the mud. Jack was right there, helping her stay upright, and she flashed him a grateful smile. The kind of smile that would normally make the Doctor glower, not at her for smiling but at Jack for evoking it. But not this time. He was too intent on wending through the knots of people. She sighed. Break it, break another little bit of my heart now, darling.
She used to think of Woodstock as a tie-dyed, psychedelic fantasyland of flower children dancing and swaying on the grass to the music. Grazing in the Grass, wasn't that what they called it? She remembered hearing that song on an oldies station at Mickey's gran's place.
She couldn't see any grass here in the pre-dawn darkness. Plenty of mud and muck to slide around on, though. Jack kept a grip on her arm so she wouldn't slip again. She glanced over at him to see his eyes scanning the scene, taking in every detail. He seemed unruffled by the wet and the noise and the smell.
"Doc, slow down a little. Don't want Rose to break her ankle trying to keep up."
The Doctor complied without apology, taking them through another stand of trees. More music drifted their way, unamplified. A guitar and a few voices. Another moment's walking, and they could see the source: a group of hippies sitting in a circle, one strumming a guitar while the others sang.
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Rose glanced over in surprise as she heard Jack's voice joining the chorus. She was even more surprised to see the emotion in his eyes. She'd heard him singing around the TARDIS from time to time before, but had never seen him looking so vulnerable.
As the song ended, he met her eyes and gave her hand a little squeeze. "That one is still a classic even where I come from," he told her. "It reminds me how stupid war can be, no matter when or where. It costs too much."
What did it cost you? she wanted to ask, but before she could, one of the hippies spoke up.
"That's why we ain't gonna study war no more," the man said. "You've got a great set of pipes, man. Come on, join in."
"Just music, peace and love tonight," chimed in a woman in the circle, with an inviting look that Rose understood only too well.
Jack understood it too, and a slow smile started to spread across his face. He glanced over at Rose and the Doctor and tilted his head toward the circle, asking without words, Join me?
Now there was the glower. "Do what you want, Jack," the Doctor said. But keep Rose out of it, she could almost hear him thinking as his grip on her hand tightened just a bit. "Meet us at stage right of the main stage 30 hours from now, or you'll miss your ride."
"Yes, sir!" Jack replied with a smirk.
The Doctor pointed a warning finger. "And watch out for the electric Kool-Aid!" He started to pull Rose away. "Come on, Rose, let's see what else there is to see."
She gave Jack a wave as he settled down next to the hippie woman. As the Doctor led her off, Rose could hear the group starting another song, the words floating up to the sky like a prayer.
How many roads must a man walk down
Before they call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
How many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
Rose was irritated with him. Oh, she was smiling and nodding at everything he said, but the undercurrent was there, and had been since they left Jack with the hippies.
Fine. She could be miffed with him if she wanted, but he wasn't going to apologise. Jack was a big boy, sterilised and immunised and trained to deal with practically everything the counterculture could throw at him. But the Doctor had promised to keep Rose safe, and safe he would keep her, even if it meant making her angry.
She was covering it up well, dancing to the music when Sly and the Family Stone told them to, and Shakin' All Over with The Who. By the time Grace Slick finished singing White Rabbit, Rose seemed at least a little less irritated, and at least a little tired from all the dancing and swaying. And he conceded mentally that he'd probably been just a bit too harsh.
"Let's see if we can find Jack," he suggested. They wandered back to the spot where they'd left him, but that group of hippies was long gone. Probably moved from singing to dancing in one of the tents that dotted the field.
They kept walking. Eventually he led her up a grassy hill, where the farm rolled out below them, thousands of people lying about in groups, some walking around, some still dancing to music only they could hear. "A generation lost in space," the Doctor murmured.
Rose looked over at him. "Isn't that a song, too?"
"Will be part of one, in a couple of years." He sat down on the grass and stretched out his legs. "Music won't be starting up again for about six hours, so this would be a good time to have a kip."
Rose dropped down beside him and lay back, staring up at the sky. "So what was so great about Janis Joplin?" she asked after a moment. "I mean, is it just because she gave you a coat?"
"It wasn't just the coat," the Doctor answered. He lay back next to her, pondering for a moment. At last he said, "Humans aren't the only species fascinated by tragedy, you know. And Janis Joplin is a tragic figure. So much potential, drowning in drugs and alcohol." He was silent again for a moment. "She'll be dead in just over a year." He looked over at Rose. "Sorry. I know that's not much of a bedtime story. Get some sleep. I'll wake you in a while and we can head over to the free kitchen for some oatmeal and granola."
"Sounds delicious!" Rose said wryly, turning on her side and pillowing her head on her arm.
"Nothing but the best for you, Rose Tyler!" he said with a grin.
Rose gave him a sleepy smile and closed her eyes. Her breathing was slow and regular in just a few minutes.
Oatmeal and granola wasn't too bad, Rose decided. Especially if you woke up famished and there really wasn't much other choice.
Oh, they could have gone back to the TARDIS for a bite, but there was so much to see in the light of day, so they wandered to take it all in. They watched a helicopter full of supplies landing on a field. They passed some brightly painted buses, peace slogans splashed across them. They stopped at a wooden sign plastered with notes of greeting and love. "Early e-mail," the Doctor called it as they read the messages scrawled on whatever people could find: note paper, napkins, paper plates.
And the people! A shirtless man in a brown hat was marshalling the crowd around the food line, speaking through a bullhorn and welcoming them all to "breakfast in bed for 400,000." They were offered water by a woman in a gauzy white blouse, jeans and a narrow leather headband, who called herself Lady Bear, child of Mother Earth. Another woman in a yellow shirt handed Rose a contraption of yarn and wood that she called a "God's Eye."
They wandered on and reached a lake, swimmers splashing in it. The Doctor stopped short and turned around as they saw the people there. Most of them were naked.
"This way, Rose!" He started to pull her back, but she resisted.
"A swim sounds like a wonderful idea, Doctor," she said. Are his ears turning red?
They were! "You don't have a swimming suit, Rose," the Doctor said brusquely. "And neither do I."
"And neither do they," Rose pointed out, looking at the swimmers. Is Jack out there? Bet he is.
"And if they were jumping off cliffs, would you do it too?" the Doctor answered. "Besides, skinny dipping is likely to earn me another slap from your mother."
"Figured it'd be something like that!" Rose teased him. "My mother is only two years old right now. And it's not like we tell her half of what we do when we see her."
"It's the principle, Rose. I do have principles!" the Doctor huffed. "Besides, you'll get sunburnt right where the sun shouldn't shine, and I don't want to hear you moaning about it later. Come on!"
Rose was ready to stand her ground and argue when a man rushed up to the edge of the lake. "Is there a doctor here?" he called out, looking over the crowd desperately. "I need help!"
The cry for help dissolved the tension between them. "I'm the Doctor," he said, catching the man's attention. "What's wrong?"
The man was wide-eyed and shifting from one foot to the other, as if he could barely stop for a moment. "My girlfriend. She's pregnant, and I…I think the baby's coming!"
The Doctor became all business. "Take me to her."
Babbling gratefully, the man led them to a tent not far away, and Rose and the Doctor crawled inside. There, a woman was moaning and breathing heavily, one hand on her swollen belly. Her skirt was soaked.
The Doctor knelt down and said in a kind voice, "I'm the Doctor. This is Rose. And who are you?"
"Mel—Melanie," the woman panted as she caught her breath again.
Her boyfriend added, "I'm Doug."
The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket. "Well, Melanie, it seems your water broke. Let's see what else we can find." He selected a setting and turned the screwdriver on, pointing it at the woman. "Nothing to be nervous about," he said casually. "This is just a medical scanner."
"Far out! Like on Star Trek?" Doug asked eagerly.
The Doctor gave him a glance that Rose recognized as slight irritation. "Yes, just like on Star Trek." He visibly shook it off and gave Melanie a bright grin. "So! Everything seems to be all right so far. Did you just have a contraction before I came in?" When Melanie nodded, he asked, "How far apart are they?"
"We don't know," Doug said. "Neither of us has a watch."
"You can't count seconds?" the Doctor said, rolling his eyes. He sighed in resignation before they could answer. "Well, can't undo what's been done. You've got me now, and I've got a built in clock, so I'll start timing. But for now…with your permission…I need to take a look."
The woman nodded, and the Doctor moved to pull her skirt up. Rose stepped to the side to allow her some privacy.
"All right then, Melanie. I know this isn't comfortable," the Doctor said in a soothing voice. "Looks like you're…seven centimeters dilated and…about 60 percent effaced."
Melanie moaned as he pulled up and back. "Another contraction?" he said. "That's just about two minutes. You're about to hit transition."
"Doctor," Rose said, "shouldn't we go for help?"
"We are help!"
Rose huffed at him. "I mean an ambulance! Shouldn't we get her to hospital?"
"Don't want a hospital!" Melanie protested.
The Doctor nodded. "See? She doesn't want hospital. Besides, women gave birth without hospitals for thousands of years." He stood and moved very close to Rose. In a low voice, he said, "I don't want to take any chances moving a woman in transition through that crowd. It's gonna be up to us to bring this baby into the world. Can you handle it, Rose?"
His blue eyes had become very intense. She stared into them and then nodded.
"Fantastic!" he said in a louder voice, beaming. "All right, first thing. Water. Doesn't need to be boiling but we do need clean water. You two head back to the free kitchen and get some. Find the Hog Farmers and tell them what's going on. They'll give you what I need."
"The Hog Farmers?" Rose asked incredulously.
The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, the Hog Farmers! Look for the bloke we saw with the bullhorn."
"I don't want to leave her!" Doug objected.
"You'll help her more by getting what I need then you will by hovering over her. You won't miss the birth if you move it!" the Doctor told him. "And see if you can get some clean blankets or towels or something." They stood, looking uncertainly at him, and he said impatiently, "Go on, hurry!"
Rose and Doug quickly headed out of the tent and off to the free kitchen.
Melanie's moans had become louder by the time they returned. Rose's arms were filled with blankets and clothing, while Doug carried two jugs of water. "Well done!" the Doctor greeted them. He was kneeling down in front of Melanie again. He'd stripped off his jacket, and Rose recognised a glimmer of worry in his eyes.
"How's she doing?" Doug asked, setting the water down and moving next to his girlfriend.
"She's fine," was the answer. A short answer, so Rose knew he wasn't telling them everything. "Melanie, I'm gonna have you get up and walk around just a bit now. We're gonna try to get things moving just a little bit faster, and I want to put some of those blankets down for you. Come on, Doug, let's get her up!"
Rose watched the two men lever Melanie up onto her feet. "Should you be doing that?"
"Walking is the best way to stimulate labor," the Doctor said. "Doug, take Melanie out for a bit of fresh air, and Rose and I will put these blankets down."
As the others stepped outside, the Doctor reached out to take an end of one of the blankets Rose was holding. Together, they spread it out. "What else do you have here, Rose? Ah, good." He pulled the sonic screwdriver out and twisted it. "Cut this blanket into squares about..." he held his hands open, about a foot apart, "this big. We can use them to clean things up afterwards. And what's this?" He held up a tie-dyed t-shirt and laughed. "Swaddling clothes! Perfect!"
Rose began cutting up the blanket as directed. "Doctor, are you sure you can do this?" she asked.
"Of course I can, Rose!" he replied indignantly. "Done it before. Catching babies is easy. The mother's the one doing all the hard work." He became more serious as his eyes met hers. "Her labor has stalled, and that could be a problem. That's why I have her walking, to get things going again. But I know you and I can do this and get this baby here safely. Together."
She smiled and handed him the screwdriver. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
"Doctor?" Doug's voice sounded a little frantic. "She's having another contraction."
The Doctor held up the tent flap and looked out. "Breathe, Melanie! Like this: Hee hee hoooooo! Hee hee hooooo!" He made a circling motion with his hand, encouraging Melanie to follow his example through her contraction. "Hee hee hooo! That's it!
Hee hee hoooooo! Good! Thank you, Doctor Lamaze!"
"Thank you, Doctor Lamaze," Melanie repeated as the contraction subsided.
The Doctor shook his head. "No, that's not me…just call me Doctor. You're doing great, Melanie. Fantastic! Keep walking!"
Doug led Melanie around in a seemingly endless circle around the tent. Seemingly endless, until Melanie doubled over in contractions that she couldn't breathe through. When they subsided, the Doctor ushered her back into the tent to check her again. "All right! Ten centimeters and fully effaced! Up you go, Melanie! Time to push!"
"You're going to have her give birth standing up?" Doug asked in amazement.
"Oh, yeah," the Doctor answered as he helped the woman up again, positioning her over the blanket. "Less likely to tear the perineum that way. Better for the mother. It's just how your caveman ancestors did it."
Rose smiled. At least he's not calling us apes, she thought wryly.
The Doctor got down on his knees in front of Melanie. "Rose, I'm gonna need you to stand right there…" he pointed to Melanie's left, "and help hold her up. Doug, you stay on the right side. Now, Melanie, when I tell you, I want you to push. Okay? Push!"
The pushing seemed to go on forever. Melanie shivered, moaned and cried out as she worked to give birth. Rose's legs were starting to shake with the strain of holding the woman up. Just as she thought she was going to give out, the Doctor let out a triumphant cry. "I see the head! Come on, Melanie, just one more!"
"Push again, babe, push again," Doug was chanting. Melanie gave one more shattering cry, and the Doctor whooped in delight. A moment later, Rose heard a new voice crying.
"Doug, Melanie, it's a boy!" the Doctor crowed as Melanie sagged in exhaustion. Rose helped the new mother settle down on a clean blanket and whisked away the one that was covered in blood. Then she turned back to see the Doctor handing the just-cleaned newborn over to his mother, while the new father knelt down next to Melanie, beaming with joy.
"Come and see, Rose," the Doctor said softly.
She stepped over to see the infant, wrinkly and red-faced and absolutely beautiful. Tears blurred her vision as she watched Melanie put the boy to her breast.
The Doctor's own voice trembled slightly as he drew out his sonic screwdriver and changed the setting. "Here, Doug. Dad gets to cut the cord."
Doug looked at him uncertainly. "I thought that was a scanner?"
"Multi-purpose tool!" the Doctor answered. "Go ahead. Just push this button."
Doug complied, and the Doctor then made quick work of wrapping the infant in the t-shirt. "I gave him an innie. That alright?"
"Of course," Doug answered. "Doctor, Rose, how can we thank you?"
"You don't need to," the Doctor said with a note of tenderness that Rose had rarely heard. "Just take good care of that beautiful boy!"
Rose asked, "What's his name?"
The new parents looked at each other uncertainly. "We hadn't decided," Doug answered. Then, after a beat, he said, "Doctor, you didn't tell us your name."
"Oh, you don't wanna name him for me!" the Doctor said dismissively. "You two think about it for a little bit. Rose, you can go out for a breath of air if you want. I need to check Melanie one more time and finish up here."
Rose suddenly became aware of how close the tent had become. She stepped outside and took a few deep breaths. She could hear music booming over at the main stage. Had it really been six hours since White Rabbit? She looked for the sun, but it was obscured by clouds.
"I knew there were a couple of babies born at Woodstock. I didn't know that I'd help deliver one of them." The Doctor had come out of the tent, cleaning his hands with a damp towel square, and handing a second one to Rose. "You've got just a bit of blood there." As she tried to wipe away the specks on her jeans, he said, "They're going to call him Thomas."
Rose smiled. "Thomas is a lovely name."
The Doctor let out a little sigh. "Yeah. They're naming him after The Who's rock opera." He looked over at Rose with a smirk. "Flower children." She grinned back at him, and he continued, "You were fantastic, Rose. Thank you."
"So what are they going to do now?"
"They're going to stay here through the night and head home tomorrow morning. Most of the crowds should be gone by then, and Melanie should be recovered enough to travel. And after that? They'll live a life, day after day. The human adventure." He stood silent for a moment, and then said, "Come on. Let's say our goodbyes and give the new family some private time. Time we got back to our own adventure."
The skies over Woodstock opened up again that afternoon, and they waited out the rain in the shelter of one of the psychedelic buses. Once the rain had moved on, they picked their way through the mud, back to the main stage for hours of music.
Jack found them again Monday morning. He was grinning and shirtless, looking like a kid who'd spent a day in a particularly good candy store.
"Lost your shirt and your trousers?" the Doctor asked with a raised eyebrow.
Rose looked down, and noticed that Jack wasn't wearing the jeans he'd left the TARDIS in. Instead, he was in a pair of very tight black trousers.
Jack shrugged. "My jeans disappeared when I went swimming in the lake yesterday. Got these from that bunch I stayed with. I think they look better than the jeans did." He leered a little at Rose. "What do you think, Rose?"
There was the glower again. The one that clearly said keep away, even if the Doctor wasn't inclined to do anything but take his daily ration of her emotions.Have a, have another little piece of my heart now baby. She pushed the hurt aside and turned her eyes to the crowd, which seemed to be dwindling. "Where is everyone?"
The Doctor snorted. "It's Monday morning. People have been leaving since yesterday to get back to their homes and their jobs. The human adventure," and this time he said it with disdain. "The whole festival ran late, and less than half of the audience stuck around this long to see the headliner. And they missed out on musical history. Look, he's getting on stage now. Just listen."
"You don't care for me
I don't care about that
Gotta new fool
I like it like that
I have only one itchin' desire
Let me stand next to your fire."
"This is the act that made Woodstock a legend," the Doctor said as Jimi Hendrix dominated the stage, playing his guitar with long, skilled fingers and even with his teeth. "You two are among the few people who actually got to see it."
They listened and watched, and halfway through the set, the Doctor said, "He'll be dead next fall, just a few weeks before Janis. Both of them 27 years old. Both of them tragic."
Rose glanced up at his melancholy tone. It was matched by the somber look on his face. She took his hand and leaned against him.
She couldn't give him his home or his people. He wouldn't let her give him her love the way she wanted to, the way he deserved. But she could give him this.
Have another little piece of my heart now, baby,
You know you got it child, if it makes you feel good.
End